A New Home (Kirigakure, Open)

Kirigakure was definitely a strange land.  It was exactly what it said it was, and still it surprised Roku.  It was an entire city-like village, hidden in mist.  The mist was eerily dense, and, from what he’d seen, it was permanent.  He’d been camping outside the village for a few days in order to be sure it was safe before he entered, and the mist never once lifted.  It forced him to wonder if the mist was even natural.  Of course, it probably was… it didn’t have any special or defining features other than its strange persistence to remain in existence.

The young Kaguya, backpack with his Infinite Gourd and its contents donned, stepped onto the path, and immediately saw two ninja hurtling toward him at simply ridiculous speeds.  On edge, he sprang backward, ready for a defense, but the two simply sprinted past them.   They must have been on a mission of high priority or something… they were obviously powerful, their speed indicated that.  He mentally shook himself.  He knew Kirigakure was full of powerful Shinobi.  The man he’d met before, Nanashi, was a testament to that.  He liked the possibility of finding a teacher here.  While Nanashi was powerful, he seemed to be centered on Medical Ninjutsu, something that, while interesting, wasn’t a fit for young Roku.

He continued his slow, meandering pace toward the village, stopping here and there to marvel at a plant that he hadn’t seen before, or at a particular view that he found “pretty.”  He especially liked how the mist seemed to give all the trees a sort of aesthetic that reminded him of a rainforest.  The area really was quite beautiful, a strange contrast to the deadly Shinobi that resided within the village, willing and ready to kill at a moment’s notice on nothing more than suspicion.  That particular thought worried Roku as he approached the gate.  

The guard standing at the gate asked Roku for identification and his purpose in Kirigakure, stating that the boy didn’t seem familiar.  And he shouldn’t; he had never been to Kirigakure before, and the only Shinobi from the village that the boy had ever met was Nanashi.  However, Roku responded appropriately; “I am Roku Kaguya.  I left my home in Iwagakure after it was destroyed by the Nine-Tailed Fox.  I continued on to Konohagakure, and while there, I trained and was promoted to the rank of Chuunin.  Not satisfied with what I had there, particularly my lack of a teacher, I came to Kirigakure in hopes that I could find that.”  The man seemed to ponder this for a moment, and Roku analyzed the area around him, still slightly paranoid of what would happen if he seemed too secretive or suspicious.

The Hand of Vengeance. It stood atop the gate of Kirigakure, watching, waiting, examining every being that stood before it. Several Jounin ran through with intent to bring heavy information to the Kage's desk. Apparently they wanted to get things over with and have a nice relaxing day most likely. This information was unnecessary however. The Hand would watch as a boy would stand before the gate. An interesting boy, to say the least. It appeared he held a Goard. Odd, what would a boy need with such a thing? This intrigued The Hand greatly. The Hand, crouching above the gate with their Tracker Ninja uniform donned to themselves. How interesting, that this boy would come to Kirigakure in search of a teacher. Interesting indeed. The figure would step forward gently, descending upon the boy in an instant.

With out warning, nor with out much effort, the figure would land upon the ground with a small thud which caused a light indentation in it. As the creature stood to their full height of six foot six, it would stare at the boy in it's outfit. Ah, that outfit. It was a suit like object colored purple with golden trim. On top of that was the long high collar robe like object, and at last, the helmet which obscured the being's face. In this outfit, gender was hardly noticeable. Instead, the only thing that could be gathered was a general build and height. How odd. The being would stand there for several minutes before looking to the boy and speaking. A rough almost electronically muffled voice echoed the area which sounded male.

"Roku Kaguya. What is it you possess that makes you believe you are worthy to learn from the combatants at Kirigakure."

The voice would be hard to distinguish emotion. Perhaps it was from the very fact that it was electronically garbled. The being stood there, examining the boy's body structure, movements, and muscle contractions. The Hand was literally, examining the boy top to bottom in an attempt to figure out what he was capable of. Perhaps this boy held more secrets than he knew. Or, maybe, he was just a lost puppy in search of a trainer. For now, he was perceived as a possible threat, and it was only now that The Hand noticed the guards were saluting it randomly after stammering the words, 'I-I-I-IT'S THE HAND OF VENGEANCE!'

401/401/0

The… person… towered over him, asserting their dominance over him the way the alpha of a wolf-pack does the other members.  Roku knew a bit about wolves.  Holding your ground afforded you respect from the alpha.  Advancing your ground afforded you death.  Backing down meant submitting.  In most cases, the alpha would tower over another member of the pack if they were doing something they weren’t supposed to do, like consorting with the females, or if they were new to the pack.  The similarity of that to this instance was eerily clear to Roku; but it gave him a simple, clear course of action as well.

Roku straightened his back, squared his shoulders, and held his body erect.  His gaze was intense, and he stared at the helmet, searching for its interior without success.  The scene was comical.  This person was eight inches taller than him and in some sort of power ranger suit, whereas Roku stood with an open-chested black robe top complete with cloth black trousers, black sandals, and no undershirt.  His white hair fell just beneath his ears in stark contrast to the rest of his body.  Any bystanders, were they not so seemingly terrified of this being, wouldn’t be able to help but snicker.

And that did not go unnoticed.  Roku examined the surrounding people, the forced respect that they gave the individual before him, all the while keeping his eyes on that overshadowing helmet.  They seemed terrified.  This must be one of the more powerful, more dangerous Shinobi of Kirigakure.  It was probably one of the people that Roku had come here for.  A person that could teach him to be… powerful.  The vision that seemed to haunt him lately appeared once more.  An enormous metallic object impaling the eye of the Nine-Tailed Fox.  It was uncharacteristic of his normally jolly personality, but it seemed to encompass his persona more and more since the death of his family.

But it was his turn to speak.  The question about his worth… did he even have any worth?  His family was dead.  He had no home, no belongings.  What could he offer Kirigakure?  Despite these thoughts, Roku’s words came readily, firm, and without hesitation.  “Perhaps I am not worthy.  I have much to learn.  There are many things I know, but an infinite number of things which I do not.  I have many desires and many goals, most of which will never come to fruition without a teacher who can show me to harness my potential.  I guess my worth comes from my determination and admission that I do have an ample amount to learn.  But then, that’s for you and the others of this village to decide.”

Roku watched, attempting to gauge the… person’s… reaction.  He knew it’d likely be impossible, but he tried anyway.  He watched for body language; gestures mostly; but anything that would tell him if he was in immediate danger posed to him by this individual.  Comfort was a commodity not afforded to him.  Not since the Kyuubi.

The being would stare at the boy's eyes as he spoke. Interesting. He had adjusted his sight, posture, and presentation to show that he was not afraid of this being's commanded respect. The boy before The Hand had attempted to forcibly present his own form of respect. He held himself as if he was strong, capable, and determined. Was he? Perhaps. That was for time to tell, however. It was now that the figure would begin to slowly walk to it's left, circling around Roku in a slow almost commanding way. It was very much equated to that of an Alpha Wolf circling a newer member to see it's body, examine it for worth. It was almost tribal in nature. However, The Hand would not give any of it's thoughts away through body language. Instead, The Hand would feel oddly cold, oddly uncaring. Perhaps it was just the suit which afforded this nature. As The Hand came full circle, it would stare once more into the eyes of Roku. The faceless helmet showing only the reflection of those that stared into it. It was often equated to a Mirror. Many who would gaze upon it, would simply begin to get scared as it portrayed a vision, almost as if The Hand was judging the individual before them.

The Alpha, would stand before the boy and speak once more. It's voice was commanding, emotionless, and yet, garbled by Electronic almost static like audio. It was clear the being was speaking from with in the helmet which afforded some sort of, extra voice modulation. By using a speed of which the being had anticipated to be slow enough that Roku could see with out fail, The creature would lift it's right hand from it's side. As it did, a glimpse of a silver object could be seen on it's belt, yet only for an instant as the robe like object covered it back up once more.This was, however, a distraction of which the being would use it's speed to form a Tiger seal, however, to msot this would be invisible to sight. The hand would begin to move towards the boy's face, gentle and slow. When it's hand had reached a few feet in front of Roku's face, it would speak.

"You stand as if you command the respect of others, yet you do not. You know of my commanded respect, and yet, you stand before more. unafraid, unaffected, and determined to continue. Very well then, Let us see if you are worthy of Kirigakure."

The voice would beam outwards. The very way the being spoke this time, it almost commanded the very earth to rumble. However, it did not. It felt as though the very deapths of most men's souls would tremble at the mere utterance of the words. And yet, they did not. It was now, that the hand, if allowed, would grab Roku's right left cheek, firmly grasping it. Then, with out hesitation or pause, the Helmet would open a slit across the being's right eye to show the commanding golden optic. And as it did, The being's hand would touch Roku's face. In this moment, the being's voice would echo through the area.

"Look in to my eye, and be judged for your crimes."

At that moment, Roku's world would fade from existence. Every moment from his birth until this very instance would play before their eyes. Every thing from the loss of his parents, to the meeting of The Hand before his very eyes. Nothing of his past would remain a secret to this demon of the memories.

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Jutsu used:

As the being began its circle around Roku, he’d allow it. He probably wouldn’t be able to react if the person tried to strike at him anyway, so he may as well stand tall now, seemingly fearless as he allowed the beast-like action to take place, the creature circling Roku, examining him. He stood tall, head and eyes forward. His arms drew upward from his sides and crossed in front of his chest, and his left foot moved about eighteen inches to the left as his feet spread shoulder width apart. His emotions were nearly impossible to be read. He simply stood, calmly.

When the beastial person finished their circling of the young boy, the individual then stopped and reached its hand out toward Roku’s face. He noticed a cylindrical silver object hidden within the person’s robes, but he paid it no mind. He took a step backward with his left foot and leaned backward as the hand was stretched toward his face. They weren’t particular fast movements, nor were they meant to be. He knew he’d be dead here if this person wanted him dead anyway. Evading the individual would be pointless. However, he did hope that this person’s intentions were harmless.

Leaning back, just a few inches out of reach of the hand that had made its way toward the boy’s face, he spoke. “I hope you’ll forgive me. This is a dangerous world, and it has made me wary. I find it difficult to find trust in a stranger, much less someone whose face is even hidden from me. Of course, I won’t be able to forcibly evade you. Even if I can, there are plenty of ninja around that you can call to your aid. I’d be a sitting duck.” He didn’t know what this person wanted yet, and that made him wary.

The world had shown Roku just how brutal it could be. Recent events could attest to that. He wasn’t sure if he wanted a stranger to touch him, especially since he had absolutely no clue as to the capabilities of that stranger or what a simple touch could entail. He did his best to show that he was not hostile, but he had to preserve himself first and foremost. And that included whatever it was that the other being was about to try to do. He watched, hesitantly, as the Kirigakure Shinobi would do whatever it was that she did next.

The beast-like being would stand there, watching as Roku leaned away from it's touch. Interesting. The boy had proclaimed his distrust of the being. His distrust and the fact that he'd wish nothing more than to be himself with out giving another his secrets. Interesting. If she truly wanted it, this beast could forcibly tear the boy's memories from his body but, she didn't wish it. Instead, she would see no point in touching the boy. Alright, he wanted to do it this way, than this way it would be. The boy would most likely retake a standard standing position after the beast withdrew their hand. The Hand, staring at the boy, would simply stand there for almost ten minutes. She'd stare, analyze, and test every possible movement that might come to fruition. Ah yes, that would suffice. The beast would move their hand to the side, causing the cloak to open up for an instant. In that instant, a distraction as usual, the beast's hands would form a seal, so fast, that it was highly doubtful the boy would see it. And, just as highly doubtful, it would appear nothing had happened except the beast would place it's hands inside of it's robe. Though, if the boy paid attention, they'd see that the metallic object was no longer holstered to it's belt. The being stood there, beginning to speak.

"Trusting someone...means relying on them and only the weak do that. Now, come with me. And don't dawdle. I keep a tight schedule for training."



The beast would speak in the hatred like voice that was the robotics. The beast would explain that they were to meet at the other end of the village. Of which, they'd wind up being at Seyusuko's personal training grounds. However, this was not the only and last thing that happened. no, while this conversation was happening, a secondary action was taking place. The hand seal that the beast had preformed, was a shadow clone seal. The moment it was created, the clone had sped past the boy at it's max speed. Putting itself directly behind him with almost no time delay. The moment that the beast would turn to walk forward, the clone would place it's right hand upon Roku's shoulder. In that instant, it would happen. Roku's world would fade to black, and the jutsu would commence for the clone, upon being created, had both grabbed the original's flute, and preformed the tiger seal.

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Jutsu used:

The waiting game… the giant power ranger stared at Roku, analyzing him, for what seemed like an eternity.  His gaze never faltered, fixed upon that reflective helmet, never falling or moving out of fear or discomfort.  He stared, just as intently at the other person as they did at him.  To look away was to give in, and Roku had the impression that that was not the way to impress this particular individual.  So he waited until she did something.  What, exactly, he wasn’t sure, he was waiting for something.  Or perhaps the other person was. But it didn’t matter.

The robe opened and closed once more.  The boy could see the other individual perform a handseal of some kind, but what exactly he was unsure.  He then saw the silver metallic object that he had seen earlier vanish from the other person’s belt, and a figure sped past him.  Roku was extremely fast himself, and as the Kirigakure Shinobi spoke of trust and of their meeting place, the Chuunin performed five handseals.  Considering the other individual – which, at this point, Roku assumed to be a clone, being a humanoid figure that had appeared from nowhere – had to start in front of Roku, he had the time to perform this technique.

And just in time.  The person who had touched “him” would not have actually touched Roku, but a block of wood from within the forest.  Roku, of course, would now be just inside Kirigakure’s gates and hurtle toward the place which the other individual had mentioned to meet at.  He wasn’t sure what his most recent action would cause, but he moreso, at this point, took it as a challenge than anything else.  Of course the other person was faster than Roku, but with his head start and the crowded streets of Kirigakure, it would likely be beyond difficult to find Roku in the mess.

He hurtled through the streets of Kirigakure, not taking the time to take in any detail, for he did not have it.  His steps fell rapidly, and random pedestrians would curse beneath their breath as “the little brat” sprinted past them at speeds that most of them couldn’t follow, every once in a while bumping into a pedestrian or cart.  He made his way almost all the way through the village, but he began to slow as he begun to take in his surroundings, looking for the training grounds the other individual had mentioned.  He activated his Sensory Technique, looking for a chakra signature moving significantly fast in comparison to bystanders.  

He wondered for a moment if this was going to put in him any danger.  He had no idea of what the other individual’s intentions were.  But… it sounded like this person was willing to train him, judging by the fact that they had directed Roku to their training grounds.  At this point, Roku would begin to walk a little further, searching still for the training grounds.  He wondered if he’d ruined his shot at finding a good teacher, but paranoia tended to get the best of him nowadays.

The beast like woman would walk forward at a standard bystander's pace. She'd make no extra speed movements nor anything of a sort. It would take, around ten minutes to walk from one end of the village to the other. Well, if you took the main road at least. Sey's feet would bring her to walk forward in a nonchalant manner. For now, she'd allow the boy to keep his thoughts to himself. Why would it matter at this moment anyway. Perhaps later, it would matter. Sey's body would bring itself to a quick stop off where an elderly man would trade with her. Then, like a new woman, she would come out of a building wearing her tight white body suit. As if to be nothing more than a circus performer or even that of a basic Jounin. She could wear the old Jounin vest, however, she felt it wasn't necessary. She was once again adorned with her silvery object upon her waist. It was now to be seen as a flute! It had been roughly ten minutes to the point when Sey would stroll past the southern gate. As she did, she would find herself in an arena of caved inward trees. This arena wasn't all THAT big but it was enough. Perhaps thirteen meters in circumference. Her golden optics would lay upon the boy with the gourd as she spoke.

"You're resourceful."

She would say as the woman with long green hair would walk up to Roku from behind. She continued to walk in a slow fashion begetting of a civilian. Sey's body would stop in it's place as she looked at the boy. It was interesting how she'd finally come full circle. She had a teacher herself back in the day. That teacher was able to teach remarkable tihngs to Seyusuko. But alas, it wasn't the only thing. That teacher imparted some other things with in Sey that may never come out. Either way, the woman stood at her full height of six six, her hair down and gently blowing in what ever breeze there was. Alas, she held herself with the commanding respect that she had earned for dispatching her own teacher. Around here she was known as the Hand of Vengeance for doing so. It was a title that was befitting yet not so at the same time. Odd, to say the least. Her body would shift ever so slightly as her body relaxed. She wouldn't even bother getting into a combat stance. Instead, she'd simply watch the boy as she'd begin to speak once again.

"To understand each other, we will fight. It is the only way to truly understand one another."

Her voice would sound almost like a siren, if it weren't for that cold monotone that she held. It displayed no emotion nor hint of any being with in it's power. No, this woman, being perhaps, wasn't held back by any sort of morality that others would hold themselves to. She commanded an aura that seemed to portray that aspect of her. Her raw coldness almost hinted that she was one to cast aside any and all that she needed to. She would never ask anyone to trust her. No, instead, she would instruct them to trust no one, Least of all, herself.

552/1927/300

His breath came a bit too quickly and a bit too heavily.  It took a few seconds to regain control of it, but it didn’t matter all that much, for the power ranger had yet to arrive.  However, shortly after Roku had just reached the training grounds of which the… thing… spoke, another individual approached him, not in any way that seemed alerted or excited, so Roku did not reflect either of those feelings either.  Instead, he simply watched the man approach, and he listened to the man’s question.  Roku still had to tread carefully in the village, and would have to for quite some time, so a fiery remark was out of the question.

And so his response was polite.  He looked at the man with a bit of a grin, strange for the situation he was in at the moment, but nonetheless, it was there, teeth and all.  And he spoke, “Oh, I’m just here because I was told to be by…”  He trailed off.  He didn’t know who the power ranger was.  “I dunno their name.  It was a person in some weird white and gold outfit at the village gate.”  It was obvious Roku was not from the village, as the Hand of Vengeance seemed to be known by everyone, but the boy wasn’t looking to hide that face.  

He wondered if the other man was a Shinobi of Kirigakure and deduced that it was a probability because the average person couldn’t follow the boy’s speed with their eyes, and that being the case, the man would not have asked where he was going in such a hurry.  Roku’s smile, however, was replaced with ever-so-slightly furrowed brows of curiosity as his lips parted once more and his boyish voice escaped.  “If you don’t mind me asking, what is your name?  I’m Roku.”

But then the – IT WAS A WOMAN – arrived with a comment on Roku’s resourcefulness.  He’d actually almost put the fact that he instinctively and automatically reacted to whatever the woman had done.  But before Roku could find any pride in the comment – not that he would have anyway – the woman told him they needed to fight.  While that was not something he was particularly excited to do, he knew if he refused, it’d be like showing vulnerability to a beast.  In fact, it would be exactly that.  And the beast would then pounce, placing Roku in danger.

So he simply nodded, his curious expression at this point being replaced by a more serious one, and his legs carried him in a walk around the newcomer and to the edge of the training facility.  There, he rid himself of his backpack, but not after grabbing the Infinite Gourd and placing one on its place on his left leg, and then placing the other on his right.  Here, he removed his robe top because it would hinder the ability for him to use his Shikotsumyaku techniques.  He hung the bag on the tree, hopefully in a safe place as it held the few possessions of his that mattered to him.

The then looked back at the woman who was to be his opponent.  “I’m ready.”

Sey would stand in the grounds, eyeing the man to her left. He was at the edge of the grounds. A good place to watch. He'd be out of the way of anything Sey did, so she wouldn't end up striking him by mistake. Though, she rarely made mistakes. But this, this she knew enough not to. She knew of the man that stood there. She chose not to address him directly. She had no need nor want for it. He was there, so be it. She had other things to focus on. Such as seeing just how this boy was going to fair with the power of The Hand. If he proved himself worthy, proved that even under pressure he could maintain his current outlook. Then she'd see no reason he couldn't stay here. A worthy Ninja of the Mist's boundless prowess. It was now, however, that Sey would ready herself. How? She'd stand in a basic stance with her arms crossed under her breasts. Her legs spread shoulder width apart, and last but not least, she relaxed every muscle in her body.

She was ready, her body was ready, her mind was ready. She knew there was no chance this boy could actually kill her. No, not with her speed and strength of body. But he had the potential to do a fair bit of damage if she wasn't careful. She had sized the boy up and thus, she knew that this boy seemed, different. It was of course an eventual moment when the second Sey arrived to stand next to her. The second Sey took the same stance as the first as they stared at the boy before them. Perhaps two was too much. The original Sey would nod to the second Sey before walking over to stand next to the man with the ring. Out of the battle, out of the way, and out of the ability to cause issues. It was then that she'd speak of softly to the man next to her.

"I didn't know you had returned."

While she didn't know much about the man, it was her job to know every ninja that was apart of Kiri's fighting force. Why? Well, she was a tracker Ninja after all. She had to know the names and faces of every Ninja that ever served in Kiri's military. She needed to be able to get inside their head, track them, and bring them back to the Mizukage if possible. It was a job that not many could do. The emotional stress alone would drive one insane. Instead, she was able to combat that with her baseline thought process of locking everything up inside her mind like a labrynth of mental acuity and distress. Sey's body would relax once more as she stood there. She trusted no one, but she was willing to disregard most of what Enkai would do. Most. She was wary of everyone, trusting in no one, not even her lover Hitomi. Trust, was something the weak did. She, was far from weak.

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It was rare to see Roku in this state of mind. He wasn’t dark, nor was he cheery. To be either of those would be to imply that he felt positively or negatively, or that he even felt at all. The reality of the matter was that he wasn’t feeling anything at the moment. He was just focused. He knew that he would not win against this individual – who was no longer in her power ranger costume – but he also knew that it wasn’t about whether he won. Or so, at least he hoped. It was much more about whether he’d manage impress her somehow. The “how” part was the part that he had yet to figure out.

Roku reached down to the Infinite Gourd and tipped it upside down, still strapped to his leg. The black metallic Death Sand fell from the Infinite Gourd and landed on the Earth, where it did not collect. In fact, though it was nearly impossible to see from any bit of a distance, the Death Sand wasn’t actually on the ground, but rather had burrowed its way inside it. It ran through the ground, grinding against rock and gravel chipping off tiny little pieces, all the while spreading horizontally beneath him to encompass more of the gravel and rock underground. He allowed an entire unit of his Death Sand to empty itself from the Infinite Gourd into the ground before turning the Gourd right-side up and stopping the flow of the black metallic substance.

However, while this happened, Roku pointed his left index finger at the clone who was to be his sparring partner. Without warning, three bone shrapnel were ejected from this finger, at which point he pointed his middle finger at her, again ejecting three bone shrapnel, allowing the process to repeat with all four fingers until he came to his thumb, which was only capable of projecting two bone shrapnel. Performing the technique in a successive manner the way he had allowed for him to fire the bone shrapnel like an automatic weapon in the sense that, were a dodge to happen, he could simply follow the target with his hands. And he would do just this, unless his opponent closed the distance too quickly.

He kept his eyes fixed on the clone of the woman, the entity which he was fighting, and trained his other senses onto her as well. This was not a time which he’d fail, for his entire future depended on this moment; whether he was accepted into this village or not would determine how he developed as a Shinobi – or whether he’d even live to see the day that he “developed.” Today was not a day that he got to relax or slack off; this spar needed to be as serious to him as if his life depended on it, because, while his mortality did not depend on it, his life itself and the way he would live it did. His conviction doubled in might.

Sey would stand there watching as the boy was doing, something. So he was using bone jutsu? Right, Kaguya. Sey's body wouldn't move. not yet. Instead, she would stand there as the bullets would trod slowly towards her like that of a band of small children just playing. They were en masse moving towards her, but still they were slow. The beast known as The Hand would use her speed in such a way that would make her appear intangible. She'd begin walking forward towards the bullets. As she reached her body would sway out of the way of each bullet with great speed. So much in fact that it was doubtful Roku noticed she was moving outside of just walking forward. However Enaki, now he would most likely see that she was moving ever so slightly different than normally walking forward.

As it stood now, Roku was not impressing Sey at all. Simple bone jutsu wasn't the greatest thing she'd ever seen. No, he needed to find a way to catch her off guard. She was the demon which had killed her own teacher because she was told to by the Kage. This was a woman that was almost taken by a raving beast of a man that held her captive. It seemed nothing would faze her. And here Roku would need to find a way to get her to actually be impressed. Good luck. But alas it wasn't the only thing. She had noticed the sand that fell to the ground. It was odd. It didn't do anything. It was obvious to Sey that it had some sort of purpose considering he was using bones when there was sand next to him. Plus, those gourds were something important. But what were they. The questions would reign with in her mind momentarily. But she'd pass them off for now as to be answered later. She'd hoped that Roku would have a better plan than to just fire pellets of bone at her with lazy speed.

The Original, however, was lazily standing next to Enkai watching the fight. It was there that he spoke words which gave her a momentary pause. She'd never take her eyes off of Roku or her cloned being. Instead, she'd simply stare wonder exactly what was going to happen. It would be interesting to see this however. But alas, the question was asked and so it must be answered.

No. He is a Chuunin from Konoha in search of a home.

Her voice echoed softly on the breeze. Those golden optics never once left the gaze of the fight. She was watching, waiting, attempting to figure out what the boy's next moves were. It would be interesting to say the least. But alas, who knew what would come of it next. For sure, however, there was going to be something amazing happening soon. If Roku could manage to do a simple task. Only time would tell now.

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Firing his bone shrapnel at the clone of the woman, it seemed as if they moved directly through her. Roku’s first thought was Genjutsu, something he knew he was susceptible to. However, he dismissed that when he realized that he had probably moved out of range of any Genjutsu when he ran ahead, and he further dismissed it when his Sensory Technique, still active, confirmed that there was, indeed, a being in that place. That told him that the clone was probably using some form of Ninjutsu to cause his attacks to move right through her, though he didn’t see any handseals. However, he himself practiced many Ninjutsu that did not require the use of handseals, so there was no reason that she wouldn’t know any.

The Death Sand in the ground that was grinding up the dirt and soil had, at this point, ground up about an entire unit of sand. Roku used the newly produced sand and the Death Sand together to grind up even more sand in the ground, which would soon bring his total amount of Jiton Medium to five units, including the unit that was still in his Gourd. He’d never used his Jiton on another individual before and wondered if he should even use it now, against this behemoth of a woman.

He thought for a moment while he made his next move, weighing the positives against the negatives. On the one hand, he’d be far more likely to impress her, making him far more likely to be allowed to stay in Kirigakure. On the other hand, the use of his Jiton element would leave very little to the imagination about his capabilities, and he still did not know or trust the people whose presence he was in. He opted that he would wait as long as possible to unveil his Jiton, but, if it was absolutely necessary, he’d use it if it meant he could stay in Kirigakure, thinking about the possibilities of a mentor with sufficient strength.

It was at this point that Roku’s eyes met that of the clone. He knew what he had to do to leave an impression on this woman, but the risk was high. He knew that it was not at all outside the realm of possibility that if he did this, he’d die by her hands. Knowing this, his plan for his next action did not change. His deadly stare into the eyes of the behemoth’s clone did not falter, and he did not look away. But that was more for deception than out of conviction or determination.

He brought his hands together and formed a handseal, meanwhile being sure to pinpoint the actual woman’s position with his still active Sensory Technique. Forming the Snake handseal, Roku performed three jutsu in rapid succession, all of which requiring the same Snake handseal. Or rather, he performed two jutsu, but he performed one of them twice. This would likely use up a large portion of his chakra, and he’d have about a third of his maximum leftover after he’d been using so many jutsu already. That meant that this move had to leave an impression on her because he wouldn’t have much more to do afterward.

Immediately after performing the handseal, two spiked pillars of bone produced from Roku’s Shikotsumyaku would erupt from two places. The first being directly in front of the clone of the woman. It would protrude from the ground very quickly and attempt to impale her in the abdomen. Roku knew it wouldn’t work, but that wasn’t the goal. At that same moment, the exact same thing would happen with the original, except that the pillar would attempt to impale her in the back, coming out of the ground behind her instead.

The pillar in front of the clone was simply to mask Roku’s use of a handseal and to draw the original’s attention to perhaps catch her off-guard by attacking her from behind with a second pillar. He used his Sensory Technique to pinpoint her location to his right rather than looking at her to avoid giving away his intentions. But he knew he had to strike at the original, for a woman who seemed this calculating would never be impressed with Roku fruitlessly attacking a clone of hers. She’d be impressed, instead, by Roku keeping his mind on the task at hand, which was to earn his worth as a member of Kirigakure. And to do that, the same thought that was recurring in his mind over and over once more told him that he needed to leave an impression and to make her interested. He was well aware of the risk that was involved in doing this, and that she may very well decide to kill him. In that case, Roku simply had to hope that she wouldn’t.

But he wasn’t done. He knew that the pillar likely wouldn’t strike either of the two versions of the woman if they were nearly as good as Roku suspected, so, holding the Snake handseal, he performed his last technique. The pillars each burst, and thousands of bone shrapnel hailed from each of the pillars upon their target in a relatively confined radius, exploding only in the direction of the targets. Upon contact, against any normal Shinobi, the shrapnel would evacuate flesh and bone, but Roku knew that this person was not normal by any means. He simply hoped to land a hit.

He wanted to land a hit more for his own purposes than to impress her at that point, because if she wasn’t interested at that point, she likely wouldn’t be at all. But he had come a long way since the last scenario in which the stakes were high in a fight. In fact, the only time the stakes were ever high were when the Kyuubi destroyed his home back in Iwagakure… and back then his skill was still lower than that of a Genin. If he could land a strike on this woman, and if she was as good as she seemed, it would show him just how far he had come.

Seyusuko watched closely, waiting, pursuing every muscle movement that Roku would make. It was then that she noticed it. She noticed his hands slowly moved towards a seal. Alright, so a seal it is then. But that wasn't all. No, it seemed that there were multiple seals. Well, that wasn't good. Sey's body would almost instinctively rush Chakra to her eyes the moment she noticed a small rumbling in the ground combined with the seals. In an almost fluent motion she would leap towards Roku a small bit putting herself between the boy and the bones that were nearly going to stab her in the back. At the exact same time, the clone had appeared to do the same thing however she landed next to Sey, thus pointing her bones towards Enkai. It was that very moment that hell broke loose.

Both of them noticed the bones explode into shrapnel. Interesting. Both of the women would then burst forward at their maximal speed to escape the blast radius. It would be interesting to say the least. However, they both managed to escape with little injury. In fact, as the clone was begin released Seyusuko would bring her arm upwards and stare at it. As she did, her right hand would grasp an object from her left and toss it to the ground. As it struck the ground with a light thud sound, she would look to the boy and watch has his own bones would most likely leave him with a few injuries. She didn't care much for the bones that flew towards Enkai for she knew he'd be capable in protecting himself. It was now the fact that this boy had actually managed to place a single piece of bone shrapnel into her arm. Interesting indeed. It was this very moment that Sey would begin by walking back towards Enkai, and onward to other places. As she passed by Enkai, she would speak lightly.

"He's fine as-is for now."

As Sey would walk off into the distance seemingly out of nowhere, Roku would manage to, as he gathered his things, to find a note instructing him to give a letter that it was attached to, to the Mizukage with her recommendation. She didn't have a lot of pull, but she had enough of a reputation to at least give a simple recommendation. And with that, she managed to disappear into the horizon. On that note, however, she explained that when she returned, there would be no room for relaxing, as she kept a tight training schedule.

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((EXIT))