The group ceased their walking when their heard Toshiko speak. Aethir couldn't help but smile, hearing that he had won with his little tactic. The three turned to face him. Toshiko spoke of his ambitions. Normally, this would be the part where he'd taunt the boy and tell him to get him some more strawberries or something along those lines. But something about this speech felt...genuine. Aethir's smile grew larger, his eyes softening, to the point where he had closed his eyes.

    'Good,' he thought, 'It was a brilliant strategy. But there are far stronger enemies out there that can easily blow away those shields. I've seen them.'  His head lowered slightly. 'I wish to see what you're capable of offensively. I wish to see-'

    "Look!" the lightning clone's clone spoke.

    Aethir opened his eyes lazily, looking at Toshiko's direction. His smile slowly turned into a frown as he narrowed his eyes, his eyebrows lowering.

    "What's...this?" the lightning clone stared. "Does he have a-?"

    "No. That's no curse." Aethir spoke, taking a step forward. 'But it's...awfully similar to it, I'll say that.'

    The name of this technique had been uttered by him. The clones began to speak to each other, wondering if the other knew. Unfortunately, they failed to realize that they're the same person.

    "Sage...mode?"

    "Sage? ...What's...a...?"

    Aethir stared at the boy. 'Kirigakure. Doragon Seji clan. Sage mode.' He mentally took note of the new information presented to him. 'I see. Sage mode... Sage mode...' After repeating the name of the form numerous times, Aethir's eyes widened.

    "Ah, this is... It was mentioned in the history book in..." he mumbled aloud, slightly turning to his clones, hoping they can chime in.

    "Ah, the thing with the...uh... nature energy. What was it ca-?"

    "Senjutsu." The original lightning clone coughed, before mumbling again. "I-it's not called Senjutsu, the energy. It's ...listed under Senjutsu, a close relative to ninjutsu."

    "Ah, yeah, that part of the chakra flow. I never got it." Aethir nodded, and then turned to Toshiko. "So that's what you can do with natural energy. Sage mode...must be a Senjutsu technique. First I've heard of it."

    "Would you suppose it's sealable, natural energy?" the clone's clone asked.

    "Seal away someone's natural energy... No, I don't think so... To seal away natural chakra would mean the whole planet. No seal is that big, I don't think. However, I-..."

    Aethir took note of Toshiko standing there. He had almost forgot he was a person, rather a specimen.

    "Sorry," he raised his voice so the boy could hear him, "we're just...surprised is all. Sage mode, huh?" Aethir took three steps towards the boy. "Color me impressed.So what does this 'sage mode' do, hm? Just changes your looks?"

    It's funny. The transformation, it had surprised the man so much that he had forgotten about his pains yet again, and that his heart was strained. The realization would only come back once he had taken those steps forward and asked that question. The air had become thin again, but for a short while, the ronin actually needed that.

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

Shock Bullets Remaining: 13

WC: 548
TWC: 6548
Born Ill: 8/8 (-1 Strength, -1 Speed)

Cooldown:

Aethir stood there, awaiting a response from from Toshiko about what Sage Mode did. He had gotten his answer. He was faster, but Aethir was still able to notice the ninja had moved towards him. However, the increase in the boy's speed, along with the illness the ronin had, made it hard to dodge, as well as his lack of sleep. Toshiko's attack had connected with the side of Aethir's face as he tried to dodge. The ronin managed to move back another ten meters, rubbing his face as he did.

    '...fast,' he panted, 'he's fast. Is that...Sage-...?' He then looked down at Toshiko's feet, noticing they were glowing blue. 'No... No, this must be the work of some jutsu.' His eyes went back to Toshiko's face. 'One more jutsu he had learned. No matter.'

    Aethir smiled, stretching his body. "Not bad. An increase in speed." The man lowered both of his arms to his sides, releasing the focused raiton energy in his finger tip, thus, cancelling the shock bullet jutsu. "However, that won't be a problem for long." His smile grew even larger. 'That's right. I've faced even faster opponents that outnumber me. I've still have no clue how to get this going, but... All I have to do is just...'

    The ronin took a deep breath, and then exhaled slowly while his eyes relaxed, almost to the point of closing. He had done this technique before, however, he could not even begin to describe it to another person. It must be in coloration to one's heart though, since he'd feel it slow every time he'd practice this skill. As he focused, he didn't feel it at first. Soon though, he felt the sign that he had entered that state. To others, if he were to ask the wind's direction in the room, they would claim there was no current. However, in all actuality, all places contained wind currents.

    The idea came from his foster brother, who was blind. He claimed to be able to see through his 'other eyes'. Aethir, being a child, had no clue what he meant. Now, though, he knew all too well about it and the functions of the human body. The current of the wind within the tower could be felt by him, even the smallest gust on his distracting bruised cheek. He was almost there, heck, he would have been there had it not been for the punch earlier. The blind, their hearing and sense of awareness would increase dramatically due to the losing of their sight. Aethir just had to simulate such a thing by relaxing his eyes to the point of blindness. It sounded incredibly insane, however, it was possible. He had found a way to signal out and 'cut' senses to boost his hearing and sense of touch. The training required was practically suicide.

    Aethir, just barely achieving the strength of a special jounin ninja, stared down into a dark pit. "Hey, uh, gramps, maybe we should take a rain check on this whole 'training the blind' thing?"

    "No," an old man with glasses waddled behind the ronin, "you will go down there, find my snake, and grab it with both hands."

    "Not even going to point out how dirty that sounds, but okay."

    "What was that?"

    "Nothing! Nothing, you know, sweet nothings." Aethir smiled back at the old man, who was glaring at him.

    The two stared at each other.

    "Fine, fine, I'll get your damn snack."

    "Snake."

    "Snake, whatever."

    The old man cleared his throat. "Remember your training. Concentrate on what you wish to get rid of, in exchange for acquisition. This is the-"

    "...laws of equivalence, I got it. You can't get something without giving something up, equivalent exchange, blah blah, right."

    Suddenly, a strong gust of wind pushed Aethir into the dark hole. He had eventually hit the bottom, seeing nothing but black, the only light coming from above. He had fallen so far that all he could see out of the hole was white light.

    "You will not come up until you find my damn snake. That means no food, water, or beds. Remember, some ninjas are blind and see darkness everyday, yet somehow, are capable to compete with the Sannins of many villages, all fighting them at once."

    Aethir, already trying to climb up out of the hole, slipped for the third time already. "What?! H-how big is this cavern?! And what the hell is a Sannin?! Some kind of sandwich?!"

    "The caverns, they go for a few-..."

    Aethir stared, hearing the man trail off.

    "Perhaps the caverns span from Konoha ga kure to Iwa ga kure, in a maze-like pattern, wide enough to connect Kumo ga kure and Suna ga kure."

    "Are you insane?! I'll die down here, old man!" Suddenly, Aethir turned, hearing something with chattering teeth in the darkness. "H-hey, is something down here?" He didn't receive an answer. "Come on, tell me. Be straight with me. I-Is something down here with me? What is it? Where-?"

    "Let's just say," the old man spoke, sliding being heard, "you're not alone."

    "What kind of answer is that?! Hey!" The only source of light began to fade, something sliding over the hole's opening. Just as the final bit of light was leaving him, Aethir could have sworn he had seen some creature on all...six...of its legs approach him, fangs shown. Aethir couldn't think of an animal with six legs about the size of this thing with fangs like those. Then, he realized, there aren't any.

    'Thanks, old man. I know I've given you a hard time, but... I really appreciate all you've done for me.' Aethir's smile turned into a frown as he had entered his 'center', so he had called it, awaiting the signals for an incoming attack or movement from Toshiko. The clones simply watched, prepared to jump in if Aethir told them to.

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

WC: 1018
TWC: 7566
Born Ill: 8/8 (-1 Strength, -1 Speed)

Cooldown:

The man stood there, the slight wind in the air changing, rushing towards him, as if warning him of something coming his way. He realized the boy had moved, multiple taps coming from his feet as he moved. He'd make a mental note of this, but for right now, all of his attention had left his mind, vision, and other senses, all focusing on touch and hearing. This technique... It was both useful, but also, quite dangerous. In exchange for shutting off three of the natural human senses, two would receive special attention. Touch and hearing. However, the dangerous part was that if you so happen to fail dodging an attack, the heightened sense of touch will...

    Aethir heard something else coming from Toshiko. Clicking... Snapping...? It sounded like...small sparks dancing about, as if someone were touching a doorknob and had gotten shocked. The wind hadn't changed, and the sparks sounded to be in the same position of Toshiko's body. He pieced it together quickly that it was probably another barrier jutsu of some sort. Was it the one his clone had been using? If that was the case, he'd have to move out the way now. But... this sounded different than the other technique. He decided he'd have to take one for the team, extending his left hand outwards.

    As the feet got closer, he took note of the range, also thinking back to the barrier techniques' ranges. At this point, his hand should have made contact with a shield or something. Then this must be a new technique, only hanging around his body like a coating. The steps stopped suddenly, a quick breeze coming from his side, from the left. From the trajectory of the wind current, Aethir instantly knew this must have been a kick. If he's kicking, then he must be using a jutsu to amplify his attack somehow. He may not look it, but the ronin was well versed in a multitude of jutsus and uses for them, even if made special. There are only a limited number of uses for jutsus after all, along with a limited number of actions one could do with their body.

    With the attack being identified as a kick, Aethir easily sidestepped, moving in the direction of the kick, as if using the wind to push him away like a kite. Now standing to Toshiko's right, he then began to inch back, two meters away. Finally, he coughed once loudly. Not because he needed to or anything, but because it was the loudest sound he could produce right now. He listened to the cough's sound bounce from in front of him, obviously being Toshiko. However, he couldn't hear it bounce from anywhere else. This must have meant his clones were far away. Good. He didn't want to accidentally bump into them while dodging. This technique... It was definitely worth the training. However, there was one flaw Aethir thankfully didn't have to deal with.


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

WC: 506
TWC: 8072
Born Ill: 8/8 (-1 Strength, -1 Speed)

Cooldown:

In Aethir's mind, Toshiko's Sage Mode was still active. He heard him turn towards his direction, and sprint towards him. The short distance provided little reaction time and room to dodge, but thanks to the wind and sound, he was alerted beforehand. The first he took note of was the punch. Reacting and hearing it was no problem, but dodging... Toshiko's speed was high, and Aethir's lower than usual. He had to dodge earlier than usual, which felt odd to him. He skipped out of the way of the punch with one of his feet, but then turned his head slightly as he felt another breeze growing stronger. A kick was on the way. With his other foot, he leaped forward, bundling into a ball as he'd tumble into the ground. He got his footing, but was in a bit of trouble.

    For one, how far had he just moved? He figured it hadn't of been that strong of a push off his foot, so it must have been seven meters. The second issue was that he had no clue where to boy was now, having had rolled and turned. The finally issue is that the roll took his out of concentration. He tried to reenter his state, but failed. Thus, he was forced to open his eyes. Sight had returned, his eyes stinging. The wind he had felt had left him. And now, his hearing had reduced to that of a normal person's. He checked around himself, spotting the clones, and then noticing a normal-looking Toshiko.

    'I haven't fully mastered that technique,' Aethir took a deep breath, and then exhaled, 'but it lasted a lot longer than what I'm used to. Also, the fact that I could do it with this bruise on my face...' Aethir's sense of touch had finally calmed down to his normal standards. 'So, this is what you meant by becoming stronger other than physically, old man.' The realization...had filled the ronin with hope. 'I see now,' a smile appeared on his face, growing even wider, 'I see now,' he repeated, chuckling. Soon, he had to relax his body, grabbing at his stomach due to laughing harder and harder. While it was true that his body ached, and his heart was throbbing, the bruise not helping, he had to laugh. It wasn't funny, no, nothing was. Rather, it was a laugh of relief. A laugh that only came when someone told you your life-ending disease has been cured.

    It was... It was that kind of laugh.


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

WC:435
TWC: 8507
Born Ill: 8/8 (-1 Strength, -1 Speed)

Cooldown:

Aethir's laughter came to an end as he looked at Toshiko with tired eyes. He was about to speak to the boy, but then noticed he had nearly 'teleported' right in front of him. He saw the same fist being thrown at the same part of his body.

    'Again? The same attack? Well, that won't work. I've already seen that.'

    The ronin suspected the kick would come next. Already looking down at it as he dodged the fist, he was correct as he saw the leg rise. Feeling like dodging the leg alone would be redundant, Aethir took this as an opportunity to use one of his own deadly viles. As the leg came closer, Aethir took the vile from within his pocket, uncorking it with his thumb. As he side stepped just as he did with the last attack, he splashed the contents of the vile towards the boy. The ronin figured with his focused set on connecting the kick, he'd have a hard time skipping away with the other foot.

    But, the boy has surprised him multiple times so far. What's one more? Again, Aethir skipped away another seven meters, awaiting a new strategy from his pupil. As he waited, his heart felt as if it was now pumping acid, a stinging sensation filling his body slowly.
    As the fluid splashed onto the boy, the man began to feel something in the air, like a fish feeling the water shift as something swam by.
    "I see..." he sighed, giving one final glance to Toshiko before beginning to walk out of the tower. "Then it's time to move forward." With that said, Aethir left the tower of heaven.

Item:

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

WC:285
TWC: 8792
Born Ill: 8/8 (-1 Strength, -1 Speed)

Cooldown: