Where the Road Takes Us

While his partner shared in his sentiments about the tree boy that was all he did, waiting idly by to see if Ryal's attack would have any effect on their attacker. As the Shinkou had expected it didn't do anything and he was neither disappointed or impressed. Although her one handed seal weaving was cool and definitely something Ryal would add to his list of things to learn. Once she was done with that she announced that she would be attacking again and the second she put her hand to her lips Ryal could see the chakra build up. "Move." He told his partner, not sure what kind of jutsu was about to activate but it was clearly aimed at the two of them and not the boy. If he were smart he'd use this time to launch his own jutsu at the girl and he did. With the boy out of the way, Ryal spun to his right to hide behind a tree avoiding the blast of water. At the moment he didn't have any ideas of what to do as everything he was currently thinking of required him to get close to the girl and with her speed that very likely wouldn't be an option for him.

Quickly searching the ground around him the blue haired male picked up a large branch that still had a fair amount of leaves on it. It would be perfect for what he had in mind, making the ram seal Ryal would wait for the second when tree boy's clay doll came in contact with the kunoichi. That's when he would swing the branch in an attempt to trap her in an air pocket. If he is successful the girl with be lifted into the air and hundreds of nearly invisible blades will slash at her. If the doll doesn't manage to touch her then Ryal will extend one hand and shoot three chakra bolts at her weak spot(s), these weak spots will, of course, be spots on her body and not spots on her shield. The golden eyed god was also hoping that his partner made it out of the way in time, being that he was the slower of two. Ryal didn't want to be a man down especially because this kid likely wasn't going to try to work with him or them.

WC: 393
AP: -40 Meigan, -20 Kamaitachi or -35 Dark River Breaking Seal = 129 (109)(94)

The wind style ninjutsu that Ryal launched at the target hit directly, but before Taishi would be able to enjoy the successful strike he would notice that she simply didn’t seem phased by the attack at all. Taishi hadn’t been on the receiving end of such an attack, but he imagined it would have a little more impact than it seemed to. This girl was incredibly well protected by some sort of defense it seemed, or else her petite frame hid the fact that she was actually far more tough and durable than anyone here.
 
She seemed to be incredibly relaxed in all of this, which further unnerved the brute of a man. He expected her to be powerful, but just how strong was she? He could tell that she was fast and durable, but she had to have a weak point somewhere. She would quickly form the seals for a technique with only a single hand, something Taishi wasn’t familiar with at all. She was far more capable at controlling her chakra than he was too it seemed. Perhaps her physique and hand to hand skills were her weak point, though her speed alone made such an approach difficult to say the least.
 
As she brought her hand to her mouth Ryal would warn him of the impending attack. Taishi would quickly take heed and shift behind the tree beside him to use as cover. He would of course move an additional few meters in case water was able to penetrate through the tree (but he really hope it couldn’t). It was a pretty sturdy looking tree, and for a stream of water to cut through it would be some fairly impressive stuff. While moving between some high foliage he would channel his chakra to shift the earth beneath him, using his Hiding Like a Mole jutsu. He would sink into the earth (speed/power 25), while using the cover of the tree, the foliage (to hide his two side flanks) and the water attack to hopefully block line of sight to him and so that he could more easily sink beneath the ground. Still, he had out his knife in case it was needed and had his hands close to his weapon pouch.

WC:374
AP: 120-20 (HLAM) = 100 AP remaining

The blue haired male and the tendril user continued to thoroughly impress Alice. An instant before she launched her attack, the blue haired male noticed what she was trying to do and, not only got out of harm's way himself, but also warned his partner to do the same. At the same time, the tendril user managed to use Alice's attack on the two partners to make his own move, rolling to the base of the tree she was in and sent two strange earth creatures with bladed hands at her. Luckily, her jutsu had already ended which left her right hand free to weave more seals.

She knew those two clay dolls wouldn't be able to hurt her while her shield was up, but she wanted her opponents to think they had forced her into a corner. Quickly weighing her options as the clay dolls closed in, Alice decided on a plan which she had already begun setting the field up for. Using only her right hand, she quickly formed 4 seals and leaned back against the trunk of the tree so that she was parallel with it. She waited until the clay doll was less than an inch away from making a contact before making the final seal, and disappearing in a flash of crimson light.

Another flash of light, and Alice was standing just over a meter away from the blue haired male behind the tree he had used for cover. She took note that the other one that had hid behind the tree was no longer there, while her right hand formed a single seal. Her shadow began to expand outward quickly, forming a circle that extended 5 meters in every direction with Alice at the center. No doubt it would catch the blue haired male off guard enough that he wouldn't be able to react in time before being rendered immobile. "That's enough out of you, sweetie." Alice said, walking right up to her now immobilized prey an caressing the male's face with her right index finger in a seductively teasing manner. "One downnnnn, two more to gooooo♪" she said aloud, sing song. As she did so, she would hit the blue haired male hard in the head with the hilt of her sword, attempting to knock the poor guy out. She focused her chakra sensory outward to the immediate surrounding area, trying to locate the prey that vanished.

-50ap for vanish (185speed)
-30ap for imitation field (50 power and speed. Requires 51 strength to break free)
496ap remaining
all seals made at 100 speed
1 post left until the barrier disappears

In the event that it was not already crystal clear that the trio was being toyed with, the moment after quickly made evident the truth of the matter.

The boy's actions were rather ineffective, of course, being evaded with ease, but now their team was one man down and she was having a ball with it. Which was entirely acceptable, given that she had induced the situation and was obviously quite capable of handling it as well. But it had certainly left Roku in a tactically worthless position at a moment when that was all that mattered.

The lady was still clearly too quick for a puppet to inflict any damage. But that was the weapon at hand, and the best tool for the situation thrust upon him. A flick of his wrist sent the doll who currently occupied the branch above back at Roku's single foe. The other would follow, staying just far enough behind to play defense for its master. It bought time at the very least; it would be purely idiotic to think that the clay man would make it in time to inflict any harm, but with another to block for him and a moment to plan ahead, maybe some leeway could be made from the otherwise unfortunate circumstance. And the other man who had taken cover, he might derive some meaningful opportunity from the moment. If the doll diving from the tree were to reach her this time, it would simply stab her in the neck and torso where it intended to land. 

The observant eyes of a child watched the small battlefield intently from behind earthen army men.

WC: 283

Dammit! The blue haired male thought to himself when not only the clay dolls failed but also his chakra bursts. Not having 360 vision like the byakugan he couldn't see where she had relocated but he could hear her footsteps when she landed. And she did so extremely close. Peeking around the edge of the tree, just enough that he could see but wouldn't be seen, Ryal only saw two chakra systems. That meant that his partner had either gotten away or was dead, but he couldn't have left that fast, not unless he was hiding a teleportation jutsu like the girl used. Ryal preferred not to assume the latter; if he had that he wouldn't have had to fight unless he wanted to see how outmatched they were before deciding his true motive. While looking Ryal saw the girl form the rabbit hand seal, it wasn't much but he had just enough time to stick to the tree when a black... shadow?, What the hell?!, started moving rapidly towards him. Ryal, of course, dropped the branch he was previously holding and managed to do so at the exact time the shadow would've consumed him. Since the tree was thicker than he was and he didn't know if she was using a genjutsu, fuuinjutsu, or some other immobilizing jutsu he thought it better to continue moving up, silently, of course, gripping a kunai, ready for throwing or defending, in each hand while doing so.

The cocky little girl automatically assumed that her little trick had worked and walked confidently up to his previous position. Wait! Sweetie?! was Ryal reading into things or was this jailbait actually making a pass at him!? With the literal and figurative upper hand, Ryal released the blades (unless he needs to defend); the second they escaped his touch the fingers of one hand would pinch as if holding a dart, pressurizing the air to create an arrow. The 24 inch long, 21 inches wide, 1 inch pointed tip, and three wings that extend 2 inches past the arrow pathetic little thing would be thrown at sixty-five point five speed. It was on course to strike directly between her eyes while the kunai would be flying at her heart and lungs. Hopefully, this possible clash or distraction was enough time for his partner or the tree boy to come with a plan or plans of attack so that Ryal could recoup. They hadn't even been "fighting" that long yet he was already getting tired. If neither of them had a plan he sincerely hoped that they would try running rather than rushing in blind. It was very likely that he'd end up impaled but he'd feel like his death had meaning if it allowed his partner a head start at trying to live.

WC: 467
AP: -10 Meigan, -5 quiet footsteps, -1 surface/tree walking, -5 wind release: wind arrow = 73
Throw speed 65.5

Taishi was in the ground, probably a good 20 meters now, sliding through the earth as easily as a fish swims through the water. He could sense what was going on above him, keeping his presence hidden beneath the earth around them. It would seem as though the girl was now on the ground, near where Ryal was. Taishi was now beneath that location as she casually walked over to where she thought Ryal was. Taishi wasn’t sure how fast she was, and his movements weren’t the fastest thing around. No, he would have to bide his time and look for an opening. It would be too easy for her to focus her effort on Taishi if he popped out now.
 
The boy seemed to be launching an attack, the earthen puppet dashing along to try and attack her it would seem. Such could lead to an opening if he was lucky, though will she defend against the attack or will her toughness prove to be too much for the weapon to harm? Taishi would wait, his knife in hand and ready to launch an attack at any moment, hoping to see how she reacted to the efforts of the others to attack her.

WC:204

AP: 100 - 10 (or 20 pre-update) = 90 (80)

Well, that was intriguing. Not only was one of her targets missing, but the blue haired male had somehow managed to evade Alice's Imitation Field technique and take cover up the trunk of the tree. It hadn't taken long to find him, being he was only a good three meters up the tree by the time Alice got there. Luckily enough for her, shadows were pretty damn flexible and this particular jutsu moved along with her. That meant that part of it was now reaching five meters up the tree and again covering her prey. Of course if he somehow managed evade it a second time, then Alice would have to show them another one of her tricks. Hopefully it didn't come to that.

As for the puppets, well they weren't much cause for alarm either. Alice was standing in such a way that she could clearly see both the blue haired male in the tree, and the rock puppets coming her way which gave her plenty of time to react. Once they were within striking distance, but before the dolls could hit her, she simply swung her sword to slice them into harmless little pieces. If this were to happen uninterrupted, Alice would speak again. "Alright, alright. I think that's enough," she would say, smiling as she decided these three were worthy of being recruited by her. "I was never going to really kill or rob; I just wanted to see if you were capable, which you clearly are. Why don't the three of you join me? I can offer you protection and my help with any goals you three might have. All you have to do is agree to work under me. It's better than making an enemy of me. Well, what do you say?" No doubt the sudden turn of events would leave the three of them a bit confused, but she would wait for an answer nonetheless.

-15ap imitation field
481ap remaining
barrier is now gone

Welp, the die had been cast. Ryal's kunai and wind arrow were flying towards the girl and he was frozen against the tree. Sort of like that Inu-Hanyō, what was his name? Eh, it didn't matter the girl's shield was gone and she would absolutely need to dodge or deflect less she wanted the other D. Ryal couldn't tell if she was ending their "fight" because she could see that he was low on chakra and one of her targets "escaped". Or if it was because she could, as shown before, easily take out the tree boy and then hunt down Taishi. Either way, Ryal was glad to be regaining energy. Being paralyzed he didn't need to continue clinging to the tree, this girl's shadow was holding him in place. Though if that turned out not to be the case he'd make sure to land on his feet, especially when she did end the jutsu. For the time being Ryal would be looking at the ground around the tree boy and their attacker, from his body height and his longitude it would be hard to pinpoint where he was staring.

Yet he knew his partner was an earth user so he was searching for a chakra signature below ground which wouldn't be far off from where they all were placed. Letting the girl's words float in one ear and out the other Ryal was not given any positive mood by having yet another random child try to force him under their wing. Ryal had a tired looking in his eyes after hearing that and the tree boy would see that when he looked up at the golden eyed god while foolishly walking right up to Alice. It was foolish because he ignored the weapons Ryal had thrown at her and he'd likely get hit by one if not both, the arrow having disbursed upon contact due to its shitty health. Since they were aimed at the girl's heart and lungs unless she didn't mind pain, blood, and death she'd dodge or deflect. If she did the former he'd likely be within her shadow's grasp, however, there was always the option that she was serious and cancels the jutsu to show that. Nevertheless, the girl was fast enough for either and the blue haired male was prepared; he'd then watch as the boy pathetically asked for his money back and wait for his partner to resurface and give his answer. His journey was with the grey-ish man so if he wanted to join the girl so would Ryal but make no mistake he'd leave them all should things get weird or uncomfortable. Normal things that would cause any group to disband were included in those categories as well as personal things for the golden eyed god.

WC: 465
AP: -10 Meigan = 63

Taishi would take note of the girls positioning, and he would move to launch his attack. See, he was under the ground when she offered her deal and despite the fact that he would be fine with joining up, he didn’t realize that such a possibility was on the table. Taishi would move towards the surface as quickly as he could and once he was only a couple of meters down under the surface he would use this opportunity to try and launch an offensive.
 
 He would clap and place his hands on the earth above him. His Earthen Chakra would flow into the surrounding earth and it would start to raise in various spots around the girl. It wouldn’t raise very fast, nor would it raise very high. It was simply enough to cause some of the ground to be higher up that other areas, making for a very difficult terrain, especially if it wasn’t noticed.
 
Taishi would then attempt to grab Alice’s foot completely unaware of the Nara Clan ninjutsu surrounding the girl. Taishi’s hands would pierce out from the ground beneath her and then stop before he could wrap his hands around the girls ankles.

His face would be poking out of the ground, though he still hadn’t a clue what was going on. “What the hell is this? I can’t move my body.” The brute’s voice made it clear that he wasn’t amused. He liked to be in control of his own body, and right now he felt practically helpless.

Assuming that they filled Taishi in on what he had missed, the grey man would simply agree. There was strength in numbers, and this person seemed strong all by themselves. Just think of how much stronger these new members will make their little group. "Sounds like we are slowly becoming quite the gang, eh? I don't suppose you'd like to release this unpleasant little technique of yours, would you?"

wc:323