Futility, Utility

Pausing in his movement as Pinnochio suddenly retreated directly over his person, Koutaku spun on his heel to follow the puppet's airborne maneuver even as he noted the wires at his hands slacken. Idly, he raised both his hands level, but to either side, of his shoulders and caught all four shuriken in several twitching movements of his fingers. Casually, he tilted his head to the side and the kunai flew past his face and embedded itself in the ground before him, its wire drifting lazily in the air behind it.

Deftly, his gaze locked on Pinochio even as he noted Freyja hurtling towards the tree he too had been thrown into. It was a rough sell, but apparently it meant Saya was doing quite well, even multitasking as she was. Impressive really, then again she did appear far more experienced than he was. Honestly, he was grateful to have someone so skilled to train with, it kept him on his toes. Considering his options, Koutaku glanced at the kunai he’d been planning to deflect the wooden boy’s kick with and noted its blue glow.

It was then that an idea struck him and he smiled again. Taking a deep breath, Koutaku did something strange, he fastened one shuriken to each of his elbows with the wire already present, then cut new lengths of wire in several darting motions, wrapping five lengths of wire and tying them to the shuriken at his elbows. With that done he lowered his arms, letting the wires brush against his skin, where they became firmly fastened to the undersides of his arms and fingers at select points which glowed faintly blue with chakra.

Sticky ‘Paper’ Adhesive Technique.

Well, the wire was less than 20cm x 20cm, so it seemed this worked just fine, allowing him to try the maneuver. Still, he didn’t have very long to make his attempt. Taking a deep breath he calmed his mind, narrowed his eyes, took a step forwards with a smirk on his lips, before pushing off into what appeared a headlong dash at Pinocchio.

Moving at 20 speed, Koutaku readied two shuriken in each hand between his knuckles, held with a vice-like grip he kept his arms at the ready to either side, knuckles pointed forwards, palms inwards.

“Here goes nothing,” he muttered with that same smirk on his lips, his confidence and vigor renewed.

Spoiler:

Did.... Did this boy just tie weapons to his body? Now Pinochio had seen alot in his time. That wasn't true. He'd never actually seen anything. He was a puppet. STILL as the knowlege center for their trio, Pinochio had learned quite a bit about the ninja arts, and he had always had a deep interest in tai and Buki, but he'd never heard of someone trying weapons to their body with wire. Like that had to cut into his skin right? How long could he even keep proper blood flow if they were tied tightly enough to ensure they wouldn't move. It was rediculous. Still, he supposed he couldn't really talk. Saya's entire MO was being ridiculous, and while she'd learned to curb her propensity for antics while in combat, it would be a grievous lie to suggest that she was the most normal in the room. Team puppet watched as he pushed foward. Pinochio wasn't sure if he should react to the attacks or push an immediate counter attack. THen he remembered the golden rule: taijutsu go BRRRRRR

He wouldn't allow the boy to get in range while he stood idly. Closing his fists, he would match speed with the boy, stopping just out of arms reach. His back heel slid across the ground as he reached one arm out to his side to stabalize himself as he began to spin. Were he of a great taijutsu clan that had like, cool white eyes and generally an arrogant attitude, this would be a sure sign that there was immediate danger, but that clan thankfully doesn't exist..... Or does it? Either way he is, of course a puppet. Puppets do not get Kekki genkai. His body dropped in elevation as he brought his lead leg upward, the spin ending perfectly timed with the two entering melee range. His knee would whip around, attempting to catch the boy's wrist between the joints before it could reach his body.

The attack was two pronged. First he was intercepting whatever this attack seemed to be before it could connect with him, hoping he would have the momentum needed to shift the boy's momentum and throw him bodily once more, this time into a rock behind him. If that failed, however, the position of his back kick would leave his back and torso low enough that the taller boy would need to contort in order to actually be able to reach him. His face nearly skimmed the surface as one palm brushed against the faux earth below him to ensure stabalization, and potentially unlock the full strength of his particular fighting style.

meanwhile, Freyja had taken several moments trying to remove herself from the fake three she'd been thrown into. While most would have hit, grunted in pain, and then slid down the trunk, Freyja was unfortunately a puppet. She hung about two feet from the air, her shield sticking from the top of the tree. THe chain that kept it connected to her body had wrapped her up in such a way that she couldn't just let go or she might lose her arm.

(TWC 5629)

The genin understood he was outclassed even by what appeared to be Saya’s least potent puppet, yet he was also quickly coming to better understand his strengths. As Pinnochio wound up for a spinning strike with his knee--perhaps following up into a kick--Koutaku pushed down with his right, leading, foot, ducked low, knees bending, as he began what appeared to fall backwards and to his right. In the motion he flicked his wrist downwards and two shuriken embedded themselves in the ground just shy of his foot, driving deep. Holding tightly to the wire, Koutaku arrested his fall and pushed off in his new direction, even as he released the wires bound to his left arm just as Pinnochio’s knee began to pass.

With a sharp exhale, chakra blossomed into being around the five lengths of trailing wire as they intersected the space just ahead of Pinnochio. With the Sticky Paper Adhesive technique still active at intervals along the wire’s surface, coming into contact with them would cause them to adhere to Pinnochio’s leg. It was worse than that thought, for this time as the puppet’s sharp body would come into contact with the glistening wire they’d fail to cut them, after all, their durability was bolstered by Koutaku’s chakra flowing through them via Chakra Infusion (50 Health Wire + 10 durability).

If successful in his maneuver, Koutaku would slide to a stop, spinning on his heel after only a scant foot or three of movement so that he’d come to face Pinnochio before promptly throwing his other two shuriken even as he violently yanked the first two that were in the ground upwards and forwards, sending them hurtling at the puppet. This would make 4 projectiles hurtling at the wooden boy at 15 speed each, their wires infused with chakra. All the while, Koutaku’s grin remained.

Spoiler:

He moved backwards. That wasn't much of a surprise. He also seemed to swing the wires at pinochio again? Boy. these things were kinda becoming a pain. he considered asking Saya for some more effective tools, but honestly ninja tools just weren't that effective. He could end this at any point with the launcher though. that wouldn't seem very fair. He might kill the boy. He could already heard his students words ringing in his head: 'dead training partners aren't very useful for training now are they pinochio? You have to stop trying to just all out attack things that anger you.' Saya was often wrong, and any time he received this lecture he just assumed this to be the case. He was pretty dang sure that the answer to all of his problems was to just hit it harder, well--all his problems but Saya. He wouldn't subject her to that.

Watching the boy remove himself from the situation, he allowed the hand that skimmed the ground to plant fully. His weight shifted from his grounding foot to the palm of his hand as he inverted. The knee that pushed out towards his opponent pulled back inward, setting tightly against his chest as he pushed off. The wires slid against his puppety wooden skin, and for a moment he thought he could feel them attaching themselves. Then he realized he was a puppet. They don't feel things. Either way his strength was more than enough that has he lifted off the connections Kou had made with his sticky paper adhesive jutsu simply released. It was a D rank jutsu. keen eyes watched the attack come in. Two shuriken aimed for his body. That was fine. The other two ripped from the ground, but without a force to actually successfully throw them at pinochio they'd just kind of come up and then down? He would need to work on a technique to give things embedded in the ground forward momentum when not behind him, or just use a pulling motion to give things backward momentum instead.

He spun in the air. It wasn't needed, but it was dramatic and makes for good story. Listen. Hand to hand combat can be a bit monotomous when you get the opportunity to write about ninja magic all day, so sue me if I take some creative liberty with our dear protagonists weakest puppet. With the weapons in air, he'd place one foot down against the nothingness beneath him about two feet up, and shift his momentum. Going to the left at a speed of thirty, he would pretty easily be able to get out of the way before any weapons were able to get within range. The angle of his movement allowed him to continue pushing the attack, though he didn't exactly have much to do. He was in that awkward center point where without actual taijutsu techniques, he would find himself unable to do anything until he closed the distance, and throwing the one weapon he'd taken the time to remove from the weapon launcher in his chest seemed like a silly idea.

(TWC 6149)

One after another his ploys and attacks failed to strike home and so it was that by increments his grin faded. Frowning, frustration evident in the crease of his brow, Koutaku spat on the ground and pulled his various weapons and tools back. As he did so he deactivated the Adhesive Technique, deciding not to waste any further chakra on it. Calmly, his eyes locked on Pinnochio as he deftly maneuvered midair, the genin again considered his options.

He really didn’t have any. Aside from somehow managing to slap an explosive tag on Pinnochio--which was liable to be terrible for everyone involved--he really couldn’t do much of anything it seemed. Gritting his teeth, Koutaku spiraled his arms once as his weapons returned to him, rewinding the wire about them before snatching the shuriken from the air, two in each hand. Biting the inside of his cheek, Koutaku for a moment seriously considered engaging the puppet at close range. He hated the idea, despised it really, as it meant he’d give up any defensive advantage he may have held in exchange for what? Pain?

Was it even worth it, he wondered. Worth the bruises, the beating he’d surely receive at the potentially deadly hands of Pinnochio, a 3 foot tall chakra-controlled automaton of sorts. It really wasn’t. Yet, he abhorred the idea of giving up, of quitting, of admitting defeat when he had more in him even knowing it was almost certainly futile.

That said, he had once last thing he could try. Performing the necessary handseals, Koutaku then burst forwards at 30 speed, effectively assisting the wooden boy in closing the gap between them. However, as he did so, he released a flurry of shuriken at 15 speed, all of which were on trajectories to miss Pinnochio completely, flying beneath him by scant inches each positioned differently in the air. Then with no more than 4 feet between them, Koutaku entered a slide, and 4 clones burst from his person, their movements having been synced with his own. He let go of the four shuriken in his hands and snatched four kunai--one per hand--from his pouch. The four-pronged blades trailed behind his hands roughly a foot, still bound to him by wires as he palmed two kunai even as he affixed wire to the other two then promptly threw them violently downwards into the ground, unwinding wire as he continued forth.

As the clones split off in 4 directions away from him, Koutaku didn’t even bother to attempt to obscure which one was real, it was obvious from the start after all. No, instead two of the clones moved a distance of 2 feet then promptly exploded into huge clouds of smoke to either side of him. The third clone jumped into the air, positioning itself not between Koutaku and Pinnochio, but between Saya’s line of sight and Koutaku, or at least where that line of sight would be if the genin had been airborne. Then, it promptly exploded into a smoke screen of its own. Finally, the last clone dashed at speed--faster than would’ve been possible for Koutaku himself--and exploded as well, its smoke expanding in all directions. It was positioned almost directly below Pinnochio as he dashed through the air--likely down towards Koutaku.

This maneuver, quite frankly, blocked Saya’s vision of Koutaku--and to a degree--her puppet almost completely unless she were to jeopardize her own fight and change locations to deal with him. With all this done in swift order, Koutaku vanished in a blur of speed, not moving upwards, but directly forwards and under Pinnochio’s location at 50 speed, getting a foot behind him and below him--the smoke not yet having parted--before erupting into the air behind the smokescreen his jumping clone had created therein. All-in-all, Koutaku moved about 2 meters with his body flicker during which--while on the ground--he zigzagged to further dissuade thrown projectiles or otherwise attacks. This done--with barely a foot between them and Pinnochio’s back to him--Koutaku whipped his four wirebound shuriken at the puppet and then promptly raised his arms, pulling his kunai far ahead and below, upwards from the ground where they would impact the 15 speed shuriken as they arrived at the genin’s former position. The force was such that several of the shuriken--along with the two kunai themselves--were launched upwards into the air, impeding any forward progress Pinnochio might make with several projectiles as Koutaku tugged once more on the wires attached to said kunai. This final pull--and the subsequent reeling in of the kunai--caused them to hurtling at Pinnochio’s face due to the angle between their position and Koutaku’s.

The Iouchiryo had firmly decided that this time… this time it was all or nothing.

Spoiler:

The moment the first clone exploded into smoke Saya let out a soft sigh. That wasn't very fair. While she had a sensory range long enough to still be able to feel him from the ten meter distance their fights had been separated, She could feel her body struggle to use chakra as she focused on the world around her. It would seem the range of use became shorter if she wanted to actually DO anything while using it. That was a headache. With her own fight effectively finished, Freyja struggling to get herself unstuck from the tree, she had her full focus to put into the fight with pinochio. The vines coming from her ankles sprang into action before the smoke could even consider clearing. SHe'd cross the distance needed at a speed of one hundred and ten, Her chakra constructs pushing her body to within the five meter mark as the last clone exploded. Then she felt the boy's speed shift drastically. He hadn't accounted for Saya's own speed when calculating his movement. He'd chosen to put his clones into place at a much slower speed, and somehow used a smoke bomb style something or the other that wasn't designated anywhere in the post or otherwise, but his choice to wait until after the clones had positioned would be his downfall.

Of course it made sense. He couldn't telegraph his movements. He needed the lack of visuals. To kou it would simply look like she rushed towards him and then stood there, but he coudln't know she had charka sensory capability. As he body flickered, She shifted her arms, and Pinochio's grin widened--or it would widen if it were able. Unfortunately his mouth was drawn on and his jaw was simply a single piece of wood that could only move up and down. She would need to fix that one of these days. His zig zag would have helped. Setting up the weapon throws would have helped. Except that Pinochio had moved to his right to get out of the attack before they ever lost sight. At his speed of thirty, It was easy to shift out of range, and as the body flicker activated he'd be sinking down at the same fifty speed, and plant his heel unsharp point out, into Kou's chest sending him flying back to the tree. The second set of weapons would never fly.

"Now. somehow setting a smoke screen wasn't the worst plan, though it is a bit cheap in a sparring match, but I've told you about the weaknesses of body flicker, and taken advantage of them three times. If there's one thing you really need to remember, its this. That jutsu WILL get you killed. Trust in your heart and your hands if you have nothing else, but do not rely on that which seems to give power at a steep cost. When your strength lies in chance, you will fall more easily then if your strength lies in skill. " With that Pinochio would give a shrug. The smoke would easily be clearing as the pair watched their student to ensure they hadn't accidentally killed him or something. That probably wasn't the case.

(TWC 6682)

Midair, a rush of movement, a shift in stance, a blur of motion through the air, a sense of familiarity, and then the sharp impact of genin against tree were the realities of Koutaku’s experience. Dazed as he fell from where he’d struck, hitting the ground in a manner most uncomfortable, Koutaku curled up from the pain of the bruises as Saya began to lecture him.

Lecture him.

She couldn’t have been that much older, if she even was any older. It wasn’t even that she was a girl, he’d taken sound beatings and lessons from his mother and his elder sister. It was that they were of an age with each other and he was this far behind somehow. Breathing hard--from pain and aggravation both, Koutaku kept his face down, hidden from view so that he couldn’t embarrass himself further. He felt a few tears leak from his eyes, and made an effort to stop without sniffling or shaking in the least. Fists clenching he dug his short nails at an angle into his palms before striking the ground once. Bringing his hands together beneath him he performed the hand seals for the Transformation technique, allowing him to appear as his normal self, but without the tears--though the dirt and bruises remained.

Taking a deep breath he pushed from the ground and onto one knee, then up to his feet before quickly bowing at the waist. “Thank you,” he said in an attempt to show gratitude and appear to accept his utter defeat and failure graciously. Only his gritted teeth--and the transformation technique--allowed him to appear as if he was not as shaken as he truly was.

The reality was that he wanted to growl and throw a kunai at her face. He felt cheated, cheated that she had interposed herself directly in a fight that had been meant to be between him and her puppet alone. Cheated that she’d somehow countered his technique despite being unable to directly see him.

A small part of his mind whispered about sensory techniques, but he ignored it. Too angry and ashamed--both of his conduct, his state, and his failures, even at the shame itself--to bother with such petty possibilities.

“I appreciate that you took the time to spar with me. The lessons I’m learned here were valuable and I will take them with me as I improve.” Using the slight advantage he had from the technique, he rose from his bowed position and wiped what appeared to be some dirt and grime from his eyes and face when in reality he was banishing the unseen tears. That done--his ducts dried--he let the technique fall, the only sign of difference would be an almost impossible to notice redness in his eyes. It could have easily been from the dirt after all.

He gave her a smile--but it was weak--and spoke once more, “Well, next time maybe I’ll be able to give you a challenge.” He met her eyes, then Pinnochio’s empty wooden gaze--doing so purely out of social nicety, rather than any proper respect. He was too angry to give the small puppet anything else.

“Anyways...I’ve got some other business to attend to. I’ll...I’ll see you around,” and with that he turned and began to walk away, hoping that she didn’t try to stop him. He needed space but was desperately trying to appear as if he was well and truly fine.

Spoiler:

FInally the Freyja puppet found a foot hold on the slick faux wood. Pushing off with her feet she'd gain enough leverage to swing herself over, her body going nearly vertical as she forced herself out of this awkward position. The sharpened edge of the shield gave way, turing with her motion, and the blade slid out. She would have enough air time to somersault twice before she finally landed on her feet, one fist against the ground in a super hero landing. Being very honest, it was kinda cool. As she rose, She gave Saya a nod. It would seem they had reached the end of her potential being trained by these particular puppets. She would need to figure the rest of this out on her own. It was bittersweet. Granted, her sister would always be there to push her, and her abilities with ninjutsu could give chase to Saya's rising power, but with her limitations, It was unlikely that Saya would be ousted as the top of team puppet without some serious intervention. That gave her a thought...

Her internal monologue on rising to power was interupted when she heard another loud crash. Just as Freyja removed herself from the tree, it would seem Kou found himself embedded in it again. Ok, maybe embedded was a bit strong of a word, but as a humble narrator describing the detailed minutia of a heroine's life, one must take a few liberties. Her focus would shift away form her sensory. He was out of the range at this point, so it wouldn't do her much good. Instead, she'd glance at the crumpled mess of a genin that pinochio had once again put down. Were she particularly empathetic, she would notice the clear signs of distress on his face, and wonder if pinochio hadn't gone a bit too far. She was not. In fact, she was generally pretty clueless about anything and everything that wasn't blatantly obvious, asside form things she was directly keyed into. Ai noticed the subtleties, and her smile turned downward. She would need to have a talk with pinochio later.

"It was no issue. It was nice to be able to stretch my limbs and test my muscles again. " Each of team puppet would give a soft nod as Pinochio gave a suprisingly neutral response compared to the fire that had coursed through his form only moments before. With this, they would head out themselves, off to find lunch and figure out where to go from here.

(TWC 7102 putting 2274 towards great grasping vines previous training 2k towards nature chakra proficiency and 2828 towards pure sage mode (2828/4000) exit and topic closed after Kou's exit)

Approved for Saya

Passing beyond the boundary of the room and returning the items he’d borrowed from the facility’s stores, Koutaku made his way elsewhere. He hadn’t decided where he’d go, he just knew he wouldn’t be going home just yet. Out of sight of his adversary, he bit his lip, suppressing the intense surge of emotions that attempted to drive him to tears once again.

’I’m not weak. I didn’t fail, it was just training!’ He insisted internally, attempting to fight back the tide. Muscling on, Koutaku gradually found himself increasing his pace, going from a determined walk, to a half run, until he was all out sprinting through the crowd. As his frustration grew he found he could no more handle the obstacles that the crowd provided than he could handle Saya. Wincing at the thought he jumped, hurtling through the air before he landed on the lip of a balcony and pushed off once more, landing in a roll on a roof at the other side of the street. Springing upwards, tears building in his eyes--and anger roaring into begin behind his eyes--the genin ran full tilt, hopping between rooftops with reckless abandon.

He’d lost to a damned puppet!

Further, he’d lost in part because his adversary hadn’t kept her word and while this itched at him it was his own inadequacy that he was truly trying to avoid. Soon, moving thoughtless despite his speed, Koutaku found himself performing Surface Walking to adroitly scale the cliff-face that typically obscured his sanctuary. Thrice he almost slipped despite the technique--rocks and the like sloughing off into the void of air below him--before he successfully made his way up to his hideout.

What a childish name for it that was. Finally alone, Koutaku’s fury and shame rose up in him like bile and found release as he let out a scream.

“Fuck!”

Quickly the energy, the adrenaline of the run, and the roiling waves of his emotions left him spent and he dropped down to his knees on the hard stone. Clutching at his own hair, Koutaku tried to find any shred of success, any lesson beyond his own foolish reliance on Body Flicker, to take away from the exchange.

He found only one.

He’d unwittingly used chakra infusion on himself.

“How did I…?”

The words slipped out without thought and he frowned, then scowled as he noticed the wet streaks of tears rolling down his face. Growling, Koutaku wiped the tears from his cheeks with a sleeve and walked over to his usual seat, an outcropping of rock that was almost like a bench, and plopped down there instead. Leaning back against the cold stone of the wall, Koutaku ran the entire spar over in his head repeatedly, poring over every detail with grit teeth and a look of profound frustration creasing his brow.

Minutes passed as he pulled every morsel of information from his ‘training’ with Saya, if you could even call it that. He’d learned some useful things, not least of which that foolishly using Body Flicker could--and would--get him killed. However, beyond this he had learned more about Puppetry even than Niko had told him.

Seeing Pinnochio maneuver midair like he had Koutaku couldn’t help but wonder if he could mimic such a technique. Every one of the puppet’s actions had been as if calculated, and yet he knew that the wooden boy had been holding back. Closing his eyes, Koutaku let each lesson inscribe itself deep in his mind and then...then he began to plan.

Memories of techniques he’d seen his Uncle use, jutsu that his grandfather had floored him with, things his mother had alluded to or that his father had told him stories about. Techniques he’d read about, skills he knew he could learn. Soon hours had passed as he say there in deep thought and finally his body spoke up, his stomach protesting loudly that he’d yet to eat any sort of lunch. Opening his eyes with a long sigh, he found that he felt better.

More put together, more prepared. He had a plan now, and there were any number of paths that he could follow to see it through. Smiling honestly for the first time since his fight with Saya, Koutaku rose from his seat and began to make his way down from what he’d always figured was an abandoned lookout. It was time to go home and see what his mother was cooking.

Spoiler: