It had only been a few days since his encounter with an old companion, although looking back it didn’t give him any information. It got him his name, and a sword. A chilling blade infused with Hyoton chakra, such a glorious item in this desert heat. It provided the much needed relief from the scorching sun and harsh wind of this forsaken land. It was the only thing he truly had to his name now. The acquisition of the weapon though brought a few troubles with it. More looks from the civilians of the village, all concerned that a bum now had a weapon and the possibilities it could bring. The ninja of the village keeping a closer eye on his location lest such fears be realized. And the more bold and stupid accusing him of stealing such a masterfully crafted item.

The sword at his side gave him new light to each day, he couldn’t say exactly why, he felt more complete. It was hard to describe. It gave him the determination though to first of all conquer his language issue. Spending hours muttering to himself, he came off as just a crazy bum. Wandering the desert city he needed a place out of the public eye, but still accessed by people. He needed to hear normal speech if he wanted to improve his situation. Several place in the village had potential but weren’t quite right. The Bazaar was too crowded, The Slums were just disgusting and violent, Kazekage’s Peak was restricted, so many places that all had something that would prevent him. The one thing he was truly looking for though was shade, some place out of the sun.

It took a few days before the sun beaten blonde walked by the Grand Colosseum, such a massive structure, it was glorious. Four separate arenas isolated from each other, and they had roofs! Sweet sanctuary from the sun, it called to him with such seductive whispers. “Come, and rest” Almost audible words came to mind. Two of the arenas were in use, so there would be too many people. It seemed the fourth arena wasn’t in use for any event and it was open to the public. It was all too perfect. Perhaps he could even witness some of the villages shinobi’s skills.

Eagerly entering the halls of the arena,it felt so good to escape the sun’s rays. Where he was from, it clearly wasn’t this damn hot! The occasional person dotted the paths of the structure, most giving the rag dressed vagabond dirty looks. All the looks screamed that he wasn’t welcome in this place of honor, he didn’t care though. Unless an authority removed him he was going to spend quite a bit of time here. If he was lucky he’d even make some money, how though was a different question.

Finally after wandering the halls, the blonde Myugan found himself standing along the edge of the gladiatorial arena. It was awe inspiring, how many people could this place hold? It was so cool inside out of the sun, it felt great. Here he could practice whatever his heart desired without drawing too much attention to himself. Looking around he found a seat and began talking to himself, attempting to say the words he wanted rather than the wrong ones. It was a struggle.

A distant echo faintly entered the arena. A pin drop in this place could be heard everywhere. Two people walked into the open arena near to where the ragged vagabond sat. Quickly catching their attention it seemed the two didn’t care for his presence. “Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing in here huh? A bum like you shouldn’t be here. This is for fighters and ninjas, not worthless trash like yourself.” Such harassment, he wasn’t bothering anyone. He wasn’t afraid though, an indescribable confidence kept him calm. “Didn’t you hear us! Get out!” They were quick to anger, the first man taking a swing. Never giving the aggressive men a look, the punch came as a surprise, knocking him to the floor. Setsura clanging as it tapped the ground from the blonde man’s waist. “A sword? He’s got a weapon. In here that means you gotta fight. Come on fight us. Bet you stole it.”

“He can’t take!”

His words failed again. He wasn’t going to be accused of thievery, it was a gift. “What hell does that mean? You’ve got a stolen weapon, let’s see you use it!” The second of the two men pulling out a sword of his own. “Come on fight!” Kaguza took to his feet only giving the men a stare of disgust. A second hook though would send him from his feet, this time though over the edge of the railing into the arena. “You’re in the arena itself now, now you have to fight. Come on, prove you can use that piece of junk.” Again they were pushing his buttons. Thievery and now they called his masterpiece junk. The two men jumped down into the arena each now brandishing a weapon. Getting to his feet for the second time, he removed a handful of the rags that protected him from the sun. He wore a pair of dark pants, and a loose dark shirt. A ragged pair of shoes on his feet and bandages covered his hands. Scars were all over his arms even a few on his neck and face. The man had been through hell more than once, though he couldn’t remember. The two men rushed in wildly swinging their weapons. They were slow, his body moving naturally, avoiding each of the bladed swings. It felt like a dance, left, right, left, left, down, jump, graceful almost. It felt so natural to him, faint images in his mind came forth, memories surfacing only just a little. He was getting distracted by them, enough to fail avoiding the first man’s attack. A blade grazing his side. It wasn’t a deep cut, but it hurt. “Loser won’t even defend himself, guess you really are worthless. All you do is run away.” That was three, a small flame erupted in his mind.

“He’ll show you what real is.”

Again, strangely close though, perhaps he was improving. The two men simply gave him confused looks as they charged in together, blades leading the way. He couldn’t move to avoid the swords. His body felt like a puppet, moving on it’s own, it felt . . . good. His arms rising up catching the two swords with his hands, one in each. He gripped the steel blades till they finally snapped under his strength. Insane to all, such a move would cut open the flesh. His hands though didn’t bleed at all. The bandage were cut, but not the skin. The two men gasped, jumping away to put some distance. “What the hell?! What is wrong with you?! No one can do that!” Tossing the broken blades aside, they were embedded in the stone wall of the arena from pure force. Dropping the broken swords, the men took out several shuriken and unleashed a barrage of ranged attacks. The Myugan’s hand knew exactly what to do. Forming several hand seals, a barrier of raiton chakra formed around the blonde man. It was solid catching each of the thrown weapons and launching them back in different directions. The barrier was thick and gave off a crackling noise, it was impossible to see Kaguza inside. It was silent for a moment as a roar erupted from within the raiton shell. A massive dragon of pure energy erupted from the electrical bubble. Terrifying it rushed forward at the two men. Screams of sheer terror came from the men as the dragon’s shocking teeth closed around them. Cries and whimpers were heard amongst the electrical static as the dragon dissipated into nothing. The two men sitting on the ground quivering and unharmed. Despite how they treated him, he wasn’t going to kill them, or even hurt them. The shell that protected the blonde man dispersed as well, revealing him as he sheathed the blade. “Don’t hurt us!” They were terrified, and rightfully so. He could have killed them, but he didn’t. Slowly he approached the two, kneeling down he stared at the men. Giving them a smile to put them at ease before delivering a swift strike to each of them, knocking them flat on their backs. A pair of light punches, the two men scrambled to their feet running from the Colosseum in fear.

Very lightly the Myugan touched his side. A surge of pain shot through his body, he was bleeding pretty badly from the light wound. He had such thin blood, there had to be a reason though he couldn’t remember it. Walking to the wall of the arena, he leaned against the wall, letting out a groan of pain. The blood was pooling on the floor now. Reaching to his waist, he untied a small gourd that churned with liquid inside. Removing the cork stopper, he poured it over his wound, a scream of pain followed. It appeared to be water, though a faint smell would tell any medic otherwise. It was alcohol, pure. He was using it to disinfect and clean the wound. Several grunts of pain followed as the man attempted to tie off some of the rags he had around his waist to stop the bleeding. It did little good as his body would bleed for awhile.

1584 words

The Grand Coliseum! One of those locations in Sunagakure no Sato worth seeing, and also worth exploring but ever since Ren had been a little girl (even though she was still fairly small), she had never really been in it except to watch matches and some contests and things here and there. Really a product of her brothers dragging her along and Ren wanting to see and experience all the action, but she loved the contests and sports themselves as well. The large stadium was built in the same color of sand but its cover would be nice for escaping away from the heat and maybe getting a bit of training done while it wasn't in use, or at least in use for an event of any kind. She made her way through the village, lugging the gourd of sand on her back along with her, forcing her to drag each step and regret the decision. When she arrived at the arena she went around from each place, walking along the pathways leading to the seating and such, she found Arena 4 was rather empty and free of too many spectators.

Ren entered in and approached the bottom row of seating, dropping her gourd to the floor with a heavy thud and sitting down herself to catch her breathe. It was cool in there, well, cooler with the sun not beating down around them and Ren slumped into the chair, watching the arena from several meters above. She noticed a man walking around the edge of the arena, taking a seat and talking to himself, or what appeared to be that? Ren leaned closer to the railing looking down towards him, she had an urge to speak up and yell something to him, but before she could two others entered into the scene and silenced the rest of the arena. Ren leaned forward and rested her arms on the railing, just watching the scene below her unfold.

At first, it was a bit cruel, watching them taunt the man and challenge him to a duel but it took a turn for the worst very quickly. A fight quickly, began, Ren watching each step and an inevitable cut to the darkly dressed mans side. From there, the rest would be a bit like a dream, the man catching their swords in his hand and breaking them, like it was easy to do. She watched from above in disbelief, the two men tried shuriken and those were shut down by a lightning attack. This stranger was certainly no push over, too bad for that other pair of guys... Ren watched the rest unfold and the two run off after being hit and knocked around. She smiled a bit as they tucked tail and ran off, for such tough guys, they really seemed to be quite cowardly.

Her attention returned back to the man, now leaned up against the wall and taking a small gourd and pouring its contents on his wound. She stood up and grabbed her gourd, throwing the strap over her shoulder and standing up on to the rail. "Hey!" she would call out. Then with a heavy jump she would drop down the ten meter or so distance and land off to the side of him, leaving her gourd where she landed and walking over to him. She would walk towards him, hopefully catching his attention by now, "I saw your fight with those other guys, are you alright?" Her eyes would glance over to him and his condition, the blood and such, Ren moving ever closer if he would allow it.

The next part would be a bit tricky, but Ren would glance over it as best she could, "My name's Ren." she would pause fidgeting about herself and looking around at the wound and the bandages he would have attempted to tie around himself. "If you're alright with it, I know a bit of medical ninjutsu, I can put something over that that's a bit better than a bandage... and whatever that water is." she would say and wait to see what he said. Waiting at the ready to activate the Temporary Healing Technique and place it over the wound to his side.

[710 words]

[140/150 Chakra (Potentially)]

Jutsu used (if accepted):

"Hey!" It wasn't long after the two men ran away that another person seemed to enter the scene. Looking as he tried to stem the bleeding a short boy with a large gourd on his back. Leaving the gourd on the arena floor, he moved closer with a look of concern. It was always a gamble with children, some cared, some didn’t. He could only hope this child wasn’t looking to be stupid. “I saw your fight with those guys, are you alright?” This boy seemed to care, and having left his gourd behind least said he wouldn’t be visibly armed. “My name’s Ren.” Simple name, the child sounded innocent enough. “If you’re alright with it, I know a bit of medical ninjutsu, I can put something over that that’s a bit better than a bandage… and whatever that water is.” He was a ninja? A medical one at that?

The wound at his side stung and continued to bleed despite the attempt to bandage it himself. Giving the boy a nod he’d let him near to help. The blonde Myugan was always one hell of a bleeder, though he couldn’t remember why. Calmly the blonde man removed his hands from the wound and set his palms against the floor. Slowly the gentle glow of the medical jutsu began to attempt to cover up the wound. It would prove difficult though, the man’s body resisted the foreign treatment. Taking longer than average to place the scab, it finally stopped the wound from bleeding.

"Hammer . . . "

No, this was proving difficult. Though perhaps that word meant something special to him, if it took the place of his own name. He had to clear his head and breath, focus on the few syllables he needed.

"Ka . . . Kaguza"

There it was, his name. Though he only learned of it recently from the Frozen Soldier, it was quite a relief to know it again. How he identified his icey companion still elluded him, his memories were so fragmented still. A twing of pain shot through his side as the sheath on his hip was in an awkward position. Simply untying the weapon the blonde man sat it down on the floor beside him.

"Lo . Thank you."

That was not going to happen again. Blurting out a confession of love to a complete stranger, especially a child, just as he had with the Frozen Soldier. So long as he spoke decisively and slowly he could control his words.

There was a small pool of blood now lay on the arena floor, that he couldn't leave behind. Taking up the small gourd he had, he poured the liquid out over the blood. The smell was potent, it was definetly alcohol. Removing the wrapped he had over his head he wiped up the alcohol blood mix, cleaning up the mess as best he could before trying to get as much of the blood off of the bandages that covered his hands as possible.

"What are you . . . doing . . here?"

Kaguza's eyes looked over the child better, then moved to the large gourd he carried with him. Such a strange looking item to carry.

"What is . . . ?"

He could find the word to finish the simple sentence, though hopefully pointing at the large sandy gourd would get his point across about his curiosity towards the large gourd.

573 Words | 2157 Total

((Side note, I know Ren is a girl. Kaguza does not. Also because of negative SCs on Kaguza, your medical jutsu costs an additional 5 chakra. Approved or not I'm fine with the jutsu, this isn't plot so it's fine.))

A nod gave Ren the signal to go ahead and begin placing her jutsu, it wouldn't do much in the way of healing, especially not for a serious wound, but at the very least it would stop the bleeding and lessen its severity. The best part is that once she placed it, it would be there to stick around, at least for a little while. "Hammer . . . " he added with a bit of broken speech. Ren would glance up a bit curiously wondering what was happening, unsure of what he meant.

"Ka . . . Kaguza" he would add a moment later. Much to Ren's hesitation, she had no idea what that was? Perhaps his name? But the broken speech in itself was a curious obstacle, taking away the ability to use context clues and decipher its meaning or intended use. Ren didn't interrupt though, instead finishing applying the medical chakra ball to his side, letting the jutsu act as a scab for him after a bit of hesitation, the jutsu proving more difficult and costing more chakra than she had practiced or could remember. Perhaps an effect of using it on a real person who was actually bleeding, this was no test use after all. More practice is all she would need, but while she mused on this he untied the weapon and set it on the ground beside him.

Ren would step back and glance towards the sword, he spoke up again, "Lo . Thank you." Ren furrowed an eyebrow, briefly at the random syllable. Lo? He certainly was a bit of a curious person. Ren smiled and chimed in, "Don't worry, it's not a problem at all. I'm glad to help..." she would pause briefly, "Kaguza, huh? Is that your name?" she would ask him, not sure what to make of it all. Pausing for a moment to hear his answer or his response in whatever form it would take, Ren would add in, "My name is Ren. Ren Sabaku... it's nice to meet you!" she would add with a smile on her face.

Another moment would pass, him cleaning up the blood on the ground as he wiped it up with some of the cloth and the potent smell of a very strong... alcohol? Maybe that was the cause of his broken speech, being drunk and such, but could a drunk fight like he just had? Perhaps? Ren would give him the benefit of a doubt, but there was no doubt that whatever he was carrying would certainly have a bit of a kick. "What are you . . . doing . . here?" he said as he continued to wipe away blood.

Ren would jolt in place a bit, her eyes flickering towards him instead of his task, "Oh! I came here to train a little bit, I certainly could use the practice and all..." she would add with a bit of a laugh and embarrassingly rubbing the back of her neck.

"What is . . . ?" he would point to Ren's gourd, her eyes glancing along with him pointing, her body briefly turning towards it. "Oh, that's just a gourd I carry around to keep extra sand in. I figured if I was training, I should get used to carrying it around and using it." another short pause would break the silence. Ren would glance back towards him, "So, what brings you here?" she tried to keep it simple, it didn't seem that speech would be a great utility for him. And regardless of the reason behind it, she in no way wanted to bring direct attention to it, in hopes not to offend him or make him angry. But it would most certainly be a small obstacle, one she would do her best to subside and work around.

[632 words, 1342 words total]

[135/150 Chakra]

OOC:

"Kaguza, huh? Is that your name?" Another nod came. The man could think straight, his language was just broken. "My name is Ren. Ren Sabaku... it's nice to meet you!" It was strange to see a child act so nice to a complete stranger, it was comforting though. Someone finally treating like a human being, instead just some worthless thing. The child had a nice smile too. "Oh! I came here to train a little bit, I certainly could use the practice and all..." Practice? Felt like such a familiar word, perhaps the blonde Myugan could help him. Seemed only fair after he had patched up his wound. "Oh, that's just a gourd I carry around to keep extra sand in. I figured if I was training, I should get used to carrying it around and using it." It held sand? What if he didn’t have it? Could this child still fight without it? Seemed to be the perfect start to train.

The rags wrapped blonde took to his feet. With the sword in his hand, he handed it to Ren. The sheathed sword was cold to the touch, ice cold. It clearly wasn’t just a normal steel blade. "So, what brings you here?" The question seemed to fall on deaf ears as Kaguza strolled over to the large sand gourd. Looking it over, he grabbed the strap and lifted it up with ease. It had weight to it and Ren didn’t seem like someone who could afford being weighed down.

“Prac . tice. Trying to . .  talk . proper . ly.”

It was quite a bit of mental effort for the little improvements, it was worth it though. Images of a young girl with pink hair flashed in his mind, she swung a sword, attacking Kaguza or sparring with him. It felt good as a few memories trickled back, this child wouldn’t be his first student apparently.

“What . can you . do without your . gourd? Show . . . me. You have . my sword, . so it’s . . . . fair.”

With Ren’s gourd on his back, he felt slightly weighed down. His heart beginning to race at the thought, he felt quite happy. Taking a defensive stance, he kept one hand in front of himself and the other holding onto the strap of Ren’s gourd. It was going to be a simple game of keep away. What could this child do without their sand. Did he have back up techniques, or could he simply make sand? Though it he could do that, why carry the gourd at all?

435 words | 2592 total

Kaguza was his name, Ren made mental note of it as they continued on. He grabbed his sword from the ground as Ren explained her gourd. He handed Ren the sword, his attention seemingly away from her and on the gourd, the blade was cold as she held it at the sheathe. Alarming at first, her attention would shoot straight down to it as she moved her hand to the hilt and held the sheathe from its strap.

Kaguza all the while made his way from her presence towards the gourd, leaving herself musing and confused, words rang out lightly as he was turned away, “Prac . tice. Trying to . .  talk . proper . ly.” Ren thought about it, the bigger picture coming into play as she realized that he had trouble speaking. Part of her was curious, was he always like this? Perhaps some trauma or disease afflicted him, an idea to wonder about it if he had ever been to a hospital or anything of that nature. But it only seemed to bother him as far as his inability to properly piece the sentences together would. He didn't have some great angst about it, and nodded when Ren questioned in further. If it truly bothered him beyond it or had some horrible stigma around it, he might have grown angry at the thought itself. Then again, maybe he does and just has enough restraint to control himself and not rage out at every shortcoming.

But with the picture becoming clearer, Ren watched as he approached the gourd, taking a few steps with him but not following along completely. He picked the gourd up, which even for Ren who had control of the sand and could control its weight and girth it was no easy task. He was most certainly strong to say the least, “What . can you . do without your . gourd? Show . . . me. You have . my sword, . so it’s . . . . fair.” All the alarms in her head began ringing against it, was he actually serious about it? He just beat the other two guys here earlier in a show of grandeur but not without escaping harm, the wound on his side being... not even healed? Just covered up to stop the bleeding until it could heal and that probably wasn't going to last much longer. No, she needed to get him to a hospital, now wasn't the time for training!

An objection had to ring out! Even if he was plenty strong, he was hurt after all? Part of her wanted to give in though, she'd been offered a bit of a challenge here and didn't want to lose an opportunity to show off a bit and get that practice that she so coveted, and against someone with strength abound. The realistic side of her though, along with the alarms of getting his wound cleaned and patched up, was thinking about how absolutely crushed she might be. Given his apparent physical strength, at least enough to lift the gourd without much difficulty, and her lack of its true extent. She would ring out in an attempt to abate his wound, "Show you? No... you've got to go to a hospital and fix your wound! That bandage is only gonna last so long..." she would add in.

Maybe the recognition of his condition would change things, but who knows? He could always do as many who pride themselves on their strength do and ignore it, tanking through the wound like it would be nothing. And it might be, but the risk of leaving things unchecked wasn't something to take at light heartedly. It would be up to him after all, if he could re assure Ren or... even just ignoring her and telling her to let it be, then she would heavily consider his offer to show off a bit, and potentially get stomped into the dirt beneath her feet all the same.

[658 words, 2000 words]

The boy seemed cautious as the blonde man approached the gourd, his few steps not going unnoticed. It was good, there was no reason to trust a complete stranger even if he handed over his weapon. The gourd felt good on his back, the weight seemed familiar, comfortable even. Images of a field littered with weapons came to mind and a single person amongst them. Between the memory and the familiar weight, his heart felt light. His little challenge though didn’t seem to be the best idea however to Ren. "Show you? No... you've got to go to a hospital and fix your wound! That bandage is only gonna last so long..." No? . . . Not quite the answer he was expecting. It was strange, did he just get rejected? No, this was concern, it seemed this young man had a good heart. It brought a smile to his face, a growing laugh as well. The more he thought about it, the funnier it became for some reason. It was as if no one had ever told him no before. It was hilarious.

“Take advantage of bleed.”

His eyes seem to give off a bright shine as he lifted his foot and stomped the floor in front of him. The floor shook as a large slab of the colosseum floor broke free from sheer force.

“Hospital later.”

The laughter pulled on the wound but it wasn’t quite enough to open it. A swift kick to the slab sent it flying toward Ren. This wasn’t going to be a long skirmish, his wound serving as the time limit.

“Show him and we go.”

He was talking faster, though with a few words still out of place. He cared more about what this young boy could do then his own wound. His body had plenty of scars from old injuries, one more wasn’t going to bother him in the slightest. If attacking is what it took to motivate the young ninja, then that's exactly what was going to happen. Perhaps the Myugan would even show off a little himself. As soon as Ren appeared from behind flying stone slab a parade of ranged attacks would begin. A quick and short set of hand seals would begin the second jutsu, a set of three bullets of condensed air. Second set of seals brought a jet of water shot from his mouth. Third and final was fire. Raising a finger to his mouth he spew another jutsu from his lips, a stream of fire this time. Focusing more on the rapid firing of jutsus, his aim was lacking considerably, he wanted to simply motivate, not murder or maim. He was confident though he could impress the fledgling ninja, so far having used Raiton, Doton, Futon, Suiton, and Katon all within a short period of time. It was unheard of for anyone being able to utilize all five basic elements, though he wasn’t actually using Katon, it wasn’t an obvious deception. There was still one more secret though that he could perform that would come in time.

513 words

((Sorry for the delay, I don't mean to be so long))

chakra remaining 330/390:

Kaguza smiled and laughed at Ren's concern like she was joking about it, what she couldn't tell though was if it were a laugh of pride or of concern. “Take advantage of bleed.” Ren hardly heard his words, in a bit of shock over his words, wondering if he was serious about this. Ren held the cold sword in her hand and watch as he slammed his foot into the dirt and a giant slab rose up from it. “Hospital later.” he continued on as the slab rose and sat in the air, it was obvious he was a bit excited at it all. His smile still remained composed and ready, Ren sat at the ready as well, spreading her feet out as he kicked the large stone slab towards her. “Show him and we go.” he spoke as the slab began to fly forward, she wouldn't even have time to think on his words or to decipher the intent behind them.

Her first and foremost reaction was to gather all the sand she could from the arena floor, she knew well and good that her gourd was her only use of sand outside the country. But here inside Sunagakure no Sato, even in Kaze no Kuni, the entire country was her weapon. The slab quickly gained speed, but the distance between them was short, Ren jumped to her right and landed on her shoulder, rolling along with it to avoid it. Not even thinking anymore, she had to create some cover for her next move, given his strength and his apparent ability to use doton, she would be fried out in the open.

With a great force of will, she would grab all the sand she could muster in the immediate area and beyond and in one motion, go to create a great makeshift wall from the ground up, with it in front of her to block his view and perception of her. As a wall, the sand would be little more than paper for any jutsu or even himself to shred through, but for her it would increase her time to react and plan by a reasonable margin. The shifting pseudo sand wall would be fairly large, she knew what sand she could muster up and it moved fairly quick, not taking long for all 5 cubic meters of sand to build from the ground up and block her view.

Whether he would continue on with his attack and test the durability or not would make Ren stay cautious of her next move, she would only have a miniscule amount to act even with her makeshift cover building and if she waited too long, then it would be blown to pieces and leave her to fend for herself. An idea struck her as she came off her roll and began to stand back up, looking ahead to the wall for any incoming attacks.

Regardless, she would prepare her next jutsu, pushing chakra to her feet and hands and into the ground, going to bury herself under her cover, or however much of it she had left if he continued his attacks on. From the ground, she would begin to burrow across to his last position and aim to bury him in her place. No doubt would he have the strength to break through it easily, but he wanted to see a little of what she could do and this was her best plan at the moment. Hopefully the slow speed at which she would travel would be enough to catch him off guard and maybe surprise him a little.

[604 words, 2604 words total]
[120/150 Chakra]

OOC:

Jutsu Used:

He was quick to react, that was good. Anyone who couldn’t avoid a flying rock of such a size, likely shouldn’t be a shinobi. Jumping to the side, it didn’t seem to make a difference when the boy had his gourd or not as a wall of sand formed to obscure Kaguza’s line of sight. It seemed Suna in general was a bad place to test him, though at least the boy could grasp the obvious, it seemed the blonde Myugan didn’t. Continuing his barrage of jutsu, the wind bullets easily punched holes in the makeshift sand wall.

As the sand wall disintegrated, the small opponent that the Myugan had forced the fight on was gone. The boy’s disappearance however was not without clues. The arena floor had been disturbed, he was underground. Where though was a different question. Now this proved difficult, his first instinct against such an opponent was to destroy the ground. Smash it and crush the enemy, this opponent though he couldn’t kill. One thought was still the same, his opponent was underground, so he should be standing on the ground. Jumping back a few feet, Kaguza sets the gourd on the floor and stands atop it. Now using the gourd to separate himself from the ground.

This was actually rather clever, the blonde Myugan didn’t know what the boy could do. How fast could he move underground? What was his attack pattern? Would he be laying traps? Would he even act first? Did he know where Kaguza was or what he was on? Such situations did give the ambush-er the advantage. There were still things he could do. If his opponent was underground, why not set traps above ground? A few hand signs and Kaguza sprayed the entire arena floor with a clear liquid, the excess flowing into the tunnel dug up by Ren. It smelled horrid, but it was familiar to both Kaguza and Ren. Alcohol, pure alcohol. The fumes alone from what was seeping into the boy’s tunnel likely being enough to driving him above ground in search of oxygen. The trap though was set. He had to wait lest he scorch the boy.

361 | 2874

((Refunding Ghost-fire Spark and Water Trumpet. Casting Myugan Stream now though))

chakra remaining 345/390:

Escaping underground, a rather clever move as far as Ren was concerned, and by her own standards at least, the problem came on where to go from there. Finish out her technique of course, but she knew he was strong, strong enough that it would take him little to no effort to free himself so she had to look forward beyond that move, if she were even able to get to him of course. Her movement underground was slow, even at her best, she could only move as fast as she would on land, and in some conservative effort not to disturb the surface of the sand above her, she moved just a bit slower, a bit more stealthily. In turn, it gave her some more time to think through everything while she continued on with her first jutsu.

In the meantime of her thinking and moving, she noticed his jumping back a few feet, still within range though, luckily for her. And moments after, a smell filled the earth, it became a little damp at the top, but the smell was strong. Alcohol reeked across the arena, the fumes were almost toxic to the young girl, almost reaching her distance to him, she had to act quickly, being stuck underground wouldn't help her any longer with it, and certainly dousing the floor in alcohol wasn't there to make the sand slippery or anything of that nature. Either way, she was in for some trouble if she stuck around any longer, and she knew his attacks were powerful, it might be in her best interest to prepare a bit of back up just in case things went wrong.

The distance closed, Ren reached out from the ground and grabbed hold of Kaguza to drag him under, but in the process... it wasn't him? Ren grabbed hold of her own gourd, He used it as a platform... she thought as she pulled it to the ground and popped out of it herself. Quick thinking. She was now in close range and didn't have enough strength or experience to compete with him directly, she placed a hand on the gourd and began to kick upwards at him. Her hand on the gourd she pushed a bit of chakra into it while she kicked, preparing a substitution in case things came to it. This maneuver acting as a sort of test to see how seriously he would be taking it, and how far he was willing to go against Ren.

The smell of alcohol lingered, using her arm against the buried gourd to hold her body up, vertically in the air. She brought her right leg wildly around aiming for a simple kick towards the side of his head, bringing it around in a roundhouse kick. It was simple, and it would leave her almost upside down as she rotated about the gourd. But it served a dual purpose, during all of this, she would be doing her best to either clear distance between them if he decided to avoid the kick altogether. Or, at the very least, it would delay whatever his plan for the alcohol was for a moment while she did her best to plan out how she would remove the sand.

Well, that plan would have to wait until after she found out how her kick went through, or at the very least, how Kaguza responded to said kick. Also assuming he didn't throw Ren across the arena and through the wall itself or something of that sort. A risky plan to say the least, but at least she had a substitution prepared now?

[610 words, 3214 words total]
[115/120 Chakra]

[Sand control stopped for this turn, finished Double Suicide Decapitation from last turn...]

Jutsu used:

Jumping back a few feet, the blonde man stood atop the young boy’s gourd. Using it as a platform as his little opponent was somewhere underground. With the arena floor coated in alcohol, the stage was set. It wasn’t long before something happened, though it still felt weird. The ground underneath him gave way as the gourd was pulled downwards. It seemed the boy had intended to sink him in the ground, instead he sank his own gourd. Continuing the offensive, he swung upwards attempting to kick. The boy’s form was severely flawed. Simply shifting his arm to the side, the blonde Myugan deflected the kick, making it miss it’s target.

The real fun was just beginning as it was time to take advantage of the boy’s current position. With the same hand, he grabbed the boy by the ankle and gave him a toss upwards. With his strength, it was enough to send the boy flying into the sky. Higher and higher, all the way to the colosseum roof. If he tried during his flight, he could easily set his hand against the stone ceiling before beginning his descent back towards the arena floor. It was an easy display of strength that put the young boy in a fairly dangerous position. It was a pop quiz so to speak. Can you survive a hundred foot fall? To most it wasn’t a yes or no question, more of lots of screaming and swearing.

Regardless of a theoretical yes or no answer, the man watched as the boy flew. If he could turn the situation in his favor he’d be rather impressed. If he could not, he’d simply catch the boy. A twinge of pain though shot through his side as a wet feeling began drifting down his leg. His wound had opened up. Having already lost a fair amount of blood, he needed the hospital now, or just some alone time to tend to the wound. Either way the fight needed to come to a close and he had ways to force the fight to stop.

346 | 3220

Chakra Remaining 345/390

Ren made her attempt at a kick after dragging the gourd into the sand below them. It was a rough attempt no doubt, and Kaguza was able to expertly deflect it away, or maybe it wasn't expertly, Ren had no idea. All she knew is that as far as experience goes, he outclassed her in that category too. Ren felt a hand grab her ankle as she was rotated about, a small gulp encapsulated her throat as she knew, with his strength, that nothing good was going to happen. Then a force applied to her leg and body in tow, throwing her up into the air, at first, her position scrambled, thoughts of panic in her mind as she felt air began to press against her.

Her mind began to calm as she approached upward, the air resistance slowing her down, she could feel herself losing momentum, turning her body so that she would be looking down towards the floor, nearly touching the roof but ignoring that little fact. A quick calculation in her head, she figured she was almost 30 meters up in the air at this point, her heart beat a bit faster as she prepared to think. She could bring sand up to herself, but the best she could do was control it within 10 meters, which meant that two-thirds of her descent would be in free fall, but from there, she could use the sand to soften her landing and even fully brace her in a bed of loose sand.

Holding her hands down in front of her, a brief pause as she reached the peak of her ascent, and then leading to the fall back down. She began pushing her chakra out, reaching for the sand as best she could to take hold of it the instant she would be within range. It was really the best she could do at the moment, and in the worst case scenario, she did have a substitution ready in case the sand wasn't enough to soften her landing. Though, she was hoping to save that for whatever trick he had up his sleeve by soaking the arena floor in that alcohol. Beggars can't be choosers she supposed...

She would gain speed quickly as she fell, twenty meters and a little bit more of free fall before she could even begin to intervene on the subject would get someone moving at some pretty hefty speeds. If her mental math were right, she would reach the ground in a little under three seconds, and would be moving at at least 20 meters per second on top of that. Certainly a rough landing, but she did have one aspect on her side, and that's that when she would come within 10 meters of her sand, she could take control of up to 10 m^3 of the sand. A massive volume of sand no doubt and if it were loose enough, that nearly 1000 meters of sand would certainly give her some comfort in slowing her down and bringing her down to earth in one piece, even if it was a bit rough.

Using the massive cloud of sand as soon as she was in range, she would grab as much as she could as quickly as she could and would create a soft cloud thick with the loose sand underneath her, taking as much as her chakra would allow and she could grab from the earth. Placing it under her feet and then further below that to add more resistance and bring her velocity down, from there, it would be as simple as landing on the ground with a bit more than a thud, splashing in the massive pile of sand she would have amassed beneath her and on the ground now. Assuming that everything worked out in her favor, and if so, also saving her substitution for whatever would come next from their bout.

[660 words, 3874 words total]
[110/115 Chakra]

[Sand Control reinstated]

[OOC: Sorry about the delay! I ended up a bit preoccupied and then started moving out of my apartment and all... I'm free now though, so shouldn't happen again! D:]

Jutsu Used: