Pratice Makes Perfect - The new ninja finds her place

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Out near the training grounds, Saya is working up a sweat. She's been at it for hours, and really doesn't show signs of stopping. Earlier this morning she'd finished her daily run and since then she's done little more than work on her physical abilities. As mighty of a warrior as she is, she is still young and has endless potential for growth. Her chosen practice grounds lies just east of the city, off on a stretch of sandy shore near the coast. Her beach is small and hardly worthy of note, other than the girl practicing in it. The sand at her feet is laiden with no stones or shrubs, however it is rather coarse with shells. Regardless Saya practices on, her shoes cast off for ease of practice. She is lacking most of her battle equipment, but is still armed to the teeth.

She'd long since cast most of her weapons to the side. Five Kunai, and all four of her throwing axes remain in a tight cluster in a distant tree, while her spear is jutting out of the sand like some mutant beach bamboo. It's shaft is laquered and black, the golden cap at the end shining well. Only a few inches of the two foot long blade are exposed, the rest implanted firmly in the ground near her. For now her simple looking katana remains in her hands, and she is repeatedly attacking the air infront of her. Her assault is methodical and lacking in imagination, the same downward forward slash used over and over. With each long and fast stroke of her sword, she shouts a small 'hya' to rush power to her attack. Over and over she attacks, keeping no count. She'd know when to stop, if that moment ever could come. Hundreds of swings into her practice her mind is mostly empty.

Weapons training is certainly more than just a past time to those of Saya's family. Her life is her weapon, and she lives by that. Her body is so practiced in the skill of weilding her blades that her mind find moments of quiet. Oxygen floods her brain as she pants, breathing fast and hard with her constant and relentless attacking. Her muscles ache as she swings over and over, a legion of invisible targets now eliminated forever. Her skill and confidence grow as her muscles memorize each motion, and each day she becomes more deadly. Through it all, though, no concious thoughts echo between her ears. She is clearly paying little attention to her surroundings.

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(OOC: I had a longer post I lost due to forum issues. Anyhow, most RP posts on the site are in the past tense, just so you're aware of that. Present or future tense is very unusual in 'these parts'.)

The city was of little effort for the shinobi to travel through, every corner of the village, every backwards deal shrouded by shadow, every mind and heart and soul that beat within it were not only open to the shinobi, but easily manipulated by them. Kakuhan was one such person to take advantage of this, and his recent experiments had proved unsatisfactory as he had removed yet another corpse from his study that morning. So many deaths from such a simple little plant, he survived and he hadn't even been medicated, what was so difficult about it?

The seller, dressed in black, his eyes shaded with dark stained glasses, moved up to Kakuhan in the street corner, shadows streaking across his cloak as he looked up to the striking blue eyes of the buyer. Kakuhan wasn't likely to allow a chance to pass him by, but his current source continued to provide him with completely unsatisfactory test subjects. They were willing, lured in by power, but they were not strong enough to contain it. He turned to his seller and turned his eyebrows down in a glare, "Your quality annoys me. I'll have no more of it."

After this word he shoved the man aside, pressing his back into the wall behind him with a fair amount of force and walking out of the darkness. Maybe he was feeling more generous than usual, but he really wasn't in the mood to deal with more blood today. His Hellsing manners had fallen apart for the most part, only to be revived in the presence of damned creatures, and it was with this thought in mind that he wandered out around the village.

His attention was snared by the sounds of metal. A fight? Oh that wouldn't do under his care, not unless they were fighting against him, no, there was no reason to be spilling that precious blood without cause. Kakuhan moved over at a rapid pace, only to halt, the mist twirling about him like a loyal coil of serpents, and revealing the body of a girl. From her weapons he assumed she was a kunochi, but he saw no other being. "I heard noise, is there anyone else present?"

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(Noted. I shall do my best to assimilate!)

The soldier continues her downward slashing even after the new stranger approached her beach. Over and over with speed and rhythm she practiced the same move, only pausing when a voice caught her ears. She spun around very quickly, thrusting the razor sharp tip of her katan towards her opponent. She was still to distant to reach him, but she presented her weapon regardless. The battlefield is always close to the surface of Saya's mind.

Her eyes assess the new comer quickly, narrowing just slightly as she studies him. Such fancy looking clothing, and so much sparkling jewelery. He didn't seem to be carrying any obvious weaponry, nor is he protected by armor. Still, he did come here to possible assist in, or put an end to a fight, she he wasn't just something so simple as a citizen of Kiri. It only took her a half second to assess the situation, and slowly lower her blade.

"There's no war on this beach." She said rather flatly, her voice slightly loud and filled with strength. With one fluid motion the tip of her katana found its place in the sleek black wooden scabbard, and the blade followed it in. Though she was fighting all day, she seems remarkably full of energy. The exhaustion that was apparent only a moment ago was erased, and she stood there taking steady and clam breaths. The sweat on her skin hadn't even begun to dry, and some how she was simply at ease.

She took her eyes away from the stranger for only a moment, quickly glancing around her just to be sure others had not approached while she was practicing. She took a few steps over to her yari and pulls it easily from the ground. The full length of the gleaming two foot blade was revealed. "I am only training here." she said, then diverted her eyes back to the stranger. "If I disturbed you, then you have my apologies, however this spot is ideal. It offers opens spaces, cooling wind, and a good view of the vast ocean. I think I will be returning here, so if you hear further sounds of combat, do not be alarmed."

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Kakuhan let a smile creep across his face, there was something interesting about the girl, she was apparently very accustomed to more violent surroundings or she wouldn't have made the jump to violent assumptions. This amused him greatly, perhaps this one had enough strength in her to survive, but of course he wasn't prone to taking any further chances with his subjects. The Kinjutsu consumed large amounts of his own chakra, he had no desire to waste his energy on runts who would only die in the long run, he needed something more substantial than his own assumptions.

The kunochi had a blade, that at least made her seem competent, but anybody could throw around a blade, the precision of an expert was something few people had. This one seemed fresh, the smell of blood wasn't present, neither was the killer's eyes, therefore she was most likely of a lower rank, a Genin. Kakuhan reached into his pockets and produced a single senbon, propping the metal weapon inside of his mouth and chewing on it as he examined the kunochi further.

"Hm, sounds are one thing, actions are another. I'm only disturbed that there are still fresh souls in the village who have yet to be tainted, then again, some sense of child hospitality would be necessary to keep up image. Not that I'm very good for PR..." He commented, spitting out the senbon, which embedded itself into a nearby stump at high speed. He wasn't very interested in his own aim, he knew what it was, but he was curious about how hard these stumps were, and this casual gesture wouldn't catch too much attention but it would give him all the information about that he wanted. "Tell me, how strong are you? More importantly, can you make a demonstration of your strength? Your friendly neighborhood Jounin is curious."

Kakuhan smiled at his final comment and looked intently at the kunochi.

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"I am Saru Saya of the Ashigaru clan. My family is renown for it's warriors, and I am renowned amongst them. I have drawn the blood of competitors before, and taken lives in the defense of Kirigakure. My past speaks for itself, but if you require a demonstration.... " she said, smirking just slightly as she did. She glanced down at her yari for a moment, before looking up once more. She'd already gone through most of her weapons, so a fight seemed like a good use of the afternoon to her.

"When I was born I was placed on an altar to weaponry. I was drawn to blades from the beginning of my life, and held a sword before I was even given to my mother. My weapons are extensions of my body and my mind, so you would be warned in challenging me. I would doubt any could best me in a contest of blades." she said a little slowly, nodding once she was done. She spoke with confidence, and though it may have sounded arrogant, it was how she felt. She was a fine soldier, and well practiced for her young age.

She lifted her yari again, allowing it to twirl in a few slow circles in front of her, before she once more shoved the sharp tip down into the coarse sand. She didn't seem to worried about it dulling the edge, as even her weapon was as finely crafted as she was. She looks the stranger over again, somewhat confused before asking her last question. "Who are you? I have never seen your face before, and you certainly do not seem the sort to be able to fight -me-." she asked, adding emphasis to her own skill once more.

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"You're very arrogant, aren't you? I just said I was a Jounin from this village, what do little children like you think you could possibly do to me?" Kakuhan said, holding out his arm and revealing the marks written into them, showing off their hundreds of written kanji. He doubted she could read it all, even he had trouble with them, since they weren't written by him, but by some Fuuinjutsu user he knew. The scroll, as it was, housed some of his more dangerous puppets and Kakuhan felt it would be appropriate to use them to show the girl just how out of her league she was. There were just some things one shouldn't say or think in the presence of a superior, things of that sort compromised the majority of them.

"When I was your rank I was assembling machines, war machines." Kakuhan's silk scroll rolled in the wind and he drug his hand across it, his internal plant piercing his finger tips and enabling the blood to flow out as he struck the scroll. To her it would appear as though blood were created, to him, he knew all about what had truly occurred and he withdrew the vines as the standard puff of smoke emerged from the scroll, filling up the area and dispersing to reveal an enourmous stone monstrosity, Kakuhan seated atop it. "Meet number eighteen."

The creature turned its head to look at her, Kakuhan's hands held out against the creature, vines emerging from his finger tips and infesting the large stone creature with them. It was his style of Kugutsu string, and his style of puppet, but for someone who was ignorant of the art of Kugutsu, there would be confusion no doubt. Confusion would lead to fear, fear would lead to submission, and submission would crush the current ego that was so annoying to him at the moment.

"I am Hell's Whip, Shokobutsukon, Kakuhan. You could back out now or you could try and make those claims of yours against this little buddy of mine. I think he has a name, but I've made so many I only know them by number these days..." The enourmous creature's stone body resembled that of a primitive reptile, though its jutting spikes and craning neck made it seem more like an earthbound dragon. All the same the creature seemed to have a semblance of intelligence, craning its neck to view around the training area and at the kunochi. Kakuhan remained firm on the creature, pulling himself up, his arms crossed and fingers held out so the green vines could freely move into the puppet. His cold blue eyes keep focus on the girl, his mind wondering how she would respond to the situation.

Spoiler:

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"You misunderstand my meaning." she said as she bowed at her center, offering respect to the higher ranking ninja. "I spoke only because you had no weapons visible. As I still see, you are not the sort to be standing close to me. I have no doubt that you are not a lethal combatant and expert assassin. Of course, regardless, if you wish to fight me, then I am certainly in agreement. There is one weapon I carry that I have yet to put to use, so I suppose I shall use it."

Saya takes a little step back, leaving her yari to the side. She ignores the katana hung at her hip and instead unravels the long length of strong chain from her side. At one of the fifteen foot long chain was a large ring about 6 inches in diameter and weighted to be somewhat heavy. The opposing end of the chain is attached to a sturdy dagger, which has a sharp sickle blade on it's cross guard. She kept a good hold on the dagger and most of the chain, but lets the ring and about three feet of chain dangle from her hand and rest near her feet.

With a few rotations of her wrist she gets the chain spinning above her head, the heavy ring making wide and quick circles around her. She remained in a mostly defensive position as she waited for the fight to officially begin. She calls out once more, already warmed up and ready. "What say you, then? To first blood? This needn't go on to any serious injuries.."

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Kakuhan grinned, his lips parting to reveal his locked teeth, there was something amusing about this one, the puppet didn't do anything to deter her in any manner and this was an annoyance to him in some manners, but refreshing in others. Still, she was excessive green behind the ears, a very roughly planted seedling sprout, what part was she not understanding about the word shinobi? If a ninja ran about with all of their weapons on display they'd be found out rather quickly, like she already had.

He'd taken the time to analyze her, she was obviously of the offensive sort, preferring a weapon that would compliment her offense while providing her with a bit of defensive strength as well, so she'd come to the use of a chain. Kakuhan had taken this into account when he'd called on #18, he was a very powerful close range fighter, but had his own weapons to remove the competition from far range with ease. He held out his hand, the puppetry vines flailing about. "A true shinobi doesn't hold their weapons out in the open, I've already taken your weapon into account, you haven't taken any of mine,you don't think a creature is a weapon? Tch, you have no appreciation for the art of war...You also don't listen well, I'm a Jounin, you can't land a hit on this body, even if you wanted to."

Kakuhan pressed a hand against the puppet and pressed against it, pushing backwards in a jump and landing behind the puppet. He raised a hand, swishing it around and moving his fingers at high-speed, making unseen finger movements that caused the puppet to bow down on its front legs and glare at the kunochi. As it readied itself Kakuhan reached to his side, pulling out a small black seed from the rod attached to it and threw it to the ground next to him before making a stream of handsigns. The seed quickly took root, bursting out in black vines that rapidly assembled themselves together in the form of a small humanoid which moved up onto Kakuhan's shoulders.

The vines in one hand moved over to this new creature, so that one hand occupied a puppet a piece. He didn't need all of those fingers for that tiny little puppet but he preferred it, more control after all. Kaku directed the larger creature which shambling behind him like a disgruntled goat and stood out of the way. A puff of smoke accompanied the creature's departure from the battlefield. "Its too much power to use on you, this one will do perfectly fine." He taunted, nuzzling the black humanoid demon with a finger. "Come, show me what you can do when you play ninja."

Spoiler:

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Saya grins brighter at the show of different puppets, and leans in a bit lower. She starts forward with no further cometary, preferring to get right to business. Jounin or not, Saya would still try. While granted she didn't have the proper experience to defeat him, even landing one shot would be enough to make her happy. She sprints through the sand quickly, doing her best to assess what she could.

The puppet user was likely going to try to keep some range on her, which is a shame. The chain she was fighting with was useful, but not against that puppet. Tripping it was pointless, and trying to disarm it was likely impossible. Her spear would have been the best choice, but it was already behind her, implanted in the sand. She comes to a conclusion quickly, and alters her direction rather suddenly. She jumps to the left, and pushes all her chakra down into her feet to let her move with amazing speed.

Almost instantly she's fifteen feet to the side from where she was, leaving the puppet not so directly between them. She flicks her wrist forward and sends the weighted ring flying towards Kakuhan himself. She releases her grip on the weapon, quickly shifting to something much more defensive. The ring was aimed to fall short of Kaku, intended on kicking up sand from the battle field to distract him. While it landed, she focused on swiftly drawing her katana. With it in hand she felt safer assaulting the puppet itself.

_

Spoiler:

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(OOC: You're using out of character knowledge, I haven't spoken the word 'puppet' and I don't use the usually Kugutsu strings, so assuming your character even knew about Kugutsu, this wouldn't match what they know. In addition, my puppets look nothing like normal puppets and act nothing like them either. The closest I got was 'war-machine' and my puppets don't like a thing like a machine. Pleased edit your post accordingly, I prefer RP that isn't tainted with such things.

Also, when you use a weapon, you post it in spoilers just like you would post a jutsu, this ensures you actually have the weapons you're throwing about, same with my puppets. But since they'd take up too much space I just provide the name and where to find them, your weapons aren't that large.)

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(Ahh, I was not aware that I needed to post my weapons. I shall do so. Also, forgive me but I didn't take it as metagaming. Just about every ninja knows what a puppet is, and puppet was less insulting than "Toys". I don't claim to know anything about it, but when you bring out out and attach strings to it, it seems like it should be fairly obvious what it is. I mean, I never used the word throwing axe, but when I pull one out, I'm sure you'll know what it is.

Everything the puppet does will be a delightful suprise, however the fact that it's a puppet seems like it would be common sense to anyone who was explained the various ways ninjas work Your post made me think, Puppet. If you don't use normal puppets anyway, you have the advantage because Saya is assuming wrong.)

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(OOC: They're vines, not strings, so they don't appear in any fashion like a puppet beyond the fact that theres a string like object inside of them. In addition to the fact that it grew out of a seed, that it doesn't look like a puppet, etc. But I have no intent to drag feet, its not effecting anything directly but do be aware that I am very cautious about OOC knowledge, further instances and I will not budge until they are edited.)

Kakuhan watched as the Kunochi moved, high speeds weren't something he really cared much about, but he was interested in the weapon she was using. It was curious bit of work, but what did he care? No weapon could match the complexity of one of his war machines, even the smaller ones were a threat and Kakuhan brought out one hand, the fingers moving rapidly. The hand in question had the green chakra-infused vines attached to it and with seemingly little effort, and it was, in truth, little effort, the creature moved from his shoulders to the ground next to him.

He manipulated the puppet as he yawned, his other hand enter in his pocket as he felt he'd have no need for it. Weapons weren't going to do a thing to him, after all, and he spoke aloud to the puppet for effect, he could communicate with the creature with his mind but that wasn't as fun for the other party. "Shoot it." He said, unenthusiastically.

The black demon complied, opening up its mouth and firing off a large black thorn that struck the weapon, knocking it to the sidelines where it struck the sand and then Kakuhan issued another verbal command. "Shoot her." The creature readily obeyed and released a rapid shot of another large thorn, then another, and another, and still yet another as they flew towards the kunochi at their own fast-pace. Each vine distanced itself in an arc, the creature shifting from side to side to achieve this effect. The intent was to reduce the concentration so it would be easier to block, not easier to dodge. He wasn't curious about how fast she was, but how strong. He would expect her to simply deflect them with the katana, but he wasn't sure how sturdy it was. The small gremlin grinned, its white teeth contrasted its black body and its large wings were folded against its back, she wouldn't notice he even had wings since they matched him so perfectly, but she couldn't miss his grin.

It was mildly annoying that he wasn't able to pull out any of his stronger creations, but he didn't intend to kill her unless she wanted to be killed or she made any further arrogant comments. So far her movements did little to impress him, but excessive force was something he wasn't keen on, it was a waste of chakra, pure and simple. If need be he could simply use his jutsu, using his other puppets, excluding a few of the non-poisonous sort, would be far beyond her ability to handle. If push came to shove, he also had #7, it would be a very quick, nearly painless, and very bloody death. Or he could just bind her with the thing, but that wouldn't be anywhere near as much fun as making her into a pulpy corpse slush.

His thoughts were heard by his puppet, and they were returned with comments on how soft he was getting. Kakuhan raised a finger and the creatures head slammed into its own chest, he wasn't going to tolerate back-talk. Normal puppeteers didn't have such problems, he sometimes wished he'd chosen non-living components for his puppets but they were useful as they were.

Spoiler:

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Well this fight was certainly interesting for Saya. She'd be saying no more arrogant words, as combat was no time for talking. Combat called for action. Her eyes focus on the incoming projectiles, a small smirk of her own on her lips. This was simply natural for Saya, nothing of arrogance. Fighting was her life. It was her past time, her hobby, and her career, and she loved it. Her smile was one of joy, to be pitting her skills against someone so skilled. Defeating the jounin wasn't possible, she knew that far to well.

The shining blade of her ancient sword lifts, countless lives in the past ended by it's cruel, sharp edge. The weapon she hold is far older than she is, likely predating the formation of the ninja tribes. In truth, the blade was only issued to her, and still belonged to the elders of her clan, but who could know that with a simple glance? The countless folds in it's forging leave it strong and flexible, the twin types of metal involved in it's crafting giving it flexibility, but a diamond hard tip. Saya got stuck on the defensive as the thorns came flying to her, and she reacted in kind.

Reflecting the blades quality, Saya wastes little effort in disposing of the incoming attacks. The first thorn was cut deftly from the air before it hit her with a quick downward slash, while the next was avoided with a quick side step. The third bounced off the flat of her blade, which she quickly drew upwards in defense. She leans into the force of the incoming thorns, swinging her blade upwards than across, deflecting the thorns as best she could.

The few thorns that were sent off to simply keep her in place were ignored, only those that would have hit her at all bothered to be defended against. Her knowledge of her ancient weapon is obvious, each moment of her arms countered by a shift of her feet. Each step she took saw a new tilt of her blade, and still each stance remained as fluid as the next. Swordplay seemed as natural as running to the young kunoichi, even if she had yet to advance to the ranks of an Olympic athlete. The potential for greatness was obvious enough. After the barrage of thorns finally ended, she is still unharmed and focused, lacking any signs of fatigue or wear.

Her eyes flick back and forth between Kakuhan and his partner, waiting for more. Her little smirk seemed to have only gotten larger. She squeezes the handle of her katana tightly, narrowing her eyes some. If he wasn't attacking again soon, she'd be charging him to attack.

Spoiler:

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"You're pretty dull, not even a word?" Kakuhan commented, reaching into his rod and pulling out additional seeds. He had a strategy, but he didn't want to let her in on such plans, so he threw two seeds to the ground, the first hidden in the shadow of the second, one sinking deeper into the ground and the first striking the surface as Kakuhan strung together his handseals, the seed bursting out in vines to form a large lumbering green humanoid, vines emerging from Kakuhan's fingertips to attach to the creature which let out a moan that even the wielder found mildly disturbing.

"You're loud today..." He commented as the puppet's vines moved apart from its body, three vines reaching into the earth below and the chakra quickly gather up chemicals and rapidly assembling them together into the form of a shoddily assemble human corpse. The creature let out a louder roar and threw up the vines, claws reaching out of the ground barely held together by their decaying flesh, pulling up equally decayed bodies which rose out of the ground, Kakuhan directing the last three fingers of his hand to emerge with vines and infest the corpses. "You can't even scream or at least put on that look I love so much, no fear at all?"

"Tch." Kakuhan commented, throwing out his hand and commanding the creatures forwards, the three corpses shuffling forwards towards the kunochi with their ruined flesh amusing their director, the sand held plenty of corpse bits so he was surprised he got such poorly constructed things from here. On his other hand lay the standard invisible chakra string directing the other puppet he'd planted, his hand being used to ruffled through his hair, hiding the movements of his finger as a common gesture. This one took more time to set up then the others did, and as the effective zombies made their way closer to the girl, coming within range of her katana, he moved the fingers of his visible hand, directing another volley of projectiles.

As they flew outwards the gremlin took careful care to hid their shots behind the corpses, which they would easily go through, but she would be too occupied cutting them down to react to the attack that would be coming through them. No shinobi had the power to focus on so many things at once, and the puppet underneath the earth was silently coming into place, growing beneath the sands. Her time was limited, as was her reaction speed, there was little chance she'd come out of this attack unscathed, and if she did, well he had back up.

Not even god could help her if that didn't work, because Kakuhan was holding back his true force, and if this was drug out much further then he'd just blow the place to dust with her along with it or watch her choke to death on her own blood.

Spoiler:

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"There's little room for words in Battle." She says, nodding once as she does. "And even less room for fear." She watches with dismay as the zombies begin to creep their way towards her, ambling slowly forward. She almost smirked to herself at the lack of grace and speed the zombies had, but still remembered she was up against a jounin. Just because they were slow now, does not mean such is always the case. And if they are this slow, then they must truly be as powerful as five bears. Perhaps six bears. Saya takes a few steps back as she assesses any solutions to her quickly growing list of problems, and comes up with one solution above all others.

True to her word, Saya shows no fear. She does, however, show something uncommon in her family. Against such an opponent, Saya was actually being forced back. Loosing ground, even strategic withdrawal was something hard for her family, but sometimes you just had to fall back, for a better chance at victory. Of course, victory wasn't possible here, but she still wanted to impress with jounin with her cunning, and resourcefulness.

She sheathes her katana quickly, and draws her hands together in front of her. She works through a trio of quick handseals, ending on the Tiger seal. She focuses her chakra for a moment, then is gone. Shunshin no Jutsu was one of the few she had managed to master, and she always got great use out of it. Typically she would use it to leap behind her opponent and create a new assault, but she was very hesitant to get so close to Kakuhan. Instead, an instant after she's vanished she has also reappeared, deposited some 70 feet away at the tree her throwing axes and kunai were sticking out of.

Knowing she mustn't waste a second she begins to collect her throwing axes quickly, pulling two out and replacing them on her inner right thigh. The other two are quickly seized, but left in hand for use. She'd planned on flinging them quickly at those slow moving zombies. dispatching them from a distance seemed ideal. She spins around to face her enemy, and draws an arm back, ready to fling the first axe. Of course, against a jounin she wouldn't be surprised to have him upon her the moment she turns around. Clearly he is just toying with her.

Spoiler:

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No room for talk? What was she, some sort of battle hardened snob who couldn't even appreciate a good taunt or snide remark when the occasion called for it. That was hardly the way Kakuhan fought, remarks were what livened things up and made it all the more worth his time. Whats the point of having those awesome techniques of yours when you can't even brag about them? She was obvious new to the prospect of a fight, must've been easy kills for her all the way till now, but now there would be no easy kill. Their might be an easy kill, on his end, but not on hers.

It was always a chore when he had to pull out his poisons, because then he had to get out the puppet that released the poison because he didn't like doing it himself due to the nature of his poisons and that he'd be way too close to it. Then he had to actually deploy it, and then he had to make sure they couldn't heal it, and lots of stuff he didn't want to bother with. She wasn't a medic though, she wasn't registered anyhow, so he didn't think she could heal herself from an infectious poison so he just had to hit her. No, poison was too much of a hassle, he was fickle, he'd try something else.

Kakuhan sighed, kids these days just didn't go down quietly. The man's head tilted to look at the thorns that had pierced through the zombies, if they'd had organs that mattered they'd be dead but since they didn't they just kept right on shambling towards her new location at his direction. What did he care? Its not like they were useful as anything short of distraction anyhow. The creatures were only their to be a nuisance and thats what they did, so as they traveled Kakuhan brought out his free hand, making the one handed seals he was infamous for, along with his other traits.

The handsigns went slowly, and even Kaku wasn't an expert at this kind of handseal so he repeated the names of the seals to himself in order to connect the synapses in his brain a little better while he did them. "Tori, Mi, Uma..." He repeated this, naming fifteen handseals in rapid succession, using the corpses to move in front of him and absorb the attack of the axes she might throw as he took the time to do this. He made the final seal and brought his hand to his mouth, inhaling and then spewing out a sphere that struck the ground in front of the kunochi and spread out into a cloud of thick yellow powder that covered the kunochi's area and began to move in around her, even if she moved with Shushin it was a bit late for that. Kakuhan spoke aloud a false name for his jutsu, he didn't like brats knowing his techniques, "Earth Style: Thick Powder Dispersal!"

That was not powder of any sort, or at least not earth based, though it did come from the earth. That was pure sulfur, you couldn't even buy that in a bottle these days, they were always diluting chemicals to make them cheaper and fool the buyer, yet another thing that annoyed him, but this was the real deal. Sulfur was enough to probably choke the kunochi, but Kakuhan had more in mind, and brought out his free hand in the air, gathering chakra to his finger tips and causing the moisture filled air to condense into small spheres on his finger tips. This level of control was far beyond the average shinobi, reserved only for the elite medical shinobi class, standardly used for hydrated patients, but he had a more sinister purpose.

The corpses, covered by the sulfur were shambling in closer to her location and would soon be upon her if she failed to move, and Kakuhan directed his puppet to fire off yet another blast of thorns, with the same strategy as before, except that their was now a fog that aided in hiding the thorns. Even if she saw what happened the first time, she wouldn't assume a Jounin would repeat the same thing twice, and the cover would make it impossible to detect the shambling zombies before they got too close, and the thorns were even less likely. But she had a tendency to use Shushin, so Kakuhan accounted for this as well.

If she moved out of the sulfur, it would stick to her body and clothing, there wasn't a way to avoid that on her end, unless she had Fuuton jutsu or some other way to prevent her body from contact. That would be all he needed, she didn't seem to have Fuuton jutsu, but maybe she just hadn't used them yet. That wasn't likely, however, since she would've simply deflecting the thorns he'd been shooting rather than risk cutting them which was far more likely to miss than a burst of wind. She insisted on deflecting or dodging them, so she might not even have any offensive capability because she hadn't even tried to come near him.

He digressed, she wouldn't be able to move anyhow, because as the sulfur hit the earth and spread out, her attention would be locked on that unknown substance, not her feet. No shinobi watched their feet, and since he was making another jutsu with that happened, the chance of her noticing his finger curl was infinitely small. So the puppet Kakuhan had directed underground was directed to snare the girl's legs from underneath at high-speed, she wouldn't have the focus to catch the vines, and even if she did notice it would be too late. She'd be caked in powder due to her inability to move, and even if she dodged the vines, which wasn't likely in the least, then she was still doomed.

This was what made Kakuhan what he was, no mindless war hero would have lived long in Kirinogakure, but they seemed to do so anyhow and upon his arrival his impression on Lord Mizukage earned him rapid favor. His name wasn't for show, he truly was Hell's Whip, the very tool of the devil, and he had no problem proving this. He still had to finish this up, however, and so he raised his hand, bringing it down and directing the strings of water into the sulfur where she was located, excluding three which went to both sides of the cloud, and one in front, so that if she tried to exit the cloud, assuming she could, the same result would occur.

Kakuhan smiled as he waited for the reassuring sound of an explosion of flames, he didn't really enjoy wasting so much chakra on such a child, but maybe some second degree burns would be enough to prove that he wasn't going to play around when he was tired of play. "If you won't fear me, then thats your problem, but I do deserve such a kind of respect." Kakuhan commented, smiling into the sulfur which was a split second away from becoming an inferno.

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Posts : 730

Well this was certainly going from bad to worse. With expert aim she flings one than another axe towards the ambling zombies, easily breaking through them, and succeeding in doing no damage. She began to wonder how they would even harm her, if she simple danced around them all night. She was faster than these zombies with her boot laces tied together. Her brows knit together just slightly as she grows perplexed by this Jounin's intentions. Hacking them to peices seems like it could be just as easy, but that thorn throwing plant has continued to be a problem each time. Him using it again seems quite obvious to her, so she still continues to seek range and think this over.

She draws her sword once more, long before the zombies reach her, and likely while Kakuhan is in the middle of forming his hand seals. Another plant technique, no doubt, maybe one with a larger missile. She'd been evading his weaker ranked attacks for a little while, but still had no desire to end this fight. She did wish to impress the jounin, so finally she speaks up once more. She moves backwards as she talks, keeping some distance between herself and the zombies. "Taunts are before battle, and pride for after!" She calls out, giving him that momentary distraction from the battle. At all other times her mind was singly focused, dwelling only on her victory. Now she had to form words. "I have never known fear in my life! I only know battle. There's only time for form and discipline, power and speed! Time for brandishing of weapons, and slaying of one's enemies. Battle is a time for great action, and no place for the more petty of emotions. I speak the language of the battle cry, not taunts." she adds, falling silent as Kaku finishes off the long chain of hand seals. Whatever he was doing was faar beyond her knowledge of jutsu. Ninjutsu itself was mostly alien to her anyway.

As the single projectile flew towards her, even at it's speed, she knew could dodge it. A slight look of confusion catches her as she hops to the side of the poorly aimed missile, and it lands several feet from her. Of course, her inner questions are answered the moment the thing explodes into a fine cloud of dust. Instantly she stops breathing and presses her feet into the ground. The zombies were already getting close, and her previous plan of glory and victory seemed to be fading quickly. The dense yellow cloud easily engulfs her by yards and instantly makes her eyes water. Her skin tingles and her nose fills with the horrid scent of sulfur. She coughs a moment later and begins to scramble, completely disabled by just the one jutsu. She manages several steps, and might have been able to leave the cloud if vines had not suddenly caught her. Instead she ends up on the ground, covering her mouth with both hands and coughing uncontrollably. Her sword is released and lands beside her, now as useless as she was.

She would have tried to concede, though forming words was impossible. Breathing was impossible, hell even seeing was impossible. If not for the sound of her own ragged breathing she might have thought even hearing was impossible. Bound by the vines there's simply nothing she can do. The writhing plant zombies and the torn canon would both easily have their target, and suffering as she was she couldn't manage a defense to it. With her blood drawn she'd hope that it was over, but such was not to be the case. As the crackling wave of fire erupted around her, Saya feels her loss in full. Beneath the inferno, Saya does not scream. Pain was nothing to her family, and something she could easily enough ignore. She snarls as it engulfs her, and prepares to push herself to her feet. She'd still be standing when this was over, she told herself silently.

When the fireball finally cleared there would be a small crater where she stood, a stretch of fire blasted beach now cleaned of shells and leaves. The smooth sand around her would remain hot and steaming, her entire body singed and her robes barely in tact. The sulfer in her lungs, nose, and mouth still continues to make her cough, and she tries to force herself upwards. Even with her family's impressive resilience, she doesn't even make it to her knees. With her chakra all but exhausted from the last use of Shunshin, she couldn't even manage to bring up the pain ending effects of her family's secret techniques. Instead she just laid there and suffered. It's been a very long time since she felt this much pain, and it was obvious in the groans and yelps that acompany each breath she takes. Hopefully his attack was over, because Saya was conent to just lay there, barely on the edge of consciousness.

Posts : 1044

(OOC: Since your effectively incapacitated I've done a bit of character control in order to speed things up. If you have any issues with this then let me know and I'll edit it out or set it up in a more appropriate fashion.)

Success. Kakuhan let his teeth part from his lips into a smile that would make the devil himself jealous of how well he resembled a demon in his own way, even though he lacked the horns and the tail, he was all the more fearful for that camouflage. She'd fallen, that was simple enough to understand, but she'd fallen hard, onto that stone that tells you just how far you truly had to fall before you hit bottom. Underneath that layer, however, was lurking the reaper's grinning face so he supposed their were worse alternatives.

He reached out his open hand, the vines severing themselves and flailing about as the puppets lay dormant, slumping down, the animated corpses crumbling apart as they reached out for the girl, the thorns that were fired embedding themselves in the kunochi's flesh as they moved aside. There was not a change of expression, just a clenching of teeth, though those thorns could've easily be coated in poison. They weren't, but the kunochi was no better than a kitten at guessing what was and wasn't in them.

Only one vine remained attached, the one burrowing underneath that Kakuhan had taken care to hide by guiding it below the earth behind his first puppet. The puppets themselves were little more than tools for him, but they did have a mind, unlike other inferior puppeteers who used mindless drones, so he need not say a word for them to act as he desired. They couldn't move without his aid, they were plants after all, but they could indeed think and they urged him on as the concealed plant, with its vines around the girl, moved up from the earth, a mass of roots and two additional vines beyond the ones that had attacked the girl.

The puppet had no eyes, or no ability to see beyond its own supernatural sensing, but it all the same gave the girl a stare with its formless eyes as Kakuhan reached out his hand, severing the strings attached to it as well. He walked, not bothering to run, their was little point, but pulled out some senbon, twirling them between his fingers as he walked over to his first two puppets, reaching his hand out to them as they rapidly reverted, coiling up like a receding wave being condensed to a sphere, and they became the seeds they were originally birthed from and were placed back inside the rod at his hip.

Kakuhan turned back to the kunochi, and as he reached her he kicked the axes of hers out into the ocean, he wouldn't have her playing dumb, hence he held the senbon. Things weren't always as they appeared, normally he wouldn't put away the puppets before he was sure they were unable to fight against him but he had other methods. Kaku bent down on his knees and looked at the girl laying on the earth. "Oh come now, that attack was on your own level, I still have plenty of chakra to spare and you're just laying here gasping for breath. Not an ounce of fight left?"

He stopped the senbon mid-spin, jamming them swiftly through the girl's breasts, tearing into the muscle and flesh there, using five of them to form a sort of ring around the heart. Thats where it all started, though behind the scenes the brain kept everything in order, the heart was the true power. If she moved to stand, then the senbon would bend with her body and slash her heart, which would be a lethal blow. "If you can still breath, and you're still conscious, pay attention. Do you intend to remain as weak as you are, there are tens of people in this world stronger than even I am, and yet you're standing here like this because of me. I've taken lives multiple times, hundreds, but you're a Kiri shinobi so I won't kill you without your desire to do so."

Kakuhan held open his open hand, a vine erupting from his palm, the nerves their being knocked out by his chakra temporarily to avoid the pain caused by this. The vine quickly budded and then opened to reveal a purple-petaled flower with a single small seed as its core. Kakuhan tilted his palm so that the seed fell out into his other hand and he held it out in front of the kunochi as the petals of the flower fell off to the earth, drifting to the sand as the vine retreated and the nerves regained their sensations as was fit.

"You can take the road less traveled, if you also wish. I can give you more power, though it comes with its own consequences. Its not likely that you'll survive long enough to obtain it, but its a chance for greater power. All you have to do is say a word, nod your head, anything at all that signifies your acceptance and you'll have it. Or you can sit here and wait for somebody to retrieve you, treat your wounds, and live the rest of your life weaker then you could've been." Kakuhan presented the solid black seed to her, holding out his open palm so that it could be very clearly seen. He needed stronger test subjects, so why not try a shinobi? It was still incredibly unlikely somebody as weak as this would be able to endure the creature he was offering to infest her with, but it was a gamble, all of life was a gamble. She'd gambled away her health by fighting him, what would it be for her to gamble on her own life?

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Posts : 730

Laying in her crater, Saya may seem defeated, but she is doing well enough. The pain of her loss was fading away and her family's most notable trait was coming to the surface. Though she does groan just softly when the senbon are run through her chest, she just grinds her teeth and resists the pain. When she speaks she is still suprisingly calm, unafraid even with her life hanging by a thread. "I am not weak." She says, her voice steady and lacking signs of inner pain. Immobilized as she is, it still does not stiffle the warrior spirit inside her.

"I am an Ashigaru, the finest warriors in all lands. You're a jounin, there's no surprise that I was defeated." She says, even managing a little smile. She diverts her eyes to better focus on his face, then the seed in his hand. She turns out to be surprisingly talkative after battle, for as tight lipped as she was durring the short altercation. "It was only practice, I am surprised you took a fight with me so seriously. You might think I am weak, but when I am a jounin, I'll be as strong as you are, maybe stronger."

She'd have tried to rise at this point, not liking being so prone on her back, but the slight motion was causing pain in those needles. The sort of pain that said something was very wrong. "What is that seed?" she asks finally, not stupid enough to accept something without knowing the details. She wasn't in much of a place to negotiate, but she still had to live up to her family name.. not to mention her contract.

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Posts : 1044

A small chuckle came from within him, boiling up and finnally releasing itself as it grew into full blown laughter. Memories came to him of when he was around the kunochi's age and by then he was already a powerful force, when his father died before his own eyes he had begun the assembly of an army, what did she know about strength? Kakuhan's eyes hardened as the laughter ceased and he glared at her, the steel ocean in his eyes making it clear how serious he was with his words. "When I was your age my own father died before my eyes. I created the beginnings of an army when I was no older than you, perhaps even younger, so what do you know of strength? I only used attacks I learned as a youth, only used creatures I possessed when I was a youth, and you couldn't keep up."

"In this village," Kakuhan continued, wondering what exactly kept her alive after he'd made an attempt to stand up, she obviously was ignorant of pain as well as fear, what kind of kunochi was that? ",you're not coddled, I like that, and I won't guide any of you by the hand. Every fight is a serious fight, you claim to be a shinobi and you can't even figure that much out..."

Kakuhan bent down closer, his nose nearly in contact with her own as he spoke, making sure he got his point across. Their were many types of pain, the pain of words cut far deeper than any weapon, and he knew this very well. "You're weak. You're pathetic. You were on the defense the entire time. Wheres your strength hiding at? You didn't even try to hurt me, you just ran like a rat. The Ashigaru must be very disappointed in you..."

He moved his head back, moving his hand in to replace his face, the seed extended out onto it. She was of the incorrect type, so sure of their own strength that they refuse the truth that they could be stronger. Their was doubt, however, their was always doubt. The best way to capture an animal is to make it secure, the best way to capture a human is to make it insecure. With his other hand Kakuhan reached over to the kunochi's side, grabbing a kunai from her holster. He set down the seed on the earth and grabbed one of her hands, pushing opening the fingers and placing the kunai in it before closing them again.

Kaku held out his open hand and looked her in the eyes, "Cut off my hand. If you want to know what power I can give you, take all that dishonor of yours and use it to slice through my bones and make me acknowledge you if you're strong enough..."

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"And when you were my age, could you defeat a jounin that wields the very forest?" She asks, coughing just a little. There's a small presence of blood in her mouth, reddening her lips, the slight shifting dealing untold damage beneath the surface of her skin. Saya would certainly need to visit a medic after this. In spite of that, she seems only more emboldened by his false accusations. Saya knew all to well she was strong. She'd defeated too many equal ranked opponents to think otherwise. Her small smile remains, more of triumph than of pleasure. Words wouldn't get Saya to back down. She shifts again, wincing as the senbon bit once more into her body. If she didn't stop that, she wasn't going to be very happy in the morning.

"I lasted against you for almost five minutes... against a jounin, and fought you with no fear. Death is glorious release for those of my clan, the only time we are permitted to lay down our weapons and wallow in our reward. At my age.." she says quietly, her voice now slightly strained. ".. at my age.. I've already taken lives. You made machines of war.. I am a machine of war. I've stood on battlefields before.. and this is still.. not the closest I have been to death."

"You can not cow me with words, and you can not convince me I am weak; because I am Ashigaru, and I fight for Kirigakure. I am owned by this lands leaders, and their will is my own. Their strength is mine, and my strength is theirs. No one.. can.. beat me. You can not break me.. any easier than you can break this village." she whispers now, her voice quickly fading. A small trickle of blood leaks from the corner of her mouth, but at least she's finally laying motionless again. Her eyes close and she sighs softly. She'd have no more words left in her at this point, and her fingers could barely wrap around the handle of her own kunai. She didn't make any motions to attack him.

Her lips begin to move again a moment later, though no words quite make it out. Motionless now, Saya was in rather grave danger. She seemed on the edge of passing out.. still.. but even that couldn't get rid of her arrogant little grin. Even in loss, An Ashigaru that fought with pride is victorious.

Posts : 1044

She still wasn't getting it at all, how age counted for little in the shinobi world where teenagers were ANBU and old men were Genin, the skill was either present or it wasn't, there was little growth with age beyond an expansion of bodily mastery and control. How should he put it that at his age he wasn't fighting shinobi, he was hunting demons...that wasn't really something she'd believe, but then again he didn't really care. Kakuhan built an army of puppets before he was even a registered shinobi and was hunting down the creatures of the night while he did it, taking on things that were the monsters the world of shinobi succumbed to.

They were all so proud of themselves, they were all so strong, they were always better than him. Kaku remembered it well, all the rest of the clan, training as shinobi and looking at him as just a crippled worthless being. He changed, becoming something none of them would ever become and doing it faster than any of them. Her spouting her nonsense about her age and rank just caused his fingers to coil into his palm, she had all the aids in the world, she was born with a healthy body, most likely a living, functioning family, outside of a time of war, and even had nice little trinkets at her disposal. All the gifts, none of the talent, what spoiled little brats this era reared...

Pride was one thing, he had great pride in his father, only to watch him die from the gift that gave him life. Pride was a trait, arrogance was a cancer, and he was a doctor, yet he couldn't even treat this cancer. His teeth were bared, his eyebrows narrowed, and his cold eyes were illuminated by an inner flame as his anger became more evident with each passing thought. The kunochi, Saya, had no comprehension of what a shinobi he was, what he overcame, what he endured, and how successful he was. He turned his failures into a success, she had success and seemed only now to know failure, and yet she still called it a success?! How could she learn, how could she grow, how could people like this thrive in the world!

"Brat!" He roared, striking her across the face with his open palm, the redness coming out like a fresh coal as he picked up the seed with his other hand. He knew it was against his rules, he broke them all with this action, but she wouldn't live, and he wanted her to die painfully, a pain so great even he couldn't inflict it. "Lets see just how strong you really are..."

"No anesthetic..." He shouted as vines emerged own head, blood dripping down as they ripped out, the vines becoming quickly coated with a visible aura of chakra which formed a sharp edge along the tips of the five vines. Kakuhan grabbed the seed in his palm and the vines came together into a sort of corkscrew which tore through the flesh and tissue of her breast and reached into her heart. The seed was deposited there, and then the vines expanded, tearing open the area not so much for his benefit for her pain.

"Now we tidy up..." Kakuhan brought another vine out from his palm, erupting between the other vines which lost their chakra edge as the held open the flesh. This vine weaved its way through the kunochi's skin and rapidly sewed the wound shut, ejecting the senbon as its motion moved them out of its path, he purposely used wide stitches for lower quality. Maybe she'd just pull them out, what did he care, this pain was on a whole new level for her anyhow as he heard the reassuring sounds of extending vines from the seed which found a suitable host.

Kakuhan pulled back his hand, the vines removing themselves from his flesh, retreated back to his body as his own wounds rapidly closed, the flesh repairing itself as if nothing had happened. He jerked his hand back, snapping off the stitched vine, which then retreated back inside of him as well, the bloody hole quickly closing itself up. He looked at his work, he'd torn her clothes and flesh with very jagged precision, it wouldn't look a thing like a medical ninja's work, and it almost made him proud to have done such a rapid form of open heart 'surgery'. He supposed if she wasn't nearly unconscious he'd hear some complaints about sexual harassment, he never understood people these days, you have to go through things to get to the heart, its not his fault that those things happen to be breasts.

Oh well, his side thoughts were actually calming him down enough to think and he had no doubt in his mind that if she wasn't dead, she was unconscious. Kaku didn't care how supernatural you were, even demons hearts were vulnerable, there was no such thing as an invulnerable heart, some were just stored in unusual places. He thought back to the concept of phylactery, those were always a chore to hunt down, but she wasn't a monster, she didn't have a phylactery, she was just a girl who happened to meet someone who was a little more than a man. If she was still conscious, she'd have seen him hoist the body of the girl up onto his shoulder and comment aloud, "Theres far more pain to come...you're going to live, and you're going to learn, even if I have to tear out your brain and carve the arrogance out myself..."

His fickle behavior was starting to become an annoyance to him, but he assumed it would pass. Besides, if he went around killing every single rat that came in his path the village would be devoid of any military force at all. She said he couldn't destroy the village, he could in a way, by removing all the vermin from it, but he figured to keep this to himself before the brat misinterpreted and had him brought in for treason or whatever they called it in Kiri.

"Change or die you little shit..."

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