Mission:

Background Info
The Stone Bridge would be incapable of handling the excess traffic caused by the destruction of other bridges by a recent storm, so ninja from Iwa have created dozens of other temporary bridges downstream from this one to reduce congestion. The bridge closest to the Stone Bridge has a crossing toll to fund the project and compensate the ninja who built it, and you as well. Many civilians have gathered on it for the show, and some soecifically chose the path to get a glimpse of some of the fights as the went along on their travels.

Special Rules
This fight is to take place atop a plateau that the Stone Bridge and will be refereed by a ninja of special jōnin rank or higher on the sidelines. They are there to facilitate the fight and to make sure nothing gets to out of hand. There is a single win condition make sure that the other team falls off the bridge and into the water first, simply knocking the opposing team out won’t suffice. The bridge’s normal traffic has been rerouted for this game, as to not endanger civilians, so please be cautious with large area jutsu. Attempt to keep all large area jutsu pointed upstream to the north away from civilian traffic. Civilians have been provided with ice cold buckets of dye that they can and will pour on any nin who are unfortunate enough to fall off of the bridge and drift beneath them.

Environmental Mechanics
The rapids passing under the bridge are incredibly violent after a recent and powerful storm. They will require A-Rank or higher perception to maintain balance on with supernatural walking practice or another technique. B-Rank perception can stand on the water for up to three posts and every rank beneath that can stand atop with SWP or a similar technique it for one post less per rank as the 1-3 meter tall waves screw with their balance. Both ends of the bridge will be sealed by stone walls once every participant is in place. The  walls are raised and lowered by a team of jōnin at the end of every match.  

Today just wasn’t Taiho’s day. For whatever reason, he had woken up late this morning due to distractions and disturbances that had been occurring over the past few nights. Apparently his neighbor’s lacked any sense of the word decency and made as much noise as possible when they decided to make love to each other. This lead to him having a rather fitful sleep and in accordance, lead to him waking up rather late, even if it was still technically early. Rolling out of bed and onto his floor, Taiho cursed every god possible in his mother tongue of Amelan, his disgust and distaste in the world around him at the moment made him unnecessarily annoyed at just about everything. Deciding to lay there for a few moments more, he figured that he still had at least one to two hours before he’d have to get ready to go to the bridge for whatever fucking mission he had to do. He groaned and thought to himself about his life, wondering when he had become so revoltingly lazy in his day to day activities. It was rather unbecoming of him and he knew he’d have to stop this soon or else it’d become a habit.

Picking himself up off the floor, he’d shuffle over to his closet and gather himself up for the day, putting on a simple outfit of a bland white shirt that at least covered his shoulders and a pair of nondescript jean pants. He’d tie up his blonde hair into a bun to prevent it from getting tangled before grabbing his things and heading out the door. He’d run through the village relatively quickly, clearing the distance from between his apartment and the village gate relatively quickly. He wouldn’t even stop as he left the village either, running straight through all the way out to the bridges as directed by the mission scroll. Apparently he was here to spar with other genin as an exercise of skill and solidarity. It was also possible that he needed to have a partner but he assumed one would be assigned to him upon arrival so he hadn’t asked for any help. He wondered who else would show up to the location as he waited about near the bridge but out of the way of passing traffic as others went about their daily routine.

WC: 393

Ishirō stood in the crowd on the bridge adjacent to where the matchups were being held though he’d spent a pretty penny to get onto The bridge he had more than recouped his initial investment. From within a briefcase he’d brought with him on his trek to Iwagakure, he’d procured the dozen or so items he’d needed to begin making food to sell from his makeshift shop he’d set up. A simple click and the burner began to rapidly raise the temperature to the ideal range for the task. Once he deemed it was ready he’d begin juggling roughly two dozen spheres of dough. As he continued to juggle them he’d use a bit of sleight of hand to pierce their middles and slowly expand them until they reached the perfect O-shape then he’d begin to juggle them with a single hand placing them into the oil with his other hand one by one, before topping them and placing them in a small paper basket for a customer. Each righ of delightfully sweet doublgh melting in the customer’s mouth slightly quicker than they’d wished. The light and fluffy, ephemeral treat leaving the customers contiually wanting more they sold by the dozens. While the sweet, taste was balanced ever so subtly with the hearty and slightly salty flavors of the dough. The real star were the array of toppings the array of toppings that were available perfectly emphasizing the best qualities of the donuts. The cycle continued until his profit in hand vastly exceeded the small toll he’d paid to vend on the bridge.

Ishirō watched as two genin, a blonde male and a brunette female, went at it. The two of dancing around each other as the sparks of their kunai lit their eyes with a fierce fire. It was easily visible how much each of these two wanted to win, and the taijutsu bout continued until the blonde grabbed his opponent by her collar throwing her over the edge of the bridge. With a flourish and a bit of quick thinking and skill the brunette grabbed the edge of the bridge a ways down with her foot and chakra, and threw the fuma shuriken on her back into the water making a plunging sound that the blonde took as a sign of his win. He raised a single fist in the air as he waited for the ref to announce his win. The brunette ninja pulled on strings that, Ishirō could barely perceive, with her teeth as she made the clone sign and the went through another string of hand seals the fuma shuriken she’d thrown into the river ripped through the surface and began circling under and around the bridge covered in a large five pointed star made of water. In its wake no less than 20 duplicates with the same bladed, watery shell sliced their way out of the river and around the bridge. Her technique, planning, and execution all Garde-A in Ishirō’s book. A flawless jutsu combination that would overwhelm her opponent from a ridiculous number of angles.

Seeming to have heard the shuriken coming his way and wondering why the jōnin hadn’t come down to announce his victory, the blonde was already on the defensive when the shuriken all looped around the backside of the bridge. His eyes widedned as he must have been trying to figure a solution in his head. With a quick string of hand seals he attempted to stop them as a large wall of fire erupted out of the bridge doing little to stop the water encased shuriken that made it to within a meter of him covered in steam. “I- I- Forfeit!” The genin held his hands in front of himself in a panic as backed up stumbling over despite there being nothing behind him to trip him up except his own fear. Landing on his butt his opponent too commited to stop the shuriken despite her best efforts. Ishirō could only grimace from the side. He’d grabbed the edge of the bridge though in his mind he knew he couldn’t make the jump in time to save the blonde ninja.

But he didn’t have to, because it was then that the jōnin apeared and with two hand seals three large turtle heads made of stone jutted out of the bridge engulfing the shuriken in maws that entire ninja could have stood inside.

“The winner is Hana!” He said as he stood in front of the genin who’d fallen to the ground in panic. He offered him a hand and dusted him off before whispering something to the younger ninja, sending him off the bridge with Hana, the two shook hands and laughed as the sealed pathways opened once again to let nija enter the field.

“For our next bout we have a chūnin level match up.” He paused for a moment before explaining a little further. “So this match up will either be two genin vs two genin or one chunin who will be taking on two genin challengers.” The man read from a script in a scroll while it told the name. “Who will be our next ninja to participate?!” The man scoured the crowds waiting for someone else who was on the mission to step up, while there had been a steady flow of ninja for every bout there had yet to be an abundance as it seemed for the most part people came in groups with the people they wanted to spar with.

I'm done selling for the day, so I guess that means it's about time I get this mission over with, the newly appointed chunin thought to himself. He gripped the edge a little harder in anticipation before making his way to the framed entrance of the massive bridge. As reached the threshold he'd sit down a little briefcase that contained everything he'd used during the previous fights while he was selling donuts. That was something he was good at while fighting simply wasn't. His entire time working with the CIA he'd never had the impact he'd desired, but if he could reach the peak of the hierarchy of ninja he imagined there would be no tragedy before him he couldn't stop. That's why this, his first mission, would be only one of the very many stepping stones he'd use to propel himself to the peaks he sought.

"Ishiyaki, Ishiro." He'd seen the ninja before him do this, so he'd assumed it was somehow part of the process. He'd make sure that all of his equipment was in placed before setting his jacket down next to his briefcase. He methodically tied on his head band revealing himself to be an Iwa-nin with his shiny, unmarred head-band "Um, Chunin ranked ninja." He hesitated for a second as the jonin simply watched him expectantly, and more than a few seconds passed before Ishiro realized he was supposed to approach and actually stand on the bridge. He realized that this was going to be awkward: a chunin should be able to wipe the floor with a few genin, but as it stood he was no where near as strong as a regular chunin. Because of the time he spent with the CIA, even with academy training he never really mastered ninjutsu like most ninjas did. His senpais thought that mastering one's body would prove more useful. ”I guess I’ll be sparring with two genin.”He finally took his first step forward onto the gray brick.

"Our first participant for match eighteen of today's bouts, Ishiyaki, The Red Hot, Donut Shop, Iiiiiiishirooooo!" Apparently this guy had been watching the crowd as well as the match. Ishiro tried to remember if he'd served him, but he couldn't put a finger on his face. Regardless this guy was super cringy, of course this would be the kind of mission I'd get stuck with, Ishiro thought to himself. He walked up and bowed to the ref waiting for his two genin opponents before bowing to each of them in turn. Ishiro expected his opponents would have equally cringy announcements before the start of the match was announced. Ishiro was a little nervous, and a couple beads of sweat already formed on his brow. He had to make sure these two genin didn't completely body him, for his pride's sake.

Inventory:

Stat Modifiers:

[Primary Target = No one]
[WC=1435]

There was a crow perched upon a tree looking down at him. Makoto did not understand this strange feeling he felt as he looked to the black bird. There were no people for miles around as he walked through the empty streets slowly, as the grey silhouette and the lack of color graced his eyes. With each step of his feet as the dust rose up from the ground, as weeds seemed to tumble along to a gentle breeze. There was a voice calling out to him, a silent voice that called for him to come closer. He saw a girl dressed in white with long hair of black that was straight as she seemed to fade away into the sky. There were some boys playing outside running through some fields of wheat and girls sitting playfully while spinning bottles in circles as they laughed. There was the figure of a shadow that stood before the young boy as he looked up to the one before him as the crow seemed to have vanished from his sight as he saw its mouth move, there was a word he heard, a word and a bird as he began to wonder if the bird was the word.

After this strange dream Makoto had woken up falling from his bed on the soft floor beneath him as he began to wonder if things were always meant to be this way. He got up slowly as his hand felt the carpet beneath him, his forearm pressing against the floor as he felt a sharp pain in his elbow. His feet felt the furs of the carpet as his toes pressed into them as he fidgeted with them slightly before getting to his knees as he stayed on all fours looking at the ground with sweating dripping from his face. The drops of sweat flowing from his forehead as it came down as he blinked to get some of the droplets away from his eyes, as some of it rode down the length of his small nose and from the tip dropped as the intense feelings that he had would not go away.

Makoto was shook in a way he did not understand, as he tried to rise up from the effects of this strange dream or nightmare, was it a dream, was it a nightmare, was it a memory of things passed or a past memory of things to come as time no longer had meaning for him. He pressed the palms of his hands as hard as he could, he lifted his one leg as he pressed his toes on the floor, followed by the front of his foot as he strained himself to stand up as he rose up slowly, bewildered and stressed out by the madness of the night that had passed as he pressed his foot down hard. He began to finally look ready to stand as he pressed his other foot only to lose his balance as he fell to the side hitting the floor once more as his foot was still asleep for some reason.

Filled with the sweat of the night as he had on a loose t-shirt as he felt the heat was too much, he raised up his shirt slightly to shake out the sweat some more as he then began to rise up once more in a partial daze. He stumbled around until he could walk as normally as he could, he turned on the shower as he fell arm first against the wall of the shower as he looked down at the shower drain. He then began to feel a pain in his side as he remembered what had happened a few days ago. He will not forget the look on that man's face, he did not know how to explain this feeling he felt deep down inside. He could not do anything to this man, even though his jutsu seemed strong, even though he felt he had been improving he was made to be nothing more then a joke as he felt he needed to prove himself, Makoto had to prove that his way was the right way, that the right way was not the shinobi way. The right way was the arts of jutsu themselves as he stood there not caring that he still had his clothes on as the water drenched him the coldness of the water making him feel like he had to endure and cool off.

After some time passed he washed up and got dressed in a loose t-shirt with the Iwa symbol on the back as he wondered if he had a clan, or whether his parents had found what they were looking for as he made his way towards the stone bridge. He was not having a good day, a good week or even a good month, perhaps every year was a living hell. In the end it did not even matter as he finally reached the stone bridge as he had put on his cloak covering his upper body as it hid away his shield on his back and the tanto inside the shield. He had his small projectiles inside the pockets of his shorts as he wondered what to do as he forgot to finish drying his hair as it was still dripping with a bit of water from earlier.

Then an announcer mentioned that it was the eighteenth match up and the Ishiro of the donut shop was to be the opponent for who ever the challengers were. As Makoto got there he showed his mission scroll to an instructor who pointed him towards the arena as he entered with his small frame looking as harmless as a fly as his introduction was then shouted out.
"The first of two challengers for this bout acting as a team to face the might of the red hot donut shop, we have the book hungry bug all the way from the hidden depths of the diamond heights library, that lovable silent bookworm, Maaaaaaaa kooooooooooo tooooooooo..."

This was embarrassing in more ways then one as he decided he will let loose his frustrations on this opponent named donut shop as his mind was actually getting a bit confused at the moment as the announcer would then prepare to introduce the final participant as Makoto decided to just sit on the floor until his partner arrived as his legs were crossed he began to meditate as people wondered if this was going to be a real spar. They had a donut shop boy and a library book worm boy, now all they needed was one more to get this strange fight underway.

Words = 1119

********************************************************
All Gear is Equipped

Inventory:

The day seemed to move far more slowly than it normally should have gone. The various hustle and bustle of merchants had brought about a rather monotonous atmosphere that seemed to drag on and on throughout the day. The atmosphere was lovely for Taiho honestly, giving him that ample reasoning to drop himself into a seiza position so that he could work on his meditation and breathing exercises, considering he had been so rudely interrupted the last time he had attempted them. Breathing in deeply, he was slowly drawn himself in the cacophony of sounds and smells, the sights fading away all too quickly as he closed his eyes to outside stimuli. Within moments the only things he could perceive were the dull cries of shop keeps calling out their wares, the rhythmic clicking and stomping of carts and the horses that pulled them, and the slightly muffled sounds of fighting.

Breathing deeper, he’d focus in on the sounds of fighting in particular, his body filtering out residual details that did not matter in context to what he was searching for. The dull thumps and clangs of fist and steel coming in contact with each other. He couldn’t tell much about who they were or why they were fighting, even if he already knew that they were likely sparring as per the mission. He also couldn’t yet pinpoint an exact location that they were fighting at, but from the occasional creak of the wood planks beneath padded sandals whenever one of the fighters landed, he could at least guess the direction and environment they were fighting in. His head still facing forward, he could tell that the fighting was happening to his right a decent distance away from the cliff wall. The bridge itself, despite being fairly makeshift and intended to be temporary, seemed to withstand the effort and force used by the shinobi. Unlike the others, he couldn’t perceive the individual strikes, the kicks, the punches, the parries. He couldn’t perceive the feints and counters. All he could hear and inevitably ‘see’ was the sound of effort, and the exertion the two or three were giving throughout their bout.

This would continue for at least another half an hour before Taiho finally had felt like he had gleaned enough audible information from his surroundings. Rising to his feet, he’d dust himself off calmly, his eyes wandering about as he made himself presentable before stepping forward towards the bridge that his own battle would be taking place on. He approached the bridge from the road side, the vendors and such had continued to peddle their wares from behind him as the river and approaching traffic became far more visible the closer he was to the multiple bridges. He could already see that his teammate for the exercise had arrived as well as his opponent and nodded along to the engagement. Slipping the fingers on his left hand into the gauntlet hanging by his side, Taiho would assess the situation before determining that the engagement would be a two versus one in his favor. It was difficult to gauge his superiors strength or capabilities from afar, the boys rather lax or better yet, uncertain disposition meant he either was confident in his ability to handle the two genin, or that he was unsure on the strength of said genin. Either way it showed Taiho that even making the rank of ‘Chuunin’ would not instill himself with the sense of courage or strength that he felt he needed to take back his home.

Steeling himself to the possibility, he’d clench his fingers in his left hand before slipping the fingers of his right into the opposite glove. Stepping up to the bridge itself, he could hear the announcer begin to to well, announce his presence to the growing crowd. “And finally we have the last of the challengers. Hailing from lands unknown. The Blonde Boxer. Taihooooo Seikerrrrrrr”! He would resist the urge to flourish his arrival after hearing his name shouted with such enthusiasm, but he knew that without a doubt, this feeling was elating. It left a sense of bubbliness in his guts that he wouldn’t forget, no matter how shitty his life would become in the near future. He would come to a stop next to his partner, not addressing or acknowledging him in anyway as he focused entirely on his opponent. He didn’t know what his partner could do either but he was certain that whatever it was, it would be necessary for them to win the fight. Pulling his hands up to his chest, he would grasp the bottom of his right glove and pull it down a bit on the hand before curling his fingers into a fist, making sure that it was snug upon the hand before bowing respectfully to his opponent.

“Another day, another test”, he’d say simply in his soft voice before sliding his right foot back and entering his forward ready stance. His hands arcing away from their clasped position to form a necessary guard up in front of him with his left held further out from his body and crossing his face and body diagonally while his right was held up close to his face. His guard was maintained appropriately so that he could react to any given situation considering that they were starting at a health distance of ten meters apart. The bridge itself was much less a bridge, and more of a platform all things considered. The entire area was closed off by two stone walls sealing in the three contestants and forming the last of the unnatural barriers that their sparring area would consist of. All in all the entire area was around thirty meters from wall to wall and was fifteen meters wide from rope to rope. The bottom was fashioned of thick blocks of wood that had no gaps in between to maintain structural integrity. A strong gust of wind blew through the area as the three stood there, but it wasn’t enough to meaningfully disrupt any of them unless they were off balance. All in all, the stage was set for what could be at the very least, a decent battle.

WC: 1038 + 393 = 1431

Stats:

Weapon:

"The first of two challengers for this bout acting as a team to face the might of the red hot donut shop, we have the book hungry bug all the way from the hidden depths of the diamond heights library, that lovable silent bookworm, Maaaaaaaa kooooooooooo tooooooooo..." The announcer welcomed the first of the two genin to the battlefield  with just as much awkward enthusiasm as when Ishirō had been introduced. When he wasn't the target of the the announcer's spotlight it wasn't as bad though, in fact the 'Lovable Silent Bookworm' was a name so personalized that it brought a smile to his face. Also he kinda hoped that because the genin was a bookworm maybe he'd be an easy target. The genin walked to his starting position much more calmly than Ishirō expected, implying to the rookie chunin that maybe this Maaaakoooootooo was just that confident. A thought surfaced in his mind taking note of that confidence and  targeting the other genin first instead since this genin was objectively more decked out that Ishirō was.

“And finally we have the last of the challengers. Hailing from lands unknown. The Blonde Boxer. Taihooooo Seikerrrrrrr!” Ishirō watched as the genin put on spiked gloves one at time and quickly reassessed his priorities. 'Boxing?!' Ichiro thought to himself. 'didn't boxers use nice, soft padded gloves, not gauntlets with skewers.' Ishirō, ignorant to both the world of ninja and the world of boxing compressed all of his fears, all of his anxieties, all of his pain and loss, and all of his hopes and aspirations into a dense ball in the center of his chest. With one last mental note to himself, 'Remember the boxer is most likely going to be the one best able to keep up with you,' he sealed the burning ball of emotions within himself causing his face to begin to relax.

"I think I'll call it ref!" Ishirō shouted not looking for any affirmation from the announcer, whose eyebrow twitched ever so subtly. Time seemed to slow for Ichiro as the wind picked up his hair billowing it to his right. He inhaled and though the intake of air would only take a fraction of a second to fill his lungs it seemed like an eternity. The howl of the wind masked the sound of the genin's words from his ears, but he could see she was ready as she made sure her scary murder gauntlets were on tight the. As she squeezed her hand closed the sound of cracking leather did pierce through the wind, and he could feel the ball of emotions slowly get crushed by eagerness to fight. He would speak loud enough so the two genin could easily hear him. "Sparring Exercise," Ishirō punctuated the first half of his sentence with a single step forward. "Begin!" The second half was punctuated by the announcer rolling his eyes and throwing his hands in the air.

Immediately after the word left his mouth he made contact with the ground a second time and his stride expanded into a run. While he was way more fit than most people, to a ninja, the 5 m/s he accelerated to was nothing major. The moment one of the two ninja were within five meters of him, he'd reach back into his kunai pouch with both hands, keeping his pace up as he did so. In his left hand he would draw three shuriken, all three of which he’d attach lavender colored chakra strings to, and in his right a single kunai which he would attach a fourth chakra string to. He’d throw the three shuriken at the two genin before him Teiho getting one flying towards her ribs on her right side and one towards her left eye. Easily noticeable, due to Ishirō’s lack of talent in puppetry, was the chakra strings that connected to two of the shuriken, the shuriken aimed for her eye and ribs, to Ishirō’s fingers on his left hand. One of two puppet strings he currently was using. In the moment he threw them they were mostly tethers allowing the shuriken to still move with his reaction speed as opposed to relying on the jutsu for movement.

The second puppet string was attached to the shuriken he sent flying at Makoto aimed for his sternum in case he were to attempt to make hand seals for a jutsu while Ishirō continued to close the distance bee-lining for Teiho. The shuriken was also free flying at the moment not yet being manipulated by the chakra strings technique. Ishirō followed in the wake of the two shuriken aimed at Teiho. If she dodged to one side or the other he’d correct his trajectory, so he could meet her head on. His focus was mostly on her, but he was minding Makoto and the two shuriken with strings attached to them. Regardless of whether she dodged it, blocked it, or if it was about to hit her he would take control of the puppet string attached to the shuriken aimed for her eye and redirect it to Makoto aiming for his hands in the shadow of the other shuriken.  

Assuming everything went according to plan -but what ever does truly go according to plan- when he was face to face with Teiho his first priority was avoiding those gauntlets. Ishiro was confident he could take a punch or two, but the genin's weapons were incredibly menacing. He needed to see if the genin was capable in close quarters or if the gauntlets and the name were just for show. Seeing as how Teiho was a boxer Ishiro would bide his time for just a moment as he would get attempt to play reactively against the boxer throwing his kunai high enough in the air that it would make it back in a few seconds when he'd need it again (read: until his next post). He would use his superior height to his advantage staying right at the cusp of his own reach. Inhaling quickly he would start with a kick healing through it, squatting, placing his kunai-wielding right hand on the ground, sweeping at the genin's feet with his left leg, rotating about 60 degrees in the process.

Simultaneous with the leg sweep, assuming that the all three shuriken had been dodged or parried successfully, Ishiro closed his left fist and pulled it towards his right hip and any of the three shuriken that he'd thrown earlier that hadn't had chakra strings detached from them would animate, lagging a little behind the movement that initiated the change, and re-launch themselves at Makoto attempting to cut him from three different angles, albeit a lot more sloppily than when Ishiro first threw them. 'Come on,' the chunin would think to himself hoping to at least land a hit in. He was skeptical of his odds, but if he played it smart he might have a chance not to embarrass himself in front of the massive crowd. Multiple attackers was simply a worse case scenario for Ishiro and this fight was likely going to put that on display.

Chakra 295/300:

[Primary Target= Teiho (-1 reaction time and perception to any attacks not from Teiho)]
[WC= 1205/2640]
[TLDR: Ishiro ran up to the two genin as fast as his little jelly legs could carry him, ~5 m/s at D-Rank. Upon getting within 5 m of Teiho and Makoto -I did all of this btw assuming Teiho was to Makoto's right side- Ishiro would throw the three shuriken [with C-1 reaction speed (probs dodge-able considering the genin have at least a second of prep time)]. Ishiro then goes to deal with Teiho and his sceery gauntlets, who he, for I think valid reasons, believes to be a girl. He tosses his kunai up into the air and sweeps her leg. Simultaneous with the leg sweep he sends the three shuriken [with C-0 reaction time and a whopping E-3 speed] to, hopefully, distract Maaakoootooo.]
[OOC: I'm going to speed up my posts from here on out so you all can get the combat incentive chakra boost and stat training from this thread before the chunin exams. Come at me with all you've got!]

It seems that the partner joining for this fight was going to be a melee specialist in the art of boxing, the blonde boxer seemed to have these crazy gauntlets which looked like they would heard if they made contact. On the arrival of his partner he got up from sitting on the floor and then stood taking a stance with his legs prepped to jump back and allow Seiker to be the vanguard for this fight. He also made some movement concealed beneath his over coat so that his ninjutsu intentions would not be revealed right away. The opponent for this battle shouted out that he feels they should call it as Makoto started off with the idea of going through with his new tactic he had not finished mastering yet.

The wind seemed to pick up as his opponent's hair seemed to flow to the one side making it appear alive, while Makoto's hair which was in need of a haircut also seemed to blow a bit crazily in this wind as it seemed as if the battle was soon going to begin. The opponent seemed to be taking a deep breathe as this quickly indicated to Makoto that he had to prepare himself as he hid his hand seals beneath the cloak as he already prepped chakra inside of his shield for later use as he slotted in his one arm and got his sword with the other since he had prepped the technique and was ready for the battle to begin.

Then the words came out loud "Begin!!!"

***RandomBattleMusic***

As soon as the battle began Makoto jumped back since there was still some room to move around and was to increase the time he would have to complete his next technique. He did not care much for what his opponent was doing as it would appear as if something came from under the over coat that Makoto was wearing, if several shuriken or other projectiles were heading towards Makoto it would be stopped and a cling, clang and shing sound would be heard as the several projectiles would collide with the shield of another Makoto who would be the first clone and to the other side of Makoto was just one more Makoto as it was two makoto water clones with the one clone blocking in case of attack with a shield in the right arm equipped and a sword drawn from the left arm. He would use these two as a back up vanguard to allow him to prepare more useful ninjutsu for this battle.

Makoto had only one hand seal prepped though, the dog hand seal hidden beneath his over coat since revealing your hand seals often became a problem with certain higher level shinobi. If for some reason he encountered any follow up attacks while busy with his technique his other water clone was also on guard to react. If for instance the opponent directed projectiles towards him that were heading towards Seiker and happened to be redirected towards him as the other clone would use its shield as well to block as he would finish the seal prepping. A small pool of water would form beneath Makoto's feet that was not too deep or problematic at all as more shuriken seemed to come at several angles as the clones used their tanto's to knock those away as he wondered if he was being taken lightly by his opponent. Using this chance provided he would sit back for now and wait for an opening to strike since he had a partner he could not simply throw all his jutsu at the opponent and his preparation he made was in order to take away his one weakness.

It seems rather then going directly for Makoto who was clearly having more tricks hidden up his sleeve the opponent went for the person who was clearly going for a melee fight without hesitation as if to handicap himself, though either option was bad without any information so right now Makoto would have to focus on watching his opponents movements as his clones stood guard for any further shuriken attacks as he would pass on forming any more hand seals as it was time to prepare for battle.

Words = 1119 + 714 = 1833

Chakra = 250 -5(E-rank jutsu) -10(D-rank jutsu) - 15(C-rank jutsu) = 220 - 44(2 water clones) = 176/250
Water Clone 1 = 22/22
Water Clone 2 = 22/22

Jutsu:

Summary of Actions:
Makoto prepared replacement technique in his shield.
Makoto jumped back to buy some time to create his two water clones who proceed to defend against the shuriken attack if Seiker is unable to prevent it since they all come equipped with his gear as well.
The one water clone having blocked the first shuriken assault if applicable will allow Makoto to form the dog hand seal to create a small pond of water beneath his feet with a five meter radius
The second water clone defends against the second shuriken assault if applicable.
Makoto and clones observe Seiker and Ishiro to look for an opening

please note I added "if" to lots of my statements since Teiho's post might prevent the attacks from occurring.

 Taiho’s rather rigid stance had a purpose as he watched his partner finally rise to his feet beside him. The boys stance was rather flimsy at first glance, meaning he was more of a back lines fighter anyway. This was perfect for Taiho. He had someone to cover him as he went for the offensive. He was certain the boy could handle himself, and while he thought to address a sort of game plan before the battle began, he figured that it was almost agreed between the two of them, especially with the boys stance, that he would take the lead with Makoto backing him up with ranged jutsu that would hopefully avoid hitting him with their various payloads. Clenching his fists tighter, he could only barely hear the boy in front of him shout out “Sparring Exercise”, very visibly stepping forward with the statement. It was clear that the boys plan was to assault them with the surprise of being able to start the match, something that Taiho himself would normally look down upon as his background was more of a chivalrous kind. Fighters of his homeland would never consider such trickery, but here Taiho understood that it was almost necessary, anything to get the leg up on the opponent, the enemy.

His eyes dulled slightly, a sense of detachment to the situation and to his own humanity took ahold of him as was instructed by his father. His eyes took in everything they possibly could, every detail as the boy dashed forward with the shout of “Begin!” His own body moved accordingly, also taking that initial dash forward with the sound and action of his opponent. His body moved and reacted faster than his mind could think or plan, faster than his mind could even consider. It all happened so fast that in all honesty if he were to think back to the situation later on in life, he probably should have held back. The boy in front of him was quick on his feet, however being human still had its drawbacks, especially when your body is moving faster than it can sometimes consider. While his opponent would cross the distance at a speed of five meters per second, he himself would keep the throttle at a slightly slower four meters per second, the both of them crossing half the distance between them in one second. However as his opponent had deemed it necessary to start preparations for an assault in transition, Taiho’s body had already chosen the action to strike with his opening move, regardless of where his opponent was.

His forward left arm that had been held across his body as a guard had already been drawn back slightly upon moving, the action drawing in the power to the arm itself as the forward motion necessitated an opposite reaction to redirect all of the kinetic energy he had been gathering. Upon both shinobi finally crossing a certain distance from each other, one meter to be exact, this gathering of energy would finally be released in a snap uppercut from Taiho that would be unleashed at the boy’s unguarded, wide open, soft flesh underneath his chin and jaw. The punch would be punctuated by him stomping down suddenly to cease his own momentum and transferring even more energy into the strike that was on a rather deadly collision course with the underside of his opponent's exposed jaw. The strike would come while the boy was still preparing his own moves, hands still well within their pockets meaning the boy likely had not considered that his opponents would rush him down before he could prepare. It was likely that the boy had also not considered that they were relatively close to each other and thus it was not hard for neither he, nor Makoto to reach him well before he was finished preparing anything. Of course the boy could possibly move his head, however the strike was coming from below his line of sight meaning he would have no awareness of the punch coming at him aside from the sudden appearance of Taiho’s lithe frame and the fact that his right hand was no longer guarding the front of his face.

His body formed a perfect line of action from his planted rear right foot, curved and pressed down to push his body forward and brace itself for impact, all the way up to his hips that had already turned so that his left was facing his opponent, twisting his body into the motion as his left foot planted itself firmly to form a solid base. His left arm was already in the motion of jacking up towards where his opponents chin would be in mere milliseconds as the boy’s body flung itself at him with incredible speed, and with the distance that they were at, it was nearly impossible for him to adjust his positioning or even dodge considering his hands were already busy with other preparations. With this strike it was likely that his opponent would likely get speared on the spike of Taiho’s gauntlets, and while a clear minded Taiho would likely not resort to such extremities, a more battle focused and blood lusted Taiho only sought to overwhelm and destroy his opponents with brutal efficiency befitting a Guardian of Hamel and a Shinobi of Iwa. Even fellow village mates would not be spared from this brutality. Such was the way of the berserker.

WC: 909

TL;DR - Ran at Ishiro at the same time as he moved after shouting begin. Ran a little slower so I would stop at 4 meters after a second but Ishiro would still be at 5. The motions of the uppercut had already been started during the initial movement but the upward motion had begun as he stopped and would be complete as Ishiro reached within optimal range of the uppercut itself making it not only difficult to dodge, but also to see since it's coming from below his sight range. I didn't put in damage since it's possible that Ishiro could dodge it, but if he doesn't then the spike pierces his jaw cavity and he's basically given a concussion from the punch itself [C Rank Strength is still applied even with the spike] and will likely drown in his own blood as it floods his mouth and throat.

As the chūnin moved forward to the boxer, she in turn sought to meet half way, maybe it was an intimidation tactic, maybe it was bloodlust, maybe it was confidence, or maybe it was something in between. Regardless Ishirō was numb to the advancing genin, it didn’t matter to him in this particular moment that the genin’s murderous intent was near palpable. Him meeting Ishirō halfway was probably for the best. It confirmed that the ninja was more comfortable at close range. He didn’t slow down for even a moment as she continued forward. Once she was within five meters of him, Ishiro threw the shuriken, as planned, one feinted, one at her ribs which she seemed to ignore, and one at Makoto. Each one of the shuriken was moving at about 15 m/s in their initial flight before they made any contact with their designated targets.

There was a chakra string attached to each of them just as Ishiro had intended, nothing having disturbed that intent. Despite the decreased time frame brought on by the encroaching genin, Ishiro's intentions were unshaken by her. The two shuriken that flew past her would do as Ishiro intended mainly because unlike the boxer his fighting style didn't primarily involve the usage of one's hands. For a chef to box is to eventually ruin one's ability to cook. One slip up one mistake and your out of the kitchen for weeks. Seeing as how Ishiro made most of his money through his culinary arts, to lose access to even one hand would have catastrophic effects on  his livelihood and therefor on his income. This made him not worry about having two of his limbs occupied in a fight. With nothing that he knew of to stop the shuriken flying at the genin's ribs - the one closing in on him who maybe assumed, albeit falsely, that both of the shuriken were feints- he expected it to rip through flesh and touch the bone of her lower floating ribs. The shuriken would land two meters in front of Makoto and to his right even if he had to use the puppet technique to make that happen.

When the bookworm summoned the two water clones to defend from the two shuriken Ishirō found himself realizing that maybe he should have waited until he was a little closer to throw the shuriken. He’d given the genin too much time and room to react. He'd, falsely, assumed that he'd be able to suppress the other ninja's ability to cast any jutsu that would be beneficial or protective to the blonde. In fact it seemed to have the opposite effect as it caused Makoto to generate two physical clones, a technique Ishiro had heard of but never witnessed. That being said he learned a couple of different things. The genin’s reflexes seemed noticeably slower than his own though even in Ishirō’s peripherals, and the clones seemed to have spawned from water so they might be poppable like a water balloon. His main focus though remained on the genin approaching him. She was closing in quickly, and he had to decide how he wanted to interface with her attack.

Her line of attack seemed simple enough she was just planning on intercepting Ishirō. While it may be true for a genin that moving at the speeds he was moving at would strain his ability to react to his environment, he had the opposite problem. He'd spent so much time working in confined spaces limited to a small range of movement that He felt like he was running almost too slow. Ishirō watched her as she planted herself right in front of him using her right leg to form a line with her and her forward left leg planted almost like a spring. A fearsome stance capable of producing a great deal of power. She was fast that much couldn't be denied. Ishirō honestly didn’t know genin could move like that, but she wasn’t quite as nimble as Ishirō. He'd been expressly paying attention to her because she'd seemed the most eager to charge in and her weapons paired with the announced fighting style was quite intimidating.

**Battle Music Continues**

Without missing a single beat Ishirō planted his left foot on the stopped genin’s lower left thigh/ left knee area extending two fingers in his kunai wielding hand to form a half hand sign and activate the supernatural walking practice technique. This motion involved him getting within a step away (entering the one meter threshold that would initiate Taiho's attack well within Ishiro's stride) from her on his right foot and having his left foot then plant itself firmly on her leg. Simultaneous with that action his kunai-wielding right hand would swing from behind him to in front of his chest making a half hand sign. His foot on her knee to have his weight travel through her shin, through her heel, and into the bridge. He was avoiding any extraneous work on the genin’s  instead having it all travel through her bones, so she'd maintain that explosive upward power. Not losing any momentum the kunai would be up in the air as his other two fingers would simply release it letting its own conservation of momentum do most of the work for him as it flew into the air.

Ishiro himself would do his best to make sure that he wouldn't get impaled by those vicious claws. He would take his next step to launch him over Taiho's head to avoid the snap uppercut. This step comprised of the chunin flipping over Taiho his shoulders his own arm's length over her head with that being the peak of his jump. In that moment his back was to Makoto, he'd reach down to grab the bun atop Taiho's head. Ishiro knew little about the shinobi's ways, but one of the things he was warned about was the length of his hair. He was told that a shinobi's hubris could often be likened to how long they kept it. With the volume of Taiho's bun he imagined she had a lot of hubris, but maybe also the skill to back it up. He'd activate a second justu in tandem with the motion of grabbing her hair, the item reinforcing technique. And while he was unsure if it could in fact reinforce her hair, it would be disadvantageous if it broke.

He'd pull on her bun with more than enough force to break a hair tie, pulling it out a foot not knowing how long it truly was. His clenched fist calling the kunai back down into a descending course leading right to his heel. His right heel would kick the kunai, launching it seemingly wide of the bookworm and his clones veering slightly towards the bookworms right side. As he landed, attaching to the ground, the Multitasking chunin would clench his fist leaving just his pinky pointed up, causing the two shuriken from earlier to swirl back towards Makoto just as slow as before. The third shuriken though would launch straight into the air directly in the path of the kicked kunai. With a violent CLINGing sound, the kunai would redirect towards Makoto aimed for his sternum, having closed in a bit more and come from a weird angle Ishiro was a bit more confident that the kunai flying at 15 m/s speed from above his clones would be enough to get a solid hit in. If not he was using his left hand to manipulate the two shuriken originally aimed at Makoto to assail him once again.

His final step placing himself in an oblong triangle with Taiho and the grouping of book worms allowed him to, for the moment at least, keep all parties in his sight, though due to his nature his main focus was on Taiho. The situation was no less perilous as he was now flanked by both groups. Definitively not where he wanted to be, and the momentum he'd built up gone. For good measure though he kept the blonde genin's hair firmly in his grasp. Ishiro's heart was racing as the adrenaline pumped through his veins making instincts he didn't know he had roar.

[Primary target still Taiho. -1 reaction time to anyone who isn't Taiho]
[WC= 1410/ 4090]

TLDR:

Chakra: 285/300:

Makoto was not sure on how he would win this fight as two shuriken flew towards him the one clone blocked it with his mighty shield, and all who would see his shield should one day yield as he began thinking of a way to use his shield to perform more jutsu as he got an idea unlike what he had done previously. He had finally come up with an answer to his greatest problem as he watched the two engage closely the thoughts running through his head was that he could use water, in the same way the reaction to hair and the flow of the battle made it clear the number of things he could do as he decided to remember this idea as he tossed his main shield into the sky as it began to fly into the air as he formed a one handed seal for his technique which while it covered an area was not too large of a technique. Around his body the hidden mist jutsu was performed by one of the clones hiding the formation of the second technique as he was preparing to bring an end to this battle as mist formed all over his body to protect him.

It was time for them to witness his prowess as the two water clones had assisted him with his preparation as there was a small mist wall hidden inside the mist as his eyes focused with the ability to see all that was happening outside of his mist. This was also part of his plan to take out his opponent as he blinked a few times, he was fortunately outside of their range for the time being not certain what they were doing as all this taijutsu was boring as from within the mist which only he could see in, unless they had some form of sensory techniques as he would aim several shuriken in an arc all aimed towards his opponent, however the aim was off as they would simply pass by as a distraction on the left sides and right sides with this it was clear he would be able to use his tactic soon even if he was simply a decoy, or perhaps it was teiho that was the decoy as his techniques were all hidden in mist.

Words = 1833 + 388 = 2221

Chakra = 176 - 5(D-rank signature defense) - 5(D-rank signature sensory) = 166/250
Water Clone 1 = 22 - 5(D-rank signature) = 17/22
Water Clone 2 = 22/22

Jutsu:

Summary of Actions: Blocked the shuriken that were flying towards him with a shield of C-rank.
Clone performed hidden mist jutsu to conceal his location
Makoto performed the hand seal required for shakkaho if needed in next post
Makoto used water droplet reflection sight hidden mist version
Makoto used mist to form a mist defense that is hidden while he is still in the mist
Water pond creation is still active
Clones are still on guard as makoto is prepared for his finish attack
Makoto arc'd shuriken to the left and to the right side of the two combatants as a decoy to make them look to either side.