Starring:
Fudo, Katsurou, Nori, Hiroyasu
Date: August 24, 2013
Summary:
A team formed within the Forest of Death are approached by their first victim, only to realize that they were not sure if they truly wanted to take advantage of an ally simply to win.
Poster's note: some poses were lost at the beginning of this scene and replaced with summarization. Foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Third Promotion Exams - One With Nature: Nori vs. Fudo and Katsurou"
Forest of Death
Katsurou had set up camp within the forest for the sake of his allies, Fudo and Hiroyasu, as well as himself. Nori however would find the location, and run in to Katsurou whern he arrived. Fudo was returning from a night spent elsewhere after he gained soem intelligence of the people in play and who had lost and gained scrolls so far. Spotting Nori speaking with Katsurou, Fudo would use his genjutsu to make it seem as if he was still walking along as normal, but because Nori used chakra senses, he remained unaware of the illusion as well as Fudo himself. Katsurou would be made aware of Fudo's presence as Fudo would make sure he knew he was there as Katsurou stalled Nori and made sure he still had a scroll, which he confirmed.
Katsurou sighs. "Yes, I do have mine as well." He says keeping the fact that he also has Atsui's scroll a secret to Nori. "That would be interesting." A faint smile curling up on his lips as he talks to the boy. The Shirayuki was also battling inner demons about this whole competition. Nori would be the second of the two former teammates that he used to train with that he fight in order to progress into the next round. However, he felt more of a connection to Fudo than he did with Nori and he did practically owe the Uchiha his life. Nori's scroll will just have to do for now. "Perhaps you can find someone crazy enough to agree to such thing."
Nori is standing there, talking to Katsurou by a tree on the forest floor. The two of them are talking about scrolls and Nori is trying to set up a fair competition where both of them can gamble away their scrolls. Fudo on the other hand is in a tree close by, transformed, focused, and about ready to unleash an environment-whooping. Unfortunately though, the Genjutsu that Fudo threw on Nori hasn't quite covered all of Nori's senses. When Fudo focuses an inhuman amount of chakra, Nori blinks and spins at the feeling. "Ambush," Nori states, mostly for Katsurou's benefit, and the boy turns in Fudo
Nori is standing there, talking to Katsurou by a tree on the forest floor. The two of them are talking about scrolls and Nori is trying to set up a fair competition where both of them can gamble away their scrolls. Fudo on the other hand is in a tree close by, transformed, focused, and about ready to unleash an environment-whooping. Unfortunately though, the Genjutsu that Fudo threw on Nori hasn't quite covered all of Nori's senses. When Fudo focuses an inhuman amount of chakra, Nori blinks and spins at the feeling. "Ambush," Nori states, mostly for Katsurou's benefit, and the boy turns in Fudo's direction. Nori's hands come together and the boy starts focusing his chakras for whatever it is that is coming at them. He hasn't quite realized it is Fudo yet it seems, nor does it really matter.
Gazing upon Nori, Fudo was standing below a large branch, clinging to the bottom of it with his chakra as his sword was slowly drawn. In truth, he was curious over Nori's wager, and wanted to hear more about it. However… giving the advantage to him was simply not wise. Fudo right now, had a serious advantage over Nori, position, preparedness and… well…ally wise. "Stay back, Katsurou.", well, scratch the last part. His free hand would move to fling a series of kunai at Nori just prior to him thrusting his sword towards him as if in threat. However, if Nori was not careful, even from so far away, that threat may prove to have real consequences.
And it has begun! Katsurou quickly looks up at Fudo when Nori calls out ambush. When Fudo warns him, he quickly leaps back to a nearby tree that had fallen years ago. His footing almost slips on top of the wet bark, but he holds it together for the most part. It seems that his alligiance had not yet been revealed in his bout. He uses that to his advantage and focuses on his chakra flow. He closes his eyes and inhales deeply. He clears his head and calms his mind in order to establish the spiritual link with his clan's ancestors that will give him necessary guidance during his fight. Patterns of seals along his bare chest, arms, shoulders, and back begin to form and give off a faint light blue glow. A light blue aura then engulfs the Shirayuki. Also, for anyone close enough to Katsurou they would be able to feel the chill emitting from his aura. Katsurou opens his eyes and exhales a chilly breath signifying his transformation was complete.
Advantage indeed. Nori blinks when he realizes it was Fudo, and by the sound of it, Katsurou's working with him. The young Yamanaka tries to push away from Katsurou, and that is actually when the wire-reel comes flying after him. It tangles up his feet and the young boy trips. The kunai dig into him deeply around his shoulder and leg. He grimaces in pain, but he's done this before. The grimace quickly fades to a smile and Nori nods. With his injured arm, he bites his thumb, hits the ground and an owl poofs out of nowhere. Check that…this isn't an owl, this is a 7 foot tall owl that could probably swallow the young Yamanaka if he tried, and it looks like he does! Nori doesn't look phased by the bird of prey though. Instead, the bird's sharp beak snaps open the wire and Nori nods a thanks. "Nice ambush Fudo-san. Now let's see how you do in direct combat." The kunais stay firmly implanted. No need to draw out more blood. Besides, Nori does most of his work not moving very far.
The boy starts by weaving together a series of handseals as the Owl takes flight. The first attack that is targeted towards Fudo is actually a Genjutsu. Maybe it'll work against the Sharingan user. Nori's only dealt a little with the Uchiha, mainly with Narusegama, so…he'll have to see. The eye contact, if it is made, would start to cause Fudo to see the trees coming to life and attacking him from his perch. The trees weren't just trees though, they were the spirits of the trees. Glowing branches of chakra would move to swipe at Katsurou and feed of his spiritual energy. Then, from below, whether or not Fudo moves out of the trees, hands of dirt, or rather, piles of dirt, would snake up to touch Fudo. These hands have a draining affect if they make contact.
"I would suggest you…" Fudo stated before he would see the strange owl appear from no where, not knowing of Nori's connection to such a beast. That was truly interesting. Of course, the sudden nature of his attack, quite literally, would confuse Fudo. First a giant owl, and now the entire forest seemed to be his enemy. A direct assault from the earth would snatch him from his stunned gaze, yanking him down from standing beneath the tree limb towards the ground. Fudo would shake his head as he'd land in a crouch, and as he was about to be grasped once again by the earth, it would appear that he was for only a moment before he was standing in front of… himself… that faded away.
Fudo smirked at Nori. "Very good… I was hoping that I was not taking advantage of you…" Fudo admitted. Just after however, should Nori be unprepared, he would suddenly feel the full brunt of Fudo's power beyond clarity. It would be oppressive, and shockingly palpable. His sheer presence would seem attempt to subjigate Nori's entire form as his power washed over him. Nori might recognize this slightly, as the exact opposite of what Fudo had tested with him not allt hat long ago.
It didn't take an amazing amount of clairvoyance to be able to detect the immense amount of chakra radiating over the background of the overgrowth. And then it grew by another large chunk, it was a blinding sun hovering above the skyline. Hiroyasu has the time to gather his strength as he didn't know what to expect, but it was something big. Maybe that giant fire breathing lizard, wait.. that was something he invented.. hoisted by his own petard.. He considers the possibility of it being of those tough choice moments where he will need make a decision between advantage and sentiment, he had spent most of his training actually more focused on this than the mundane such as collection of ninjutsu or exercising. He crests out of the undergrowth at the sounds of battle to peer on to what is transpiring.
Katsurou watches as the large bird gulps Nori up. He had fought against Nori and his owl once before. It did not end so well for the Shirayuki as he recalled. He wasnt sure how he was going to play this but the last thing he wanted was to leave Nori in a heap like he did to Atsui. Inwardly he was concerned for the Hyuga's condition. The Shirayuki decided to take it easy starting off. Perhaps this was because of his fear for over doing it like in his last fight.
The Shirayuki weaves together a blur of hands which causes the wind around him to pick up massively. Knowing Nori was an Earth manipulator, he chose to go with a wind element jutsu. With his hair fluttering rapidly in the wind, he thrusts his hands forward altogether three times in attempt to push Nori closer to Fudo with the pulse of his winds.
Nori doesn't speak, he just analyzes. When that feeling of oppression comes his way, Nori is familiar enough with his own chakra flow as a sensor to know that he is in the presence of a genjutsu. Nori and the Owl actually share a telepathic link, so the owl swoops down from the air, and hovers directly over the young Genin. The talons touch Nori and a large chakra surge goes through the boy, breaking the genjutsu. There is no other comment, for the beast flies back into the air. Then those gale winds come from…behind, and the owl is the one that alerts Nori of them. A series of handseals is made and a set of earthen walls are pulled up around his back. They protect him easily.
Nori calls out then, finally breaking his silence, "You attack an opponent, from behind, while he is already engaged in combat Katsurou-san? You have no honor. If I have a say, from this point on, we are no longer team-mates. If you engage again, I will take over your mind and have you kill yourself. Conserve with me and I will destroy you, but first…" Nori looks over to Fudo, not bad, but let's see how you like this." Nori nods and the large Owl gives a shrill cry.
The young boy goes into a series of handseals and the owl swoops down behind him. A small opening forms in the ground, and if the Uchiha eye can see the chakra surge through the ground, the whole continues underground and shoots towards Fudo. As it pops up out of the ground, a massive body, fully detailed with chakra shaping, comes out and opens its mouth not too far from Fudo. It is then that the owl starts flapping its hugely powerful wings by the hole. A vacuum tube is created from the hole out to the mouth, and Fudo would feel pressure to get sucked towards the mouth. Nori grabs the side of the tunnel, so that if Fudo gets caught, chakra would not just be drained from Fudo, but passed to Nori.
The trick with the owl keeping his mind in check was certainly impressive to Fudo. He'd not seen a counter like that before, and he almost felt bad for having gotten sucked in to a genjtusu himself so early. Nori's words to Katsurou are quite harsh and Fudo actually chuckles a bit at that. He wouldn't tell Katsurou what to do about that, but he did say to stay back earlier. Still, there wasn't much time for him to be amused as a large tunnel is created, depecting a deity that threatens to, and ltierally tries, to draw Fudo in. His grip on the ground begins to slip and he seems to be lifted from his position and moved in to the gaping maw only for that illusion to fade and the realtiy of him being above the trapping tunnel would show him to be forming several balls of flame as shuriken were thrown in to the mix, raining fire down upon Nori as Fudo shifted towards plan B.
He was unaware of Hiroyasu's presense so far, but there was good reason for the would be alliance formed at the start of this whole ordeal. It would be seen what exactly happens however, in the end.
Hiroyasu rubs his face, of course it would those two and someone else.. although it's strange to watch a village canabalize it's own, especially so early. He decides to stay back and just watch, it's not like the poor medic could do much against this anyways all sides were considerably more powerful than he, he could feel that from blinding light they are radiating into the usual dark spiritual ether. He just attempts to blend in, of course his effort is more instinctive rather than by jutsu or tool.
Katsurou listens to Nori's harsh words. What Nori didnt know was that Katsurou had left the team to train under someone else long ago. However, the boy's words are enough for him to stop and weigh things. Is it dishonorable to stop at nothing to achieve the mission? The mission being to collect the scrolls. He aligned himself with Fudo so it would be just the same as aligning yourself with a village, right?…right? He agreed to it that he, Fudo, and Hiro would make it to third round the exams. Not only that but he did owe Fudo his life. Would it be the dishonorable thing to attack Nori now or wait chance Fudo losing to Nori and striking then. One could even argue if there was any room for honor in the life of a shinobi when the saying is, "Accomplish your village's mission at all costs.". Something catches his eye which pulls him out of his thoughts. Thats when he notices Hiroyasu. He would only give a nod to the Kumo nin. He did not want to give away his position incase he had something planned himself.
Nori pulls up a dome of earth around himself, but the combined attacks of the fire-balls and shuriken linked with razor wire manage to penetrate the dome. Nori wasn't entirely expecting that, so as he tries to sink below the earth, a few more shuriken snag him and he is stuck. Nori herms at his present situation, while his Owl flies above. Nothing can be done at the moment.
The barrage had chipped away at the earthen barrier, heating the earth to make it brittle like baked clay as the shuriken crashed against it until it finally would succumb. Fudo had taken a gamble that Nori would either use earth or wind to defend against the attack, and only one option was to his advantage. Still, the fiery blades would essentually be stopped or declected, aside from a few that seemed to miss, capturing him before he was able to get away. Fudo wasted no time, exhaling a blaze that resembled the mythical dragon in intensity as he ran foward towards Nori. His body flipped and rotated through the air as he would twist the razor wire and tug sharply as he landed, trying to cut in to Nori's flesh deeply and perhaps even snag his neck as Fudo would state from his position, "I think it is about time that you concede, Nori."
Hiroyasu was conflicted about what to do here, of course he would have render medical assistance to anyone that asks that is just the code, annoying at times too.. He rubs his face several times, he did too catch the glance of Katsurou and returns the nod in kind, it was only polite right, or part of the original plan…
Katsurou turns just in time to see Fudo's mythical dragon of fire raise into the air then come down on Nori. The Shirayuki furrows his brows. "Nori. Please, just concede. Do not push yourself to the brink of death over a scroll." Flashbacks of Atsui's determination to win a fought that was lost before it began enters his mind as he watches Nori get hammered by Fudo's attacks.
Nori is struck by the wire flame and he growls. It is just like when Nori had Fudo attack him before. The young Yamanaka deals with the pain rather nobely. He struggles against the binds that hold him down, but can't break out, even as Fudo holds him even tighter, causing that wire to bore into him. Nori nods to Fudo and then states, "I conceed…if this doesn't work," and then the boy would again attempt to make eye contact. If the Genjutsu takes affect, it would appear to Fudo as if an ancestral spirit grabs him and throws him into a coffin, complete with spikes and everything else. If it doesn't work, well, Nori is pretty much screwed it seems.
It seemed that Nori had one more surprise up his sleeve, even in his condition. Fudo, using the tried and true method of releasing genjutsu would fail to do so. He should have stuck with his instincts, as now it would appear to him as if he was snatched up and sealed away in to darkness and pain for who knows how long.
Hiroyasu moves out of the bushes, it was about time for him to have to do something either render aid or just make his general presence known. "Really spent yourself didn't you Uchiha-san" before looking at Katsurou then to Nori.
"Nori. There is no possible way you can leave with that scroll. That is all Fudo is fight for." Katsurou pleads with Nori. "Surrender your scroll and Hiroyasu can heal your injuries to give you a chance to challenge someone else in the forest. Do not allow yourself the same result as Atsui."
Nori looks pretty badly beat up and looks to Katsurou (and it is then that the Owl flies away in one direction), "Then you should have attacked me when you had the chance. You didn't last time, but I won't make that same mistake…two versus one…" He shakes his head and makes a quick handseal, the Yamanaka Mind-Body Switch handseal, only this attack isn't as slow and laborious as the actual MBS. Instead, where the MBS is a slow haymaker, this is a mental jab, aimed at turning off the mental pressure points for mechanical movement temporarily. He then tries to sink into the ground and move for it. If he does stealth out successfully, he'd meet up with his owl companion who can literally fly him away, which he'd try to do.
Fudo's chakra was too low to combat the darkness, thus he was unable to even know what was happening at the moment. He should not have been so experimental in this combat session, but it was still quite entertaining, and certainly was educational. Nori had soem very interesting techniques to be prepared for certainly.
Hiroyasu watches as nori begins to slip into the dirt, his agreement with them was quite clear, his medical abilities for their protection from what is worse. There was no implicit agreement of any other cooperation at least from his knowledge. "Is medical assistance needed? Uchiha-san, Shirayuki-san?" he asks as he follows the Yamanaka to the limits of his ability.
Katsurou finds his body unable to respond as he watches Nori escape from the fight. Once he was out of view, he becomes in control of his body once more just as Hiro makes his way into the area. The Shirayuki frowns. Never again will he allow someone question his honor. This situation could have been avoided if he had just followed the plan. Katsurou looks to Hiro. "Check on Fudo." He says with a hint of anger in his voice.
And so Nori escapes using the ground as a means of travel. As he gets further away from the combat zone, he pops up out of the ground. The owl, knowing directly where Nori is due to their telepathic link, grabs ahold of Nori in the owls talons, and then flies Nori out of the area, staying within the trees so as not to draw attention. He's gone. Nori knew he wouldn't get out of there with a scroll either way from the start, unless he fought and escaped. Katsurou was proving to be a problem. Now Nori needs to find someplace to regain his chakras and rest.
Grunting a bit as he'd finally be able to stand back up, a bit exhausted from the confrontation, Fudo would shake his head both to indicate no and to clear it. "No, the only one that was harmed was Nori. And there goes your second scroll, Hiroyasu." Fudo would state as he moved over towards Katsurou, shaking his shoulder a bit firmly to get his body to respond on it's own once again. "I was going to give it to you for healing him, but now we have to track him down before he is able to get aid… after we recooperate. We have another target to worry about." Stretching slightly before leaning against a tree for support, he'd say, "There's a female out there who apparently is rather powerful. Able to land heavy blows without making physical contact. If we had of been able to take Nori's scroll, I was going to offer him the chance to redeem himself by assisting with taking her down, as she has two of them if my intell si accurate. We would have secured our scrolls for the time being, and perhaps gained an ally while eliminating a threat. This… puts a kink in to things…" Fudo would say before asking, "I'm sure he'll change directions, but out of curiosity, which way did he head to, Hiroyasu?"
Hiroyasu nods "Oh yes of course it was mine, see lack of communication, all that keeping what I know in my vest doesn't really make it very executable by multiple parties. I came here because I detected the large chakra so you had planned on me not being here, so my presence should have not been of consequence especially since not knowing your plan , I didn't involve myself in something I was not involved in." he pauses looking in a direction, "He went in that general direction but he left my threat range direction is harder to discern." he adds.
Katsurou runs his hand through his hair annoyed at the whole situation. He hops down from the tree log he was standing on and approaches Fudo. "Enough. We need to figure out the next course of action. I do not want to go to the next round without either one of you." Katsurou looks to the Kumo nin. "Hiroyasu. Do you have any leads on anyone else with scrolls that would be good targets. Dishonorable or not, honor does not get us to the next round. Scrolls do."
"I was not even aware that you were here, Hiroyasu. You certainly weren't when the battle began. So I didn't have a lot of time to communicate to you, given the circumstances. Your presence wasn't of consequence to the battle though. It would have been your scroll regardless of you being here during the battle. I assumed you might eventually return however, and he would still need medical help." Fudo would explain exassperatedly. "The idea came to me in the middle of having nature gods torture me in various ways… so you'll have to excuse me for not properly communicating to you." Having caught his breath a bit, he'd listen to what information Hiroyasu may have. Right now, they had a heavily wounded Konoha genin they could track, a notably powerful, unamed woman that had two scrolls, and… ah yes. "That reminds me, Sakuryu is the one that the scroll was taken from. We should account for the peopel that are, to our knowledge, without scrolls as well."
Hiroyasu shakes his head "I've not crossed paths with anyone else, the forest is unusually dense and packed with a lot of chakra. The only reason I could find you was there 3 people raditating above and beyond anything else nearby. It was like a beacon, if there are things or even other people with some sensing ability they could feel it for mile or more.. we need to move from this location when able." he adds.
Katsurou sighs out of frustration. "Sakuryu will be searching for me before too long. Those who have lost their scrolls will be dangerous to deal with, but we can use them in our favor. We need to start fighting together. We get our scrolls first then we continue on. We are a powerful threat if we stick with each other. The extra scrolls we get, we promise those who do not have any to help us. At the last day of this round we make good on our word and divvy them out. Together we can be the deciding factor of who advances to the next round or not."
"So the only one without scrolls we know about is Sakuryu? And none of us have any scrolls yet?" Fudo would state, almsot chucklnig at the shape that put them all in.
Hiroyasu nods "Seem so, and I've not crossed paths with anyone else" crossing his arms looking at the other two.
"I took Hyuga Atsui's scroll yesterday at my camp." Katsurou says while looking at the both of them.
Fudo would nod. "So that's two confirmed without scrolls, and we haven't lost any, and have one of us with two scrolls. As I said, the next scroll should go to Hiroyasu. Then i'll have to worry about another one after." Fudo would nod. "We should definitely consider finding Nori again and seeing if he recovers well or not."
Hiroyasu nods "What was the nature of your victory? Surrender? Knock-out?" he asks trying to gather if there would be Hyuuga hunting people done. "His wounds were bad but survivable, he will likely bunker in and use his superior sensory power to seek out a medic or friendly." he adds.
"I agree." Katsurou says looking to Hiroyasu. "The next one should go to him. That way you can trust our word." His tone then grows solem. "Atsui…did not surrender. I offered him many chances to concede, though he was determined to not lose. He pushed himself to his limit and did not come out on top. I took him to the care of the proctors and they took him out of the competition…" Katsurou scans the area. "We need to keep moving. Come on, let us see if any of my traps have caught anyone at my camp. We can continue talking along the way." With that said, Katsurou turns back the way he came in and begins the trek back to his camp.
