Trial For The Marrow

[WrightJustice]

Nishiki had gained an interest in one of seven's daggers, a young woman who yet sought a master to truly fit amongst their kind just as he himself still yet sought a pupil; a swordsman and their dagger.
It never looked proper for the grand fox to be without a properly assigned disciple or whatever one might call such an arrangement and this fair skinned maiden was perhaps a good fit, at least he had hoped as he began to study her and assess her skills but more so perhaps from a slight haze of nostalgia.
"Was this a good idea?" he pondered, imagining the reverse roles of himself now training a Kaguya as he once was in his youth but he swiftly shook away those thoughts as it was too late to back out now.

The bannin had arrived at the usual Seven Swordsmen training building, having set himself up in the middle the battlefield which span an 80m diameter and had its usual domed ceiling that reached 50m in height.
However that wasn't the whole truth as he did not appear as himself but a strange, hooded figure and indeed there were nine total of such figures all sat in a circle with their backs to each other and their foxy tails all interwoven in what could only be described as a tangled mess as they shifted and wormed their way amongst each other.

Each figure whilst closely resembling one another did have varying differences; their hooded cloaks were indeed all black with filigree like designs embroidered throughout but each slightly different with most being silver in colour and clear leaves and flowers, though three stood out with golden designs and one had pink.
Four silvers, a gold and the pink had a lotus based insignia in the centre of the back whilst one gold had a lily, the third gold had fox tails and the final silver also had a lily.

Each also had matching colours around the rim of their hoods and along the bottom of the cloaks but one of the four silvers had off-white colouring instead and another silver had their hood down but donned a blank looking mask, as did the gold with a lily.

On closer inspection it seemed like perhaps there wasn't actually nine tails to each man and the pink patterned figure only had seven tails and one was fully white and two of the lotus silvers had zero tails at all whilst the gold with a lotus had nine white tails and the gold with a lily had nine pink tails.
Also for those without masks a closer look at their face revealed glistening rubies and sapphires for eyes; one for each eye except for 1 silver with the lotus which had a sapphire in both eyes and had slightly fading to white but still pink tails similarly to the gold with a lotus which had rubies in both eyes and similar tails.

It was all a test as Nishiki had sent instructions to Asuna to meet him... At a bar in the furthest province within the walls towards the southeast at which she would be seated at a table expecting to await for his arrival, however a strange bartender would instead give her a drink on the house in a peculiar cup which as she drank should begin to notice writing on the inside.
If she deciphered it, which should be easy enough, she was to go to the bar itself and ring the golden bell nine times at which the shady bartender would hand her an envelope full of further puzzling instructions and eight special kunai that looked like seeds along with a pass back into the inner walls without question.
The note would instruct her to enter the dome of seven blades and bare witness to the infested golden flower of many roots, slay that which was laced with moonlit poison, that which had roots full of colour, roots of no colour and roots abandoned and slay that which both eyes of rage and eyes of sorrow and slay that which could not bare to look upon her and any that would bare the fruit of falsehood.

Once eight foul anomalies were stricken down by the seeds of purity one last being with its sun lit eyes and faded but yet colourful roots shall stand and must be struck with blade true. Once accomplished reality will dawn and the hidden fox will grow like a brilliant lotus of grand finery and it too shall sprout blades true which shall clash with her own.

[Kabu]

To say that Asuna was confused by the strange sequence of events this day would be an understatement. First she had been summoned to the bar only to be met with the strangest bartender she had ever seen. Their behavior had also been incredibly suspicious, having given her a free drink for no perceivable reason. To be quite frank she hadn't yet gotten a taste for alcohol... She hated the taste and the first time she had a drink she had nearly lost herself in a way that she very much disliked.

From there she had been presented with a series of strange riddles, confusion and annoyance only growing the more time that passed. As she walked into the Swordsmen's training facility, kunai stashed in her weapons pouch, she vowed to strangle whoever it was that leading her on like this. Someone was messing with her and treating it like a game and she was not happy about it. She was going to get to the bottom of this and then make her displeasure very much known, likely in a very violent manner.

"Whoever is here, come out and face me!" she shouted, her sights locking onto a group of strange cloaked figures as she did. They all looked very similar... She would have thought they were clones if not for the tails that they possessed having different, and very strange, designs.

It was then that she mentally gasped, realization striking in that moment. The designs matched up with the riddle she had been given... She was still confused about what this was all about but a smile crossed her face nonetheless. She couldn't help but giggle at the realization of having to fight after all... She would be getting her vengeance and be fulfilling the task that she had been given in the same breath.

To that end she got into her battle stance, calling out the group before her as she stared them down. "Fight me!" Perhaps a different person wuld have taken that chance to leap into action rather than calling out but she had always preferred to face her opponents face to face. It wasn't about honor or anything stupid like that but rather... that was just part of the thrill of a combat encounter to her.

[WrightJustice]

Nishiki waited with bated breath as Asuna finally entered the arena calling out to whomever may be waiting for, demanding for them to face her as if they were a coward which disappointed the hidden fox a little as she was not prepared to deal with his antics but at the same time neither did that man which washed way some of the disappointment with nostalgia.

Besides the young woman had still taken to his clues and found this place and a smile was still put upon her face as she clearly recognised the meaning of it all even if she didn't want to finish the game as it were.
"Not one for a bit of fun and games?" a voice reverberated from the nine figures, sounding off their disappointment "Very well" they then spoke with resolve as all but one vanished in a poof of smoke, leaving behind the singular correct figure which had been sat facing the tunnel she stepped through from the get-go with its sapphires eyes, golden lotus design and fading tails.

The figure then moved to stand on its feet as it then raised its hands towards its shoulders and for a brief moment probably seemed to disappear in a puff of smoke like the others but, nay, the disguise simply dispersed to reveal the true fox hidden within as he grabbed his two Kiba blades and pulled them off his back with the wrappings unfurling off them as he moved with grace.
"I wished to test you as a dagger" the cunning man spoke in coy tones, his fangs shining at the corner of decadent smile.
As he moved with grace so too did his black kimono, its flowing sleeves wisping through the air as he essentially unsheathed his blades with its golden pattern similar to the figure's cloak but much more refined and the back lotus appearing much more clearly as the insignia for House Tsukino.

Nishiki's nine tails joyously flowed behind him, still pink but now faded closer to his father's colours as his long hair flowed back with beauty and he of course had his usual markings of a jinchuuriki; his black rods that appeared to pierce his wrists under his sleeves and five mini elementals floating now floating around him, one for each basic element.
However a peculiarity that could probably be heard before they were seen was that a small bell dangled from the tip of each tail, each chiming away with every movement as their string swayed along their tail's path.
"Let us see your swordsmanship and prowess in combat with me" he spoke with a hint of curiosity, clearly wishing to see her skills as he began to move in a position familiar to any Zantou practitioner.
"Can you cut all these bells off my tails?" he then questioned, marking the goal of his test as he properly planted his feet and held his right blade high above his head pointing towards Asuna with the left lower and parallel with the ground as he took a deep breath.
Then with a loud battle cry "Kyaaa!" that bellowed out to fill the arena the man filled with energy and the start of the match was signalled.
"How droll" another voice deep within finally spoke out in within Nishiki's mind as Yoshimitsu realised the intentions to rely solely upon his own swordsmanship and not on the beast's gifts, amused at such fruitless endeavours.

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*[Zantou • Winter Maelstrom]
A-Rank Taijutsu Stance
Prerequisite(s): *[Zantou • Winter Blizzard].
Building upon its parent technique, this Stance further builds upon further sharpening and refining the practitioner's capacity to focus on the opponent and the task at hand. Drawing in a deep breath, the practitioner also gathers up their energy and releases a kiai. The level of skill the practitioner has attained allows the practitioner to effectively attack and block from a neutral stance without any detriment. While in this Stance, the practitioner can effortlessly ignore non-critical distractions, focusing solely on the opponent(s). They also are able to ignore extreme heat, extreme cold, moderate oxygen deprivation, extreme fatigue, and even extreme pain. They can read the opponents' muscle contractions and body positioning very accurately in this stance, and they are able to read the direction, the type, the timing, and the speed of an attack that is imminent. The opponent can still effectively mask their movements if they have a movement-concealing Stealth technique of equal or higher rank than this technique. While in this Stance, the practitioner is conferred with a +4 increase to Strength and Will Power but suffers a -4 penalty to Chakra Pool and Control. The practitioner may end this Stance whenever they so wish.

(*[Zantou • Winter Solstice]
D-Rank Taijutsu Stance
The basic Stance of Zantou, the practitioner holds one blade forward, parallel to the ground, and holds the other high over the head, pointing toward the opponent. The low blade grants the practitioner the ability to quickly defend against an opponent's attack while the blade raised overhead allows the practitioner to either quickly attack or counterattack with a powerful downward swing or thrust. This pairing of defense and offense serves as one of the cores of Zantou's swordsmanship. Drawing in a deep breath, the practitioner also gathers up their energy and releases a kiai. This Stance allows the practitioner to ignore non-critical distractions and minor environmental factors, such as small amounts of excess heat, small amounts of excess cold, small amounts of fatigue, and even small amounts of pain, allowing them to focus entirely on their opponents' movements and the tasks at hand. While in this Stance, the practitioner is conferred with a +2 increase to Strength and +1 increase to Will Power but suffers a -2 penalty to Chakra Pool and -1 penalty to Control. The practitioner may end this Stance whenever they so wish.)

Area Awareness
C-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Nishiki has trained his sense of spatial awareness so that he can not only constantly remain vigilant of what is around him with great skill, but is also able to expand it further so that details of his surrounding environment come to him naturally and easily. This means he can more easily figure out the space he can manoeuvre and generally work in, even in wide areas which is particularly useful for using wide scoping jutsu and kinesis.

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