The silent revolution begins with.... training?

[CDF]

He could feel it almost as a physical tingle, spreading through him from head to toe. It was a strange but oddly pleasant reminder that despite this form... he was real. He was conscious. In a form no other known entity ever had been before, but still, he was conscious. Discarding the thought, Hito-prime looked out from the many balconies of the strange tower he had erected.

This sensation that his mortal brain was turning into a ripple of energy that flowed through the neurons under his skin: its source was satisfaction. He had racked his old and new mind as best he could to come up with a comprehensive plan for the future, and while there were many questions still in the air pending data: it was clear today was the first step.

He ignored the strangeness of the slightest nanosecond delay in the vibration sensation looping back to him from the many different copies of himself that were littered through this new strange building. They were all him, linked in real time to Hito-prime through his spirit that possessed and connected them all. Each of them had a transformation jutsu used on them to make them look like completely covered, nameless training facilitators. In reality, they were all simple humanoid puppets that Hito made from earth and possessed with the same entity that possessed him: himself.

They were all waiting patiently for however many ninja would show up to Hito's summons. He had infiltrated Sunas headquarters through a mix of stealth, social engineering and a couple of times by revealing he was the former kazekage. This was information he tried to keep as secret as possible, for he needed to act quickly to enact all of his plans before Suna's society could begin to react. The longer it took for them to find out he was back, the greater the impact he could have.

A rumbling roll of agreement came from within him, like a confusing mirror spiral. That was going to get obnoxious and needed tinkering. This was the first time he'd controlled so many inputs, it seemed he was going to have to dynamically change the speed with which the connections interact to prevent overlap and echoing. Should be a fun challenge while we.... I... wait.

---

Every shinobi Hito was interested in that morning would have received a hand-delivered letter that was mysteriously dropped on their doorstep without anybody being noticed, no matter how secure a location they were in. It gave them the location on the outskirts of the village where a new training facility had been erected and they were all invited to come take this opportunity to hone their skills.

The letter had a seal of the kazekages office and explicitly told them to communicate with nobody about the contents of the letter.

Upon arrival, they'd find an abnormally tall tower standing where once there was nothing but sand, right outside of the village and within walls of the perimeter defenses. The tower was 100 meters tall and had a diameter of 40 meters, each floor was 15 meters tall and had an entry with a balcony that held a shrouded figure that waited patiently.

A sign at the door invited them to enter the tower and choose a room, they were welcome to join a group or choose a private room for themselves.

Upon arrival, there'd be a desk at the end of each room with a bell and a sign. The sign says: "When ready, ring the bell and speak aloud who is in this training session and what each participant's goals are. Questions will be answered later".

Outside the tower, a couple of actual, known Suna officials looked on nervously but quietly. They knew this was the work of the former kazekage, but they also knew something was off.. they had been told to talk to nobody about their posting and this was all very unconventional.

[Tsedas]

The doors to the tower opened, the singular figured garbed in a black poncho with a straw hat covering his head from the desert sun watching as they opened too slowly for his taste. Adjusting the large bandage wrapped bundle slung over one shoulder, his free hand's finger tips glowed before flicking out, wires made of chakra pulling the doors open but halting them before they slammed into something or someone. Stepping in, he paid no heed to the officials that stood outside the toward and gazed about the place. Whatever the reason for the summons, he'd soon discover what awaited him. Wandering the place, he got a brief lay of the land as he passed multiple rooms on different floors that almost seemed identical. Eventually he stepped into one and approached the desk located within.

Plucking up the sign, the masked shinobi read over it before setting the sign down. Shrugging his shoulder, he let the bundle slip from it's perch and set it down against the desk. His mind pondered the reasoning behind these games as his hand reached out and tapped the bell. "Ryousei Genkaku, training ninjutsu and kugutsu and way too many other things." With his statement given, Ryousei reached over to his bundle and pulled on one of the bandages, causing the whole wrapping to loosen and unfurl as a wooden puppet was revealed to be hidden within. His fingertips glowed as he shifted his arm to the side and the puppet slid unnaturally and rose to it's feet.

His free hand reached up and took the straw hat from his head before placing it on the desk, his mask remaining in place as he focused his senses to try and hear for the approach of anything or anyone within the room. He assumed this was some kind of danger room and was ready to defend himself as needed to try as he went through a mental list of jutsu he had been developing in his mind.

[ayylmao]

With yet another stamped letter in hand, Tozoku approached the tower. It was all rather mysterious, the Kazekage stamped envelopes, the sudden appearance of giant architecture, and the spooky training ground attendants made for some great political intrigue. Where did all of these resources come from? Is this mysterious benefactor truly benevolent? It was all lost on Tozoku however. Did he have a lot of questions? Absolutely; it just didn't matter. 'I'm a bit player in all this. With or without me this is happening...so why not benefit?' He thought to himself.

So with little fanfare and trying his best to pretend the mysterious figure observing from the grand terrace above didn't exist he opened the door to the tower and proceeded onwards. Once inside he took stock of the administrative setup. The practicality of all was a little incongruent with the grand tower architecture in Tozoku's opinion. He approached an unoccupied door, just past another guy who had gotten there first. Following the lead of the person before him, he rang the bell and stated his business. "Tozoku Isha and it's just me." He paused briefly. Seemingly not considering what exactly he was to train today. "I'm here to work on my strength and speed."

With that business done he opened the door to the next room. Like most things he did it without much flair, keeping a facade of relaxed confidence. In actuality, his chest tightened as he took in his new surroundings. He brought his right hand over his shoulder, loosely gripping his sword's handle. He fished a Kunai from the pouch mounted on at the small of his back and raised it before him.

[CDF]

OOC: This is training for you more than anything, so if its a small thing to just move you through your post, feel free to control hito's movement a bit. I'll tel you if anythings too ridiciulous, but no need for you to write half the length you normally would just because you need to way for me to reply to a small thing.

---

Genkaku

As he approached the tower, Hito recognized Genkaku both from his research and from their interaction puppeteering. He had left the ninja mysteriously then and he continued the trend now, not revealing who he was. He had to admit he appreciated a person that took such things in stride and Genkaku was clearly unbothered. His direct announcement was another confirmation he was the shinobi Hito thought he was.

Approaching at a normal pace, one of his robed, masked constructs walked into the same room as the puppeteer. It said nothing, as Hito figured Genkaku wouldn't need it to. The construct had all of the same stats as Hito, but for now modulated itself so that it seemed to have 20 strength, and 30 of everything else. Beneath the robe it had a significant amount of wire and kunai and in its hand was a 3 meter long metal staff. Seems its first approach against the shinobi would be brute force, and then Hito would see how long he could go before having to bust out his kugutsu as well.

---

Tozoku

Hito watched the young man approach and enter through multiple sets of eyes. He did not know much about him as the lower ranks were harder to access information on, and he had not yet infiltrated the academy records that were a little more intelligently guarded and not so easily given up with the secret ordering of one person. All he knew of Tozoku Isha was his name, age and Taijutsu focus.

That would be enough. As the chuunin spoke, another robed and hooded construct was entering the room with a traditional samurai's sword. Hito was no sword specialist, but he could easily make up for it with their physical and mental differences. Drawing on all his memory of bladed fights, he positioned himself and waited for the chuunin to make a move.

[ayylmao]

OOC: I'm assuming the hooded construct is dressed similarly to the actual character. If I overstepped anywhere lemme know.

The hair on Tozoku's neck pricked up as footsteps were heard from behind. He spun to face his foe. From the same door Tozoku entered what appeared to be one of the hooded administrators was armed with a sword much like his...well perhaps of higher quality, Tonzoku conceded. The ragged white robe concealed a lot of identifiable features; such as the face and no bare skin was plainly visible. It flowed around the mysterious figure giving his opponent an almost formless quality. They were about the same height he mused, it was hard to say how closely they matched in build. Tozoku was far from gifted in the more sensory field of his profession. However, there were a few tells that suggested who or what he was facing might not be a real person. The thing before him was much too still, and if it was breathing it wasn't preceptable to Tozoku. 'Still...' Tozoku mused, 'I can't be sure.'

Tozoku has yet to move beyond turning to face the person or thing before him. He was operating under the assumption that a sudden move may kick this whole thing off. His exterior remained cool but under the surface, a little nervousness was welling up. Sure, the invitation was friendly and the intent was clear. He was to fight this...Golem, and hone his skills. Does that necessarily mean he isn't in danger? Who or whatever built this tower must be a powerful entity. 'It's probably a safe bet to assume this thing outclasses me.' A recurring theme in Tozoku's career so far. He proceeded to finish the thought aloud. "So the typical arraignment..."

He released his grip on his sword and instead squared up in an orthodox taijutsu stance. His swordsmanship was his trump card. The style specialized in quick draws from the sheath and ending duels with extreme prejudice. Using it now, before knowing his opponent's speed relative to his own wouldn't end well if this thing before him was indeed stronger. His left arm was outstretched clutching a Kunai and his right hand balled into a fist held up and closer to his body. His feet were bladed, his left foot leading the right.

This training aimed to improve his strength and speed. Subterfuge and strategy weren't exactly the point. With that in mind, he charged forward, intent on using his Kunai to parry and get in close. Assuming the figure before Tozoku swung at all or even faced him head-on, the goal was to deflect the blade with his knife and try to bridge the distance. Once inside that close range? Well, his opponents' actions would dictate his.

[CDF]

Hito watched the determined chuunin analytically. The caution was admirable and Hito could practically see the gears turning in his head. That was a note for the young man: be cautious but let your enemy think you're brash. Just like Hito's first strategy would be to make his enemy think he was weaker than he actually was. Apparently contradicting this goal, Hito stayed perfectly still until just the right moment when he slammed down his sword into the incoming kunai.

He controlled his strength to mimic Tozoku's, making it seem like they were almost equally matched but that Hito had the upper hand in this exchange especially because of his two-handed hold on his blade and his defensive position. It would be sufficient force that Tozoku's attempt at a deflection would only serve to let him move himself out of the blades way in time in his attempt to close the distance, it wouldnt at all interrupt Hito's momentum.

With a fluid motion, Hito formed an L with the downward swinging blade while simultaneously pulling back on his arm and moving at a speed just slightly inferior to the chuunin's. The effect would be to bring the blade sliding in towards his waist as he attempted to close the distance. As his right hand swung the blade, his left hand slid from the sheath and up his wrist, pulling off a chunk of rock from the body that was beneath the transformation technique.

He expected the young swordsman to react to the swipe, most likely in the aftermath of the swing when Hito would be most vulnerable. At that point, the chunk of rock in his hand would be infused with chakra and get flung with the same strength as Takezo's, flying like a bullet towards his forehead. The goal was to create enough time to shoot out a left kick at the gut or torso to create distance and cause a little pain.

if all went well, the young man would believe that Hito had a slight advantage in strength while he had a slight advantage in speed.

[ayylmao]

Sparks flew as their blades collided, and his opponent's sword came down on Tokoku's kunai. Tozoku mustered as much muscle as possible to keep his Kunai steady. His opponent's movements brought both their blades closer to Hito's hip. The construct's arm and blade rested closer to the body while Tozoku's arm was outstretched in a disadvantageous position. Tozoku was able to keep the slash at bay. His kunai was at the base of the katana and his foe's weapon was between them, angled upwards. A shortlived stalemate.

His right hand, which had been free during the exchange moved reflexively. He caught the thrown rock, barely registering the resulting pain. This had its intended effect, opening up his right side for a well-placed left kick. In that instant, Tozoku was able to infer a few things. Tozoku was painfully aware that this had gone exactly as his foe wanted, but there was some new data to draw from. Unless his eyes deceived him, the rock came from the construct's arm. A technique or what the body is constructed of? The implications of this being a living training dummy were dire if the desired outcome was victory or even survival. 'It's not gonna get tired...' With both arms occupied and a wedge created between them from the kick Tozoku had to act immediately. As for Tozoku's assessment of his opponent's speed and strength relative to his...he simply didn't have the mental bandwidth to make those assessments in the heat of the exchange. His opponent felt fast and strong, but not in a way that he felt completely outclassed.

His body barely registered the pain as the kick made solid contact with his chest. The adrenaline was properly coursing through his veins now. Assuming Tozoku survived this exchange, he would awake with a foot-shaped bruise on his chest the next morning. Tozoku would then attempt to shift his lightly muscled frame slightly to the left as the blow made solid contact, trapping the ankle underneath his right armpit as he pressed ever so slightly closer. Assuming this was a success he was in dangerous territory still. If he fails in catching the foot, he'll jump backward in an attempt to make distance. His foe could and would outmuscle him and his left hand armed with the Kunai would not keep the blade at bay for long being as outstretched as it was. Still, it wasn't a completely unfavorable position.

Tozoku had some options if he made it this far, ranging from favorable to least favorable. The best case in his mind would use the leg as a lever. abandoning the rock he had caught and grabbing the upper leg. Then extricate the foot from underneath his arm and with as much force and explosive speed as he can muster push upwards, hopefully forcing his opponent off balance and falling backward. This would get the blade farther from Tozoku, free his left hand and knife from having to guard which he can then use to throw at full force into the center of his opponent's mass.

The least favorable was to dig his heels in and pull backward, falling to the ground and taking his opponent, blade and all with him. He wouldn't have much control of the descent and would have to use the rock in his palm to guard against the pointed tip of the blade. With any luck, if the blade bit into his flesh, there wouldn't be enough space for a full swing.

583 words
stat trained: Speed

[CDF]

His mind coursed with potential options and futures as his plan progressed more-or-less perfectly. He had to increasingly account for the young man's potential and intellect, though those weren't quite the right words. Hito could tell from the chuuinin's eyes and the way he held his body: he didn't understand what he was doing, per-say, he just had an excellent sense of it all. And was very observant.

Hito kicked with an understanding that the artificial nature of this body was being guessed at and noted it as meaning he no longer had to make any effort to hide that. That meant he could just plop off this leg now for the most shocking and unpredictable effect, but it wasn't the most useful training lesson right now. Judging from his body movements, his current focus is on improving his speed, so let's pit him against a slightly slower but much stronger opponent.

As Hito's foot made contact, he simultaneously altered his physical output to match that sentiment, putting his speed slightly below Tozoku's and his strength significantly above. He could feel the muscles of his enemy beginning to shift beneath his foot and despite his new self-imposed handicap, the knowledge of the next move would have given him plenty of time to avoid it. Instead, he let it happen naturally, pinning his foot in the clever chuunin's armpit.

Hito did not resist much as Tozoku pushed his leg out and upward, which would likely have surprised him and put even more momentum into the attack. Surprisingly, the remainder of Hito's body stayed perfectly still and straight while his leg bent upwards unnaturally, perfectly-straight before swinging back down with ferocious strength. It moved even a little slower than the new found speed cap he had put in, an attempt to announce to his opponent that the game had changed and he better get quicker if he wanted to survive.

It'd likely be obvious from the sound and the movement that an impact from this incoming axe kick would be devastating, and Hito would be slamming it down at the closest breakable body part within reach, knowing he had the iijutsu to repair it afterwards. Meanwhile, the remainder of his stationary body was ready, merely focusing on balancing for the kick and prepared to parry any incoming attacks.

If a body part was caught, it'd likely break it cleanly. If not and impact was made with the floor, a large and powerful crater would demonstrate the force that was put behind it.

[ayylmao]

The leg in Tozoku's grip shot upwards with little resistance and much farther past the human range of motion, his foe also remained standing upright. His kunai held in his left hand still made contact with his opponent's sword. Strafing to his left would be impossible, as soon as he disengaged the blade barely held at bay would come down on him. 'My Right?' His mind raced. No, all his opponent had to do was bring his heel down. Tozoku felt that he might be fast enough to pull it off, but he's been wrong about his opponent at pretty much every turn so far.

Before his foe's leg raised any higher, Tozoku hardened his resolve and gripped it tightly. He would use his opponent's leg as if it were a tree branch, pulling his body up one-handed with as much explosive speed and power as he could muster, sending him in the air over his foe. At the apex of his jump, he briefly hoped his opponent wasn't also hiding a long-range skill apart from the throwing of rocks, which he was ready to bat away with the flat of his kunai. Tozoku sorely needed to shake up the pace of this encounter. His theory that his foe wasn't made of flesh and blood was almost a certainty at this point. Even if he successfully landed a blow, a stab to the vitals wasn't likely to amount to anything.

Assuming his opponent followed through with the wound-up axe kick, Tozoku would land at roughly the same time the devastating blow would strike the ground. The power of such sent a chill down the shinobi's spine. He would land right behind his opponent in a crouch with his back to the opponent's own. The short jump didn't afford much time to reorient himself in the air. At that moment he landed he would immediately attempt a leg sweep from his crouched position, rotating his body to his right with the same leg outstretched, in hopes of striking Hito's lower limbs and knocking him off of his feet.

So far Tozoku has avoided major injury and wasn't too worn out yet. His breathing was controlled and his focus was about as sharp as it gets. Tozoku would have to keep this exchange short if there was any hope of victory. As damage accumulated and fatigue set in he would only make more mistakes, and it appears his opponent didn't suffer such limitations. His mind still raced with how he would even subdue his foe with his current arsenal. When the time came to draw his sword, would it even be able to damage the thing before him?

446 words
speed

[Taiga]

The Sand Spider of Sunagakure had been told to come here- with a letter from supposedly the Kazekage himself. Perhaps his status as a jounin, or this alter ego, was known by the Kazekage's office. It was after all said that the Kazekage was a god- and all Kazekage had immense powers of intuition that came with such a title. With Iwa knocking at the doors it would make sense the shrewd leader would call upon bright minds like Ishi and those with skill. Either way, he didn’t want to get too ahead of himself. There was still much he couldnae know from just an invitation from the old man.

Going not as the Sand Spider but as Kouensha Ishi, he made his way to the meeting site as he passed through the doors and made his way inside- to find more than a few shinobi training.

His eyes scanned the room revealing a few individuals the middle of a spar. The gears moving in Ishi’s head he understood why they were here.

They were preparing. Preparing themselves for war. Ishi noted this as he looked about the room scanning it and noticing a rack of weights. He’d start with strength training. That was inconspicuous enough to avoid outing his alter ego to everyone here- if he suddenly flew around the room with webs or his signature puppetry it’d be alll to obvious he was the sand spider.

Taking himself upon a yoga mat he’d work every muscle in his body- stretching and warming it up… despite having already worked it a little with his jog this morning. It was important before a training session to prime the body and avoid injury.

When his minor stretches were done, he’d get his blood pumping with some jumping jacks then go into some sit ups, push ups, and body weight exercises. Even though he wasn’t a particularly physically powerful shinobi, at his level which was far beyond the average human, it wasn’t particularly hard. Clearing his throat when he finished that, Ishi would make his way towards the weights in the corner of the room.

Taking a seat at the bench he got at it pumping iron. He’d start with a low kilogram tolerance as a warmup. Time passed and before long he’d worked every muscle of his body a little, and would now decide to focus on his squats and dead lifts. He was hoping to double the weight he’d been doing in the past year and was already 75% of the way there in his goal.

As he methodically lifted things up and put them back down, he let his mind wander.

Clearly whoever invited them wanted them here for a reason. He wanted these men training together. Forming bonds. He was likely preparing them for a defense against Iwagakure- it was the only thing he could think of- and ugh. The weights slipped a little as he began to fatigue. Focusing for a moment on that he let it go back down.

It was best not to lose sight of the massive amount of weight that could easily crush you, eh?

He went back at it, moving to a different exercise. He hoisted an unbelievable amount of weight… memories flooded back, flashbacks. Beneath a collapsed sealing with all his weight and his webbing Ishi held the roof up as he screamed out for the people to run. He started to slip under the might of the ceiling. Lose his ability to hold it.

In reality a fighting spirit and willpower caused him to grit his teeth and roar as he pushed the weight up and tossed it over to the side, it landing with a thud strong enough to wake the whole room as he snapped back to reality.

Don’t overdo it- Ishi!

Hopefully no one else noticed.

627/600 for +1 Strength (1/10)

[CDF]

Ishi
Hito watched the approaching Jounin and dispatched one of his many extensions to be ready for him. While he didn't recognize him immediately, Hito ran his physical traits against the list of those he sent out letters to and narrowed it down to a likely list of three that quickly became one. This was the sand spider, one of the recruits here that had the most combat potential for the upcoming battles. Hito almost nodded in acknowledgment out of a long forgotten human reflex, appreciating the intensity and focus in the young ninja. His extension was in the empty room directly above, watching through a sensory chakra string that flitted through the floor.

With no need for guidance or prodding, Ishi walked in like he had been there before and got straight to work. Hito's extension did not interfere, choosing instead to give the ninja the impetus until there was an opportune moment. Seeing that moment when the jounin seemed to snap back from reality after overexerting themselves.

With no warning, Hito's disguised clone would jump as high as the room would allow before delivering a powerful spear kick down through the floor, smashing through it and the ceiling of the room below that contained the sand spider. It was aimed perfectly so that his pointed feet would slam straight into the jounin's abdomen right as he returned to reality and as he finished throwing the weight. Hito felt no hesitation or fear that this could be a killing blow, even without the warning. It was far more dramatic than his usual style, but it felt fitting for this recruit. Plus, he couldn't deny an intense curiosity for the chakra string style he'd read in this jounin's notes.

---

Tozoku

Hito's unparalleled mind sent signals faster than most could even tell their lungs to breathe. The chuunin's plan was clear to him, which didn't make it any less impressive or creative. With hito's reaction speed, he could have slackened his leg and taken away the ninja's leverage for his jump, but it wouldn't match with the level of ability he was currently attempting to emulate. Instead, he just slackened it the tiniest bit at the end like a normal capable chuunin would as they realized just a little too late what was going on.

Again, Hito tempered his response. His battle instinct was to strike at where his foe was inevitably going to land, based on his trajectory calculations. Instead channeling the mindset of his new persona, Hito imagined he was acting on reflex and intuition instead once the sweeping kick was sent out. Again, a plethora of options stretched out before his mind and he chose the one he felt would be most useful to Tozoku's training. Reacting wasn't enough, however, it was time to provide some actual instruction.

His reaction was to simply stand and lift his leg just enough to block the incoming sweep with the bottom of his right foot. It wouldn't take the same speed as his opponent to do this, just some prediction and a quick movement. The real purpose was to demonstrate once more just how much stronger Hito was making himself compared to his opponent. He may not have a sense of what the exact gap was, but it would be clear now that overpowering him was not an option.

Choosing not to follow up on the attack and instead just pushing the sweeping foot back before taking his own slight leap backwards, Hito's disguised form finally spoke to his training partner.

"Very impressive, Isha Tozoku" Hito's tone was as apathetic as usual, but he was clearly being cordial and mentorly as he spoke. "Excellent risk assessment, creative problem solving and impeccable observation & reaction skills. However," His tone changed slightly now, sounding almost a mix of annoyed and excited like a bully impressed with a victim that finally fought back. "Your creativity will only take you so far against an overpowering opponent. Twice now i've had to modulate my speed to prevent premature ending of this training session, and I will not be doing that again. You've now seen how much stronger I am but also that I'm slower. Show me how you deal with being outmatched in strength."

Driving the point home in another gesture meant to challenge Tozoku's pride and get his blood pumping even further, Hito threw his blade down point first into the ground and rose his fists. He gave Tozoku just a moment to respond and prepare before he did a simple sprint forward. No tricks, he'd made his intention and power clear and now he was heading at his Foe at a speed of 3 less than him but a strength of 10 more, aiming a simple left handed punch to his face.

If dodged, a right hook would attempt to follow up, but if Tozoku created more space than that between them, Hito would suddenly dig his foot with full strength into the sandstone floor and sweep upwards, sending a powerful and painful spray of rock chunks that had Hito close behind it, once again chasing his foe down for a simple but effective right hook.

[ayylmao]

Tozoku's sweep found purchase! Only for it to do nothing to move his opponent. His stomach turned as his leg was batted away as if he was a child. Hito then created distance. The Chunnin was momentarily relieved that they were no longer intertwined. The stage had been reset. Tozoku stood with his Kunai still held firmly in his left and reset his orthodox taijutsu stance. Blade out, right arm close to the body, and a bladed stance. His... instructor all but spelled it out to him now and confirmed his suspicions. He was dealing with a foe well beyond his level. His opponent was also adjusting his abilities to "match" his. The mediocre shinobi maintained a facade of focus and placid indifference, internally however he was certainly intimidated. 'If I'm "faster" then my only option is...'

The construct before him dropped its blade and squared up against Tozoku. A sportsmanlike gesture Tozoku would not reciprocate. Instead, he would draw another in his right hand from his pouch mounted at the small of his back. He would then go back to his orthodox stance. Not long after his opponent would come to him. Hito's words rang true, his movements were ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly, slower than his own. The weight behind his strikes however were fatal, if the crater behind them was anything to go by.

Tozoku raised his right Kunai to the side of his face as he slipped the punch, attempting to slide the edge of his Kunai along the outstretched arm of his opponent while getting on the inside of his opponent's outstretched arm. Hito, presumably made of rock wouldn't suffer any damage, instead sparks would fly along the two surfaces. The Chunnin didn't need to use much of his intuition to guess what was coming next now what he was on the inside. A strike from the right side. A strike hard enough to blow a hole in him no doubt. 'Rock and a hard place...heh.' The strategy was to leverage his "speed" advantage. If this golem was truly playing a game with set rules, he should be able to avoid most blows as long he didn't get boxed in. Tozoku has to be mindful to always keep a route of escape.

Tozoku gripped the Kunai in his left hand and once again hardened his resolve. He refused to back down now that he was on the inside. As the right hook approached he changed his level by crouching and brought the flat of his kunai up to defend his side. Tozoku did not have the strength to deflect the trajectory of the punch. His plan instead was to make contact and allow himself to be "pushed" under the outstretched left striking arm and to end up at Hito's exposed side. The balls of his feet would slide along the surface of the sandstone. Tozoku had to keep his body lose and allow the momentum to carry him. Even so, the power behind the strike rattled some teeth. Now, hopefully to his foes left he would have an opening that he wasn't sure he could even take advantage of. 'My only option is to chip away, piece by piece.' He finished his earlier thought before Hito dropped his blade and began his assault. Tozoku flipped the Kunai in his right hand to the dull round edge and would take as hard of a swing he could muster into the side of his opponent. Tozoku prayed his blow would find purchase and that something would give way. If even a single shard of rock was knocked loose then his strategy going forward was to inflict death by a thousand cuts.

617 words
speed

[Taiga]

Having gone past his limits Ishi let out a breath of relief as he came back to reality. No sooner than he caught his breath however, did the hairs on his back tingle. The hairs on his stomach, his face. Something was off… he felt this intense need to move. Biting his lip his head craned upwards as his body began to move as if on it’s own as the ceiling above began to break, a foot emerging out of it like a spear. With his instinct, he had more time than usual to move. But- this guy was fast. Regardless of his ability he narrowly avoided the spear of a kick as the foot scraped at his gut. Pieces of the ceiling began to fall; what exactly was this about?

A few pieces of rubble hit him, Ishi tensing his muscles as they rolled off of him.

Who the hell was this guy?

Instinctively he fired his silk as threads flew our from behind his shoulders up at the falling pieces of rubble, catching them and holding them in place to the ceiling as they disconnected from his body. He couldn’t avoid any more damage to the structure.

Surely it was part of training? Maybe it was? Who knew.

Moments later his senses again were tingling as the guy aimed a spinning kick for him. He put his arms up catching it on his forearms as he slid back slightly. This guy was quick and strong- at least of a jounin level.

No one else in the room seemed to stir at his surprise attack and kept training- so it must of bee part of the exercise. Part of whoever set this up. Whoever was watching. Was it the Tsuchikane perhaps, keeping an eye on them? Stumbling backwards Ishi braced himself as the man turned heel with another kick, his successive strikes landing on the Ishi’s arms as he resisted it with the best of his strength.

The figure turned for a punch now; Ishi worked quick. His hand flew out, catching the mans fist in his own hand.

”Didn’t see that coming did you?!” he said as he twisted backwards and aimed a headbutt into the mans head, causing him to stumble backwards. The force was strong and the figure seemed to pause for a moment. Ishi rushed forward throwing a tackle at him, looking to take him to the ground.

The man dug in his feet, and locked with Ishi like two rams locking horns. Ishi pushed with all his might flexing all the muscles in his arms and his core. His brain flashed to another fight- long ago. A hunter from a far off land came after him. The ultimate hunt.

The two were embraced in a dead lock not unsimilar to this, and Ishi was sorely outmatched in strength. He had no shot. The pain and twisting of his arm as the man broke his arm and threw him like a rag doll surged in the back of his mind.

He blinked, back at reality as he roared all his strength into his arms, but also moved his legs. For a brief moment, he suddenly pulled back rather than pushed, taking the assailant off kilter. And then pushed right away. Immediately, with all his power. The assailant went falling backwards tripping over himself from this action as Ishi struck a stance and put his arms up.

”Have you had enough?”

He said as he ran forward and delivered a spinning axe-heel kick, only for the figure to dodge. Ishi’s strength splintered the floor.

602/600 +1 Strength (2/10)

--

Not even a moment would pass as the figure suddenly left off the ground. Chakra whirled around it as if some jutsu was increasing its power- for the faintest moment Ishi thought he might of even seen chakra threads. His senses tingled like crazy before the figure rocketed at him with another spear like kick- but he didn’t… He couldn’t dodge it. It smacked clean into his gut, with a minimal attempt for Ishi to block with his hand. The force threw him through the wall and out of it into the next room as he cracked the the walls. The brick walls. All of that.

Ishi grunted as the dust settled. Part of strength training did indeed include taking heavy hits. He coughed as he tried to stand up. As far as he knew…. Nothing was broken. Least… well he thought that was the case. He’d broken ribs and stuff before and it definitely felt different. He was fine.

Standing up to shake it off, the figure would enter through the hole of the wall. It mentioned- through a somehow unremarkable voice, ”no one can see you now- not the others” it said, almost as if egging Ishi on.

Ishi looked at him- his eyes tightening.

”sand spider…” the voice said.

Without any hesitation Ishi shot webs out his wrists, the webs locking on to either side of the walls as he wrapped onto them, lunged back and then screaming launched himself at the voice. The force was intense- the webs slingshotting him far beyond his own strength could. He would need to be strong enough to take the vault along with it.

”Stop talking!” he exclaimed when we pushed himself through any of the pain an impacted into the man, only for the man to grab his legs. Ishi let out a ruh-roh when the man then flung him back into the room and towards the ground. It hurt as he smacked into the ground… but he needed to stay strong.

”Alright- something isn’t right about you…” Ishi said as he flipped himself free sticking to the opposite wall. He fired two webs for the man, who happened to be hit by them. Stuck up, he would kick off the wall aiming a kick for the man. With a swinging kick, he had enough force to knock the man, unable to defend himself to the ground. But moments later the man would break the webbing and get back onto his feet.

With a spinning flurry he would chuck four kunai for Ishi. His senses tingling, he shot his webs at two of them and pulled with all his strength- he needed to pull fast enough. Luckily, he did, and the first two kunai he hit collapsed in not he other ones bringing them all to the ground. Ishi then spun round and shot again, only for his webs to be stopped in their track by a pair of kunai slicing them. He bit his lip.

He’d keep up this act as the projectiles came and his webs did their work until he got close enough to the figure to sweep at his legs than look to punch him. It was difficult, but he was pulling it off. Letting out a roar he punched at the guys gut, catching him square and lifting him off his feet. He delivered another punch with his next arm sending him back, then a knee sending him up further into the air. More and more. More and more.

Finally he put his two arms together, his two hands, and slammed them downward. Knocked him into the ground. He took a deep breath.

”Yield?”







620/600 +1 Strength (3/10)

[CDF]

spudermn

The sand spider was indeed all he was cracked out to be and his interesting silk-spider web like usage of chakra strings had many potential applications for Hito's on combat plans. It was time to test the limits of it, but the destructive capability of what that meant was too much for this training scenario. Instead, Hito sent a ping to the rest of the constructs in the tower and they all comitted a portion of their thinking and chakra to flood the entire tower with chakra that then went zooming into the sand beneath the tower.

With a rumbling, a second tower was erected and modified by some of the constructs while this one focused on the sand spider and teleported both of them to this new tower created just for him.

This tower used the recycled and now already gone tower as a base mold for a new sandstone tower that was widened, shortened and had all of its floors removed. Instead it was now a massive rectangular building that was 50x50x30meters large, separated by large sandstone columns into grids of 5x5 meters. The columns are entirely ornamental and do not affect the structural integrity.

Upon landing, Hito would waste no time, errupting chakra strings from his construct's body while sending a wave of chakra that pulverised the 4 columns around him. His strings connected to every bit of debris from the columns and began hurling them with full speed at the sand spider, preparing to get more creative with the attacks as the young man warmed up.

---

Tozoku

The chuunin's performance continued to impress and all relevant notes were being logged in a mental file he was already distributing to the relevant extensions of himself doing work in other places. He had great emotional control and did not show his intimidation, though Hito could read far beyond an average person's perception and saw the countless microreactions that reflected his true feelings.

His strategy was sound and he was immediately using Hito's own force against him, clearly accounting for his artificial body. Might as well lean into it, so he ignored the damage of the kunai as it slid across his artificial skin. The movement to his exposed side as he pulled back his left arm was smooth, using the force of his enemy's punch to move himself to an unlikely position. Of course, Hito's ability to see the move coming could have nipped this in the bud even with his handicapped speed, but he deserved it.

What he chose to do with the opportunity was a little disappointing, however, and left him open to quite a bit of damage. He'd use this opportunity to let the shinobi train his endurance and learn a painful lesson; he could tell the young man could handle it. The swing came in and Hito stayed true to his speed, turning in reflex but not in time to prevent the majority of the impact slamming into his left side as he pivoted. Knowing the swing was coming, however, he could account for its endpoint which he did by slamming his now returned left hand down with full strength.

His goal was to punch straight through Tozoku's right forearm as it continued on its arc after the strike. If contact was made, the forearm would snap right in two and his right arm would temporarily be extremely painful and useless. The swordsman would find himself at even more of an advantage, giving him the ultimate test of mental and physical endurance.

To give him the light at the end of the tunnel of motivation, Hito called out while he took another step back to once more reset the field.

"Very good, you used my force against me and got a strike in, but you put yourself in a vulnerable position for little reward. Now, i've damaged you in a way that's easy for me to repair with iijutsu after this fight. I challenge you to take me on now and assure you that my body going forwards will respond as if it were a real one. Can you survive until an opportunity for a kill shot arrives?"

Again, Hito's tone changed for dramatic effect. He had been walking towards the blade as he spoke the second half of his statement and now he pulled it from the ground and turned to face the injured chuunin. Waiting just the briefest moment for confirmation, he charged in again. This time he seemed to slide forwards by pushing off with all his strength with the back foot and sliding right into range. It wasn't faster than Tozoku could react to, but it'd be a strange enough movement to add to the difficulty. His blade came down in an otherwise simple and relatively weak diagonally downright slash aimed for his torso. The slash was also aimed to continue its trajectory as an orbit while Hito pivoted with it and swung around to attempt another blow after the first one was surely guarded or dodged. The second swing would have all his power plus the power of the swing and aim again to slam into whatever guard was in place.

[ayylmao]

The Chunnin was able to see the damage before he felt it. His arm contorted in an unnatural way from the hammer-like blow. Both bones in his forearm were snapped like dry kindling. He leaped backward some to create distance as the pain crashed over him in waves. He could no longer make a fist and the Kunai had almost slipped past his fingertips. His mind raced and the pain gave way to intense nausea and spotted vision. His face was no doubt pale as blood dripped and pooled from the snapped area onto the thirsty sandstone at his feet. Tozoku's remaining good arm began to move as he took slow deliberate breaths. 'Inhale.' His left hand reached across his body to the pouch on his right side, producing a roll of bandages. 'Exhale.' The kunai also dancing in his left palm was placed flat against his mangled right forearm and he proceeded to wrap from elbow to wrist, creating a splint. The movement was practiced. Basic academy 1st aide. He barely registered the man's words as he worked feverishly. How long did he have to get back in fighting shape? Mere seconds? No time at all? Tozoku pressed the dangling kunai in his useless hand tightly back into his right palm and wrapped his fist tightly in the remaining bandage. The result wasn't pretty and blood was already spotting the bandages. His arm was far from perfectly set and had a very visible and stomach-turning bend in it. The Kunai bound to his lame hand was oriented in an orthodox grip.

Tozoku trained his eyes on his opponent, fighting nausea and spotted vision, and barely registering the stone construct's rapid advance. It was a matter of survival now, his left arm moved at a speed he had not yet displayed to the sword mounted on his back. The Iado style hailed from the land of tea, his mother's homeland. Neither she nor him were gifted practitioners. The core feature were its quickness out of the sheath. The doctrine of Iado is to end battles before they can truly begin. Unfortunately, Tozoku was about to disgrace that doctrine. He would wield it in an ugly shameless manner to claw victory out of the jaws of defeat.

'Shinigami draw' His blade appeared out in front of him in a flash, appearing just in time to parry the diagonal slash with ease that immediately aroused suspicion. Their blades created sparks as Tozoku's simple katana glided along the full length to keep from being eviscerated. While Tozoku's own sword ceased travel once Hito's blow cleared his torso, the arc of his opponent's blade continued. Hito would contort himself out of the way of his blade to bring the blade full circle back down with crushing force. Tozoku utilized the other tenet of his sword style. Practitioners or Iado aren't just quick out of the sheathe, the reverse is also true. His blade seemingly vanished from his hands and back into his sheath as he sidestepped in the direction opposite of where Hito pivoted. The goal right now was to play keep away until the spots in his vision and stomach stopped turning. If he kept pushing his body it would have no choice but to sharpen up and push to greater heights.

Tozoku would continue this pattern, utilizing the speed of his draw to fend off glancing blows and making his weapon disappear leaving his opponent striking the air. There was still a feeling of hopelessness, his opponent has displayed a level of...omnipotence that makes most of his tactics futile. Still. he was hunting for the right moment. Is it possible even the enemy before him can slip into complacency? In the haze of his pain, he barely comprehended the man's message to him. 'His body would respond as if it were a real one.' He recalled. Tozoku concealed his glee, it was the first good thing to happen in this entire exchange.

663 words
Endurance

[Taiga]

What the hell?

Ishi’s senses tingled like nothing before, overwhelmed from every direction to a point he couldn’t make out what to do. He felt as if he was being tugged and torn apart and remade and a plethora of things all at once when suddenly, everything went black, and then everything returned. He was somewhere else completely. As he scanned the room he made note of it. It as a wide sandstone tower.

A massive rectangular building that was 50x50x30meters large, separated by large sandstone columns into grids of 5x5 meters. The columns didn’t seem to reach the ceiling or actually hold anything, confirming they were entirely just there for an aesthetic reason, as far as his logic could figure out.

He’d been teleported somewhere, or the room changed around him or- well he didn’t know but it definitely was something different from where he was before. Before he had time to dwell too much, the figure began creating chakra strings- not too unlike his own. It was Kugutsu. Moments later columns would break into pieces as the strings attached to them, and the strings would begin hurling them.

Ishi’s senses went wild at the sheer amount of debris coming his way. Biting his teeth he repelled up to the ceiling quickly, managing to dodge the first columns worth of debris, and the second as he deftly shot another zip-line thread to pull himself off to the side mid air. With privacy- there was now nothing to hide. He was certain this individual knew who he was. The arms on his backpack shot out revealing his mechanical spider arms and puppet. The arms helping with rapid speed weaved his webs as he created a parachute like structure, but instead used it like a net to catch all the next wave of debris that came at him.

The speed he worked at was nothing short of impressive, with his added arms. Catching the debris in a net he would flip off the wall and land onto the ground, only to find more debris coming his way. There were four columns after all. HIs eyes narrowed as he moved his mechanical arms deftly as they sliced, diced, crushed, and moved in a flurry in front of him destroying the debris, only to return into his backpack and collapse a moment later.

He was a little annoyed now at whoever was testing him.

Raising a fist he punched into a pillar while simultaneously extending a thread from his fist onto the pillar, and in a spinning motion, ripped it and chucked it at the man. No sooner than he did that, would he begin shooting silk threads at every single pillar still close to the man, tying them together in a bundle.

With all his might and strength he dug his feet into the ground, and then pulled. And pulled. And pulled. The arms on his back deployed their mechanical madness into the air as their pointed edges stabbed into the ground to get traction, also pulling. An immense amount of strength using fulcrum points, eight limbs, and the webs themselves all came onto the pillars as he snapped them pulling them all in in one motion to crush the man in-between. Ishi roared as every muscle in his body and every thread he held worked in tandem to pull this off, doing it all with immense speed too. He hoped that the action would smash whatever the figure who was fighting him was.

”So is this some kind of training ground or some test- you looking for who can fight those Iwa big bags?” Ishi teased out as he shot a web to the ceiling, swinging towards the column crash he had just made, hopefully to kick or hit whatever might be there if it managed to survive.


641/600 +1 Strength (4/10)




[Ace Trainer]

Indra had been cordoned off by the once-Kazekage into a private room deep in this haphazardly tossed together training compound. It made sense, he supposed. After all, he was of high value, and he could even be considered a danger to others to some extent. Indra suspected there was some concern the Genma would somehow escape and get loose and kill everyone here, but Indra knew that wouldn’t happen. Or at least, he would do his best to ensure it wouldn’t. Not like he didn’t do his best with that every day anyways. Hito had set the room up for Indra and Ikinari, and to be honest Indra felt a fair amount of pressure knowing Hito would be checking in on them…even if Indra had some feelings about Hito’s return in the first place. Honestly, Indra had considered not coming to this training, but Ikinari had insisted it would be a good opportunity to start learning techniques that utilized the Talisman. They had done a fair amount of background and reading on the Talisman Indra had found and what they were used for and the ancient art was long thought to have been lost. Indra gaining access to it would be pretty significant for a number of reasons, but would make him excellent support.

The first thing he needed to do was learn how to absorb jutsu. The Talisman he had were predisposed towards it, so he didn’t think it would be too hard to figure out. Ikinari had called forth several balls of Kaenton chakra, raw orbs of heat that shimmered in the air in between them. ”Its hot in here.”, Indra groaned as he held the small Talisman up, closing one eye to have it occlude the shimmering orb of heat closest to him. ”Alright, lets do this.”, he said to himself, placing the talisman on the ground.

This would be easy enough. All he had to do was pray, just like her already did, and then use his chakra to grab the orb and bring it in. Ikinari had made these orbs of heat slightly weaker than he could actually do in order to facilitate making them easier for Indra to absorb. It was a simple enough process, he could do it. Closing his eyes, he’d first reach out towards the Talisman with his chakra, beginning to chant out loud. Ikinari would stand against the wall, his arms crossed as he listened to the prayer from Indra. Interesting choice for this…", he thought to himself, a mental reminder to ask Indra why he chose it. Indra would continue to chant however, the small Talisman slowly lifting from the ground and floating into the air in the unoccupied space between Indra and the orb of heat.

Opening his eyes, Indra would smirk confidently at himself before bringing his hand up gesturing for the Talisman to move forward as he continued to chant until…Woosh there was a sudden sound and a brief relief as the orb of Kaenton was sucked into the Talisman, vanishing from the room. The Talisman would zip through the air, landing in Indra’s outstretched hand. ”Easy!”, he exclaimed confidently.

SpoilerShow

Talisman
B-rank Talisman of Light Ninjutsu
The cornerstone of this style, this technique allows the user to absorb effects they don’t have access to in order to utilize them for other Talisman techniques. The user will do a series of hand seals, charging chakra into a Talisman within 60m of him or connected to him via other means (Soul Possession, Chakra Strings, etc.). The Talisman can then be brought in contact with a jutsu, and should the users [Control] be greater than the [Control] of the technique, the technique will be absorbed into the Talisman. The Talisman must be used again within the next 5 posts or it will go inactive. When a Talisman has a technique stored in it, it turns completely black until used for another jutsu.

[CDF]

TozokuShow

Was this... joy? Hito examined the sensation that followed a network of chemicals and neuron activations as his blade swung through the air. The sensation had been growing readily in all of his constructs, and it only grew stronger each time they connected with Hito's mind to sync up. It was becoming unquestionable: he was enjoying this. Making note of that and setting some of his processing to dissecting just what was so fun about this, the rest of his mind continued to pay attention the impressive young swordsman.

Had Hito been less experienced or never encounted the Iado style, he would have thought the chuunin had somehow sped up. The movement with the blade was significantly faster than anything he'd done so far, but it wasn't about the speed of his body, it was the excellent technique. The body he was currently pretending to have could not keep up with it at all. Instead, Hito had to account for where the enemy was going to be and see if the prediction was sufficient to overcome their temporary speed difference. Having turned himself into a brawler-type, however, Hito was already having to factor in the things that would normally start affecting such a fighter by now. His large wasteful movements so far had been using the ceiling of the strength he had designated, which meant he was pushing his limit hard. To be realistic, he had to lower his speed yet again to account for fatigue as the slippery chuunin repeated the pattern.

Tozoku was clearly a novice with Iado and was relying on mostly the same moves, which meant it would only take 2-3 near misses for Hito to discern a pattern and get an understanding of the man's preferences. So when he came to swing down the sword in another simple movement, he would react before there was actually anything to react to, knowing he couldn't follow his opponent's speed.

Slashing diagonally again, Hito would let go the moment he saw the pattern for the draw. He knew at what point he could no longer react by and would release the hilt of his blade as that happened, for it meant that in less than a milisecond the chuunin's blade would come sliding out to meet his. This time, however, it would find very little resistance in Hito's blade that was no longer being held while he pivoted his body, ducked and attempted to dive his shoulder hard into tozoku's solar plexus. If contact was made, Hito would attempt to dig in and up, lifting him off the ground like a raging bull and throwing him into the air to fall back down.

SupaidamengShow

The sensation of joy that he had felt like a kindling in other fights was a lot closer to an ember here. The sand spider was impressive and his fighting style was not just unique, it was also mentally stimulating. Perhaps more than any other use of ninpo than he'd ever seen, this style required an insane amount of mental effort. To the layman, it was an impressive feat of strength and acrobatics, but to Hito it was an exceptional display of a brilliant mind.

The man's strings acted elastically and allowed him to play with the forces that come with that. It also made him extremely unpredictable and impossible to pin down, for most people, anyways. Most likely the most valuable training partner he could give the sand spider was an enemy that could see through his flashy, complicated style to the beautiful math that truly controlled it underneath.

It was with this mathematical eye that he calmly watched the incoming attack unfold. He calculated rapidly, shifting his vision from the strings to the columns to the man himself and reading the effort from his body to predict what came next. His mind followed multiple trajectories on multiple paths simultaneously, factored in the movements he'd seen so far and made a set of predictions that left Hito feeling ready.

By the time the bundle of columns came collapsing from every direction, Hito's chakra strings were out and moving in fuuton-coated flurry. He was not aiming to destroy them all and instead was making an announcement to his enemy, letting him know what kind of mind he was dealing with. Without moving a single muscle other than his hands controlling the strings, Hito watched debris whizz by mere milimeters from his face and body. Not a single one touched him.

The razor sharp chakra strings moved like surgical whips, cutting the exact shape and angles needed from the still moving pieces, according to his calculations. It was perfect and felt rather satisfying as the clothing around his body reacted to the moving air of the column pieces. Letting the dramatic moment pass and the rubble of the attack settle, Hito responded with a straightforward and emotoinless tone. "Both" contrasting the lack of energy in his voice, his hands shot upwards along with the chakra strings alongside them.

as he had cut the column pieces down to size, he also attached his strings to them but without tightening, just letting the strings extend as needed while the pieces flew past and settled, the chakra strings on them growing further to also attach to pieces of the floor, all of which went tearing and flying upwards in a mottled mass of debris towards the spider.

As he sent it up, Hito abandoned his stationary stance and rolled suddenly, again attaching strings to columns and flinging them not where the spider was, but where his patterns so far suggested he would dodge to next. Hito not only factored in the pattern of the spiders movements so far, but also the math of the trajectories he had thrown and the few angles that would have been left to retaliate from. He may not hit him, but the young man would quickly realize he was dealing with somebody that could see his movements.

IndraShow

Hito and his posse of constructs watched quietly. This was arguably the most important trainee in the tower and the more he considered it, the more Hito was sure that either this chamber or the upper tower would have to be moved for safety's sake. He sent a ping to the other constructs with the information, alerting them all to begin amassing jikukan in preparation but not using it just yet. They'd likely move the tower itself and not Indra's chamber, we'll see.

He had not yet had time or opportunity to truly get to know Indra beyond what little Ikinari had shared, but he knew he had to invest in the young man. But they had not yet been formally introduced and now was not the time. Pretending he was somebody other than who he was probably wasn't wise, considering the genma he had within him. His relationship with Ikinari was probably all the introduction to Hito he needed for now, as he was clearly focused on his training goals now.

Focusing on that with him, Hito retracted the senory string that was letting him watch from afar and sent in a construct to walk in through the room's doors, followed by three other actual shinobi. All three of them were vetted and trusted by both Hito and Ikinari and between the three of them, they had every affinity and jutsu type that suna nin could provide for Indra's training.

They were all here for his training and would follow his lead and his orders, having been briefed by a disguised Hito who was now there in the room with them to instruct them as needed as well. Hito's disguise was for the officials and not for Indra, who he suspected was fully aware of the situation.

[Diatenshi]

Leimine was feeling incredibly frustrated. Mostly with herself rather than anyone else. It was the second time she wasnt selected for promotion after participating in a chuunin exam. She knew what her failures were this last exam. She didn't think from a tactical position and tried to muscle her way through whilst lacking the strength required to do so. So her goal to become stronger in all aspects mentally and physically. For this reason when she found the letter her eyes lit up and she immediately made her way for the outskirts of the village.

There in the outskirts she found a new tower standing tall against the sky against a monotonous brown sandy wall. At the entrance of the tower she saw a sign giving her instructions. After talking things over with Azir her bonded spirit, they both decided they needed to improve together. Standing before the tower they shouted together. "I wish to be stronger" "I wish to be stronger." Their desires spoken Leimine enters the tower. hoping her fortunes would be changing.

[Taiga]

Closing his eyes and focusing solely on the extra-sensory of the hairs on his body Ishi centered himself. Though calculations, math, and all the brainy stuff that went with it was his forte, the truth of the matter was his magnificent sensory and his ability to “move” was much, much more amazing. It happened at a subconscious level that was faster than any thought his brain could do, and he had learned to trust it.

Like auto pilot his body danced upon the ceiling- as Hito cut through pillars and began to fling things back, Ishi’s own webs were doing work as-well. His body feeling the air pressure- the friction temperature- all the things that allowed him to conceptualize a 365 degree image of the world even if his eyes were closed. His uncanny abilities would essentially allow him to react much quicker than usual. He was in a flow state.

He’d tug with all his strength sipping things away. “Thwap” incoming stone and pillar and bits and pulls own immediately, the flicks of the wrist to get it out of his way. As he moved through the pillars and walls with such exceptional grace, he’d catch one pillar piece flying his way, and with a few strong webs, grab onto it. Spinning like tornado, he created a shield with which to bat away the incoming attacks of the man below, while his arms on his back took care of any other rogue projectiles. At times, Ishi’s body seemed as if was almost moving on his own while in this state.

The onslaught of attacks and strikes would not stop, and he would need to deflect strike after strike after strike. His fists pounded against columns as he crushed them, and his body did all it could in an attempt to keep himself from losing too much. It was all very much to his chagrin, but alas, what could one do.

”Okay- so you do the whole thready throw thing too eh?” he bantered out as he continued to defend against the small bits of stone and crushed everything flying his way. He shot more and more webs and his arms on his back swung more and more at the stuff. Slicing apart rubble the air was quickly filling with a thick dust.

Finally, deciding that a range fight was not the best way to fight this figure who summoned him hear, he would use his projectile when lose enough to swing it from overhead down towards the man, and with more precision, leap on to it kicking it down for extra force. He would use the strength of the kick to also vault himself, and would rinse and repeat as he kicked his way off each and every rock to get himself closer to the man- Hito.


Finally he’d be decently close. Having closed the gap he would kick off of a piece of rock and piston himself behind the man, and rolling off of his next incoming attack and harm the behind flanking positio he would shoot four webs from his back, aimed for the mans his face, two at his arms, and one at his chest. He’d shoot two webs meant for the mans legs from his hands. With all his force, he would yank the webs, hopefully pulling the mans feet from under him and driving him into the ground.

His biceps would burn with immense pain as he did this, putting everything he had into wapping this individual into the ground to inflict maximum pain.

”how is that ya imitator of my absolute awesomeness?!?!” he roared.
605/600 for +1 Strength (5/10)

[Ace Trainer]

More people would come into the room, leaving Indra to blink at them with a confused look until Ikinari slowly came over in order to explain to them their role. They would have ample knowledge and jutsu for him to be able to use to train off of, good! He gave a victorious nod, sitting down for a short bit in order to talk through ihs options with Ikinari. They would talk about the different types of things Indra would need to build immunities to, "Katon, Raiton, Fuuton. Stuff that makes me deaf or blind. Really anything that can hurt me! I'm open to really anything you guys can think of.", he said affirmatively. Ikinari would stand and walk over to the guards Hito had produced, gesturing towards them out of Indra's ear shot and then allowing one to walk over to Indra as Ikinari continued to talk to the ohther.

"Starting with your hearing. Should be easier. You ready?", the man asked Indra.

Indra would give a quick nod, and then wait as the man before him performed a series of hand seals and then pointing a finger at Indra, causing the sound to suddenly vanish from the world around him. For a moment, Indra would grin widely, looking around and snapping his fingers realizing he was truly deaf. The deadpan look on his trainers face however would snap him back to attention and he'd give a curt nod, pulling a Talisman out and placing it on his chest and holding it in place with his hand. Then, he would begin chanting, reciting some sort verse from a story about the Sun in ancient times. He would continue to chant, repeating the verse as he finished it the first time. It was odd given he knew he was talking but he couldn't actually hear his own voice as he did, he hoped he was actually talking out loud. As he chanted, he would channel chakra into the talisman, feeling it shaking slightly under his hand as it came to life from his chakra. The jutsu was working! He wouldn't stop chanting but would instead continue until suddenly....sound! It rushed back to him like a surge but then he could hear his own voice, almost forgetting to continue to chant as he felt victorious. He would continue nodding victoriously at the trainer opposite of him who looked quite confused, prompting Indra to say "I think its worked!". As he did, suddenly the talisman would go calm and the silence would return. Yeah, it had definitely worked. They would just need to try it once more.

SpoilerShow

Deaf Talisman
D-rank Talisman of Light Ninjutsu
Should the target be under any effect that deafens them, or prevents them from hearing, the user can place a Talisman on them and begin chanting. For as long as the user is chanting, an ear symbol will form on the Talisman, and any effects that cause the target to be deaf will be nullified. If the effect is via a ninjutsu, the user must have greater [Control] than the technique.

The trainer looked at Indra curiously, not fully understanding what had happened. Based on his chakra and technique, nothing had happened. What an interesting little jutsu that Talisman was. They would practice the technique once more and then he would kai the technique off of Indra, "Ready for the next one?", he asked. Indra would give an excitable nod, ready for the next technique to practice. In truth, he thought the technique being used on him was pretty cool and really was looking forward to the next effect now. The deafness was not like being in a quiet room it was totally different, so what would blindness be like?! The trainer would do hand seals and point at Indra once more, a surge of chakra striking him and suddenly...nothing. It wasn't like it was dark and he closed his eyes, no, it was just...nothing. He giggled for a moment and then would make a sudden, stern face, focusing one more on his talisman. This time, he would fumble with it in his hands, realizing his coordination was a bit off when he couldn't see. How odd.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, once again Indra would begin chanting. This verse was different from the previous one, seemingly indicating that Indra was being intentional about which verses he was using for the technique. Perhaps there was some sort of benefit to that? The trainer could tell, but it wasn't his job to discern how this odd technique worked as Indra seemed to have a good handle on it. The young chuunin would continue to chant as he pressed the Talisman against his chest until once more he could feel it rattling to life as he poured chakra into it. It would shake with his words and feeling the technique coming to life, Indra would repeat the verse once more before forcing another surge of chakra into the Talisman and then suddenly...vision! He could see. He would remove his hand from his chest, the Talisman faintly glowing and staying affixed to his chest via chakra. Not wanting to lose the technique, Indra would continue to chant, grinning widely at the trainer and then showing Ikinari a thumbs up. As he finished the verse he would end the incantation and the talisman would lose its life once more, tumbling off of his chest and clattering to the ground as the world vanished around him again. "It worked!", he exclaimed. Another success.

SpoilerShow

Blind Talisman
D-rank Talisman of Light Ninjutsu
Should the target be under any effect that blinds them, or prevents them from seeing, the user can place a Talisman on them and begin chanting. For as long as the user is chanting, an eye symbol will form on the Talisman, and any effects that cause the target to be blind will be nullified. If the effect is via a ninjutsu, the user must have greater [Control] than the technique. [/spiler]

[hobnob]

Itoshii and Izumi entered the training area. The youth did not find the area that interesting and decided to sit this one out. Izumi was going to challenge herself against Hito, the opponent who was very skilled at adapting to the opponent needs. It's been a while since she trained, hopefully Hito would prove to be a worthy opponent. She took a stance and performed a string of hand seals, only to then grab a kunai out of her thigh pouch and create a singularity between herself and the target. A moment later this kunai would then be thrust with the power of gravity towards the target. This was only a warm up. Izumi proceeded to move in a circular motion to flank the target from her right. She would stop at a distance of about fifteen meters away from her target and would once again begin to perform hand seals. Her chakra would flood the area in front of her creating a point of origin for an area where gravity would be increased and hopefully slam the target into the ground. The area covered by the gravitational slam was twenty meters squared, with the target being in the centre.

While this first exchange of blows was going on, Itoshii sat away from the battle, but close enough to have a good view of the action. Itoshii was yet to learn any long range techniques, and a way of using those techniques in battle. Izumi hoped that this would be a good introduction for him. Izumi was not sure what Hito was capable of, so she kept her distance and began to think of tactics she could use to create an advantage for herself if the worse was going to happen. After her technique activated Izumi proceeded to move backwards, away from the adversary while still keeping an watchful eye. She adopted a defensive stance, her hands were close together in front of her. She was ready for any hand-to-hand combat, or to perform hand seals if she needed to.

She knew herself well, and knew that her chakra and control were at a good ratio. A prolonged battle was still not something she was after. She wanted to test and improve her skills, but also teach Itoshii a little about utilising Kuuton in a long ranged battle. And so far, she was not disappointing. Itoshii was in awe at the skill with which Izumi manipulated gravity. With no techniques he could use, he could only wish that one day he would be able to use techniques such as hers. He may have been strong, but knew it would take a while for him to become as skilled at manipulating gravity in the way Izumi was, she was a master in her own right.

Still in her stance, Izumi watched her opponent closely. Every so often making small adjustments to her position in location. Afterall she did not want to be a sitting duck. Such behaviour would leave her an open target and be a bad example for Itoshii, and that was the opposite of her objective. Her movements was spontaneous, quick, short, and long. She wanted to remain as unpredictable as possible, make herself as impossible to hit as she could. Unfortunately she was not gifted with Itoshiis ability, her defences were easier to penetrate. And she understood that risking being struck was just not an option for her. Even if she was a well rounded Kunoichi. Remaining in good condition was required of her if she were to continue looking after the young Itoshii, and to her Itoshii was like a brother.

OOCShow

viewtopic.php?f=79&t=8346051

Kuuton • Gravity Throw
D-Ranked Kuuton Jutsu
After doing the needed hand seals, or channelling chakra, the user will imbue and object with Kuuton chakra ad this will then allow them to throw the object with [Control] strength and speed. This jutsu lasts until the chakra in the object is used. This jutsu is combined with the users [Strength] for extra effect.

Kuuton • Gravitational Slam
D-Ranked Kuuton Jutsu
After doing the needed hand seals, or channelling chakra, the user will concentrate their chakra on an area equal to their [Control] in meters squared. That area will then be engulfed by gravity of strength equal to the users [Control], at [Control] speed. The victim can resist this slam if their strength is higher than the strength of the jutsu. It lasts 3 posts, can be cancelled by the user. The area of the jutsu has to begin withing the range of the users [Control] in meters.

[CDF]

LeimineShow

Oh? He hadn't expected any uninvited visitors, though they were more than welcome. The young and glum looking genin arrived with a mixed air of defeated and determined, and Hito quickly matched the face and attitude to the the profile of young genin Leimine, who records indicated had just failed their chuunin exam. They certainly had the right attitude, however, and were ready to improve themselves for the next attempt, it seemed.

Seeming to rise out of the very stone floor of the room the genin had chosen, Hito's disguised form would rise from the floor already speaking.

"Show me how much you mean that statement. Break any of my limbs, if you make contact and fail to break the limb, I will break something on your body. Are you sure you're willing to proceed? Do not fear, I can heal us both." He knew close to nothing about this genin except their very recent history and current attitude, so he took the opportunity to test their personality as well. Were they brave? Naive?

"Your first attempt is free." Either way, Hito would extend his left arm and wait completely still, inviting an attack. He'd alter the strength of the arm or whichever targetted limb on the moment of impact to match the genin's strength perfectly, resulting in them feeling like it would be possible to break with more force. Hito would not make any move to counter.

Whatever the genin did next, Hito would remain perfectly still and only urging the Genin to try again. "Now we truly begin, either break something with your next attack or be ready to have something of yours broken for you" His voice had no malice, which somehow made it even more intimidating.

SpidermanShow

Hito watched the sand spider's movements carefully and with a degree of respect. He could tell those movements weren't being made consciously, at least not fully. The man's body was moving faster than his brain could manage the movement, something Hito knew from experience fighting much faster ninja that could also barely follow their own movements. Instead, he was acting on some amalgamation of senses to create a near-reflexive automation, and it was beautiful. Part of his mind was already at work, theorizing the level and degree of calculation that was unconsciously occurring to allow this man to bring out the full potential of his abilities.

Let's see how he deals with fighting himself, how does this reflexive state deal with an exact imitation of its ability? His simulations were already running in interest, eager to compare the soon-to-be actual with the expected.

As the desert spider slammed down to smash the column piece into him, Hito denied him the use of the momentum. He already had his hand loaded with Jikukan chakra that slammed into the column piece and immediately covered both it and the sand spider. In what seemed like an instant, the original piece and 2 more would slam into Hito's artificial body and pancake it into a mass of hastily constructed wood. Atop the 2 new pieces would be three versions of the desert spider, all three of which would now immediately move to target the spider himself. These copies were perfect in every way except that upon their creation, Hito modified their physical stats to make this training more useful.

OOC: You decide what's different about them, per what you're training. When you want me to interact again, say you sense another of Hito's extensions hiding in the wall and throw something at him to initiate more combat.

IndraShow

Hito continued to watch quietly, almost jealous at the raw emotion displayed in the young boy. He was seeing Indra in the flesh for the firs ttime and the majority of that time was spent comparing observations to notes he had from Ikinari and the very limited information available in village records. A few moments of this training session was more enlightening than the meager information available to him.

What struck him more than anything currently, however, continued to be just how much of a boy Indra was. He was clearly strong and smart, but the joy he was getting from each succes was almost infectiously infantile, and in a way Hito did not at all disprove of, especially when considering the little bit of information he had on the personality of the genma within.

He was eager to see and learn more, and he'd make it so anything Indra needed for his next training goal would be provided.

hobgoblinShow

OOC: Nobody knows Hito's actually here, everybody in the tower that's training with people is a disguised copy of Hito, except for random village NPCs that get used if you want to train something Hito doesn't have.

A pang of satisfaction rang out as yet another young ninja joined the fray. He had high hopes for this training session but only a few of his simulations had predicted this level of activity. Hito took it as a great sign for the future of his nation and his people. The village seemed to be full of committed and hard working shinobi like young Itoshi and Izumi.

They were the only ones to train kuuton so far, and this was particularly interesting to Hito who, as they fought, was also constructing a new set of optimized Kuuton jutsu himself. So at first, he did not resist much, merely evading when possible but always letting his artificial body get struck full-on by the young ninja's Kuuton attacks. It was important for him to understand not just how to cast these techniques, but how they felt to the receiver.

Having felt the full blow and sensed that the target jutsu they were testing had been trained, Hito would reformulate his puppet body and put himself into a physical fight stance, ready to adapt to the pair's next move and help them train what they most wanted to improve next.

[Ace Trainer]

As Indra remained seated, the person provided to work with him would turn to walk away, Ikinari instead approaching him. "The next one is going to be exploding tags. So you need to be careful and intentional. If you aren't able to pull it off you'll get hurt.", Ikinari warned him. It was a good warning to have, even if the confident and brash Indra had little concern about failing. After all, this was a skill granted to him by the light. Why would he be concerned about failing if She has given this to him to be successful with? He could do this, there was no stopping him! The other shinobi made available to them would slowly walk over, his hands in his pocket and giving Indra polite nod but saying no words. First, he would pull out a small spherical weapon. Looking closer Indra would recognize the seals on it, indicating to him it was just an alternative form of an exploding tag. Nodding to his new counterpart, Indra would hold a Talisman between two hands and begin encanting.

The shinobi would toss the orb into the air, lobbing it slowly to give Indra an opportunity to respond. As it closed in on Indra he would do a seal, detonating the bomb. The bomb would explode, a shockwave surging, but Indra would continue to incant, and the force of the explosion would never reach him as it was absorbed into the talisman. Indra would do a fist pump as the Talisman began circling around him, now Indra continuing to incant. This was the part he was really training now. If he did it right, the second bomb would have no affect on him due to the incantation...right? Indra would nod to his 'opponent' once more, this time closing his eyes and focusing on the incantations he was saying. The verse he was reciting was one of his favorites, and he hoped that focusing on this particular incantation would give him favor and help him be successful. Unlike normal training, he wasn't trying to shape his chakra here but instead allow The Sun to do it for him, deciding to focus purely on her favor and allow it to play out. Finally, the other shinobi would lob a second explosive sphere into the air, detonating it right as it approached Indra. The sound of the explosion was loud, causing him to open his eyes, but he would smile as he found no feeling from the explosion, as if it never even happened! He grinned, another successful jutsu trained!

SpoilerShow

Explosion Talisman
D-rank Talisman of Light Ninjutsu
When Indra has captured a technique that has an [Exploding] effect, to include explosions from exploding tags, he can channel this technique into the Talisman. The Talisman will then form a triangle symbol on the front of it. By targeting himself or another person or object within 15m of himself or connected to him via chakra (via his soul, chakra strings, etc.) he can cause the Talisman to float to them at [Control] speed. So long as the user is chanting, the target will be immune to the concussive force of explosions. Explosions that carry additional effects (i.e. also made of fire) would still affect the target with their secondary effects, they simply would not be harmed by the strength of the explosion.

Ikinari would clap from his position off to the side, and then gesture towards Indra, getting a confused look from the boy in response. "Fire is next.", Ikinari called out with a soft laugh. Indra would nod understanding, apparently indicating that he got it. But then he seem to stare off into the distance, before looking perplexed and then turning to Ikinari with a panic. Before he could say anything, Ikinari would simply laugh again and call out, "You'll do fine!", he reassured the young chuunin. Indra would give a heavy sigh, okay this would be a little bit harder than an explosion. He would take the Talisman that had just been floating around him and look at it closely, he could do this, right? Right.

The trainer would approach him, "You ready?", he asked. Indra would gulp but nod, and the trainer would do a brief set of hand seals and present a large floating flame to Indra. Indra would begin incanting, before holding the Talisman forward, the flame getting sucked into the Talisman and disappearing into it. The inscription on the front of the Talisman would form, and Indra would hold it in his hand before beginning to incant again. Once more he would close his eyes, deciding to focus more closely on the incantation and jutsu he was trying to train this time. Now he was a little concerned, getting burned would hurt! His eyes being closed seemed to be more focused on not knowing when the attack would land than wanting to really get the talisman to be able to protect him. Not a good sign. But Indra would begin incanting, the small Talisman in his hand slowly beginning to glow and shake in his hand until he'd release it. It would circle around his body, a soft hum resonating from it as Indra continued his incantation. The sun would protect him, surely it would protect him.

The trainer would see the Talisman floating around Indra and would take that as an indication it was time to move. He would do a short series of hand seals and then release a fireball forward at Indra. The Fireball was relatively weak, and would instead wash flames over Indra. It was clearly intended to not harm him beyond the potential of covering his body in burns! Indra's eyes would flash open as the flames contacted him. He was surprised to find that while it was warm, it didn't burn him it felt almost like...water flowing over him! The talisman was working. He was careful to remember to continue incanting until the flames stopped and then reach out to grab the Talisman. Another jutsu done.

SpoilerShow

Burn Talisman
C-rank Talisman of Light Ninjutsu
When Indra has captured a technique with the [Katon Burn] passive (to include extensions & fusions) in a Talisman, he can channel this technique into the Talisman. The Talisman will then form a small flame symbol on the front of it. Then targeting themselves, or another person or object within 30m of themselves or that is connected to him via chakra (via his soul, chakra strings, etc.), he can cause the Talisman to float to them at [Control] speed. So long as the user is chanting, the target will be immune to the [Burn] passive effect, making it so they cannot be burned regardless of how long they remain in contact with burning techniques. This does not make them immune to other effects, or the strength of the technique, only from being burned by it.

Ikinari would give Indra a dispassionate thumbs up, expressing his satisfaction with Indra's work but indicating he probably would not be happy with what was coming next. "Do Raiton now and we can call it a day.", he said with a small nudge for encouragement. Indra would frown, why was he doing this! This was dangerous, what would they do if they ended up getting him hurt and the genma was unleashed! Just irresponsible. With something of a frown on his face, Indra would take the Talisman he'd been working with and hold it up, starting his normal incantation to capture other techniques, indicating to the trainer that he was ready. The trainer would give a nod, telling Indra he was going to go for it and he would perform a chain of hand seals before thrusting his hand forward. A bolt of electricity would jump from his hands towards Indra, and the Talisman would get attracted to it the electricity disappearing into the Talisman and the small symbol feeling on it as it jumped back to Indra's hand.

"Okay. I can do this.", Indra said out loud, mostly to himself but partially out to the trainer as well signaling to the trainer he was a little concerned about it. Fire would have been bad, but electricity would be not fun. Once more, Indra would begin to do his incantations, finding a rhythm and repeating the verses from his favorite chapters as he tried to key in on the blessing from the Sun in order to get this jutsu down. He just needed to remember he was protected by her. He would close his eyes again, the Talisman unsteady in his hand as the chakra poured into it while he performed the incantations for it. He would be able to do this, The Sun would protect him on it. He knew it. He would repeat the verse once more and as he recited it the Talisman would free itself from his grip and begin floating in a circle around Indra as the others had before him. He could feel the hum circling around him, and was sure the next bit would be coming soon, mentally bracing himself. The trainer would do hand seals again and thrust his hand forward once more, the electricity jumping to Indra's body. Nothing would happen, and Indra would peak open his eyes as it surged over him to no effect. He would stop incanting and jump from the seating position into the air, snatching the Talisman out as it felt. "Booyah!", he exclaimed.

SpoilerShow

Shocking Talisman
C-rank Talisman of Light Ninjutsu
When Indra has captured a technique with the [Raiton Shocking] passive (to include extensions and fusions) in a Talisman, he can channel this technique into the Talisman. The Talisman will then form a small lightning symbol on the front of it. Then by targeting themselves, or another person or object within 30m of themselves or that is connected to him via chakra (via his soul, chakra strings, etc.), he causes the Talisman to float to them at [Control] speed. So long as the user is chanting, the target will be immune to the [Shocking] passive effect, making it so they cannot be shocked regardless of how long they remain in contact with shocking techniques. This does not make them immune to other effects, or the strength of the technique, only from being shocked by it.

Indra would be excited, expecting that he was done given that Ikinari had told him, but in instead his guardian would walk over with his hands in his pocket, a soft smile on his lips. "You've got one more thing to do. I want you to get out one of your puppets.", he instructed Indra. Indra would groan in annoyance but follow the instructions, causing a puppet to pop in in a poof of smoke and chatter to life as Indra connected puppet strings to it. Ikinari would not, "Once you have a puppet connected, you can perform other techniques like...blessing it with your puppet strings. So do that.". Indra would give Ikinari a confused look for a moment but nod, channeling for a moment before golden light would surge along the puppet strings, encasing the puppet in a soft, golden glow. "Now, keep the puppet connected. But, you need to perform that Shocking Talisman technique again, but this time. On the puppet. Do you know what happens when Raiton chakra hits something that isn't alive?", he asked.

Indra nodded, "It spreads out of something, right?"

"Yes. So, if you puppet gets hit by Raiton, it will take a lot of damage. If it gets hit by an explsion, it will take a lot of damage. It can even be burned just like a Katon jutsu would do to you. So if your puppet is fighting for you, you need to be able to protect it just as much as you can protect yourself. So, gear up another Talisman, and lets go from there.". Indra would nod, pulling out a Talisman and beginning to incant, directing the puppet to kneel and pray as if it was the one doing the incantations. The trainer would approach, shocking it as he had before and sending a surge of electricity into it. Once he did, Indra would hold the Talisman, starting a new incantation and allowing the Talisman to begin floating around him in a circle. "Good. Now just make sure to focus on the puppet instead of yourself.", Ikinari instructed. Indra would have the puppet come to its feet as he continued to incant, and approach the trainer, bowing to him to indicate it was ready. The trainer would repeat the jutsu and the electricity would surge towards the puppet and just...stop. No spreading. Indra would jump into the air once more, putting out his hand to high-five the puppet which he forced to respond in kind. Another jutsu trained!

SpoilerShow

Kugutsu: Extension
C-rank Ninjutsu Techinque
Prerequisite: [Talisman of Light] Concentration, [Holy Release] Concentration, [Holy Release: Kugutsu]
When the user is using [Holy Release: Kugutsu] they can utilize this technique. So long as the prerequisite technique is active, the user is able to use [Talisman of Light] techniques to target [Blessed] puppets, granting them the immunity rather than the user.