Name: Ei Kanagawa
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Village: Sunagakure no Sato
Rank: B - Jounin
Title: Suna’s Blackberry | Nom de Plume: Dragon-Crested Octopus | The Peerless Ukiyo-e Artist
Clan: N/A
Bloodline: N/A
Element(s): N/A
Skill(s): Fuuinjutsu, Kuchiyose, Chemistry, Weapon Crafting, Bukijutsu, Skill Trade
Stats 4150 total [200 exp remaining]
Unique Abilities:
Painter’s Endurance ~ Having built a strong constitution through repeated days and nights of painting for hours and hours on end, without taking the time to eat or drink, Ei has built up a strong constitution and stamina that often assists her in Shinobi life. For five chakra, she can boost her Constitution by one tier.
Deceptive Intelligence ~ Ei may have access to learning techniques one rank above of what their class allows. This early access must result in stunted growth forcing the player to spend an additional 10% experience to advance into the next class. This *can* be stacked with other modifiers (Sensei, Intelligence, etc..)
The Peerless Ukiyo-e Arist ~ Ei may craft an item one rank higher than what her coordination would normally allow. This results in a fifty percent increase in how long crafting takes.
Woman Scorned ~ In times of anger, or when situations become desperate, Ei may forgo her nature as an intellectual and resort to brute force. She may boost her Strength by one tier, while reducing her Intelligence by one tier. This requires five chakra to toggle on.
Old Guard ~ Having been around during the foundation of Sunagakure no Sato, Ei has gained a large amount of experience as a shinobi, and as a result is uniquely suited towards teaching others. She may provide an additional five experience when acting as a sensei or team leader in a thread, however doing so results in her gaining five experience less than she normally would each post when doing so.
Appearance: Ei stands at 5’3” and weighs 112 lbs, giving here a slightly smaller than average, but still relatively average build for a woman. One of her most notable characteristics is her hair. Being a glossy black, as dark as ink and meticulously well kept, it draws a noticeable amount of attention at first glance. Her hair, cut short to not go all too far past her ears, is responsible for her being often called “Blackberry”, a nickname which she doesn’t mind. Her eyes a dull blue, approaching grey color, and catch little attention. Her skin is of a pale, creamy color, although this is a result of her spending the majority of her time indoors or in the shade. Spending enough time out under the sun will bring it away from this pale shade to a more natural olive, however this is something she does her best to avoid. In terms of fashion, Ei tends to wear ornate kimonos, often ones which she designs herself. Often wearing a large variety of colors and swapping outfits regularly, it's rare to see Ei wearing anything less than a dazzling, artistic outfits. Even when in more casual dress, Ei always dresses in a large variety of colors, and usually adorns herself with a variety of large, oversized hair accessories and pins, often shaped like flowers.
History:
Ei Kanagawa, also known as O-Ei, was born on October 31st 911 A.S. to Seki Kanagawa, a struggling artist in the area that would eventually become Sunagakure no Sato. The identity of her mother is unknown, and as her father was a serial adulterer who had married and divorced several times prior, it is impossible to determine exactly what woman gave birth to Ei. This is information Seki should by all means know, but claims to have forgotten in the panic of the moment. From birth she was taken care of by her father, who quickly abandoned his womanizing ways following the realization that he was now a parent. He did not stop his career as an artist though, despite his continued struggling financial situation. Ei was raised in extreme poverty because of this. Her father, who spent the majority of his time painting, found little time to care for Ei as a daughter, and so the moment Ei was capable of walking and talking Seki would begin training her as an apprentice artist. This would be the end of Ei the daughter, and the beginning of Ei the artist. Before she was capable of using the toilet Ei was capable of painting stunning Ukiyo-e paintings, to an extent which quickly outpaced her father’s skill. Quickly recognizing his daughters talent, Seki would begin allowing Ei to assist in his real work, and then begin to publish and sell her art under his name. Thousands of paintings were produced by Ei during this time under her father’s name. The financial situation that the father and daughter were in would be slightly alleviated, however it would never truly be solved. Both were of a similar character, despite the difference in skill. Neither were trained in the art of cooking or housework, and without the time to learn they would be forced to subsist entirely on premade and pre bought meals. Without the ability to do housework they would allow filth to pile up until their dwelling became unfit for living, and then move on to the next. They changed residence over a hundred times as a result of this in Ei’s early life alone.
Growing into an accomplished and brilliant young woman, Ei would find herself enraptured in her art. A typical day for Ei would consist of fourteen hours of painting, stopping only for meals and to collect supplies if necessary. Whatever remaining time she had in the day was often involved in research, searching out new inspiration, stocking up on materials, or scouting out a new place to live. This would change roughly around the time she would turn eleven years old. In 922 A.S. Sunagakure no Sato would be formed, being the last of the major shinobi villages. This was a development that was long due. Kirigakure no Sato in the Land of Water had been formed before Ei had even been born, and thus by 922 the writing was already starkly on the wall of what the future would be. The concept of a shinobi village wasn’t something that would normally interest the young girl, but the village itself would be impossible to ignore. The place where Ei had previously been living would be repurposed and built upon in order to construct the shinobi village, and thus the shinobi lifestyle would end up coming directly to her. She initially saw this as an opportunity to further sell her paintings, but after hearing of a mysterious style of painting with ink called ‘fuuinjutsu’ Ei would become enraptured with the idea of the shinobi. Rather than enrolling in the newly forming shinobi academy, Ei would become a nuisance instead, harassing anyone she could find who was vaguely connected with fuuinjutsu to teach it to her. This usually earned her nothing, but the scraps that she would be taught together with what she could gleam from public information would quickly have her noticed by Sunagakure. Due to her possessing the clear aptitude to learning fuuinjutsu, an incredibly valuable skill, the village skipped her past any academy training and immediately conscripted her and made her a Genin. In a way she would both get what she wanted and not get it. As a Genin she would find herself able to access resources on fuuinjutsu that she hadn’t before, but now she would gain responsibilities related to shinobi life that she would be forced to fulfill. Gone were Ei’s days of painting for hours and hours on end.
Ei would be assigned to a Genin team of three, which would all be taught by a Jounin sensei, Kawa Tsukereta. In this team with her would be Azuma Asakaze, a quick swordsman who was a little older than her, and Ko Norowareta, a boy who could use three different nature elements. The three of them would form Team Ei-Azu-Ko. Despite being officially a Genin Ei would lack the physical skills of one. She was still the same frail little girl that she always had been, with only her raw intelligence and skill in fuuinjutsu allowing her to become a Genin in the first place. She would struggle immensely with this new life as a Genin as a result of this, simply lacking the stamina, strength, and constitution that her teammates did. Kawa would beat these things into her over time, all while preaching to the three of them the virtues of teamwork. She was always going to be a supporting shinobi, never on the front lines, and so to an extent it was the job of the other two to protect her. At the same time though, having her be complete dead weight would just result in Ei being a burden to her partners. Their training would continue for the next several years, coming to a front at an upcoming Chuunin Exam. Ei-Azu-Ko would be one of the first groups to enter on behalf of Sunagakure. Ei would be carried along by the willpower of her partners during this time, mainly Azuma, as she had little ambition in advancing in rank as a shinobi. Still, the three of them would enter, traveling to Kumogakure in order to participate.
They failed during the survival portion of the exams. They came home without Ko.
The next several years happened quickly. Despite their initial failure, both Azuma and Ei would try again. They would manage to get to the direct combat portion this time, however the preliminary matches that occured before this would mark Ei’s end. She would fall under the direct physical might of a Genin from Iwagakure, having her clock cleaned by his stone-based taijutsu. Despite her failure Azuma would manage to progress further. While he wasn’t the winner of the tournament he would still end up promoted to Chunin. Despite her second failure, Ei would find herself with the support of both Kawa and Azuma, and would manage to achieve Chunin shortly after through direct promotion in the field due to her talents in fuuinjutsu. The promotion to Jounin would come even faster, with Ei being nominate nearly immediately after she had been promoted to Chunin. Both Ei and Azuma had been nominated together, and the two of them would pass together, achieving Jounin roughly at the same time.
And then, Sunagakure would fall. Just as quickly as it had risen, there would be nothing. The Kazekage had fallen dead to the plague. Thousands would die from the disease, and the village would find itself quickly merely a shadow of its former self. In this time, after the village had collapsed, Ei would return to as her life had been before. While the plague had taken her father, she would continue where he left off, in painting for a living. Rather than continue to use his name, Ei would begin to use her own pen name during this time. While the plague made it so there was little demand for art there would be no denying that Ei was the most talented artist in the Land of Wind. Even with the village falling apart she would still manage to make a living doing as she did.
Just as quickly as it collapsed, Sunagakure would raise again. While she was officially ‘retired’, the rumors that had come from the man who was now proclaiming himself to be the new Kazekage would filter down even to her ears.
Personality:
Ei has somewhat of an unconventional nature. She enthusiastically studied under the techniques of various painters without being fixated on a single school for years, and following this desire led her to become a shinobi in order to study under masters of fuuinjutsu. She relentlessly pursues this, practicing painting, calligraphy, and fuuinjutsu. This leaves her without time to keep up with housework or cook, and so she has to go to a nearby market and purchase already prepared food. Due to not taking care of housework she will often live in a single place until it becomes unfit to live in any more, and then go to look for another place to live. She excels at calligraphy, although she considers this to be an artform that she’s mastered, and as such practices more rarely than other forms of art. Occasionally she will branch off into other forms of art, such as sculpting, architectural planning, music, poetry, dance, cooking, cinema, but her skill in these fields is at most above-average and not comparable to her supreme skill with the brush.
She has a strong love for sake, and often can be seen somewhat tipsy during the process of painting. In general, due to how often she drinks her breath smells faintly of sake. With her eccentric personality though it is difficult to tell whether she is truly tipsy or simply just being her odd self.
With other people, she’s generally disinterested. Somewhat of a recluse, she tends to keep to herself unless bothered, or unless someone else has something unique about them that could make them catch her eye. With close friends these boundaries break down though. To someone she is familiar with there is nothing she wouldn’t share. Friends would be allowed into her home and fridge freely, as if they were family, so long as they don’t disrupt her paintings with unimportant things. When it comes to things she cares about, Ei is the type to open up quickly to others.
She reacts to scenes of bloodshed and battle calmly. While she’s no sadist, Ei has long beaten out any reluctance she might have had towards killing others. She holds a certain curiosity towards these sorts of scenes though, having a bit of a desire to paint scenes of battle and war, and the more gruesome elements of these conflicts.
Roleplay Sample:
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Village: Sunagakure no Sato
Rank: B - Jounin
Title: Suna’s Blackberry | Nom de Plume: Dragon-Crested Octopus | The Peerless Ukiyo-e Artist
Clan: N/A
Bloodline: N/A
Element(s): N/A
Skill(s): Fuuinjutsu, Kuchiyose, Chemistry, Weapon Crafting, Bukijutsu, Skill Trade
Stats 4150 total [200 exp remaining]
- Strength: D [150]
- Constitution: D [150]
- Stamina: B [950]
- Speed: D [150]
- Coordination: C [450]
- Intelligence: A [1650]
- Perception: C [450]
Unique Abilities:
Painter’s Endurance ~ Having built a strong constitution through repeated days and nights of painting for hours and hours on end, without taking the time to eat or drink, Ei has built up a strong constitution and stamina that often assists her in Shinobi life. For five chakra, she can boost her Constitution by one tier.
Deceptive Intelligence ~ Ei may have access to learning techniques one rank above of what their class allows. This early access must result in stunted growth forcing the player to spend an additional 10% experience to advance into the next class. This *can* be stacked with other modifiers (Sensei, Intelligence, etc..)
The Peerless Ukiyo-e Arist ~ Ei may craft an item one rank higher than what her coordination would normally allow. This results in a fifty percent increase in how long crafting takes.
Woman Scorned ~ In times of anger, or when situations become desperate, Ei may forgo her nature as an intellectual and resort to brute force. She may boost her Strength by one tier, while reducing her Intelligence by one tier. This requires five chakra to toggle on.
Old Guard ~ Having been around during the foundation of Sunagakure no Sato, Ei has gained a large amount of experience as a shinobi, and as a result is uniquely suited towards teaching others. She may provide an additional five experience when acting as a sensei or team leader in a thread, however doing so results in her gaining five experience less than she normally would each post when doing so.
Appearance: Ei stands at 5’3” and weighs 112 lbs, giving here a slightly smaller than average, but still relatively average build for a woman. One of her most notable characteristics is her hair. Being a glossy black, as dark as ink and meticulously well kept, it draws a noticeable amount of attention at first glance. Her hair, cut short to not go all too far past her ears, is responsible for her being often called “Blackberry”, a nickname which she doesn’t mind. Her eyes a dull blue, approaching grey color, and catch little attention. Her skin is of a pale, creamy color, although this is a result of her spending the majority of her time indoors or in the shade. Spending enough time out under the sun will bring it away from this pale shade to a more natural olive, however this is something she does her best to avoid. In terms of fashion, Ei tends to wear ornate kimonos, often ones which she designs herself. Often wearing a large variety of colors and swapping outfits regularly, it's rare to see Ei wearing anything less than a dazzling, artistic outfits. Even when in more casual dress, Ei always dresses in a large variety of colors, and usually adorns herself with a variety of large, oversized hair accessories and pins, often shaped like flowers.
History:
Ei Kanagawa, also known as O-Ei, was born on October 31st 911 A.S. to Seki Kanagawa, a struggling artist in the area that would eventually become Sunagakure no Sato. The identity of her mother is unknown, and as her father was a serial adulterer who had married and divorced several times prior, it is impossible to determine exactly what woman gave birth to Ei. This is information Seki should by all means know, but claims to have forgotten in the panic of the moment. From birth she was taken care of by her father, who quickly abandoned his womanizing ways following the realization that he was now a parent. He did not stop his career as an artist though, despite his continued struggling financial situation. Ei was raised in extreme poverty because of this. Her father, who spent the majority of his time painting, found little time to care for Ei as a daughter, and so the moment Ei was capable of walking and talking Seki would begin training her as an apprentice artist. This would be the end of Ei the daughter, and the beginning of Ei the artist. Before she was capable of using the toilet Ei was capable of painting stunning Ukiyo-e paintings, to an extent which quickly outpaced her father’s skill. Quickly recognizing his daughters talent, Seki would begin allowing Ei to assist in his real work, and then begin to publish and sell her art under his name. Thousands of paintings were produced by Ei during this time under her father’s name. The financial situation that the father and daughter were in would be slightly alleviated, however it would never truly be solved. Both were of a similar character, despite the difference in skill. Neither were trained in the art of cooking or housework, and without the time to learn they would be forced to subsist entirely on premade and pre bought meals. Without the ability to do housework they would allow filth to pile up until their dwelling became unfit for living, and then move on to the next. They changed residence over a hundred times as a result of this in Ei’s early life alone.
Growing into an accomplished and brilliant young woman, Ei would find herself enraptured in her art. A typical day for Ei would consist of fourteen hours of painting, stopping only for meals and to collect supplies if necessary. Whatever remaining time she had in the day was often involved in research, searching out new inspiration, stocking up on materials, or scouting out a new place to live. This would change roughly around the time she would turn eleven years old. In 922 A.S. Sunagakure no Sato would be formed, being the last of the major shinobi villages. This was a development that was long due. Kirigakure no Sato in the Land of Water had been formed before Ei had even been born, and thus by 922 the writing was already starkly on the wall of what the future would be. The concept of a shinobi village wasn’t something that would normally interest the young girl, but the village itself would be impossible to ignore. The place where Ei had previously been living would be repurposed and built upon in order to construct the shinobi village, and thus the shinobi lifestyle would end up coming directly to her. She initially saw this as an opportunity to further sell her paintings, but after hearing of a mysterious style of painting with ink called ‘fuuinjutsu’ Ei would become enraptured with the idea of the shinobi. Rather than enrolling in the newly forming shinobi academy, Ei would become a nuisance instead, harassing anyone she could find who was vaguely connected with fuuinjutsu to teach it to her. This usually earned her nothing, but the scraps that she would be taught together with what she could gleam from public information would quickly have her noticed by Sunagakure. Due to her possessing the clear aptitude to learning fuuinjutsu, an incredibly valuable skill, the village skipped her past any academy training and immediately conscripted her and made her a Genin. In a way she would both get what she wanted and not get it. As a Genin she would find herself able to access resources on fuuinjutsu that she hadn’t before, but now she would gain responsibilities related to shinobi life that she would be forced to fulfill. Gone were Ei’s days of painting for hours and hours on end.
Ei would be assigned to a Genin team of three, which would all be taught by a Jounin sensei, Kawa Tsukereta. In this team with her would be Azuma Asakaze, a quick swordsman who was a little older than her, and Ko Norowareta, a boy who could use three different nature elements. The three of them would form Team Ei-Azu-Ko. Despite being officially a Genin Ei would lack the physical skills of one. She was still the same frail little girl that she always had been, with only her raw intelligence and skill in fuuinjutsu allowing her to become a Genin in the first place. She would struggle immensely with this new life as a Genin as a result of this, simply lacking the stamina, strength, and constitution that her teammates did. Kawa would beat these things into her over time, all while preaching to the three of them the virtues of teamwork. She was always going to be a supporting shinobi, never on the front lines, and so to an extent it was the job of the other two to protect her. At the same time though, having her be complete dead weight would just result in Ei being a burden to her partners. Their training would continue for the next several years, coming to a front at an upcoming Chuunin Exam. Ei-Azu-Ko would be one of the first groups to enter on behalf of Sunagakure. Ei would be carried along by the willpower of her partners during this time, mainly Azuma, as she had little ambition in advancing in rank as a shinobi. Still, the three of them would enter, traveling to Kumogakure in order to participate.
They failed during the survival portion of the exams. They came home without Ko.
The next several years happened quickly. Despite their initial failure, both Azuma and Ei would try again. They would manage to get to the direct combat portion this time, however the preliminary matches that occured before this would mark Ei’s end. She would fall under the direct physical might of a Genin from Iwagakure, having her clock cleaned by his stone-based taijutsu. Despite her failure Azuma would manage to progress further. While he wasn’t the winner of the tournament he would still end up promoted to Chunin. Despite her second failure, Ei would find herself with the support of both Kawa and Azuma, and would manage to achieve Chunin shortly after through direct promotion in the field due to her talents in fuuinjutsu. The promotion to Jounin would come even faster, with Ei being nominate nearly immediately after she had been promoted to Chunin. Both Ei and Azuma had been nominated together, and the two of them would pass together, achieving Jounin roughly at the same time.
And then, Sunagakure would fall. Just as quickly as it had risen, there would be nothing. The Kazekage had fallen dead to the plague. Thousands would die from the disease, and the village would find itself quickly merely a shadow of its former self. In this time, after the village had collapsed, Ei would return to as her life had been before. While the plague had taken her father, she would continue where he left off, in painting for a living. Rather than continue to use his name, Ei would begin to use her own pen name during this time. While the plague made it so there was little demand for art there would be no denying that Ei was the most talented artist in the Land of Wind. Even with the village falling apart she would still manage to make a living doing as she did.
Just as quickly as it collapsed, Sunagakure would raise again. While she was officially ‘retired’, the rumors that had come from the man who was now proclaiming himself to be the new Kazekage would filter down even to her ears.
Personality:
Ei has somewhat of an unconventional nature. She enthusiastically studied under the techniques of various painters without being fixated on a single school for years, and following this desire led her to become a shinobi in order to study under masters of fuuinjutsu. She relentlessly pursues this, practicing painting, calligraphy, and fuuinjutsu. This leaves her without time to keep up with housework or cook, and so she has to go to a nearby market and purchase already prepared food. Due to not taking care of housework she will often live in a single place until it becomes unfit to live in any more, and then go to look for another place to live. She excels at calligraphy, although she considers this to be an artform that she’s mastered, and as such practices more rarely than other forms of art. Occasionally she will branch off into other forms of art, such as sculpting, architectural planning, music, poetry, dance, cooking, cinema, but her skill in these fields is at most above-average and not comparable to her supreme skill with the brush.
She has a strong love for sake, and often can be seen somewhat tipsy during the process of painting. In general, due to how often she drinks her breath smells faintly of sake. With her eccentric personality though it is difficult to tell whether she is truly tipsy or simply just being her odd self.
With other people, she’s generally disinterested. Somewhat of a recluse, she tends to keep to herself unless bothered, or unless someone else has something unique about them that could make them catch her eye. With close friends these boundaries break down though. To someone she is familiar with there is nothing she wouldn’t share. Friends would be allowed into her home and fridge freely, as if they were family, so long as they don’t disrupt her paintings with unimportant things. When it comes to things she cares about, Ei is the type to open up quickly to others.
She reacts to scenes of bloodshed and battle calmly. While she’s no sadist, Ei has long beaten out any reluctance she might have had towards killing others. She holds a certain curiosity towards these sorts of scenes though, having a bit of a desire to paint scenes of battle and war, and the more gruesome elements of these conflicts.
Roleplay Sample:
- Spoiler:
- This matters too much to me.
The pencil trembled in Chigetsu’s hand. Her handwriting had deteriorated severely through the course of writing, in an obvious reflection of her mental state. The neat and tight handwritten characters devolved eventually into the sloppy mess that it was at the end. It was still legible, but it almost resembles something that a child would have written. Her hand had started shaking. It was hard to pinpoint exactly when she had started trembling. Things felt like they were happening too fast. Chigetsu couldn’t keep up. Glancing down at it, a small wet spot in the paper would appear around the center. With her eyes so teary she couldn’t even read what she had just written. Tears streamed down her face freely now. There wasn’t any point in holding it back. She had been too shocked initially, when Rini had been acting as the proctor, to respond. It hadn’t sunk in. Rini’s rant would progress into the next, by Toshi, and it would only be when he had finished when Chigetsu’s heart would really drop. Just in time for the real proctor to reveal herself. Just in time to be told that she had failed a second time. It was just about then, as Hua Li announced Chigetsu’s failure, that she had pencilled in the final question. Too little too late. Apparently, this all had been for nothing.
All the practice she had been doing. All the missions she had done, both on her own and with Calis. The training with Hana. The talk with her mother. She had done all of that just to come here and fail in the first room, and to cry in front of everyone. Chigetsu felt like she was about to throw up. Everything had been fine at first. She had even been the first one to realize that they were in a genjutsu, and had been the one to break it in secret. She had come up with a plan of action that involved flushing out the proctor, and had almost gone and destroyed the seal too and done all the work by herself. Everything had fallen apart when that girl in the wheelchair started speaking. Chigetsu couldn’t turn to look at her now, with her eyes dark, dull, and leaking while staring down at her test. But she could imagine the girl’s face in her mind, and her voice. Her name was Rini, apparently. Everything that had gone wrong for Chigetsu started when she first came in. Telling her the test hadn’t started yet to stop her from firing the water bullet. Confusing her with that long rant about how Chunin would think. Then pretending to be the proctor. Thinking about it now, and imagining her voice, filled Chigetsu with this bitter feeling. She could taste it welling up in her. A dark and dirty disgusting goop that sank down to the bottom of her stomach, and then reached up into her mouth and mind.
"So, sword techniques and taijutsu techniques. That’s going to be an interesting skillset with your body, you’re immune to physical damage after all." Calis would say with a pensive look. “I’d have to capture you handidly, or put you into a situation that you can’t get out of.” He would say, continuing to think.
“Are you thinking about how to beat me up?" She would frown now, shooting Calis something of a stink eye. “Stop that. That’s really gross and weird. Thinking about how to beat up or kill me when we’re standing right next to each other…” She would puff out her cheeks in a somewhat childish pout.
“Are you telling me you haven’t started to at least try to figure out how to handle some of the individuals you might be fighting in the exams? Pre preparation is something they look for too I would imagine.” He would say, a shrug emphasizing his statement.
"No? I don’t think about how to kill my friends. That would be…” She would go quiet after a few seconds, not wanting to continue that line of thought.
“I don’t know.” She would bring her hands up from the pocket of her hoodie, crossing them loosely over her midsection. “I’m only doing this because people keep on telling me I should… I don’t really think I care about winning too much, I just don’t want to disappoint anyone.”
“When it comes to being a shinobi you can’t afford to do it because it’s expected. It’s life or death out there Chigetsu. If that’s not for you, then you should probably try to find another line or work. I don’t say that to be mean. I’m saying that because if you don’t, you’ll end up giving your life away because ‘others told you to’ and that’s just not worth it.”
Why am I even doing this?
She would clutch hard at her pencil. This all mattered too much to her, despite everything she had said in the past. The wood would strain for a moment under her grip, bending slightly as it approached its breaking point. It wouldn’t get there, as Chigetsu would release the tightness in her grip before that. Everything that Calis had been saying about the exams before flashed back to her. That disgusting taste was still in her mouth. Bitter. She had been stupid. These people weren’t her friends. She had been stupid not to expect competition from the beginning. Her test, marked by two tear stains now, would be placed into the interior of her desk.
Channeling that bitterness, Chigetsu would throw the pencil.
She had taken a glance at the room beforehand, but it wasn’t necessary. She was familiar with the academy from the time she spent here playing hide and seek with students, all of them using the transformation technique. Chigetsu was more than familiar with the layout of the building, and all of its rooms. As annoying as it was doing that mission, somehow it managed to pay off in the end. The pencil would be thrown like a twister, and it would quickly strike into the first of the four sprinklers in the classroom. The impact would be more than enough to immediately break the glass bulb on the inside of the sprinkler, setting it off. The pencil would ricochet off and continue on its arc around the room. There had been four sprinklers to cover the entirety of the classroom in case of fire, and with Chigetsu’s initial throw of the pencil she had managed to arc it in such a way that it would collide into all four of them, breaking each bulb in the process, before returning to her hand like a boomerang. As soon as she caught the thrown pencil Chigetsu would place it calmly back down on the desk.
Meanwhile, all four sprinklers would be set off. The classroom would become absolutely soaked as the system would spray water absolutely everywhere. Because the sprinklers were placed specifically to put out fires, every square footage of the room would be covered in their area, with some overlapping. There wouldn’t be anywhere to hide, in other words.
“No. That’s wrong.” It was now that the quiet, demure Hozuki chose to speak up. With the sprinklers going off like this, nobody would be able to tell that she was crying. Her voice now though was a tone deeper, reducing like that as her emotional state wavered. She was desperate now, more than anything. This meant too much to her. "There’d be no reason to ask others for help. We’re in the Chunin Exams. This is a competition.” She would take a small glance around the room. Rini. Toshi. Zeke. “None of these people are my friends or allies. I don’t know them. Anyone I ask for help with could stab me in the back. Anyone I help would result in more competition for the finalist spot later. There’s nobody here that I can trust.” She would take this as a moment to point at the proctor, to emphasize her point as the rain came down. “That’s why you transformed into a student and hid among us, wasn't it? So that we would be suspicious of each other. And this entire time... Everyone has spent more time trying to sabotage others than passing themselves. I was the one who broke the genjutsu, and I would have been the one to break the seal too. It was listening to other people here that stopped me, and made everything go wrong. Treating these people like allies... That would just be stupid.” Chigetsu shook her head. She would bitter. It was laced onto every word now, even with the tears fresh on her voice.
The sprinklers would sputter to a stop. Being set off through an impact like this made it obvious that the room wasn’t actually on fire. Someone who was in charge of the system must have blown the automatic stop switch. Either that, or they had run out of water. Considering the sheer amount of water they had sprayed down in that time, which had only been maybe two or three minutes, it could have been either one. Chigetsu would stand up. She would take her test out of the desk. It was dry, save for two stains from teardrops. Very likely it would be the dryest test in the room.
“This matters to me too much to fail here. The stakes are too high. I don't know what the Chunin Exams mean to anyone else, but... It means more than just another rank to me.” She swallowed. Her cheeks were still red, and while the tears had stopped, it was still clear as day from the state of her eyes that she had been crying. It was hard to admit, especially with how much she told people she didn’t want to do this, or that she didn’t care before. Having failure shoved in her face so fast made her come to terms with reality quickly.
“I want to win.”
She would pause, and then correct herself.
“I’m going to win.”
Walking forward, she would approach the likely soaked Hua Li. Her legs were trembling with each step. Maybe it was obvious, but even as Chigetsu steeled herself as much as she could, there wasn’t anything she could do it stop it. The entire walk forward, she would keep her grip tight, and her eyes to her sides. If there was one thing that Chigetsu had, it was sharp reflexes. If anything dared to try and steal the test from her now they would find themselves with a bullet in the stomach.
Her test would be provided, handed over to Hua Li. Even though she had said the test wasn’t about questions and answers, and that anyone who believed it had been would fail… This was Chigetsu’s only option. She was so desperate. Chigetsu already had been told she had failed twice, anyway. Would it matter if Hua Li told her that she failed a third time? The answer was definitely yes, and that Chigetsu’s last desperate burst of confidence being slapped aside would shatter her heart, but she didn’t want to think about that right now. It took all of her willpower to just do this.
“Nobody else will be able to hand in their tests now. If this really is a written exam… A real written exam…” Her voice would falter, cracking awkwardly on that last word. She would continue anyway. “I’ll be the only one to pass.”
Last edited by Ei Kanagawa on Wed Jan 22, 2020 1:17 am; edited 3 times in total
