Private/Closed Naruto AU: Roleplay

[Godjacob]

"Oh great, it's that clown's demented cousin..."

Tomiko's little muse did little to make light of the situation, as if seemed everything was tossed at this mime guy and yet he managed to survive all of it with only a gash on the vest to show for it. More puzzlingly this weird cube seemed to block what appeared to be a fatal explosion as Bobo was able to endure it and his face appeared among all the shattered fragments.

Madoka found this puzzling, though her expression betrayed nothing but focus as she and Raven scanned the scene while she tried to keep her footing. As she tried to discern what was real and what had been the distorted madness of this strange entity. Tomiko however, once she had found her footing, had her eyes wide as plates as she caught a glimpse of the cube that was revealed by Yasu's attacks as she seemed momentarily speechless.

T-that move, only Lord Tsuchikage ever had a technique with a form & shape like that! But there's no way, I mean that is impossible...

Madoka in kind decided they needed to gather up to strategize around this. Quickly she cast Raven towards Yasu and aimed to "yank" him gently towards her as she moved with Tomiko to gain distance and get to a tree that had a nice overview of all the shattered pieces of this guy's jutsu as well as the field in general. The key to beating this guy was coordination, and it would be hard to do apart from each other as they had been so Madoka made that her priority.

 

[kyuukestu]

Yasu

"Urrf—"

The sudden impact on the boy's open, but well-protected, back, briefly knocked the air out of him. It hit like a bag of bricks; softened by a cushion of feathers, and repelled by his sturdy armor, but a bag of bricks all the same. The blow knocked the feathery boy off-course, forcing him to flail and grasp at the surrounding branches to quickly regain his balance. The effort was made much easier by Madoka's timely assistance, and Yasu took the opportunity to latch onto Raven.

Swiveling to face whatever had assaulted him, he noticed an indistinct shape, vaguely outlined by the feathers that'd pincushioned into it when it'd stuck his headdress.

 

[Nukas]

Amari
Amari knew she would fit the role of hunter well. Her meditative mind gave her an innate ability of enhanced senses, perfect for the job of tracking her targets. She decided she would not immediately engage in combat and instead would wait and watch for any signs of weakness or for a target to let their guard down. The first few hours of this trial were about observation and conservation rather than speed. She would first find targets that seemed rather keen to let their guards down, people she could tell wouldn't be hard to get the jump on when the time came.

Once the hunters were released, Amari did her best to stay concealed in the treetops. It didn't take long for her to spot what seemed to be like the perfect target. The weird kid from the Konoha winter festival seemed to be standing in the middle of the swamp, not even trying to conceal his presence. She was sure she didn't see him after the thieves were released, which made her fairly sure he was a target rather than a fellow hunter. Amari kept herself hidden at a fair distance, but wanted to keep a close eye on the kid, especially as he approached what appeared to be a group of thieves, was he going to try and join their merry band? If so she would have to go and find a new target, as there was no way she was dealing with five thieves.

It was a huge surprise when the small boy seemed to jump in the middle of the group and a fight broke out, weren't they all thieves. If they wanted to stay hidden, an all-out brawl was one of the worst ways to do it. She decided to watch the battle to try and gauge all of their abilities. If the group of 4 won, she would just capture the boy, after all the group of thieves would have no use for him. If the kid won then she would capture one of the 4 shinobi, although this was highly less likely. So she watched as the fight unfolded before her.

Flashback
Amari approached the 2nd gen Solitary Star. She knew that this trial would be her time to finally become officially a part of the third generation of Nadeshiko. She faced her master, who had taken her in all those years ago. She was informed that her trial would be fairly simple, just stay in a spot for a 24 hour period, no food or water. She believed it was supposed to be some test her spirit and meditation, to see if she could push past her earthly desires. So she sat, waited, and contemplated.

 

[sSoul]

Tsuki
Admittedly, the prospect of answering Aku's demands with a sarcastic one-liner was appealing to Tsuki. However, she subdued her impulses to take advantage of the fact that she was currently out her target's line of sight. Letting the needle that grazed his leg melt into water mixed with blood, Tsuki drew two needles from the moisture of the ground to attempt to encase the unaware shinobi's feet in ice. As she created the needles, she drew more moisture from the ground to soak her opponents feet in freeform cylinders of water, dousing the fiery cut in the process. Once the cylinders were formed, the needles used the water as a mold to sew the water into a thick block of ice as it froze from Tsuki's influence. By using the sewing technique that she learned from Hama, Tsuki was able to weave ice particles close together to enhance it's durability. Currently, she was able to make structures that with the durability and thickness of steel. Therefore, if all went to plan, the result would be two thick cylinders of ice that were rooted like trees would encase Aku's legs, inhibiting his movement until he found away to penetrate the chilly inhibitors that bound his legs to the ground.
Seiun
Unfortunately for the redemption-seeking shinobi, he was temporarily stopped in his tracks by a headache induced by B.O.S.E.C, who didn't seem to take very kindly to being put on the sidelines by its master. While Seiun was recognized that B.O.S.E.C was on a tirade about how he felt that his value was underappreciated, Seiun didn't really pay much mind to it because he knew that the construct was thinking with limited terms. Once the construct had said what it intended to say, the former Ame-nin decided to proceed once more, now uninhibited by the AI residing within his brain.

Look, I get it. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten what you've done for me in the past, and I'll happily accept your assistance in future circumstances, like when I talk to the high priest later. But let me remind you that I'm in charge here, you're just here to assist me. I'll happily take suggestions and I don't mind asking for your help, but if I tell you that I can handle a situation on my own, I'd appreciate it if you trusted me, okay?

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

B.O.S.E.C. was silent as Seiun responded to it almost purposefully demeaningly. The A.I. Was heard making corrupted and glitched sounds buzzing in it’s master’s ear.

“̿̍͆̑̏.͑͌̏̈̉.̿͐ͮͬ͌̅̚.̓B͂y ̆͋̈́̑͋oͪͤ͑ͫ͑̈́̌f̍͂̈́̾̔̋͌ ͩ̐c̓ͨ͛́̒͐o͊̓͐̏ͭu̇̄̈́ͮ̃̓̀r̊s̈́ͥ̈̓e̍͋.̎̏̇.̽̈́ͮ͋́̇.ͯ̈́͐̎͊”͒̊̔͊̚

The A.I. muttered these words, the several mixed voices making up it’s voice. As the sounds began to die down, as did the B.O.S.E.C’s voice.

“͊̑͌͆.͋͗̇͐̽͋.ͮ.ͮ̊́̐̚Mͤ̋ͭ̍̌ͯa̎ͦst̐ȇͦ̓̚r̄͆.”

 

[kyuukestu]

Furījia

"No, I don't think we should. I can see a few Suna-nin there, but it doesn't look like they need our help."

For what it was worth, the duo's position in a very open area had gone undiscovered. So far, no one had chanced upon them, and since Furījia didn't notice any troubled Konoha ninja within her field of view, she was content to let the seconds pass by peacefully.

"If we're lucky we won't have to fight at all."

 

[Fire Mana]

Keeping his stance in the direction that the previous needle flew from, Aku gripped his blade more firmly in preparation to draw it. His assailant kept quiet at his prompting, which was fine by him, he wasn't a talkative person either. The noises of the swamp around him grew louder within the silence, until the sound and chill of rushing water climbed up his legs. As his legs froze over, Aku caught the glint of the frozen needles this time; quickly drawing his blade in a horizontal arc slightly below his waist. The icy weapons shattered in the air as his katana connected with them, splitting in half and sending smaller shards crashing to the ground before they could reinforce the trap he found himself in.

If you won't reveal yourself then we can do this the hard way, I'll find you instead.

The Suna-nin sheathed his blade again as he started to send chakra down to his lower legs. Flames quickly began to seep out of cracks in the ice as he used the chakra gathered to swirl fire around his legs. The black haired boy took a step forward, breaking free from the cylinders of ice and re-igniting his palms as he rushed forwards in a burst of light and heat. Moving towards the direction the projectiles came from, Aku reached down and grabbed a total of six shurikens, three in each hand. The fire from his palms enveloped them, lighting the steel ablaze using his chakra.

Fire Release: Raging Demon's Six Claws.

Aku swung his arms wide, arcing the flaming shurikens so that two would come from above, two at shoulder level, and two from below, with three on each side. They flew ahead of him, aiming to converge on the point he had estimated using the trajectory of the needles. His arms dropped back to his sides, once again using the jets of fire to boost himself towards his opponent.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The now bizarre turning battle was becoming a mess...quite literally. The watercolors appeared to ooze into reality, tainting the very air and distorting trees and grass and all those around it.

The not so invisible anymore cube was now covered with sharp armored feathers on the front side. Using this, it would turn towards Madoka and thrust over at high speed to impale her. Meanwhile this distracted, unbeknownst to them a second object would be falling from above to slam down on Yasu.

 

[kyuukestu]

Yasu

Yasu's eyes darted around the battlefield, the mix and blend of colors, at this point, starting to hurt his eyes. 'Some kind of genjutsu?' He quickly dismissed the thought, if it had been genjutsu, then the last hit would've snapped him out of it. Since nothing had changed, it clearly wasn't a figment of his imagination. That meant his opponent was working with some kind of light-based—

"—urfffp"

Another brick-like hit was cushioned by Yasu's feathery repellant, impaling itself from above. The Suna nin sunk, relying on Raven, and in turn, Madoka who was controlling her, to stabilize him. The addition of a second throbbing bruise, both earned in the last 20 seconds, was now beginning to grate on Yasu's nerves. He was only slightly consoled by his opponent's repeated attempts to attack him in his most well-defended place. He wasn't sure why they kept doing that, but he certainly wasn't going to stop them.

'A second one!? How many of these does this guy have?'

Since he'd kept a visual on the first thing, now rocketing towards Madoka, Yasu was sure what had attacked him was a second invisible object—well, not so invisible anymore.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Mori gritted his teeth below the surface, this mime was not on the ground which made his whole plan impossible to execute. Fine then. If he didn't want to come down, he'd give him a reason not to. Digging through the ground, he began setting pitfall traps. Tomiko could probably sense them and Yasu was off the ground, so that just left Madoka. Popping out of the ground to tell her about the situation, the genin saw...feathers in the shape of a cube flying towards Madoka. Reacting on pure instinct, he yelled out. "Madoka, duck!" He tried to run forward, but the ground seemed to be a bit too willing to suck him in for regular mud. "Great, what kinda stuff is this? Did that clown do it? And what's with the feathers?" It wouldn't be too hard to get out, but Mori decided to stick around to get a feel of the situation that had gotten quite different since his trip to the swamp floor.

---------------

Taji smirked as she grabbed her bow from her back. "You should know by now that I am always ready to take a shot." She replied in the hushed tone that both of her friends had taken. "I've got this one, you two go make sure the other one doesn't run away." Reaching for her back, the Kumo kunoichi grabbed and nocked an arrow that was ready to fly and pierce skin as chakra flowed through the arrow. The plan? Use the sound of the whizzing arrow to trigger a genjutsu if the arrow was going to miss and pin the target to a tree if it was going to hit. "Tell me when to shoot, and cover your ears if you happen to be close to my target. I don't want to put you all under a genjutsu."

 

[Grand Master Koop]

"Oh hey you're that Yuki clan guy right?" Shiho asked in a casual tone while sidestepping out of the way of the Senbon. "If I remember correctly you are in the Hunter group right? I saw you stay behind when the thieves group got their head start." Getting her footing back, Shiho didn't look the slightest bit on edge as she set her eyes on Kai. "I'm also a hunter, I assume you didn't know since you attacked me but I am one. I don't have any of the intel we need on me either if that's what you are thinking so there isn't anything to gain from fighting me here." She explained.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kai paused his hand signs before he finished them, looking quizzically on the C team girl. Xenos could and would lie, cheat, and steal at every opportunity. But it was a 50/50 chance...

“Empty your pockets then, else I deem you a liar, Xeno Scum!” Kai demanded of her.

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
The fiery shinobi nodded his head in response to Furījia's summation. As mentioned previously, Taiyo had found it beneficial to remain as passive as possible throughout the exams, though a part of the FBS master longed for the rush of combat. Still, this was an opportune time to ask his partner some important questions.

"So, are you looking forward to getting anything in particular for your birthday?" Taiyo asked as he passed a glance in Furījia's direction before going back to his usual surveillance. If he was lucky, he'd get an answer that would allow him to get something that'd perfectly align within his financial situation.
Tsuki
Tsuki's expression morphed into a pouting scowl as a result of being unable to trap her target. What's worse, the boy seemed eager to make her show herself one way or another by throwing a barrage of shuriken. In response, Tsuki led the moisture leftover from her previous attempt at trapping her target, collecting even more moisture from the ground as a result. There were two groups of water that were rushing towards Aku, allowing Tsuki to deal with both of the sides that she was being ambushed on. Once they were in range, the water shot up from the ground to douse the flaming shuriken and knock them out of the air. This was accomplished by having the accumulated moisture split up 3 bullets of water that were slightly larger than the shuriken themselves, allowing them to easily disable the shuriken's lethality. Now that Tsuki had preserved her well being, she opted to scale on of the nearby trees in the swamp, although she picked a normal tree as opposed to the sole evergreen in a swamp. Now cloaked by the leaves, the icy kunoichi was content to wait and observe her targets response.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

"Uh, sure. you could have asked nicely." The girl replied as she pulled out her skirt's pockets to reveal nothing inside. She then took off the three bags she had around her hips and opened them. They were the bags she used to hold her throwing weapons. "I assume you'll want to check these too but I don't really want to empty them. They're pretty full and having to refill them after would be a huge pain." She said. "Feel free to look inside them though."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kai examined them up and down from a top his tree branch. He looked to Shiho as if he wanted to attack her regardless for her attitude. Holding himself back for the moment, he sighed, withdrawing his senbon.

“Fine. Watch yourself girl. You are a minnow amongst sharks. If you aren’t careful, you will be devoured by the swarm.”

With that rather rough statement, the ninja darted swiftly into the trees, disappearing without a trace. He had to find some other target... distinguishing hunters from targets in itself would already be tricky, let alone combat.

 

[kyuukestu]

Furījia

Truth be told, Furījia was fond of presents—extremely so; but...

'Uhh, what haven't I gotten yet?'

While the Clan was financially in 'dire' straights, the heiress had still found herself with an overabundance of early gifts and well-wishes. She'd gotten an entire wardrobe's worth of new dresses, and, in similar amounts, shoes and other accessories. A brand new set of ear-comms were back in Konoha, fresh from the factory, a 'gift' from the manufacturers. The set consisted of four earpieces, with an effective wireless range of a few kilometers. She had many more unopened gifts, which would remain unopened for the time being. The reconstruction of Clan grounds meant she had little room to store her belongings, and so she opted to keep them boxed and sealed away.

It had taken her two days to sort through it all, picking out her favorites—which were added to her boudoir—and donating the rest to the Konoha orphanages. It was an annual rite for her, this process of cycling through gifts, and given the circumstances, she hadn't expected it to persist; but, the sense of normalcy it'd brought was comforting, and the Orphanage had been all too pleased to receive her succor.

Her favorite gift thus far was definitely her hairpin, the golden phoenix her mother had given her for not only its meaning but also how well it went with the set of Hanfu dresses she'd received.

Albeit, all that was an aside. Furījia didn't really know what she wanted; she figured she already had just about everything. Still, she felt pressed to give a response; and so, with a mirthful giggle, she replied.

"I don't know; surprise me?"

 

[Godjacob]

"Earth Style: Pillar Press Jutsu!"
​

With a visual cue to finally play off of, Tomiko slammed her palms below her as twin pillars shot from the right and left side of this odd distorted creature that shot towards her friend. Her aim was to strike at it with crushing force and if successful even work to lock it in place though Madoka needed not a motion to jump into action. With hand signs and a flick of her finger the featuers on Raven seemed to push apart opening bits of "pockets" along the puppet.

"Madoka get down!"

Madoka seemed confused for a moment as Mori spoke up, but acted on instinct of trust as she ducked and rolled to the side, and if something had been there in her area she acted quickly as she prepared her attack all the same.

"Wind Style: Airwave Blitz Jutsu!"

With that, a omni-direction wind attack fired from all sides of Raven with the only "safe spots" being areas where herself, Tomiko, Mori or Yasu would be in harms way as her aim was to try and just blast this beast with a funneled wind attack. Both to the mysterious cube in front of them and whatever Mori had warned her up behind or above her.

----------
Aisha had a big grin as Kenji himself could not help but feel pride that Taji seemed confident and even taking a charge as it were but before long the plan was sound as Aisha along with her wolf-clone companions moved by the cave out of view of the ninja scout as Kenji moved to a hidden point by the entrance of the camp clearing.

Once they were in position, Kenji signaled to Aisha who along with her companions covered their ears befoee he did the same and made the same non-verbal signal to Taji which had given her clearance to open fire.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

"Earth Style: Pillar Press Jutsu!"

"Wind Style: Airwave Blitz Jutsu!"

Tomiko’s and Madoka’s attacks crushed and exploded across the battlefield, the most destructive being Madoka’s. Tomiko’s smashed their cube, and Madoka’s extremely destructive technique shattered what appeared to be dozens upon dozens of them, suspended from above and around.

*CRAAAASH!!!*

The sound of shattering glass was deafening, and what followed suit was just as much of an sore to the senses. Multicolored Bono’s exploded outwards, now blotting out the greenery of the swamp. There was now well over a hundred of them. Each one dancing and taunting in suspended flight.

The watercolor surface that was once consolidated in one area spread immensely, now covering all that they could see. The entire clearing was surrounded and enveloped with the chaotic field. It was so thick that one couldn’t even see what was two feet from them due to how everything would distort.

The sky mixed in with the trees, and the grass mixed in with the air. In fact, everything was swirled In together to the point where everything was an indistinguishable water painting for everyone!

“Bo.”

The sounds of hundreds of chuckling children filled the zone, assaulting the eardrums with taunting laughter. Suddenly, all of them began to dive! All of the multicolored Bobo’s dove in for their targets, 20 On each of them, flying down and simply appearing to be one of the many colored envelopes in the water color painting...having the perfect color for their attack!

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
Unsurprisingly, Furījia had given the boy nothing in terms of an actual product one could buy with money. However, Taiyo was given absolute freedom in what sort of gift he could give to the Hyūga. Of course, given that he was just a commoner, it was highly unlikely that he could give anything to her that she already hadn't been given. The fiery shinobi had concluded that nothing that he could buy would be of any value to the Hyūga, leading him to think more creatively.

Gifts that money can't buy...what about a good time?

Firstly, the phrasing needs a bit of work, even though I know what sort of good time you're referring to. More importantly, it's not the worst idea, I'd say go for it

"Well I guess since you got most of your gifts already, I guess I could offer you mine now," Taiyo chuckled playfully as he spoke, "I was thinking that I'd take you out into the village and show you a couple of my favorite places. Of course, since it's your birthday, I'll take you anywhere you want to go first. How does that sound?" After presenting his idea, the fiery shinobi began to consider the outcomes that would result from his preposition.

What happens if she rejects your idea?

Unlikely, given that she wanted a surprise...still, I could've waited until we got back to the Leaf to put my idea into action. But then I'd have a greater chance at just getting turned away. So really, this is the best way of going about it. Still, if she says no, so be it, I'll come up with something else.
Seiun
Ignoring the incessant buzzing that B.O.S.E.C caused as he snidely spoke to the redemption-seeking shinobi, Seiun looked up from the map that he had been given by his sister, realizing that he had reached the Church of Pain at last. Without further hesitation and filled with purpose, the former Ame-nin walked into the church to make his confession. Unfortunately, his sister's map didn't describe the interior of the church, rendering Seiun unable to find a confessional.

Guess I'll have to ask around...can't be too hard.

There were a few individuals in the building who seemed to be there for individual prayers, much like Seiun himself. Proceeding cautiously, Seiun slowly walked up to a man who seemed to be beginning his prayers.

"Hello, I apologize for interrupting your time with our lord and savior, but I need some directions," Seiun cringed before continuing with his question, "Do you know if this church has a confessional and if so, do you know where it is?" As he expected, the man he asked wasn't too pleased to be interrupted, but he was willing to point the young man to his intended destination.

"It's the wooden booth on the right, a priest should be standing there waiting for confessions." Seiun nodded and waved as he followed the directions he got from the man. Sure enough, it led him to the confessional, but there was a line of 4 people ahead of him, with one discussing with the priest currently.

Guess I have to wait again. Good things come to those who wait, after all. Just wish I didn't have to wait for something to happen at every turn...

 

[DarkHydraT]

Taji looked at her teammates who seemed to be ready to commence the attack. Nodding at their general direction, the kunoichi turned to face her target and tried to let her arrow pierce through the air right above her target's shoulder. The chance of hitting vital organs was small and should she hit flesh and bone, the lightning chakra in the arrow would cramp up the muscles and make the target unable to move and by extension, unable to speak. Whilst her aim was not impeccable, she had a fail safe and she wasn't total garbage at archery. The countless tragopans and the rare deer or boar she shot during their time in the mountains were a testament of that and besides, it wasn't as if the amount of chakra was lethal. As long as there were no vital organ within a radius of two centimeter, there would be no lasting damage. "Lightning Style: Nerve Shock Arrow." She let go of the bow string, sending the arrow flying towards her target. Should they get caught in the genjutsu, they would feel as if they were being shocked to the degree that their muscles would cramp up. It all came down to this, the target had to hear the arrow whiz past them for it to work.

------------------

Mori covered his ears as the sound of breaking glass entered his ears, being the only thing he could hear. It was deafening, and the explosion of colors wasn't exactly doing him any favors either. It was Absurd all over again, but Absurd atleast said something coherent and didn't assault them with the laughing of children. If this guy was indeed a hunter, they would have to leave before they attracted more hunters. "How much you want to bet that this kid uses Genjutsu?" The genin asked his teammates before drawing his tanto to stab into every single laughing kid that dared to attack him. "It is either visual or auditory, say the word and I'll make shelter for us. I severely doubt that staying around will do us any favors, I for one am willing to ditch and dig to live another day." With those words, he stared down the 20 or so kids that were headed his way. You all severely lack the charm that Tomiko's kids have, so I won't need to feel bad about this!

 

[kyuukestu]

Yasu

A sharp sound grating against the ears and bright neon colors, an unpleasant eyesore. The world around them had redefined itself in two words: sensory overload. Yasu scowled at the development but, nonetheless, knew better than to complain. In fact, the opponent's heavy usage of sensory techniques had given him an idea of how to engage further. The Suna-nin reached into his ninja-pouch and, as the score of replicas closed in, cackling in unison, Yasu closed his eyes and stealthily dropped two things through the shadows of his feathery cloak: a flashbang and a paper bomb.

"Boo."

The flashbang detonated immediately, releasing a blinding flash. His opponent's jutsu would protect the senses of his teammates, since they, like him, likely couldn't see more than a few feet in-front of their faces. His opponent on the other hand wouldn't be as fortunate. Taking advantage of the blindness, Yasu jumped with full force. He'd aimed for a less dense section of the group of children; but, he'd also leaped feathery spikes first, just in case. The force of his leap would not only propel him a great distance away (from the bomb), but it would also force Madoka's puppet away as well. When the paper bomb detonated, both Yasu and Raven would've been on the edges of its reach, and exploded it would, releasing a blast that would swiftly engulf the the score of muppets sent to attack him.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Suddenly, whilst Mori was ready to defend himself, the twenty multi colored Bobo’s flew after him, seeming to surround all facings of him. They used human wave tactics, opening their hands up to seemingly claw at him all at once.

Meanwhile with Yasu, the twenty Bobos sent didn’t change their trajectory, even after the bomb was placed. Suddenly, the paper bomb went off, the clone seeming to vanish completely, any sound they would have made drowned out by the explosion.

however, two cube shaped holes in the smoke cloud were made as the sound of air darting outwards towards Yasu was heard, who had flown above the field of the water color painting.

 

[kyuukestu]

Furījia

"Uhhh, err—" The girl hemmed and hawed, evidently hesitant to agree. Her hesitation seemed to stem from a point of concern that was known only to her; but, after several false starts she, with some embarrassment, responded quietly.

"I'll have to ask my mother."

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
For reasons that he couldn't completely comprehend, Taiyo's question caused Furījia to hesitate out of embarrassment when giving an answer. Fortunately, she managed to squeak out a reply, but it wasn't the answer he was hoping for. Granted, the only problem with her response was that the fiery shinobi was forced to wait for Hinagiku's permission, but that was a reasonable caveat to deal with if he was trying to organize a way for them to spend time together.

Well, might as well get to know her better now in case Furījia's mom says no.

"So, what do you like to do in your spare time?" Taiyo opened with an innocuous question in his efforts to get a better idea about the type of person the Hyūga heiress was, "Do you have any hobbies?"

 

[kyuukestu]

Yasu

Yasu threw his feathery cowl over his head, allowing the feathers to catch the wind, acting like a parachute and slowing his descent. Controlling his descent with his impromptu glider, Yasu was able to swiftly intercept the cubes with his feet by tracking their silhouettes through the smoke. He used the cube as a platform to leap once more, and soon he approximated he was about three stories and climbing.

Furījia

The heiress looked around and then allowed herself to relax slightly. Her check with the Byakugan confirmed that there was no one within their immediate vicinity. The closest person to them would take a handful of minutes to reach them even if they went in a straight line. Since things were safe for now, Furījia allowed herself to indulge more in the conversation.

"I care for a few flowers...if that counts?"

For all the supposed danger of the chūnin exams, Furījia couldn't help but find it ironic that she was talking about her potted flowers. It was like she wasn't participating in a dangerous exam, but instead strolling through one of Konoha's parks.

 

[Godjacob]

The Kusa ninja who had been on guard only heard the faintest sparks of what he sword was electricity as he turned to the source, seeing something faint fly through the air towards him which caused his eyes to widen.

"Shi...!"

His attempt to move away as he reached for a kunai was only partially successful, as the arrow avoided a major area though unfortunately for him the arrow seemed to cut into his right thigh and from his perspective a surge of electricity shot through him as he seemed to feel a paralyzing pulse of electricity through his body as he was knocked off his perch with a thud; momentarily having been made vulnerable.

"Something up?" The Konoha-nin he had been allied with emerged from the cave as he heard a commotion, and not a moment later he just jumped up to avoid being tackled from both sides by Luna & Sky who had already transformed into their man-beast clone forms as he was forced up the bark of a large tree while the two gave chase.

"Shit! Ambush!" The Konoha-nin cursed as he attempted to form hand signs but was cut off by the speed of the dog-clones as they chased him and attacked giving him no chance to form consecutive hand signs which forced him further up. Course, while flat footed this guy was not totally helpless as he pulled what seemed to be a flash bomb paper from his pouch as it detonated and stunned the pair as he lept over them.

"Thunder Style: Pulse Press Jutsu!"

Before he had a chance to retilate, Kenji had made his presence known as he placed a palm onto the Konoha-nin's shoulder as a jolt shot through his body which stunned him as Kenji worked to wrestle his body down.

----------
Ino and Takato moved through the trees with a bit of a quickened pace, they still had a long day ahead of them but knew it would be favorable to least tail a possible target. Ino had to groan about the rain but Takato noted that she managed to keep her complaints to herself so it seemed that she had been taking this new drive seriously.

Sakura in turn, felt as if there was some individuals along the way. Least, she kept an eye out for anyone who approached with her flower traps at the ready around the exterior of her base & beyond as she figured sooner or later she would be discovered. Though she had no way to guess just what familiar company she had been about to meet.

---------
Zino had fond an reasonably secure area in the deep swamp to serve as his "base" as he naturally turned to activate his Byakugan and began to scan the swamp around him. He figured that a few would likely have some means to try and avoid Dojutsu detection, how successful these methods would be among the knowledgeable thieves he had no way to know.

What he had known, was that most and especially ninja of lands where Dojutsu had been even less common, likely had little to no defenses to mask anything from his gaze. As such, he aimed to try and scout out subjects who had the desired items or tells to reveal their allegiance and plan an attack accordingly.

----------
Rika, having reached her desired spot within one of the lakes within the swamp, used her aqua bubble to dive deep as she made it to the soil of a presumed "wall" and with a pair of sharpened blades hacked and clawed at it as she aimed to make her own make-shift "pocket" of air under the water & soil as she figured it'd make for as good a hiding spot as any.

Given what she had been made responsible over, learning to avoid capture from enemies. This entire exam had been decent practice for what she'd need to get used to, and once she made her underground "cave" within the lake she prepared to play the waiting game though had kept her guard up at all times.

----------
Madoka, who had already been riding the back of her puppet Raven high in the sky, noted the figures that seemed to have smoke lingering their frames which momentarily revealed their positions. At the moment her focus was on avoiding the various flying Bobo's which while her expression betrayed nothing had been a rather disturbing sight.

Madoka had raven fire sharpened feathers towards each of them while she made maneuvers to avoid a collision as she aimed for a wide counter attack over the entire area. But the smoke on the two largest "items" had given Madoka an idea, as with a swift motion to her pouch she aimed to drop a pair of spheres which contained some black oil as normally this was mean to be used in combination with flares to light it up, but in this case she aimed to burst the bubbles and soak these invisible entities in the black coloring and work to try and keep a permanent outline of just what they were.

Tomiko in turn had taken a defensive approach, or least it initially seemed, as she formed an Earth dome around herself as the various flying abominations circled the scene which acted as a bit of a safeguard. But Tomiko already prepared for a counter strike as she slammed her gauntlets together and took a deep breath before the fists started flying.

Bam!

Shattering the solid stone like paper mache, Tomiko's gauntlet fused punches shot out debris and rocks all around her like projectiles; firing shards of high speed jagged rock all around her as she aimed to hit anything and everything within Bobo's demented field as it served as bit of a compliment to Madoka's feather bombardment.

Tomiko in turn aimed to take advantage of the smoke giving some outline to these weird items though the chaos, as she produced some steel wire once her rapid punches of her former dome had concluded and flung them aiming to wrap around the bodies of these unseen "monsters" as she would stick her end to the ground as she used quicksand to try and sink the wire and by extension pull against the unknown "beasts" to suck them down with the wire.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Target down." Confirming to herself that the arrow had hit the target, Taji put her bow away and moved over to the Kusa-nin. "Behave or the next arrow will not miss. No one will go and check if you truly got eaten by the animals in this swamp, got it? I don't need a bow to lodge an arrow in your organs, so don't test me. Now, comply and this is all over soon. Struggle and you'll be the guinea pig of a new jutsu of mine, I keep putting too much lightning chakra in it. Your heart might stop or your skin might get permanently scarred, and we don't want that now do we?" Threatening the genin, she knelt down to tear off a part of the ninja's pants to tie up the wound as to avoid leaving a trail. After that, she tore off fabric off the other pant leg and made makeshift handcuffs for her captive. "Play along and you'll be fine. There's a rule against killing, but there's nothing against inflicting non-lethal harm like a broken arm. So stay quiet and do not struggle."

--------------------

Looking at the 20 or so Bobo's that were headed his way, Mori's will to fight quickly left his body and made way for his trusty digging instinct. Tucking his tanto away and grabbing an explosive tag in one fluid motion, his feet and lower body began sinking into the ground. Before he was completely swallowed by the mud, he slapped the lit tag on the ground and got out of dodge fast. It was like fighting a swarm of flies, there was just too many at ones. What did his mom say again when dealing with flies? Apart from keeping the doors shut, that is. Find the source on which they're laying eggs, that's it. There had to be a source to all those clones, which was the real Bobo. But where was he? There was no chance that anyone with that amount of clones would join the fray themselves, he had to be hiding up in the trees since Mori could not sense him on the ground. Fine by him, he'd look in the trees. Popping out of the ground behind a particularly large specimen to be out of sight of the clones, the mole genin ran up the tree thanks to the chakra training his dad forced down his throat. Sitting on a branch, he observed the battlefield like those vultures back home. Madoka and Tomiko were doing well down there, attempting to reveal the invisible things that were a giant pain in the ass. He'd have to commend them later, though now he had to find the real mime/clown/creepy kid/thing.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

As Madoka splashed her oil to examine the invisible entities, she was met with an unsettling sight. There were floating objects...many of them. A couple were easing toward Yasu and Raven while five or six seemed to be standing straight up and down, all in a rectangle formation combined.

While she focused on this, the multi-colored Bobo’s attacked, which she didn’t prioritize. One attacked her, it’s arms stretching out wide. There was a sharp jab in her chest plate, the attack barley managing to get past a bit of the armor. The Bobo remained on her, staring at her point blank.

It’s arms had phased through hers...it’s form seeming spectral. What WAS physical was the jab in her chest plate, and consequently her chest. One couldn’t see it since it was greatly obscured by the outside image of the Mime, but it would feel sharp...jagged. Almost like it was a shard of broken pottery.

Meanwhile, all twenty of the colored Bobos tailing Tomiko slammed themselves into her dome, the sound of something hard and sharp impacting the barrier, but not breaking through it. That’s when Tomiko burst through the barrier, her fist pounding the rocks, turning the debris into a weapon! All twenty were crushed in seconds!

The instant she set up her wire field... *BANG!* a large, 3X3 indention was made in it, contorting the wires, but holding. Then it caught another...and another. Soon enough she had a fishing net of five unknown cubes, struggling to break free as they were slowly sunken into the ground below. It appeared Bobo was going to crush her once she was distracted dealing with the clones.



*Shink!* *Shink!*

Several of the Bobo’s Propelled their bodies into the swampy mud that Mori had previously been sunken into, others catching themselves before the flung into the pile. Suddenly-

*BOOM!*

The tag detonated, a whole burst from the world of color as many of the Bobo’s were swallowed up by the ensuing explosion. Some of them managed to escape the attack while others were caught halfway, plummeting to the ground. A cracking sound was heard as two of them dropped to the ground, splitting into four extra Bobos a piece! Twenty had dwindled down the twelve, so the threat wasn’t over yet!

Instead of attacking however, they froze in place, looking up to Mori in the tree. They stood in a circle around him, smiling emptily.

“Ha-ah-ah! Ha-ah-ah!” They canted together.

Suddenly, the entire tree began to shake. The sides of the trunk compressed slightly, caving in a little. That’s when the entire tree was lifted straight up from the ground! After rising far up in the sky in seconds, the three began to twist, tilting upside down before something was heard.

“Bo.”

The tree was sent crashing down with tremendous force, among to smash Mori to bloody bits upon impact with the ground. Meanwhile, Tomiko’s landslide
Had gone above and beyond by destroying all of Mori’s Bobo clones on the ground as soon as the tree plummeted.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"What the-" Mori asked out loud when the Bobo's began chanting, though his question was quickly answered when the tree began floating and came crashing down upside down. "Waaahh!" The boy was, quite understandably, terrified and clung to the tree for dear life before his hands slipped from the branch. Was this the end? To be crushed by a tree that was manipulated by a creepy mime? It couldn't be, he wouldn't let that happen. Turning his body in the air to face the ground, he began to weave hand signs. He couldn't fall in the water of the swamp, even if it was deep enough he still couldn't swim. His only option was the ground, and he had to nail the landing perfectly. Stretching out his arms and legs to minimize drag and surface area, Mori made contact with the ground and dove right in with the prepared Hiding like a Mole jutsu before getting the hell out of dodge. After all, there was still a tree coming down. Whilst scary as all hell, the trip on the tree was not completely worthless thanks to Madoka's efforts. Getting out of the ground a fair distance away from the the tree, the genin looked back at the crash site and flinched. If he was a bit too late with preparing his signature jutsu, he would be dead as a doormat. "Yeah, not planning on dying in this stinky swamp you creep! Earth Style: Rock Push Jutsu!" Two pillars made out of rock jutted out of the ground towards the rectangle formation made by the formerly invisible objects, hoping to pry the formation open. "Madoka, Tomiko, you both okay?"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The earth pillar slammed into the rectangle formation of cubes, not to smash them, but in order to pry them apart. As they began to open, The main Bobo appeared to be on the other side. It’s head quickly snapped to Mori, it’s deep set eyes getting ever deeper. It looks like it didn’t plan on Mori surviving that last attack, let alone finding it’s position.

Bobo held out a hand, closing it into a balled fist. As soon as he did this, the cubes snapped by themselves. This time however, they did not make clones, they turned into several long glass like fragments, now visible to the naked eye. He then pointed a finger toward Mori, and hundreds of glass shards with concrete durability were flung his way! They would pelt his entire position to make sure he didn’t interfere again.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"So there you were! About time you showed your ugly face again. Earth Style: Rock Dome Jutsu!" A rock dome erected from the ground, covering Mori from attacks. He didn't feel totally safe yet though, those shards could very well try and pierce the dome with chakra flow. "Earth Style: Rock Clone." A carbon copy of Mori appeared next to him, waiting for a command. "There's this mime kid outside, try and get close. We both know what will happen, but your sacrifice will not be in vain." The real genin said as he slapped an explosive tag on the clone's chest and smeared it with mud for camouflage. The clone nodded in return as its creator made a hole in the ground with his signature jutsu. "Get in, time to blow up a mime." The clone followed right behind the original Mori as he dug through the pillars used to reveal Bobo before it was forced to surface. The real Mori stayed underground and returned to solid ground in the attempt to catch Bobo off guard as the clone began running towards the mine with its rock tanto in hand. If it all went to plan, the glass would stab through the empty dome and leave Bobo undefended as the clone fought him.

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
Taiyo was unsurprised when he heard that Furījia cared for a few flowers, mainly due to the fact that it was easy to envision. Unfortunately, that didn't leave much room to the imagination on gifts or destinations, but it was something to work with nonetheless. However, the fire shinobi wanted something more to work with, so he just had to ask more questions.

"I see, well what sort of flowers do you care for?" Seeing that it was the most natural extension of the conversation, it only made sense to ask more about that topic, while also developing more questions in the back of his head.

Seiun

After a monotonous period of waiting for others to finish their confessions, the rogue shinobi was finally allowed to make his confession to the priest. Although Seiun approached the priest with confidence, he didn't know what he needed to do, forcing him to improvise.

I can't believe I'm doing this. I mean, I don't mind pledging loyalty to the leader of this country if that's what I have to do in order to redeem myself, but I just can't really get on board with this god worship that this "Pain" guy has going on. I'm sure he must be a great leader or something but no person deserves worship.

"Uh, hello sir, I've come to confess my sins..." The nervousness in Seiun's tone was rooted in his inexperience, which was exaggerated to make him come off as scared and vulnerable.

"Welcome, my child," The High Priest's tone was noticeably calming, which was intentional given the rogue shinobi's attempt at presenting himself as a scared, vulnerable adolescent, "Allow me to pray before we begin." To Seiun's surprise, the priest got down on a lone of his knee, opened his palms, and extended his arms up to the heavens. There was a brief moment of silence before the priest presented his wishes to Pain.

"Lord Pain!" The priest bellowed from the bottom of his heart, startling Seiun in the process, "Words cannot begin to describe my gratitude for your sovereignty and wisdom. I only request that this lost, desperate boy can lay his sins before you, and that repentance may find its way into his soul. Amen." After he concluded his invocation, the priest returned to his stand to begin his inquiry. However, the rogue shinobi needed time to process what he had witnessed.

What the fuck did I just watch? Fucking cultist freak...

Regardless of his inner monologue, Seiun carried on with the inquiry session, if only because he had put so much effort into coming to Ame in the first place.

"Sir, I am truly...inspired by your prayer," The former Ame-nin began slowly, "I'm sorry, I'm just at a loss for words right now." While Seiun wanted to alter his voice further to make it sound like he was on the verge of tears, he held off on the waterworks until he knew the opportune time came.

"Be at peace, child," The elderly priest shook his head as he attempted to calm the young man, "My Lord has boundless mercy, he will forgive you of your sins if you're intentions to repent are true. But repentance cannot exist without confession, speak of your sins, child." Ignoring his pride being wounded at every mention of him being a child, Seiun recounted his life's story to the elder.

"I've already said this more times than I care to so I'll just make it brief," Knowing that now was when he was to make his move, Seiun decided to drop all pretenses, "When I was 7 years old, my parents physically, psychologically and emotionally abused my older sister and I. While she was able to leave the estate before the abuse got unbearable, I wasn't so lucky. I eventually got sick of their treatment and conspired to kill them using a poison. After killing them, I ran away for the past 8 years to avoid punishment, and I've recently returned to the mansion to explain myself and face my punishment. My brother, the current Lord of the Yasei Noble Clan, and I worked out a way for me to repent for my sins, which is how I got here." Stunned by the rogue shinobi's nonchalance in his words, the High Priest took time to meditate on what he had heard.

"Your sins are indescribably grave, young man." Just as Seiun had dropped the pretenses, the High Priest had dropped the formalities, with his tone becoming dripped with contempt, "And though you say that you're are here to repent, I'm hard-pressed to believe your intentions are true. Just how committed are you in seeking repentance for your sins?" For the first time in this conversation, Seiun had hesitated. His brain told him to say that he was fully committed to redeeming himself with as much conviction as he could muster, yet the rogue shinobi's heart was doubtful, knowing he had only come here at the behest of his brother.

B.O.S.E.C, what should I say?

 

[Godjacob]

The kusa nin struggled as he felt his body spaz out by some electric current, or least a perceived one as he had not been clued into the Genjutsu used over him. What was more than real however was Taji's rather forceful threat as she worked to secure him with some cuffs and while he struggled frankly much as his body allowed his body felt dead on command and given the situation the best thing he could do was comply or risk a more sever injury he may not recover from even if he had escaped.

Aisha glanced at this the entire hold up, as Kenji along with Luna & Sky had been busy securing his partner to bind him up, and she felt a metaphorical tear to her eye. Seeing how Taji stood now compared to when they first met, she only could think of one thing. She is growing so fast...

"Get off me bitch!" The konoha-nin cured as Kenji worked to restrain and bind his wrists while Luna & Sky kept over as backup and scouts as Kenji shook his head with an amused grin as he tightened his wire made make-shift restraints.

"Easy there, only one of these two is female..." Will mused to the two ninja dog clones and before long he seemed to have the disgruntled Konoha-nin bound and even used an old sock with his headband put over it to gag him for good measure.

----------
Flick

With a twitch of her finger, Madoka responded to the Bobo with a blade in kind as Raven raised its leg and caugt the blade with razor talons which blocked the blade and worked to push Bobo's advance off as Madoka knew this had been far too close for her liking as she aimed to use an air current to both blow the Bobo back but also push herself and Raven higher as she glanced at what seemed to be a spiral below them.

Is that, is that what is encircling the illusions? Whatever that is we need to get Mori & Tomiko out of it...

Madoka would glide over as she aimed to get close to Yasu as they needed to organize and find a way to get to Mori & Tomiko or least signal them to move out of that odd spiral over their heads.

"Well that may have worked too well..." Tomiko said as Bobo clones, that strange object and what seemed to be trees were sunk in her mudpit as she none the less focused on the new development as Mori had joined the fight though seemed to have his own struggles with Bobo.

"This whole thing is giving me Absurd flashbacks, and I'd rather not deal with clown business again..." Tomiko muttered, as she dashed over by Mori's side and moved by him in a battle-ready stance as she figured two faces were better than one against this...she had no idea how she wanted to describe him.

"So going for clone warfare." Tomiko mused to Mori, looking for some context to know how to best aid in his plan as she spoke at a tone only he'd hear.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“...”

It seemed as though B.O.S.E.C. Wasn’t going to aid Seiun. Perhaps the A.I. Was using this as payback for not listening to it earlier? All that could be felt was the sound of it’s glitched presence. It was listening. But it wasn’t responding. It was letting him crash and burn.



........


The Bobos around seemed to be blown back by the air current or Madoka’s, but they quickly stabilized, not letting her get away Scott free. They converged on her once more whilst she was in flight. This time however, they accelerated much faster and from all Angles. Their speed rose and rose multitudes faster than before, stretching their arms wide.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"It beats getting my butt kicked myself, no?" Mori's face popped out of the ground, as if he was lying on his back in the ground. "I swear, running into creepy clowns better not become a common thing when we're teamed together. It kind of ruins the atmosphere, especially since ninja are meant to be silent and all that jazz. Clowns don't really fit that category and mimes are just creepy. Though if I have to say something positive about this whole situation, you're finally taller than me. Congratulations." He quipped in the same tone as Tomiko used, feeling more at ease now that she was near him. "No injuries I'm assuming? You're doing a pretty good job at kicking butt as usual after all. Right now the plan is to get this kid to leave us alone, either by scaring him off or blowing him up. I'm staying down here so I can catch him off guard and get him stuck in the mud. I'm also pret~ty sure that we're stuck in a genjutsu of some description, though no clue how to break it. Guess all we can do now is beat up this child and get out of here before more hunters come and try to swoop in to get an easy pass."

----------

"Very well, seems you are smarter than your partner. Determination is a good thing to have, but there comes a time where it just looks dumb." Taji grabbed the headband of the Kusa-nin and used it as a gag after making sure the metal was covered in mud to avoid drawing attention. "Regular precautions, can't have you alerting others after all." After making sure the captive ninja could not talk or yell, the kunoichi turned to Aisha and Kenji. "What's the plan? Keep going and make sure everyone passes or get these two to the exit so that at least two can pass? I'm not sure if hunters that have passed can go back in and I've learnt my lesson not to assume that people are noble. Other hunters could very well take them from us."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

As the clone leaped up toward Bobo, the mime still holding out his hand. It twisted two fingers backwards, the shards that had attacked Mori’s barrier swooping back towards him. They stabbed through the clone, launching the shard storm and the clone upwards, both exploding with a resounding *BOOM*.

The Mime then seemed to break two previously concealed cubes around him, a revolving storm of shattered glass whirled around him like some kind of demented snow globe. That’s when Bobo swooped down into the illusion field, concealing himself from both Madoka and Yasu. After swooping down, it rushed toward Mori to rittle his body with glass while he just appeared to be a odd discoloration in the water painting to them.

 

[kyuukestu]

Yasu

The fight below—most of it—was concealed by the color-shroud genjutsu; but, Yasu trusted Tomiko and Mori would be just fine on their own. Since their group had a massive advantage in numbers, it was only natural they'd make use of it. The Suna shinobi estimated that their opponent could likely only last a few more moments before their chakra reserves begun to hiccups whereas their team—or at the very least he, himself—was still running on a full tank.

That wasn't their only numerical advantage, however. Another one was that their opponent's attention had been split between two groups and two different environments. Unlike earlier in the fight where their opponent could affect all of them with singular techniques, now they'd need to field several techniques at once in order to tie down the whole team, further burdening their chakra supply.

This was an exploit Yasu had no intention to let slip, and the first step to capitalizing on that would be to dominate the aerial battle.

Adjusting his cowl, the Suna-shinobi sailed towards Madoka, noticing her attempt to get closer. From his higher vantage point, he began a targetted shower of shinobi tools: shuriken and kunai, intended to intercept the Bobo clones. At the same time, however, he was providing ample ammunition for Madoka, who would be able to freely manipulate those tools with her chakra threads while her puppet focused on defending her.

Furījia

"Freesia flowers..."

The way her voice quieted, becoming almost inaudible, was a clear indication of hidden meanings in her hobbies; but, the heiress already imagining Taiyo's curiosity, took the initiative to explain.

"Freesias are the flowers I was named after; and, ever since I was old enough to take care of them, my...Father—" she paused, the word strange on her lips, "has been sending me a bud each year for my birthday. I have a small garden of five flowers, and I'll probably get a sixth one soon..."

Sagisō

As Azumi rummaged through her house, the Hasa virago was left to her own devices or, more aptly, a significant lack thereof. In shorter terms, Sagisō was bored. With the mind to do a bit of sightseeing, the roof of Azumi's domicile looked awfully appealing and Sagisō wasted no time jogging up to walls to the building's zenith.

Closer now to the rain clouds that seemed to perpetually hang over the village, Sagisō allowed herself to laze about on the roof's eaves and awnings. She had a good view of the citizens and was, in the moment, content to watch them mill about in quotidian fashion.

Sagisō — 3 Months ago

"That can be considered a pass, I suppose."

With a seemingly insensate voice that passed final judgment, the Skillful Star—or more correctly, the former Skillful Star—Yan Yizhen looked dispassionately at her daughter. The girl was a miserable mess: she lay on the ground as perspiration effluxed from her skin, panting disgracefully, her lungs floundering for air under the weight of her own exhausted body. In spite of how the mother sounded or the daughter looked, the duo's pride and joy, respectively, was tacitly communicated.

The matrilineal pair let the silence stir between them until...

"Where's Tsubaki...?"

"..."

That response, or lack thereof, was enough. The silence was filled with a morbid new meaning.

"I see..."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be...we expected some of you to die, but...this was a bit more than we predicted."

The third generation had returned from their 7-year tribulation with a mortality rate of over 50%. Though they were the ones who orchestrated the survival challenge, some members of the second generation were disgruntled with the gruesome results.

"But then...why?"

The former skillful star paused, folding her hands behind her back.

"True gold fears no fire; or, to put it more bluntly, to sift the wheat from the chaff. Those of you who remain are the creme of the crop, your own performance at the Chūnin Exams is proof of that. You were able to make it all the way to the finals against competitors of the highest caliber despite the fact that, among your siblings, you're only middling.

"Have you ever wondered why there are only one-hundred-and-eight stars? Why not two-hundred or a thousand? It's not that we've never thought of expanding; but, we can't. The powers that be would scarcely allow it. The five Great villages and several minors are, as all powers, primarily concerned with their self-interests. There exists a delicate balance of power based on mutual restraint. If any one nation grew too strong, the rest would suppress them. Naturally, they also don't take kindly to rising powers as well. If a large power were to emerge within any of their spheres of influence, they would spare no expense in exterminating them.

"It goes without saying a rogue group larger than ours would toe the line of destruction; but, just because our group isn't big enough to attract attention doesn't mean we're safe. There are myriad reasons why we might run afoul the great five. It could be as simple as having something they want.

"Nadeshiko's approach to surviving in all this has been, as our namesake implies, is to be modest and unassuming. Strong enough to protect ourselves, but never doing enough to attract the wrong type of attention. That was our approach though, you and your sisters will need to ascertain your own way of life..."

Sagisō remained silent throughout the explanation. She could grasp the logic behind the actions but wondered if it really had been worth the lives of her sisters. Sagisō closed her eyes and repressed her emotions. She knew the time to vent would come, but it wasn't now. She still had much to discuss with her mother and the knowledge that this was, perhaps, the last time she would see her, made her eager to get it all off her chest...

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
The fiery shinobi stroked his chin out of intrigue after hearing Furījia's anecdote about her botanical ventures. While it was interesting to hear the dainty Hyūga's namesake was an equally dainty flower, Taiyo was more interested in her mentioning of her father. Since he only saw her mother around, the FBS master came to the simple conclusion that her father had either died or was just uninterested in being a part of his daughter's life. However, the facts that had now replaced his assumption started to brew questions in Taiyo's mind.

Where is her father anyway? Clearly, he has some desire to be in her life, otherwise she wouldn't get gifts from him. Maybe something happened between him and the rest of his family, at least Furījia's hesitation in mentioning him implies something like that.

Eh, doesn't matter. Even if it did, that's way too personal of a question to ask right now. Stick with the simple stuff that you've been doing.

"Do you have any other hobbies outside of botany?" Taiyo gingerly suggested, unsure if the simple question will be met with nothing more than a simple answer. While the Leaf-nin began his lighthearted inquisition in hopes of finding ideas for gifts he could get along the way, he still felt like he had no ideas. While getting flowers for someone is nothing too special, he didn't want to intrude on the precious tradition that she held with her father.
Seiun
You petty son of a bitch...I'll do this myself but we are resolving this as soon as this is over! Frustrated at B.O.S.E.C's unwillingness to cooperate, Seiun had to rely on nothing more than his improvisational skills in order to convince the priest. Fortunately, the rogue shinobi had a few ideas brewing in his mind anyway, all of which being of acceptable quality in his mind. Therefore, Seiun picked the first speech that came to his mind and manifested it into the real world.

"'I'm not one to measure my intentions, but I can confidently say that I didn't make this decision on a whim," Seiun began with a stroke of bravado to ease the doubts of the High Priest, "If I'm being honest, this was never about this 'Lord Pain' that you speak of. It was always about reconciling with my brother, my family. I thought long and hard about coming back there, knowing that I'd probably get killed if I came here. Yet I'm here right now, at peace with the possibility of dying knowing that I've made every effort to atone for my sins. Is that not a testament to my commitment to redemption?" The rogue shinobi paused for effect, letting his words be absorbed into the consciousness of the elderly man before resuming his summation.

"To be blunt, the only reason I want to pledge loyalty to this Pain guy is just to please my brother. But motives aside, you can be damned sure that I'll be loyal to your lord. Hell, I was loyal to people I loathed before, it'll be much easier being loyal to some guy I have no opinion on." To his surprise, the High Priest didn't seem to be impressed or charmed by Seiun's smarmy speech. If anything, he seemed disappointed, much to Seiun's discouragement.

"Well boy, I don't doubt your desire to mend fences with your brother," The High Priest wearily began as he walked over to the younger man with a icy glare, "But familial devotion is not what my Lord seeks. However, my lord is fair, so in that spirit, I'll allow you to prove your loyalty through actions. After all, any fool can pledge loyalty to nebulous authority, the pledge only gains credence once that fool follows through on his words through deeds." After staring down the arrogant rogue, the High Priest leaved the premise for reasons unknown to Seiun. While the young man was left to theorize, the High Priest began to write a short letter about the rogue that he was trying to get situated. After giving the message to his personal delivery bird and instructed it on the proper address, the priest returned to attend to the former Ame-nin.

"Your examiner has been informed of your...application for their test," The Priest informed sardonically, carrying a blatantly fake smile on his face, "If you're lucky, they'll be with you shortly. Until then, sight tight..." After the elderly man finished mocking Seiun, he left to do more activities that the disgraced nobleman didn't know of.

Say what you want B.O.S.E.C, but this is a net positive for me. Now that I've had my religious experience for the month, you've got something to say? I got plenty of time, we're resolving these issues right here, right now!

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Yasu’s darts appeared to...phase through the Bobos. Flying through their heads, shoulders, legs. Though one of the darts hit their center body, the Bobo seeming to split apart...into four more of them! A faint shattering sound was heard as a small plume of distorted air began to crop up where the Bobo was split.


......


“...”

The A.I. was slow to rise, oozing out of Seiun’s neck and swirling about to face him. It looked at him with discontent, the crescent smile ever present.

“̇ͬYͧ̈́ͤ͊e̽̔́sͨ͐͌̍̐͒̚. L̒͒̚et͐͋ͭ̎̊͒͐’ͨ͗͂̾s̒͒ͣ̈́̉ ̑̽ͮt̽̓ͣ̾a̓̍̊l̈k.̋̀̐̾̒ͪ͐”̓̾

It snapped it’s talons, Seiun’s vision going black outside of the two of them. The specter was highlighted in the darkness, the purple entity appearing to prop itself up quizzically with it’s hands.

“ͫ͑̀̉̋̚S̃̀͗̍h́̓ͣ̐a̎ͫ̈̋̂͗l̅l̊ͦ ̽̇̇ͨͫͪͣwͥ̊̒̋͗͌eͭ̚ ̽͗̒ͩ̅̒̈f̀̊̍̚ḯͦͦr̓̊̃s̋̏̌̂̓t͌ͨ͑ͦ ͆̽͋ͫ͑ͩt̾͋̾ͩͯ̀al̾k aͫ̐̓͌̀̉bͣ̑̀ͧͤ̚oͪ̎͋̒͛̏̇uͬ͛ͮ͊̽t͛ ͨyͭ̽̔͊ͭo̾́u̓ͪ͂ͯͯ̚rͫ̄̈́̓ͤ͗͗ ͬsͬ̾̈̐e͆ͩ͑l̽ͥf ͒͒͗̿̊̇d̏e̽̍ͥsͧ̋͑̌̎̓tr̽ͮͩ̅̀uͣͩ̆c̅͂͌͛ͣ̈͋t̐ͪiv̈ͨ́ê̄ͩ ̅̓͂ͥͣb̏ͣ̇̄̌ͥͪeͥ̊̽͆̐̌̓h͌ͥ͗̿aͧ́ͮ̊͌ͥvͯͣiͧ͐ō̌̐ͪȑͮ̏͌́̋͑?́̏̽̑̍͌ ́̎͌̀ͩ̋͂O̔̈rͩ̎ ̾ͤ̍̔͂śͮ̈́ͫḧ͒aͩ̽́̈ͫ͗ͨl̈̂ͥ͐ͧ̌̃l ͊ͦ͗w͗ë́ ̎̾ͭͮ̍͋̚s̎́͌͐ͫ̽tͭ̋̆̊̏a͊ͣ͐̾̂̈́̔r̂̔t́ͫ̉͛̔͗̽ ͒ͧ͊̒̆w͑̑̍ǐͨt̓ͤͪ̈̈́͌ḧ́ͦͪͣͪ͐̚ ͐͋a̍͒̅ ͋ͯ͒ͩͭsͩ̓̇ͯͩͥo͗͗͒̿̒͆͊f̑͗́t̿͐̓̄ ̃ͭͨͯͯpͪ̾ͫ̌̚it̚ch,̋̐ͧ ̀̄̏rͭ͗ͦͮ͛em͗ͪ̑̃̏̂͛i͐n̉̅ͥͮͯ̍̚d͌ͨͫͯ̒iͧͪ͛̒̓n͒͒̈̉́g̋ ̋ÿ́͗̅oͦ̑u ͥ̒̔o̐͆̉̐̇̋ͧf ̃͆̔͐̀w͌̏̀͋h̆̎͛̚oͬ͗̔̚ w͂ͩ̓o͛̑̓̄̌uͨ̋̀̄ͧ̔̀lͫͤ͌̒͂̓d̿̂ͨ ͒͛̔ͣ̉b́e͂̾͂ͮ̐͑̚ ͯͬ̈̏͂thͤė̈́ ̿j͗ͭ͋a͑͗ͮ̎̓iͦ̇ͣl̾͂̏ ̋̋̃bͤ̐̈ͮ̽̓̌i͐ͤͩ͒ͫ̾̚rd͂̐̋ ̽r̓̃̾ȉ̃gͧ̉̆̃̆hͣt͐͆̑̅̚ ̑̓̋nͬoͤwͦ̂̍̇̐?”ͣ̓̌

There was some frustration and bitterness in the words behind the veil of a smile. Like a teacher lecturing a disobedient student.

 

[kyuukestu]

Furījia

"I'm not sure if it's much of a hobby but...I do calligraphy."

The distinctly orient stylings of the Clan meant they followed a few traditions not often found in the village. As an heir she'd been required to study a few things growing up, and the only one she still practiced to date was calligraphy.

Sagisō — 3 Months ago

Time flew as the mother-daughter pair conversed, imparting wisdom across generations. When the former skillful star finally departed, the sun had begun to dip from the sky. It wasn't yet dipping below the horizon, but the day was soon to end.

It appeared the 2nd Generation had one more trial for their successors, a large-scale obstacle course that would consume the evening and night. However, that would only take place once all the stars had completed their individual trials. In the meantime, however, Sagisō—now officially dubbed the 3rd Yan Qing—sat down to contemplate.

One of Nadeshiko's strangest practices was perhaps the way they passed down skills and techniques. Each Star Maiden possessed and entire set of skills that would be unique to her and her alone, but the clincher for those skills was that she wasn't actually taught how to use them. Rather, she was given the necessary tools to create a skill: a name and a concept; and, the quality of the final product would be a representation of her own talent and hard work.

The skills were divided into tiers based on their power and completely, and from weakest to strongest they were dubbed: Yellow Rank, Dark Rank, Earth Rank, and Heaven Rank.

There was also a fifth category of skills, the Heaven-Earth-Dark-Yellow, a combination skill of sorts that, while containing power just below that of a Heaven rank, could be utilized in any situation even with only the last dregs of one's chakra. It was a trump-card of sorts, but the structure of the technique would subsume the remains of one chakra, dropping their levels to practically zero after a single usage. It was also the most esoteric of the skills, incredibly difficult to create and master.

As it related to Sagisō however, the Skillful Star possessed six techniques. Three yellow ranks: Yin-Yang Palm, Swallow Flash Samsara, and Iron Hooves treading mountains and rivers; One dark rank: Snapped Bowstring Magnolia Lily Ballad; One Earth Rank: Nine Yin Nine Yang Life and Death; and, one Heaven Rank: the Incarnation of Li Shishi.

The names of the skills gave some inkling of how they were to be utilized and hinted at the concepts that made up the underlying foundation of the technique. The one Sagisō was most familiar with was Swallow Flash Samsara, a technique who's concept was, as could be guessed from its name, Samsara or the Cycle of reincarnation. Sagisō was intimately familiar with that concept because Tsubaki, the former Skillful Star's daughter by blood and her deceased sister, had accomplished the exceptional feat of comprehending her Yellow rank whilst they were still in training.

Tsubaki's Swallow Flash Samsara consisted of a flight of water-natured swallows, devised in such a way that the jutsu renewed itself upon destruction, appearing to revive the swallows endlessly. It was a tricky technique, one that required a number of optimal conditions to achieve its full effect, but that effect was nothing short of impressive.

Impressive as it might've been, Sagisō had no way to or the intention to, copy Tsubaki's technique. She lacked the water affinity to utilize the technique and furthermore, it was considered disgracefully to copy the technique of predecessor. It showed ineptitude. Thus it would be up to Sagisō wits and wherewithal to devise a technique for herself.