Open Darting to Destiny: The Difference Amongst Peers!

[Chikamatsu Shin]

The sun was starting to set as the skies filled with magenta and orange hues. Shusuke smiled at the sound of fluttering breezes through the leaves of the White Oak trees that filled the district he was raised. Stepping further from the back door of his family’s flower shop and nursery. This large courtyard was where most of his family’s flowers were being grown. Wisterias and Lillies were abundant in this multi-acre courtyard that took a large section of this block, accessible by the nearby streets that touched the southern and eastern borders.

Shifting his weight slowly the young boy would move through his mixed martial arts training. At ten years old this young boy was finally a Genin, younger than even some Academy Students still studying. As he began to thrust his fists through the air flower petals began to twirl around him and followed his movements. The fighting style of the Yamanaka Clan was a very pretty one to watch as every time he moved the petals danced around him. With a soft smile on his face he kept his breath steady, excited to see where the rest of his night would lead.

 

[Ōtakemaru]

It was tradition to wear haoris as a samurai. More so for a clan that prided itself in its samurai lineage – the Nanjirou rarely ditched the loose fabric over their bodies in exchange for the air-tighter, skin-tighter shinobi outfits of modern day. This clash meant that many members of the Nanjirou clan looked like living relics of the past.

Take was no different. His purple haori was dark and mat, discreet enough to lower the awareness of distant foes when looking through thick sheets of wood and greens. However, it was extremely light and delicate clothing, and its full potential was brought to life without armor plates on. The Nanjirou were one-hit-killers, and wearing armor would express uncertainty in their own skills. No can do.

Take had learned the technique himself. Battōjutsu. Although, his mum was impatient – wanting him to have mastered all of the clan’s Iaijutsus by now – but Take was slightly happy. He was making progress, and that was something.

However, something about the constant flux of multiple schools of martial arts whispered of potentially greater growth. His Iaijutsu, his Fire Release chakra, and his Wind Release… maybe he too could combine them. Akin to the combination of dances, resulting in a blossom that glorifies the heavens and the earth.

Like the quivering dance he witnessed from Shusuke. Take had made it to the flowery garden, wide and accommodating to the street from where the swordsman came, and at one point, the young swordsman who was only at max a couple years older trembled a little. “S-Sorry, I- I remember you… from back at the, the Hokage’s office…”

Take’s voice was somber, but it was soft and full of humility. Not a tone of pride. Not a decibel of confidence. Not a shred of ill intent. “I… I think I see what you’re practicing, if I’m not intruding. You’re mixing… Taijutsu styles?" This would be odd, especially with Take carrying a beautifully sheathed katana on his hip, a way-too-worn-out sheathed ōdachi on his back, and a short sheathed wakizashi on his other hip.

 

[Shishiwakamaru]

The sun was setting on the evening sky, casting a plethora of bright, warm hues across the partially cloudy sky. The smell of pollen was heavy in the air as it was now spring. Shishiwakamaru took a deep breath in as he sampled the crisp night air. What a beautiful aroma, it reminded him of Shusuke-kun. Shi blushed suddenly as he remembered the day he and Shusuke were at the falls and they coupled their pinkies together. It was still a confusing experience for him, something he was not used to. But he didn't dislike it, that is to say, rather it was just new and foreign to him.

Pushing the thought aside he continued his evening stroll towards Shusuke's abode. He had hopes of doing some training with Shu, or at the very least just hang out and talk, as good friends often do. When he arrived at the front door he lifted his hand to know but hesitated as he heard an unfamiliar voice in the back courtyard. Curious as a pup Shishi decided to investigate. Slowly making his way toward the back gate he stepped lightly so as not to alarm whoever it was.

Upon further investigation he saw Shusuke talking with someone he didn't know. And for the briefest of moments Shi felt a tinge of jealousy. But he quickly pushed the feeling aside, who was he to say whom Shusuke could talk to. The very notion seemed immediately foolish and idiot. With a loud, audible *slap* Shi would facepalm, giving away his position. Realizing what he had done he decided to just go for it and open the gate and intrude on their conversation. But nicely, of course. "Hey, what's up Shu. I was just looking for you. Practicing your Phantosmia style I see, good on you. And you are...?" Just as soon as he finished his sentence he realized how much of a jackass he just came across as. He had no intention of sounding rude, but it just came out like a defense mechanism. Was he still seriously jealous? No, he couldn't be. He wouldn't be. That wasn't the kind and empathetic thing to do, or say for that matter.

 

[Senju Akio]

A flutter of pink cherry blossoms flowed through the sky as if dancing on the wind, intermixing with the vibrant colors of the impending sunset. Akio couldn't help but stare up in wonder at the beautiful display of nature as he noticed another cluster of the vibrant petals float past his sight. The nature-loving Senju knew well that those blushing blossoms only fell during an extremely short time during the year, and the fact that the date didn't coincide with this one made Akio curious. He followed the trail of flowers to their source, then smiled and shook his head as he noticed their source: the same young Yamanaka that had tried to teach he and Kiriyomi a harsh but valuable lesson at the Academy. 'Shusuke?' He thought as he began to approach.

He then noticed that the Yamanaka clansman was not alone, joined by the Nara he'd met a few weeks prior as well as a swordsman that was unknown to the boy. With one hand rising to the back of his sandy blonde mop to scratch his head, Akio smiled brightly and lifted its opposite into a cheerful wave. "Hiya Shusuke! Hiya Shishiwakamaru! Hiya.... I don't know your name yet! What're you guys up to?" He asked in a warm and sunny greeting. Akio had been training hard over the past weeks at the academy, and it intrigued the young Senju to no end what these three genin were practicing in their own shinobi preparations.

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

“I… I think I see what you’re practicing, if I’m not intruding. You’re mixing… Taijutsu styles?" Shusuke's brows peaked as he turned to look towards the newcomer. "No intrusion at all. You could say that. Its a mix of Taijutsu with a subtle lacing of Genjutsu. It allows me to weave my illusions more seamlessly while maintaining my use of poisons on my blades." Shifting his weight to his other foot and turning around the flower petals gusted around him like a small dirt devil. The ferocity of the petals was almost as intense as their beauty. Looking through the corner of his eye he saw a familiar face approach.

Shususke smiled as Shishiwakamaru remembered the name of his clan's fighting style. "Well, you found me. What did you need?" His movements were extremely similar to the Yang family of Tai Chi as his movements were slow, intentional, yet graceful. His voice was playful, but still curious. Then he heard another voice chime in. One of those kids from the academy he assumed. Letting out a sigh the young boy lowered his arms and shifted his posture, causing the flowers to fade from control of the Yamanaka.

"Well, I was in the middle of practicing my forms, but unless you all are wanting to get your hands dirty, I don't think I will be getting much practice done today." He let out another exasperated sigh, clearly slightly irritated that his practice has been interrupted. "Well, come into the garden everyone, you might as well make yourselves comfortable." Shusuke gesture to the courtyard that was lined with various flowers that were not only beautiful to look at, but if you knew they Yamanaka you'd know they were also extremely toxic poisons when prepared correctly.

 

[Ōtakemaru]

He remembered this kid too. Shi… Shi… Shi… Shi… Shi… Shi… Shi… Shi…

Shiwukaru.

Quite timidly, Take bowed to the other Genin and introduced himself right after another blonde Genin had expressed his lack of knowing this worthless shinobi’s name: “Ōtakemaru. Or Take, for… for short…” Concerning the mixing of Taijutsu… Shu explained that it was moreso a mix of Taijutsu and Genjutsu than anything else. Being able to cast illusions while making use of poisoned weapons…

It sounded a bit like Take’s own fighting style. His katana, and Ninjutsu to support himself at the same time. Although, it likely wouldn’t look as pretty as the petal dance that Shu performed with apparently no effort-

Wait, they were interrupting his precious time! He said it himself – unless they got their hands dirty, he wouldn’t be able to get a lot of practice done today! Oh, he shouldn’t have come here- he shouldn’t have! There had to be a way for Take to make it up to him-

“C-Can I help you with practice? I didn’t mean to interrupt you, I-I’m sorry! Please, let me make up for that mistake, I-I’m begging you… if you want to practice, you can practice on me then.” Somehow offering himself up as a sparring dummy made Take clench his sheathed katana in what he couldn’t explain as anything other than tension rising in his vessels. However, if he were his mother… yes, she’d definitely offer up training as a way to apologize for a mistake like his.

Unbeknownst to him just how okay this all was, Take felt like he had committed a mortal sin. He had to make up for it.

 

[Shishiwakamaru]

"Well, you found me. What did you need?" Had it not been for Shusuke's smile, Shishiwakamaru would have taken this as being short with him. Thankfully that was not the case and it would barely enter the young Nara's mind. As if there was a scheduled secret meeting of sorts, another individual entered the scene. It was none other than Senju Akio, Shi's newest friend. Taking a moment to say hello to both Akio and Take he would pause on replying to Shusuke. "Oh hey Akio, it's so nice to see you again. I hope you're doing well. And it's nice to meet you Ōtakemaru." Turning his attentions back to Shusuke he would reply in regards to what he needed, wanted rather. "I was hoping we could hang out or something. But I see you're training." Shi didn't want to interrupt his friend's progress. Thankfully Shusuke already had the solution to the problem. "Well, I was in the middle of practicing my forms, but unless you all are wanting to get your hands dirty, I don't think I will be getting much practice done today."

Shi had no qualms with getting his hands dirty, in this respect anyway. He could definitely help Shusuke train. Even despite his condition he was capable, as made evident in their friendly spar a few weeks ago. "Heck yes, let's all train together, it could be a lot of fun." Nudging Akio in the arm Shi would continue; "Wadda ya say buddy, you up for teaching this Yamanaka a thing or two. I myself would love to see what you can do, Akio." The young Nara would listen as Take would offer himself up as tribute, a living sacrifice of sorts. Shi would laugh in response to how adamant Take was about the situation. It was as if his honor was literally on the line here. Raising his hand Shi would follow up Take's statement. "I for one would love to see this, please practice on Otakemaru here, or on all of us for that matter. Let's do it!" Shi would punch one hand with the other signifying he was ready and willing.

 

[Senju Akio]

The sigh that was released by the young Yamanaka didn't deter Akio's upbeat energy, and the Senju child responded jovially to Ōtakemaru's greeting. "Hiya Take! Great to meetcha!" He said with his characteristic bright and toothy smile. Soon after, Shishi greeted him warmly as well. Akio had immediately taken a liking to the young Med-nin-to-be and felt comforted by his kind-hearted presence. "Hey Shishiwakamaru! Doin' great! I've been learning all kinds of new jutsu in class!" He replied with childlike excitement.

As Shusuke mentioned them training with each other, Akio's nerves went into high gear. It was clear that he was the least experienced shinobi here and the only one still a student to boot. However, Shi's encouraging words gave him the confidence to fight through it, if not eradicate the surge of adrenaline he felt at the situation. 'If Shishiwakamaru believes in me, I should too!' He thought, remembering what he'd told the Nara clansman on the day they first met. The young Senju's heart beat faster, his body shaking slightly in anxious anticipation, but rather than an expression of fear on his face, Akio wore a huge grin. This was going to be his first chance to put what he'd been learning into practice. Nodding towards the three more experienced ninja, Akio steadied the tremors of nervous suspense that quaked through his lithe and lanky form. "I'm in!" He said, a sense of eager determination inflecting his voice.

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

Shusuke would look over to the overzealous Ōtakemaru with a bombastic side eye. Rolling his gaze over to Shishiwakamaru. His eyes remains unimpressed. ”Oh? Think you’re down for that still? One time wasn’t enough for ya eh?” Almost as if it was his catchphrase in a cheaply dubbed animated foreign series, Shusuke let out a sigh. He would flick his fingers and as he did a series of chains began to materialize from his fingers. Descending from his fingers and vaguely moving throw the air like serpents there were a series of daggers, hooks, arrow tips, crosses, and even wrecking balls that rested at the end of the ten chains he held in his hands.

”So, how do you all want to do this?” Shifting his stance back into the Phantosmia style the wisping petals caused the chains to almost shimmer in and out of existence. His eyes looked at the group, they would be easy to trick. If he had to compare the resilience of their refusal to mental probing he would say Ōtakemaru was the most resilient to such attacks and Akio the lest. But that didn’t matter. Even Ōtakemaru’s mental guards that Shusuke could sense were a fraction of the Yamanaka’s strength.

If he were to give them a numerical value he was looking at a 50, a 40, and a 20… and it was a good thing he was a 275. Pulling his hands together in front of himself to form a series of signs he spoke. ”I hope you’re ready for something new Shishiwakamaru. Yamanaka Style: Name of the Rose Jutsu!” As he spoke the skin on his body began to rip away from his flesh. Bursts of pure chakra came from the now gaping wounds. In a moment’s notice his body would begin to swell as the form that now resides in the courtyard was not that of Shusuke’s. The blue burning Chakra would begin to consolidate as a large reptilian creature with ten heads now stood in its place. ”Shishiwakamru-kun. I hope you have learned new tricks yourself!” As the hydra form spoke sparks of electrical energy took across the young boys now scaly skin.

 

[Ōtakemaru]

His honor was literally on the line here. If his mum caught news of him annoying local Genins in their training, then certainly hell would break loose back home. He simply had to be useful. Shinobi were useful, and he wanted to be a good shinobi. It was all tied together, in his head – be useful, and help this guy train, then you’d be a great shinobi one day… right?

Shiwamaru was in on the idea too, and in high spirits- wait, his name was Shishiwakamaru? That was so long, though… pause-

Shusuke didn’t wait a second longer and had already lashed out his first Technique – chains protruding from his fingertips, each weaponized with a sharp dagger, arrow tip, hook or what looked like the spiked orb of a morning star. The chains… he could’ve sworn that they were flickering in and out of reality by the second. It muddied his mind and smeared his concentration. He was… hesitant to deal with the chains at first. Shusuke looked like he had complete control over them – what good would Take’s swordsmanship do against that?

On top of it all, Shusuke himself suddenly… exploded! In a wave of pure chakra, no less! “W-What… w-w-what is…?” he stuttered at the very sight of what was a creature of legend standing in the field in front of them, accompanied by chains underneath as no sign of humanoid Shusuke were to be seen, “What Jutsu is t-that?” His sheer ignorance towards the level of strength that Shusuke possessed said it all… to himself. This was what a genius was capable of.

A level of skill and power that he might n-

*BONG!*

As if hit by a bell, Take’s aura was rapidly substituted with a tint of blood-red chakra emitting from his sheath. Upon lowering his body in position and grabbing the hilt, the red tint grabbed hold of his hand and traveled up his arm with clearly visible veins pushing up under his skin. As if he was pulling on that katana with his life on the line.

But he quickly let go of the hilt as quickly as he grabbed onto it. The aura dissipated, but his eyes remained reddened in the irises. Nearly possessed, Take shouted at the top of his lungs: “SHIWAMAK- UH, S-SHIWA- SHIKAMA- SHISHIKA- UMASHI- S-SHIKUWAMARU! DISTRACT HIM!!!”

 

[Shishiwakamaru]

”Shishiwakamru-kun. I hope you have learned new tricks yourself!” Arcs of electricity raced across Shusuke's new form as he spoke. His incredible new form pierced Shishiwakamaru's heart to the point of sheer terror. Shi had seen Shu upset, angry, all that, but this was something entirely on a different level. What jutsu was this that destroyed Shusuke's body and took on this fearsome beast? Shishi's heart skipped a beat in response to the sudden and grotesque transformation. Taking a few steps backwards Shi gave thought to fleeing the scene. The only thing keeping him here was the other students here. If Shusuke lost control in this new form he couldn't sit back and let it consume Akio or Take.

Take's voice snapped Shishi out of his stupor, bringing him back to reality. “SHIWAMAK- UH, S-SHIWA- SHIKAMA- SHISHIKA- UMASHI- S-SHIKUWAMARU! DISTRACT HIM!!!” Perhaps he should tell Take he could just call him shi, or shishi, he knew his name was a mouthful. But anyway, that was neither here nor there, they had a situation at hand to deal with. Shifting into his own Shadow Tactics style, Shi would flip through a series of handseals before coming to a stop on his clan's signature technique, Shadow Constriction. An advanced form of Shadow Possession, this Technique allows Shishiwakamaru to separate their shadows from solid surfaces, launching through the air after Shusuke and constricting him with vice like darkness.

Considering how many heads there were landing his attack was easy, many heads meant many shadows to latch onto. Shifting his stance a bit and changing the handseal he was sporting he followed up with Shadow Possession; Shadow Bind. A legendary skill of the Nara that kept their foes from moving, but it took a great deal of concentration to hold a target of this power. While Shi was a little stronger than Shusuke, aside from genjutsu, restraining him would prove difficult. But Take had his distraction, the Hydra Shu would be restrained for now, but who knew how long it would hold the mythical being.

 

[Senju Akio]

Akio battles with mixed emotions of fear, excitement, and unbridled interest as Shusuke transforms into pure chakra in the shape of a creature or animal that Akio had never before imagined. "We gotta work together! That thing's scary!!" Akio called out towards Take and Shishi. Quickly forming hand seals, the ground just before the young Senju melted away into mud as, in a flash, a clone made of twisted and gnarled roots forms into a perfect copy in the shape of the nature-loving boy. Both versions of Akio dashed forward toward where Otakemaru was forming an intense red aura of seething chakra, their paths twisting and crossing to try to mislead the more experienced Yamanaka's guess of which might be the real version.

Then, as quickly as it appeared, the second Akio vanished. Take, however, would feel the surge of chakra and natural energy within his blade. A new life lied within it, both figuratively and literally. Utilizing the newest of the jutsus he had been training, Akio's physical form had combined with the weapon and would do his best to aid the Nanjirou in the strike that would come. Seeing the opening that Shishiwakamaru provided via his impressive shadowy kekkei genkai, the second version of the Senju, and only one left visible, nodded towards his med-nin bud.

Akio knew full well that he wouldn't be able to keep up with the speed and strength of those more experienced shinobi, and so the other Akio stood beside Ōtakemaru, ready to dash when he did and hopefully provide the genin some cover and an alternate target for the fearsome hydra that had manifested as Shusuke's glowing chakra form. Even if he wouldn't be much use attacking on his own, perhaps he could provide some protection and advantage to the attacks and defenses of his allies.

[MFT .:. 302 Words]

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

As the large multiheaded form of Shusuke made it's appearance and the manifested chains shifted as the multiple necks of the creature, it wasn't more than a matter of seconds that the three other shinobi began to act. Shusuke grinned as he saw the young student make a clone, but it wasn't long before one of them vanished. Rearing his head back to start the spar Shusuke found himself unable to move as tendrils of darkness showed a stark contrast to the glowing chakra form that was his body. "Damn it Shishiwakamaru." The hydra form was stuck and unable to move.

"Fine..." As he spoke a mirage and rippling began to fill the gaze of Shishiwakamaru. Shusuke was trying to play Secret Technique against Secret Technique. Yamanaka Ninja Art: Mind Possession Jutsu! The body of the hydra began to calm down, and depending on his success it may vanish entirely. Only time will tell if his jutsu succeeded, but if it didn't, Shusuke would be left extremely vulnerable. He knew his only chance was to use Genjutsu in this spar.

 

[Ōtakemaru]

Those shadows… by constricting the giant hydra-like creature that Shusuke had transformed into, Take would have his opening. But his katana had… changed, somewhat. There was an energy inside the blade that wasn’t his, but watching Akio move to his side told him that it was his doing. He didn’t know why, but the energy felt oddly idyllic – as if mother nature was granting him her favor.

The blade shone a deep-green in contrast to its previous, blood-red taint. Take wasted no more time and darted towards the heads in one side, attempting to behead the hydra – one neck at a time. He would leap up in the air and commit somersaults to do so, moving as if a completely different person from the timid Take that wouldn’t dare put himself in the spotlight like that.

Swinging a green blade like that left waves of green energy flying out, and upon cutting at the second neck, an arc of greenish energy escaped his katana and flew towards the third neck before he’d attempted to go for it. Jumping right out of his second strike, the Energy Slash would attempt to decapitate the third head on its own, but… was Take really putting up a fight?

While he, in his possessed state, couldn’t tell yet, he might’ve begun wasting his chakra over a tactic pre-meditated by the Yamanaka prodigy. While chopping away at the heads with the blessing of the Senju running through his sword, was he really posing an opposition towards the plotting Shusuke as of now?

WC: 257
[MFT]

 

[Shishiwakamaru]

Shishiwakamaru's vision began to blur, as if the world itself had become a mirage. Then it all faded to black and Shi found himself in a dark abyss, where was he? Looking around the emptiness he noticed a light in the distance. Naturally he chose to persue and investigate this source of light. Upon closer examination he realized it was like a giant screen of sorts, but what was playing shocked him to his core. He was looking through a window of his eyes! He could see what he was supposed to be seeing. He witnessed Akio fuse with Take's weapon, the clone, along with Take's brutal assault of the hydra.

But something wasn't right, he wasn't in control. He could feel himself breathing, feel himself moving, but it wasn't of his own volition. No, something, or someone had taken control. That was when it dawned on him. Shusuke... He was a Yamanaka, of course, it all was beginning to make sense now. The sly punk had managed to take control of Shishi with his Mind Transfer jutsu. Shi tried to yell out to his friends to watch out, but nothing came out in the real world. Simply a lone Shishiwakamaru in a dark, infinite abyss of blackness, his voice echoing around him. "Sigh..." Shi lamented. "I know you can hear me. Please be nice and don't hurt them too badly, ok, Shusuke?" This being the first time Shusuke had ever done this jutsu to him, Shi wasn't 100% sure how it all worked. But he was confident that Shusuke would hear him considering they were sharing a mind now.

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

((OoC: Not trying to step in Akio, but this is to note the success of my Mind Possession Jutsu + Name of the Rose because Shusuke is no longer a viable target after Shishiwakamaru's post accepting the Mind Possession))

At Otakemaru landed a few blows agains the multi-headed form that Shusuke took the amputations were a success. Clean cuts would break and separate the sections of chakra from the body, but as the boy continued his attacks the Hydra like form would begin to fade away and vanish causing Shusuke to essentially vanish from the fight. No traces of the boy remained.

Pitch blackness was where Shishiwakamru would find himself, looking through the eyes of himself in a strange third person perspective. Shishiwakamaru could see where the body of Shusuke once was now stood empty. The clicking of heels on stone could be heard as he spoke out to the Yamanaka. `Well, well, well... I can't believe it actually worked! I haven't tried using this jutsu in an actual fight before. Good to know that it works as practiced.1 A ghost like form that appeared as Shusuke was walking down a corridor lined with familiar looking doors. The young boy smiled at his friend. Reaching out to wrap his blue spectral arm around Shishiwakamru's spectral shoulders he would continue. `Let's see what we can get up to!`[

Shishiwakamaru would stand up right and begin to look around. "I don't know where Shusuke-kun went, but if I had to guess he is probably taking advantage of the weakest among us." His eyes narrowed towards Akio and Otakemmaru. "But seeing as Akio-kun isn't out and about, I take it you'll be the target Otakemaru-kun!" In an attempt to impress the real Shishiwakamaru, Shusuke would grab one of Shishiwakamaru's summoning scrolls, but since he did not know the summoning formulation Shusuke would use his weapon conjuring abilities to summon a large fan. Cracking like thunder to open the fan that stood nearly as tall as Shishiwakamaru before yelling out, "Wind Style: Overcharged Divine Wind Scythe Jutsu!" By burning through a large portion of his chakra reserves. Ripping the fan across his body a large twisting tornado would form around Otakemaru and Akio as the young Shusuke divided up his chakra into multiple sharp spiraling blades to tear them apart.

The chakra form of Shusuke in Shishiwakamaru's mind chuckled. `I wonder how they will react. Didn't know I had that Wind Style in me did you? It's a shame I can't use your Shadow Possession while visiting here.` He was curious how Shishiwakamaru would escape from this jutsu.

 

[Senju Akio]

It was an odd feeling, being wielded as a weapon by the expert Nanjirou swordsman. He could feel the chakra flowing through himself, set ablaze in a deep viridian hue as Take slashed at the horrifying hydra with a ferocity that his formerly submissive and self-deprecating demeanor belied. It seemed the budding blade master had been effective in his attacks against the flowing chakra form that Shusuke had created. However, as the monstrous creature vanished, Akio couldn't help but feel that there was something wrong. He'd heard about the Yamanaka clan and some of their techniques, but even more than that, Akio knew from his prior run-ins with him that Shusuke was experienced and extremely capable with genjutsu. He wouldn't be able to trust his eyes out here.

"Careful Take! Shusuke wouldn't have gone down that easily!" Akio called out from his wooden form, just in time to be caught off guard as Shishiwakamaru, who unbeknownst to him was being controlled by Shusuke, turned towards Ōtakemaru, called out a challenge, and quickly formed the handseals of wind style ninjutsu. He hoped that his Nanjirou ally would fare better than his clone did, and it was lucky that the young Senju's trick of becoming one with the Nanjirou's blade had diverted the possessed Nara's attention from the real version of himself. In an impossibly quick gust, the invisible blade of air sliced directly through Akio's double's timber form, the once-convincing façade clattering to the ground in a heap of wind-carved wood.

 

[Ōtakemaru]

What on earth… the Hydra was dissipating into nothingness, but he couldn’t find Shusuke’s body anywhere. Did the Yamanaka trickster somehow escape them? Paranoid, Take recollected himself after watching the apparition dissolve away, catching the warning that Akio gave him. Still, even with the warning… where had Shusuke gone off to? Neither he, nor Akio, nor Shishiwakamaru knew where the Yamanaka had gone off to plot an ambush… but the swordsman kept his eyes open.

Shi had a point… the weakest link would be targeted first, and Shi deduced it to be the Nanjirou swordsman himself. Take would simply nod at Shi, not even paying any mind to the fact that Shi was equipping… no, manifesting a weapon out of thin air without a warning. Had he spotted Shusuke?!

“Where is he?”

Shi didn’t exactly answer him, but… he did turn against him, without notice. A large, twisting tornado had arisen from the battlefield, summoned from the large and loud fan that Shi now held against him and the sword-bound Akio! This was too surprising for Take to brace against, and his form was flung around in the air vortex without mercy.

“W-Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-“

His shoulder and arm was slashed by a couple of the sharp, spiraling blades of wind that flew towards him while floating in the air. He didn’t know if it was intentional, but Shi had made that Jutsu way too powerful… what could he do, what could he do?! At this rate, he’d be cut into sashimi before he even hit the ground!

…

His katana had special compositions that would allow him to channel elemental chakra through it. He remembered from his mother’s teachings… but he possessed Fire Release Chakra. If he released that here, then-

A few more cuts on his face and leg prompted him to go with the plan anyway. The Pain was clouding his sense of judgement, so without warning, the katana in which Akio had permeated himself began to glow with burning chakra, taking the shape of orange flames that leapt out and caught hold of the tornado around him.

Driven forward by his ancestors, a long-range attack was needed here. Even while upside down, spinning uncontrollably in the air, Take took aim and swung without hesitation. Energy Slash!, he prayed deep inside of his soul, echoed by his ancestors that prayed for this Energy Slash, this beam travelling through the tornado with a coat of raging fire, to hit its target in full – that being the TRAITOR SHISHIKUMAWARU!

[WC: 418, MFT]

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

The torrential winds that Shusuke had summoned through the body of Shishiwakamaru wouldn't last long as the currents were ripped apart by a large burning slash of energy that was directed at Shishiwakamaru. The boy grinned. "Nice try!" As the burst of burning energy crashed down into the body of Shishiwakamaru it exploded into fragments of wood splinters and bark as his Kiwarmi Target was struck at full strength. Shusuke would beginning to see the difference in strength, not only between him and Shishiwakamaru, but between Shishiwakamaru and these other kids.

"It's not often I get to use Ninjutsu with such accuracy, but let's play around some more with it shall we?" His voice was coming from a little ways away as almost instantly the sound cracking stone and rubble began to fill the area as the currents of wind faded away. "Earth Style: Rock Golem Jutsu!" A three yard tall behemoth of stone came forth from the ground and began to make it's way to the Academy Student. Slow lunges would crach the ground and statter stones on impact as it would swing with terrible aim at the Senju child.

Shusuke looked towards Take. "You want to play with fire? Be careful, less you get burned!" Shusuke takes a deep breath in before making a couple of handseals. Dropping down to a knee he braced himself for the current to comes. "Fire Style: Dragon Fire - Mythical Wildfire Jutsu!" A spew of flames, like water sent from a hose, would spray out of Shishiwakamaru's mouth in the direction of Otakemaru. The flames would be held like a constant stream as Shusuke would do his best to try and line up the spray with Take's location.

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

[Topic Left due to Inactivity]
((OoC: This was a lot of fun! once everyone frees up again we should go round 2!))