[Chūnin Exam] Prototype°209 [Shizuka]

[Shieo]

Akame, Kikai |NPC
Profile​

Over the course of her young career Shizuka had undergone strenuous trials of skin, blood, spirit and mind if nothing else; she was hardened in will- if not in form and size.

As such, it should not have come as much of a surprise when at the door of her home, came a knock, then another. When answered; be it Shizuka or family, a letter was delivered addressed to the youthfully spirited Genin. The contents inside were simple, concise and very clear in their intent; she was to address herself to the Academy, a specific room that was laid out in the basements of the Academy Building.
Room 209; 8:35AM. The date was set for tomorrow.

The reason? She was to be trialed for the position of Chūnin.

---

The day of her test had arrived the early morning halls of the Academy were bustling as per usual, with the slew of children with varying backgrounds each there for one purpose; to become shinobi and to serve the village for any plethora of roles that filled the ranks of the village's military.
But today Shizuka was not goal-orientated to mingle or blend in with them, she was being tested for her capacity on the skills of a Shinobi; to become a role-model of these children, something -- Someone to aspire to be due to their superior strength, wits and experience-- That is if she passes.

Making her way down to the basement levels of the Academy. Lightning grew dimmer and dampened by the lack of windows for natural light, the air grew humid and tasted stale. It was rare that people aside from Teachers, higher ranks and various other training regimes would come down here.
But here she was, now at the base of the steps and then exploring. Following the map provided to the room that was designated for her trial, when she found it; it even had her name placard on the door name-plate; dictating that not only was the room occupied, but for a purpose.

---

Pressing the button that opened the mechanical door, hissed and steamed out pressure as the large door slid open. Revealing a dark interior; further into the room stood the back of a woman, speaking to someone. The room she could tell was quite massive, had to have been a few hundred feet in either direction. And about eighty feet tall; probably. The darkness did constrict her vision some to it's size.
The two didn't address her yet, but once she walked in. The door would hiss and seal itself to the outside world behind Shizuka.

At the very moment, the lights of the room begun flickering to life. Whirring to the electricity that filled them to operate the artificial illumination; the space was in-fact very close to her original estimations. If only a few feet bigger or smaller in difference, nothing significant. The room itself, was nothing to gawk at otherwise; it was all steel-grey, flat and edged at the corners and sides with ninety-degree angles. And empty; save the two people about fifty feet in.

At the moment the lights erupted, the woman turned around. She was familiar; Kikai.

Met with cold slits of eyes, the steeled gaze of the older woman sized Shizuka up if only for a hair of a second. "Well chop-chop girl, we ain't got all day." she growled with familiar venom in her voice. Once the distance was closed, if it was closed; the woman would speak clearly and loud enough that the whole room could hear her. "Today we mark the occasion by testing your mettle to see if you're a capable individual for the role of Chūnin" Kikai had taken a moment, to gesture to a person next to her. Who was sitting on a chair; a bit unwillingly. They looked exhausted with bags underneath their eyes; but otherwise in healthy condition. "This here is... We'll call him two-oh-nine; a marker for your test today. However, before I explain the full context of the test. Do you have any questions?" She narrowed arched an inquisitive brow. "And for the sake of both our sanity, and perhaps your well-being; don't ask why he's tied up."

---

Notes

• Note: None yet! Simple introduction to the start of the exam.

Kikai

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Tightly she held onto the letter in her hands, as if letting it go just by a little would cause it to vanish. Her heart was beating fast. The words almost seemed unreal as she re-read them. They were actually willing to give her a shot at becoming an important part of the Cloud. This wasn’t an opportunity given out to everyone so quickly. So, she would put all of her effort into it. There was no time to be lazy anymore and she could definitely not be late this time.

*​

The night prior was kind of terrible. She hated to admit it, but she had been quite nervous and sleep hadn’t come easily to her. At the end of the road she had decided to get up extra early, shower, stretch, then grab a nice breakfast before heading out. This was probably the first time she was at school before everyone else. Sitting on a tree nearby, she watched as slowly kids started to fill up the yard in front of the school, and finally the school halls. The waiting was stressful. There weren’t many things she could think of that could take her mind off the upcoming test. With her parents being on a mission, she had nobody to share her excitement and fears with. It seemed that today she was on her own.

*​

Following the instructions to get to room 209, she passed dozens of kids that were getting ready for class. Some looked happier than others, but all were working on becoming a shinobi in the future. Now that she thought about the time at the Academy, she could see a clear difference between then and the life she was leading now. Not too huge, not too extreme, but it was present. So, she understood that taking the next step would bring her even further from the careless and easy life she had not too long ago.

After a deep breath and the watch saying 8.31AM, she pressed on the button. There was no mistake this being the place - her name was put on the door. She inhaled deeply another time, tried to leave behind her nerves that tickled her skin like needles, and entered the room. When the door closed behind her, she wondered if she had to speak up or wait to be addressed.

About to take a step forward she realized that the woman was Kikai. The strictness in her actions and the cold gaze briefly smothered Shizuka. She could remember the previous test she had been in - this would be hard. Harder, probably, than the other one.

Clearing her throat, she crossed the distance. “Good morning,” was all she said before giving Kikai the ‘stage’. Next to her was a tied up person. Oddly exhausted. Shizuka wasn’t sure why they were here. The room was huge. Why were they tied to a chair?

Unsure if the test had already started, she tensed a little when Kikai’s eyes were on her once again. Trusting the woman to be reasonable, Shizuka went with following her ‘order’ or rather ‘threat’.

“No questions, yet.” There might be later, after Kikai would explain her what this was all about. At the moment, however, the only question she had was the one she wasn’t allowed to ask. Besides, she kind of assumed that the reason for the bondage would become clear once Kikai would be done explaining.

* * *​

 

[Shieo]

Akame, Kikai |NPC
Profile​

Kikai flashed an approving smile to the young Senju; "Good." Kikai gave the man whom was bound a good solid pat on the shoulder; it was forceful and carried enough impact to make a clapping sound just once. Kikai, only gave an amused chuckle; while the man didn't share the sentiment, and only gruffed out a muffled groan.

"As you're plenty aware I'm sure, that the role of Chūnin is to fulfill a large gap of skill and leadership that a Genin doesn't inherently possess and requires the time and environment to develop those skills. A Chūnin is there to act as a superior, guiding hand and role-model to those beneath them in the hierarchy; all while performing tasks that any shinobi must, while shouldering the burden of greater, harder challenges within' the resources of missions and duties that their superiors now will lay on their shoulders." While Kikai meandered on about the duty of the role; it was clear in her tone, she knew Shizuka knew this; she knew it was dull and a waste of breath. But spoke on it regardless- Odds are, one could wager is she was expected to monologue about it, a matter to test the will of the examinee; and perhaps ensure that they knew what was being tested. Just in-case.

Nearing the end of the speech, Kikai ended up perched behind the man in the sit. Resting both hands on his shoulders; tapping her palms playfully against the muscles for a brief moment. His expression was that of concern, but didn't squirm.

"Now, to the test itself. In order to adequately test if you're at the very least competent in the use of shinobi fundamentals. I'll be using this room; which is plain for now." Her words drifted near the end, as if suggesting something was amiss. "The goal? I want you to do a little bit of a role-play with me and mister two-oh-nine. The setting?" Kikai stepped around the chair to stand between Shizuka and the man. "Is to free him, using everything you think a Chūnin should be able to do; and utilize effectively." she flashed a smirk, not quite finished it seemed. But the air was growing tense, "I am of course, intentionally vague. I'm not going to tell you how to free him, or why you're freeing him. I'll be here to act as an obstacle amongst other obstacles. Once you've freed him, if you free him. We will move to stage two of your test." Clapping her hands together.

"Now let's begin." And in one fell movement, the woman body-flickered in-front of Shizuka. Sending a blinding flat-foot front-kick to Shizuka's torso; sending her propelled backwards towards the entry of the room.
The kick itself, didn't carry a lot of injury or damage behind it; it seemed that it was cushioned by a blast of chakra- Intent to simply push the girl a distance away.

From the door, Shizuka watched as Kikai gripped the back of the chair and started dragging it to the other side of the room. Kikai waving behind her. "Begin kiddo'!" Erupted a boisterous shout.

That's when the 'obstacles' started to make sense. The ground shifted and pilfered an uproar of dust and dirt. Squared sections of the flooring, roof and walls all started to mold, twist and bend into varying shapes. The ground would disappear beneath others in some places, replacing the bland room; with new obstructive pieces. Trees, destroyed buildings that were simply there as miscellany; but perhaps could serve other purposes.
Her sight of the woman and the man were lost; but not far-gone. She could tell the room retained its original size, it just looked slightly different. Both as means to slow her down and to perhaps give her the tools to prove to the woman and examinee board that she was cut out for the job.

The question now, was what will she do?

---

Notes

• Note: Alright, we won't be using the battle-mod system in it's entirety. I may incorporate some rolls here and there to add some interesting randomness to some out-comes. You are free to play under free-form rules and logic; with a distinct no-no against inherent god-modding, which I'm sure you're aware. So the biggest thing to keep in mind is you're welcome to what you want, but leave it open ended in attempts and potentials.
• If you have any questions; just poke me in Discord, otherwise. Lets the games begin.

Kikai

 

[Senju Shizuka]

After the monologue given to her by Kikai, she nodded. The odd mix of being a role-model while still having superiors who made the actual decisions would surely result in a way heavier responsibility than a genin was used to. They just had to follow, they had a chuunin or someone else to lead. To decide. To take the responsibility for the outcome of the mission and the choices made during it. Regardless of the pressure, she found herself eager to grow and to lead. Experience was something she lacked, but she would certainly try to learn from fellow shinobi or higher-ups, because it would give her a better way to keep Cloud in motion. To maybe better it in time. To become more than just the back-up on a team of three.

Get the guy, free him. The rest would come later. Check.

“Understood,” she managed to say before the woman moved forward. Unsure if that was all there was to it, she went with a defensive crossing of her arms in front of her, but the kick didn’t hurt. It simply shoved her back enough for Kikai to actually start the exam.

Everything shook. Gradually the room shape-shifted into something else entirely. Various blocks, trees and pits appeared from out of nowhere. While the place was evolving, she ran through the possibilities she had. The obvious one was running after Kikai and the man she was dragging. It would involve getting over the obstacles while trying not to let them out of sight. Who knew what traps laid ahead of her, though.

The next idea she had was flying, well, sort of. A sort of summon to carry her across the landscape without having to deal with climbing and dodging. But.. who knew, there might be traps that tried to shoot you down. It would still be a hassle because the only creature that could carry her was her obsidian dragon that wasn’t too fast. And she had to be quick.

Destroying everything ahead, or at least trying to, might be overly dramatic. And not really stealthy if this was to be a mission. She only needed the man, not to crush everything in a hundreds of yards radius.

Wait, she didn’t have to crush anything. She only needed to see them again, or rather him. The target. That’s why the seals she formed were those meant for Gravity Distortion. It had her levitating. She rose higher, toward the ceiling, and soon her vision was no longer impaired by broken trees and chunks of concrete. She thought to see her target again. There, toward the end of the room. On the other side.

Here goes nothing.., she thought before direction the Gravitational Pull jutsu at the man and his chair. The invisible forces of gravity started to pull as her chakra crossed the distance. She figured that maybe, she could pull Kikai with him. If it were to work, then they would fly back toward her and she could try to free him without having to cross the room, because he would be where they had started.

* * *​

 

[Shieo]

With the man in hand, by the back of the chair and in brisk stride to the other side of the room. Kikai, had taken a moment to look back at the fully erect room of miscellany and foliage to help simulate environmental combat. It was then, that the deep violet eyes caught sight of the hovering Senju nearing the roof of the room.

A brow had taken to arching on Kikai's face, as she felt the gravity start contorting and manipulating against the grain and forcing both Kikai; and the man in the chair to lift from the ground and start drifting towards Shizuka. In quick succession; the gritted woman had woven a blackened mist of vile power around the palm of her hand. A chain of darkness had molded, twisting like a cobra around the chair and Kikai's hand wielding the chair. In one fell movement, the rest of the chain darted to the ground and impaled down. Anchoring them-

Unfortunately, Kikai wasn't eager to simply let something so rash go unpunished. With their position solidified and anchored still quite a ways distance in the room. She then turned her attention back to the Senju; black bars of crackling dark energy contorted around her free hand, winding them up to be thrown, they in no short order unleashed across the room. Using the artificial chakra gravity that Shizuka wielded towards her, as a current to drag the weapons across the room in both momentum from Kikai's throw- and Shizuka's gravitational pull.

In a blink of an eye, Shizuka found herself prepared to defend a few of the eight poles of ethereal black bars; but two did manage to strike her.

What remained consistent however, is it seemed Kikai and the man were still a distance away. And anchored to the ground for now. From across the room Kikai yelled; "Gonna have to do better than that kid! Some lofty shit like that ain't gonna work in the real world. Stand out like a damn rusty nail!"

---

[MFT 338 WC]
Notes

• Note: Alright, we won't be using the battle-mod system in it's entirety. I may incorporate some rolls here and there to add some interesting randomness to some out-comes. You are free to play under free-form rules and logic; with a distinct no-no against inherent god-modding, which I'm sure you're aware. So the biggest thing to keep in mind is you're welcome to what you want, but leave it open ended in attempts and potentials.
• If you have any questions; just poke me in Discord, otherwise. Lets the games begin.

Kikai

 

[Senju Shizuka]

For a brief moment she thought that her little scheme had worked out well. Slowly both Kikai and the man came from the ground, pulled by the gravity fuelled chakra strings. Unfortunately, her success didn’t last long. If she was honest to herself then she couldn’t be disappointed. The exam wasn’t meant to be this easy - Kikai wouldn’t let her have everything in less than a minute. That, however, didn’t mean she shouldn’t have tried. It was better to act than not to, Shizuka thought. You always had a ‘no’, but could get your hands onto a ‘yes’. This here, well, it was obvious a ‘no’ when the chaotic black mass she remembered from their last encounter was rushing to slam into her.

An attempt to cover up with a barrier left her mostly unscratched. She would have to bite through the stinging sensation on her left side. The forearm and elbow had taken most of the hit left through the scattered barrier. Blood soaked her shredded sleeve. She wanted to take care of the matter, but figured that it wasn’t bad enough to waste time on. One on hand it might be a bit of a handicap later on, on the other.. she had to move.

Landing on a piece of cracked floor she dashed forward. The distance between her and her target shouldn’t have changed too much from the starting one. She had pulled Kikai back a little but the blow had given the Jounin enough time to make up for the lost ground. The attempt was a failure, it slightly bothered her, but she knew that thinking too much about it now would only leave her distracted from her mission. Time to worry about the results of her jutsu would come later. Right now - she jumped across a gap looking like an abandoned city street and held onto the side of a concrete wall - the best thing was to take it step by step. Not literally, maybe. Shizuka still felt like she had to try to make sure that nothing too surprising would catch her off guard.

Wait.. a second, the young Senju climbed over the wall just to land in another ‘street’ of sorts. The obstacles were slowing her down immensely. But.. maybe, just maybe. She could go by land instead of air. Kikai said her first attempt had been too flashy. Well, she knew something that was the opposite of that. Question remained if it would work, but trying wouldn’t hurt. Maybe just a little, she grinned, eyeing her bleeding arm that was the result of Kikai’s honed techniques of manipulating whatever that was.

She would ask the woman about it, if she would get the chance to. Something about the attacks was fascinating. Besides, Shizuka loved to learn about new ninjutsu. If that was it.

Now, however, she would go with an old one. Something she was long familiar with but didn’t often use. Relying on her eyes quite a lot, she preferred to aim and charge instead of sneak up. Maybe that was a problem of hers. Not every mission needed lots of rough force and outstanding jutsu. Some required delicate work, silent movements and precision. Well, she would try to get as close to her target as she could.

Around the corner, quickly over another wall, she slid across the concrete and steel until a soft patch of earth was beneath her feet. Then, with tension murdering her shoulders, she let herself sink into the ground. It was time to see how far she could get before getting out.

* * *​

 

[Shieo]

Her right foot tapping against the modular concrete that took the foothold of the air she stood on, patience wasn't exactly a strong virtue in her repertoire. When needed, she had the capacity to oblige to it's necessity, but it was a challenge; just like now. "Just what is that brat up too.." The steeled woman spot begrudgingly to herself, with the man strapped to the chair, his muffled groans and irritated sounds quietly filling the air ever so slightly.
Kikai's eyes swayed a moment over the horizon of the field of battle, until she looked to the man who was making an irritable amount of noise, her forehead pinching slightly as her brows furrowed the more she acknowledged the sounds he had been making. "Lords have sympathy, will you please just shut your yap? It's already bloody bound, quit the squirming. You'll be finished soon enough." Having rolled her eyes and resuming her attention to the testing fields.

"Really gotta' wonder, she's been pretty direct with her approach in a test that's supposed to gauge her diversity." With that in mind, the woman brought her hands together and formed the tiger seal; funneling chakra into her eyes a new field of view was expansive. Similar to echo-location, but only set to target and individually marked target. For a time, Kikai had some figment of an idea where Shizuka was. But then the trace was lost.

"Intriguing." She muttered coldly, her right hand falling to her side as a darkness licked along her fingertips; taking shape and lofting blackened mist ready to manifest itself.

The question now, was how will Shizuka approach? She will come to notice the stonework to be rather troublesome to Earth Lure through, but not strictly impossible.

[You're up! Lemme know how you wanna react. I know you mentioned you were also interested in doing a Bmod; if this is the time you wanna start it just announce it in your post and we can call the mod.]

---

Notes

• Note: Alright, we won't be using the battle-mod system in it's entirety. I may incorporate some rolls here and there to add some interesting randomness to some out-comes. You are free to play under free-form rules and logic; with a distinct no-no against inherent god-modding, which I'm sure you're aware. So the biggest thing to keep in mind is you're welcome to what you want, but leave it open ended in attempts and potentials.
• If you have any questions; just poke me in Discord, otherwise.

Kikai

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Alright, she had to admit that it was harder than she had thought. Apparently Kikai or whoever had planned this were into it for real. On one hand, it was dumb to expect anything less for a Chuunin exam, but at the same time she could only try to get away with something like this. It didn’t work the way she wanted to - something about the stone was too dense; it simply cost too much energy to move through. Obviously she had to give it up unless she wanted to lose chunks of chakra even before getting to her destination. So, with a heavy sigh, she did just that and popped up too far away from her target to her liking. Hopefully they hadn’t noticed her, yet. She duck into a side trench, climbed over a ‘fence’ of sorts and made her way across another concrete block.

No wonder the Earth Lure had been such a hassle, she noted.

Awkwardly she stayed close to the surface she headed over, crouching to hide her presence as she prepared her next ‘strike’. All in all it would be a decoy of sorts. She knew the woman wouldn’t be harmed by it, but hoped that it would distract her briefly. Maybe long enough for her to close the distance - not that she wanted to make this a hand-to-hand scuffle. She wasn’t insane.

One, two - the seals followed each other up. She let the lightning take form before dashing into the opposite side of the Lightning Beast. Looking like a long tailed overgrown cat, the sizzling jutsu rushed across the concrete, darted downwards, made a couple of zigzagged motions and disappeared behind a thick wall of earth. Shizuka, in the meantime, had split up into with a wooden clone. The real her was still directing the Beast - she hoped, however, that Kikai would assume that the clone was. Lightning was her thing, so it could be possible.

Running closer, she let the clone take the third angle while the cougar faced its enemy head on. With bared fangs and electricity forming everything it was, the creature jumped toward the woman unknowingly facing the end of its existence. Shizuka knew. She expected the darkness to rip apart her jutsu. Should that happen the connection to her would break. Not that it really mattered. Both she and the clone were already out of hiding. The clone was on her way toward the man while she went for the Jounin. Perhaps a dumb decision, but having come this close she just had to do something.

In the process of preparing for what was yet to come, Shizuka reached back and took a hold of Don. She would really need the warhammer should the distance remain short. At least the iron could help her block if there would be no room left to avoid.

* * *​

MFT 480
Ooc: ello, still rusty after the holiday etc.. I hope it's not too horrible :3

 

[Shieo]

As the pings of her tracking jutsu eventually returned, if a bit faint and not entirely accurate. Kikai at the very least, was made aware of the impending confrontation of the Genin, and her intent to try and rescue the man. With little motion from the Jounin, she flicked her wrist and a slew of blackened rods tucked between each of her right hands' fingers, projectiles perhaps?

Nevertheless as the beast made of lightning, and the clone had positioned themselves to be advantageous in the attempts at not only occupying Kikai's persons, but the time to retrieve the man. Is when the Jounin acted, with a swift and calculated motion; with a flurry of throwing weapons of the vile nature of Jashin, she had thrown two rods per target; Shizuka's Clone, the Lightning Beast- And finally, Shizuka.
As the rain of black rods shot violently to impale the clone in a shrill of electricity being discharged, and the lightning beast being electrically grounded to the earth; only to disrupt the flow and disperse it. The final two rods had flown into the sky, one reflecting off the other in order to angle the weapon to not quite hit Shizuka, but intent to draw her out of the shadows.

Only to be met with a woman with a stern look, her deep violet eyes gauging the Genin; there was a conflict of thought and portrayed emotion because of it; but her face otherwise was solid as a rock. "Good. Satisfactory in the sense of stealth and using the environment to your advantage; now to see how you handle an encounter you have no choice but to attend head on." The woman had extended a palm, motioning Shizuka to come forth. "Prepare yourself prospective Chūnin"

---

[BMod Call]
Notes

• Note: As agreed upon with Shizuka, it was decided that a bmod might be an entertaining take on this encounter.
• If you have any questions; just poke me in Discord, otherwise.

Kikai

 

[Sanyu]

Aight Chillins', it is I Sanyu here to mod yo fight, I just got a few requirements:

• Link all your stuff in your actions, if you're using a jutsu, link it. If you're using an affinity move, link to the list. If you're using a dependent action from a CA/BL, link to the CA/BL.
• List your passives, just make a list one time and copy pasta it into ever action cause I promise you I will forget something.
• If you have any concerns contact me on Discord, if I don't respond immediately I'm either at work (I have discord on my phone) or I'm being lazy and don't care for that moment.
• I'm quite the stickler for wordings and rules so make sure to double check your stuff before you send them.

 

[Shieo]

[For offical sake, this bmod is being put on hold until Shizuka is available.]

 

[Senju Shizuka]

A lot could go wrong from here on, but Shizuka had little to no choice at all. In fact, she knew that there was only one option left. That’s why her grip on Don grew tighter. Perhaps, right now, she had to lose all the hesitation and fear of the potential mistakes she could make. Having gotten to the other side it was time to face Kikai. And that’s the only thing she should be focusing on from now.

Having been witness to some of Kikai’s skills she knew that being quick and accurate would pay off. The question was whether she was quick enough. This Jounin she was standing against probably had so much more up her sleeve. Right. Thinking about it would only cause her to go back to worrying, she didn’t have time for that. Only the practical things mattered now. So, she moved.

With her arm pulled back she jumped forward, holding Don behind her. Then, as she came closer and pushed off the ground, Shizuka decided to do something that she might regret later on. However, doing the unexpected might do so good for once. At least she could dream of it.

Swinging her arm forward she tried to come up with the hammer from the bottom, hoping to smash Kikai right in the face. It probably wouldn’t work, that’s why she let go of the weapon a little before it actually would have connected with the woman’s face should the latter decide not to move. This way it basically got thrown into her. Maybe, it would connect with her chest because the collision time shifted to a point sooner in time, or perhaps it would distract her a little. Shizuka wasn’t sure, but didn’t wait to see the result. Her hands were free now, free to form seals.

Impaling Hydro Jet was a jutsu she was quite familiar with, so she rolled with the seals and let the water beam rush from her mouth. Of course, it was aimed at Kikai.

* * *​

 

[Shieo]

The matter in which the scene unfolded was swift and for an untrained eye, namely one whom wasn't a shinobi; would struggle to keep a sufficient focus on the two combatants. Listening to the crunching of dirt, gravel and ground in rapid succession as Shizuka closed the distances between the two; it gave Kikai enough time to shift her body and the blackening energy hissed in horrific smell and appearance; rotting the area that surrounded the woman as it fully manifested. In her right hand oozed out that of a blackened spear, and the left wielded a club of sorts.

With narrowed sight, her eyes steeled to focus on her combatant; intent to read and watch movements with extreme alacrity, that of a hunter with prey in sight and in mind. It was then, that the young Genin had armed her weapon from being a bludgeoning sort to having let go with a momentum shift and aimed it for Kikai's chest. This was met with a rather fluid motion of her club arm to go between the hammer and the woman's form. At the moment of impact it sounded an audible 'CLANG!' that echoed throughout the region.

With her arm extended outwards that wielded the club, it was met with the short time-frame between the projectile; and Shizuka having formed and cast the water based ninjutsu to soar through the air. With little apt time, and perhaps some complacency, the water jets had launched through the air and closed the distance. Giving the woman only a fraction of a moment to shift her club arm to brace the impact. With the water sharpening to impale; they crushed and pierced through the woman's tough skin and armor like clothing. Seizing the smell of iron into the air with the lick of blood coalescing down the woman's arm. "Very good." She purred in her ashen voice, full of grit and intrigue. As her eyes soaked in a yellow hue, the corruption started to set in the Jounin's vision.

A second paused and passed in a blink of an eye, and Kikai's form had adjusted the distances between the two in incredible speeds. With a quick, and decisive thrust; the woman had sent the spear soaring forwards in a linear stab directed for Shizuka's leg, clearly avoiding any vitals. And in succession she had stepped back and sent the tip of the spear in a dance of motion, slashing through the air in attempt to not only confuse Shizuka; but to begin drawing blood.

---

Notes

• If you have any questions; just poke me in Discord, otherwise.

Kikai

 

[Senju Shizuka]

The intention she had partly worked which was more than she could have hoped for. When the scent of blood mixed into the nauseousing smell spread by the Jounins artful skill Shizuka became very wary of the look in Kikai’s eyes. Something about it told her that the older kunoichi was enjoying this moment a little bit too much. Perhaps even viewed this as a little game. Their dangerous little game.

Shifting to the side on the sandy surface she felt the sharp sting of the spear where it sliced through the fabric of her pants and her skin. The warmth spread as blood soaked its surroundings, but Shizuka paid it no mind. Both her eyes and mind were focussed on the ‘enemy’ ahead. Where there had been a time when scratches and cuts forced her to jerk back, now she had learned to keep certain reactions in check. These tiny ‘bites’ could be dealt with later and spending even a split of a second on them right now might endanger her a great deal. So she ignored the one the spear left on her leg and the following ones it made after its dancing return.

Step by step Kikai began to gradually overpower her. Not yet at the crucial point from where there would be no return, but steadily heading there, Shizuka had to come up with something to gain back some of the ground lost. Using a kunai she took out of her pocket to counter as many jabs as she could, Shizuka let it hang on her little finger while turning her attention to seals. Before hitting the one where every finger she had was necessary, she let the kunai fly toward Kikai’s foot. Then watched the spear sail toward her side.

Painfully cut she appeared a small distance away when the spear cut ‘her’ another time - this time there was no blood, only confetti. The tiny pieces of paper burst into a cloud before trying to harass Kikai. Meanwhile, Shizuka took every drop of time offered to her trying to bring into reality the plan unfolding in the back of her mind. Leaving behind a paper clone, she once again headed for Kikai - picked up the kunai from the ground and hoped to keep the woman distracted while the clone went to get her actual target: the tied up man.

* * *​

 

[Shieo]

It didn't take much for Kikai to feel the weight of resistance against her spear shift mid-strike. As the blackened blade sunk into the flesh of Shizuka only to be replaced by a flurry of paper-like blades strewn through the air. By pressing her foot heavy into the earth, the force and chakra that licked at her heel caused the ground to shiver and crack underneath the opposing energy; in doing this however, it lifted off the woman and attained a moderate distance from the flickering paper.
Although there were fragments of some of the technique littering her skin through narrow cuts, the brunt of it was otherwise evaded with proficiency. What followed was Shizuka's forwarding assault to keep the woman stepping back in effort to exhaust her own time while the replica of Shizuka had darted to the target further away. The differentiation was generally fairly quick for the woman to discern, one was bleeding and the thirsting smell of the crimson iron was something she was quick to latch onto. In efforts to help alleviate the strikes from the girl's kunai; Kikai had angled her club to help deflect the metallic weapon; the faint sounds of clinging had echoed throughout the air with each clash that occurred.

While Kikai's eyes had taken the sight of the clone closing the distance from her current engagement, she didn't seem to make much movement; if any at all towards halting it. Instead she shifted her attention back to Shizuka; while stepping back throughout the defense, she suddenly came to a grinding halt. And twisted her spear arm, sending the weapon arcing around the length of Shizuka's kunai. Intent to cause a rather large gash if left undefended; the woman had made it clear that Shizuka had to rescue the man, which meant both freeing him; and getting him to safety. What mattered now was how Shizuka planned to accomplish this, given the limited capacities of a clone.

---

Notes
[MFT]

• If you have any questions; just poke me in Discord, otherwise.

Kikai

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Gritting her teeth didn’t help her in this situation. While they danced around one another she still was as far away from accomplishing her goal as she had been at the start of this session. Perhaps that’s why she tried to put things into order before taking her next step. With the clone closer to the man, she had something but that something wasn’t enough. The moment Kikai beat her here the clone would be no longer. And to her great distress she couldn’t go around or through this Jounin. There was nobody to help her out, no team to rely on. This was all about her and it put quite some pressure on her shoulders. Working her brain on what steps to take from here on, she watched the spear come closer. Wide-eyed, fingers preparing the attack she thought to be a good idea right now, she heard the tearing before the pain fully hit her.

At first she thought she had imagined the spear’s edge scratching her ribs. A split of a second later she knew it to be true. Regardless of it, Shizuka continued. Slamming her upper arm against the spear, she used all of her force to keep the spear jammed between her arm and bleeding side. The rest of her arm had gone beneath the spear and met up with the other one. The two kunoichi were close, perhaps too close for either’s comfort. However, it was necessary to at least try to keep her in one place.

Forcefully feeding the jutsu with chakra she quickened its manifestation. Maybe it would be fast enough, maybe not. At least it had to cause some sort of distraction. A diversion of this fight’s outcome or a delay. Every second counted here. Raijin’s Vengeance tore down from the sky in a flash of bright yellow just to crack across the training ground’s surface. Sizzling stones shook while dust and smoke rushed outwards from the impacted area. Shizuka didn’t wait to see the result, she had a plan. A last attempt at getting where she had to be.

The Crystalline Passage followed Raijin’s Vengeance and took another gap from her chakra pool. Together with the bleeding it was quickly pushing her toward the outcome of today’s exam. However, she wasn’t at the line quite yet. Biting through the pain and incoming tiredness, the young genin concentrated on the source of her own chakra that was the clone and made her way through the massive labyrinth. If she managed to reach her replica without crossing paths with Kikai, well, she would see what would happen then should it come to that. For now she still had these massive walls to zigzag through.

* * *​

 

[Shieo]

As the world blurred by with the speed of the combatants; it was clear Shizuka had taken note of the divide in difference between the two in melee precision and speed. Thus when Shizuka had taken the time to opt to capture the weapon, at the expense of being injured. It drew a sharp smirk from the Jounin; as the blood drooled down the girls sides. The unmistakable crack of lightning and thunder erupted throughout the area and ultimately the moment of the strike; Kikai had dropped the club weapon; reached out and gripped Shizuka by the collar- intent on sharing the impact of the lightning jutsu for the current to sizzle throughout both of them.

Although a moment of reprieve had succumbed to both Shizuka and Kikai giving way to the labyrinth walls to erect around them and the clone; it wasn't only a moment passed afore Kikai had lifted Shizuka up from the ground and in one fell- and incredibly rapid motion had spun and launched Shizuka like a projectile through the series of walls- at least some of the many; and in the direction of the prisoner as best as she remembered.

Meanwhile the clone had been darting through the artificial maze with relative ease and otherwise no inhibitions incurred by Kikai at this point. All that was left was navigating and getting to the prisoner; and Kikai walking through some of the damaged walls towards Shizuka.

---

Notes

• If you have any questions; just poke me in Discord, otherwise.

Kikai

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Some of the electricity from the blow still lingered on her skin. It appeared that she had underestimated Kikai once again, or rather forgotten how much of a gap there was between them. The experience the Jounin had, showed through in her ingenuity; it frightened Shizuka a bit to think that while this one was simply testing her there were others out there as strong who would love to take her life. Luckily that topic didn’t have the time to stick around. Because the train of thought leading there was violently smashed by the collision Shizuka had with the crystal walls thanks to Kikai’s hand-to-hand skills. Everything happened so fast that the young genin barely managed to prepare herself for the impact.

Across her the world spun when the first wall cracked, and so did some bones in her body. The ribs already injured shifted. She tasted blood even before her body slammed against the second wall. Splinters of crystal flew all around, scattering across the field like sakura petals in April. They prettily shone but felt like needles when Shizuka placed her hands onto them to push up from the ground. Blood trickled down her lip. She wanted to wipe it off, but it cost too much effort and time she didn’t have. While the clone had reached the target and cut the ropes, she was still stuck with Kikai and losing badly. Where a team might have taken this to the next level, she was but one “man”. There were no others who could take care of the target, split the burden of this “mission”. If this was out there in the field then fellow shinobi would follow through with the orders given while she would continue to distract and entertain the enemy for as long as she could if there was no chance of winning. Here, well, all she could do right here and now was try to retreat. Get her own hands on the guy, even though she wasn’t even sure when that could be considered “successful”.

Awkwardly standing, both pain and a certain degree of disappointment in herself written across her face, she decided that the only possible way to retreat fast enough would be through the air. Of course it would lack a certain type of grace and might leave her open to attacks, but there was no other way. So, she did what she could with what she had. Using a wall of flames from the palm of her hand - a searing eruption - she hoped to win a small window to manipulate the gravity enough for herself to cross the walls with no physical effort. The distortion of gravity was tricky. While she knew where she had to be through her own chakra emitting from the clone, landing would still be hard.

“Uuhmmpp.” The groan, followed by a heavy sigh and low hissing, escaped her regardless of how hard she had tried not to show the impact of the landing. Where coming down could have been easy with enough earth and a roll to soften the blow, she stumbled and rolled before getting back up onto her feet. Something was wrong with her shoulder and ankle. The ribs were mending bit by bit, unfortunately the steady energy she drew on to heal was slow to act. Shizuka knew it would not keep her together long enough to continue this fight for much longer if at all. Should Kikai press now, surely the young Senju would fall.

Eyeing the clone and the man from the corner of her eye she wondered where all of this would have led to should she have been better at standing her ground and developing strategy. Well, she told herself while trying to put her shoulder back while holding down tears, at least the guy was free. Right?

* * *​

MFT 641

 

[Shieo]

While witnessing the blunt-force explosion of material upon impact of the young Senju; Kikai had made it through some of the obstacles through meticulous and slow movement, however upon the momentum shift of the explosive power of fire licking the wall that stood between Kikai and Shizuka it had lent Kikai a moment to stop and watch as Shizuka had taken the time to get airborne and work her way towards the prisoner.

"Well. I suppose that is about that for this part, hm." The yellow faded like blood draining from a recently killed lamb, her body creaked under the pressure of the damage she willingly sustained; only to make her contort into an uncomfortable expression if only for a moment. While Shizuka wasn't able to see this expression; she was unfortunate enough to nor witness the expression of content in the current situation.

Flicking her wrists, Kikai's armaments fizzled into black mist, and then into nothing.

A minute or so later, as Shizuka made contact with the prisoner. So too did the Jounin, with a quiet and steady clap to not only announce her presence to the Genin; but suspected to lower the air of hostility. "Good good, while you sustained some ravaging damage; you're alive. And I'd say handled yourself generally well in a situation you were ill-prepared for while making minute decisions to prioritize both your life, and that of the goals." She said all this while closing the distance, and then upon getting a few meters away; her body flickered and appeared behind not Shizuka; but the prisoner. And with one swift flick of her palm, slammed the side of her palm into the man's neck; forcing him into a state of unconsciousness.

As the audible slump of his body crashed into the ground at their feet. Kikai, for the moment gestured silently to the prisoner, with an open palm and a gentle smile. "Now as I mentioned at the start of this. There is a second component to all this; the prisoner for this exam was actually a convict. A convenient life for this particular exam. Given your past, and demeanor the general consensus was we needed to see if your resolve can withstand the trauma of... Well, what our job is all about of course." With a cool air from her tone, the woman placed both hands behind her back; standing much like a soldier. The deep violets of her eyes studied Shizuka a brief moment, intaking the girls expressions and composure.

"He is marked for death-row, but for this particular examination you are tasked with slaying an enemy that has been incapacitated. He is defenseless, but a known high-ranking official for a rogue operation. Information on the group has already been gathered, and leaving him alive would be considered a liability." Narrowing her eyes into observant slits. "So, act."

---

Notes

• If you have any questions; just poke me in Discord, otherwise.

Kikai

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Carefully rolling the joint she confirmed that it worked the way it had to. At least this bit of her body was somewhat alright now. She didn’t spend any time on trying to heal the swelling, there were more urgent injuries requiring her attention. Of course they too would only be mend superficially. Less bleeding here, some softening the pain there - the energy rushed through her body, licking the wounds and slowly working its magic. It would take her a long time to get rid of all the damage done to her. Going to the hospital might be the best course of action. That, of course, would only happen when Kikai would let her go. As long as that wasn’t the case Shizuka remained where she was with her eyes on the Jounin.

Mostly the Jounins hands, if she was honest. It took a second too long for her to realize that the clapping was not the start of some jutsu. The gesture worked as intended, Shizuka felt some of the tension flow from her body. Unfortunately that brought a new wave of discomfort with it. Pain burned more brightly now that she tried to relax. Standing was hard. Breathing even more so. It’s why she tried to direct the soothing stream of chakra to the side of her torso.

Standing still, but following Kikai with her gaze, she breathed out a couple of words. “Thank you, ma’am.” It was all she could say, really. Unsure how to take the words if not as a compliment, the young genin straightened her back. Then she waited for whatever other remarks Kikai would make. Surely there was more to this test than their ‘fight’. There’s been a reason that she had to get to the man. Soon enough she knew what it was.

It froze her.

His body lay on the ground. A motionless heap of breathing flesh. She eyed him with both worry and pity. If he was truly sentenced to die then surely he deserved it. For her there was no reason why Kikai would be lying to her know. If this was a test, then it had to be the real thing. Should the Jounin stop her at the very end, then his blood wouldn’t be on her hands. It could have been, but wouldn’t be. There was a difference between being close to have done it and actually going through with taking one’s life.

Yes, she’s been in various predicaments before. During her trip through Marsh there have been casualties. It’s been different, though. There the men had tried to take her and her friends’ lives. In the heat of the moment she had been protecting herself and the others as much as she could. Right now, however, the figure on the ground before her formed no danger to anyone. For now.

The moment he would open his eyes, not to mention escape, he and his group would definitely take lives. And she couldn’t allow that.

Moving forward various thoughts rushed through her mind. Someone else could do it, but that would mean her hiding behind them by being unable to make a decision for herself. This, this was heavy. No rage, no life-threatening panic. Only cool orders and cold steel. She took out a kunai while her still existing clone picked up the man by his armpits. His face hung - in his unconsciousness he would not be aware of his end. Something about that was giving Shizuka’s muscles strength.

She used her free hand to gently roll his head to the side. Now it almost seemed as if he was sleeping. The kunai’s hilt warmed up in the palm of her hand. She knew what she had to do, but also knew that there was no way back. This wasn’t like breaking a glass, this was taking a life. There would be no way to turn it back, no way to ever have this man wake up again. He will never see, hear, feel or speak again. There would be no thoughts. He would become a part of the darkness again. Vanishing in the oblivious emptiness one came from. He would never know that he died.

Gripping the bottom of the kunai with her other palm she drove the blade into his chest. Janked it upwards with a strong jerk and a harder push. The tip of the kunai came out of his back. She felt the warmth of his blood soak her hands. Some of it was dripping down her wrist.

Holding onto the kunai she breathed out. Only now did she notice that she’s been holding her breath while driving the blade home. A quick step back left her with a bloodied kunai and an empty sort of satisfaction. The Cloud had an enemy less today, but it didn’t feel fair. She knew not of his crimes, but had been the one to execute him. A blind order. A part of the shinobi life.

Her face hardened when she looked up at Kikai, her heart was still beating fast. “Your next orders, ma’am?”

* * *​