Tatsuo hadn't expected for Sanyu to rush into a sparring session so quickly, while he was no stranger to a friendly fight he hadn't fought in a while. At least not since he had met Koto, there were still things he was learning from Saru Ken. In the past Tatsuo was a much more defensive fighter, using the strength of Wood to protect himself and while that still showed in his fighting style, the training alongside Koto resulted in a new style of fighting which led to Tatsuo being on the offensive much more. For the most part, he forgot even what they were training about, he was just so excited to fight.
A huge smile appeared on his face, as he took a deep breath and stood still for just a moment. Odd to do in a fight but it wasn't without reason, from all the time Tatsuo had practiced absorbing Natural Energy he had gotten to the point where he could do it in the blink of an eye even amidst the heat of combat. The Natural Energy flooded towards him, he gathered support from the very living things around him. From blades of grass to the animals living among the trees all offered their support to the Jonin. Not everyone had access to these abilities, especially without the training of a contract but Tatsuo had had it as long as he can remember being a shinobi, the birth of these powers were the pillar of his ability as a shinobi. He owed his Natural Energy everything.
However his collection of energy was different this time. There were things even Tatsuo could learn from a contract animal and this was one of them, while before it was a purer energy that lacked any sort of alignment. With his newfound allegiance to the Monkey's of Hiroo Onoda there was a physical change. A long brown tail grew from Tatsuo's backside which then wrapped around his somewhat as a belt. His hair grew a bit, more wild and feral. Without a perfect mastery over this type of Natural Energy resulted in such a physical change one he would seek to master, but for now, it worked.
Entering a stance, his legs separated and his shoulders in line with hips it would seem Tatsuo was ready for anything. This was further solidified by the fact that shards of wood began to appear on his skin almost as if he was converting to bark himself. While not as strong as true armor, it did result in a lessening of physical blows, his stance favored defense over accuracy but not terribly so. Immediately Tatsuo was aware of the fact that he was seeing clones, a staple of shinobis but annoying nonetheless he didn't want to waste time attacking fake Sanyu's even if he had the stamina to fight for ages.
Sanyu had kept up with Umashi a shinobi Tatsuo had the utmost respect for not only for his abilities as Hokage but as his ability in combat. This was an opponent Tatsuo would have to push himself against and because of that there was something he needed here. Bringing his hands together in a flurry of seals he then bit his thumb, a bit of crimson appearing on the tip. Brushing that thumb against his palm leaving a streak of blood on his hands he slammed it down to the ground beneath him which resulted in the summoning of his ally, Koto.
As the cloud of inter-dimensional smoke dissipated, left in it's place was a small white monkey no larger than Tatsuo's head. A backpack and a bandanna were visible on the monkey but the monkey spent no time trying to evaluate the situation there would be only one reason Tatsuo would summon him in Sage Mode. There was a fight to be had.
While Tatsuo brought his hands together for a simple transformation jutsu, one that Sanyu quickly saw through, Koto reached into his backpack and withdrew his weapon. A short stick which then grew into a longer staff. Koto looked to Tatsuo for just a moment and asked,
"Real fight or fun fight?" He tilted his head at Tatsuo before bringing his attention back onto Sanyu.
Responding to the little guy Tatsuo said,
"Just for fun, so don't aim for blood." Koto responded with a nod of his own and banged his chest a little bit before declaring,
"Me am Koto! Warrior monkey!" Probably too small to be intimidating, but he was doing his best. Tatsuo smirked as the monkey dashed forward towards Sanyu at inhuman speeds. From his staff appeared wires which wrapped around the Genjutsu specialist, lowering his already disadvantaged mobility. Tatsuo could feel his body begin to be assaulted by the Genjutsu, what was happening he couldn't be exactly sure but he could feel things changing. His body grew hot as if he was on fire, he must've used the Jutsu he had just shown on him. Unfortunate that Sanyu's illusions were too powerful to be merely cancelled with just a hunch.
He'd have to make this quick. Koto followed up with his wire attack in an attempt to pin Sanyu down, missing by just the hair on his hands. However Tatsuo used this opening to strike at him with his own bind, a small tree grew at Tatsuo's feet and from it a thick sappy substance emerged and went straight towards Sanyu binding him in place. Luckily this one hit it's mark and the special part of this bind is it not only effected one's ability to move while under it, the substance didn't come off easy so it'd prevent Sanyu from performing further actions while under it's effects.
That would be too easy though, wouldn't it? Before he knew it, Tatsuo was met with some sort of aberration one that prevented the boy from moving. He could feel fear in his heart and the bind he was maintaining dropped. Luckily it wasn't long until he was free from that particular Genjutsu's effects but Koto didn't hesitate to jump into things. A three hit combo, the first missing but the two follow ups were powerful hits that would definitely make Sanyu understand the power of the monkey. While he wasn't exactly at the strength of Tatsuo or Sanyu, he definitely held his own weight in battle.
"TAKE THIS, AM KOTO!"
There was no question that Tatsuo's ability in battle centered around Ninjutsu, something that Sanyu would soon find out as he performed hand seals he could feel his timing off but nonetheless he was lucky with timing. From the earth sprouted a large wooden bear which charged towards Sanyu, striking straight into the illusionist. Though in the same moment he was also struck by three wooden tendrils, each hitting their mark. Despite the success he found in that maneuver he still felt like he was forgetting something, shaking his head he prepared himself for more strikes of the same type. Truly a master of Wood Style.
