He was not sure what he had done but he received an urgent not that day telling him to rush over and meet with the Mizukage Solstice Ayakashi. He was excited and scared at the same time but mostly excited. He washed his face and brushed his teeth. He shook his hair straight and put on some clean socks and his best running shoes. He also put on his best shirt and shorts as well as began stretching a bit. He got all his gear with him and took a deep breath his heart racing as he left the door of his new home leaving a note for his mom as he left. He had spent a short time in his new room in his homeand was actually happier than he had been for a long time. He was really clean and had a really good breakfast as well as done some good amounts of training before sleeping peacefully at night for a change.

He began to walk to the meeting location as he passed by a small shop along the way he got himself a small ribbon and tied up his hair in a small ponytail. Some people waved to him as he seemed strange walking around with a slight smile on his face. To those who had known him from his achievements in the war they found this to be scary and off putting. As he walked on to his destination he was thinking about his new technique he had mastered some time back while training with some random shinobi. He wondered if his new jutsu would be affective as it was not tested in a battle yet. As he continued he finally reached his destination. The monument had been the place where he first met Kamikira as he thought back to that day, she helped him and even trained him a little bit and as quickly as she came she had also gone away. He took a deep breath then began looking around noticing the blood was not here anymore, the rain that had fallen here during his hours and hours of training to perform a defensive jutsu worthy of protecting those around him. He remembers his former class mates who died and the strange shinobi who had appeared to him at the time.

As time passed waiting patiently for the Mizukage he sat down and began taking out his lunch so long, eating some noodles while keeping his two weak swords next to him with his main sword on his back as always. He stretched to the right and then to the left then swung his arms a bit loosening up some more. He then raised his one leg to stretch while sitting then proceeded to rotate his foot a few times to loosen up his ankles while stretching his leg at the same time, after about a minute he switched to the other leg and did the same. Getting a bit bored and not noticing anyone nearby he took his two weak swords and began slashing through the air. A right diagonal downward slash followed by a spin and a horizontal slash with his left sword, he continued following up with a stab thrust then a quick back step as he got both blades raised on either side in a defence stance. He took a deep breath then lowered both blades lower to his sides. He let go of both blades as they fell perfectly piercing into the ground. He stood with his legs parted as he planted his right foot behind him then grabbed hold of his main sword Tsukiyo which meant moonlit night. He drew it as a loud sound could be heard as he performed the forceful slash then gripping the sword with both hands faced to the front. He slashed at the air slowly as birds flew over him he took on a cold expression as he finally shouted out loud not expecting anyone to hear him.
"Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

After getting that out of his system he sheathed his blade once again on his back and then took his other two swords and placed them in their sheaths on his back too. He went to the monument and kneeled before it. "Aya-sama"

Aya as if descending from the heavens, landed on the ground, though she was not dressed in her usual day to day attire, she was wearing hashirama's armour, the mask she had worn in combat during the war with her blade sheathed at her side. At her other side she bore Sesho-Sekki, one of the blades of the 7 swordsman, while on her back, Kukan and Sozo also sat. As well as Eidleweiss and the other cases to the weapons which were not currently in circulation. Eidleweiss had returened to Kirigakure having not been in use for some time, as these swords had a habit of doing. The thirsted for use, they needed it. And with Aya's arrival, key figures from Kirigakure arrived also, his mother, The ANBU captain, and the other members of Kiri's Seven Swordsman were all called into the stands, as well as the Village's many Jounin each took places around the Fusa prison arena. This was a place where the country of Kirigakure held its greatest trials, in the face of the monument whose construction coincided with her rise to Mizukage, and a new day for the land of mist.

Aya spoke from behind her full mask, Taking all of the Seven swords in her possession and handing them back to the other members of the swordsman for the meantime, keeping with her only Sessho Sekki, the drill blade, one which Aya particularly enjoyed the feel of, and should she have ever had the chance to Join the ranks of the Seven, it would have easily been the blade she had chosen for herself. Her eyes fell on Yuzu, who had by far accomplished something many could not have hoped to, the chance to ascent to the ranks of one of the Seven swordsman of the mist.

Aya drew her sword changeling, holding it to her side and twisting her wrist so that the hand-guard of the blade ejected from the top of the hilt. Aya looked to him as if she was about to attack him with everything she had, though, there was some truth to that. The trial to become one of the greatest swordsman in kirigakure could only be dealt out, by the greatest swordsman in Kirigakure, if not the ninja world.

Yuzu Ren, I bring with me this audience so that they can bare witness to this most auspicious of days. With them as witnesses, and under my request as Mizukage of the Village hidden in the mist, I offer you, as Aya, the Demon ice witch, for the opportunity to ascend your rank to become a member of the Seven Swordsman of the mist... To accept is to face a trial of my choosing, if you succeed, you will be rewarded with immortality, as your name, and the name of your family will be immortalized in the history of this country as one of the greatest swordsman ever known. If you decline however, no-one will think badly of you... the responsibility of the position, is as weighty as the history of the blade you hands will grip if you are victorious...

What say you? Do you accept the opportunity I offer? Or do you decline..?"

Aya ended, holding her blade at her side, perfectly still, as a cold side breeze whipped past her, causing her cloak to billow in the breeze and her mask to shine as for a moment it touched the light of the sky. Aya's eye trained on her opponent, eager for his response, hoping that he could incarnate himself as the youthful, proactive warrior which Kiri prized within their ranks. Who's skill is only matched by their ambition...

He looked up to the sky as he saw what appeared to be an angel when in fact it was the great Mizukage Solstice Ayakashi who descended with a graveful awe inspiring landing. She had an unusual appearance as she was wearing an armor that looked archaic but strong. She was wearing a mask that she had worn during the war as he began to feel extremely nervous. His heart was racing with the mixed feelings of fear and excitement. These two forces dueling inside him as he was not completely sure of why he was called here at this time. He looked to her side and had seen the legendary sword just hanging there as if it belonged to her, she showed the aura of being a true swordsman while two twin blades on her back that called to him were resting behind her. Kukan and Sozo he thought in his head as it was one of the blades he had researched while exploring several libraries. The other blade looked familiar and he could not remember but an image of a woman with pink hair flashed into his head for a mere moment, he did not recognise the sword as he had learnt about the seven swords but paid attention to the twin blades mostly.Shortly after her arrival some key figures like her mother and the other members of the Seven Swordsman were called into the stands. Many of the villages Jounin also appeared to witness this and this was when Ren began to grasp the situation.

This arena was a place where the country of Kirigakure had held battles of importance and he was wondering if by chance he may be forced to duel in this arena, in the face of the monument whose significance to Ren was that he met someone who had begun to get close to him while also remembering being told that she told him that the Mizukage destroyed the prison that was here and stated on the monument "No More Prisoners". Aya began to speek from behind her mask and then took hold of all seven swords then handed them back to each of the curret swordsman in the meantime keeping the Sessho Sekki drill blade which was a sign of the Captain of the Seven Swordsman, who had sadly died in the Seven Bells War seeming nearly irreplaceable in his rage when he apparently died to avenge the Mizukage he presumed to be dead. This info was not given out during the time of the war as it might have placed more panick on top of the pre-existing panick of losing the Mizukage. Aya drew her sword in a way that seemed almost like a challenge, holding it to her side and twisting her wrist so the hand-guard of the blade ejected from the top of the hilt. Aya looked to him as if she was about to attack him with no mercy, for a moment he nearly thought he died then realised it was just the intense aura of how legendary and strong the Mizukage truly was. She then finally spoke to Ren and finally explained what he may have already figured out, but was too nervous to accept immediately. She announced to him that she brought all these people to bare witness under her request that she "The Demon Ice Witch" would be allowing him the opportunity to ascend to the ranks of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist. His nervousness became uneasy but his excitement began to build up he nearly wanted to shout out until she continued to say that he must accept a trial of her choosing to which she gave him too options. Accept or decline were his choices as she said there was no shame in declining however he understood that differently. He looked down as an awkward silence filled the arena the wind blowing as the tension built up his hair blowing with the wind.

About a minute passed as he raised his head with a serious look on his face then began to speak.
"When you asked me to do the trial there was never two choices to begin with, to give up without even trying, to surrender without giving your best is for people who are happy with being where they are. I want to become stronger than anyone else and if i fail i will try again and as long as i live i will keep trying. I will accept this trial i will not run away from you, I will follow you wherever you lead us ..." He paused for a moment and then drew his one sword and tossed it to the ground next to him.

"I Ren of the Yuzu clan accept this honour, Mizukage-sama" now with a formal tone in his voice as he expected a test of his skills feeling that merely accepting the trial in itself was already a test of its own. As he drew his main sword from his back and his second sword as well. He lowered his right arm keeping his main sword low to his left side then had his left arm mid height holding his second sword at an angle. His two blades Tsukiyo and Tsunakiri were nowhere near as powerful but he had no time to relax in an arena made for battle. The wind was blowing as the silence of the crowd showed how important and intense the situation was as he kept his eyes focused on Ayakashi knowing that she was the person he looked up to as well as being a part of a dream he still holds deep inside, a dream that he will be one step closer to regardless of what happens today.

Aya looked at her opponent and could not help but smile, as she raised the mouth guard of her mask, making it no longer the breathing apparatus she had often used before, and rather more like a helmet which came down and over her nose before breaking off and allowing her to taste the cool frigid air in this ice surrounded monument. She listened to the brave words of her opponent in this challenge, but, things were just going to get rough for him, because it was not the strength of his chakra that she would be challenging here today, it was the strength of his sword skill and his resolve to fight. He had already proven to her that he had the ambition and resolve that he needed to take place in this fight, and Aya was happy that she was right in thinking that he was ready for this battle. But first, he needed to know what he was in for, there were many options and many tests that Aya could have thought of, but there was the one which was the most simple, and the most honest...

"I see you, Ren of Clan Yuzu, I see you're ambition, the people of kiri all have a lesson that they could learn from you and your story, but it is time to put away with our histories and met each other with our skill... Your test, as you have accepted it, is to land a single blow against me which would draw blood... without the use of any technique of D rank or higher, additionally, leaving this 100 meter stadium quantifies an immediate forfeit, whether you leave of your own volition, or are forced... I too fight with these restrictions, so, worry not, this battle will be fair."

She spoke clearly, capably, and allowed her words to sink in for the moment, she did not think there could be any other interpretation for her rules, there was a simple ring out rule put into place, and the two of them were only able to use E rank techniques in an attempt to get the upper hand on one another, meaning they had to use their intelligence, rather than their strength as a master of jutsu to win this battle, but, the battle would be to first blood... a fight which would go down in history as the first battle for the Seven Swordsman to have ever taken place in this arena, so the Mizukage would handle it herself... In later times, it would likely be other members of the swordsmen to set the challenges for new members, and deal them out themselves, perhaps to the death, or perhaps to defeat, only the future would know...

After a few moments, Aya looked to the twins, who sat on the sideline, each of them raised their arms and looked at those who were about to begin combat, calling out a simple 'ready! set! GO!'

Aya took no time in messing around with her opponent, knowing full well that the person to strike first put themself at the greatest disadvantage. With her Swashbuckling stile she bought the hilt of her blade to her chest with the tip pointing toward her opponent as she rushed his position with all of her speed accelerating in his direction. Her force was enough to kick up the ice behind her in a flurry of glittering powder snow. As she would reach her opponent she would stop about two and a half meters away from him with the tip of her sword thrusting directly for the very center of his mass, no lower than his gut, hard enough and strong enough was the thrust that she would only just, with about an inch to spare connect with her blade as she moved to bridge the next half meter with the follow through of the attack, sliding that little bit closer in an attempt to make him moving backwards a mistake.

A simple, opening strike to open the event...

That was all she needed to begin this blood duel~

After waiting for a while the Mizukage finally answered upon his accepting the trial. She told him his task would be to land the first blow that would cause her to lose blood. Had it been against a jounin or someone of equal strength this task may have been too easy. He was at a major disadvantage with Ayakashi’s superior experience and high level techniques. However she placed a handicap on both of them that worked more in his favor. They were not allowed to use any techniques above academy level which basically meant his only difficulty would be her superior speed strength and intelligence. He kept his focus as he began to try and figure out if there was any combination he could use to land a hit on the great Ayakashi.

Some time had passed when the Twins finally gave the signal by shouting “Go!!”. The moment they gave the okay Ayakashi was charging straight for Ren with her hilt held to her chest she was lowering her stance somewhat in order to land a blow to his chest. He could not tell exactly where on his chest but having his second sword ready to defend he coated it with chakra so that it would not break on impact. He leaned to his right side as he did not have much time to react, but having her stance lowered in order to hit her target could have possibly slowed her down slightly as she was not able to fight him with a more corrected stance without aiming for his head. With that it was made clear that while she was aiming a lethal attack she was not planning to kill him and only test him. He attempted to parry her blade as he blocked and pushed her blade to the side, instead of moving off its course it stayed true causing him to deflect slightly to the left of Ayakashi. Her superior strength or lowered stance probably lead to his parry ending up as a grazing block.

However to her left with her blade facing away from him he raised his blade that was in his right hand while his left arm was still being swung back by the clash. His range was not perfect as he was raising his blade for an upward slash the range meant at beast he could end up cutting her leg and going up her side to her neck no deeper than one inch. Had he been bigger the attack would have had better range but their difference in size would affect them differently.

Ayakashi losing the ability to maintain her most comfortable stance would have to lower her stance in order to land hits on Ren, while Ren’s main problem would be the difference in range which he then had a better idea of. These two opposing factors meant that Ren had to close in more otherwise he has no chance of winning, but he did notice a difference in speed as well and new he could not just close in on her directly. He needed a plan as he expected with Ayakashi’s skills she would either find away to evade his strike easily or she may even block his attack. He did already make preparations to counter the possibilities he could think of.
If she evaded his strike in some way with her forward momentum actually sending her closer to his strike, he would use the pause that she would have to start as an opening for a dash and stab with his left sword. She may have other ways to evade but in most cases if she evades it is an opening for Ren.

The second possibility would be that she uses her momentum somehow while avoiding any dangerous hits, taking into account her armor she could pass on dodging in order to make an opening, he understood the rules and realized he may need to damage that armor which would be a major gap since Ren had not quite been able to afford armor which is what made evasion his best defensive measure. People with armor tend to rely on it too much while he did have defensive techniques he used on a regular basis he did not have permission to use them. It would not be fair otherwise and his dual wielding gave him more options then Ayakashi who may choose a third option.
If she found some way to attack him his main option would be to duck as painful as any upwards strike or attack may be, if she lowers her stance any further it would just slow her down or make her attacks more compact which would disrupt her movement. All the while he still had a few trump cards available to him but with that in mind it meant she had the same trumps he had. The Mizukage must know all the academy jutsu out there and would not for a second fall for the usual traps. He also had less chakra then the Mizukage so a prolonged battle works in her favor. He then began thinking of a plan involving a combination using a combination of academy jutsus in order to land a hit on the strong and powerful Mizukage.

Word Count = 711 +964 + 881= 2556 /6000
Chakra = 310/320
Item Reinforcement used on left sword

The Mizukage had more tricks up her sleeve than he may have thought, the boy had parried her most basic strike expertly, though, he had wasted a very real opportunity to press a very strong offense, settling rather for a very simple counterattack which was extremely common for a dual weapon fighter to employ against another, he had tied up her blade and in an attempt to strike at her with the other, he had limited her options of counterattack. To free her blade to block the other, Aya thought that she would be leaving herself open to an attack from that blade, while to ignore the blade swinging at her would more than definitely mean taking the hit, which should it hit her armour, may spare her the cut, but, should it penetrate, or strike upon its outskirts and cause her to bleed, it would all be over after the first exchange.

And though the trap from a fighter's perspective may be perplexing, the result was simple enough, avoid both. Aya parried the blade which had connected with hers to the side with a flick of her wrist, just enough so that bringing it back to cut her would place it at the same speed as the other, and with a leap, Aya somersaulted backwards, though she was not unguarded, all the while changeling's telescopic hilt extended and the blade withdrew as Aya spun like a corkscrew, the bowstring came undone, the spinning nature of her flip made changeling like a rotating shield between him and her, he would only be able to strike at her gauntleted hand, a feat which no weapon without powerful jutsu would be able to harm her through...

In Middair, Aya had moved her free hand to her quiver of 20 bolts at her back, and unleashed a single shot Aiming for Yuzu Ren's chest. Landing Aya would once again roll even further backwards to rise in a kneeling position, aiming the bow at her opponent, in her hand was five more bolts which one after the other fired for her opponent at such a lightning fast rate, that before the first of the arrows would reach its target, the last of the five would have left the bow string. The bolts flying in staccato as they rocketed toward their target, the first had been aimed at his chest, the second and third at his two legs, the fourth and fifth at his two arms before aya rolled her thumb over the bow string, locking it back into place as changeling became a jingu staff with a very subtle curve down the length of it, presumably due to the fact the blade was curved, the pole in which concealed the blade would need to mimic its shape.

Aya Stood slowly after the first volley, holding the staff in her hand, though the weapon was blunt, hitting locations like the face, nose and stomach, she could still cause a rupture with her strength and force him to bleed, whether it be to cough it, or to break his skin. Aya had thought this through, but, if he wanted to be a member of the seven swordsmen, he needed to be ready for the variety of weapons other ninja were capable of, Aya was a master of every contemporary style of weapon combat, and bridging of a master of striking, grappling, and mixed hand to hand combat in her own preferred styles.

With the staff in hand with a couple of simple spins the weapon became a blur, like a helicopter blade in full spin the traversed the weapon around her body and kept it moving like a mobile tornado under her command, with it, she would be able to block his strikes, now she had range as an advantage, and momentum, but it was his attempt to launch an offensive... And it was time to see what exactly he could do...

She chose a possibility that was not too out of the ordinary as she decided her action for blocking the counter strike was to block it with aful skill pull back of her blade requiring a flick of her wrist, this may have seemed like a simple counter but an inexperienced swordsman may lose the grip of their blade which showed that Ayakashi was more than well trained by far. Her counter parry bought her the time needed to defend the second strike which did have a small chance of being successful.
It was not a simple block as Aya chose to leap backwards with a somersault using her blade as a guard. As short a window as it was he regained his stance and actually moved in a bit closer trying to keep close to the center of the arena, during that time while her back faced him was time to render the previous combination as being no more than a swordsman’s greeting. In a normal fight he was tempted to throw his kunai but he felt wasting his only good distractions now would just be careless as he paid attention he noticed her move her hand somewhere during her corkscrew rotation. He focused as she shot a single bolt straight for his chest , he leaped to his left side this time, opposite to his previous choice of stepping to the right. As the bolt hit the ground, he got himself facing to the right as his left eye watched her while his right eye observed the bolt.
When Ayakashi landed he expected her to attack but upon landing she chose to roll back even further while they were both nowhere near the edge of the arena it was clear ring out was not an option. The roll back was the second window as he imbued some of his chakra to the bolt quickly then attaching something that to it which he burried in the sand, before running to the side as he noticed Ayakashi was now kneeling and taking quick aim with what looked like 5 bolts this time. He did not even get time to think about it further as they shot towards him, her aim was good as he could not avoid all of these as he swung his blade he spun and covered extra distance as the bolts also hit the ground. His experience against the bow user during the Seven Bells war had helped him as he knew he had to run at angles rather than charge in while she has a good aim. Without high ranking jutsu bursting through the front would seem stupid. As he was preparing for more potential arrows as he now had the timing down in order to dodge them next time. Things soon changed.
Her weapon became a staff, that completely changed everything as that did not make any sense. A weapon that changes into another weapon would not only take a mastery of a large number of weapons, but also years of experience to chain them together in a combination. However he did notice that a staff would mean she was going to use blunt force to take him out, which was a simple tactic but rather effective if used correctly. Just as he was thinking of throwing some kunai to disrupt her she began spinning her staff like a helicopter blade. This reduced the number of openings and basically meant his options were even worse then they were before as he looked around. The crowd seemed rather silent as he took a deep breath sheathing his swords. After one was not even a while he spoke with confidence even though sheathing your weapon before the enemy was sometimes considered an insult, knowing Ren well the Mizukage would not take this action in the wrong way.
“ If you planning to keep changing your weapon the whole time well”. Being a bit innovative he chose to dash left and pick up the five bolts lying on the ground then decided to use them like he would use shuriken. He did not know how to use bows but he did not need to if he was planning to throw them. He dashed to his left in a semicircle like motion watching Ayakashi as he stopped pulling back his right arm he tossed the the first bolt in spear like fashion at her left leg, the opening was not that large but he knew this would not be as fast so he rotated his and with his left hand, had secured a second bolt tossing it a bit high into the air, followed by a quick toss of two more bolts headed for right leg. The last bolt was unused as he began to dash further to her side before dashing straight towards her as he drew his sword with both hands. It was a frontal assault from the side but it would not be impossible or even hard to have avoided his previous attack which was basically giving Aya back her ammo if she chose to pick them up after but with the fifteen bolts left over earlier and the fact that her bow was now a staff meant they had little meaning now. The training he had against Kenji helped prepare him for a battle like this as in the corner of his mind he had learnt something other than just using strange weapons.
As he had charged he knew he could not just attack her with her rotating death as well as the potential bludgeoning force she held, it was for this reason he chose to go in anyways as it would not be expected. Some people in the crowd gasped as this attack seemed reckless. As he finally closed in on her knowing a counter hit by that staff would be a big blow to his chances he circled around to her back with a low stance.
If she swung aimlessly to the side he would go down low and stab her leg, if she chose to keep spinning it like crazy and swinging it he would strike between it to cause a pause in the spin even if it hurt his hands after which he may have an opening as he would throw his kunai that was waiting at his waist for his opening. He did have another plan as he did not do all of this for no reason.
It was unclear what his true aim was but for the most part the fight was about to pick up as his grip on the sword was not his usual grip his left hand two fingers too low as if ready to drop his sword at any moment. These small things would not be noticeable to the spectators who just thought he was trying to give up in style when he was actually using a tactic he had used before, while it was dangerous he did not do this without planning ahead. He learnt that there was no such thing as an attack that was not dangerous, and even the absolute defence has its own dangers whether they be draining all your chakra or leaving you unable to dodge anything thrown at you. How would she respond to his attack as he was also excited even knowing that the odds were against him he decided to just think of this as an S-Rank mission. A mission so difficult that even being prepared is not enough to complete it.

Word Count = 2566 + 1255 = 3821/6000
Chakra = 300/320

e-rank TenKan Dan and Kawarimi infusion

The stage had been set, and Aya knew that now, more than most nights, this was her time to shine, Yuzu Ren managed to avoid each of her arrows even though they travelled at incredible pases, looking forward to his assault, Aya began to lose herself to her combative instinct, a place void of thought and filled with passion and resolve. She kept the spinning vortex made steel before her as he threw an arrow the weapon snatched it up from the side, even as its head penetrated the spin thanks to his impeccable timing, Aya had been a little afraid at first, though, as the arrow was caught on its side, it shattered, the wooden shaft being obliterated by the spin force of her weapon and throwing every one of the splinters to the side like it had just hit a wood chipper, the head flung to a side also from the strength of the hit, diverting its path. Should Aya have cut it cleanly, it may have continued forward to cut her leg, but alas, it did not.

Aya noted the arrow he had thrown to the sky, smiling as he was preparing some point of strategy. She wanted to see it unfold, but as Yuzu Ren charged her, she felt that this battle was over, there was a reason Aya never liked attacking an opponent, it always put the user at a disadvantage, opened the opponent the chance to counterattack, and though he had no choice, there was a better option than attacking head on... As he ran toward her Aya took all of her spinning momentum and warped it into a helicopter like pose, holding the weapon above her head just before he would reach her, bringing the weapon down to her waist height, she spun a single attack with all of that momentum that would have taken Yuzu's head off. Though, lucky for the boy he had ducked. Aya had to cartwheel with the force of the attack, rounding off to face him as he span around where Aya would have been and attacked low for her, but there was a part of her weapon which he had not taken into account. When someone wielded a Bo-Staff...

It had two ends.

Aya parried his strike to a side with one end of the weapon, and as that one end swiped to a side, she struck for the outside of his knee with the other, strong enough to smash his kneecap, though, this was a faint, as Aya had switched her stance to be able to use bother ends of her staff, she had bought each of her hands together for maxumum length on both of her arms, the second after she had parried his low blade strike, she was gone, leaving behind her a substitute which would within the next second or as soon as it was touched, would let out a low 'poof' as the chakra which composed it escaped in every direction, Aya was gone, and all that was left in its place was an arrow, which left her about six places she could be, but there was only one answer... And the answer was he had set it up for her.

As he had thrown the arrow up, Yuzu had given her a point she was able to move to with skill to be above where he was, in the few crucial moments there was for him to avoid her, there would be a second 'poof' above his head as she came into clear view, smoke erupting from the point of entrance as Aya descended from the heavens like a falcon swooping for its prey, and it was like a bird of prey she unleashed her talons, from the shaft of the weapon a blade erected, as it flipped down into a 90 degree angle to become her curved scythe blade, bringing the weapon down with two hands she moved to slice Yuzu in two from shoulder to the opposite hip, the beauty with a scythe is, that it was a weapon of deception, the death never came from the front or the side, it comes from the back or the top, the curved weapon was able to strike past most guards, though, thanks to that, its strikes always landed a little slower than most. But such was life.

Aya when she came down and landed, she would spin to round off all her momentum, from her crouching position she would spin with her weapon and strike at knee height for her opponent should things not have ended at that point. There were few means to end this battle here and now, though, Aya lost in her passion had not thought about a couple of things which she had left in her wake which would leave her open to something sudden, though she was still the Kage, she could react to most things on a superhuman level. This battle was far from over if Yuzu could not fight in a manner which would be in a word...

flawless.

Ayakashi stood firm in her resolve as the arrows were returned to her she skillfully countered each one, although he had been a dangerous feat as things were seeming pretty standard. Some of the people in the crowd began to fall asleep while others paid close attention. She seemed to keep her focus rather than take him lightly like so many others have. He had nearly beaten a strong shinobi during the war, as his training against Kenji was a rumor that had spread around. While people may assume this to be a potential reason the truth was that she had a good deal of respect which is why people loved her. She did not just rest on her title as the Kage or the strongest shinobi in the village, she proved it every single day. Not only was she a leader she was a role model leading many shinobi down a path to success.

Aya seemed to have noticed his arrow in the sky which was meant to be a distraction and an actual attack at the same time. As she had dealt with the arrows closing in on her she followed up by bringing down her weapon. If had not gone in low she may have taken his head off with the force, while things were not too dangerous with her strength one blow might be all it takes. Managing to redirect and follow up, something that people always believe to be easy. With the years of training that she had endured, it goes to say that one does not simply become the Kage over night.

Aya seemed prepared as he slashed towards her with full force as she parried the slash with the one end of her weapon, following up with the other end aimed to smash his knee caps. In order to keep up he shook the sheaths for his other two blades as they fell down, he grabbed both blades in order to block the attack with both blades. He soon found this to be a feint as Aya switched her stance to use both ends of her weapon. For some reason she was now holding with maximum length and as he expected to use that chance stabbed her. In a puff of smoke she was gone as he realised that she had used a replacement, which meant she was going to take her opening now. He expected her to escape his combination wondering why it seemed too easy. As he saw an arrow stabbed into pieces he looked around quickly then realised the arrow was facing downwards which meant she was above. As he looked up the Mizukage in all her beauty was dropping down to take him out with force and gravity.

As she was falling like an angel to most while to some she appeared to be falling like a bird of prey, releasing her talon as a not so harmful staff became a Scythe a weapon he had experience in dealing with. The scythe that was held by the master Kenji and the scythe held by the woman who was exiled from his clan. He felt this was becoming something he could not allow, just as the woman with the scythe had him completely at her mercy, or the way that Kenji had managed to control the entire battle with a single scythe rather than using other weapons to achieve victory. Now falling down on him was the greatest Weapon User he had ever seen, he stepped back just out of range as she landed she then spun downwards as she crouched for a moment striking at knee height which he could not avoid by normal means. He attempted a counter thrust but as he stepped in her strike hit as everyone became silent.

People who had been sleeping were woken as some people looked away. Did she go too far, was this not meant to be only a trial. Over time it seems people had been so used to peaceful things that the war had shaken them up so much, that children and young shinobi who had only just begun their lives were forced to rise up. While it was certain that a blow from a scythe to the knees would be avoidable. He was too slow to lower his guard to block it and jumping out of the way would leave him defenceless. The tension that built up as the scythe seemed to have pierced through his knee completely could not be described in words. One old shinobi nearly had a heart attack as he never expected to see the Mizukage who he respected ending the carreer of a young talented shinobi. All this tension and stress soon got turned around by the poof and the shattering of an arrow which had a piece of paper attached. The paper was no ordinary paper as Ayakashi had fallen into the trap near point blank as the explosive tag Exploded as one person screamed out. "Mizukage-sama!!". As the dust was still clearing, back where the first arrow had been shot was Ren kneeling with both his two blades at his sides and his main sword facing towards the location of the explosion.

While she was strong, smart and fast, even she would have felt the impact of this attack as the dust was still clearing. He never doubted her surviving for even a second, but for her to have avoided that without her replacement technique available to her, even her speed could not possibly dodge that. The people had fallen out their seats while only the true elites did not bother moving. She is the Mizukage and a simple explosion would not be enough to do any more than hurt her. He then began to focus his eyes as the smoke finally began clearing. The fate of the Mizukage and the fate of the Seven Swords seemed to rest on this attack.

Word Count = 3821 + 992 = 4813/6000
Chakra = 295/320

Kawarimi complete
B-Rank Explosive Tag Used

The Mizukage's eyes hardened as she came down with her cleave, the boy not resisting and taking the strike across his clothing before she spun low with the momentum and cut directly through the boy's two knees. Aya felt the impact of the two hits as she glided her blade through each of them, and with that, she was sure that the match was over. Blood could be seen spilling from them for a moment before there was a loud poof sound emanating from where she had penetrated the formed chakra in the shape of Yuzu Ren. And that was when Aya heard it, the blood curdling cry of the warrior who had used the substitution technique only just in time to launch a harrowing counter attack with a crude chakra enhanced weapon. The boy struck for the front of the Mizukage, who in turn reacted with a rush of strength and vigor through the clouds of the technique which finally began to subside, though, if he thought that Aya was out of tricks, and would take this attack lightly, he would be disastrously wrong...

Aya used a technique very few used in combat, she used the transformation technique to create an illusion of herself, off centered from where she truly was as she began to dodge the explosion, creating a much larger illusion than she really needed to do. Rather than make a shaped illusion around herself, she created somewhat of a dome, and within that dome she colored out herself, as she began to move in one direction directly toward Yuzu, while creating a fake image of herself moving in the other avoiding the attack to the side like a 3D painting within a canvas, making Aya temporarily invisible. It was like creating the illusion of a rock with a moving picture upon its surface though with none of the texture. The boy soon penetrated the illusion, shattering it instantly, but he would see the Aya he was trained on fade, and the one to his side, in the middle of launching a devastating kick for his midsection. Strong enough to send him flying backwards into the monument itself, cracking the ice slightly.

Aya could feel the drain of the fight, but she felt something she did not expect to feel, though she had reacted at full speed and strength, making her almost impossible for the Jounin to avoid even at his full reaction time. She felt something on the side of her, looking down, there seemed to be some form of glancing blow to her side, some of the shrapnel from the arrow which exploded ripped into her side, blood trailing down it slowly as she looked over, though there was very little way Yuzu could have possibly co-ordinate the attack, shrapnel projected by an explosion traveled in three hundred and sixty degrees from the point of origin, and even at her incredible speeds, the shrapnel which would be travelling at almost 300mp/s, there was no way for her to have avoided completely. So, regardless to whether or not her kick had landed on the side of the boy... the battle was over, and it seemed that Yuzu Ren... had won.

Aya stopped and looked over to the boy, moving over to help him up, but calling for someone to bring something over to him. He seemed to use twin blades, meaning that there was a pair that he would no doubt be after. He was a young swordsman, and he was excellent... for his age. His size and his inexperience at such a young age made him easily dominatable should someone truly intend to exploit the many disadvantages, but he would grow, and he would become stronger with age, and perhaps be able to use his size to his advantage, though it would be hard.

Yuzu, I want you to take these for me, and I want you to look after them, you've passed my test, but there is a catch, I want you to train, more than you ever have in your life, become the strongest ninja you can possibly be for me. I want to see you as a Sannin in this village, I want you to realise your full potential and maybe one day even surpass me in power... I know you can, because today im not just crowning you as a member of the seven swordsman of the mist... You are now, the YOUNGEST seven swordsman to have ever existed in this country. Take this title, its pride, and its meaning, and add it to your self, and wear it with pride.

You're the shining hope of this country... its future.

Remember that...

And with that, Aya stood up, and began to walk for the exit, his peers came down and cheered for Yuzu, the celebrations would begin, and they would not end for a full day and night, Aya would be a part of them, but, she wished goodbye to the twin blades she had used in the conflict against Seven bells, they had found a true warrior to befit them, it seemed. He would use them well in service to the country... But she had plans for him, big ones... And as Aya exited the area she looked lover her shoulder as she saw the other swords in her posession, she thought of the hopeful fighters who would one day hold each of them for the glory of kirigakure, each of them in turn would prove to be a valuable ally for the ninja which wielded their awesome power. Though she smiled looking at the first of them all, the might Sesso Sekki, a weapon which did not seem to have a suiter, shaking her head from side to side, she gripped the weapon tight not five minutes out from the location of the trial. Swinging the blade from side to side, Aya invested her chakra in the weapon which made the cyclonic blades spin rapidly, they hissed against the air as she danced with the blade, thrusting against imagionary opponents before facing a tree, paying 30 of her chakra for the hidden power of the blade. The vortex spun outward like a typhoon as Aya thrust hard in the direction of a tree, the gale like wind force blowing outward in every direction as for a moment there was a airless wind tunnel before her, which closed rapidly.

But, such a power meant the end for the phantasm which she sparred against, and as the sun set against the canopy, Aya returned home.

The combination was swift and fluid, but near the end it looked like she was about to land a massive kick to his side. He did not understand how she could be that fast and he raised his arms as fast as he could blocking the kick from the side but flying across the battle field and actually crashing against the side of the arena's wall bouncing off it in slight pain. He struggled to get up as he may have actually dislocated his left arm. Holding his arm as he was in pain gritting his teeth as he stood slowly. He looked on as he was wondering if he could only dream of becoming a seven swordsman, his last attack seemed almost full proof but he managed to get hit after all that.

***Flashback***
"Ren, come here i need to tell you something". As the young boy ran to his grandmother he sat with his legs crossed, prepared to listen to what she had to say. "I have something to tell you, that you must never forget."

The old lady took a deep breath and began speaking. " When you were born your mother had never achieved anything in her life more important than you. Members of the Yuzu clan have many abilities including the masterful skills with swords and their ability to use great techniques to seal away monsters. You have an ability very few in our clan ever get to achieve, the true art of Suijinou which was something your mother could never get. We were meant to join the ranks of the Seven Swordsman and become the right hand of the Mizukage. However that foolish man Osada Juro through away the swords of the village, in exchange for his own safety. He was a disgrace to the clan and his own village leaving it to the mercy of the evil Hao. Not many people knew of this man who was more of a monster able to destroy the entire village with those evil eyes of his. I do not know too much about him but i know that one day we need to find the swords and unite them once again. We have to bring back the Right Hand of the Mizukage. I know none of this makes any sense to you now but it will make sense to you later. You have to stop that man and his followers, i know you do not understand, but we need to take up your sword and become the new head and save our clan. Protect the village and save us all."

The boy looked at her confused before being laid to sleep with his memory sealed away.

***Flashback***

He remembered this moment then looked towards Aya his consciousness still hanging in there has the pain was only barely being held back, by the rush of endorphines and adrenalin. He noticed as she began to approach him, while someone was called out to there. When he finally noticed that Aya had lost some small bit of blood from the arrows shrapnel. That was when he realised he had been successful as he reached out with his one good hand as he was approached.

Ayakashi said many things to him and it became clear that he was becoming what his grandmother told him to become. He was to become a Sword of Hope. As Aya stood and began to walk away as Ren shouted out to her. " I will train harder then everyone here and become the strongest Sword"
With that said his peers came down and cheered for him, the celebrations were only just beginning however he collapsed as soon as the swords were handed to him. He was taken to the hospital as they all celebrated and even within that event Ayakashi was also there. He knew how weak he was, but thanks to the Mizukage he had gained a greater confidence. He learnt that the Mizukage was not as strong as he thought, she was even stronger. Not only did she choose a fight that was fair, she gave him motivation even when he felt to some degree that he lost. The way he saw it was that if this was a mission, he completed the objective but lost the fight. He would later decide to train harder, but with a new found focus. He could not afford to lose sight of her again, he had to become faster. Strength meant nothing when he realised that if strength won wars you would not need ninjutsu. Weapons are not really a sign of strength but a sign of being able to take on something outside of your own body and make it your own. He fell asleep as everyone partied on while some shinobi watched over him as he was now even more important then he was before.

***The Next Morning***
He woke up with a bandage on his left shoulder as his arm was fixed. His right arm was also covered in bandages as well which he could not understand. He looked to the side on his small table, there were two swords along with three others. He now possessed five swords however his new pair of swords were far more powerful then the swords he had been using until now. He took the first blade then sealed it away and did the same with his second blade. He then looked around and a familiar face appeared before him, it was Emma who had currently been working at the hospital. She did not want to make a noise but she smiled then spoke to him. "What happened to you just being a weak scared little kid hey Ren?". This was annoying and he had nearly all but forgotten about her being in the same classes as him at the academy. She had not been able to properly graduate as she had injured her right leg to a point that was no longer within healing capabilities. She managed to walk fine enough but could not run to save her life. As she waited there she got annoyed as Ren just looked away from her, looking far outside of his window. He was ignoring her to some degree and blushed very slightly as he was a bit glad that she was okay. She then rubbed his hair softly before telling him. " Tora would be glad to see how strong you are now." He looked to her a bit shocked and his emotions were a bit in a mess as he nearly felt like he could cry. He finally took a deep breathe then spoke to her and said. " Would have been better if he was here to see this himself, but thanks Emma"

He had been through many challenges in his life and as a result he had to overcome facing opponents stronger than him. He had lost his best friend Uchiha Tora, he had a friend who had lost her dream of becoming a shinobi, he was tired of losing things and with his new blades he would choose to never lose anything ever again.

Trial Complete = 6001/6000
New Seven Swordsman and wielder of the twin blades Kūkan & Sōzō
Exit Thread