Avarice x And x Benevolence «REIZO»

Things for the past few weeks had been quite normal for the young genin. Wake up in the morning, train for the first half of the day, go hunt for food, go back to training, then return home for the night. Saya was mildly content with her schedule but more than frustrated that she seemed to be stuck in terms of learning new techniques. Particularly ones that dealt with the specialty she picked - medical jutsu.

It was great that she had teammates to rely on when things got tough, but her mindset of being considered useless was beginning to grate on her. As such, the young girl tried to visit the hospital on multiple occasions when she had free time. It was not as she had expected. Many of the staff recognized her, however they weren’t inclined to take the petite genin under their wing. Saya released a deep sigh as she exited the looming building, having just finished a shift that she thought didn’t add to the productivity of her day.

Looking at the horizon, its skies painted with the orange and red hues of sunset, Saya decided to snag a training ground. The day was far from over, and Lady Luck seemed to be smiling on her as the girl could see multiple people exiting various training grounds. A smile creeped on her face. There were plenty of areas ripe for the taking.

Within seconds Saya settled herself in an area that was large enough for a team or two of genin. It was probably too much space for someone like her, but she liked how large the territory was. Not that she had anything flashy or colossal for a jutsu to make much use of it. The spacious zone was a nice change compared to when she was pushed off the nicer training grounds by those of “higher” rank.

Feeling satisfied with her warm up, Saya began attacking a nearby wooden post. She threw shuriken at it, rushed towards the target, and made moves to decapitate or slash at its vital points. It was sort of a mellow practice, but it was the best she could do for the moment as she tried to come up with exercise regimen. Like what kind of jutsus she could learn in the meantime or try coming up with taijutsu combos, which was one of her weakest area currently.

Being immersed in her deep thoughts, however, left Saya a bit less than aware of her surroundings. Particularly of the oddly arranged patch of grass that she had just stepped on, activating some kind of trap that was suddenly slinging a slew of kunai and shuriken towards her direction. Her body stilled for that unfortunate second, forcing her to block with her own kunai and dodging late when possible.

The attack didn’t last long, only a quarter of a minute if Saya was counting. While it had certainly been something that raised her heart rate and a nice dose of an adrenaline rush, the thirteen year old suffered a few scratches with two large gashes lining her right arm. She cursed loudly, wrinkling her nose at the amount of blood dripping down her dominant arm. So much for Lady Luck favoring her for the day.

With her current knowledge - or lack thereof - Saya knew that she couldn’t heal it. However, after finding herself a safe spot a few yards away, she rummaged her back pouch with her left hand and brought out an emergency sewing kit. Might as well start practicing how to stitch oneself with her “inferior” arm.

Saya narrowed her eyes as her left hand shook with the threaded needle. This was a lot harder than she had anticipated.

WORD COUNT: 619
TOTAL WORD COUNT: 619

It was just after dinner when the sun had started to set, the sky a sublime blend of pink, gold, and crimson. Reizo was glad to be back home. It felt like it had been forever since he walked down the streets by his home and talked with his family. His younger brother had grown quite a bit since Reizo saw him last, and his mom even took off work to put together a little welcome home celebration together for Reizo's first meal back from deployment. It was hard to believe he was only almost 15 yet his life had so many landmark achievements already.

Even though his deployment outside the village was on hiatus for the time being, the training could never stop. After helping clean the dishes, Reizo headed back to the training grounds where he had spent so much time as a Genin and even some short time as a Chuunin learning jutsu and fighting skills to help him succeed as a ninja. He needed to finish training up his new Taijutsu, Evening Elephant, that he had begun to develop as a remix of Full Moon Elephant. He always preferred using his fists more than his kicks after all, so Evening Elephant would make more sense most of the time. Plus it had ranged capabilities, which was something that could've possibly been useful had he needed to solo the tailed beast.

Jogging to the training grounds in 10 minutes as a brief warmup as he did in the past, Reizo found himself in the familiar training grounds. He saw many Genin, some his age, some a little younger, training with their teams and sensei in some areas, and in others he saw lone Genin and Chuunin practicing their special jutsu for future use. Reizo moved deeper into the training grounds where he knew it would be quieter, around the area where he and his friends had played capture the flag long ago. Reizo reminisced in nostalgia- everything had been so simple then, back when he was just a child. Since then he had fought Maku, pledged allegiance to Maku, fought in a war for Maku and Kumogakure, received a promotion to Chuunin, and, most recently, captured the Two-tailed demon cat, who laid dormant inside him. Entering his mental space, as he now often did to check up on the cat when he was bored, he saw the shadowy den of the creature behind the iron bars of the seal. Only the muffled sound of purring of the sleeping cat echoed through the empty chamber. Dammit Cat. Everytime I want to talk and observe you, you're sleeping, but yet when it's time for me to sleep, you don't let me at all. I had a really rough time falling asleep because of you, Reizo thought telepathically to the sleeping beast. It paid no attention to Reizo's criticisms while sleeping, and Reizo simply sighed.

Focusing back on his training, Reizo turned his attention to the trees and wooden dummies before him. He had been working on Evening Elephant for a while now, but hadn't actually practiced it aside from in his mind. He knew the basic workings of it: punch to release an air vortex similar to Full Moon Elephant with the kick, and proceed to do it 5 times from 5 different angles in rapid succession. It took a bit of warming up and doing slow motion punches to get it just right, but finally Reizo was satisfied with his mental projection of his attempt. Using his full chakra now, Reizo unleashed the first gale punch, then moved to a new position to do it from there (180 speed, 180 strength) at full power. The roaring sound of the air was deafening to anyone within 40 meters, and the vortexes dug deep trenches into the ground. The dummie was completely splintered after the first attack, but by the 5th one nothing remained at all. The once wide training ground was now an open field with a large star gouged out through it.

All of the wildlife left the area, and the training field was absolutely silent. That is, until Reizo heard the faint sound of a wire trip and the sound of many shuriken and kunai whizzing through the air. This alarmed Reizo, as he had a flashback to his capture the flag with Senshi where Senshi had set up many traps. Had they never been disarmed? He was in the right area where Senshi could've possibly had a trap setup, and they hadn't revisited the grounds since they left for their outpost mission. Concerned, Reizo dashed in the direction of the sound, looking to pick up the chakra signature of whoever was nearby and pinpointing it with his Mind's Eye. The chakra signature felt a little familiar, but he didn't quite recognize it- perhaps it was someone he had bumped into at the village or something.

In the middle of the open training ground, a hundred or so kunai and shuriken lay scattered about, and among it all was a young kunoichi whom Reizo didn't quite recognize. "Are you okay? You're bleeding. Let me help," Reizo would say, approaching Saya. Forming the needed hand signs needed to use the Mystical Palm Technique. Soon his hands would glow a faint blue, and the wounds on Saya's arm and anywhere else would heal up instantly. "I'm really sorry about that, I think the trap might've been a leftover from long ago. Didn't you wonder why nobody else was using the area?" Reizo asked earnestly. "Is that a med kit? I feel really bad about all of this, maybe I could teach you something to repay you?" Reizo continued, still not aware of who Saya was. "I'm Reizo by the way. And you are...?"

---------------------------------
964 words

622 AP - 40 Mind's Eye - 40 Mystical Palm - 55 Evening elephant = 487 AP

See, this was one of the reasons why Saya was quite desperate to learn high level techniques. Her hand couldn’t keep still, though she chalked that up to her using her left hand rather than her right hand. Her eyes narrowed at which point of her skin she should stick the hooked needle in, but frankly she was still a little too inexperienced to do so. Of course, the young girl had read over the procedures of how to stitch an injury multiple times in her study but doing it in a practical setting had been nigh impossible to come by.

Saya blamed that entirely at the staff in the hospital. Most of them were civilians and as such they weren’t treated that well by the healers that simply made it to chunin and stopped trying to further their ninjutsu. She scoffed at the thought of them. Only her mother, in her opinion, had kept up with her training well enough to be sent out on full missions. The other medical ninja slacked off, only choosing to heal and heal and heal. It was boring!

More noticeably, while they utilized their chakra to close superficial wounds, they weren’t even ambitious enough to learn other medical techniques. At least, not ones that would benefit them in combat. Saya huffed throwing the needle to the ground and grumbling obscenities at the people running the hospital. She had stared at her wound longer than necessary and now the smaller trickle of blood down her arm had dried into thin crust of dark brown.

If she had had it her way, if she was ever appointed to run the hospital Saya was sure to beat into every personnel’s head that they weren’t to slack off. Shinobi or otherwise. She wasn’t going to have slackers in her hospital, the young girl thought viciously in her mind. That was if she was given the responsibility; Saya wasn’t too keen on remaining in a single building the entire day and looking after patients that moaned and groaned over a light scratch. Not to mention all the drama that some people created over the smallest of things. Like, transporting a patient to another room when they weren’t suppose to or someone losing a patient’s records. Better yet, someone was abusing their status as a hospital employee and had been sneaking out drugs for their personal use.

She had witnessed such events during her tenure at the hospital and it had been a complete and utter nightmare. No one wouldn’t stop talking about X drama and then someone would end up trying to confront someone else, bringing a whole lot of passive-aggressive interactions which resulted in Saya getting the short end of the stick. Immature idiots. More swearing left her mouth as she carefully uncapped the top of her canteen and poured water over her deep wounds. If she couldn’t stitch it up herself, the least she could do is clean it up and wrap it up tightly.

Jutsu: Mystical Palm Technique
Rank: A
Requirement: 4000 Words // 2000 words w/ a teacher

It was in the middle of a very bad word that jolted Saya from her raging thoughts. An extremely familiar blonde boy suddenly popped out of nowhere and invaded her space. Immediately his name flew to the forefront of her mind - Reizo Shoyu. If a passerby asked her how she could possibly remember someone that she had interacted with for a mere five minutes (or maybe even less than that), Saya wouldn’t dare answer. The memories of her genin exam was still fresh in her mind, a traumatizing moment of stupidity and ego.

He was asking her something, and Saya was a bit in a daze to answer him properly. ”B-Bleeding…? Oh, yeah… I’m, uh, fine… -ish.” And she hadn’t really expected the chunin to say anything else or to even continue this particular conversation. But only until Reizo reached forward for her arm did Saya really register the situation, causing her to inhale sharply when his hands glowed blue. A jutsu. She looked closer once his palm made contact with her arm. A medical technique! Saya couldn’t quite identify it but there were very few jutsus that could mend deep cuts and other major injuries.

Again, her one-tracked mind had the dark haired girl focusing on the strange sensation washing over her right limb. She had, of course, seen flesh being melded back together numerous times when her mother had first taught her the basic medical jutsu. Those were for super small cuts like a paper cut or other nonsensical wounds which only really needed a magic kiss and a bandaid to make it all better. It was a great stepping stone for starting medics like herself, however.

Saya was trying to figure out how Reizo was able to close so much disconnected flesh in mere seconds. She turned her arm over, looking amazed at how flawless the skin was. Almost unblemished. That was some technique, and he had healed so fast that all she could gather from it was the feeling it had given her - sturdy and strong like the mountain, tasted like a  mildly sweet rice drink, and smelt like sunshine after a rainy day. She wondered if it was because she had recently learned the chakra sensory skill or if it was because he had to insert his chakra into her own system to help accelerate the healing process.

His words broke her concentration again. She blinked, finally looking at him. This particular person seemed different, was different. Now, Saya didn’t really know the guy. Hadn’t even spoken to him more than a few sentences and this could possibly the most they duo had ever interacted with each other. Clearing her throat she tried to reply to his questions, though the Kirihara could feel the small pin pricks of a needle stabbing at her ego when he had asked her who she was.

”Not exactly, no,” a smile was forced on her lips. It was a training ground, though the trap had caught her off guard she sort of expected it to be there. If that made any sense. At the mention of the medical kit Saya nodded and began to quickly pack it up. ”It is. Uhm, you really don’t need to feel bad about it. I mean, I really should have been more careful.” It sort of embarrassed her that she still had to rely on such things when she was medical kunoichi.

She pushed off from the ground and stood up, her feet shuffling at his offer. ”I… That is.” Saya hated asking for help or even receiving it, especially when the person in front of her had forgotten who she was. Not taking advantage of learning a new technique, however, would be a super dumb move on her part. So, Saya swallowed her pride and trudged forward. ”That jutsu that you just did. What was it? Can you teach it to me?” Then, reluctantly, she added…

”I’m Saya. Saya Kirihara.”

WORD COUNT: 1166
TOTAL WORD COUNT: 619 + 1166 = 1785

Saya... the name sounded familiar, but Reizo couldn't quite place where he knew the name from. Maybe he recognized it from one of the EMT trainee rosters, but he couldn't be too sure. She seemed to be very interested in improving and learning new things, so Reizo obliged with her request to learn the Mystical Palm Technique. "Well, the Mystical Palm Technique is a high level medical jutsu that can be very tricky to learn. Essentially, it's a more powerful version of the basic medical ninjutsu they teach at the hospital to trainees. I'm sure you've already learned that, since you're pretty clearly a medical nin in training. The gist of it is that you want to refine your chakra and insert it into the wound, pushing your essence into the injury and projecting your chakra onto the patient. You have to be very precise with your chakra usage, or else you could injure the person further if you use too much chakra, or not completely heal the wound if you use too little," Reizo diligently explained. "I already showed it once, but I suppose it'd be easier if I showed it again," the Chuunin said, drawing a kunai from his weapons pouch.

The boy would then cut deeply into his palm, but not enough to cut any veins or arteries, or to sever any tendons or ligaments. He just wanted to draw blood and make it too deep for the C-rank Medical Ninjutsu to properly heal. Reizo winced in pain as he cut, and his blood suddenly felt like it was boiling inside him. A fierce anger that only happened because he had injured himself. Reizo knew the feeling all too well and briefly retreated into his mental space. Cat! What the hell are you doing? Weren't you just sleeping a moment ago? Can't you just let me teach Saya how to heal a wound without throwing a fit? Reizo interrogated. Matatabi was prancing around behind the iron bars of its cage. I'm the problem? You woke me up from my nap with your convoluted masochistic tendencies! Cutting yourself isn't going to impress the girl anyway, unless she's into some strange dominatrix shit, she cynically chided. Before Reizo could even refute the intent the cat projected onto him, the cat was already leaking its chakra out from behind the iron bars. Besides, I need to stretch my legs every now and again, so move over, it's MY TURN, Matatabi demanded, its red chakra mixed with blue fire engulfing Reizo's mental space. Reizo's mind was consumed, and although he tried to resist with his own chakra, he was nowhere near capable of competing with a tailed beast's chakra. Soon, the demon had taken over, and Reizo forfeited his body to the cat's powerful whim.

In the real world, the consequences were soon apparent. Reizo clutched his head with both hands, the cut on his hand matting his hair and caking half of his face with blood. Reizo stumbled backward away from Saya, and in a low grumble managed to whisper, "Saya, it's not safe here. Get away from me..." Reizo's pupils dilated first and then narrowed into vertical slits, his irises morphing from their usual blue into an amalgam of yellow and green, his left eye being more green while the right was more yellow. Red chakra began to seep through every pore of his body and a frightening aura took shape about him. It was apparent to anyone nearby that this was the work of a demon, and not Reizo's own chakra.

Shortly after the chakra cloak enveloped him, Reizo let out a final groan as the chakra ate away at his body. The chakra cloak began to shift forms and grow, taking the shape of the beast it was projected from. The chakra formed 2 horn-like ears atop Reizo's head, and his hands and feet began to look more and more like claws. First one tail appeared, but almost immediately after it was fully grown a second one was generated out from behind Reizo. Although it was clear that it was still Reizo, he had been corrupted by the tailed beast within. He was now officially in the 2nd tail state of the V1 cloak, and on the verge of going berserk, all because he had cut his hand to try to demonstrate a jutsu again. Reizo's mind was drifting further and further from reality as time passed, growing deaf to the world around him. Soon his sanity would be gone and the beast would take over his actions despite the blonde's resistance. Unless something happened soon, Reizo would start a rampage to attack anything in his path.

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780 + 964 words = 1744 words

Currently in V1 state
487 - 50 V1 activate - 10 2nd tail = 427 AP

New Stats:

Jutsu: Mystical Palm Technique
Rank: A
Requirement: 4000 Words // 2000 words w/ a teacher

Her gaze was intense as she waited for a reaction. She had given her name. Surely he would remember her. Two seconds. Three. Saya leaned forwards slightly, only a millimeter or two in anticipation that he would finally recognize her. Alas, nothing in his eyes revealed any recognition the moment he heard her name. Again, Saya was conflicted with Reizo not remembering her. On one hand she was glad that he wouldn’t associate her with the over the top theatrics of the genin exam, but at the same time the young girl had been hoping to be that one student that stood out from the rest of the batch.

Shaking away her chagrin Saya turned her attention to his detailed explanation of the jutsu he had just used. A stronger version of the basic medical jutsu. It rankled the young girl that she hadn’t been able to master such a technique when she was younger. However, it occurred to her that it was possibly because she had been too young. It made sense whenever her mother scolded her that she was only allowed to learn whatever was given to her to study. Now that she had grown and matured, Saya learned that having a stable chakra system and a fairly good reserve of energy was needed to even be able to perform more difficult jutsus.

The mystical palm technique was such a jutsu. To be able to mend deep lacerations that needed multiple stitches as well as repairing the possible nerves and blood vessels was definitely something that needed a lot of chakra and precision to heal. Continuing to listen to Reizo’s small lecture Saya raised her hands a little, glancing at them as she poured her chakra down to her palms. It wasn’t exactly the same one that the boy in front of her had used, but she was trying. The aura around her hands fluctuated, wobbling as if wondering what form to take in order to do its duties.

Saya tried to remember the hue of Reizo’s technique. The soft blue that engulfed his hand and the way that it had felt when it covered her wound. Recalling that image and his energy, Saya tried to fortify and mold her chakra into something akin to what she had seen. And after a second or two, with determination in her gaze, it had turned into a relatively similar shade as Reizo’s. All she had to do now was to try and heal something. Her companion, however, was already on the case as he easily brought out a kunai and made a rather deep cut on the palm of his hand.

It had been a swift slice on his flesh. The blood took a few seconds to make its way up, pushing the pink tissue to the side, and began to flood the surface. It pooled slightly in the middle of his hand before flowing over in a certain direction and dripping to the dirt and grass beneath them. Saya glanced at the blonde and nodded, reaching over to place her hand on top of his though something stopped her half-way. Raising her gaze from her hands she was a more than surprised when the chunin’s hands flew to grip his head as if he had just experienced a massive headache.

Saya instantly tensed, body shifting into a more mobile ready position. Her amethyst eyes narrowed and her lips tugged into a frown as she watched him stagger backwards and away from her. She pushed herself up and took a step towards him, but Reizo’s soft command had her pausing in midstep. There was something wrong. Very, very wrong. There was a certain shift in the atmosphere as the seconds passed. ”R-Reizo?” The genin girl called to him tentatively, unsure what of what she should or could be doing to help him overcome what it is that ailed him.

”What’s wrong? T-Tell me so I can help you.” Her offer could only fall on deaf ears, however. It seemed as if the poor boy was already losing his sanity.

She wasn’t going to just leave him. Even though every single cell in her body told her to run, to flee, to hightail it out of Dodge, Saya was going to stay and solve this. Her hands trembled, still alight with the soft energies of a healing jutsu, and she was having trouble breathing. In front of her eyes something sinister was emerging. The first thing she noticed were its eyes - yellow and green. A most ominous combination that usually denoted something dangerous and vindictive.

Then came the red chakra that suddenly began to coat the teenager. Its presence had Saya reeling from how foul it felt. Instead of the mountain breeze, the taste of a sweet rice drink, and the scent of sunshine after a rainy day that she had envisioned from Reizo’s energy, she felt the heat of irritation, the hot breath of crude words, and the odor of something burning. There, standing in front of her, was a beast. Its horns and claws making it look even more intimidating, not to mention the two tails that swayed behind him. A grotesque imagery of a cat.

Quickly, she told herself as her nails dug into her palms. Do something! Saya took a deep breath and closed the distance between them within a second and a half. She reached out with one hand, trying to grasp the hand she remembered to have been cut, while the other one was heading to grip his shoulder. ”Reizo!” Saya shouted, feeling the strain on her vocal chords. She wasn’t used to yelling. ”Are you there? Can you hear me?”

Her plan was simple. Too simple. As much as the genin loved learning techniques and the like, Saya also had a strong liking to fictional stories. One of them told of a story where a man faced a battle hardened lion, but had managed to win and win its affection because he plucked out a thorn from its paw, relieving its pain. So, if she applied the same situation to her own, all she had to do was heal the his hand and hopefully Reizo would return to normal.

”I’m going to heal your hand, okay?” Saya cautiously told him, unsure if she was even being heard. And so she tried to mend his wound.

WORD COUNT: 1069
TOTAL WORD COUNT: 1785 + 1069 = 3923

Reizo was gripped in a blind rage. The chakra cloak around him looked like it was boiling over, and parts of Reizo's flesh was being burn and torn up just from the intensity of the Niibi's chakra. Reizo himself took a very feral appearance: his hair was disheveled, his canines ever so slightly elongated, his nails resembled claws, and his eyes were wild and feline. He was losing his sanity and could barely see or recognize anything around him. The blonde was on the verge of losing consciousness altogether as the beast's chakra took over.

Deaf to the sounds around him, the Chuunin didn't make out any of the words Saya said. He felt something bump his arm, and instinctively in his berserk rage he lashed out at whatever it was. He immediately back handed Saya with a great deal of force (we'll say 120 speed/strength, RP it however you feel like, for our purposes it won't kill you). Reizo growled and began to get on all fours, the bjuu's animal instincts overriding Reizo's humanity. It seemed like almost nothing could break him out of his trance.

Inside his mental space, Reizo was wrapped in a sea of blue fire and red chakra, but strangely Reizo felt no heat. He felt rather... relaxed in fact. As though all the stress and exhaustion of holding back the bjuu constantly was gone, and he was rewarded with a soothing warmth and much needed sleep. It was bliss. He almost wanted to let Matatabi go completely just so he could go back to how he was before he had the demon sealed. It feels good, yeah? Just think how relieving it would be to release the seal. This bliss could be yours permanently if you just set me free, the Niibi purred. It was awfully tempting to Reizo, and his very will pulled him closer to the seal. It would be such a simple task to remove the seal on the iron gates.

As he was contemplating the unthinkable, a sharp voice crossed his mind briefly. Reizo recalled Komori's (presumed) warning about the consequences of the seal. Removing the seal was tantamount to suicide. How could he have been so beguiled? He had the wool pulled over his eyes with how nice everything felt, he forgot how to think logically. It was a rare moment, and Reizo regained his senses for an instant and willed himself away from the seal. This only angered Matatabi, who in turn upped the ante and increased the amount of chakra to further numb his senses. To an outside observer, it would appear as though Reizo were on the verge of achieving the next level: the V2 cloak. His chakra would darken to almost black around his body, and the red chakra became denser and almost solid, but with a lot of noise and interference throughout it disturbing its flow. Reizo would attempt to resist, but it was a losing battle; his chakra wasn't strong enough to compete, nor did he really have the will power. The bliss was fading fast too. Soon the chakra became smothering and oppressive, holding him down as he resisted. Almost all of Reizo's body in his mental space was being dragged downward into the sea of red chakra and blue fire. His face was all that remained buoyed above the waves. It was only a matter of time before he gave into the darkness and was completely consumed. Unless something changed fast, Reizo would be no more and Matatabi would takeover.

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427 - 10 AP V1 2 tails state = 417 AP

589 + 1744 =2333 words

She let out a pained scream. It was sharp and clean, slicing through the nearly empty battleground. The only sounds that accompanied her cry were the background chirps of animals fleeing the vicinity. Her body was suffering from multiple wounds, courtesy of Reizo’s nonchalant attack. Saya could hardly remember how she got into her current predicament. One moment she had managed to grab a hold of his shoulder and hand, only to quickly pull back from the sweltering heat of the chakra cloak.

And then it felt like the entire left side of her body was crushed, almost as if something huge knocked her around when in reality it was just Reizo’s grotesque arm swinging into her arm and upper body. Saya wasn’t even sure if she had been aware that her body was sailing a couple of meters away until her backside crashed through a training post, splitting it into large pieces. The pain hadn’t really registered until something sharp dug itself into her flesh, reaching and cutting through whatever stood in its way.

The poor girl let out stuttering sob as her body was suddenly colliding with the ground and the weapons from the previous trap were littered in it. Thankfully, the genin had only skidded a couple of feet in, avoiding further damages to her body. Her entire body ached and trying to catch her breath was arduous. Saya wanted to sink into the ground, disappear and avoid having to deal with that monstrosity. Alas, the young had a strong frame of mind (or at least she thought so).

With much difficulty she pushed herself into an upright position, grunting and crying out whenever she jarred her arm and the sides of her body. There was no denying that Saya was beyond terrified, but there was something in her that seemed to suppress her feelings, stopping her from panicking and simply running away. She tried to quickly reassess the situation, eyes zero-ing on Reizo’s darkened form. He was now on all fours, two tails flickering and twitching like a prowling cat.

"How in the world am I suppose to deal with that?"

WORD COUNT: 356
TOTAL WORD COUNT: 3923 + 356 = 4279

Reizo struggled against the intense waves of chakra produced by the demon cat. He wasn't making any progress, and was in fact beginning to lose total consciousness. The Chuunin was feeling more discouraged by the second as he slipped deeper and deeper into the crimson abyss, surrounded by blue fire and near total darkness. Just as he was about to lose all faith and control, he heard a pained shriek. It seemed to come from nowhere and then everywhere all at once, but it was distant. He could only barely hear it, as though he were wearing earmuffs underwater. Despite that, it felt desperate. Like a plea for help. Reizo had nearly forgotten where he was and who he was with up until that moment. Saya was in trouble, but unfortunately Reizo was tied up with his own issues. He had no way of helping her with whatever problems came her way; the demon cat's chakra was too much to handle.

It took a little while for the cogs to turn in Reizo's head, given his current state of mind, but eventually he connected Saya's scream with the fact that he was in a berserker's rage. He hadn't even noticed what was happening around him on the outside. Had it not been for the scream and Matatabi's occasional snicker as she took control of his body, Reizo probably wouldn't have realized the danger he had put her in. Now the Chuunin was angry. He was angry at the Cat for being so callous and bloodthirsty, and he was angry with himself for succumbing to it and giving her free reign. He wouldn't allow it to continue any longer. Still though, the chakra was far too potent for him to break through it naturally. As time continued to pass, he noticed he was being driven deeper into his mania making focusing on any single task increasingly difficult. He had to at least try to break out. His own strength was clearly not enough and he couldn't move at all so all of his Taijutsu was off of the table. Then a thought occurred to him. While he hadn't completely healed yet, Reizo had received a strength seal from Senshi not too long ago. Perhaps he could tap into that power within his mental space? Even if he could, would it even be strong enough to break through the incredible binding forces of Matatabi's chakra? Reizo supposed the only way to see the results would be to try.

Alright Senshi, let's see if this thing works...! Reizo thought to himself, hopeful in his comrade's fuuinjutsu capabilities. He felt a slight burn on his left shoulder as the seal activated and stretched his muscles. It wasn't completely healed yet, and so the transition wasn't totally natural. To Reizo's surprise, he could feel the chakra of the Cat giving way from his strength. It seemed Matatabi's chakra was only slightly stronger than Reizo's maximum base strength, but with the help of the seal, he was able to pull himself out of the crimson sea. He waded and struggled through the red chakra. It resisted his every movement, and every muscle had to be strained to its fullest to make progress. The blue fire became more intense as he approached the iron gate that contained the demon cat- far too hot to progress through. It was an impasse. Suddenly, however, rain appeared to pour as though it were a hurricane or tropical storm. Reizo recognized the chakra as Komori's. It must've been some type of built in defense system in the seal to prevent it from becoming undone. Weird, as Reizo didn't recall it ever being mentioned before. The fire died down, and Reizo made it to the gate. Forcing his chakra into the seal on the front of the gate, the seal gained power, locking away the chakra of the demon cat and returning control to Reizo. Matatabi almost instantly fell into a comatose state and began sleeping. Sorry Cat, but I want my body back, the Chuunin said, as though Matatabi could hear him.

In the real world, Reizo's dark and intense aura would begin to fade, his red chakra dissipating as he changed back into his normal self. He had some mildly burned and peeled flesh, but otherwise he looked relatively unharmed. He did feel exhausted however, and he almost passed out on the grass before he remembered Saya (again). Groggily standing on his feet, he looked around for the Genin, seeing all of the destroyed ground, training dummies, and trees around him from his brief rampage. Locating her was trivial thanks to his chakra sensory and he ran over to see if she was okay. "Saya, are you alright? I'm so sorry... I just, don't know how to control it yet. I hope I can make it up to you somehow, although I don't expect you to forgive me for this monstrosity," Reizo said to her, apologizing for the damage and trouble he caused. He weaved the hand signs for the Mystical Palm Technique and quickly mended her arm and any other injuries she suffered, still afraid of any long term or psychological damage he wouldn't be able to heal. "Maybe I'll teach you some Taijutsu to help? Oh and maybe how to open the Mind's Eye as well. It's a very useful high level technique that I'm sure you would find beneficial," Reizo suggested, praying that she would accept his restitution.

-----------------------------------
911 + 2333 = 3244 words
417 AP - 10 V1 2 tails - 40 Mystical Palm = 367 AP

Conflict was a very horrible thing to have as a ninja. Saya was finding that out the hard way as her gaze were locked onto Reizo’s form. It didn’t really do anything other than destroy its surroundings. The once fertile ground burned away, sucking out the moisture and leaving it cracked and dry. And the nearby training posts, apparently, had personally offended the thing as they too were aimlessly destroyed.
 
It didn’t seem to notice her as it continued its rampage. Saya knew that she had to at least get herself into some kind of shelter, and think of a way to return Reizo to his normal self. But who was she kidding? A mere genin couldn’t possibly take down whatever that cat thing was. She inhaled deeply and tried to inconspicuously crawl away while its back was turned to her. Luck wasn’t on her side, unfortunately, as everywhere she looked was an open area. To her left was the boundary of the forests, but that was several meters away and the girl was sure that she would be spotted. And her other option was the relatively large bed of water, which was equally as far.
 
She wanted to scream in frustration but pressed her lips tighter together lest the sound alerted the monster. Was her only option to sit still and hope that nothing happened? What a load of bull. As it turned out, however, Saya didn’t really have to do much. Not long after she voiced her question Reizo seemed to be able to come back on his own. The odious aura that surrounded him dissipated within seconds, leaving the chunin in a weakened state. It was obvious by the way he sort of staggered towards her.
 
Her body stiffened, clearly traumatized by his earlier actions. ”It?” Saya echoed; her voice monotone. What was this “it”? Would Reizo explain what had happened or was he someone prone to brushing things under the rug? ”And I’m… alright. Nothing major.” So she says as the few embedded weapons fell from her body and Reizo healed her once more. Little lies could only go so far, however. If he looked closer he would be able to see her gaze focusing elsewhere, refusing to connect with his own eyes, or the way she subtly shifted to turn her side away from him.
 
Nonetheless, Saya was a girl who covered herself in steel. She wanted to appear strong. Impenetrable and calm under dangerous situations. This whole monster didn’t bother one single bit. Nope. Not at all. And so the dark haired girl pulled the corner of her lips up into a weak smile. ”Really, I’m fine.” Little lies. Empty words. Saya knew that she had to deal with the repercussions later, but not now. While they weren’t close - mere strangers who had only met twice, she had to think of his wellbeing. Because that’s what medics did. ”You didn’t have control of it, right? It’s not your fault. There’s nothing to forgive.”
 
Unbeknownst to him Reizo would say the magic words to pull her in. Teaching her new techniques was a surefire way to get the girl to do anything. Greedy. Selfish. She was using his guilt to fuel her own needs. Wasn’t the girl suppose to alleviate his pain and blame?  ”I wouldn’t mind you teaching me everything you can.” An innocent laugh was released before it stopped. Her eyes blinked at his burnt and peeled skin. There was a level of shame in her system now. Saya wordlessly activated the jutsu she had just learned and began to sooth his skin. He probably could have done it himself but it was a chance to try out her new technique. Or an attempt to create a bridge of trust between them. Both worked.
 
”Can you tell me more of this ‘Mind’s Eye’?”

WORD COUNT: 646
TOTAL WORD COUNT: 4279 + 646 = 4925

Reizo paused for a moment to consider Saya's question about the demon trapped within him. Would it be a liability to the village to inform her of the bjuu? Reizo figured this was a judgement call he'd have to make on his own. He could tell from his Mind's Eye and from his experience as a shinobi that Saya was innocent enough, and surely she wasn't the type to go spreading classified information. It was still considered classified information among the higher ups at the moment that Reizo was a Jinchuriki, but then again, could he seriously look at Saya and not come forward with the truth? It was so apparent that something was different about him, especially after this whole episode. The blonde Chuunin struggled to explain exactly what "it" was without divulging classified information. He didn't want to put the village at risk by simply telling this girl whom he had just met ( ) one of the village's greatest secrets pertaining to their offensive and defensive weapons. The Jinchuriki figured he'd just have to bite his tongue on this one.

"As much as I would like to tell you what just happened here, Saya, I can't. I'm not at liberty to reveal the information to a Genin. However, I think I can say that I’m basically a human weapon at this point. It wasn’t always this way, only recently, so I’m trying to tame the power. That was the first time I’ve had a major episode like that, but I don’t think it’ll happen again. I think I figured out how to control it in just that brief exchange, thanks in part to your presence. Just being there helped me work it out logically and come to my senses, so you have my gratitude and apologies. Glad that you’re not injured too badly though, it could’ve been much worse. These wounds aren’t difficult to heal at all,” Reizo started to ramble as he healed, cutting himself off before he talked for too long.

The healing process was pretty simple and he didn’t even need to give it too much attention. He looked up to see Saya looking away from him and her wounds. He knew and expected that reaction, but it still hurt him on the inside. Was he just a monster now? They say you can’t take back first impressions, and Reizo felt like he might’ve just messed up his first impression with Saya. The boy frowned and looked away himself, a bit ashamed of what not just his actions, but his very being. Would this be how strangers viewed him from now on? He wasn’t sure he could handle all of this negativity. At the same time, however, the average person would have no way of knowing about the demon sealed within him, so maybe this would just be a one-time thing. He knew the truth though; it was likely this type of berserker rage would happen again in the future. He didn’t have full control over Cat, not yet anyway. The Chuunin did figure some things out, like that he could fight back against the chakra of the beast, but that wasn’t really doing anything to control the power. Since he discovered this mechanism of fighting back, would Matatabi try even harder the next time and be prepared so that he couldn’t fend her off so easily? He couldn’t be too sure. He’d have to tame her before the next time it happened. Reizo was confident that at the very least he could maintain that first cloak without a problem, but it was the second cloak that felt much more oppressive. He only barely managed to struggle out of the grip of that chakra, if it advanced any further he probably would be consumed by the hateful crimson chakra. He’d need to devise a plan in the future. To be honest with himself, Reizo expected to be treated differently once he offered himself to be the host for the bjuu. He knew it would be a rough road ahead of him and he thought he was prepared. Although his resolve was wavering, he still had some faith in his own strength and intelligence to figure some way to deal with the demon cat’s oppressive chakra.

That would all come in due time. For now, he would focus on tackling the task of teaching Saya how to open the Mind’s Eye of the Kagura. He pondered how he would introduce it for a moment and soon figured he would advertise it as a more advanced version of chakra sensory. To his surprise, Saya started to heal his wounds with the Mystical Palm technique. She had already picked it up so quickly. Part of him hoped that meant that she would have the talent to figure out how to open the Mind’s Eye, but he also kinda wanted to see her be challenged learning this next jutsu. Reizo settled down and sat next to her as he explained what the Mind’s Eye was and how to use it. ”I guess the best way to describe the Mind’s Eye of the Kagura is to start with the textbook definition before getting into its uses and special properties. Then I’ll teach you and you can figure out how you want to use it.

“To begin, the Mind’s Eye of the Kagura is an extremely powerful sensory ability that allows a practitioner to track an individual’s specific movements using chakra sensory alone. It has a longer effective range than basic chakra sensory, which only gives a vague idea of a direction of a chakra signature. For this reason, it’s classified as an A-rank level Medical Technique. It allows the user to differentiate various sources of chakra from surrounding chakra. In context, this gives it similar properties to the Hyuuga’s Byakugan; a person with this skill would be able to pinpoint someone who concealed himself using a chakra smokescreen like the Hidden Mist jutsu or underground. Think of its short range uses as a very advanced chakra sensory.

“That’s not all it does, however. Far from it actually. By mastering this jutsu, you’ll become hyper-sensitive to all fluctuations in chakra levels and chakra flow. This is important as it means you’ll now be able to tell when a person is lying simply based off of how their emotions change the ‘mood’, ‘texture’, and ‘timbre’ of their chakra. Additionally, it’ll also notify you when you or others are caught in a genjustu making it an essential support tool. It also will help you identify the weaknesses of an illusion should you be trapped in one, allowing you to more easily break free from it. That’s one of the main reasons I like it so much as a Taijutsu user. I tend to be vulnerable to genjutsu, so any help is appreciated.

“Lastly, it functions well at long range too. Any individual whose chakra you’ve memorized through this jutsu can be tracked within the same country. It gets exponentially harder to track multiple people simultaneously, so I wouldn’t attempt to track more than three people at a time. You’ll also have the faintest hint of their chakra signatures in your subconscious at all times at all ranges, meaning you’ll instantly recognize if one of your friends are in danger. I think that just about covered it all, hope I wasn’t too long winded…” Reizo explained, realizing how long he had talked for. He wasn’t even done yet- he still had to teach the damn jutsu. It was such a useful technique and he championed it for being the greatest supportive tool in his arsenal, beyond even Mystical Palm or his strongest Taijutsu. In fact, Reizo would possibly leverage the argument that it’s the only thing of value to him personally from his medical arsenal.

”Since you already know chakra sensory I’m sure, this shouldn’t be too difficult. You already have good experience with controlling your chakra, all this will require is a bit of practice and intense concentration. Once you’ve opened the Mind’s Eye once, everything will seem crystal clear and obvious. Think of it like using your chakra to expand the horizons and even the physical size of your brain. It’s not what really happens, but the imagery helps, I think. It doesn’t need any hand signs, just a great deal of patience, chakra control, and focus. I’m sure you can do it,” Reizo described the process of using the jutsu as specifically as he could. It wasn’t a jutsu that was teachable that easily, the Chuunin realized. It was one of those things that Saya would have to figure out mostly by feel on her own.

It was starting to get late. The sun was starting to set, and Reizo knew he’d be expected home soon. Even a full-fledged shinobi still had his own duties to fulfill around the house after all. He didn’t want to leave Saya just yet, so he tried to find an excuse to stick around. Cat was asleep, meaning he didn’t have anything to keep him company while he was watching Saya try to open the Mind’s Eye. The blonde had forgotten just how boring it could be doing nothing alone. He always had something to do nowadays, whether it was a mission, traveling for deployment, exams, training, helping his mom at the dumpling cart, or even just observing the demon cat’s behavior in its cage in his mental space. The boy actually considered summoning Fu just to keep him company. It had been quite a while since the two last talked. In fact it was almost like Cat had replaced him unintentionally. The void of loneliness had been seamlessly filled by the bjuu.

It had only been a few minutes, for Reizo it had been an eternity of nothingness, when something caught the blonde’s attention. Komori had left the country earlier today, and now it seemed Senshi’s chakra signature had left too. Just what exactly was going on? Was he not invited to some big event? He had thought it was just a mission or something along those lines so he hadn’t bothered to telepathically communicate with them, but Komori had been gone all day and now Senshi was leaving too. Maybe he should ask them, just out of curiosity? The Chuunin thought about it for a long while. Before he could reach a conclusion however, a foreign chakra signature entered Reizo’s sensory range for his Mind’s Eye. It seemed somewhat familiar and after a little recollecting he understood it to be one of the Genin messengers from the village. It was possible he was just coming for training, but this area was a peculiar choice to train for sure. It was pretty isolated from the other training sites, and this one was known to still have booby traps and other hazards lying around so it was widely avoided. The signature neared closer and closer still. Naturally, Reizo assumed it was a message for either him or Saya. When the Genin boy reached 15 meters away from the pair, Reizo gave a message of fair warning. ”I wouldn’t come much closer if I were you. There could still be traps hidden around here. You have a message yea? Let us hear it, there’s nobody else nearby,” Reizo assured. In accordance with Reizo’s caveat, the messenger stopped his advance and simply read out from a distance the message he was entrusted with.

”Aye, alright then Reizo-san. It’s not classified, so I suppose I can do that. Beginning message: ‘Kumogakure no sato,

I call you to rest. I call you to burn the dead and honor their lives. I call you to forget the enemies you have cast away, as they are resigned to oblivion. I simply call you to eat until you’re full, drink until you’re satisfied, and be merry until the sins of your flesh are satiated. Our ally Hoshigakure will be our banquet hall, their tables surely laden with luxury for its conquering brother. Our sister state deserves to relish in our victory.

Sunagakure is ours. The world crumbles beneath the boots of our soldiers. As I have I will continue. I will meet you in Hoshigakure to celebrate. My brothers, my sisters your company is well looked forward to.

Your lord,
The Makukage’
Lord Makukage then signs off. It seems to be a call to celebration for all the troops who participated in the war efforts,” the boy recited. That seemed to answer Reizo’s questions of where everybody was going. It seemed these messengers had been busy all day delivering the word of the Makukage to all the village shinobi, and since Reizo hadn’t been home they were sent all over to try to find him. He was in a pretty secluded spot after all. Although he wanted to linger in Kumo a bit longer, he couldn’t ignore an invitation from the Makukage himself. It would be a great disrespect to turn him down. The invitation didn’t specify anything about guests who could tag along. For Reizo, he took the liberty of deciding that he could bring along a Kumo friend for the trip. In his mind, he hoped inviting Saya would remedy some of what unfolded today. A light thud rung out as the messenger had tossed the rolled up invitation toward the pair, landing just beside Reizo’s foot. It didn’t seem the messenger cared to hear his response, which Reizo chalked up to being far too busy scouring the whole village for stray troops. Reizo felt the messenger’s chakra signature fade into the distance before turning to face Saya.

”I know you haven’t known me for all that long, but do you wanna go to Hoshigakure? I can escort you. I just feel awful about what I put you through today. I don’t know if it’s enough to make up for it all, I’m sure it isn’t. Could this at least be the start of forgiveness though?” Reizo implored, hoping Saya would accept his apology gift. It was the least he could do for all the trouble he caused. Assuming she agreed to go, Reizo would detail their travel plans to Haven Country.

”It’s settled then! We’ll head out as soon as possible. How about we meet by the gates in an hour and a half? That’ll give us enough time to eat, change into more suitable clothes for travel, and get packed and ready. And changing is pretty much a necessity given your rags. It’s all torn up now,” Reizo observed with a bit of snideness in his remarks. He only meant to tease. After saying it though, he realized it might’ve come across a little rude. Another reason for her to hate him. It just wasn’t his day. Pushing those thoughts away, Reizo helped Saya get up and gather her belongings and his own. He then carefully collected all of the training kunai, dulled for safety, and stored them in his pocket dimension. Maybe he would give them to Senshi in Hoshi, but then again they were forgotten about, so perhaps he’d use them for his own purposes later. It wasn’t like they were terribly expensive like the real things anyway.

With a simple wave, Reizo gestured a farewell to Saya for the moment as he headed back to his mom’s dumpling cart. Once there, Reizo would order and get a large platter of dumplings, noodles, and fried rice that he inhaled, burning his mouth pretty badly on the dumplings. He wouldn’t spend too much time on eating as there was still much to do in the remaining hour. The blonde relayed the invitation to his mother, who sighed, clearly resigned to the fact that she couldn’t keep her son at home for very long anymore. She told him to be safe, and he darted home to pack his clothes, weapons, and other essentials. By the time he was headed to the gate, he noticed a huge crowd of ninja gathering there as well. There must’ve been some unofficial time to congregate for the main forces. Scores of shinobi ranging from Genin to ANBU lined the ranks, all of them headed toward the village gates, just before 8 pm. Figuring everybody was headed toward the gates to make headway to Hoshi, Reizo joined the pack.

He had different clothing than usual this time. Since his jacket and usual clothing had been torched in his fight with Cat, Reizo took to wearing a simpler outfit that concealed his tattoos and Iron Seal. A simple black long sleeved shirt with the Kumo flak vest over it was all that he wore on his upper body, along with his headband protecting his forehead. His lower body consisted of a simple pair of military-style black pants with his weapons pouches adorning his hips, and black shinobi sandals. Now, he would just need to find Saya.

--------- EXIT TO GATES ---------

2815 + 3244 = 6059 words
Claims:
V1 Cloak Mastery 3000/3000 words
V2 Cloak ½ tails mastered 3000/3000 words
Tailed Beast Bomb (free with V2)
3750/3750 healed from seal placement (Precedent suggests that this WC can be used for training too)
Memorized Saya Kirihara's Chakra Signature; Memorized for Mind's Eye as well (2000/2000)