Losing Control [Continued] [Open]

[Sei]

[ Continued from this post. ]

---

[ T H E - N E X T - D A Y ]

Izanagi trudged through the forest, his jaw clenched the entire time. He simply didn't want to be here. It wasn't sunset, so it wasn't as beautiful and all the bugs, birds, and animals were awake. And he hated bugs.

Since he was starting the next part of his training, however, he couldn't continue around his house. His father said that Izanagi's growing lack of control, while being a style that fit the fast progressing boy, was too dangerous to do around the general population and homes. He would have to train, by himself, in the forest - he was at the point that he needed to take things into his own hands, as well.

To train or not to train, he mentally asked himself, even though he already knew the answer. He hated training, but he wouldn't forgo it and become a lazy bum all day. Izanagi couldn't stand the thought of his Academy Student peers leaving him behind, and that's not mentioning his wanting to be one of the strongest Jounin Cloud ever had. Which would, obviously, take a crap load of training on his part.

He got a large clearing, surrounded by a ring tall trees. Only a few trees were actually inside the clearing, five of them, and each of them were large and perfect to punch and kick and destroy (Izanagi can be a violent little child). He set down the pack that held a total of three bento boxes (one fully vegetable, one full meat, and one of an assortment of both) at the base of the tree closest to the center - the tree he'd marked to be the one he wouldn't attack and would chill near.

Walking to one of remaining four, he sized it up, placing a hand on the bark and getting a feel for it. Punching trees was much different than punching boulders, and he was far more used to boulders. Boulders were so much harder yet mostly smooth, whereas trees were easier to snap yet had a much rougher exterior; one that could wreak some real havoc on his knuckles.

Exhaling sharply, he merely stared up at the tree for about ten seconds total, before taking a few steps back and clenching his hands into fists. Using the tip of his shoe, he dug out a noticeable line in the grass. It was approximately a yard and a half from the tree (so about four and a half feet). He stood behind the line, before settling into his loose stance, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. He considered the tree for a second, before launching himself at the tree, immediately lashing out with a powerful left-handed hook; indeed, he threw his all behind the punch, and he would not doubt feel more pain than usual on impact. Of course, he would deal more damage to the trunk, as well.


[ Marked For Training ]
[ Word Count] 480

 

[Kobura]

Kobura's had got an early start on her day planning to do some intense training all throughout the day. She had decided on a spot that was near some trees as she needed them as target practice. She was planning on increasing her Taijutsu skills so that when she did use her bloodlines mythic eye she would need Taijutsu in her arsenal.

She closed her eyes focusing on her breathing while standing infront of a large tree. Everything was silent right before she struck the tree with her finger tips as if targeting vital organs on a another ninja. She made several strikes each one in a different area on the tree but seemingly faster in speed than the previous strike.

While targeting pivitol organs she was also working on her speed trying to make each strike faster than the previous one. She could only strike so fast as she needed to build up her muscles and postures to increasing her hand speed. She did this several times in a row before pausing and restart of the next series of strikes. She was a Genin on a mission to get stronger and smarter at all costs no matter what was required.

[Wordcount: 201]

 

[Sei]

Immediately after the left-handed hook, he launched a quick left-left-right-left-left jab combo, grunting and exhaling sharply with each hit. Chips and leaves flew in all directions as he pounded on the tree, focused on utterly destroying (but not really but kind of) the tree. He launched himself back from the tree, landing just behind the line he'd drawn prior to setting into the tree. His fingers flashed before a Mud Clone rose from the ground, shaping itself to mirror his body and clothing exactly. The two of them ran into a zig-zag pattern, perfectly mirroring to create a dizzying and confusing pair of Izanagi's.

It was right before the real Izanagi was going to leap at the tree to launch a strike (the mud clone was merely going to splatter against the tree on impact) when he saw a form in the distance, beating on a tree much as he was. He'd been so busy talking in his own head that he hadn't noticed her whatsoever. His full attention now (accidentally) aimed at her, he missed a beat in his step, tripping over a root that sent him flying sideways into his clone.

Thankfully, it was only mud, so it splattered against him in a trap-like effect. He coughed and gasped as a bit covered his nose and mouth, rolling violently into the tree. Hoping that she hadn't seen him, he quickly stumbled to his feet, every bit of mud sliding off of him and reforming back into the clone. Past looking a bit ruffled, the real Izanagi didn't appear any worse for the wear. He brushed off his shoulders and ran his fingers through his hair, the rubber band snapping and letting loose his white locks (which he silently cursed at).

He watched her for a few more seconds, noting the style she used - definitely different from his wild yet accurate style, and one he hadn't seen before. He walked towards her tree, coming at an angle that she'd easily see him somewhere in her peripheral vision. He gave a wave before stopping about a yard from her, crossing his arms. Which was a stupid move, as he had to uncross them seconds later because the wind blew his hair across his face, which became annoyingly tickling. Izanagi pushed the hair back from his face and using his fingers to comb the long hair over his shoulder, so that it wouldn't blow into his face again.

He finally noted her attire, being closer than before. "You're a Genin, right?" He cocked his eyebrow slightly, obviously waiting an answer from the shorter girl.

 

[Miraku]

Having woken up quite early this morning, Raku only had one thing he planned on doing today, and that was training. It was something that helped him focus, and work on his skills while back in the village and not out traveling. It also let him have some quiet time in the forest alone for the most part, as the forest was quite large, and had plenty of room for people to do their own thing; as it was one of the better places to train if you didn't have access to a regular training grounds or dojo to work at. Even as a Jounin, training was still something most would want to do quite often to keep their skills sharp, and continue to improve. This was especially true for any shinobi who had experienced true danger and learned that you needed to continue to improve if you wanted to survived, because there was always someone out their better and stronger than you.

After waking up quite early, Raku had spent a few minutes grabbing a casual pair of training clothes; some fitted pants, and a rather worn tank-top that he had been wearing to train for the past few years. After getting dressed, he grabbed his gear and put on his eye patch, so as not to neglect his usual weight and senses that he would experience out in the field. Then he would head to his kitchen and quickly make himself a quick breakfast to load himself up and give him the energy he needed to put his usual effort into his training that morning. It wasn't long after he finished his breakfast and was ready to head out to the forest to train.

Leaving his place in the less populated section of the village, Raku had headed out to the forest, and navigated it as he usually did on ground by foot, to his usual spot. Deep enough that it was pretty secluded, but not so deep as to possibly get lost out there; he wasn't wanting to waste a bunch of his day figuring out how to get back to town after finishing training. After finding his spot, Raku would begin with stretches and warm ups like push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, and he had already taken a run out here to get in some more cardio exercise. At this point his muscles and body were warmed up and ready to really train. His training consistent mostly of unarmed training and sword training with his katana, equipped to his waist in it's sheath. Using the very large trees to punch, kick and attack with his katana made for great practice in technique and strength.

It was only a few hours later as he was taking a break that the sound of other people in the forest could be heard, and they weren't far from where Raku was sitting. So used to training on his own, this piqued his interest, as he wondered who else would be out here, and what kind of training they would be up to; maybe he could learn a thing or two, or maybe it's just be something he could do to pass the time before he went back to continue his training further. Without much more thought than that, Raku got to his feet and quickly climbed up the trees, and began to spring across the branches in the direction of the sounds he was hearing. It seemed like there was more than just one person out here, so he began to head to a position he thought was between the different sounds he was hearing. Trying to be quiet, he avoided landing on branches that were too small to lessen the shaking of the trees, trying to mask the sound of his movements under the rustling of the leaves in the wind. As he approached, one of them was getting closer to the other, as Raku got really close, and could see the figures of two people down below. From the looks of it, it was a pretty tall guy, close to his own height and quite a short girl. The guy approached her and began to talk, as Raku stopped only a few trees away from them, standing on a large branch, one hand against the trunk of the tree, the other rested on the hilt of his katana out of habit, as he looked down at them. For the moment, Raku had decided he would just stand there and quietly observe and see if either of them had heard or noticed him, at least until he got a feel for the situation and could interject himself into it.

[Marked for Training; 779 WC]
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[Kobura]

While Kobura was practicing on her strikes out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of someone waving at her. She wasn't at first if it was a fellow ninja or an experiment that was on the loose. She had stopped her hitting of the tree turning her attention to the person that had waved at her.

Upon closer inspection as the boy grew closer she could tell that he was part of her village and let off a smile to show that she was acknowledging his wave from before while slightly raising her right hand waving back to him. As the boy grew closer he stopped right infront of her.

"You're a Genin, right?"

Kobura nodded in response to his question giving him a yes. "One of the best Genin if I do say so myself" she said with a smile and started laughing. "So are you out here training aswell" she asked as her laughing had finished and she was a bit curious of the boy now.

It had been awhile since Kobura had met someone in the Ancient Forest. The last time she was here she was being stalk by an unknown experiment and was about to make her the meal for the entire horde of them. This was reassuring that there was another fellow ninja her in the forest that could assist if something like that were ever to happen again. The next time she would be more prepared for the encounter, hopefully delivering a blow before it can call for help from the others.

[Wordcount: 262]

 

[Sei]

He only slightly regretted coming over when he saw her smile; he hoped that she wasn't super nice or something. He was getting tired of those sort of people - Hoshi, Yuii-sensei, Masakano, and perhaps this Genin. They were becoming more common. He merely nodded at her wave, before slitting his eyes slightly at her proclamation of being one of the best Genin. Of course, being who he was, he believed that he was the best, even if he wasn't a Genin yet.

"I'm still only an Academy Student or I'd say otherwise," he retorted back coolly, shrugging his shoulders slightly. Izanagi briefly wondered what was so funny before he merely rolled his eyes, raising his hand to run his fingers through his hair again. "Yes, I'm out here training. I can't reach my full potential without training daily, now, can I?" He shrugged, before rolling his fingers slightly. "I've been working on my Earth Jutsu," he said, casting a Mud Clone (again) and waving to it. "But I'm aiming for Metal Jutsu. If I can combine it with Taijutsu, I'll be quite a bit stronger."

Of course, he was on alert for anyone he didn't see. Normally, at the very least, his neck would have prickled at the phantom feeling of being watched.... But Raku's pure skill didn't even brush one of his mental alarms, so Izanagi had not a clue that the Jounin was hiding in the trees. Maybe if he'd worked on his chakra sensing (a bunch because that's a freakin' Jounin hiding in the trees), then he would've gotten a tickle.... But absolutely clueless. (Sorry, Raku.)

He nodded to the tree that she'd just been trying to break, looking back to her. "What kind of style was that? I've never seen it before. And do you only do Taijutsu, or do you have an affinity for an Element?"

 

[Miraku]

Raku stood firm on the branch above, watching as the two beings down below began to interact, close enough to hear them now, only missing the first few words spoken as they were initially engaging each other. Now that he was close enough, he could see that the tall guy seemed younger than he first expected due to the boys height, and of course the female was young, and much shorter than him; a rather interesting contrast in stature, as it turned out she was a Genin and him still a student. It seemed like the girl was quite cheery for someone out training to become a killing machine, or so Raku would imagine the ultimate goal of those wanting to be a Shinobi to be capable of killing when they need to. The boy on the other hand had quite the stark personality, quite different from the girl, more refined and standoffish, with seemingly some pride hidden behind; though maybe that's just how Raku saw it from this distance. He wasn't exactly the greatest judge of personality, even when it came to talking to someone face to face. Usually more on his own, maybe interacting with people more would improve this ability for him so that he could properly gauge another beings personality and intentions.

As the conversation continued, Raku took in a little bit more of it, watching as the boy began to talk about his training, and even went so far as to give a display of his jutsu in order to show off the fruits of his labor, and explain his intentions. The boy apparently wanted to become proficient at Taijutsu, and from what Raku had seen a few moments ago before the boy had interrupted her; the girl was also practicing her Taijutsu. This was a reasonably beneficial situation for Raku as his main focus was also Taijutsu. Keeping absolutely still, his left hand still steadying himself against the trunk of the tree, and right rested on the hilt of his katana so as to keep the wind from causing it to emit a sound, Raku thought for a moment about whether or not he should disturb this little interaction and reveal himself to the two of them.

Seeing these two young Shinobi making acquaintances caused memory of Raku's younger days to flood back; back when he was in mist, only a young genin, meeting other people, training on his own and working hard to become stronger, just like these two. It made him miss his true home; feeling like an eternity since he had been forced to leave and take refuge in this new village. Though it wasn't all bad. He had been treated well here, accepted and allowed to continue his work as a Shinobi, able to work within a village instead of being a mercenary like others had chosen to do -- not that there was anything wrong with that choice either.

After waiting a moment to give the girl time to respond to the boys and questions, Raku would release his firm grip on the hilt of his katana, moving his arm slightly forward, only to rest his forearm on the same hilt, the sounds possibly audible to those down below over the rustling of the leaves within the forest. As Raku stood in the same position he had been for the past few minutes, looking down at them and smirking a bit before speaking out to the two below him. "Nice to see two young up and comers taking time out of their days to train like proper Shinobi when they could be in town having fun with their friends." he called down to them, speaking a little bit louder than he could face to face, as he was up quite a ways, and the forest wasn't completely silent. His face looked down at them, a smirk across it baring his teeth on one side as he waited for a reaction from the two below.
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[Kobura]

Kobura listened as the boy had told her he was an academy student that he was aiming to add metal jutsu to his arsenal to go along with his taijutsu. After being asked about her own style and if she was picking up an elemental affinity she was quite unsure. She had heard how powerful a hyuga taijutsu master was especially if they had unlocked their byakagun fully.

"It is a technique called The One-Two except I focus on aiming at vital organs or chakra points. Currently taijutsu is my only form of fighting for now, but I have a natural affinity for Lightning Release. With my taijutsu, byakagun, and lightning release I for see being a powerful and deadly ANBU member. "

Immediately after replying to the boy she heard a voice up in the trees behind them. Had he been stalking them this entire time and watching them, but why was he watching them. Upon hearing him it seemed that he was praising them about training rather than having fun.

"Well if I plan on being a future Raikage I need to be strong and able to protect the village from any and everything. I have a long way to go but I am determined to do what it takes to achieve my goal."

Kobura was intent on her purpose but although she wanted to be the future Raikage her main goal was to become part of a group that took on secret missions that no one knew about and she wanted to see how deadly and precise of an assassin she could be.

[Wordcount: 265]

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

The stillness of the forest... Whistling winds... Flying leaf petals... Silence... This is where the boy stood breathing deep. A large, seemingly 100 foot tall tree was before him. 'In class, I couldn't manage to move the boulder like Yuii Sensei. My blades were damaged from attacking that rock... Endurance huh? In battle, the last man standing is not necessarily the smartest or strongest ninja. What is wits alone if you cannot endure your opponent. What is strength alone, if you cannot outsmart your opponent. I was beaten by a rock?! He was thinking to himself so furiously a large amount of chakra began to rise immediately. This sudden exertion of energy caused a gusty wind to swirl around him violently as his powers increased from his overflow of energy. 'High defense, my attacks will do little even combo'd together. I'll have to ware them out, little by little by way of the gentle fist. Easy. High attack, my speed will match any Ninjutsu, you can't hit what you can't see. Therefore, you will be defeated after your chakra is depleted and mine still raging. If I were to be outsmarted, say by someone like Kiri again... There is more to fighting... Than just mere fighting.' He took the usual Hyuuga fighting style stance before the tree. This tree would take a lot of damage before kneeling to the student, that was certain. How would he endure this enemy. He despised fighting inanimate objects, for the fact they could not defend or counterattack, or even put Shouyu on the ropes. But after Yuii's lesson, he learned he can still learn, from anything...

"Today, you stand tall. But my Taijutsu, will break you down from the inside out. That is my goal!"

He sent a left jab, not striking with his fist but only a finger, his index to be exact. His arm pulled back quickly to follow up a second strike, the same with his right this time. He interchanged these strikes one after the other, left, right, left right. Each strike seemed to hit a different point of the tree, but only centimeters away from each other until he reached 16 strikes. With each hit, Shouyu sent an amount of chakra to stiffen his finger and protect it from jamming, or scaring against the rough bark that he was peeling through with each strike reaching the sap of the tree until it bled like a wound. Leaves the from the tree above began to gently fall to the surface, though it seemed like forever, with the tree being so tall. He kept at it, side stepping left to right striking the tree down until a huge split, from the base up caused him to stop. 'Your high defense is great, but everyone has a breaking point. With so many shots to the weak points of this tree, a final blow will finish this.' But boy, after all that time striking it down with just two fingers, he was pretty much done with Taijutsu.

He stepped away from the tree, giving himself distance 'Hmm, maybe one more.' The swirling chakra aura around condensed itself and surged all around his right fist. The energy became so much, it started to look as if it were a sparkling current of electricity. Yes, it was... Shouyu was preparing his 'Thunder Fist' attack. A ninjutsu that would empower his final strike ten fold. His fist was tightly clenched as he dashed toward the tree base, cocking his right arm way to the back so that his fist was held side by side with his cheek. The fist he opened to a palm sending it toward the tree, he palm smacked with a deafening thud against the tree, this caused a massive amount of falling leaves, and even branches that snapped off from the vibration of the strike. Just then, the tree split it into halves, falling away from each other like a peeled bananna, but still connected at its base, some more than ten feet taller than Shouyu.

[Topic Entered... Some distances away.]

 

[Sei]

He nodded; he was well aware of the One-Two, having done it quite a bit himself. Of course, he never really tried focusing on vital organs - only on dealing the most amount of damage possible. And he could dish out quite a bit for his rank, as far as he could tell. It was a good idea, though, aimed strikes - aiming at more than just their general physique, which was exactly what Izanagi did.

He nodded along as she spoke, before tilting his head slightly at her aspirations. Another Hyuuga? He remembered Hoshi, who was also supposedly a Hyuuga.... Though, Izanagi had heard that he'd unlocked his Byakugan. And everyone wanted to be ANBU, that was a given. He wasn't sure who was an ANBU and who didn't actually want to be an ANBU, but he knew a few want-to-be's. He himself was once such person, wanting to become, at the very least, an ANBU Captain. He had quite the way to go, however.

He opened his mouth to respond, about to tell her about his own goals to join the ANBU, when he heard a voice from above. Of course, being on alert, Izanagi leaped a few feet backwards. He mentally reprimanded himself for being caught unaware.

As he landed, he shifted smoothly and easily into his fighting stance. Bent at the knees yet far from crouching, standing up on the balls of his feet. His elbow crooked to keep his left hand up and hovering near his face, while his right was outstretched and only slightly bent. He was facing the tree from which the sound had come from, eyes searching before finally settling on a figure.

Through the leaves, he could see somewhat see the man standing with his sword at his hip. From what he could tell, the shinobi was very simply dressed - as if he were somewhat poor or not quite looking to spy or fight. Looks could always deceiving, however, and he wasn't sure how well that sword was made. Or if there was even a sword; but more often than not, a sheathe meant a sword.

Either way, Izanagi kept his glare up at the fellow. He didn't know who he was, what he was doing, or if he was a threat to the both of them. His mouth was open again to call the guy out, before he heard the boom of a newly-split tree, catching him off-guard. Who the hell was out splitting trees in half? What could they possibly be trying to accomplish by doing so?

He whipped his head around, looking for the source before seeing a person in the distance - Hoshi, who seemed to love making a lot of noise. Izanagi had to keep himself from yelling at the boy for startling him with his loud antics, but he decided against it. He'd catch a bit of the Mizushima Wrath later. Izanagi's gaze quickly cut back to the unknown individual. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

 

[Miraku]

Watching as mere moments after calling out to them, the boy jumped back ready to fight, entering his stance and scouting the area very quickly to find him. The girl took the opposite approach, still standing there, only to look up and respond to him in kind, speaking as to her intentions behind training, while the boy had prepared himself to combat. It certainly was interesting to see such contrast in individuals. Whether it bravery or naivety, the girl left herself open and accepting of the appearance of a stranger for the second time today. The boy on the other hand was cautious and weary of an unknown stranger that had seemingly sneaked up on them. "Certainly some lofty goals you have there." Raku responded to the girl down below.

Suddenly the sound of another shinobi training could be heard not too far off, obviously going a little harder than they needed to on these old trees. It didn't bother Raku too much, as it seemed like this was becoming a more popular place to train by the minute. "Sounds like someone else is following your lead." he said down to the two below, watching the boy look toward the sound and then back to Raku, possibly tactically assessing Raku to be the closer and more likely threat; if he was a threat, but that wasn't the case currently. The boy began to question who he was, and what he was doing here, trying to uncover more of the situation.

Bending his knees slightly, Raku prepared himself as the final words from the boys mouth reached his ears all the way up in the tree, he leapt from the sturdy tree brach in a blur, falling down to the ground very quickly, pushing an amount of chakra into his legs and feet in order to absorb the impact of a fall from such a height, as he landed with a thump, his feet planting firmly on the ground, his legs bent above them as he landed to also help absorb the impact, as he landed in front of the two of them, not too far away, arm still resting on the hilt of his katana, while he lifted his free left arm up to his face, his long hair slightly a mess from the wind while falling, as he brushed the strands in front of his face out of the way, up and over his head, revealing his smirking face, and bright green left eye, accompanied by his eye-patch over the other. "Well, I'm Takuya, Raku. Jounin of Kumogakure." he responded, turning his face to the boy. "I was merely interested in seeing who was out here training near my usual spot. I don't often find people out here." he continued, taking a slight step towards them to move his legs after the drop. Of course, his answer was still pretty vague and, and didn't really speak to his motives for checking out who was around. Sure these kids had talked about about themselves to each other before he had interrupted them, but he really didn't know much about them, so he wasn't about give spill his lifes story to them.

After taking his step forward, Raku leaned back a bit while standing tall, his back slouched slightly, but with his upper body leaned back, he stood in a semi-strange looking posture. "I'm curious who the two of you are, apart from already knowing your ranks, though maybe you're also as curious as me about the sound of another training close by." Raku said to the two of them as he tilted his head towards the direction the sounds were coming from as he spoke those words, and then straightened out his neck again, smirk still across his face, curiosity getting the better of him on this day, as he waited to see how the two would react, whether they'd introduce themselves, or prefer to check out what else was going on around here to secure the situation first.


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[Kobura]

Kobura nodded at the newly introduced shinobi but unlike Izanagi she felt that if he wanted them dead they would already be dead. How long had he been watching them before he let himself be known by the both of them. Kobura knew all to well that someone that was out to kill them wouldn't of given their position away so easily. Kobura could hear someone in the distance aswell and was curious as to who it was herself. It wasn't to often that she came across people in the Ancient Forest.. more like creatures is what she was use to seeing. If it was another shinobi around their age and rank it could turn into a nice little training session. What better to train than against live bodies that actually hit back unlike the trees that it seem everyone was using as target practice.

"I apologize if I took your spot seemed like the perfect location and I guess I was right about that" she said with a slight smile on her face. The person in the distance interested her since she didn't know many people and it was time she started to socialize with her fellow peers so that she would know who her future comrades would be. "How about we continue this introduction after we see who is out here training. That is if that is what they are doing" she announced to them. She didn't really wanna go alone seeing that this shinobi before the was a higher ranking one the other could also be and might react to their intrusion, possibly accidentally killing her or injuring her badly. She looked over to Izanagi thinking that she should send a clone over there just to see what would happen, but she wasn't sure where is mind was since he still seemed to be on the defensive end with this new shinobi named Raku now here in their presence.

[Wordcount: 322]

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

The boy stood at the tree split almost in half. His strength was beginning to become formidable. He was able to disrupt the flow of a waterfall, and now to split a tree in half with a low level jutsu. He still wanted to get stronger, he desired more combat intelligence and experience. And this tree could only be a dummy to display new power. His left hand went to his left hip, where he unsheathed his Kodaci and dashed from the ground. He was sending chakra into his feet as ran up the side of the tree, almost upside down running along the trunks with many leaves. At each leaf on each branch, with expectional accuracy and speed, his Kodaci would slice every leaf not once, not twice, but three times. Three strikes for one item, the sound of his blade clinging through the air was a sweet one, the gale from
His speed sounding like a whistle. All the way up to the top where many remnants of leaves fell covered and the grass bed in a beautiful nap spot for small animals. From the top to the bottom he landed, at such high heights he had to make sure to focus chakra into his legs so not to crush his little body from falling at this height. There was still the opposite of the tree. Sheathing the smaller blade, and unsheathing his Katana, he ran up the other side of the tree the same way slicing up leaves but with his Katana was only able to do two cuts each since his blade was longer and heavier. Each movement was agile and fluid as if was my swinging a sword actually but using the extra sharp extension of his arm to strike smooth as flowing water. At the top he would leap again, front flipping, and while still high in the air, he spotted a few others in the near distance. At this time he didn't pay any mind, he was focused on training and getting stronger. He landed just as he did previously, in a kneeling crouch. Among his bed of chopped leaves, he sheathed his katana across his back and sat down cross legged, tiger hand seal visible now as he surged his chakra throughout his physical in deep meditation. He even began to hum an ancient Buddhist mantra.

 

[Sei]

Izanagi narrowed his eyes at the man, unbelieving for a second before relaxing somewhat, nodding and getting out of his tance. While he did have a somewhat.... Powerful presence, and it didn't make sense for a shinobi on a mission against Cloud to worry about Academy Students and Genin, it also didn't make much sense for a Jounin to be training where Academy Students trained, as well, but.... He'd never been a Jounin, so he could never be fully sure until he was one.

He took a slow step back for the man after he jumped, giving him space in case he turned out to not be a Jounin and totally faceplant (which would be hilarious). Sadly, none such thing happened, and he landed with an ease that Izanagi was still working on building. The boy looked the slightly taller man over, before shrugging, looking back to where the sound of breaking trees had come from. "Yea, it's not anything I usually hear around here.... It's probably someone doing a little much, as usual."

Izanagi turned back to the supposedly-Jounin fellow, before lowering his head in a half-bow of respect; he was raised with manners, after all. Even though this was an unconventional situation, it'd still be wrong to not show some amount. "Mizushima Izanagi, Academy Student of Kumogakure..... Though, you already knew my rank," he said with a small, slightly sarcastic laugh.

He looked back to the distance, before waving on with his hand to the Jounin. "After you. If it's something dangerous, I'd rather have the Jounin in front of me ready to kill it." He snickered softly to himself, walking ahead even if Raku. Well of course he wasn't serious; he'd be damned if anyone protected him while he just stood there with his thumb in his mouth. He was far too proud and confident for anything like that.

[ Meh, I'm tired, so you guys get the slightly shorter post x_x I'm sorry ~ ]

 

[Miraku]

Raku watched the reaction of the two youngins as they decided what they wanted to do. The boy introduced himself as Izanagi, and the girl had still put off introducing herself, before they both decided they wanted to go over and check out what was happening in the distance. "Don't worry, it's not like I claimed the spot or anything. It's just nice and peaceful out here, and not too far from town. Makes travel easy." he said, responding to the girl before turning in the direction of the sounds they had heard earlier, reaching up with his left hand to scratch his head for a moment, then move some loose strands of hair on his head out of his face and back over the top of his head. From what Raku could tell, there were still sounds coming from that directions for the time being, but he wasn't too worried about it. The sounds weren't as loud now, so it probably wasn't anyone in a real fight, most likely it was as Izanagi had said, someone going a little harder than they needed to while training. But all the same, they had decided they wanted to check it out, and Raku would gladly oblige. The boy seemed to suggest Raku take the lead as the higher rank, but already began walking towards it, taking the lead himself, causing Raku to smirk a bit at the boys confidence. Letting him go first wouldn't change too much anyway, as they were still pretty close to one another, as Raku began following after Izanagi, walking in the direction of the sound they had heard.

It felt a little weird for Raku to be hanging out with these kids, it was something he hadn't done in a long while. He was so used to doing things on his own, this was something much different than normal. The last time he had hung out with people this young was probably when he was in mist, but it was probably a normal thing these days. Jounins taught students and genin all the time. Except Raku wasn't a teacher or sensei for these kids, he was just a random Jounin that had stumbled upon them while out training like anyone else. He didn't think he really got along with kids, which is why he had never bothered to teach a class, or take on a team to train or bring on missions. But these were just random thoughts passing through his mind quickly during this situation, his face kept straight, and didn't show he was even bothering to think about stuff like this as they walked towards the sound.

It didn't take them very long for them to walk to where the sounds were coming from, as they came up from behind what seemed to be another young boy was sitting down, muttering something to himself, something that Raku couldn't hear from the distance they were at. He also couldn't be sure if it was definitely a boy or something else since they had approached from behind and he was sitting down, hiding more of himself than what was visible. "Oi. Another kid out here making a ruckus, huh?" Raku shouted towards the boy sitting there, possibly interrupting him, but no matter what, he would be interrupted by them sooner or later --might as well do it while still at a distance to give the boy time to react. Continuing to walk towards the boy while speaking, Raku kept his arm rested on his katana hilt while turned his arm towards himself, and scratched his stomach with that same arm, while the other slipped it's way into his pocket while he walked.

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[Kobura]

She nodded at Rake upon him responding back to them. "My name is Kobura" she announced not revealing much else about her. Even though Raku didn't seem like a threat currently she wanted to know more about him first before giving out more details.

Kobura smirked at Izanagi as he took the lead but requested that Rake go ahead of him. It wasn't that she was scared but she had encountered several creatures here before and if they had heard this noise in the distance surely whatever was causing the disturbance could of possibly heard them swell.

She followed suit as they made their way towards the noise, but she lept onto a tree branch above her and traveled jumping from branch to branch. Minutes later they came across another boy but it seemed that he was sitting meditating or something. She remained on the tree branch above them awaiting for the boy to react. Hopefully he wasn't aggressive towards Raku or it could end up being a deadly situation.

It was strange for her to see so many people in the area in such a chose vicinity and none if them had previously met her ran into each other before. Maybe this was a sign or something and was suppose to happen. How else could explain a rare coinidence like this as for her it was rare. She continued to watch Raku and the boy sitting on the ground. For she knew Raku and the boy could if planned this and to lure them for whatever plans had.

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[Shouyu Hoshi]

Shouyu was still deep into meditation, churning his chakra within his small physical. It did nothing really, it just helped him to learn how to concentrate. When and where to focus chakra, he stressed awareness in battle, its one thing he always thought was a 'Major Key' to victory and success. Being aware of each strike from yourself, and your opponent was an essential factor especially to the Hyuuga clan with their adept pin point accuracy at the body's weak points. He himself hadn't mastered such techniques, but that was the reason he was still here, training. Deep into his meditation he heard rather close comment coming from the near distance. The voice was quite unfamiliar at that.

"Oi. Another kid out here making a ruckus, huh?

This was a man, full grown most definitely, simply hearing from the tone of voice. He slowly opened his eyes, now his back turned to him, not knowing whether or not he was friend or foe the academy slowly stood and casually turned around. He spoke as if he had seen other kids, and if so, where were they? He was sure to be cautious before turning to face the man who was followed behind by Izanagi, giving Shouyu a slight sigh of relief. Heck, this guy looked like serious trouble if things ended up sourly here. Falling leaves in the distance trailed them, maybe another shinobi hidden in the trees up top? His eyes shifted up a few seconds searching. Maybe now, the boy was getting suspicious. 'No way they're ganging up on me. It's all in my head.'

He spoke softly yet loud enough to be heard to ninja in response.

"Just training. Sorry to bother. Trees aren't much help besides seeing what you can really dish out. Maybe, you can show me a nice move or two? I'm sure you've seen many fights, and your experience and wisdom would priceless! Plus..."

He pointed at the man's sword in delight, a smirk upon his face, his free hand reaching for the hilt of his Kodaci blade at his left hip across his body. With a nod his pointing finger formed into a thumbs up.

"I see you're also a swordsman! Interesting! Oh, and hey Izanagi. Long time no see huh, heh."

The kid joked about Izanagi since they usually see each other often, and Shouyu took a liking to angering him and going into heated near death combat. But this older ninja was quite interesting, much like his previous encounters with other ninja. Still, he wondered who could be up in the trees, if there was someone, or if he was just imagining something.