[Graded] Screw Orders!

[Willoria]

Karugata Asami was more than happy to leave Kozan to Shinjiro. Honestly the boy seemed more than a little strange, she saw no survival skills in him whatsoever. All she had seen was an item that seemed to do all the protecting for him and that made her blood boil still. She had come a long ways from her days in the slums, but not so far that she was willing to train someone that she felt didn't deserve it. If Shinji thought the boy seemed like someone who deserved a place in the Seven, then she'd let him make that decision. He was the Overseer now, that was his choice after all. But she just couldn't see it, and she couldn't make that choice herself. Yet when he'd said that Ryu didn't deserve a place, that lit a fire under her ass and the girl had taken off for Ryu's home immediately.

The boy was the son of two former Overseers himself. To refuse him a place as a Dagger felt like a crime to Asami, especially seeing as he had saved her life a couple of times already. The fact that she was now a full member and he was being refused a chance at the same didn't feel right. She knew what she was about to do was a direct violation to Shinjiro's orders, and one she'd pay for dearly later, but she felt it was a price she was willing to pay.

When she made it to the boy's home she didn't even wait for a slave to open the door, she simply pushed the door open and stepped inside. She knew exactly where to find him. He would either be under his grandmother's care and Iijutsu due to wounds suffered at Shinjiro's hands, or in his room licking his wounds.

She'd check the room his grandmother used as a clinic room first before checking his room. "Ryu?!"

[TyDie]

It had been a couple of hours since Ryu had been turned away by Shinjiro... That test, that analysis of Ryu's character, was probably the most grueling experience of his life. Even worse then when Hisan first bound itself to him... It had been a long time since the boy truly cried, but Shinjiro had a way of pushing someone's most sensitive, weakest buttons. His body had long since healed; Hisan had recreated his missing rib and patched up all of the damage done to him by the overseer jinchuuriki. But Hisan's power could do nothing to heal the boy's wounded pride...

Alone he sat in his room, the darkness surrounding him, just... doing nothing. Nothing except rerunning the encounter over and over again. Was there something he could have done better? Was there a way he could have saved that woman, whoever she was? And that child... who would they become, now that they were without their mother? There was so much running through his mind, the noise in his head overpowered the noise of his door opening. He barely heard the voice calling his name, like a distant call, but it didn't do much to pull him out of his trance like state.

It was only when Hisan emerged from his arm, the skull of the creature taking notice of Asami, that Ryu's trance was broken. "Sorry, Ryu's not home right now, leave a message and I'll get it to him." "Ugh, shut up Hisan!" The boy barked, and the creature within just giggled before receding back within Ryu's body. He turned to look at Asami, who seemed distraught. "Hey, what are you doing here?" He tried to cover up his wounds, pulling blanket over the torn and blood stained clothing and trying to act as natural as he could.

[Willoria]

Asami stook in the dark doorway and stared down Hisan's skull as it spoke to her, but her only answer to it was to put her tongue behind her sharpened teeth and hiss at it in return.. Her expression shifted to something far kinder when Ryu spoke up and she looked at him for a moment. She didn't immediately answer him, but stepped into his room and closed the door behind her. She crossed the full length of the room to the other side and threw the curtains open to let the light pour in. "Karagata Shinjiro took me into the Seven Swordsmen as his Dagger... and now he's my Overseer, made me a full member during the war after I was promoted to Jounin." she finally said, her voice soft as she spoke, her back to Ryu for the time being. "I've become closer to him than I ever expected to... trust him more than almost anyone I know. I could probably predict his actions better than anyone else could. Even his brutality that most find completely unpredictable. I daresay I'm almost stupid enough to have feelings for the son of a bitch."

Asami sighed and turned to look at Ryu finally, her body language bristling with anger. "But he's a sadistic bastard. The day we met he took joy in making me think he was going to rape me for the sheer pleasure of making me squirm. He relishes in the weaknesses of others and thinks that somehow exploiting that gives him some kind of insight to a person. He has no idea that all he's doing is baring his own fucked up soul to the world and his own inadequacy. His inability to empathize on the most basic level."

Asami sighed as she walked over and sat on the bed beside Ryu, looking at him almost softly for a moment before reaching over to softly touch Ryu's cheek with the back of two of her fingers. She caressed his face if he let her, wiping away any tears left behind. "He'll never understand those of us that still cling to empathy, that know it still carries weight." she whispered.

"What happened, Ryu?"

[TyDie]

Ryu's eyes squinted as the woman opened the curtains and let the light in, which also exposed some dried blood along his face and stomach - wounds he had suffered at the hands of Shinjiro. As she went on to speak about Shinjiro, she mentioned offhand that she had become a full fledged member of the seven. He didn't even have time to slip in a 'congratulations' before she kept going though, first singing his praises and explaining how she knew him well... then proceeded to talk all kinds of shit about him right after. It gave him whiplash, hearing her go from 'having feelings' to saying he has a 'fucked up soul' so quickly. Her motherly approach towards him was a little stunning, truth be told.

But Ryu was Ryu; Pride was his sin. "I don't want to talk about it." He said, crossing his arms and looking away from the woman. Even as she caressed his face, which he did enjoy the feel of, he couldn't just bare his soul so easily after Shinjiro's test. "Congrats on the Seven, by the way..." He couldn't hide the envy in his tone; it was pretty clear what Shinji said had really gotten to him.

[Willoria]

Asami gave a small mirthless chuckle as Ryu seemed to almost pout and refuse to tell her what happened, even giving a jealous congratulations instead. She shook her head at him, still caressing his cheek for a moment. "I didn't tell you to make you jealous, Ryu." she told him, smirking at him a bit. Her fingers left his cheek to run across the dried blood on his face before moving to his side and stomach. She was glad to see he had healed from whatever Shinjiro had done to him to test him. "The day he tested me for his dagger he poisoned me horribly... tortured me. He kept telling me the pain would stop if I asked for it." She chewed on the inside of her lip for a moment, tasting her own blood briefly though it didn't phase her. "He wasn't even there to recruit me, he was being forced to train me and I think he wanted me to ask for death so he had an excuse to kill me. He hated me... but I refused. Hell I refused to hate him. In the moment he made me his Dagger on a whim instead."

She shook her head. "That method would never have worked with you. Too much damn pride in you. You have two parents who were Overseers themselves... the title is your damn birthright for fuck's sake." she continued, her hand shifting back up to his face to finally come under his chin and firmly grasp it to force him to look at her.

"You've saved my life more than once. There's half your test." she told him. "So if you want to be my Dagger, here's the other half, Ryu. Swallow your damn pride for a minute and just tell me what the hell happened."

[TyDie]

Ryu shook his head as Asami explained what he did to her to prepare her for her position as his dagger... honestly, it made him sick. "God... where does he get off, putting people through such fucking cruel tests!? I get it, he went through some hell, I'm sure being a Jinchuuriki has it's own problems, but shit. He needs to stop putting everyone else through the same shit he went through." He was getting angry again, thinking about all the things that Shinjiro had done to others in the name of "improving Kirigakure". The lives he had taken or ruined... it made him want to puke. The conversation moved on to Ryu himself, and he had to scoff at her mention of a birthright.

"No, I won't let myself think that way. Father.... Ryoga fought for his position. He earned the title of Overseer, as did Ren. I don't want to be a swordsman just because of my parents, I want to live up to their legacy. Not move up because of it." It was funny that she had mentioned pride, as she was now telling him to swallow his pride, gripping his chin tightly and making him look at her as she ordered him... and dangled a position as a dagger in front of him.

"But... Shinjiro would get on your ass for it. He expressly didn't want me in the Seven, and if you took me in instead..." It wasn't about swallowing his pride at this point; it was about worrying about Asami.

[Willoria]

Asami smirked as she let go of his chin and stood up. She moved to stand in front of him and crossed her arms as she looked down at him. "Fuck Shinjiro." she told him plainly. "In the Seven, we Swordsmen decide for ourselves who our Daggers will be." she explained to him. "Someone can recommend to us who to take, even the Overseer, but it cannot be decided for us. You see, I just left a potential Dagger. Kid has no survival instincts at all, everything has just been handed to him. I can't put up with that shit. He came highly recommended but that's not the kind of person I can train, I left him for Shinji to test, let him poke, prod, and torture the little emotionless shithead." She stopped her pacing for a moment and looked at Ryu.

"I refuse to have some little shit like that dumped on me and see your talent wasted. So fuck Shinjiro. I'll handle him. I can handle whatever he can dish out as punishment just fine, because in the end he doesn't have the right to decide for me who I take on as my Dagger, even as the Overseer, and he damn well knows it." Asami drew both of her swords and held them out for Ryu to see.

"You shared with me your family's secrets, Ryu. You saved my life. As far as I'm concerned, you've more than earned your place." With a flourish she put them away. "All you have left to do is tell me what the hell he did." The woman shrugged. "And let me see you fight for myself, but let's face it, that's a formality."

[TyDie]

Ryu scoffed at the mention of the kid that Asami had turned away... He didn't know who the kid was or what he wanted to do with the seven, probably just the fame of the title or something. But regardless, if Asami turned him down, there was a good reason for it. She also seemed adamant on telling Shinjiro to fuck off, which brought a smirk to his face. "Someone needs to put the fucker in his place someday. So sick of him lauding his power over everyone else..." She continued to talk, going so far as to compliment him by saying his talent was wasted and she was willing to handle Shinjiro if it meant taking him as her dagger. She had trusted him to help her. She had trusted him to push her further. And here she was, a jounin, a member of the seven, and all she wanted was to know the details of what happened between him and Shinjiro.

"...Fine" He said with a sigh, scooching back on the bed so that he was no longer under the covers. The blood around his pants and side were now quite visible, though the wounds were long healed. "Honestly he seemed more interested in Hisan than me..." As if on cue, once more the manifestation of Hisan's skull emerged from Ryu's shoulder, as if to join in on the conversation. "Well, at least he lets me eat the fresh meat! Can you believe this kid wanted to let his opponent's flesh go to waste!? Gah, fucking tragic, I say! So when Shinjiro popped up in the arena and commanded me to devour the girl's corpse, oooooooh... It was gone within minutes. I can still taste her... hehehehehehe."

Without even thinking, Ryu reached up with his hand and smacked Hisan, who simply giggled more in response. "I'll give you the free swing, but remember; I can get to your liver quicker than you can get to me." He practically sung his taunt to Ryu, but proceeded to stay manifested so that he could speak or be spoken to as necessary. "Hisan is right though. Shinjiro wanted to see how quickly I could dispose of a body, likely for the sake of containing village secrets that could be found in the corpses of our missing ninja. I understand that's part of what the Head Hunters do." He'd let out a small sigh, looking to the manifestation of Hisan as if expecting the symbiote to speak in his stead. But eventually, the boy found his words.

"Then he took me to the slums... in search of prey."

[Willoria]

Asami's eyes narrowed as Hisan manifested again and spoke to her. She let him have his words, but when he was done she pressed her tongue behind her teeth once more and seemed to hiss at him. "I'm not Shinjiro and I'm not interested in you." she told the symbiotic creature. "Now be gone with you." she snarled before turning her attention back to Ryu, shaking her head as he told her where Shinjiro took him. "Say no more." she commented simply. "I swear, its like the bastard forgets the slums raised me. He acts like the people there are nothing but prey, if he'd open his eyes once in awhile he'd realize he's just wasting the potential of others by hunting there." She made a mental note to have more than just words about it with him later as she visibly bristled, and for a moment red chakra rolled off the woman in waves as her irritation manifested in an uncontrolled fashion.

A moment later the chakra evanesced away and she looked at Ryu, remembering that his family had a training area within the house and she inclined her head towards the door. "Come on, let's see how far you've come with that sword." she commented as she turned to open the door to his room and lead the way out. "And tell that creature to stay quiet, he pops out again and I'll lop off his head. He's not the one I'm interested in right now. I want to see what you can do without his influence, I already know his uses."

[TyDie]

The symbiote hissed right back at Asami as she made clear she wanted nothing to do with him. "Fine, be that way. I didn't like you anyway." With a grumble, the symbiote slowly receded back within Ryu's body, and the boy rolled his eyes. "He's such a fucking child sometimes..." The boy said with a groan of annoyance. He was about to continue with the details of what went on in the slums, but Asami interrupted him; something he was thankful for. He didn't want to go into the gritty details of the boy that had been left without a mother, or the drunkard that Ryu had killed with a kunai to the base of the skull. He'd rather forget all of that...

He did notice her strange chakra though, and for a moment his head felt kind of... fuzzy. But it passed just as quickly, and the woman wanted to lead him to his familiy's training room. He stood from the bed, revealing the torn clothing he still wore from his encounter with Shinjiro, and nodded as he reached for his sword in the corner of the room. "Sure, the room should be cleaned. I think Amaya used it last, but she's usually good about keeping it tidy. Or ordering our slave to do it." He'd walk out of his room and down the hall, towards a set of double doors that opened up into a large, wide open room, 25 meters by 25 meters long. It wasn't meant for all out combat, but it served for hand to hand and weapons training, provided their techniques stayed within the confines of normal levels and didn't break the laws of reality

He doubted their bout would be like that. With a grunt, he slipped his sheathed sword into his belt and crossed the room before turning to face Amaya, putting about 15 meters between the two. "Alright... How do you want to do this exactly? You've far outpaced me by this point in terms of ability, I don't think I'm going to be landing any solid hits against you. And that sword, the one based off of my mother's sword... it's scary."

[Willoria]

Asami's only response to Hisan's departure had been a light snort of laughter.

Though she had led the way out of the room, Asami had quickly stepped aside to allow Ryu to lead the way to the training area. She knew about it, but had only been to it a handful of times and could never remember where it actually was. This was mostly because half of the times she'd seen it she'd actually been bleeding already. Since the war, she hadn't spent quite as much time around Ryu's family, something she hoped to rectify now that thing shad calmed down significantly. Upon entering she saw Ryu start to set up spacing and only smiled as he started to ask questions. Asami herself quickly removed both of her swords and set them aside. "I won't be using my swords at all actually." she said. "And that particular sword I named Kowareta-Ha, by the way." she informed him as she left the blades behind and took up a position in the training area before looking straight at him.

"So here's how its going to work, Ryu. I'm not going to use my swords, and you're just going to focus on trying to hit me." she told him with a shrug. "That's it... I'm going to do something you've never seen before though. You'll face something I'm slowly becoming known for, and as, you'll face The Dread Wolf. It won't be at full strength... but it'll be enough. Fight through it, try to land a hit... that's all you're gonna do, got it?"

When she was done explaining Asami couldn't help a grin as her red chakra once more swirled around her briefly, enveloping her entirely and obscuring her from view and a moment later all that was left in her place was the form of a very large wolf. It was a great black wolf about four feet high on all four feet, in place of a head however was a skull, and glowing blue embers for eyes. A feeling of fear would emanate from the creature as it turned its head and simply stared down Ryu as if daring him to do something.

Ability UsedShow

In all the time she has spent alone, Asami has studied animals extensively along with theories an darker arts. In her search for strength and power this led to her attaining the ability to transform into what she refers to as ‘The Dread Wolf’. Visually, this is the form of a black wolf that stands about four feet high on all fours, its face replaced with a full skull and what seem to be glowing blue embers for eyes. Speaking in this form means her voice sounds layered, making it incredibly difficult to recognize by those not intimately familiar with her. Physically she maintains her current stats.

Fear of Death: So long as she is in this form, this fear/dread effect is active. Seeing the Dread Wolf creates a feeling as if they are staring at an Omen of Death, as if their own end is prophesied by the creature before them. This feeling of Dread will affect anyone within a 20 meter radius and as it is an ability, not a genjutsu, it cannot be kai'd, however its effect is not above C Rank in affect and may be easily ignored if the other individual(s) have a Willpower Stat equal to or greater than Asami's.

[TyDie]

Ryu tilted his head as the woman took her swords off of her person, setting them to the side... How did she intend to fight him, if not with her swords? She went on to explain the fact that he only had to hit her once... while she was apparently assuming some different kind of form. "Why the hell does everyone I know shapeshift? Amaya turns into a cheetah, Shinji is... well, Shinji, and now you have some kind of wolf form?" "As if you're one to talk, hehehe." Ryu shook his head in reflex as the symbiote spoke to him, but it made a good point. It seemed to just be a thing surrounding his life; people who could become more than simple humans.

But as she assumed her form, he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread, looking into those blue embers that were her eyes. She said nothing, but that look somehow told him that she was ready for him to lash out at her... and yet he found himself hesitating. Out of fear, of all things? Why? He knew this was Asami, and yet for some reason seeing her in this form just... unsettled him. As if her very presence was bearing down on him, as if her existence was an omen foretelling his death. He'd faced genjutsu, but this wasn't the same.

With a gulp to swallow down his fears, he focused on the task at hand. "One hit... that's all." He said to himself to reassure himself that he could do this. Then, with a deep breath, he focused on Asami's form, rushed forward, then planted his foot as he grabbed his sword and drew the blade forward in a simple, horizontal slash to test the waters, immediately sheathing his sword after the blade sang through the air. The slash would be aimed for the skull of the dread wolf of course, it was the closest bit of Asami he could reasonably hit. He didn't want to get close if he could avoid it...

Disciplines for entire fightShow

*[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 • Shinigami Draw]
C-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Losing the use of one's hand or arm in a fight can be a death sentence, but Iaido has found a simple, elegant response to this desperate situation. Using their free hand, the practitioner momentarily braces the edge of their sword against the inside of the scabbard before drawing. While it does not confer the instant acceleration benefit of its parent technique, this Discipline does allow the practitioner to use Iaido techniques at their normal speed even with only one hand.

*[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 • Ancestral Visage]
C-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Using Iaido to its fullest requires a keen eye and quick reactions, enabling its users to target weaknesses and openings that their opponents present almost instantaneously. This Discipline represents the practitioner's ability to attack openings that present themselves, the practitioner now able to reflexively attack an opening in almost the same moment that it is observed. This Discipline reduces the gap of time between a practitioner recognizing a potential opening for attack and launching the attack to exploit said opening to almost nil.

AttackShow

*[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.

[Willoria]

The Dread Wolf stood tall on all fours and stared him down as he prepared himself, as he rushed forward, and as he slashed at her. In a quick movement she rushed forward and under his slash. Moving at twice his speed she got into his guard and leaped up to climb up his chest and onto his shoulder to launch off of him and land behind him with a snarl. She landed almost elegantly on her paws before turning to face him again, a low growl and a snarl building in her throat.

"Was that an intent to kill? I don't think so." Her voice sounded layered, almost ethereal as she spoke, as if she were truly something entirely else. "You can do so much better, Ryu. Are you your father's son? Or aren't you?"

[TyDie]

The sound of Asami's voice was incredibly disconcerting, and the speed with which she moved made clear that 'testing the waters' wasn't going to get Ryu anywhere in this fight. His blood curdled as she jumped on to him, and in response, Hisan started to lash out from within Ryu. The woman leapt behind him, and a tentacle of Hisan's making emerged from Ryu's back, intent on lashing out towards her. "No!" He called aloud, and the tentacle froze in place. His fears of Asami were reined in by his focus on Hisan, preventing the symbiote from attacking in his stead. "This is my fight. Stay out of it." He snarled at the creature within, and through will alone Ryu retracted Hisan's tentacle. It was the first time he had ever exhibited enough willpower to physically restrain Hisan, and the beast within was speechless.

"I am my father's son." He turned to face her, and though fear still gripped him, his gaze was colder, more refined... focused. Gripping his hilt again, he dashed forward, first delivering a straight kick aimed at the creature's chest before harshly drawing upon his sword, the blade singing through the air as a lightning fast horizontal slash was delivered at the same chest he had kicked towards. If she tried to avoid him again by jumping over or around him, he'd quickly change his direction and lunge forward with maximum speed to deliver a second slash, preemptively handling her avoidance tactics.

JutsuShow

*[Iaido • Death’s Gate]
C-Rank Taijutsu Maneuver
Prerequisite(s): 15 Speed.
Drawing upon the superlative speed of Iaido, the practitioner momentarily torques the muscles in their body to draw their sword from its scabbard and deliver a blindingly fast slash before sheathing their blade. Properly reading this attack requires the opponent to have a Perception technique of equal or higher rank than this technique. Otherwise, they cannot accurately read the attack and will be unlikely to completely avoid the attack, if at all.

*[Iaido • Peace in Death]
C-Rank Taijutsu Maneuver
Prerequisite(s): 15 Speed.
An abnormally aggressive technique in Iaido, this technique serves as a preemptive counter, attacking the opponent in the split moment between drawing back to prepare an attack and launching said attack. Violently torquing the muscles in their legs, the practitioner more quickly accelerates to their maximum speed (or instantly accelerating to their max speed if their Strength is equal or higher than their Speed) than with normal movement. With this movement, the practitioner bolts toward the opponent and launches an attack, cutting the opponent as they pass to their side. This technique can be used while moving to immediately change direction instead before launching the attack. Properly reading this attack requires the opponent to have a Perception technique of equal or higher rank than this technique.

[Willoria]

"Shishishishi." It was a strange sound that came from the skull of the wolf, something akin to a laugh as Ryu berated Hisan and stopped him from intervening on his behalf. But it was exactly what Asami wanted to see from the boy. She wanted to see what he could do without Hisan, and how much he needed to improve. In her mind the entire point behind the Daggers was to find potentials and improve upon them. She didn't expect him to be able to best her or even be able to defend against her. No she wanted to see what he might be able to do, what kind of a base he had begun with already. But she needed to see that without the creature.

The blade made him a swordsman, she knew Hisan might make him the legend but the swordsman had to come first. To do that she'd have to press his buttons a bit. As he came for her with a kick, the Dread Wolf would prance to the side to try and avoid it, of course bringing the ire of the blade that would come for her instead. But that she didn't so much try to dodge as she tried to...catch. Her skeletal maw came down hard on the blade at full strength to try and hold it in place. Blood dripped down the steel for a moment as red chakra began to swirl, another ability activated briefly before the wolf was enveloped in the chakra once more.

And a moment later Asami herself stood before him again, on one knee as she held his katana in her hand, blood running down her hand and wrist from an ugly gash. That blood dripped freely onto the ground as she grinned at him. But she only left her 'Call of the Void' active for a moment before all of it seemed whisked away and the red chakra faded.

She let go of his blade and stepped back. "Good." she told him, not seemed to care about her bloodied hand as she looked at him. "You did very well, not many even my own rank can fight through that effect to control themselves that way... and they don't have Hisan's bloodlust to contend with on top of that fear."

Additional Ability UsedShow

Having spent time in training with the notorious Genma host Karagata Shinjiro, who has a reputation of brutality and torture both in how he trains and how he has been trained, Karugata Asami has developed new skills in affecting those around her. Through her studies in Genjutsu theory, and tortures endured at the hands of Shinjiro and his variety of poisons and venoms, Asami's very presence has become toxic to those around her. Her chakra may seep out and seek those around her, worming its way their minds to break down mental barriers and mental resistances, opening them up to her influence. Her chakra as a result has now turned a deep red.

When this ability is activated at her will (costing chakra equal to an A rank Jutsu), her presence affects those nearby up to a maximum range equal to her control stat, but she can reduce this range as desired. It feels as if her presence begins to simply wear and bear down on them, pulling at them and draining them by pulling away their willpower. This manifests by draining their willpower stat at a steady rate of -2 per post for a duration of 5 posts (-10 max overall). If the target steps out of the ability's range, then upon returning to the area of effect the drain would resume from its current state. If the target has been out of range for one post, then they will regain the lost stats at a rate of +2 per post for as long as they remain out of the ability's range.

[TyDie]

Ryu grit his teeth and grunted with effort as the razor sharp blade was stopped mid flight by Asami's jaws, his eyes narrowed on her as she held his blade in place. A moment later, and that red chakra was emerging from her again, leaving his head feeling fuzzy and strange in addition to the fear he felt as a result of the wolf's appearance. The two together eroded his sensibilities, so it was good that their spar seemed over. As Asami returned to her normal form in an instant, and her red chakra receded, he found himself shaken to his core. "Gah... Stay out of my head, damn it." His blade was put away and his hands went to his head for a moment, running his fingers through his hair to try and regain himself.

"It's not easy. Between the fear I felt looking at that damn wolf's skull and the constant urge from Hisan to let go and tear things to pieces, it felt like being stuck between a rock and a hard place..." letting out a sigh, he'd look to Asami's hand and smirk. "But at least I drew blood..."

[Willoria]

Asami nodded as Ryu explained how difficult it had been. She knew exactly what he had been feeling, what she projected onto others was much of what she felt when she was tortured by Shinjiro, when his poisons were in her. She knew exactly what she forced others to feel. "Yeah sorry, some of that is still instinctual... believe it or not I don't have full control over that yet. I'm still learning how to use it." Of course, she couldn't help a slight smirk. "Much to Shinji's... disappointment. He hates it when I lose it during a spar or training. Even he isn't immune to that one." she admitted. As he mentioned the blood she looked down at her hand and turned it to have a better look at the gash and shrugged. "That you did. I couldn't fully avoid that, not at that range and not in that form.." she replied.

It wasn't entirely the truth, but he didn't need to know that.

She sighed and looked at Ryu before closing her hand into a fist to apply pressure and try to slow the bleeding for now. "Best of all though, you kept Hisan out of the fight which is what I wanted to see. All the fear you would have been feeling, and you still kept him out of it. That was what was most important to me, and you did it. I can work with that. I can make you a better swordsman from that. Hisan will be secondary when you train with me." she glanced around and sighed. "Now please tell me that slave is around who makes the good dango... I'm fucking starving... I might've skipped breakfast...."

[TyDie]

Ryu rolled his eyes as the girl made clear that she didn't have full control over this new trick of hers. "Damn it woman, you better get a grip on it then. Just as bad as my sister... fuckin headgames. But by all means, screw with the genma host. He needs it." He shook his head and chuckled as he resheathed his sword finally, moving for the door back to the main house Asami mentioned that she would be training him - not Hisan. "Good... about time someone took notice of me and not the damn parasite." "Parasite!?" The skull of Hisan manifested in that moment, clearly offended by the term Ryu had used to describe it.

"Look, this is mine, Hisan. My training, my focus. Not yours." The symbiote quickly receded with a scoff, clearly upset... Ryu would deal with that later. The food didn't sound like a bad idea, but first Ryu had to make sure he got this right. "Sure, there's some Dango left around I think... But first, I want you to say it." She hadn't actually said he was to be her dagger. He wanted to hear it, from her, before they went any further.

[Willoria]

Asami snorted in a laugh at the comments between Hisan and Ryu. Of course she'd seen plenty of interactions between the two over the years, but it never got old. Of course in this case it was simply all the more entertaining because for once she felt like she'd watched Ryu really grow up. He was finally standing up to Hisan rather than just crumbling to him. He'd been so down about Hisan's presence for so long, and Hisan's influences, it was a refreshing change. She followed him back into the house, glad to hear that her favorite food was available but was surprised when Ryu suddenly stopped and seemed to have a demand of her. She raised an eyebrow for a moment, curious as to what was going on until he actually said it.

Of course she couldn't help a grin as she realized what he wanted. "Alright." she said simply, crossing her arms as she looked at him. "Kazuki Ryu, I accept you as both my student and a Dagger of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist."