Kaito wrote:
Suffering was a unique thing, terrifying in a way, it could break a person as easily as it could force them to learn how to persevere. It was the later that made the art of suffering beautiful. Anyone could no suffering, anyone could grow because of it, even Kaito. He wasn't without his experiances with it, even at his young age he'd seen suffering, perhaps more than most genin even, considering the years he'd watched people suffer and die for no discernible reason in the hospital. Was he ready to experience suffering? That had been what the woman in front of him had asked, as if the personal suffering of a person was something that could be measured against another's. Suffering was relative, what felt like the end of the world to a small child was nothing more than a scraped knee to a shinobi, a annoyance at most. No, this woman wasn't asking Kaito if he was ready to suffer, he had done that before, she was asking him if he was ready to expand his understanding of suffering.

All shinobi had to be ready to suffer, to fight, kill, and die for their village. It wasn't meant to be an easy life, and Kaito hadn't shied away from that when he entered into the medical-nin program. His mother had always told him that medical ninja were the most important to the village's safety, because it was their job to protect the other ninja so they could protect everyone else. She had forgotten to tell him what it would feel like the first time a patient died in his arms, or how much it would hurt watching people, old and young alike, wither and fade into a shadow of themselves before death took them. Kaito's mother had most likely been a Hunter-nin, despite Kaito's lack of evidence to support the claim, yet his mother had never told him death could be far greater a mercy than life. To live was to suffer, to die was to pass that suffering onto your loved ones. Kaito had no desire to hurt those he loved, assuming he had children one day, he'd lead by example and if he died in the process, so be it.

Today was not that day, Kaito would not allow himself to die, he could not allow himself to fail, to disgrace himself and the legacy his mother and foremother had left him. He was a shinobi of the Hidden Mist, suffering was his heritage, by blood and by murder, the people of the Hidden Mist had endured since before the Hidden Mist had even been founded. It was who they were, who Kaito would yet become, who Kaito wanted to yet become. He would charge himself with the duty to carry forth that mantle, until the day it was time for him to hand it off to the next generation and train them in the ways of suffering, of perseverance, and the way of the Hidden Mist. He would not meet his end here, on this island of illusions and nightmare. Kaito wasn't afraid of the dark, nor that which hid within it. If anything, Kaito would reach into the shadows of this island and greet the suffering that awaited him.

The Osada Clan might be one of the most well respected clans of the Hidden Mist, but if they thought that they were the only ones in the world that knew anything of suffering then that was their own shortcoming, it wasn't Kaito's job to sway Haka's mind on the matter. Let her meet her end at rope of her own shortcomings, Kaito was more interested in learning of her strength than anything he could do to help her. As it was, she had very nearly admitted she cared not for Kirigakure or the Hidden Mist, but at least she respected, or at least feared, her father to listen to his will on this matter. It didn't bother Kaito if Haka didn't want to help him for the sake of strengthening the village, so long as she did it anyway. Let her hurt him, let her make him suffer. In doing so, Haka could only make Kaito stronger. Regardless of her reasons or his, the end result would be the same. Kaito would make sure of it.

"Seeing, suffering, and studying are the three pillars of learning, I have come to your island, I have seen some of what it has to offer, if I want to learn anything of value, I need to suffer first, and then to study my suffering so that I might learn to persevere from it." Kaito was beginning to see this woman for what she was, she would surely enjoy making him suffer, but deeper than that, she had once been in his shoes, she had to learn through suffering. That was what made her strong, and that strength is why Kaito had come to this place. In spite of her demeanor, Kaito was beginning to lose the edge of fear that had kept him on his toes. Haka would not harm him, at least no more than necessary, and pain was not something that made Kaito squeamish.

Kaito stood there for a while, watching the woman coldly, waiting to see if she would ask more questions or simply accept his resolve for what it was. Honesty. He wasn't about to panic and run from the manor, or from Spider Island for that matter. Kaito might have only heard rumors of Spider Island and the Osada Clan, but he wasn't about to let his chance at becoming stronger escape his grasp, even if it meant a little pain. Whatever nightmare Haka thought up for him, Kaito would just have to find the will to overcome it, to push himself past any notion of a limitation he thought he had in order to increase not only his abilities, but also his will to survive. It was the acceptance of death and the refusal to die that made made a shinobi what they were.

"Shall we begin then?" Kaito asked with a sharp breath of air, meeting Haka's eyes as he waited for her to provide him either with his orders or for her to strike out at him. In all truth, Kaito wasn't sure which one he'd prefer, to face such an overwhelmingly difficult opponent in combat, or to be tested to the breaking point. Didn't really matter in the end, he'd meet either challenge with the same ferocity to survive the coming suffering. Kaito's will demanded him to outlive the nightmare soon to befall him, but that would come at a later time.

---

Continued from here: [x]

Shall we begin then?

She nodded lightly, forming hand seals. A technique once used on her to force her into situations she hated being confronted with. Now this mental training technique was hers to use. Inherited from one of Momma's brood mothers, the ideal genjutsu to recreate the ideal training grounds.

"Mind Weaving Technique, Phantasmagoria"

The ballroom would disappear from view, the two now finding themselves in an area similar to that of Spider Island. The sky was clouded and at the verge of turning into night. Around them were dead trees and rotten leaves, the dark brown soil carrying all of them. Cold to the touch. Upon closer inspection, signs of turmoil could be seen. Trees partially splintered, craters of unknown explosions scarring the landscape, the wind carrying the scent of blood and fear. Across the battlefield laid corpses. Mutilated bodies, humans impaled on spears of crimson ice, others cloven in twain or ripped to shreds. Here and there a survivor, in other places dying men crucified or pinned to the ground to slowly bleed out. As the scenery unfolded, shadows moved. The battle was still going on. Two factions clashing. Weapons clattering, explosions following. The earth rumbling in response.

"Suffering is one of the pillars of learning, you say. But humans will endure as long as they hold hope.", she spoke softly, her voice as the mists of Kirigakure, then deflected a stray kunai before she continued. "This battlefield will be your test. As you can see, there is no hope here. The shadows of slain men war forever. So will you."

The war of attrition to unite the Spider Clan. The Siege of Inabayama. Two wars that had come to pass one after another, tallying blood and bodies to impossible numbers. Partially recreated here. Many would say such an area was not meant for genin. They were right. Yet Haka had seen shinobi of all ranks that day. Ranks, Village. None of that had mattered as they all ran up to face a common enemy.

Kaito had misjudged Haka on one thing - suffering. The spider was not the sort to enjoy suffering. Unlike her father, she was the merciful huntress killing prey as swiftly as possible. But here she represented her father and so his teachings were to be brought. A world of war, of suffering. A world where hopes and dreams were crushed, the mind left to fall prey to base instinct and a drive for survival. War dehumanised those who suffered its existence. War was the perfect blend between Sero's training and Haka's philosophies.

"You may be able to defeat these trained warriors, genin, but will you defeat the war?", and with those words Haka slowly turned to mist, vanishing from reality to leave Kaito on his own in a world where her father thrived. It would not take long before the world turned against the lone genin. Warriors would run in from his back, focusing on those running in from the front. While those in the back seemed to disregard the genin, those in the front did not consider him non-existing. Shuriken would come his way to force him into movement, weapons at the ready to strike him down. Charging him.

An explosion would follow as a terrifying fireball crashed into the ground nearby, throwing up the earth all around it. Its intense heat would be felt by Kaito, sear him if he could not shield himself against the blistering radiation in time. Then, as he barely recovered from the second hazard, a hail of rain would darken the skies further to blanket the area with death, disregarding friend and foe alike in their desire to wound and slay. Another small trial for Kaito to pass, for even if an arrow didn't slay him, without protection he'd not leave unscathed.

As the war went on, several questions would rise up to the occasion. How would Kaito deal with a situation as this? What would he do if he survived the onslaught, the flame and the rain? Fight more? Hide? Aide those men he thought to be in need? Collapse under the pressure as he'd realise this was just the beginning of a trial that would test more than his mental and physical capabilities?

---

716

Kaito was no fool, this war seemed not of this time, his eyes had watched Haka's hands, witnessing the Seals formed and recognizing them for what they were. Genjutsu. So the first test had begun. The smell of blood, dirt, and ash was more familiar to him then one might have thought. He'd never seen battle of this scale, but he'd seen battle at a young age, seen death, even been forced to kill against his will, oh so long ago. Where his mother had fostered a sense of kindness, a need to play the role of the healer, his grandmother had attempted to foster something else entirely. Osoroshī, Kirura had not been a medical-nin like her daughter, she'd been a weapon used by those that had forged her, and she in turn forged new weapons for Kirigakure even after peace had set in. She had made her attempts to forge Kaito into a weapon at a young age, far to young some would say. He hadn't even entered the academy when his grandmother forced him to kill his only friend. Despite the tears that had been shed, Kaito had understood the purpose behind such a lesson, though he'd never forgiven his grandmother for teaching it to him. Still, in this mirrored illusion of a war long ago lost and won, Kaito felt nothing for the shinobi he saw dead or dying, it was the natural state of shinobi, to die for their nations.

Haka didn't take long to leave him to his own devices, and sooner still the shinobi around him seemed to take notice of his presence. As the floodgates were opened, Kaito's vision obscured by the shear number of individuals headed for him. The sound of shuriken was the first thing that alerted him to the violence that would soon come for him. This couldn't simply be a test of his combative capability, nor his ruthlessness, as this would have made for a poor method of choice for such a test. No, this had to be something else. As Kaito sidestepped and formed the Dog sign, his mouth becoming thick with saliva and chakra before he spit forth the acidic foam that would coat the shinobi in front of him, burning their skin and leaving them screaming in agony. A nearby explosion sent him flying, the concussive blast knocking the wind out of him even as his skin began to burn with the heat of proper fire. A gasp escaped his lips, he'd been taught about the efficiency of genjutsu, but he'd never fallen prey to it.

He felt the mass of chakra overhead, knew whatever was coming next as he sat forward, grasping a fallen shinobi's katana in the process, Kaito quickly thrust forward, impaling a young man, probably near his age or younger, through the gut before pulling the lad overtop him to act a shield even as the boy died in Kaito's grasp. The falling arrowed that came down tore at the edges of Kaito's uniform where the boy's body didn't cover him. But he was mostly unscathed as of yet, though many of those nearest to him had been caught in the crossfire. An older shinobi ran towards him, some sort of foreign sword in hand to meet the blade in Kaito's own. The man was exhausted, who knew how long he'd been fighting on this battlefield, but his skill matched Kaito's own, though if he had been younger Kaito wouldn't have managed to meet each attack as they came. Reaching for a senbon with his free hand, Kaito quickly drew the man in, hoping to cause him to slip up before dropping low, katana overhead. In a flash, the senbon was imbedded in the man's knee, just under the guard of his armor. Kaito's next moved was just as swift and before the hand could call out in pain, the younger shinobi had severed his vocal cords.

Kaito didn't know how long this had all gone on for, but he could feel the heat of blood on his face, the blisters on his feet, the sweat the clung to his body, and the wind that blew through the holes in his uniform. At least two of his ribs were broken, he had a deep cut just above his left wrist, one of his knees kept trying to give out after it'd been kicked in backwards, and the burning in his sides let Kaito know he was reaching his limits. His white hair was matted black and red, his face seared by fire, and his back marked by a lightning attack. The number of people he'd killed must have reached at least two dozen, but the number shinobi he'd seen die were well into the hundreds at this point. He'd thrown and picked up any number of kunai and shuriken, even had to switch weapons after the previous katana had broken after taking a hit from some sort of mud attack. He didn't recognize any of the shinobi attacking him, and he started to wonder what the purpose of the test was, but then, he heard the words of his grandmother.

"Blood, use the blood." Kaito heard in his head.

He was covered in blood, it was everywhere, it reached every crevice of his body, the soil of the earth ran thick with it. Something inside him snapped, suddenly he was filled with an urge, not to kill, but to drink. His vision went red, his teeth ached and his face felt like it was on fire. He could feel his fingers scream in pain as his fingernails turned black, the taste of blood on his tongue. His blood. Kaito's world seemed to slow ever so slightly, kunai flew past him in more detail and the shinobi around him began to take more notice of him. As some rushed forward to meet him, Kaito dropped the sword in his hand, crossing his arms over his chest and letting out a guttural growl before rushing forward. The first man met his end with Kaito's talons in his chest cavity, his elongated teeth in his neck as Kaito drank. The taste of the man's blood sent shivers down genin's spine, and he felt hot tears rush down his cheeks. The smell of blood thicker upon the air than it had been, more pungent.

Kaito tore through the next few individuals, nearly tearing a woman's face off as her flesh became to rot at his touch, her screams slowly fading before she went limb. Poking at his own broken rips, slashing his skin from his chest to expose the fracture underneath, Kaito looked into the eyes of a seemingly lost genin shinobi, before curling his hand forward and beckoning the child forward. Kaito had never experienced any of this before, he had never felt something like this inside him. His blood felt like it was frozen, stalled within his veins, yet it burned like molten lead, yet still the sensation thrilled him. Kaito would have described it as a blood crazed euphoria, but he had no way of explaining what was happening to him, why this blood had been awaken within him. Tales of ancient times, and childhood fantasies told to him by his grandmother flocked to the young Osoroshī's mind. For now he knew nothing of his future, and he knew even less of the legacy of his bloodline.

His mother had hidden it from him, and despite the subtle hints from his grandmother, Kaito had never had the chance to learn the truth. If he had, he might have never come to Spider Island, might have never needed to. If his mother had taught him of his potential, Kaito would have never had reason to feel weak. His skills, minor as they were, were still apart of who he was, and who he was meant to be. Kaito was an Osoroshī, even if he didn't know what that meant, and the blood of his ancestors would not be denied it's claim on his soul. Kusatta Chi, the Rotten Blood of the Osoroshī, it would claim him, it already has.

OOC:

What began as confidence quickly succumbed to survival. The trials that came crashing down on the genin left little time for games and jokes as warriors came and fell, fireballs and arrows inflicted damage. The battle field and the slaughter moved on, seconds turning into ages. A fresh and clean warrior nearing exhaustion as clothes were torn and flesh was wounded. Hidden within this illusory world, the spider watched with a hint of fascination as few genin had lasted as long as he did. The Siege of Inabayama had been ruthless, most genin not lasting five minutes. But here he was, struggling against Death's Grasp itself to remain alive despite the chaos. But the worst had yet to come.

He was conserving his chakra as good as he could. Relying on suiton to conjure forth an ability that could easily have been misjudged for Boil Release, the acidic chakra inherent to the advanced KKG of the Osada. Well familiar with the Unmei who had evolved beyond mere spiders through exposure to said chakra. Haka would narrow her eyes briefly, as if double checking if she had noticed well. She had, indeed. An acidic sort of suiton, but a bleak comparison to what her father's KKG could do. There was more to this boy still, however, as even the blood seemed to resonate with his being. She couldn't say exactly what it did but there was a certain relation between the two she had not seen occur before.

As the boy seemed swaying between confusion, pain and euphoria, the battlefield would continue. Move on to the next phase. More shadows would move in to fight, a repetition of the first phase, their souls trapped into an eternal war to fight and die over and again within this realm. Pull the genin with them in their cursed war state. But this time strategies would be slightly different. As the large mass of shadows clashed and fought, engaging enemies and Kaito alike, two small groups would split off and appear on the outside of the battle. Each of them molding their chakra and combining it for a massive land-altering assault which threatened to drown everyone on the fight.

From the left, 50 meters away, a massive way of water roared up. The earth rumbled and the trees crumbled as the sea was about to swallow the field whole. The combined power easily rivalling an A-rank devastation, water crashed like a tsunami over the battlefield. To the right, 50 meters away as well, a similar approach would be taken as frigid winds and ice swept over the battlefield and tore through textile and skin alike. Those who had survived the tsunami would find the remaining water growing ice cold. Bringing hypothermia to reality, or downright freezing those who did not leave the waters to a brutal but beautiful death. Mortality remembered, to those who rose up still from the massacre.

Then came the nightmare, a grotesque being spanning a 20m radius on its own and tall like a 10 floor building, giant tentacles sweeping across the field to slam into the ground and tear through new shadows rising up to fight for the occasion. Their curse still not broken. Once again fighting a threat invoking the worst of fears. Once again, Kaito would be forced to be more than he currently was. To discover reserves he did not believe to have, dig into potential that had yet to bloom open. War between petty mortals meant little when giants came to play...

---

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Total: 1308

OOC: I don't mind at all. In fact, it fits 'Phantasmagoria' well as it has been used to unlock potential before.

As the battle raged on and combat seemed unending, Kaito heard rather than saw the wave approaching, slaying the woman he was fighting as he turned, rolling to the side to dodge a kunai before his eyes laid upon the coming destruction. Never before had the genin witnessed such power, but he did not fear the crashing of waters, for what kind of citizen of Mizu no Kuni feared the sea? This tidal wave paled in comparison with what the ocean could bring upon the land, and Kaito soon found himself jumping through the air, his feet briefly touching a coalesced platform of water formed from the humidity the young shinobi pulled from the air itself. Once high enough, he would allow himself to fall on top of the moving wave.

Concentrating some chakra to his feet, Kaito rode the wave until it settled, having soaked the battlefield in death. It was only mere seconds until the great chill overtook him, the force of the wind knocking him back, into another shinobi who would have attacked him if not for the wind covering his face in ice after he fell into a shallow puddle. Despite having managed to make it past the two obstacles, Kaito was shivering because of the cold wind. Moving to bypass the guard of another attacker, Kaito plunged his kunai into their chest even as the roar of the monster could be heard. Killing dozens in it's wake, the shadowy beast seemed nigh invincible, and truth be told, Kaito had no way of actually defeating such a create.

As the long appendages of solid darkness swept across the battlefield, killing dozens at a time, Kaito could hardly do much more than dodge the attacks. His chakra nearly spent, and his options running thin, there wasn't much Kaito could do here. Some foes could not be beaten, and the skill required to defeat such a creature was what Kaito had come to Spider Island to learn. Still, all shinobi knew that it was smarter to flee from overwhelming odds rather than allow yourself to be killed. A dead shinobi couldn't be of use to their village. Even if he used his most offensive jutsu, Kaito wouldn't be able to do much more than grab the creature's attention, and even that wasn't certain.

Dodging the creature's attacks weren't the only thing Kaito was dodging, as the number of shinobi on the battlefield had seemingly doubled, or no, those already slain had returned to fight anew. As a kunai flew past him, slicing his right thigh in the process, Kaito fell to one knee, a group of a dozen or so shinobi circling him. Kaito couldn't be sure, but he recognized a few faces among their number and assumed them to have been his previous kills.The talons on his fingers had already broken odd, his eyes no longer cried tears of blood, and his wounds hurt more than they had previously. Exhaustion was finally settling in.

Rather than give up though, Kaito sent the last resivare of chakra he had into his hair, causing it to thicken and harden, before long strands pulled themselves from his head. The white haired senbon he created went flying, being manipulated by the genin so that all of those shinobi around him were impaled with three to five each, bringing them down. A pained smile came to his face, knowing that this technique he had developed would surprise Lady Osada. He might have come to Spider Island seeking advanced training, but he hadn't come completely unprepared. Despite his shortcomings, Kaito meant to learn, and he had already begun to walk the path that would lead him to the shinobi he sought to become. Spider Island was just location where he would be forged into that shinobi, but Kaito had already stocked the fires of the forge within himself.

His moment of pride was short lived however, as a katana tore through his chest, making it's way somewhere between his heart and his lungs. As blood began to choke the air from his lungs, Kaito turned to look behind himself, willing himself to cut down his killer even with his dying breaths. To his horror, it was his mother smiling back at him, before she pulled the blade from him. Kaito was barely able to gurgle his confusion at seeing her here, and the ghost of Akaihana Osoroshī offered nothing but a smile in response as Kaito felt himself dying in his mother's arms.

Fear and confusion took the place of pride and exhaustion, and the cold embrace of death took hold of him even as the sounds of the battlefield began to fade. He had no idea what Haka Osada was attempting to teach him anymore, whatever purpose this genjutsu had served it was only making the young man feel numb now. The last thing Kaito was aware of before everything went black, was the weight of the shadowy creature's tentacle slamming down on him and his mother, killing them both as his mother looked down upon him, tears of blood falling from her eyes and landing upon Kaito's face. He had never seen his mother bleed before.

OOC:

"Humans will endure as long as they hold hope."

He had proven those words to be true until the very last end until his mind was basically strained by the genjutsu and started to reveal deeply hidden secrets. A woman Haka had not introduced had been his death, the emotional expression clear that she had meant a lot to him. When that last bastion of hope had been laid bare, his weakness had been revealed. The key to his death, as it were. A ghost he could not defeat. Haka had asked him: he could win the fight with the shadows, but could he win the war? The answer was no. No one could, for a war never brought true victory.

As Kaito died in the genjutsu, he'd find himself back in the ballroom. The mental stress he had suffered would be great enough to give him sore muscles but other than that the boy would be fine. An illusion was hardly permanent, even if Phantasmagoria was not a genjutsu to be underestimated. Haka knew that all too well, having suffered a scrutinising, mind-breaking trial of her own at the hands of Loiralane, the mindweaver of the Spider Clan. The ballroom would be as Kaito had left it prior to the genjutsu, the same splendor, the same scales in the background, the same dark music played by her clone.

"You are tedious. The sort that would have survived the Blood Mist.", Haka said, calm and quiet, a hidden compliment despite the general apathetic approach she held. "Survivors suffer from one flaw: hubris. Their ability to remain alive often instills false believe that they are immortal and insurmountable. Yet, when being thrown into a scenario of survival they fail to reallocate their focus to new things they are not familiar with. Their skills easily rust into the tricks that work."

Haka would clap her hands, summoning a servant from the shadows to her side. The butler would appear with a platter of cups of vanilla pudding and water, and be directed to the boy for him to partake in what would probably be a strange offering of hospitality on her account.

"You are a magnificent fighter for a shinobi of your rank, but I noticed your awareness of your environment is lacking unless the land itself turns against you. Neither were you capable of shielding yourself against incoming hostilities if they were not attacks from the warriors. No matter how talented, awareness is important. What you can't see, you will not be able to anticipate. A quick death for the weak."

The servant would leave once Kaito had partaken or refused the hospitality of pudding and water, stepping back into the shadows to remain unseen until called to serve again.

"There is little point to teach a survivalist how to survive, nor is it useful to bring suffering to those who are familiar with it. You came here to return a stronger shinobi, not to waste your time. So prepare yourself for your next training."

At those words, Haka would form the hand seals of the Hiding in Mist technique, invoking the mists of spider island within the room and shrouding the entire ballroom in a thick fog. Kaito lacked the perception to properly deal with the mist, his eyes not sufficiently trained to pierce through the thick cloud that would leave him blinded. Neither would he hear Haka's footsteps, the shinobi too well trained in the arts of stealth for a shinobi of his rank. What he would hear was that the music came to an end as the mists introduced themselves, meaning the clone had either disappeared or would take part in the next test.

"This is representation of your current awareness. Blind, you see nothing beyond what little is before you. Deafened, you do not pay attention to the sounds around you. Your test is to surpass this now, knowing that as a shinobi of the Mists a fog should be your ally rather than your enemy.", the voice of the kunoichi would echo through the room.

---

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Total: 1991

OOC: Death was the point. Since it's only an illusion, it does little physically. You'll just be thrown out of the illusion with sore muscles and mental fatigue. The point of Phantasmagoria is mostly analysis, finding weakness and training. Think 'Time Chamber' from DBZ but with more creative possibility and non-lethal ending.

Also, though not shown, feel free to use Haka's 'Reaper's Domain' jutsu if you wish to pass the trial/learn it.

Jutsu:

He was standing in the same position he had been before Haka had used her genjutsu, with his muscles tired and burning, Kaito reached up to touch his forehead. His head felt like it was ready to split open due to the headache radiating from the back of his eyes. As he lowered his hand across his face, Kaito felt tears. No. It was to sticky to be tears. When he pulled his hands away he saw blood coating his fingertips and more blood on his hand that had been on his cheek. Kaito had no words for this, and for a split second he panicked at the realization that he had cried blood. Haka didn't seem phased by this though, and Kaito nearly missed her compliment as his mind searched for an answer.

The genin would accept the water as offered, but Kaito didn't think he could stomach anything sturdier than water for now, though he thanked the servant before they left. He would have thanked Haka as well, though he felt it better not to interrupt her while she spoke. Kaito had never thought of himself as a decent fighter, so Haka's compliments in this category was slightly off putting to him. The following commentary on his sensory skills was more in line with what Kaito had been expecting from the shinobi before him. Unbeknownst to her, Kaito would actually end up taking Haka's words regarding awareness to heart, and had already made up his mind to learn more sensory technique to develop his skills in the area further.

Once the mist began to roll in, Kaito actually smiled, this was a typical training method used amongst the hidden mist. The only thing that gave Kaito pause to worry was the lack of music, as it only meant he would have to try and maintain a high enough awareness to avoid both Haka and her clone. Hoping to surprise the Osada, Kaito began to fuse chakra into his hair follicles, causing excessive hair growth. The hair was thinner than a senbon, but just as strong ans sharp. Kaito pushed even more chakra into the technique, forming fifty of the white haired senbon so he could defend himself from all angles. The sharp haired senbon would float all around him within three meters, ready to strike on a moment's notice as Kaito prepared for the next step.

The drawback to using a technique like the Hidden Mist, was that it also obscured the user's ability to remain aware of their surroundings. It wasn't a perfect fit, but Kaito had figured out a method of seeing through the mist when reading up one various training regimens. Kaito understood that this mist was different though, the silence reminded him of the rumours that circulated the Hunter-nin and their secretive techniques.  Kaito couldn't help but wonder if this meant that Haka was a member of the ANBU of Kirigakure, not that it would surprise Kaito at all, but it would also mean she might be able to gain information on the disappearance of his mother. It was doubtful that an Osada would commit themselves to such a favor without cause though, especially since Kaito didn't poses the proper clearance to know such information.

He had already formed the Dog Sign when a though occurred to him, rather than using the Seafoam Technique to see within the mist by causing the floating orbs to explode and cover the ballroom in chakra infused foam, Kaito could just use chakra to infuse the mist. Less time required, less mess, and it was a more direct approach. He had to think fast, morphing the Dog Sign in to the Dragon, followed by the Tiger Seal, Kaito started to expel trace amounts of water vapor infused with his charka so that it might cling to mist around him. Haka's voice had said to surpass the drawback of the mist, and if this technique worked, he would, but nothing could be that simple and he wholeheartedly expected the woman to attack him, her and her clone. He wouldn't hesitate to send his hair senbon at her the moment he became aware of her location either.

Jutsu:

For a moment all there was left to Kaito was solitary confinement as sound and sight were pretty much non-existing. Hidden by the mist, Haka would move away from her original position, jumping up to reach the ceiling and flip mid-air so her feet would touch it. Effortlessly, she'd stick to the walls, true to the nature of the spider, and proceed with placing a fuinjutsu seal - her Dominion of Denial. Harmless, the technique would further raise the difficulty of the test as Kaito's techniques with ill intent would be revoked, forcing him to rely on sheer utility and personal prowess to reach her.

Surprisingly, the boy would be quick to adapt to the situation as the chakra infused mist was being invaded by foreign resources and registered the presence of three large entities within the room. Who or what they were would be left for the genin to discover but if his memory served him well, it would not be the hardest of puzzles to solve. Unfortunately, being aware of their presence was not an instant identification of their nature, a miscalculated or perhaps reckless assault aimed at one of the three entities possibly having inflicted damage were it not for the Seal instantly voiding the needles fired off.

"Talent or luck, do refrain from attacking innocents in this test.", her voice would echo, brushing next to his ears as if she stood right behind him. Whether he had actually fired at the servant in the shadows would remain unknown to him, the subtle hint a slight manipulation on her side to let him know he'd have to investigate and confirm his targets before lashing out. The way stealth operations went. Likewise, seeing his needle technique vanish within the mist without effect could also be interpreted as another trial - one of non-violence or one of perseverance, for no barrier persisted forever.

Perhaps the more eerie revelation in this whole session was how many layers the complete training was taking. Genjutsu, raising awareness, stealth, investigation, seals. Not only hinting at the more subtle strategies used by genjutsu practitioners or shinobi of higher ranks, but also the spider weaving a web and slowly cocooning her target. Even without using violence, a fly would end up exhausted and look for a place to rest, ending up caught within the spider's carefully crafted web. Then devoured.

The next test. Assuming Kaito had found a way to spot presences within the mist, she'd seek confirmation of her own assumptions. Her clone, of a similar mind, would form hand seals and touch the ground to open the gate for the spiderlings to crawl out. Quietude would be broken as the skittering of a mass of spiders would run out and move towards Kaito. Aside from the minor bites given by the agitated ones, the technique posed no danger for his well-being, serving only as a test to see if he was better prepared to dodge attacks at this point. With the jutsu he had activated, he'd register an overload of tiny entities coming his way, as if a wave of water was about to carry him away. If he'd fail to evade the swarm, they'd carry him all the way to the back of the ballroom, behind the throne and the scales.

---

559
Total: 2550

Spoiler:

Three chakra signatures could be felt, Kaito recognized the location of one of them as being the servant from earlier, not need to target them, but even as his senbon moved to intercept the other two targets, one obviously being the clone and the other Haka herself, the senbon vanished entirely. Kaito hesitated for a split second, worried about the possibility of still being in a genjutsu of some kind. That thought quickly faded though, these trials of the Osada were meant to serve as a test, and using the same tricks over and over again could only skew the results. Lady Haka seemed smarter than that, despite her seemingly distant nature. It was also rather obvious which of the two other chakra signatures belonged to the jonin verses her clone, Kaito had already picked up on the fact that the woman was a predator, so it was actually rather predictable she would take the high ground, or ceiling in this case.

If his plan was going to work, he'd need a means of countering Haka's more advanced skills with finesse on his part. Kaito made his was over to the center of the ballroom floor, just below where the presence he assumed to be Haka was, as she stood on the ceiling above him. This would be a multi step plan, but if he wasn't to go on the offensive, then this was the only option he could think of. It likely looked like the boy had lost his mind to the Osada, but if he managed to pull this off like he thought he might, then hopefully Haka would see the value in the roundabout methods he used.

Without waiting for an invitation, and keeping his awareness open to the potential movements of the other two presences, Kaito infused his hands and feet before jumping upward, forming a small amount of water from the natural moisture found in air. This small trace of water granting Kaito he ability to practically step on air itself before pushing down and leaping upward at fifteen meters a second. As he closed in on Haka's position, reaching out with his hand to touch the ceiling as close to the jonin as he dared approach, Kaito sent a chakra pulse meant to disrupt her ability to hold onto the ceiling with her feet. Attacking her wasn't his intent, she had already told him not to attack without cause, but he was prepared to offer her a second wave of senbon should she attack him, doubtful that it was he could even pull off such an attack. Of course, he could have just let loose with a high powered enough Wind Release technique and blow the mist away revealing all, but what was the fun in that?

Hopefully, she didn't move to attack him, having basically told him not to strike anyone he didn't know for a fact had earned it, Kaito opted to play the pacifist this round. He had managed to get close enough to his target in a relatively short amount of time, it was likely Haka was fast enough to counter his efforts, but he hoped to have at least intrigued the woman enough for her to let his plan play out. Despite the amount of chakra it had required, Kaito had really attempted to put in the effort to impress the woman this time. Unfortunately, this also meant Kaito wouldn't notice the spiders at first. Assuming he wasn't sent crashing into the floor by a swift kick to the throat by Haka, Kaito would more than likely still be attached to the ceiling. Even if he did fall from grace on high, Kaito was gonna be to busy realigning his spine due to the fall to take immediate notice of the wave of spiders.


OOC: Do you want me to keep track of my chakra use?

Jutsu: Listed in the Order Used:

What would follow was ... curious. The boy would prove he could register her presence as he jumped up towards the ceiling, setting a foot mid-air much like she had once needed to do herself with the help of her suiton blob, and reach the ceiling. It had taken certain effort to get up, but his creativity to get somewhere was a skill worth respecting. What then happened was something the spider was not used to. As he reached her position, a pulse of chakra would course through the immediate vicinity around him and under her feet, making her lose hold of the ceiling. The Unmei rather used to her own natural ability to hold on surfaces found it strangely discomforting but the trained shinobi flipped mid-air and landed quietly on the floor.

The aftermath of his little game would cost him more than it gained him as he didn't seem to be in time to avoid the swarm. Kaito would find himself being dragged away over the remainder of the ballroom's length by the spiderlings, and left behind in an uncomfortable heap of human in the back of the room with a couple of bites in memory of his experience. Haka would slightly tilt her head, knowing he'd be fine by her rather harmless technique.

"Your technique would gain in utility if you had a trap waiting at the end of the fall.", her voice danced through the clinging mist again, spurring him to think not one but two steps ahead in his strategies. "But it is worthless if you allow the opponent to catch you off-guard."

Though not fully having improved upon his weakness in awareness just yet, the gradual evolution from a man relying too much on his eyes into one that made use of techniques to bypass sensory handicaps was a fact that appeased Haka. He was learning, evolving under her guidance. Not too shabby. For a human.

"Come.", she commanded him, waiting for him to appear before her in the middle of the room. On the floor, this time. Once he would have recovered from the spider flood and returned here, her eyes would assess his health for a brief moment. Apathetic as always.

"You are not fond of dodging, it seems. Then strike your targets before they find you.", she'd say, making the mist slightly less thick so he could actually see her with his eyes despite the clinging fog. "Mimic my actions."

Haka molded suiton chakra into her mouth and breathed it out as if she was about to create a new fog. Instead, the misty chakra would envelop herself and slowly turn her into mist, becoming one with the lowered yet still active density of the Kirigakure no jutsu. Once again, Haka would vanish from his sight and even from his mist sensory as the rank of the revealed stealth technique was superior to his detection.

"What you can't see, you will not be able to anticipate. A quick death for the weak.", she'd repeat, revealing the other side of a sentence she had mentioned before. If he couldn't register his opponent and dodge their attacks in time, then he'd have to be smarter and faster than them by reversing the tables and remaining hidden from their senses. An assassin's strategy.

Dispelling her own stealth form, the form of the white-haired Osada would return to reality. She had seemingly not moved a single inch of her position, now waiting for the student to try out her personal technique and return to normal form as she had done. Once he had sufficiently experimented with it, she'd speak again.

"I'll leave it to you to discover the limitations of the technique. I expect you to train the Kiri Mahō you've seen and used today and improve upon your weaknesses. For now, this will be the end of your training."

The chakra mist would then dissipate into nothingness, revealing the exit of the ballroom once more.

---

676
Total: 3226

OOC: Nah, it's fine. Certainly do so in spars and PvP though.
You may learn all suiton jutsu + hand seal mastery shown in this thread. Should be free of ryo cost since Haka's B-rank.

Mist Phantom:

Hand Seal Mastery:

Having completely missed the quickly approaching wave of spiders, Kaito was taken completely off guard, being startled at the sudden feeling of things crawling on him and losing his footing on the ceiling as he plummeted to the floor below. If it weren't for the soft marble tiles covering the otherwise hardened carpeted floor, Kaito would have likely seriously injured himself upon landing. Still, it would seem the spiders were still coming for him, as mere seconds after falling, the tin creatures were crawling all over him, entering his mouth, nose, walking over his eyelids, and entering inside home from unspeakable places. He might have cried out if it wasn't for the instant gagging sensation at the back of his throat forcing the little spiders to mind their own bodies.

As the wave of eight legged creatures took him forward, sweeping him up upon the throne of Osada manor, Kaito found himself with his legs over his head before being allowed to roll off the oversized chair back onto the floor where he found his footing among the thousands of tiny pitter pattering spiders running about. Straightening himself up, and pulling his composer back together, Kaito beckoned himself towards Haka Osada once more, whom seemed interested in sharing one final display of skill with him. Like a Phantom of the mist, she was able to completely dissipate herself within the Hidden Mist Technique, rendering herself completely unseen by Kaito, even with the use of the recently learned jutsu he had used to find her just moments prior.

Mirroring her movements and actions as best as he could, Kaito managed to instinctively copy the technique now on display. His mind awry with thoughts of the tactical advantages such a technique could be employed for, Kaito listened keenly to Lady Haka Osada as she spoke her final parting words. Once the mist had dissipated, so to did Kaito reappear from his misty form. He would have to keep such a limitation in mind once it came time for him to use it in combat. "Thank you for everything you have shown me Lady Haka of the Osada Clan." Kaito planned to stick around Spider Island to see what other sort of things he might learn in this place, but for now Haka had made it clear he was to leave her home, and so he would.

The genin would thank her, receiving a brief nod in acknowledgement of his words, then leave. As he did so, the spider's gaze remained upon every of his steps until he vanished out of sight, minder wondering what unrevealed potential he had yet in store. He certainly was more composed than Kyutai, with a penchant for the arts of stealth, but he did not harbour the natural instinct of a born hunter nor the benefits of the spider's web and venom. Nonetheless, the wolf spider considered there could have been worse students seeking her father's graces.

Giving her clone a glimpse, it'd poof in a puff of smoke and leave the arachnid by itself. With training done and the student having left, she decided her desire to play the piano was over and moved towards the library instead where she would brainstorm some more about the construction plans of the spider lair which had yet to be build. Wanting to connect the many underground pathways with a central hub and different chambers for the more prominent members of the clan as well as a couple of workshops, the works would not be of the lightest. On top of that, she had yet to figure out what exactly Sero had meant when he told her not to dig too deep. A logical reasoning would be that there was water under the island but as with all of her father's mysteries the truth was often sealed away under layers of enigmas and patterns.

Deciding that, perhaps, figuring out the truth about the island might be a better pass-time for the moment than staring herself blind in books she couldn't read and parchment which would not reveal anything to her, the spider then moved from the library to her private quarters in preparation of a little trip of her own.

---

[EXIT]

314
Total: 3540
- 1000 A-rank Ameya [1000/4000]
- 2500 All stats: B-1 ~> B-2 [2500/4000]