Ask to Join Naruto: One's Nindo

[jade421]

Yua sighed as she jotted down the best answer she could, these questions seemed like something reserved for least another level of ninja beyond even Chunin or even pure academic careers. It was a bit frustrating to be truthful, and quickly Yua realized she needed to find someway anyway to perhaps better her odds; if one was merely gonna be deducted points each time they got caught cheating, rather than tossed out altogether she figured she had some cushion to work with. Yua had already slipped on a metal wrist sleeve, which she expected to use in the more physical exams as an added guard but quickly found its reflective metal would be of useful. Subtly, she'd angle it to a Genin next to her and more importantly the paper they wrote on. Course, being a reflection the words were inverted but Yua was able to do some coding as most importantly she had avoided the look of glancing at someone else's paper as she copied the answer off her reflection. Once Yua finished jotting her answers, she felt some pride in what she had done but got a surprise when it turned out to not matter as everyone who had not dropped passed anyway.

When the second exam was explained, Yua made sure to secure her scroll in a hidden location along her pouch as she memorized what she'd need to get. Needless to say Yua had not had much chance to possible make allies before this exam, but she had been decent at survival. She moved by her gate and once the signal was given quickly dashed to find a secure area away from the action. Far as she was concerned this exam was not a sprint and her focus for now was to lay low and avoid the action as she wanted to get supplies for herself to prepare for the grind.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"I know you well enough to know that you tend to go overboard, now behave yourself and don't cause an international accident, please." Mori said to Tomiko before walking side by side with Keito. "Someone's in a joking mood today, huh? And don't joke about that, Tomiko as Tsuchikage without any restraints will be the thing to make my hair go gray, if I don't go bald instead. And I sincerely hope that you don't copy her, one Tomiko is exhausting enough." The Iwa genin sighed as they made their way to the first test.

------

The first test felt like it was designed to bully him. Mori was by no means dumb, but his tendency to be absent from class, especially math class, really came back to bite him. Why would he ever need to calculate how fast a kunai had to travel if he wanted to hit the top of a tree if he threw it at a 45 degree angle? What situation was that? It just did not make sense to him. Skipping the question for later, he tried to do the questions that were less evil first. After finding out that the written test was a fake-out, the boy could not help but silently curse. He tortured himself for nothing?

After getting informed about the second exam and signing the ominous death waivers, he decided to stick to the other Iwa-nin, a decision he would soon regret. As Keito asked him if he dug the plan, Mori shot a deadpan look at the worm boy and crossed his arms. "If you were not an ally, I would've punched you for such a crime against humanity. I approve of your plan, but not of your pun."

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

Taji had an easier time with the questions, private tutoring had its benefits, but did not appreciate that her hard work was basically for naught. Konoha must be thinking that they are so clever right now. Grown up in Kumo, the kunoichi did not have Konoha high on her list of friends, and this stunt did nothing to improve their rating. Eventually the girl made it to the Forest of Death, accepted her scroll and ran inside. She was going to show Konoha that she was not to be trifled with.

 

[Godjacob]

"Oh hey no sweat. I'll take what I can get." Tomiko said with a smile as she understood her request likely seemed rushed given she came as the bells sounded. Still she quickly wolfed down her bao and seemed to enjoy it as she passed a thumbs up before he walked off as he seemed to head to the entrance area. Once Tomiko finished her little snack she dashed back to catch up with the group as Kenji casually followed as he glanced at his companions by his side.

"One thing is for sure this year has quite a few interesting characters. Should be fun~"

As the group entered for their exam, Azumi had snapped from her meditation and joined them as the first exam was set to begin.

----------
Azumi had no direct way to cheat an answer onto her, but she had managed to be well studied that she figured she could answer least a couple of questions with some confidence. Based on how the rules were laid out, she needed not worry if she got necessarily the questions wrong, the only deductions it seemed came from wrong answers. So she focused on what she could answer and tried to fill in a reasonable guess for the others.

-----​

Kenji in turn seemed to be relaxed during this, as he wrote down his two companions rested by the sides of his desk. The mere fact they had not been removed from the room before the exam began was a clue enough that the "no cheating" clause was more a dare than a discouragement. Using his sharp senses, Kenji zoned in on the closest test taker to him who seemed to know what he was doing and worked to mimic her answers making a point to not give any cues away. Something that seemed more important as one poor soul was booted behind him.

-----​

Tomiko seemed far from her comfort zone, sweat seemed to slide as the Iwa-Genin struggled with the idea of this written exam. Tomiko wasn't a poor academic but it was not on her strong side of skills, so this paper seemed almost like an alien language to her. Tomiko sighed as she smacked her head against a desk, in these situations she did the one thing that seemed reasonable to do...guess. Guess and just hope for the best, she figured so long as she got something right well they didn't say you failed if you got a low score right?

Eventually, the truth of the first exam was revealed and all three passed. Azumi sighed, naturally just happy she moved past this while Kenji chuckled a bit to himself and Tomiko looked on with a slight sweat drop.

We were supposed to cheat?

-----------
As the next exam was introduced, the Forest of Death seemed to promise to be something that showed greater struggle and a bit of tension-filled excitement than some written paper ever could.

Azumi moved by her gate and right off the opening signal she dashed through with a clear goal in mind. Azumi sought after the nearest source of clean water, be it a stream or some lake as they would be key both to ensuring she had fresh supplies for the survival aspect of the exam but also could be the key to finding suitable targets of others who likely had a similar idea in mind.

Azumi had made sure to mask her Heaven Scroll among her supplies.

-----​

"Forest of Death? Sounds like a name given to a children's horror book."

Kenji mused as he seemed unbothered by the atmosphere the proctor tried to create, though Kenji often used humor as a way to quell tense situations as really a survival exam fit perfectly into his skill set. Lightning and Thundra seemed to be in agreement as between the three of them their sharp noses would make finding others a formality as much as anything. Whether those others had the Earth Scroll they needed well...that would only be revealed through a bit of inspection.

Regardless, once the signal sounded he and his companions dashed quickly into the forest and thus their hunt had began...

-----​

Tomiko felt the blood rush through her veins as she gazed upon the entrance to this "Forest of Death" with a wide smirk, as she seemed excited the more the danger of what was inside had been talked up. She did some stretches as she made sure her gauntlets were on nice and right as she tossed some air jabs as after that hour of nervous horror that was the written exam she had been all too eager to meet something.

Though it seemed that her other Iwa buddies had come together and it seemed a little alliance was being formed, and given Mori's reaction to the pun she chuckled as she smiled their way and flashed a grin at them.

"Well they say teamwork is the dreamwork so I have no issues with it." Tomiko mused, course in the back of her mind if one of them or more had a different scroll from herself that could create complications, but they had a lot of time before that issue could pop up and together they had much better odds of success and soon the gates open and she motioned to Keito and Mori.

"Let's head inside, who knows what we'll find!"

 

[=Nightshade=]

Karui nodded to her sister. “Understood. I’ll keep my antennae out to scan for other contestants that we may be able to attack. Or at least keep us from being taken by surprise.” As she spoke, the antennae emerged from her head and began swiveling on their own, seeking out unknown chakra, scents, and heat signatures. “Alright. There seems to be a pair towards eleven-o’clock, and a group of three moving away from us at around nine. There is a single shinobi moving alone at approximately five, but they are further than the other groups. Those are probably our most viable options. Let’s move out.”

(OOC: doesn’t rlly matter which hypothetical group they go after because planned encounters lel)

 

[Schrift]

Mori didn't really try to get involved into conversation. From what he could tell, there were 3 Iwa nins all together. Maybe that would be a good thing, he wouldn't mind earth release users if they were gonna help him. When the bell broke off, Mori sort of slipped out of the conversation as he disappeared into the crowd. Time for the exams to begin! He didn't find it hard to get to the exams, he had a plan. His plan was to simply not lose, cause what on earth would stop him? Apart from y'know maybe everything there.

When Mori entered for the first exam he didn't prepare for a written exam. Well he knew there'd be one, but why was it so damn confusing? Why would a ninja have to know the gravitational pull of the moon to figure out how to throw a kunai into a wall? Why would one needs to know the shoe size of an opponent? All of this was confusing but Mori didn't show any signs of worry. He instead did what he liked to call, strategic cheating. Basically a fancy cheating way. At fist it started slow as his iron sand was moving around towards the ceiling. It was slow and gradual at first until soon they formed together into what looked like a mirror. For the most part it was working, as he jotted down answers from people. It was only at the end when the first exam was over, did he let out a sigh of relief. It was great knowing that this was just a bluff, he'd already passed the first exam. He was ready for the next

Now for the second exam, Mori was much more prepared for this one.The second he got his scroll he did a few hand signs as iron sand slipped out from underneath his sleeve and onto the scroll. He secured it around his waist as it binded to him using the iron sand. Now if anyone was gonna try to take it, it would be off his dead body. Mori was serious about winning, he was prepared and he was willing to do whatever it took. He spent the first minute running when the gates opened, as he got further he armed himself with his staff. He jammed it into the ground as he used his iron sand to shoot down the staff and make it longer. This launched him off the ground into the air, as he used it to help him jump through the trees. A simple way for him to travel quickly. Though as he travelled he noticed someone already. He lurked in the trees as he waited to pounce on them. Mori tightened his grip on his staff as he came down from the trees, his staff getting longer as he brought it down. Though as he got a clear view of Yua, the iron sand fell apart on his staff. It travelled back down his sleeve as he struck the ground next to Yua. "Watch it, dumb ass", he sighed, as he stood infront of Yua. "You almost got yourself caught out by me". Mori didn't just idle there, he kept his staff pointed at Yua. He aimed it at her, aiming to her face. He didn't know if she had the same scroll as him and he didn't want to chance it. What if it was different? Maybe he can take her out quickly and it'll be perfectly okay. Iron sand travelled down his staff as it made a point at the end of it, a sharp point to empathise the fact that he wasn't ready to play around. "What's your scroll?", he asked, if it was the same well, he was willing to work with her here.

@Sarah316

 

[SageNeb]

"All right I'll see you later as well then," Raiku responded with a smile, as well. He nodded at her and then proceeded on to the first exam. He knew most of the questions because he was very studious during the academy days and then passed when the instructor explained the point of the exam. Raiku shrugged feeling like he would've passed anyways and proceeded to the Forest of Death. He had received an Earth scroll and decided to see if he could find Shiho as they agreed on teaming up earlier. He went up to her after finding her looking for him as well.
"Hey Shiho, I guess it's time huh. So we got to defeat two ninjas for their scrolls. Wanna come up with a plan?" Raiku asked. "Oh hey there you are. Hmm a plan huh, that would be wise to do," Shiho responded with. The two then told each other about their scrolls and strategy for this exam. "All right let's head out," Raiku concluded before leaving the gates with Shiho.

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
After much anticipation, the Chunin exams kicked off with a traditional exam. Taiyo was very confused, since none of Satō's preparations included the stuff that was on this page. Staring at it for a moment, he figured that he would go through the test and answer the questions he was familiar with and skip the ones he wasn't. Unfortunately, the latter category turned out to comprise the entirety of the test, leaving Taiyo in a compromising position. However, he didn't dawdle on this forever, flipping the test over like he was done and reclining back in the chair as if he aced the test. In truth, he left everything blank, keeping true to his philosophy regarding test taking. Fortune was on his side, as he was able to progress to the next phase of the exams in peak physical and mental condition.

Man, am I glad I didn't take that test.

Now, the second phase of the exams could begin, the Forest of Death. Once he received his scroll, Taiyo decided to retreat further into the vast arboreal expanse. The genin was aware that there were some immediate fights going on, but he figured that he would make preparations over getting into a quick scrap.

I got 5 days to get this right, I can take my time...

Once the found a suitable place to set up, the leaf genin went to work. He began by taking out a small glass bottle labeled with a capital G. The bottle contained kitchen grease that Taiyo had collected from his mother's cooking. The Konoha shinobi had about a dozen of these small bottles, all collected for a moment like this. He poured the grease on the ground, making sure to spread it out as much as he could. Then, he dug some holes to hide paper bombs, creating a minefield that he could detonate at will. Lastly, he made sure to surround himself with a decent amount of trees, providing both cover and fuel for his fire. Now, the only step left was to wait for some unfortunate schmuck to come and deliver his scroll to him.
Tsuki
After being within the close vicinity of the petty and childish squabbles that the Hasa kunoichi brought with them, the Yuki-nin was able to find some relief in the form of the exams. The first stage of which being a delightfully quaint exam of questions and answers. Unlike most would-be Chunin, Tsuki took to answering the questions, viewing the activity as a fun side project she could endeavor in before the exams got serious. Once the first exam was completed, the second had commenced. It didn't take the icy kunoichi long to acquire her assigned scroll and mobilize herself. Finding the nearest tree available, Tsuki swiftly climbed upon the trunk and reached the branches above in short order.

I'll use this height to surveil the best possible target, then I'll strike when most convenient.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

After entering the Forest of Death, Shiho was quick to begin scanning the area for a good vantage point. "Alright to carry out our plan it would be best if we avoid any fight for the time being." She explained. Following some walking, Shiho's eyes locked on a particularly tall tree. "This tree looks good, we can hide up there while also having a great point of view of the rest of the forest bellow us." After explaining her logic to Raiku, Shiho began swiftly running up the tree.

 

[ThAtGuY101]

~Hisato Gato...~

Hisato decided he might as well head towards the start of the chunin exams. After starting his written test. Hisato spent a majority of his time tapping his desk with his pencil or writing random answers off the top of his head. Most of the answers that came off the top of his head were poorly thought out.

"Ninjaaa. Gonna be a ninjaaa. Gonna use a jutsuuu. Gonna use a juuutsu." Hisato was muttering to himself.
"Can you please be quiet?" A ninja said.
"Gonna drop kick a ninjaaa. That don't know how to mind their own damn buuusiness" Hisato continued.
The ninja sighed and continued taking their test.
Hisato continued to sing to himself as he did his test.

Hisato eventually finished the test and sat there staring around. "Chunin exams... I'm a real ninja. This reminds me of the time I became a genin..." Hisato said.
"Hmmm?" The other ninja went.
"Yeah... The time I became a genin. wooowooowooowooowooowoowoowooowooshhhhhh" Hisato muttered.

~Naruto style flashback...~

I totally wanna become a ninja! Ninjas are so cool! I'm gonna fight people! and I'm gonna be so cool with my ninja tools and my ninja food! My ninja missions and my ninja way! and use jutsu! and kick ass! Lots of that! Lots of fighting. It's gonna be great!" Hisato said just before setting out to become a genin.

~Forest of death...~

After finishing the first part of the chunin exams. It was now forest of death time. Hisato got his scroll and was set on heading into the woods. He sat atop of a tree and contemplated his next action. He also thought about his two other team mates.

 

[Retro Master]

Unlike most people struggling with the questions on the exams, Kiro was able to answer most of the questions, with only a few questions making him having to spend more time than he would like. It was pretty clear that these questions were designed to be impossibly hard for the average genin. Unless they designed this exam to fail over half the participants, then there must’ve been another purpose. Cheating, of course. They were enforcing a harsh penalty for cheating, but also allowed multiple attempts to cheat. As long as you were careful enough, you could cheat without being eliminated. Fortunately, Kiro didn’t have to rely on such pathetic means as the exams soon ended only to reveal the previous nine question weren’t even necessary.

‘Waste of my time.’

After that, some purple-haired woman burst into the room and then led them outside to the area where the next exam would be taking place. Behind the fences was a gigantic forest that spread as far as the eye could see. Inside also had many large creatures, such as a large snake that swallowed up a a giant rabbit whole in one gulp. It definitely wasn’t called the Forest of Death for no reason. Taking a breath, Kiro looked around at the people starting near him. Two in particular caught his attention. Roulan and Bao. Kiro wondered if either of them had an earth scroll, but doubted he’d get any answer if he straight up asked. Perhaps he’ll find out later on in the forest. As soon as the go ahead was given, Kiro dashed into the forest. At least, he attempted to before some strange force pulled backwards into the air before someone grasped his wrist and threw him to the ground. On instinct, as soon as he landed, the boy used the falling momentum to bounce himself back up and he hopped backwards onto the side of a tree. It was a common tactic to keep the high ground if you could, after all. At the same time, Roulan, who had also been assaulted, was also leaping into the air. However, knowing she wasn’t the one who was behind this, Kiro looked down to find the culprit.

‘Who the hell?! Oh, it’s this dumpling bastard. I knew that kind demeanor was just a disguise. Wait, what’s that?’

Looking at Bao closely, Kiro was able to make out the uniqueness of his eyes. A dojutsu. Clenching his fists, it reminded him of the very same wretched dojutsu he was cursed with. All the damn dojutsu users must be the same then. Privileged fuckers who thought they could do whatever they wanted just because they were born with special eyeballs. Even worse were the ones who desperately wanted that power for themselves. They’d do anything for that power, even torture a child if there was a small chance to make it stronger. Kiro didn’t know what it was like for Bao, but he knew one thing. The boy would regret handing out those dumplings!

Kiro glanced at the seals on his wrists briefly, missing part of the show Sagisō had put on, as he considered what his attack should be, which fortunately meant he hadn’t been blinded by the flashbangs she had thrown. Whether or not Bao did was another question. However, what Kiro aimed to take advantage of was both the sticky water that had covered the ground and the dome of wind Bao seemed to suddenly surround himself with. Quickly, Kiro pulled out four kunai in each hand, with an explosive tag attached to half and paper balls with something inside of them attached to the other four. After hopping to the top of the tree, Kiro threw them in a certain order. The kunai were thrown in pairs. One of each kind together. The first pair was thrown straight. The second pair arced right. The third pair arced to the left. Finally, the fourth pair was thrown over the cyclone to go over head. The leading kunai was always the one with the balls attached to them. Directly following them were the kunai with the explosive tags on them. They were thrown at a faster speed, which allowed them to catch up the previous batch. Just before the gusts of the cyclone could send them back, the second batch of kunai would strike the balls from behind, slicing them open and allowing whatever was inside to start flowing out. Like with the water shuriken, the kunai were taken by the strong gusts along with the two different dark substances. Thanks to the anticyclone, loads of gunpowder and ash began to spread throughout the area all around Bao. Two balls had ash and the other two had gunpowder. Meanwhile, the kunai themselves were sent flying outwards in different directions. All in different angles of course. Further assistance to the spreading of the gunpowder to cover nearly the entire area below was granted by the second burst Bao unleashed thanks to the fūma shuriken from Roulan.

Breathing in the fresh air from atop the tree, Kiro looked down at the anticyclone with a dark growing cloud surrounding it. He was prepared to move further back if he was to close to the area of effect. Pulling out another kunai, Kiro casually flipped it into the air, while narrowing his focus towards the top of the cyclone before exploding everything.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

The pungent stink of gun-powder caused a frown to appear on Sagisō's face. With her retreating attacks, Sagisō had taken the most distance from Bao and as the gun-powder ignited—brightening the horizon with a deafening boom—she was completely unaffected. Still, as focus was drawn to the explosion, it presented her with was a good opportunity...

Weaving hand-seals Sagisō spat a volume of water which quickly formed itself into an identical copy of her: a water clone. The clone took a starter position, poised to sprint as soon as the explosion cleared and she had a clear visual on her target.

 

[SageNeb]

Raiku nodded in agreement and followed Shiho as they walked until she found a large tree that she suggested they hide on. Raiku also started running up the tree and eventually reached the top. “I don’t think anyone will come up here besides us and even if they do we’ll have the advantage,” he told Shiho. “I suppose now we wait.”

 

[jade421]

Yua had made a point to travel with a degree of caution, she worked best to use whatever bush or grass along this forest as cover as she had her staff extended out. It was only the early minutes of this exam and already the tension felt so thick she could practically choke upon it, but Yua made a point to be prepared. Unseen but far from unfelt her body began to release some of the innate poison her clan was rather infamous for, a misty variant of poison that hung just around her body. Much like a strong deodorant where the poisonous "odor" that aimed to try and deter anyone who had gotten way too close to her liking. She had also worked to coat the ends of her staff with some poison from her palm, so it would be prepared to deliver a mid range strike and sample of what her clan was capable of, but it seemed her caution brought an interesting encounter as slowly she jumped back when a voice called to her before she recognized who it belonged to and worked to suppress the poison odor from her body before he had gotten too close to her. "You know insults are not the best way to say hi. I would hope you had enough trust in me to not walk around aimlessly without a way to defend myself."

Though as this little reunion happened Yua glanced around her, and naturally had a question in her mind as she faced Mori. "So, sure you were not followed? Since we are concerned of each other and all..." Yua asked as well as snuck a slight bit of dry sarcasm to it given Mori seemed to already have assumed little of her. Which seemed for the norm sadly.

@Schrift

 

[Schrift]

Mori lowered his staff, the iron sand on the pointed tip started to return to back under his sleeve. Mori had a look of disappointment, moving his staff nearing to Yua's head before he gave her a small bonk with his staff. "That wasn't me insulting you, more so me telling you how much of a dumb ass you were for so easily caught by me. What if it was an opposing nin?", he sighed, as he still kept his staff in a tight grip. Mori didn't trust that Yua would be fine on her own. He couldn't be too sure. She was probably strong on her own but what if she was ganged on by a team? Mori didn't want to chance losing his team mate, plus she gave him some benefits. Her poison jutsu seems useful and he had worked with her before. Maybe that would come in handy. His chances seemed good with her around, Mori could trust her too right? All these factors together seemed perfect for him. "I wasn't followed, if anybody came after me I'd have noticed. Now where's your scroll? I need to do something", he said as he walked around her as he looked for her scroll. "No I'm not planning to steal it, I'm just going to use my iron sand to help secure it to you so you don't have it stolen while you sleep", he said as he looked around more, iron sand running to the tip of his staff. He paused a bit before he lifted his own jacket to reveal the scroll around his waist which was secured with iron sand, meaning the only way to take it was to take him out. The moment he could see her scroll he was planning to simply put the iron sand on it so he could make sure she didn't lose it so easily, think of it as friendly help.

@Sarah316

 

[Hecotoro]

Asahi sat on the ground crossing her legs and focusing on the battle Riceball was on.

"How about we wait? I rather keep our sister in good shape. Besides we have plenty of time. Oh I also made a very important stop before the exams..." She pulled out a handful of candy, "take some! We need energy!"

With that Asahi focused once again on the battle, hoping to not waste too much chakra if she rested her body, while using her Byakugan.

 

[ThAtGuY101]

Hisato was humming to himself as he leaped from tree to tree. Cheerfully making his way through the forest of death. People were fighting desperately clinging onto their scrolls to prove their worthiness of becoming chunin. Hisato's first goal was to set camp and get more food. Hisato was really hoping to run into Bao to get more food from him. If anybody would give more food, it'd totally be Bao, and Hisato was not above begging like a filthy animal.

Hisato found a nice large tree. It wasn't the biggest tree, but it was big enough for him to build a camp on. Hisato used branches to make walls and leaves to cover the walls. Hisato would have a small campfire inside a small hole a little distance away from his campsite so not to attract people directly to where he was sleeping.

Hisato found a nice little river where he could look for fish. Hisato made sure there weren't any ninjas nearby to ruin his fishing time. Hisato went to go fishing, but didn't want to get his clothes wet, and without going into detail, got dressed after fishing. He grabbed several fish that he skewered with his bone wrist blades. He put the fish on sticks so he could retract his bone blades. Hisato sat at his fire roasting and eventually eating fish.

 

[kyuukestu]

Furījia

Years of private tutoring showed their worth as the heiress steadily worked her way through the problems provided in the first exam, smoothly advancing to the second.

Fate had decided the path she sought would be an earthly one and she was granted a heaven scroll and made to quest for its counterpart. With her Byakugan locating a scroll would hardly be of issue; then the challenge would lay in taking one. Ultimately she decided to lock onto a random target one which just so happened to be one of the Mist ninja she noted had a unique chakra coloration. All three of them certainly had kekkei genkai; their chakras had colors that set them aside from those who only possessed an affinity for the basic five elements or an affinity for the duality of yin-yang. She couldn't tell what their kekkei genkai were as she wasn't familiar with two of them and the remaining one seemed to possess a strange murkiness to it...odd.

She was quite familiar with chakra natures as her tutors had spared no effort in drilling into her the well-known clans of the Village Hidden in leaves, and she could recognize the members of each based on their chakra alone.

Regardless, her randomly selected target proved to be the Mist girl who promptly hid in a tree. Since she seemed to have no plans on moving Furījia wouldn't need to keep her Byakugan trained on her. Instead, she began to walk in her direction while checking on her location intermittently.

@sSoul

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Three heads are better than one, we could potentially catch people off guard by either outnumbering them or attacking from below. I doubt that many people would be expecting other opponents other than the one that they are facing in here. Besides, if the name is anything to go off on, ninja are not the only problem in that forest." Mori admitted as he felt his scroll push against his body. "There's a chance that one of us will have a scroll that the other person needs, what do we do in that scenario? We give the scroll to someone at the end to ensure that at least one of us makes it to the next round?"

Advancing into the forest, the Iwa-nin kept a hand on his wakazashi at all times. "Try and stick together, and it wouldn't hurt to have a fail safe in case someone gets replaced by a transformation jutsu using enemy. Got any ideas on what we can use to check for any potential moles? And before you even try to get clever, that was not a pun Keito. Cool your jets."

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

Taji had been scouring the forest before finding something interesting. Footprints of a human with at least one wolf beside the human. Either someone was very unlucky and got hunted down on day one or she was tracking someone with ninken. It didn't hurt to check it out, as long as she kept notice of the wind. Deciding to follow the trail, the girl stopped at regular intervals to check the wind direction. She was not very eager to get sniffed out this early.

 

[EnviousWorm]

Ugokasenai Keito, Iwa Genin
​

"There's a chance that one of us will have a scroll that the other person needs, what do we do in that scenario? We give the scroll to someone at the end to ensure that at least one of us makes it to the next round?" Mori asked, making a good point.

"Maybe," Keito shrugged, "Either way, that would still leave one of us out of the equation. Let's cross that path when we get there though. If it has to be me, so be it."

They continued on for a little while, making steady progress through the forest on the first day.

"Try and stick together, and it wouldn't hurt to have a fail safe in case someone gets replaced by a transformation jutsu using enemy. Got any ideas on what we can use to check for any potential moles? And before you even try to get clever, that was not a pun Keito. Cool your jets." Mori half-joked, half-warned.

"Don't worry, I've got my serious face on now," Keito said, responding with a smile and a quizzically lax expression.

While Mori kept his hand on his wazikashi, Keito kept one palm on the hilt of his sakabatou in a sort of resting position, while the other reached into his satchel and retrieved a couple of smoke bombs.

"If we're going to worry about people transforming we might as well stab every tree and rock and bush we see along the way," Keito said, as if trying to point out why that - while not a bad line of thinking - could be a fruitless exercise in time wasting, "It's best we just try and get a sense for the forest as it is, and keep on guard for indicators that anything is unnatural here."

As he said that, the Stone genin knelt down to feel the ground below a comfortable looking tree and inspect the surroundings within view. He took a handful of dirt in the palm of his free hand, rubbing it between his fingers in a contemplation that could almost seem - to his teammates - like there might not be a whole lot running through that brain of his.

"Tomiko, Mori," Keito said, his tone hushed, "Something's off here. Be careful. There might be others near, who tried to cover up their tracks."

 

[Godjacob]

Azumi had managed to make it by the river, and quickly worked to fill up what seemed to be a large gourd with it before she returned it to her scroll with a light puff of smoke. Azumi had already filled a couple of canteens with fresh water and now that she had identified a river within the forest she knew the ideal place to set up camp, and an ideal place to wait for others to come when inevitably they'd be scrambling for such a resource.

Silently Azumi jumped up to the nearest tree and worked to mask herself while she moved about as she planned to set up an ideal scout spot along the bank.

----------
Kenji stopped by a tree with Lightning and Thundra, he scouted around him and his nose picked up nobody or rather no foreign scent near him. Ideal as it allowed the Kumo-nin to set up as the two huskies moved by Kenji who began to move through a sequence of hand signs as they seemed to strike a pose.

"Ninja Art: Man-Beast Transformation!"

With a silent mutter to himself, and a light puff of smoke, Kenji stood with a pair of identical copies of himself; Lightning and Thundra having become man-beast clones of Kenji, and all three seemed to dawn a more feral appearance; with sharpened canines and eyes that seemed to have a wild intensity to them.

Kenji paused to sniff the air. He knew Bao's scent anywhere, and it seemed he bumped into some faces already, which caused Kenji to grin a bit as he inspected his sharpened nails before he turned to his allies.

"Well, seems the fun has already begun. I say we sneak a peak at the action. Issues~?"

Neither Lightning nor Thundra objected, as the trio quickly dashed off, aiming to move to a place where they could view what situation Bao had ended up in...from a safe distance, as they had to be prepared for just about anything in this forest.

Though as they moved, Lightning seemed to frown. The shifts in the wind made it tricky to tell, but it seemed the man-beast ninken had this feeling something was near, her ears twitched as Kenji and Thundra had made note of that.

----------
"If it comes to that, I am sure we can come up with some system. But let's focus on finding someone else to take a scroll from before we worry about that." Tomiko muse, they had plenty of time before that concerned had been a reality, even if she had been conscious of it like Mori but figured it was best to use that time to work together for the time being.

Tomiko chuckled at the comment of stabbing at every tree, and really in terms of that kind of caution she could see it both ways though stopped when Keito seemed to guess that someone tried to cover their tracks and this seemed to cause Tomiko to rub her chin before she had been struck with inspiration.

"Wait I have an idea." Tomiko said with a controlled voice as she worked to make the proper hand signs before a clone of dirt and earthly elements formed next to her as she glanced at her two allies.

"I can send this baby to go look along this "path" and see what might wait for us there." Tomiko suggested to Mori and Keito as she seemed excited at the idea of a possible encounter this early in the exam, but course had run her idea by them to see what they had to say of it.

 

[EnviousWorm]

Ugokasenai Keito, Iwa Genin
​

"Wait I have an idea." Tomiko said, taking charge as she wove hand-signs. A second Tomiko built herself from the ground up as the original continued, "I can send this baby to go look along this "path" and see what might wait for us there."

"Not bad at all, Tsuch." Keito replied, nodding. He twirled the smoke bombs around in his right palm, his left once again resting against the hilt of his sakabatou; he wasn't crazy about the idea, but he realized he needed to get into the fighting mind-set for the days to come. If he wanted to make it, and if he wanted his teammates to make it.

Looking around for just a little bit longer, Keito reached his left hand up and tugged at the tuft of spiked, brown hair sticking out from atop his head, tied up into a sharp and messy top-knot.

"I'll go with the clone," He offered, staring down the path Tomiko was talking about, "You two find a vantage point or two. If we run into anyone, we'll try and draw them back here, towards you, okay?"

Not far off, a trio of genin of the Hidden Grass prepared the last of their traps and got in position; not quite picky about whomever fell into the trap, the Grass shinobi shared a greedy look. They could only imagine the looks on their victims' faces, stumbling across what could only be certain defeat, or even death. And they could all picture the scroll they needed falling right into their very hands.

 

[jade421]

Yua seemed to frown on the idea she was "caught" by Mori, as all he had done was appear and if he had been a foe rather than a teammate her poison would've given the attacking party a nasty surprise. But she had held her tongue as she figured that an argument would not help either of them as she lowered her own staff and sighed in response. "Making quite the assumption of what would happen but I digress." Yua answered before she heard Mori's request which course gave her pause. While they had been teammates, in this exam it had been every ninja for themselves so the idea of just flashing her scroll to him as the chance he may have the scroll she needed and vice versa could create complications. However, when Mori displayed his own scroll and seemed to confirm to Yua they had the same scrolls as well as what he intended to do, her guard lowered enough to the point where she revealed her own scroll tucked into the back of her weapon's pouch safely away from her other weapons or key items. "Is this your way of saying you want to work together?" Yua asked, as it seemed like a natural presumption.

@Schrift

 

[sSoul]

Tsuki
Although she had no prior expectations regarding the possibility of a crowd inside of the trees, it seemed the Yuki-nin wasn't the only one to come up with the idea. Most notably, there seemed to be a pair of shinobi from Konohagakure sitting in the trees, almost as if they selected the spot as a romantic getaway. Tsuki paid them little attention, not only did they seem to lack offensive initiative, but fighting a 2 on 1 battle was undesirable, especially atop the branches of a tree. However, she would find a target soon enough, though it would be more accurate to say that the target found her. A somewhat unassuming girl adorning a blue dress seemed to be approaching Tsuki, and though she looked harmless enough, stronger shinobi have perished by coming to a judgement based off appearance alone.

I don't know if she can see me, but assuming she can, I should conserve any chakra until a fight ensues properly.

Taking aim, Tsuki threw a trio of kunai towards the torso of the seemingly carefree kunoichi. Truthfully, she didn't expect the thrown blades to hit its mark, but she did anticipate that she would get her would-be opponent's attention, forcing them to dodge and inclining them to retaliate. If this other kunoichi chose to flee, then Tsuki would pursue and pressure her , and if she chose to fight, she would engage in combat. Of course, there was also the possibility that this unassuming girl meets an unfortunate end, in that case the icy kunoichi would simply claim her prize and move on with her day.

@kyuukestu

 

[kyuukestu]

Furījia

As the trio of kunai closed in on her, Furījia spun to the side, catching one of them and using the momentum of her spin to fling the ninja weapon right at her hiding opponent. Attached to the kunai was a small surprise, a paper bomb intended to force the Mist kunoichi out of hiding. Next Furījia swept outward with a foot, chakra gathering at her soles to 'grasp' at the two missed kunai her opponent had thrown. She waited only a moment, her Byakugan activating before launching them to preempt her opponent's dodge.

@sSoul

 

[Mango137]

Distracted by the barrage of Sagiso’s kunai, Bao had been unaware to Kiro’s gunpowder strategy; however, his ignorance would go unpunished as the nature of his anticyclone paired with Sagiso’s water all but nullified the effects of the explosion.

What the hell?

A sudden flash and burst of heat blew through his flurry of winds. Another flash bang?… no. The boy looked around quizzically, trying to figure out what could’ve been the source, Bao’s eyes looked through the smoke settled onto a tree where he could make out the chakra outline of Kiro perched in a tree.

That rat! Just like him to hide and try to fight from a safe distance.

Bao was growing increasingly sick of their antics, especially with Sagiso now sending a clone to do her dirty work.

Why won’t they just come fight head on?! Whatever, I can play their game too.

He allowed Jupiter to fade away and grabbed 6 kunai, coating them with vacuum chakra and creating pressurized orbs at their base before throwing them in an upward arc. They floated weightlessly, creating a semi circle around Bao. He activated his Zentogan to max effect and jumped into a backflip, alternating legs as he kicked the base of three kunai, detonating their jet propulsion and launching one towards each of the three chakra figures.

Vacuum Style: Meteor Shower

He then waited for hardly a moment. It was a difficult technique, but a life time of training had allowed him to come close to mastering it. It only worked within a certain range, but by estimating the distance between he and his opponents, Bao could a kunai then wait until the necessary fraction of a second he referred to as “the golden window” in which his opponent’s reaction to his first kunai would be predicted to the exact point that his second kunai would have the speed to be arriving at, essentially allowing him to throw a knife at exactly where he knew his opponent would be.

His golden eyes sheened as he caught a glimpse into the future. He planted an arm on the ground, halting his backflip halfway and used it to propel himself forward, leading to another volley of kicks that sent kunai flying to their moment of perfect opportunity.

Let’s see how they like that! Bao landed and returned the Zentogan to its lowest costing state before beginning a few hand signs in preparation of a counter attack he anticipated he might need.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

"Mmn!?"

The first sound the girl had made since the battle started was one of pain and shock. A sudden flash of steel and then knifing pain as a weapon sunk into her flesh and she strangled a scream. Bao's momentary hesitation in sending his second volley however would work against him.

Sagisō hadn't been expecting such speed from his kunai but even if she had, it would've been difficult to anticipate an attack through the smoke of the explosion. Speed and surprise made for a deadly combination, but between the first blow and it's follow up, Sagisō hair snuck in-front of her, the chakra-heavy threads protecting her body as the second kunai came and bounced off with an almost metallic clang.

She would have to avoid getting caught by surprise again. The thought aroused heated annoyance, not at Bao but at Kiro. Despite them having the same opponent the boy had only managed to shoot her in the foot—twice! Sagisō immediately banished all thoughts of cooperation.

Instead, she intensified her assault. Based on his last attack alone the girl assessed that she was at a disadvantage in range, so she'd take things up close. With her hair still protectively wrapped around her, Sagisō advanced. Two identical copies appearing beside her as she used the clone technique to confuse her opponent as real and fake wove their figures together in a mixed tempo attack.

 

[Mango137]

Just as Sagiso began to engage, Bao had finished the hand seals for his jutsu. He opened his palms and released a bundle of vacuum balls into the world around him, some invisibly floating in the air while others lied unnoticed on the ground. As a last preparation he scattered kunai along the ground and entered his fighting stance with a knife in his front hand.

Fighting with weapons wasn’t his preferred way of going about things, but he saw few other options after just witnessing a full speed kunai bounce off her steely hair.

Should’ve been careful with what I wished for. I’ll need to watch out for that hair, she’s got the advantage up close.

He flared his Zentogan. Considering his last few techniques, he wasn’t sure how long he was going to be able to maintain it. He’d have to finish it quick, if not the only option was to retreat and return to fight again once he came up with a counter strategy.

No, I can’t retreat. I have to win now or everyone else will be in danger!

Bao could tell these clones weren’t a threat like the other, but the rhythmic patterns of their movements made it hard for even his dojutsu to track the real one.

Jupiter Anticyclone!

On a much smaller scale than before, Bao created an anticyclone in the palm of his hand and used it to send a gust of wind forward, it wasn’t enough to blow Sagiso back, but just strong enough to cause the fur of her skirt to ruffle in the wind while the breeze simply passed through the fakes.

There! Let’s see how strong this hair is.

Now knowing where the real one was, Bao coated his kunai with wind chakra, slashing straight towards her hair.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

Sagisō's eyes narrowed as her opponent lurched forward to meet her, unaffected by her clones. She was wary of his wind release and its powerful cutting abilities but she also knew that close range was her best option and this opportunity was one like no other.

She primed her hair with chakra to bolster its defense, but she knew this wouldn't be enough to stop a wind-enhanced kunai. So she intended to shift slightly, ensuring a blade would not pass through her torso, and instead it would pass through her arm. Without attempting to evade, Sagisō met Bao. The blade would pierce through hair then flesh, it wouldn't an easy penetration but it would be a successful one nonetheless. As her blood was shed once more, the glint in Sagisō's eye would turn vicious.

While priming her hair with chakra did serve to make it's defense better, that was not why she'd done it. Her goal had been to amplify the speed and malleability of her hair for exactly this moment like this one where she was close enough to grab him.

Like a nest of serpents the strands of her hair would strike with all the speed she could muster, extending well beyond what their natural length suggested in a moment so perfect that even if his dojutsu could see it, his body wouldn't be quick enough to follow suit.

Strands closer to Bao's hand would shoot out to coil around his wrist and seize his arms. Stands further away would reach out to bind his other limbs and torso. To Bao it would look like her hair had come alive, transforming a gaping maw that he'd strayed just a bit too far into. Then he would pay for his mistake as this maw made to swallow him whole.

Even his wind blade, sharp as it was, would be no threat without an arm to wield it.

 

[Godjacob]

Splash. Splash. Splash.

Azumi's wait proved to not need much time to bare fruit, as a rather stocky Genin seemed to appear by the river. Based on his headband, he seemed to be a ninja from the Leaf which mattered little to Azumi; least in this stage of the exam. The only symbol she had been interested in was that of the scroll he'd carry with him. The man seemed a foot taller than the average Genin, which made Azumi guess he either had an early growth spurt or was older than a first year. He also seemed to carry with him a pair of large hammers connected together by a chain on his back, as the young man glanced around him and began to try and secure some fresh water by the rival.

"Water Style: Siren's Needle Jutsu!"
​

From the cover of the tree she rested upon, Azumi cast a jutsu as she muttered the words to herself. The water by the Leaf ninja began to ripple subtly, as what seemed to be a sharpened water needle formed and it seemed to aim right for the wrist of her target. Her goal it seemed was to sever and arm, and deny him chance to make hand seals.

Woosh!

Just before the needle could strike, the ninja just noticed it out of the corner of his eye and jumped back to avoid disaster. Though this ended up taking his focus as several senbon rained down as Azumi revealed herself and used her umbrella to rain down her follow up strike on him.

"Agh gah! Damn you...!" The Leaf-nin cursed as he draw upon his hammers and blocked as many senbon as he could, but several managed to scrap or even land clean hits along him as Azumi gently glided down along the river bank across from her. Her gaze was cold, staring daggers as the Ame-ninja aimed to charge as she folded up her umbrella and already began to form hand signs.

The hunt had began.​

----------
"Hey aren't I supposed to be the reckless one here~" Tomiko mused, as she was slightly surprised that Keito decided to go with the clone, as she presumed the idea was to send and use the clone to bait the group while they'd wait to ambush. But guess Keito wanted to oversee it in case they popped the clone along the way, and Tomiko had enough trust in Keito and nodded along as she turned to Mori.

"Well, you heard him. Let's go find a nice spot to give out grass friends a proper Iwa greeting~" Tomiko mused as she formed a fist on one of her gauntlet covered hands for emphasis while she'd lead them to a nice spot where they'd be able to observe the action while their figures were masked best they could be.

Tomiko's clone of course glanced Keito's way, it had one goal in mind and that was to draw in the coming targets. Naturally as a clone it was limited in what it could do, but cause a scene and draw eyes was one such talent as it nodded to Keito ready for the coming assault.

"Annndddd that should put the finishing touch~" One of the grass ninja mused, a kunoichi who seemed to have short orange hair masked by her hat as she glanced to her teammates. One was a larger young man with a shaved head and a perpetual "meh" expression on his face, and the other a more scrawny young man with blonde spiky hair and freckles who seemed to be sharpening his kunai after he had finished his part of the trap.

"Man this is gonna be great. I wonder who will be the first to get caught?" The young spiky haired man mused, but as they said that Tomiko's clone moved to her position as it seemed to draw a kunai with a flash bomb attached to it; seemed the idea was simply, surprise the trio with a stunning flare, and open up Keito for a follow up move on their plan to lure the trio to their trap.

"I don't know, and I care even less. Just get into positions. Last thing we need is to be caught with our pants between our legs." The female member, who seemed to be the leader but one could only infer so much, though before they had a chance to move Tomiko's clone launched the kunai true as it landed between the tree of them.

Boom!
​

"Crap!" One of the trio cursed as they covered their eyes as the flash bomb burst which produced a blinding light, and opened them up for a follow up from Keito.

 

[Mango137]

A glimpse into the future was still too little too late. He had gotten careless, rash, and consumed by his emotions. Bao assumed his attack was going to be countered, not embraced, and that was a most truly terrifying revelation. If an enemy prepares counter measures that means they perceive a threat, if they don’t react at all that means they’ve already fallen into their trap.

Shit!

It was too late to change course, his momentum was already flung into the attack. While most would perceive landing a clean stab as a win, both Bao and Sagiso knew it was a bug flying straight into a spider web. No sooner than he foresaw it, a tendril of hair gripped his wrist, and fastened it to Sagiso’s arm while others loomed in front of him like a hydra’s many heads. He was running out of time, in moments he would be helplessly imprisoned at the mercy of the sinister girl.

Think! Damn it… THINK!

His eyes drifted to his trapped arm and he came to a realization of what he had to do.

That’s it!

A careless mistake had gotten him into this mess, it only seemed right that a rash move would get him out. With his free arm he began spinning a cyclone, and beneath the soles of his feet he formed pressurized spheres. This was going to take about all he had left in him, but he was in no situation to be worrying about the future.

Half a second. That’s all it took. That was all it was allowed to take, otherwise it opened the door to an unforeseen threat. With his first propulsion his body would have been flung upwards, though instead his trapped arm acted as a pivot, snapping in two and causing his shoulder to pop out of socket.

“AHRFGMPH!!!” It was the most intense pain he had ever felt, comparable to only what he could imagine as a brutal combination of searing an arm above a white hot flame while Thor himself hammered at the bone. But he had achieved what he needed and was a third of the way done.

The next act was somehow worse, with his free arm he suctioned one of the scattered kunai into his hand and coated it with wind chakra. Using his already mangled arm as a hinge once more he flung his force downward and delivered a slash to free his arm that severed through both the hair and the lodged knife.

Then finally, he used his last bit of strength to fire off the remaining jet propulsion and launch himself a safe distance away. Bao skidded to a halt, not even having the composure to land properly, but he made it. And somehow with his injury he would figure out how to continue to fight. Bao clutched his arm as he slowly he rose to his feet, definitely starring down Sagiso with a determination not to lose. After all, the fate of his friends depended on him bringing down this heartless murderer.

Wait… Something didn’t add up. Her hair had trapped his first arm with such great speed that even his Zentogan didn’t save him. How was he able to get away? Is she not a killer?

“Why… why’d you let me get away? You could’ve killed me.”

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

He was...faster than she'd expected with grit and decisiveness that lent him a frustrating slippery-ness. A dangerous, nearly murderous gleam emerged in Sagisō's eye as Bao slipped away from her, leaving behind a gouging wound that left her breathless in agony. An agony that was only cooled by the sight of Bao's mangled arm—'Served him right.'

As Bao retreated Sagisō licked her wounds; with the secrets of her hair exposed she no longer made any attempt to hide it. Her Medusa-like locks backed away, returning to a resting position where she used them to create impromptu bandages around her wounds, minimizing blood loss.

She chewed on her lips as her fingers wove seals, but her next attack was paused by his words.

"Unlike you," she sneered, "not everyone's first reaction is to murder someone that looks at them funny."

Regardless of her distaste for the boy, she had to admit he was formidable. It was perhaps beyond her ability to put him down without killing him—an extreme she'd rather not resort to out of caution. If what Kiro had said was true, killing promising shinobi was not in her best interest, and the boy in front of her, though dumb, was certainly promising.

 

[Schrift]

Mori sighed, there's no point in arguing now. He watched her expression change, there was something about it. She seemed defensive of his idea at first and Mori didn't blame her. It was probably a risky move showing her his scroll, what if hers was different and she caught him off guard? Sure he could probably win, but even victory would cost him. Her Poisonous Jutsu was a problem for him and if he was caught off guard... well that wouldn't have ended well for him. Mori took his staff away from Yua for a moment as he simply smacked himself on the head with it, once, twice and a final swing. This was something Mori did a lot when he made a mistake. Every mistake comes with a price and some are less forgiving than others, or so his parents say. He took a moment to relax, to compose himself before he looked to Yua as he gave a small smile. When she asked if this was his way of working together he sighed a bit, as he put his staff near her weapon's pouch. The iron sand moved from his bo staff to her bag as it formed a layer of iron sand around the scroll and binded it to the pouch before the pouch was fastened to her. Most people would find the sand ticklish as it moved like a small stream. "Don't get me wrong, there are probably a lot of shinobi here who are much stronger than you. I saw you first and figured our chances of getting past this exam would be higher if we worked together, seeing as we have worked together in the past", he said. In short terms, this was Mori's way of saying 'yeah'. He pulled his staff away to look at his work, the iron sand kept the scrolls in her pouch meaning the opponent would need to cut through the pouch or steal it but to make up for that he attached it to Yua. "There we are, if anyone tries to take your scrolls it should be more of a challenge now", he smiled.

@Sarah316

 

[Retro Master]

Letting out a sigh, Kiro figured the explosion hadn’t done much to Bao. All it had really done was fill the area with smoke and evaporate the sticky water that had been spread. While clearing the field was a benefit, it would be unwise to lose sight of the opponent for too long. If Kiro wanted to see through the dark smoke, he would have to use those eyes. Fortunately, neither of the other two genin were in a position to see.

Thankfully he had activated them when he did so because a few second later, there was kunai sent his way at blinding speeds. Well, blinding for anyone without this dojutsu. He dodged the first the first one by moving to a nearby branch and then deflected the other one of with the kunai in his hand. While the one with the kunai had been knocked away some where, the first one had dug itself deeply into a tree, showing what might have had happened to him had he not been able to react.

‘That dumpling bastard...’

Looking down towards the battle, it appeared Roulan had chose to defend herself with her head of hair before turning them into tendrils right latch onto Bao. While this was happening, Kiro was considering whether or not he should take the opportunity to attack them while they were distracted or just watch to gather some more knowledge on their skills. Both of them seemed quite skilled, so there was a good chance he could be fighting them later in the further rounds anyways. In that case, now was the perfect time for lunch.

Sitting down on the branch, Kiro pulled out the dumpling he had received from Bao earlier. After the confrontation with Roulan earlier and the issue he had to resolve at the registry, there wasn’t enough time to share the dumpling with Tsuki. Since he was no longer suspicious of the delicacy, Kiro was planning to use it as one of his meals during his time in the forest. With Bao here, now was a good of a time as any to confirm if the food deserved all the hype and attention it received earlier. With his dojutsu deactivated, Kiro took a bite into the dumpling as he watched the ongoing battle.

‘What the hell? This is actually good.’

Kiro was so surprised by the exquisite taste that he ended up eating nearly half the meat bun in only a few seconds. If this was poisoned, then Bao was truly evil for using something so delicious for such nefarious purposes. He internally cursed for not taking more than one. Maybe if Kiro helped Bao with this fight, he could get more. However, the fight appeared to be over now that his arm had been bent in an unsightly manner. Meanwhile, the girl was nursing the stab wound from the kunai earlier. Then she prepared some hand seals before saying a few interesting words.

“I mean, it’s not like we even know why this guy tried to kill us. His food good though.”

He said that aloud to himself before taking another bite of the meat bun. Truthfully, Kiro did want to kill Bao for even attempting to attack him, but now that he had tried his meat buns, perhaps there was another option. However, what happened next would depend on if Bao wanted to keep fighting.

 

[EnviousWorm]

Ugokasenai Keito, Iwa Genin
​

Keito and Tomiklone traveled further down their ominous path just under a kilometer before the signs of people covering their tracks started to get sloppier -- to be honest, the young genin couldn't quite tell if that was on purpose, to draw him into a false sense of security, or the ambushers were simply sloppy. He prepared for the former, however.

The Grass shinobi had aligned themselves in a triangular formation, mostly covered by the dense forestry of the aptly named Forest of Death. They'd surrounded themselves with pitfalls covered with grass and straw, as well as tripwire shuriken traps; not half bad, though the people who'd prepared the traps thought much more highly of their plan.

Giving his partner the sign that they were drawing near, he dropped to a crouch and watched as the clone produce a kunai with a flash bomb attached; in turn, Keito put away the smoke bombs he'd been holding on to, thinking of something different while he infused more chakra.

Having the clone with him was nice; she was there to draw fire, something Keito was really not fond of doing. However...this time he'd probably still have to bait the enemy enough to draw them back to Mori and the real Tomiko. Oh well, he decided -- there was always trade-offs.

Not fifty meters ahead of them, Keito noticed a faint, shimmering silver light in the bushes -- somewhere such a line wasn't likely meant to be. Tomiklone must have noticed something similar, because without words the approximate Tsuchikage-in-the-making hurled her rigged kunai in the center of their three, wannabe ambushers. Keito closed his eyes and looked away, starting to form hand signs: Ram, Snake, Tiger, holding the final seal and concentrating.

Boom! The rigged kunai flash bomb went off, still bright enough to make Keito hold his eyes shut tighter, fighting off the light. A silence rang out, cut through by:

"Crap-" The ambush sufficiently turned on its head, Keito had what he needed to make his move.

As the spiky-haired Grass shinobi - Hashiro - shook off the flash bomb, he saw three Keito charging in, hands still holding the Tiger Seal; still wishing to hide behind his trap and not entirely sure of what the Iwa genin was preparing, Hashiro took a step back and raised his kunai with one hand and let loose a haphazard trio of shuriken with the other.

The clones, their purpose served, dissipated when the shuriken clipped their cheek and shoulder, while the real Keito ducked under the shuriken meant for his eye. And then, poof-- a puff of smoke, the whizzing of shuriken tripped by the tripwire and their thunking into the trunks of the trees off to the sides.

Chhk! Crrrackkkk!

Propelled by the speed of his Body Flicker, Keito had appeared a foot in front of the surprised Hashiro, who reached out to stab the Iwa genin with his kunai. Keito unsheathed his sakabatou, swinging the blunted steel out of the scabbard under Hashiro's stabbing motion. Instead of parrying the Grass shinobi's kunai, Keito aimed his blow for Hashiro's wrist, which shattered on impact with the horrible crunching of splintering bone.

Twirling away in pained dismay, the previously cocky Hashiro moaned out, "Augh, Dammit-"

Though before Keito could finish the agonizing Grass ninja, he heard the other two wannabe ambushers in the distance:

"Hashiro, Hashiro! Quick, move-!" A girl's voice called out. They'd stayed in place, not wanting to give away their positions like their more vocal ally had. But, they'd been slow to back him up, which could prove to cost them in the end.

As the Iwa genin moved back toward Tomiklone, their orange-haired foe - Ashima - and her friend - the stony-faced Eugo - appeared from the trees behind Keito in a pincer-like swoop.

Eugo charged in in a berserker rage, rearing back and swinging both of his fists down to land a crushing blow on the easily-snappable Keito; Ashima, however, wove the hand seals: Dragon, Hare, Ram and Snake, shouting as she thrust out both hands, palms and fingers extended, slamming them onto the ground:

"Earth Release: Green Needle Flurry!"

The grass around Ashima's body rose from the ground, sharpening into natural senbon and hurtling with a vicious whistle toward Keito's side; really, the Iwa genin only had one option -- get out of the way of one attack, and hope Tomiklone disrupt the other. He chose, strangely enough, Eugo. The rest, however, was sort of out of his hands.

​

 

[jade421]

Yua kept her frown up even as this exchange of "trust" was underway, really ever since they had been paired together from the Academy Yua had gotten this big condescending vibe from Mori. Her sensei advised that there was more to him than that and she needed to look beyond the surface, but when Mori seemed to try and belittle her even as he agreed with her comment of a "team up" had made that a rather difficult exercise. However it seemed Mori was a man of his word, as her scroll was further secured by his iron sand and sure enough it seemed to be tighter in her person as she worked to close her pouch before she faced Mori. "Thanks, though that last comment was a touch unnecessary..."

"There is a spot ahead, some high trees. Could use it to try and scout for a spot to camp, or even other competitors." Yua said, as she decided to take the next step as she figured that regardless of what they decided to do that area could be of benefit. Course, it was just one suggestion and she'd wait to see how Mori would respond to it before they did anything more.

@Schrift

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Raiku:
Raiku observed a fight from the tree he was in happening below him. Though they didn't seem to notice which Raiku assumed was because the tree was so tall, he was using his Sharingan to carefully take note of everything that was happening until the fight reached its conclusion with Bao being injured.

"Shiho, now might be our best chance to take a scroll. These three ninja just finished fighting each other. Also, try not to attack the Cloud ninja unless necessary, he's injured and I've taken a liking to him. He might even help us," Raiku told his teammate before doing some hand seals.
Shiho:
Having been following the fight as well, Shiho was also witnessed to the fight that went down moment earlier. Hearing his teammate, the young Hyuga nodded. "Alright sounds good, they should all be weakened now after their fight. Ready to go when you are." She replied.
Raiku:
Raiku weaved handseals and used Boil Release: Hiding in the Steam Jutsu. A mist like steam began emitting from him and quickly reached the surrounding area, blocking the vision of anyone nearby, except for Raiku and Shiho. Raiku being used to his own jutsu and Shiho using the Byakugan. Raiku then began swiftly moving towards Kiro.
Shiho:
Shiho quickly followed Raiku down towards the Mist Shinobi, her Byakugan active in order to see through the mist shroud her teammate set up. She weaved hand signs of her own as she prepared her own Jutsu.

 

[sSoul]

Tsuki
As anticipated, the seemingly unassuming girl sprung into action once her life was threatened. The icy kunoichi remained relatively expressionless whilst backflipping onto another tree the kunai, her eyes widening briefly when noticing the explosive tag that was attached. Although her stoic visage was previously dented, it truly cracked when Tsuki noticed two additional kunai coming her way after she dodged the first, almost as if her target knew where she was going to dodge. Although she was able to dodge the kunai and even land in yet another tree, she realized that the explosion left herself exposed.

I've lost the element of surprise, but I remain on elevated ground. I'll leverage whatever advantage I can from this

Taking inspiration from her opponent, Tsuki pulled out five more kunai, attaching each with an explosive tag that was set to explode once contact was made with the ground. She then threw the knives 2 meters(3.3 feet) in front of Furījia's feet, weaving two hand seals as the blades soared in the air. The Yuki-nin's cheeks began to puff up with a viscous water that she had created, intending to launch the liquid as a rope once the bombs were detonated. The mist kunoichi was primarily aiming for the ankles, but she created enough fluid to ensnare from the ankles up to the Hyūga's shins.

@kyuukestu

 

[kyuukestu]

Furījia

'Tch,' Furījia clicked her tongue as her opponent slipped away, 'She's more nimble than I expected.'

Her retaliation was swift, in the form of five explosive tags—a bit overkill if Furījia was being honest; but, her opponent clearly didn't seem to think so. The heiress leaped into the air to gain distance and as the tags exploded and through the smoke and debris, a rope of vicious liquid snaked through the air to bind her legs.

In retaliation, Furījia grabbed a branch hanging overhead. With a flex, she flipped over the branch, coming down on the other end to pull the sticky rope; using it as a pulley in an attempt to drag her opponent from her perch. T

@sSoul

 

[Mango137]

“Oh, so you’re not trying to kill everyone? I’m sorry for attacking then.” His guard dropped as the realization hit him. Perhaps he had rushed to conclusions… their skepticism may have put him off but ironically his own internal skepticism lead him to automatically assume the worst of the relatively unknown shinobi.

With the adrenaline draining from his body, the pain from his previous move finally hit him at full strength and he fell backwards into the dirt. Though he was searing in agony, Bao’s mind was completely at peace. “That means everyone’s alright then… what a relief.” He said with a smile, his amber eyes fixated on the white clouds above him until his vision faded to black.

 

[Retro Master]

“Guess I should save this.”

By saving, Kiro meant he would save the rest of the meat bun for later. Perhaps that would be his dinner. As he was putting the bun away, Kiro recalled something he wanted to do. Primarily with his heaven scroll. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t have enough time to do it as steam began to suddenly fill the area. Thinking quickly, Kiro pulled the scroll out and placed it into his storage seals while simultaneously pulling out a kunai with an explosive tag from the opposite seal. With a quick flick of the wrist, he sent it straight into the trunk of the tree the branch he was standing on was connected to before performing a few hand signs. Blue electricity then quickly coated his hands as he had used the Chain Lightning Technique.

Whoever was planning to vulture them would in for a shock as the electricity specifically targeted water found in the body and would go straight for the nearest person. It would be a continuous stream of lightning going for them and then chaining onto other people if it could. Overall, it was a pretty good technique for multiple opponents, but could also be used in a defensive manner as well. At the very least, where ever the lightning latched out would tell Kiro where his opponent was.