Judgement Day

It was relatively quiet within the room. Not a lot of her peers were being loud with their voice, being more subdued as their numbers dwindled down. More than half an hour had already passed on such an auspicious day and Saya didn’t think it could pass by any slower. Anxiety’s presence was thoroughly felt, making everyone fidget. A few of the students were drumming their fingers against the surface of the desks, others continually shifted in their seats while a couple of children tried to meditate or review the contents of their notes.

She let out a shaky sigh before glancing at her hands. They were trembling in anticipation. Immediately she clenched them into tight fists, hoping to drive away the troubling feelings. You’ll be fine, Saya thought to herself. You know everything they’re going to ask you - backwards and forward. Though the words were meant to be reassuring the young girl still couldn’t find the energy to get rid of her apprehension.

”Kido, Tsubomi!”

The name jolted Saya in her seat. They were already in the “ki” and it just made the butterflies in her stomach even more restless. Her name would be called soon. After Kido would be her turn and while she hadn’t been paying attention to the time difference between who was called in, Saya knew that she only had a five minutes to gather herself. Ten at the most.

Shaking her head, Saya started to breath deeply. Meditation. The first few tries didn’t help but it became easier and it actually worked as the minutes passed. And by the time they called her name - ”Kirihara, Saya!” - the dark haired girl was ready to take on the exam.

WORD COUNT: 285

Reizo was waiting patiently in the room for the next student to undergo the Genin Examination. He had been replacing the usual sensei for the past week who was off on some special mission, and surprisingly the blonde Chuunin had been enjoying it. It was a welcome change of pace from all the combat and patrolling he had been doing, plus it gave him the chance to get to know the incoming generation of Genin.

A dark haired girl entered the empty classroom. Reizo looked through her files that he had been given to get a general idea of what to expect. Her name was Saya Kirihara, a relatively shy student who seemed to excel in her studies but didn't get along with many of the other students. Reizo hoped that would make this exam pretty quick and straight forward.

The Chuunin was sitting at one of the desks usually used by students when Saya entered. "Welcome Saya. I'm Reizo Shoyu, I'll be your proctor. I want this to go as quickly and easily as possible. If you pass, you become recognized as a Genin of Kumogakure and I'll give you your headband. If not, you'll have to go back and study some more. I'm sure you're already aware of what is being tested. At the front you'll display your basic jutsu knowledge. Although only the Clone and Transformation jutsu will be tested, it is expect that you know the Substitution jutsu as well. Whenever you're ready, you may set your things down and begin," Reizo would direct.

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[Make an 800 word post performing the transformation and clone jutsu and you're good to go]

GENIN EXAM
Requirement: 800 Words
Reward: Genin status, 15 SP, Medical spec, Substitution Technique, and Tree Climbing / Surface Walking

She walked into the room, head held high and posture relaxed yet ready to spring at any moment. It was empty save for the young protractor at the front. He didn’t seem to be older than her, but age didn’t matter when it came to being shinobi. Seeing as he was overseeing her exam meant that he was chunin or higher, and Saya had to respect him for achieving a rank in his youth. From what she had seen most chunin were around 17 years old or more, and genin tend to be as old as 15 or 16 years old.

The examiner, Reizo Shoyu as he introduced himself, wasted no time in telling her the requirements for the exam. She nodded in understanding. It was a fairly simple exam. More than simple, really, and it unnerved her that it was too easy. At least for her; the young girl didn’t know how far and how much her classmates practiced the techniques to consider the test as “hard.” That was none of her concern, however.

”Saya Kirihara,” the girl reiterated despite the blonde already knowing her name. ”Performing the clone technique. One of its uses is to confuse opponents in order to create an opening for an attack.”

With the speed and consistency of having gone through the hand seals multiple times - ram, snake, tiger - Saya gathered her chakra. It was an inexplicable sensation that had her questioning herself on how she could have lived without its warm reassurance. The tendrils of chakra blanketed over her frame, a constant companion relenting and giving in to her commands.

An almost inaudible poof! indicated that her attempt at the jutsu was successful. On either side of her were exact replicas. Both clones had a neutral expression on their faces with their arms hanging languidly at their sides. Unlike the first time she tried the technique, they looked to be in perfect health. They didn’t appear to be haggard or been locked in a room for months, depriving them of much needed sunlight. Instead the pair almost looked ready for a spar with their peachy complexion and posture.

For a few seconds she let silence reign, letting Reizo observe her work. Saya was confident, but perhaps he found something that she couldn’t see. Now, the dark haired girl wasn’t one for theatrics, but she had sort of wanted to leave a positive impression. Dispelling her hold on one of the clones, leaving only herself and one doppelganger, Saya cleared her throat.

”Executing the transformation technique. A majority of the time it’s used as a way to blend in with the crowd, preferably as an ordinary citizen or impersonating someone, during stealth and espionage missions.”

Without preamble or warning of what she was about to do, Saya spaced herself from her clone. She could already feel the heat of embarrassment crawling up the back of her neck, the tips of her ears, and settling on her cheeks. A light red hue was evident on her visage, she knew, but the prospective genin only pursed her lips and pretended that she wasn’t bothered at all.

Bringing her arms up horizontally to the floor and her feet planted shoulder-width apart from each other, Saya bit her bottom lip as she tried to keep herself from simply doing the transformation technique and high-tailing it out of the room. Her clone, true to its definition, was like an exact mirror - from Saya’s posture to her red face. Roughly pushing aside her unease, she began to move in a dance that also seemed like a kata, smooth and flowing yet strong.

”Fuuu ~ ”

As Saya and her doppelganger took their steps toward each other, their arms and open palms rotated up and around their heads until they were back to being parallel to the floor. Being only few feet from each other Saya was mindful of how close they were whilst executing the turning point of her impromptu performance. ” - Sion!” At this exclamation, both figures snapped their arms to the other side of their bodies while raising up their lateral legs to their navel.

It was during this motion that Saya tried to be discreet with the smoke bomb that she had hidden within her arm warmers. In the seconds where she had her hands moving over her chest, she used the opportunity to push the bomb into the palm of her hand. And with it Saya surged through the last leg of her show.

”HA!”


Though the timing was off by a millisecond, the bomb was dropped the moment her body was leaning and bending to the side. Just as her fingertips were about to “touch” the ends of her clone’s finger, the bomb detonated and encapsulated their forms in a thick cloud. Using the fumes as a distraction and cover, Saya dismissed her clone and immediately set to executing the transformation technique. Her hands flew through the seals - dog, boar, ram - and began changing her appearance.

By the time the cloud of smoke of dissipated her metamorphosis was complete. Instead of a petite girl that stood at 4’11”, a teenage boy that seemed to be Reizo’s age stepped forward and waited in silence. Saya’s current appearance sported short hair with more of a red-purple mix hair color, bright, golden orbs and a muscular yet lithe frame that reached up to 5’3”. Her chin and jawline were sharper, giving her a more mature look.


”Is there anything else?” Saya asked, wondering if she had gone overboard with her theatrics. Though it was irrational of her to think so, she found herself worrying if her examiner was going to fail her despite having demonstrated both techniques adequately.

WORD COUNT: 959

TOTAL WORD COUNT: 285 + 959 = 1244

The theatrics were a bit over the top, and Reizo wasn't so sure if the smoke bomb was allowed on school grounds, but the Chuunin enjoyed it nonetheless. It showed that Saya had at least some fundamental idea as to when both jutsu could be usable. "Nope nothing more; you seem to have a handle on the basic jutsu and know when they would be applied. You pass," the Chuunin would say. He picked up a headband out of the cardboard box he had seated next to him and tossed it to Saya. "Just let them know to call in the next student," he would say, pushing his chair back a bit and kicking his feat up onto the adjacent desk. Reizo wrapped his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair until the next student walked in.

--------- EXIT ----------

(Post an exit post and look to get a mod to approve your rankup; don't forget to list your claims)

GENIN EXAM
Requirement: 800 Words
Reward: Genin status, 15 SP, Medical spec, Substitution Technique, and Tree Climbing / Surface Walking

He didn’t really react to her performance and for a moment Saya wondered if he hated it. She shook her head, driving away that negative thought. Reizo, for all his professionalism and straight to the point words, seemed to be a person who would tell her if he didn’t like it. A blunt person, she thought. Either way, the examiner simply tossed her a shinobi’s item of honor - the village headband.

Surprised by the sudden change of pace - her heightened anticipation on the verdict of her exam versus Reizo’s nonchalant announcement - Saya’s transformation technique was canceled as she reached forward to catch her prize. She wasn’t sure how react and automatically bowed in respect.

”Thank you!” Saya said sincerely before abruptly leaving the room to alert the supervisor to send in the next student.


WORD COUNT: 135

TOTAL WORD COUNT: 1244 + 135 = 1379
CLAIMING:
- Genin status
- 15 SP
- Medical spec
- Substitution Technique
- Tree Climbing / Surface Walking

Nice job all around!

Approved.