He had come here for some sleep. Not wanting to be interrupted, the mad man picked what he thought was a secluded spot. Save for the occasional visitors, both of man and beast, he found this place kind of comfy. How had Aethir come to find this place? It began with the forests of Konoha, then its docks. He marched over to the sands of Sunagakure,  gaining this insane idea that he'd be able to sleep in the heat. Then, walking over to Iwa, he attempted to imitate bats, sleeping within the caves naturally built within stone caverns. Kirigakure... Why had he not think of going to a secluded island? Perhaps he'd go there next if this tower proved to be noisy like the other locations.

    Lying on his back on the far right side of the ground floor of said tower, the man rested. Dark circles surrounded his eyes, along with small bags. A soft snore was coming from him. Time was near meaningless to him, having the chance to shut his eyes for the first time in a week, and even then, getting more than twenty minutes of sleep.

    Days had passed since then, the man occasionally getting up to devour the food he had on him. Strawberries, food pills, and other rations he had collected. These would sustain him for a while. All he wanted, no...needed now was sleep, and only sleep. However, he didn't need it as bad as risking death from starvation. His skin had gained a green tint to it, the one healthy-looking man now looking ill. His zombie-like hand moved from his chest to his stomach as it slid, Aethir's head turned from his right to his left as he snored more. After a while, that same hand raised to brush his face, which now had small hair stubble growing, the hand eventually returning back to the stomach.

    Staying awake... It wasn't his usual crazy training idea or whatever. It actually wasn't something he wanted to do in the first place. However, with the risk of dying from the constant pursuit of his hunter, he had no choice but to stay awake. At any moment, this chaser could appear. Whenever he would speak out in the open, it was as if this thing could hear him from miles away. However, all seem well when he speaks indoors.  What had he done? What had he done to invoke such a creature to haunt him? Whenever he thinks about he, heck, he's done a lot now. And realizing that would always make him laugh. One year of constant avoidance and chasing. One whole year of silence out in the wilderness, with sleep being gained whenever it could be. Again, it was not something he had thought up to do.

    The sleep was disturbed when he heard footsteps within the room. A perk from the hunted lifestyle was the ability to sleep extremely lightly. The slightest sound, and he'll awaken. His blue eyes shot open, immediately looking over to the footsteps direction. As he looked, he was already prepared to dash off. However, the shape of the source in front of him was...different. His vision was blurry as his eyes were still adjusting from suddenly activating. This shape... This person... It isn't his pursuer. He could definitely make that out. But then who? Who is it?

    'Ah,' he began to think, 'probably just some residents of Kumogakure.'

    He relaxed his posture, sitting down.

    'S'pose it's time for a meal then. How long was I asleep?'

    Aethir stretched, and began to fish into his jacket's pocket for food pills to devour, keeping an eye on the blurry figure several meters away.

Words: 630

As he stared at the figure,his eyes widened as they had come over. They remained unknown to them until he heard 'strawberry-sensei'. It was Toshiko. His eyes may be failing him right now, but he knew. Why, he hadn't seen him in quite some time, had he? This was a sight. He realized how long it had truly been since his old life had ended right as he had grabbed a food pill, soon bringing it to his mouth.

    "Ah, hey there Toshi-"

    He stopped suddenly, a sharp pain in his elbow appearing as he tried to bend it to raise the food pill to his mouth. The pain was too much, causing him to drop it. His heart sped up as he took several deep breaths, regaining his composure. The slightest bit of pain would be enough to send his body into full-alert mode, and he lacked the energy to be at his best. He couldn't help but laugh after the fact though.

    "Hey," he said again.

    The next part was something he had to quickly prepare himself for. A hug. During the hug, to the boy, it probably felt like nothing much. However, to Aethir, it felt as if a branding iron had touched him. The touch of his arms and body... It was like touching someone with sunburn, possibly worse. It lasted for some time, an eternity to the ronin, eventually he having enough. He attempted to push Toshiko away, but kept a smile on his face, hoping it wouldn't show that he didn't appreciate the gesture.

    "I'm sorry," Aethir spoke, "I'm... I'm not sick or anything. Just really tired."

    The ronin said this, having a feeling it'd be brought up like the others. There wasn't a person who hadn't asked if he needed a doctor or whatnot recently. They have every right to also. The man could have been mistaken as dead had it not been for his occasional movement and breathing.

    "How-...?" he began to speak, but felt his throat incredibly dry. He cleared it, and took a deep breath before continuing. "How's...uh... How's it going?"

    As he waited for a response, he closed his eyes to rest them. A moment... Yes, just a moment was all he needed. Just a second of two of his eyes to be closed. A comforting sting came from his eyes as he did so, being careful not to drift to sleep while sitting there waiting for a response. However, as he waited, a question spawned within his mind.

    'I could check how things are doing outside through him... Yeah...' he thought to himself. 'If the off chance things are okay, then... I've found my answer.'

    The ronin opened his eyes to look at Toshiko.

    "Say, have you-...?" He stopped, realizing that you had to have gone outside to get here. It'd be a stupid thing to ask. So instead, he asked, "How are things outside? You know, the weather? The...?" Glancing to his right, he tried to think of more examples, things that could help him while keeping him in a less suspicious light. "The weather? ...The environment? The people? How are they all? Good?"

    At the end of the question, he realized how odd this must have sounded to the poor boy.

    "Smooth..." he said aloud, thinking it was in his head. He laughed once more, slowly shaking his head. "Smooth." he repeated once again, staring down at his pants own leggings.


WC: 592
TWC: 1222

Aethir stared at Toshiko with a lazy smile.

    "Tell you what," the man spoke, beginning to stand. It took him a while, pain and stiffness slowing him down. "if you win a practice fight against me, I'll tell you."

    Standing up straight, the bones of Aethir cracked and popped. He groans, it being cut short by pain which made him take in sharp breaths of air.

    "Trust me, I... I might not look it right now, but I can hold my own."

    Then, a feeling grew within his stomach.

    'That's what I'd like to believe. Hell, I don't think I can fight off a squirrel right now.'

    His blue eyes stared down at Toshiko, and then a smile crept on his face.

    'I'll be alright. He's Toshiko, not some 'King Whatever' I'm going up against. It should be fine.' Aethir blinked once, realizing something. 'Did I...? Did I just passively call my pupil weaker than a common squirrel? Normally, I'd laugh at that, but... Wonder what that says about me.'

The man pointed behind Toshiko, towards the opposite end of the room.

    "Move away from me, and then come at me whenever you're ready. By any means. This means ninjutsu, taijutsu, whatever." He flashed a smile. "In other words, use whatever tactics you wish."

    Just as he finished that sentence, it felt like gravity had attempted to drag his body to hell itself. He had nearly fallen over. He would have, in fact, had it not been for the sudden readjustment of his legs. His heart was beating rapidly, a sure sign that his illness had long been activated, triggered by something. It then dawned on him.

    'Exertion!'

    His eyes opened wide, at least, as wide as they could currently. To others, it'd just look as if he had opened his eyes to their normal position.

    'My heart seems to... Yes, every time I'd... I'd do some sort of physical activity for a while. It would always pop right back up and throw me off! Of course a year's worth of activity is going to harm me. It's still overly exerting myself to-...' It dawned on him that he was thinking to himself in the middle of a conversation somewhat. 'Look at me, going on and on about a condition in the middle of-...' The man placed a hand on his neck, rotating it to pop the bones within it. 'This is the part where someone would remind me that I'm being cocky or arrogant. Or...? Aren't they the same thing? That's irrelevant. There's a cure out there somewhere for this heart. I just... I just gotta look harder. That's all-...' His body froze. 'I'm doing it again, aren't I?'

    Again, Aethir pointed to the opposite end of the room. "If you could do me a favor and move over to that end of the room, and then come at me by whatever means, I'd appreciate it." He nodded once. "By that, I mean ninjutsu, tai...jut-... I-..." The ronin couldn't help but chuckle weakly. "I...already said this, didn't I? Sorry." With that said, he waited patiently for the boy to attack whenever he was ready.


WC: 551
TWC: 1773

Aethir stood, waiting for the boy to attack. His eyes widened a bit, but not to the point where he was shocked.

    'A clone jutsu? Did he always have that?'

    Aethir flashed a smile, raising his right hand to Toshiko's statement of showing what he learned.

   'Now, how will you attack?'

    Aethir eyed the boy's clones running towards him, watching as three had eventually surround him. At this moment, he began to increase the flow of his chakra within his body.

    'Just as you learned overseas...'

    As the clones were now close enough to attack, he felt the familiar painful tingle within him.

    'Almost... That one just needs to come a bit closer...' he thought, referring to the fourth clone.

    He remained as he were, not giving off any physical signals that may lead to Toshiko and his clones suspecting an attack. Right as the three clones began their attack on different parts of his body, he smiled.

    'They're all in range.'

    The man tensed his chest muscle, causing the overflow of chakra desperately seeking a way out to find an sudden imbalance in the body's formation. Then, immediately, a light had exited his body. The pain from charging such a technique with the already painful state he was in... He had nearly blacked out. He screamed, Aethir's vocal cords strained. He had only done this technique one time so far, so the pain was still new to him. True, the man's scream should have been loud, nearly bloodcurdling. However, it was nothing compared to the deafening 'boom' that came from the technique's appearance, like lightning striking a tree close by. The light took on a spherical shape, jetting outwards with a low hum.

   Panting, the man knew he'd be able to take out the three clones near him, the blast of Raiton rushing out at such an incredible rate. IF these clones worked like the others, the third degree burns would be enough to do away with them. However, he was concerned for the fourth, furthest away clone. His eyes focused on it, hoping the blast would catch it in time before it maneuvered away.

    If it did or didn't, it mattered not. Aethir would think of a new means of attack. That's all.

Electric Pulse:

Chakra 230/250
WC: 385
TWC: 2158

Aethir stared at the leftover clone of Toshiko as it rushed over to him. Having had kept an eye on it even during his flashy jutsu, the ronin was able to see something forming in its hand.

    'What jutsu is that? Did he learn it on his own?' His eyes narrowed as he asked himself. 'Is it a projectile? What is its range and rate of travel? How lethal is it? Sheesh... he's grown quite a bit in the jutsu department.' All of these questions flooded his mind. However, the most important stuck with him. 'Is it a projectile? Is it? I'll be ready to dodge if it is... But which way?'

    Aethir stood still, watching the clone finally reach him. He had purposely not moved, all of his focus on the sphere, while preparing to jump out of the way. As the sphere was now two feet away from making contact his chest now, he instantly realized that it wasn't a projectile. Therefore, it was safe to simply sidestep out of the way. However, the clone would not go unpunished for such a mistake.

As Aethir leaned and turned so that he's on the clone's left side, he used natural physics to his advantage. The speed the clone had been traveling had sealed it's fate as gravity did the rest of the work for the man. As the clone was passing in front of Aethir, the man grabbed for his custom dagger. As he did, he activated the motor within it, swiped it towards the clone's face horizontally, hoping to deliver a three inch wound across. Unless Toshiko had some sort of gravity-defying jutsu that he wasn't aware of, the likely hood of the clone's committed action being withdrawn so suddenly would be low. Safe to say, Aethir felt confident in his choice of action.

King Strawberry:

Chakra: 230/250
WC: 316
TWC: 2474
Born Ill: 2/8 - 6 posts left until activation (Forgot this~)

Cooldown:

The dagger made contact with the barrier, repelling it.

    'Another jutsu? How many has he learned?' Aethir studied the boy. 'Just a shield, I'm guessing.' The ronin looked down to his dagger, noticing small electrical sparks dancing on the blade. 'Or perhaps more than that. Did the shield do this? Hmm...'

    He took a few steps away from Toshiko, glancing over to the one meditating.

    'And what is that one up to? Am I dealing with the clone in front of me? Or...is that the clone? If the one resting over there is the clone, it's doing an amazing job at defending the original. If the original is right in front of me,' Aethir looked back at the shielded clone, 'then that would explain the jutsu. Hmm... I thought I knew which one was the clone, and which wasn't, but...'

    The man closed his eyes for a second, feeling as if they were going to explode from within their sockets. His heart had sped up even more now that he had become active again. Aethir smiled.

    "Well," he began, looking over to the meditating Toshiko, "it seems at this rate I'll never pummel the real you." He chuckled before continuing. "You've gotten stronger, this is true, but it means nothing if you can't hit me."

    Quick hand seals later, a mist had begun to form around Aethir and the Toshiko clone. The hidden mist technique had been used. Next, quickly skipping back into the thickness of the mist, he had formed two different sets of seals. Forming to his left from the mist around him were two water clones of himself. Forming on his right from electricity was a single lightning clone. The purpose of the mist technique, and skipping backwards deeper into it, was to prevent the clone and Toshiko from knowing which was the real Aethir.

    The two water clones moved out of the mist, towards the meditating Toshiko, while the original and the lightning clone approached the shielded version still within it. The four, though sharing different targets, shared a yawn together as they all stopped about five meters away from their targets.

    "Ready?" a water clone spoke. There was no response, the answer already obvious.

    Both water clones inched closer to the meditating Toshiko, being cautious of what he was up to. However, one of them grew impatient, drawing its dagger as it sped walk towards him. The other clone hung back, watching cautiously.

    The original and the lightning clone parted from each other, standing on the opposite sides of the shielded Toshiko, both waiting for his move.

    'A shield...' Aethir began to think to himself. 'Now what breaks shield made from a jutsu? Pft, I suppose jutsus would, now wouldn't they?'

Jutsu Used:

Chakra: 105/250
Water Clone 1: 25/25
Water Clone 2: 25/25
Lightning Clone: 105/105

WC: 464
TWC: 2938
Born Ill: 3/8

Cooldown:

The water clone approaching Toshiko had gasped, staring at the sudden jutsu the boy had used. It immediately tried to get out of the way, but the pain from a year's worth of evading had taken its toll on them all. It wouldn't have mattered though, the clone having had been too close to even dodge. The flame had made contact with the clone, causing enough damage to destroy it. As it had lost its form, reverting back to water, it was still enough to negate the jutsu due to suiton being the superior element to Katon. Thus, a lower ranked jutsu that is superior to the element used should be on par with each other.

    With his skin intact, the other water clone immediately backed away, reacting to the suddene appearance of the flame..


    "Another jutsu? How many...?" the clone spoke aloud, surprised by the appearance of the jutsu. He couldn't help but laugh. "Not bad." The clone began to inch away, the five meters increasing to seven, his dagger now gripped tightly in his right hand.

    Within the mist, both Aethir and his lightning clone stood, waiting for movement from the Toshiko clone. The original had heard what Toshiko said about that only being half of his new jutsus.

    'So he has more? I hope the others caught that.'

    Causing him to snap out of thought was the boy's clone running towards the real Aethir. He tried to run, but just like the water clone, his legs froze up. Thus, all he could manage was a leap out of the way.

    "You okay?" the lightning clone asked as Aethir regained his footing.

    "Am I okay? Don't you know who I am?" Aethir grinned, and then pointed towards the water clone's direction. "I'm... No, we're- ..." He purposely stopped himself short, putting a hand to his mouth. "Uh oh."

    "Way to give the original up there, bucko," the clone chimed in.

    Aethir shrugged, not being able to help but smile at the fact the clone had caught on and played along with him. He was about to speak, but felt the body's strain grow even more. He forced through the pain to maintain the act. "He wouldn't have known that I've given him away if you'd hadn't of said anything!"

    "It's not like clones can transfer information or whatever anyways, so there's no harm in him knowing, right?"

    "Ah," Aethir blinked, somewhat astonished at his clone's cleverness, "you're right."

    Aethir looked back at Toshiko's clone. 'If I'm thinking what I'm thinking of what I think I'm thinking of what I think that I think I'm thinking... Then I think that I'm thinking that I think that I think I know what he's thinking. Which means...' The ronin grinned, staring at the boy's clone in response.

    "You're right. It's not like clones can carry information, huh?" Aethir laughed. "So there's no screw up here... Uh... Right?"

    "Yeah. Maybe."

    "Yeah!"

    The acting, he had to admit, had begun to wear on him. With his condition worsening as the fight went on, he found he harder to maintain it. Thus, he decided to be silent, and focus on the clone. Of course, with the mist surrounding them, Aethir and the lightning clone failed to realize there was only one water clone  left battling Toshiko.


Chakra: 105/250
Water Clone 2: 25/25
Lightning Clone: 105/105

WC: 579
TWC: 3517
Born Ill: 4/8

Cooldown:

The water clone watched as Toshiko rushed towards him with his arms outstretched.

   'Another projectile jutsu? I can't wait it out.' Immediately, the clone pulled out two viles of 'Ja'Lacyne' from his pocket, the neck of bottles stuck between his free hand's fingers, the third tucked in the pocket still. As he pulled the bottles out, he had begun to tuck the dagger away in his other pocket, quickly uncorking the first of the jars.

    However, it was perhaps too quickly, the second bottle dropping and shattering on the ground. The contents scattered in multiple directions, mostly surrounding the clone's feet as the flames rose. However, all of this was occurring in an instant, thus, the clone hadn't realized he'd drop the vile. Toshiko's lightning had begun to shoot out, just as the clone threw its arm horizontally across. The contents would fly towards the boy, possibly latching onto the front of his body and face, if the scattering liquid from the second vile hadn't done so already. The lightning made contact with the clone, causing it to revert to water, putting out the solution below it.

    Within the mist, Aethir and his only clone continued to wait out Toshiko's clone. It dashed towards one of them, but then suddenly took off towards the other! The Aethir couldn't help but let cocky 'hmph' escape from him, easily moving out of the way again. Then, he watched as the clone...continued to run. Aethir and his own clown met up with each other, staring at the direction it had ran, both walking in that direction. Soon, they could see it. Flames and broken glass floating in the water that was his clones.

    'Really? You used...?' Aethir stared in awe at the sight before him, soon walking with his clone closer to make out just what had happened to Toshiko and his clone.

Item:

Chakra: 105/250
Lightning Clone: 105/105

WC: 321
TWC: 3838
Born Ill: 5/8

Cooldown:

Walking close enough, the two could see both Toshikos having their shields up. One was sitting down like before, while the other was ready to do...something. Aethir couldn't help but feel a little annoyed by this tactic. He then gained an idea.

    "I retract my earlier statement. You've...gotten better, I'll still admit that," he spoke, his clone looking over to him, "but it means nothing if you're running away like a coward."

    His lightning clone joined in, a tired laugh coming from him. He then weaved hand seals as the real Aethir continued speaking.

    "What now? Will you attempt to kill me by staring? Or maybe by boredom."

    Before Toshiko could answer, Aethir watched as three clones of himself had quickly darted towards Toshiko and his clone, their chakra being charged up. Three? Where had they...? Aethir turned to his original sole clone, already realizing what had happened. The lightning clone took it upon itself to clone itself. Aethir...was actually kind of astonished. A bit freaked also that his clones were that sentient.

    "Move back!" the clone shouted, dashing away from Toshiko.

    Aethir immediately moved away from the clones' direction just as he had told himself.

    The moment two of the clones had ended up on both Toshiko's left and right side, the third jumping forward towards the clone, over the heads of Toshiko and his clone, the three ronins unleashed their pent up raiton chakra, so that the massive blasts rushed towards the left and right sides of Toshiko and his clone, as well from above, virtually no way to escape. Unless the shield could bypass each other, the ninjas wouldn't be going anywhere, so he thought.

    He had used the technique two times in his life, the pain being so unbearable, he'd have to close his eyes. But this... This was the first time Aethir had seen the jutsu himself. And to see three used simultaneously? He was so shocked by the size of the blast that had forgotten about the bodily pain he was feeling.  When his attention was brought back to the 'pain', he noticed...it was gone. Now, instead, his heart condition had suddenly taken over his worries, immediately feeling it worsen. No longer was their pain from the heart or the body now. Normally, this would be a good sign, a sign of healing. But Aethir knew that it was a sign that he had little time left before the true storm that was his illness occur. He either had to finish the fight fast, give up so that he may rest, or endure it.

    Giving up wasn't that bad though. It was just a practice fight after all. However, the ronin did not wish to explain his situation as to why he's on the verge of death. He didn't want to involve the poor boy in what he was involved in. To protect him was to win the battle. And if Aethir had to cause some harm to him...well... He figured it was better for Toshiko to take that, rather than losing his life.

Jutsu used:

Chakra: 105/250
Lightning Clone: 21/105
Lightning Clone's Clone 1: 1/21
Lightning Clone's Clone 2: 1/21
Lightning Clone's Clone 3: 1/21

WC: 525
TWC: 4363
Born Ill: 6/8

Cooldown:

Aethir's eyes stared in awe. This shield Toshiko had made was quite durable indeed.

    'Wonder how he learned that. As a matter of fact,' Aethir looked down to his left palm, 'maybe I should invest in such a technique.' Aethir pondered on this idea, but then snapped out of it at the sound of a scream.

    Toshiko's clone had ran into the ronin's clone, electricity lashing out wildly all around. The lightning, the clone's self-destructive feature, would damage the clone's shield even further, but still maintain it. Aethir looked at the original Toshiko, hearing another scream. His clone that was midair had fallen right on top of the barrier. The electricity coming from the clone would possibly dissolve the shield for good.

The clone that would be left darted back towards the two ronins that were 25 meters away from the boy, regrouping.

    "That shield is insane," the prime lightning clone spoke.

    "Tell... T-tell me about it," Aethir smile, sweat forming on his brow.

    The lightning clone must have picked up on the long pauses. "You oka-...?" The clone narrowed his eyes. "Your heart."

    "Yeah... Ha... I wasn't expecting this to go on this long."

    The lightning clone's clone finally chimed in. "Maybe we should call it quits? This is a practice match, isn't it? Why don't we-?"

    "That's not-!" Aethir's chest tightened, the feeling of a hand gripping his heart appearing. He clenched at it, breathing and coughing for a bit. "That's not happening. This... This thing..." Aethir lowered his hand from his chest, his breathing becoming as regular as it could be at this point. "This thing is looking for a life to take. I rather it be mine than..." The ronin looked forward to the boy and his clone, smiling weakly. This, combined with lack of proper nutrition and what not, could actually allow Toshiko to win for once. This idea made he chuckle.

    The lightning clone stared for a moment, eyebrows arched, before looking over to its clone, the clone returning an even more worried look, eyes occasionally glancing to the original.

    "So then, what do we do?" the clone's clone asked. "I have no more chakra."

    Aethir looked over to the clone's clone, and then over to his original lightning clone, who nodded.

    "I'm low as well," it spoke.

    Aethir nodded to it, looking forward to the boys. "I've thought of three things we could do."

    The clones stared, awaiting an answer.

    "We could give up. It's all just practice anyhow. We could... We..." Aethir thought for a moment. "I forgot the second one. O-or we can win, and not tell anything." The man took a step forward. "And guess which one I wanna do."

    "Right, so again, what's the plan?" the lightning clone asked, taking a step forward also.

    The clone's clone took multiple steps forward, wanting to look Aethir in the eyes.

    The original turned his head towards the clone's clone. "You," he began, "just because you lack chakra doesn't make you useless. Rely on taijutsu and your weapons." The man turned to the other one. "You too. You're in the same boat, even if you have some chakra. Use it only if you absolutely know for sure you can get a hit in."

    The lightning clone nodded. "Alright, and what about you?"

    Aethir grinned. "Don't you know? I'm pretty skilled when it comes to adapting." His hand rose to his chest again. "It'll start soon, the condition. I can't be as strong as either of you. Meaning you've got to keep yourselves alive."

    "The sword and shield tactic!" the clone's clone blurted out.

     Aethir laughed, and then said, "Yeah, I guess so."

    With a nod to each other, they three turned to face the boys.

    'The sword and shield tactic,' Aethir thought, 'It spawned from reading those fairy tale books back at the orphanage. The knight would have a sword to attack for him,' Aethir looked at the clone's clone. 'and a shield to defend himself with,' he turned to the lightning clone. He then sighed. 'You're not much of a shield right now, so maybe... 'the sword and sword' tactic would be a good name? 'Dual swords'? 'Sword and-...' ah, forget it.' The man closed his eyes to allow them to rest for a moment. While doing so, he had taken note of the amount of chakra he had left.

    'I'll rely on lower jutsus for now.'

    His eyes opened, the three now standing there, staring at the boys, waiting to see if they'd make the first move. If not...


Chakra: 105/250
Lightning Clone: 21/105
Lightning Clone's Clone: 1/21

WC: 766
TWC: 5157
Born Ill: 7/8

Cooldown:

Aethir and his clones began to walk forward, and then run. As they came about 10 meters from Toshiko, the clones immediately sprinted in their respective directions. The clone with the chakra moved closer to the shielded Toshiko's position, while the chakraless clone moves  to the left side of the original boy. Aethir adjusted himself so that he and his clones, if the situation had ever come about, could form a triangle. His heart suddenly pulsated strongly, the feeling of a hand lightly squeezing it evolving into the hand violently wringing it dry of blood. Even with this pain, the ronin stood ready to play his part in the attack plan.

    Both clones threw a single shuriken, both having two remaining, but not at the same time. The chakraless clone would throw their shuriken first, and then the second, closest to the shielded Toshiko, would throw in response to either the first clone's shuriken being blocked or dodged, readjusting its aim according to Toshiko's dodge. The original pointed both his fingers, focusing his raiton chakra to his finger tips. In whatever direction the real Toshiko would dodge from the second shuriken (or first), if he did, Aethir would be there to fire only two shots, the second readjusting to the Boy's position if he'd dodge. With the multiple projectiles being thrown precisely and meticulously, Aethir figured he had a good chance. But there was always the luck to factor in.

    However, the possibility of the clone's shield getting in the way was possible. But Aethir had seen what that shield can do at the touch. If the clone tried to take Toshiko within it... Actually, can that shield hurt Toshiko? Aethir hadn't factored that in. But in the off chance that it could, the clone can only protect against one direction while keeping distance from Toshiko. With that in mind, and Aethir being across the shielded clone, he figured it couldn't simply run in his direction to shield Toshiko from his shock bullets. No, if it did that, it'd shock him.

    Aethir and his clones simply carried out the plan, and adjusted accordingly if need be.

Jutsu used:

Item:

Item:

Chakra: 95/250
Lightning Clone: 21/105
Lightning Clone's Clone: 1/21

Shock Bullets Remaining: 13

WC: 365
TWC: 5522
Born Ill: 8/8 (-1 Strength, -1 Speed)

Cooldown:

The attack plan had failed due to something the ronin hadn't factor in. He looked over to the clone charging him, bouncing off the heel of his foot about 4 meters, totaling the distance to about fourteen.

    'Another barrier?' Aethir narrowed his eyes, lowering one of his hands, the other pointing upwards. It dawned of him then. 'Ah, perhaps he's trying to starve us out.' Aethir turned to the clone with chakra. 'To get us to spend what energy we have left.' The display of the boy's strategic ability made Aethir giggle. 'Not bad, kiddo. Yeah, not too shabby there.'

    The chakraless clone glances over to Aethir, as if asking what to do now through telepathy. Aethir simply lowered his head slightly. His eyes shot over to the clone with the chakra, who was staring at him as well. Eventually, the clone turned back to the original Toshiko, maintaining its position.

    "Pointless."

    The clones suddenly turned to Aethir's direction, watching him stand up straight, shaking his head.

    "This is pointless. Silly. Fruitless." He smiled, looking at the Toshikos. "I'm not kidding anymore. You've improved greatly," the ronin lowered the hand that was pointing upwards towards them, "but this battle, I already know how it will end."

    "But how can you-?"

    "Ah, I see." The clone with the chakra spoke, straightening his stance also.

    "You do? W-why don't I see?" the chakraless clone spoke.

    "See? They've got barriers up," the lightning clone spoke. "We'd be running around, dodging these two for who knows how long."

    The chakraless clone looked towards the Toshikos.

    "Dodging and dodging until one of us gets tired. Then they strike."

    "Huh... That... S-so that means...?"

    Aethir, the original, cleared his throat. "It means the fight's over. We can break their barriers all we want, but who's to say that they don't have more? And to my knowledge, they can't attack as long as their shields are up. At this point, it's like knocking  on a door and neither side can open it."

    "Ah..." The lightning clone's clone nodded, also straightening its stance. "I getcha... So what do we-?"

    "We walk away."

    With that being said, the two clones began to walk towards the original. Standing near him, then nodded among themselves, soon walking casually towards the tower's entrance. At least, the clones did. Aethir turned to the shielded Toshikos.

    "A decent fight," he spoke, taking another deep breath, sweat slowly sliding down his face, "but there's nothing neither of us can do here. Plus, I need some sleep." He then began to walk with his clones, not even looking back to the boys as he waved. "See ya."

    As they were leaving, the hidden mist technique had reached it's limit, slowly fading into thin air.

Chakra: 95/250
Lightning Clone: 21/105
Lightning Clone's Clone: 1/21

Shock Bullets Remaining: 13

WC: 478
TWC: 6000
Born Ill: 8/8 (-1 Strength, -1 Speed)

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