[Graded] Three enter, Two leave

[TyDie]

The mist of Kirigakure was especially thick today, practically clinging to the skin of Ryu as he made his way to the indoor arena. Having been approved for an attempt to rank up to Chuunin, the young boy was more than eager to get in there and show the village what he was made of. He'd spent months working with the entity that now resided within him, working together to develop a coherent fighting style that would allow the both of them to function better than either of them could do separately. "Alright... now remember. This is not a fight to the death, Hisan. No killing, no eating." Grrrr... Fine. But we'd better GORGE on steak afterwards or you'll be missing a kidney.

Ryu scoffed at the threats of Hisan, knowing full well at this point that they were idle. The creature had come to find Ryu's body to be quite beneficial to it, and Ryu... was accustomed to it. He didn't particularly like it, he wished he could purge this bastard once and for all, but he was stuck with Hisan for the foreseeable future; it was imperative he make the most of it. He couldn't let something like a little parasite prevent him from following in his father's footsteps, and becoming one of the greatest shinobi Kirigakure had ever seen.

As he walked into the building and navigated a few hallways, he found his way into a room where he could check in and prepare for his fight. There were a few fights to take place today, but Ryu's was one of the first. It didn't take too long before it was his turn to present himself for a bout, and so he walked through the hall towards the arena where a crowd of onlookers were gathered. These sorts of things were always made into spectacles after all, there were people from all 5 families eager to see those under their name prove their worth... or see them fail. But that wasn't going to happen to Ryu. the Karagata would not be forgiving of failure... As he walked into the room, the bright lights overhead caused him to squint slightly before he took a look at his surroundings...

[Sia]

Oh what delight, in the mists, there was no light. In a dark columned room, four pillars of marbled white. A grand lengthy space, set deep, for audiences embrace. A nice thirty meters, it teetered longer twice over, north dearest. A young tiny figure sat atop of a box, poking at a rock. Undisturbed, unperturbed, undeserved, yolked. They sat there in silence though gathered their chakras. A long ominous chant, a dark violent nocturne. What then would it be, to play in the mists. Would they use candy? Or paper? Or oil? Or...fists? A series of hand seals laid out most quite quickly, and the terrain was terraformed right then and there, quite clearly. A thirty meter round platform rose into the sky. It was made of stone, soaking wet, and had bits of dead bone. The proctor then departed, having measured it out.

Fifty Meter Diameter, Sharp Rocks at the bottom. A classic. Bring it on.

The young Clone jumped forward, quite bored with the number. A chuunin fight? Of course! A typical number. Their opponent seemed funky, and ready to brawl. What a sight, they supposed. Oh well, might they fall? A quick series of hand seals, it spurred on quite a wonder. To those that did see it, it would fur sure cause a wonder. her hands did not stop moving, no, they certainly moved quite a number.




Genjutsu: Neverending Cast
D-Ranked Illusion Genjutsu
By forming the necessary hand seals, anyone viewing the hand seals taking place will be initiated into the genjutsu. For the next 3 posts, it will appear as though the caster is continuously forming hand seals for various jutsu, regardless of whatever they are actually doing with their hands.

[TyDie]

Entering the arena, which then quickly rose into the air slightly while the announcer gave his regular speech about how "two genin were once again going to be put against each other to see which of them, if either, would be ranking up today". He had heard it a dozen times when he had the time to watch others compete for their advancement, it sounded almost robotic by this point. Truth be told, Ryu tuned most of it out, his attention focused on his opponent as he prepared for combat. For a time, his hearing deafened to the crowd around them, and the only thing absorbing his senses was the genin across from him. The obstacle in between him and advancement. The proctor held up his hand, Ryu seeing the movement out of his peripheral vision, but his gaze never once left his opponent... And then the sudden down thrust of the proctor's hand signaled the beginning of the fight.

In an instant Ryu's eyes opened with ferocity as he watched his opponent set to weaving a series of seals. Of course, long range... The young swordsman had little in the way of ranged options outside of Hisan's abilities, and Hisan... that was his ace in the hole. He didn't want his opponent to know about the symbiote until it was most advantageous for him. So for now, he'd test the waters. Dashing in, the never ending series of hand seals put the boy on edge, but if he could end this quickly and efficiently then all the better. So without hesitation, closing the gap between them as quickly as his speed could allow, he'd let loose a series of three consecutive slashes, each made with impressive speed, aimed for the boy's eyes, chest and knees respectively. Stay back for now, Hisan... Wait for the best moment.

JutsuShow

*[Iaido • Ancestral Focus]
D-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
The hallmark of Iaido is its practitioners abilities to launch an attack even when their swords are sheathed. This Discipline represents the practitioner's capacity to consistently execute a sword draw and slash all in one movement by gripping the edge of the scabbard and pulling the scabbard slightly forward before drawing the sword. This Discipline enables the practitioner to immediately draw their sword and attack at the start of combat.

**[Iaido • One with the Sheath]
D-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Prerequisite(s): 8 Speed.
The practitioner has learned how to more quickly and efficiently sheath his blades. The practitioner can now seamlessly transition from drawing their blade to slash to sheathing their blade, allowing the practitioner to sheath their sword in half the time, up to a maximum speed equal to their Speed score, for the more rapid execution of Iaido techniques.

*[Iaido • One with the Sword]
C-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Prerequisite(s): *[Iaido • One with the Sheath].
The practitioner has learned how to more quickly and efficiently sheath his blades even without the use of both hands. The practitioner can now sheath the blade just as quickly with one hand as could be done with two hands, and so long as the scabbard remains on their person, the practitioner will always have an exact knowledge of the position of their scabbard.

*[Iaido • Last Breath]
D-Rank Taijutsu Maneuver
The most iconic (and most basic) strike of Iaido, the practitioner quickly draws and cuts with their blade in a wide arc in one fluid motion. This simultaneous draw and attack straight from the scabbard makes Iaido well-suited for an initial surprise attack and for taking advantage of openings presented by the opponent.

[Sia]

As Ryu drew closer to his opponent, their figure became more apparent. What was obscured before was more clear now, yet their hands yet continued quite frantic. With black pants and black jacket, the opponent faded back. Into the darkness, they truly lacked significant features. In the early morning mist, the target drew closer. Silently watching, the young genin learned. Her opponent was reckless. They ran in, face first and unturned. No matter, she supposed, she had a remedy for just that. Doing hand seals, she produced forth another illusion right off the bat.

Immediately then, a clone made of mist began to form there in the thick of the midsts. It shot forward like a rocket to intercept Ryu's offense. It ran straight into it, and stuck its own hands in Ryu's pockets before saying, "Do you like getting wet?" His swings had missed, but for sure now time to land another hit. Yet, against an misty clone, were he not to see through the ruse. His opponent sat back, a mist having now formed nicely. A blanket, a fog, to hide them, most wisely. "Come at me then." Their voice would have come from false places. Straight into the ears, not at all from the opponent's place, away, several paces. Larger the mist now developed and spread, encroaching and permeating and dampening ahead.


*Mist Clone
C-rank Ninjutsu
After performing the correct seals, the user materializes and creates a clone of themselves. When destroyed, they explode in a poof of *Hidden Mist Technique. The hidden mist will release and burst outward from the clone. This acts as a good container and transportation for the mist jutsu. These clones can only use taijutsu. These clones have stats equal to that of the user, and are capable of only using taijutsu. The clone exists for a maximum of 4 posts before detonating early.

[TyDie]

Ryu's head tilted momentarily in confusion as the woman rushed forward, uttering a strange phrase before Ryu bisected her cleanly. He... actually felt bad for a moment. But the sudden burst of mist surrounding him quickly dispelled his feelings, save for anger at being played. "Great... one of these kind of shinobi." Of course she wouldn't just come out and fight Ryu, that would be expecting too much. The boy rolled his eyes, though his hand remained firmly on his hilt as his eyes scanned the mists. Her voice rang out again, coming from everywhere at once it sounded like... damn these tricky types. But he had sparred with his sister enough times to recognize that this level of trickery was accomplished through the use of genjutsu. He wasn't entirely sure, but it didn't hurt to try. So, with a swift use of a single Ram seal, Ryu attempted to purge his tenketsu of any foul manipulations of his senses.

But of course, that wouldn't change the fact that the mists surrounding him still dulled his sight. Again, with hand on hilt, the young boy would slowly start walking in a single direction, his head on a swivel and his ears perked, waiting for any sign of an attack or offense against him. He was ready to defend, and so was Hisan if need be; the boy was about as safe as he could be... surrounded by an enemy's mist jutsu. If no offense was presented, eventually he'd walk his way out of the mists, regaining his sight once more.

JutsuShow

*[Basic Jutsu • Kai Release]
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
A rather simple technique that allows the user to escape from a genjutsu. The user will form a single ram seal and focus to reset their chakra system to purge themselves of foreign chakra. The stat requirements for this technique can be found in the genjutsu rules.

[Sia]

The illusion had been broken, yet it had been such a small sort of token. It mattered not, they did suppose, for the true battle was yet to go. Within the mists many did think that genin should try not to blink. Many had been lost in the mist, for sure, a blanket of death in which two comrades exchanged fists. Stepping light in the mist, not quickly, thus so silent, the genin stepped from behind Ryu and tried something silent.

Forming more hand seals, they produced another clone. This one however, was meant to fight brightly. With a clone now in tow, she set forwards in row. Towards Ryu, her target the genin did go. Pulling out Kunai, laced with explosive tags, she tossed one to the clone, then they both tossed them towards Ryu. One from his left, one from his right, they would miss if he didn't move into them, falling just short of three meters on either side of him and burying into the ground. In a flash, the clone and its summoner both stepped into view from the fog. Roughly 3 meters away, directly in front of Ryu, his opponent stood, holding their clone in their hand before throwing them at Ryu. "A gift for you." They said, before tossing it at him.

The genin would run up in follow up, keeping pace just behind their clone, with their arms extended upwards, palms open, ready to grab and intercept.

[TyDie]

Ryu's eyes darted back and forth as he searched the mists, his ears remained perky and alert, and his breathing slowed to a crawl as he slowly moved through the mists. This was a weakness of his to be certain, indirect combat and obscuration of his senses was something he hadn't quite worked around. He chided himself for that weakness; he lived in Kirigakure of all places, and he didn't yet know how to fight adequately in the mists? This would be quickly remedied once this was over, he'd train for months if that's what it took. Now? Not yet... Have a little faith. Hisan's only resposne to being held back was a grumble of discontent, but he relented, figuring Ryu had some idea for this problem. Unfortunately... he really didn't yet.

The sudden sound of 'WOOSH" from behind him caused his attention to turn suddenly, barely seeing a kunai at the edge of his vision through the mist as he turned. Then he saw the girl rushing towards him, but the mist made it difficult to see if it was her or just another clone. Either way, he couldn't let her brazenly rush him like that; with a step to square his stance, the young swordsman pulled harshly on his hilt, aiming to bisect the girl as she charged him. If he did manage to kill her this time, he'd feel significantly less bad for it... damn trickery was getting on his nerves.

JutsuShow

*[Iaido • Last Breath]
D-Rank Taijutsu Maneuver
The most iconic (and most basic) strike of Iaido, the practitioner quickly draws and cuts with their blade in a wide arc in one fluid motion. This simultaneous draw and attack straight from the scabbard makes Iaido well-suited for an initial surprise attack and for taking advantage of openings presented by the opponent.[/spoiler[

[Sia]

Keeping at a most careful and safe distance behind their clone, Ryu's opponent thought quickly. Close-range combat wasn't exactly her forte, but she would do what she had to in order to win. She began to form hand seals and amassed a wallop of chakra within her lungs whilst being sure to gauge her distance from the explosive tags that had now been put in place on either side of her target. As it turned our however Ryu was quite nifty with a sword, a trait that she'd do well not to take lightly. Regardless, she had amassed her chakra and let loose the contents. Spewing from her mouth, a wave of sickly green acid rushed forwards towards both Ryu and her own clone.

Indeed, in a single motion, he drew and sliced through this second mist clone, as expected. In another poof, mist spewed out once again across the battlefield. Thicker now and more condensed, it was a foggier mist. Or perhaps one would say, a mistier fog. As the mist poofed about however, a wave of sickly green acid quickly replaced the space where the clone was, flying towards Ryu from his opponent's mouth, now having come into vision from the depths of the mists. One could only hope that in an attempt to avoid it, he didn't step too close to the explosive tags.


Santon: Wave
C-Ranked Ninjutsu
After forming the necessary hand seals, the user will create a wave of liquid acid, rushing forth in an area in front of them encompassing 15 meters wide and tall and stretching out 15 meters forward, attempting to melt through anything in its path and lingering for the next five posts. The wave moves at a speed of 10.

[TyDie]

As the second clone exploded before him, he chided himself for falling for yet another trick. Of course, this woman just isn't going to fight hand to hand. He needed to stop expecting it, and make his own openings. And it seemed he'd be paying a hell of a price for his mistakes too; a wave of sickly green liquid moving towards him with incredible speed given the close proximity. He could barely see the girl through the mist and wave... but that meant she could barely see him. Now! FINALLY! The beast within expressed great glee as, from the bottoms of Ryu's feet, two large tentacles of Hisan's making pushed the young boy up 5 meters and backwards 10 meters with incredible speed. This was enough to push him back out of the mists, but the wave of green liquid was still coming towards him.

There was about another 10 meters between him and the edge of the platform they stood on, and he could only assume that wave would keep moving until it ran off the edge... probably carrying him with it. So he ran for the edge, the wave of acid trailing behind him as he hit his top speed. And when he reached the edge of the platform, he'd leap straight up into the air, Hisan's tentacles pushing him higher and higher until eventually, he'd hit a maximum height of 20 meters, leaping up over the acid wave as it passed under him. Mid air, the creature within Ryu would manifest itself fully; His body would elongate by about six inches as red and black flesh-like material covered him head to toe, his hands formed into powerful claws, and his jaw unhinged into a great toothy maw. "Hehehe... This is gonna be fun." Hisan grinned as he began to descend, first at a normal speed but a moment later his descent would slow as fleshy wings burst from his back, acting like a parachute as he closed in on the ground, making sure to land somewhere that wasn't covered in sickly green liquid.

Assuming the woman hadn't exited from her own mists yet, this was his - their chance to maintain an element of surprise. And with a big, toothy grin, Hisan's skin pigment would slowly change from it's red and black hue to matching the surroundings. In a moment, he was practically invisible, and would slowly creep back into the mists... intent on turning the hunter into the hunted.

Jutsu UsedShow

[Miserable Lash]
D-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
Hisan will manifest up to two tendrils from Ryu's body, using them against targets for various purposes such as grappling, piercing and lashing. They can also be used to pull Ryu in a direction, but this movement cannot exceed his speed.

[Miserable Glide]
C-Ranked Taijutsu Stance
Hisan will sprout two large bat-like wings from Ryu's back, enabling him to glide and slow his fall. These wings have an 8 foot wingspan, each wing measuring about 4 feet total. Using this stance, he can move at hos speed in any direction while falling, losing at least 3 meters of height each post he maintains it.

[Miserable Cloak]
B-Ranked Taijutsu Stance
Hisan will alter the color of it's pigmentation to match that of it's surroundings to the extent that, as long as Ryu moves slowly, he cannot be seen by a normal sense of sight. If at any point his speed exceeds his maximum speed -10, he becomes visible until he slows down.

[Sia]

So it had come to pass that she lost sight of her target. An unfortunate turn of events, for sure. A great leap was all she could make out before they faded from her vision. This was getting her nowhere. How could she hope of being a Chuunin if she couldn't even take on one target? No matter, she'd just have to give it another go. But what to do? For a moment, the young genin paused in consideration. She mulled thoughts over in her head whilst staying concealed within her mist. What to do? What to do...

An idea came to mind. A stupid, sickly, moronic idea. Making her way carefully through the mists, she retrieved her two kunai with attached tags. By the acid pit, she carefully walked, peaking back and forth and listening intently as she made her way around the hazard. But she heard nothing. She saw nothing. There was no sign of her target anywhere within the mist. How unfortunate. Perhaps then he left? Or perhaps he was there in the mist with her and now she was the hunted. Perhaps...

She formed a singular hand seal and with a great woosh, her mist began to disperse, clearing out from the platform quite quickly. However...to her surprise, she found...nothing. Gripping her tagged Kunai tightly, her eyes scanned about as she paced by the acid. Where was he? Had she fallen prey to a genjutsu? Truth be told, she was at a loss. She''d yet to have anyone disappear entirely on her before. Not in a proctored fight. Forming a set of hand seals, she cursed under her breath and then...she began to dance.


Genjutsu: Distorted Moves
D-Ranked Illusion Genjutsu
By forming the necessary hand seals, anyone viewing the hand seals taking place will be initiated into the genjutsu. For the next 3 posts the users movements will be shrouded in a continuous projection of after-images. All of their movements will appear to happen continuously and overlay on top of themselves at various angles. A movement of the arm looks as though six arms are moving at various odd angles, even if all are performing the same movement. This effects anything the user does during the length of the jutsu.

[TyDie]

As the mist was suddenly dispelled, A sickening grin crossed Hisan's face, his teeth bared in delight, though no one would see this. As far as the onlookers could see, the girl was alone on the platform, though many of them had seen the young Ryu take form and disappear in the first place. As Hisan moved closer to his prey, four tentacles of his fleshy material began to slowly worm their way out of his form and towards the young girl, moving slow enough so as not to break his invisibility. Silently they squirmed closer, the sound of his footsteps cushioned lightly by the fleshy emergence of Hisan engulfing Ryu's footwear. As the tentacles of flesh drew nearer, the girl suddenly flipped through a series of seals... But Ryu looked away this time. He closed his eyes and waited a few moments before reopening them. It was a safe move in his mind; She clearly didn't know where he was, so either she was firing blind or counting on him to be observing her in some way with his senses, counting on him to be caught within an illusion.

He figured, either she'd miss, she'd get lucky, or he'd avoid being caught within an illusion.

And after a count to three, he opened his eyes and found he was right; nothing had changed. The girl was dancing in place, but otherwise the environment looked largely unchanged. No reemergence of mist, no more sickly green liquid, just... dancing. With a grin, his tentacles darted forward at their maximum speed, having crept within two meters of her invisibly before bursting forth. One tentacle each would aim for a limb, hoping to get a good hold of the wrists and ankles of the girl to both prevent escape and prevent any more obnoxious seals or tricks. These tentacles would bear down and crush with all of Hisan's might, hoping to break the thin, small bones of the wrist and ankle. And if successful, Hisan would let his camouflage drop, his pigment returning to the fleshy red and black they were known for as his monstrous maw was revealed, salivating as his jaw opened up to almost 30 centimeters and his teeth wriggled in place. However, if the woman managed to avoid capture, the camouflage would remain; His tentacles would freeze in place, vanishing from sight once more as their movement slowed, while Hisan moved as quickly as his cloak would allow him to another position in an attempt to obscure his location once more. The tentacles would also slowly begin to retract and shift, so that he might better prepare for his next ambush strike.

JutsuShow

[Miserable Whip]
C-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
Hisan will manifest up to four tendrils from Ryu's body, using them against targets for various purposes such as grappling, piercing and lashing. They can also be used to pull Ryu in a direction, but this movement cannot exceed her speed.

[Miserable Cloak]
B-Ranked Taijutsu Stance
Hisan will alter the color of it's pigmentation to match that of it's surroundings to the extent that, as long as Ryu moves slowly, he cannot be seen by a normal sense of sight. If at any point his speed exceeds his maximum speed -10, he becomes visible until he slows down.

Note: While Manifested, with 20 symbiosis, Ryu gains +5 strength and speed, making a total of 20 strength and 20 speed.

[Sia]

The hand seals were formed and yet nothing continued to happen. Had it worked? She'd no idea. All things considered, this was not going well for her. Her reserves were quite spent, truly this was so. Indeed, to cast more jutsu would be to be in death's woe. Feeling the ware of fighting on oh so hastily a style, she surely was feeling the weight of it now. Suddenly, so suddenly, and quietly too, she'd been grasped, tightened, and restricted, no doubt. For whatever reason truthfully she had no idea how, but she'd been snuck up on quite expertly and if she could she would bow. What a mess then, they then found themselves in. At mercy of something that looked of bad sin. A gruesome, terrible, horrible sight. It was quite the horror.

"Are you a Maido?" They finally said, struggling in vain to break free from this dread. The tendrils were red, yet had some black too. She'd never seen a Maido, yet this certainly fit some criteria. In all actuality, she considered giving up. Try as she might, he fight was quite light. Quite quiet now she still struggled, yet it was all in vain. In vain her vein's bulged yet it mattered not. With a deathly glare she stared, wishing him to rot. A silent stern savage look, she'd fallen a rook. Perhaps if she lived, next year she'd win book.

[TyDie]

As the tentacles successfully restrained Hisan's prey, the strange creature revealed himself with a gurgly sounding chuckle, retracting the tentacles until the woman was within a foot of him. "Heheheheh, Dunno who this Maido is but I don't really care. I'm more interested in you... What's the last thing you ate? It makes a difference in your flavor." A slurping sound could be heard as Hisan salivated over the meat he held before him, and Ryu called out from within to the beast. Remember our deal Hisan! No eating! "But... She's not giving up, Ryu. Don't these fights last until 'death or surrender'?" Ugh... At least give her the chance to surrender then, damnit. If she refuses then...

Before Ryu could finish the though, Hisan cut him off. "Well little girl, my 'other half' has made me promise to give you the chance to save yourself... So you have until the count of three to give up. Ready? aaaaaand ONETWOTHREE!" Hisan would call out the numbers one after another with incredibly quick succession, And if the girl hadn't surrendered by then... well... Not all of her would be leaving the arena.

In either case, it seemed Ryu was the victor.