"Get back here boy", Zetsume told his faithful companion Repede who was off trying to get girls to pet them. He was always a sucker for cute gals. Zetsume was quite not the same, he did not really trust people even if they were from his village. To his knowledge he was only useful to people who needed something from him instead of needed just him. Unable to determine if everyone was like this he just distanced himself from them. He would seclude himself from any social activities unless he was forced into them. Usually from him seeing something that offends his pride such as a man hitting a woman. Deep down he knows most of them could hold their own yet they dont because of a stupid thing known as love. Zetsume however was not as collected as them so to speak. When he would often see such things it would cause him to basically red out and cause fights. However, he had been in a deep sleep. It was hard to describe but he has been away from himself and reality for quite sometime. Zetsume was quite unsocial able before and this whole thing just made it worse. People would come up to speak to him and he would of course respond to them but he did not actively seek people to converse with. Most of them probably wont remember his name.

Once Repede was done ogling the girls of the city they went on their way to the battle plateau. It was normally a quiet place in which he could train and relieve some of his stress. Which was something he had not done in awhile. He was a war machine bred and trained for the sole purpose on protecting people in his village, yet he could not help but to feel worthless as of late. His own incompetence was nerve racking. He had to train on this day, if he did not then he just might lose his sanity. Thank the lord where ever he may be that he had Repede. Without this dog he surely would have lost his mind. Yet this animal alone would help suppress his darkest thoughts of slaughtering people when he had not seen blood in awhile. It was a daunting thought but it was all to real. For a being who was used to seeing blood, not seeing it was much stranger. It was at this moment that he wondered if he even dream of true peace. If his mind could even fathom such an incredible event. Even in the legends on the past in which many nations fought for such a thing, what did it change? Villages are still parted, power struggles are still happening all around. The smaller villages are the ones suffering the most, while the big villages thrive off of them. They will not send guards to the village yet rather watch them being raided then force them to pay then. It was a cruel thing but they should just abandon their culture and try to thrive in a main village.

Once they made it to the spot Zetsume looked around and saw no one around. He let out a long sigh before looking at his dog. Well time to get to work, he thought while he started to do push ups. One after another, over and over. The only thing keeping his arms moving was the sheer thought of people around him that he thought he cared about being slaughtered like animals. As the sweat of his brow built up, it fell to the ground like soft quiet raindrops.

The air outside was calm and it wasn't humid, it was a beautiful and peaceful day the perfect day for training so Ruvaak grabbed his gear and headed out for the battle plateau one of the best places in kumogakure to train that he had found and he needed to train his bow arm and now was as good of a time as any. As he walked through the village seeing the smiling faces of the villagers around him he couldn't help but let the joy resonate inside of him the peacefulness of the village is one of the reasons he had stayed this long here, it was a peace that reminded him of his home in Valyria.

As he walked through the streets his mind began to wander, memories of his training back then came rushing back, long hours in the hot sun not allowed to even get a drink until his target was struck in the required areas not to mentioned the days he had to train in the pouring rain. It would be great to be able to train without his uncle looking over his shoulder criticizing every move he made or pointing out his form being wrong or something.

As he neared the battle plateau's steps he could already hear the sounds of some up above him training, popping his neck he started up the stairs gradually getting his breathing use to the air as he rose up the stairs. When he got to the top he looked around the plateau to see who all was up there training there wasn't that many up there so there was plenty of open space and the archery targets were open so he decided why not go ahead and start there.

Grabbing his talisman he began focusing his chakra into his hand and created his bow he needed to test his aim but without his Onikeigan he decide he would start at 10 meters and after getting 3 bulleyes he would move back further or maybe challenge himself with something new. He took in a deep breath raising his bow pulling the string back slowly as he took his aim and his arrow formed, after taking another breath he let loose the arrow sending it flying rapidly towards the target hitting the bullseye square in the center. Ruvaak smiled to himself as he pulled the string of his bow again creating another arrow, steadying himself by taking another deep breath before letting the arrow loose, he watched as it flew at the target hitting the exact same spot as the first, dissipating shortly after it struck. As he readied his third arrow he couldn't help but feel as if this was maybe too easy, he decided to go ahead and take the last shot before challenging himself with something difficult, taking a breath he let loose the arrow and watched as it found its mark just like the previous two.

This time he wanted to make it harder for himself, the target wasn't going to move so he decided he would work on his aiming while he was moving. He was not use to shooting the arrow while he moved but decided now would be the best time to train in that area. He started moving drawing his arrow when just before he loosed the arrow he tripped over a rock losing his balance he accidentally loosed the arrow, he watched the arrow fly towards a man who was doing push ups next to a dog. There was nothing he could do to stop it, although he was filled with relief when the arrow struck the ground a few feet away from him knowing the man might be upset by this he decided to call out to the man, "Sorry about that, I lost my footing"

---

WC: 648

Jutsu:

Ninety-nine, one hundred, one hundred and one, Zetsume thought while pushing his body away from the earth. His arms were hurting but he kept pressing on. Eyes closed and focused on one thing which was at the moment physical training.

Dear lord must it be so hot? A nice breeze wouldn't hurt either., went through his head as he could feels something land next to him. To his amazement it was an arrow comprised of chakra which soon dissipated. Blinking in amazement he could hear another individual calling out to him.

""Sorry about that, I lost my footing"

A very unfamiliar voice it was. He knew many shinobi within his village yet this one, who was he? Getting up from his position he walked over to the shinobi noticing not a headband of his village. Then again he did not wear his so maybe he was from his village. Repede was following close behind him, looking up and down the man as if judging his threat level so to speak. Zetsume offered only half a smile to the unknown attacker. Normally he would have retaliated from being under attack but it seems it was not meant from him judging for how he missed. Looking around he noticed notches on the dummies.

"My my, I have not seen fine shooting like that in quite some time. May I have your name? My name is Zetsume Zix, a Jounin from Kumogakure. Fellow right here is Repede, I wouldn't recommend petting him however. He does not like people unless they are girls. Weird dog sometimes, but I couldn't help but to notice-", his voice dropped as he looked into the hand of the shinobi. It was holding something, seemed to be a catalyst of some sort to produce that bow. Then his whole demeanor changed when he noticed.

Does this faker think he can take the might of Kyodara. Tch weak arrows., he thought as he looked at the person. One couldn't tell that his mood changed from looking at Zetsume. He always had that wayward smile about him that really made people wonder what they he was thinking.


"Sorry, I just noticed that you are using chakra based equipment. Reminds me of me."

In a moment he formed a neutral based chakra bow within his hand and smiled.

"See"

It was almost like bragging but he could not help to do this. Shi No Yoake (Dawn Of Death), he thought before pulling the bow back and letting the shot go. It traveled in a line before breaking apart in a circle 4 meters wide as it blew a big hole within the target the shinobi had once hit. Blowing the entire bulls eye and much more around the spot. Turning the the shinobi smiling. Repede just sat there, looking around in case it was a trap against his master.

Ruvaak was surprised when the man calmly stood and began walking over to him, he couldn't tell if the guy was upset by his arrow or not and as the man approached he couldn't help but notice a very small half smile cross the man's face as he began to talk. "My my, I have not seen fine shooting like that in quite some time. May I have your name? My name is Zetsume Zix, a Jounin from Kumogakure. Fellow right here is Repede, I wouldn't recommend petting him however. He does not like people unless they are girls. Weird dog sometimes, but I couldn't help but to notice-" The man's voice cut off as he looked at Ruvaak's hand briefly before continuing "Sorry, I just noticed that you are using chakra based equipment. Reminds me of me." The man's words came as a shock to Ruvaak as he had never known of anyone outside of the Unmei that utilized chakra based weapons, and he was even more surprised when he saw the man form his bow out of chakra, Unbelievable he doesn't have a talisman or anything how is he doing that, Ruvaak watched in amazement as the man drew his bow creating an arrow that was larger than one Ruvaak could create, and when he released the arrow it was like nothing Ruvaak had ever seen, it blew a hole straight through the target dummy.

He was at a lost for words and just simply stared at the man for a few seconds before he found his tongue, "It is a pleasure to meet you sir, my name is Ruvaak Unmei I am from a small village known as Valyria, I plan to travel to all the main villages and learn from the great Shinobi of the 5 to better my skills," Ruvaak paused for a second trying to gauge the man's view of him so far but his face was blank and Ruvaak couldn't make anything out and so he decided to continue, "I guess by the village's standards I would be a D-Rank Ronin" Ruvaak said with a smile to the man. Ruvaak looked down at the man's dog it just looked around and occasionally it would look at Ruvaak for a period before it looked back around the area again, the dog was just as hard to figure out as the owner. "I've never seen anything like that before, that was amazing. How is it you are able to create your weapon without a talisman? Can you create more than just a bow?" Ruvaak began to ask the questions rapidly wanting to learn how it was that this man had what looked like the same ability as the Unmei but not require the talisman as he and every other Unmei was required. Deciding it best not to ask questions that might reveal a weakness or too much information about his clan's secrets he asked one final question, "That arrow you just shot was amazing, how were you able to do that?" Then realizing that he had just been really rude to a man he just met and quickly tried to apologize to the man, "I am terribly sorry Sir I did not intend to come off rude with so many questions and invading your privacy, you don't have to tell me anything you do not wish to I was just curious because the Unmei can manipulate their chakra into multiple different weapons, and I was just wondering if you could too" Ruvaak said with a slight bow to the man, he intentionally left out the part about his Onikeigan, best not to let a stranger know all cards up one's sleeve so to speak.

---

Word Count: 637/1285

Zetsume looked at the shinobi who now identified himself as Ruvaak Unmei. A genin ranked ninja from one of the smaller villager that claimed he wanted to learn from the top villages. That at least explained why he was in Kumogakure. Zetsume still could not get over the fact that a ninja that was not from his village was just there without surveillance. He was being left alone to roam the village. For all everyone knew he could have malicious intent on hurting his people, however he seemed mostly harmless from his words. Zetsume and Repede both had an almost emotionless face as the ninja spoke. Both of them were trying to absorb all the information from this ninja that they could. He spoke fast, but quite clear. Ruvaak seemed impressed by his bow. It was not everyday you get complimented on a practice that is deemed cowardly because one does not engage in direct combat. Once Ruvaak was finished speaking Zetsume decided to engage this conversation from the start and work his way down. Letting out that same half a smile, he spoke in a friendly tone. One that would let Repede be a little less on edge.

"Oh no no Ruvaak right? I hail from the clan Kyodara. We are able to only produce chakra bows of any element we have. I can so far make four types. I have never heard the village you are from, is it close to Kumogakure?"

This shinobi does not seem like much of a threat.Then again judging a book by its cover is the first mistake., he thought. Feeling like he should gain the trust of the individual so he can hopes that one day he would not have to kill him. Zetsume would demonstrate more of his ability. Why not? He could use the training. It would take some time if he canceled his bow to make another but he did so anyway. In a moment the bow he made was gone and nothing was in his hands.

"Well you see, I came here looking for some training. If you would not mind, do you think you could try to hit me?  I only say that because a moving target is so much more fun to hit than an idle one. Do not worry about Repede he will not interfere ." At that moment the dog simply stood up and walked over to a nearby rock to lay down on it. Smiling at the shinobi hoping it did not make him think that Zetsume had ill intent for him. It was as he described. Taking a few steps away from Ruvaak, he motioned for him to go ahead and attack.

WC: 446

Jutsus=275/300 :

So the Kyodara clan has similar abilities to us but they only specialize with bows interesting, Ruvaak thought to himself then answered the man's question, " its hard to say whether it is near here or not, Valyria is in the mountain range of kaminari no kuni it only took me six days to travel here from there so I guess you could say its close if you know where to go" Ruvaak paused before adding, "the mountain range has many different pathways so it would be easy to get lost out there for weeks or more if one isn't careful."

After Ruvaak had finished talking the man's bow disappeared from his hand, Ruvaak was about to disengage his bow when the man spoke again. At first Ruvaak was surprised by the man's words, did he really want me to shoot at him or is this sometime of trick to get me arrested for attacking him Ruvaak wondered to himself as he watched the man's dog go lay on a rock while the man moved away from him and motioned he was ready. After a few seconds of trying to judge the man's demeanor Ruvaak decided he would trust the man, as he had no reason not too, drawing his bow he looked at the man, "these arrows aren't as strong as the one you fired," Ruvaak paused slightly as a smile formed on his face "but at this range they'll move pretty fast". It seems that this man believes that he is fast enough to dodge the arrow, but Ruvaak was unsure about it in such  close quarters as they were, but the man was right a moving target makes for a much better sport and training his bow is why he was here.

Ruvaak took a deep breath aimming the arrow, then he loosed the first arrow, should be easy enough to dodge Ruvaak thought as he watched it sail towards the man's leg, at any rate it may lead him to a false sense of security. Ruvaak readied the second arrow aimed at the man's chest this time, as soon as the second arrow left the bow Ruvaak had the string pulled back again and the third arrow was loosed, it looked to be following the second but in reality its targetery was slightly different traveling more to the side, might as well see just how fast this man is, Ruvaak thought as he readied and loosed the fourth and fifth arrow these two were aimed at different locations of the man's body but were loosed so quickly together they looked as if they would hit their mark at the same time. Well that's a start Ruvaak thought with a smile as he watched the arrows fly towards their target.

---

WC:474/1759

The look upon his dogs face was that of being bored. Zetsume on the other hand was actually smiling when he saw that the shinobi accepted his offer. Being rather close to him he thought it was odd that he would still use ranged. Hoping to see if he had any close range attacks yet instead he was met with a barrage of arrows. Nothing quite to what he could do but at this range it was rather difficult to avoid being a good few meters away. As the shinobi got his first arrow ready, Zetsume was already watching the form, angle, and pressure on the bowstring. Judging from all of that he determined it was aimed towards the lower half of his body. As it was just leaving the bow, he rolled to the right and back some to get a bit more of a distance. During the roll he lost eye contact but that was not an issue. At this distance he could hear the bow and it also helps knowing the enemy is aiming at you. Ranged attacks should only be used in secrecy. After landing he could hear shots and jumped almost instantly into the air as he looked at two arrows fly by below him. They had different landing marks but being in the air fixed that. It unfortunately left him open to the next attack. Two more shots left his bow but traveling so close it looked like they would hit at the same time but in different spots. Being in the air he had no choice but to try and hit the arrows with some of his own. Its not like he could change the way he was falling but it is a nice thing to wish to fly. Force Arrow A chakra mass formed in his right hand as he used his left hand to pull out an arrow while another formed in his right. It was a valiant effort to block. As his left hand was pulling from the mass, it was in the motion to block the attack as was his right as the arrow formed. It just reminded him of why he never uses swords even though he made it in time to knock the arrows away. Landing on the ground with a smirk. Looking at him in the eyes as he lands False Image.

"I am not going to lie, you made me sweat but you were not quite fast enough. I think you need a little more power behind those shots. My turn?"

Once Ruvaak was in his genjutsu, he sent the image to run toward the right a couple of meters before dashing at him. The real Zetsume stood there with his arms crossed wondering how it would turn out.

Jutsu=245/300:

The man's speed amazed Ruvaak as he watched the man roll out of the way of the first shot, dodging the next two and finally blocking the last two while he was still in the air before landing looking all smuggish, "he thinks his some kind of bad ass" Ruvaak scoffed to himself. Ruvaak had assumed he was fast but if he had known that the man was this fast he wouldn't of held back, now wishing he had given it his all, it was almost as if the man could see where the arrows were going to strike before Ruvaak had even loosed from the bow. Ruvaak hid the smile that crossed his face at the man's words, guess he didn't realize i was holding back, Ruvaak thought to himself as he looked into the man's eyes. Although shooting toad's from a distance was the only other moving target practice he ever had, Ruvaak was confident enough in his abilities that he believed that if he truly wanted to he could of hit the man or possibly beat the man despite the difference in their abilities, skills, or how fast the man was. Ruvaak readied himself as he watched as the man took off to the side moving just as fast as when he dodged the arrows Ruvaak lined up a shot quickly loosing the arrow directly in the man's path, but it seemed that once again the man was one step ahead of him turning quickly just as the arrow was loosed from the bow and was now running straight towards him, Ruvaak had to think fast, quickly readjusting his bows aim before shooting two arrows as fast as he could at the man's face as he came running at him, dodge that Ruvaak thought to himself as he watched the arrows sail for a head on collision with the man.

---

WC: 321/2080

From his safe distance he watched as the young shinobi shot at his genjutsu. The false image could have broken the boundaries of the physical world and could have dodged those but Zetsume wanted to mess with the ronin. Watching as the arrows shot threw his clone, knowing that at this moment he would have realized it was just a genjutsu. He had hoped that he could reunite both the image and himself so the shinobi would not know he was a genjutsu user. It was more fun to do it this way, well to him at least.

"Well technically you hit me, well an image of me."

He smirked at the shinobi. Repede was sitting uneasy because his master was trying to poke at the shinobi. The dog was unsure as to how the man would act from it. This was unlike Zetsume though. Normally he would not spar with shinobi from other villages, he would just probably kill them. He did not train with shinobi of weaker status than him because he deemed it wrong. Yet here he was poking at one as if a child looking to get beaten. Smiling from ear to ear he spoke again.

"That was a great stretch and warm up. Would you care to display more of your abilities, uhh.... Umm.. Ruhaak? Rumaak?"

Now he was just being rude. He knew the shinobi's name. He had great memory but he could not help but to poke at him. Figuratively that is. Was it out of pure enjoyment or was he just trying to see how strong this one was. Even that is a mystery to Zetsume. It was as if his body and mind were acting on their own and he was enjoying it. Living in the primal instinct which reminded him of when he did a lot of missions. Nostalgic could be the word he was looking for but he was not looking for a word yet rather a friendly amusement. It was not like he held ill-intent toward him, he just likes to see people go all out. To him that is the only fight because he normally kills people from a distance and can never see their powers or their will to win. Oh how entertaining it is to see that display of sheer determination. He just stood there smirking at Ruvaak as a cloud loomed overhead.

Ruvaak's eyes widen as his arrow went through the man and he disappeared, so his a genjutsu user Ruvaak thought to himself as his eyes found the real opponent. Ruvaak couldn't help but smile as the man talked, his trying to agitate me into losing my focus and attacking him half-cocked well he'll have to try harder than just making fun of my name, Ruvaak thought to himself as he thought over what his next move should be after a few seconds he decided, releasing his bow letting it dissipate as the talisman fell from his hand and dangled on his bracelet. he bowed slightly to the man before turning and walking away, "Thanks anyways it was fun, but I have stuff to do and don't have time for childish name calling, maybe I'll see you around." Ruvaak called to the man as he left.

---

wc:151/2231
Exit Thread