Bloody Knuckles (Vaneda, p, nk, io)

As the demon was walking towards Kumogakure. His need for power was growing day after day. He always felt like his purpose for life was to shed blood to every living thing that defied Kumo's teachings. Its been a while since he has took away a life, his hands haven't been bloody in a while. Itami is still casually walking towards the training grounds with his normal attire. His purplish blue robe that matches his pants and his katana on his back (Basically the Avi picture). As he finally reached the training grounds, it was deserted as if nobody had been here in years. But of course that wasn't the case, it just happen to be an empty day. Itami goal was to unlock his bloodline elements. He has used it once through anger and killed half a village with it. Ever since then, he has been trying to unlock so he could finally master it. As he cracks his neck twice, he takes out his katana with his left hand slowly and takes a couple swings with it at a max speed of 60. He notices that he really has to work on that. 

He knows he has a lot of work to do, so for starters. He begins to sit down criss crossed on the floor. As he meditated to free his mind before he started training. His urge for power was growing faster and faster deep inside of him. But he had to control himself so he could be mentally prepared for training. With no thoughts getting in the way.

Vaneda's exploits in the name of Jashin had brought him to this point, granting him the rank and authority that dominated most others. His god had always steered him right, granted him powers mere mortals could only dream of, and led him here. Vaneda's faith was no longer restricted to mere thugs and brigands that were hardly worth the blood in their bodies. No... He could broaden his horizons... and to do that, he needed a tougher body. He needed more power. He wandered through the village, his ANBU mask strapped around to his belt, but with him as always. While in the village, he could afford to show his stitched face, but only in in the village. It was part of his job, being the eyes and ears of the Raikage. He loved it here in Kumo... With the word of Jashin spread by his hands, he felt a certain modicum of pride with that he'd accomplished here. He came as nothing but an acolyte to the god of anguish and now, he was walking about as one of the most powerful ninja in the village in just a few years. Heh... if only those other foolish priests could see him now...

Vaneda strolled into the training grounds casually, his ANBU body armor hidden beneath a large black cloak. He watched silently as another ninja swung his katana in a few quick basic strikes. He looked to be powerful, perhaps as much as himself. Vaneda's first reaction was that he'd make a perfect sacrifice to Jashin, but then he caught sight of the ninja's headband and his shoulder's slumped. They really couldn't afford to lose many more ninja the way they were now. Despite his fanaticism, he knows that village safety is important. These poor ignorant fools don't have the immortality he has.

He looked on for a few moments more before drawing his own katana and twirling it absently in his hand.

"Well, look at you." He commented, a hint of snideness in his voice. "A few more swings and I'm sure you'll hit your target." It was obvious that he was simply striking in the air, but Vaneda just couldn't resist making a jab at him. He was a strong supporter of Schadenfreude (the idea that other people's pain is hilarious) and any he could draw out would just make his day that much better.

As Itami was swinging his katana around for a few practice swings. He heard foot steps approach due to his experienced fighter. He was always the type to be catious of his surroundings. Especially for a lone wolf like himself. He doesn't really trust much people.. if anybody. He only somewhat trust his fellow shinobi only because he feels he has too. But even for that, he still doesn't trust anyone. 

The footsteps were getting louder since someone was approaching him, but he didn't look at the person that was coming towards him until he spoke. Heard this person swinging a sword just like he was. As he turned his head towards this person. He noticed he had an ANBU masked on his belt. So this guy is an ANBU? Itami thought to himself. Itami wasn't really interested in the ANBU. If given a choice, he would take it if it was desperately needed. But for the most part, he wasn't ever interested in it. But unless there was one condition... if he could shed more blood to useless souls in this world.

"Hmph, for someone who is part of the ANBU force. You sure keep it out in the open. I thought the ANBU were suppose to keep their identity hidden..." Itami would say in a casual and smart tone in his voice. He would continue to sit down in a criss cross position and begin to meditate. But he would still be listening to the ANBU and responding to him.

Vaneda rolled his eyes at the warrior's comment seemingly annoyed with his apparent ignorance. Not just in faith, but in strategy. Anyone can find a mask like this or claim to be a part of any organization and, the way he acted, hardly anyone would suspect he was entrusted with the valuable information of the village. It was a simple method of hiding in plain sight and the ninja's apparent ignorance of the subject seemed to speak volumes of his skill and experience. Maybe he wasn't worthy of Jashin's consumption after all. His blood would tell momentarily. He simply shook his head, obviously disappointed with the ninja's assessment.

"Ah, so you noticed the mask. Got it from a shop down the way. You can buy one yourself for a hundred ryo a dozen." He held up a hand abruptly. "And before you even ask, yes, I collect them. Call it a hobby." The funny thing was, that on the way to the way to the training grounds, there was, in fact, a stall selling ANBU-like masks to the few youngsters that ran around the village. In this way, he wasn't EXACTLY lying. He offered a slightly forced grin and pointed his sword at him. "But... you see... I also practice sword-fighting. Saw you swinging yours around and I thought 'Why not challenge that guy?'" Spontaneously, Vaneda swung his sword in an upward cut (speed 50, strength 40), despite being far out of reach. This move was not purely for the fun of it however, as, from the swing, an air blade sprung into existence and launched itself at the ninja with a speed of 35 and a power of 20 (averaged), aimed at the ninja's chest as he sat there meditating. The cut wasn't really to hurt him, rather, to entice him into a fight.

As the guy claimed that he bought the mask from a shop. He stated that he collects them for his own purposes. Itami wasn't dumb, but who was he to tell whether the man was telling the truth or not. He didn't care whether if he was an ANBU or not. It didn't really matter to him. This man seems like he talks a lot. And Itami can't stand people who talks a lot. Being the somewhat anti-social person he is. Itami would then sigh while meditating.

"Whatever you say..." Itami would say to this shinobi. It was obvious that he was a sword user too. Well, Itami wasn't really a sword user. But he did like swords and his main purpose for getting one was to shed more blood with every attack. But the man mentioned challenging Itami. itami still continued to meditate. He wasn't in the mood to shed the blood of this random guy. But before he knew, he heard the sound of the sword cutting through the air at a okay speed. As he quickly opened his eyes, he saw the upward swing. Then at a speed of 60, he would lean back enough to where the sword wouldn't touch him. But he could easily tell from the measurement that this guy wasn't trying to kill him or anything. Judging from the length of the blade and how far he was. If Itami never moved, he knew the slash wouldn't do much damage. After he leaned back, he would then grab his sword and slowly stand up. Itami would then grab his sword with his left hand and hold it towards his left side.

"If your looking for a fight, than I'll be glad to give you one. But this might not end well.." Itami said casually looking at the guy. Without using any type of hand seals or any sign of activating a jutsu. He would use the Earth release: lightweight rock technique on his Katana. Giving his swing speed a +50 but with a -10 strength. He would then swing his katana with his left hand horizontally, towards this young shinobi's eyes. But the attack wouldn't touch him at all, even if he didn't attempt to block it. The swing of the katana would be moving at a speed of 110 and strength of 10. Again, this attack would only be about a centimeter away from this shinobi's eyes. But would never touch him.

"A fight...?" Vaneda asked innocently. "Why... That couldn't be... I didn't attack you..." Regardless of his sarcasm, it was obvious that this guy was faster than he was... Hm... Even before the swing, the relative ease the man had dodging his attack showed the difference in their physical abilities. This was demonstrated as the the ninja proceeded to swing his sword at JUST perceivable speeds, right in front of his face in some apparent attempt at mocking him... If he mocked a priest of Jashin, it was insulting the god himself and he WOULD pay!

While the man swung his blade in front of Vaneda's eyes, He smiled widely and, using his free hand, curled his pointer and middle fingers behind his thumb, bending his arm at the elbow at mid-level so that his fingers were pointed at the man's belly. Then, he released his fingers just as the blade passed his eyes, releasing two very small bolts of air moving at speeds of 70 and with a power of 70, one aimed at his stomach, the other at his kidney. The Eclipse Dragon, as it was called, wouldn't be detectable by mere sight, unless he had some sort of enhanced senses. If the bolts would connect, they would drill holes the size of eyeballs through him, dealing just enough damage to cripple him and spray blood everywhere... His treat... Even if one were to just barely scratch him, the blood WOULD be his and he'd be able to deal his suffering back on him. If not, however, he'd simply shrug, and raise his blade, readying himself for a counter attack. Instead of being on the defensive, however, he sheathed his Katana, holding onto it still and waiting for just a moment before lunging at the ninja (speed 80) , unsheathing his blade in a Dancing Blade Risk, and slashing him across the chest with a Speed of 90 and a strength of 80. 

(Considering this is just training and we don't really plan on killing eachother, feel free to use whatever tech you have :3)

After Itami swung the sword and purposely missed the guy. The shinobi would begin to do something with his fingers. The way it looked, it was sorta obvious that it was some type of technique. But couldn't really tell how strong or powerful it was. But he noticed two balls of wind coming towards his kidney and his lung at a high power and speed of 70. This technique wasn't something you use on anybody. It was like this guy was trying to kill Itami. He couldn't allow that. So Itami instantly activated Ultralight weight rock technique on himself. Similar to the super light weight rock that he used on his Katana. Except this one gave him a lot more speed. Increasing Itami's speed by 80 with a -20 strength. (I'm not sure how having 0 strength works, so I'll just assume I can't walk or anything). As his new speed is now 140 and his strength being 0. Not allowing him to walk. He would duck at a speed of 140. Moving at twice those wind pellets speed, it would be enough to just dodge them.

Getting hit by those could've been trouble.. or even fatal. After he dodge that technique, he saw the guy getting ready for another attack. He saw him grab his sword as he was preparing for another attack. This next attack was clearly a sword attack. But Itami didn't waste any time. He would make the ram hand seal at a speed of 140. BUT.. as soon as he made that hand seal, he would cancel the ultraweight earth technique jutsu and putting it on automatic cooldown. He did that so he could gain his strength back to 20 but putting his speed back down to 60. Now that he had the ram hand seal already made. He would wait to see what the shinobi will do for his next attack. It would be dumb to move without knowing what the attack is first. But if the shinobi decided not to attack Itami, he would put down the ram hand seal and just wait and see what he does. 

But as of right now, the shinobi seems to be ready to attack and dash towards Itami with his blade. Itami would then body flick to the left at a speed of 130. Since his chakra is 70 and speed is 60. He would move 15 meters to the left at a speed of 130. Dodging his sword attack. He would then point at the shinobi with his right index finger. And he would keep pointing at him until the shinobi saw itami's finger. 

"That technique you just used... seemed like a pretty deadly technique.." Itami would say as he continued to point at this shinobi. Again, he wasn't showing any signs of using a jutsu. Itami wanted to make it look like he was confronting him about his strong wind type technique or whatever it was. But really, Itami was getting ready to use a genjutsu on him. But from the shinobi's point of view, it would look like a normal person just pointing at him. So if he had a good reason to not look towards Itami's index finger or maybe even seen this technique before. There wouldn't be much of a reason for him to suspect a genjutsu was coming. If the shinobi was to see Itami's index finger, he would put his hand down. And wait for the right time to instantly activate it. Standing 15 meters away from the shinobi, he would walk towards him holding his sword in his left hand.

"Allow me to finish this.." Itami said as he began to run at the shinobi at a speed of 30 and holding his blade in his left hand. When he reaches the shinobi, he would attempt to put the blade to his neck horizontally. And basically letting him know, this was checkmate.

(Shit Sal, you making me work with this post lol)

(MUST. HAVE. YER BLOOD Xb I'm glad I'm trying so hard right now lol)

Vaneda cursed silently as both his attacks missed by the nearest of margins, turning around to face him just as the ninja pointed a finger at him. Now, a less focused ninja might have glanced down at the finger, but Vaneda payed it no mind. No, instead he focused on that neck and what wonderful red wine would spill from it when he severed it. Jashin would rejoice for he would drink from the pain mixed in with the sanguine and he shall be satisfied with the anguish he would bring upon this foolish ninja. Being the Zealot that he was, Vaneda charged at his maximum speed, 40, as the other ninja charged with his 30, bringing his blade up to Vaneda's neck. However, as he did so, the Jashin priest played his trump card so he play his other trump card. Using the Early Sacrifice technique as the other ninja brought his blade up, he'd latch onto his shoulder with his palm (speed 100, strength 90), fingers litterally piercing his flesh as he propelled himself over the man until he stood behind him, hand still latched onto the arm before throwing the ninja over his shoulder and onto the ground in front of him with a speed of 100 and strength of 90. Now, this wouldn't kill him, nor would it fatally wound him. It would simply stun him (can't move or attack nextpost) since his strength was easily 40 over his. Might even break a bone. In addition, since his grabbing onto his shoulder had 40 over the ninja's strength, he wouldn't be able to move or change direction to counter said grab.

If this move succeeded, Vaneda would have blood all over his hands now, putting him in the position to play his ultimate trump card. He'd grin and raise the hand coated in Itami's blood to his mouth and lick it, causing his Jashin blood to change him. Most of his flesh turned black with white skeletal tattoos running across his body. With the widest smile on his face, Vaneda raised his Katana to his palm and would cut his own hand deeply, spilling a deep pool of red sanguine on the ground by his feet. With a speed of 40, he'd use his blood and trace the symbol of Jashin on the ground around him with his feet (a circle with a triangle inside). With everything set up, he raised his bloodied hand to the sky and begun to pray with his katana pointed downward towards his leg.

"Praise be Jashin, lord and master of pain and suffering. I offer my agony and that of this human to sate your thirst. May their screams fill your holy body with euphoria. Amen."

With the prayer said, Vaneda would slam his blade into his leg, piercing it all the way through and wracking his own body in horrid searing cold pain. Blood would spurt from the wound, but Vaneda didn't seem bothered in the least. The other ninja, on the other hand, would feel everything he felt, suffer the damage he did. Chances were he knew nothing of the technique he'd just preformed let alone how to stop it or what was happening to him.

(Please let this work lol)

As Itami was sure that the shinobi was saw his finger. He would activate the genjutsu, the moment he tried to move a muscle so he could easily end this. And when Itami tried to activate the genjutsu... nothing happened. The man still seemed to be moving fine and showing no signs of being paralyzed. His plan was to catch him in the genjutsu and paralyzing him before he could even make a move. Allowing Itami to run towards him while being immobilized so he could put the blade to his neck. But now that it was obvious the plan didn't work because the shinobi is obviously still moving. He'll have to try something else. He continued to run at a speed of 30 as the other guy would run at a speed of 40. This guy seemed a bit stronger than Itami, so he probably wouldn't be a good idea to fight him head on. From the look of that sword technique he used, his speed and strength was incredible on that slash. So it wouldn't be a good idea to face him head on. The two were about 15 meters away before they started running at each other. As they reached about 5 meters, Itami threw his Katana with his left hand and aiming at the shinobi's right thigh. Itami never deactivated his lightweight rock technique off of his katana. He only deactivated the ultra-light weight technique that was used on himself. Which were two different techniques. 

The Katana would be coming at the shinobi's left thigh at a speed of 100 (Katana speed gets a +50 but a -10 strength due earth tech. Itami speed is 60 with a strength of 10. So 50 + 60 + 10 = 120. Then 120 / 2 = 60. Then another + 40 due to throwing formula. Making speed 100) and with a sharpness of 80 (Speed and strength of Katana equals 120. So 120 / 4 = 30, so that's the sharpness booster. Katana base sharpness is 50. And 50 + 30 = 80). With the other shinobi health at 50, it should easily pierce through him. But it wouldn't go all the way through, since there is a sheath to stop it. If this was to work, the guy wouldn't be able to walk much with that leg. And he would be in somewhat pain. He would at least be limping, since it would hit a muscle. This fight is getting a bit out of control and Itami will not afford to lose this fight. As soon as Itami threw the blade, he would stop running. He would make the Ram hand seal and wait to see what the guy would do and how he would react. He wasn't expecting his day to go like this,  but he would be lying if he said he wasn't having fun. He lives for pain, suffering and shedding blood. So this was like heaven to him.

It seemed as they closed the distance, the opposing ninja hurled his Katana at Vaneda, the blade piercing his leg and forcing him to come to a halt. He feel to one knee, the sword litterally piercing his leg all the way up to it's hilt. He growled, snatching the blade's handle and ripping it out of his leg, an arc of blood swiping across the ninja's eyes as he drew within 3 meters, blinding him and sending him stumbling back. With a normal person, a blade to the leg would drop them, but with someone blessed by the god of pain, he could tolerate the anguish and stand again. He got to his feet as his body repaired itself, now holding a katana in each hand.

"Tsk tsk." Vaneda chided him. "You disarmed yourself. Not smart." Vaneda didn't seem the least bit bothered by the fact he just had his leg impaled by a sword and, in fact, seemed to be in a state of intense pleasure. Then, in an instant, he raised both blades and slashed downward, sending two arcs of blue with a sharpness of 50 and a speed of 30. The arcs would slide across the ground, flying towards the ninja's chest with the intent of X-slashing him open. Of course, it was likely that the opposing fighter could dodge said attack, but it was more-or-less a set up for something else. Vaneda followed closely behind his slashes and the moment the opposing ninja would dodge, he'd spring in the direction his opponent would choose and slash upwards with one Katana, then the other in Kumo's very own Crescent moon beheading (speed 60, strength 30, sharpness 50.) Of course, he wasn't allowed to kill the poor fool. Even with this new Raikage being less restrictive, he really couldn't risk the danger of his shelter being weakened. Which is why each slash was directed towards the ninja's chest rather than his head.

The ninja seemed to be having fun with this fight, although his face wasn't showing it. Every blow he landed on Vaneda seemed to rally him, increase his resolve. It seemed this ninja enjoyed what he did almost as much as he himself did. Maybe he wasn't as unworthy as he first thought... Maybe he could even be a friend.