[Graded][PB] Realm Of Serpents

[Zao]

A flash of bright royal blue light would illuminate a small area deep within a bog field swamp area that stretched for many, many kilometers in ever direction, this was a place known as the endless swamp and was a territory within the Serpentine realm. This landing was a bit smoother than the previous ones that the group had endured throughout this realm hopping journey, seemingly starting to become accustom to the teleportation phase of the journey as they all landing fully conscious and on their feet, or at least they were standing. But what they were standing in was mucky swamp water that was already up above their knee and they were actually slowly sinking into the unseen mud below their feet within the water. The murky water was so dark that it almost appeared to be black due to the lack of sunlight that managed to break through the canopy above the group of Suna shinobi.

One could not even see more than a few inches into the ink like water that the group was standing within, nor could they see what dangers lay below the water line or even around them as it would take a bit of time for their eyes to adjust to the darkness they were within. Zao came to his senses and realized that they were slowly sinking into the muddy soil beneath the water and with s simple thought his body began to instinctively channel chakra into the bottom of his feet now before he took a few half steps before both feet arrived at the surface of the dark water. It was about that time that the sulfur like smell would smack the young white haired man right in the face to the point that he couldn't help but bringing the sleeve of his right arm and placing it across his mouth and nose. 'That's terrible...'

Zao slowly swept his bright blue eyes across the area surround as they were slowly adjusting to the low light environment, catching glimpses of objects that moved quickly, as if watching the new arrivals before darting out of sight. Exhaling slowly the man began to calm his mind before spreading out his chakra around the ground through the use of his sensory ability, mind's eye. This would allow for him to sense things ahead of them actually seeing them, at least until the group had better adjusted to their new environment. But their was one thing that the young scholar was sure of and that was the group had not made it back to the human realm and that they were still within a spirit realm at the moment. While it was not a surprising conclusion it was a bit depressing as the group had truly wished to return to the human realm but subconsciously the man began to feel that he was almost able to sense his own realm from here but was still unable to precisely locate it.

If he could locate his own realm then it would be possible for them to escape this realm and even return to their own after passing through the personal realm, but the man just wasn't quite able to do so just yet. As he was somewhat lost in thought about trying to figure out a method to locate his own realm a chakra signature shot forth from behind them at a quick speed, it was enough to startle the shinobi as he twisted around and shouted to his comrades. "Somethings behind us!" The reason he was shouting to his friends was because the two chuunin were behind Zao and Nori and would be the first to encounter what ever was probing their group. Twisting around he could barely mark out a dark green streak, from his chakra sensing he could see that it was about five meters in length and was thin, while moving with a swerving pattern.

'A snake?' Zao could only question his thoughts as the muscled chuunin turned just in time to meet this approaching threat that was actually targeting the smaller and weaker looking ninjutsu user who was to slow to react. The snake was green and yellow in color and its body darted back and forth as it was already within a few meters of the chuunin. It struck out toward the smaller chuunin who could only bring his hands up to block as the taijutsu based chuunin made a grab actually grabbing the snake mid air a few feet from his friend. Though the snake bent around and within the blink of an eye sunk its fangs into the muscled bicep of the young ninja who tossed the snake away out of instinct after it bit him and quickly sank under the murky water disappearing from sight. "Damn it, are you alright?"

The words flew from the long white haired scholar's mouth as it only took another instant for himself and most likely Nori to arrive at either side of the pair of chuunin, Zao had been pushing his mind's eye ability out to it's max range now as his eyes were assessing the wound with his bright blue eyes. With their medic nin gone and his current lack of medical knowledge and ninjutsu left him unsure of the next action as he glanced over to Nori, questioning the muscled chuunin and Nori at the same time. "Think it as poisonous?"

[WrightJustice]

The group stepped on the pedestal and as always they were surrounded by a bright, dizzying light that they had gotten rather used to by this point and as such where not really effected by it and simply saw the world warp around them until they landed all safely in the next; this time a very murky, swamp-like land.

Nori instantly felt himself sinking into the damp soil below the dark liquid that could only really be assumed to be water, or so they hoped anyway, though it was quite different compared to one's feet sinking below the sands of Sunagakure and wind country but nonetheless he had to get out and so immediately stepped upwards and onto the surface with the aid of the academy taught Act of Water Surface Walking jutsu.

Once the black clothed man did climb to the surface, chakra flowing to the soles of his feet, the pungent smell of the swampy area also hit him hard just as it did his friend but in his case there was little he could do about it but struggle to breath and get used to such horridness.

It was perhaps this shocking, nauseating scent that slowed Nori down enough to not be able to react in time to what happened next as Zao called out to the group; turning round as hastily as he could as he aimed to pull his sword from its sheath, the sandy haired special jounin was a second too slow to catch the strange snake-like creature which tussled with the chuunin and bit him before being thrown to the water where it skulked away.

Nori swiftly moved over to his companion, his sword sliding back into its sheathing having not quite made it out in the first place, concern written across his face over the fact that they may lose yet another comrade.
"From what little I know of snakes, assuming that thing was one in the first place, ones that bite usually are venomous but either we cannot be certain and it is probably best we try and find a way to treat him" he spoke sounding a little worried but trying to remain strong and confident in the face of danger.

[Zao]

Shit! Managing to contain his emotions for a bit, the man cursed quietly to himself and continued to scan in a three hundred and sixty degree sphere around the group with his mind's eye sensory technique, feeling the need to keep it active for a while with the threat capable of approaching them from any angle. This realm was still foreign and they knew nothing about its inhabitants, only that at the least there were snakes here. Letting out a sigh he turned to Nori and nodded as he replied, "Yes, you are right my friend. Do you know anything that can help?" Zao was proficient in many things but Iijutsu or medical techniques was something that he'd never put any time into as he was always to busy with other types of ninjutsu.

In this instance, the tables were turned and he asked Nori for his aid in this matter, hoping that the young man who had followed him for sometime would be able to surprise him with either medical knowledge or perhaps even a medical technique that could help. However, he knew that the likely hood of this being the case was low as the pair had traveled together for quite a time at this point and never once had he mentioned or demonstrated a knowledge in the subject. The ninjutsu specialist stepped forward to help his comrade, though he didn't know any medic jutsu he was adept in first aid have learned a bit from the fallen medic nin as the three of them had been a team. Helping to treat what he could on the muscular chuunin's arm the chuunin complained about having a headache but felt he was good enough to continue.

After allowing for the group to become acclimated to the low light environment and the conditions in which they would be working with in the swampy area, the group decided on a direction based off the current angle of sunlight and began to travel east. Wishing to get out of the immediate are and find at least somewhat more solid ground then just the murky dark watch they were traveling on at the moment. The group beat back a couple probing attacks by other snake like creatures that attempted to sneak into their formation and attack the weaker of the four shinobi, as though they could tell by looking at the two chuunin that they would be easy prey.

"That's the third time we've been probed by these snake creatures, each of them was a little different looking than the last. Do you think we are moving through different territories of these spirits?" Finally the man had a thought, he wasn't by any means an expert on snakes or their behaviors but he began to wonder why so many different spirits would attack them. He asked the question out loud to the group just as they came upon a small sandy berm that jutted about a foot out of the water like an island within this murky swamp region. He had already identified through his sensory technique that they were sprits by their chakra signatures and so far they hadn't encountered anything to strong, just fast.

"Ahhh..." Just as they stopped at the sandy land mass the larger chuunin felt a crippling wave of pain wash over him and he collapsed face first onto the ground, closest to the black clothed special jounin's side. There were black lines running up the young man's arm that had received the bite earlier and the ninjutsu specialist chuunin went to help him. None of them knew if the venom was going to kill their friend or if he was going to pull through at this point, they could only hope that he would be able to rely upon himself to fight through the venom and survive. As there were many types of venom, not all were meant to kill as some were just meant to slow and paralysis their prey..

[WrightJustice]

Everyone quickly gathered around their comrade though without their medic they knew little of what to do with even Zao asking what was best and Nori unable to answer, shaking his head in displeasure as he replied as such "I am not certain what we can do or know of anything about antidotes" his words full of disappointment, though the other chuunin had learned at least a small bit from their fallen companion and at least helped clean and sanitise the wound with some basics.

With some very rudimentary first aid performed the group pushed on and fended off a few snakes on their path, which was very curious and as such the black clothed special jounin could only assume his friend's query was true as he replied equally confused "I can only assume that must be true, though there's something in the back of my mind telling me they could be each individually solitary but I don't fully remember if that's really true of all snakes" he spoke as if recalling some bits of long buried information he might've picked up some place but could be wrong or remembered incorrectly.

Then the poisoned chuunin suddenly called out in paid and collapsed before them as they all turned to look with great uncertainty, Nori in particular beginning to well up with panic but held it back as he knelt down to check the man though without knowing what to really even check for other than seeing the blackness in the mans arm.
A thought did occur to the black clothed man though as he checked, albeit it was rather drastic and something he did not wish to risk if they did not have to and yet perhaps it was the best idea in this situation; perhaps cutting the arm off would stop the poison.
That thought sat in his mind as he did not wish to speak it and he didn't know enough about poisons or anything medical to even aid them if they even did it, plus the boy had already collapsed so perhaps such a drastic idea was too late anyway and so he continued to look upon him with worry and prayers.
"Oh holy light of the sun if you exist in this world, please spare our friend and comrade in arms, please give him the strength to persevere" he quietly muttered to himself in reverent words.

[Zao]

The fellow chuunin was quick to help the young man who had collapsed, rolling the muscled young man on to his back and wiping away the sweat from his brow; at least they had been able to escape the mud and murky waters for the moment on the small island and could rest. Zao was a bit weary himself, despite having a large stamina reserve they had been walking some time as he maintained the sensory technique in order to help them defend again things that were attacking them in the low light environment. For the moment he allowed himself to observe the poisoned man, the black markings running up the arm and into his chest told them that the poison was obviously moving around his blood stream but the effects other than weakness, vomiting, and dizziness were still unknown.
 
Zao looked over towards his friend, using the back of his dirty left sleeve to wipe away the mixture of sweat and nasty mud from his left cheek and forehead at the moment, only catching a little of the mumbled prayer from Nori. As for himself, despite being from the land of the ‘Holy Sun’, he was to objective of a person to put much into the religious beliefs of those within the village but he would never speak out against those who put their faith in it. Though he didn’t say any reverent words for the injured man he did silently hope that the scene before them wasn’t as bad as it looked, having a little knowledge of poison due to his piddling in the art of puppetry he could only have the feeling that such a strange acting venom was not normal by any means. Yet, did that mean that all the venomous snakes here would be the same as the one that had bitten their friend and was that snake still following them?
 
The long haired scholar truly had so many questions and concerns about the chuunin, his comrades, and the environment that they found themselves within at the moment…but sadly no answers to go with any of those questions. “This is the only halfway solid ground that we’ve found so far. Maybe we should rest a bit.” Prying his eyes away from their poisoned comrade he affixed them upon the tall, blacked clothed friend of his and spoke to him with his thoughts. Continuing to simply wander endlessly across the possibly vast and very unknown swampy region wasn’t the best solution by any means but at the same time there weren’t a whole lot of other options available to them currently either.  Exhaling slowly the man couldn’t help but sweep his bright blue eyes past the dark scenery and back onto the two chuunin as the Ninjutsu specialist was attempting some more basic first aid and medical taijutsu on the larger chuunin. “How is he doing?”
 
The words couldn’t help but slip through the man’s thin lips as he worried about losing another of the young shinobi, the death of the medic woman still remained ever present within the back of Zao’s thoughts and caused for the mixed emotions of sadness and anger to slowly fill his mind. “His pulse is dropping and his breathing is shallow. I’m not sure we can keep traveling with him in this state. But my medical knowledge is too limited to even know how to begin to help him.” The chuunin took a few moments to gather his thoughts before responding to the white clothed man, with breaks within his words as one could tell that the younger shinobi was cursing his lack of medical ability to be able to help the friend that lay upon the ground with his head propped up on a makeshift pillow. “You’ve done all you can, everything else will have to be left up to him. All we can do is protect one another within this hostile environment and search for a way home.” Home…all any of the remaining four of the group of five wished to do was return home to their own realm and their own people. Currently the muscled chuunin had fallen into unconscious now limited what their next actions could be as carrying the man through the murky environment would leave whoever was carrying him more vulnerable to a surprise attack from the serpents.
 
But Zao felt that no one amongst them, including him, would leave the wounded man behind for their own sakes…it would appear that for the time being they would need to wait and see if the man’s condition improved or worsened. “Nori, can you climb up and see if you can see anything?” He turned to ask his counterpart if he could ascend the large tree upon the spot of solid ground they were current resting on, hoping that maybe above the thick, humid canopy one might be able to pick out a direction to exit the swampy area. If the black clothed man agreed then one he managed to work his way up the tree line and through some small spirit snakes that were twirled within the branches, he would discover that off to the southeast was a unexpected and strange phenomenon.  Ten or twenty kilometer away to that direction one could see a massive maroon barrier of chakra that even managed to break through the canopy of the large trees in the distance, it was hard to imagine just how massive that barrier must be from so far away.

[WrightJustice]

Nori shuffled to the side as he watched the other chuunin do his best to aid their fallen comrade as he rolled him over and began wiping up the sweat which was really all that could be done, which in turn was rather worrying as the black clothed Special Jounin continued to focus on his payer and good will as it burned deeply withing both his mind and heart.
This was only interrupted by Zao motioning for the group to rest on what solid ground they could muster which made sense given the state of things and so the religious zealot nodded in affirmation and agreement.
"Yes, indeed we should" he replied wearily before looking back down that their pained companion.

Their chuunin friend who was doing all they could, even if it was in actuality very little, sounded uncertain when he replied to their leader which somewhat upset Nori but he continued to pray and wish everything would work out and when Zao suggested they should take some action to at least get a grip on their surroundings it certainly sounded better than sitting around and feeling sorry for oneself and so the black clothed man got up with a nod and bolted up the large tree.

After batting away a few snakes and making great haste up the wooded, tall, plant Norio finally reached the top and instantly looked around but it didn't take very long before he noticed a strange barrier in the distance towards the southeast which was very odd but marked the only real place of interest and so he mentally folded it away and dropped down, jumping from branch to branch before appearing before the tired and worn group once more.
"There's some kind of maroon barrier surrounding a portion of the swamp and extending beyond even the trees over in this direction... Southeast I suppose" he instantly recalled as he approached Zao and the chuunin, pointing in the direction as he called it out.

[Zao]

It felt like the man's dark clothed companion was only gone for a few minutes before returning to the group with the news of what his vision had been able to take in from the elevated position. During that time little had transpired on ground level, a few probing attacks from weaker spirit snakes had come and gone but there hasn't been any major threats. Zao's eyes were half closed, a bit tired from the previous leg of the group's journey through the swampy environment up to this point, but as his comrade returned the white haired scholar shook his head back and forth a few times to shake off the fatigue. "You said a maroon barrier? "

The words from his slightly younger friend caused for some new found energy to surge into the weary man's body in that moment as he literally leaped up from the damp and muddy soil beneath their feet. Landing lightly now the slender left hand rose and flipped so that the palm of the hand was up towards the thick canopy of trees above them. Within the palm maroon chakra from the Tenku user began to form so that it was visible to the naked eye and to Nori as well so that he could compare it with what he'd seen a bit earlier from his perched position. If it was the same kind of chakra then that meant only one thing, that it was something left behind by the mysterious travler. As for what such a massive barrier could be for there were really only two options that the bright blue eyed man could think of.

After Nori would confirm that the chakra matched that of the distant barrier Zao could help but to narrow his eyes and look over at the two chuunin, the muscular one seemed to actually be recovering somewhat as the black lines had started to fade. "A spirit barrier only serves one of two proposes my friend, to keep spirits out or to trap spirits inside of it. And we won't know until we actually step inside of it. " The scholar pondered over the thought of why the man whom footsteps they had been following this whole time had erected such a structure here. Was it a place of sanctuary from the almost endless attacks of the snake spirits here or had it been used to confine another powerful spirit for one reason or another.

After he spoke to Nori the man heard the Ninjutsu specialist chuunin speaking to the injured chuunin, glancing over the muscled young man was actually sitting up as the pain seemed to have eased up from before. Seemingly having recover a bit from being envenomated by the snake earlier, it caused for the man to unconsciously smile that the situation had turned around a bit for them. It almost felt like there only option at this point in time was to take a risk and push towards the Tenku chakra barrier to the southeast. But he wished to hear what the rest of the team had to say about the situation at hand, plus they needed to give the recently recovered chuunin a bit more time to rest before departing the solid-ish piece of ground.

[WrightJustice]

Nori nodded in reassurance over what he had stated when his friend asked about the maroon barrier and then immediately followed said friend, who had surged with a bit of energy and held his hand up as he channelled a very similar kind of and easily recognisable chakra which was unmistakably like every time the man had down spirit based jutsu and as a result it became very clear where things where going based on this.
"Yes, exactly like that" the black clothed special jounin replied, taking in the glowing maroon that filled his darker brown eyes and thus bringing up the query of what that barrier was doing in such a place; what was its purpose?

In any case it seemed their endangered copanion was seemingly no longer that endangered and the venom was now wearing off as the chuunin actually sat up against the tree, no longer in a cold sweat and with the blackness in his arm fading away which filled Norio with relief which he wished to remain true from hence forth.
"Thank goodness" the sandy haired man spoke with great alleviation as he turned to see the recovering chuunin "You seem to be recovering well, which in that case after a bit more rest I figure we can go the barrier I found when looking about the area atop the tree. There we will test our luck and hopefully find the way home or at least it seems like the most likely place for us to get anywhere, even a bit of information or peace." he then went on to explain what he thought was best given their situation.

[Zao]

Zao couldn't help but agree with his younger companion at this moment, the group seemed to have finally caught a bit of a break as the chuunin appeared to be recovering from the strange poison inflicted upon him from the snake bit a while earlier and they had at least some sort of lead to follow now; be that good or bad was still left to be seen at the moment as none of them knew what lay within the Tenku barrier. With everything on the up swing the group rested for a short while before the muscular chuunin felt that he had regained enough strength to travel with the rest of the group without holding them back to much. At that point the group then set off through the dark underbrush and back out onto the swampy terrain towards the southeast now as Zao took up the rear allowing for the stronger taijutsu user, Nori, to take lead on this movement.

But the group had only been on the move for about ten minutes or so before the muscular chuunin seemed to be looking energy, seeming to have not recovered as much from the venom of the snake as was first thought. Yet, like any man the young shinobi tried to push through before out of no where the Suna-nin opened his mouth and a mixture of blood and bit black liquid shot from his mouth into the murky water beneath their feet leading the figure to almost collapse if not for the assistance of the smaller chuunin at that moment. It was also at this moment that a ghostly whisper drifted through the area around the four shinobi originating from directly in front of the group but its reptilian owner didn't step out into the field of vision of Nori. "Ssss...ssseems that the venom hasss taken root in his heart, death is coming for the boy. Just leave him here for me to eat, after all he'll just slow your group down..." After the spirit's voice seemed to fade a ten meter long black snake slowly slithered into view as it seemed to be slowly circling the young men at this point..

Zao had noticed the snake's chakra signature through his currently active sensory technique, able to tell that it wouldn't be much of a threat to Nori or himself but the two chuunin would be much easier prey as he moved closer to the pair in the middle now, assuming that Nori would have a similar reaction. "You expect use to believe that is the truth?" The scholarly looking man had a rather agitated look forming upon his face as his bright gaze looked onto to slow, methodically moving spirit as it continued to almost silently slither on the surface of the swampy water. "Of course, it is a bite from one of my children. ". A bright blue orb of chakra began to form within the palm of Zao's hand, his temper obviously getting the better of him as he felt as thought the creature wasn't lying to them, as much as he didn't want to believe the words coming out of the snakes mouth. The spirit's forked tongue slipped out through the tiny gap in the front of its mouth now, almost as though it was tasting its next meal, the muscled chuunin who had collapsed completely leaving the ninjutsu specialist to hold up his unconscious body.

"He's only dead wait, literally...heh...he doesn't have much time left anyways, only a painful death." The white haired shinobi couldn't take it any longer as the snake spirit was continuing to spout out its nonsense as though they would ever leave one of their comrades behind if they had any other choice. "Shut your damn mouth!" As he yelled at the creature the orb within his hand seemed to have formed but he didn't attack with it just yet as a scream of pain range out from the taijutsu user's mouth as he work up in pure agony, he was only able to mutter two words as the pain racked his body. "Kill me..", his pain was so terrible that he was actually wishing for death as a reprieve from the pain which seemed to only bring a bit more truth to the serpent's words.

In that moment Zao couldn't help but glance over to his friend who was on the other side of the two chuunin now, though he didn't say it out loud in the moment the gaze would be enough to tell the black clothed special jounin the question on his mind. That question was should one of them help the chuunin by ending his suffering instead of letting him die such a miserable death which appeared to be the case for him at the moment, without a trained medical shinobi who had some specialty in poison and poison removal there was nothing else that they could do for the Suna shinobi. 'Should I do it...?'

[WrightJustice]

Once everyone had rested and the poisoned chuunin felt relieved and capable of moving with the group they all decided to make their way toward the maroon barrier with Nori upfront to guide them the way as he was the one who saw it, as such the tall man made his way through the murky swamp with sword already in hand and ready for any attacks that may occur which seemed to be a given at this point in time.

However after a short time muscular teen suddenly felt the pains of the venom once more and began to collapse as it truly began to take effect, perhaps only hurting before due to flowing through the body whereas now it was properly taking effect or so it seemed to everyone including an uninvited guest who hissed from the shadows with unwanted words.
"Lies..." Nori also spat back words through gritted teeth as he took a step toward the snake, his sword pointing toward the difficult to see figure as it moved.
He remained vigilant and focused on the vile serpent as it seemed to speak more and more lies, though perhaps more truthful than they actually wished but nonetheless he stayed focused and began to move closer for a possible attack.

However the pained chuunin then called out for death which shocked the black clothed shinobi who glanced over at him in worry and truly wondered what they where to do; what if the immense pain was just to debilitate? What if it was the end and the venom never actually killed anyone? They couldn't be certain and yet to let one suffer so much when they could have mercy?
Then again Nori wasn't sure he would be comfortable with allowing or performing such a supposed mercy, especially if they did not know death was inevitable, plus his body was not yet lost unlike the medic and so he could not just leave it behind in his mind and so he glanced over at his friend with an unsure look that was pained to take any action other than continue to believe.
"How about back off and leave us at peace or prepare to feel our wrath and die at OUR hands instead!" the now enraged man turned back to the menacing spirit, stepping toward it once more with his own menacing, piercing eyes that stared down the snake with the full power of a burning flame sent down from the heavens as if he could smite the wretched beast right then and right there.

[Zao]

"Kuku" The dark shaded snake only laaighed at the two humans who had spoken up, but it did finally shift it's almost hungry gaze from the weak chuunin over to Nori. It's almost sinister laugh still lingered in the air as it seemed to start at the lanky special jounin for a moment. It was in that moment that it secretly cast a fear based illusion towards Nori, one that would cause the shinobi to begin to feel deathly afraid of the large snake to the point that he would even agree to the snake's demands after a little while under the genjutsu.

With his sensory technique active the white haired scholar could feel that something was amiss with Nori, but his main focus was split between the muscled chuunin who had passed out from the sheer level of pain as the black blood dripped from his visible orifices upon the pale young man's face at this point. Yet, it was the face that Zao was able to feel the chakra signature of the Suna nin slowly fading away as well. It would seem that no matter how much he didn't want to accept the treacherous serpent in front of them, all the physical evidence pointed towards the same terrible conclusion that he was truly going to die.

The formerly unconscious chuunin let out a weak cry of pain, another spray of dark blood like liquid sprayed from pitiful ninja's mouth before he slumped forward again. "This will last for another day or two, depending on gow ssstrong he isss..." The serpent's voice came over again, drawing out its s letters as the spirit spoke again towards the group. "So just let me eat him, it'd be you guys giving him a merciful death in the end." This statement was truly the straw that broken the camel's back, his reverse scale...threating one of his comrades was something the white haired shinobi would no longer stand for as he spoke with a loud, angered voice that didn't seem to belong to the thin framed man. "How about you just go and die instead!!"

With the words being yelled at the his slender right hand was held up to fully reveal the chaotic orb swirling within its palm as it floated up off the plam to hover now. The snake was no fool and in that moment he knew it was the time to flee, turning on a dime and starting to slither away as the orb shot forth controlled by its creator now. Twenty meters or so into the darkness a thirty meter sized explosion illuminated the dark marshy forest area for a few moments as within the sound of the explosion was a shrill sound from the serpent. With Zao's brilliant blue eyes were a hint of satisfaction, the journey seemed to be slowly affecting and changing the man's formerly scholarly mentality.

Quietly he pulled his eyes away from the empty patch of dark forest as a small wave of murky water rolled towards them from the explosions force and droplets of mud and nasty water started to sprinkle down on them from above. His path led him directly towards the two chuunin as the left hand reached back along the bottom of the pack upon the man's back and the sound of a sword being pulled from a sheath could be heard. The black bladed short sword could now been seen with Zao's hand as it appeared he had made the hard decision to give the man a merciful end...

[WrightJustice]

Nori stood firm against the snake with his sword fully pointed at it with hatred and an aura of power as if he could attack at any moment with utmost ferocity, at least he was until something suddenly washed over him; fear flooded his whole body and mind as it forced his hand to begin to shake and his right foot to step back all whilst the tall man tried to remain focused on the menacing spirit.
"W-what is this fear?" the previously stern male thought to himself, his eyes becoming hyper focused on the black coiling beast "W-why... Why am I suddenly shaking? This isn't me" his thoughts continued to race as he now took a full step backwards and his sword slowly began to lower.

The black clothed giant's mind began to become somewhat clouded and he was ready to give in to the serpent's commands as it talked further in its sly ways but before he could it would seem Zao had an attack prepared; with a powerful glow the orb in his companion's hand sent the snake scurrying away before it was then blasted in the distance and in turn leaving the group be.

However there was still this paranoia in the back of Norio's mind that the beast would return any moment, putting him at great unease and made him feel really shocked when the time finally came for the muscled chuunin to die with Zao himself taking it upon himself to ease the boy's pain which in turn almost made the lanky male to drop his own blade as he then leaned forwards and grabbed the side of his head with his free hand.
"What is this" he then whispered in fearful pain.

Given the situation it finally started to click and so the Special Jounin shakily put his sword away, if only for a moment, and took a deep breath before standing up straight and performing a single yet very well known handseal amongst all shinobi; "Kai" was muttered under the fearful man's breath as chakra flooded his brain and pushed against the contamination that messed with his thoughts.
Nori wasn't particularly well versed in the art of genjutsu but he knew he was no longer behaving as he should for no apparent reason and he should hopefully have just enough skill to cancel one of such calibre.

[Zao]

As the young scholarly looking man's face had taken on a darkened appearance, fully aware of the task that lay before him now his eyes couldn't help but glance over towards his friend whom was still suffering from the illusionary technique that the creature had managed to slyly cast upon Nori only a few short moments ago before being forced to flee into its death by Zao. Nori would find that he had just enough skill in the genjutsu arts to be able to cast away the fear technique that had been used on him. In that moment he would be able to understand the technique but even so a residual fear would linger within his mind of the encounter, thankfully he wouldn't ever run into that specific serpent again as it was a bloody mess in the dark forest where the explosion had occurred. But as he would have his grasp on things returned he would find his friend with sword in hand helping to support the dying chuunin with chakra threads that extended from the dirty, slender finger tips of the left hand now.

"I'm sorry my friend..." The former jounin's voice came out more like a whisper, as the ninjutsu specialist chuunin couldn't even watch as he turned his back to the scene as it continued to unfold, there was no stopping the action that came next as the hesitation from a few moments ago was all gone and with a single, well placed thrust of the short sword the blade punctured the damaged heart of the muscular chuunin allowing for him to die within seconds after the sword tip protruded out the front of the shinobi's chest. A single tear fell from the right corner of the man's right eyes, leaving a faint trail down the dirt and mud covered face of the young man as the dark black blood seeped from the wound and got onto the right hand holding the blade and the dirt covered sleeve. Still holding up the now deceased ninja with the chakra threads he would finally withdraw the blade carefully as if not wanting to damage the man's body any more then he already had with the simple strike.

With a practiced motion the blood covered blade was pushed back into the sheath on the former jounin's lower back below the pack and with another motion a scroll was taken out of the back via a single chakra thread from the right hand. After a flick of the fingers more chakra threads soon appeared and the man's body seemed to be suspended in the air beside the unfurled parchment. Taking a bit of time the fuuin user then used a storage seal to seal away the muscular chuunin's dead body into a scroll, able to do so now that he was no longer living, not willing to leave another comrade behind like the medic-nin. 'This is all that I can do for you right now, my young friend. I promise to bring you back to the village and to your family if it's the last thing I do.' A silent promise was made to the fallen comrade; at least the family would not have to bury an empty casket, to see their son one more time before sending him off to the after world.

Now, with the sealing complete, the man used his left sleeve to wipe his dirty face and turn to Nori yet there was really nothing that he could think of to say to his friend at this point. Death was part of a shinobi’s life, but normally a shinobi was able to understand the risks of different missions and their capabilities…alas nothing had really gone as expected or planned in this venture. The only thing that he could do at this point in time was try to protect those left with him and return the young chuunin’s body back to their homeland. Glancing once more at Nori then turned to the sorrowful looking remaining chuunin that had lost both of his close friends and team members on this journey. It would most likely be a quiet trip the remaining portion of the trip as the group soon set off at an increased speed towards the strange Tenku chakra barrier that had been some distance away. After nearly an hour of traveling through the maze like, murky swamp and dealing with a few miner obstacles the trio would reach the barrier and without even the tiniest amount of hesitation or stopping to ask the group’s thoughts Zao would push straight into the barrier.

Though what lay before them made the man let out a low, angry growl as before them inside the hundred by hundred meter barrier was a massive thirty meter snake that lay coiled up around something in the center of the barrier. Zao had full heartily hopped that the barrier had been placed there by their mysterious predecessor to keep spirits out but instead it was just the opposite. Zao’s body seemed to be standing almost perfectly still just inside the edge of the barrier as the snake’s eyes snapped open revealing a bright green pair of eyes that almost seemed to glow as they locked onto the white haired scholar as it began to uncoil and as it did one could see the ever familiar space-time platform before shifting to the others as they entered. A hint of purple liquid seeped from the corners of the snake’s large mouth as it’s cobra like hood flared out as though it was threating the humans before it.

“I’ll make you a deal, give me the young one and I’ll let you use this sssstrange device left here by that bastard of a man. I haven’t been able to ssssavor the delicacy of human in nearly a century now…” An almost sister, female voice could be heard from the snake’s mouth as she spoke to the group, a teasing attitude to her words as flicked out her tongue as though tasting the group’s scent revealing a set of curved teeth meant for locking onto prey that were nearly a meter long each from the looks of it. Another barrier had been placed between them and returning home, but the journey had callused the man and tempered his attitude, before he would have attempted to talk to the spirit or even reason with her but instead a metal folding fan created from a mixture of fiery red and golden hues seemed to almost appear in the man’s hand. With a shake of the left hand Toge slipped from it and burrowed into the ground after being told to prepare a surprise attack from the mental link they shared with one another. This time was different, Zao apparently planned to protect those around him and destroy anything that got in their way…

[WrightJustice]

Nori felt his head again for a moment as he felt the genjutsu lift and his emotions become his own again but that also meant they became focused on something else instead; their dying companion swiftly became the forefront of the man's thoughts as he turned to look at the muscular chuunin that lay in pain, Zao now above him ready to do a deed no-one should ever have to do and in fact never need to witness and as such this tall, lanky man could not bare to do just that.

With eyes closed the black clothed male turned his head to the side as he heard sorry whispers seep from his friend's mouth followed by silence emanating from the one he was forced to kill to bring peace, a silence that hung and permeated the last remaining few of the group as the white clothed man then gently sealed the body away so that they may at least bring it back home with them which was just a small piece of solace for the man that dared not look upon them.

A quiet, cold rage brewed within the young Special Jounin's heart as he finally opened his eyes and glanced the final stage of the sealing process and in turn preventing himself from crying as he could not bare to release such emotions at this time and instead remained fully silent, locking away the sadness behind the rage as the finite group finally made a move toward the crimson barrier in total silence.

The silence was only broken once more when the shinobi finally breached the barrier, Zao crossing through first of course given his knowledge, though it was not by any of them but yet another vile serpent that called out in a devilishly pleasant tone. However whatever tone the snake may have spoke the group had nothing to say in return with the leader of the trip instantly moving to take action against it, to which Nori also swiftly followed suit as he instinctively pulled out his sword once more as the cold rage began to flare and energize his body and mind.

[Zao]

"Oh my, I'm ssso sssscared little humansss..." A bit of mockery could be heard in the serpent's voice as she began to uncoil herself from around the space-time platform that the group had become intimately familiar with over the course of their sorrowful journey. The little bit of mocker caused for the normally calm and scholarly man to grit his teeth as flames created from a mixture of golden and fiery red began to take shape upon the surface of the fan as chakra was visible to the naked eye coming off his body. Zao needed some form of release and for the moment he had just one target in mind and was only a few seconds away from releasing an incredibly powerful fire attack that not even his comrade Nori had been witness to and with only a moment before it was ready the snake spoke up once more. "Don't get to hasty little boy, because I sssshould tell you a secret about this platform and the old man that created it for you all to find.."

The jounin's face twisted slightly, unsure if the snake was buying some time or actually had something truthful to speak of, though from the snake's calm demeanor one had to question if there was more going on then in the previous couple of spirit realms that group had to travel through in order to reach this point. Exhaling slowly the young man managed to calm the rage burning within him for at least the time being, but it was still turning over within him needing some sort of outlet to let it go on. "Go ahead and speak..." An unusual tone of anger had worked its way into the man's voice as he spoke out with a loud voice that was border line yelling to the creature, letting the flame covered war fan hover to the side of him expressing his complete distrust in the snake and whatever she had to say.

"That's better, you should be obedient before a princess like myself." Her voice spoke out, a feeling of royalty filled within it as she attempted to move away from the alter closing the gap between her and the three tiny shinobi before a powerful Tenku chain appeared that was attacked to the snake's head was revealed. The experienced fuuin and Tenku user was able to determine at a glance that the chain was not only binding the creature but it seemed to link her directly to the platform in some strange fashion, something that was far above the skills of even himself to do. It even caused him to tilt his head as the words unconsciously slipped out between the thin lips on his mud covered face. "She's bound to the platform..?" It was more so him speaking his thoughts outload but the snakes enhanced senses from over fifty meters away could easily pick up on the words. Her tongue flicked from the small opening in the center of the upper and lower jaws as the snake seemed to take on a rather ugly expression that even a human could pick up on.

"That old man..." The anger and disgust for the man in question was like fire on the rapidly moving tongue as the creature spoke, even her body movements seemed to demonstrate how irritated the spirit was with just the thought of the person who had bound her here. "...yesss, you are correct child. That old man bound me to the platform behind me and without me being alive the sssstrange thing won't work....keke." An almost sinister laugh slipped through her lips as the hood around her head expanded to its fully size and the Tenku chain allowed for her to move closer to the group, only forty meters away at this point. She felt that she had a powerful bargaining chip that would keep the human's from killing her and she could demand whatever she wished from the group. "The spirit seems to have some truth to her words." Shaking his head the man looked over to Nori who was by his side as always, speaking in response to the words as it seemed the snake was actually being truthful. It was almost painful for Zao to admit it but the snake seemed to have the upper hand, if her words were completely true then accidently killing her would leave them stranded in this harsh and extremely dangerous realm.

"Ready to agree to my demandsss little children? Your princess is awaiting your answer." Her voice seemed to carry a bit of pride, as though she was some sort of ruling demanding something of the trio and in that moment the man looked over to Nori and then to their single remaining chuunin comrade and gave the thin ninjutsu user a nod to signify that he didn't need to worry. That was because Zao had made a promise to himself that if it was possible he would bring the boy home with them and protect him till the end...even if that meant he would need to kill the spirit before them and work to find another way home. "Nori, we must subdue this creature but we must only kill her if we absolutely have to." With the information passed to his comrade the young man shook his left arm and Toge slithered out and after forming a unique shape the thorn covered vine spirit began to go to a size that rivaled even the serpent before them. "You will bow to a human once more..." His voice filled the Tenku barrier, a calm and confident demeanor could be found within as he glanced over to Nori. "...once more into the fray, my friend."

A smile formed on the young man's lips, it was all or nothing at this point for the group...after all they had been through up to this point if they wanted to get home then they would have to continue to fight tooth and nail to move forward and seize this chance to finally go home. 'Toge, tie her down. I need a moment to prepare.' With the mental command issued to the golden bodied thorn vine it swished forward with its arm like vines to initiate combat with the snake. "I need a moment my friend, help Toge please." Zao once more needed Nori's help so that he could prepare a technique to help fight the spirit serpent in front of them as his hand moved by each of his hip pouches as four realm tags were removed and attached to chakra threads there were being guided to each corner of the Tenku barrier that was currently around them. But this was something that would take a couple moments and he needed help tieing down the spirit till then.

Toge moved with impressive speen and precision attempting to use its pure strength and speed to take on the creature, yet as the two arm like vines on its right side lashed out towards the creature the snake produced a sword from within its mouth as the double sized blade extended from its mouth and with a swift slash the sword was abl to easily cleave the thorny limps in half causing for Toge to rapidly withdraw as green liquid seeped from the new wounds. But as it retreated a distance from the now sword wielding snake it had already used its only ninjutsu as the two lips started to regrow themselves. This snake certainly had some tricks up its sleeves and even Zao was forced to narrow his eyes at the strange serpent, perhaps her speaking about being a princess held some merit with her strange abilities. Though the bright blue eyes didn't miss the venomous substance that coated the sword either, luckily his spirit plant didn't have blood or it could have been seriously injured with just that little attack.

Jutsu UsedShow

Zao preparing

Kuchiyose • [Heavenly Realm]
S-rank Tenkujutsu
Pre-Requisite: [Perfecting the Realm], 45 Control
After placing the necessary fuuinjutsu and preforming the needed hand seals, this technique allows the user to activate one of their B-Ranked realm summoning techniques at the S-Rank level allowing the user to increase the summoned area up to 80x80x20 meters that lasts for 15 posts. This allows the user to summon spirits cost free at the cost of one lump sum of chakra up-front.


Toge

Miracle Grow
E-Rank Transformation Ninjutsu
Channeling Chakra into its body the demon plant is able to activate its transformation ability and grow to the described size stated in the ability section. Though this technique only allows the plant to increase its size and grow a single pair of supplementary vines. Further techniques are required to create more supplementary vines or to regrow injured ones.

[WrightJustice]

Nori was ready to go on the offensive when the large snake began to speak some more as she unleashed words of supposed truth at the group, which Zao took a chance to hear and halted their advance as more royally toned words poured out of the serpent's mouth. As she spoke the apparent princess moved closer until she was jolted back by a tether that appeared to link her directly to the pedestal they all wished to reach and use to get home.

A small amount of curiosity started to fill the black clothed Special Jounin as he took in the snake's behaviour, words and the truth of it all going by off the way she was bound by spirit techniques that may even be far superior to that of his friend's which he supposed made sense given this mysterious ancient man they appeared to be chasing down.

However curiosity could not remove the anger that burned much deeper within which appeared to be the same for everyone present for despite all the words spoken it did not prevent the group from being prepared to take on the serpent; if the princess's life force was connected to the way home then they would just have to beat her within the edge of her life whilst making sure she never actually died until they passed through, unless they could somehow take control of her or stop her like they had done previous.

Whatever the case their assault commenced with Toge growing and lashing out only to be slashed apart here and there which meant Nori would have to dive into the fray and provide some aid so that an opening may be provided, though he was also sure his white clothed companion was already preparing a powerful attack that shouldn't take too much longer to form so he just had to hold out until then.

With the surge of a blazing fury Nori leapt forward as he took hold of his sword, tightening his grip as it flowed with chakra once more and formed the well known wind blade as per usual, a blade that shot out and swung toward the snake's head in attempt to divert her from using her own against their vicious planty companion.
Hopefully this would be the opening needed for Toge to get in with his own attacks, perhaps even begin to tangle with the serpent and hold it down tight as he continued to strike with the hurricane blade.

JutsuShow

Fuuton • Expert Extending Hurricane Blade
A-Ranked Fuuton Jutsu
The user will channel fuuton chakra into their weapon coating it in a vortex of wind which then shoots out at 20 speed in whatever direction they decided to point their weapon. This thin twister of wind can extend up to 40m or retract back based on the whims of the user and basically acts like a long bladed sword/spear with 30 strength, even being capable of being moved along as it slices through what is in its path. This can be continuously controlled as such for up to 3 posts, however the longer the blade is extended the harder it is to pivot and move in different direction which means retracting the blade first may be a better option.

[Zao]

The snake appeared to not even feel threated by the tiny man as the spirit plant had been forced back in order to allow time for its 'arms' to regrow after being sliced cleanly off by the swift and powerful sword slash from the serpent that had been an unexpected surprise attack. Even Zao couldn't help but be surprised that she'd been able to summon forth such a massive sword from within her mouth, it appeared to be something similar to fuuin but he couldn't be sure exactly how it worked. Or even it that was the only weapon she could summon, perhaps it was only one of many swords, or there was even the possibility that she was able to use a number of different weapons. After injuring the plant spirit pet the spirit then turned its emerald green eyes onto the tiny man and his attack as she swept her sword that was laced with the purple venom from her mouth, smashing it head on into the attack. It was almost the same result as the blade actually smashed through the wind blade created by Nori, not only was she strong but also fast and agile.

Apep was a different breed of dangerous when compared to the red faced ape from the realm of Primates that they had previously been within, he still had some honor about him and wanted to crush them directly but this one was a sly beast who not only had strength and speed but also possibly a very dangerous poison/venom to attack with as well. As the blade slashed through the elemental one she spat it out towards the injured spirit plant that was healing itself. Luckily the plant was still focused on his opponent and swirled its body turning it into almost a circle that went around the blade as it smashed tip first into the ground, the sheer force of the weapon causing the ground to tremble like an earthquake for a few seconds following the blade sinking into the damp earth. Despite having wounded the plant and forcibly smashed apart Nori's attack before once more attacking Toge, the princess seemed to have a look of almost joy on her face, enjoying the feel of battle even though she felt the creature before here were far beneath her strength.

The prideful creature less out an almost soothing hiss towards the ground before coiling herself back into a striking position, her gaze fallen upon all four of the opponents present before her now as she quietly cast a genjutsu upon the group with the exception of Toge who didn't have any eyes to see the gaze coming from the snake. The spirit creature once more advanced attempting to grapple the creature as Zao was focusing chakra into the area contained within the large Tenku style barrier, finally able to place his tags the man felt his vision begin to go blurry leaving only the different color blobs before him. Shaking his head the man closed his eyes and tried to focus on the task at hand and was finally able to release the chakra he had been molding this entire time as the four realm tags began to glow and a powerful tenku barrier shot up inside the already existing barrier. While it was not as grand as the mysterious man's barrier it still was able to encompass them all forming an eighty meter barrier now that transformed the environment into a scorching hot desert with sandy soil underneath their feet now which even caused for the serpent to hesitate having never experienced a realm summoning technique before.

Apep being a marsh land snake instantly felt uncomfortable in the extreme heat, but for the Suna-nin it would feel like a warm embrace from there homeland that the group so whole desired to return to, Zao's hands moved together forming a single hand seal before a large poof of chakra smoke appeared behind the snakes position. A twenty five meter mongoose swiftly broke through the screen of smoke and launched itself towards the snake which caused the snake's green eyes to tremble in fear slightly. In a few moment the pair and Toge where grappling and fighting one another in a two on one brawl. The mongoose appearing to hold not only the advantage in strength but also speed on the snake, something she had been so prideful about earlier. Zao had opened his eyes but still had his vision blurred by the illusionary technique, realizing that it wasn't something natural and a moment later forced chakra to flush out his mind of the foreign chakra returning his vision to normal.

The battle before them was an intense one, senbon were shot from the mouth of the snake, confirming that the sword wasn't the only weapon she could summon to aid her in combat as the furry predator was forced back to avoid being nailed to the ground with five long senbon needles that were each two meters in length. Her tail smashed into the thorny limbs of Toge to keep him beat back before her mouth seemed to close tightly. The throat of the creature expanded before she pointed her mouth downward and released a thick cloud of poison mist that spewed outwards in every direction from her, a desperate attack to create some breathing room between her and the other two spirits that had been on the attack. It quickly rolled towards Nori and himself, along with the ninjutsu using chuunin who was still entrapped in the low level ninjutsu. 'Fuck!' "Hold your breath and move back!" It was moving to fast to completely avoid with his speed and all he could do was shout out to his comrades as the group was forced to retreat before being temporarily covered by the fog like purple venom. A moment later Zao exited the cloud with the younger chuunin as he looked over in Nori's direction to ensure that he had been able to do the same....the serpent attempted to hid itself within the cloud for the moment but the mongoose wasn't scared and had already charged into the depths of the cloud that covered the majority of the realm summoning now.

The sounds of battle could be heard but not seen as the cloud began to settle slowly revealing the shadows of two large spirits fighting. Each member of the group will feel the almost burning sensation on any exposed skin that was touched by the venom cloud, giving a similar sensation to having a rather bad sun burn but as long as no one had inhaled it then they would be fine in the end...

Apep's JutsuShow

[Disrupting Gaze]
D-Ranked Illusion Genjutsu
After forming a unique movement with her body, any victim that sees the snake's gaze focus upon them will be induced under the genjutsu. This causes the target vision to become blurry for the next three posts or until dispelled, making it slightly harder to see and react to attacks.

Zao and TogeShow

Kuchiyose • [Scorching Desert]
B-rank Tenkujutsu
Pre-Requisite: Charge Fuuinjutsu Concentration
After placing the necessary fuuinjutsu and preforming the needed hand seals, the user summons an area up to 20^3 meters that lasts for 5 posts. This barrier creates a desert overlay transferred from the spirit realm, that is layered with a sudden extreme jump in heat, and the sound hot dry wind blowing through out whipping sand through the air limiting visibility and hearing slightly. This allows the user to summon spirits cost free at the cost of one lump sum of chakra up-front.

Entangle the Attack
B-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
Utilizing the creatures speed and agility the plant will meet an on coming straight line attack from an opponent by forming their body into a coil that allows the attack to pass through the empty space in the middle of the coil before the plant then attempts to bind around the limb or weapon used in the attack.

Get Hooked
C-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
A simple technique that utilizes the main vine of the plant's body to attempt and attack the foundation of its opponent while they are occupied dealing with attacks from the larger main vine the creature then utilizes one or more of its supplementary vines to attempt and strike/bind an opponent with an attack from the side.

[WrightJustice]

Nori wasn't sure his attack even did anything to the large serpent and was also somewhat taken aback by her retaliation, feeling the full force of her own blade as it smashed right through his elemental one and almost caused him to drop his actual sword with a break in his tight grip causing it to loosen as his arm was even jolted to the side.

The strength was so immense that the black clothed man couldn't even be sure if it was on par or possibly stronger than the large ape from before as either used too much force for him to even try and measure and comprehend, though it somehow seemed more surprising with the princess who one might not have expected to be so brutally strong especially with her speed which was also unforgiving.

Nonetheless the Special Jounin swiftly got a hold of his sword once more with a true and proper grip only to catch a glimpse of the vile snake's menacing look, a similar look to that of the previous spirit; such vile eyes that previously put fear within him only this time his vision started to blur, which actually quickly clued the man in on their whole genjutsu shtick and how they could perform them from a simple glance.

Given what he believed Nori was this time rather fast at pulling the trigger on cancelling out any genjutsu as he went to briefly sheath his sword and performed Kai once more, which would of course eliminate his dampened visual acuity as he predicted all in time to witness his friend's own barrier spring up and warp the battlefield around them which was odd but came to no surprise to the man by this point and neither was the sudden appearance of a large mongoose spirit that struck at their foe.

A large battle was beginning to unfold before them all now as the serpent retaliated by spraying giant senbon in a similar fashion to its sword before which had barely missed Toge and pounded the earth into vibration, though that was not all for a purple haze then began to seep from its mouth and spread out into the area with a reaction from Zao telling everyone to hold their breath and retreat.

However the tall yet humorously small man compared to the spirits simply took a breath and covered his face as chakra began to flow to his hands which swiftly moved away from his sword before thrusting forward and releasing a gust of wind; the speedy poison did reach the man a bit, burning his skin but would then be swiftly blown away before any proper damage as the gust propelled through it and toward the large snake to which Nori would then jump back with the others unsure if the haze might seep back toward him or not once the wind ceased.

If there was more poison and his attack was not enough the fuuton user was prepared to instantly move into another wind based attack, this time a fully defensive one that would surround not only himself but Zao and the last remaining chuunin as well which should prevent any of the mist from reaching them and would perhaps be a bit of a wall for any other attacks.

JutsuShow

Fuuton • Godly Mountain Gust
C-Ranked Fuuton Jutsu
After channelling fuuton chakra into their hands, the user will thrust their hands forward as a vortex of wind blasts through with a speed of 10. The vortex's direction can be controlled with a Control stat of at least 15. The control, however, is limited; it can only be moved in a 45 degree angle, up to three times. A hit from this vortex packs a large push back force, though the person can avoid being pushed back with a strength of 5 or greater. Control of this Jutsu fades after two posts and spans an area 3m wide and up to 20m in length. Direct hits result in long but shallow cuts on the victim's body, covering the whole radius of the techniques point of contact, no deeper than half an inch.

SpoilerShow

[Zao]

Nori's technique was successful in pushing back the quickly moving poison cloud, after all it wasn't being controlled by the snake through any method of chakra and was just lingering in the air causing for the air current brought forth from the young man's wind based attack to easily create a gap in the poison cloud only a few moments after it had encompassed the trio. Yet, a light coughing could be heard from the chuunin whom had reacted a half second to late and reluctantly had inhaled a tiny amount of the poisonous substance. 'Fuck..' Though Zao didn't say it out loud the man knew that the younger shinobi was far to experienced in battle and hearing the light coughing sound the man knew what the most likely cause. But at the moment he didn't have time to focus on the shinobi as the three shinobi were out of the cloud but the sounds of combat could still be heard as even the ground would tremble from time to time as Apep, Toge, and the summoned mongoose thrashed about within the fading purple haze now.

A few moments would pass before the sounds of conflict would stop and the group could see the tangled mess of snake, plant, and animal interwoven with one another. The snake was pinned to the ground as the mongoose, an avid hunter of even King snakes had a firm bite on the back of the massive snake's neck ensuring here mouth was securely shut under the pressure of its bite and size. Though Toge was only evenly matched against the snake in terms of physical stats it was able to entangle her body with his own thorny one with the help of the other spirit now as the thorns had ripped and torn at the snake's scaly skin causing a number of small wounds that had dark red blood seeping from them now. Zao could only let out a sigh of relief, but at the same time he turned to look at the chuunin who had a somewhat dazed look on his face as though he was having trouble seeing before he then threw his body forward and began to vomit.

"How dangerous is this snake's venom?" He spoke more so to himself but the snake's perceptive hearing allowed for the man's soft voice to enter her ears, which caused for a muffled female laugh to be heard within the realm summoning as the snake shifted against the weight of the mongoose and Toge's binding upon her, uncomfortable within the hot sandy realm the white haired scholar had brought forth. The sun hung over head beating down the sand filled desert realm Zao brought forth onto everyone as a hot breeze helped to push away the remaining venom laced cloud. "He's to weak to survive the poison of a royal breed snake..." The almost sinister words seeped through the tiny slit between the snakes upper and lower jaws, being all that the snake was able to open its mouth due to her current situation. Yet, Zao was unsure if the words were lies or truth, but he knew what the next step would be as he channeled chakra in between himself and the three spirits.

As the space-time charka began to cover the gap between the shinobi and the spirits he extended his right hand out to the side as a powerful maroon glow could be seen forming over the entire hand as thick Tenku based chakra swirled around it. When the snake saw the Tenku chakra and felt the pressure radiating from it she began to struggle wanting to get away from Zao. She had experienced something similar from the mysterious old traveler when he had bound her to this portal. The former jounin was only thinking about one thing, if there was a method to save their comrade considering everything the snake had said so far appeared to be truth be he needed to know for sure, even if it meant they might become stuck within this terrible realm. With a single step the man crossed the gap between them of nearly fifty meters in an instant and was now standing upon the creature's head causing her to tremble in shock and once more attempt to break free from the two spirit's that were binding her in place.

The man's slender hand slapped down onto the scaly head and the Tenku chakra began to flood through her body and into her very soul as she felt herself being bound into a type of slavery to the tiny human, it was a completely different feeling then with the old man before...this was much more terrifying to her as the ma had left her free to act and do as she wanted but now she was under this human's control almost completely. Once more Zao asked except his voice was more stern and even commanding to the now bound serpent spirit. "Did you speak the truth earlier and is there a way to save him?" A heavy sigh escaped the serpent's lips, feeling compelled to reply now to her new master, "Yes, everything that's I've spoken since the start was the truth. And unless you have a powerful medical shinobi skilled in poison removal than no..." As the two were speaking with one another Nori would be able to see the ninjutsu specialist chuunin's body stiffen to the point that he would collapse as full paralysis overtook his body.

He could be heard trying to gasp for breath, the poison was a powerful one that not only paralyzed the body but also the respiratory system, meaning that without significant personal strength in one's body to fight off that part of the poison one was doomed to suffocate and die. Zao was unaware of the situation happening back with Nori as his mind was filled with regret for not being stronger and his eyes closed and his head fell slightly forward at this point. It would only take a short while before the young man would stop breathing completely and pass away quietly, this venom much stronger than the one they had experienced before with the muscular chuunin. Knowing there was nothing to do the man turned his gaze behind the three spirits and leaped off Apep's head and landed on the teleporter array that seemed similar to the other ones and circulated his space-time chakra within it to no effect, it didn't work and he didn't know the method to bind a spirit to the array. "We're stuck here it seems my friend, I'm sorry."

A sorrowful gaze filled the man's normally bright blue eyes causing them to seem dim at the moment, yet as he prepared to step off the platform a small portal opened up causing him to jump back out of surprise. The portal tore open space and within one could see what appeared to be endless shelves of books. This was not caused by the platform, Zao was sure of that, this was more like someone's personal portal. "What is this? Who does this portal belong to?!" The man couldn't help but call out loud as he examined the portal, it seemed as though this might be a way out of this realm but who was waiting for them on the other side. Nori and Zao would have to decide wither to take their chances here or head into the unknown realm of someone else, but first they would take care of their comrade's body and Toge would return to it's masters wrist to rest and recover from the battle in order to allow its injuries to heal. In the end Zao had already decided to enter the portal but he wanted to hear what Nori was thinking..

JutsuShow

*Tighten Space: Step
A-rank Jikukan Ninjutsu
The user will do a series of hand seals, then focus on a location within 50m in front of them. There can be no obstructions, to include people, in this 50m range. Once they’ve targeted the location, they’ll take a step forward. The space between their current location and target location will rapidly tighten at 25 speed, allowing them to take a single step to cover the distance, then return to normal.

Spirit Claiming • [Supremacy Over the Beast]
S-rank Tenkujutsu
Prerequisite: 40 Control
After preforming the necessary hand seals, the user places their hand over the spirit as they flood their chakra for an entire post. If the spirit has a control stat higher than the user's, then the spirit will resist the claim. However if they do not, they will be bonded to the user like contractual summon/spirit companion, and able to be summoned at any time at the will of the user. And have to obey their every willful command. This jutsu is able to place a claim on spirits up to A-Rank.

[WrightJustice]

Nori's attack hadn't done much else besides clear the poison around the group but that was at least a small relief, that is until a faint coughing sound could be heard amongst the group which immediately drew the tall man's attention; the last remaining chuunin appeared to have unfortunately breathed in some of the purple haze and was already being effected and in turn causing worry to spread across Nori's face as he moved over to the poor lad.
"Don't tell me...?" the wearisome and worried male blurted out in query as he made a move towards their comrade.

The black clothed man's worry swiftly turned into fright and horror as their ninjutsu specialist's health worsened just as fast right before him, which made it difficult to focus on the gigantic battle that was still unfolding within their vicinity which then in turn made him barely notice his friend's reactions and how the man instantly began to warp space in retaliation all while the chuunin's life force began to unforgivably fade and flicker away.

Steel cracked and shattered within the special jounin's heart as he then collapsed by their dying comrade's side barely taking in any words that where being said around them, his knees plummeting into mud as his head slowly bowed and sorrow finally broke through his could rage compounded together from not only these two recent deaths, of which he was trying his utmost to hold back feelings of loss over their muscled companion until a later time, but also now the medic once again as it all felt like too much and quickly brought back even her death to to forefront of his mind.

Nori wasn't really aware of what Zao was doing at this time as he knelt low to the ground besides their dead friend, tears streaming down his face as he continuously pounded the ground with both fists in quiet fury and sorrow, not truly registering that the princess snake was tamed and under the white clothed man's rule but in return possibly stranding them in the realm now which could easily be a simple fate worth surrendering to at this moment in time.
"Why... Why... Why... Why... Why..." he began to speak in a shaky, hushed tone as his fists began to slow and calm until they unfurled into the mud as if they had no more energy and just had to collapse as his head also full on sank and pushed into the muddy ground.

After a brief moment the sorrowful and muddy man suddenly began to surge as his fingers dug into the ground and formed near fists once more as he then lifted his head a little, slowly glanced at the chuunin again and then sprung up to his feet, scooping the boy into his arms as he did so; a dead look covered his whole face as mud and and makeup streaked down it truly giving him the look of a soulless zombie.

With the very much dead and wasted life of a body in his arms Nori turned toward Zao and the portal, his empty, white orbs almost seeming to see right through the man as he glanced between them, all soulless until he suddenly, all quiet-like stepped forward and waited a moment as he stared blankly into the space and recalled the words said before before finally stepping through in a truly rigid manner without ushering a single word more.

[Zao]

It was in the moment that he was asking Niro the questions that he almost stopped in his tracks, the chuunin had already died and the lifeless look that now inhabited his eyes caused for the young man's heart to ache. This was a man who had been with him for a few adventure and something that he considered to be one of his few true friends. Yet, in the end he had dragged the man through this bloody mess and allowed for this shadow to fall over both of them. As the special jounin who carried the body of their newly deceased comrade simply walked straight through the portal that opened up out of no where without a word to Zao the former jounin didn't speak or try to stop him in that moment. Instead he hung his head a bit and with an exhale he took one last glance at the serpent and mongoose before making a hand seal that canceled the realm summoning and with a poof of chakra smoke the injured serpent allowed for its body to slouch to the ground turning her head away from her new master.

"I'll deal with you later..." The sorrow filled voice spoke out causing the snake's head to twist slightly allowing a single, bright green eye to look back towards the small portal and the human who had bound her, unsure of what her fate would be as the Tenku barrier began to crumble as well. At least for the moment she was free of the former chains that bound her and with the barrier soon to disappear she would be able to escape into the swamp to heal her wounds from the battle. With those words still lingering in the air the dirt and mud covered man stepped through this time without the slightest bit of hesitation. The two men would arrive to a floating platform in a room that seemed to go on in every direction the looked being unable to find a wall or ceiling. The only thing one could see was shelves and shelves of floating book cases, some of them hundreds of meters tall as they moved around the room slowly rotating and others seemed to move almost erratically as books seemed to come alive and fly off the shelf.



"So you decided to take the portal for a chance to return home, eh?" The voice of an elderly man could be heard from above as a rather normal looking old man slowly floated down from a bookshelf after picking a book from the gigantic shelf and gracefully touching down to the floating platform the two Suna-nin were standing upon with a single foot. Space seemed to warm in front of him slightly as a table and single chair appeared as the man grunted slightly as he was seated, as though it was a bit hard for him to sit down. It was then that a set of piercing pale grey eyes looked forward to examine the two men and the dead chuunin before he spoke straight forwardly to the young men in front of him. "You two made it quite far in the trials left behind, for that I decided it was best to save you from that realm and return you to your own realm. While you both have some physical and inner strength, it would not be enough to carry you any further. Consider the scroll that I left for you a condolence prize."

"You...you....you've been watching us the whole time?!" Zao was a bit stupefied by the old man's words that it took him a few moments to even get a response out as he stuttered slightly at first, if the man was watching the whole time then that meant that he could have saved not only Nori and himself as he just did but he could have prevented the deaths of the three others. As he spoke the man's right hand lifted up and pointed at him, his bright blue gaze filled with a growing anger as they shifted quickly to Nori and back to the man. "You must be angry about those three little kids, one shouldn't concern themselves with the loss of trash..." In the man's eyes, the three had no talent and thus no future and could only be considered to be trash within his mind but this was enough to truly anger Zao, and probably Nori, to the point of making a stupid decision.

Lifting his left hand Toge went to shoot out from the sleeve as the right hand pulled the war fan from the side of his pack and gold laced flames began to churn on its surface, but in that moment the old man casually raised his hand and space and time seemed to become completely sealed around the group. Toge was frozen mid air and Nori would find that himself and Zao were in much the same boat, this man before them was truly an unfathomable person who there were like leaves in the wind against. A bit of fear entered the man's blue eyes as the old man seemed to teleport in front of him and his friend, them being unable to fight back even if they wanted to do so. "You little kids at least have some spirit in your bodies, but don't ever try to return here with only this level of strength or I'll kill you next time."

It came out of the old man's mouth like a casual sentence, almost like he'd been joking with the two shinobi, but Zao and Nori would have been able to sense the huge pressure that would engulf their bodies and minds briefly before fading when the man turned his back to them: this pressure as sheer killing intent that radiated off the man. Just how man people did one have to kill in order for them to inherit his level of killing intent in just their gaze? It was truly a scary thing to think about as Zao struggled to make his body move but could hardly make even a single limb do more than tremble in the frozen area of space and time. "Be gone, I have a lot to do..." Zao wanted to speak, to say more to the man, even question the purpose of all this but a suction enveloped the two frozen men from a new tear in space and the two men were tossed into it as everything would go black.

An unknown amount of time would pass as the two men would wake up in a very familiar place, inside the cave and on top of the first teleportation platform that had started this bloody adventure. The chuunin whom Nori had been packing lay beside him as well...there wasn't anything the man wished to say to his friend in this moment and couldn't even bring forth the feelings to rejoice about them returning to the human realm now. Soon after the two men gathered themselves and exited the cavern to the outside world, having experienced the four or five years worth of travels that they had within the spirit realms, they would be hit with startling news from the guides who had brought them up there. The group had only been missing for two months worth of time, even Zao was speechless at this new revelation...with a lot to think about the man waved his hand tearing open a hole in space and time that led straight to the Sand village and looked to his friend.

"This will take you home my friend, here is the body of our other friend..." Taking out the scroll that held the sealed body of the deceased muscular chuunin and handing it to Nori he continued to speak. "...I need to take care of some things before can I return to the village, please inform the new Kazekage of what happened. I'll take responsibility for everything that has happened and deal with the consequences..." Zao had been shown his many flaws and weaknesses in this journey and wished to fix these but there was something else he needed to do...that was to return and retrieve the body of the female chuunin which they had been forced to leave within the Minotaur realm. He could not leave her family without even a body to mourn over...

[WrightJustice]

Nori stepped through the mysterious portal with what little hope he had left and emerged in a rather intriguing and perplexing room with only bookshelves to see stretching far and wide, though the man's face could not contort nor could his heart be moved by such strangeness as he seemed to be frozen over at this time and pushing on for the sake of things so that no death may be in vain at the very least.

Once Zao also stepped through an elderly but powerful voice rang out from above whereupon a figure then came floating down before them and suddenly began warping things in so he could have a comfortable sit down, thus confirming his age, though to be the long forgotten space-time expert from the ages and still be alive at this time was certainly no minor feet as such a person of right mind would also be shocked to find he was still living.

The ancient being went on to explain a few things to help the duo understand though in some very unpleasant terms as the white clothed of the duo spoke up in backlash to the man, whereas the black clothed one wasn't sure where to find his anger and yet still slowly moved to fight in unison with his companion until the so called powerful attacks that where being unleashed where squashed like they where nothing and time around them seemed to freeze so that they could do nothing but listen.

After a moment of mockery from the absolute space-time master what remained of the group suddenly appeared back at their starting point before all this began, though unfortunately it wasn't so true that everyone was back alive as only space and reality had moved for them and not time but at least they where back in their own realm with only a few months passed going by discussions they finally had with the people of the mountain village.

With a bit of powerful space bending, though evidently nowhere as powerful as was originally thought, Zao opened a portal to Sunagakure and told Nori to go through with the scroll of their other dead friend and so the man simply nodded and took the dead companions back home whereupon he reported everything that happened to the best of his abilities with sorrow scarring deep within his heart.