Chuunin Exams Round 2: Gin + Yuuma

Masashi's Stats at the start of this thread:

Orochi's Stats at the start of this thread:

Kakeru's Stats at the start of this thread:

The day had finally arrived; the start of the second round of the Chuunin exams. There was no prep work to be done, the rest of the team had sorted out the area that would be the testing grounds for the two Genin that he would be proctoring for. There was still a little time, so Masashi took his time getting ready. It could very well be a long and tiring day, so he did not want to start exerting himself until it was absolutely necessary. After getting dressed and eating a light breakfast, Masashi would make his way out of his home and over to the training grounds, where the second part of the exam was going to take place. He knew that all of the proctors had to use the training ground, so he would make sure to take an area that wouldn’t overlap with any of the other exams being held.

He found a decent area that would be away from just about anyone; The area was a one hundred meter square that had a little bit of everything in it. He wanted to see what they could do, and as such, they would need an environment to test themselves with. One corner of the square (roughly 15 meters of the north east corner) included the lake, there were several small groups of trees throughout the area, and a good chunk of the northwestern quarter was simply dense forest. The southern quarters were flatter, with rocks of varying sizes mixed in with the odd tree. At the center of the circle was a clearing, 20 meters wide. At its center Masashi placed a trio of stumps. One would be directly in the center of the clearing, and the other two would be about 10 feet south and 5 feet apart. Satisfied with the layout of their trial, Masashi would do 4 things prior to either of the two students arriving. The first thing he would do is collect some earth from the ground and infuse his chakra into it, making three batches of explosive clay which were then placed in the pouch he reserved specifically for explosive clay. The second thing he would do is prick his thumb with a kunai, make five hand seals (Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, and finally, Ram) and then placing his hand on the ground, creating the summoning array. In a puff of smoke, a serpent appeared. The serpent was fifteen meters long and 6 meters wide, with white and black stripes along the entire length of his body. Once the first summon was completed, the Uzumaki Jounin would bow respectfully to the Contract Guardian of the Serpents of the Shadowlands before repeating the process and a summoning a second serpent. This time, a blue and green serpent appeared, twelve meters long and twelve inches in diameter. Kakeru was his name, and Masashi nodded respectfully to him. The last thing he would do is sit down on the stump, cross his legs, and clasp his hands in front of him in the pose that the Five Serpent Lords taught him for collecting Nature Chakra out of his surroundings. Now all he had to do was wait for the two Genin to show up, and they could get started with the exam. They would have received a letter that morning with a time and the location being the training grounds. Someone at the entrance was aware of where Masashi had set up and would direct the Genin to him.

“Thank you for agreeing to assist me, Lord Sho, Kakeru.” Masashi would say to the pair, without opening his eyes as he did need to spend most of his time focusing on absorbing the Nature Chakra. “It is of no moment, my pupil.” Lord Orochi would say to the Uzumaki Jounin. The Serpent Lord was the first one of the race to encounter Masashi, back when he was a Genin simply looking to expand his knowledge, and he had taken an almost immediate liking to him. He had taken the young Uzumaki under his proverbial wing at the time and was only too happy to lend him his aid should he have a need for it. “I am curious, Masashi. Why is it that you have summoned me here?” Kakeru would jump in at this time as well, “yea, what’s the deal Masashi?” The Uzumaki Jounin’s composure cracked a little as he smiled. “I have been asked to be a proctor for part of the Chuunin Exams here in Hoshigakure. I will be testing a pair of Genin; one from Hoshi, Yuuma Fujiwara, and one from Kumogakure, Gin Akimichi. I have requested both of you to assist me, as I want them to have a challenging task.” He knew they would both help out; the pair of Serpents respected him, and most of the Serpents in general enjoyed a good challenge. “I understand,” was the response from Orochi. “Sounds like fun.” Was Kakeru’s reply. “Do you know what it is you’re going to have them do?” “I’m not too sure to be honest,” Masashi said. “The standard test is the bell test, but we were told that we could modify the test as needed so I may make some changes to it.” He had a couple ideas, but he would speak with the pair of Genin first before deciding how the exam would proceed.

WC: 900

AP used (1313):
-50 AP (Summoning Orochi, 6/10 Summon points used)
-30 AP (summoning Kakeru, 10/10 Summon points used)
-15 AP (Explosive Clay Creation x3)
1218 AP remaining

Gained:
3x Explosive Clay
3x Nature Energy Stacks (3/6, 2 from Meditative state, 1 from Natural Berserker)

The first of the two Genin had eventually showed up to the clearing, he could hear the footsteps as they got closer so he opened his eyes to see who it was that had arrived first. It would appear that it was the Genin from Hoshigakure, Yuuma Fujiwara. He’d never met the boy before, and the report he’d received only had his name and ID photo, which only really covered his facial features. That meant he was aware of the boy’s dark hair, blue eyes and pale skin. The boy approaching him also had a slim build and was a few inches shorter than he was. He was currently wearing some kind of robes and wraps around his forearms and hands. He was carrying a parcel wrapped in cloth which the Uzumaki Jounin looked at for a moment, almost raising an eyebrow, before returning his gaze to the Yuuma’s face.

The young Genin took a moment to greet him and his companions, which Masashi responded to by nodding in acknowledgment and putting a hand up. “Just so you’re aware, my full proper title is Doctor, and my last name is actually Uzumaki-Akari, but you may call me Masashi.” He would say this with a small smile, conveying that no offence was taken, and that no apology would be necessary. “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well.” He would then gesture to each of his summoned companions starting with the larger, white and black serpent. “This is Lord Orochi, Contract Guardian and one of the Five Serpent Lords of the Serpents of the Shadowlands.” Orochi would tilt his head down slightly in greeting. Masashi would then gesture to the other serpent. “And this is Kakeru.” “Nice to meetcha.” Came the other snake’s response.

Yuuma would then take a seat on one of the other two stumps and placed the bundle he carried on the ground beside him. The boy then commented on the reason for him being there, which Masashi replied with, “and I would expect nothing less from a Hoshi-nin. When Gin Akimichi, the other Genin, shows up, I will go over what today’s test will include. That way I don’t have to repeat myself multiple times.” He would say this with a chuckle at the end.
They waited roughly a half hour and still the other Genin had not showed up. The Uzumaki Jounin was about to send Kakeru to speak with the guides at the entrance when one of them showed up and bowed to Masashi. “It would appear that Gin won’t be participating in this round of the Chuunin exams.” Masashi raised an eyebrow, but nodded and dismissed the guide, who went back to the entrance of the training grounds. Masashi would then look back at Yuuma. “Well, it would appear that you are going to be doing this solo.” He would say to the boy seated across from him. “I guess that means we can get started with an explanation of the test. I will let you know that even though it’s just you, I will not make the test easier as a result. Missions may not always be what they describe, and you may end up in situations where you are at a disadvantage. It’s unfortunate but it’s something worth preparing for. That being said, I’ll just get right into it.” Masashi would pause briefly before continuing. “The standard test is called the bell test, where you would need to retrieve a bell from me in order to pass the test. Because there is more to being a Chuunin than just fighting skill, I would like to provide you with an alternative to a simple one on one fight to try to take one of these bells from me.”

The Uzumaki Jounin would then pull something out from inside his leather duster; It was a collapsible game board which opened to reveal a Shogi board. “Your other option is to play me in Shogi, best 2 out of three.” Masashi smiled at Yuuma. “If you win 2, you walk away with a bell. If you win all three, I’ll give you both so that you can give one to Gin should you wish.” He paused briefly before saying “naturally if you lose, you will not get a bell.” Masashi would then get up, pick up the other stump and place it between them, setting the board up between them. Once that was completed, Masashi would bend over and pick up more earth, converting it into explosive clay and placing it in his larger weapon pouch. “So, which route would you like to take?”

WC: 769
TWC: 1669

AP used (1218):
-50 AP (Summoning Orochi, 6/10 Summon points used)
-30 AP (summoning Kakeru, 10/10 Summon points used)
-15 AP (Explosive Clay Creation x3)
1123 AP remaining


3x Explosive Clay (6/6 collected this topic)
1x Nature Energy Stacks (4/6, 1 from Natural Berserker)

With introductions made, Yuuma had sat himself on the seat of the stump, listening intently as the proctor introduced himself properly and offered up an official title. A sigh would escape Yuuma as he mentally made a note of the more proper address and gave himself a small chiding as to failing to do his research properly. Though this man would scarcely be considered an “enemy”, it was always best to fully understand the opposition one was facing going into it. Yuuma couldn’t fault himself for being unaware of the accompaniment of the summons but felt as though he had already dropped the ball by failing to recognize the man properly. The expression that spoke of understanding was not lost on Yuuma, nor was the lack of necessity for an apology. This didn’t stop him from bringing his hands together in front of his face and offering a respectful bow of the head in both acknowledgments of the sentiment, and thankfulness that the proctor had chosen not to take the transgression personally; getting off on the wrong foot with the teacher was a great way to make life harder on himself after all. “An honor to meet you,” Yuuma would say, acknowledging the Snakes as they were introduced. The young medic didn’t exactly know much about the contractable race- or the summoned races as a whole, for that matter. Archimedes had briefly informed him about the Owls of the Oasis and their role within the world, but the lesson on what it meant to involve one’s self in a contract had somewhat escaped him for the time being. Nevertheless, he understood that they, too, had lives outside of their contractual obligations, and thus did the young shinobi also appreciate their participation.

Time ticked by. Minutes eventually turned into a half a bell passed before the guide would approach them from behind and inform them that his partner, Gin Akimichi, would not be joining them for this portion of the exam. The news made Yuuma’s eyebrows furrow some. “Is he alright? Has something befallen him? I certainly hope not. He seemed ready and eager when he had first arrived. Does that mean he won’t be eligible to enter into the third round? It sure seemed like a shame to make the trip all the way to Hoshi only to then take ill and be forced to miss an entire third of the examination.” Thoughts continued to bubble around in Yuuma’s head as he contemplated just what might have transpired. His attention was drawn back to the Doctor as Masashi began to explain how they would proceed. A small pang of worry entered into Yuuma’s core as he explained that an alteration to the difficulty was not being considered in the absence of his companion, and the reasoning made perfect sense; in his short time out in the world, Yuuma learned that things rarely go according to plan. The scar on his forehead was a testament to that. That same scar scrunched over his brow as he listened to the proposed change to their test: a game of Shoji. Turning himself, Yuuma would make himself clear of the space now being used by the stump as a makeshift table on which the test would be held.

With the board revealed, Yuuma would look back up to the Doctor as he explained his options. With a thoughtful noise, Yuuma would lift a hand to take his own chin between thumb and forefinger. “Certainly this was meant to be a test of my ability to work as a team in combat. But that is no longer an option. Is the offer itself a test? To see if I would opt for the less violent path in the face of overwhelming odds?” The thought was punctuated by his gaze lifting, flicking between the trio of bodies before him as he considered the option. “However...there is a possibility to win not just one but two bells if I find myself to be particularly clear of mind for three games of Shoji. The General’s Game, they call it. I feel as though it might be foolish to not accept the offer of going for both bells when the opportunity presented itself. There would be little chance of me being able to outwit a seasoned ninja on my own, but in a game of theoretical war...would I stand a chance?” The thoughts drew out the silence between them, the gears visibly turning in Yuuma’s head as he considered the options before him. He had desperately hoped that his companion would have been a driving force in his decision making knowing full well that, left to his own devices, Yuuma could draw out the need to make a decision until the sun went down. “I have to make a choice..” Yuuma concluded, dropping his hand to his lap.

“I see,” he began, his gaze lifting to meet Masashi’s once more. “It seems that, as you have put it, the situation has turned against me. But I cannot allow myself to become disheartened. While I am confident in my abilities, I fear that fighting you and your companions may provide...predictable results.” A smile would press over his face, hoping the insinuation had not become lost in his choice of wording. Standing up, Yuuma would perform a short series of hand seals that would be recognizable by the rather unique final seal, and two puffs of smoke would appear next to him briefly before dissipating. Two exact replicas of Yuuma would appear, bowing in respect to the Doctor as the original returned to his seat on the stump and began to roll up his sleeves. “We accept your challenge to a game of wits, Doctor Masashi. I hope we do not disappoint.” Yuuma would offer with a nod, his smile remaining calm but confident; if this was the manner in which he would be tested, he would approach it with the same seriousness he would have a combat trial. One never knows what sort of trials they might face amongst the world.


WC - 1,011
TWC - 1,744

Jutsu Used:

Shogi Board:

Shogi Piece Legend:

Game 1 It was played legit so any moves described are not godmods:

Masashi would clap his hands together and smile; “Excellent. I was hoping you’d say yes,” he would say to the Genin in front of him. “The reason for this is rather simple, in case you were wondering. As a Chuunin, you may be assigned to lead a squad of Genin. As such, should combat arise, you would be best served learning how to build a strategy on the fly. Shogi is an excellent way to train your mind in that direction.” As if to illustrate his point, Orochi would nod in agreement with the statement. “It is indeed,” the Serpent lord would say. “I have not played it myself, for obvious reasons, but I am familiar with the rules of the game, and how to play.” Kakeru looked at the board inquisitively. “I’ve heard of the game, but I know nothing of it,” the younger serpent admitted sheepishly. Masashi was a little surprised at that, since Kakeru enjoyed almost everything related to strategy. “I don’t mind going over the basic rules of the game,” Masashi said to Kakeru, “that way you’ll be able to follow along while the game is being played.” It would also benefit Yuuma if he wasn’t overly familiar with the game.

In order to save some time, Masashi would explain the pieces to Kakeru as he placed them on the board. “There are two sides, mine and Yuuma’s,” Masashi would explain as the younger serpent looked on, “each side has twenty pieces that are laid out across the first three rows of the board in front of you.” The Uzumaki Jounin would gesture to the three rows on both sides of the board to indicate properly. “You have nine pawns that will occupy the front-most row of your staging area,” he would say, placing the nine pawns down on the third row up from him. “Pawns can only move forward one square at a time and can only capture a piece directly in front of them. Once they reach the opposing player’s staging area, you can promote them to a Tokin.” He would demonstrate this by flipping over one of the Pawns, revealing the red side of the piece before flipping it back over to it’s original position. “Tokin’s have a different movement pattern than a Pawn, which I will explain later.” Masashi would then move on to the second row. “The second row has only two pieces: the Bishop, and the Rook.” He would illustrate this by placing the Bishop down one square in from the left side of the board, and the Rook one square in from the right side of the board. “The Bishop and the Rook are your most valuable pieces,” Masashi would explain, “the Bishop can move diagonally in any direction as many squares as it is unimpeded. The Rook behaves similarly, except instead of diagonally, it moves orthogonally. If The Bishop reaches the opposing player’s staging area, you can promote it to a Horse, which gives it the ability to move one square in any direction that isn’t diagonal and retains its original diagonal movement.” He would flip over the Bishop’s tile to show the promoted side before flipping it back to normal. Masashi would also do this with the Rook; “when the Rook reaches the opposing player’s staging area, it can be promoted to a Dragon, which retains its orthogonal movement but can move one square in any other direction as well.” “Oh how interesting!” Kakeru would exclaim excitedly. Masashi would chuckle at the serpent’s exuberance. “The last row has nine pieces placed in this order: a Lancer, a Knight, a Silver General, a Gold General, the King, another Gold General, another Silver General, another Knight, and finally another Lancer.” Masashi would place each of these pieces down as he calls them out. “The Lancer can only move forward, but can do so as many spaces as you want, provided there is nothing in front of it. If it reaches your opponent’s staging area, you can promote it to a Promoted Lancer.” Masashi would flip the piece over to reveal the red symbol on the other side. “Promoted Lancers move like Tokins, I’ll describe how they move shortly. The next piece, the Knight, has a very unusual way of moving around the battlefield. They can only move forward 2 squares and then one square to the left or the right.” Masashi would quickly demonstrate the movement pattern to show the uniqueness of the piece. “When it reaches the opposing player’s staging area, it can be promoted to a Promoted Knight, which then uses the same movement as the Tokin and Promoted Lancer. The next piece is the Silver General. It can move one square in any forward direction, as well as one square in either backwards diagonal direction. It cannot move immediately backwards or to the sides. When a Silver General reaches the opposing player’s staging area, you can promoted it to a Promoted Silver, which then gains the same movement as the Tokin, Promoted Knight, and Promoted Lancer.” Masashi would flip over the Knight and Silver General to reveal their promoted sides. “The last two pieces, the Gold General and the King, do not get the option of being promoted. The Gold General can move one square in any forward direction, as well as to the side and immediately backwards. It cannot move backwards on the diagonal. This movement pattern is also used by the Tokin, Promoted Lancer, Promoted Knight, and Promoted Silver. The King can move one square in any direction, with one caveat. You cannot move your king into a square that is threatened by an opposing player’s pieces. If your opponent moves a piece in such a way where that piece can take the King on their next turn, referred to as placing the King in Check, the King must be moved so that it is no longer in check. If you are unable to do so, that is called Checkmate and the game ends.” “Ah, I see,” Kakeru said, nodding his head. Masashi would make one last comment before starting the game; “One thing to be aware of as well, any pieces you take from your opponent, you can place on the field anywhere you want under your control. It provides you with an extra layer of strategy that one needs to be prepared for.” And with that, it was time to start the first match.

Masashi would start his game by building a defense, spending his first six turns creating what players would refer to as the Mino Castle Defense. The Uzumaki Jounin did this by moving his Rook From 2-8 to 7-8. He would then spend 3 turns moving his King from 5-9 to 4-8, then to 3-8, and finally to 2-8. He would then move a Silver General from 3-9 to 3-8, right beside his king to provide a barrier to the side. The last part of the maneuver is moving his left Gold General from 5-9 to 5-8. He expanded the defense slightly by moving a pair of Pawns, from 8-4 to 8-5 and from 4-7 to 4-6 to allow some escape routes for pieces so they are not entirely boxed in. Yuuma naturally took turns in between each of those moves; He would start the game by moving two pawns, one from 3-3 to 3-4 and another from 8-3 to 8-4. He would then start moving some of his back line pieces, his left Silver General from 3-2 to 4-2, his left knight from 2-1 to 3-3 and his left Gold General from 4-1 to 3-2. He would then advance his Pawns again, moving one from 8-4 to 8-5 and another one from 6-3 to 6-4. The last move he would make in that time period would be to move his right Silver General from 7-1 to 7-2 so that it was beside his Rook. So far as Masashi could tell, there wasn’t any rhyme or reason to his opponent’s moves. It was entirely possible there was something else in play that he couldn’t see, but only time would tell. “Have you played Shogi before, Yuuma?” he would ask the boy. It only made sense to get to know him better; they were both from Hoshigakure, and it was entirely possible that they would be sent out on missions together.

With Masashi’s defense set up, the Uzumaki Jounin would begin to make his own offensive; Masashi’s next three moves would be a slow advance with his left side Pawns. Moving one from 9-7 to 9-6, and then another one two squares, from 7-7 to 7-6 and then from 7-6 to 7-5. Yuuma’s next three turns would be moving his King from 5-1 to 4-1, moving one of his Pawns from 2-3 to 2-4 and his right Silver General from 7-2 to 6-3. “Interesting play so far.” Masashi would say to him as he would start moving his Bishop from 8-8 to 9-7 but would move it back to 8-8 when Yuuma’s next move was to advance his far right Pawn from 9-3 to 9-4. There was no point in trapping his Bishop there when there was nothing to attack. Yuuma would take the opportunity with Masashi retreating his Bishop to move his King from 4-1 to 3-1, placing him into a better defensive area. Masashi would nod approvingly. His next move would be moving his Bishop again, this time from 8-8 to 7-7, allowing more directions to move in as he could move it in all 4 directions. Yuuma would move his Rook from 8-2 to 7-2, lining it up as an opportunity to possibly take Masashi’s Bishop if the opportunity arose. Masashi would then move a Pawn from 8-7 to 8-6, providing Yuuma a possible target for him to take the pawn. The Bishop was in a position to capture the Pawn in return should Yuuma decide to take the bait. He did not and responded by moving a different Pawn from 7-3 to 7-4. Masashi knew immediately that his pawn would be taken but preferred to have a Pawn that he could place where he chose, so he gladly move his Pawn from 7-5 to 7-4, capturing the first piece of the game in the process. Yuuma immediately responded by moving his Silver General from 6-3 to 7-4, capturing Masashi’s Pawn in return. This did put Masashi in a bit of a bind because if Yuuma could move his Silver General out of the way, his Rook would have access to the Uzumaki Jounin’s Bishop, so Masashi’s next move would be to move his Bishop from 7-7 to 6-8, out of harm’s way. It appeared that Yuuma would be trying to set up an early attack on Masashi’s Defenses, when he moved his left Knight from 3-3 to 2-5. Masashi wasn’t particularly worried though, since he had set up his defenses fairly well, and was confident they could weather a storm that was a single Knight. He would move one of his left side Pawns from 8-6 to 8-5, capturing another of Yuuma’s Pawns, and immediately groaned when he noticed that he’d left his Left Lancer undefended, which Yuuma capitalised on by moving his Bishop from 2-2 all the way to 9-9, capturing the Lancer and promoting his Bishop to a Horse. “That was very well played Yuuma,” Masashi would say to him with a wry smile. “I wasn’t paying attention to that opening and you capitalised on it rather well.” Since the Horse could move sideways one square at a time, his Left Knight was now also in danger, so Masashi’s next step would be moving it out of harm’s way. The only way for him to do this would be by moving it from 8-9 to 9-7. Yuuma would try to apply extra pressure by placing his newly captured down on the board at 7-5, requiring Masashi to do something to protect his Rook. He would do so by placing one of his captured Pawns directly in front of the Lancer at 7-6, that way he could defend the Pawn with the Rook, and the Lancer would have to go through the Pawn first, which Masashi’s Rook could then take it without fear of being taken in return. It would seem that Yuuma knew this, and took the opportunity to move his Horse from 9-9 to 5-5 so that it was in a better position tactically. This match had gone from probing defenses to a fairly serious incursion and it could spell disaster for Masashi if he did not play his tiles right going forward.

WC: 2100
TWC: 3769

AP used (1123):
-50 AP (Summoning Orochi, 6/10 Summon points used)
-30 AP (summoning Kakeru, 10/10 Summon points used)
1043 AP remaining


1x Nature Energy Stacks (5/6, 1 from Natural Berserker)


((This post covers from turns 1-40 of 129))

Settling into his seat, Yuuma fiddled with the sleeves of his robes again as he observed the board. He had played a small amount of Shogi in the past and never found himself to be particularly skilled at it; the possibility of moves seemed almost endless in their combination, and as someone who often got a little too deep into their own head, Yuuma often found that taking too long to make a move would frustrate the person he was playing against. In truth, the prospect of hinging the rest of his progress in the exams on the success of a board game might have been foolish; losing two games out of three meant that he would not acquire a bell, and thus he would most likely not move along to the next round. Still, he could not allow himself to be deterred and nodded in response to the Uzumaki’s reasoning behind offering to have played the game instead of insisting on combat. It made perfect sense. As someone who was presumed to be moving up through the ranks of ninja, the duty of leadership would no doubt fall to him at some point. Perhaps even other aspiring Genin would be put under him at some point. In that same line of reasoning, each of these pieces could be seen as aspects of a team he might be leading, and each of their capabilities mimicking the tools now at his disposal in order to accomplish an objective. In this case, the objective was simply to capture this one piece: the king. The king had guards, naturally, as did his own. An interesting reflection of what could come to be a very realistic situation. His eyes cast down to the board as a hand lift to touch along his own chin in thought, gaze landing on the golden generals that sat on either side of the crown. “Damn,” he thought to himself. “If only Tsuna was here. He’d probably already have ten different ways we could win this easily. Guess I’ll have to rely on my own IQ for this one. It did place me near the top of the written exam. But that was not pitting me against a seasoned opponent.”

As the Jounin began to explain the pieces and function of the game to his serpentine companion, the two clones would scoot closer and lean down to begin having a quiet conversation about a game plan. “Do we have an opening strategy? I seem to recall a lot of emphasis being put on the first few moves of the game.” One clone would say, looking between its two sets of mirrored companions. “The early game is important to set up a strong avenue of movement, but we must be careful. Losing too many pieces early will give him an advantage in the later parts of the game.” The two clones would nod in unison as Yuuma continued to gently rub his thumb over his chin, feeling the shaven stubble beneath it as he considered their opinions. “We will have a better idea of how to play when we see what his opening strategy is. We will move a forward line a secure it so that we are prepared to take advantage of any gaps he leaves open in his defense.” The three of them would nod together, finding this to be a reasonable plan; Yuuma knew the fundamentals of the game and knew that different phases had different levels of importance, but he lacked knowledge of what exactly a victory condition looked like. Hopefully, the Uzumaki had a fallible strategy that allowed him an opening in his defenses. This would be his key to securing the first round.

With the explanation concluded, the match would begin. The first few moves were nothing unexpected; the seasoned shinobi began with a defensive formation, and true to the strategy they had come up with, Yuuma began pushing pieces forward in order to make some space for what would be the brunt of his attacking force to put itself into a better position. In the first series of moves, there was nothing particularly remarkable to note. Both of them had an idea that would take a few “days” to set up. It quickly became clear to Yuuma that his opponent was going to be taking his first few turns to set up a defensive situation around the objective while aligning all of his offensive modules on one end. Curious, given that he made no move to advance his line. “Very well,” thought Yuuma. “We will take the battle to him.”

Within the first minutes of the game, Masashi made an inquiry to Yuuma. The original would look up from his position as the clones continued to study the board, one or two moves made on their account. “I use to play Shogi with my sister, a long time ago.” The response would garner a distant gaze from the Chuunin hopeful, his eyes looking past Masashi and into the distance as he recalled something. The next few moves would be taken up by the clones, who continued to maintain a forward foot. “Feels like a lifetime ago, at this point,” he continued. “That was all before I came to the village. I’m not originally from Hoshi, after all.” Any strange looks he might get would be met with a smile as Yuuma clarified without too much delay thereafter. “I am from the Country of Haven, however. Some years ago at this point, my village was attacked and burned by bandits. We were small- smaller than even some of the lesser villages out there today. It was a farming village. We had little in the way of...well..anything.” Yuuma shook his head, sighing as he leaned back on the stump to sit up straight. “Anyway...most of us escaped thanks to a group of Hoshigakure Ninja that appeared, cutting off the bandit group and taking us to safety. This was where my sister and I became separated.”

A compliment was offered to the play of his clones, the one on his right nodding in acknowledgment and smiling warmly in return to the accomplishment of tugging at the proctor’s attention. The captured lance was placed on his side of the board as the two clones began looking over how best to make use of the new situation. “Thank you,” the clone would say. Yuuma sat with his back straight, looking down at the board as he recounted memories. It occurred to him that he hadn’t ever really gotten into it much with anyone, though he wasn’t about to dump his life story of the proctor. Still, perhaps some knowledge of what got him here might help. “That was actually part of the reason I wanted to become a shinobi. To repay Hoshigakure for the help that it had given me and my village. It was not an easy beginning- I was already much older than pretty much all of the academy students. I actually wasn’t totally sure I was cut out for the kind of work. Coming from a rural village, most of what I knew was farming and physical labor- I had no idea how to control my chakra or even where to begin the process of learning. There was so much I did not know, and still do not.” A small, amused huff of a laugh escaped Yuuma’s lips as he settled in, taking over the next few turns of the game as the clones took their own turn to think about what they were going to do.

Things were going smoothly, but the game was quickly beginning to shift in form. Even Yuuma could feel the pressure begin to fall onto his back foot as the game went on. It was difficult not to as his mind began to linger more and more on the thoughts of what had led him up to this point. “Then I met Valen...who at that time was the Hogokage.” Flashing across his features was the unmistakable in their regard. Regret. Sadness. A small sliver of anger. For the few words he had shared about the man, it seemed Valen had left quite the poor taste in his mouth. A taste that would begin to affect the moves of his pieces as even his clones would begin to fall silent, aware of the quickly compromising mental state of the creator.


WC - 1,400
TWC - 3,144

Shogi Board - Turn 40:

From the outset of the game, Yuuma was keen to share details of his life, which Masashi welcomed. It turned out that Yuuma was not originally from the Village. He was still from this country, simply from a smaller village somewhere else in the land. The tragedy that had befallen them was terrible indeed, losing one’s home to bandits. “I’m sorry to hear that,” the Uzumaki Jounin would say to his opponent. “Were you able to be reunited with your sister?” He then had another thought along that line of questioning. “If you don’t mind me asking of course, what happened with your parents? Were they safe as well after the bandit attack?” Yuuma hadn’t mentioned them at all so anything could have happened to them. Naturally Masashi was hoping for the best.

The topic from that point had shifted into why Yuuma had joined the village’s shinobi force in the first place; to thank them for helping him and his village. The fact that he was starting at an older age than most was nothing to be ashamed of. “I understand entirely. While I had learned at the academy at a common age for youth in the village, my family had shipped me off to medical school essentially immediately upon my graduating. I had no time to join a team, go on missions, I was learning physical anatomy and medical procedures so some of my shinobi training was put off to one side.” He would smile at the Genin across from him. “Life is a constant learning exercise. No one will know everything… and knowing that you still have much to learn is knowledge in itself. It will help prevent you from stagnating.” Not exactly the enlightened monk level of clarity and insight, but who knows, it may help him to feel better about himself.
The conversation turned slightly sour when Yuuma brought up a name Masashi was familiar with, Valen Akari. Not someone that the Uzumaki Jounin had met personally, but apparently had left a bad mark on several people. The memories that were associated with the name seemed to create a shifted focus in Yuuma, as his concentration wavered. “I never met him personally, so I don’t have any opinions of him outside of the information that I’ve been given about him, which is not much I’ll admit.” Masashi would say to the examinee.

The next series of moves held more action:
-Masashi would move one of his Pawns from 8-5 to 8-4, bringing him close to the point where he could promote it to a Tokin.
-Yuuma would then move one of his Silver Generals from 4-2 to 3-3, allowing it to cover a pair of his own Pawns.
-Masashi would move the previous Pawn again, from 8-4 to 8-3, promoting it to a Tokin, and threatening Yuuma’s Rook in the process.
-Yuuma could see the danger that his Rook was in, and moved it from 7-2 to 6-2. Masashi was a little surprised by this move; he’d fully expected Yuuma to react by moving the Silver General backwards to capture the Tokin, rather than simply moving the Rook out of the way. It simply meant that Masashi could do more with it than he’d expected.
-Masashi would capitalise on this by moving the Tokin backwards from 8-3 to 8-4, moving it into position where he could take Yuuma’s Silver General without interference from Yuuma’s Knight.
-Yuuma would then move his Bishop forward one square from 5-5 to 4-6, capturing one of Masashi’s Pawns, and probing his Mino Castle defense. Again, Masashi was a tad surprised as he was effectively trading his Silver General for a single Pawn. The opening he’d created was not particularly concerning at the moment.
-Masashi would respond to the loss of his Pawn by moving his Tokin from 8-4 to 7-4, capturing Yuuma’s Silver General, one of the better offensive pieces in his opinion. This also would cause the Tokin to threaten the recently placed Lancer that Yuuma had taken from him. Masashi would smile at Yuuma from across the board.
-Yuuma would respond to this threat by moving the Lancer forward from 7-5 to 7-6, capturing another of Masashi’s Pawns.
-Masashi would then move his Rook forward from 7-8 to 7-6, taking back the lancer he’d lost earlier, and threatening Yuuma’s Horse. The flow of the battle had definitely shifted in his direction at this point.
-Yuuma would respond by placing a new Pawn at 7-3, threatening Masashi’s Tokin. It was a clever play, and Masashi would have taken it had he not noticed that Yuuma’s Knight was protecting it.

“Nice try.” Masashi would say with a chuckle as his Serpent summons watched with interest. They weren’t saying anything primarily because they didn’t want to give anything away, nor distract Masashi while he was concentrating on the game. “Since we’re not participating in combat during this exam, why don’t you tell me about your skills and abilities. I’m always curious to know what my fellow shinobi are capable of should we end up going on a mission together.”

-In response to the placed Pawn, Masashi would move his Tokin backwards from 7-4 to 7-5.
-Yuuma would move his Horse out of harm’s way by shifting it from 4-6 to 4-5, which was a good call, since if it was still there on his next turn, Masashi would have captured it for himself.
-Masashi would instead move his Rook from 7-6 to 8-6, lining it up to take Yuuma’s Knight in a best case scenario, or at the very least get it promoted to a Dragon.
-Yuuma would counter part of this plan by moving his Gold General from 6-1 to 7-1, protecting the Knight from assault.
-Masashi would settle for simply moving his Rook from 8-6 to 8-3, promoting it to a Dragon. “Smart call there.” Masashi would say to Yuuma. “This was going to happen regardless, but at least now you’re not down a piece.” The Uzumaki Jounin would chuckle.
-Yuuma’s next move would be to move one of his pawns from 6-4 to 6-5, moving it closer to a point where he could promote a Pawn of his own.
-Masashi would keep the pawn in check by moving his Tokin back with it from 7-5 to 7-6. This would allow him to act should the pawn stay where it was, or if it moved down to threaten his own pawn in the same column.
-Yuuma would then place a Pawn at 8-2, in order to threaten Masashi’s Dragon.
-Masashi would shift his Dragon out of danger by moving it from 8-3 to 8-5. This would allow him to setup a potential layered attack.
-Yuuma clearly saw this and moved his remaining Silver General from 3-3 to 4-4, which gave an added level of protection to his Horse.

They were well into the midgame now; the game was getting into more thought out moves and counter moves. The smallest mistake could swing the game one way or the other. Masashi was watching Yuuma closely, seeing if he could make out any moves in advance and plan accordingly.
-Masashi’s next move would be to move his Tokin from 7-6 to 6-5, capturing another of Yuuma’s Pawns. It wasn’t a large victory, but it was a piece he could take without risking anything in return.
-Yuuma would then try to bait out a capture by placing one of his captured Pawns at 6-4, threatening Masashi’s Tokin.
-Rather than lose the Tokin to Yuuma’s Rook, Masashi moved his Tokin back one square from 6-5 to 6-6.
-Yuuma would then move his Knight from 8-1 to 9-3, trying to set up a capture of Masashi’s Dragon.
-Masashi had a couple options at this point with his Dragon; he could capture the pawn directly in front of the Knight, he could sacrifice himself to capture Yuuma’s Horse, or he could fall back to protect his Tokin further. He chose the latter option, moving his Dragon from 8-5 to 7-6.
-Yuuma would then move his recently placed Pawn from 6-4 to 6-5, threatening Masashi’s Tokin.
-Masashi would move his Tokin from 6-6 to 6-5, taking Yuuma’s Pawn.
-Yuuma would start a different line of attack, moving another Pawn from3-4 to 3-5, since he could clearly see that he wouldn’t be able to take that Tokin without losing something significant.
-Masashi would move his Tokin back from 6-5 to 6-6, getting it into a better position with which to start harassing Yuuma’s Horse.
-Yuuma would continue to press forward, moving the same Pawn from 3-5 to 3-6, ready to capture a Pawn and promote his own to a Tokin.
-Masashi would then move his Tokin from 6-6 to 5-6, challenging Yuuma’s Horse, and forcing him to choose between gaining a Tokin and losing his Horse, or by pulling his Horse to safety.
-Yuuma chose the latter, by moving his Horse from 4-5 to 3-5, directly behind his advancing Pawn.
-Masashi would press the attack by moving his Tokin sideways again, from 5-6 to 4-6. He was now not only threatening the Horse again, but he was threatening Yuuma’s Pawn, which would definitely not be ideal in the boy’s situation.
-Yuuma’s only real course of action in this instance would be to move his Horse from 3-5 to 3-4, saving his Horse, but sacrificing his Pawn in the process.
-Masashi would immediately move his Tokin from 4-6 to 3-6, capturing Yuuma’s Pawn and clearing any immediate threat to his defensive line. “You made the right call.” Masashi would say to Yuuma. “It wouldn’t have been a worthwhile trade for you if I’d taken your Horse, especially since you would have lost your Pawn in the end even after taking my Tokin.”
-Rather than be discouraged, Yuuma would try another avenue of attack, moving a Pawn from 5-3 to 5-4. It would take a rather concerted effort at this point though to break through Masashi’s defensive lines, especially since it would seem that most of the plays would be made on that side of the board now.
-With his defenses solidified and reinforced, Masashi would go on an offensive of his own, moving his Dragon from 7-6 to 7-3, capturing one of Yuuma’s Pawns and putting both Yuuma’s Rook and Gold General under threat.
-Yuuma would respond by moving his Rook back from 6-2 to 6-1. That was the best move possible for him at that time; it protected both of the pieces in question from attack. Masashi would need to set up something smart to deal with that problem.
-Masashi had come up with the optimal solution to the offensive; he would place down the Silver General he’d captured earlier. It would provide him the added pressure and would be able to take at least one of the pieces, possibly both, while allowing him to keep his Dragon. He’d placed the Silver general at 6-2, in front of the Rook, and almost immediately regretted it. He’d blundered, as it left the General vulnerable to both pieces, and in a way where they could still protect each other.
-Yuuma also saw this, and moved his Gold General from 7-1 to 6-2, capturing the Silver General and threatening his Dragon.

“Damn, that was a blunder on my part,” Masashi said ruefully. “That was well done to capitalise on my mistake.” He would definitely need to be more careful going forward with his own moves.

WC: 1905
TWC: 5674

AP used (1043):
-50 AP (Summoning Orochi, 6/10 Summon points used)
-30 AP (summoning Kakeru, 10/10 Summon points used)
963 AP remaining


1x Nature Energy Stacks (6/6, 1 from Natural Berserker)


((This post covers from turns 41-80 of 129))

Mid-Topic Claim (5600 WC):

56 AP
Learning Sage Art: Warrior of Asclepius (S-Rank Jutsu ticket)
2000 WC Towards Creation Rebirth (2000/2000, 50% discount ticket)
1500 WC Towards Hidden Mist (1500/1500)
2100 WC towards Dark River Breaking Seal (A-Rank, 2100/2750)

Approved

Yuuma had returned to his own mind, going back to doing more thinking of the words offered by the older shinobi while allowing the clones the puzzle out their moves amongst themselves. The games continued as they should, and once they concluded Yuuma would dismiss the clones and stand, offering a deep bow to the Uzumaki.

"Thank you for being my challenge, and sharing your wisdom with me. I look forward to the results."

With that, Yuuma would turn and take his leave after collecting the remainder of their lunches.

TWC- 3,234

Claims: (Discount applied)
3,234 to Investiture of Elements [3,234/3,750]

Memorized Signature:
Masashi Uzumaki