Private The Eternal Dance of Guidance and Growth

[Masaru Renji]

Rika HP: 19,103+1260-8350= 12,013 CP: 22,292+1080+1500-266-532-594= 23,480 AP: 10+2= 12-6= 6 AP Next Round: 12 Status: Synchronized Multi-Presence, Anti-Gravity, Fingerless Gloves, [Short Summer] Barrier: Wall of Spirits HP: 1854-1620-150= 84 Rika's Lightning Clone HP: 7140 CP: 7140-300-300= 6540 AP: 3-1.5-1.5= 0 AP Next Round: 3 Status: [Short Summer] Tsumugu HP: 15,500 CP: 24,780-910-910-587-510= 21,863 Natural CP: 6195 AP: 10.25-10= .25 AP Next Round: 10.25 Status: Sage Mode, Hidden Mist Style, Freeflow - Water Style Ice Hidden Mist Clone HP: KO'd Status: Melted Garupa [Hivemind 1] HP: 12,349/5= 2469.8-799= 1669 CP: 12,958/5= 2591.6-180(900)-300(1500)= 2111.6 AP: 5 [Shared]-4= 1 AP Next Round: 6 Status: Swimming! Doing a thing, [Short Summer] Spoiler: Hivemind 2-5 Garupa [Hivemind 2] HP: 12,349/5= 2469.8-599= 1871 CP: 12,958/5= 2591.6-180(900)-300(1500)= 2111.6 AP: 5 [Shared] Status: Garupa [Hivemind 3] HP: 12,349/5= 2469.8-399.6= 2070 CP: 12,958/5= 2591.6-180(900)-300(1500)= 2111.6 AP: 5 [Shared] Status: Garupa [Hivemind 4] HP: 12,349/5= 2469.8 CP: 12,958/5= 2591.6-180(900)-300(1500)= 2111.6 AP: 5 [Shared] Status: Garupa [Hivemind 5] HP: 12,349/5= 2469.8 CP: 12,958/5= 2591.6-180(900)-300(1500)= 2111.6 AP: 5 [Shared] Status:

Rika & Tsumugu vs Kyuji: Round 5 [0.00 Rika's Unreal Celerity activates] 0.00 Tsu activates Duelist and focuses on Kyuji 0.48 Tsu pops a Chakra Synthesis 1.25 Rika casts Barrier: Wall of Spirits on herself [+]Barrier has 1854 HP 1.50 Garupa casts Cancelling Seal on Rika [+] 3/3 Charges, Seals form to protect Rika [2.00 Rika's Unreal Celeriy ends] 2.05 Kyuji uses Lotus Flower [+] Rika's Barrier loses 1620 HP [+] Tsu casts an [Ice] Vacuum Sphere reflexively! [+] Tsu's barrier has 3,025 HP loses 1620 HP [+] Gaspless Fails [+] Ice Clone of Tsu Forms [+]Kyuji knows the real Tsu 2.92 Rika summons an Elemental Clone: Lightning [+] 7140 HP | 7140 CP | AP: 3 [+] Kyuji is aware of the real Rika 2.92 Tsu casts Ice Transmutation on Kyuji Fail, Fail, Fail, Fail 3.75 Garupa casts Energy Transfer on Rika [+] Rika regains Chakra! 4.42 Rika's Lightning Clone casts Electroshock Miss 4.59 Rika uses Epoch: Slow on Kyuji [+] Kyuji slows down 4.87 Tsu cast a [Water] Ice Shards on Kyuji Miss, Crit, Miss, Miss, Miss, Miss [+] Kyuji gains Bleeding Rank 1 [+] Kyuji suffers [Hypothermia] 5.92 Rika's Lightning Clone does Electrocution Miss 6.14 Kyuji summons her S-Rank Contract: Lord Byakko [+] Byakko Focuses on Tsu? [+] Byakko is actually unsure of the real Tsu!? [+] Byakko definitely smells the real Rika 6.34 Tsu casts a [Water] Ice Shards on Kyuji Miss, Miss, Miss, Hit, Miss, 25% Partial [+] [Hypothermia] is inflicted again [+] Bleeding Fails 6.59 Byakko equips The Celestial Claws of Byakko 7.73 Byakko uses Vanishing Slash on Tsu Crit! .... on Tsu's Ice Clone [+] Ice Clone melted [+] Byakko's Cleave Activates! [+] Byakko uses a weakened Vanishing Slash again! on Garupa #1 Hit [+] Byakko's Cleave Activates! [+] Byakko uses a very weakened Vanishing Slash again! on Garupa #2 Hit [+] Byakko's Cleave Activates! [+] Byakko uses a very very weakened Vanishing Slash again! on Garupa #3 Hit [+] Garupa #3 is Bleeding [+] Byakko's Cleave Activates! [+] Byakko uses a puny Vanishing Slash again! on Rika Hit 8.59 Rika's Epoch ends [+] Kyuji's speed returns 8.64 Kyuji performs Zantetsuken [+]Rika puts her body on the line and uses Chronostatis to delays the attack by 20 seconds [+]Kyuji's previous Zantetsuken is released from Chronostasis [+]Rika is Critted! Notes: - Honestly I'm certain I'm missing some random healing passive somewhere, I will do 3rd look through tomorrow (it's late my timezone and I wanted to get this out for y'all). - Please PM/DM me with any mistakes if any. - Thank you guys for sending your actions so lovely.

Kyuji HP: 39,229-768-440-302+626= 38,345 CP: 13,976-280-3600-655= 9441-151= 9290 AP: 11-9.5= 1.5 AP Next Round: 11 Status: Anti-Gravity, Easy Breeze - Wind Style, Defensive Techniques, [Short Summer], Muramasa Tingz, Rank 1 Bleeding Lord Byakko HP: 33,00 CP: 27,00-370= 26,630 AP: 5-.5-1.25= 3.25 AP Next Round: 6 Status: Staring down a fish, [Short Summer]

 

[Renmei Tsumugu]

Soul Sanctum: Sanctuary of the Deep​

Deep within Tsumugu’s soul, beneath the surface waves of his thoughts, existed an ocean vast and deep. It was the place where light surrendered and silence ruled the dark. The water here was heavy, lifeless, and endlessly calm. It pressed in from all sides with a steady, unyielding weight. This place was where his patience lived and where his consciousness was safe. It was his inner sanctuary, where his emotions freely sank and settled instead of crashing like waves lashing out aimlessly. Anger was not allowed to fester within this ocean's currents and jealousy could not burn here. Those emotions were swept up into the deep's currents, dragged down until it cooled and settled like black sand. Until it became part of the dark.

Strange currents began to move through those depths. Something that was slow, deliberate, impossible to prevent from forming. They were the instincts that guided him being given new voices and new memories, the raging experiences of countless battles beginning to swirl. Spiraling towers of currents began to pierce the absolute darkness that was his soul's floor. Water twisters of influence that was not his own invading the sanctuary. Spectral voices, broken and unable to be understood, echoed upon the waves as they spread far and wide.

And deeper still, in the coldest trench of that inner sea, something stirred, a presence, a large mass tied to water and spirit. It did not roar or thrash, neither did it lash out or make itself known. It simply waited, vast and patient, like the ocean itself.

---

Toraono Dojo​

Tsumugu turned a small chakra pill over between his fingers, his eyes focusing down on his sensei. He had never liked using them, especially in training but he had found them to be useful. He was reserved by nature and consciously never allowed himself to be reckless, but this pill forced open this floodgate. The coming strain would demand more than his normal reserves were capable of but this remedy was found in learning to absorb natural energy. With a quiet exhale, he placed the pill on his tongue and swallowed. The effect was almost immediate as a dense warmth ignited deep in his core, heavy and pressurized. His chakra coils reacted at once, tightening and then expanding as the foreign energy surged through them. He stiffened up, muscles seizing slightly as a strong pulsating sensation began in his chest, creating strong waves that sync'd to his heartbeat.

Momentarily, he was wide open and a flash crossed his sight.....instincts kicked in.

He drew a sharp breath as the incoming attack came toward him, gathering chakra deep in his core. The energy rushed upward, cold and violent, pressure pressing against his chest until it almost hurt to contain. All it took was a forceful exhale, and he'd release it. From his mouth erupted a sphere of swirling wind, dense and distorting the air around it, forming a barrier. In an instant, he forced the chakra to shift cooling it rapidly. Frost spread across the surface of the vortex, the winds crystallizing into a hardened, glacial shell that intercepted the attack fully.

He felt his body pulsate again, a source that was deep within his core, becoming disturbed.

---

Tsumugu's Chakra Network
​

Chakra flared through Tsumugu's chakra coil system in restless waves, as its usual bluish green glow was raging like a disturbed sea. But something was changing as threads of deep purple began to seep into his coils, like ink bleeding into a large volume of water. This taint moved with a will of it's own, slower and against the flow. Natural Energy was taking hold, creeping throughout his chakra network. The purple energy thickened, coiling through the blue and green, swallowing the green hue bit by bit. His would chakra no longer flowed like wind and water, but slowly became condensed like air purged from a balloon. Near his heart, a strange cluster of black chakra had begun to gather independently on its own. This chakra wasn’t trying to navigate through his body, becoming dense and unmoving, like a knot. The energy felt foreign and cold in a way that Natural Energy was not. More unsettling, the purple waves of natural energy seemed to bend around this mass as if repelled. Chakra filtered away from the black mass, bypassing having to interact with this foreign influence.. While the rest of his chakra merged and transformed, that dark core remained separate, waiting and untouched.

---

Toraono Dojo​

A chill spread through Tsumugu’s body that felt sharp and invasive, a feeling he had never felt before as his latent bloodline abilities insulated him. His chest pulsed harder this time as each beat sent cold ripples through his veins. The sensation wasn’t just a physical one as time progressed, it began to felt deeper. Natural Energy was pressing against his own chakra, trying to force its way into every corner of him. Tightening his jaw and forming hand seals quickly, Tsumugu didn't try to understand all this. He thrust his arm forward, expecting a familiar number of crystalline ice shards to gather at his palm. Normally he was able feel the precise moment when his wind and water chakra fused into that cold force that birthed ice.

But this time, the feeling never came.

Instead of the dense pressure of forming frost, his chakra felt loose and momentarily unstable. He had improperly molded his wind chakra, feeling it slipping through his control like water through open fingers. Several burst of condensed water shot from his hand instead, the Natural Energy flooding his system disrupting the delicate balance required for Ice conversion. Natural chakra was overwhelming the wind component and caused the collapsing of his technique into its base form, pure water.

An ethereal tiger emerged, summoned by their sensei and its body was not fully solid. It formed instead from flowing bands of chakra. Each movement of this summoning would send a thin stream of energy from the tiger’s form, drawn toward him like a vacuum. It slipped into his body just as the natural energy he was collecting had. Then sank deeper, threading through his chakra network without resistance. The moment it reached that black mass of energy, collected around his heart, Tsumugu would freeze as a deep unease spread through him. His chest tightened, the pulsing there now irregular, heavier and entirely wrong. The sensation wasn’t pain and it wasn't discomfort. It was worse, as it felt like his body no longer fully belonged to him. As if his body responded to his commands with a split second hesitation. His limbs moved a fraction slower than they had before and even his breathing sounded unfamiliar in his own ears. Even his chakra felt alien, as if something was missing.. Tsumugu refused to listen to these signs, reckless and rash. That was not like him...

“Focus… shape it… crystallize…”

His right palm flowed through handseals, single handed, an ability that was drilled into his natural talents and something he couldn't mess up. For a split second after he had finished and thrust his arm forwards, frost formed along his fingertips. Then before the blink of an eye everything collapsed. Instead of ice shards, a heavy sphere of water that splintered into multiple pressurized shots erupted outward. His chakra hadn’t responded to his intent at all. The purple Natural Energy still pressed in from all sides, while that strange black chakra around his heart pulsed sharply almost like it was interfering and disrupting the balance he needed. For a terrifying moment, Tsumugu realized he couldn’t tell whether the chakra moving through his body, that he was attempting to mold, was still truly his. Another off tempo throb hit his chest and his arm twitched involuntarily.

A massive ethereal form had lunged towards him; the tiger summoning with it's jaws wide and claws extended. The impact came with a burst of chakra, ice and Tsumugu was suddenly several steps to the side. Tsumugu hadn’t decided to move and truthfully his focus was so off that he hadn't even registered that an attack was coming his way. The ice clone which had been standing where he’d been a heartbeat earlier, took the full force of the attack. It shattered in a burst of ice shards that dispersed into the air with an audial pop.

Tsumugu was frozen in place...

His heart hammered as realization crept in and he looked down at his feet. “I… didn’t move.” There had been no conscious decision made within his mind. Neither had it been his muscles instinctive reaction to move out of the way of danger. No calculation was made in his mind and body that he could take credit for. His body had simply shifted like something else had pulled the strings. A cold unease crept through him, not the same chill that he was feeling along his skin, but something deeper and something wrong. His muscles felt slightly delayed when he tried to move them, as if he was only borrowing them. Like his body was moving in a way that it should, but not in a way that he himself could.

Another pulse hit his chest but this time it felt as if eyes had directly fallen on him, and just him.

---

Soul Sanctum: Sanctuary of the Deep​

At first it had been nothing more than scattered fragments of loose influence carried down by the turmoil in his chakra. The clashing of natural energy against the foreign black presence coiling near his heart. Those fragments had drifted like silt through the churning oceans of his soul. In that absolute deep those fragments had found something to tether to, they were collecting, condensing together as one, becoming something. It had no form yet, neither did it have a true mind. It was just a growing weight of intention and with that pressure came structure.

Lines of dim, spectral markings began to trace themselves across the floor of this darkness, glowing faintly before sinking into the void. They formed intricate sealing formulas and layered symbols that moved as though alive. Each marking anchored the presence more firmly as each line of symbols would carve out a foothold. A space within his soul began to change ownership, a cavity within that deep ocean of Tsumugu's soul that no longer belonged to just him.

The worst part was that the ocean did not resist this foreign energy, it simply absorbed the change. Its depths allowing the thing to root itself deeper and deeper. In that endless black, something that had once been scattered influences and voices, now waited on the edge of sentience.

[WC: 1781]
[Post Marked for BL/CA Swap - Kin App Pt 1]
[Actions to be sent]

 

[Sabaku Rika]

The adrenaline that had been keeping Rika afloat was rapidly burning away, leaving nothing but the raw, searing reality of her mistakes. Every movement sent a fresh wave of pain radiating from the deep cuts Kyuji had already inflicted. The cocky grin that usually plastered her face was entirely gone, replaced by a grimace.

She needed space. She needed just one second to breathe.

Her hands moved through hand seals, fingers trembling slightly but finding their marks out of pure muscle memory. "Barrier: Wall of Spirits," she mumbled. A shimmering, translucent wall of chakra erected itself around her. It was a simple, sturdy defense, but the moment it formed, Kyuji’s relentless assault—a flurry of slashes—slammed into it, threatening to shatter the construct instantly. Rika braced herself, her boots skidding slightly against the floor.

Before she could fully stabilize, movement caught her eye. Tsumugu’s bizarre fish summons—Garupa—were suddenly in her space. One of the hivemind creatures pulsed with energy, applying a Cancelling Seal directly onto her to ward off genjutsu, while another transferred a sudden, desperately needed rush of chakra into her coils.

Rika’s jaw tightened. She hated relying on others; she hated fish more. Her entire sense of worth was tied to her ability to stand on her own two feet, to prove she wasn't just some helpless street rat. But the exhaustion in her bones left her no room for pride. "Fine," she muttered through gritted teeth, casting a brief, begrudging look at the fish. "Thanks. I guess."

With the fresh surge of chakra, Rika pushed her hands together again. The air crackled with sharp ozone as a perfect replica of herself materialized, entirely composed of erratic, snapping electricity. The Lightning Clone didn't need orders. It immediately launched itself at their sensei, thrusting a hand forward to unleash a jagged Electroshock, followed up quickly by a wide-arcing Electrocution.

Rika watched, her heart sinking, as Kyuji sidestepped the crackling lightning with terrifying ease. The attacks hit nothing but empty air and dojo floor. 'She's not even trying to dodge... she just knows exactly where it's going to be,' Rika thought, a cold dread pooling in her stomach. Desperate, Rika focused her eyes on the veteran, manipulating the temporal flow around her to force an Epoch: Slow, hoping to drag Kyuji's movements down if only for a few seconds.

Then, the air pressure in the dojo completely shifted.

Kyuji didn't just break through the delay; she brought a monster into the fray. Rika’s jade green eyes widened as the massive, imposing form of Lord Byakko, the giant white tiger, materialized on the battlefield. The sheer presence of the beast made it hard to breathe.

It moved faster than Rika could process. The tiger equipped its celestial claws and became a deadly blur. Vanishing Slash. Rika saw Tsumugu's ice clone shatter. She saw the fish take the brunt of the heavy strikes. But the momentum carried the beast forward, and a weakened, yet still devastating slash tore through Rika's defenses. Blood sprayed as the claws caught her, sending a fresh, blinding spike of pain through her side.

She stumbled backward, clutching her ribs. But Kyuji was already moving. The deadly arc of a Zantetsuken was coming right for her.

Panic overriding logic, Rika threw her hands up, forcing the fabric of time to warp around the blade. "Chronostasis!" she screamed, violently ripping the attack out of the present and delaying it twenty seconds into the future.

She dropped to one knee, gasping for air, thinking she had survived the exchange. But manipulating time was a double-edged sword, and time always collected its debts.

The air behind her ripped open. The previous Zantetsuken—the one she had delayed earlier in the fight—snapped back into reality. There was no warning. No time to dodge. The steel tore into her back with a devastating, critical strike.

Rika let out a sharp, breathless cry as the force of the blow sent her crashing face-first into the scarred tatami mats. The world spun in violent, nauseating circles. She coughed, tasting copper on her tongue. Her limbs felt like lead. But she could not give in. She pushed herself to stand. She couldn't give up.

She was tunnel-visioned and didn't notice something was happening to Tsumugu. Not yet anyways. She sensed the chakra shifting and changing; there was too much currently for her to realize something was off. This was also her first time fighting alongside Tsumugu, so she didn't know his limits or what he normally could do.

[Actions sent]

 

[Kyuji]

As this battle waged on, things would continue to get more dire for all of us - some more than others. Rika, in truth, was the one that was in the best position as she was not showing any signs of fatigue nor looking like she was going to be depleted of her chakra anytime soon. It helped that she was able to manipulate space and time even if it backfired on her moments earlier by bringing an attack that I thought I landed back to our reality and taking the blunt of it to seal off another technique that I assumed would resurface within a few minutes if not sooner if she tried to stop me yet again.

For Tsumugu, he was losing control of himself and he was going to be a liability to himself and possibly Rika and I if this did not end soon. The poor Genin was able to evade attacks all of the attacks thrown, well I guess you could say slashed, at him so he was still in a good spot. But his body or mind, I was not entirely sure, seemed to be losing control as his movements were become sloppy and he was acting more like an animal fighting for survival. It did not help matters that his body would twitch involuntarily and he looked like he was falling apart more and more with each passing second. Unfortunately, it was unlikely that Rika and Tsumugu would stop fighting for their sake so reasoning with either of them would be a waste of time and effort. The only way to stop Tsumugu from himself was to incapacitate him so his body, and more importantly, his chakra network would slow down and stop trying to take in natural energy from around us mixed with the Byakko energy that lingered, amplified due to Lord Byakko now being here as well.

I would have said something to the crowd that was gathering near us about the situation to forewarn them, but Lord Byakko would take my moment of distraction to speak. "Byakko Kyuji, my descendant and winner of the mortals' World Martial Arts Tournament. You have not spoken or summoned me since those finals against that Cloud Medical Sennin known as Junko." He would take a moment to sigh before addressing me more: "But, you look like you have been doing well all things considered with your little accident a while back. Your pride, however, is not radiating like it did during the tournament which is DISAPPOINTING to me. I will allow it for now given the situation that you summoned me in, but we will speak about this afterwards." I nodded as disappointing Lord Byakko was the last thing I wanted to do and he was right that I wasn't being the normal person I was since the--

MAIM! INJURE! KILL THEM! MAKE THEM BLEED OUT ESPECIALLY THE FEMALE ONE! I grabbed my head as I felt a throbbing pain as that voice was back again and even more aggressive than before. Why? WHY? WHO WAS THIS VOICE? Gritting my teeth, I looked at Tsumugu and Rika as blood trickled down my face from the injury sustained by an ice, or was it a water, needle that managed to hit me. I needed to end this now if I could as things were getting dire for all of us and I wanted blood...lots of blood...a messy, bloody pool on the floor. Why was I even thinking of this? Surely, I was not losing my sanity against a bunch of Genin that surprised me more than I expected. Right? RIGHT?

Lord Byakko would walk towards the male of the duo and sigh. He was a prideful beast, but he also knew exactly what was going on with the boy given the fact that his descendant was one skilled in Sage Mood at one point and knew how to balance the energy of the world. For someone that was not used to being around Lord Byakko, he could be quite intimidating due to his size or the power behind his voice as he spoke. "Child of Suna, bearer of wind and water! Heed my words! You are experiencing negative effects from activating your Sage Mode due to inexperience in using it. You are currently absorbing the Natural Energy of the world around you and the strong, almost suffocating energy of Byakko Kyuji and I, LORD BYAKKO! You are going to annihilate your chakra system if you do not stop using it." He would take a step back after he spoke to him and look at Rika, continuing: "Do you not see your friend's body is losing control of itself? Do you not CARE about him to try to talk some sense into him?"

He would then step back to stand beside me, actually towering over me as he looked at me and then them as he spoke once more: "These children of Suna have a lot to learn about being shinobi. It would do them well to do some research on things in their spare time and ask you questions when they are with you, Byakko Kyuji, descendant of mine! If we need to teach them a lesson, I will assist you in this, but I do not agree with it." I nodded at him as my eyes would glow again as I smiled at both of them, bloodied, and said: "They will not stop if we do not stop them, Lord Byakko. We need to finish this soon as Tsumugu's mind and body are going to fall apart the longer that this drags on."