The sound of galloping hooves stomped throughout the otherwise quiet forest night. A deer was running along. It was being hunted, by a predator of unmatched ferocity. It hopped over branches and large stones, while running in zig zags in an attempt to outmaneuver its would be killer. Alas, it was not blessed with such luck. A sharp, hideous pain caught the wild animal by surprise. To the best of its ability, the deer ignored and, and continued to frantically run for its life. Though it was in vain, as it's chaser had finally caught up to him. The deer was thrown to the ground after the attacker had pounced. It had succumbed to exhaustion. Looking at its side, there was a spear in it. Blood was spilling out. It looked up to see a tall, hulking young man; Maikumaru. He grabbed the spear, and pulled it from the animal. It whined in agony. Maikumaru walked over to its head, and grabbed its antlers. He yanked them back and forth, the deer thrashing about, until he had heard the snapping noise he was waiting for. The animal stopped immediately.

The Iwa Ninja fell on his bottom, panting heavily. The deer put up a good chase. One that wore him out. He loved the forest. It was his favorite part of the Land of Fire. The nature and the hunting. It was great exercise for his body and spirit. He loved challenging the wildlife, finding that they had always tested some physical aspect he needed to overcome, be it strength, speed or otherwise. Wiping the sweat from his brows, he then moved on. The dead deer would become a feast for some scavenging animal, as would be the fate of all animals that would come his way.

But before he could walk off, he heads deep growls. They were throaty. They were calling out Maikumaru. He turned around to find that there was a bear, coming in his direction. He roared at the Iwa Ninja. Crossing his arms, he looked at the bear in the eyes, and crossed his arms. “I accept your challenge.”

The bear stood up. Maikumaru charged, reaching up to grab at its arms. Maikumaru kept moving his body, in turn shaking the bear, keeping it from getting a clear bite to Maikumaru's face. Maikumaru let go of its wrist, spun around the beast, and quickly wrapped his arms around its waist. With all his might, he fell backward, using the momentum to perform a suplex on the animal, having it land on its back.  Maikumaru rolled from underneath it. The bear rolled to its paws. Seizing the opportunity, Maikumaru jumped on its back, reaching for its neck. He utilized another grab, the choke hold, and swung his body to the right, forcing himself on his back, and to keep the bear immobilized. Maikumaru squeezed as tight as he possibly could, the bear's growls would become more and more silent and muffled. Maikumaru's mind went blank, finding a good time to proclaim his victory. A while after the bear had stopped struggling, Maikumaru moved the large animal off him. For a moment he just lied there, catching his breath, arms and legs spread far apart. “If only the wildlife in Earth Country were this tenacious…”

551 WC

The Iwa Ninja fell on his bottom, panting heavily. The deer put up a good chase. One that wore him out. He loved the forest. It was his favorite part of the Land of Fire. The nature and the hunting. It was great exercise for his body and spirit. He loved challenging the wildlife, finding that they had always tested some physical aspect he needed to overcome, be it strength, speed or otherwise. Wiping the sweat from his brows, he then moved on. The dead deer would become a feast for some scavenging animal, as would be the fate of all animals that would come his way.

But before he could walk off, he heads deep growls. They were throaty. They were calling out Maikumaru. He turned around to find that there was a bear, coming in his direction. He roared at the Iwa Ninja. Crossing his arms, he looked at the bear in the eyes, and crossed his arms. “I accept your challenge.”
The forest was the home for a spider, quite obviously, such things were always where they needed to be in life whether they had adapted to their surroundings or the surroundings had adapted them was a constant question for many but when it came to Xiao the little spider was always an anomaly when it cames to the formalities of life. He was an optimistic, eccentric but kind hearted Kirigakure ninja with a no kill policy who opted to spend his time trying to befriend even the most dastardly of enemies in any way he could with many of those he had clashed swords with becoming friend or even brother in arms after their clash. Such was the draw of the charismatic little spider who never knew when to quit and yet this one aspect, this one thing, was the one thing that really indicated of his bloodline. His love of nature, his love of dark, his love of the forests and swinging from tree to tree through web strands. Perhaps it was due to he being that of an orbweaving spider, a Gasteracantha cancriformis to be specific whose 'true form' was that of but a few inches or a palm if he was to transform. Whilst Haka had a large wolf spider to call upon and other Unmei could transform into human sized beasts Xiao? Xiao was, despite already barely reaching 5 foot in his human form, inches in height and thus was quite apt at seeing the minuscule details of life often overlooked. The forest was littered with the rhythmic drumming of hooves, a hunter was coming for it's prey - something Xiao had become quite acustom to with his living on that of the Spider Island that Sero resided upon. Though he was a vegetarian and a pacifist himself he did feel the need to keep said convictions to himself and didn't judge those who did not hold these same values, how could he? He was barely human and often fell face down when simply walking thus it was hard for Xiao to come to terms with dictating the actions of others being aware of his own vacuity.

With that being said though, Curiosity was always the instigator of Xiao's life, something that often left him in situations he most likely should not have been in and yet it had also brought him many blessings in the forms of his diverse array of friends and allies. It was in part why he traveled so, his webs connecting from trunk to trunk as he webslinged through the woods often having been told by others that he should simply transform into his spider form to travel and that it looked bizarre for a human to travel by webbing but Xiao didn't care, this was what he was. He wasn't a spider pretending to be a man, nor a man pretending to be a spider, he was both. A perfect union. A spider man.

There he was, the man he had once dueled for a very short period...short indeed. It was but a two punch before Xiao was out cold back in that spar and yet he knew that the man held something for him. Held perhaps the answers he seeked in terms of how to go about all this chuunin nonsense. He didn't want to be a chuunin, not really, he hadn't found what his motivation as a shinobi was in the first place and so to be told he was of 'middle' worth was difficult to make amends with. Regardless, the man was someone Xiao was instantly drawn towards, put together, strong and emitting a commanding aura equal to only the kage he had briefly witnessed or rather those S-Class shinobi he had dealings with. Maikeru was someone that Xiao could admire not for his power, but how he used the power being a real embodiment of Xiao's own nindo 'With Great Power, So too comes a great responsibility' that his mother had instilled within him before her death.

The man had...tussled with a bear or so it seemed. Was this the power of the man who had beaten Xiao so easily before? Able to literally beat a bear to knock out? Xiao was simply amazed as he perched upon a branch of a tall tree near Maikeru's position, roughly 5m in the air and 2m away. "Wow! Everytime I see you someone's getting knocked out...and hey, this time it's not me!" Xiao jested as he leaped down in a front flip landing gently in his typical crouched pose as he looked up to Maikeru "I didn't get to introduce myself last time, well, not really anyway. My name's Kyutai of the Spiders." Xiao stated as he got to his feet "Uhh, I just....I know it's weird but...Uhh" Xiao tried to find the words exactly, how could he put it. 'Hi, I'm Xiao, I like to make friends with everyone I fight and I get my ass kicked a lot'. 'Hi, I'm Xiao, I'm going through puberty will you help me work out whats going on'? all these didn't seem to match exactly what he needed to say and so the fumbling genin simply opted for speaking without thinking - his true S-Class jutsu.

"Man, you're just super badass. Like, Kapow-Kabam, y'know? I just wanted to say thanks for the fight."