Taking place at the historic Blossoming Pillars Stadium (Jūhi Dōhyō), the final rounds of the Exams forego the tricks and surprises of earlier, making way for an arena that is both iconic and neutral. In spite of a modest 25m radius, this arena is no less grand than those which preceded it, boasting stands that raise high above for observers to watch the anticipated final matches and a fighting zone where legendary heroes and Kage once fought. A dusty circle surrounded by sparse shrubs and a high wall encloses combatants, who enter from opposite ends of the arena, the crowd roars, the Chūnin Exams draw to a close.

The albino puppet-nin would walk into the stadium once again, he took in the sights acknowledging that this could be his last time on this stage. He inhaled deeply taking in the smell of the sweet air around him. The Konoha really did have the freshest air out of anywhere he'd been. Bare feet in the dirt would be joined by a second pair of feet at his left, and a sharp warfan digging into the ground behind the statuesque maiden's armored boots. To his right a large, serpentine figure crawled into the arena beside of him, its weight digging into the ground beneath as it quickly made its way to his side. Slowly one last massive figure would make its way onto the stadium behind its master. It too was bare foot. The hulking figure wielded what seemed to be a slab of rock fashioned into a sword.

From the puppeteer's right sleeve is where the puppet strings attached to the aforementioned puppets all originated. Yasubei would open a clenched left hand as he entered the field and two cicadas made from his chakra would attach to Lamya's Fang and Winter Rose. They'd burrow from the Winter Rose's hand to her back before hiding at the base of her skull, and from Lamya's Fangs side to the top of its spine to the base of its skull. The horned ninja would lift his arm pointing a single finger at Kashiki and whisper "Tsubaki, Deliver him to Jormungand," and the blonde would fall to a single knee. Then he'd whisper "Jormungand, Hold him," and the snake would go limp as the chakra strings detached from them and crept into the Ogre's back.

A black haired puppet similar in appearance to Yasubei, wielding a sword, would would hide within the Sand Stalker as it and the Little Tiger rode onto the battlefield. Yasu would wait patiently to see how his opponent would engage before he made another move, simply stroking the large serpent back and forth with sharp, black painted nails. He'd barely survived each of these fights. The cheering masses in the ring who had seen him in previous clashes earlier in the exams would see a fire in his eyes that hadn't been there before. Yasubei was determined to win.

[WC= 393]

Stats:

Current Puppet Body:

Items:

Chakra= 225/250

Techniques Used

Cicada Possession Tsubaki -10 | Jormungand -10:

Puppet Technique -5:

The Bracket Finals! This was miles beyond where Kashiki had planned on making it and he didn't plan on stopping here. A grin had been plastered on his face the entire day as he prepared for this match. After putting on his armor and cleaning his blade he was ready, or, atleast as ready as he was ever going to be. He stepped out into the sunlight of the arena, his poncho's brilliant colors catching the sun once more as he threw it to the side and prepared the substitution technique. The crowds cheered, perhaps not for him as his opponent was already standing at the opposite side of the arena, surrounded by corpses and puppets. '...puppets, he's not a puppeteer is he, those can be a pain' the swordsman thought as he readied himself. His opponent hadn't moved except for attaching strings to his puppets, he seemed to be watching Kashiki and waiting for his move.

Never one to disappoint Kashiki would make the first move, dropping a hand into a pouch on his waist and pulling out a pair of flash grenades and a metsubushi. He placed the metsubushi in his other hand and dashed towards his opponent, once his opponent's puppets reacted or once he reached the middle of the arena he would prime the flash grenades and an instant after throw the metsubushi at his opponent before shutting his own eyes. This combo would be quite hard to react to without disadvantages and while it's main purpose was to blind his opponent it also served as a way for Kashiki to move into a better position. Immediately after his hands were free of the grenades and metsubushi they would begin weaving into the seals for the Still Wind Cloaking technique. If his opponent was blinded they would most likely be unable to detect him before he finished the jutsu, which would also be true if they covered their eyes due to the flash grenade's slight delay. Now cloaked in obscuring wind, Kashiki made a flanking dash, to the side of his opponent that Ogre was not on (or his opponent's left if Ogre was directly behind him). If his opponent and his puppets stayed clustered together after all this time he would weave the hand seals and perform the Unseen Earthen Volcano technique. If the group spread out Kashiki would draw a kunai and attempt to drive it into his opponent's side right inbetween the ribs and waist, if the attack seemed like it was going to land he would use the Dragonfly Scar technique in hopes of taking his opponent out with this one blow.

Chakra: 215/250:

WC: 440

Even at first glance it looked like the puppet-nin's opponent was just as serious about winning this match as he was. As his opponent began making his towards Yasu, the puppet-nin's eyes trailed between the two corpses. and before a second could pass Yasu would grab the Winter Rose's fan and prepare to meet his opponent face to face before the sound of shuffling would cause him to pause. In that moment of hesitation the two corpses, springing to life would charge towards their quarry.  Yasu would relinquish his grip on the warfan and allow its rightful owner to take retrieve it from his grasp.

Yasu would watch calmly as the two corpses about a second behind the Hattori-nin would make their way towards him intent on fulfilling their task. They wouldn't make it to him though, not before Kashiki pulled out a couple of small hand held items. These ninja tools weren't aimed for the two quickly approaching him. Instead the three projectiles were flying his way. Without hesitation the wind ninja pulled four senbon from his pouch aimed not to stop the projectiles, but divert there course. The senbon would ricochet off of the flash bombs diverting them towards the outside of the stage still making it difficult to see, but not disabling his vision entirely as his opponent cast a jutsu and became transparent.

Though his corpses would be unable to see the stealthed opponent Yasu's eye were just able to pick up on him and mostly because his eyes jerked towards the movement of his opponent. With Kashiki a little less than half way accros the field Yasu was put in a position where he would have to act since his corpses would be unable to do anything in these conditions. In his peripherals he could easily see them already looking around for a target they'd never find. Yasubei wouldn't give Kashiki the time he needed to close in. He would dash to his right suddenly as Ogre and the two puppets within its storage unit moved perfectly in sync behind him.

Tsubaki, the Winter Rose, moved to do as her master had instructed her up to that point. When the target disappeared though, had she still been living she most likely would have been visibly flustered, but there wasn't enough time for that. As her master watched the cloaked ninja move in on him, the insect controlling her actions would evolve. As her flesh began to balloon and swell she'd rapidly draw a single line down her shoulder. This would cause a long jet of poisonous material to blast its way at its target's left leg. The vitrolic gas would cause minor first degree burns anywhere it made contact with flesh. Yasubei would keep circling to stay at least 20 meters away from his opponent, assuming his opponent followed him. Tsubaki having received the updated command of Kill. Would now begin sending moving in a straight line towards Kashiki At C-1 speed.

3/906

[quote]Chakra 205/250

Techs Used

Explode -15:

Techs Maintained
Puppet Tech -5

'Well, this sucks' Kashiki thought as he turned back to the puppets, only to see one inflating and staring directly at him. His hands instinctively wove the hand seals for the Lesser Hellfire Cloak while leaping away from it. The cloak of maroon and purple flame surrounded him as the corpse puppet cut its shoulder open, sending a steam of poisonous gas aimed for Kashiki's leg. The gas flowed around the flaming armor, the blaze licking at and burning the gas. Kashiki drew a kunai and dashed at the stationary corpse, hopefully using the surprise of the sudden usage of the defense and the failure of the attack to land a hit on the puppet, activating the Dragonfly Scar jutsu if the attack would land, taking the corpse out of commission. After dealing with that corpse puppet he would move to the unsuspecting snake, driving his kunai into it ending its half life as well.

With the troublesome puppets out of the way it was time to deal with his opponent and the larger puppet that was staying close to him. Kashiki dashed forwards, trying to get as close to his target as possible. From his belt he drew 5 shuriken and, using his own knowledge of the chakra string technique, created a thread of chakra on each finger and linked each to a separate shuriken. Kashiki threw the small projectiles, at first it might seem like they were aimed for the giant puppet, but their real target was the threads of chakra connecting the puppet to his opponent. He would use his own threads to assure the wind surrounding the shuriken would cut the threads. While this was going on Kashiki would use his other hand to draw, prime, and throw another flash bomb at his opponent. Kashiki would continue trying to close the distance as these actions happened, running for the hulking puppet following his opponent. Kashiki would then pull the shuriken around and bring them at the hopefully stationary puppet in an attempt of destroying it.

B rank jutsu were not used last post.

Chakra: 195/250:

WC: +344

The Hattori's instincts were stunning, the decision to look over his shoulder saving him from burns as he went through hand seal resulting in a full blown chakra mantle complete with raging heat and a tengu mask. As the stream of gas burned up on the mantle, Yasu watched as his opponent turned to strike back at the corpse. Yasu would shoot one senbon made of water aimed at Kash's chest and one to where Yasu expected his chest to move to as he moved to strike Tsubaki. These darts would move at 55 m/s and could very possibly close the distance between Yasu and Kashiki in the time it take him to pierce Tsubaki. They were shot in rapid succession one after the other reducing the opportunity for Kashiki's escape.

Regardless of whether or not the Tsubaki's masters attack hit or missed, her fate would be sealed. Tsubaki couldn't choose to ignore the orders she'd been given, so reacting defensively wasn't an option for her. As Kashiki closed in on Tsubaki the corpse would swing her fan attempting a futile strike with the bladed edge of the weapon, one that Yasu was sure could be parried. When Kashiki's kunai made contact with the corpse he'd find it was nowhere near as resilient to a regular human body. His blade could easily pierce through her armor and her entirely.

Red.

---

Yasu would blink as he watched Tsubaki's corpse go limp and a kunai pierce into her sternum. An mantle of chakra would begin to enshroud him as he used his body management and advance jutsu combination to close the distance between himselfand Kashiki at 35 m/s  as the kunai plunged into her. Yasu would aim an open palm strike with his claws curled inwards at the center of Kashiki's back. This strike would use the Legendary front hand technique to launch his opponent 5 meters away from both the center of the field and from Jormungand who would begin closing in on the two fighting nin. A successful hit would be able to end the Hell Fire Cloak if it was still active as well as allow Yasu's claws to pierce 3/4 of an inch into his opponents back. If the jutsu went through though Kash would also be pushed five meters back. Whether he hit with the claw strike, missed, or Kashiki swapped places with his poncho, Yasu would line up another two shots with the butterfly piercing technique, both moving just as fast as the last two, able to hit virtually anywhere on the stage and both aimed to pierce 3.5 inches into his chest.

[WC= 453/1359]

Chakra= 155/250

Jutsu Used

Butterfly Piercing -15:

Body-Management -10:

Advance -10:

Manic Mantle -10:

Jutsu Maintained
Puppet Tech. -5

The blade pierced the corpse puppet, ending it's half-life. Unannounced to the swordsman, two small senbon of water shot through the air, unable to react due to his inability to detect them, the two pierced his chest. The coat of flames was no match for the powerful needles of water and it too was destroyed by the attack as the needles pierced his flesh, the first digging into his flesh before striking a rib while he was able to react to the second slightly all that did was allow him to move his torso out of the way causing it to pierce into the front of his shoulder. He turned in the direction of the attacks and watched as a cloak of orange-ish red energy. Kashiki's hands begin weaving the hand seals for the Unseen Earthen Volcano technique, finishing just as his opponent dashed forwards. It would be impossible for his opponent to dodge due to the chakra enhanced movement and incinerating his puppet body. Kashiki would raise his hands for protection on instinct, but that would most likely not be required.

Chakra 180/250:

WC: 182/966

A mantle of chakra would begin to enshroud him as he used Tai-Sabaki buffed by the speed boosting Advance jutsu to close the distance between himself and Kashiki in little more than half a second as the kunai plunged through Tsubaki's chest. Yasubei's red tinted vision would put him face to face with Kashiki as he turned around after stabbing Tsubaki and began his hand seals. With just a little more chakra, Yasu's clawed left hand would snap up moving 10 m/s faster than it normally could attempting to grab the ninja's hand if he committed to the seal, effectively stopping subsequent seals if he was successful. He didn't know the nature of Kashiki's jutsu, so he wasn't going wait for his opponent to finish his hands seals and try to block a jutsu point blank easily.

If Yasu grabbed the opposing ninja he'd swing his hand high over his head twisting his torso slightly as he attempted to swing Kashiki over his head by his hand. Yasu would lift his left knee making the motions of a kick to Kashiki's face letting go of the ninja's hand as his momentum was heading downwards towards his foot. The kick would disappear as it harmlessly would move through its target if he would be there to be hit. As the chakra cloaked puppet nin would vanish. Simultaneously, as he released the hand, Yasubei would move up to 5 meters away at 35 m/s to put his left foot on Tsubaki's back, shooting a thin focused beam of water at Kashiki as a scroll unfurled from his right hand and the corpse disappeared in a poof. If he missed he would simply move 5 meters away at 35 m/s to put his left foot on Tsubaki's back regardless and seal Tsubaki.

As the two ninja clashed a two meter wide maw would snap at the Hattori as Jormungand would attempt to engulf him whole. The snake would strike at its once invisible prey that was now back in its sights. With a dramatic lunge it would attempt to glut itself with its prey. Yasubei would observe the snake's behavior wondering if it would be able to take on the opposing ninja on its own. Yasubei would be watching closely. If the ninja dodged the snake Yasu would reach out grabbing his fan and send a one meter orb at him.

[WC= 415]

Chakra= 135/250
Jutsu Maintained
Advance -15
Manic Mantle -0
Puppet Technique -5

Ammunition
CCIW= 1/2

Kashiki's hands wove into the seals, finishing the second as a hand clamped down on his wrist. While it was sudden, his opponent was at a disadvantage in raw strength, but he wouldn't show that yet, allowing him to think he was grappling him for an instant. Kashiki's left leg darted outwards and would attempt to hook his opponent's leg, keeping them close. If his opponent didn't disengage instantly Kashiki would use his strength to pull his hand towards his chest and weave the last seal. Immediately after he would launch the ungrappled arm at his opponent's arm that was being used to grapple his own. His own rare strength would likely be able to force his opponent to stay within a literal arm's reach for atleast long enough for his jutsu to take effect. Speaking of, unless his opponent had some way to detect chakra they would be oblivious to the aura of heat that would incinerate their puppet body. Hopefully this exchange would end the match, but that was unlikely with such a determinate and resilient pair of contestants.

---

Unseen Earthen Volcano was not used last post, using it this post

Chakra: 180/250

WC: +181, 1147

The idea that were genin as strong as his puppets was a very familiar concept to Yasubei. He wasn't surprised by the resistance that he felt when he pulled on the other genin to throw him. What he was surprised by was that he was completely powerless to move the other ninja. He was maybe stronger than anyone Yasu had grappled with ever before. Hand to hand with this ninja would definitively not turn out well. As Kashiki went for the leg sweep, Yasu would shift backwards, his after image leaving pressure for a moment longer as Yasu retreated. His right arm would stretch out, latching onto the giant snake that was barrelling towards the duo. He knew he'd have to defend, since close range offense was no longer a feasible option.

A third of the puppet strings coming from Ogre, specifically those attached to the "Myself" puppet. They'd reattach to the the snake corpse keeping it animate as the ghostly chakra cicada phased out of the snake and shattered into a fine powder of chakra. The corpse would snap its mouth around Yasu encasing him in its maw, and a vermillion aura would surround the puppet protecting it. The snake turned its head ever so slightly so that it was now facing Ogre and would spit out it's master as Yasubei moved at 35 m/s until he was next to Ogre. Yasubei would land ready to spring again still worried about defending from whatever that technique the Hattori may have used.

Yasubei would considered going on the offensive again as he realized that the nature of his opponent's technique wasn't immediately apparent. That being said he'd send Ogre forward at 11 m/s taking about a full second to close in on the Hattori-nin. As that happened, Yasu would send the massive snake to continually pursue its target, its massive maw striking at Kashiki to attempt to put him in its mouth. Yasu would side step making sure to stay just within 25 meters of Kashiki for optimal control of his puppets. Having little to nothing to lose from it Yasu would line up at an angle from Ogre and create a thin beam of water from his horn aiming to cut Kashiki's calves. It'd move at 25 m/s and cut 1.5 inches into Kashiki's legs on the off chance it hit. If Ogre managed to get with 2 meters of Kashiki it would swing its sword to make contact with Kashiki just at his ribs the it'd swing again at his shoulder aiming for both of the genin's injuries. If Jormungand managed to get Kashiki in its mouth, Yasubei would activate Impel Down.

[WC= 461/2235]

Chakra= 110/250

Techniques Used

Empty Chestnut Shell Technique -10:

Jutsu Maintained
Manic Mantle [-5]
Puppet Technique [-5]
Advance [-5]

Ammunition
CCIW= 0/2

Stat Boosts
+1 Speed [C-1]
-1 Perception [D-3]


Possible, but unlikely Jutsu
This would bring Yasu's chakra to 95

Chakra String Prison -15:

The grasp around his wrist lightened, but it was to late. His hand formed the final seal and intense heat filled the radius of the Unseen Earthen Volcano. The snake corpse slithering 5m away from Kashiki was almost certainly incinerated, the skin crackling as juices leaked out. It might actually smell tasty if it wasn't a corpse. As was his opponent, while he was fast he couldn't outrun this technique, his body was also nearly guaranteed to be incinerated by the flames as two kunai were flung towards him.

If his opponent made it to the snake somehow before the jutsu was completed the same would hold true, the snake would be incinerated as would it's owner. He had put up a good fight, Kashiki's favorite so far but that might just be because it was a ninja from his homeland. Seeing how strong Sunagakure shinobi were instilled the swordsman with pride and hardened his resolve for what he planned to do in the finals.

---

Unseen Earthen Volcano was not used last post, using it this post

Chakra: 180/250

WC: 165

The snake he was controling would be commanded to rear up as it burst into flames, but it would be too late for it as it began burning away to ash revealing Yasu to the world around him once more. Yasubei would observe as the fan he left behind, that Tsubaki lodged in the ground slowly burned up into cinder from bottom to top. It must have been what assaulted his snake. As he fell to the ground he reorient himself allowing his mop of hair to protect him from whatever dangers may have awaited him. as he was of the belief that the danger may have come from below he would land back first into the ground beneath. He'd unleash a full arsenal of his Needle Jizo jutsu both defending and attacking.

The magnificent albino hair on his back would erupt in a torrent of motion as It would increase to cover the entire length of his back as senbon like protrusions grew out of it stabbing into the earth itself. This alone would surround him in a coccoon of safety, but the hair never stopped growing. Yasu's eyes and horn would remain exposed through the cocoon of hair as it continued to expand and Yasu tried to catch a glimpse of his opponent. Two senbon of hair would shoot at each of the other genin's thighs (four total) specifically his femoral artery, two would shoot at his liver, to would go for his wind pipe, and two would aim for his chest. Each senbon would fly at 15 m/s and pierce 1 1/4 inches into flesh if they hit. If Yasu's hair was allowed to expand freely it would cover the ground in a half meter deep forest of hair in a four meter radius around him.

As he shot the senbon with his hair he would also reactivate the butterfly piercing technique creating a line of water that would aim to bisect vertically Kashiki from his neck down, tracing along his spine. cutting 2.5 inches into him. Yasu would leap from his prone position towards Kashiki, the needles following him at 19 m/s breathing heavily, an exhausted look on his face. Yasu would fight till the last second, cuz that was aesthetic even if his desperation looked unappealing.

Jutsu used/maintained -65 chakra wrote:

Needle Jizo:

Hair Senbon:

Betrayer’s Desserts -15:

Fleece Cloak - to block the floor is lava:

Butterfly Piercing Technique -15 Reactivated
Manic Mantle-0
Advance -5

Exit Thread TWC=3940