dsf

When he came to smoke was rising high into the air in the distance piercing the all white landscape. A precursory glance at himself and his environment didn't immediately reveal any information to him as charcoal skin had already returned to normal. Alone in the snowy landscape with no obvious signs of travel near him Atsushi simply looked around confused as he attempted to gain his bearings. It was just him, his spear, and the snow though.

"Seriously, where...?"

Simply sighing instead of inquiring to to someone who wasn't there, Atsushi would head back to the falls he was stationed at. The smoke rising in the distance could only be a bad sign, as nothing even close to similar had happened in the area previously. Atsushi wore thick blue clothes filled with furs over his normal ninja attire that only slightly ruffled in the wind as he headed back to the base he was supposed to be defending.

As he progressed towards the chaos the sounds of battle became readily apparent. When he realized he was already late for the party a wide toothy grin spread across his face. The questions he'd had in his head faded as he gave into his simplistic, more pure urge to fight. He'd spin his spear around his left hand as he approached the falls he'd also pull out a single shuriken with his right hand, slipping into his sleeve for ease of access.

As the lightning ninja hopped from one tree to the next he'd watch as dozens of non-ninja soldiers were running towards him and away from the fight. He couldn't see or smell blood on them. Whatever the threat was, it was serious if these hardened soldiers were running away from it, maybe even enemy ninja. Not breaking his stride his next leap would take him to the ground as he'd land a few dozen meters in front of them.

"What's going on?!" Atsushi threw his hands wide as he shouted to the armored soldiers. His posture was relatively friendly as the grin would fade from his face for a bit.

"It's Konoha! They're attacking!" Most of the soldiers would continue running, but one would stop in front of Atsushi. "Coms said their Hokage is here and just single-handedly wiped out one of the bases." Despite the cutting chilly air the soldier was sweating profusely. "We're falling back. You're just a kid you should follow us. You're help would be needed in the back lines. There's nothing you can do here."

Atsushi's smile would return. "I see. It's totally serious." He would pause before locking eyes with the soldier who stopped to warn him. "Do what you have to, but I need to be here. I owe them." the two would simply nod before running past each other. Once again taking to the trees the genin, would move  at full speed towards the enemy forces .

He'd arrive to the scene of the battle, welcomed by the aforementioned kage. “Let’s see who would dare try to fight the Hokage of Leaf.”  The one whose face he saw was not the Bloodkage that he was expecting though it was a new face. While he'd heard rumors of the other kage's death, he'd not thought it possible. This man bore a striking resemblance to one of the previous, albeit a little older than that man. He had the same disinterested stare and disposition.

Not one to back down from any fight or challenge Atsushi would burst from the tree line from above as a powerful jet rippling with lightning chakra as he yelled, "Lariat!". Piercing through any of the terrain between him and the Hokage he'd jump from a tree to the man approaching the base and the growing conflict. He'd approach at 20 m/s and if his arm were to cleanly make contact with the kage he'd knock him back 10 meters and bruise his neck and upper chest, and his right arm would fall out of the "L" shape it had taken to activate the jutsu.

Regardless of whether he hit or missed, shaky hands would lift his spear and he would slide into a very defensive stance interposing the spear between himself and the Kage. "I'll fight anyone who would even think of standing against the Cloud." Atsushi's lips would spread into a slightly trembling, but toothy smile as he once again stood in defiance of the ninja in front of him.

Atsushi stood before the Kage with his spear, four shuriken, and a kunai. The probationary genin was devastatingly unprepared for the upcoming fight. He was probably the least suited for this fight out of all of his comrades. With the setting sun slowly setting the scene filling the sky with crimson and vermilion and the roaring waterfall blocking out any auditory distractions, Atsushi would wait for the Kage to make his move.

[WC= 843/ 1546]
[Mission= 1546/ 4050]

Chakra= 60/70

Jutsu Used:
LARIAT! -10 chakra

S-Rank: Coming Storm!:

--

A subconscious gulp would swallow down the anxiety welling up in the back of the shinobi's dry maw. Hands would momentarily tighten their grip, finding comfort, steeling themselves against the familiar firmness of the cold, folded metal. Aggressive footwork would spread into a wider stance through icy slush as his opponent gracefully caught himself, intuitively transitioning into a retaliatory pose prepared for a strike that wasn't coming. The fake Hokage was squaring up to a far greater opponent instead of the with the one standing in front of him, and Atsushi could see it. With the reaction to the blow that hadn't been thrown, he saw manifested before him the disparity in skill.

Reconnecting with the present and discarding the regret that'd begun welling within, Atsushi. Even when out of his league, especially when out of his league, he'd burn at his maximum intensity. Trembling would begin move to Atsushi's side dancing with his pole arm. The two sided instrument would delicately pirouette along his right hand lightly kicking up the few flakes of snow it came in contact with as the Hokage painted on another layer of deceiving intimidation.

“You know who I am?" He did. how could he not know? "I don’t want to cause unnecessary bloodshed. Leave this battlefield and I promise you no harm!” Blameless, there wasn't a ninja who would reprimand him for wanting to run away. The terror, like acrid bile, that begged to escape from pursed lips. Once more he'd swallow it down before bated breath finally gave and he remembered to inhale. Atsushi's spear began to sing a solitary note as it danced upon the wind, reined in only by the dexterous fingers of Atsushi's right hand.

"Do I know who You are? Seriously?" A defiant gaze formed as Hina conjured an illusion at each of her sides. Synchronized the trio moved as a singular unit, with little difference between clone and person. As the trio closed in Atsushi would take another step back. "You're the enemy." Atsushi's spear would dance around him creating a dense flurry of snow on all sides as the trio converged on him.

From Atsushi's 10 o'clock the spearhead would pierce its way outside of the cloud of snow and ice as he took the hit head on. His spear was aimed at the left most of the three kage, and if any luck he'd hoped to get in a lucky blow on the man as he got his jaw broken. When the punch connected Atsushi was surprised. He'd expected once again to get all of his bones broken, but he'd wager that only a tooth or two had been loosened. The fist was obscured by the now fading cloud of snow as Atsushi blindly stumbled back sweeping a second time with his spear at empty air. His eyes training back on the ninja before him preparing for whatever was to come next.

[WC= 504/2050]
[Mission WC= 2050/4050]

---

As scattered particles of the tiny glistening shards of ice fled from the shocking blow the konoha-nin landed. The snow laden cloud quickly dissolved into a glistening shimmer as Hina's powerful punch jarred Atsushi knocking his blade off course causing him to cut the Chunin in a way he'd not exactly intended. His eyes would shake out of focus during the moment of contact as clenched teeth only helped him maintain his grip on his consciousness when, as opposed to actually staving off any lapses in consciousness. Hazy eyes would quickly lock back onto Hina as he would readjust his stance. Spinning the spear in hand so that the point was facing the kage again, he'd place half the spear's length between them causing crimson footsteps to dash across the white blanketed ground. His eyes would focus again on the manshape in front of him shortly after.

Much to his surprise, there was a kunoichi in front of him as opposed to a kage. Withdrawing his aggression for a moment to reanalyze the situation, a shocked Atsushi would glare skeptically at the woman who took the kage's place. He'd seemingly dispelled the other two illusion in that exchange and landed a blow, well it did feel like he'd landed a blow. Blood dripped down the length of his spear, like molten wax as stilled hands angled it towards her face. For a moment as she opened her mouth to speak he pondered the merit of trying to decide if he was in a genjutsu.

Heavy breaths would interrupt his train of though. "Surprise!" The trickster would proclaim the emotion strewn across Atsushi's face by furrowed eyebrows and slightly agape lips. "I'm not who you thought I was! I’m not kidding about this fighting though. Wouldn’t it be a lot simpler if we just didn’t fight? I don’t know about you but I could do without getting my bones broken.” Doubt replaced the shock that had previously occupied his face.

"So," the kumo-nin would begin, "You seriously want me to believe that you came to these out outposts with no intentions of fighting." As he spoke his face was already becoming noticeably swollen. With a quick swing, he'd sling the blood off of his spear towards the ground taking another step back a he did so. "Sorry if I'm having trouble believing a genjutsu user." Atsushi wasn't going to back down. His posture made that much obvious, but he would wait to attack because he hoped that maybe there was a chance that she was telling the truth.

[WC= 445/2495]
[Mission WC= 2495/4050]

sdf

Throughout this fight Atsushi was sure he had the upper hand. The blood the had begun to diffuse into the snow underfoot should have confirmed it, but the ninja before him was faster than him and showed a talent with even simple justu like the basic bushin jutsu that he simply lacked. So when the konoha-nin appeared behind her announcing that Daremo had fled he didn't believe it, not for a second. If there really was an order for retreat, Atsushi would have seen it already, all it took was a brief glimpse to the sky, and Atsushi knew this was another trick.

"That's a relief." Atsushi watched as the manipulator in front of him incredibly convincingly grew relaxed, it was almost enough to make him let his guard down, but he knew he couldn't fall for it. If that ninja was really an ally surely he would've helped Hina finish her enemy off. He would ready his spear once more. He had one job right now, and he couldn't let this ninja pass him and get one over on him. The spear would twirl at his side as Hina cast another genjutsu masking her self from his sights.

As the three came at him, Atsushi would aim his polearm downward, he planned on thrusting himself upwards as the three came rushing towards him. He planned on re-positioning himself, so he could avoid their attacks and be in a favorable position. He planned on skewering them in one fell swoop if he could. Regardless of the practicality of his plans though the reality was Atsushi simply froze in place as the three converged on him, and blind rage filled his head. Behind Hina, high in the sky there was a single vulture holding a banner, a banner issuing his retreat as well as the retreat of all kumo forces. "Coward." The signal flares would come next.

As Hina sent the two of them to the ground Atsushi would hold tight to his spear, as if it were all he had in the world. He would retaliate in an ugly fashion, thrusting his forehead up towards Hina's face if she were still pinning him down, and thrashing, probably fruitlessly, to escape from her. It was obvious that he was in disbelief. He knew his Raikage was a cautious man. The few lessons he'd been taught by Daremo informed him of at least that much, but he'd never thought Daremo would abandon him and the other ninja in the area in fear of another ninja. Atsushi's knuckles began to crack as he squeezed his knuckles in anger. Even if Daremo did end up being a coward, he wasn't. He wouldn't ever be.