Ask to Join Shinobi’s Dawn

[Gamingfan]

Zeren strolled through the Forest of death, his senses working to find anything interesting. There was a faint bang in the distance, and the smell of smoke somewhere else. Only a couple minutes have passed and the place is getting wrecked. Awesome.
Aside from that, the Forest of Death seemed to fail to live up to his name. Zeren could only hear the soft shuffling of creatures in the trees, the occasional bird call, and a scornful voice followed by a projectile whizzing.
Oh.
Once it clicked, Zeren jumped sideways, narrowly avoiding the water bullet as it splashed over the dirt below. Zeren landed, only taking a second to regain his balance before turning towards his assailant, looking over the other male with disinterest.
"Hi. Let's get this over with hmm?" he prompted, bringing up his fists.

 

[Schrift]

Tensei looked at Yuna, "I don't need a saviour, I'll be fine", he said gruffly. He got to his feet, holding one of his sickles in his hands. It's two people, one enemy. We have this right? We've outnumbered it so that's good, he thought. He stayed near the tree as he tried to figure out his next choice of action. It wasn't till the centipede had chosen him as its new target, did he finally settle on a choice. He weaved the signs for the mud wall before slamming his hands into the ground and raising the dirt. He rolled off to the side, hoping the creature was stuck on its back on his wall. He then weaved his hands into more signs before jumping in the air and throwing three flame imbued shurikens at the centipede. "See! I'm fine! Now go off and look for other genins to rescue", he said, with a wide grin plastered on his face. In truth Tensei had no idea if he had actually managed to subdue the creature, he didn't even check if his attack had hit. Tensei had just assumed that he did it.

@=Nightshade= @Mystic Zander

 

[=Nightshade=]

Yuna’s expression was one of pure sardonicism. “Yes, clearly you don’t need a savior,” she snarked. “You were doing just fine getting eaten by a giant worm on your own.” Her eyes tracked the centipede as Tensei attacked, and the second the flames dissipated, she began forming hand signs of her own. The last thing she needed was for her to feel guilty if the dumbass got himself caught off guard.

“Ice Prison Jutsu!” Yuna snarled as she formed the final hand sign. Following the motion of her hands, icy stalactites shot up from the ground as more spikes mirrored them from above, aiming to pierce through the centipede and impale it. If it wasn’t enough to kill it, it would hold it in place, at least. Then if she could get close enough to touch it, she could freeze its blood solid. That was her current plan, anyways. Plan B was jump down, grab Tensei so he couldn’t be an idiot, and get the hell out of Dodge.

I swear to God, I’m so going to regret this later.

 

[Godjacob]

This guy better make a decision soon. I'd rather not have to deal with being exposed and out in the open if this section of the forest burns down. Oh and also possibly dying to fire or choking on smoke. That's never good.

Hiroshi had refrained from anymore comments as he simply continued his routine; hiding in the smoke, weapon at the ready and having taken the occasion breath by moving his head back for fresh air before hiding among the smoke. Hiroshi's ability to hold his breath served him well, though he hoped this avoided dragging much longer.

---------
"Well person or animal or whatever it is seems unclear. However we won't find out just sitting here. Way I see it we have two options..." Koichi said, as he heard Utano's comment as she tried to deduce just what made those markings. Something which had caused Koichi to develop a sly grin as he inspected the marks himself before he'd add on.

"...we could either see where this path of curious marks leads, maybe find a creature for a meal or even something more interesting. Or take the "safe" path and move down the river away from it." Koichi said, though with his sarcastic bit at the mention of "safe" he seemed to have contempt for the other path though allowed for it to least be talked about.

---------
Mitsuko moved along the tree tops as she scanned along the river, so far she seemed to not see much activity, as she marked up her recent tree she considered returning to camp, though as she considered it her sharp ears sword she heard sounds ahead. Was it a beast? Perhaps other applicants? Mitsuko had no way to be sure but she had known one thing.

The answer would not be revealed if she stood here.

With that, the samurai of Kumo moved on ahead.

 

[kyuukestu]

NPC Encounter — Zenren

"Gladly."

The boy scowled at the disregard shown to him by Zenren. He would pay for that. He would pay dearly. He clenched his fist, a jagged burst of water solidifying into an equally jagged blade. 'Takigakure Style: Water-cutting sword!'

The Taki-nin approached Zenren in swift strides, then he lunged in with a horizontal strike, attempting to bisect the boy at the waist.

@Gamingfan

 

[Mystic Zander]

Yoshi quickly dusted his clothes off while climbing to his knees, pausing halfway up to focus on Garu’s words. With a slight nod in agreement, the Iwa-nin slammed his palms flat on the earth while simultaneously flooding them with chakra.

“Give me a second...”

The black and red- wrapped Shinobi focused on amplifying any sensations in the palms of his hands. In truth, he was fairly inexperienced with utilizing chakra like this, but the ideas always been in the back of his mind...

“Dang, doesn’t seem to be working. Was hoping I could track them, but I’m not getting anything more than a few quivers here and there.”

Yoshi contemplated for a moment. Should they really just dive-in blindly? Did they have any other choice? Yes, of course. But did he like the other options? No.

“Listen. I don’t wanna disperse the smoke, as it may help, but I can’t guarantee things will go down well in there...so...”

The young man held one of his fists out in front of himself, placing his remaining hand flat underneath it, with his palm facing upwards.

“Rock, Paper, Scissors. Loser goes in.”

————

Due to being airborne, the squirming Centipede had no way to avoid the three flaming projectiles.
As the trio of sharpened edges met with the Centipede, it’s sturdy exoskeleton gave way under the force of the chakra enhanced weapons, cracking and splitting. The soft, moist flesh underneath was violently singed as the fire dispersed throughout it.
In the end, the Centipede tumbled to the ground, with severe burns and trauma dealt to its lower-left midsection.
Now damaged, and fearing for it life, the Centipede recoiled, attempting to flee. Unfortunately for the monstrous bug, just as it prepared to scuttle away, a flurry of icy spears impaled it where it stood.
The Centipede writhed and wriggled, recklessly tearing away at its own body in an attempt to escape its captures, to no avail.

Needless to say...the centipede was a goner.

 

[Gamingfan]

Zeren rolled his eyes at the shinobi's scowl.
Wow, short temper on this one-oh frick.
Said shinobi was already moving, getting uncomfortably close, watery blade in hand.
Woah, this guy is going for the kill already! Talk about trigger happy!
Once they lunged, Zeren leapt, rising above the horizontal slice. His heel rose and was then brought it down in an axe kick above their head.

 

[kyuukestu]

NPC Encounter — Zenren

The Takigakure boy was mildly surprised by Zenren's agility. The carefree Leaf Shinobi looked less the adept fighter and more the masterful slacker. Unfortunately, it seemed that the opposing boy did have a bit of skill after all. Just a bit though. The Taki-Shinobi shifted his head to the side, his teeth clenched and body braced for impact. As Zenren's ax-kick landed heavily on his shoulder, he huffed out a grunt and used his undamaged arm to swing his blade upward. Zenren would soon regret attacking an armed opponent so haphazardly!

@Gamingfan

 

[Gamingfan]

Zeren grinned as his attack landed, allowing himself a brief moment of smugness at the pained grunt from Taki-Dude. Unfortunately, the moment was cut short as he saw the enemy remained standing, and proceeded to use their undamaged arm to swing his blade right at him.
Welp.
Having no time to think, the Leaf Shinobi instinctively turned, his back, and sheathed katana over it, facing the water blade. It cut through the sheath, but the katana itself took the brunt of the hit, keeping Zeren from getting sliced. That said, the force knocked him away, sending the male skidding across the floor for a few feet until he caught himself. His aching back made him wince, but Zeren otherwise remained grinning, refusing to show any weakness.
Alright, nearly died there. Wasn't fun. Swordplay time.
Zeren pulled out his own sword, and flamboyantly posed, pointing it towards the ninja before him.
"En Garde." he laughed.

 

[Retro Master]

Like Kikyō, the Namikaze moved over to a another tree as the fervent flames were indeed starting to creep up the tree he was on. From the new tree trunk Kazue stood on, he took a look down to see a dense layer of smoke that blanketed the area above the forest ground, which had been overtaken by the growing wildfire. Kazue supposed there really wasn’t much time to waste. Since Kikyō or Hiroshi hadn’t shot down his offer after the explanation that had been given, he presumed they were okay with him just saying it. Looking to the girl on the tree branch, Kazue gestured to her as he verbally revealed his scroll.

“Alright then. The scroll I have is a heaven scroll. What is yours?”

 

[Mango137]

Keba dashed above the treetops, surveying the forest below him for any signs of his unrequited love. If I was a Peach where would I be....? Hmm probably in a tree. Wait do peaches grow on trees or in a bush? It’s gotta be a tree, all the best fruits grow on trees. Bananas, mangos, peaches.... Oh, peaches! I knew it all along!

BANG!

The ADD thoughts that plagued Keba were interrupted by a sudden flash and explosion that sent smoke up from a small clearing in the forest.

I suppose that’s as good of place as any to start. He shrugged and ran towards the commotion.

 

[=Nightshade=]

Hideki
Hideki sighed dryly as Keba ran off ahead on his clouds, then stumbled on a tree root he could have sworn wasn’t there a second ago. He looked up at the trail of clouds the other boy had left. Well, now I have three—no, four—things to look for. Clouds, ground obstacles, branches, and enemies. I might need to grow more eyes. He laughed lightly to himself at that thought before sprinting after the trail of clouds as fast as he could without faceplanting again.

Yuna
The kunoichi sighed quietly to herself as she relaxed a fraction of a centimeter. That’s one obstacle taken care of, at least. She cast a sideways glance at Tensei; once she decided he wasn’t going to do something stupid like pass out or drop dead, Yuna slid down the tree’s trunk to the ground. Her feet sank slightly into the leaf litter as she cautiously approached the (hopefully) dead centipede. She poked it with the tip of a kunai; when there was no reaction, she walked around to the head, where the boy’s kunai was still stuck.

Yuna grabbed the kunai’s hilt and wrenched it out of the monster bug’s armor. She tossed it over to Tensei, where it lodged in the ground in front of him. “You might want that back,” she said to him. “We aren’t in some action anime where you never run out of ammunition.” She prodded at the centipede again. “Hmm... wonder if this thing’s edible. If it is, we should eat some now to keep our strength up, smoke some for jerky in case something crops up later and we’re starving to death... after that we should find some place to make camp. I could probably supply freshwater out of the vapor in the air...” The girl continued to mutter to herself as she repeatedly stabbed her kunai into the centipede, searching for a softer area that might be edible.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Fumbling around, Kani didn't notice that Momo used her whip until she was ensnared. Panic flared up for a moment before she realized that her opponent was on the other side of the whip. Grabbing the whip, she pulled on it and moved herself towards Momo. It helped her find her way through the smoke and allowed her to be within striking range if Momo held on. If she let go, then she'd have one of her weapons. Kani felt good about her current situation, she even began to calm down a bit.

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

"Personally I vote for safety, we're a lot less durable than trees and those marks are not exactly your typical housecat variety. The river should give us fresh water and food, but I'm willing to go with what the majority wants. Just be ready for anything if we go deeper, this place isn't called Forest of Death because a ten-year-old was in charge of naming this place. Or atleast I hope that isn't the case."

 

[Schrift]

"I don't know if we should eat it, we don't know if its poisonous or not. And the way to find out if it's poisonous is sorta long, first you gotta rub it on your skin and wait to see if anything happens. Then you rub it on your lips and wait to see if anything happens. If nothing has happened after that then you eat a small amount. If you get sick that means you probably shouldn't eat it. Though we could take a gamble and cook it to see if poison remains but that's a gamble", he said shrugging. At this moment, Tensei sounded like a completely different person. It was od for him to know what to do, but survival and fighting were some of his strong points. "Anyway, food isn't the biggest issue. W can go from 8 days to 3 weeks without food so we should be alright if we work properly. Biggest issue is the scrolls, water and finding a safe place to sleep", he said. he thought for a bit, trying to think about where they could sleep. Then another thought came to his mind, should he trust Yuna? What if she took his scroll while sleeping? He held onto this thought for a bit before he kept it in the back of his mind, trying not to forget it. "Seeing as how there was a giant centipede, there should be other giant animals right? What if we find something else to eat?"

 

[=Nightshade=]

“Yeah, I personally don’t have any of those problems,” Yuna muttered. “Even if this thing is poisonous, we should keep some one us so if someone raids our supplies, there’s a high possibility they’ll get sick or drop dead, then we can nab their scroll. Plus, there was a tree a little ways back whose berries were edible, so we could live off those for a bit.” She grunted as she tore a long gash in the centipede and began yanking. “Freshwater is easy enough, too. All living things are full of water, all you gotta do is have the right chakra nature and jutsu to extract it. Shelter should probably be highest on our to-do list right about now. Unless you want to go searching for a natural source of freshwater to ambush anyone who comes there.”

Yuna stumbled backwards slightly as the flap of centipede she’d been pulling on came free. She wrinkled her nose at the smell. “God, that’s rank.” She looked up at the sky to check the sun’s position through the hole in the canopy the falling tree had created. I started off running due west... the encounter with the centipede has us headed a little more to the south. Assuming it’s a circle, the entrance would have been equidistant wherever it was, so if we keep going southwest, it should lead us to the center. She hated to admit that she had sort of teamed up with someone after vowing to work alone, but he would have been history in the centipede attack, and now she couldn’t help a feeling of responsibility for the reckless, carefree idiot.

That didn’t mean she trusted him, though. She deliberately kept her scroll hidden, with the distinct sense that if their scrolls were opposite, he wouldn’t have any problem attacking her here and now. Yuna still had about 60 percent of her chakra reserves left, and it was slowly replenishing, but she wasn’t sure how much Tensei had, or how strong of an opponent he would be. So she kept quiet about her scroll, not addressing his mention of them. Her tone didn’t betray her thoughts when she gestured at the fallen trees, saying, “We might be able to get some camouflage if we camp out in a space between the leafy parts.”

 

[kyuukestu]

Kikyō

'Heaven Scroll huh...'

Exactly the scroll she was looking for. Kikyō nocked her arrow to her bow and targetted Kazue. She flashed him a pitying smile before responding to his question. "Guess." Then her arrow ignited as she fired.

Momo

'She's calmer...'

The calmness Kani brought to the battle was more than appreciated as Momo could feel control returning to her body. She had a chance to act.

Weary of the scattered dangers around them and blind to their location, Momo knew there was only one place she could trust. Right beneath her feet. Momo marked the ground with deep footprints then the Shrine Priestess drew her sabers and scooted backward roughly an inch. By raising onto the balls of her feet she stayed within her demarcated 'safe area'; and, in one swift motion, she stabbed both sabers into the ground, aiming just beyond the tips of her toes.

Momo decisively abandoned her lasso and mounted the sabers, using their hilts as a foothold to leap into the air. She relied on luck and her sparse memory of the clearing to avoid smashing her head into a thick, overhanging branch. Even still, wispy branches whipped across her skin, their rough bark leaving nasty abrasions.

Regardless, the Shimo kunoichi was satisfied. Now that she'd escaped the immediate blast-zone...

"Kai!"

Momo pointed downward with a release-seal and the paper bombs detonated—BOOOM!

While Momo hoped the explosions would deal with her opponent, she also knew the blast could draw unwanted attention. Blinded and still free-falling, she knew that she was in no position to defend herself.

Weaving hand-seals, Momo spat out a large bubble of water which she hoped would cushion her fall. Once she landed, she would hide until her vision recovered.

NPC Encounter — Zenren

The Taki-nin laughed.

"You want to play with swords?"

The water-blade in his hand shimmered, and he charged. He struck at Zenren with another horizontal swipe, a mocking grin plastered onto his lips.

@Gamingfan

 

[DarkHydraT]

As Kani tugged on the whip, she noticed that her opponent had let go. That meant she had no safety beacon anymore, which was far from comforting. Nervousness rose to the previous intensity and caused her to curl up into a ball. Something that didn't help was the fact that the bombs on the floor went off, cracking her armor and really messing up her hearing. With both her sight and hearing gone, she was basically a sitting bird. Add her posture to the mix and you basically had a bigger quail on the floor. It was a wonder that Kani didn't die in the explosions, though she was far from untouched as the armor had cracked and even broke at some places.

 

[Retro Master]

“Earth scroll then huh? That’s unfortunate.”

There would be no warning for her. Not a moment before or after he spoke. It happened right in the middle of his remorseful response after she nocked her arrow. This way Kikyō would be too focused on her shot, along with his voice, and in the worst position to possibly react when the three shuriken still controlled by Kazue would suddenly strike her down from behind. The multiple gestures he had made with his hand moments prior hadn’t been just for her. Just like Hiroshi, the shuriken had been hidden in the smoke. The size and length of the shuriken were also increased a bit along with its amplified sharpness. The dynamic wind shuriken was a special technique of his that he had hoped to get Kikyō with earlier. A near spontaneous expansion of size would catch any shinobi by surprise and it was something that made a deadly weapon even deadlier. One would cut the side of one of her legs and right through the area where the branch Kikyō stood on met the tree, which should let her fall into the fiery pit of her own creation. Of course, since the other two had also come simultaneously, Kikyō would have to deal with them as well. There was one headed for the bow, but might have to cut past her arm first. The last one would just slice into her back.

Knowing her partner would surely react to this, as well as needing to defend against the arrow, Kazue immediately performed some quick hand seals to perform a jutsu. ‘Wind Style: Airstream Burst!’ A swirling stream of sharp, compressed wind formed around Kazue and began to slice everything around him, including her arrow, due to it’s circular motion. The resulting sharpened burst of the jutsu was usually large enough to slice through any aggressors located at even a ranged distance from the user as it would expand outward spherically before dissipating. Meaning Kikyō might not be out if it’s range either.

Even though Kazue had moved locations to the current tree trunk just a bit earlier, this was also a precautionary move in case Hiroshi was still nearby. If this was enough to buy Kazue some time, then he had two options. Quickly flee or capitalize on the opportunity by going on the offensive. For the latter, all he would need to do was just get his hands on one of their scrolls. Something that was easier said than done.

 

[Godjacob]

Well seems negotiation is off the table...

As Hiroshi moved while Kikyo and Kazue did the same he worked to move to an observe spot behind another but adjacant tree to where Kikyo and Kazue had each been; careful to keep his eyes on Kazue during the discussion as it seemed he possessed the scroll in need which led to a predictable reply.

Quickly Hiroshi threw his hand signs together as a sudden current began to whirl around Kazue as water surged from his gourd as it formed what could be described as a "shield" of water before him which worked to stall the air slashes as he moved locations; having never moved his eyes off Kazue as he shifted his own location to get in striking space. A good fisherman never lost sight of his target no matter where it moved towards, that was a golden rule which thankfully seemed to apply as much to his ninja life as it had hunting big game as when Kazue had gotten settled he shifted behind the tree trunk Kazue rested on. His shield protected him to get to this spot, though if he moved out he risked getting exposed and sliced by more.

Hiroshi used a pair of hand signs as water moved from his gourde to the tip of a spear as a sharpened water edge began to form of it; one that expanded and seemed to curve like a hook as he angled it to where it "peaked" out from behind the trunk as it would reach and grow trying to hook and stab at Kazue from the side.

A more inventive use of Water Release than his shield, though if it had the effect the other did remained to be seen.

 

[kyuukestu]

Kikyō

Kazue really didn't need to go through all the theatrics of trying to hide his shuriken for a sneak-attack. She would've let him hit her with them either way, truly. Kikyō twisted in mid-air, only seeking to avoid the deepest and most crippling of gashes. Her blood sprayed widely from the new wounds she sported across her arm, leg, and back. Gravity took hold and the branch beneath her was cut away, and Kikyō didn't move to stop it. She likewise made no attempt to save her bow which was sliced in half by the wind blade.

As Kikyō fell into the inferno of her own creation, she was only concerned with one thing. She sucked in a deep, breath, the dry air scorching her lungs— "HIROSHI, RUN!!!"

Tongues of fire swallowed the Suna-kunoichi and for a moment, she seemed to be consumed by the fire; but, a keen eye would notice that in the midst of the fire, there was a change. The bright orange tongues that lashed out at their surroundings had now taken on a tinge of crimson...

The deep crimson bloom rapidly dyed the flames around Kikyō's location with their color, and in response, the flames raged hotter than ever. A crimson tongue of fire rose from the ground to consume the tree Kikyō had been standing on in what seemed like an instant. Within the pyre, Kikyō rose to her feet and brandished her short spear. The blood that poured from her wounds combusted as it fed the eager flames that surrounded her.

Her chakra began to drop rapidly and Kikyō, knowing she had a limited amount of time, locked onto Kazue. She brandished her spear wildly, biting through the searing pain as her blood splashed in all directions, dying the surrounding flames crimson. Without hesitation, Kikyō rushed towards Kazues. The crimson flames that cloaked her body, beckoned to the surrounding flames, causing them to converge on Kikyō's location. The raging forest fire that had only grown while the group had stalled now became Kikyō's strength and allowed her to more fire than she could have ever hoped to produce on her own. Just as it was foolish to fight a water-release user above the sea, it was equally foolish to challenge Kikyō within a sea of flames.

Kikyō approached like a crimson meteor, tightening her noose of flames. Kikyō delayed for only a moment, letting the wave of fire rush ahead of her and burn the fatal edge off Kazue's attack. Flames pressed inward and wildly consumed the burst of wind provided by Kazue's air-burst stream. Then she rushed into the storm of wind and fire, letting any new lacerations on her body further strengthen her control over the fire.

-----------​

The Gurajio-rasu Clan was rather unique among the Clans of the Hidden Sand, in that the only affinity that was consistently passed down through the bloodline was Yang Release. While many clans, like the Leaf's Akimichi Clan possessed Yang-natured Hiden jutsu, the Gurajio-rasu Clan possessed nothing quite as simple. Their kekkei genkai afforded them a heightened affinity for chakra flow and infusion techniques and, depending on the secondary nature of the member, that affinity could manifest in a number of ways. For Kikyō, whose secondary affinity was fire-nature, her kekkei genkai allowed her to imbue her body with fire-natured chakra. This not only allowed her a much greater resistance to heat (so long as she had chakra) but it also gave her bodily fluids a special property. They became incredibly flammable! But as a bonus, a flame that had been fueled by her blood, sweat, or saliva, was usually much easier to control.

Kikyō's blood was the most potent means she had of controlling a flame, and the crimson-flames that resulted from such a combination were one of the strongest trump cards she had brought to this exam.

There were a number of downsides to her blood-flames however. The need to be injured beforehand was one of them, but another factor was despite the increased ease with which she could control those flames, she couldn't extinguish them afterward. The only thing she could do was let them run their course and burn themselves out; and, unfortunately, if she ran out of chakra whilst still in their midst they would consume her along with anyone else unfortunate enough to be in their path.

---------------​

Arriving below Kazue, Kikyō was shocked to see Hiroshi; but, noting the bubble of water that surrounding him, she judged he wouldn't be hurt too badly. Without further ado, Kikyō closed the noose of flames. Almost like an explosion in reverse, the circle of flames closed in on one position before, being left with nowhere else to go, they rose into the sky, a flaming geyser that would swiftly engulf the three shinobi.

"Blood Dance!"

 

[sSoul]

At first, Garu was confused why Yoshi placed his hand on the ground. Though he could tell that the Demolition shinobi was using chakra, he was unsure of what it was being used for. Fortunately, his comrade explained that he wanted to track Kani and Momo's locations, but he was unsuccessful. Unfortunately, Kani was still endangered, and there was a thick layer of smoke making it hard for them to see, yet they couldn't disperse it to clear it out because they benefitted from the cover the smoke provided. Fresh out of ideas, the Crystal Release user turned to Yoshi, who proposed Rock Paper Scissors as a method to determine who goes in.

"We don't have the kind of time to be playing rock paper scissors," His words were emotionally detached, only because the alternative would be shouting at his teammate, "I'll go in, I'm probably better equipped to fight at a close range. Like you said, you need your space." After taking a deep breath to prepare himself, the Iwavian shinobi turned to walk into the smoke.

I just hope I won't have to reveal my ace in the hole yet. Then again, I may need to use it if I get in trouble.

However, once Garu was facing the battlefield, he couldn't help but notice an array of explosions where the kunoichi were having their catfight, cuing the Crystal Release user in to the fact that approaching now would be unwise.

"So...still up for that game of rock-paper-scissors?"

 

[Gamingfan]

Zeren stood his ground, allowing his enemy to approach him while he focused. He took a breath, allowing his chakra to flow through his weapon. Once Taki-Dude attacked, (another horizontal slash, interestingly enough) Zeren reacted accordingly, blocking the liquid blade with the flat of his own. He sent a surge of his lightning chakra through the blade, hopefully conducting it through the metal blade to the water one and give his enemy a nasty shock.

 

[Mystic Zander]

By the time Garu looked back to his teammate, the young Explosion-Nin was standing nearly ten yards away, well out of the range of any gusts of wind or debris that decided the fly around from the explosions.

“Oh?”

Yoshi raised an eyebrow, realizing his teammate seemed to be hesitant about getting involved. This could honestly be funny...

“I don’t really know, man...I’m just not that great with explosives. Maybe you should take this one.”

With that final remark, the charcoal-haired Genin ushered his comrade out towards the ensuing battle.

“Besides...I'm not getting killed in some Kamikaze attack...”

 

[kyuukestu]

NPC Encounter — Zenren

The mocking grin on the Taki-shinobi's face only deepened as Zenren braced to block his water blade. He could already imagine Zenren's surprise when his water sword slipped over his guard—cause it was water, duh—and sliced him in two. He was so caught up in his plans that he'd been caught completely off-guard by the current of electricity that Zenren applied to his own sword. The electrifying jolt caused his muscles to spasm, shattering his attack stance; but, his momentum carried him forward. His water blade continued, slipping right through Zenren's sword. It seemed that the two shinobi were going to impale themselves on each other's blades!

@Gamingfan

 

[ThAtGuY101]

"You eat what nature provides you Utano. You eat what nature provides you. Sometimes nature provides food that screams 'No! Please don't eat me! ', but you aren't here to negotiate!" Ryu Ryu said in response to Utano's cannibalism remark. Ryu Ryu definitely didn't like the idea of cannibalism, but it was still a option in the back of his mind. Just in case they find themselves desperate for food. An all berry meal for five days would not cut it for this hunter. He would eventually need meat.

"THAT WAY! That way right there! Onward Kochiki That path. This path right over yonder! Cht! Cht! " Ryu Ryu said gesturing to the dangerous path in response to Koichi's question. Ryu Ryu turned to Utano, "eeehh. Nah. House cats don't taste good. No thanks. Hard pass on that. I am a little thirsty though. The river isn't too far from here" Ryu Ryu said.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"If that's the case, you're going first. We can use those drums as pans to cook the meat." Utano quipped as she shrugged her shoulders. It wouldn't come to cannibalism, but having a plan never hurt anyone. Fish and berries would sustain them, maybe if they were lucky they would get like a boar or something. Personally she was okay living just on fish and berries, but she did acknowledge the fact that protein were important.

"No one said anything about us eating it, the reverse scenario is more likely. How do you know how cats taste? Did you eat one before?" The girl was curious as to why the walking stomach with drums knew what cats tasted like, plus it would be a fun story to look back at and laugh. "Make sure the river is not like contaminated or something, we can't use parasites or diseases in general."

 

[ThAtGuY101]

Ryu Ryu's face turned into a look of rage at the idea of his drums being used as cooking utensils. "If you even think of using my babies like a spatula, Ugani. I will kill everyone in this forest, and then myself. Nobody hurts my babies! Especially after the hard work I put into making them!" Ryu Ryu said. Hands atop his drums. Fingers clenched around the edges of the drum. This comment was almost as bad as threatening to kill his stepfather.

Ryu Ryu cringed when Utano asked him about eating cat. It happened three years ago, and it was one time, and he completely regretted it because the taste was horrible. The horrible taste was partially due to the fact that it was cooked rather terribly and meal gave Ryu Ryu a few nasty lingering side effects which lasted three days. "Nope. No. Never. Nu-ugh. Not something I wanna eat agai- I mean never cause I don't eat that" Ryu Ryu said cringing mid sentence. The idea of parasites or other nasty things in the water didn't cross Ryu Ryu's mind until Utano mentioned it. He was definitely glad to have Utano there to help out.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Relax dude, we'll make sure to clean them afterwards. Besides, what are you gonna do if you're gone? Haunt us? I'd be down for a ghost buddy, would make life more interesting." Utano had a lazy grin on her face as she stretched her arms. "Anyone got like fire release or a fire starter? We gotta boil that water before drinking it to be safe. I've got lightning release, but that would probably just mess up the wood instead of actually starting a fire." She wasn't going to push the cat bit any further, Oto was a rough place to grow up and food was food. She could very well have eaten cat once in her life, but her parents never let her in the kitchen when food was being prepared. Probably for the better, as she would probably be a hindrance in the kitchen and make it hard to explain why there was a pet on the kitchen counter.

 

[ThAtGuY101]

"You relax. You.... You" Ryu Ryu said pointing at Utano. "Drums like these weren't meant to be played by those who play off beat and lose the tempo more than they keep it" Ryu Ryu said lightly briefly tapping his drums at a steady pace.

"Lightning to fire. Hmmm. Worth a try at the very least. Not like we're low on wood. Doubt we'll find any flint stones in the Forest of Chumps. If we get a thicc piece of wood like a log, and a lot of dry dead grass. Like a lot of it. The lightning might cause log might catch on fire, but it might not. The dead grass will definitely burn. Put some small twigs on the fire and slowly work our way up to branches, and we should be good to go" Ryu Ryu said.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"I'd say I can keep tempo pretty well, I've yet to hear anyone complain about my music skills. I never played the drums though, so who knows?" Shrugging, Utano smiled at Ryu-Ryu. He was so easy to rile up, she'd have to remind that if she wanted to have some fun down the line. "Dead grass is good tinder, yeah. Tree bark, especially birch works wonders too. You've got the right idea, but we gotta prevent a forest fire for now. Not only is it a giant beacon, it is also just not healthy. Maybe we can use earth style to create a ring to keep the fire contained? Or we just dig a hole for the fire, that works too. I'd normally say let's split up, but we still don't know what caused those claw marks. Besides, I don't see anyone carrying a log by themselves."

 

[ThAtGuY101]

"Well you are from the the Oto Village, so any bad habits were likely beat outta you. So I can imagine your probably right about that" Ryu Ryu said. Slightly cringing when he remembers the way the shinobi drum major would smack the top of people's knuckles for losing tempo.

Ryu Ryu grinning at the earth jutsu comment, "Thought you'd never ask! As soon as we get back to camp there will be a nice pit for fire making" Ryu Ryu said. "A thick branch would work just as good really. Strike it with lightning and it won't be completely charred upon hit. Should be able to cause enough sparks to cause the grass and tree bark to catch fire. Nice little pit to ensure the fire is controlled The water source should be right up ahead. Nice thinking" Ryu Ryu said.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Basic survival things really, Oto isn't the richest place around so it never hurt to know how to live off the land." Utano shrugged as she walked over to a tree, looked at a dead branch and grabbed her bass guitar. "Let's yank this boy down." The strings of the instrument shot forward and wrapped themselves around the branch, causing it to tear as Utano pulled on the bass guitar. "One big branch, coming right up!" The branch fell after a second tug as the strings recoiled and wrapped around the coil inside of the instrument. "What's left, just tinder? Maybe something to keep the water in as it gets heated?"

 

[Gamingfan]

Well...it kinda worked.

His nasty shock was transferred, but now liquid physics were not on his side. Welp, screw offense, commence evasion.
Zeren moved away in a futile attempt to avoid the blade, luckily managing to evade a lethal slice...mostly. He couldn't help but yelp as it cut into his side, sending him onto the floor on his knees, facing away from Taki nin.
On the bright side, his back didn't ache nearly as much now.
Zeren clenched his teeth, not bothering to check the injury as he made a sequence of hand seals. He spun around, launching a web of electric chakra string to incapacitate the Taki-nin.
Lightning Release: Spider Web!

 

[Godjacob]

Needless to say Koichi was not a fan of his team's commitment towards the survivalist exercise as he'd rather find some victims and have a bit of fun getting the scrolls, but it seemed their minds were made up as he was not gonna start infighting over this; Ryu seemed to already have camp set up as they debated over what items were needed as Utano cut down a tree to get some timber while Koichi smirked a bit.

"Depends. Do we have a main dish for food? Berries are fine but this forest is bound to have something more filling along here, perhaps I can scout around camp for any creatures that'd make a decent meal." Koichi suggested to the pair, mostly on basis that hunting for game seemed most "fun" of the camp jobs.

 

[ThAtGuY101]

"Those look like some great branches! As for water storage... ugh... earth pot? I dunno" Ryu Ryu said. He continued to head towards the river when Koichi spoke. Ryu Ryu glanced over, "No. Nnnn nnnn! You can eat berries as your main dish but I need MEEEEEAAAAAAT! I'm a growing boy Koichi! I need protein. I need real sustenance. I need food that I can hunt and ki- I mean slaught- I mean murd- I mean... a boar or a bear! Boar roast and bear chili. That's livin' right there" Ryu Ryu said with a look of content.

Ryu Ryu wasn't sure what to do on the water situation, and he still needed another scroll, but one problem at a time I guess?

 

[Godjacob]

"Well then we'll go hunting once we go to camp, far as water goes I can use a little something in one of my scrolls to carry it over & boil it if that is the issue of the day. Anything else we are in need of?" Koichi asked Ryu and Utano, as he seemed a bit amused at Ryu's rather over the top reaction as he chuckled to himself.

As if to demonstrate his point he revealed a scroll and with a swift motion what seemed to be a container appeared out of some smoke that he held casually in one hand. He figured that would deal with the water issue. He may have come to this village for combat and a desire to pass the exams but no fool would travel borders without some ready supplies at a moment's notice.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Well look at that, Koichi's prepared. Should that container not be enough, then we can always use the skin of potential prey as a waterskin. A bear is a bit ambitious, but a boar should be doable. If all else fails, I can probably shock the river and stun the fish in it. I'll repeat it again, hunting should not be done alone. We're with three people, so it should be possible for the hunting team to split up in at least pairs of two. The person left alone can create a clone for safety, we're still in the territory of something capable of those claw marks. Do not hesitate to shout out for help, I'd rather see you two in fear than in the stomach of some giant tiger or whatever. After establishing a base where we can rest, eat and drink, we can go after other people. I'd say that it is safe to assume that atleast two people of each scroll immediately go for the other scroll instead of setting up base. They're probably not incredibly weakened, but they'll be sloppy in their attempts to get out of here fast. Perhaps we can be like a vulture and loot the bodies of people who lost. If the scroll is already taken, it is 3 versus at the very least one tired person. Those claw marks could also help in our advantage, as no sane person would go into this territory. What that makes us, I'll leave that for you two to figure out." Utano chuckled as she told the group a survival plan. "Oh, and be careful with berries. They can easily be poisonous and I am no medic. If you die because you ate every single berry of a bush that just so happened to be poisonous, that's on you."

 

[ThAtGuY101]

"Water, and food covered. Only thing left is the fire and hunting. Yeah!" Ryu Ryu said striking a pose. "Split up? Who's going alone and who's tag teaming?" Ryu Ryu said.

"Wait... if no sane person comes through here, does that make us...? Nah. Not important now. Ha! Loot the bodies. More like loot the walking meat sacks" Ryu Ryu thought to himself.

"Mhmmm. Poison berries. Ain't got no time for that" Ryu Ryu. Ryu Ryu headed back to the camp, "earth style!" Ryu Ryu said as he created a two ft hole in the ground that was about 3 ft in diameter. "Soon" Ryu Ryu said. "Kill the meat, or don't. Cook it over the fire, and watch it burn. Burn. Then feast! And get you scroll and walk outa here like kings. Kings with guts full if meat" Ryu Ryu thought to himself with a nasty grin.

"Be nice if we knew where a boar actually was. Like a big fatass boar with a bunch of meat. Now we're talking! *badum bop!*" Ryu Ryu said smacking his drums. Ryu Ryu decided to use his drums to see if anything was nearby. Ryu Ryu struck a pose before patting the drum Seikichi. The pose itself was purely for aesthetics and didn't improve his abilities , but he liked doing it anyways. If anything within the nearby area moved, Ryu Ryu felt it.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"I'll stay here. Should something go wrong, I will let you know with my bass guitar. You two seem to be more equipped for combat than me, not to mention you are probably not looking forward to have to look for firewood." Utano smirked before casting hand signs. "Clone jutsu!" A puff of smoke appeared out of nowhere, creating a perfect copy of Utano. "Stick together, stay safe, don't die. Those are the only things you have to keep in mind. Now go out there and have fun." The girl joked as she began gathering tinder for the fire. She knew that if you thought you had enough firewood, you always needed twice that amount so she did not want to waste time.

 

[kyuukestu]

Momo

The water-bubble splattered as the girl landed, but she was protected from any injuries. Momo immediately hid away while she waited for her eyes to recover. She knew the impact-zone of her water-bubble would be a dead-ringer for her location so she needed to move away from it. Without a sense of direction, however, she risked wandering out into the open. Momo's simple solution for this was to go in the opposite direction of the explosions and conceal herself with an apt transformation jutsu. She took a moment to consolidate the visual of slightly charred kunai then transformed. She knew the explosions would've scattered her ninja tools in all directions. One of the many ninja tools scattered among chaotic remains of her battle with Kani would surely be overlooked by anyone assessing the situation.