A toughtfull moment

As the blind kid approached, he explained how his handseal wasnt something offensive, but rather a way for him to channel his chakra around him, to sense his surroundings as a blind person, unnable to see and direct himself without it. He introduced himself as Kai, the new visage now finally having a name for izu to associate it with. With the other already presented and introduced themselves on the name basis, the blind boy proceeded to answer her question, explaining how he like the rain, and met them at random, deciding to go and see what was the meeting about. He noted her skill with the senbon to which Izu threw the smallest and shortest smirking smile, before going rapidly back to her cold resting bitch face expression, and he continued to ask what was her name and her standing in the village, a question that the blonde teen had no issue to answer, as it wasnt really private information.

''Im Izu Momochi. Chuunin, soon Jonin. Oh, eh thanks for the compliment I guess...'' Said the blonde kunoichi, pocketing her senbons as this wasnt the time for practice anymore but to discuss.

Right after she would answer, Ryusame would say that he would like to train with the Uchiha, or even against the byakugan, against Izu. This comment made her smile and snark like nothing else, and her gaze became suddently very playfull, almost amused and entertained, hyped by the idea. She would look at everyone one on one before leaving a second of silence, and finally answer.

''Oh I could train you. But I'd like to see what you are all able to do. We should spar, me versus the 3 of you. Bet it would be fun! hhmm? ahahhah'' Would laugh playfully the chuunin, stretching out a challenge to the 3 newer ninja, testing them. 

After her comment, the Uchiha would ask them all about their goals and specialties, something that made Izu frown, as revealing too much information was frowned uppon in Kirigakure, where the ninja should only reveal their techniques and skills to people in time of risk of death, or when killing them, keeping always the upper hand of suprise. But after all, these 3 were fresh out of the academy, and it showed, so there was no harm done with his question. This time tho, the Hyuuga blondie would let the others answer before her. Rudra explained how he wanted to essentially become a merchant, selling services and ninjas tools and gear, able to strengthen the village but also aiming to create internationnal relations. A noble goal, altough not ambitious enough for the chuunin, and too calm. 

 Ryusame showed his very beguinner skills of puppetry, a complex ninja art, but for now he couldnt do more than twitch a branch. He would comment on Rudra goal too, but Izu wasnt really paying attention, still in her seemnigly bored mood. But it was now her time to answer her goals.

''I won't say too much, but I want to become part of the best of the best of Kiri, and wield one of the legendary sword of the seven swordsman of the mist. As for my specialties, you'll find out if we spar, right? ahaha!'' Would laugh away Izu, not revealing too much, but more and more being playfull, and confortable with her fellow kiri nin, appearing less bored and more entertained, altough her body language still being cold and close off, her arms crossed and her whole pose leaning against a post beside the small bridge, holding her umbrella, as she waited on the answers for the idea of a spar.

Just as Rudra deduced, the kunoichi was surely stronger than the rest of them, especially being a Chunin and commented that soon she'll become a Jonin. He could see the confidence in her. The Uchiha could see the difference in their strength but was interested in having a battle with the Byakugan user. When she initiated a challenge of sparring against the 3 of them, the Uchiha was surely intrigued, but understood that he had a lot to train to have a proper battle and his current state doesn't allow him to fulfill that desire.

"Sparring with you would surely be beneficial and ideal for us, since it would give us some experience in battle but unfortunately in my case, I'd rather have a proper battle since I'm still in my training phase. I'll surely meet you again and yes, let's have an interesting match" he smiled politely. The white haired shinobi was absolutely interested in their future battle, especially with the type of ocular powers both of them had, the battle would be interesting.

He also could see that she was willing to train them. "As for your volunteering on training, I'll take you up on it. Having a strong person like you training would be equally beneficial, at least to me. I've got to head home now, as I've got some duties to do. I shall see you all very soon" he bowed and left the premises.

Rudra was drowning in his thoughts while walking back home. For his business to succeed, he will need such powerful allies like that kunoichi. Not only that, he would also need to get stronger if he wants his plans to succeed. He reached home, greeted his father and began working his plans out on a book he recently bought.

Exit Claims

Stats Claims:
- 10 Stats in Chakra (93 > 103)

Jutsu Claims
- 500 WC Towards Mastery of Basic Sealing Technique [No Handseal]
- 500 WC Towards Sensory Deprivation [No Handseal]

Rudra Uchiha wrote:

WC: 299 | TWC: 1000

Exit Claims

Stats Claims:
- 10 Stats in Chakra (93 > 103)

Jutsu Claims
- 500 WC Towards Mastery of Basic Sealing Technique [No Handseal]
- 500 WC Towards Sensory Deprivation [No Handseal]

Approved

Ryusame grinned as he felt a wave of adrenaline wash over him. One of the Momochi, and with her eyes set on being one of the Seven.... She's every bit as dangerous as I suspected, he thought. The Momochi were something of an inspiration for him. As far as he knew the Momochi didn't have any Kekkai Genkai or Hiden abilities but there were still plenty of rumors swirling around that name. People said the clan made demons, legendary killers who wiped out entire platoons on their own. They were proof that a clan could be powerful without inherent abilities.

"Wait, I thought that the Hyuuga were the wielders of the Byakugan. Or are there other ways of getting one?" Once again the moment after he opened his mouth he realized that his curiosity had overtaken his manners, and he was grateful that the young Uchiha boy had actually answered her question. Rudra was polite as ever, but his response was telling. Any ninja that wanted to train in real battles without cutting their teeth in a sparring match had to be confident in the extreme, but Ryusame saw the wisdom in pursuing that path. Trials by fire were the most dangerous route but also the quickest to developing one's own power.

Ryusame pushed aside the debate for the moment. In truth sparring against a Momochi seemed a terrifying enough task to him, but he knew that there were certain to be much graver challenges in his life than this. He waved to Rudra as he left, then turned back to Izu. "Speaking for myself I would be interesting in sparring with you if it means you would consider training me. That is if you'd still be interested in sparring with just the two of us."

In the back of his mind he was already trying to come up with strategies to achieve something like victory. Obviously she'll be able to end the fight whenever she wants, so outright winning is off the table. Holding out for some amount of time is out too for the same reason, if I last a full minute against her it's only because she lets me. What is the victory condition then? Pushing her to use a justu, or maybe activating her Byakugan.... no, it's too early to make that kind of determination. I'll have to wait until we're actually sparring to figure out what victory looks like. A part of him noted that he had yet to develop a functioning puppet, and so would have to rely on his recently purchased tanto, which he had no real skill with, and a handful of low level jutsu, but he decided to ignore that for the moment.

Something else she said brought up something that had been bothering him for a long time. "Since you mention the Seven Swordsmen, I actually do have a question about that. I've always heard that they wield the seven deadliest swords in history, but I've never actually seen any of those blades. Do they just keep out of sight?" He was only a Genin, and it wasn't unreasonable that the treasures of the village were kept under lock and key, but it still seemed strange to him that he had never laid eyes on any of those mythical blades. None of the other students he had talked to in the Academy had either, but then again he hadn't really made any friends during his time there.

"Wait, I thought that the Hyuuga were the wielders of the Byakugan. Or are there other ways of getting one?"

The phrase resonated in Izu's mind, both being ignorant and clueless, while still making sense in the question. In fact, what annoyed Izu wasnt the question in and of itself. It was true that a Momochi normally didnt have Byakugans as kekkei genkai in the eyes, and all that. What annoyed the blonde chuunin was the asking part of it. She frowned a bit, showing that even if she wanted to hide her true feeling, it was annoying her too much to be able to repress and hide this emotion. Asking such questions wasnt really polite nor subtle, and both were quite important traits for a future shinobi of the hidden mist, mainly discretion. 

But before Izu could reply, Rudra too answered her offer of sparing, declining as he wasnt feeling ready yet, but still taking up on her offer to train. Sadly, for Izu, this was now a pre-requisite. She would train sure, but to see where they were at first, she wanted to spar with anyone she would train, as a gesture of understanding the skill level and keeping herself sharp too. But Rudra didnt have more time to discuss it, and as he left, Izu simply nod in his direction in a subtle and lazy way to say goodbye to him, sticking true to her personna and way of being in life, quite the contrary of her in combat situation. 

Immediately after he left, Ryusame added something again, saying that if sparing would mean training, he would gladly do it. Izu was happy at least one of them caught on that requirement, and noded in acceptance, keeping still silent processing the first question regarding her Byakugans. Her gaze toward the tall puppeteer was piercing, half annoyed and half content with her new meetings, as it allowed her to shift her bad previous toughts on something new, and inspiring for the future. While he seemed thinkfull for a moment, he went again to ask another question, this time toward the seven swordsman of the hidden mist, and their legendary weapons, the swords of legends. 

So much questions without subtlelty, without care if those informations were private, or highly confidential... This was a proof that Izu had made quite some distance from being a fresh out of the academy genin, curious and asking questions on everything, like Ryusame was doing, or like Kouji did previously too. As she let out a large sigh and exhaled her desperation, the blonde girl hand would fall slowly on her own face, sliding down to show her mood.

''Alright... First things first. Asking questions like this isn't really a good thing to do. Some informations are secrets well hidden by the village of the Hidden mist, and asking too much is asking to get a visit of the hunter-nin and creating suspicions of you being a spy.'' would say Izu, her tone and voice dead serious, as much as her facial expression, showing she wasnt kidding with it all. ''Secondly, to answer your questions, I am both a Momochi, descendant of the Demon of the Mist, and a hyuuga, as my father was of the hyuuga clan. As for the blades question... Lets just say that yes, they keep out of the sights of people. Any other questions?'' would add the hyuuga young woman, half asking to see if he would catch up on the trap she was laying, testing if he was paying any attention to what she said about asking undiscreet questions. 

As others seemed to leave, she would wait and gather her things too to leave soon, right after the answers of the other 2 still here.

Ryusame felt ice run through his veins. More than the fact that he had annoyed someone who could probably kill him with the same ease that he would have in cracking open a mussel for lunch, it was the mention of the word spy that had chilled him. While he had been born and raised in Kirigakure his family had come from Amegakure when that country fell. Ever since he had been a boy he had sensed the subtle difference between himself and his peers, and he had striven every day to make sure that he was a real part of the village. Even the suggestion that his acts might label him a spy was more than enough to send his heart hammering into his ribs. He froze in place and slid his gaze as far across the bridge and back as he could without turning his head, as if he might see one of the fabled hunter-nin lurking nearby. A useless gesture, as no member of the ANBU would be spotted by a Genin, let alone a Genin that they might have his sights on, but with his nerves suddenly on edge he couldn't stop himself from checking his surrounding.

After a beat he realized that he had been holding his breath and let it out as quietly as he could. Adrenaline was still coursing through him, filling his body with the kind of quick twitchy energy that was great for combat and damn near toxic in a social situation. Ryusame ducked down in a jerky bow, half in apology to Izu and half to give him a moment to compose himself. He took as long as he dared, maybe a pair of seconds, before continuing on. "Forgive me, I didn't mean to ask anything so personal. Sometimes my mouth gets away from me." He straightened back up and tried to meet Izu's gaze. "I appreciate you humoring my curiosity, even when I was being so rude. I won't take up any more of your time." He held her gaze as long as he could, which wasn't all that long between the intensity of the look on her face and the roiling tide of fear that had washed over him, and hoped that she would understand. He had learned the lesson that she was giving him here today.

He turned ever so slightly towards Kai in an effort to gauge the other Genin's reaction to his blunder. As he did the detached part of his brain that loved to tinker with problems started picking through Izu's words. Even though he had spent years fearing that his bloodline would see him labelled as a foreign spy he had never actually considered that the other villages might use a Genin for that end. I mean after all, what clearance does a Genin have? he thought. What secrets of the village could they possibly unearth? Although perhaps that's why they would make a good cover story for a spy. Less obvious, and there's way more of us than the higher ranks so a new face could get lost in the crowd....

Seeing that Izu was also getting ready to leave he prepared to do the same. "It was nice metting you, Izu Momochi. If you would still consider sparring with me I would be very interested." He let the question hang there and hoped that he hadn't blown his chance to train with one of the Momochi.

Izu simply listened to what he had to say, seeing well and clear that the man was fearfull because of her warning. Even if her goal was to be taken seriously, she was more civilized than before, doing warning and talking instead of acting agressive to come across her own point of view when disagreeing. The man was a good guy, but too naive, that was for sure. 

''Curiosity is good, but you need to dose it and learn when to gather information, and what is the right way to do so. Its a primordial thing in Kirigakure as a shinobi.'' Would reply the blonde chuunin, finishing to pack her thing and beguining to walk away. She was done with this place for today, and the others seemed to leave too. After walking a few steps away from Ryusame and the blind Genin too, Izu simply turned around a bit, showing her expression of someone getting tired, yet still calm and half lazy, directed toward the puppeteer who looked stressed beyond recognition. 

''I'll train you, sure. But remember what I told you was the condition. See you at the training facility tomorrow morning. Don't be late. See ya guys.'' Woud say in a non-chalant way Izu, waving goodbye and walking away silently, naturaly stealthy like a cat. Izu walked slowly under the rain, thinking of this new chapter of her life, where she was not a part of the new recruits anymore, but a more steeled veteran who saw the new recruits as kids and unnexperienced ones who needed to be formed and shaped by hardship and missions alike. 

[EXIT]

TWC: 2876

claims at 25% off for max stats: 

• 1875wc going toward Soft Wind Blowing
  
• 1001wc remaining going toward Split Second (1001/1125)
  

Izu Momochi wrote:

[EXIT]

TWC: 2876

claims at 25% off for max stats: 

• 1875wc going toward Soft Wind Blowing
  
• 1001wc remaining going toward Split Second (1001/1125)
  

Approved

Ryusame's heart leap in his chest. He hadn't ruined his shot despite making a fool of himself, which was just about the best outcome he could have hoped for. The chill that had crept over him began to bleed away as he let the air out of his lungs.Damn, I didn't realize I was holding my breath there, he thought to himself. That was scary. He let himself focus on the rain for a moment, the steady pattering helping to calm down his nerves. After a moment as he realized that the rain was all he heard he glanced up to confirm that Izu was still nearby. She had only made it a dozen paces or so but despite all the puddles pooling on the cobblestones she didn't make a sound. He watched her footsteps as she left but couldn't figure out the trick.

He turned toward the other Genin and spent a moment fixing his image in his mind. It had taken him a while to process what the other man had said about his abilities, but in the wake of Izu's departure the implications had started to dawn on Ryusame. Not only could he replace his sight with chakra perception he had a sensory technique developed enough to detect even those who were using chakra suppression. Now was not the time for a protracted conversation, but Ryusame wanted to track Kai down later and learn more about that strange new ability.

"Well, I should be off too. Sounds like I've got a big day in store for me tomorrow." He laughed a little as he said it, though whether it was out of nervousness at the prospect or just the effect of the relief washing over him he didn't really know. "You should stop by if you're free. Having some back up would certainly make the fight a lot easier, even if we can't win it. Who knows, maybe we could drag it out long enough to that she makes a mistake." Even as he said it he realized that it was probably not really a possibility, but it felt better than offering the other Genin a chance to lose with him.

Ryusame gave Kai a wave and started heading home. Somehow the aches and pains he had been fighting all day had faded away, completely replaced with the buzzing knot of energy in his chest. This is how it begins, he told himself. This is how I started becoming a true ninja of the Mist. Despite the second wind he still chose to walk the rest of the way home, rather than using the Body Flicker, so it took him the better part of half an hour to make it back to the musty shed that he had converted into a bedroom. His intention had been to spend the rest of the afternoon studying, but the moment he sat down on his mattress the drumming of the rain on the simple slate roof dragged him down into a deep and dreamless slumber.

[Exit]

Kai listened to the others talk and acknowledged each of them with a nod as each took their leave and considered what he had learned about each of the his fellow shinobi that he had officially met for the day. He remained a little while longer, enjoying the sound of the rain. As he stood, umbrella in hand he memorized the chakra signatures of the ninja that had gathered as he did with any ninja he met, allowing for him to identify them instantly the next time they met reviewing the chakra signatures. Strictly speaking Kai did not require chakra sensory to actively have knowledge of his surroundings but it was true that it allowed him to sense users of chakra suppression. His main priority was to memorize as many chakra signatures as possible, creating a catalogue of ninja in his mind to easily identify them and perhaps assist him in tracking them down should they one day become missing nin and betray the village. in that way he figured he could be of some use to the village as a whole weak as he was currently.

Kai allowed his false smile to leave his face before heading towards the beach. It had been a productive day but he had some further training he wished to do away from the hustle and bustle of the village.

[Exit]
WC: 226 TWC: 1128
Claiming stats:
+1 Speed (to 150)
+ 10 Chakra (to 50)

+Memorizing chakra signatures:
- Izu Momochi
- Rudra Uchiha
- Ryusame Namito

Claiming WC:
- 1128 towards Total Concentration Breathing 1853/2500 previous claims:

Previous claims: