Kisei whistled to himself as he passed into the Kazekage building. Flashing a smile to some of the people there, making his way to the squad roster. The ushinatta was honestly curious about who else was here. No many unfamiliar names and even more mysterious were the residents of this village of sand. People were quickly moved back in forth between squads as needed, given the political instability due large in part to the kazekage prior to Miss Midori. The squad system reflected this. Ninja often worked without their squad mates and branched to other suna nin of different squads. Honestly he rather preferred this way of operation but noticed how susceptible this way of doing things was to change.

Like today was.

Kisei make notes excitedly as he glanced  through the roster. “Squad Lily… Oh cool they have a Sabaku there. But what about… Hm… Oh dear.” He looked to Squad Lotus. The one he was currently assigned to with Ryo. Now, while he knew there was another ninja there as well, he was a sure as sure could be it wasn’t someone from the Kozai clan. “Raphael huh?” The taste of the name seemed weird. Kind of out of place for a ninja in the Sunagakure. Then again what kind of name was ‘Kisei’? He shrugged. Now then, what did he want to do, knowing that he had a new teammate? Unemotively he pulled a pen from one of his pockets and wrote a message on the Squad Lotus roster. “Active Meeting: Lotus Squad meeting in the Sandy Arena, gather and meet at Midday, for two hours, for the rest of the week. Meets will take place for the rest of the week.”

He ought to pat himself on the back for his bit of handy work. Even if they didn’t get the memo his teammates were bound to come here at least once a week. Checking one of the clocks on the walls he had some time to get there. Well time to head of then!

As he walked out of the Kazekage building he made a note to return to the arena and check for his teammates everyday. Even if they didn’t show up today, there was still the chance that he might stumble upon them regardless. The thought of meeting this new teammate of his filled him with excitement. “I wonder who this Raphael will turn out to be.”

After a few twists and turns through the village he was greeted with the sight of a bare training grounds. Not many ninja had bothered to come out today. Well hopefully that was about to change in a few minutes. The ushinatta walked over to the center of the arena with impunity, with umbrella casting a bit of shade over his pale features. Now all he had  to do was wait.

478

Ryo sighed as he shook his head moving into the Kazekage’s building. His older sister had informed him of some various changes with his team. There was no reason for this kind of thing, but at least it was likely to be the truth. His older sister did like bringing him bits of news that he may or may not like. As he arrived at the board that would list the shinobi teams he saw that there was indeed a significant change to his team. The strange stitched up guy that Ryo was seriously developing an interest in was no longer on the team. Instead, they got some Kozai clan member. Ryo vaguely recalled something about the clan, but he couldn’t bring his information to mind just yet.

He did, however, notice the note left behind and gave an irritated groan as he rushed from the building heading towards the arena. There would be no way in hell he would be late, he would be the last one. Nothing was going to make him late if he could help it. His new coat flapped in the wind he made as he ran through the village. Today he was wearing the black shinobi pants, with the light grey shirt. Under his coat was the scroll harness of the Knetegawa family, and it was tight on his body at this moment.

It didn’t take him all that long to reach the arena and once he did he could spot Kisei easily as well. With a smile and a sigh, he waved at his partner and closed the distance between them. His hands went into his coat pockets as he closed in. Sighing he stopped in front of Kisei looking him up and down with a slight smile “Well, hello there Kisei. It’s good to see you again. Were you the one to leave the note on the roster form? I don’t think we have a sensei right now so it would have to be either you or our new teammate.” He looked around the training field and could see no one who was approaching them.

As he sat there he thought more about the designs he had planned for his next child. His first daughter who would be the beautiful addition to his family and pack. Right now, though, he had to wait for a regular time of day when he could work on it. For now, he was looking for someone else and waiting dressed as a Knetegawa. He wondered about this new member of the team and also wondered if they were going to help the team in a spectacular way, or if they were just another temporary stand-in.

WC: 450

It was interesting to see how quickly word travelled around the village, at least in Raphael's eyes it was quick. He had arrived in the village only the day before, and with a little help he found the administration building and filed a request to speak with the Kazekage, unfortunately the Kazekage was busy with matters of the village and so the receptionist told him that he would receive word when the Kazekage was available to meet with him. After leaving there he went to the nearby inn to get himself a room for the night and had planned to look for an apartment when he woke up in the morning. As he got ready to lat down he heard a tapping coming from his bedroom window. 'What on earth' he thought to himself as he walked over to the window to see what was making the noise, and there sitting on the window sill was a messenger hawk with a note strapped to its back, "well this is odd" he said aloud as he took the note from the hawk and watched as it flew off in the moonlight, no one should know he was in Sunagakure, let alone know where he was staying. He had often wondered how messenger hawks knew where to go to insure that their package was delivered to the right recipient, but that was a question for another day, Raphael opened the note to read what it said.

Kozai, Raphael

You have been assigned to the Lotus Squad, effective immediately, for more information you may check the squad roster located in the administration office at your earliest convenience.

"Well that did not take long" he said out loud to himself as he shut the window and returned to his bed, "so much for looking for an apartment" looks like he had more important things to get done, but if time permitted he would still have to look into a better living situation as he did not know if he could stay in such a low class inn for the entirety of his time in the village. The next day came faster than he would of liked and he slept in longer than usual, but he chopped that up to the fact of his long journey here to the village he quickly shower and dress and left the inn headed back to the administration office to get some info about this Lotus Squad he had been assigned too.

When he arrived at the office building he quickly tracked down the squad roster and found his name among two others in the Lotus Squad, a Ushinatta, Kisei and Knetegawa, Ryo but there was no mention of a sensei. Raphael thought it was strange, but notice the note under the squad roster and headed out as quickly as he could. He had to make if to the Sandy Arena, he would hate to make a bad impression on his new teammates. As he walked he began wondering about his new teammates, he knew of the Knetegawa clan and their beast puppets. His clan kept extensive records on a lot of different clans, especially any that ally to Sunagakure due to how close the Kozai Estate was to the hidden village, but he could not recall a single mention of the Ushinatta clan in any of the records that he read.

His mind was pulled from his thoughts as he arrived the Arena with little trouble and saw that there were not very many people there. 'Well at least it won't be hard to find my teammates' he thought as he spotted a pair of boys that did not look much older than himself and walked over to them. "Hello, I am Kozai, Raphael. I am hoping that this is the Lotus Squad meeting?" He asked with a slightly bow.

---

644

OoC:

Kisei bit his lip when he found Ryo walking towards him, their other teammate not yet in sight. For a moment he contemplated whether or not to explain himself to the Knetegawa. Well only if he asks, he decided. The puppeteer was rather well dressed today, from under the shade of his umbrella he looked quite. “Likewise Ryo, it is good to see you as well.” As for his other question he gave a small shrug. Ryo didn’t seem to mind too much and the pair fell into a period of silence. Alright so maybe I lied about that part, but if things were looking up then the puppetmaster wouldn’t be waiting too long for an explanation. Hopefully. Kisei didn’t want to spend too long in this bright part of the desert village for more than an hour and hoped that their new teammate would understand the Ushinatta’s wrath if he was late.

Sure enough, a little after Ryo appeared another man entered the scarcely populated arena. He entered with a mess of blonde and a slightly bow to the elder pair. Kisei glanced to ways to Ryo, bepuzzled at how to respond. Moving back to the new blonde he smiled, still apprehensive. “Well you found it, glad to have you here Raphael.” Like, really, you have no idea.

It was probably about now that he should say something, he looked between the other two, planning his next move. “So, let’s start with introductions shall we?” Flourishing his umbrella, with a snapback and smile he bowed to the Kozai without breaking eye contact. “My name is Kisei.” With-holding his “clan” name as he once did before with Ryo. “The weaponmaster of the Lotus Squad Five.” He bent back up and nodded to Ryo to introduce himself as well.

He recalled his introduction to Ryo when he was first inducted into Squad five, they awkward first meeting and the sparring that followed shortly after. If he was lucky then they might be able to do the same here. He smiled gently at the memorable scene ongoing in front of him as he waited for introductions to be over.

Ryo spotted the other who was on their team easily enough. Much like his own clan, the Kozai clan had very distinctive markings. For them, it was their eyes and the blue eye on most of their garb. For his clan, it was the purple drops of blood that they tattooed under their eyes and wore in the same fashion as the Kozai clan. He knew well of this clan, and he was happy to have one of them in his squad. It would help to round out the team.


When Kisei said to introduce themselves, Ryo allowed Kisei to go first. Noticing the absence of a clan name Ryo leaned in and whispered “Our names including clan names were on the roster Kisei. No point in hiding. If we can’t trust our team we can’t trust anyone at all.” He then took up his original position and smiled bowing to Raphael much like Kisei his eyes never broke contact with the other shinobi’s “It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Ryo Knetegawa, Wolf Puppeteer of the Knetegawa clan.” He said as he stood up and spread his coat to reveal his scroll harness and the scrolls that were on his hips before letting his sand colored coat fall back into place.

Looking over the Kozai he couldn’t exactly place what he felt coming from the guy, but he did know that there was something about him that he liked. A sudden thought filled his mind and he gave a shrug “In the spirit of full disclosure, I suppose I should let you both know that I am a Chuunin now. I don’t much care for titles and the what not. At least when it comes to my team, but I believe in telling the whole truth.” He said rather dismissively his hands going into his coat pockets as he looked around waiting until Raphael introduced himself before he looked to Kisei and asked “So, what was the plan about this meeting chief? Just a friendly meeting, or are we going to try and see who can do what, or who has been able to do what?” He was showing to his team that he really didn’t care that his rank and allowed the other two to make the decisions at least for now.

WC: 387/ 837

The one with the black hair was the first to speak, assuring Raphael that he had found the team lotus meeting. He then started by asking for introductions, beginning first with his own as Kisei weapon master of the squad. Despite the boy's withholding of his clan name Raphael knew who he was from the squad roster, however he paid no mind to that, if he did not wish to be formal then that was his choice. His silver haired teammate, who Raphael could identify by the boy's clan symbol, leaned over to the other and said something that Raphael did not care to try to listen to before straighten himself up and introducing himself. Identifying himself as Ryo Knetegawa, and of no surprise to Raphael, a puppeteer also showing the scrolls he had strapped to him which Raphael could only assume held his wolf puppets. Raphael had wanted to see one of the Knetegawa's puppet in action since he had first read about them, however it was not his place to request such a thing after just meeting him. There was a small pause before the boy continued by telling both Raphael and Kisei that he was a chuunin as though it was just something he should add with his introduction. It seemed odd to Raphael that his teammate would not have already know that the other had become chuunin considering they were already teamed together, but then again he had never experienced anything like being part of a squad before and therefore had no idea of how things were done in these situations.

With the other two introductions out of the way Raphael gave his own, "As I said I am Raphael Kozai, I guess you could say that I am the new Taijutsu specialist of the Lotus Squad." There was a slight pause as Raphael thought about what all he should say as he had never giving his own introduction before, his entire life everywhere he went everyone knew who he was and they knew everything about him. After a second of thought Raphael continued, "I am the first born of Aurora Kozai, the current clan leader, and I am next in line to become the clan leader. I am among the best of the Hakaiken practitioners of my clan, showing more skill in its usage then those twice my age. I graduated from the academy three years ago, but was unable to join the ranks of the genin until now due to some clan matters. My main goal is to be known as the greatest Shinobi the hidden sand has ever seen, and I hope that I will be an asset for this squad and the hidden sand." Raphael finished his introduction, though it was longer than the other two's and probably sounded to be on the side of arrogance, he felt that it should be considering he was new to this squad. The two of them knew each other and they knew nothing of him, now that they knew a little more about him they could move on.

A few seconds after Raphael finished his long introduction Ryo was the first to speak. Although Raphael thought that as a chuunin Ryo would be calling the shots consider the fact that he was of a higher rank, the boy was asking Kisei what they were going to do. It seemed to Raphael as if the boy did not care that he out ranked the both of them, or maybe it was something else like a seniority or something. He did not know how this was going to work, but he was going to follow the direction of either one of them.

---

619/1263

"Oh, congratulations Ryo!" He smiled with a twinge of hurt. He was really happy for his teammate but that dig at him towards the end seemed a bit uncalled for. Besides if Raphael was here then it stands to reason that he also saw the names on the roster. Though he made no further comment.

Kisei was rather taken aback from their new teammate's forthcoming-ness. Not expecting so much to be shared all at once, or at the first meeting, but tried to focus on Raphael's story and how he ended up here. He was rather interested in his specialty with taijutsu, meaning that he would be the only actual close range fighter in this group. Kisei and his chakra tech didn't exactly count did it? More thoughts comparing himself to the Kozai continued to bubble up behind the back of his brain as his new teammate told his story. Explaining that he was a Suna-born ninja who graduated from the academy, and next in line for clan leader, (a great match for Ryo here), showing exemplar skill in his familial taijutsu practices. Though he didn't go into detail why he couldn't join. Kisei wouldn't probe too much on that. In truth the real thing that stood out was his closing statement. While the rest of his speech  sounded like a rehearsed and practiced formal, Raphael's dream, to be the greatest ninja of the hidden sand, was honest. A challenge to Kisei's own determination.

After Raphael's introduction it was Ryo's turn to speak, asking what exactly brought Kisei to call them here. Nervously he scratched the back of his head and looked up in deep thought. Thinking of what would seem reasonable to his peers. He held up one finger from under his shade. "I was more or less interested in seeing what kind of ninja you were Mr. Kozai-" He quickly turned to Ryo. "-and I wanted to see you too of course. So I thought it was best to bring you both here for...." And there goes the head scratching again. "Well actually, I wanted to challenge you, Mr.Kozai, to see what exactly what we're working with here."

But then wouldn't that leave Ryo kind of alone and off to the side while he waited for the match to end? A bit rude as well on his part, as he invited them both here. Seems there's gonna be a bit of a change in plans. "Though seeing as both of you are here why not make it something like a 2v1, or free for all. If you both wouldn't mind a big battle like that." Kisei wasn't opposed to such an idea, he wasn't too such on how it would be received by both his partners. If he knows Ryo as well as he thinks he does, then he'd say that the Knetegawa would love a challenge. The Kozai on the other hand was something of a mystery, a clearly talented individual dropped onto the face of the planet, not too far from what Kisei was actually. This Hakaiken had him interested. The Ushinatta's influence had him obsessed over weaponry it's particular complexity. Drawing him away from other aspects of a ninja's repertoire of skills. So naturally this was the perfect introduction course, and a test to see how he compares to the other ninja of this village.


583/1424

Ryo had to admit that this Raphael was very interesting. He knew that the Kozai had some skill in Taijutsu, but also in Ninjutsu. So, he was not surprised to learn that this one was one such. What got his goat, however, was that he was the next in line in his clan to assume the leadership. This was a privilege that was something Ryo had to fight for. He was the second born in his clan, and that meant if he wanted to take the mantle from his sister he had to prove to his clan that his Wolf Puppetry, was far superior to his sister’s Feline Puppetry. He had to live up to the reputation of the father who was in certain circles known as the “The Knetegawa Wolf” biting the inside of his cheek he kept his peace and decided that his best bet would to be silence. Taijutsu would definitely be a challenge for him, after all, it was common enough knowledge that Puppet users suffered at close range due in large part to their hands being otherwise occupied by holding puppet strings. The challenge would be welcome, but his silence had paid off.

Kisei mentioned that one of the reasons he called them out here was to challenge Kozai himself. This was an interesting notion and one that Ryo could get behind. At the very least he could see how a fight between the two of them would go. When he said that he wanted to see Ryo as well, the shinobi was touched and smiled warmly at his friend nodding his appreciation. The suggestion for the match was an interesting one, but Ryo shook his head slowly “Kisei, if I may. I think it would be better if you had that match with Raphael. After all, you and I already know each other’s skills and weaknesses. However, neither he nor you are familiar with each other and your abilities. The two of you should fight as your styles would be better suited to make it a match. I’m afraid Raphael would have the better of me. With me being the puppet master of the group.” Looking to Raphael he bowed his head “I’d be happy to sit back and just watch for now. The match shouldn’t go until you are both bleeding and need to be taken to the hospital after all.” Looking between the two he smiled a bit wider and gave a shrug “Then at the end if Raphael is up to it, then I would be happy to take a turn with him. That’s only if the two of you agree of course. Still, I think this gives us the best way to where we are as a team. A 2V1 would be unfair to any one of us. I couldn’t hold the both of you back, and neither could be said of either of you. A free for all would devolve into a 2V1 as they usually do, or so I have experienced with my family.”

Gulping he realized he said to much and blushed slightly scratching at the tattoo under his right eye “At least that is my opinion only. If you two think differently then please tell me and we can go with whatever the two of you decide.” Ryo was doing his best to walk the tightrope here, but he knew that sooner or later someone might call upon him to lead and he wasn’t sure how ready he was for that responsibility yet. Nor how well Kisei, or Raphael might take it considering Ryo was only a year older than him, and was younger than Kisei. With his suggestion out in the open he took a few steps back in case they wanted to go with his suggestion and so he could put some distance between him and the burden of responsibility. His hands stayed in his pockets as he looked between the two boys and gave a shrug “If you two really want though, I suppose I could give it the best show of 2V1 considering it has been that way for me when I’m at home training with the twins.” He said showing Kisei he was willing to help out and follow along with his plan.

WC: 712/ 1,549

Raphael was a little surprised to learn the reason behind this meeting being called, but in all honesty he really shouldn't be considering the fact that he was new to not only this village but also this squad, it was only natural that his new teammates be curious about him as well as his abilities. This would be the logical way of finding out about his abilities before they get thrown into a mission together, not to mention the fact that he was also curious about his new teammate's abilities as well. When Kisei made mention of a free for all Raphael was more than a little unnerved by the proposition considering that the only time he had fought more than one opponent at a time was back at the Kozai Estate during his training, but his two opponents had also been Taijutsu users, in this situation he was unsure if he would be able to combat two long range fighters at the same time.

Raphael listened intently when Ryo began talking about his objections to a two verses one, which Raphael could completely understand as it was one of his fears of the fight as well. But then Ryo made the suggestion of just Kisei and Raphael fighting as he watched, Raphael was both relieved as well as slightly disappointed. It was a relief to know that he was not the only one that was unsure about a free for all, however at the same time he was disappointed in the fact that he would not be able to see the Knetegawa's puppets in action. Though when Ryo stated that he would be willing to face the Kozai after Kisei Raphael felt as though he discovered the real reason the Knetegawa did not wish to participate in a free for all, he was going to watch the fight between Raphael and Kisei to study the young Kozai as he fought to try and find flaws within his moves that the puppeteer could use as an advantage in his spar with him. Raphael just smirked slightly as that thought crossed his mind, it made no difference to him if the Knetegawa watched the fight and try to find weakness or anything, the beauty and power of the Hakaiken was that there was not set stance nor were there any truly defined moves within the style, its destructive power came from the unpredictability of the practitioner and their own mind which is one of the reasons that Raphael himself was so revered for its usage back among his clan.

Raphael looked to Kisei and shrugged, "if you are ok with it then so am I," he said as he removed his travel cloak and threw it off to the side so that it was out of the way of the two that were to spar. If Kisei agreed to Ryo's suggestion of just the two of them fighting as the Knetegawa watched then Raphael felt it would at least be an even match up, though he had never faced a weapon specialist so this was going to be a new experience for the young Kozai. Raphael took a deep breath as he felt the wind brushing past his face, he would have to be as the ever changing wind if he wished to be victorious in this spar. However at the same time he needed to ensure that he did not injure his new teammate as this was just a spar and not like what he had to face at the Kozai estate, back where it was fights to the death or at the very least near death, as that was the only way the weak could become stronger is by learning from their mistakes. Despite the fact that Raphael himself had never killed anyone he had put many in the hospital sometimes for months as they recovered, he did not wish to do the same to his teammate.

Assuming that Kisei agreed to the one on one against Raphael, the young Kozai would take a stance of low gravity. Standing on the balls of his feet with them spread out his right leg in front of him and the left leg behind him so that his side was facing Kisei, his near squaring position made him a small target, while resting his weight on the balls of his feet rather than the whole foot would ensure that he would be able to react to whatever the other boy threw at him. He raised his right arm up so that his hand came level with his nose, before placing his left arm behind him close to his back. His left arm that was behind his back placed his hand right above his Shuriken pouch, so that if he needed to he could quickly grab one to use, with himself ready he motioned with his right hand for Kisei to begin and then waited for his opponent to make his move.

---

833/2096

The Ushinatta teen was happy to hear Ryo’s support on the sparring thing. He would have expected something a bit more… a little bit, less, happy from the usually competitive puppeteer. He was always glad to have him involved though it seemed that wouldn’t be the case today. He went further on to explain his thoughts on why they shouldn’t and the weaponmaster was amused to listen to his sibling’s hijinks at home, oh, he’d have to hire those twins sometime for a prank war. Kise had the sneaking suspicion that they’d be great allies. Ryo is an ingenious puppeteer and to have seen him from the sidelines would have been great, though judging by the mood he was getting from him and Raphael, it was just going to be him for today.

When the young Kozai made a move to remove his cloak Kisei could feel a blush setting in. He patted his head and found the hairs to be hot to the touch. Giving a puzzled look to the sun he continued to pat his head. Thank goodness it was just the heat, and not the ‘heat’ settling in. Reaching down he loosened the laces to his half-calf boots before tightening them again. Then picking up his weapon he took a matching stance to the kozai’s. His feet forming a perpendicular angle, his right slightly forward. Shoulders straight, left arm resting behind his back and umbrella pointing to his target. “Well then Raphael, I wish you luck.” He smiled. Momentarily he turned to Ryo. “Sorry if you get bored, my fights aren’t the most interesting.” Kisei admitted, with a nervous grin. As he spoke he charged his weapon with a bit of chakra, hopefully his voice was enough of a distraction to keep the attention off his weapon.

Still maintaining his stance, Kisei turned back to Raphael. Now, taijutsu specialists are obviously faster and stronger than others at their level, unless I got some jutsu going or something. So obviously close range combat is out of the question. Now unlike his match with that chuunin Uchiha, Kuno felt the need to instruct me, a mistake on his part which cost him the sparring match. As he looked at his opponent though he could tell that it wasn’t going to happen. So that leaves only one option. Kisei tensed for a moment… before turning the other way and running! "Come catch me if you can Kozai!"

It was as fast as he could muster, moving towards the opposite side of the entrance. He kept his head turned around in case he was going to be followed. There was no way he was going to give the upper hand to his opponent. If Kisei knew anything, playing defense was a good move if you were weaker than your opponent. So playing defense even if you were move skilled was even more of a trap! If the Ushinatta were honest with himself for a minute he would admit, he sucks at weapons. “Weapon Master”? Ha! If only. Cheap tricks like the one he pulled on Kuno was all he could count on to get him by. Unfortunately he didn’t think to bring his pinwheel with him so he can’t pull any two weapon combos anytime soon. So he would just have to stall long enough for the Kozai’s endurance to run out. If he wasn’t chased he would stop at what he could see was twenty five meters away from the Kozai. He just hoped he could put up a decent fight, or that neither would think too badly of him for such low tactics.


OOC: Good luck and enjoy the show!

145/150:

Ryo smiled as the two of them seemed to be ready to do just as he suggested. Perhaps his subtle string pulling would work out after all. Even so, he was happy Kisei was getting what he wanted, because it lined up rather perfectly with what he wanted. Kisei warned him that the fight would be boring, but Ryo recalled their fight when the pair were first assigned to the squad. There was nothing boring about that fight. Still, with a shrug of his shoulders he said “I don’t mind that at all. I will be serving as referee. So, don’t let this fight get out of hand or I’ll step in.” Leaping backwards a good three meters he landed to watch the two and their sparring match.

He was interested to see what Kisei would do, but he already knew a fair bit about the weapon user’s techniques and attacks. What he didn’t know was the Kozai’s moves nor techniques so his plan was to watch the Taijutsu user. This was his greatest weakness and he knew that very well, so it was very important that he study someone who could use his weakness against him. His eyes were locked on Raphael Kozai, and he was very interested in the stance that he was taking. Glancing to Kisei he could see that he was taking a very similar stance, but it seemed to somehow be different than what Ryo would’ve expected.

Of course, it wasn’t until Kisei moved that Ryo realized why the stance was so different. Kisei was a long-ranged fighter much like he was. So, the desire to distance himself from Raphael wasn’t all that surprising really. At least to Ryo, but it was unlikely that Raphael was ready for such a thing unless he was looking for it. Deciding that he had better keep standing Ryo took a more relaxed stance and looked back to the unknown of the group. Now was the time that he pulled his hands out of his pockets and let them drift down to the scrolls he held on his hips. He wanted to be sure that just in case he did have to step in that he was ready to do so. Summoning his twins wasn’t going to be a hard thing for him to do, after all, he had enough practice doing it that it was like breathing to him, but it never hurt to be ready.

For now, he would watch the fight and stay out of the way wondering just what kind of fight he was in for.

WC: 432/1,981

A smirk formed on Raphael's face as he watched the boy try to imitate his stance, it would be interesting to see what this Ushinatta had planned or what he was even capable of. His smirk quickly faded when the boy turned around and took off running yelling for Raphael to catch him if he can, Raphael was shocked to see such a tactic to say the least, he looked over to his other teammate who was standing on the sidelines to find that the boy was simply watching Raphael as if waiting to see what he was going to do. After a moments thought Raphael took off after the boy that was to be his opponent, it was clear that the boy had a plan but as far as what that plan was he was not sure. Raphael figured this fight would be different than what he was use to considering the fact that he had not faced a weapon user before, but he was not expecting this, it was as if the boy threw a curve ball from left field and was trying to gauge Raphael's reaction to it. He needed to get close to his opponent, he was not a long range fighter he had to be close to his opponent for him to be of any use in a fight. This was his biggest weakness, though he did not wish for his teammates to see this weakness so soon but the choice was out of his hands the moment he agreed to participate in this spar. Raphael was not thrilled about having to chase his opponent down, there were two reasons behind this, the first and most obvious was the fact that his opponent could be setting a trap for him knowing that if Raphael got close the boy could activate his trap and possibly subdue Raphael, the second was that the boy had the advantage. By running away and putting distance between the two of them whether he knew it or not he eliminated Raphael's effectiveness in the spar and the more Raphael had to run the more tired he would eventually become, the only good news was that the boy would also be using a lot of his stamina as he tried to keep distance between them and if Raphael was lucky maybe just maybe the boy would run out of energy before Raphael did. The biggest question on Raphael's mind was where the boy's weapon was, as all he could see the boy holding was an umbrella, and he doubted very seriously that the boy would be able to do much damage with something like that. Still Raphael pushed those thoughts from his mind as he focused on the fight that was in front of him. He pushed himself further trying his best to gain on the boy, as he began to draw nearer to his opponent he began concentrating his chakra into his fist as once he was finally able to catch up to the boy he wanted to ensure he could use it to his advantage. Air began circling around Raphael's fist as he channeled his wind chakra into them, compressing the air around them into sharp blades of wind that would be invisible to the naked ete. This might give him a slight advantage on the boy, however if the boy had something planned up his sleeve then Raphael would be playing right into the boy's trap still it made little difference to Raphael after all this was just a spar. He was now just a few meters behind his target and was well within striking range of him, Raphael leapt into the air using his momentum to continue his forward movement, as he began to defend on his opponent he readied his right arm to strike the boy as he landed however he made sure to aim his strike at the boy's arm so that he knew he would not hurt his teammate.

Chakra 160/170:

---

672/2768

Panic started to well up as soon as he saw Raphael start to close the gap between them, as expected he was rather trained. This was going to be a problem, Kisei had no intention of getting knocked out of the running so soon. In his head he quickly a couple of plans, shooting them down as fast as he came. If he turned around and engaged him in head on combat, his surprise advantage would be ruined and he would have nowhere to go. Then if firing a shot would just slow him down and if he missed, well, let’s just say that he didn’t go with that plan. Thank goodness. Another peak back showed that Raphael was preparing something. ’Alrighty Kisei, gotta think of something quick. Quick… that might just be the answer he needed.

Kisei had almost gotten to his checkpoint by the time the Kozai had caught up to him, but he had planned for this, not really, but he expected it nonetheless. As Raphael quickly approached Kisei had been timing the perfect time to strike. When his teammate leaped forward that was his cue.

Quickly Kisei gave a swift leap forward and twisted around to face his opponent while opening his umbrella. Charging it with bursts of static electricity. The weapon master sprung into action. In the same moment a sudden wind picked up behind him and propelled him forward. Hopefully it was enough to throw the taijutsu user off balance and gain a lead, the sheer surface area that would collide with his teammate and the static electricity flowing through it might just be enough to stun him. In either case as his jutsu wore off he tucked himself into a roll and gracefully leaped back onto his feet and turned back to his opponent. His umbrella in his right hand, pointed away from Raphael while Kisei stared him down. He let the umbrella drop from his hands, but it didn’t fall but more than a few inches from his opened palm. A set of strings suspended it mid-air. Kisei grinned slightly. “Hope I wasn’t too hard on you Raphael. Though I’m sure that you can do better than that.”

Despite his confidence, Kisei was suppressing some heavy breathes in an effort to maintain his disguise. That running put much more of a hit on Kisei's endurance than his opponent's, but that was just something he'd have to deal with. So he had to buy sometime to calm down. Kisei focused for a moment and three other versions of him popped out to block any sight of him, each version carrying an umbrella like his. Simultaneously opening them and blocking any view Raphael could find on Kisei with a frontal assault. Meanwhile he'd try to back up slowly, leaving his hanging weapon to hang by his side should he need it. Still crackling with electricity, the Kozai would need to be careful.

105/150:

[Exiting due to inactivity]

Ryo watched with great interest as the actual fight really took off. There was no doubt in his mind that this would be a good show. Raphael for the most part didn’t let himself be shocked for long at Kisei’s rather unusual tactic. It made sense to Ryo that Kisei would want some distance between himself and his foe, after all it was no less than Ryo himself would do in the same position. This was also a good tactic to ware down the stamina of an opponent you were facing. Ryo could only wonder however who would run out of stamina first in the long run. Kisei was tough, but he wasn’t sure it would be enough given the training that Raphael seemed to have put himself under being a Taijutsu specialist.

He did however, notice that there was indeed a plan to Kisei’s madness. The best part of the plan however, was that Kisei would use his umbrella as the weapon it was supposed to be. Granted that most of the shinobi in the world wouldn’t see an umbrella as a threatening weapon, but it was perfect. One always needed a way to lull your opponents into a false sense of safety. Ryo had to admit that if not for his skill with puppets and deception at making them seem like less than they were then he would’ve fallen for the trap of Kisei’s umbrella himself.

Now he watched as Rapahel was learning just how dangerous that umbrella could be, but Ryo also knew that once someone discovered the trick to your method they would never fall for it a second time without serious help in that regard. He had not much to do here, so instead he kept his eye on the two making sure that he didn’t miss anything, but also standing ready in case he needed to step in.

WC: 322/2,303

((OOC: I’m so sorry about the late post. Life got in the way. It won’t happen again))
[exit] ((Due to long hiatus of this topic i'm dropping it.)