It was a winter's morning in Sunagakure when Ayato had decided to leave, her family back in Konoha Valley had sent her a message, the message sparked memories of her mother and her Danketsu stepfather, as well as her younger brother which bought on a small amount of home sickness. After a great sum of deliberation she asked the Kazekage for permission to travel to Konoha, able to transport anything or anyone in the process. Her offer was accepted on the grounds that with an amount of Ryo she returned with some supplies and a convoy, which she was sure Konoha, or the Danketsu would be more than willing to afford. On such grounds, Ayato found herself packing, though lightly. She packed clothes, her sword and enough water and food for the trip as well as assuming hold ups could occur, so she packed for a few extra days out in the desert before making her way into the humid horizon as night began to fall. Ayato found herself moving at pace, step after step she took to her feet under the light of a beautiful near full waxing moon against the sand. By the time the sun set and rose once more she could see the sand giving way to dirt and stone as she knew this was the boarder to fire country. From here, she had to keep on her toes, Konoha was the biggest city in the ninja world, and as such, was the biggest holder of grudges, there was no telling what each individual occupant of the village was capable of when it came to a wandering Sunagakure ninja who possessed a rare and powerful doujutsu.

Ayato by this point had eaten half her provisions making her backpack a lot lighter, easily lighter enough for her to pick up her pace to a run as she fleeted across the landscape, rolling hills gave way to her as she leaped across them, along them, dodging and waving from side to side as she made her way through the canyons on the boarder lands. Great canyons and hillsides, moving through and around small villages where the people worked hard, she waved as she made her way through them, occasionally stopping to taste and experience the hospitality, but never staying for long. The Rockies gave way to the grasslands, the prairies, and the wide open glades. Which running across was a splendour, Spending an afternoon in amongst a hidden place filled with nothing but wild flowers and butterflies which expanded harmoniously in every direction. The grasslands gave way to the forests, which she finally knew and recognised, the great Senju forest, made to hide the village. It was made by a Hokage, Ayato thought, picking up her pace another notch as she leaped from tree to tree, branch to branch darting rapidly as she finally came to an opening, in the distance she could see the tall expansive wall which surrounded the great city of a hundred cultures.

Approaching the one gate, Ayato smiled and approached with caution, her face was not one the Jounin here would have seen, not since she was but a child, and she had filled out a little since then, the old Jounin of the village no doubt having moved on, up, or fallen in the line of duty for reasons unknown. They were on high alert as the Sunagakure Nin, dressed like a samurai approached. Her long blade sheathed at her back and her body well sculpted. Her head band instead wrapped around her upper arm, and pinned to her clothing for now so it would never become anything of a hindrance. The jounin of the village held out their hand as Ayato showed them a piece of parchment which essentially acted as a Visa, informing them she is here to purchase or procure a convoy of goods to go to Sunagakure, food, medical supplies, trinkets and tools. As well as visit family in the Danketsu clan. The jounin were pleasant, and as she had no real means to deal damage to the village, especially one of Konoha's standards on her own, she gave her name, rank as a Chuunin and other information to them as a precaution which she was more than happy to do, and was allowed to move along.

Welcome to Konoha

Ayato found herself walking along the long pathways through Konoha City, looking at the hundreds of people walking around and going about their daily lives, peaceful, if not with a small amount of stress burdening their shoulders, but such was the world they lived in, hardship, strife, conflict was what build this massive and enigmatic city, and so it was built and basted into the stone which composed it. But there was something else within the rock, stone and clay. Harmony, hope and togetherness bound them together, and such a thing bought a smile to the face of the Amida Clan member who walked through the streets until she managed to stumble onto one of the training parks nearer the forest of death, surrounded by cherry trees, young academy ninja played and trained while others simply lay amongst the long aromatic grass as the cherry petals hung aloft and were carried by the wind.

After a long day of running, Ayato felt at peace here, moving over to a nearby tree which cast a nice shade and sat down beneath it. Sighing softly as her entire body relaxed into rest. She gave thanks to the world as the mantras crossed her lips, sitting cross legged and closing her eyes, not in sleep, but in spiritual contemplation. Humming lightly.

The wind tearing through the Cherry Blossom trees created a beautiful whistling noise, like the world itself was singing a lullaby. The soft, pink petals of the trees were gently lifted by the wind, riding the current as it twisted and fluttered gracefully, creating small colonies of dancing petals. Tatsumaru moved through the park with grace, walking on the balls of his feet as he spun, ducked and jumped. His every movement was clearly designed to avoid the petals that rode the wind around him. This was one of the many methods Tatsumaru used to increase his flexibility and reaction time. By avoiding the endless barrage of petals, Tatsumaru was forced to move in ways he typically wouldn't, and as such he trained his muscles to react in every way they possibly can.

A sudden powerful burst of wind sent the leaves around him stirring up violently as they began to spin. "Oh shit" Tatsumaru thought to himself as he saw he was suddenly surrounded by leaves. Kicking off the balls of his feet to avoid the leaves spiralling around his feet, Tatsumaru locked his knees into his chest, wrapping his arms around them to lower his surface area as much as possible. He spun several metres into the air, and as he reached the apex of his height, he sprawled open from his ball so that he could properly assess where to land. The wind was working against him, however, as where he was falling was covered in leaves spiralling through the air.

As Tatsumaru fell, he twisted in various awkward angles, trying to avoid the fluttering petals. His efforts were in vain, however, as a single petal landed on his forehead. Landing on his back with no small amount of frustration, Tatsumaru pulled the petal off his forehead and tore it in half. "Dammit!" he blurted out in frustration before sitting up, brushing some of the dust off his forearms and shoulders. His eyes caught a new sight, however, sitting under one of the cherry blossom trees. It was a beautiful young girl with long flowing white hair. Tatsumaru was more than familiar with all the Konoha ladies, and he was certain she wasn't from the village. His assumptions were quickly proven true as he noticed her headband wrapped around her right forearm. A gourd. So, she was from Sunagakure. Not one to turn down an opportunity to get to know a beautiful woman, Tatsumaru smiled and called out to the pretty young lady. "Hey there!" he called out, his tone warm and welcoming. "Not often we see someone from Sunagakure around here. Enjoying the village?"

Word Count: 438

(May as well word count it up for some kenjutsu training ^_^)

Ayato had opened her eyes to take in the warmth and the highlights of the setting in which she sat, the people playing, dancing and training with such an air of beauty and carelessness around them made her feel truly at peace at this very moment, harmony here seemed to be well maintained, while they were still trying to work on such complex morals and standpoints in Suna, they were working hard, and had been since the Kazekage two hundred years ago to follow in the bright shining example Konoha had set for the rest of the world. Amongst the people working in amongst the falling cherry petals which hung aloft softy like a million rafts floating in the sea of the spring breeze, she saw one person almost dancing between them. His movements sometimes sudden but otherwise fluent and rolling. She found herself somewhat entranced in his movements, his coat giving away his status in the village at the very least. 'Huh, A dancing jounin' Ayato found herself thinking to herself as she watched his agile and graceful movements. Not a single petal caressing his skin, until an unexpected gust of wind washed past him, he reacted, doing very well to resist the touch of the petals, but they travelled up his own slick stream, and soon one touched down softly on his forehead.

Ayato laughed lightly as he shook himself off and called out to her, her ears perked as she listened to his words. Listening to not only what physical words slid across his tongue, taking into account the calm and genuine nature which was portrayed by one of the Citie's many Jounin. Ayato found a smile creeping across her face as she rested her hand softly on the bark behind her and used it to raise up, curling her back and interlacing her fingers, stretching to the heavens as she did so, her legs crossed and her entire body tightened for but a moment, until her fingers broke from their togetherness and rested back down at her sides. Stepping one leg more comfortably in front of the other she bowed to her superior in both experience and it seemed to be age, but, not by a great amount by sheer observation alone. Unable to see his chakra, or even at the very least his reserves, she had no clue how much the person before her potentially dwarfed her own training.

"I've been doing very well so far sir, the Village has been good to me, it's exactly how i remember it..." Speaking softly, but audible enough for the ninja to be able to hear her across the distance between them, her voice, carried along by the wind blowing at her back. Looking to and fro, she noticed by the blooming cherry trees she had unfortunately missed the blooming ceremony by only perhaps a couple of days, where the flowers would open for the first time and the park would almost explode with life, when she was but a girl her mother would take her here every year, and every year she would ask her mother how all the trees knew to open their flowers at the same time. "I missed the Cherry trees blooming though, does everyone still hold the festival? Hang the lanterns and come to the park for the show?" She inquired, hoping that such old, innocent traditions were not lost.

Ayato could remember everything about her childhood, every time she had fallen and scabbed her knee, she would run and cry to her mother, as if she was dying with but the most minor of cuts or grazes. She remembered the way the Jounin of the village used to smile at the children and the genin running through the streets so full of energy and fire. She could remember her little brother in the ninja academy, he would be a genin now, assuming he passed his own ninja training at the academy and didn't have to sit another year. Her little brother was a union of the two clans, but unlike her, he would more than likely never awaken his third eye, though the slit was there on his forehead Ayato was the exception for the Danketsu's law against the use of ninjutsu, it was a shame, but perhaps if the boy learned to adapt and grow under the aid of another teacher some time down the track of his life, they would teach him to open it, but only if he so wished.

WC Kenjutsu training = 767/2000:

"I missed the Cherry trees blooming though, does everyone still hold the festival? Hang the lanterns and come to the park for the show?" Tatsumaru smiled as he listened to her talk. Clearly she appreciated the classics. "They still hold the festival. Can't say I attend, though. it coincides with a religious festival for me, so I spent the night praying." Tatsumaru was intentionally being vague about the subject in question, given that many religions think practitioners of the Cult of Ramiel deserve a death sentence. He knew nothing about this girl or her beliefs, and it seemed best to avoid being precise. A few religions had festivals on the same date, thankfully, so he didn't have to lie about his activities. In actuality, Tatsumaru had spent the night fighting and praying, and at midnight he sacrificed a rabbit. All things best left unmentioned around strangers. "So, what brought a beautiful desert flower like yourself into our fair village? Business or pleasure?" As he spoke, Tatsumaru kept the same soft smile and tone of voice, and stared directly into the pretty ladies eyes. How she reacted to his advances would be interesting, to say the least. A bit of casual complimenting didn't typically yield a negative reaction, as even women who weren't interested tend to appreciate it.

Word Count: 655

Ayato smiled at the compliments she had been given, as one could not help but smile and bow their head slightly as if one had to take the words to the cheek as they began to flush ever so slightly in reaction to his tone. He was pleasant, and it seemed also very forward. She admitted she enjoyed the attention, and as far as the Danketsu clan were considered she was of age to be married and potentially join another family into the noble Samurai clan by means of marriage. But such passions were unbecoming of an Amida at this point in their life, the thought of bearing child was a risk she could not bare, her time on earth was important with her status and the one out of two chances of death upon the bearing of a healthy baby girl was a task dedicated to perhaps a future time. Once her affairs were set in order, her connection to nirvana was strong, and she could happily slip away into the hereafter. Her mother, another Amida, was in fact her mother's sister.

"You're very kind sir, A bit of both, Suna need some basic supplies, tools, seeds, and a few assorted others which are best found in konoha, most of the region known commercial smiths are here which makes here the best place to procure them, other than that I'm here to visit family, my mother and stepfather of the Danketsu clan. I was actually born here, but i stowed away on a Cart to suna before I joined the academy, and joined the Academy there instead, it doesn't seem anything much has changed." Though her slightly more informative speech came to pass, she took his playful note on board, though she was technically speaking a warrior monk, trained by honour bound samurai, they were both known for mischief making and having a little bit of fun on occasion.

Without actually activating the Jutsu within the lenses of her third eye, the slit in her forehead opened slightly revealing the luminous blue organ which was only half a part of the physical world. Though she had only awakened it in the last few weeks, her own instinctual genetic heritage had trained her and tutored her in its use. A couple of people who had already seen it were a little put off by the three eyed girl, her normal two violet eyes combined with her other eye which almost seemed to resonate within its own iris in a soothing and relaxing sapphire blue. She wanted to see if the man's comments of beauty would retract with the revelation of her clan's Kekkei Genkai, even though once again she had only made the comment from her father all the more absolute, that her trusting and honest nature would make her a terrible spy or assassin.

"I'm a Monk from the Amida clan, It's kind of nice to just be able to roam around and be nomadic every now and then, though, in these times you never really know. A couple of weeks ago I would never have thought i would be meditating beside a maelstrom of fire out in the center of the Desert, then now surrounded by the cherry trees of Konoha... It's a pleasant change... I wonder if the Ninja of Konoha are still as strong as they used to be..." She said with an amount of wonder, looking and eyeing him up, for any sign of would be confidence. I'm actually in need of some training, to be perfectly honest with you, I've been neglecting it recently, and although we perhaps focus mainly in very seperate areas of expertise, perhaps you could give me a lesson. One must walk many roads to discover the path of all paths, after all. She quoted her own scripture.

Part of the reason she asked for training is she was attracted to the man, not necessarily on a physical level, but she... read something about him, her eye closed again, keeping it open without the use of chakra was like opening your eye wide and holding it open against a gust of wind, after some time it began to feel uncomfortable and unsupported by the chakra within her body, forcing her to closer her eye again, bathing it in its natural habitat. The young man of Konoha was right, she was in the prime years of her youth, and as such she could afford to perhaps attempt to bridge into some form of connection with the boy. It was within her right of a woman, but she would have to ensure that nothing moved too quickly.

Bukijutsu training1464:

Buki training 1413

Tatsumaru found he had to repress the urge to expand his smile into a devilish grin when the young girl lowered her head, her pale cheeks taking on a rosy tint. Clearly, his words were getting somewhere. He listened with interest while she spoke of her childhood, of how she had been born in Konoha but moved to Sunagakure at a young age. A shame that such a beautiful woman was moved away from Tatsumaru's homeland, to be sure. Such soft features are hard to find, and he would know, he's seen every detail of almost every single Kunoichi in konoha. Unthinking, his eyes began to wander from Ayato's eyes down her figure, quickly examining her curves. It certainly was a nice package, to say the least, and considering that she responded reasonably well to his advances, perhaps this might go somewher-

Tatsumaru's train of thought was shattered by a... third eye? appearing on her forehead. Being a master of all things bullshit, Tatsumaru managed to not show any surprise on his face, but he was certainly shocked on the inside. He found it hard to focus on the story she was telling about being nomadic, but a single word caught his ear; amida. Tatsumaru was taught the names of every clan blessed with a Doujutsu from a young age, and the Amida clan was one of them. So, this was the Amida's doujutsu, a third eye. It was fascinating to say the least. By the time he managed to drag himself away from his thoughts to focus on her words, she had already switched topics. "...actually in need of some training, to be perfectly honest with you. I've been neglecting it recently, and although we perhaps focus mainly in very separate areas of expertise, perhaps you could give me a lesson. One must walk many roads to discover the path of all paths, after all"

A sparring match, wonderful. Nothing like working up a solid sweat with a beautiful woman. Dragging himself to his feet, Tatsumaru put his fists together, and after giving a single forceful push, cracked every single bone in his hands at once. The sound was loud, rippling and generally fantastic, at least in Tatsumaru's opinion. "That verse; 'One must walk many roads to discover the path of all paths' It's scripture isn't it?" he remarked casually as he reached inside his vest, pulling out a solid steel Heartache case. Opening the steel container, he removed a set of combat gloves, with a guard for the tops of each hand made out of a leaf headband design and knuckle dusters lined with barbed spikes. Quickly slipping his hands into the gloves, Tatsumaru slid the Attache case back inside the inner lining of his Vest before turning back to face the Kunoichi. "After you, my lady." he said with a smile, raising his fists as he adjusted his position to face her side on, his right leg and shoulder dropping back so that his left was presented towards her.

Word Count: 1157

The man before her readied his gloves, clenching his fists while she placed a hand on the hilt of her blade. She analysed and assumed that at least one of his specialisations was in Taijutsu, but one did not come so far having lived with the arts of Taijutsu alone, she wondered which of the other plethora of ninja techniques were at his fingertips to command. There was a very high chance he had managed to guess the two of hers, recognised by the eye that was on her forehead combined with the blade on her back. One could summon with the use of the third eye, even use fuuinjutsu, medical, and other such things, but Ninjutsu was by far the most common amongst the Amida clan, and for those who had heard of them would know them as some of the better chakra masters of the ninja world.

With a long single movement Ayato unsheathed her long two hand a half foot blade from its sheathe. Combined with the two foot handle the blade almost came as high as her own shoulder from base of the pommel to tip of the blade. A sword to be reckoned with, as she gripped the upper most section of its hilt with her right hand tightly, and stabilised and steered the blade with her left gripping much softer than the other. The fine blade whistled against the wind with even the slightest of movements, a flower petal gracing the weapon's fine edge to be cut with the lightest touch. Running her left hand up the length of the shaft of the hilt softly to meet the other, her smile broadened as well. "Yes, it's from my scriptures, I follow the path set before me by my ancestor, but I follow it in my own way. That being said, I'm also Danketsu!"

With a single motion Ayato seemed to literally pull her sword apart as chakra flared to light, from her blade like ripping its shadow from its very form another blade was born, pitch black, though fine did not seem as great a quality as the other. Digging her feet into the ground her entire body began to tensen, building up will, pressure, and adrenaline for the fight that was to come. Rolling and spinning each of them, she flourished the two blades only once in her hands, the light glinting off the fine silver blade as the other almost seemed to absorb the light again enforcing the idea that the blade seemed to be almost made of shadow. Ayato springing into action at last, leaned her bodyweight forward and bending at the knees, letting her body drop for but a moment as her knees then forced against the ground they had coiled against like a viper. She dashed into her opponent with speed more advanced than a simple Chuunin in an effort to bridge the gap between them.

What would then befall her opponent once she reached him would be her initial offensive, stomping her fist blade would cascade gracefully through the air toward her opponent's neck with an amount of skill and finesse which would be expected of an advanced Chuunin fighter. Her body spinning into him as she attacked first with the shimmering silver blade, leaving her opponent at the full meters length past the end of her arm she would need to keep him at to attack with still a half foot of blade with her hands situated halfway down the two foot lengths of her handles. The second blade as she span would look to land at the outside of her opponents knee. The spin with two blades designed so that she would have a follow up attack quickly enough so that he would not be able to push in between the strikes and attack before the second blade had reached him.

Keeping her feet she thought she had initiated with an amount of grace and poise which was befitting of both the Noble Amida and the Honourable Danketsu. A few of the onlookers had begun to watch the mysterious girl beginning a fight with Tatsumaru. Some of them beginning to pick favourites, and some of the other Jounin even beginning to place bets based on who other people thought would win, and then deeper still, in how much time. Though it was simply a training spar, and Ayato was expecting some mmid combat instruction, knowing her movements were far from perfect, she hoped she would not let down Tatsumaru with an easy fight.

Chakra 185:

Buki Training C->B 2k/2k (DONE)
Buki training B->A 232/3000

Tatsumaru smiled to himself as his opponent drew her blade. A doujutsu and a sword. She reminded him of himself a bit, what with his sharingan and his pension for fighting in close quarters. Still, his eyes were superior, if indeed he was forced to use his Doujutsu. Tatsumaru was waiting for her to move in, but instead, she did something most unexpected; she created a duplicate of her already massive sword out of pure chakra, and began to wield both massive blades as one handed weapons. It was an interesting tactic, but it could bite her. She wasn't very built muscle wise, and the size of her blades could be used against her, abusing the lever action the length gives to steal her blades or even break her arms, assuming they manage to lock it into the right position. Granted, it's not exactly easy to grab the sharp end of a sword, but still possible. And, even if he didn't grab it, any significantly forceful impact on the edge of the sword would utilize the same force, and potentially break her now one handed grip.

Ayato struck first, spinning as she swung the real blade towards Tatsumaru's neck. The second blade of chakra was aimed towards his knees. An interesting dual pronged sweep to say the least, but Tatsumaru knew exactly how to deal with it. Both swings were coming from the same direction, and as such they weren't very hard to deal with using basic Taijutsu logistics. Tatsumaru threw his right leg back across the ground, lowering his center of gravity as he crouched down. Raising his right hand over his head, Tatsumaru bent sharply to the left at his waist til his head was almost horizontal. This bought his fists down in a sideways U position, and as the blades came in, Tatsumaru thrust his fists out in a straight line, the edge of the real blade clashing into the metal band across Tatsumaru's right knuckles. Tatsumaru's left fist however, tore straight through the shadow blade, the powerful barbed tips of his gauntlets and impressive punching power of his strike too much for the imitation blade. Not one to waste an opportunity, Tatsumaru twisted his right hand slightly, locking the barbs in place, with two barbs beneath the edge of the blade and two barbs above it, pressing down and up simultaneously. While the barbs helped him grip, Tatsumaru kept the force of his initial blow up, trying to abuse the lever mechanism the blade would be instigating. Not done yet, Tatsumaru thrust his now free left hand onto the ground, using it to brace himself as he kicked off the ground, his weight now supported solely by his left hand. His right leg swung through the air and shot sharply towards Ayato's abdomen while Tatsumaru's left boot hooked onto the edge of the blade, the thick combat boots avoiding him shredding his feet as he used the superior muscles of his leg to aid his fist in the attempted disarm.

Word Count: 1661

Ayato was to a point impressed with the amount of speed and poise which Tatsumaru carried himself with, it seemed he was just as potent as any other Jounin or ninja of his rank. She could not risk the damage that would be dealt with her using her third eye should he attempt to blind side her with his superior speed, she could not risk the damage that would be inflicted by his knuckles, the spikes on them, though were not that large, they would most definitely poke significant holes into her sides or whichever managed to land. Ayato slid her back foot out to a side of the two of them as Tatsumaru viced the blade between two of his spikes and pressing the blade back toward her, using his own push she bought the blade up into a high guarding stance, using the edge of the plate and the movement of Tatsumaru to pry her fine weapon from the angled slants of the spikes, which glided out with minimal effort, freeing her blade which was now solidly gripped in two hands by the time his kick wound itself through the air with collosal force for Ayato's body.

Ayato reacted minimally, he was a LOT faster than her, Speeds bordering ranks which she was having trouble simply seeing. His foot was like a comet ripping through the heavens, ready to obliterate everything in its path should it make contact with her. But with her two handed style affirmed, her strength magnified behind it, and consolidated into something stronger and a little more threatening. She'd hoped to be able to confront him with a flurry in an attempt to put some pressure on him with the sheer speed and rapid laceration potential of her two blades, but it seemed for at least the most part of this battle, it was going to be more than one sided, and she was going to more than likely be focusing on her defensive. Gripping the handle at shoulder height with the tip pointed down like Tatsumaru had forced she rotated her blade toward the kick, but thought she would catch tatsumaru off guard.

As his kick rocketed in with force, she jerked the her wrists last second, rotating the edge of the blade outward and swinging it out in an upward arc to meet it above the line of his boot. The combined forces of the edge of her blade, she speed of his kick as well as the strength of her opponent, should her attack find its place would almost single handedly amputate Tatsumaru's leg with the force. Though Ayato would not let such an event as that happen during a simple training match, keeping her control on the blade not lose, but flexible she would give the blade and his leg a small amount of give, which would not allow her blade to cleave through his shinbone like gathered straw. As she bought her blade high she stepped out from tatsumaru and moved into a low crouching stance, flowing with the arc of her counter offensive she rotated almost seamlessly into a follow up. And striking for the exposed elbow which maintained Tatsumaru's weight perhaps microseconds before her would rotate off it. Full knowing at her speed she would most likely not be able to reach and land this blow in time, but it was more or less her training to attack an exposed limb, so she would TRY.

Completing her spin she would end her strike about three meters from Tatsumaru and begin to strafe around his position and hope that she had not hurt him in any sense which may cause lasting harm. She knew Jounin were strong, but they were far from immune to making mistakes and misjudgements especially against new opponents. Ayato had a frail frame but she was able to pull back with the impact of her hits like a saw to compensate and was efficient at parrying and redirecting force with her blade as well as with her movement. Efficient, but far from a master in swordplay, She'd jarred her hand slightly with the impact against his knuckles, it had hurt, but it was little more than a prick and a slight ache, with two hands on her blade, and the axis of it under her near infinite control now, such pain would not very likely become an issue again.

Buki training = 925

Ayato twisted her blade suddenly, lining the edge up with Tatsumaru's rapidly approaching shin. Without his Sharingan active, Tatsumaru's visual reaction time wasn't that impressive, and by the time he assessed the threat, the blade had cut about a centimetre into his flesh. His muscle control was solid, however, and such a shallow cut did not impede his ability to halt the swing and pull his leg back, kicking off with a sharp flip, expanding the gap between the two. Clearly, she was talented with that blade. Still, she might be dedicated to the blade at the cost of her other abilities, and that was exactly what Tatsumaru intended to test. The sting of the cut in his leg didn't particularly bother Tatsumaru, considering his expansive experience with scarification and filling wounds with salt. The nerve endings on his shins being all but dead from years of pounding them into tree trunks and iron bars on top of that made the pain barely present. Still, for someone to draw blood from him so early was... impressive. And it was for that exact reason that Tasumaru intended to use Ninjutsu on her, at least for the time being. Forming the tiger hand seal, Tatsumaru inhaled sharply, flooding his lungs with a rich mixture of oxygen and chakra as he prepared his attack. "Katon: G-"

The repeated calling of his name forced Tatsumaru to stop mid-jutsu to address the source of the noise. A beautiful young girl in Konohagakure no Sato Jounin attire was approaching rapidly, waving her arms in the air. "Tatsumaru! Tatsumaru!" Breaking his hand seal, Tatsumaru turned to face the girl, presuming his starring partner had enough respect to recognise the interference and pause the confrontation. "Hmm?" "Lord Hokage-sama has assigned you an urgent mission. A small band of unknown assailants has attacked the nearby village of Kutchan. He orders you to take another shinobi you trust and assess the situation immediately. Deal with the criminals if you can, and if you cannot, gather as much information as you can and report back as soon as possible so that we can mobilize a strike force." the girls tone was rushed and shaken. She was clearly not used to delivering such grave news. Tatsumaru was admittedly rather shocked that Kutchan was under attack; it was the closest village to Konohagakure no Sato, and many shinobi's families lived there. An attack on Kutchan could be a prelude to a full scale invasion of Konohagakure, presuming the assailants were from kumogakure or Kirigakure. Still, Tatsumaru refused to show any concern on his face, and instead just smiled at the girl, nodding once to signal his understanding before turning back to Ayato.

"I'm sorry, but it seems I have to go. I hate to cut such an... interesting sparring match to an early close, but I have to deal with this."

Word Count: 2139

She had delivered her cut, and as she struck out avoiding the amputation of his leg, which she somehow doubted would have been an eventuality, watched keenly as the ninja she was facing leapt backward, the blood flowing heavily from his leg as her blade had easily nicked bone deep into his leg. To which, she somewhat felt sorry for, Her opponent leapt back and prepared a hand seal, that was something she could not let him do, throwing all of her weight forward she boldly charged toward his attack, holding her blade to her side as she stepped inward, but then she heard the yelling. Someone was calling for him, and with that, alarm bells began to ring, she could see the stress in the girl's face, and Ayato began to become worried.

Sheathing her blade after wiping what little blood clung to its surface on a polishing handkerchief, she listened to the words, it seemed there was some sort of assault on a nearby village. She didn't remember the layout of the land but the name of the place was familiar. Looking to Tatsumaru's reaction she nodded affirmatively when he addressed her, Ayato's eyes had steeled. But it didn't take long for her to pose an offer. "Master Tatsumaru, please, allow me to accompany you, like your Kage said, don't go in without backup, if there is little information on the opponent, take me, you've seen me fight and to a level know my style, we will also save valuable time if we go together."

Fire began to almost radiate in her eyes as Ayato became determined to aid the Jounin in the pursuit of order. Her mind was made up, to the point that even if he refused her, she would probably still follow him to the best of her ability. It was written within the teachings of the Amida that those whom willingly took the wheels within their hands would be struck down by the blade of Fuudo, a frightening gesture, but perhaps a needed one.

"Lead the way sir!" Ayato performed a hand sign away from the other two, closing her eyes as she focused hard on the moulding of her katon chakra, the heat in the area before her began to accumulate over a couple of meters before she announced. "Fire Style, Red Hare Jutsu!" A brilliant yet perfectly maintained explosion emanated from the surrounding area, containing itself and forming into almost a living creature. A horse, of almost skin and bone, clawed feet and nimble physique was crafted from the heat. Without a word Ayato mounted it, it's long tendril like whiskers extending out to either side. Its fire, under her control failed to harm her, taking hold of its whiskers like reigns, she awaited Tatsumaru's lead, so that she would be able to follow with the added Speed of red Hare.

chakra 180:

buki training 1413

"Master Tatsumaru, please, allow me to accompany you, like your Kage said, don't go in without backup, if there is little information on the opponent, take me, you've seen me fight and to a level know my style, we will also save valuable time if we go together." Tatsumaru paused for a moment, contemplating it. She was a Sunagakure no Sato shinobi, and if this was an attack from Sunagakure, he was opening himself to be eliminated by an agent sent specifically to deal with him. It made sense, she was young and beautiful and she happened to be where he was, now offering her services. Still, such an attack from a close ally was unlikely, and she wasn't aware of his Sharingan, nor his Bakuton. He could escape. "Of course, hang on a minute." Tatsumaru said warmly to Ayato before looking around the environment. He saw the figure of a local Chuunin in the other end of the field, relaxing in nature. Marching over to him quickly, Tatsumaru pulled him to his feet and whispered in his ear a series of hushed instructions. "This is an order. Go to the Uchiha compound immediately, tell anyone you can find there to contact Shiho Uchiha immediately and tell her that Tatsumaru needs her to travel to Kutchan ASAP. She is not to reveal her presence, and if she finds me she is to stay back in a support position. Go quickly." the Chuunin looked worried as Tatsumaru barked the orders in his ear, but nodded and ran off. Turning his attention back to Ayato, Tatsumaru smiled at her once again. "Try to keep up!" he said excitedly before kicking off the ground suddenly, sprinting at full pace towards the east. The young girl followed, riding a stallion made of pure fire. An interesting technique to be sure, but it still struggled to keep up with Tatsumaru's full speed. He was one of the fastest Shinobi in his village, and he wasn't slowing down for her. He had to get to Kutchan immediately.

The path to Kutchan was a simple sprint through thick woodlands, and given Tatsumaru's impressive physical ability, he reached it's border in a mere fifteen minutes. By walk, the village was several hours away, so the fact that he got there so quickly made him smile to himself briefly. There was visible smoke rising from the village, and Tatsumaru could hear screaming in the distance. A sudden massive tree formed in the heart of the village, and was moments later shattered. Shinobi were battling in the village! Ayato landed on the branch next to Tatsumaru, who had left a decent gap between her and himself. "Shinobi warfare is going on down there. Whoever is attacking, they use Ninjutsu. We need to get down there and deal with the situation." Not waiting for Ayato to follow, Tatsumaru kicked off the branch, leaping from the edge of the woodlands to the closest outlying property. He landed on the roof with ease, and began dashing from rooftop to rooftop in a desperate bid to reach the center of the fighting. Once he reached the town square, Tatsumaru found that all out chaos had broken out. Signs of Senju fighting was clear; trees and wood based attacks were everywhere. Several old Shinobi were scattered around, all dead. Their bodies were impaled with wood based attacks. They weren't wearing any shinobi gear, but Tatsumaru could tell they were old Shinobi from the way they were killed. Those were battle wounds, and many elderly Shinobi retired in Kutchan. The civilians were putting up a fight, and it seemed Senju were slaughtering them.

A large wooden beam shot out of the rooftop Tatsumaru was standing on and tried to wrap itself around his left leg. His reflexes were fast, however, and Tatsumaru leapt off the roof to the courtyard below. Several kunai were thrown from his right, and Tatsumaru had to combat roll to his left to avoid them. Four individuals landed in formation across from Tatsumaru, all wearing steel plated armour with the Senju logo on the breastplates. There were three large men and a shorter woman. The men were unarmed, while the woman had a sword on her waist. "Of course the leaf would send their favorite pitbull. We know who you are, Tatsumaru. This attack was staged purely to draw you and your kind out. You will pay for your sins, once and for all!" the woman in the center was the source of the remarks, and it was clear that she was the leader from the way the other three held themselves. They were there to guard her. "I'm afraid that you'll find that this pitbull is rather hard to put down." Tatsumaru remarked casually, walking backwards slowly as he assessed the situation. Four wood users. He would need some assistance, to be sure. At least the young girl had demonstrated that she used fire style, which would come in handy. Still, it would be a hard fight, two on four. Even with his Sharingan and his Bakuton it could be quite difficult, to say the least.

Word Count: 2994

Ayato did her best to keep up with Tatsumaru, even though while riding red hare her speed was comparable to most jounin, she seemed to be falling behind, picking up the pace the blazing red horse galloped at full tilt until they reached their destination, admittedly Ayato falling several minutes behind, her blazing steed racing nimbly through the forest, each of its hoof prints leaving behind red scorch-marks as she continued to run, she saw the unnatural chakra enhanced tree expand in the distance as well as the smoke raising from the sky. Her hair flowed behind her at the incredible speed she was moving at for a ninja of her own rank. Her time in getting this far this fast only due to the tireless nature of riding a creature made of chakra which was also quadrupedal, as well as nimble and precise enough to literally jump from tree branch to tree branch. 

The flame flickered backwards as the horses tail combined with the flaming radiance of her steed made it look more like a fire-quillin of legend rather than a simple horse. Ayato drew her blade and steeled herself for the conflict that was to come. "Shinobi warfare is going on down there. Whoever is attacking, they use Ninjutsu. We need to get down there and deal with the situation." Ayato nodded wordlessly having jumped to the branch beside him and looking down at her horse, running her hand through its mane as if it were a living breathing creature. Manipulating it while she did to make it even seem as if it were a beast of the world, and not merely an emanation from her own chakra.

They're... Senju clan right? are they not a part of Konoha!? She spoke in surprise that Konoha ninja would willingly attack ninja of their own creed, this was truly a time of chaos, she could almost feel the evil welling up in one of them. Looking to the ninja and biting her lower lip. One of the men, there was something inside him. Ayato could see his eyes never leaving her, dead eyes, controlled eyes. They locked onto her and penetrated daggers through her soul, each of them wore body armour, which would potentially cause a problem, but hopefully not a serious one. From the devastated area around them they seemed to have spent some chakra already, and with their wood release jutsu, from the damage most of them had to be ninjutsu users.

"I'll try and hold off whatever i can to cover you Tatsumaru... I don't know how much of a help I can be, but I don't think with their wood release they'd be able to escape my prison jutsu..." She spoke lightly enough for only him to hear, she did not want them to know any semblance of her plan. Her third eye beneath its lid flexed its iris, already assuming the position for a jutsu that she would have to use later. With that conviction she drew her blade from the top of her horse. gripping the beast's flaming mane as she prepared herself for battle. Separating herself from Tatsumaru and leaping upon one of the houses rooftops still upon the back of Red Hare. closing her eye for a moment and giving prayer before the beginning of the battle, muttering to herself as she drew her free hand to her chest forming a circle with her forefinger and her thumb...

"Though I do not believe in fighting, I will draw my blade to protect the innocent, and under the will of those who trained me, once I have drawn my blade I will draw blood... that is the Danketsu way... Lord Amida, allow me with my blade to cut the ties that bind those to their evil ways, and allow them to live again as a form which might let them find their true path...Namu Amida Butsu..."

chakra 170:

buki training 2075

The woman in the heart of the group smiled as Ayato entered the fray. It wasn't a smile of happiness, more of amusement. It seemed that her presence amused the Senju for some unknown reason. "Yanmato, go deal with the Crimson fist's latest fuck buddy." The thug to the woman's far left stepped forward. He was the tallest of the bunch, and his smooth black skin glistened with a thick layer of sweat. A large scar ran clearly from the base of his chin across his face, cutting through his left eye and dragging himself across his bald scalp until it crept out of sight. He kicked off the ground and leapt onto a nearby rooftop to go engage Ayato. Tatsumaru's eyes did not follow him, however. They stayed locked on the girl in the centre. She looked oddly familiar. Suddenly, as though someone had forced them into his skull, Tatsumaru's mind flooded with memories of a certain night. Of a young girl named Ayame of the Senju clan, and how he had unlocked his second Tomoe by killing her. There was a certain resemblance between Ayame and the woman in front of him, except she was clearly at least thirty or forty years old. Perhaps she was Ayame's mother? Ironically, Tatsumaru had decided not to kill Ayame. He had stopped himself, and was going to leave in peace, but she attacked and almost killed him. Tatsumaru struck her down out of self defence. A statement her mother would likely not care to hear.

Ayame's mother sat down, her two large thugs standing in a defensive formation around her. She formed a zen like meditative position, as though she was focusing intently on some task Tatsumaru knew nothing of. The man to Tatsumaru's left was short and pale, with a hairline that was rapidly receding. The hairs that he did have was nothing but a thin patch of rapidly greying black threads. The man to Tatsumaru's right was taller and younger, his head covered in a forest of curly blonde hairs that shimmered like silk. The elder of the two formed the bird hand sign, and at the exact same moment, the younger Senju leapt forward, charging Tatsumaru at a reasonably impressive pace. The fight was on!

Word Count: 3371

A look of worry crossed her face as the man which had been glaring at her leaped up to confront her on the rooftop. She could feel something whipping around from within him, something dead, something evil. It was more than likely there was something more going on in this fight, perhaps something behind the scenes. His dead, hewed eye, solstice could almost see a feint resonance in, though to the naked eye it was simply greyed and over glazed due to past retinal damage no doubt due to the massive cut which travelled through his face, but to her, there was a deep red behind the faded pupil, a chakra, a near demonic essence staring at her, chilling her body to the bone, a cold and icy wind cut through her as her opponent readied himself.

She needed to be ready for this, he seemed tough, wordlessly and without warning, the man clapped his hands together summoning two clones to do his bidding. Each of them splitting from himself, at first they looked like bracken white tree like material, like an oak which had been long starved and petrified until its bark looked like stone as opposed to wood. It was only then when Ayato saw the mockery of Mokuton, that her fears were confirmed. Gaki..!The word ran through her mind like a poison, she was now convinced she had been bought here for a reason, this poor soul had fallen far indeed, far enough to stew chaos and destruction. It needed the proper rites, the proper prayers to cleanse its soul, and perhaps with it, the suffering of this place would lessen.

The two clones separated from the entity, the user was no doubt a ninjutsu user to be able to appropriately use a skill as such, but by his build, he was also a Taijutsu user, as such Ayato thought of herself at an advantage, he only had one eye, which would throw his reaction time as well as his co-ordination off, but such an advantage was small, and hard to abuse when there were three opponents. Gripping her blade in one hand her atop red hare charged forward, as well as the two clones which were at either side of their host, who began to rapidly mould his chakra in the form of hand symbols. Atop her flaming horse, against wood clones she would have the advantage, as well as the high ground.

As they charged her, Red hare with each of its bounds zig-zagged from side to side, alternating between which of the two it would attack. Deciding on the left, Red hare just before colliding with the clone to the right, made one last leap to behind the two of them. The fist of the first of the leaping clones missing Ayato by a hair, as Ayato brung her blade down for the other as he darted low for her body, Ayato's blade's sharpness sunk deep into the wood. Hare standing up on its front two hooves and kicking the other clone off the side of the roof with a crunching horse kick, throwing him through a cart and ending each of the clones in an amount of glory.

But too little too late, and though she had taken the clones by surprise, the original was safe, and had the distraction he had been hoping for, placing his hands to the roof Mokuton chakra exploded through the ceiling as roots expanded from his hands, in what seemed to be a micro variant of the forest creating technique. At least a B rank ability, the roots whipped up and expanded, coiling round and crushing everything in their path. Kicking off the back of red Hare, Ayato span, finally opening her third eye for a moment while facing the wood user. Hanging in the air before her was a white orb of pure red air, katon chakra. Striking it with her blade she Sent out a wave in the direction of the incoming attack, turning the wood drier than summer kindling.

It was then Red Hare Exploded, catching the wood technique instantly as the Fire swept across the area like it was wild. The house they stood upon went up in flames. The Black man's technique was stopped, though, it didn't stop him striking from the side. Solstice hadn't seen the substitution, but there must have been a shuriken or something nearby, with her third eye open, she didn't notice until it was too late the blow from the side soaring into her gut. Ayato cringed, he was too close, barely able to duck his second punch to the head in time she fell through the burning house to land on the kitchen table, groaning on impact she looked up. Catching her opponent in direct line of sight with her third eye, leaping down after her with those thunderous fists.

Rolling off the table, the man crashed through it, spinning with his fist to punch the air Ayato once stood at, only to see his arm become like wood, and extend in both size and length, the dead bracken tree like arm swinging for the girl who could do nothing but raise her blade and attempt to block the strike. IT didn't matter, though she avoided the hand crashing into her body, she was still knocked through the wooden wall into the middle of the street. Sprawled out over the road and badly hurt. Dozens of cuts and light burns covered her body. Stabbing the tip of her blade into the ground she began to get up. Her eye once again closed, which entailed her reaction speed had once again increased!

Her opponent shot out of the house like a bullet, but ayato was ready this time, spinning rapidly to the side with natural speed which matched the Taijutsu user's own, Ayato, gripping the blade in both hands through EVERYTHING, into one strike from his blindside. The man attempted to block, but her strength, with the two handed blade and the horse killing strike, hewed through even his elephant like arm, into his gut, through his organs, between the segments of his spine and out the other side in a single lethal step. The speed of her opponent hitting the ground ripping what little still held him together apart, and sending them each rolling in two different directions.

If only that was the end of the battle... Out of sight of the world, the top of the corpse rotated, and began to speak, drowned out by the flames of the building. Speaking in an ancient tongue profanely as Ayato approached, the prayers of her faith scolding the skin of the remaining entity, even with the host long dead. Fangs, and claws of rotten oak ripped from the corpses body, but they ignited when colliding with the resonance of the prayers, screeching and writhing in pain, it attempted to let out a final curse before Ayato's blade plunged through its heart, silencing it, for now. She quickly with rapid strikes removed its head and arms, sheathing her blade and with haste, Ayato cast the pieces of the beast into the fire of the house behind her to be sure of its purging...

purification was attained.

But Tatsumaru weighed heavily on her mind, moving wounded, and weakened, she navigated her way back to the main fight... hoping there was enough time to help...

chakra 135:

Buki B->A 3324/3000

A -> S 324/4000

The young Senju lunged towards Tatsumaru with no small amount of bloodlust. He raised his right fist as though he were going to punch Tatsumaru as soon as he got into range. It seemed an odd action though, given that they clearly prepared this trap for him. They knew Takao would send his most trusted Jounin to inspect the problem, and they clearly knew about his abilities, having called him the Crimson Fist. So why would they send a Taijutsu user at him?! It made no sense whatsoever. Tatsumaru was not only a Taijutsu expect, but he used the Sharingan, which gave him a dramatic advantage. Clearly, this was a trick. Tatsumaru's dark blue eyes rapidly bled into red as two small black tomoes bled out of his pupil. The eyes rapidly cut through the picture before him, and Tatsumaru saw that it was in fact, a mirage. The old man had clearly tried to take advantage of the fact that he hadn't activated his sharingan yet. The boy on the other hand was gone. Not wanting to waste time dispelling a low level Genjutsu, Tatsumaru ducked the punch and drove his fist into the mirage's throat, ignoring it as it collapsed to the floor choking on it's own blood. He had higher priorities, like avoiding the trap that the kid was trying to spring. As soon as Tatsumaru stepped forward, the ground at his feet cracked. A sub-terranian attack! The younger of the two Senju was shooting out of the ground at Tatsumaru's feet, kunai in hand, aiming for Tatsumaru's inner thigh. Clearly, he was aiming for the Femoral artery. A solid plan; a simple, effective and often overlooked killing blow. Tatsumaru leaned forward onto the balls of his feet, intentionally falling face first to the ground. As he fell, the blade and the arm that wielded it shot into the air, cutting at where Tatsumaru was. The arm was now right between Tatsumaru's legs, and as he fell, Tatsumaru locked his left leg into the back of the man's elbow and smashed the right heel straight into his wrist. The alternating force impacted with the force of Tatsumaru's fall and the bone was cracked like a twig. The man screamed with a gutteral roar only the inexperienced can truly deliver. Clearly, he was new to broken bones.

Before Tatsumaru truly hit the ground, he braced himself by landing on the palms of his hands, as though he were doing a pushup. Once he had broken the younger Senju's arm, Tatsumaru extended all his weight into his arms, rising up into a hand stand before pushing off the ground, spinning in the air to land on his feet. Looking quickly up at the old man to make sure no attacks were incoming, Tatsumaru took a second to smile to himself at his smooth shattering of the kid's arm before looking down. The kid was underground again, and he was tunnelling towards the old man's position. A novice indeed, letting a broken arm engage a full retreat. Still, there was a way to deal with this approach. Tatsumaru had made sure to keep his usage of Lightning release a secret. He wanted people to assume it was one of his weak points, and that they could freely use Doton against him. In actuality, Lightning Release was part of Explosion Release, and as such Tatsumaru possessed it. A rapid tingling sensation welled in Tatsumaru's mouth as he flooded it with chakra. Pausing for a moment, he spat out three small spheres of lightning. Each sphere carved through the earth, smashing the off guard Senju in the skull, one after another after another. A single blow to the skullwith one of these spheres could cause concussion, three direct blows would certainly knock an already injured and scared opponent out. At least, that seemed to be what happened as the Senju suddenly stopped moving underground. Tatsumaru grinned as he saw this. The man was certainly dead. If he was unconscious, he couldn't sustain his jutsu. The earth would turn solid around him and he would suffocate.

Glancing up at the old man, Tatsumaru saw that he looked slightly upset, but had failed to move from his position beside the woman. Clearly, she was doing something that needed time, and it was his job to guard her. Picking up the Kunai at his feet, Tatsumaru tossed it casually towards the old man. It seemed like a simple attack, but it was far from it. Tatsumaru waited a few moments before forming the bird hand seal. Four hundred kunai were rapidly formed from thin air around the original, and what was originally a basic projectile attack had now become a lethal barrage of deadly weaponry. The Senju looked unconcerned, and like a true veteran of combat, he stayed rooted in his position, forming a rapid string of hand seals instead of running. A massive tree began to tear it's way out of the ground at his feet, blocking both himself and the woman from the barrage. The projectiles carved their way through most of the tree, and eventually caused it to topple towards them. A single thick branch shot up from the dirt and knocked the heavy trunk off course, however, and the tree fell harmlessly to the side of the two Senju. Tatsumaru analyzed the man for a moment, waiting patiently for a counter attack. No such onslaught came, however. He was clearly insisting on playing it defensive. Still, Tatsumaru could deal with that. A barrage of fire techniques would deal with his wood defenses, and at least force the woman to move.

Pulling a smoke grenade out of a pouch on his jacket, Tatsumaru tossed it towards the couple. It popped open on impact and surrounded the two in smoke. The old shinobi, unable to use Fuuton to clear it, instinctually formed a dome of wood that surrounded the two. It was both an intelligent move and a highly stupid one. Quick as he could, Tatsumaru attacked strands of wire to four Kunai, tossing each kunai towards a different section of the dome. Once all four Kunai had lodged themselves into it's surface, Tatsumaru brought the four pieces of wire to his mouth, biting down on them as he formed the tiger hand seal. Tatsumaru began exhaling a stream of fire through his teeth. The flames crawled down the wires, and in moments the dome was covered in a thick layer of flames. Unfortunately, the chakra fire obscured his vision of the inside of the dome, so Tatsumaru was blind as to the response they were mounting. He would have to wait and see.

After a few moments of silence, a sudden loud "CRACK" rang out, and the town square began to split in two. Tatsumaru leapt to the left to avoid the crack, unsure as to if it was an attack or not. The dome was blasted away, it's flaming chunks flying to various points of the city. The female Senju was standing up now, and her appearance had changed dramatically. Her hair was now hanging down to her knees, and had taken on the appearance of thick green plant vines. Her skin, too, was green, and her hands and feet had small plant stems growing out of where her fingernails should be. "What in the hell..." Tatsumaru was visibly stunned. He had never seen anything vaguely like this. The woman's appearance was... confounding to say the least. It was like she had performed some strange merging technique where she had literally become a plant.

The woman slammed the palms of her hands together, and from her feet wood began to sprout rapidly. Her and her companion rose off the ground as the wood began to rapidly form what looked like a statue of a man in prayer. It's form began to morph rapidly, however, changing from a buddha like figure to a far more demonic visage. It's nose grew outward, and it's features began to take on the form of a Tengu. Once it finished growing, it was easily as tall as Adminstrative building in Konoha, a monsterously tall thing. Apparently not yet complete, however, from it's back several thousand hands suddenly sprouted. They spread out in a fan formation, creating an appearance similar to that of a peacock's tail. The arms suddenly snapped forward, all growing out at a rapid rate. They were fast, and while Tatsumaru ducked and weaved as rapidly as he could, soon as he was overwhelmed. Two hands grabbed him, one clutching either of his arms, and smashed him into a nearby building. Tatsumaru heard the crack of several of his ribs giving way as he smashed into the hard stone wall, but thankfully the arms held him there rather than continuing to pound. Taking a moment to observe the scene, Tatsumaru saw complete chaos. The arms had spread all around the area, the fists having impaled almost every home he could see. The streets were lined with fists of wood buried in their surface. It seemed as though in her attempt to capture Tatsumaru she had destroyed most of the village.

Word Count: 4897

Chakra: 325/365

Spoiler:

Ayato was weak, her fingers death gripped her sword as she peered over at the state of the battle field, she watched as Tatsumaru set ablaze a semi orb of wood, no doubt made by the remaining Senju, there was a crack, and with it, they were released, the woman, now looked different, Tatsumaru looked confused, but Ayato almost immediately recognised the difference in her chakra flow, not by sensory jutsu, not by secret technique, but she could feel the area around her resonating with her, there was nature chakra thick in the air, buzzing almost, it was a Sage mode. A Sage mode Senju... this was going to be bad.

Clapping her arms together, almost Ayato became angry, the "true Several Thousand Hands" technique exploded from the ground, larger and grander than she had ever seen. Similar to the welcoming approach Thousand Arms Murder Technique of the Fire priests whom were close followers of Amithaba, this technique was a the sacred jutsu. But then she saw its form warp into something... grotesque, An O-Tengu, a mockery, the greatest evil encompassing a ritualistic war between Shinto and Amithaba and the worst aspects within. It seemed old grudges die hard... Ayato, who still calm and collected, regaining her strength, felt anger within her.

The old man it seemed was unguarded, as the massive statue began its harrowing assault, she saw Tatsumaru moving at full pace, and still be unable to defend against it. Ayato was close to the old man, her movements silent as the grave as the fire burnt and caught amongst the wood, the commotion so intense she was able to slip past under the cloak of chaos for but a moment, clinging to the shadows of whatever remained of the nearby houses. Step by step moving closer, faster, before breaking out into a RUN, snatching up a kunai from the ground, Opening her third eye the old Man had prepared a jutsu, But Ayato, threw the small dagger past him with a single underhanded swing, making it damn obvious what her next move was going to be.

The jutsu the old man had used caused spike like roots to explode out of the earth in almost every direction in a cone for where Ayato once was, Ayato at the last second used the substitution jutsu to bypass the attack and take up a position at his side. Just as a single spear of wood extended from the man's palm like a rod, to penetrate her. through, Solstice's plans however, were built on layers, and not often would an opponent have two substitution techniques, even if the other was more or less close range only. The Lightning flash clone was struck in the chest as Ayato had cast it and rolled to the side averting her eyes for the split second.

The blinding flash connected with the old man's eyes allowing ayato to step into his defence and with a single motion, recovered from her roll to one side of him, the momentum channelling through her body ito her blade as she swung it through the back of the old man's knee, forcing him to collapse his weight and fall backwards. Severing the tendons at the back of his leg, though not strong enough to cut through the bone, Ayato bought the blade up, holding it high above him and bringing it down like a guillotine for the man's neck. cutting bone deep, and ensuring his fatality. For sure, she would have been noticed by now, the flash almost sure to give away her position... She was not ready for this fight, an O-tengu was something a Kage, or a warrior of legend would do epic battle with, and likely lose their life in the process.

She fought Gaki... this was like a god compared to Ayato, able to swat her aside like a fly...

chakra 105:

Buki A-S 979

Tatsumaru's eyes were birefly covered by a trickle of blood that began to run down from his forehead. Every muscle in his body hurt and he found himself unable to break free from the grasp of the fists, Tatsumaru expected the Senju would tear him apart with her mighty wooden arms. Bowing his head, Tatsumaru closed his eyes and began to mutter to himself, a final remark of faith before the bitter end. "Taro ruul asz, Zhakul inok" Tatsumaru waited a few moments for the intense, crippling pain of his muscles being torn apart as he was split in two. It never came. Raising his head, Tatsumaru saw that he was still exactly where he was, covered in his own blood, pinned against a wall by two hands. Suddenly, all thousand of the hands began to rise in unison, lifing Tatsumaru off the wall. The hands rose about two feet, before smashing forwards again. Tatsumaru hit the wall with another smash. His mind began working at a thousand thoughts a second. Why would she raise all the arms at once, she knew she had him, why not just use the two arms he's on?! She didn't have control. She was no Hashirama, it seemed. She couldn't control this colossus' arms independantly. She had to use all thousand at once. It was slow and taxing. Clearly, Tatsumsru had a window of opportunity! He could get free! It would be hard, but he had a chance at least.

Looking up at his opponent, Tatsumaru could see her in a new light. Her chakra was no longer a sphere of fire. She was clearly defined, with pathways travelling throughout her body. There was a precision to his vision that he had never had before. Could this be the third tomoe?! No matter, he had no time to think about it. He had to break the bindings or he was a dead man. Inhaling deeply, Tatsumaru flooded his lungs and stomach with as much chakra as he could pack in. It wasn't easy to form the right chakra balance without using hand seals, but he had no choice. It cost him time, of course, but it was his only resort. After a few moments, a thick layer of smokey ash began billowing out of Tatsumaru's lungs, wrapping itself around the thick wooden stems as it travelled away from Tatsumaru. He left it waft for a few moments, and after he was confident he was out of the blast range, Tatsumaru followed it up by spitting out a barrage of fireballs. The fireballs ignited the flammable mixture, and created a sizeable explosion. Tatsumaru didn't wait for the blast to clear, however, and followed that up with his strongest fire move. He spat out a single massive fireball in the shape of a chinese dragon head. The feeling of crumbling wood on his left arm came as a massive relief, and soon Tatsumaru's left arm was completely free. His right, however, was not so lucky. Once the blast had cleared, the right hand's stem was clearly worn down, but a good inch of wood remained firm. Forming half a tiger hand seal with his right hand, Tatsumaru stretched his left hand as far as he could to complete the seal before spitting oen last fireball at the weak point.

The wood finally snapped after the final blow, and Tatsumaru's right hand was freed. The fire was slowly spreading from the stumps where the hand had been split off. Scanning the area, Tatsumaru saw Ayato behead the old man. Perfect. Now, Tatsumaru just had to eliminate the queen bitch. Leaping onto the back of one of the nearby fists, Tatsumaru began to run along it towards the Senju commander. His muscles were aching, and his breathing was laboured from the shattered ribs, but he didn't care. He was running on pure hatred and adrenaline. The Senju woman was distracted by the beheading of her partner and didn't notice that Tatsumaru had freed himself at first, giving Tatsumaru a clear line of attack. Her head was diverted away in such a fashion that she couldn't see him from her peripheral vision, just as he wanted. Tatsumaru leapt off the wooden arm, his right fist extended, the spikes of his gauntlets aimed at her face. She began to move without looking at him, however, like she could feel his presence, and began to duck the punch. Her movement was like nothing Tatsumaru had ever seen before, however. It was like she was dancing underwater. He could see every detail of how she moved, every twitch of her muscles spelled out her plans with startling precision. Although she moved faster than him, Tatsumaru still found it easy to duck a rapid series of punches she shot at him as she spun around. Tatsumaru was about to throw a counter punch when he saw chakra shooting down her right arm. He could see it's colour changing, it's form moulding itself into a strange form. The chakra turned from a light blue to a deep green, and then channelled itself through to the palm of her hand. A beam of wood shot out from the palm of her hand and began to snake towards Tatsumaru. He could see how it would move from where the chakra flowed inside it, however, and found it easy to duck around it, landing a sharp blow into her stomach with his left fist. Tatsumaru pivoted his hips and kicked off with his feet as the punch hit, throwing all his force behind it. The blow lifted her off the top of her Tengu and sent her flying back several feet, where she began to fall.

The senju hit the ground with the audible clatter of steel shattering. It seems she hadn't managed to pad her fall. She probably wasn't expecting Tatsumaru to be able to land a blow, considering the effort she had placed into preparing defensive soldiers and such powerful ninjutsu, but her assumption was completely inaccurate. Leaping from arm to arm, Tatsumaru lowered himself as quickly as he could, until he too was in the courtyard. The Senju woman was clearly injured, but had managed to find her feet. She was hobbling, her armour caved in, digging clearly into her side, with her arms wrapped around her stomach. Tatsumaru approached her rapidly from behind, throwing a sharp left elbow into the side of her head. She fell down, her eyes rolled back into her skull as she gasped for breath. Tatsumaru tore off her breastplate, and took a moment to ensure that she was unarmed before grabbing her by the throat and dragging her to her feet. "Who the fuck are you?" the woman merely smiled at him, blood oozing out of her mouth as her lips parted, before hissing one simple sentence. "The first of many who want you dead, Crimson Fist." at this line, Tatsumaru's hatred boiled over. he hadn't invited such discrimination, and he had certainly done nothing that warranted the deaths of innocent civilians and retired Shinobi. She was a coward and a monster, and she was mocking him?! Tatsumaru lifted her off the ground by her throat before heaving her into the air with a powerful toss. As she began to rise several feet, his right fist began to become covered in a bright orange glow. She hung in the air for a moment before beginning to fall back down, and as she reached Tatsumaru's level, a fist tore straight through her rib cage, leaving the woman's corpse dangling off his arm. Her heart was stuck on the spikes of his gauntlet, and was still slowly beating. As he landed this blow, Tatsumaru spoke one simple phrase; "Zerashk Gulida." [literally meaning Oblivion Awaits. A phrase said upon the vanquishing of a mortal enemy in the Cult of Ramiel]


Word Count: 6206

Chakra: 240/365

Spoiler:

Ayato began to walk over to where the woman lay as the massive wooden construction began to fall apart, the chakra which held it together so perfectly fading with the life of its controller, the wood and the pressure on aspects of the construction was too much to hold it up, creaking and falling apart under its own weight. Before the centre mass finally fell backward creating what would become a scenic location in this town in years to come for sure. Ayato however was worried, though her companion had bravely avenged the people of the village, she had summoned an idol which was more than simply an effigy of power. The body needed to be cleansed, stepping up to Tatsumaru she smiled, ushering silently for him to stand back, least she seek to incarnate into another form, this needed to be done quickly, though without blood the Gaki could not breathe, its form crippled, it would not die, and eventually it would be well again.

Performing hand sign after hand sign twelve hung in a row before Ayato's hands clapped together and she bowed her head, four orbs of fire came into being, orbiting slowly around the corpse of the Senju woman. Each of them looked to be strong on their own, but at Ayato's will they spiralled in on their opponent before colliding in the centre and expanding like the birth of a solitary sun, into a perfect orb of which the force trapped the woman in the centre of. The fire prison jutsu ate away her flesh, and bone without the opponent to do anything against it, Ayato watched, ensuring there was no flares within her chakra, bringing one hand to just above her stomach with the palm facing up, her other hand forming a circle above it at chest height with her forefinger and thumb. She prayed that the evil within this woman be cleansed, and that her ties holding her to the path of evil be cut away by the great flaming sword of Fuudo, and the burns be healed by the great Kannon.

After the deed was done, Ayato sighed a sigh of relief, the body little but dust burning within the prison of flames. Not looking directly at Tatsumaru she thought to herself about his destructive prowess, but also of his almost resonating crimson eyes, the soul shard mitama floating upon the blood red surface. "So, you're a member of the Uchiha clan..." She spoke lightly, bowing her head to look down before turning to face him, the looking up to meet his eyes, not knowing whether or not she would be staring into those destructive eyes, or the dark coloured eyes of what they were before. "I heard what you said before you landed the finishing blow on that woman... It's been a long time since my studies, I recall the words but not their source, Nothingness Awaits, right? In an occult tongue...

Solstice's eyes filled with worry, pity, sorrow as well as an amount of stress and burden, so many teachings were flooding through her head as she remembered what her mother had told her about the Uchiha clan, and their eyes of destruction. Such a fate was a hard thing to avoid, but this man, to Ayato's eyes was like looking into the eyes of a demon, attempting to decipher whether or not he was truly what his name intended him to be, and at the moment the odds were piling up, and not in his favour. "I hope all you are is not blood lust, and that for all that hate and anger and frustration that i saw in your eyes, there is two fold the love and kindness and companionship in your life..." Ayato cringe under the weight of her wounds after talking, her adrenaline was beginning to wear off and her brain was telling her she had fought too hard. Ayato's knees buckled and she fell, anything touching her torso would result in her gasping and cringing with the pain of multiple fractures as well as the dozens of lacerations and light burns.

Chakra 85:

Buki A-S: 1687

"I hope all you are is not blood lust, and that for all that hate and anger and frustration that i saw in your eyes, there is two fold the love and kindness and companionship in your life..." Tatsumaru was surprised by her words. It was like she suddenly found him... evil? He smiled softly at her, each of his tomoe slowly flying into the pupil and vanishing before the deep blue began to overtake the red, his hand placing itself softly on her left shoulder. Tatsumaru was concerned, to say the least. He didn't know this woman, and she had just saw him slaughter a band of Senju in a blaze of destructive fury. Perhaps he had shaken her to her core. "Hey, I did what I had to do. I didn't start the fight, they did." Tatsumaru's words were laboured, an indication of his fatigue. His ribcage hurt like hell, and that final exchange had torn the muscles of his arms up pretty badly. Tatsumaru opened his mouth to speak again, but all that he produced was a muffled "Ar" sound before blood poured out of his mouth.

Dropping to his knees, Tatsumaru vomited up a harsh torrent of blood. A set of hands wrapped themselves around his shoulders, however, and a warm glow stabilized his breathing. He didn't need to look. "Shiho... how long were you watching?" "The entire time, just as you asked, my love." Once Shiho had calmed Tatsumaru's breathing down, she turned to Ayato, and began to treat her in kind.

Ayato felt her bones move into place and heal with a warming focus of energy, brutality and enjoying conflict was not something she saw was a good thing, the wheel of reincarnation turning was a bad thing, no matter the context, and Ayato mourned her enemies as she sheathed her blade to her back once more, Her muscles and burns recovering in such a manner which she would be able to move and operate without pain. Smiling in thanks to the healer she did not know, it was a good thing she had managed to come along. Though, without red hare, Ayato doubted that she would be able to match Tatsumaru's speed back to Konoha.

Her purple eyes looked to that of Tatsumaru's friend. "It's a good thing you were around when you were, Tatsumaru may not have made it back healthily if you weren't... But as for doing what you HAD to do, killing them, yes, they had knowing sewed the seeds of discord and had fallen too far down the path of suffering... But i feel nothing but pity for the people I fell, death is a sorrowful thing, and it pains me that they were not able to find their way." She explained. Moving over to where the site of her Fire prison technique had left little but ashes once the person was dead and unable to resist the flames.

Ayato performed a prayer for the fallen warrior, though she was mighty, revenge, power, hate and fury were hollow power to Ayato, they had little grounding, nothing to fight for, and little backing them. After praying for their souls, like sending instructions back with them to the world she begged for them mercy, and begged for them to be given nothing but peace in their next life. "Though, what I do not understand, is why would the Senju clan fall so far? I understand the history between the Senju and the Uchiha and that their clans are likely to not sever old rivalries, but open attack and the death of civilian life... how far has Konoha fallen while I was gone?

Her eyes looked to the two of them, expecting an answer which she would be happy with, she wanted back story on this assault, and would not be fooled with something so simple as it being a randomised attack, they had obvious hatred for Tatsumaru in particular, while the insight of the Amida clan stared them in the face, wisdom beyond her years flowing through the Chi of her body as her ancestors had her back. She was asking questions, and when the Amida began to question, hardships began to follow them. Questioning everything was a trait of their blood, and once on a trail it would not be something they relented easily.

Ayato's eyes themselves were like steel, glaring into not only the eyes to measure whether the two of them would be lying, analysing their body language, because they knew she was an outsider and potentially a third party to the quarrels within Konoha. They had the right to claim she was an outsider, but at the very least, Ayato having fought a battle against citizens of Konoha, FOR other citizens of Konoha, this seemed to be an act which could quickly escalate into civil war were it not to be resolved. Open inter clan warfare had happened for less. Ayato was scanning their bodies for weaknesses, hints, anything to sedate her slightly angered yet disappointed curiosity.

WC: 2283/4000

After attending to the wounds of Ayato, Shiho helped Tatsumaru to his feet, giving him a brief embrace and a tender kiss before forming the dragon hand sign. She spat a small sphere into the sky, which suddenly exploded, filling the sky with countless shining sparks before briefly fading. The signal was a confirmation that the conflict had been dealt with, and soon medical personal would arrive to search the village for injured people. "Though, what I do not understand, is why would the Senju clan fall so far? I understand the history between the Senju and the Uchiha and that their clans are likely to not sever old rivalries, but open attack and the death of civilian life... how far has Konoha fallen while I was gone?" Tatsumaru and Shiho fell silent at the inquiry. It was a hard one to answer, to be sure. Ayato was a foreigner, and although she had fought beside Tatsumaru admirably, there was information he simply couldn't share. "I'm sure you'll understand that there are certain pieces of information I cannot divulge to a foreign agent, even one from a close ally such as Sunagakure. As for why they were after me specifically; the woman in charge's daughter was a rogue shinobi that I brought to justice. Obviously that's scratching the surface of a deeper tale, as you've already figured out, but I'm afraid it's a story I cannot tell. What I can do, however, is apologize for doubting you. My wife is here because I sent for her after you offered to accompany me. I couldn't be sure as to if you weren't involved in the attack or not, I needed an insurance policy. I see now that my doubt was unjustified."

Tatsumaru released a brief sigh before leaning on one of the wooden pillars that were scattered around the battlefield. "You seem to think I enjoyed killing them. You're wrong. I did what I was required to do. You recognized my words; Zerashk Gulida. Oblivion awaits. I'm sure you know it's a term said by the Alysaar when vanquishing an enemy. It is not, however, something done with pride. It is a shameful act done out of necessity. Once I am done helping clean up the aftermath of this battle, I will purify my body and my soul. If I did not, the souls of those I killed today would be bound to mine, suffering forever, never gaining rest. I will lay their souls to rest. From your prayers, it seems we hold different beliefs, and you have a different view on the world than I do. I am sure, however, that you acknowledge that there is no real malice in my actions."

Ayato frowned, and she wanted to know what the reaction from these two would be if she announced that she was going to confront the Senju with her information, there was something of a mystery going on here, she had just been healed by Tatsumaru's wife, and with that hospitality came an amount of decorum she could not ignore. Standing up with her pride, she bowed to each of them, her inquisitive mind running at a million miles a minute, thinking how best to deal with hitting the classic 'classified' wall, which only further fuelled her fire. Misdirected, she would probably retire to the Danketsu area of Konoha, and talk to her adopted father about the events that she saw. The wisdom of her father and her mother would be paramount on her decision of going any further with this.

So for now, she had to leave it, as much as it pained her she was not at a strategic advantage. She seemed to be on friendly terms with Tatsumaru, but they had still only just met, having fought with him, there was a calculated brutality and logic there which she could count on being able to be turned against her, though hopefully not without friendly warning. Though she recognised the faith he mentioned, it was used by a small but somewhat popular religious sect which was known by few as a cult. Ayato had never particularly took a shine to it due to their ideals of death and rebirth were parallel with hers of reincarnation, which was something the Amida looked down on as not ideal.

"I recognise your faith and I'm sorry that i misjudged you." she said bowing lightly to each of them. "Is there anything else that you require of me in this town? I've performed my prayers for the lost, and hopefully the foresaken will have their will to do evil severed by Fuudo's flaming sword, and learn serenity in their next life." She spoke with forgiveness in her voice, but at the same time an amount of sorrow, her expression however, betrayed none of these feelings, other than perhaps a small pity of having to spill blood on her blade. Even her dis-contempt at their answer was hidden behind her stoic monk-like mask.

Though even with her physical wounds healed she had still not yet come to terms with her tiredness, she's used up a good amount of her chakra quickly, and with that came an exhaustion that even Tatsumaru's wife was not able to take away from her with her healing arts. The feeling came over her like a wave, forcing her to sit down and attempt to recuperate, her body the pressure building up was not something that she had expected, after fighting Tatsumaru, sprinting on her chakra to this location and then engaging in a life threatening fight against two opponents, burning through her chakra like a fire storm, it had shocked her system a little more than she was used to.

The flaws of being a chuunin were apparent, and she had not protected herself from the shock that chakra use could cause. On setting like an asthma attack she was forced to sit down, albeit slightly embarrassed. In fact... give me a minute... i think... i went a little too much in that fight... dizzy... she panted, looking up and smiling sweetly in the kind of way a sick person tried to cause people not to worry.

Buki WC: 2878/4000