Private/Closed Naruto AU: Roleplay

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“̎̂̅Ẏͣ̄͐oͪ̅̏̑̒̉ͬu͐̂͐̍ ͩͭ̑̂͊ͪ̽m͑̂iͤ̒͂ͩ̇͒ͪsͦǘ̀ͫ̊̉n̽̐̇̑der̍͊s̑͐ͭ͂tͥ́̅͐a͂ͮ̓͆̓͌n͊ͦͩd̒͊͑́.ͤ”͑̈́͗̅͊

B.O.S.E.C.‘s glitchy body stretched and coiled around Seiun, it held out it’s left disconnected hand in front of him. It welted up, contorting to shape up like a stage. It’s other hand oozed a dripping ink from the tip of it’s talons. The ink dangled over the stage, forming the shape of a humanoid on strings...a puppet.

“̀ͫͬ͆̿T̈̏h͒̂͊̃̎̚a̓́͂ͧ͊t̀ ͤ̈́͗̈ͥ̍šͣec̑̚onͮ͛d͒̏͐͂́͆̋ ̏̊̿͂̒ópt̎̎̅ͩ̚ĭͣͨ̐õ͑̌̍ͩ̓͊nͦ̍͐̐ ̈́̀̂r̿e̓ͬmoͣ̏v̒̋ͥ̈e͆̈́ͨ͌̽s̾ ̅̍͛tͥͦͩ̇̊̍̚ȟ͋eͣ̉ͭi̓͋r͋̃̔͌ͩ ̈͗̆̾͐ͮr̿̈́̿̏̉̇ḯgͭ͒ĥt͛ͫ̊̉ͨ ͥt̓̚oͭ̾͒̓͗ ͊͗ͪc̈́ͭ͛h̓ȏ͊ͬoͮsͥ̉̉e ̽̅͊ͨ́ȃ̉l̓̓͑̆t͂oͤͧ́͗͂ͯg̋eͧtͭhͣ̇̄ͩ͐͊e̎ͪ͐̚ȑ͒̂ͭ̾͌.̊̂ͬ”͐ͩͭͯ̿͆̚

He dangled the puppet, dancing on the stage whilst chairs in the ‘audience’ filled up with leering mini B.O.S.E.C.s

“̏̽͐ͧ̚Sͪͤ͊oͫ͋ͤ̚ ͯͭw̉̉eͨͩ͋̎͊ c̎aͮͫ̏̈́̾n̋ͯͧ ͪ̾́dͨ̈́̑͛͑̉̚o̒̌ͨ ͂̎͌͋ͧͥthͬ͒͋̈̄̚i͗̏̐̋̔̾̚s͒̓̚ ̈́̉ͮ͊̂̄pl͗̋͌ͬa͋ͪͩ͆͌n̂͑̓̂̍,ͭ̌͗͌̿̑͌ ̃̎oͧ͐r ͊͋w͆̄̆ͨe̒ͪ̉ ̎̓̋͌c̿̓ȁ͊̐̔̎ͣ̍n̽̔͋̂̂̐͑ ͌̆͊ͥ̍cͫ̇̈́̂ͦͥo͌̆̇̎ḿ͐̐̓͗̈́e͂͂ ̆͗̽͑ûͪͤ̓ͮpͧ̔̔͗̓ w͋͌ͨͯ̊͌ͣîͦͦ̚tͦ̇ͮ̈ͧ͒h̉̿ͬ͂̽̊ àͨ͌͆̑̚ ͬcͮͭonͧͭ̑͐v͗ͧͯ͑̌ͭïͤͦn͛c͊ͯi̎̔n̒̓̚gͧ̔ͥ̾̋̍ ͯͧ͛̚sto̓̓̊̎ͪ̆̋rͫ̅̌̃̒͆̚y.͊̅̓ ̄̉͌͑ͣ̈́͛Y̌ͭ̃oͦ̎͗͊̌͊̈űr̽̑̌͊̂̓̍ ̅̀̂̆̎̚c̒̽̅hͪ̐ͮ́̒oͨͭ̔́ͫ͊i͌cͧ̒̆̏ͫͩe̿͒͊̽͒̃̉.͌̋̄̑̎̑”̅̍

 

[kyuukestu]

Hyōryugetsu

"Ok~ay," her acceptance was immediate, not because she, like Kai, wanted to pass these exams, but instead because, "it sounds fun!"

With her purpose for attendance—the investigation—complete, there was nothing preventing her from messing around a bit; and, if she managed to help an ally along the way then that was a nice bonus.

"Tracking will be left up to you, I presume?"

Furījia

"Go ahead..."

Her voice was soft and slightly muffled, an effect of the way the heiress had nestled beneath the broad wings of her summon. Half-lidded eyes peeped through the feathery curtain, looking askance at Taiyo, who's sudden communique had caught her attention.

 

[Godjacob]

Aisha...and Kusa-nin.

As Kenji made it out following Taji, Aisha knew she had work to do to join them and quickly departed the area as Furijia set up camp. Much as it had been tempting to test of she was a Thief or not she'd rather not spoil the good will of the agreement and besides she'd rather be able to lead a strike one one who lacked the ability to see her coming a mile away.

As the Konoha-nin departed in frantic pace, Aisha moved along with her companions Luna & Sky in toe. Along with a special little guest on Luna's shoulders...

"MMMMMPFFFFFF!!!!???"

"Ah quite you. Since your buddy got a deal least I can do is extend one to you. Now let's go fishing for some Thieves~"

Aisha course clarified it once they had been a safe distance from that gate as she sat the Kusa-nin down and explained that, if he desired to remain in the exam physically then he would have to point her nose in the right direction of other Thieves. Naturally the Kusa-nin had felt a sting of pride of having been reduced to this state and captured as early as he had, however sometimes one had to surrender pride for practicality and if there had even been a half chance an opportunity to escape presented itself.

Aisha soon enough got a lead, a kunoichi from Kiri that the Kusa-nin had caught sight of when they entered the swamp and had seen earlier before tagging with the Konona-nin who seemed to try and make an area of swamp with a thick fog her base of operations. Likely she aimed to use the limited visibility to her advantage, though against Aisha’s nose this defense was ineffectual as she managed to sniff her out while she had Luna & Sky circle from behind.

The ambush led to a short skirmish, the kunoichi had little chance to get a hand sign off before she was restrained and subdued as a search revealed the info and once the ninja had been knocked out they quickly dashed and tossed the Kusa-nin with little care aside as they made a be line to escape out of the exit and join up with her two allies.

----------
As Zino watched the scene unfold, he had been half tempted to take a strike before the Kumo-nin departed but given he had been spotted by the presumed non-Inuzuka scout and Furijia likely had an eye on him he decided this had not been the pack to risk an attempted move against. As such, the Hybrid departed the scene quickly as he had arrived and worked to gain distance as he scouted around the rest of the swamp.

The scouting trip had not been completely worthless, as Zino had gotten the chance to get a firm look at just what the intel looked like upon people, so he knew better what to seek within people as he figured among this enormous field not every thief had the benefit of anti-Dojutsu measures in the realm of detection. Sure enough, as he passed by a nearby lake his eyes had gazed upon a curious sight which seemed to make its home within a pocket of soil within one of its mud walls….

As Rika sat and contemplated her situation, she felt she was fairly in a strong position. So far she had managed to avoid detection and thus conflict as that was one thing that had to be kept to a minimum beyond all else. Both due to her preference to avoid it in general, but also because the words her mother had cemented into her mind in preparation for the exams.

Remember, regardless of what happens during the exam, if you feel that power within you begin to bubble to the surface, withdraw immediately. You are a representee of Kumo and thus there is pride at stake on your performance, but no pride is worth exposing your secret so casually to the other nations. For your benefit and that of us all you must remember these words do you under….

Boom!!!​

Rika had been snapped from her thoughts as sudden shockwaves were felt by her area, which startled the Genin as unknown to her Zino had used a few explosives around the bank of the soil and river itself along her position as she flet her little “pocket” wobbles a bit. Whoever this was seemed a touch precise for some guess work, had whoever up there somehow found her location? Regardless she had to make a decision fast, if she tried to hide out not only did she risk being discovered in a cramp space, but the chaos outside was bound to attract more hunters to the scene which was bound to become an issue if her lake became an excavation site.

Her decision became easier when her ears picked up something that seemed to sound around her. It was almost masked by the explosive mini-bombs. Out of the corner of her eye, the dirt before her seemed to shuffle as a hole opened. A small but precise “bullet” of air shot through and nearly cut her shoulder as indeed someone at least had an idea of where she was.

Deciding she’d rather take a stand with some open space; she would work her way up her own tunnel and emerged as she saw a sight for curious eyes. A young man who seemed to have contrasting Dojutsu on each eye which had been a grizzly sight but she had no time to ponder the how or why as she kept a defensive stance as Zino and Rika were face to face with one by the lake.

“Have to admit, a clever spot. Shame I’m more desperate to make up for it, don’t suppose you’d be willing to negotiate to save us both trouble?” Zino asked, though even as he proposed the idea he had reached in his pouch in response to Rika making a hand sign as the water of the lake seemed to ripple by them while the Kumo-nin faced Zino with a look of determined resolve.

“Unless those talks involve you leaving me alone, I don’t see much compromise. I don’t want to fight but I will do what I must to survive…” Rika warned, though Zino chuckled as he expected that and assumed a stance having pulled a kunai in response as his own chakra flared a bit.

“Show me what you can do.”​

----------
“Anything yet?” Ino asked with a whisper, as Takato focused as he had extended several shadows in the area by the presumed flora trap though had yet to snag whoever had been behind it. They could not advance to scout for risk of being caught in range of the aroma though that had left Takato searching blind.

And as a shadow passed by a branch where Sakura once stood, she seemingly had become away she was not alone and as such prepared a countermeasure. A pull of a trip wire as she scouted the familiar faces who arrived to her area from her hidden position.

“Can’t say I have much luck. Perhaps what we need is….shit!” Takato whispered, before a curse interrupted his thoughts as he and Ino noticed a large log drop down as both jumped back to avoid it. A log which seemed to contain a pair of explosive tags which soon burst as a shockwave knocked Takato and Ino to opposite sides.

Takato seemed to tumble down a hill towards another section of the swamp as most of the debris followed him, while Ino seemed to land on a pond though before she had a chance to regroup with Takato a series of sharpened petals flew down towards the Yamanaka who responded in kind as she stroked along her hair pulling a pair of single hairs she fused with her chakra and fired them like projectiles which seemed to knock the petals out of the sky as she made it to her feet and saw her friend & rival standing over her on the branch of an old tree.

“Funny, was hoping to find you. Promise not to take this personal?” Ino said with a sly smirk as she pulled a kuni to which Sakura responded with the same motion in kind and a smirk of her own as she seemed just as eager for this encounter as Ino had been.

“Hard to take it personal when you won’t be getting a thing from me.” Sakura answered back, and with that the two charged and began an intense clash.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kai was a bit bewildered by the swift acceptance on the part of Hyo. Judging from their talk earlier, it seemed that she would have put up more of a fight, suppose he stood corrected. Before he could respond, he heard splashing and sounds of battle. Looking to the side. He spotted figures in the distant stretch of the large pond. A tuft of pink, then white, and finally black.

“I don’t think I’ll need to track them. We should stalk them like the lily leopard of the north. We should stick to our strong suits whilst we wait in the shadows, sound satisfactory?”

He receded a bit into the tree line as to not he spotted by the brawlers, just in case they glanced in his direction.

 

[kyuukestu]

Hyōryugetsu

"Prince, I think you've been reading too many books; you're talking in metaphors, it's kinda cringe..."

Hyō tittered with faint laughter, she retreated into the swamp allowing the soggy waters to drown her voice and conceal her figure. While she poked fun at his speech pattern, the Hozuki had no problems with, as Kai might put it, play the oriole.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kai twitched, although one could hardly tell under his mask. As much as he tried to hold himself back, the cool as ice stature of the Yuki quickly boiled from his fiery temper.

“Cringe...Cringe?! I am a Yuki! We are held at-“

He put a hand over his mask’s mouth, mimicking the ‘X’ pattern on it. Tch! I almost blew my cover! That Hozuki...she’s no Kiro, that’s for sure. But a mist ninja IS a mist ninja...

Coming to his senses begrudgingly, mainly due to the fact that he would be yelling to his own reflection in the water, he decided to shake his head and go back into the woods, slwosly creeping in on the encounter in the small distance ahead.

 

[kyuukestu]

Hinagiku

"Should we...petition the Feudal Lord...?"

The murky light pouring through the humid, water-logged air of the rain, through foggy windows, and onto the lone figure of the Hyūga Matriarch. It illuminated a notepad, densely covered with numbers and figures: village repair costs, compensation for the families of fallen shinobi, security costs, economic subsidies to prop up businesses...

The list of expenses went on and on, culminating in a final figure that had more 0s than Hina had the heart for. It wasn't an unplayable sum. Though a daunting figure now, the joint business venture she'd proposed yesteryear had begun to bear fruit, its profits—after some time—would cover many of their expenses and if the other Clans chipped in, the village could meet its quota in a matter of months.

But...did they have months?

That question puzzled the Hyūga. With all that had happened in a matter of months: two invasions, the Jinchuriki hunt, the Kage summit...if the future was similarly eventful the village would find itself always on the back-foot.

It was inevitable then, that they needed to restore themselves as quickly as possible. In terms of manpower, her petition to enlist the shinobi of Suna would take care of that, but monetarily, it seemed their only choice for quick cash would be to beseech the feudal lord. They could, in exchange for a lump sum of cash, hand over the bonds to the joint business venture they'd started. As long as the village handled the cost of production and operation, the profits would repay their debt to the Fuedal Lord in a matter of months.

The business would essentially function as collateral that would pay off the debt incurred.

Running some final calculations on the figures and estimating payment times, Hina concluded this was a viable solution, of course, under the assumption that the grace of the Feudal Lord was forthcoming.

That would take care of village matters; next, matters of the Clan...

 

[Godjacob]

"Wind Style: Gale Stars Jutsu!"

"Water Style: Octo-Barrier Jutsu!"
​

Zino had been prepared for a tough struggle, the sheer and frankly absurd chakra he seemed to sense within Rika was proof enough nothing had been prepared to come easy. To make it worse, she seemed to be a water specialist who had a lake to provide her with free material at a cost-effective measure. Zino similarly used Wind Release for such a reason as he fired a trio of almost "wind shiruken stars" forward at Rika who had surrounded herself with water as a creature took the shape of an octopod with tentacles to match as those tentacles slapped aside the wind projectiles with absolute ease.

One of these stars was even grabbed out of the air as Rika fired it back to Zino as the latter rolled to the side and it cleaved through a stone like butter as he inwardly cursed. The hybrid frowned as he then made handsigns and tried to fire a wind "bullet" from his lips, the one that dug through the ear to her original hiding spot as he fired a more precise strike would better to get through the curious barrier.

And it sort of worked, as it managed to cut through the water Rika in kind merely added more as the small wind bullet would lose steam first and fade before it ever had risked getting close to her. Zino inwardly cursed, seemed Rika was quick to adapt on top of the field edge and this ungodly pool of chakra she had to work with. To make it worse, Rika merely had been on the defensive; she never once has initiated an attack during this and very much seemed to be responsive rather than giving her most serious effort.

Needless to say, this situation had turned sour for Zino as he thought over his options.

---------
Sakura & Ino's skermish had taken them a ways from their original spot, as Ino had managed to use deceptive "falese" signs of her Mind Possession to force Sakura out of possession while she piled up the pressure with hair strand senbon. In spite of driving Sakura from her preferred spot, she had not made any ground as Sakura very much controlled the tempo of the battle.

With a hand sign, Sakura used some of the water on the ground from the rain to rise it as she fired a few "rods" at Ino as the latter managed to avoid them with grace though Sakura used some petals from Ino's own flower shop as she dissolved it and tried to subdue Ino with a paralyzing dust as she broke the petal and blew it her direciton.

Ino in kind, assumed a stance and spun her ponytail around as he fed her hair chakra and used it as a make-shift fan to blow the dust away as she managed to avoid the worst. But it seemed to be becoming clear she needed to get Sakura with her Mind Possession if she had any real chance of capturing her, though she wondered in the back of her mind what became of Takato.

---------
Takato in kind had his situation turn from bad to worse, as he had tumbled from the original spot Ino & Sakura had been down the hill he was soon greeted by this Iwa ninja who seemed to have a metal claw equipped to her hand as she eyed him from a tree above with a look of malice at the Thief who came into her view.

"Suppose you wouldn't want to talk about..."

Woosh!

"...I thought so."

Takato jumped to avoid the claw as it smashed into the ground below as he had began to run and once she recalled the claw with a cable the girl gave chase as Takato right now focused on survival while he scanned his surroundings for what could be used as good shadow sources...

 

[sSoul]

Seiun
After being presented with the two options once again, now supplied with a more accurate description of the second option, Seiun began to ruminate on his situation. In retrospect, the entirety of Seiun's path to redemption was based in his ability to convince others, first convincing his brother's servant that he was important enough to get an immediate audience, then convincing his brother that he should be allowed to live and atone for his past, and immediately before this rumination period, he had to convince the priest that he was loyal to the supposed God of Amegakure. Although the rogue shinobi had made it this far, it was clear to him that his convincing tactics were getting less and less effective as he progressed. In pure logistical sense, it would be foolish to attempt to make another "convincing story" when he could simply become as believable as possible. Yet, the logic in the decision wasn't all that Seiun thought of as he prepared to make his decision. He turned to watch B.O.S.E.C. creating a stage where he manipulated a puppet for the enjoyment of an audience of miniature duplicates of itself. While he saw a puppet dancing up on the stage, it didn't take long for Seiun to also see a representation of himself being manipulated by the hand of an all-too familiar mist kunoichi. That was the straw that broke the camel's back, the final push the former Ame-nin needed to make his decision.

B.O.S.E.C, we both know that I've been the puppet boy before. Now, I think it's my turn to pull the strings. However, before we begin puppeteering, I wanna know how this whole thing works. How are we supposed to "remove their right to choose altogether"?

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“͌ͬ̇̊̎̐̐Eͬ̎x̂ͪ͑͒͌͋̓̈̐c͊̏̾̎ͪͧͧͦe͐͛ͬͪ̊̽ͭ́̚l͊ͩ̎͋͒ĺͨͯͫͨ̚eͤ̍n̎̎͐̃̾ͪt̓̋͐̔ͤͦ̒ ͊̋ͯͧ̓́͆ͮc̓ͪh̔̓ͭ̎̊ͩ̄o̒͒̑ͬ̔ͩĩͪ̌cͦͬͯ̏̎eͪ̈ͯ͗̏̍ͭ.̓̔̂”ͧ͋̎ͯ̉̚

B.O.S.E.C. Clasped the marionette he created firmly, crunching it in it’s grasp. As he crushed the puppet, it began to flex it’s talons inward toward it’s palm, as if molding clay.

“̾ͤ͆ͥ̉̀̍̋T̆ͬ̏̈̋öͥͯ ͂̽͌̑ͩ͗̽̚rͪ̇͗ͬͣͮe̒̊m̓̏͆͛̿̃oͥ̈́̑ͧ͗̚v͛e̋ͩ̒̂̿ͣ̏ ́̾̑̉ẗͯ̇hͧ̆̆̾̐͋̑̋͗e̿ͣ͛̓͌̂i͒̌́̏̂̅rͤ ̇̇̒ͪ͗̋ͬͤrͭͭ͂̈ͪͪ͑i͑̊gͥͫ̂͛̈̂͐̒h̍t̓̌͑ͦ ̿ͮ͐͋̅t̾o͆̍ ͨc̔ͫͣ̀ͭ͋͌hͬ͌̽o͊ͤ͒̊ͧ͗͐̂oͩ̌̒ͥ́͌ͫ̑s̈́̋̆̍ͮͣ͊e̔̂,̔͋ ̓y̔̆oͪͦ̒̉̎͒ͧu̇͑͗ͫͪ̅̽ͨ ͧͩ̒̊̾͂̈́m̐̐ͨŭ̇̽̆̇̌s͂t̔̏ͭ̃ͪ́̎̄̾ ̇̏̊ͣ͊ͩiͮ͊̔nͫ̃f̽̏̇éͬ̏c̔̈̐̓ͮt̒̔͂̆ ͬ̆̅̚t́̓̈́̐̇̽͌̄h̔̉̚e͂͊̾̃́͊̏͒m͐͊͋̉.͐̽ ̈́̈́ͦ͐̂͂̉̽N̽͐̋oͯtͥ͆͑ ̑ȁ̓ͯ̓̓ ͩ͊̊ͣ̾ͬpͮͨ́̍ȍ͋̀ͧͯ̏i̋̐̇͐ͮ̔̉ͦs͒o͐̐n̐̿̌͗́͌̾ ̋ͪ̊ͪ͋ͪ̍a͋̌ͥ͋̄͆sͧ͑ ̈́ͣm̃͐ͤ̎ͫ̅ǔͨć͌̒ͣ̈͂̉͐̄hͯ̂̀̓̓ͬͧ ́̍ͤ̆̍ͮͫa͗s͑ͪ ̿̒̅ͮî͛̌̆ͬs̊̿̅ͧ́͂̏̍ ̄̂̓ͮͦ̏̚aͭ̎.́͗ͣ̾.ͦ̅̃̒̔̽͛͑́.̅̉̈ͤ͌̐̿i͆͆͒̈̊̈́̐̓nͣ̿͋̎ͭ̂c̀̄ͮe̓ͬ̈́ͮͣn̂̏t̑͆ͪ̉́i̋̉ͯv͋͛ͫ̌ͨ̀eͦ͊ͬ͆̉͊.͌ͪ”ͮ̔͑̂̋͗̈́

It glitched and flashed over to Seiun, moving it’s closed talons toward Seiun’s hand. It opened it’s hand and something squishy and solid was felt. After removing it’s hand, it was revealed something tiny and pink was deposited in the rain ninja’s palm. it felt as if it were dough...but somehow there was a steady pulse in it.

“̎͗̎T͊̍̿͗̆h̽ͧ̅̉ͧe̅ͯ̓ͬ ̈ͭͧ̿̃hͧ̊̇e̊ͬͮ̋ͫ̅̍aͪͨd̃̇ͧ ̏ͭȯ̎ͪfͦͥ̚ ̌̈͂y̌̉ͨͧͧo͆ͪͪ͒̃u̐̃ͦr̈ͩ͑͋ ͒̌l̑ͩ͆̿̃i͒ͫ͌̈t͗̓̿̎̊̽͛tͤ̏͑̐ͤ͊͑lͫ̃̃̓ͩ̈̚eͪ ̾̈́t̒ͤrͭ̈́͑iͥ̾ͭ̄ͬͣ͆bͯǘͪ̌̾͆̎nͫͩ́̌a͑̈́̓͊͂͌̐l̀ ͥ̆̿͆ͦ́w͂o̅́ͨͬ̈́̈ů̆̈l̍͛d͋̊̿͒ ̊ͭ̽ͣ̓hͨ͑͐ͮͤa̔ͪ͐̄v̆̈́ͨ̈́̆eͮ͋͆ ̊t͗ͣ̐ͮ̈́̋̚oͤ̂ͧ̌ îͤn͑̍́̄͗̈g͋̈̇͐̽ͣe̒͛̓͗̂̈́stͤͬ̎ͩ ͌̆t̆̐̊h̿̈́i͊ͬ̓̽s̄̈͐ ̉̿͋̓̊̈́o̔̓ͪ̄r͗̿͆ ͑ͧ͑ͨ͐̌ỏ͛̑̑̀̇t̏h̓͒eͩͯ̚ṙͥͯ́̊w͊̀̍ͤͣ͐ì̿sͭ̂ͭ͆̍̊e͌ ͩ̐ͦͮ̉͋hav̅ͩ̐e̿ ̌̾̈i̇̑̐̔̋ť͂ͪ̔̔ͪ ̐̔͒en̈́ͫͤͨ̆̀ẗ̓͆er̈ͦ̔ͬ̃ě͌d̾́͌̓ in̔ͧt͒̽̐o̒ͩ͊ͨͫ̓͐ ͛t͊͒̏̍h͊ͭ͋̎͌̓̄ĕ̃͗ͬi̓r͋̊̆̂́ ͆̆b͊́̑͌lo͆̆̏̈́͊̚o͐̌́͋dsͧ͂̀t̓̒̏̈͛̓reͯ̿̀ͣ̔ͮam̀͂̔̐̾̒̋.̓̅͋̆̔́ ͥ̎̑̈̆̈́Yo͑͂̒ͦuͪ͑͛ ͒ͮͭ̂ͪd̔ǒ t͋ͣ̅̄́̄̚hͮ̑̌̆̌͆ͮaͫt̎,̿̾̆̈ͩͪ ̃̓âͪ̈́́̐nd̓͆̀̉ͦ y͆ö́̿̉ͧu͆ͣ͑̿̇ͭ͐r̅͋͒̅̊̐ͫ ̓͂ͨp̔̅̆ͫ̒roͭ͂̊bͪ̆̑lͤë́̓̎͆̃m̄̀̉̋̎ ̂ͧ́̈́̎͑͒y͑̒̓̒oͪ̍ͣ͋u̒̇ s̄̄̆o ̈ͣ̇ͫͯͪ̅d͋̀́̍e̒li͗̓c̉͋̎ͬ͌aͣ̒͋͋͊ͥt̾ẻly̿̓͋͐̉̄͐ ̓pͧ̓̀lͨͪa͛͛̋͊ͬc̍̅ͦē̈́dͫ̇̐̔ ̂̌̎yö͑ͣ͛ͧuͯ̂͑̚r̀ͫͬ̈́̈́͛s̾̍ͮe̅ͦͤ͛́ͪl̽̐̄͂̀f̐͋͗̀̉ ̽̉̄͋in̄̉ͮͧͫͮ ͦ͌ͨ͌̎̽͋w̽ͥ͌ỉͭͭ̏̆͗l͛̅̚̚lͧ͗ ̓̈͆b̋ͯ̚e͒̒̃̅̓ ̐̿̃ͮ̑aͣͮ̍ͦ̆̃sͦ̚ g̔ͦͪ̚oo̎d a͒͌͋̿̄̄̓s ͒̋̉̎̈ͫsoͤ̅̊ͩ̒̉l̂ṽͥ̉̽ͧ̚e̅d̉͆.”

 

[Godjacob]

Spoiler: Rika vs. Zino

Even as the battle ramped on intensity, Zino had made no progress on this woman as Rika kept her defensive fortress and repelled whatever offensive Zino tried to throw his way. Efforts to copy her little octo-construct with his Sharingan only caused her to expose the imperfections as his tentacles could mimic the motions and construction of hers but his chakra paled in comparison to this pool she seemed to be able to draw upon as she broke apart and through defensive swipes shattered his construction as he had been forced back.

Zino frowned at this, and attempted to strike from a new position; his body seemed to tighten around his wrists and feet while he worked to relax the muscles elsewhere. Zino had worked the past few months in preparation for this exam on ways to "augment" the muscles in his body as he began to follow this more obscure Taijutsu style known as the Art of the Zodiac. Essentially taking motifs of animals and adjusting one's body to compliment their strengths to open up a diverse move pool of hand to hand techniques to allow for a versatile compliment through which he could apply the Gentle Fist. At this stage it had been more of a rough draft concept, but the seeds were on display here as he moved about the lake bank with an increased grace and monkey-like "wild" step to his movements which had made him hard to track for Rika.

Hard but not impossible.

Indeed much as Zino's movements had thrown her off and upped his agility, Rika still was not one to be out-maneuvered so easily; as an attempt to strike from her right flank with the aim to land a chakra "pulse" blow through her defense with a palm strike was blocked as a tentacle wrapped around his wrist before contact and flung him towards a tree which he landed on feet first. Zino course became frustrated, as the taxing effort of this began to outweigh the benefit as victory seemed to slip further from his grasp as this exchange had continued.

Course, while Rika had been able to stay him off well to this point. A certain voice seemed annoyed at her strategy of a purely defensive front by the lake bed.

Pathetic. And to think my kin say I lack a backbone. Fight back! You are superior to this fool, just strike and finish him off!

"B-be quiet please..." Rika muttered, from Zino's perspective to no one in particular as he prepared a pair of kunai with explosive tags attached to them as he shot around the bank. A chakra free cost to try and momentarily give an opening within that octo construct, though as he launched them Rika responded with rapid bubble shots that knocked the kunai away as the small explosives blew up harmlessly away from them. Though this had not caused the secondary voice to go silent.

Come on, he's desperate and running out of options. You could crush him, in fact if you merely loosen up for a moment I could...

"Please stop..." Rika said, her voice a little more stern which was a rarity from the normally passive individual she had been, something Zino seemed to note but lacked context behind why she had spoken to herself once more. Regardless Zino figured he had one chance to try and make ground before he considered bailing on the situation. So long as Rika was by this lake, his odds of subduing her remained low so he gathered up air around his palm as he produced what seemed almost a "pulse" of wind chakra mixed with the natural air before he jumped down and dropped the chakra pulse into the ground.

"Wind Style: Pulse Press Jutsu!"

Rika had assumed a defensive stance, only for the attack to not come for her. Well not directly, as a sudden shockwave of air shot from the ground behind her as she was forced forward. On impulse her hand twisted and the tentacle took a sharpened edge as if she prepared to strike back before she was knocked tumbling, but hesitated as she had her octo-cover follow her but was forced away from the bed of the lake as she inwardly cursed. But she had not been the only one.

How sad, you allow this fool to pressure you. You are worthless.

Zino aimed to size the opportunity, as he bounced off the ground and prepared hand signs aiming to strike while she now had a more limited water source.

To think even my old host would have been quicker to act than you. To think I'm stuck in this spineless little girl...

"Shut up!!!" Rika suddenly roared out, on impulse the tentacles shifted to sharpened aqua blades and shot out in all directions as she pored power power behind it; her control and composure momentarily lost to that voice only she had capacity to hear as Zino's twin Dojutsu widened in response as he just avoided being impaled through the chest as the spears shot and ripped through anything they touched; digging into the soil as if it were tissue paper, slashing through solid stone as if mere molding claw, and even one spear cut through and knocked down the lone tree by the lake-bed which toppled over with a thud. As the attacked came to a stop and the tentacles retracted back to the barrier Zino decided then he had nothing to gain dragging this out and quickly dashed off aiming to recover and seek out more opportune prey, and as soon as he left Rika gained her composure as her own eyes widened as she scanned the scarred area in shock.

"I-I...what have...I..." Rika muttered, as she glanced at the lake once she retuned the water from her defensive technique to it as she gazed upon her reflection. Only in her mind, she saw not her own reflection but the faint image of that...that monster within her.

With that, she dashed off in the opposite direction. Where? She had no way to know, she just knew she needed to leave here and leave now.

----------
Ino and Sakura continued their own battle, though as a familiar newcomer seemed to reveal himself as their kunai came to a stop. Sakura glanced over and while Ino seemed confused as she seemed to sense something beyond what Sakura had seen

I can't see anything, but I feel another ninja here...

Kai seemed to race off which confused the pair though Sakura's eyebrows seemed to frown at this action as she thought over what the two could have planned with this.

Is he trying to flank me? Do they think I am Ino along with me? Could he have spotted someone else?

----------
"Get back here little man, you only are gonna make this worse for yourself!"

The Iwa-ninja fired a shot of her metalic hand, as it slammed and cracked the ground Takato just had stepped on a moment before as he kept his distance but eventually he made it to a spot that seemed to have loose soil and vines as he turned as if he had been prepared to make a defensive stand.

"Good, seems you got a touch of backbone after all." The Iwa-kunoichi smirked.

"Well these exams are to a degree about village pride so suppose I need to do my part to represent my village." Takato replied with a casual shrug before the Iwa-Kunoichi charged ahead. She kept her fist drawn back as she worked to close the distance for a punch, though as she did she noticed a shadow from Takato that shot towards her; quickly she leapt up and back as she moved just out of range of the shadow a she noted the range and smirked a him.

"So, one of those shadow specialists? Gonna take more than that one note trick to beat me."

The next exchange was brief in real time though seemed like a prolonged struggle in the heat of the moment, ad the Iwa-kunoichi used long range strikes with her gauntlet and weapons to keep Takato on his toes as the latter seemed to struggle to answer back; as he merely moved around and away from her attacks constantly on his back foot.

All the while the soft soil seemed to destabilize from her actions.

Eventually Takato seemed corner, as he paused for a moment which allowed the Iwa-kunoichi to strike using her gauntlet to fire a fist towards him as it opened up and slammed him into a lone tree pinning him in place.

"Alright, alright. You got me. I give." Takato mused with a groan, as the Iwa-kunoichi smirked though as she stepped forward and reeled in her cable, the grown below her feet broke apart as she sunk into the mud a bit which caused her eyes to widen.

"The fuc..."

"Always pay attention to your surroundings. Academy 101."

Takato used the distraction as a shadow tendril shot up and severed the cable that attached the metallic fist to her arm as it fell to the ground and freed Takato. He would pass a light paper bomb to burst more of the ground which trapped the Iwa-kunoichi as she sunk waist high to the mud before Takato dashed away which left the hunter cursing as he seemed to avoid disaster.

For the time being...

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
Now that he had the go ahead, Taiyo carefully thought about what he was going to say. Given that they seemed to have a good amount of time on their hands, the fiery shinobi believed that he ought to ensure that the words he says accurately represent what he was thinking. After a period of consideration, the FBS master finally found the words that he wanted to say. Before he started talking, he paused his lookout duties momentarily and turned to Furījia.

"This time spent together has made me realize that I didn't know you all that well," Taiyo began with a somewhat open-ended sentence at first, so he could give himself room to elaborate to greater detail, "Outside of knowing that you have a playful side, all I really knew about your role in your family. Now, I've learned that you're a competent negotiator and you're great at making traps. I even learned about your hobbies and your namesake." Although the fiery shinobi enjoyed expressing himself with this level of transparency, he knew that he needed to wrap up the conversation soon.

"With all that said, I'm glad we partnered up for these exams." Taiyo finished by flashing his signature warm smile in the heiress's direction before resuming his lookout of the area.
Seiun
The construct's approval caused the rogue shinobi to smile, confident that they had truly ironed out the issues that plagued their partnership in recent events. As he listened to B.O.S.E.C's explanation of how he was to make the head of the tribunal inclined to believe everything he says, Seiun noticed that the tiny pink thing that he was given felt...alive, somehow. Disregarding that for now, the former Ame-nin turned to the construct for further information.

So...how am I supposed to get the person who's supposed to be testing my loyalty to ingest this...thing? I doubt the priest sent someone who I can pull a fast one over by quickly injecting them and then telling them that I did nothing to them.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kai watched on as the shadow user he was actively stalking retaliated with an explosive exit to their predicament. Seeing their target fleeing, the Mist ninja could no longer be shy. Now!

Kai leaped from the tree line, summoning up water in front of Takato to jut out and free in a diagonal angle back at him. Judging from Takato’s movements. He was prepared for retaliation from the back, not the front. The speed the hostile ninja ran would also mean there would be no time for him to screech to a halt



.....




“͋ͦͯ̆͊Wͧ̾̌͛̉̐ͪ̔hͭ́͛̈́̋̋̍̚y͐,ͦͥ̌͐̾ ͊̈̑̓͊tͣ̈ͨ̌ͩ̊̐̀h́̿̆ͥ̍͂̈ả͌̈́ͮ̐̓t̒ͯͤ ͂̐͒pͨͯa̓̈́̎̎ͯr̅tͨ̍̈́ ̾̍ͣ̊̒ͨi͋̆ͪ͌̔sͯ̊͑͂̃̒̃ͤ̊ ͪ͆sͧi̔mͥͭ̐͗̌̀pͨͩ͋̾l͒e̋ͣ͗.̑̒̓ͤ̆̊̍̓̅”̏̏͗ͯ̔̅̊ͯ ̋͊̍͊͗

B.O.S.E.C. Glitched up, chanting form instead to grant itself a bard like hat as well well kept but fragmented suit.

“̍ͦͮYͤ͛ouͪ̋ ͆̅ͫh͆ͨͭ̍̋a̅͋ͥ̔͒̚v̈͑eͨ̐̍ ̒̈́̈́ͬâ̿̽ͤͯ ͣ͛cͪ̔̂hͮ̆̃a̍ͮ̑͌r̾̂̍̋͆͂̔iͤ̃͐̉͐sͬͥ̎ͣ̍̎mͩ̒́̓ͫͪ̚a̒̾̊̏̌ͭ͊t̄ͬ͒ͤ̿iͣ̈c̽͗͒̏̄ ͋ͥͦǎͤͩ̈́nͥ̃̉d͗̔̂ ̎wͪͩĕ́ͯ̇ͦ̋͒a̽̈ͮ͛l̂͂̃͗ͭ̒tͬ̉hͥ̎̽͂ͩyͥͪͥ ̌̊͑̚f̂̐ͨà̆͌͂ͣ̌̾mͪ̇̈i͛l͂ͮyͫ.͒̅ ͂Ōͨ̍ͤ̌̔n͐eͤͮ͆ ̓ͥͨ̋̽ͮť̇h̑̀͐ͥa͐̑̏ͧ̚t͐ͣ̑ͭ̾̄̆ ̾ͭc̅̏͗̋a̅̆ͥ̅̈́͋r͐̑̿e͆ͩ̽͂͂̇̈́ ͩ̈́ͬ̽aͪ̐͛̎̄̐̚b̉out ͯ̒̎m͑̒̔aͦ͗n̒̃ͫ͊̒̚n̓̋ͦ̓̽͐eͫ͆rͩ̌śͮͯ́͛̓ ̈ͧͨ͂ă̈nͥͦ͗ͤ͆d͂̌͆ ̒ͦͦͧt͑ăs̿̐̈tȇ.̉ ̔S̄̓̇̍ͥ̓̃o̒̃ ̾ͭ̂͂ͣi͂̽̃ͯn͋ͫvi͛ͤͮ̐͋̉̊te ̽͐̀ͯ͆yo͒̚u͑͂̓̊̒rͣͫͣ̍ ͭ͛fͤ̒rͣi̒͑̑ě̈̊͗ͦ́̽nͧ͌̇dͯ̍̀͊ͩs̾̔,͑ ̑ͧ̓f̅̐ͦ̀a͆̿mi̽ly,̋ͮͪͯ ͌̂ͬ̾̓̊å͗̀̍̀̉nͩ̄ͬ̚d ̾ͣy̐̐́ȏ̓̆u̅͐̀͂r̓̑ͪ͛̄̍ ̂ͧͫͨ̓͑p̊̄ͦ̐͐ͭr͗̽̊ͬͥ̚oͧ̓̉ͩͩse̽̎͒cͥ̑͊̽ũͩ̆̏̾tͬ̿o̿́ͮ̿̊rͫ̉̈̀ ̍ͫ̽͛̚tͧ̔o̽̅ͦ͆̿ ͦ͆̐͐ͯ̏ͨtḣ̍ͥ̅̀̏ḯ̔s͊͗͒͂ ̌̎̉̇͂ͬ̎p̆̚a͂̑̐ȓtẏ͋̌͗.̏̊̌͂̓̌ ̍ͯͬ͊̃ͭThe̐̇ͪ̔̄y ͆ͪͬͯ͒͆w̒ͧ̀̂̉̔̿ìͮ̎̑̽̔͊ll̈́ͪ͌ͩ̌̌ ͭͬ͋̈ͤ̍̔b̔ͨe̽̉l̈́ͬ̑ͬ͐̉̌ì͑ͬ̎̚e͐ͪ̏vͦͣ̐ͦ͂ͦ̓e̋̑ͨ̿͗̿̑ ̒y̌ͨ̈̈́o͋̇̾u̽ͥ̌̐͛ ̄̉͂͑t̏ͧ̉̈́oͦ̄̿̏͒̓̌ ̆ͥṫͪͫ̾̅̓͗r̃̏͗̍́̇yͫ̓ͨ ̾̈́̄ͭa͋̏̂n̓̈ͦ̀d͑͒̉̋ͯ̄̏ ̿̏͆͆̚w͛iͮ͑ͨ͑nͮ̒̿̃ ̋̑tͤͦ̿ͥh̽ͦ̚eͫ̄̀̈́͐ṁ ͬ̍̏ͭͨo̔v̏ȅͯ̎ͪ͋̈̐r̈́̑͂̑ͣ̑,͐͒ͯͭ͗ b̓̒͊ͧ̚u̅̋ẗ̇͂̿̐ th͋ͮ͊̈́͌ͧ̏aͬ̃ͣt ̇͋ͩ͗̒is ̈w̏̾ͥ̇hͮ̅̉ͯe͌̃̆̌̆̌r͊ͧe͂ ̈́͗ỷ̓ͯ͛͋̇ou̓͐ ͊̈́̋̽̔ͤs̿ͦͭ̐̿͑ͬh͊͒aͩ͆̋ͣl͋̃̿l̈̏͋͆̐̀ ̀͆̄̍ͣs͐̃ͦlͮ̀̂iͤ̊͐ͧpͤ͒ ͪ̉͋̒̏̅tͣ͊͂̆̔ͫͩhis͂̓͑ ̑̔̓ͯ̚in̂toͮͨ̍̔ t̾͌ͯ̈͒̔͐h̊͌͋̅͑ͥ̈́ei̒̈́ͨřͤ̉ͮ͆̂ ͫ̉ͦ̑ͪdr̍̋̆͒in͊kͫ̇̆̆.̐̽͑”ͣ̌ͣ̈́

It folded three of it’s talons into an hourglass shaped wineglass, mending together and filling with red wine. It’s other hand’s index talon was held over this, a drop of purple fluid dripping into the glass. That’s when the fluid in the glass emanated a black glow before returning to it’s red color.

“ͤ̒̍Tͪ͋̿ͭ̐ͦͮ͗̆h́ͬͥ̈͑͑̇ͦeͬ̌nͮ̔ͯ͋̄̋͛̈ ̂̓cͬ̐̿ͦ̄ͤ̄oͨn̍̎ͨ̑ṡͥ͛͊̚i̎͆̔̈́ͪ̄d̂͌ͫ͗e͊ͭͩ̎̈́ͣ͛r̈́̎̋͋ͦ̌ ̐̌̿̔̓͑ỳ̚öͨ̐͐̂̈ͧ̚ű͗ͭ̋͗̄͊̒ͬrͣ͆̇̌ͭͨ̌s̓eͯͪ̔ͫͥ́ͥlͫͨ̂ͫͤͭf͆̿͗̌̏ͮͬ̏ ͤͥs̚a̔ͨ͋͛̊̍v̊͒eͤ̄ͪ͛̈̒̎dͦ.͗ͥ́ͥ

 

[Godjacob]

As Takato managed to dash away from one pursuer, it seemed his luck had not improved as a sudden water wall cut him off which revealed the latest challenger. All the possibly ninja here who had intel to take from, and yet everyone seemed attracted towards him. Just his luck right?

Takato had no way to stop his momentum on his own, so he used a shadow to stick to the ground and halt his momentum for him as he just avoided face planting into the water before he turned to assume a defensive stance kunai drawn and all.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Xeno. You’ve come here to die. Full disclosure, your life means less than that of cattle, for even cattle has a purpose.” Kai snarled, bringing his hands in front of him. “So this shall be your first and last warning, for unnecessary culling of your kind would simply shed more of the dark light that already bathes them.”

A chilly wind blew through the air as water began to swirls under Kai, slowly raising him several feet in the air.

 

[Godjacob]

Oh spectacular, I got the extremist. And this exam had only gone so well up to now.
​

Takato watched as Kai seemed to reveal himself, and really he seemed to be everything he remembered him being. Takato had thankfully avoided as much direct interaction with the "proud nationalist" on a personal level but what he had seen of him from the previous exams on top of word of mouth seemed to undersell what a character he was.

But eccentric, crazed whatever you want to say about him...he had talent, and was dangerous as Takato naturally moved by the more darkened areas of the area as the shadows clung to him as he only managed to answer with a tired grin as he looked up at the water ninja.

"Well, fighting a water ninja in a swamp seems like just the suicidal combination only a fool would agree to. Sadly, given how this has played out, I guess I happen to be that fool.." Takato said, and in spite of his resigned tone it seemed clear he was not gonna give anything to Kai as he prepared a defensive stand.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kai give a sickening lip curl to Takato, who couldn’t see it from under the mask, but the energy was enough to signify that he has lost his tolerance for him.

“And that’s why your race is so inferior...!”

He had learned better control since back in the first exam. Exploiting a resource such as this shouldn’t be wasteful. The murky wetland that surround them roared to life as from the puddle in the ground to the beads of damp moisture clinging to the grass, each had turned into ice.

*KRSSSH!*

The ice Sharpened, as the water directly around Takato would attempt to ensure him whilst the rest of the ice would speed toward him, effectively stoning him to death if it were to succeed

 

[Godjacob]

As the ice seemed to chill around Takato's feet the Shadow Ninja seemed to attempt to jump having made a hand sign only to end up stuck as he seemed to be frozen in place and before long sharpened ice had shot towards Takato and seemed to pierce the Konoha Genin right through the chest!

Poof! ​

Only for a log to appear in its place. A timely replacement juts no only saved Takato from being torn to pieces, but also allowed him to close the gap on Kai. In face he appeared towards his left flank as he made the classic Nara hand sign as a shadow extended form him and attempted to immobilize the Yuki before he realized where he was.

----------
As Ino tried to see just what other presence was in the area, Sakura seized her chance much of the confusion the felt presence had created as she quickly produced a peddle as it broke into a paralyzing powder she drifted towards Ino's body.

"Wha w-wait damn it!"

"Sorry, but you can't lose focus, let this be a lesson!"​

Sakura would bail as Ino inwardly and outwardly cursed having missed her chance to get her rival and target as now she had to wait for this pollen to dissolve before she could plan what to do next.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kai frowned as his attack had proved fruitless against the shadow user. A substitution? How lowly... That’s when he felt a sudden sharp breeze from his left, as if something had just pushed air aside in order to make room for it.

Quickly realizing that’s where Takato had appeared, he darted in the opposite direction. Flipping back, he grasped a teal colored sphere from his bag, hurling it toward Takato whilst he carefully outmaneuvered the shadow.

The ball rolled to Takato’s feet, the ball seemingly made of ice to itself. In a flash, the ice ball would explode into needles in every direction. Not only aiming to disorient him from using his shadow possession, but as well as kill him in the process.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō — 3 Months Ago

"A tie for fifteenth..." Hair touseled by a low sigh, the girl, quite vexed, brooded.

Sagisō lay in an open field; idle gaze fixed on the sky, her mind fixed on the results of Nadeshiko's most recent ranking tournament and the sequella.

Fifteenth out of one-hundred-and-eight wasn't bad; and, if she'd achieved those results, then Sagisō wouldn't have been as frustrated as she currently was. Although Nadeshiko's life-blood was its one-hundred-and-eight Stars, the truth was that the current constellation only held fifty stars. Furthermore, out of those fifty, only about thirty of them were Stars that focused on combat.

Thus, as Sagisō saw it, she was not fifteenth out of one-hundred-and-eight but instead fifteenth out of thirty; barely half-way. Middling at best, really.

Despite her disgruntlement, there was little she could do to change results. Her sisters hadn't been idle while she trained in Konoha and the fruits of their own bitter dedication had surpassed her expectations. If all were to go as planned, their elders would depart tomorrow, leaving the newly succeeded third-generation, two girl strange girls, and Sagisō's own entourage of friends, to their own devices.

The immediate abandonment of their children might've seemed odd, cruel even; but, the former-Nadeshiko were used to it. The girls as well had been fending for themselves for the past seven years. Self-sufficiency was nothing they weren't already well-accustomed with.

They had, as a matter of fact, already decided upon several things.

Firstly, their leader would be Wu Meihui, the strategically-minded Knowledge ranked third in the heavenly array.

Secondly, they would also depart to the east, entering the nameless territory between the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Rice paddies. That it was a nameless and unremarkable territory, uninhabited by any notable population, implied either an unexplored frontier or badlands much too troublesome to settle in large scale. Regardless of what the reason was, the Nadeshiko had decided the area would be a perfect, out-of-the-way location for them to settle down.

Thirdly, they had decided to change their name. Nadeshiko was a fine name, but its meaning—or rather the subversion thereof—belonged to the second generation. They would need to make a name for themselves...it was still pending.

Lastly, they had decided on their first objective as official star maidens. In two months, they would paint the oceans red...

 

[Godjacob]

As Kai jumped to dart away, Takato had already jumped to the side as he worked to keep Kai in his line of site but also worked to get some cover as he moved by a pair of partially sunken logs which proved helpful as the sphere Kai tossed thereafter exploded on contact as shards fired out in every which way as most that flew Takato's direction stuck into the logs he hid behind.

Though one managed to graze his right shoulder, and while he winced he managed to keep his signature symbol up as the shadow continued to chase Kai; the area had a lot of water, but also a lot of shadows which had been the one saving grace about this as he had greater range than usual as the shadow worked to try and catch Kai all the while Takato aimed to lead him to a spot where his back would be pressed against a pair of tress to pin him in place as it were the shadow possession to latch on.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kai growled as he was forced into a defensive for the time being, weaving into a dance with the shadows that slithered across the ground. I won’t get close at this rate. I need to somehow change it’s path...like water. If I do that...

Kai had an idea. Merging the ice already in play together, he shot it out in front of him. The wall of ice should make a good stop to Takato’s plans for the very present, that is until Takato caught on.

But he wasn’t done yet. He bended more moisture from the ground, erecting a long sharp section of the wall, jutting up like a spear to the heavens.

“Don’t think I don’t understand how your clan works.”

the near sunset’s light hit the ice, shining a beam of light like a magnifying glass, bathing a small area around Takato in hopes to snap his connection with his shadow.

“Every clan has a weakness...Except the Yuki!”

With this light now in place, Takato was hopefully vulnerable. Taking the opportunity by the horns, he raised up water from the swamp in a large birth, freezing it at hip level. It was a large, 3 foot tall and 30 foot long Wedge of ice! Chakra burnt off his arm and moved his arms as if the ice were a part of his body. His arm was in sync with the ice contraption as he swung it like a club, bashing trees over in the wake of the attack.

 

[Godjacob]

Takato frowned as Kai seemed to block his shadow with a wall, and as he retracted his own ever prepared to alter and strike from a different angle it seemed Kai in rather boisterous fashion seemed quick to try and expose the weaknesses of his clan's signature technique. He produced a large ice slab from the ground which focused sunlight by his area of dense trees and half sunken logs as it cut away any shadow spots as Kai began to form a large slab of ice as he swung through and tried to cleave the trees in two.

"You seem to overlook one thing, a ninja is not merely limited to their clan arts!"

With more passion than in his usual delivery, a smoke bomb exploded where he stood as the wedge cut by the logs as it passed through but beyond wood seemed to miss Takato. The smoke seemed to move along two paths, and out of one Takato emerged as he leapt up and with his headband altered a certain way aimed to bounce some of the light Kai brought here right into the gaze of Kai working to get sunlight right into his retina; a token distraction, as he fired a kunai with a paper bomb lit on the end towards Kai as he aimed to blow the Yuki with a point blank projectile strike.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

He’s like a cockroach that won’t die...!

Getting Increasingly annoyed by the long nature of this battle, Kai planned to end it in another swoop. However, before he could, a bright shining light was shown in his face, forcing him to shut his eyes.

That animal! I’m exposed, that isn’t good... Defensive posture!

Not knowing what else to do whilst In an vulnerable state, he bended the already existing ice wall next to him, enveloping himself in it. Right as the Kunai hit, it exploded, breaking and cracking the ice wall into a thin sheet of Sleet.

“A foul trick, greener.” Kai snarled, the rest of the ice wall collapsing in itself. “But your a fool if you think that could stop me!”

The ice wedge morphed and tranformed, becoming more spiral in nature. It was like a combine spindle wheel to cut fields of corn. Except this time it was to cut down people. The ice blades revolved around the spindle.

The harvester plowed through the surrounding area, desolating the tree cover in a circle around them. It would leave nowhere to hide whilst it headed right for Takato to turn him into nothing more than red fluid.

 

[Godjacob]

Takato seemed to be at the end of the rope as Takato appeared to try and leap back though the position as the now spiral wedge shot towards him and while Takato seemed to veer to the side to escape it he seemed to run out of room fast and in a moment he was struck on his side with a hard impact as his eyes widened in shock.

Poof!
​

Only for Takato as it appeared to have been revealed to be a mere clone, as he turned to a cloud of smoke on impact which had left where the real Takato had been a mystery. That was, till he noticed his pure sunlight area had this noticeable shadow as if he looked above him a jacket parachute with a kunai tied to it hung in the air as the real Takato had moved behind Kai while he focused in on the clone and had shadow sickles racing towards Kai as he aimed to try stab and immobilize him in this golden window.

You're mine!

----------
Zino had been in a rather frantic mood, even if his expression tried to keep composure. His efforts to get the info from that Kumo girl proved fruitless beyond info about a contestant who seemed to have respectable kill but more concerningly an unusually high chakra pool to work with. Beyond nearly being sliced in two, it accomplished little but cutting his time.

"Oh come on I just got this info from another guy there's a number of people you could hassle for this!"

Zino blinked as he scanned his Byakugan and saw a curious sight. That Kusa-nin from earlier who seemed to have obtained some new info after being let free by the Kumo group had gotten tangled with an Iwa girl who seemed to have a metallic gauntlet and him ensnared as she seemed primed to take the info off his hands. After her humiliation at the hands of that Nara she had been eager to redeem herself and now seemed to have a ticket to the next exam while the Kusa-nin lamented his seemingly undying bad luck.

Well, seems fate works in funny ways after all...

Zino having scouted the area from a distance made a clone and the clone, borrowing a technique they had seen with their Sharingan from Rika, produced an octo barrier with tentacles that it shot out to ensnare the gauntlet girl and poor unfortunate thief, during this struggle & amid the confusion the real Zino had swooped in and snatched the info out of the Iwa-nin's hand as he used a bit of a "spark" to jam her metalic arm before he left the pair struggling.

"YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" The Iwa-nin cursed.

"At this point I half expect to be eaten..." The Kusa-nin mused with comical tears as he seemed to have accepted his fate.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

...what?

In a puff of smoke, Takato had vanished, leaving nothing in its place other than a hole in Kai’s plan.

A clone?! But how?! Need to track him down...!

“Ice drone justu!”

Kai made the hand signs as the spindle wedge wheel of ice tranformed into 4 large drones. Two humanoids, Wyvern, and an ice worm took it’s place. They saw the shadow sickles that Kai didn’t, so one of the humanoid charged into the sickles, allowing to be spliced, taking the hit Kai would have. The proceeding gashes destabilized it’s form, sending it crumbling to the ground. Kai whirled his head around to the sound of crumbling ice.

“You?! No matter! Alpha-Theta IV!”

The drones understood the command, the worm burying itself underground whilst the two other drones sprung into action. The humanoid one tranformed it’s right arm into a flail, thrusting a spiked ice ball on an icy chain toward Takato. Meanwhile the Wyvery spun itself like a spinning top, it’s wrist blades extended to act like a blender as it spun swiftly to the enemy ninja. It was swarm tactics!

 

[Godjacob]

"Well that was too much to hope for it seems." Takato muttered to himself as he prepare for what was to come; he had retracted his shadow as he thought over what to do. Since it seemed to be a swarm attack, Takato figured it would better to try and try and work the numbers disadvantage into his favor as he pulled out a kunai and metal wire.

Takato moved just before the ball & chain drone launched his way, aiming to dash to the side so the wyvern drone was between it and himself so when the ball & chain drone fired it would be on path for it to run into the wyvern in an effort to get to him. Takato in turn would toss the kunai with wire to a nearby tree and just before the wyvern would reach him as he held his spot he'd pull himself up to the tree branch as he aimed to face Kai preparing a new jutsu to strike as he formed hand signs.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The two drones, upon coming near each other, acted as if they were living things. The Wyvern hooked the ground with one of it’s scythes, slithering out of the way whilst the humanoid yanked back on the flail, sending it right up to the tree branch that Takato jumped too, hoping to break it right as he landed.

Meanwhile, on the ground under the tree, the ice worm drone sprouted up, barbed ice spike spinning and squirming like they were yearning to hook flesh and blood of the impure.

 

[Godjacob]

Takato frowned as it seemed these drones were more similar to clones and just able to avoid collusion with one another. And the problem only seemed to compound himself as a drone struck at his tree branch just before he had a chance to respond as he had been knocked off and landed with a thud on the ground as he groaned in pain; though quick to get back on his feet as the underground Drone decided to join the party.

At this point, Takato realized the odds of survival much less winning had been quickly reduced to zero. And while dying for village pride seemed like a noble way to go, for the sake of an exam it had not been an extreme he was prepared to cross for the sake of a possibly and longshot victory or escape. With a sigh, he quickly reached to his person and pulled the one item that'd likely buy him a second to speak from this assassilant.

His info, which he made certain Kai could see.

"I'd call your "friends" back less you risk damaging this and making it useless. Wouldn't want to go to this effort to beat me only to miss out on the real prize right?" Takato said, as he seemed prepared to surrender his info to Kai though pointed out if his pets attacked him damage to the info and thus making it useless had been a real concern to factor to this.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Another trick? Foolish Xeno, do you not understand the point of this exercise?”

The worm drone spun around Takato’s position, limiting his ways of escape whilst the humanoid’s tendril arms began to wrap around the coil diagonally, effectively creating a cocoon around Takato, leaving only room enough to stick a hand through.

“The point of the exam is to prevent the intel from falling into the wrong hands. If I kill you and bring your corpse back, who cares if the intel in intact? The only thing that can save your loathsome life now is if you give me deep intel about your village’s operations. Like the status of the mist captive inside your territory?”

 

[kyuukestu]

Furījia

The heiress flushed, cheeks turned rosy at Taiyo's words. His sudden compliments had caught her off-guard and an awkward, budding self-consciousness left her at a loss. She couldn't help but feel distinctly self-aware since Taiyo had just proved, without a shadow of a doubt, that he'd been paying close attention to her. The realization...made her uncomfortable.

Scrutiny wasn't anything foreign to the girl, but she didn't have the best of experiences with it. Scrutiny went hand-in-hand with judgment. Taiyo's judgment was, thankfully, in the positive. But even so, her mood had somewhat fouled. Furījia sunk into her blanket of feathers. While Taiyo might've been impressed with her display, the heiress knew what she'd done was just the basics. She still had a long way to go before she could be self-satisfied. The Chūnin Exams would be a good gauge of just how far she needed to go. So far, they'd been a breeze, but Furījia expected the third round would be much harder than the former two and, most unsettling of all, her mother would be watching.

She squeezed out a tense sigh, deciding to leave future matters for the future. Taiyo had finished speaking and Furījia felt the need to make a response.

"But," She begun, not disagreeing with his earlier point, but adding to it, "I don't know anything about you, and that wouldn't be fair!"

Sagisō (Roulan)

Her steady breaths marked the passage of time; seconds trickled and minutes flowed in anxiety-inducing stillness. For a hundred breaths, Sagisō—or Yan Roulan as she preferred—had been trapped in a two-way dead-lock. The fight had begun yet her foe showed no inclination towards action; she just stood there...menacingly. Despite her foe's effort to project chakra and killing intent—or the complete lack thereof—Roulan inuited the unmistakeable air of danger that oozed from her pores. The girl—Lin Lixue—had an offensive presence that, to Roulan's surprise, appeared beyond even a Jonin's.

Two weeks ago, Roulan could confidently claim that Lixue was no more than a 'bit' stronger than her; but, with the advent of the Inheritance ceremony, the latters power had skyrocketed. Now she stood bearing an aura that Roulan wouldn't even associate with her mother, the Hyūga Matriarch.

"As expected of a Tiger General...fucking monsters."

The Skillful Star tched and lurched into action. The distance between combatants disappeared with a『flicker』. Roulan arrived before Lixue in the blink of an eye; her『rotation』styled-movements fueled a succession of blindingly swift heel kicks. Devastating hook kicks and sweeping low kicks punished the air, and the wind howled its torment; but, no matter how many kicks she throw, all of them punished nothing but air.

Through gritted teeth, Roulan activated her Byakugan. Her skin prickled with pressure and she released a supporting flow of chakra that heightened her speed even further. She held nothing back, her feet barely touched the ground as she added hops and jumps that allowed her to utilize both legs. She was a raging blue tempest, but to the same effect and Lixue continued to sway just out of reach.

It was evident that no matter how fast Roulan attacked, she couldn't match her opponent's raw speed; and so, she switched tactics.

She hopped and transitioned all her angular momentum into a single downward sweep; an axe-kick—"Nadeshiko-Style: Revolving Cut."

Cloaked in wind-chakra, her leg descended without mercy. Like an axe weilded by a sturdy giant, the blow cleaved apart the land as dirt and debris was thrown into the air. When the smoke settled, the rock within Roulan's vicinity had been shattered and before her lay a gouge several feet long at least a foot deep. At the end of the earthen wound was a ringing spear, its buried head marked the end of the gouge—a weapon brake trail.

Roulan frowned, as it was clear her attack had been blocked. It seemed she couldn't compare in raw power either.

"Then..." A fan of kunai appeared within the girl's grasp and she flung them with pin-point accuracy, three volleys in total, "Crimson Dance Performance: First Step!"

She heard the sound of rock giving way and the clattere of her kunai against the steel-like spear, but she paid it no mind and leaped into the air. She spun once more and became a circle of steel, firing kunai like a machine gun. "Crimson Dance Performance: Second Step!"

The response this time was the sound of whirling steel and yet more deflected kunai. Still, she proceeded undeterred.

"Third Step!"

Hidden in the barrage of the second step had been a single kunai with a wired attached. With a firm grasp on the wire's tail-end, Roulan used her rotation to launch herself forward like a spinning top. Coated in even more kunai, she had become a blade-storm that zeroed in on her foe.

Without missing a beat Lixue brandished her spear, which shone with an icy-white light as it parried the girl-turned-blade-storm, bending only slightly under her weight. However, the repelled Roulan still yet, had more tricks up her sleeve. She rebounded, her spinning momentum converted to acrobatic flare, and her skin lit up with chakra. As she flipped, flopped, and rolled in retreated, she had applied the Walk-Walk technique to her entire body, and the ninja tools that littered the ground stuck to her body like magnets. Each acrobatic motion sucked up weapons and then spat them out. In a matter of moments the air was filled with hundreds of pointy weapons.

"Fourth Step—Swarm!"

The weapons converged on Lixue who, in response, merely hefted her spear in both hands. The pole-arm glowed hazy white and the first flakes of snow fell. The hazy spear-light burst into a stream of snow which swept around Lixue; her spear danced with the 『Snow Fall』, striking down the kunai as quickly as they came.

Roulan's eyes narrowed, her vision locking Lixue. Her dance of snow and ice might've fooled someone else, but her eyes could clearly see that it wasn't with raw speed that she deflected the barrage of kunai. Even her spear, which swept out like lightning, couldn't keep up with the sheer volume of projectiles. Instead, the snow-flakes themselves seemed to orbit the girl, intercepting any kunai that cross their path.

Momentarily baffled, Roulan wondered at the snowflakes. They certainly shouldn't have been sturdy enough to block kunai but...the fourth step required volume rather than power, and her rapid acrobatics meant that some kunai would inevitable become stuck to awkward places like her back or thighs. From those positions she couldn't launch the kunai with nearly as much force as her hands or legs. She relied entirely on the momentum of her flips, and the 359-degree perception of her Byakugan to release them at the right interims to launch them in the direction she wanted.

Regardless, it was evident that her foe could not be overwhelmed with sheer volume either.

If that was the case...then she would combine all three: speed, power, and volume!

She saturated her eyes with chakra, pushing her Byakugan to its limits to capture the hundreds of kunai in play. A set of tethered-senbon appeared within her hands, and with a series of flips and spins she threaded the needles carefully through the still airborne weapons. Her accuracy...still left something to be desired, she wasn't able to thread several of the weapons and she clearly hadn't perfected this level of shurikenjutsu; but, she was proficient enough to thread tens of ninja-tools along her steel-woven spider-web. In the blink of an eyes, Lixue had been surrounded from all directions by criss-crossing webs of steel anchored to nearby trees and rocks and lined with suspended ninja-weapons.

As Lixue raised her eye to inspect her impromptu cage, the threads groaned dangerously. The spear-weilder could tell that the steel-wiring had been stretched to its limited, the tension in the strings having long-since peaked. It was only their carefully overlapping cords that kept the cage intact. If they hadn't been supporting each other, much like a multi-threaded cord the steel wires would've snapped. In fact, the slightest exertation on them probably would've pushed them past the brink and that...was exactly Roulan's plan.

"Fifth Step!"

With a gentle pluck, the first string snapped, its tension released and the string recoiling, flinging the kunai threaded across it towards the center of the web. This swiftly began an unstoppable chain reaction as the wires snapped in rapid succession, whip-lashing their payload towards the center of the web at blinding speed.

At that moment, with tens of weapons tearing towards her from all directions, Lixue—the Majestic Star—decided to get a bit serious. Her spear erupted with blinding white light. The light snow fall overhead transformed into a raging blizzard, hailing snow and sleet. The temperature plummeted, but the Majestic Star soared out of the encirclement, encased in a whirl of snow. She hefted her spear, to which the snow gathered, and gave it piercing hurl.

The weapon blinked past Roulan before she could even react. The spear embedded itself in the ground behind her but its accompanying snowflakes had besieged her, suspended mere inches from her body. At such close proximity, a realization suddenly dawned upon the girl. That was no snow, that was—

"You lose."

The Majestic Star cooly declared the conclusion of their match, her white-flecked hair dancing in the frosty wind.

"Now stop day dreaming, we've got to prepare for the summit."

"Wha—" Roulan was baffled for only a moment, before Lixue strolled up and flicked her on the nose. "Ow!"

Fresh pain shocked her senses and the world faded away.

-----
​

Sagisō jumped up and cringled her nose with disatisfaction. She looked around and confirmed that she was still on Azumi's roof; and then, her gaze fell onto the woman who'd awoken her. Her hair was no longer white-flecked like it was in Sagisō's dream; instead, it was now bleached fully white. The wildly dangerous aura that had once surrounded the girl was now absent, quietly subdued.

"You finally digested all of it?"

"Mmh, just on time."

"Then, we'll be relying on you."

"Mmh, leave it to me."

The conversation quieted, neither star said another word. Instead, a steely determination passed between them and they silently departed.

 

[sSoul]

Seiun
Taking note of the plans B.O.S.E.C laid out, it soon became obvious that the AI was a little disconnected from the intricacies of Seiun's situation, as always. However, given that the two had ample time, the rogue shinobi felt comfortable in fine tuning the plan that the construct conjured.

While your plan sounds great and all, I couldn't help but notice a few details you didn't consider. Firstly, I don't have any real "friends", at most I had acquaintances who were useful enough to warrant their extended survival. Also, I pulled this sort of stunt before with slipping a harmful substance into someone's drink, pretty sure my family wouldn't trust any drink I had to offer them. Moreover, where would I even host this party? This is clearly no place for a party of any kind! Plus, I'm sure the priest is aiming for this whole test-my-loyalty thing to be too short and sweet to even allow me the room to make an invitation.

Sighing aloud, the former Ame-nin knew that ranting about addressing the issues he would run into if he were to execute B.O.S.E.C's plan would get him nowhere, so he instead shifted his mindset to be solution-oriented.

As long as you have a work around for the things I mentioned, I've got no problem going through with it.
Taiyo
Just as he had unintentionally cause her to stumble for a moment, Furījia caused Taiyo to pause his lookout duties in a moment of confusion. Granted, if he had been hiding anything from the heiress, then the fiery shinobi would have no qualms with bearing this information forward. However, the fact of the matter was that there wasn't much to learn about him that couldn't be gotten from at first glance. For most of the FBS master's life, people just saw him for what he presented to them, whether that be the bold, fireball slinging shinobi or the foolish boy who risked his arms for an all-or-nothing attack in the finals, a stepping stone on Azumi's path to dominance. While he was fine with those judgements, for better or worse, Taiyo was completely out of his depth when dealing with those that wanted to delve deeper than surface level. As a result...he was a little uncomfortable.

"How so?" Taiyo scratched the back of his head in confusion, unsure where this conversation was about to go, "I mean, what more could you know?"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

B.O.S.E.C. Chuckled, shaking it’s specter like head. It’s crescent shaped eyes grew ever more sharp as it leaned in over him.

“̀ͮ͒ͥ̔̂̆Tͭ͋̈́ͫ̚h̒̊̔ͤ̓e̓͊̽̿̐̾y͆ͭ̈́ ̎ͧ̆͐w͋͆o̾̀ͥ͋ͣͬ͑ȗ̆lͮd̀͊n̏̌̍̽’ͦͪ͐̑̌̾́t̂̎̊̋͌̋͂ ̓̈ͪt͌ͦ͗̓̋hͣi̓̈́ͤn͛̔͂̓k̅̂ͬ̍̍ yͨ͋̍̚o͌͋̾̚u’́̉̅ͩ̄̎dͮ̽ ͯ̈̑̎̋̓̿k̎ìl̈́̈́lͧ̋̾͛ ͬ̽̔̅̎̆i̾̂ͩͨ̔n̈̓ͭ̽ ̍̌̂̈f̅rͪ͑̃̓͗ͦͥo̾̅͌̀̑ͭn̆ͫ͗͌ͣͥtͥͨ̃ ̀̓̇o̾̉̌̚f̒̔̎ ̈́̈̌͐͒allͧ ͮ͋̚ṫͣ̿ͨͨ̅h̾ͩͨo̓ͪͭs͋͊̓̎̇ͧ̅e̎ͪͯ̒ ͬ̽̌̂̋ͪwi̋̊͌̌t̾̃ň̌e͊s̊ͨ̑͋s̅͋ͧ̾ͣeͯͩs.̂́̍ͣͤ̀͆ ͥͫ̃Aͪͫͦ̾̃͗̐f̐ͣ̍̊̃͋t̒̎ͪͩer̃ ͗a̍ͮͥ̉͒ll͊̀͊̏,ͧ̾ͧ ̂ͦyͩͥ̂̋́ó̈́̾͒͒̊u̽’̎͗ͫ̒̾̚d̈́͊͆ ̎̋̋̒͆́ͧb̌͑̍͛e̐̔́̓̇ ͬ̏a̅̋ ͪḟ̏ͥ̓ͪ͊̉oͪ̄̄oͬͬͫ̐̚lͪ̒̓ͨ ̈́͐̓̄̇t͂͗̎͛ô̈̔̓ ̂ͯ̓a̒ͮ̋t͌͌̋͆͊t̊͋ͦ͂̂ͪ̇e͗̓̄ͯ̔ͪ̆m͆p̊̆͒ͧt ̑͊s̓̿ͦͩͧͦo͛̑͋̽̒̑̃.ͣ̿ͬ ̾ͬ̀K͒͋͂n̾̃͗̇͑̀ͯoͦ̌̋w̽iͧn̅ͮ̓̚gͦͥ̑̇ ̀̈̓ͥ̔tͩ͌ͯ̍h̀͒ͫ̊eͦ͋͑m,̉̿̔̏ ͮ̍͊ͦͥ͑̐ẗ́̊̊̋͗̋hͩ̽̿̇ͯͧ̽ẽ̃̈ͯy̿͋ͪͧ’ͦ̔̾̂̄̾̍d̔ ͂̐͋̈ͥ̒ͫh͊aͨ͊̅̃̓̂vē̎̔̉ͯ̏ ̉ͩ̒̅ͮ͒a̔ ̄̂̾ͩͬ̀̚med͛̌̀ͩͦ͗ͪḯcȧ̔ͯl͒ͮ ͋͊n̅̋̓̑ͬ̊̿ȉn̑̽ͤ͋ǰͮ̈̅a͐ͭ ṅͥ́ͥ͛͊eͩ̂aͮrb̅́̅͐̚ÿ́ͧ͛͌ͣͮ ̾ͦ͂́̇̃̽jͩ̒ͣͧ̅uͦ̏͒̇̚s̄̊̑̉̈̓tͭͯ́͂͊͑ ̎ͯͩ̽ͥ̚i̿̃̒ͨ͑͗nͬͩ̔ ͦ͊͒̽c͒a̓̍ͪ̇̂͛sͬͥͭͥ͐ͣ͗e.̑”̌̋ͣ́͂

B.O.S.E.C. Swirled it’s finger about in the air, drawing a picture with it’s ooze of ink. As he completed the picture of what appeared to be just a black square, it grabbed the picture, hurling it at Seiun’s face.

The picture glitched as it phased through his face, making everything he saw black. In the blackness, purple lines began to paint a picture. It was a carbon copy of the inside of the family mansion. There was an elaborate party underway, B.O.S.E.C. Rippling through the crowd like it was swimming through water.

“̿͋̈́͋͌̾̒W͑̏̽̓e͂͌ ͤͫ̀̒ͮs͗̔h̓a̒ͦ̃̌ͧͤ̂lͦͮl ̑h̎͛o̒͑̎͐́ͯ̍s̏͛͛̄̿̓tͨ̾ ̆ͧiͣ̓̀t̆̓̒̈́̉͌ ̄ͣ͑at ̌͋̐̇y͊̄̾̈́ͧo͆͌͊ͭͤuͮ̔̊̆ͧr̎̈ ͌̐̊aͤb͊o͛de̽.ͧͯ͌ ͣͨ̑̚Wͫͦeͣͣ̅åtͥ̀̌̒ͨhͫͪͦe͛̒̑̄r̾ͭ͒ͧ̿ͪ ͨ̓͗ͨy͛o̓̈́͋̑̈́ͣ̌u͒̓ͣ̑̉͆ ̀̇ͧa̒̈́̇ͤr̂̿ͩ̈̆e̍̃ ̊ͨͣͯȧ̌̑ ͨ̂̃̇͂c̓riͨ̈m͆ͮ̂̿̈́̑i͌ͤ̚nͨͥa̋̋̑̇̿l͊̑͌͐̔͒̈́ ̋ͮ̒̽̈́ͭo̽ͪ̃̈́̂ͦr̈̓ ͤͥ́̃ͭ̑n̊͊ͩoͫ͌ͭ̀ͦ͊̾tͣ,̏ͮ ͆ͪ̐̒iͯ̂̓ͧt̍ i͗̈́ͬs̒̒̂ͣͨ ̾̔̇͛̀st̔̉ͧ̾̚i͛ͨĺͯ̋͊̽̍l͗ͨ͑ͧ ͭͣ̂͑̃ŷͦo̊̅̓̽u̇ͭ́r̈́ͨ̓͗̚ ̾ͤͦͥ͋̈́hö́͂usͧͤe͌ͧͥ͂ͫ. Yͭ̄̑́ͫ͐ͧỏ̉u̍͐̌ ͨͬ͑̚h͊̎̃͆̐av͌̓e̓͛ͥ̂̔ͫ ́͒͑̌ͯ́a͋͂̂̉̏̚uͨ̈́ͩ̈͑̿ͧtͪͣ̓͊ͮ͑ĥ̾o̎͂͐rͧ͗itͮ̊ͫ͒̾͐͌yͩͬ̋͒̓ͣͨ.̄̏ Y̊̍ȏͬͪͨͬuͫ̅̒ͩ́ͬͥ ͭmu̍̀͌̈́̔̚s͗̾t̊ ͯ̚j͊üs͗̋t̓̂͛ͥ̒̄̉ ͗͋ͨͮ͂͆̉uͨ̅̀ͤ̉̅sͥ͒̑ͩe͑̈̾̓ͨ͒ ͧͦ̽ͯiͮ͊̀͒t̍̽̀ ͥ͋̐͗prͣ͗͊ͬo͊p̏̈́̆̈́͗̍er͋ͩ͒l̉̽̄y͐.”̓̇

B.O.S.E.C. Then morphed into a silhouette of Seiun, jumping to different people in the room, laughing, bumping drinks, and bringing a hand around someone.

“Kͨ̓ͩͥ̈́i̿ͥ̾nͮ̚d ̀͑̒ͬ̐̈wͯ͂̐̓̾o͊̒̏ͭrdͧ̓s̾̆̋ h͐ͭe̎̆̑̉͆̓r̊͊̎̎͐̏̉e̒̀,̈̐̾̓ ͂͊̇̎̍̔͌ǎ ̓ͭ̓ͣͪli̾̈eͩ̓̈͆̾̊ t͒ͥ́̾ͭ̋̓h͒͂eͮͫ̑̈́͒͂̾r̊͐ē,ͦ͐ͩ͂̏̊ ̐ͯ̿̏a̽̂͐ͣnͩ͌̓͆̋d͑͆̀̎̈́ ̊sͬ͛ͥ͐ͬo͆ͩͥͫ̀m̓ẽ̏̑̐͂ ̃͑fͮ̄̄̔̑̓̈l͊ͥͧͥ͗̒at͌́ͨ͌̓͑te̚rͭyͨ̋̍ ̓h͋ͤͭͥ͂̓̍ē͛ͣ̀re̋ ͨͨàͩ̄̋͋̚nd ͣŷ̂͛̏ͧo̓̈͆̔̿ͯuͩ ͯ͆̆͑̚h͆a͂̊vͦ̓ͫ̍̍̈́ͥeͭ͗͋̑ ̀͑ͫ̂a̒͗͛̍̉l̽l̋ͧ ÿ͂̉̅ồ̉́ͨ͗uͩͬ n͛̓e̒̉ͨ̏̅ͤ̚eͪd ͮ̿t̐ͫ̇̑oͤ̐ͧ͆ h͐̂o͗ͯ͆̚s̎t͛ ͪ̽ͪtͮͭ̀͂h͋͋ͦ̐i̋́͗ͣs̓̓̓ ̎́͗̈́lͫíͣͮͬtt̒̂͂̿̀ͫl͂eͪ̈͒̆̄̊̃ ͤͣ̍̉cͮ̔͆̂́ḧ́̎̎ͧ̃̾̚ȃ̋̈̎͐r͗ͬͩ͊a̅͆d̃ͨẽͥ̚ ̅̈́ͨǒ̔̓̊̚f͐̔ͫ̚ a̍̇ ̿ͦ͑pa̔̓r͌̔tͭ͛yͪ̏͊̎̿.̇̃͆̓͑͗”

 

[Godjacob]

Oh boy, this guy is even crazier than I expected. Well, appeal to madness maybe mad itself but...

Takato course noted how cramped his space had become as one of the drones in a sense made a "cage" around him which limited his space and seemingly left him trapped. Though that had not hindered his ability to speak which was all that had been needed least for the time being.

"No, the point for hunters is to get intel from the thieves out of this forest, and for the thieves to hold onto it. If said intel is damaged or destroyed, it benefits nobody and no body count changes that. Being one skilled in hunting and with your experience that should be obvious." Takato said as he clutched the intel while he reminded Kai what the point of the exam had been and the practical means of having the intel for either side had been.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“You cannot fool me, Xeno. Despite what your clever strategies say, you do not dictate these terms. Weather your speaking truthfully or not matters little to me, as the intel is more important than winning these exams. Look at me outsider, and tell me I’m Lying.”

Kai’s demeanor had gotten Stiffer and more serious. His aura he gave off made it seem like he was a man on a mission. One didn’t need to look at his face to determine that he was serious. The Wyvern drone prepared it’s scythe like arm blades, ready to pierce the bubble at any time and cut Takato apart.

“Tell me what I need to know. I WILL kill you otherwise.”

 

[Godjacob]

"Trust me you are many things..." Delusional, homicidal, psychotic. "...but I would not even entertain the thought of a liar. Nor would I try to fool you in this position. Regardless of what you think this exam is about, this is just an exercise to progress and show your skills to your peers from around the world. And in this case, you bested me. And you won't get this admission out of a corpse, nor any intel you feel you need." Takato said, as he pointed out a corpse in an exam practicality mindset or...whatever goal he wanted from this, was of no aid to him.

"Though as far as that "captive Mist" is concerned, I presume you mean the Uchiha?"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

What a waste of time. This Greener lacks anything of substance and how to drain what remains of my patience. Perhaps if I simply killed him here I can save us both the trouble-

“...presume you mean the Uchiha?"

Pause.

“I mean the Mist prisoner in your captivity. Kiro Uchiha. Divulge all your knowledge to me about his status.”

I don’t envy Kiro’s position. Are they feeding him well? I couldn’t imagine dining on Xeno cuisine for too long...the thought gives me hives.

 

[Godjacob]

"Naturally. I may have a bit of info of use, though and forgive me if I come off as rude but I don't feel in the most secure of circumstances for some odd reason..." Takato said, his eyes glancing at the drone prison he had been in and the blades of the other drones that threatened to bisect him at a given moment before his gaze returned to Kai.

"...perhaps the bare assurance that whatever I am able to share with you won't result in a decapitation the moment it leaves my lips would make me feel more comfortable speaking. Just a guess." Takato said as he knew if nothing else he had this guy's attention.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Do hogs need room in a slaughterhouse?” Kai retorted. “I haven’t yet decided weather you have information or not. Until I know for sure what you say is genuine, your safety or ‘comfortability’ is the last concern on my mind.”

The Wyvern hissed as it began to bow up on its long reptilian like lower body. It appeared as if Kai was in no mood for bartering.

“Your only Guarantee from me is that you will be spared if you give me what I want. And I mean everything I want.”

 

[Godjacob]

You must be just a delight to be around....

Takato naturally had kept the majority of his internal sass to himself, least he wanted to do was set off this murderous nut as the wyvern hissed his way but Takato kept his focus on Kai as he gave his decree. Expected reply though that would not stop Takato from gaining some greater assurance than one verbal comment.

"Naturally but how am I to be sure that guarantee will be held up? For all I know should I honor my side to it you'd still aim to bisect me to avoid having to keep to your word." Takato said as he pointed out one natural reservation one had about this arrangement.