Starring:
Date: January 16, 2012
Summary:
Soon after Takeshi has finished his fight with Kibushi over the promotion exam scroll, Ryoji attempts to steal the same awarded scroll while the Kaguya is still tired. Unfortunatly for the latter, Experience proved to trump an ill-operated ambush.
"First Promotion Exams - Experience Against Cleverness? Takeshi vs. Ryoji"
North Shiren Caverns [Land of Wind]
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Welcome to the Shiren Caverns. This place is a maze of tubular tunnels, carved out over the ages by natural forces, some of them of the living variety. As desert locales go, the caverns are a hotbed of life, providing shelter from the merciless sun and collecting moisture. All manner of creepy-crawlies, reptiles, rodents, and even large predators like sand cats can be encountered here.
This area of the caverns features mostly small tunnels in great abundance, enough that exam participants can be sent into the network at different entrances and quite possibly not bump into each other for quite some time. Running and jumping about are limited, but opportunities for stealth and ambush abound.
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Contents:
While everyone else scrambled to hunt down each other for their own various reasons, or maybe even -attempt- to set up ambushes. Ryoji never left the entrance that they pratically shoved him into before sealing the way behind him. He was no fool after all, well, -technically- he was… BUT that's neither here no there! What is a fact, is for the better part the past couple of hours he sent out probes throughout the tunnels while the main body kept busy setting the stage for an ambush when needed.
Patiently he had waited for the probes to come up with layout, and when they succeeded (most of them anyways thanks to the local wildlife consume the ones sent to the west) Ryoji could barely contain himself from laughing out loud at what they picked up along the way as well. But still, there was more waiting to be done..
The conclusion of Takeshi's fight, while an unnerving one to say the least, provided the basics of what he needed. But.. he still had he let the Kaguya get outside of eyeshot and hearing range of Kibushi before creepy along an a nearby tunnel to shadow him first..
Takeshi had just finished his fight with Kibushi, but he had not relaxed. As is the case with this particular transformation, it is meant for battle and that means he needs time to fully return to the base state. This was what he was trying to accomplish as he walked along the caves and thought back on Kibushi. However, now was no time to lose yourself in worry, the elder knew that and when he felt the presence creeping along, he stopped dead in the center for a second.
For awhile the elder just stays there but then continues to go ahead before turning around to look straight at the shadows, somehow, it's the exact spot that Ryoji is in, but the elder doesn't say anything, he simply stares and stares. His eyes seem to lose their focus as he keeps them on a single focal point for too long.
Ryoji needed no eyes to tell him that he had been spotted. Takeshi's pause in steps after all gave him away well enough. Even so, he persisted in staring back at the elder Kaguya just the same until his eyes seem to lose focus before narrowing his own thoughtfully. With chakra focused to his feet just incase, Ryoji freed his hands up to form a single handsign, a startling action in the shadow perhaps, but one that bares no immediate fruit before he breaking off loose pieces of stone around him and chucking them at Takeshi's eyes and neck.
Hit or miss, the Iga doesn't wait around to find out before -attempting- run along his own parallel tunnel to Takeshi's.
Takeshi grins silently as Ryoji tries to strike at him, the stones striking against a body steeled against damage and simply falling to the ground. "Oh, so you do intend to fight me." He was still tired from his last fight, but he could always escape now. Actually, why not really confuse his new friend with that ability. The elder grinned widely at him, "Oh, now you get to see an elder."
The elder's hands flashed into motion making seals before sounds began to echo around the caves. Suddenly, the sound of fighting erupted in both the south and north. Others competeing for scrolls? Then the sounds of people scurrying out of sight are intensified. More people? And if that wasn't enough, the whistle of kunai can be heard along with the clang of swords, the twirl of spears. Noises, noises, more noises. And if the other nin couldn't block it out, The elder was gone.
Ryoji ignored Takeshi's words, but the sound of battle both ahead and behind him did give him pause to slow down a peg. Did he not already map out the tunnels thoroughly enough? Did the probes missed something? He couldn't confirm it without diverting the few remaining from the western boarder closer. The rest save a special 'task' force few remained in place, silently observing the other shinobi scattered about while their master tried to tune his focus back in on Takeshi.
"…Tch.. I see, the Kaguya is definetly seasoned." He stated dryly at first when Takesh's heartbeat vanished off his radar before chuckling lightly. Once more, this time in the ram sign Ryoji focused his chakra to higher levels, but unlike before, some of it is immediatly diverted to his hair.
An audible snap of twin breaking free is followed by the Iga slowing down even further to make sure most of his body was properly covered by the new 'armor'.
Takeshi was gone. Ryoji may have been looking for a fight, but it seems despite the bravado that the elder displayed with Kibushi, he knew his limits and so, when the sounds started he was already gone, Ryoji probably only then realizing he had been in a genjutsu. That's how an elder rolls though, experience.
Five minutes into running further along the tunnel with no Takeshi suddenly appearing to try to behead is more than long enough for Ryoji to finally come a stop. It is not for another three minutes of waiting warily before he sighs heavily from one of his probes barely catching sight of the 'fleeing' Kaguya. "… Heh, Obaa-chama was right, be direct with your elders or else… Hmm… Although at this rate.." He mutters, canceling his transformation as well as diverting his task force to bother another group with what they had following them. "I'm gonna lose -all- of my scouts." He added, sighing mockingly in defeat before running off back to home base.
