Mettle [Training]

Age : 35 Posts : 1113

Training || Physical || Endurance:

Spoiler:

Dusk was upon Uriko. The woman sought no shelter, and the land offered none. Yet she knew, not far from here, there was both food and warmth. Part of the reason she had taken this route through Ta no Kuni was for this very instance. When she had arrived in the country, one of the first things she had heard had been about a criminal group, based in the northernmost reaches of the land. Apparently they had been gaining notoriety in recent months, and at first Uriko naturally assumed it was the Shantakai the people spoke of. But after an hour of drifting through crowds and speaking to the right people (and threatening others), she ascertained that it was not her fellow nukenin. The villagers seemed to think otherwise, so the woman made a mental marker to seek these people out and remove them from the public eye. The Shantakai were worth so much more than petty crime and this... rabble were giving the organization a bad name. Sure enough, as Uriko stepped over the apex of the hillock, she could see a small orange glow in the distance. Pulling her hood up and checking she was fully concealed beneath the cloak, the kunoichi made a beeline for the campfire. As she grew closer, racous noises drifted over to her, carried by the faint evening breeze. The group was all male as far as the woman could tell, given their sitting posture and gruff voices. "Perfect." She whispered from underneath the hood. Darting in closer, she soon adjusted her gait to that of a weary traveller, humble and demure. "Eh up lads! What's this?" A surly-looking man asked loudly, his half-drunken gaze landing on Uriko. The rest of the group made unintelligible noises, grunting or mumbling but always with a quizzical tone. Lifting her head just a little, the kunoichi gently pulled back her hood and smiled meekly. A few of the men sat to attention, the glints in the eyes unmistakable. The man who had spoke before was obviously the leader, as he spoke again on behalf of the group. "You lookin' for a little company darlin'?" He sneered, standing up and walking slowly over to the woman. Uriko had to contain an excited smile. None of these men would see the dawn.

"Please, gentlemen, I've been travelling this entire day and haven't had a scrap to eat. D'you think you could spare something? A crust of bread, or a cheap bit of meat?" The kunoichi implored. The leader sauntered closer until he was two feet from the woman. Silence fell for a few moments, before the man's expression curdled slightly. "Nah." He drawled, lifting a finger to point at Uriko's left cheek and her obvious scar. "You're damaged goods." He jeered, chuckling to himself as the group followed suit. He turned his back and wandered toward his seat. "Besides love, we don't have cheap meat." He laughed, elbowing one of the other men and laughing. Uriko's inner demon squirmed with pleasure. "I don't know about that." She replied quietly. "There's plenty of you here." She remarked. Some of the 'lads' cooed as if Uriko had taunted the man, whilst others looked confused. "You what?" The leader retorted. "I don't think you got it love. When I said cheap meat-" He didn't get to finish his sentence, as the kunoichi immediately cut across, speaking more loudly than he did so as to override his comments. "- Yes. I understood you, filth. No cheap meat. But I said... there's you." She finished in a quiet yet sinister tone. The man took a few moments to realise that he was under verbal assault. When he finally clocked, his face contorted and her spat on the ground. Getting straight to his feet, he strode purposefully toward Uriko, drawing his sword as he went. "You little bitch!" He snarled, pulling his weapon back. As soon as he was within range, he swung is viciously at the unflinching female. There was silence, save for the muted noise of blood splashing rhythmically on the floor.

The trickle of red liquid that ran down the kunoichi's hand did not really register on her pain threshold. The man stood dumbfounded. His sword had been stopped by the woman's palm, yet she made no attempt to deflect the blow, content to catch it head-on. The incision was quite deep, but no more than a flesh wound. Uriko cocked her head. "Like I said." She muttered, before sliding her hand down the sword (widening the cut as she did so) and gripped the man's hand. With a powerful wrenching motion, she snapped his wrist and turned the sword to face his chest. Biting her lip in anticipation, the female nukenin grinned and thrust the hilt forward. With their leader incapacitated on the ground, the remainder of the gang abandoned their festivities and all drew a variety of weapons between them. Kunai immediately buried themselves in the flesh near Uriko's collarbone, another wound that she simply allowed. The weighted end of a kusari-gama zipped forward, toward her solarplexus, but this she was not happy to take. Moving just a few inches, the dulled weapon flew through where her left arm would have been. A few of the approaching men who had seen this paused for a second. Then one toward the back cried out. "She's a cripple!" He yelled enthusiastically as his companions piled forward. Uriko's expression soured at these words. Her eyes widened with surprise and her lips thinned. Her gaze found and focused on the speaker, singling him out amongst all the others. All other activity just faded out of her attention.

She had taken just one step toward her target when a jagged blade pierced her midriff. Glancing up, she saw the owner of the weapon frown at the fact that his opponent remained standing. Sighing wearily, Uriko drew a kunai from those buried in her torso and whipped her arm across. The man's vision glazed over and he began to splutter and choke. Blood landed on the woman's cloak, which she glanced down at, shrugged, and moved on. The blade that had been stuck in her stomach had been removed when the holder had pulled away as he died. But it had made a point to the kunoichi - she could no longer allow these men to injure her so deeply. Resilient though she was, blood loss was already an issue and further damage to certain areas might threaten her life. Reluctantly abondoning her fun, Uriko stepped forward and disappeared. The group couldn't follow her movements and when they located her once more, her hand was glowing faintly and the loudmouthed man who had pointed out her disability was shuddering violently at her feet. An onslaught of blades met her as she re-entered the fray, but heeding her own advice, the woman made sure to block those that targeted danger areas. Sustaining lacerations to the forearm and chest was far less dangerous than a stab to the gut. Amidst the fray, she formed a quick few hand seals with her one hand. Her hand began to glow with the faint blue chakra and to those that noticed, her feet did likewise. The scrappy brawl was over in a minute. A flurry of both hand and leg strikes from Uriko left her enemies crippled and helpless. The kunoichi herself was bleeding all over, her arm and torso had been sliced to ribbons, but she did not cry out. Her body was already scarred all over, and Uriko felt compelled to endure the pain. It taught her. As for her enemies... Lain out in front of her, they looked truly pathetic. Although not one of them was dead. Yet.

Quote :: Name: Chakra no Mesu [Chakra Scalpel].
Rank: B.
Type: Eijutsu.
Range: Close (0m – 5m).
Element: None.
Description: After forming the needed handseals, the ninja will focus chakra to their hands. When their charged hands reach the body of their target, they can extend the chakra internally into the targets body to cut and neatly slice their muscles and blood vessels without harming the surface skin. This technique can be used in battle, but because of its hectic nature, the fine precision required for an instant kill is not feasible. Damage can still be done to the vital organs, but the technique should be used carefully in battle.
NB: Missing an arm, Uriko has learned to apply combative Eijutsu with her feet as well. This does sacrifice precision somewhat, thus is not appropriate for surgerical means.
Chakra Cost: 10 (additional 3 per post)

Chakra Remaining: 180 CP.

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