A River Made Of Stars

[Sia]

There wasn't much time, Maido whispered into Shuichi's ear. They would be arriving shortly, and Shuichi, Maido, Hisayo, and Kayoko needed to be prepared. Hurrying briskly through the countryside of the Land of Stars, Maido's spies had come with great and harrowing news. Horribly, things had gone south for Maido's newest scientist and to the best of her knowledge Shinjiro had somehow gotten involved. How? Why? These were questions for Shinjiro himself she supposed. Shuichi wasn't really sure what to think. He had heard of Shinjiro and Chiaki, but he hadn't really interacted with them terribly much other than being at the mercy of one of Shinjiro's heinous genjutsu in a basement in the middle of Waterfall Country. He shook his head.

Hopefully, today would be better. Hisayo and Kayoko were in different attire than usual, having worn robes that Maido had suggested would do well in obscuring who they were. Shuichi tsked to himself. Things were beginning to come together and a strange way that he had never even dreamed of. Start a village? Hah! The idea was laughable and yet....for some reason in his heart of hearts he knew that it could one day be possible. It was plausible, maybe improbable, but not impossible. Shuichi sighed and gazed about the area. "This is a good location." Maido whispered into his ear. Shuichi began to form together hand seals and produced a wall of Kouton, then another, then another, then another. He continued on with this process, creating beams of steal and structures of metal whilst Hisayo and Kayoko assisted with Doton. In a few minutes, they had set up a rather sizeable house, with functioning doors, windows, roofs, and an incredibly large basement. And it was quite hidden. Surronded by trees, surrounded by moss, surrounded by the very earth below. Hisayo, Kayoko, and Shuichi worked together and eased the structure into the ground, submerging it into the terrain and leaving a door in the side of a hill as an entrance, hidden by a large bit of moss.

"That'll do for now, let's head to the town." Shuichi said to Hisayo and Kayoko, and the four of them made their way to the town, eagerly awaiting the arrival of their favorite people.

[Kanade]

Chiaki was on top of Shinjiro still when they finally summited the last hill, the day just starting to break over the horizon. The brisk morning air set her skin to tingling. Her cold receptors on her e-body told her that it would be uncomfortably chill for her disciple, but she also was tired of flying. That and she had accidentally built her e-body almost exactly as her body was before, and she was getting motion sick. She decided that it would behoove her to take that part of herself out the next time that she did a ‘tune up’ of her E-body.

Looking at Hanako she nodded to her disciple, forming some hand seals, she put a silicone barrier on Hanako just in case Shinjiro decided to buck her off or drop her at the last moment. She then jumped off of the bird, making her way rapidly toward the ground. She wasn’t necessarily scared, but getting her artificial adrenal glands going was always exciting.

Wait for it… wait for the absolute last second. Her hair streamed out behind her, made entirely of silicone but having the appearance of the keratin found in humans, her muscles tensed, a taut bowstring bracing for an impact that would never happen. Her pupils dilated, artificially created by tiny sheaves of Megallium, the small irises opening wide to give her the optimum amount of light. False blood thrummed in her ear.

At the very last second she wove her hands in seals and placed her palm on herself. Silicone erupted out of her, forming what looked like a lotus, complete with red petals and green leaves, shooting down at a blinding pace towards the ground.

Dirt loosened by her impact flew into the air, the petals unfolding almost as rapidly as they had formed to reveal a very intact standing Chiaki Kyoukan, stepping out onto the petal and into the clearing. She breathed in, her faux scent receptors telling her that it was damp, that the morning dew had enhanced the scents that hung in the air, that there was a fertile land that was there, ripe for the seed of Kintsugi to begin. She grinned at the bird in the sky and waved to Shinjiro and Hanako before putting her hands up in a languid and lazy stretch. The silicone made it feel like she wanted to stretch forever, and she could easily bend backward and touch her forehead to her heels now, but that feeling of needing a stretch never went away. Something else for her to tweak.

She sped off towards the aforementioned town at a sprint, wanting to not only stretch her legs a little, but also to see the sights from the ground perspective. She was grateful to Shinjiro for flying them this far, but she also was a girl that loved to wander on her own two feet. She had seen the town from the air. Speeding through the trees, dodging between bushes, and jumping over rivers, she made her swift way towards the village.

Jutsu learned/used. 508/400 words.Show

Silicone • Descending Lotus
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
After the correct hand seals are performed, the user either grows around their body, or allows for a touched person to grow Lotus petals at [control] speed, completely engulfing them and pushing foreign objects not worn or attributed to the character away from them at [control] speed. These petals only extend 1/2 meter from the user's body, and it puts the user into a forced standing position with their arms crossed over their chest (with [control] strength]. These have [control] strength and are usually used to break the user's fall from high places or counteract a taijutsu that uses gravity against the user.

[HotelBravo]

How long had they been flying? It felt like months, but it couldn’t have been more than a day or two. Hanako had endured well with her shinobi discipline, but all that aside she was still for all intents and purposes a child. Sometimes there was just only so much a small body could endure. It was right as she thought that she was at the last of her strength that she felt a renewal of awareness flood into her body as the sensation of chakra and silicone trickled her senses as the barrier formed around her. She had little chance to ask what this was all for when Chiaki formed a barrier about herself and promptly hopped off the back of the bird. This was when Hanako finally began to take in the village. It was a curious place with architecture that both belonged to the Eastern sensibility but also something that was incredibly foreign. It was hard for her to really put a mark on it, but the structure of the town in places were made with adobe bricks and built like ziggurats. It was a sight that Hanako had never seen before in all her life in Kumogakure, and as she glanced down from the advantageous height she had on the back of Shinjiro in his bird form she made sure to take in every single inch of it.

Nobody had cared to mention where they were going, and Hanako had never asked. To her, it hadn’t mattered as long as Chiaki was going there as well. Her mind raced through her geography lessons trying to apply the colorful patterns of topographical maps to what she was seeing now. One thing those maps had failed to take into account was the sheer amount of vegetation and other such things that would hinder one from truly measuring the elevation.

”This is the place then.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement of fact. She had found Shinjiro had only barely tolerated her and in her experience people like that were better to appease than to needlessly annoy, and so she did not direct her thoughts at Shinjiro. She did however decide to follow Chiaki’s example and find her own path to the ground below. With a deft twist her Obi came loose and she doffed her Kimono, revealing the spats and full body Kusari that she wore beneath the kimono; in a literal sense silk hiding steel. She tied the arms into knots and then pinched the four corners of the fabric together in her fists.

She then followed Chiaki’s lead, using her Kimono as a surprisingly effective parachute. It was in part to how much material her kimono was made of, and just how small Hanako was. She was thirteen already but she was under five feet tall and weighed close to 70 lbs. Her body, while undoubtedly female, didn’t have any of the curves that made being a woman fun, she was after all, still just a girl.

As she got nearer to the ground she exchanged her grip so her parachute was in a single hand and her right hand went for her kunai holster on her right thigh, that was now exposed since her kimono no longer was hiding it. She pulled out a pair of Kunai and placed both kunai between her teeth. She then began to form a flurry of awkward seals as she still hand the parachute mostly in the other hand. She molded her chakra to take on the characteristics of lightning and Earth and the power flooded easily into the steel kunai like this was the most natural thing in the world.

The thing about the cold that was in her favor is that the stilling of atoms actually improved the strength of a magnet, and she flooded the two kunai with her chakra. Her fingers slipped into the rings of the two kunai and she gave them a lazy throw, not aiming at anything in particular. As the kunai flew they suddenly arced and turned their points and speed back towards Hanako who had formed a tiger seal and wore the expression of concentration.

The Two kunai slipped down suddenly and came to a halt beneath her feet. She grinned at her success and threw her kimono back on and fixed her obi. She then fixed her Kumogakure head band before casually walking the rest of the way down by moving her kunai in an alternate pattern to form steps until her feet were safely on the floor. She then had the kunai fly up into her hand which she caught with the practiced ease of a shuriken jutsu expert and replaced the two weapons back into the holster. She then turned to Chiaki and beamed a self satisfied smile, hoping her teacher had just seen what a cool thing she had just done.

”I hope she saw that. I had been thinking about using Magnetization for some time now and had read a few scrolls but this is the first time I really put it into practice. I wish I could trust her facial expression, but she got so much better at controlling her expressions ever sense she changed her body into silicon. I kind of miss her flesh and bone body even if it was weak as it was. I guess thats what it means to be kunoichi sometimes. I’ve removed my own weaknesses too - but with lots of practice so its not too dissimilar.” Hanako began to talk aloud to herself as was her habit, when her mind began to race and the room in her head for spare thoughts decreased to the point that they could only find one place to be - and that was spat out of her mouth in a word soup really not befitting a kunoichi.

981/880

Jutsu learned

Code: Select all

*[b][color=#f154ff]Jikiton • Hover Grip[/color][/b]
C-Ranked Jikiton Jutsu
The user will first perform the necessary hand seals, before coating a metallic weapon in Jikiton chakra. This allows the user to manoeuvre the weapon through the air at their will at [Control] speed and strength so long as it remains within 25 metres of their person. This technique lasts for 3 posts.

[Izanagi]

At first there was sure to be a sense of excitement and liberation as the fugitives weaved in and out of clouds, leaving Kumogakure in their wake as they traversed the skies. Shinjiro flew swiftly, giving a wide berth to the abundant spires of rock. There was no telling where a Kumogakure outpost might lay in wait. If he were alone and unhindered, he could move faster than lightning itself or shapeshift into any number of small creature that could slip by undetected. But atop his back, clutching to the feathers of his eagle form sat a woman and a girl. If they were to hang on he would be forced to move at barely half his full speed. Some would accuse the assassin from Kirigakure of kidnapping them, others would hold the pair of former Kumo shinobi accountable for their treason. But ultimately, none of that mattered now. Chiaki and Hanako were his companions and under his protection, nothing would stop him from escorting them to their destination.

As the hours dragged on mountains and ravines gave way to the open ocean. Clouds became dense rain and bellowing thunder and streaks of lightning as if the spirits of the land lashed out at their betrayal. The night came, with only the occasional bolt of lightning to guide their way. And yet Shinjiro persisted. At some point his head had transformed into that of an owl. The noise was deafening to him, but at least he could see. Briefly, as they crossed over land once more, he had considered stopping at the Waterfall country outpost to rest. But he knew some of his swordsmen awaited his return to Ancients Rest, In particular the Muramasa cousins. As members of Kintsugi they would benefit from meeting the unexpected recruit. And a reunion with Chiaki might shed light to any lingering concerns about her involvement in Maido’s death. He still felt uncomfortable about this idea that her spirit lived on despite the destruction of her body.

And so, they persisted through the night, skirting around Fire country borders and patrols as they ventured through frigid and barren lands of southern earth country. Whether or not the girl clinging to his back was cold or fatigued was of little concern to him. Ally or not, if she could not endure such a journey then she had no place among their ranks. However, as long as Chiaki remained nearby he was certain the girl would be kept safe. By the time they crossed into Star country the sun had begun to shine over the horizon. The land here was peaceful, with picturesque farmlands and intricate stone hovels. A few locals waking early to tend the fields had spotted them during their descent but they were of little concern to him. This was a neutral country and any here who learned of his presence would know well to fear him and respect his power. Of course, he would be ready to make an example of any who gave them any trouble.

When Chiaki expelled her gelatinous substance and descended toward the ground, Shinjiro found himself relating to the desire to touch land once more. In fact he was about to simply transform without warning when Hanako took the liberty of joining her sensei. Perhaps Chiaki had been right after all, this girl was already surprising him with her fearlessness and ingenuity. Leaping off him from over 100 meters in the air and then forming a parachute as well as a clever use of magnetism. The Bannin from the hidden Mist wouldn’t admit it but he was impressed, she certainly had potential. Glowing with wispy green chakra the eagles form changed, moulding into itself and forming clothes and steel, adorned to a masculine body teeming with muscle. Allowing himself to freefall 75 meters he closed his eyes, enjoying a momentary rest and the return of his senses as a human. His arms ached from nearly 16 hours of exertion, though it was his mind that was more fatigued. He had kept constantly alert, body primed for combat. Even now, he would never truly let his guard down.

Opening his eyes with a snap as he neared the ground, he flowed a trickle of chakra into his legs. The legendary Greaves surged with purpose as he found himself kicking off the the air itself as he slowed and redirected his descent, angling toward the girl. “Not bad” came the callous baritone of a masculine voice. Hooded and dressed in a tattered brown cloak, twin Katana across his back, the man was a striking contrast to the form of Aoki Saku. “You should know this is my true form and that my name is Shinjiro” he explained as he landed with the utmost silence. Piercing lime green eyes peered out from the shadows of his hood. All other facial features were concealed by a brown cloth mask. “I preferred her flesh as well, but Kintsugi has a way of stripping one of their mortality” he considered. He was the closest thing to human that remained now, despite possessing the abilities and spirit of a God. Though he supposed he was just as much a beast as he was a human. He wondered how long it would be before the girl cast aside her humanity. It seemed only natural she would follow in her mentor’s footsteps in this endeavor as well. He would allow Chiaki to lead them toward the nearest town. Shinjiro contemplated whether Hisayo and Kayoko had taken the liberty of summoning Maido’s new vessel to this place. They always had been more successful at keeping in touch with the old witch than he had been. And while he was distrustful of Shuichi, he was inclined to believe Maido did in fact reside within him. Even in death his loyalty to Maido had never faltered. Such was the influence of an ancient being he truly believed could change the world.

[Sia]

A dark grip took a firm hold on Shuichi's light heart and the blood witch purred and roared, resonating with a ferocious spirit that couldn't quite be quenched. A wolf and a lion, two souls in one body. Maido's thoughts echoed in Shuichi's mind while Hisayo and Kayoko kept a watchful eye on Shuichi. His body ached, recoiled, and writhed under her presence suddenly. Whereas for the last several months Maido had only been a thought inside of his head, suddenly she had control over his body. He spoke words against his will, he moved without a say in the matter. Shuichi was robbed of his livelihood immediately while walking through the town. "What the fuck are you doing?" He said out loud in his own voice, but it was all that he could manage. Maido had a psychic grip on his body that he couldn't shake. "The battle of wolf and lion over one body will go on for some time I imagine."

Shuichi had heard the words come from his own body but the voice was not his own. It was feminine, vague, and hushed. It was Maido's, of course, but whispered out in a bark. Shuichi's hair began to change colors, splitting down the middle, his two braids now different colors. His ears too, the cat ones on top of his noggin, they changed to black and white split down the halves. His eyes became red in the darkest and deepest of ways, Hisayo saw it and looked away, grabbing Kayoko's hand. Kayoko looked over and rolled her eyes. "Focus, Shuichi, on the feeling of the Iron in your body. The Iron of your body, and the way it feels when you change it." He cursed at her in his mind and she laughed back as they conversed to themselves in an argument, his body twitching and contorting and writhing in a horrible manner. Hisayo watched and thought it odd. She'd never seen anyone fight off Maido like that before suddenly Shuichi's body violently shifted into a suit of armor and flew at Hisayo at a frightening speed. Kayoko responded by transforming into a claymore and slapping at Shuichi with the side of her form, knocking the both of them back violently with a loud bang that caught everyone's attention in the immediate vicinity. "What the hell are you doing?"

The iron suit of armor that made up Shuichi's body flew into the air and over the roof of the bar, disappearing into the alleyway behind it and then immediately floating over the fence and into the trees, Shuichi was infected with a poison that couldn't be bled. A venom that couldn't be pulled, a sickness that had him so, so disturbed. He shined in the dark light, stirring through the trees and banging against them and fighting off Maido's presence as red blood poured out of his eyes horribly. "No!" He screamed, his Lion claws digging into the bark of the great tree as pain took over his face. A soaring, horrible, throbbing headache pierced through his eyes, then into his skull in ways he had never imagined. Cold fire spread through his heart, down into his stomach and back up into his lungs, then his elbows felt exactly the most horrible way they had that one time when he was only seven and fell. His toes curled into themselves so hard they might have bled had he a normal body and he vomited twice immediately when his head crashed into the tree. "Fuck you!" He fell backwards and went blind, then he passed out, spinning towards the ground as a cloak of red iron suddenly spilled horribly outwards from his body.

What was happening to him? He hadn't remembered such a pain in so long. Shuichi fell asleep and Maido walked through the forest silently whilst Hisayo and Kayoko looked around the town for her hopelessly. She was gone now, and not even the likes of the Head Hunters would even come close to finding her in the heat. Her signature was gone, she was a ghost, and she vanished from sight as her body merged with a wolf that just happened to be passing by, because of course there was. They were deep in the land of horrible entities, truly, Maido took Shuichi and the wolf a great ways, performing a horrible perversion of chakra manipulation on it as Iron encased its body entirely and it struggled to fight back, or even do anything of the sort entirely. "I had intended to use this jutsu on this great, terrible, horrible thing that Shinjiro made for me once, but I guess I can try it out a little here." Perhaps one day I can use it on it anyway" Maido said to Shuichi, whom immediately dreamed about the horrible and vile creature Shinjiro had created in the catacombs, and he ran from it in his mind, over and over again while he slept inside of his own body.

Kouton enshrouded the wolf, then chalk, and it broke apart in ways that so did look like black sand, then it looked red, then black again, and the wolf faded away into nothingness and ceased to exist altogether, and only a pack of wolf spirits saw it. Howling immediately, they began to attack the dying wolf corpse, and Maido took them over in a similar sort of fashion. She blended the two together, perverting the nature of his body and filling it with tenkujutsu chakra that circled around him. Maroon chakra leaked out and formed into a suit of armor, filling itself with raw iron and bringing the two together.

The Lion opened his eyes and blinked. "What have you done, Maido?" Shuichi asked after a moment as his eyes adjusted. He could see so...clearly...

But he was blind.

Raw images of chakra permeated the air. He saw their different colors in horrible and terrible fashions as his eyes burned with an intensity he couldn't quite explain but he saw so vividly in ways he understood their meanings immediately without even needing to explain it. He saw the Iron everywhere, how it permeated their bodies, the blood inside of them, he saw the iron in their gear, on their equipment, the very markings and makeups, he saw the fuuinjutsu, the poisons, the fake bodies, the wings of an eagle, a great and amazing looking beast that Maido told him was named Vorashu and that she loved quite dearly and to be respectful. He saw all of these things in his eyes, but they weren't his eyes. They were so far away, yet they seemed so close, he reached out and felt as though he could touch them, but they were kilometers away, hundreds even, maybe a thousand, he had no real idea, but Maido did. She had possessed his body and worked him to the bone, but she had taught him the technique. He could see them, because of the iron, but also because his own eyes were now now even human to begin with. What had she done? The bodies that laid around were animal, but hardly recognizable.

"Can you see them?"

"Yeah"

"How far away do you think they are?"

"I don't now."

"They'll be here very soon."

Shuichi regained control of his body, but his eyesight was still gone, he stumbled through the forest and made his way in Shinjiro's, Chiaki's, and Hanako's direction. He stared at the iron that encompassed their figures and saw it so clearly, and then watched as colors encircled them further and the three of them became more distinguishable from each other. He felt drunk, in a way, because he couldn't really see, but he could see everything made of iron, and the chakra that ran through the world, he saw all the colors in ways that confused him and that made no sense but that he understood too. "They're closer than you think," Maido's voice said in his ear, and then Shuichi realized that he could sense everything else made of not just iron but metal in general, then stone, then just everything, and it was too much and he passed out again but Maido laughed. An S-Ranked jutsu was still too much for him to handle it would seem, but it didn't matter.

Maido and Shuichi walked together, balancing each other a little better but the experience was a lot for Shuichi to bare. His Lion ears twitched and fell down, his tail twitched as more iron gathered around it and it became more wolf-like, and shards of iron glass collected along his back, then his entire body, and he fell forwards again into a tree, then iron shot out from his chest, caught the ground, then caught him, and pulled him up so suddenly that he didn't even begin to fall for more than a second. "What was that?"

"We're adjusting." "We?"

"Yes, we."

"I don't understand."

"Most people don't, but a few people do, you didn't think you were the only person that Maido had ever implanted herself in did you?"

"No, I suppose it would make sense that you would have other host bodies."

"Well, when a body can split and perish but regenerates so quickly and embeds its life force into so many people across so many places and so many villages, I find that its impossible to just die."

"What do you mean?"

"I could be in any body, anywhere, in any time, Shuichi...In this moment, I am in yours, but I am also in Shinjiro, and Chiaki, and Hisayo, and Kayoko, and Substiwolf, and Yggdramasil, and Kotaru, and Michi, and so, so many others." Maido said to Shuichi and then continued whilst Shuichi walked blindly through the forest in Chiaki and the other's directions.

"I could respawn right now wherever I wanted and it would make perfect sense to me in a simple jutsu and then you would understand it after having seen me cast it only the one time because I did it through your own body and then you'd have the choice to come with me or split apart, but we both know you're coming for the ride now that you lost, so pick your poison on letting me take control every once in a while or just being glad I didn't force your hands to extend out in front of you, do hand seals that require you to have six fingers on each hand that you never even realized you had as they sprout spontaneously and do jutsu you've never performed and explode violently only to wake up back in Kirigakure in a woman's body instead with white hair and red eyes." Maido said to him.

"Bullshit." He retorted.

"No, I'm serious, It's a C-Rank."

"Yes...Yes, Maido I can see them!"

"And the others?"

"Yeah, I see everything. How does it work?"

"The longer you maintain the chakra for the jutsu, the further the range on it goes, but eventually if you are not practiced you will start receiving too much information and start to throw up and pass out, because the ground beneath you immediately gives too much feedback and most people just simply can't handle it. But, I am practiced, and well versed, which is why I started to take control of your body once you started having a problem with it, so, I forcefully made your body be able to handle it with some work, and, I have been sustaining the technique within you for hours, so the range right now is easily in the kilometers of thousands, and as soon as it ends you will probably vomit from having your vision shifted back so suddenly if you don't adjust it slowly and ease it back into your own point of view. It can be quite the strain."

"How far are they, realistically?"

"I don't know, wake up dumbass." Said Maido to Shuichi.

Shuichi woke up and stared at the sky and immediately covered his eyes, which burned like a thousand suns as he saw a great eagle in the sky, then two bodies fall towards the ground carefully. He lay there still then, unable to move his body as Maido wrestled control away from him again. He didn't even know where he was, but he could see the three of them as they came in from the distance, finally, from the land afar. "There's...so much Iron..." He said as he stared at the three of them.

Shuichi stood from the ground and his form was replaced by Maido, but he could still see everything around him, but he couldn't too. A white and black-haired Shuichi walked towards the three of them in the town, not entirely sure what to say. Maido was embarrassed, she was weak, she'd been humbled, she needed help.

Her gaze met Shinjiro's, then Chiaki's, then Hanako's, and her voice spat out. "This body fights back a lot." She said in her voice, then Shuichi's voice said to the spot next to Chiaki as though there was something there that absolutely no one in the world but he could see, "You're missing someone." He said but he wasn't sure how he knew that, he just stared at the way the components of doton and chakra moved around her body, his gaze pierced through her core, then through Shinjiro's soul, then Hanako's too. He saw everything inside of them so clearly, as though he had cut them open on a table and turned them into his own personal lab experiments. He saw their pain, their happiness, their strength, their weakness. He saw all of these things just by watching the way the tiny dots moved through the forms of their bodies, in the chakra outlines that allowed him to see them just as though he couldn't see with his real eyes, but Maido could see both. "And so are you." Shuichi then said to Hanako, then said to Shinjiro, "And you."


The Iron In Me: Hybrid Sensing
C-Ranked Empathy Mind's Eye Kouton Doton Sensory Nintaijutsu Maneuver
The user will begin to fall backwards and slowly go blind, batting away at anything coming at them the best they possibly can as their vision is replaced with swirling colors and shapes that represent the metal, dirt, stone, dust, gem, ore, rock, and chakra up to 30 meters away from them, each of these things becoming more and more clear each post as the range of the technique extends by 30 meters each post for as long as the user continues to perform the technique, losing more and more of their eyesight temporarily as they instead see only the aforementioned things, but up to further and further away, and in absolutely every possible direction around them at once in a radius. The range on this technique has no cap, limited only by the length of time that it used and the users chakra pool.

[Mre-face]

The labourful yet unsatisfying peaceful life of Gōkariki
phpBB [video] It was seemingly like any other day in the land of stars, Gōkariki had done his daily routine which composed mostly of waking up eating his breakfast do some light exercise and stretching after that he meditated before doing technique drills and Kata. Eating again to prepare for harder exercise and tending to his crops on his very small land. After doing those tasks, he would mostly focus on recovering from his workout with stretching to keep himself cooled down and flexible. Eating a large meal to maintain his massive frame and make sure his large muscles were fully fueled. The easiest was doing the chores the training and the eating, the hardest part truly was to get peace of mind and meditate to quell his angry emotions. His upbringing of him being forged to become a weapon made it a mountainous task to conquer. No matter how much he meditated no matter the location he tried to get his peace, no matter how hard tried to quell his fury it never seemed to go away. The memories from his father, the war, his time in Konoha it constantly bothered his mind. So many lives pointlessly lives lost, so many ungrateful people who never appreciated his servitude. He never seemed to fit in anywhere he went people just didn't seem to like him and if they did, they never really got close enough to him, only knowing him on a very surface level.

No matter... Now was not the time to dwell on hard emotions, it was time for him to make a bit of profit. So he had gathered a large sack where he rooted almost all of his crops to be sold off and some donated to the ones in need and those he liked, gathering a large chunk of supplies. Most were sold to buy other things to sustain himself and his land and others to enjoy himself, some for study, and it never hurt to have some cash stored in case he ever needed it. Upon arriving in the villages, he would gather a lot of glances, most knew him as a local but rarely ever spoke to him. Seeing him come down wasn't an entirely rare sight, but it was neither an unwelcome sight due to him assisting in protecting the village from the rare bandit raids, It was known that he was from shrimp, so some were suspicious over his solitude and outbursts from previous squabbles gave him a mixed reputation. When he arrived at the local market, it went relatively smoothly and with minimal bother, the local haggling would annoy him, but it went by quickly. Occasionally he would be irked at the village brat or some parents and couples arguing over minor inconveniences due to their own immaturity. But suppressing those thoughts was easy, and he could go back to his shack and live in peace, not bothering anyone and no one bothering him. But before his way back he noticed ninja falling from the skies, causing him to become greatly suspicious Ninja? Have they come for me? No matter where I go, trouble always seems to find me. Why can't I be left alone. Damn! What do you want? None of you ever liked or cared about me anyway.

After hiding in the tavern and looking at them in closer expectation, he noticed that they didn't have the konoha symbol on them, they seemed to be rouge ninja. Perhaps they were just stopping, they didn't seem to be overtly hostile, but he wouldn't be surprised if they would try to flex their muscles and intimidate the locals. If so, Gōkariki would try his best to stop them, they weren't a small amount either, so it would be challenge to be sure. Something to lash out on wasn't really something he would turn down either. For now, he would observe only watching what they would do and then act if necessary. It seems like the weapon turned farmer day had gotten a lot more interesting.

[Trusted Grader]

Tirelessly the spies rushed after the flying eagle, it was bigger than the regular one which had caused the sensors on the lookout post from Kumo to alert S.T.R.A.T.O.S, which in turn had taken Hotaru's warning that Chiaki had vanished, who in turn informed her that Hanako had also escaped, this was bad, see usually the spy wasn't involved in these matters as she had bigger things to attend to but when someone of that stature made an escape with someone so young then something was up. Honestly this was something her father should be doing but Hotaru was never the one to decline a chance to be outside of the Lightning Empire, it was rather stuffy, especially for someone who liked to play different characters.

So for the longest time she and the master of tracking had followed the eagle until they reached the waters where a raging storm had kicked about, forcing Hotaru and Kirie to find another route, which pissed her off, but bought her enough time to figure out how she would approach the situation, she knew that she stood no chance against someone of Chiaki's stature but she could at least try to gather enough intel for Hayate to figure out what their next move would be, well, that was if Banri allowed her to rely full information. I don't know what is going on between those two but they have to hash things out before another civil war starts... Kidnapping children.... Scumbag... The thought of Banri, Hayate and Chiaki made her angry, well, that was because she couldn't figure out how Hanako played into this situation.

What 13 year old would knowingly leave their country to venture out to a world were murderers and warmongers reside? Hotaru shouldn't speak on such matters as she herself wasn't an angel per say, it was just that the idea of a missing ninja was something she truly despised considering that she came from a background of lack and got the ability to actually make something out of herself, a fact that she was truly grateful for and expected every upstanding ninja of Kumogakure to uphold, and that was why Banri chose her for this mission, her dedication for the cause was greater than most.

"Don't worry, I got their signal on track, we should be able to follow them, just as long as they don't go too far." Kirie was sweating hard but they knew that they had to keep up, one way or another.

A head shake later a plan was formed, she was going to find out what was going on, no matter the cost. Hang in there child, you can still be saved. Hotaru watched as the eagle disappeared behind some clouds, she put the binoculars back on their secret belt compartment. She knew that they were gaining a massive head start but there were few people in the Lightning Empire that had the ability to gather intel as well as the master of spies, this was going to be a long game but one worth playing, no matter what.

---

MetaShow

[Sensory Style • Hunters Senses]
S-Rank Ninjutsu
Prerequisites: *[Sensory Style • Augmented Sense], 40 Control
As an extension of Augmented Senses, the ninja is able to increase the range and power of their sensor jutsu. After performing appropriate hand seals, the ninja is able to view very great distances. They are able to lock on to one chakra point and pinpoint the precise chakra locations at ranges of up to 1 mile away, with the cost of not being able to sense anyone else other than the locked target.

[Kanade]

As for whether or not Chiaki had seen Hanako’s flight using Magnetism, she had actually seen it and thought about how she could improve her own skills using the same technique, or perhaps she would just leave that to her pupil.

Chiaki once again had been bested by her pupil, and Hanako was catching up rapidly to her sensei, she didn’t want to admit it, but Hanako would soon outgrow Chiaki, and wouldn’t need a master anymore. The thought both filled Chiaki with pride, and also it filled her with dread. She didn’t like to admit it, but she would miss Hanako if the pupil ever decided that she didn’t need her sensei anymore, and she had grown quite attached to the young teen.

“Good job Hanako-chan!” She called out to her pupil, then made the come hither motion to Hanako before patting her on the head, “We are probably already late, so are you willing to run the rest of the way there? We should probably not be too fashionably late, people are irritated by such things.” She would tousle her hair, and then smooth it once more.

Chiaki tilted her head and then looked at Hanako, she would clearly outspeed her pupil given what she knew of Hanako’s abilities from sparring with her as an ally with Kirari as their adversary and thought of one of the jutsu that she had been mulling over for the ride over. Wouldn’t it be convenient if she had a jutsu, just in case, that would allow her pupil to run over to the village on her own?

Worth a shot, she figured, and backed up from Hanako, weaving a series of blinding hand seals before pointing at her disciple. Megallium shot up out of the ground and wrapped itself around her hands, feet, head, and body, making a makeshift suit of armor.

She tilted her head to the side twice, once to the left, and once to the right before she smiled, satisfied with the results of her jutsu and how covered in magnetic armor her pupil was. She was truly a sight to behold, and would do well as a kite.

“Come Hanako, the village awaits!” She grinned, and with a channeling of her chakra, sped off towards the village at her top speed, launching herself through the trees and thickets, pulling Hanako behind her with her magnetism. Chiaki wore a grin on her face, seeing if Shinjiro would be able to keep up with her, or her disciples, speed. She kept Hanako about ten feet from the tallest tree, and carried her along like some sort of kite, except that she wasn’t being buffeted by the winds.

jutsu used and learned: 448 out of 400 wordsShow

~C ranked Iryo-Tetsu Jutsu - Half-plate:
After performing the required hand seals, the user wil lpoint to the target of the jutsu. From points on the ground, the user is able to create up to a set of half-plate armor, covering the upper legs, chest, waist, and back of their target with Megallium at [Control] Speed and Strength. This is made of Megallium, and only carries with it the passive benefits for up to 3 posts. The armor confers a +6 bonus to endurance, at the cost of -6 to strength for how heavy it is. (60% cobalt, 20% chromium, 5% molybdenum, 5% gold).

other jutsu usedShow

~C ranked Iryo-Tetsu Jutsu - Leg armor:
The user weaves their hands together to create a specific set of hand seals and then Megallium coalesces from the materials around the user or from the ground and gather together onto the subject at [control] speed and strength, forming a set of metal plate armor around the subject's legs. This jutsu confers a +2 to endurance for up to 5 posts, and decreases speed by 2 as the subject is weighed down by the sudden metal weight. This is made of Megallium and lasts for [control/5] posts before it becomes the inert metal Megallium (60% cobalt, 20% chromium, 5% molybdenum, 5% gold).

~C ranked Iryo-Tetsu Jutsu - Helmet:
The user weaves their hands together to create a specific set of hand seals and then Megallium coalesces from the materials around the user or from the ground and gather together onto the subject at [control] speed and strength, forming a set of metal helm. This jutsu confers a sight bonus, and allows for the subject to see an extra 30 meters further than they would normally be able to, in lower light than they are able to as well because they see the world through a greenish chakra lens. This is made of Megallium and lasts for [control/5] posts before it becomes the inert metal Megallium (60% cobalt, 20% chromium, 5% molybdenum, 5% gold).

*Jikiton • Draw
D-Ranked Jikiton Jutsu
After performing the required hand seals, the user will reach toward a metallic or magnetized object within 10 metres of the user. The target will be drawn to the user at [Control] speed, but can be held in place with [Control] strength.

[HotelBravo]

Shinjiro to her and she turned her head to look at him. Before her the woman that had tempted Chiaki into abandoning Kumo - the one who had been a bird just a few minutes before - now shifted into that of a man. His tattered brown cloak was deceptively ordinary. He introduced himself anew, revealing his true form - the ragged masked man with the twin blades upon his back. As if he could have been any shinobi and not one of the most dangerous men that Hanako had ever stood next to. It only made sense that a woman who could be a bird if she wanted to would actually be a man who just happened to be able to become whatever he wanted. He did it with the same strange casualness as one discarding a coat.

The concepts were much higher level than what Hanako was able to appreciate. She took his words at face value - a fatal weakness in a kunoichi perhaps, but then Hanako’s most fatal weakness had always been her mind. ”Okay.” She answered back to Shinjiro with little elegance and all the simplicity in the world. ”My name is Hanako, I am from Hanamura. Granny said that I can be whoever I want but I must always make sure to dress nice.”

Chiaki was next. She patted Hanako - to which Hanako protested weakly, she did like the attention after all, but she thought she was old enough that maybe she shouldn’t let people pat her head. She gave up mid way through and let Chiaki smooth her hair back up. ”I’m willing to run - Granny said that I should never be late.” Hanako put her hands on hips as Chiaki gave her a measuring and quizzical look. Perhaps it was Hanako’s nature to accept pretty much anything Chiaki did or said as being the right thing to do that she stood by and let her perform her technique on her.

She found herself coated in what seemed to be some kind of metal that had formed from the ground as a result of her Jutsu. Suddenly she was drawn through the air and was hovering behind Chiaki. Hanako watched passively as Chiaki dashed and she was dragged through the air behind her. Hanako’s long dark hair traveling behind, swishing like a tail.

Hanako decided to take the opportunity to use some sensory jutsu and pick up the location of the people that they were hoping to meet. Her reasoning was rather basic - in that she expected that this would help her and Chiaki find them faster for this supposed meeting. She tested against the force of the gravity and found that she was somewhat constrained by Chiaki’s Jutsu when it came to making handseals. Hanako stuck her tongue out of her mouth as she focused on ways to bring her hands together. She realized that the draw jutsu gave when she moved towards Chiaki and resisted when she was trying to pull away.

She the worked within the bounds of her restraints to get her hands together so she could form the seals she needed to mold her chakra. One by one the her chakra was molded and took on a new quality. The Chakra became sensitive. She could feel how it danced on the tenketsu. She began to expand the radius of chakra she was emitting - not dissimilar in a manner to Sonar.

Sonar was a phenomena where sound was used to navigate and measure distances as well as detect objects. The prior and earlier technique was something akin to passive sonar. What she was attempting here and now was active sonar. She was emitting pulses of chakra and her sensitive tenketsu felt the echoes. Chakra that hit chakra had a distinct feeling - at least to Hanako. It was overwhelming in scope the type of information that she was receiving - but it was the perfect distraction for someone with a mind as busy as her own.

Each body of chakra reflected her own chakra back to her, and she could feel this upon her chakra network. She closed her eyes to get a better image - and it soon began to paint a picture for her. Though there was no color to this world she was now seeing and participating in, she began to see monochromatic world comprised of chakra networks.

All living things had their own chakra, and thus Hanako could feel and detect the environment around them. She could feel Chiaki’s jutsu, both the armor and the magnetic technique. She could detect Shinjiro - the woman who became a bird and now a man. She memorized that signature.

The area around them was full of life - small insects and other creatures moved about. She had to quickly learn to process and filter out such information. Perhaps it might be useful in a specific situation but there was one thing that this technique was designed to excel at - the detection of Shinobi.

Chiaki’s chakra network was an example of how refined chakra could get. It was like a diamond. Her control gave it discipline and her pool gave it a type of density that was uncharacteristic of anyone save a shinobi. There were few others who practiced the art of refining one’s own life force to use as a weapon in this world, and thus it was a key tell tale sign of when a danger was near.

She began to reach even further past Chiaki and Shinjiro. The effective range expanded measure by measure until it was at last up what Hanako considered to be the limits of her technique, 75 meters. In this one instance Hanako made the assumption that these chakra signatures were all people that she was supposed to be meeting with and therefore were not threats to herself or Chiaki.

She was hardly aware that anyone in the vicinity had a motive other than this greeting that they were apart of.

Then Hanako saw Maido.

Chakra wise, Hanako wasn’t sure what to make of this…this…amalgamation of chakra. She said the body fights back as if that explained everything. As this strange person took the measure of Hanako’s soul, Hanako memorized the strange patterns in the chakra signature. It was curious enough to spend a lifetime studying, but the voice addressing her drew her out of her chakra sensory daze.

The words directed at Hanako couldn’t be more vague. Hanako turned to make sure Shinjiro had followed her and Chiaki, and then for good measure she made sure their signature’s matched what they had been earlier. Everything seemed to be correct, so Hanako furrowed her brows in concentration as she considered who they had forgotten.

”Do you mean the person who was keeping an eye on Chiaki-sensei? Because if so they are dead - that man” Hanako tried to point at Shinjiro but as she was restricted by Chiaki’s jutsu, she just managed to jerk instead. ”He was a woman, and then a bird, and now he is a man - well when he was a woman he killed the person watching Chiaki-sensei so they weren’t able to come with us because they are dead. I am Hanako from Hanamura. Will we be meeting with those other people as well?” As was much often her style Hanako’s mouth began to spill out word soup. This is just how she was, how she viewed the world.

Her mind often raced faster than her mouth could keep pace, and so her mouth said whatever came to it while her brain switched topics. Just like now, what she was saying to Maido was only being half consciously as Hanako’s real attention was on the Chakra signatures of those who were not in present company but were still nearby. The refined chakra cores marking one unmistakable as shinobi

1316/1130

Learned Jutsu

Code: Select all

[b]*[Sensory Style • Broad Sense][/b]
[i]B-Rank Ninjutsu[/i]
[i]Prerequisites:[/i] [b]*[Sensory Style • Beyond Senses][/b], 20 Control
This jutsu is an extension of [Beyond Senses].After initiating this jutsu with handseals, a sensor can focus on individual chakra signatures to get a precise idea of where their opponents are at up to 25 meters. A general sense of the direction and number of chakra sources can be determined at up to 75 meters away. It should be noted that this jutsu requires intense concentration, often making the user shut their eyes so they can focus on the jutsu solely. Even with high levels of Chakra Control, this jutsu can be mentally taxing as it requires the user to sort through the individual chakra sources in the sensor’s range.

[Izanagi]

The Jinchuuriki of Kirigakure scowled as Chiaki boisterously raced ahead. She was far too comfortable for someone who had just abandoned her village, though he supposed he hadn’t expected anything contrary. She had always seemed to be the sort to thrive by simply going about her life like a cloud blowing in the wind. He supposed she was entitled to some frivolity after being confined to Kumogakure for the last few months. However, Shinjiro found it particularly difficult to ever just relax and enjoy the little things in life. For fleeting moments, during festivals or in embraces with his various lovers he had felt some sense of normalcy, even happiness. But here, there was only the prospect of danger; potential ambushes or trackers following them from the Lightning Empire. Even someone as powerful as him had enemies to fear, in particular the man known as Zao whom had proved interested in collecting the 10 Legendary items, of which Shinjiro was in possession of two. There was even a high chance he was connected to the disappearance of one of his Jinchuuriki friends. If he were to coordinate with the Raikage even Shinjiro would be essentially helpless against their combined might.

It was becoming quite dangerous indeed to be making new enemies and to travel about openly. He could no longer count on Maido’s strength to deter such powerful individuals. And Chiaki seemed a poor substitute. He would have to shape her into a fearsome combatant if they had any hope of surviving the next year. Though, as she rushed off in a magnificent display of speed, Shinjiro smirked slightly. So, her body was not the only thing that had changed. Perhaps she had already become the truly equal partner that he required. And perhaps this student of hers would one day join them. Shinjiro nodded his head, “A pleasure to meet you properly; Hanamura Hanako” he acknowledged as he extended a hand to shake hers. A rare courtesy for such a man, though already the girl had proven herself to be both useful and respectful. In fact, he was beginning to feel a slight fondness toward her. However, their introduction would be cut short by Chiaki forcefully dragging the girl along at an extraordinary speed.

Shinjiro scowled and muttered under his breath, “She could do that the whole time and still made me fly all night?” His hands balled into fists, he was already mentally fatigued and feeling unsettled about the possibility of being followed. If they had better coordinated, they could have arrived much faster and deployed more appropriate countermeasures. Maido wouldn’t have had to be asked or told to contribute during such endeavors. It seemed Chiaki would need a much firmer touch until she was brought into line. Disappearing in a flash he raced after his companions. Much to his disdain, Chiaki had actually managed to surpass his speed. It seemed impossible and downright insulting, but he couldn’t deny the facts. It would still be difficult for her to gain any meaningful ground on him, he was only a few paces short of her tempo, but it was enough that he couldn’t gain ground either unless she fatigued faster than him. And that was not something he had any desire to test at this time.

Within minutes they arrived at the town; it was simple, but it had most basic amenities; A tavern, blacksmith, stables, marketplace, and various other small shops and venues. It was just the sort of place a warrior would want to retire to start a peaceful life, and so it was important to remain cautious and not draw undue attention to themselves. Such people tended to be braver than most and more willing to sell themselves and their intel for coin. The last thing they needed was any S-Ranked shinobi to start showing up, for bounty or otherwise. Afterall, Shinjiro was one of the most wanted men in the world.

Catching up to Chiaki a few moments after she stopped, he swiftly approached behind her, grasping her shoulder tightly. His annoyance was only amplified by the fact that he knew he could not easily harm her, and that if she had a mind to her raiton ninjutsu could stop him in his tracks. If he hadn’t needed her to be strong he would have preferred her weak and compliant. “If you want to be my equal, pull your weight” he growled, now that he saw her in a different light after her display she would be held to a much higher standard. “Scan for chakra signatures every hour, anyone B-rank or higher I want to know about” he instructed, scoffing as he realized Hanako was already doing exactly that, “She’s got the right idea at least” he praised, before finally addressing Maido. Her words made little sense to him, and though Shinjiro had always understood her better than most he had grown accustomed to her bouts of mania.

He could feel the eyes on them, someone that looked like they could handle themselves peering out the tavern windows, others were discarded as common farmers. But still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that a real threat was on its way, someone that had a presence to rival his and Maido’s. Perhaps this instinct was the same that Maido was alluding to. But he had no patience for games. “I brought her back” he said, gesturing to Chiaki. “And a tag-along. Hanako here will be useful to us..” he gestured as the girl indicated toward the man in the bar, and alluded to the potential of others nearby. “They’re not with us” he growled lowly, his posture shifted and green wisps of chakra swirled around him. The air became cold with his presence, “What the fuck are you looking at?” he barked out, toward the onlookers, pivoting slowly as he searched for potential threats. For eyes so bright his promised only the dark embrace of death.

[Sia]

The Iron Prince and the Blood Witch breathed in together in a long deep breath, taking in Shinjiro's familiar scent, then Chiaki's then Hanako's unfamiliar one. The two of them stared at the four of them and Shuichi tilted his head as he had gazed as the chakra form that made up Shinjiro's body. He had something inside of him too, but then, Shuichi had already known that. He'd been well filled in by Maido by now, they'd spent some time together and he had surely gotten with the program whether he had really wanted to or not. Shuichi's tail swished back and forth and a smile crossed his face as Maido took over, his eyes turning red as her possession washed over his body.

"It is good to see you again my friends." Shuichi's body almost moved to hug Shinjiro, then stopped itself short. "Ahem, sorry." Shuichi's left hand came up and he faked a cough as he apologized. "And nice to meet you, Hanako, was it?" He took a few steps forwards, gesturing about the town. "It's a nice little place, this little part of the town. Might make for a good little hiding spot if we don't find something more appropriate soon." Maido's voice carried into the wind. Her eyes shines with a sparkle as she gazed into the distance. "There's someone else here...No, maybe a few more." Shuichi produced a quick series of hand seals and a basic clone poofed forwards, it began to run out into the trees, scouting out away from the group.

Shuichi stared at the three of them. "Which of these two do you think is the weakest?"Maido's voice asked towards the three of them echoingly. Shuichi's body ripped apart suddenly, breaking away into flakes of iron shards that scattered into the wind, flurrying around and fluttering towards Shinjiro like a hailstorm of butterflies that tickled and kissed him all over. The iron began to shift together, forging itself into a suit of armor, but it didn't attach itself. It hovered around and floated, but the pieces scattered about in different directions as Shuichi decided whom he should attach to. Maido had relinquished control, allowed him to make his move.

The iron shards flew around, brushing onto Hanako and Chiaki as well and painting them silver with iron armor that came in shimmering waves, shards of iron coming together to form pieces and fractions of whole armor chunks here and there, before finally a swarm of it came together collectively, ebbing off of Chiaki and Hanako and swirling back around Shinjiro. The shards collected together, and then shifted shapes again, carefully and gently overlaying onto Shinjiro's existing outfit meticulously and tediously. It fitted into the crannies, the nooks, the seems, the threads. Kouton began wrapping around Shinjiro's body, encasing him in a protective layer of Kouton that covered his entire being from head to toe, save for his eyes and yet it almost felt as though the kouton never even touched him at all. An entirely different process from Maido, Shuichi was able to control the shape of his armor so well that he could become just a protective layer of Kouton interwoven into the existing attire, and it was far less painful than having Maido enter the body.

*[Basic Jutsu • Clone Technique]
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
After completing a set of handseals, the user forms a slight chakra 'body', thus creating a single, massless clone. The clone created from this technique is very basic and will dissipate when hit with anything. These clones do not possess vital signs or a unique chakra signature, meaning they don't disrupt the environment, and anything on their person is superficial. The clone has 1 in each stat. They are limited to basic movements.

Kouton: My Guard
C-Ranked Ninjutsu
After channeling or forming the necessary hand seals, Shuichi will split his body apart, turning into shads of iron equal to his body size and flying up to 30 meters in a direction of his choosing towards a target of his desire. On impact, he will wrap around the target and encase them in a protective suit of Kouton with style, size, and appearance of his discretion, transforming himself into a suit of armor over the course of half a post. In doing this, he is able to change his total body size to be up to 30 meters by 30 meters by 30 meters in total volume in order to be a large enough suit of armor to affect his target, though this large size is generally not necessary.

[Mre-face]

As he watched from the window of the tavern, he watched as the man asserted his dominance over the town and his comrades. This was when Gōkariki realized that the person he saw was not an ordinary missing ninja. Something about him was quite different. Gōkariki quelled his fury as it rose, he wanted peace not trouble, but it always found him some way, and he knew that it wasn't sustainable to let missing ninja fly in and harass the town he resided in. As much as he didn't want the small people to be harassed by random ninja that deemed themselves greater than the people living their peaceful lives.

The "What the fuck are you looking at?" comment as he almost challenged the onlookers made Gōkariki's blood boil. Who was he to announce himself this way? How was this thug any better than the humble, peaceful yet weak families. Sure, Gōkariki didn't particularly like them, but he wasn't going to let them get pushed around by any old thug running their mouth. However, he was very unusual of him not furious enough to outright go to the attack, but he couldn't let such blatant disrespect wash over where he lived. He knew that they would go unchallenged by the towns people.

From the perspective of the rouge ninja, a man of shorter stature yet with a wide and robust frame would emerge from the town's local tavern, a man with messy hair and a farmer's robes would turn his fiery gaze towards them starring all of them down. By his gaze alone, they could all tell he meant business. As he laid down his sack of supplies by his seat standing square in the middle of the town, he would turn his gaze to the man he considered "the leader" "State your business here! I do not wish any harm or trouble. We are but humble farmers who want to preserve our way of life. Please respect this!"

His angry aura steadily seemed to rise as he spoke, and the air was filled with it. They probably felt it as well. He was ready to fight at any moment because he knew exactly how ruthless shinobi could be, especially rouge ones. Keeping track of each person. The armored man. A red haired girl. The smaller, younger girl and a man that was around his age. "Enter here peacefully, treat this place with respect, and all will be fine. If you were to violate this, then I will deal with you as needed... Hopefully that will not come to pass." Gōkariki wasn't one for civilized discussion, but not only did he need to be careful when dealing with rouge ninja, but this was one of the few days that he deemed to be relatively nice, so he was in a calmer mood than he usually was. Maybe the meditation was working after all?

Nevertheless, Gōkariki grabbed his supplies and was planning to return home. Walking past as a form of defiance and showing of power. Displaying that he had no fear by not respecting their "territory" merely meandering past and onwards towards his humble and quiet home. However, Gōkariki was steadfast and prepare for anything to happen in case the rouge ninja didn't head his words, he would do what he had too if he were to be provoked.

[Trusted Grader]

Hotaru and Kirie were still following them, albeit a bit away now thanks to them having to find a strange way around the whole situation, they took their time not to disturb anyone in rock county for they knew that entering this space could lead to certain death if they played their cards wrong, once they managed to track them out they would try to keep a distance because Hotaru didn't want her tracker to be noticed, for if they were left to their own devices out here then problems could arrive rather quickly, it wasn't until they finally reached the borders of Stars that she finally realised what was going on.

"They took the long route to throw any hunter off... Shit, we aren't dealing with regular people here. Chiaki herself is at the level of a Kage, so if anyone assisting her to leave the country is around the same level then we are dealing with something... Dangerous, a gathering of villains perhaps?" Hotaru grunted, she wasn't sure but it all seemed to stem from the idea that Chiaki technically didn't need any help escaping and if anyone had the gulls to assist a missing ninja leave their village then it most likely was someone on the same level.

She spat on the ground next to her as she spotted Kirie struggling to maintain her jutsu, forcing her to slow down as things were starting to become a bit overwhelming for the sensor. Hotaru patted her on her shoulder and raised a thumb. "Wait here, I will scout up ahead." Hotaru said, while Kirie pointed towards their location before slowly pointing downwards, indicating that they were heading towards the ground, which meant that they had finally reached their destination, albeit they were still about a mile away.

Hotaru nodded then proceeded to bound from branch to branch, only stopping once she felt the ground violently shake. Are they in a combat? She stopped and climbed to the top of a canopy and peered over towards where Kirie had pointed but could only see that something from the southeast was causing all the birds to fly way, the trees seemed to move as if something was disturbing the ground. It was heading slowly towards where Kirie had pointed but Hotaru would make it there first, by a couple of minutes. So she continued towards the location she had pointed and stopped once she reached the outskirts of a village, there she would cling to the branches and peer with her binoculars, she spotted what appeared to be a group of people arguing over something, due to her being so far away she couldn't pick up what was said but she could pick up Chiaki, Hanako, some random small guy who was rather jacked, but what really got her wondering was the men standing next to the them. A young looking fellow and another guy who appeared to carry two swords, which to her said that he was a close quarter combatant.

She wrote down all their descriptions and prepared to make her entry when the ground began to shake violently, Whatever was making the birds fly away is now here... This place is too dangerous to be at... I should retreat for now. Hotaru leaped back and returned to Kirie, who was rather shocked, Hotaru picked her up and began to leap from tree to tree. "What's got you so spooked?"

"Some sort of monster is entering that village...." Hotaru peered at Kirie's eyes before she placed her on her back, it seems that it was time to get the hell out of here before death would arrive.

For it seems that Nehan was on her way.

[Izanagi]

Shinjiro bristled and stared Shuichi down as he made a motion toward him. Maido had earned his trust and loyalty, he had known her for nearly a decade now. There had been countless opportunities where she could have killed him in his youth, but instead, she had fought beside him against any odds, one of the few even in his teenage years who could stand as his equal or better. They had slaughtered fleets, and hundreds of men in one evening and he had followed her into the depths of Iwagakures catacombs when all others had turned tail and fled. Their lives were bound to one another and few others even came close to earning such devotion. But Shuichi was not Maido, only her vessel. His life was insignificant to Shinjiro and he felt no such kinship with the man. That would have to be earned in time and through the trials of battle. “I preferred that corpse over this…shell” the man reiterated, looking through Shuichi as if he were merely a thing to be used and discarded. It was a pity to see Maido fall to such an extent.

He nodded, agreeing with Maido’s assessment of their apparent company. Tilting his head he sniffed at a gentle breeze as it shifted direction for a moment. There it was, finally. Two scents, faint and light but their sweat was unmistakably human and female. “I thought as much. We were followed after all. Two of them” he stated, without looking in their direction. After leaving the treeline the women would be rather exposed as they approached the village in the midst of open farmlands. “We’ll kill one, interrogate the other” he spoke softly, even as the man from the tavern began making a scene. Sighing, Shinjiro cracked his neck and turned to face the man, hands casually placed in his jacket pockets. “The girl is more vulnerable” he answered calmly as Shuchi swirled around them each and formed an iron armor over Shinjiro’s body. The assassin chuckled lowly; dark and sinister. He wasn’t sure who he wanted to kill first, were any of them even worth his time?

It was apparent the muscular man was no mere farmer. He was a warrior. His green eyes held a similar intensity to Shinjiro’s. They were eyes that had seen death. The eyes of a man just looking for an excuse to let loose and display their power. If Shinjiro were 15 still it would have been a compelling match, but he was a grown man now hardened from the war and well beyond the league of any mortal man. His hands had been responsible for the deaths of thousands and the downfall of countries. “Who do you think you are? To make demands of me” he growled, his body tensed and his own chilling aura, complete with green wisps of chakra swirled around him. “You think you’re tough? A former soldier, living a new peaceful life, isn’t that right? I know your kind. And you think you know mine but you’re wrong. You’ve never fought anything like me. If you had you’d be dead already and that’s exactly what will happen if you press your luck. So go home, and if you ever see me again walk the other way and keep your mouth shut, got it?” he warned, grasping the man’s forearm and locking eyes with the man as he moved to walk past him. He would squeeze hard enough to instantly bruise his arm and threaten to shatter it completely. He would only release him if he learned his place and those defiant eyes flickered with fear and understanding.

Shinjiro’s attention shifted suddenly as he felt a sudden tremor, too subtle for anyone else to notice just yet, but they would soon. And then he scented the air again, scanning the distant treeline. His pursuers had fled. Damn it, this man had caused him to lose his prey. But that wasn’t even the most concerning discovery. Something massive was coming their way, something that was actually worthy of his attention. “Chiaki. Take Hanako and go North. There is a large city, Heaven’s Landing. I’ll find you there. Now, go!” he demanded, his tone urgent. As much as he wanted to see what Chiaki was capable of, he doubted she would be able to fight seriously while protecting Hanako. It was better to get them both out of the way. Once again he and Maido would handle whatever new threat this was; together. Releasing the stocky man, Shinjiro waved him away. If he made an attempt to attack him, Shinjiro would simply evade and then break his arm before ignoring him as something of insignificance. The real fun was about to begin. His body brimmed with anticipation. Within him Vorashu stirred from his slumber.

[Kanade]

Chiaki grumbled at Shinjiro and then spoke up, “I’m not a sensory type of ninja, and you should remember that from when I stumbled upon the greaves like the rest of you. I had little to no business being there, but I was and I still held my own.” She hesitated to say more and was about to open her mouth as some man stepped out from one of the huts and strut around. She could see that he was well muscled and well versed in the ways of the blade, or something of the like from the musculature and the calluses on his hands. She narrowed her eyes at Gokariki, who was dealing with someone who could well level the entire town for what he did. She took a step back and pulled Hanako in close to her, her hands at the ready for jutsu as she did so.

Shinjiro grabbed the arm of the man and Chiaki wove some hand seals, her clones popping up before anything else, ready to assist her should they need to weave other hand seals, each one a spitting image of the real Chiaki, each one ready to calm the situation should they need it, on either side. Shinjiro had a temper, and he was well known for it. She had seen him fight once, and he was like a wild beast.

No.

When he fought he was a wild beast. She clenched her hands on Hanako’s shoulders, the metal underneath didn’t give way and she counted the seconds that they stared at one another before she was told to go away and take Hanako. She was too scared by what it could be that would harm Hanako to really think of anything else. The real Chiaki took off, counting on the clones to relay the information and their unused chakra back to her. One of the clones fired off a series of hand seals and touched Shinjiro while the other made a series of intricate hand seals and attempted to link all there to a Kyoukan tether, so that the transferral of jutsu would be more easily shared between the both of them.

Where the first clone had touched Shinjiro a metal woven so fine and so thin sprang up all around his body and he would feel the exertions of the fly over leave his body, along with any minor cuts or abrasions instantly. The metal was a fine chain-mail armor, Chiaki had thought about it when she had seen him fight, when she had seen Kirari fight, and wanted an armor that wasn’t restrictive at all, but would be like a second Megallium skin. Chiaki wasn’t worried about the new host of Maido, as, as he had shown, he was rather easily manipulated and could probably dodge out of the way given the chance. She still wanted a link with him, and the Kyoukan link tugged at all there, asking to be let in so that she could protect them.

--

The real Chiaki crashed through the forest, using the same Jikiton Pull that she had used earlier to keep Hanako out of harms way, moving through the trees at her blinding top speed, she wouldn’t stop, couldn’t stop until she was shaking from exertion and she dropped onto the ground, breathing in lungfuls of air into her fake lungs, sweating fake rivulets of sweat and let go of the jutsu, the one keeping Hanako suspended above the trees, letting her gently down from the spot, “Sorry Hanako-chan, when Shinjiro tells me to run, I’ve learned to run. The last time the sky was literally filled with magma, and Maido turned into a huge wolf, it was-” She shuddered to think of the last battle, she had barely managed to get away with her life, but then she looked up at the sky, “How little things change, and yet how much.” She grinned at her disciple, Hanako and motioned the girl to come closer, “I am glad you are safe, my little sister.”

{Editing for jutsu used}

Jutstu used/learned (674/400)Show

~ A ranked Iryo-Tetsu Jutsu - Megallium Chain Mail:
The user claps their hands together to create a specific set of hand seals and then Megallium springs from the ground in a suit of armor made from interwoven almost microscopic loops and has up to [control/10] layers which form a skin-tight layer over the target’s body made of Megallium. This armor has [50(Control)] strength in each fold of the armor, and lasts for [10 (control/5)] posts before it becomes the inert metal Megallium (60% cobalt, 20% chromium, 5% molybdenum, 5% gold).

jutsu used previously knownShow

*[Ninjutsu • Advanced Shadow Clone Technique]
S-Ranked Ninjutsu
Prerequisite: *[Ninjutsu • Shadow Clone Technique]
After performing the correct hand seals the user proceeds to create a number of clones of themselves (maximum is equal to 1/3rd the user's Chakra Pool). Unlike the Clone Technique, these clones are actual copies of the user in both appearance and substance. The user's chakra is evenly distributed among every clone, giving each clone an equal fraction of the user's overall power. The clones are capable of performing jutsu on their own, be given complex commands, caught in genjutsu, and can even bleed, but they will usually disperse after one or two solid blows. The clones will be created in roughly the same condition as the original and any experience the clones gain during their existence is transferred to the user once they are dispersed. Given that the clones are an exact replica of the user, they share the same stats except for Chakra Pool, which is determined by the number of clones presently in effect. The advantage of this form of the technique is that once dispersed, the chakra distributed to the clones returns to the user, allowing any un-used chakra to be regained, slowing the draining usage of this technique. The chakra returns to the user at a different rate depending on the user's control.
1-15 Control: 1/5
16-25: 2/5
26-35: 3/5
36+: 4/5

~Tenketsu Tethering: Link Up II
C-Rank Ninjutsu/Iijutsu
After a set of hand seals, the Kyoukan family member will make fire off a pink wisp of chakra from themselves at a target at a speed of [Control] and up to [Control] meters away. If contact is made, a tether will form. This tether can stretch up to [50(control)] x 2 meters (or 100) and lasts for [50(Control)]/5] (Or 10) posts. When stretched further than this range, the tether remains but will be unusable as a medium for tether techniques.

{Still using the jikiton pull jutsu}

[HotelBravo]

There was a lot going on, but as a result of Hanako being tugged in armor she wasn’t in a situation to react to it. She had been focusing everything in her sensory skill, as she attempted to expand her range past its limits to continue to pick up on threats. She sensed the so-called farmer approach - although he was already being handled by Shinjiro. Hanako felt the strange chakra of whatever this person was as he turned into Armor himself, and she really didn’t want it to touch her however she was already in a suit of armor thanks to Chiaki so she didn’t need to make much effort to not be touched by the creepy person armor man thing.

Shinjiro relayed a warning and within a blink they were running off away from the area that was soon to be a battlefield. At least Chiaki was running. Hanako was being pulled through the air magnetically as she had before, which meant that whether Hanako was trying to run or not she was just a few feet behind Chiaki. Hanako strained to look at the group that they had left behind. They were quickly making their way to the North.

She escaped the area with Chiaki’s help

[Mre-face]

The retired warrior walked past, yet he is stride was interrupted by the rouge ninja, his hand grasping his forearm, so firmly it would bruise even his muscular lower arm this alone made Gōkariki fuming with anger causing him to turn around slowly with a hateful gaze not even fearing what was said. Shinjiro would feel Gōkariki's arm feel denser and stronger, even as he surpassed Gōkariki's strength his arm would feel 'different' denser almost.

The rumbling of the earth could be used as an intimidation tactic, however the rouge ninja would likely see through this ruse and Gōkariki wasn't one for ruses even if all wars are based on deception as one of his ancient books of a great general in Shrimp stated.

I know the 'type' you are, the type that rambles on how dangerous and scary they are and never seem to shut THE FUCK UP His own thoughts interrupted by his own impulsive rage as his patience depleted fully moving his body explosively to quiet down this arrogant ninja.

Gōkariki would likely miss his headbutt, but the attempt would be aimed directly at Shinjiro's nose, with the intent to break it and teach him a lesson. Gōkariki couldn't stand long-winded speeches on how dangerous or great who ever the person was. It was ego inflating speak that he despised. Who are they to deem themselves so great? Above everyone else? The day they meet someone on their caliber, their talk usually gets quelled and Gōkariki intended to stomp such arrogance.

A small part of Gōkariki reveled in moments like this as much as he didn't like to admit it, he was a ticking time bomb, and he enjoyed taking his rage out to dispense "justice" however he was severely outmatched just as the rouge ninja had warned him...

MetaShow

Gōkariki Kiss
D-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
After closing the distance, Gōkariki will attempt to grab his opponent's head and rams his cranium straight into the opponent's nose to try to break their nose and cause bleeding. This can be debilitating as blood starts to fill the nose, making it difficult to breathe. This requires 5 more strength than opponent's strength to successfully break their nose.

[Trusted Grader]

Insurmountable Odds
phpBB [video]
How long had she been gone? How many years had passed since she had been seen set foot on top soil? The cave dweller formally known as Kijo, Nehan The Daughter of Death–now working under the moniker of Angel of Death–was finally making moves again, she had recently sniffed out that there was knowledge of blood magic that could assist in her growth towards even more power. Nehan the psychopath had been moving from country to country underground, mostly peaking out at night to gather resources and knowledge before she entered Graw and vanished from the country.

Normally Graw wouldn't displace so much ground as they liked to move in silence but today was a different day, they both had grown tired of their little mouse games and it was time the world knew of the return of Nehan–and Graw of course. She had plenty of secrets up her sleeve for she hadn't just disappeared and stayed a ghost, no, she had learned new abilities, mastered her voodoo and even acquired a new pet that never seemed to shut up, but, Paz was special, at least to her. See, she knew that she lacked in the powers of Genjutsu, that had been abundantly clear to her ever since she teamed up with Kenji but she had never figured out how to combat it and had always relied on her partner in crime!

Although since he has been gone, she knew that she would have to plug that hole herself and the Dracula parrot named Paz would be the perfect foil! "Wrah, we should avoid violence." Nehan chuckled as Paz spoke, she was still trying to get used to the bird mimicking human voices, it always got the best of her because even though he had a male voice he still sounded sort of feminine, which she contributed to him trying his best to mimicking her frequency.
"You are right little one, but we can't always avoid violence now can we?"

"Wrah, we should avoid violence." Paz repeated right as Nehan gently clutched the Dracula Parrot in her hands, "GRAAAAW!!!" Nehan chuckled and nodded. "Seems that we have almost reached our destination, get ready little one."

Graw pushed through the ground, opening up a massive sinkhole that would not only cause the air to be drawn into the massive gap he had created but also allow him to rise above it, Graw would not only erect himself in such a position that Nehan would be able to stand a top of it's head and see for miles in every direction but allow her to get the height advantage if anyone were to be the wiser for if Graw dropped down then all hell would break loose.

Jumping out from behind the many rock platings on Graws skin, Nehan would take a deep breath, the fresh aroma of greenery was a welcoming exchange from the stuffy underground air, she smiled as she baked in the sun before she blocked the sun with her right hand and then exhale as Paz began to fly around above her head. "GRAAAAW!!!!" Paz mimicked Graw, sounding absolutely adorable as it's tiny voice tried it's best to sound intimidating, causing Nehan to burst out in laughter which was quickly drowned out by Graws massive follow up. "GRAAAAW!!!" Nehan chuckled and looked down towards the party of ninjas by a tavern not too far from their location. "Oh, is that so? What do you reckon? Are they after us? Or do you think they gathered before we made our entrance?"

"GRAAAAW!!!! Wrah, we should avoid violence." Paz landed gently on Nehan's right shoulder. "Where is the fun in that?"

---

MetaShow

*Ninjutsu • Spiritualism Technique]
C-Ranked Ninjutsu
The base technique for summoning, the Spiritualism Technique allows users to bring forth their summons to fight on their behalf. Once an agreement has been made between the user and their summon, they will be able to use this technique to call upon it at any time unless stated otherwise. The chakra used for this technique varies, as it is dependent on the size and rank of what is being summoned. Once it has been summoned, the initial cost of the summon is equivalent to its rank. It is paid upon being summoned and then the same cost is paid as often as follows:
D-Rank: Free to maintain once summoned.
C-rank: 10 posts
B-rank: 9 Posts
A-rank: 7 Posts
S-rank: 5 posts



Nehan

Chakra Pool:	Endurance:	Control:	Strength:	Speed:	Will Power:	Nth:
25 (30 - 5)	50	50	50	45	25	25

Graw

Chakra Pool:	Endurance:	Control:	Strength:	Speed:	Will Power:
30	20	1	50	15	4

Paz

Chakra Pool:	Endurance:	Control:	Strength:	Speed:	Will Power:
18	1	45	1	10	45

[Izanagi]

As Shinjiro gripped the man’s arm and locked his gaze with the man, he realized suddenly that this former warrior was more powerful than he had expected. At least an elite Jounin, that was enough that he could likely use his full strength without outright killing the man. Perhaps he could hold his attention and amuse him after all. The Bannin felt Chiaki’s presence behind him as she tethered his chakra to hers and coated his body in yet another armor. He felt himself refreshed and alert and exhaled slowly, suddenly feeling calm and in control as Gokariki lashed out with a headbutt. Shinjiro evaded easily and naturally, the man was much slower than he had expected, but the strength of his body was unquestionable.

Acting on instinct, Shinjiro countered with a vicious attack on the man’s arm. Utilizing his full speed and strength he closed the minor distance faster than any here could perceive, twisting Gokariki’s right arm behind his back and slamming his own left arm down on his shoulder while his right hand wrenched the arm violently and abruptly in the opposite direction with a twisting motion. The result would be a nasty spiral fracture of the radius bone of Gokariki’s right forearm as well as a dislocated and shattered shoulder. But Shinjiro wouldn’t stop there, his body had recognized Gokariki as a potential threat and his training forced him to follow up and truly incapacitate the man. He would allow no time for a counterattack. Releasing the arm an instant after breaking it, he would rotate his body back to his left, launching his right fist up in an uppercut to Gokariki’s jaw after having forced his opponent's posture forward with the attack to the arm. Then, disengaging, he would dash out of range for a moment and deftly slide, dip or weave out of the way out of any potential strikes before stepping in with a lightning-fast left jab aimed to the right orbital bone, intending to land a finishing blow to knock the man out and cause massive swelling and damage to his eye.

Even as Nehan emerged from the ground atop Graw, some 100 meters away from them, Shinjiro kept his focus on first putting this man down on the ground. He was still a minor enough distraction for the time being to simply knock him out, but if he proved too much of a threat he would have to kill him so that he could better focus on the new arrival. Still, he kept wary of any potential attacks coming in from the massive beast. And assuming he was able to connect with Gokariki and disengage, Shinjiro would channel a small amount of chakra into his greaves, leaping into the air and then walking up the air itself toward Nehan, approaching at an angle to reach the same elevation about 20 meters away from them. Shinjiro smirked, eying the woman up. She seemed somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. “Are you a friend of his?” he gestured toward the man below them. He supposed it was possible he had been a part of some specialized group and had some allies watching his back in these lands. This was already more of scene than he was hoping to make in this country, but it was now imperative to discover exactly what was going on. It seemed far too much of a coincidence that not only was he followed from Kumo but now suddenly not one but two individuals of at least Jounin strength had appeared to challenge him. Perhaps he was simply just having a very unlucky day. ‘These flies swarm around us, drawn to that shit from Kumo that clings to you no doubt. Kill them all and spread their remains over this land as a warning’ Vorashu’s haunting voice seethed within Shinjiro’s mind.

The assassin pondered the situation. A giant sand worm hardly seemed like the summon of a Kumogakure shinobi and he recognized the markings of Jashin on the woman. There was a Jashinist in the bounty book, wasn’t there? Perhaps even a few of them but he had never fought one directly though there were a handful of such followers in Kirigakure. “Who are you? And why should I care?” he called out defiantly to the woman. She certainly had the presence of an S-Ranked shinobi but even he wasn’t about to kill such a potentially powerful person without any good reason.

Jutsu UsedShow

46 Strength
46 Speed

Combat Intuition
A-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Prerequisite: 25 Speed, [Perception], [Close Quarters Combat]
A skill to maximize efficiency of movement, Shinji has learned to utilize his head and body movements to avoid incoming attacks without sacrificing maneuverability or speed. So long as he is able to anticipate an opponents attacks he can make minor ducks, shifts and weaves out of the path of most incoming strikes and projectiles, often allowing him to capitalize on counters based on the openings that a miss provides. Though typically Shinji must be able to perceive an incoming attack, after he has evaded a maneuver once he is far more likely to be able to anticipate and predict an opponent’s attack pattern, often beginning his evasion or block the instant an opponent begins their attack.

Limb lock and Twist (breaking Gokariki’s right forearm and dislocating shoulder)
A-Rank Maneuver
Prerequisite: 25 Strength
The user will take hold of an opponent’s limb able to be done offensively or via intercepting an attack. so long as the user’s Speed is higher than or equal to the Speed of the opponent Shinjiro can then place their opponent in a shoulder or leg lock, pinning them and putting immense pressure on the joint in question. If the user possesses at least 5 Strength more than their opponent's Endurance they can snap and dislocate the limb at the joint, with a Strength of at least 10 greater they can further twist and pull the limb, tearing it off completely.

*Look Over There (left hand jab to right eye)
C-Rank Taijutsu Maneuver
The practitioner throws a hooking punch into the side of their opponent's face around the orbit socket, twisting on the ball of their foot to add some extra force to the strike. Making contact with the blow will cause bleeding and swelling in the opponent's afflicted eye, making them go temporarily blind in the targeted eye until they receive medical attention. The practitioner's Strength must be 5 points higher than the opponent's Endurance to achieve the desired effect of this technique.

*This is a Library (right hand uppercut to the jaw)
C-Rank Taijutsu Maneuver
Prerequisite: 10 Strength
The practitioner throws an uppercut or hooking punch, attempting to dislocate the opponent's jaw. The practitioner will twist on the ball of their foot to add some extra force to the strike. Striking the opponent's jaw will dislocate it, causing them to be unable to speak or move their jaw. It will also cause immense pain and swelling. The practitioner's Strength must be 5 points higher than the opponent's Endurance to achieve the desired effect of this technique.

Emperor Ankan's Greaves (Jumping into the air at 46 Speed and then walking toward Nehan and stopping 20 meters away at same elevation)
These shin guards of black steel have been famed throughout history for their use by the notorious thief Minkai. The greaves allow the user to walk on air as though it were solid ground, following the flight rules using the wearer's [control]. When not flying the wearer can move at any speed in utter silence and their footsteps leave no visual trace. It is said the greaves allow their wearer to teleport through the air instantly. This can be used once per thread and does not count towards the restriction of two teleports per thread.

[Sia]

Maido and Shuichi, whom had for the most part been merely observing as the skirmish unfolded, suddenly spoke up. "Wait, Shinjiro, I know that woman, I found her in the desert almost dead once from malnourishment. They can't die, so they were quite miserable I remember." Maido spoke in Shinjiro's ear. Shuichi piped up as well, "Aren't they in the bingo book?" Maido responded with a simple, "Of course." Maido thought to herself for a moment and conversed with Shuichi privately.

It would be greatly beneficial to the cause if they were able to sway Nehan to work with them as a group. A loner typically, she knew, but with powers that are undeniably useful and to be feared. "How do you mean?" Shuichi asked Maido, and she began to elaborate. "Nehan cannot be killed by normal means. They have a potent religious pact that allows them to cheat death, even if we were to cut off her head she would still be alive, albeit quite disabled and having a bad time." She said this last part aloud for Shinjiro to hear as well.

"It would be a good move if we could convince Nehan to work with us, I would rather have her on our side than working against us in any capacity." She said finally. Shuichi's body began to surge with chakra, and ripples of Kouton shards began to fly about Shinjiro's person as Shuichi separated himself from Shinjiro's body, a swarm of metal shards piecing themselves back together in the shape and image of Maido. White hair, red eyes, but a cloak made of grey metal instead of red. "Hello Nehan, it's been a while." Maido's voice said politely as she ignored everything else around her, having become hyperfixated upon Nehan's mere existence.

[Kanade]

Chiaki watched as Shinjiro quickly incapacitated the man through her clone's eyes. Both clones looked at each other, the one that was mostly depleted from the jutsu she had used and the one that still held her full reserves, "Suppose that you should probably heal him." Said the undepleted one, "I'll defend him 'till he wakes up."

The depleted clone nodded, "I only have enough chakra probably to heal his wounds, but I think it's better for him if he remains unconscious, don't you think?"

The undepleted Chiaki nodded, "Good thinking, though perhaps we should put some sort of barrier on him until then?"

"Or a dome of some sort."

"I think a barrier would work better." The undepleted Chiaki shrugged, watching the depleted Chiaki clone go to work, "So you're using that technique?"

"Best use of chakra, to be honest, and he did get a bunch of things broken all at once." She shrugged, "I mean, it's better than a lot of other techniques that we have."

"I suppose so." the undepleted Chiaki shrugged. The depleted one sighed, "I only have enough Chakra to stick around now, the next technique and I'll be completely depleted."

"Well, I suppose you could just stick around and if you poof, Chiaki will know what's going on."

"Weird talking about ourselves in the third person." Chiaki said to Chiaki who shrugged.

The undepleted Chiaki wove some more hand seals, "Rocks... so bludgeoning huh?" She looked up to the three conversing up in the air, and on the giant worm, "Silicone it is." She wove her hand seals, placing a hand on herself, and then on Gokariki, "When he wakes up he'll still have a nasty headache, but no permanent damage. Time to watch and... defend this guy." She nudged his foot with her toes, "Whenever he wakes up I am just happy that I'm far away."

jutsu usedShow

[Iijutsu • Goddess Palm] - used on Gokariki
S-Ranked Ninjutsu
Prerequisite: *[Iijutsu • Mystical Palm]
The pinnacle of the Mystical Palm techniques allows its users to heal wounds almost instantaneously. After focusing chakra into his/her hands, the user will place them over the wound in question and begin to channel chakra through it. As the chakra interacts with the cells and tissues in the area, the wound will begin to regenerate and heal over until there's no remnant of it ever being there. This is done in the blink of an eye for most wounds. To heal small-to-moderate wounds, and even large wounds take very little time, whereas Mortal wounds take one (1) post of concentration to mend, This technique lasts for four (4) posts, but due to its chakra-extensive nature, users are not advised to treat multiple large wounds in a single use.

Silicone barrier - On chiaki undepleted clone and Gokariki
D ranked silicone jutsu
The user channels chakra and touches a willing subject or themselves. A paper thin barrier of [control] strength manifests over the target's body for [control/5] posts at [control] speed with [strength] equal to the user's [control] (used at 50).

[Mre-face]

The enraged farmer flung his headbutt towards Shinjiro was met with swift retaliation so fast, Gokariki could barely scramble to react and retaliate himself. As his headbutt missed, one of Gōkariki's forearm bones broke by Shinjiro's vast power. Gōkariki tried to futilely ready himself in a combat stance, but was meet with an uppercut towards the jaw, nearly lifting him off his feet before catching himself on the ground. Finally, being able to swing back. Gōkariki wasn't the type to care a broken bone or two was never enough to stop him as he swung towards his opponent his sheer speed made him dodge out of Gōkariki's attack, this battle was over before it began.

The final blow shattered his orbital bone, finally rendering Gōkariki unconscious Haven't gotten my ass kicked in a while.... How weak have I gotten? As his thoughts faded into black...

The young boy dodged and weaved with immense precision, finally finding an opening before being meet with a back kick, sending him flying into a wall. "You are too weak! The enemy has now gained the upper hand, killed you and taken this land...." Looking upwards, he saw a massive man covered in shadow appearing to be inhuman before it grabbed a massive wooden staff with steel lancets reinforced to make it even more deadly. The staff was raised and smashed over the young man's head.

The former warrior's snapped back into existence, dreaming after his humiliation. And suddenly a nice lady was close by healing his injuries which was a pleasant feeling but after a few seconds of regaining his consciousness, the memories of him being easily defeated, the humiliation everything infuriated him. His raged bubbled up akin to a kettle filled to the brim with boiling water.

His expression turned enraged and monstrous even during his healing. Has my time here softened me by this much? Completely destroyed by a random missing ninja? You allowed someone to stroll in and walk all over you!? Scenarios of what he could have done differently rushed to his head and with each scenario came defeat, he was completely outclassed and for a man whose entire life worth was based on his strength it infuriated his pride and humiliated him deeply. As soon as he could throw a punch, he was expected to be the best, and him turning complacent lit a flame brighter than the sun within his soul.

After his realization, Gōkariki would try to move his body to hit the nearest thing in sight but was stopped by the sharp pain, which just further increased his rage even more. Panting furiously, he looked towards the woman helping him with pure malice. "GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME, I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP, ESPECIALLY FROM THE LIKES OF YOU!"

He grunted and growled in sheer frustration and anger, but couldn't move due to his condition the longer he was immobilized and the more the dwelled on the thought of him being beaten like a dog, which infuriated him even further. It appears that his meditation and peaceful life wasn't able to quell his pride and fury. Was he cursed to forever bear this anger?

[Trusted Grader]

Nehans head tilted to the side as she watched the man run on air, which was rather intriguing, during her long career as zealot she had never witnessed this action before, well, she had seen people fly but that was due to chakra, this one on the other hand seems to be wearing some sort of special boots that allowed him run 3dimensionally, which was rather cool if she was honest.

What followed out of his mouth though wasn't as cool, in fact it was quite the opposite for Nehan wasn't really here for violence, seeing as she had just watched the man brutalize another person in front of her. Usually this would trigger Jashin to want the man before her to be sacrificed, but today was a special day, today she knew within her heart that only one person has to sacrificed and that person wasn't here right now.

"You are lucky that I am in the right state of mind today, lord Jashin told me that today would be one of my rare off days, only one sacrifice is needed." Nehan grinned, she was about to look over at Paz before Maido appeared out of Shinjiro's armor, a fact that shocked even her. Isn't... the rumors that she died?

"By the way of Jashin, you seem to have been blessed with eternal life beyond the physical realm. Or have you been bound this realm?" Nehan rubbed her chin. "By the way of Jashin!!" Nehan chuckled and pet the parrot.

Graw still stiff started to sway a little, his body posture signaled to Nehan that he was getting anxious, something was setting him off for some reason, could it be the rising tension? As of now Nehan felt no fear, for Maido had spoken to her, if she hadn't then things would've escalated, especially since Shinjiro seemed to be in a fighting mood, or at least that was what it appeared like to the wicked witch, she had only caught the tail end of their "skermish" and from the looks of it, he had brutalized Gokariki with ease.

He is strong, I'll give him that... Fast as well it seems.

[Izanagi]

Shinjiro pondered the new information as he took in a more detailed look at the mystery woman. As the leader of the Seven Swordsmen, it was his duty to defend Kirigakure and that meant being familiar with the Bingo Book and the worlds most notorious shinobi. He had almost forgotten about Nehan however, as she hadn’t been spotted in quite a few years, he had assumed she had been killed somehow or started a new life for herself. “Hmm, you’re right. Nehan, isn’t it? The immortal. Interesting” he mused, speaking lowly between himself and his comrades. He found himself quite curious just how immortal she actually was. He had developed skills to counteract those with regeneration abilities, learned back when Kaguya Aimi had defected from Kirigakure. Unfortunately, he hadn’t had the opportunity to test his poisons on the man before Kasai had incinerated him. At least he had managed to finally kill the former host of Vorashu that had been hunting him for most of his life. She too was considered by many to be unkillable, and Shinjiro quite enjoyed proving others wrong.

The Bannin of the hidden Mist nodded in agreement as Maido suggested working with the woman. She was a rogue kunoichi of Konoha, as he recalled It was possible their interests could align. And she would be the perfect sparring partner to help him hone his poisons and taijutsu. He would simply assess the woman as Maido formed her likeness in front of him, floating in the air as she began to converse with the woman. Honestly, she didn’t seem that tough to him, certainly it seemed her blood lust had calmed down which explained why she had been slipping under the radar lately. Casually walking toward the woman, hands in his pockets Shinjiro assessed that she wasn’t too much of a threat after all. The creature she rode upon seemed rather hardy but even that wasn’t enough to intimidate him. Perhaps he had gotten too strong for his own good, it was hard to feel any sense of fear anymore. “So you’re the infamous Nehan; Daughter of Death was it?” he recalled, showing her some respect now that he knew who he was dealing with. “I’m Karagata Shinjiro, Bannin of Kirigakure and leader of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist” he introduced calmly though despite his seemingly casual posture his body was primed and ready for combat. Feeling refreshed by Chiaki’s jutsu he was able to better compose himself, though he still found himself in an irritable mood. His green chakra flared as Vorashu stirred within, causing his eyes to glow for a moment, ‘Let us kill the worm at least. Do not let them forget the power of Vorashu’ the Phantom beast urged on, practically salivating at the idea of fighting the sand worm. “And Jinchuuriki of Vorashu no Katagenma, the Phantom Beast of Body” he added for emphasis. “Maido and I are creating something special, an alliance beyond the confines of the shinobi nations. Join us and help us change the world” he insisted. He wouldn’t take no for an answer.

[Sia]

The twin souled body of Maido and Shuichi purred, as it did from time to time with the Lion ears and tail that sprouted outwards from Shuichi. Kouton shards pieced together, bit by bit, until he was separated from Shinjiro and standing somewhat nearby Nehan, nodding along with his hands in his pockets as metal shards surged out from his body. Piecing together, the visage of Maido began to take form as a clone apart from him, stepping forwards and smiling at Nehan, but stepping out of the way, gesturing towards Shinjiro and Nehan with each hand. "But, don't let me stop you, have your little fight if you want to have it, I for one am anxious to see just how it might go." Maido said a few paces away from Shuichi.

"Either way, I wonder exactly what we could do here, if we were to work together instead?" Maido said and examined her cloak, which was now gray and made of metal instead of blood. She grasped it in her claws and felt the material over in her palms and fingertips as she spoke, clutching it closely to herself. Shuichi's ears listened intently, and he tucked his tail away out of sight. He began to think to himself, before he finally spoke up, "I can think of someone we can sacrifice." Shuichi said suddenly, and Maido turned to look at him, then Shinjiro, and said nothing.

[Kanade]

The chiaki clone that gokariki had yelled at raised both hands and pursed her lips, she obviously thought that was rude.

The other clone nudged that one and asked, "you know they're way up in the air, what do you suppose they're talking about?"

"Dunno." The first clone said, "worm is really ugly though."

"Yeah, a face not even a mother could love."

Both chiakis started giggling.

[Mre-face]

The annoyance of clutching his pained arm made Gōkariki even more furious he felt powerless and helpless. Although it was getting better by the second it which infuriated him that he needed to really on her help but also seeing her pull that pouting face made Gōkariki's face scrunch up from bitterness where he then he looked away ashamed that he was in this state.

Seeing them casually throwing him aside made him feel worthless. Is this what he had become? is this the weapon I was made to be? I was supposed to destroy my enemies and now this immense talent has been left to sit in my own failure? A normal and more reasonable man would realize that he had been trying to live peacefully and in many retrospects he had succeeded, yet this bothered him so to him, he thought it nature.

But in truth he simply hadn't learned despite spending this time to find peace his true failure was the failure to find his inner peace. No matter this humiliation had given him perspective which was to once again sharpen the weapon that was himself.

As they discussed among themselves Nehan the daughter of death had returned, and it appears that the man he tried to fight was Shinjiro the overseer of the seven swordsman and the deadliest ninja of Kirigakure. No wonder he was destroyed murmurs of creating some kind of alliance.

If Gōkariki could join them that would mean if he matched or even surpassed their power then he knew he had become worthy of his own image of true power and not complacent as he had become.

The thought of joining this man known as Shinjiro infuriated Gōkariki, yet he knew he could learn much and possibly even become strong enough for a rematch.

He battled with the idea of joining or going his own path stuck with in his thoughts contemplating as they discussed this possible alliance.

[Trusted Grader]

Nehan listened intently, her mind wandered to the old days, her old ways of dealing with these situations. There were too many eyes on her, too much energy focused on this vicinity for her to feel comfortable in, the woman she used to be would certainly freak out thanks to feeling so exposed and whenever that happened, death followed suit. Her train of thought immediately stopped once Shinjiro spoke, her knuckles whitened as the sounds of squeezing leather began to reverberate between the two of them, tension rose to the point where it almost physically blocked the two of them from moving.

Her heart raced yet a smile crept on her face, Should I? Or shouldn't I? To kill, or not to kill.... Nehan chuckled as she gently began to move her shoulders back, she seemed to be stretching as if she was prepared to make ends meet, these were the times people wished they stopped her in hindsight, but the man before her was no ordinary man, he probably looked forward to this, which was always a detriment to the citizens of said country as Nehan had a tenancy of altering the landscape after her wake.

"Raaw, no fighting, peaceful resolution!" Paz flew around Nehan in panic. "There's no peaceful resolution to this, isn't that right Shinji-kun?" Nehan poked out her tongue, she was impressed that the seven swordsman knew of her, but truth be told, she barely had any idea who he was, it had been years since she heard of the seven swordsmen and even longer since Kenji had told her about those she would need to watch out for in the near future.

Truth be told, the immortal couldn't care less as she truly believed that she was unkillable. Which in turn was a problem, for this meant that she never analyzed a situation before she entered them, such as this one, though, with time, she has relaxed a bit and taken time to think things through. "BUT!"

"I am not in the mood to fight today, nor do I want to disrespect the memory of an old friend..." Her eyes turned to Maido. "I don't know if this is the real you, but, if it truly is, then I am willing to listen, I owe you that at least." Nehan laughed as she crossed her arms, her body posture had changed to a more relaxed one and Paz stopped freaking out and landed gently on her right shoulder.

[Izanagi]

Shinjiro continued to stare down the infamous Jashinist, his bright green eyes peering out from his hood. He wanted to fight her, craved the challenge. There were so few that could actually test him. Ever since Kasai had been killed it was undisputed that he was the strongest in all of Kirigakure, but he had no desire to lead the village. His goals and ambitions were his own. He desired only to strengthen the Jinchuuriki and the Genma within them. They were destined to be the true rulers of the world, not the Kage of the shinobi nations. He wished to create a new world order, but in the meantime, he would ensure the strength of the Karagata family and his closest allies. He hoped that Nehan would be one such ally and a powerful tool he could use.

Standing with his hands in his pockets, hovering in the air he would stare down the immortal woman atop her massive sandworm. He could feel her pressure, the intensity of her power. She was a formidable foe and there was no denying it. And yet something about her felt somewhat familiar. Almost as if she was family. Some instinctual part of him recognized the ancestry of his cousin and close friend. And he knew he didn’t want to kill this woman, even if he could find a way. She was more useful alive. Still, he had to assert his own dominance. As Maido made her comment Shinjiro simply smirked beneath his mask. “You know how that will go” he asserted confidently. His own aura felt like death itself. Nehan was a cultist who had killed hundreds and found some peace with herself, but Shinjiro was both an assassin and a warrior, a man who had mercilessly slaughtered thousands. He had conquered Tea country, subjugated the spirits of Starfall Island, and invaded Fire country all while Nehan had lived the simple life of a commoner.

There was no doubt in his mind that he would be victorious. The only question was whether Nehan thought it was worth it to test him. He held no regard to the civilians around him, their lives were meaningless to him. Only Chiaki and Maido mattered, and he felt confident that he could protect them. The Jinchuuriki huffed in amusement as the bird panicked and attempted to find a peaceful outcome. Animals tended to be able to sense the power within him, the King of all Beasts; Vorashu, who was the true father of every living creature. Shinjiro cracked his neck as Nehan addressed him. “You did allow my prey to escape” his glance shifted toward the direction the pair of Kumogakure women had fled. He wasn’t sure how they had managed to track him, but he had intended on finding out. At least until Nehan had interrupted, sparing them from a horrendously painful death. He sighed, disappointed as the Jashinist backed down. But he supposed he was grateful that Maido had established a relationship of sorts with Nehan. That made it easier to rally her to their cause. “Good choice” he scowled, then tilted his head, side-eying Maido in confusion as she spoke about a sacrifice. “You mean the girl?” he glanced toward Hanako. He held no strong feelings toward her, she was simply an accessory that Chiaki had insisted on bringing along, a testament to her incessant compassion and selfishness. “Do what you must but if Chiaki cries about it, it’s on you to deal with” he considered. That was more than acceptable if Nehan demanded a sacrifice to earn her allegiance. Then his gaze shifted toward Gokariki. “That guy shows some grit, we could use him too” he suggested. Whether it was as a sacrifice or an additional member was ultimately up to Maido. She was the true leader of Kintsugi after all and one of the only people Shinjiro truly respected and would follow.

[Sia]

For a long moment the two of them, Maido and Shuichi, stood there and stared at each other, merely taking in the situation. After a moment, Maido simply snapped her fingers and almost immediately Shuichi's body broke apart into a thousand little pieces of metal, a swarm of shards that flew about and encompassed the area, circling around Maido before attaching itself to her, shards of metal forming together and interlacing into a suit of armor and a cloak that was practically identical to what she was most known for wearing, save for the fact it was a dull metal grey color.

Maido strolled, slowly, towards the great worm and Nehan, careful not to agitate the great worm with any sudden movements, she was, after all, not as strong as she used to be. For a moment, she cursed her situation mentally, but decided it wouldn't really do her much good anyway. She had to safeguard her attitude, regardless of her current predicament, for she of all of them knew manners in control. There were things she could control, her pace, her attitude, and then things she couldn't, such as Shinjiro and Nehan, still...

"I have a proposition for you..." She began, then formed a series of hand seals. Before her, a small replica of the nearby town within the Land of Stars began to form out of Kouton. It was quite small to look at, but once the jutsu was complete they would all see what could best be described as a model replica of the town. After a few moments, more buildings began to spring up in the town replica, a hospital, a laboratory, a library, an Inn, a farming center, and other such novelties.

"I'm putting a little group together to work behind the scenes, to pull the strings of the great nations and puppeteer them. We have spies across the globe, members in every village, and after a lot of deliberation and planning, we have decided to set up some headquarters here, right here, in the Land of Stars." She pointed to one particular part of the town. "I intend to provide stability to the people of the Land of Stars, clearing out the miscreants that dwell there and provide housing, food, and health care..." As she spoke, she pointed to each of the relevant buildings to the plan.

"All from the shadows, without the great nations knowing what's really going on. I think you, Nehan, would benefit greatly from an allegiance with us, I can almost guarantee there will be an appropriate hunting grounds for you to find sacrifices in as I have already arranged for someone with...cannibalistic inclinations... to have a hunting ground of their own... Actually, now that I think on it, I bet the two of you could be the greatest of friends." Maido laughed heartily as she said the last part, but she was entirely serious, and the narrowing of her eyes never changed, resulting in a rather odd expression across her face as the top half of her face portrayed violence and the bottom half portrayed aloofness.

"In any case, I think we could do a lot for each other here, working as a team..." After a moment she gestured slowly in the direction of Gokariki. "I think we could find a place for him too, if he doesn't die."

[Kanade]

Chiaki's clones literally sat back on the hard ground and watched the conversation, still wondering what the others were saying, then looked to Gokariki, "You sure you're alright?" Both clones asked at the same time. They were busying themselves on looking non-chalant, seeing as the giant worm wasn't moving in any sort of an aggressive manner, and Shinjiro was talking in tones that didn't carry down to her ears.

[Mre-face]

The retired warrior watched on as he sat in his pit och shame unknowingly getting praised despite his terrible showing. The silence made it far worse than an endless hurl of insults from being dominated this way. Sitting in one's guilt made

his arm and the lady still asked Gōkariki if he was fine despite his earlier protest was it true altruism or did this lady just have some kind of selfish fixation on fixing "broken things" Either way the idea of having to rely on some random lady that traveled with troublemakers disgusted him. "No, but I don't want or need your help especially not from you. " The last part had a particular scent of venom solidifying his rather stubborn position. If he were to set his ire aside then it would likely benefit him more than it would hurt. If only he could do such a thing.

[Trusted Grader]

Nehan grunted and clicked her teeth, she let a sigh escape her delicate lips as she raised her hand for Paz to land on. "I guess we are choosing the peaceful solution, I like what I am hearing." She tapped her foot on Graw with enough force to make the entire summon puff into a massive smoke, causing her to fall at great speed, slipping in between the smoke, covering her tracks as she continued to plummet towards the ground.

Her wings spanned for a brief second, which would almost make it appear like she changed directions through some invisible means. Nehan would land next to Chiaki and Gökariki, chuckling as she peered up towards Shinjiro and company. She had heard all the speeches before and had grown tired of listening to them over and over, she was a woman of action and what was on today's action was whether or not the man before her was her sacrifice or not.

"Was this the one you meant or do you have someone else in mind?" Nehan grinned as she gently rested her hand on her folded-up scythe, the silicone suit was a fascinating sight, one that could keep the strongest out. She continued to grin as she thought about how powerful such a creation had to be, though she wondered if it truly could keep a monster such as herself from tearing it down, could it stop someone like Shinjiro? Interesting.