Taking a Student (Flashback)

Listening to Ryuko's words, he's give a small 'Ah.' as he had just assumed she would've gotten some cake as well, though something bugged him a bit. Why did Sophie 'fancy' him? He hadn't done anything remarkable, his grades were slightly above-average, he did some odd jobs assisting the country, nothing that should've put him on the radar. Really the only thing that might've would be his Kekkei Genkai, but he had always assume that that was a deterrent, not some positive quality he had. Maybe she didn't know the full scope of it all?

'Dumbass, she's hitting on you. Are you really that dense or is the chocolate cake hampering your ability to not see that someone wants to jump your pants?' He'd stop mid-swallow and his eyes would widen, the food dangerously ready to go down the wind pipe when he involuntary swallowed, though he would cough a few times as what Id said hit him. "Ummm ummm, umm um. He'd hit a bit of a mental loop. Sophie was trying to hit on him? impossible, preposterous. Sure he'd make sure to shower every day, but the words of the Blood Raven herself came back to finally hit him: He was a loser, had an ugly name, a dork, and if Ryuko was anything to go by, well-read people (because of COURSE sages had to be well-read in his mind) were attracted to an underdog. All of this being something he had been trying to avoid as he didn't think he was ready for dating yet.

He couldn't think about dating right now, as the longer he did the more things that he had repressed that he figured he'd just figure out once he took care if his perpetual mental 3rd wheel would continue to spiral out. "Okay, we're...I'm going to need to spend a lot of time thinking about what you just implied, as...well...I'd rather not...yeah okay this Raisin-I! I need to put a pin in this loin-LINE! of thought. He's slap his face a few times, and just stared into space, his eyes unfocusing as he envisioned weapons. Glorious, shiny new weapons for several seconds. A few more seconds of silence from the boy would pass, before blinking and resumed eating the cake as if he hadn't just had a small mental breakdown. "I gotta say, this is some delicious cake! I wonder who made it, since I can taste the amount of care put into it." Either way, he had something he could focus on now: a proper duel.

"You're letting me borrow that sword? Hakkin's Fang? I'm...I... He'd begin to tear up a little. "I would be honored to do so Lady Ryuko. So hold such a sword, to wield an artifact of such power in his own hands...it was a dream come true. Sure it wasn't something as grand as the artifacts that the Sage of Six Paths once held, and she had also offered to let him use some other gear as well, but still! It was a sword!

Coming down from his small little weapon high and wiping away the tear, he'd process the rest of the possible options. "If you feel like I'll need it, I'll be fine using the old gear and the Shadow Shuriken. It'll help me get used to clothing if I need to crossdress for a mission anyways. It wasn't the first time he had worn woman's clothing, and thanks to his semi-androgynous body style (sure he was still clearly a man, but having less waist then a normal man was always an advantage) he wasn't too worried about the refit, though not even a Mighty Warrior like him could be so perfect as to fit any clothing, at least, not until he learned some jutsu to pull that off.

He almost shed a few more tears when she had offered to make him some fort of armor, but he'd hold it in. "Nothing too fancy, though I'm thinking of going for a samurai-like armor. I don't have them on me, but I have some ideas and makeups at home that I've been meaning to get commissioned at the market. I tried getting them commissioned by this tengu lady, but something always came up first." There was also Niko, but that was another story as she dealt with weapons and not armor. "I'll try to get them to you after this is done, though I should probably ask how much this'll cost." Sure he got a pretty good paycheck, but if he wanted to help get the Kurama clan a district, he still had to save up a LOT, and even he could only do so many missions.

"That sounds fair, though I'm curious to see how you'll work around that limitation." Did summons qualify as direct? Would he get to fight a hydra? Indirect actions were a broad subject, and something that could make the challenge become extremely interesting. And what qualified as an attack to Ryuko? Did tripping him count? A spray bottle? Sure he was confident she wouldn't try to kill him as that'd be a horrible mess, he now really wanted to see her use a spray bottle in some sort of capacity in the fight. Or the tea. or even the cake-wait, no he ate that. The plate then.

Back to the Faux-sage mode thing then. He'd wonder who Akame was, and he was sure he'd find out someday, but it was a 'pin for later' thing. "As safe as I can make it, though until I fully develop a seal to get rid of nature energy first like the chakra draining seal does I won't know for sure just how safe it is. Juinjutsu is almost never '100% safe' from what I understand, but neither is experimental medicine or even using a sword as a weapon, and yet people do that as jobs." There was no such thing as something being 100% 'safe', but he'd be damn sure to try and make it as safe for him as much as he could. After all, if he was going to die it'd be one of three ways: Heroically in battle, peacefully in bed, or the unmentionable nightmare he'd have on occasion; preferably the first death though.

The priestess watched with no small amount of amusement as the realization slowly came over Mort. It seemed he wasn’t quite hopeless after all which came as quite a relief. He still had quite some room to grow when it came to noticing subtle hints but that was nothing that couldn’t be trained to be improved. If he’d been as dense as she’d feared it would have quite limited the operational possibilities for the types of missions she could send him on.

She wasn’t quite sure if he was kage material, it was too soon for that. As smart as she was she could only forecast some things so far into advance. One thing she was certain of was that he had the potential to be more than just a run of the mill average chunnin which made up the bulk of the village’s forces. If he really had been thick as a post then training him wouldn’t have been worth her time.

“What’s there to think about?” she asked curious as to why Mort didn’t seem to want to make a move. She had no idea what his circumstances were. Did he already have someone? Did he bat for the other team? Or was he simply not confident enough in himself to take a shot?

“Life is sort, especially in our line of business. Carpe diem.” She advised, literally telling him to seize the day. If he’d follow her advice or not was up to him. There wasn't the totataltarin society which meant she couldn’t order them to get together for ugenic purposes or something of that sort. Even if she could she wouldn’t do such a thing since that wouldn’t be love at all.

Seeing her student get all worked up about being allowed to use her sword made the priestess feel a bit flustered. She liked weapons herself but she wasn’t expecting this level of enthusiasm from someone who wasn’t a devout believer in the religion. To actually tear up a little at the prospect seemed a bit over the top in her opinion. Yes it was a holy relic but only a second tier one compared the sword the arch-priest used.

“Well, I’m glad you’re happy but remember this is just for today. We’ll have to find a better weapon elsewhere for you if you want something a bit more long term.” She said when suddenly she was struck by a flash of inspiration. The village happened to have some powerful artifacts in storage that she’d been looking to put to use. Maybe one of them would suit Mort.

“Have you heard of the Village’s 3 treasures?” She asked. She wouldn’t be surprised if he hadn’t since they’d been locked away for the bulk of kumogakure’s existence for the last couple decades, but then again he seemed to like weapons a lot so there was a chance he knew about them already which would save some explaining.

“As amusing as the idea of seeing you in a dress would be, the type of gear I have on offer is fairly androngiouns. That said I appreciate your willingness to experiment.” said Ryuko with a pleased smile. It wasn’t too hard to talk some of the girls at the academy into wearing a pair of jeans to look like a man but it wasn’t often you’d find a boy willing to put a skirt on so readily.

“You know with your illusions you might actually be pretty good for inflation missions. Tis wouldn’t hurt to have the practical skills to back those up. The hardest illusions to see thought are often the ones that don’t involve genjutsu at all.” she said with a knowing smirk. With a bit of makeup it could make people think you were someone who didn’t even exist. It was a lot harder for a sensor type to pick up on since it wasn’t chakra based at all.

“My main work is heavily influenced by my european side but I can do contemporary works as well. Samurai like equipment should be a sinch for me.” she said, feeling a bit giddy at the prospect of making something a bit different then her usual style. She’d spend so so much time working on her own set of kage armor lately that it would be nice to make something for someone else for a change as well.

“Don’t worry about the costs. As long as we can keep the budget within reason I’ll cover the bill for this one.” she offered. She was one of the richest people in the country after all, unless they really went crazy on the offerings and gilded it in literal gold or something equally stupid then the material cost would be a simple pittance for her. And honestly anything under S-grade which was very time consuming was more like a hobby now, something she did to the side in her free time.

Honestly if she’d know he was working towards another clan district she’d likely have offered to fund it on the spot. She’d just finished the paperwork on two other Clan districts so why not throw one more on the pile? It’d be a small price to pay to make sure that the Kurama clan stayed happy with her considering what she was planning on doing to their home land of Frost.

She could practically see the gears turning in Mort’s head as he wondered about how she’d get around the limitation of not being able to attack directly. He’d already likely stumbled upon some of the answers. Indeed the reason she’d pick up summoning skills and tracked down the Flying turtle contract was to bolster her fighting style. If she couldn’t attack herself then have someone attack for her.

The more she could get her student to think these things though for himself the better off he’d be in the long run. She wouldn’t be around to hold his hand and guide him through the darkness forever. Having an inquisitive mind and the desire to uncover the unknown meant he was well on his way towards becoming a sort of sage in his own right even if he lacked the raw power of one.

She simply gave him a confident grin as if to say she’d show him once their match began. Instead of impressing him with raw power like she’d originally been planning she’d show him a display of overwhelming skill. She was already analyzing Mort in preparation for the fight, planning out how it would go in her head just so she could drive home how far apart they were in order to give him a high goal to strive towards. It would be like telling him that she was up here high at the top of a tower and asking him if he could reach her knowing that maybe, just maybe he could if he worked hard enough.

“Fair enough. As you said almost nothing is truly 100% no matter how much we try to make tis so. But if you DO die from experimenting I will be VERY cross with you! Cross enough that I might try and bring you back as a Zombie.” She said sternly but with a smirk on her face that said she was simply kidding to lighten the mood. Frankly speaking she didn’t think a moaning and groaning Zombie would be half as fun to talk to.

[14]

Gathering Nature Chakra 110/130
Analyzing Mort 1/2

He'd uncomfortable shift from side to side, really not wanting to talk about relationships right now, but it was clear he wasn't going to weasel out of this one. "Look, it's not that I'm not interested, in fact I'm a bit honored that see sees me in such a light. I just...need to get some bloodline issues worked out first before I try dating again." He'd debate whether or not he should explain his situation, and, after a good pause, he'd relent. "I still haven't gotten complete control over it and I wouldn't want to cause her harm, but at the same time sealing it away doesn't do much anymore. I have enough control for day to day life, but when I'm stressed it's not exactly easy to keep control some days, and there's a reason love and war are often compared to one another."

Were they excuses? Sure, but they were valid reasons as to why he shouldn't date. "As nice as it sounds, I'd rather not make my significant other's life short-er, even by accident, so can we please not bring it up? It brings up memories I'd rather not face quite yet. Without his prompting, an illusion of a small girl about the age of 10 would form behind him, mirroring his posture as if there was a mirror in between them. They had long orange hair and was wearing a brown coat that was almost two sizes too big for them. If one were to look closely, there was a set of goggles around their neck, the strap saying 'UЯOY' on it. it'd stay there for a moment, before disappearing as he leaned back.

He'd give a small nod as he knew he wouldn't be able to keep the sword, even though he really wanted to keep Hakkin's Fang. But that wasn't his choice to make. To him it was a sword with history, with "I know of them, the Weaklessness Soaring Shortswords, the Fire Sword, and the Garian Sword. It took a lot of digging when I saw them mentioned in one of the many paths a Jounin could take, and I've been debating between working on the Sky or Shield paths because of it. Why do you ask?" He had a feeling as to why, and a part of him was hoping what he was assuming was true, but he'd behave. If he was wrong and she was just curious as to what path he planned on taking, it could very well ruin his chances of holding a legendary weapon.

"The Kurama have never been too worried about fashion. Sure we often inscribe our clan's insignia onto clothing, but since it's founding with all the moving you'd find a fair amount of foreign clothing if you ever visited when not on business." He'd put the back of his hand to the side of his mouth and leaned in a little, as if he were telling a secret. "You didn't hear it from me, but several clan elders meet up with clothing they found from oddball stores, my personal favorite being a bear onesie they got the clan leader to wear for my cousin's birthday." That was a good memory, and he wished he got a picture.

Some more nodding. "I've heard a lot of people say that, and I've tried working on my practical, physical, illusions. However the best I got is this card trick I could show you later." He had been working on his makeup game ever since meeting Natsuru, but not much had come of it yet. Hopefully by the time he really needed it he'd have learned something, but for now it was still a work in progress.

"Thank you again. I've been working on a big surprise for the clan and every cent counts, yanno?" Would she know? On one hand she was a part of a church, and stereotypically one had to start from the bottom there, but on the other she was an advisor to the Kage who had tea he couldn't even think to afford! It truly was a mystery to him, but he'd just have to assume she had some idea.

He'd catch the smirk on her face, and while he understood the severity, he couldn't help but join in on lightening the mood. "HAH! If it goes bad enough that I come back as a zombie, I'd just have to be the best zombie you've ever seen!" He'd stand up and make a pose, pointing upwards. "For whether it be in life of death, a warrior must never disappoint! He'd hold the pose a little bit longer, before relaxing and going back into a knelling position a little sheepishly.

The Priestess watched how uncomfortable her student was as she grilled him about why he was being so evasive about not wanting to hook up with her lady in waiting. She felt a little bad about pushing him but she told herself it was worth the discomfort since in the end she ultimately only wanted what was best for the both of them.

As far as his reasoning went, well at least he had a good one. He didn’t want to end up hurting his partner because he didn’t have full control of his bloodline. That was both noble and understandable if a bit too self sacrificing for her tastes.

She was a doctor and that went for more than just the body but the mind as well. She understood the psychology of the human mind to a very high degree and knew there was a time and place for comforting someone’s trauma. Forcing them to do it too soon would only lead to further damage.

It was all too obvious from the context clues that he’d given her that more than likely he’d hurt someone in the past because of his bloodline even if he hadn’t meant to. If that was the case she’d take some more time to do some investigation of her own on the side. She needed more details before she could afford her student the proper treatment he deserved.

“I won’t ask you more about your past today. I just want us to think about the future together. You might not have control yet but I can promise you that under my tutelage that you WILL gain it someday. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next week but discipline will come all the same eventually. Even If you don’t believe in yourself that you can get there then believe in me who believes in you” said Ryuko firmly with the absolute belief that she would be able to help him get his bloodline under control.

“I also won't ask you to get together with anyone if you don’t want to. Just please keep an open mind about the possibility of entering a relationship with someone even if tis not Sophie. Life is too long to spend it being lonely.” she said with a look in her eyes that said she knew about that feeling all too well. More than anything she wanted someone to hold her and yet the person she cared for most couldn’t be by her side.

“Don’t worry about if you have control or not. If you find that special someone then I can arrange for them to be protected from your power. If you know yourself, and you know your enemy then you need not fear even a hundred encounters.” She said distorting a very famous quote to serve her own ends. As long as they knew what the problem was then countering it would be simple.

If someone had a bloodline where they produced too much electricity and accidentally shocked people they touched then Ryuko could give their partner a bolt ring to keep them from being electrocuted. She was a sage, if there was a solution to a problem she’d use her vast stores of knowledge to discover it, if not then she’d just damn well invent it herself.

“Ah good you knowing saves me a lot of trouble. I have to question the naming sense of whomever forged those blades though. I mean did they really have to call one ‘fire sword’? Can you get much more generic? It should have something like ‘The inferno blade” at the very least.” she grumbled at how lazy the blacksmith had been just as an aside. She was basically just shooting the breeze a bit to buy time for her to finish charging up her nature chakra so they wouldn’t have to awkwardly sit around in silence for a few minutes.

“Anyhow I want you to pick one of those swords to use for yourself. Whichever one you think suits you best. I know you’re not a Jounin yet but I’d rather put the treasure to use then having them continue to collect dust by being too stingy.” She explained. If he claimed one of them then he would be the first of the Three musketeers. Perhaps the other two would become her students as well.


“It might make you stand out a bit but that was going to happen anyhow since I’ll be the new Raikage in a couple of weeks. That’s a secret by the way so please don’t tell anyone.” said the priestess off handidly. Partly she wanted to see what Mort’s reaction to that bombshell would be and partly because she was going to assign her security clearance level based on how well he managed to keep his mouth shut.

“Oh that’s good to know. Tis could save us having to take a shopping trip if we need to travel someday.” said Ryuko with a wistful look in her eye. It went without saying that a woman of her wealth had all sorts of clothing for just about any occasion imaginable in her closet which was bigger then some people’s entire house.

“Heh that’s beary fitting since Kuma is one letter away from being Kumo” joked Ryuko using the Japanese word for bear along with a really bad pun. She was usually very serious and straight laced but she still had a childish side to her which was coming out more as she got more comfortable hanging around with Mort and losing up a bit in the process.

“I look forward to seeing it. Tis good training to increase your dexterity.” she said. If she could move right now she’d likely show off a basic magic trick or two like the one where you pulled a coin out from behind someone’s ear seemingly out of nowhere. With her level of coordination such tricks where child’s play to her but she’d practiced them a bunch to get to where she was no so she saw a lot of worth in them.

“A big surprise huh? I’ve got a pretty big one of my own for everyone….. I’m going to be making some changes to the status of Frost soon… basically folding it into our country rather than treating it as a separate entity like we are now. Do you think there’s anything I could do to keep your clan happy with that decision? Like say Buying them a clan district for example?” she asked.

This was by far the most confidential information she had trusted Mort with so far. The fact she was going to be Raikage was something of an open secret. Many of the Jounin already either knew what was up or at least suspected it even if the general population didn’t, the fact she was going to be reforming the country came dangerously close to revealing that she was going to be much more than just a Raikage soon, something she didn’t want out in the open prior to the day of coronations events.

Again she was someone who was very very smart. She was practically reading her student like an open book at this point. The second he’d said he wanted to surprise his clan and that he needed to save every cent he counted it had been easy for her to make a logical duction then more than likely he was working towards building a district.

Instead of offering to fund it on the spot she might have said if he’d said that was what he’d wanted straight out she was instead leading him by the nose using the pretext of getting his opinion about the clans affairs. It was essentially a bribe if you wanted to look at it that way but that was politics for you, a game of give and take. It was full of such you scratch my back I scratch yours type of deals.

In all honesty with the other clan districts that were going up it wasn’t a matter of IF but when in this case. The Kurama were a valuable and noble clan to the village and she couldn’t afford to slight them by making districts for a bunch of other clans like the Mikri and then excluding them. In the grand scheme of things a district was rather cheap if it was enough to keep them happy and loyal.

“Well said, just try not to eat my brains if that happens.” said Ryuko with a smirk as Mort’s well meaning words gave her something to chew on intellectually. In life and death a warrior doesn’t disappoint was it? What would she leave behind after her death? She was famous now but would she still be remembered in 100 years? 1000?

Depending on how you looked at it everyone was destined to be forgotten in the end. Even Planets which could last for millions or billions of years weren’t eternal. As fast at the universe was and as long as it existed her life was less than a flicker of light measured in an attosecond. That might make some people say that nothing they did matter. They might fall into despair or indulge in excess hedonism but for her that meant making of the all too fleeting time she had all that much more important.

She didn’t need any grand accompaniments or statues. If she could improve even a few of the lives that hers intersected with then that would be enough. She could be selfless at times and greedy at others, but as long as she strived to be a good person and perpetuated the world with more kindness then she damaged it by the harm she brought to others then her life had all the meaning it would ever need.

“Have you finished eating? Had enough of a break yet? I’ll be fully charged in just a moment.” she warned. As he had seen firsthand the biggest drawback to being a sage was how long it took to fully charge up. Soon he’d see just how necessary doing a full charge was if one was to make the most use of it.

[15]

Gathering Nature Chakra 130/130
Analyzing Mort 2/2
Summons post 5/7

Her reassurances helped a little, which in the grand scheme of thing comforted him. "Thank you, and I'll keep that in mind." There wasn't much else to say. she had said her piece, and he his. And while he agreed under her tutelage he'd get better, a part of him wondered just how long it would take. Thankfully for him, that talk was more or less over for now, as he had something he could actually talk about for hours on end: swords.

"My guess is that the name was lost. Personally I'd've called it 'Blazing Beacon', but 'Inferno Blade' also has a nice ring to it." That wasn't the only name. There was also 'The Burninator', 'The Flaming Flayer', or even 'Dark Inferno'. Sadly he was not the one who made the blade, nor could he rename a wapon without it's permission, and getting the permission of a non-sentient weapon without an expert was HARD. Not as hard as choosing a weapon though, thank god.

"Soaring Shortswords please. I have no fire affinity and, well I doubt I'm dexterous enough yet to use Garian." Oh my god she really was letting him use them. I mean sure not now but later on? To be able to use a weapon that actually melded well with his affinity? now that was a gift from the goggle gods, or they would be if they were real.

"I'm...wait, whhaaaAAATTT??" Like a Shack Heavenly transferred at the speed of light, the info had hit him like a ton of bricks and with no good warning. She was going to be the next Raikage??? That...actually made a lot of sense given how the conversation had been going. "So that's why you've been trying to get a better idea of the less fortunate. I see, I see. I also can tell you've been buttering me up as a way to like you when you become Kage, and I'm sorry to say but it worked like a charm and I am not ashamed to admit that. He'd grin, a little nervously, but overall not too concerned. "We'll keep it a secret though, We swear upon it."

'Right Id?' 'Sure, whatever.'

"Heh, I see what you did there. I could see them going for that sort of joke." He didn't think about that. He always had assumed that the elders had a stick up their own ass since they always wanted him to practice his genjutsu, but maybe they did have a sense of humor? If ryuko was any indication, it was certainly possible.

"Are you sure? You've already offered so much; the Swords, the Armor, even letting me learn techniques I wouldn't normally be able to access until a higher rank. I mean, I'm really, really honored, but, well...I mean I'd hope that a clan district keep them happy, to have them feel more welcome here. But more then that I know they'll want to be able to rebuild back in the Epsilon Range, at the very least have a district set up in Shimogakure as that's closer then Kumo. But I know that'll take a lot more time, planning, and trust then getting one set up here in Kumo first, so you were right on the money." It was kind creepy that she had hit his plan square on the head, but it was also expected now that he had a better idea on who she was.

It was always a touchy subject, as he himself was technically from a splinter branch from Konoha that just happened to merge back into the main branch. Or was he already part of the main branch? He couldn't remember right now, and either way it didn't matter. Bringing up the Range in any Kurma clan setting was a topic set for disaster. But the clan did move, and they accepted that they were a part of Kumo whether they liked it or not. Hopefully it'd get Hoki to settle down a bit.

Mort would give a small not to assure her he would not in fact eat her brain. While had certainly had cow brain when he was younger to try and curb some of the early issues of the Kurama bloodline, it wasn't that delicious. Maybe it was the way it was cooked, or the way it was served, but it just didn't taste that good to him. Even Id didn't like it, which lent credence to the theory the cook was a hack.

"Just about ready. Gotta get into the right mindset." He'd close his eyes as he wanted full cooperation for this.

'Okay Id, you just about ready to get this show on the road?' 'About fucking time, though that cake did hit the spot. Such a shame we'll have to duke it out before I woo her and create a harem as Sarkage.' 'Oh shut it. For now lets get the key and...ugh.' 'Say it.' 'No.' 'Say iiiit.' 'Nooo.' 'Comeon, say it or I'll-' 'FINE. Time to bequeath the bosom barehanded.' 'That's the spirit! Now let's get this show on the ROAD!'

His eyes would open, and the eyes themselves would flicker from green to purple. Unlike many things occurring around them, this wasn't an illusion or jutsu but just biological bloodline shenanigans. After a few seconds, they'd settle on a pale gray, the green and purple outlining the outer edges of the pupil. They'd pick up the sword in one hand, give it a quick lookover, and then draw their bokken with their free hand, leaving Excalipoor in it's sheath and the shadow shuriken in a separate holster. They had a feeling the soon-to-be kage had something, no, several things up her sleeve, and one of them was probably senbon. Hakkin's Fang seemed to give off illusionary rose petals as they spoke, taking a basic kendo stance and they spoke with a twang in their voice.

"I'm ready to dance when you are Von Rose."

---

Kendo; 0 CP, No boost

Man life was boring at the moment.

Tamwyn was returning from another mission and he was bored out of his ever loving mind regarding the entire thing. He painted fences, helped people move, and did grocery shopping for the elderly. However he still didn’t have any kind of official sensei and so that was effectively all he could. It was maddening, and incredibly frustrating. However he understood that at times things took their time. Still though, being out of the Academy for six or so months and still not having a sensei was moderately depressing. He was starting to think that perhaps no one wanted him on their team. However that would be insane to consider. He did his level best not to be vain but even the most modest individual had to admit that his talents in the field of lightning techniques were nothing short of prodigious.

That, in theory, should mean that people would love to train him and try to mold him to the ideals that made Kumogakure no Sato great. To teach and guide him on his journey to becoming a legendary shinobi, who’s name was known throughout the world. However no one had requested him. He shouldn’t be all that surprised really, he’d graduated early and the jounin sensei for the next graduating class hadn’t even been selected yet. So it was a bit unreasonable for him to expect someone waiting and ready to teach him things right when he was ready. Intellectually, he knew that. However it didn’t help how he felt at all. Which was of course simply frustrated.

Still though, he was able to get a lot of training ground time in and he was working hard on adding more lightning jutsu to his arsenal. He knew a low level one, it was how he had learned that he could utilize lightning ninjutsu without seals. However like any student he also tried higher ranked ones and found them easily within his grasp. They too required no seals from him and the ability to do so amazed even him. If he could cultivate that talent with enough lightning jutsu he could really and truly become a force to be reckoned with. Which was why he was constantly on the training grounds, when he could be. Working to create a personal set of jutsu that he could use as a stepping stone to progress his shinobi career.

At that moment though he was leaving the Administration Building and going to head to one of those training grounds. He had just finished another mission and it was time for him to work on himself. He knew of one behind the Administration Center he could use and he was walking around it to the secluded place. When he turned the corner however he found himself looking at two individuals who already seemed to be using it. Or rather, were preparing to use it. He turned the corner just as the purple haired man referred to his companion as he said ‘I’m ready to dance when you are Von Rose.’ which would cause Tamwyn to blink in recognition, he knew that name. Hell, everyone in Kumogakure knew that name.

Ryuko Shizu Von Rose was one of the most powerful Jounin within the village, hell, if not THE most powerful Jounin in the village. Was she with her student? It would appear so and Tamwyn, for a moment, would prepare to watch what occurred here curiosity gaining the better of his manners for a moment before he shook his head. No, that would be far too rude. To watch the training of others uninvited was very poor form for anyone no matter how curious they might be. Ryuko’s reputation almost made him want to break that courtesy and watch anyway, wanting to see what she could do. However to do such would go against his very nature. With that, the well dressed, if darkly clad, individual would nod his head in acceptance that the training ground behind the Administration Building was in use. By his measurements he would probably be in Ryuko’s viewpoint from his position so he would nod politely at her in recognition that the field was in use before turning to leave. It was only polite after all.

After extracting a promise from her student that he would keep an open mind when it came to the chance at having a relationship the priestess quietly gazed at him affectionately the way an older sister might look at a younger brother.  Hopefully he wasn’t just giving her empty words to get off his case.   As someone who had often given too much of herself to the village she hoped he wouldn’t make the same mistakes she had.

“See you totally get it. That was a nice use of alliteration by the way”  She commented. Blazing Becon really would have been a better name for it.    For a second she thought that was the one she was going to pick but Mort surprised her by choosing the Soaring short shorts instead.  That said it was a good pick  If he could actually use them at even half their potential they’d be a good weapon for him.

It almost made her want to bring him with her for her fight with Hakkin. What better way to take on a god of lightning then with that element's natural weakness wind.   Of course when she could only take 3 people with it was debatable whether her student was the right choice. Maybe in a couple years once he got stronger but if she took him as he was now she’d likely be marching him to his death due to the sheer disparity in strength.

But what if she had a way to cheat the system.  The rules technically were that she could only start with three people on her team and because the battle would take place in another dimension it was assumed she wouldn’t be able to bring more with her and yet she’d been explicitly told by Rafeala herself that her summoning skill would still work.    Maybe, just maybe if summoning could work Reverse summoning could also bring in additional reinforcements.

“If you're thinking that I’m just buttering you as some sort of transactional relationship then you’re greatly mistaken.” She said her voice tinged with sadness.  Not everything had to be in terms of give in take.  She didn’t see him as a mere tool to be used for her own ends and the fact that his words had implied as such stung a little.

“If I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t have brought it up.  It’s just a district they aren’t THAT expensive in the grand scheme of things.” she said.  She was forgetting her sense of money was slightly skewed due to the sheer amount she dealt with.  She moved millions of ryo around like it was nothing when managing the budget for the country so anything under that almost seemed like a bargain.  

“That said I can’t be building a district in one of our sub villages just yet. That’d be sending the wrong message.  Right now when we stand on the bring of reform I need unity between the clans not division.”   If possible she wanted to make the changes to the country without sparking yet another civil war.  Healing the rift the last one had caused was already taking a great deal of work as it was.   Having to deal with more would have been just plain annoying.

As Mort said he just had to get into the right mindset to get ready, Ngova the Hydra sitting on the right side of her back lifted one of his three heads and whispered something into her ear.  One of the benefits of having and extra 12 sets of eyes on her was they could keep  a lookout in all sorts of directions at once.  Naturally her summon had picked up on the intruder before she had.

Ngova didn’t know who the newcomer was as he had no reason to but Ryuko at least had an idea at the young man came into view.  She’d just been going over the village’s files on it’s ninja, skimming them to find the most promising prospects from a cross spectrum of ranks.   Tamwyn was a prodigy at the academy with good grades and he could use lightning jutsu without even needing to weave hand signs.  He’d graduated but hadn’t been assigned a teacher due not due to any fault of his own but because the village’s general lack of active duty Jounin.

Considering how many of them were in the hospital in a coma right now the village was rather short of high ranking officers, a problem Ryuko was still racking her brains over about how she could even begin to fix it, at least in the short term anyhow.  She’d been meaning to speak to the young man and in a way she saw his timing as as sign from Hakkin himself.

She hadn’t started the day intending to take a student but now that she was committed to one why not try for a full squad rather than just an apprentice?  If she gave each of them one of the village’s treasures she’d have the three musketeers ready to go and in time they’d make for an elite squad that could rival even the Thundercats.  

They’d still need a third member but they’d cross that bridge when it came to it.  The point was that as the next Raikage she knew a heck of a lot about lightning jutsu for someone who wasn’t a ninjutsu specialist and Tamwyn was the perfect person to  pass those skill along to.  Plus it didn’t hurt that  having someone like Mort who was good with swords and wind teaming up with him made for a pretty good squad composition.

“Hey you,” She called out to draw the lad’s attention.   “Wanna join in our training session?”  She asked out as she stood up and beckoned  Tamwyn over with a wave of her hand.  “I’m going to be using my sage mode so my boy here could use the handicap”  she’d already given Mort most of her weapons and she’d spent some chakra on her summons and would have to spend more soon if she was going to keep them anchored to this location.    

“Why not take a moment to introduce yourselves and then we can get started.”  stopping to talk rather than just getting started right here right now was simply stacking the odds further in their favor but they’d need it since she still likely had more energy then the two of them combined.   Individually neither of them were a match for her but together it might be just enough to make it a workout.

[16]

Nature Chakra 130/130
Analyzing Tamwyn 1/2
Summons post 6/7

If it weren't for him needing to getting into the mindset of battle, he'd've probably responded to Ryuko's remarks on the village, but that was best saved for after the fight. However despite theire effoets their concentration would be broken by the newcomer.

Looking to wherever Ryuko was addressing, his eyes would shift back to green as he could hear his Id grumbling from the lack of battle happening. Relaxing his stance completely now he'd try to see who she was trying to get the attention of. It took him a few seconds, but he'd eventually lock down who Ryuko was talking to. He was almost like a reverse Valen in terms of clothing, with his dark clothing and hat. It was kinda cool, though it wasn't the sort of clothing choice he'd've chosen. It did go well with his hair color though. Was it natural like his own purple hair, or bleached and dyed?

"Oh, hello there!" He'd sheathe the bokken, then give a big arm & hand wave to the cloaked figure. Mort himself had no idea who this person was, though he wondered what sort of skills he could bring to the table. He probably had Raiton given he was in Kumo, but other then that without seeing him in action he could only make guesses, as that outfit was big enough he could probably hide a weapon in there. Personally he hoped the man has some knowledge in swordplay, but he knew he couldn't make any proper judgement calls without a reveal.

"The name's Mōtimā Midori-Okō Kurama, though I often go by 'Mort' for simplicity." He'd strike a power pose and give a grin he'd been working on for a while as some sort of...well he wasn't sure if it was to calm those who he was going to help, or a grin made to strike fear in the hearts of his enemies, so it was a bit of both right now. "And like miss Miss Ryuko said, we here about to start sparring. I'd be quite grateful if you joined in, as, well I'm not that used to working with others. Sure he had done a few missions with others, like Irui, Valen, and...actually was that it? Those didn't even involve fighting, and what teamwork was done in those was mainly sectioned off. Even during one of his early months he often just took missions solooooh. Right, there was one mission he forgot with her, and that nearly ended in disaster. He really did need to work on his teamwork.

"Oh, I just realized Sophie never did bring out the armor. 'Can't believe we forgot such a thing. You got any armor on you Mr. Mystery?" Was it a little rude to bring that up right now? Maybe? Either was she had mentioned using Sage Mode, and if that were the case even if this mystery man of mystery were to join them, unless he was secretly some sort of uberninja they'd both need some more defense. Hopefully Ryuko would pick up on his though process, but it could just as easily be interpreted as something else.

Tamwyn would stop as he had begun to leave when Ryuko called out after him and prompted him to turn back. She offered to let him join their training session and Tamwyn would nod his head politely at the invitation before stepping closer to be within better speaking distance. Her intent to utilize something called 'Sage Mode' against her own apprentice drew his attention. Was it powerful enough to warrant a potential handicap? He didn't know, but generally the master in the student and master relationship was powerful enough to warrant a handicap in her own right. She requested he introduce himself and then they could begin. To this, Tamwyn would nod once more, keeping a polite silence. It wouldn't hurt to have a bit of practice training with a real partner for when he was eventually assigned a team. Besides it would allow him the opportunity to train with an elite jounin. An honour in itself of course.

The purple haired man would speak up first being very polite and Tamwyn would give a small smile at the man’s name. ‘Mōtimā Midori-Okō Kurama’ was quite a  difficult name to say, however he simplified immensely by going by the nickname ‘Mort’. Tamwyn however was a man of manners, in his eyes one did not introduce yourself to someone while using their nickname. “I see, well Lady Ryuko Shizu Von Rose and Mr. Mōtimā Midori-Okō Kurama, my name is simply ‘Tamwyn’ no family name. I fear it pales in comparison to such lofty sounding names but it is what I have to work with.” He wouldn say, a ghost of a smile upon his features as he made a small joke at his expense. “I would gladly join your sparring match if it isn’t inconvenient for you. I only hope I don’t slow you down and invite you to ask me to leave if I do so. I don't wish to infringe upon the progress of a master and student.” He would say, his manner neither cocky and arrogant, or humble and modest. “Shall I assume Mort that you prefer close quarters as well?” He would say, one curious eyebrow raised.

If it wasn’t obvious to them that Tamwyn’s manners were at his best then it would probably occur to them soon. This wasn’t an attempt to ‘make nice’ with Ryuko and her apprentice, he was simply always like this. His status as an orphan often caused people to paint him in the worst possible light. He’d had no real proper upbringing as an orphan matron couldn’t keep up with so many kids to provide one. For this reason many had the assumption that such individuals, while sad that it was the way it was, were simply unschooled in the forms of etiquette. Tamwyn was one who intended to prove them wrong. As such he fully intended to personify the very meaning of the word ‘urbane’ and exemplify himself as a man of polite regard while gaining a reputation of power and strength within the Kumogakure Shinobi Corps.

“I’m afraid I do not have any armour Mort. I switch from close to long range combat and I prefer the power of my own body as my weapon and armour.” He would say, giving him an apologetic bow at his inability to provide. “I suppose we’ll have to wait for this ‘Sophie’ then? While we do so might I ask in regards to any rules about this spar I may have missed?” He would ask, turning his yellow eyes toward Ryuko. She was Mort's master and as such it would be her rules they followed in this spar. Tamwyn had no intention of breaking any, even accidentally. ‘I can’t use Xuen’s Roar with Mort nearby or the arcing lightning will hit him too. I can use Xuen’s Wrath though..’ He would think, already putting a plan together in his head. Xuen’s Roar was arguably his most destructive technique, creating a sabre toothed tigers maw around him out of lightning and launching it for fifty meters. The problem is that lightning arced off the form and struck anything up to ten meters away which meant Mort would be in danger to it’s use. Xuen’s Wrath however was quite different, as it focused on small, more ‘focused’ blasts of lightning that he could keep away from his temporary partner.

Ryuko wasn’t surprised by Tamwyn’s politeness. Unlike some people she didn’t make those kinds of assumptions about people just because of their background. Not that she knew much about his since she’d only skimmed it rather than going into indepth research on one of her subjects for no particular reason.

She was however pleased by it since it meant he’d be able to fit into the type of circles she tended to frequent without too much trouble unlike someone like say Damian who’d required extra lessons so as not to create another incident. She’d almost burnt down an extremely lucrative business deal in the making over the first one.

At least he didn’t seem to be putting on airs just to suck up to her. She was so used to that she would have sniffed it out quickly that he only saw her as a convenient political tool to be used like so many others. So many people just saw her status as a member of the Rose clan and not a person. Something that might only grow worse once she became Raikage and Queen.

“Oh please who do you think I am? You couldn’t slow me down if you tried.” Ryuko said with a light laugh. This wasn’t some idol boost or her trying to talk herself up by rather a simple statement of absolute fact. She was not a legendary X class for nothing. It went without saying she had to hold back a great deal to properly train a student.

The only reason she was trying to show off a little here with the sage mode was because it was necessary to do so. Showboating just for the sake of it just wasn’t her style. Beating on a couple of Gennin just to feed her own ego seemed like a pointless waste of energy and in poor taste to boot.

“Besides, you’re my student now too, that is if you want to be.” she offered to the young man. Most people wouldn’t think twice about such an offer but Tamwyn had already proven he wasn’t like most so she was interested in hearing his take on the matter.

“-tt- so you remembered after all.” said the priestess when Mort brought up the fact Sophie hadn’t delivered the promised armor yet. She was testing to see how long it would take her student to realize that or if he’d just jump into the sparring match regardless. As if on que Sophie appeared pushing a multilevel cart that had several bits of armor on it from Chainmail to Gambesons, to gloves and stockings. All of it B-grade which was better than what you could by at most stores but too middle of the road for an elite jounin such as herself.

“I have a partition I’ve brought with me if you’d like to get changed. Don’t worry, I promise I won’t peek . ” She said with a cheeky grin as she gave Mort a longing gaze. What she wouldn’t give to get a picture of him shirtless to pin up on her wall. Glancing at the newcomer she gave him a polite bow. “Would you like me to prepare some tea for you as well sir?” she asked to be on the safe side, unsure if she should bring out any unprompted at this stage. She’d have to start making it now or it wouldn’t be ready in time for when the sparring session was over.

“Not a bad attitude to have but you would be wise to consider wearing at least some gear, tis can be most useful for misleading an oppanute if nothing else.” she said speaking from experience. “Take me for example. People see the batons and the sword and think that if they take my weapons away that I’ll be helpless forgetting that my body was the true weapon all along.” she explained.

She remembered the one time that someone had managed to kick the sword out of her hands. They’d relaxed for the briefest second with relief after doing so which had given her the opening she needed to turn the tables and beat the absolute shit out of them. People tended to forget she could break boulders with her bare hands because she wasn’t built like a linebacker.

“The rules are simple. You two try and take this key from me!” She said as she held out her hand and Irah dropped the shiny bronze looking key that he had been holding into her palm which she then attached to her belt via the sakura petal keychain.

“Meanwhile I will try to stop you without attacking either of you directly. Why if you can manage it within the time limit I’ll even give you both a reward.” said the Priestess trying to incentive them and get them fired up. One on one they didn’t stand a chance of taking it from her but working together the small possibility existed that they might. Even if it was only 1% she knew people that could take such a tiny chance and make it a reality so she couldn’t let her guard down.

Reaching into her pocket she took out her bolt ring and slid it onto her finger. She hadn’t considered bothering to wear it against just Mort but she might actually need it now that Tamwyn had shown up given his skill with the lightning element. She wondered just how good he was.

Normally a genin wouldn’t be able to produce enough voltage to be a problem. If she wore her shock resistant catsuit which she’d left at home it would be enough to make her all but invulnerable to their low lightning attacks. A prodigy like him might be able to go past that.
Ideally she’d want to wear both the bolt ring and the catsuit together for complete immunity but sadly the effects couldn’t stack the way she’d like them to, at least not in this dimension anyway.

If that was the case and she had to choose to nufflying b-class raiton attacks and below and reducing the damage by two tiers by any raiton attack she’d pick the latter. Not that she was planning on letting any of them land in the first place. She was going to be the Raikage soon and wasn’t about to let some whipper-snapper show her up in the one element she was supposed to be the master of.

“Ready….” she began to say as after giving them a few minutes to change. Suddenly purple marks appeared on her face just under her eyes making it look like she was shedding tears. Her hands began forming handseals deliberately going just slow enough that the boys would be able to see which one’s she was making instead of a blur that would have been over in an instant.

“Or not!" Snake, Dragon, Snake. At that she opened her mouth tilted it towards the sky and unleashing a pillar of indigo looking smoke that stretched out for over 100 meters high, more than enough to cover the entire small training field they were on as it drifted back down towards them centered on the source and slowly spread out from there treating to quickly obscurer her from view.

This was her patented Sapping gas by rather than being whipped up in a lab she had just generated it on the spot using the Doku element her sage form granted her which increased its potency to a new level. Even a small wiff of it would be more than enough to infect the boys making any jutsu they used drain more energy the usual quickly wearing them out and to make matters worse for them as it was her own poison she and her Hydra were completely immune.

The longer the battle went on the more the poison gas would engulf the field making it that much harder to avoid. If they waited too long there would be no escaping it. How would they choose to approach her, how would they deal with this obstacle she had conjured out of nothing. With one move she had seized the tide of battle all without having to throw a single punch or draw a single knife.

If they thought she couldn’t wipe the floor with them just because she couldn’t attack them directly then they had another thing coming. Technically she hadn’t declared the start of the match properly but real fights didn’t begin with the start of gong either so she didn’t feel the least bit guilty for making the first move. If she took them too lightly and simply toyed around with them to draw things out she might be the one finding herself in trouble as her energy reserves while large were far from infinite.

[17]

Battle stuff:

What a modest fellow! The fact he was able to say Mort's full name correctly felt nice, as many dropped the macrons over the two Os and A. The few times he had pointed it out, he had explained it as being able to hear the difference between Xante and Zante; the way you said it sounded the same, but he could feel the difference.

"No worries about the name! All that means is that you get to forge your own legacy however you desire! And I do prefer close combat, but I can also work mid range and occasional long range if you need to pull off some cool electrical moves or something along those lines. I wouldn't be a proper warrior if I limited myself to just one style after all." He'd take a power pose and grin as he finished his sentence.

When Sophie returned, his right hand twitched a little as he could feel her gaze without even needing to look at her. It to the point Id was getting a bit concerned, as they both felt more like meat, Sophie the carnivore, and none of it in a manner even Id would find attractive. "...Thank you Sophie. Lady Ryuko must really be happy that you do your best to keep piety between the sexes." He couldn't help it with the small jab. He needed to release some tension while also trying to deny the fact she liked him, and to him making it seem like he though she was doing it for Ryuko's sake seemed like the best option. Now that he thought about it, he could probably make her attraction into a genjutsu, but how..? Questions for another time he supposed.

Going behind and gearing up he thought about how he'd have to factor in a second person. Tamwyn had mentioned that they were a close combat fighter, maybe they knew the paralysis technique? That could be useful as it was one of the few things that he had been planning on adapting to his fighting style as in theory it could even a god at bay as long as he put his fingers in the right place. If not he could probably adapt one of his own sword styles to temporarily account for it, as it'd also let him absorb some chakra as he did so. There was also his new skill in sealing, maybe that could help. Taking some time behind the partition he'd ink up 5 small scrolls with enclosing seals, ready to have chakra put into them for sealing if need be.

Exiting the partition, geared up and ready to go he'd note the small ring that was on her, and wondered why she was wearing it. Did it give her a boost? Was it a keepsake? Too many unknowns. He knew Tamwyn could do raiton and possibly taijutsu as he didn't have any visible weapons; probably best if he started off fighting hand-to-baton first. It wasn't much to go off of, but as long as there was a minuscule chance of winning, he'd find the exploit and seize victory with Tam, for that's what a Kurama did: Make that which was thought impossible possible.

As soon as she said ready, he'd get into a kendo pre-stance, the one made to quickly draw one's weapon when need be. As soon as the hand seals were formed, he'd keep an eye on them, unafraid of any possible genjutsu linked to them, and was both simultaneously relieved and worried that he didn't know the jutsu she prepared as the feeling of illusions didn't occur. Instead he'd watch as the eventual Raikage aimed upwards and spewed forth the torrent of...something. whatever it was though, it reminded him of those annoying little dandelion seeds as it began to float down. Their eyes shifting to purple, Id grinned as they held in a laugh.

"Bold move Von Rose, but utterly disappointing for an opener."

Forming the Snake Hand sign the air around Their body would briefly stagnate before a large gust of wind was expelled from Them in all directions before the gas was even a danger. The wind would blow far enough that it's reach would exceed the gas's reach and push it nearly 150m away, negating any effect it may have had on the duo. They didn't know what that gas was nor what it could do, but it was purple and purple rarely meant anything good in terms of attacks. The best they could guess was either a poison or her element release, and while while not technically a direct attack as they aimed it upwards it was definitely skirting the meaning of the word. Eyes shifting back to gold, a plan had finally formed in their mind: Tamwyn acting as a distraction up-close as he fought with genjutsu and Wind, then he seals up Ryuko's arsenal, key, and maybe even nature energy. Sure she could fight without any of it as she had clearly stated, but that didn't mean it wouldn't be made harder. And as much as genjutsu vs someone with a medical background often more grounded in reality...what about the mythical? How grounded were they compared to a Kurama?

Leaving both hands open as they kept Hakkin's Fang, Excalipoor, and the Bokken at his sides, they'd address their partner. "Tam, move in, keep pressure on her, and don't let those Hydra bite you. I'll support you as best I can and don't worry about hitting me as we'll go with your battle rhythm!" They'd move in towards Ryuko, and as soon as they got into range, they'd form Snake, Rat, Snake, Rat, Ram, Tiger as quickly as he could to get off three additional genjutsu on Ryuko and her two summons, Ngova and Irah. At the same time, as soon as the six seals were formed they'd also mentally drop the Mist Servant genjutsu on top of all three of them. "Kurama Secret Technique: Toll of the Dead!" Their hope was to trick Ryuko into thinking they launched 1 jutsu when in actuality they used four. For now they'd just need to hope that Tamwyn was good at improvising as they didn't want to get any closer then about 15m yet, keeping their main hand on Hakkin's hilt for the time being as they waited for their next opportunity.

---

135/135 CP
Kendo, -3 CP; (+1 tier CRD)
Wind Release: Passing Typhoon, -3 CP
Focused Amplification, -5 CP (Buffing WR: Pass Typh)
Demonic Illusion: Hell's Viewing; -3 CP (On Ngova); 3 posts till C dmg
Demonic Illusion: Hell's Viewing; -3 CP (On Irah); 3 posts till C dmg
Hazy Genjutsu; -5 CP (On Ryuko); 3 posts till -1 tier PRS & -1 tier SPD
Mist Servant Technique; -3 CP (Ryuko at the center)
110/135 CP

5 small scrolls have been marked with enclosing seals, no CP payed...yet
Kurama Bloodline's level 1 & KKG Umare in effect.

Stats & Stuff:

Her reaction to his comment about not slowing them down brought a laugh from his throat before he spoke. “I didn’t mean you in particular my lady, I more meant the student sensei role you both have. Adding more students can weaken the effectiveness of such a relationship and I’d hate to hinder Sir Morts potential.” He would say politely, a friendly smile on his features as he nodded to Mōtimā. However when Ryuko commented that he was her student now too should he wish it his features would spring into a rather boyish grin. There was absolutely no drawback to that. Having arguably the most powerful Jounin in the village tell him that he could be her student if he wished wasn’t something one said ‘no’ to. It simply was not done. “I would be honored to be your student Lady Ryuko. With that said, if we’re sparring I need to remove my shirt and cloak, my techniques have a tendency to destroy them and while I’m perfectly willing to see them destroyed in the completion of a mission it seems a waste to do so in a training session.” He would say as he gave a polite bow before moving over toward a free chair at the table. It wasn’t one of the ones that Mort or Ryuko had used but rather had been unoccupied and as he walked her unclasped his cloak and unbuttoned his dress shirt before removing both as well as the tie and undershirt beneath them.

Afterwards he would drape all three over the back of the chair, not putting any of them on the table where cake and tea sat. For that would be incredibly rude to do so. As he was doing this Miss Sophie would roll out a cart with armor and such upon it for Mort. Her mildly flirtatious manner toward his new purple haired teammate brought a quick smirk to his features before he began to consider. ‘I wonder if I should help her get his full notice? I wouldn’t be a good teammate if I didn’t look out for him now would I?’ He would think to himself, not being privy to any of the previous discussion involving the woman's feelings for Mort so being unaware that Mort both was aware of them and wasn’t ready to be dating at the moment. The woman was certainly attractive enough to be desirable, with shortish black hair, blue eyes, pale skin and a beauty mark under her left eye. Maybe he WOULD say something to his new teammate, it would be a crime to waste such a cute woman's affections. One date wouldn’t hurt the guy right? He’d bring it up later.

At her question if he would like some tea Tamwyn would blink for a moment before clearing his head of strange thoughts involving trying to set up his teammate up with a cute maid. Really, what odd things to go through one’s mind before a spar. “Only if it’s not too much trouble Lady Sophie, and you may call me Tamwyn, ‘sir’ makes me feel so much older than I am.” He would say, giving the woman a small smile in thanks for her offer as he introduced himself and gave her a small bow in greeting. It didn’t matter if she was Lady Ryuko’s maid, body servant, or god forbid, slave. Respect was given if one wanted it returned. That’s how it was done in his eyes. With that handled, his upper body now bare to the world he would move back to position. He would position himself between the now armored Mort and Ryuko, only off to the side to keep his teammates line of sight clear. Mort stood twenty meters behind him, a good distance for a midline combatant. Ryuko stood ten meters before him, and the moment she said ready he would grin as Mort was far enough away for him to use one of his favorite jutsu’s after all.

The moment the woman said the word ‘or’ Tamwyn’s jutsu would begin forming. There were no obstructions behind Ryuko, the table and administration building were to their left far enough away that should Ryuko’s poison tactic occur then none of it would spill onto any tea, cake, or innocent clothes, or maids for that matter. No, all that was behind Ryuko was open space and a rock shelf. The jutsu Tamwyn used required no seals, for none of his lightning techniques did. As a matter of fact, while training he had begun doing a tactic to unnerve sparring opponents where he placed his hands into her pockets while performing this technique specifically. They would be there now as the gaping maw of a Saber Toothed Tiger formed around him, appearing from Ryuko’s viewpoint as if he had been consumed by the great beast. The lightning constructs fierce yellow eyes matched his own as both glowed with an intense brilliance. The lightning chakra coursing through him causing his own to become illuminated. The Saber Toothed Tiger would launch forward, firing toward Ryuko as she reached her second hand seals. The arcing bolts of lightning coming off the technique were a danger and were the reason he had to be careful about how far his allies were when he used it.

Luckily though, Mort was too far for them to go for him, anything else within ten meters of the tigers maw would have arcing bolts of electricity coming for them, with the exception of Tamwyn himself of course. With the jutsu now fired Tamwyn’s hands would be out of his pockets as he dropped into a personal taijutsu stance. The Ambush of Xuen was a style that focused on quick, brutal movements and overpowering speed. Of course he doubted he would be fast enough even while using it to be a proper threat to Ryuko however one he activated another personal favorite, that might change. Arcing electricity would coalesce around his form, giving him the appearance of being enveloped in arcing coils of lightning as he activated Xuen’s Wrath. With this, he could fight and potentially do some real damage to the woman if he could hit her with the bolts of lightning he could fire off. Either way she’d have to deal with Xuen’s Roar and with it’s deafening discharge of electricity and the jutsu itself, it should, hopefully, keep her vision of him and Mort, and her hearing of them, momentarily impaired. It was however too fast for him to properly follow it up for the moment, the technique moving at 100 m/s while he himself could at best, and while taking out all the stops, do 60 m/s. Eventually he intended to fix that, and be able to follow up his faster techniques personally, unleashing combinations of lightning fast and brutally powerful assaults to weaken any guard or blast through any defense. For now, he would have to settle for what he could do. As such he would stand and wait, allowing the crackling lightning around him to settle with a familiarity like that of old clothing.

-
Stats:

Strength: C
Constitution: C
Stamina: B+
Speed: C > C++
Coordination:C > B
Intelligence: B
Perception: B

Lightning jutsu cost 1 rank less to perform/maintain due to Tamwyn's UA

'Due to his inherent capabilities in Lightning Tamwyn focused on those techniques to an incredibly high degree. As such his chakra control in regards to his lightning technique is much more refined compared to his non-elemental techniques. To elaborate, Tamwyn’s lightning ninjutsu costs one rank less worth of chakra while his non-elemental ninjutsu costs one rank more.'

Furthermore no lightning jutsu requires the use of handseals due to Tamwyn's Freebie Clanless UA.

'Tamwyn is a rare prodigy with Lightning Release techniques and has a thorough understanding of the concepts to such an instinctive degree that his chakra can flow into the required forms without the use of hand seals. To elaborate, Tamwyn is capable of utilizing any Lightning technique without using any pre-requisite seals.'

Finally for what it matters, Tamwyn's naturally yellow eyes become illuminated when using any lightning jutsu.

'Cosmetic Only: When utilizing lightning jutsu of any kind Tamwyn’s eyes light up brightening their natural yellow hue to a brilliant yellow.'


Starting CP: 210
Xuen's Roar - 10
Ambush of Xuen - 5
Xuen's Wrath - 10
Ending CP: 185

Jutsu Used In Order:

“If you don’t have a family name then just make one for yourself.” Ryuko stated her opinion of the matter. If his power to use raiton without hand seals was a genetic one he could even end up founding his own clan. He wouldn’t be the first person to do that. Some people might think that such a subtle power was mundane but to the priestess it was a magnificent edge.

“We’ll have to see about getting you something to wear that won’t be wrecked by using your own power. Going without armor can mean more freedom of movement but tis quite risky.” she commented. She knew firsthand how much of a pain in the rear it was to get armor that protected her but didn’t hinder her movement too much since she’d made the bulk of her gear herself. Getting the gauntlets to not slow down her hand signing was especially tricky and she was a bit envious about people who didn’t have to worry about that as much even if it was only for one element.

Given her own specialties she actually knew quite a few jutsu that didn’t require seals herself but she’d what she wouldn’t give to be able to not need them from lightning or poison. Just the idea of being able to keep her hands free more often without having to stow her batons away just to cast something was highly appealing.

As soon as the word ready left her mouth Sophie scrambled to leave the vicinity of the training field not wanting to be caught up in the crossfire. To be frank she didn’t have time to be standing around oggiling a shirtless Tamwyn anyhow even if she was a little disappointed that Mort hadn’t followed his example.

For perhaps the first time she experienced how annoying it was to be up against someone who didn’t need to weave signs to fire off a jutsu. With her vast knowledge of jutsu was far from complete she could often guess what someone was going to use against her just by watching their hands, something that wouldn’t help much as Tamwyn placed his in his pocket.

Normally she would have easily gotten her own jutsu off before he could have tried to counter her but she was perhaps playing around just a little too much and ended up paying the price for it as the high speed lighting came towards her.

"-tt-" she clicked her tongue as she completed the last seal before it could reach her. Thankfully her summons were on her back and thus shielded by the random arcs of lightning the saber tooth tiger was throwing off by her body. She only had a split second to decide what to do so instead of dodging she elected to take the attack head on trusting a gloved first straight into the tiger's mouth causing it to erupt even as she released her torrent of gas into the air.

The noise it made as it discharged was annoying but nothing she couldn’t compensate for as she used her calm mind technique to heighten her perception. What was more concerning to her was that she’d actually felt that despite the bolt ring. It hadn’t done much damage due to her S-grade quality gloves she’d been wearing but the fact Tamwny had been able to hurt her at all was concerning. He was only supposed to be a gennin that hadn’t even been out of the academy for long.

Even for a prodigy being able to fire off a technique of that level like this was a bit much. In all honesty if she hadn’t had her special equipment that would have done some serious damage. If he was able to use stuff that powerful he’d be able to ace the chunnin exams without much issue.

To make matters worse even Mort was able to rise beyond her expectations as he easily blew away the poison cloud she’d worked so hard to produce. She didn’t think he’d already be able to use the wind release without the soaring shortswords in hand let alone use it so proficient. Normally the passing typhoon wouldn’t be enough to clear up her poison breath since the later had more range, speed and power behind it but the fact she’d fired it upwards had worked against her in this case as well as the fact that Mort had managed to amp the power of his tech.

“Not bad. I’m impressed by you two. Guess I better get serious then.” she uttered those dreadful words while her summons weaved signs behind her back then stuck their heads around over and under her arms and unleashed a dual stream of purple poison gas that served the dual purpose of serving as an attack as well as concealing her from sight. She’d said she wouldn’t be attacking them directly but she’d never said anything about her summons not doing so.

She did this before Mort had the chance to launch a second jutsu preventing him from behind able to cast most of the genjutsu he’d wanted to on her. Hell viewing and Hazy Genjutsu required no obstructions in the way which the smoke definitely counted as. He might have a bit more luck with Mist Servant Technique since it just targeted an area but she’d already moved the second the poison had enveloped her so it was highly unlikely he’d be able to get a good lock on her as she backed up a good ten metres to put more distance between her and the boys.

She doubted the poison would last long before being blown away again but that was fine since it’d be much harder for Mort to clear it out when there was double the amount and with it aimed more directly at him meaning he’d have far less time to react. Honestly she’d be impressed if he did manage to block it again but unfazed as she’d mainly wanted it to prevent him from catching her in an illusion so easily.

She knew enough about basic genjutsu at least to know how to counter them and that as a Kurama they were his main bread and butter. If he was just a normal genin she wouldn’t be concerned since it was nothing she couldn’t see though in the first place but she knew damn well that clan’s genjutsu was better than most and didn’t want to waste the extra energy countering it when it was better not to be caught in the first place.

Her original plan had been to make use of her poison armor to make it harder for them to hit her physically then fight them at close but that was down the drain now thanks to Tamwyns electricity. She couldn’t risk making herself more susceptible to being shocked now that she knew her ring wouldn’t be enough to fully negate it.

It was a little immature of her but they were dangerous enough that she decided it was worth whipping out one of her trump cards to turn the tables and end the battle decisively. Well she had said she was going to show Mort the power of a sage so she figured he wouldn’t complain too much. If nothing else it would demonstrate the gulf of between them that she could beat them down without having to throw a single punch.

As soon as she finished her dash she flew through some more hand seals only this time going full speed to insure they wouldn’t have a chance to even try stopping her this time. In the blink of an eye a dark cloud formed overhead high in the sky beyond the reach of what the passing typhoon could effect.

A moment later the entire training ground was engulfed in a torrential downpour of purple raindrops. If you’ve ever been caught in a sudden rainshower you knew how it was virtually impossible to avoid getting wet. There was nowhere on the field they could run or hide to avoid being drenched. When all she needed was one drop for it to take effect they were all but doomed to be inflicted.

The poison she had selected this time was a potent one designed to temporarily debuff the opponents stamina tremendously. Something she’d designed to help her end battles non lethally. With them having fired off some jutsu already she wondered how long it would take before exhaustion set in.

[18]

Battle stuff:

Up until now, Mort hadn't gotten into any true fights. Sure he had done several missions around the village and he had to break up a few fights, but those were different. He didn't expect Tamwyn to launch an attack as quickly as he did, nor did he expect Ryuko's Hydras to launch a subsequent attack as he had to abandon his attempts at genjutsu and instead use a weaker Passing Typhoon and Body Flicker upwards with Gentle Step to move out of the way of...Irah? Ngova? One of them. Still, he was burning through chakra fast, and at the very least he wanted to get off one good hit if he did lose, as with his current skillset, he regrettably knew he couldn't help Tamwyn with this one and was starting to doubt he'd even be able to keep his word with his Id

Moving above the cloud of mystery gas, he'd notice the sky briefly darken and he'd glance upwards to see a purple cloud had formed, and he had to assume it was Ryuko's. Knowing he had only moments to act, something he had been planning do do before Tamwyn came into the picture was quickly executed. In one hand he'd form the snake seal, while in the other he'd form Tiger, Rabbit, Dog. The sword of Hakkin would slide out of it's sheathe, and as it reached the end of it it began to grow to nearly 10x the size it used to be, taking full advantage of Verdant Mountain Gale to keep the blade above him as the rain began to come down, the sword protecting him from the downpour. At the same time he'd let out a pained noise as he reeealy wanted to yell out some sort of cool technique name, but he couldn't risk intaking whatever the liquid was.

Continuing to move forward with the sound of...some sort of liquid hitting both the sword and the ground, he'd do a quick scan over the gas and tried to think of a way to locate her without removing the poisonous mist. Sadly nothing came to him, so he resigned himself to using another technique with his one open hand. Forming the Ram sign he'd Build up more chakra and release it in front of him, hoping the tornadoes that'd form would suck up the gas and give him (and possibly Tam) a clearer shot at Ryuko, and as soon as he did have one he'd make his way towards her. By this point plans had gone out the window, and all he was aiming to do was to get that key, but for now all he could do was keep moving forward and hope she moved towards the cliff.

---

Jutsu & Stats:

Tamwyn would watch the great saber tooth tiger reach its intended target. The arcing lightning off it’s form as well as the form itself a beautiful sight to behold. It was a jutsu he was quite proud to have made and he considered adding it to the Kumogakure repertoire should any wish to learn it. It would be quite nice to be known as a famous creator of lightning jutsu. However his admiration for his technique would be halted quite spectacularly when Ryuko effectively caught the fucking thing and dispersed it with her gauntlet. The energy wasted and unable to discharge itself behind her. “Tch..” Could be heard from him as he grimaced. However as she opened her mouth to speak he would dash in. There was no point letting someone speak during any kind of fight and he doubted she wouldn’t be preparing something while she spoke. There were only ten meters between them and he began as assault midstep as he threw a punch that to any would seem utterly ineffective. Right up until one saw the half meter diameter bolt of lightning  get flung off the end of his fist, crackling toward her form as he closed the distance.

The bolt was aimed at her midsection, where one should always aim as it included the highest probability of hitting the target. Even if your accuracy was off the chances of you getting a hit were higher and any hits this day would count in his favour. As the lightning bolt traveled toward that same electrical discharge would settle around him, crackling with energy and light as he moved. His style, Ambush of Xuen encompassed forms for both strength and quickness and chose one of the latter in an attempt to strike her, although he doubted he would be able to do any real damage to her underneath her armoured form. Something had caused her to be able to withstand his lightning with disgusting ease as well and that in itself was cause for concern for the young man. Once he was within five meters of the woman who was now his sensei he’d move into one of his personal form’s katas. Or at least, they had always been just katas before. Now they were being used in combat against an overwhelmingly more powerful opponent.

A series of five strikes, all faster than normal, would hopefully surprise her, but probably not. As such he went for strikes that would require her dodge or actively defend, not simply take it as her armour would allow her to do. So his first strike, an open palmed thrust to her uncovered head, would come before she would be able to state she was impressed with them. In Tamwyn’s eyes, praise, and criticism was meant for after any spar. So it would never occur to him that she might wish to give some. The second strike, a kick with his left leg, would be aimed at her head as well, specifically any new position it might be in after the open palmed strike, be it successful or not. The third strike would use the momentum of that first kick to switch legs, where his left leg would be holding him up and his right leg would be shooting forward for a forward kick aimed for the chest. This would easily be tanked despite him putting all his strength into it. Frankly, he simply wasn’t very strong yet, although he intended for that to change. The fifth and final strike would be a straight punch after planting himself on the leg he had extended, automatically giving him a solid grounding for the punch that would allow him to put his entire body's power behind it.

Of course given the very likely and distinct possibility of the hydra’s upon Ryuko’s back finishing their techniques Tamwyn would suddenly find himself at a massive loss of chakra as the poison gas took effect and the sudden loss of energy would bring him to his knees when combined with the overpowering strength of the rain bearing down upon him. His head would bow from the force of the rain as he fell to his knees, his hair matted to him from the moisture in the purple drops of water, rivulets running down his cheeks. He kept himself up from being flattened at least, he was far too stubborn to fall and his piercing yellow eyes would slowly, painstakingly slowly, turn up to the sky in determined indignation. He would become strong enough to bear the weight of this. He wouldn’t let such a failure keep him from rising higher. He wanted to be a legendary shinobi, and wanted the world to know of his name. His yellow eyes would fade in their brilliance do his normal hue as the last dregs of lightning chakra left his system and he bowed his head back down to shield his eyes from the rain. He had lost, but he had expected to. To assume it would go any other way would be ludicrous however he was appalled at just how badly he had done. He hadn’t even managed one good hit on Ryuko-sensei, was this the best he could do? Was the gap really this wide? He’d have to try harder than ever to bridge it if that was the case.

Chakra and shit:

“Geeze Kids these days have no patience” though Ryuko ironically to herself as Tamwyn attempted to cut her off before she could speak. It was technically the right thing to do in a fight but rather rude. If this had been a real life or death fight she’d have done the same thing to just about anyone.

Generally speaking though, in a sparring match or a tournament bought talking was considered to be something of a free action. Something to be allowed as long as they weren’t being too long winded or insulting about it at least. Still it was nothing to get mad about as nothing he was doing was actually enough to prevent her from talking the way she had meant to.

With her perception pushed to the limit of what she could accomplish at the moment she easily saw the bolt of lightning arch from his fist and dodged to the side at the last possible second even while speaking the line at the same time. He’d managed to land a hit on her once and she was impressed by that fact but she wasn’t about to slack off her and let him land a second one so easily.

Given their respective coordination the Hydra released their dual stream of gas before her student could close the rest of the 10 metere gap to engage in fistacuffs as he had intended. The amount she had unleashed with just one mouth was one thing but this was the same jutsu being performed by both of them unleashing from all 3 of their heads at once.

Without something special like Lightning release armor Tamwyn didn’t have a prayer of avoiding the gas though it would also do nothing to stop the string of attacks he would unleash. Thrust, Kick, kick, Punch she would easily dodge them all as if she was dancing between making the name of the fighting style she was using less then metaphorical.

The fact they were both enveloped in gas meant she couldn’t really see too well but that wasn’t much of a problem for her with her heightened senses. She could feel every shift in the wind Tamwyn made as he moved and reacted accordingly while she doubted he’d be able to say the same.

Thanks to him closing on her she didn’t have to move back to avoid being caught in an area of effect genjutsu like she had originally planned either. Mort wouldn’t use one so carelessly when he would end up dragging his teammate into it.

She’d been waiting for this moment when one of them tried to engage her in close combat. Each time she dodged Tamwyn’s limbs came into contact with the invisible aura of nature energy she had enveloping her body, sapping some of his chakra and taking it for herself while lead to him quickly succumbing to the rain she unleashed as he collapsed to his knees from exhaustion.

Or at least that’s how he wanted to make it seem. Ryuko wasn’t so quick to fully buy the idea he’d run out of energy that quickly. She had developed this stragetigy specifically to capture targets non lethally and both the gas and the liquid she used took at least a little time before the effect set it. The fact that he had succumbed so quickly was raising some massive red flags in her head and so she kept her guard up, keeping one eye on Tamwny even while continuing the fight with her other student.

It was hard to say if Mort was having a better or worse time of it. The reason Passing Typhoon could remove weather effects like Mist was because Mist was slow while the gas from her Poison breath technique was quite quick indeed. If it was just that being released by ONE of the two Hydra it might have slowed it down at least but it just couldn’t hope to compete with the sheer volume being released by two at once.

His attempt to get over the gas was brilliant. Just jumping wouldn’t be enough with his average level of strength so instead he used a combination of jutsu to enhance his speed and walk through the air to just barely get his head above the miasma by the skin of his teeth.

Since Ryuko just behind the point of origin for the gas and hadn’t moved further back while the jutsu was being launched to further conceal herself she was able to look upwards and spot her charge just as he was enlarging the sword he had been lent in a most unusual fashion.

“HAHAHAHA” Ryuko giggled in pure glee. She loved taking things and finding unusual applications for them. The fact that the Shuriken giant body technique which was one of her signature moves could be used on something that wasn’t a shuriken had never occurred to her as he used it’s enlarged form as a makeshift umbrella to protect himself from the poisonous rain.

“Wunderbar” she exclaimed as she wondered how able to lift that much weight around and move with it with only one hand. Even she’d need Chakra enhanced strength to pull that one off and she knew Mort was no medic since he’d admitted as such.

She’d thought this was going to be a one sided curb stomp to demonstrate the sheer power of a sage, but both of them were performing far above her expectations of them. Tamwyn for managing to actually hurt her however slightly and Mort for avoiding her checkmate.

As Mort unleashed a Tornado before him to suck away some of the gas and at least partly clear the field of the dangerous substance several plans flashed through her head in an instant. Some she had to dismiss because they violated the rules she had set or were simply too dangerous. The amount of actions she could take were heavily constrained by her desire to not harm her student too much nor demolish the training field.

She was taking them seriously but she was still far from going all out since in the worst case scenario she’d end up accidentally demoishinly the Administration building and get chewed out by Sophie for not exercising restraint. Ultimately she decided to go with the quickest most efficient route. No need to do something flashy when something simple would work.

Taking a running jump she bounded into the air at top speed clearing the height difference between her and Mort in a single bound and then exceeding it by going an extra 10 meters or so higher before she came crashing down at an even faster speed then she had ascended, her right leg extended in front of her as she attempted to slam her metal booted foot straight into the side of the sword Mort was holding in an attempt to either disarm him or at least move it enough out of the way that he would be exposed to the rain that continued to pound down on them.

[19]

Battle stuff:

There she was. While the rain was making it harder to see, he could still make out the form of his Teacher cackling with joy. Reaching into his side pouch he'd pull out 1 Ration Pill from the strange shinobi he fished with once and would down it, hoping the small boost of chakra it'd provide would give him just enough strength to succeed as Id and Mort thought as one, the usual color eye color now a mix of green and purple. Seeing their teacher quickly move forward away from the cliff, it was very, very clear who she was targeting as he had made eye contact.

She'd jump, her form moving ever closer to them, but Ryuko had made one mistake. She had entered Their territory. While she had hydra, sage mode, and even the very weather around them at her beck and call, THEY were the one who controlled the very air itself. And they didn't approve of her being there. Ryuko couldn't directly attack them, and as batons were established as 'part of the user' she couldn't just use a hydra this close. No, she was still going after taking them out with her poison, and that meant either another hydra gas burst, or she was going to take out the umbrella, but no matter what, she was going to be right in range as Hakkin's fang was just above them.

They'd see her go above where they were, the Kurama almost losing eye contact as they looked up. The latter then. Moving their open hand down to another pocket they'd place their hand on 5 scrolls and waited. Ryuko came down, their slightly eroding mind trusting in that their guess was correct. By now she probably felt the power of Id radiating out. At her speed, even slowed down by their power, she was fuzzy, but they knew the general locations of their targets before thee fight had started. The key, on a keychain attached to her belt. The mysterious ring that she put on before that was assisting her in a way neither Id or Ego knew, and pieces of her own armor for good measure. As soon as she reached the apex of her jump there was a brief moment where she had to slow down before she'd inevitably come back down and speed back up, the power of gravity and parabolas something no shinobi was truly immune from. But that moment let them clearly see their targets, as she hadn't bothered to use something he had made sure to learn as soon as he had the chance: Jump Step. As such he could make out where his targets were before she came crashing down on the sword and he'd activate the 5 enclosing seals as they unrolled, already inked up from his time behind the partition before the fight.

With the seals activated, Mort would be encased with sealing smoke as they went after their targets, and the loud sound of metal-on-metal would be briefly heard. The sword would start to shrink on impact as they didn't bother to upkeep it's size, freeing up their hand that was holding the jutsu. As soon as the sealing smoke dissipated they'd Jump Step themselves higher, up to about 15 meters high as they rolled up the scrolls with their newly freed hands. Good enough to stay out of Tam's range is he pulled another tiger out of his ass, but not high enough where he might need Ryuko to bring him back to life. As they moved up they'd also use the Haze clone for the Grand Finale.

Activating Gentle Decent with a Bird Seal after putting the scrolls back, they'd slowly glide down, the clones mimicking them as their eye color melded into a pinkish-orange sherbet and the rain soaking into them.

"BY THE WILL OF THE WARRIOR SPIRIT, OUR YIN AND OUR YANG, WE REVEAL TO YOU OUR ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE:" They'd take in a deep breath as they broke the decent around 12m above the ground and formed the Snake sign once more, the Id and Ego temporarily of one mind.


As soon as the 'P' was formed in his mouth, they'd use the pop of the consonant to launch the hyper-compressed ball of air built up at Ryuko's location, giving their location within the Hazy clones above if she looked or guess it by where the voice/attack came from, but they were okay with that. They had done all they could, and while they didn't manage to take some chakra, maybe they'd get lucky and have her cradle them in her arms and giving them a good chance at getting some then, though either way the jig was up. As they fell to the ground in freefall, his muscles tightening as he prepared for impact, he only hoped that he either secured the win, or gave his partner one final shot to make it count, unsealing the scroll which they assumed held the key and took hold of whatever was inside of it as hard as they could before impact.

Sure it was just a spar, and in the long run it probably wouldn't matter nor did he need to push himself to nearly their own limit. But it mattered to Mort, so win or lose, he was satisfied no matter what came next.

---

Mort is drenched by the rain, next post -2 tiers to Stamina from poison
Mort will hit the ground at about C speed from gravity.

Jutsu & Stats:

Breathing hard, on his knees where he'd fallen upon the ground Tamwyn would note Ryuko's attention upon his form. She was untrusting of his apparent succumbing to her poison. She was right to be of course, as he'd only just felt the poison take him and felt his strength sap from him in a single massive rush. He felt his reserves diminish severely and judged himself to have enough for one more attack. Another of those large Saber Toothed Tiger attacks and he would be quite done. He'd still be able to move, wouldn't fall unconscious, but it would be close a thing and he certainly wouldn't be doing any jutsu for a time until he'd recovered some chakra. He'd watch her turn the majority of her attention to Mort. Tamwyn of course would be watching her. Even if she distrusted his unresponsiveness at that moment, she couldn't let it stop her from acting on Mort. Lest he be free to rain his own form of mischief upon her. For that matter he wondered just what kind of mischief his new teammate could rain upon her. The use of a sword as an umbrella of all things was quite amusing to see and Tamwyn was glad to see his teammate was one who thought outside the box. Something that Tamwyn himself didn't do as readily or easily.

It told volumes of how they'd do as a team. Tamwyn running in, the straight force approach. While Mort got creative with targets of his own. The lightning prodigy was quite interested to see how their teamwork would develop. Today wasn't an accurate judge of it given the impromptu nature of this spar. Tamwyn had only become a part of the team because he accidentally walked around the corner and Ryuko saw and recognized him. He and Mort had certainly never met before and that obviously showed in their tactics. Neither knew what the other was capable of in any given situation although hopefully after this that would change for the both of them. Still at present Tamwyn was watching Ryuko as she leapt into the air, taking a running leap to ensure she reached the proper height.

Thankfully Mort had cleared much of the gas away with that tornado although by this point Tamwyn might be willing to bet the rain would've washed most of it away. Still, he had clear line of sight to both of them as Ryuko leapt up to kick the sword away and as she did Mort would move with scrolls to begin ransacking her equipment and sealing it away. While it was certainly interesting to see occur he wondered just how effective it would be. Regardless however Mort would willingly fall away as Ryuko was still in the apex of her jump and that was exactly what Tamwyn required to work. Without a word, without a motion, still kneeling upon the ground and watching, the great saber tooth would coalesce around him and fire up and away from him, centered flawlessly on Ryuko's back as Mort got out of the effective attack zone. "Not yet." Tamwyn would snarl as the tiger flew toward the target. Thankfully he was also out of the range of the excess arcs of lightning that were part of what made the technique so dangerous. Mort himself would reach a point in his fall before he yelled something...well..quite frankly ridiculous, before launching an incredible compressed wind ball at her.

This didn't really matter to Tamwyn, his last shot was taken and he was out of chakra. He forced himself to his feet, his stance now non-threatening as the final bits of lightning chakra left his system and his brilliantly glowing eyes dimmed to their normal intensity. Rather than begin to move toward Mort he would wait, just because Tamwyn had fired his last shot didn't mean Mort had or that Ryuko was done either. He was out of the fight, but they might not be. So he would wait until he was asked to come over. Actually, he would go so far as to further demonstrate that was effectively out of the fight by moving over to the thankfully still dry table. Which should act as a signal to Ryuko and Mort that he was essentially done in after the poison had ravaged his chakra system. He might theoretically be able to kick off another technique or two if he braced, however to do so would be dangerous and there was simply no need in a spar. Besides, that was one thing he hadn't shown yet and why show it in the first meeting? Everyone had secrets right?

The blonde haired genin would think back to Morts...exclamation from before and mentally decide that perhaps trying to hook him up with Lady Sophie would not be in the poor woman's best interest. The man's humour left...much to be desired. He'd leave those two alone and if they clicked and worked out, great, if not, oh well. He wasn't obligated to play matchmaker. Tamwyn leaned upon a chair, his chest heaving as he breathed in deeply, his body sluggish as exhaustion began to set in. He was dead tired, basically out of gas, and to make matter worse. He was dripping purple liquid on the ground because of the rain. He shuddered at that knowledge and briefly hoped that when Sophie returned that she might perhaps bring a towel with her..or three. To be honest he wanted a shower pretty badly right now too. Still, watching the ending of the spar if it was to continue would be interesting at least and he made a mental note to start wearing a face mask in order to avoid aerosol based poisons. Perhaps he could figure out how to find an all purpose antidote too that he could inject himself with before fighting Ryuko in the future. Reaching into his pouch and finding a small notepad that thankfully wasn't trashed by the rain he wrote down the thoughts. They would read 'Facemask to filter aerosol gases? Injecting all purpose antidotes?' and he'd label the top of it 'Sparring Ryuko'. Then he'd set the pad on the table as he watched. He wasn't going to hide it and he doubted Ryuko would mind him coming up with thoughts on how to fight her. Part of the sensei and student relationship was the hurdle the Sensei embodied for the student to overcome. Tamwyn had waited a long time for a hurdle to appear before him and he had one hell of one to jump now.

I'm a goob:

As Ryuko came barreling down towards Mort she immediately noticed her speed dropping a tad for no explicable reason as she came within range of Id’s invisible influence. She was lucky she was in the middle of performing a Dragoon drop and had leftover speed to spare otherwise the debuff would have hit her harder returning her to her baseline level of movement.

Still that luck only would last until the kick had launched would be delivered. To her the events of the next few seconds seemed to play in slow motion as the metal of her boots made contact with the sword as intended, the sheer force and weight behind the blow surely enough to knock it out of the weak grip of the one hand grasping the hilt. In that one moment for the breafiest of seconds the two where within less then a foot of each other allowing Ryuko to leech off some of Mort's chakra with her kata.

Even as the sword was shrinking returning to its original size that brief contact was all the purchase Ryuko needed to serve as footing allowing her to jump straight backwards 15 meters through the air, effortlessly maintaining her current height as if to make a mockery of the concept of gravity.

That same second she made to jump again the smoke Mort had released enveloped her boots which were the closest part of her to him, snatching them straight off her feet even as she rebounded off the sword.

Recognizing what the smoke was in an instant she couldn’t help but wonder where Mort had the time to prep the enclosing jutsu. To seal something you needed a specific formula on the page for the type of item you wanted. The smoke needed to envelope the object before it could snatch it away however and wasn’t particularly fast. The only reason he’d even managed to snag her boots was because of the element of surprise and the fact he had debuffed her speed some.

Before the smoke could reach further up her body however she switched gears. As an expert martial artists it was imperative that she was able to use the right style for the task at hand. She could mix and match the many styles she knew freely, each one a different tool for her kit. Shifting to the Arhat fist and refocusing her energy away from her mind to her muscles she made her move.

Whatever Mort was doing to slow her from moving from point a to point b it was having no effect on the individual movements of her limbs as she brought her hands together in a fierce clap that rang like thunder. The Sheer strength behind the gesture generated a powerful shockwave of air pressure that blew away the smoke creeping towards her scattering it to the wind.

Shifting back to the Ballad of the Dragon fighting style she grinned as Mort’s own jump to get above her brought her out of the range of his debuff returning her to full speed. She ignored the Haze clone that Mort generated focusing instead of what else he was up to.

She’d tracked his every movement from the second he had jumped and seen the seals he had used to form it and knew it was harmless. As long as she didn’t attack it it couldn’t form more clones. Honestly the fact it was immaterial and the rain from above was passing thought it was enough to give it away even if she hadn’t been able to see him cast it.

As Mort uttered his spiel declaring that he would unleash his ultimate attack she could feel the hairs on the back of her skin tingle in anticipation only to blush fiercely as she misheard the pronunciation as something decidedly more embarrassing. Did he really just declare that he had achieved the peak of gratification early?

In any case it sure seemed like she was in trouble now. She had an air bullet coming from above her. (Since Mort had jumped up and was using a jutsu to slow his descent it was impossible for it to be coming from below) and another from beneath her. She couldn’t see the Saber toothed tiger zooming towards her back but she could practically smell the burning ozone and the crack of excess lightning it admitted.

Ryuko might be fast but not so fast she could jump off thin air, at least not normally at least. With no footing they must have wondered how she could extract herself from such a sticky situation. If this wasn’t a sparring match she would have deployed her wings but it seemed a bit excessive to burn her cosmos when the only thing at stake was her pride.

Mort wasn’t the only one who could use the Jump step. That jutsu had practically been invented by the worshippers of Hakkin and she knew it well. She was a Dragoon in every sense of the word as a home mid air as most people would be on the ground.

Emitting a quick burst of chakra from her foot she used it as a platform to push herself away from the two attacks at the last possible second performing an elegant spin even as the wind bullet and thunder tiger collided in a spectacular explosion in the spot she had just occupied a moment prior.

Now suspended in mid air for a brief second upside down she clicked her tongue in annoyance as she noticed that Mort was now free-falling towards the ground. Even if it was a ploy to catch her off guard she couldn’t risk her student getting injured because of her.

Forming the tiger seal she took off in a burst of speed vanishing from sight only to reappear on the ground in the blink of an eye as she used her arms to deftly catch Mort and give him a much softer landing then he must have been expecting from the way he had braced himself. Without even meaning her kata drained a bit more of his energy simply from having come into contact with him.

“Alright that’s enough, this match is over. I believe my point has been made” declared Ryuko who wasn’t even minorly winded. As quickly as the cloud and the rain had appeared they vanished alongside the purple teardrop marks on her face as she deactivated her sage mode. Thanks to her summons she had been able to fight while keeping her tank fully charged which was sure to come in handy later.

Setting Mort down on the ground she held out her hands expecting him to give back her boots. He was lucky in more ways than one since if he had captured the rest of his targets things might have taken a nasty turn.

Aiming for the key or the bolt ring was one thing but if she had known he had aimed for her body suit the punishment for his perversion would have been most severe. If she had been slightly less capable she might have ended up fighting in nothing but her bra and panties much to her chagrin. A proper lady did not do such things, though as a ninja she wasn’t so proper that she wouldn’t take advantage if placed in such a situation against her will.

The reaction he would get from that was nothing to how she would have reacted to him sealing the Amulet of kings. Inside it contained her treasure more precious to her then her own weight in gold. To say she would not take such theft lightly was a massive understatement.

“Is that all you’ll be needing us for today Mistress?” asked Ngova with a hiss as one of his heads peeked over her shoulder, starring her straight in the eye. “Yes I believe that shall do quite nicely. You have my thanks for your wonderful performance.” said Ryuko as she reached into her hipbag and withdrew two cookies flipping one towards each of the hydra with the flick of a finger.

In synchronization the two snatched the treats out of the air and downing them in a single glup before vanishing from her back in a burst of smoke. With them out of the way Ryuko turned to face her two students once more.

“Are you two alright? The gas should be harmless enough as long as you’re not fighting but the effect of my Lethargy poison lasts a while. Would you like to take the antidote?” she asked as she fished two syringes out of her bag without even having to pause to look within. Being organized so she could draw what she needed in the heat of battle was key after all.

“Seriously though how the heck are you two still Gennin? I can’t believe you lasted that long” said the priestess in exacerbation. She had fully intended to end the fight almost as soon as it began as a demonstration of the high wall they still had to climb.

They had both performed outside of her wildest expectations. So much so that she had almost been tempted to let them win and allow the key to be snatched from her when Mort had attempted to enclose it. The only reason she hadn’t was because it would have severely undermined the point of her little demonstration.

Moving to the table that Tamwyn was sitting at, Ryuko took her cup of tea which was still steaming warm and took a sip as she glanced at the training field and sighed. Cleaning away all the liquid poison was going to be such a pain in the ass. It was a shame she didn’t have a jutsu hand that could suck it all way. Lucky it wasn’t her problem since she was no janitor.

“Hmm…. I’m giving the Soaring Short Swords to Mōtimā and I taught him the Basics of the Cloud sword style early. Tis only stands to reason that I do something for you as well Tamwyn. Should I give you one of the other swords perhaps?” she mused out loud before answering her own question. “No, I don’t think those would quite suit you. What if I taught you the Lightning Release armor instead?” she asked him, namedroping the village’s most elite jutsu.

[20]

Battle stuff:

Boots. He had missed and only gotten the boots. With the poisonous rain setting in and making him a little delirious he'd start to laugh as he got so close and almost had it. Almost, but he had gotten something, and that was an achievement in and of itself.

"AHAHAHAHAHAA! IT SEEMS THE GOGGLE GODS SMILE UPON ANOTHER TODAY! HAHAHA!"

As he was caught by Ryuko, the poison finally took hold and the shick of losing even more chakra sent his body into a state of survival hibernation, his chakra levels forced low enough he couldn't stay awake any longer without risking death. If anyone were to touch his hands or forehead they'd find his body would try to take in their chakra, though with him unconscious it wouldn't be strong enough to actually take any significant amount. As such he wouldn't hear anything spoken and his body went limp as he drempt.

Mort's Fever Dream?:

---

-2 tiers Stamina
Body of the Bear fails from lack of CP

47/135 CP
-105 CP from stat change
-10 CP from ryuko
-68/30 CP

Mort is solidly KO'd

Tamwyn would sigh in resignation as the jutsu heading toward Ryuko were easily dodged and watch as she caught Mort before he landed solidly upon the ground. She would lay him upon the ground much more gently than he would've landed although her expectations for him to return her boots would seem out of place at the moment as he was clearly out like a light. Moving over to them, Tamwyn would look down at his new teammate and sigh audibly. "I wonder how long he'll be out.." He would say looking back to his new sensei as if to ask if she might have had anything to help him along. He didn't have much chakra left himself with this poison in his veins but as he thought that Ryuko would finish rewarding her summons and ask them if they were alright and offering them an antidote. Tamwyn physically was exhausted, the effects of the poison she apparently called 'Lethargy' having forced a lot of his chakra to be eaten away and as such he was feeling a bit sluggish. However he wasn't losing chakra anymore and what he had would sustain him through a meal, a shower, and getting to bed, which were three things that were definitely on the agenda at this point.

Because of the fact that he seemed alright, he wasn't about to have Ryuko waste antidote, which could be fairly expensive, on him. "I'm fine actually, I'm not losing chakra anymore and I have enough to get me through my day still, so long as I don't do anymore jutsu anyway. I'll be a tad sluggish, but I won't black out or anything. So while I appreciate the offer Ryuko-sensei, don't waste valuable antidote on me." He would say, his polite and frugal nature showing. He didn't like spending or wasting money that didn't need to be spent, nor did he like seeing others do the same. "Mōtimā however probably needs a dose or he'll be in a fever dream for who knows how long. Besides, you need your boots back." He would say with a shrug before wondering to himself something and eyeing Ryuko-sensei up and down for a moment and particularly noting the lack of socks or other apparel upon her feet. "If he had sealed...oh my.." He would say with a minor widening of the eyes before the sound of his palm hitting his face could be heard.

Deciding that the thought needed no more attention than it had already gotten Tamwyn would kneel down and pick Mōtimā up in a fireman's carry. He would proceed to walk him over to his chair and pull it out before depositing him into it. It wasn't like the antidote couldn't be administered if sitting, probably. Besides, who wanted to wake up laying in a field of purple muck anyway? At Ryuko's questioning of their individual powers Tamwyn would shrug. "I've been a genin for a bit now, just never had a team. I didn't think myself ready to go to Kirigakure for the exams when they were last around so I was simply waiting for next ones to come. To be honest, I don't often interact with other genin because I'm either doing missions, training, or partaking in one of my hobbies. So I don't even know how strong a genin normally is or how I would stack up in power scale. I suppose based on your reaction that  Mōtimā and I are stronger than a genin would be normally?" He would ask, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

Turning back to the field he would look out upon the muck that had built up from the rain and sigh. "I foresee a D-rank mission being made for this. How would you even clean this up anyway?" He would muse aloud as he considered what to use. While he considered his fingers would begin a steady staccato upon the table, a sign of restlessness. Even as weakened as he was from the poison he had a desire to move about as much as possible. It was probably directly caused by his lightning affinity to be honest although he couldn't directly prove that. Looking down at himself he would note the small drops of purple poison upon his skin, akin to water droplets when one was fresh out of the shower and hoped again that Sophie might bring a towel or two with her when she returns. He wagered it would take her a bit longer, given the spar had ended so quickly and besides, while he had a subconscious need to move he wasn't impatient by any means.

Ryuko at this point would be sipping from her tea her own sigh as she looked upon the training field eliciting a grin from the yellow eyed genin. Sensing the sigh was a prelude to conversation he would turn to her as she began to speak. He would listen intently as she explained that she had given Mōtimā a pair of shortswords and began teaching him the basics of the cloud village kenjutsu style. She would go on to say that it was only fair for her to give him something as well to help with his development. Her original thought was to ask about giving him one of the other swords. Which he would be reticent about in his hesitation. He wasn't a sword user, and probably never would be. However Ryuko herself would come to the same conclusion on her own before asking about her teaching him the 'Lightning Release Armor' Technique.

The rhythmic staccato he was tapping would stop.

His breathing would too.

Blinking once, then twice, he would find himself still sitting at a small table behind the administration building with a field of purple crap all over the small training ground behind them and Ryuko having just offered to teach him what was arguably the most powerful jutsu in the village. Consciously he would force himself to start breathing again. He wasn't familiar with the full mechanics of it, no one of his rank would be. However he wasn't stupid by anyone's estimation, and he knew OF the technique, if not it's actual capabilities. Still, Ryuko had come to conclusion herself that none of the swords would suit him. So if she was confident that this technique would, how insane would he have to be to decline? "I-I-That sounds great to me Ryuko-sensei." He would say, stuttering out of surprise. Was she offering to teach it to him now? Did he have the chakra to even try or had his declining of the antidote earlier mucked that up? He personally didn't want to waste time, for multiple reasons. The first of which being that he wanted to learn the technique really badly. The second of which was mildly afraid that she would decide against teaching it to him after all. He had only been made her student because he happened by after all. So far as he could tell, she had chosen Mōtimā outright. He however, was effectively the hanger on. The accident, the plus one. Had she asked him to be her student initially to simply act as a potential sparring partner for Mōtimā? That was possible, someone to compare one too as one got more powerful. Would she have offered to teach him such a jutsu if that was the case? He wasn't sure, but he didn't want to lose the opportunity. "I'm not actually sure I have the chakra to learn a jutsu now though, as much as I want to. Could I convince you to write down the specifics for me to use to learn it on my own? I'll destroy the written evidence afterwards, promise." He would ask, mild hope in him. If she agreed then it would be harder to change her mind later. Although part of him knew that even the thought of her doing so was ludicrous, but with an offer of a technique like this, how could one who called themselves a shinobi not wonder if it might be taken from them instead? Whether the person was basically a saint or not?

“Woops,  I didn’t mean to actually knock him out.  Tis appears my poison was more effective then I initially anticipated." said Ryuko sounding more than a little sheepish. Downing her tea with a quick gulp she got up again and moved over to Mort after Tamwyn was done moving him in order to give a quick medical examination just to make sure she hadn’t  done any real damage or caused some adverse side effect.

Touching his forehead to take his temperature she felt a tug of a small amount of chakra being drained from her hand even though her gloves.  A fact that got her eyebrows raised in puzzlement.   Syphoning chakra from others by touch was not common, and the fact he was doing so even in an unconscious state was most perplexing.  

It was something she was going to have to ask him about later she thought. Quickly she withdrew her hand then gently inserted the tip of one of the needles into his upper arm  injecting the antidote straight into his bloodstream so that it would take effect almost immediately.  

It’d return the chakra he’d lost to the poison but it couldn’t do anything the energy he’d spent on jutsu during the match or what she’d drained from him herself inadvertently or not.  Still it should be at least enough that he’d wake back up again quickly.

Stepping back she glanced over at Tamwyn who insisted he was fine but this Priestess wasn’t about to take no for an answer as she twirled the remaining needle around deftly with one hand and sauntered over to him.

“My Dear Student as you can see I can conjure poison out of thin air. What makes you think I can’t do the same for the antidote?” she asked blithely.  That last question wasn’t quite true however. She couldn’t pull new antidotes out of the ether but they weren’t exactly what she would call expensive either.    For someone as rich as her they were the equivalent of pocket change.


“You’ll need your strength if we are to do any more training today. Doctor’s Orders!” she said as she attempted to take his left arm and inject the needle into it.   Then without looking she tossed the two empty and used needles over the back of her shoulder causing them to land inside a nearby waste bin that was positioned between the edge of the training field and the administration building.

“Oh dear,  You really did go all out my Lady!” exclaimed a voice as Sophie appeared once more. This time she had a cart full of cleaning supplies and towels though it was doubtful it would be enough given the sheer scale of the mess Ryuko had generated.   The Maid had been expecting a puddle or two not for every square inch of the ground to be drenched.

“Forget conventional cleaning.  Call for some Fuininjutsu specialists.” Remarked Ryuko in answer to Tamwyn’s earlier question about how they would clean up.  Mops just wouldn’t be enough to do the trick and washing down the drain by house would risk containimanting the water supply so the easiest, quickest way to be rid of it was to simply seal it all away into a scroll for later use.

“Right before I forget take one of these as well.” said Ryuko as she reached into her supply pouch and took out a small bottle of anti-sapper pills. Opening the cap she turned over the bottle slightly allowing one of the pills inside to tumble into Tamwyn’s hands.  These were the antidote to the poison gas she had sprayed him with and If Ryuko had made them right   he would find that it tasted like Cherry.

The priestess didn’t seem too bothered by the fact she had been drenched by poison herself even as Sophie began handing out towels starting by giving one to Tamwyn.   Maybe it was because she was a Hydra sage and thus immune to her own concoctions  or maybe it was because her clothes were just so well made that the liquid seemed to slide right off on its own leaving her looking as pristine as ever.   Taking her own towel she dabbled off the bits that had gotten onto her hair.

“Yes, you both are stronger than normal gennin and then some.  I have no doubt you’d clear the combat portion of the exams with ease.  The only question is if you could clear the rest. You can  Forget waiting until the next exams. You’d be wasted on simple D-rank missions.” said Ryuko.  She was half tempted to field promote them on the spot but the truth was she barely knew which meant while they were physically capable questions remained about their mental capability.  

That wasn’t a problem that couldn’t be solved with a bit of ingenuity.   She’d have them take a written test here, put them through a special training course their and by the time her coronation ceremony was ready she’d be able to declare them Chunnin on the stage for the entiry country to hear.


“Don’t be like that.  I didn’t choose you as a student because of some accident or but because you just happened to pass along.  I was planning to speak to you soon but it seems Hakkin himself decided to bring you to me a bit early.” she said with a bemused grin.  She’d seen the look on his face, guessed what he was thinking and responded to it accordingly.  

There was no way she was going to leave a living embodiment of lightning like him alone without a proper teacher for long.  Not when he was the perfect candidate to be in the running as a potential Raikage that would take over from her down the line.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. Tis not that I don’t trust you or I wouldn’t offer to be teaching you our most elite jutsu to begin with. However our exclusive scroll does not leave lockdown except under the strictest of supervision. I can not in good conscience allow an extra written copy to exist.” she said with some finality to her words that she wasn’t about to change her mind easily on this one.

A written copy even if it was destroyed could still be reproduced.  She’d seen people take shredded documents before and piece them together.   Perhaps some way existed to retrieve information from ashes if it was burned instead, or even to reverse the flow of time in a localized area.   Overall it was just far too risky to trust someone who was just a Gennin or soon to be Chunin with.

“Can I leave you to look after Mōtimā for a bit while I retrieve the scroll?” she asked.  The location was top secret known only to those with the highest security clearance such as herself so she couldn’t exactly take him with her while she got it out of storage.

[21]

'You've been here a while. Better wake up now before it's too late.'

With the needle having injected the antidote into him as well as the minute amount of chakra from Ryuko, it'd jumpstart the natural return of chakra from rest, though he'd take some time before he groggily come back to his senses as he tried to make sense of the taste in his...mind? Mouth? Both? He knew it was a foreign chakra, but something else was there. Some lingering energy that had latched on, though as he tried to move the mystery energy was gone and instead he was left with a slightly different taste as his chakra drain turned off.

"...Gape? Eletic...Shewwie? i du I asete oot unsh?" His brain was still trying to repair itself as both Mort and Id slowly separated back into their semi-distinct selves, his poor tongue bearing the brunt. It would take him a bit, but he'd slowly realize that he was in a chair and probably looking drunk out of their mind. The thought of her looking like a shit-faced genin who just got told the worst news of his life an hour ago didn't sit well with her, so they figured the best way to remedy that was to jolt himselves with the perfect sobering-up tool: a shock to the system. Moving their thumb up they'd take a small bite, drawing blood. They'd then make a small circle seal on the palm of heir hand, then pressed the middle of the circle, sending a jolt through the nervous system, though whether it was chakra or just the pain of shoving a thumb into the middle of your own palm was very much up for debate.

"MMMMMmmmm, there we goohohoho. Nothing like pain to knock you out of a feverish stupor."

Now that they were, well mostly back in their right mind, or at least Id mostly was, they'd hear Ryuko saying something about someone watching over them as they opened their eyes. One blink. Two Blinks. Ryuko was near and next to Tamwyn, and the words of 'scroll' finally registered. She must be teaching him some other cool trick they couldn't learn. or was it some other scroll? they couldn't tell yet, and would ask in due time. For now they'd reach into their bag and look to the Fancy man as he held out a ration pill to them.

"...Would you care for a chakra ration in these trying times good sir?"

---

Technically he'd be at -306/135 or less because debuff rules, but no. the fight is done.
0.1/135

Tamwyn would not at her words before speaking "It would appear our team member is a bit lacking in terms of reserves. Although he seems to have enough ingenuity to compensate. Still, I'll help him improve upon that flaw sensei." He would say respectfully. Teammates were supposed to help each other after all and reserves was something Tamwyn seemed to have an excess of out of the two of them. He could help Mort increase his own easily enough he'd wager. Plus, while he did it his purple haired teammate would probably give Tamwyn pointers in creativity just by virtue of giving the pale haired genin the opportunity to observe.

Once Ryuko administered the antidote to Mort she would turn her attention to him and make him blink once or twice. 'If she was going to insist anyway, then why ask in the first place?' He would think to himself as she pointed out that if she could make poison than she could make the antidote too. Granted he'd also assumed that they would be done after the spar. He figured the point of it would be to gauge their capabilities then and there and then meet up later to progress with a game plan. However apparently he had been mistaken on that front. Still, when she insisted he wouldn't object and he'd allow her to inject the antidote into him without a word of complaint.

At that point Sophie returned and she did indeed possess towels for which Tamwyn could have kissed her. "Lady Sophie, you're an absolute treasure.." He would say as Ryuko popped a small pill into his hand. Her comment about simply sealing away the muck would cause Tamwyn to raise an eyebrow, targeting masses of the purple goop would be annoying as it was. However burning it out was out of the question with the administration building so close. So he supposed that was indeed the best option. Popping the pill into his mouth and chewing he would enjoy the cherry flavour, his favorite fruit, before taking the towel offered to him by Sophie. "Thank you lady." He would say respectfully before running the towel through his mop of hair. It had gotten soaked and hung down lankly now and the towel would be useless to use on his body if his hair just dripped more of the stuff onto him.

Once his hair was sufficiently dryed he would use the towel on himself, patting himself down systematically with the stuff. His pants were just going to have to be wet. It wasn't like he could dry them here. Would it be best to dispose of them? He wasn't sure, but at least his bare upper body was dry now and his hair was settling back into it's usual form. He'd take a moment to look at Ryuko as she simply patted down the bits in her hair before sighing audibly. "Colour me green with envy" He would say sardonically as he folded his towel neatly and set it on an empty lower shelf of the cart she'd brought out. He assumed it was there for the purpose of collecting said towels. "Thank you again Lady Sophie, you can't imagine how much better that feels." He would say emphatically before turning to Ryuko. "Out of curiosity sensei, would I be better off burning what I'm wearing later at home or will simply washing them do?" He would ask with a raised eyebrow. It was a valid question given the nature of poisons. They could keep their potency for a long time even through a wash if it soaked into the material and suddenly finding himself out a sizable portion of his reserves could be absolutely disastrous in the future.

Her comments about them definitely being stronger than genin and them being able to clear the combat portion of the exams with little difficulty would cause him to nod in acknowledgement. He was never the type to let praise of any kind give him a big head. He'd use her words as a reference point in the future. Although the comment about them being wasted on D rank  missions would bring a shrug to his shoulders. "Be that as it may. They're the only missions I'm allowed to partake in as a genin so if I'm going to make a living then doing the missions I'm 'wasted' on is my only real option at the moment until I officially become Chunin." He would say, he hadn't forgotten about Mort but Tamwyn also didn't know Mort either. He didn't know his teammates goals and ambitions so he didn't know if the purple haired wind user needed funds. Tamwyn himself was hungry for more. He wanted to become one of, if not THE most prominent lightning user in the villages history and that meant being noticed. One method of which involved lots of money and injecting himself into the high society of the village.

His file probably mentioned that desire too. The goal of prominence and prestige. He had never made such goals a secret after all. Not in the Academy, and not out of it. He wanted more than anything for his name to be a staple name in the village, the world even. Wanted to cultivate a reputation for honour and respect. Wanted to rise the various pedestals to legend. He wouldn't let anything stop him, not ever. Even if he had to take the missions that were merely labeled as 'chores' by the village administration. Her words regarding her intending to pick him all along would bring him out of his thoughts. Although he would normally be more skeptical of such words. Assuming that they were simply said to make him 'feel better' he didn't think Ryuko was the type of mince words. So he would simply nod in acknowledgement and thanks.

Her polite and understandable denial of his request was met with an understanding nod. If she hadn't intended to let him learn it somehow she wouldn't have offered though so when she asked him if he could look after  Mōtimā while she went to retrieve said scroll for him to learn from she would be met with yet another nod. "I think I'll be able to manage ma'am. Besides, Sophie is here to keep me company." He would say with a polite smile to the woman whom he'd named. At that moment Mort would open his mouth and speak. Well, okay maybe 'speaking' wasn't the right word. But he'd at least be making noises. Luckily before he accidentally summoned C'thulu or something his teammate would rouse himself with some minor fuinjutsu or something. The purple haired man would reach into a bag and pull out a chakra ration pill, offering it to Tamwyn which would cause the pale haired genin to chuckle. "Thank you Mōtimā but no thanks, I'm actually quite fine on chakra. I would advise you take the towel sitting in front of you and dry off though. Ryuko-sensei already gave you the antidote while you were speaking gibberish in your sleep." He would say, grinning at his teammate as he poke fun at him. "So...'Premature Expectations' is that some kind of obscure battle cry?" He would ask simply, poking more fun at the now awake Mort. Afterwards he would take a small flask from his left hip and unscrew the lid before taking a drink. Both Ryuko and Mort had tea, but he always had a flask of water on him. As well as a flask of strong whiskey too. He partook of it at times although never inappropriately. The flask he was drinking from was the one with his water of course and the cool, sweet taste of the water would refresh him. His eyes now bright with energetic excitement would turn toward Sophie as Mort would probably be drying himself off. "If I might inquire Lady Sophie." He would begin respectfully, giving her his full attention. "How long have you known Lady Ryuko?" He would ask, his curiosity brimming. He was a naturally curious individual although if someone told him something was private he wouldn't pry. Still he wondered how long the woman had been in Ryuko's service or what being in her service might entail.

Chakra stuff:

“Well I don’t know if tis so much that his reserves are lacking or that my poison are better tailored to bring down big prey.”  Ryuko remarked while scratching the side of her face sheepishly.    She had wanted to make it so that she could take even Jounin level targets alive.  The fact that Tamwyn had remained standing instead of being knocked out like Mort was both impressive and a bit of an anomaly.

She saw the skeptical face on Tamwny and replied with a laugh.  She’d only asked because she thought they had both been ok to start with.  Seeing Mort knocked out had made her worry however that Tamwyn was simply acting tough to appear cool as boys where want to do.   If he passed out too and she ended up having to take them both to the hospital on the first day of training wouldn’t that make her something of a rather lousy teacher?

Mort began grumpling incoherently in his sleep making Ryuko’s frown deepen in concern.   If he didn’t start showing signs of improvement soon despite being administered an antidote she’d have to rush him over to the emergency room

“You’re most welcome.  Always happy to be of service.” Remarked Sophie who giggled slightly at being complimited for doing such a basic task when it was only the absolute minimum that would be expected of her.


“What? You don’t think a ninja of my calibur wouldn’t have clothes that suit their battle style?” Ryuko asked ghibli in reaction to Tamwyn’s jealousy.   She wouldn’t have managed to reach X class if she was the type to be bogged down by every little thing.    Having stuff that was weather resistant and comfortable was key for those long hall missions especially since so many of them took place outdoors.

“About that you might want to hit the showers while I’m getting the jutsu scroll since the procedure to check it out takes a while.  The antidote I gave you only stays effective for so long and you’ll risk reexposure to the poison otherwise.   Just leave your clothes in a basket and I’ll have them sent to the cleaners for you.”   Ryuko suggested as she pointed to a nearby bathhouse that was practically right next door to the administration building.  

“Don’t worry, I’ll bring you boys a change of clothes.” Offered Sophie who seemed almost a little too thrilled at the prospect of getting her hands on what they were currently wearing.  If it had been anyone else Ryuko would have been worried but since it was her trusted maid she was sure Sophie wouldn’t get up to anything too scandalous with them.

“We’ll see about getting you to Chunin Shortly. For now I’ll let you guys take on some C-rank missions to get your feet wet.”   That was a statement she was sure would make them happy since higher ranked missions meant more reward money and prestige which were things she was well aware Tamwyn was seeking.   That was a talk for a later time.

“We’ll meet back up here in an hour.  Go on and get cleaned up.” ordered Ryuko before forming the hand seal for the body flicker jutsu and vanishing in a burst of smoke.   Again it wasn’t like she didn’t trust her student but they had only just become her student so they didn’t have the security clearance level yet in order to take them with her to the secret vault.

Sophie bowed to her departed mistress then turned glancing at Mort with pure concern in her eyes at the way he had used pain to fully shock himself awake.  With a put upon sigh she walked over to him, taking a towel and beginning to dry of his hair for him.

“Please take better care of yourself Mōtimā-kun.  If you’d waited a few seconds I would have been happy to provide you with some smelling salts.” she said chidingly.   The way that Tamwyn was speaking to him brought a smile to her face as it seemed like the two were becoming fast friends.    

She was into Mort herself but her inner fujo was squealing in delight at the thought of two pretty boys hanging out together.  It was delusions like that that gave her the strength to go about the drudgery of her day to day chores no matter how repetitive they got.

“Hmm, I’m proud to say that I have been serving my lady for as long as I can remember.”  said Sophie with a wide grin.  It was hard to say if the early years were truly serving in the strictest sense but she was proud of them just the same.  

“My house has a somewhat Symbiotic relationship with the Rose clan.   When a child is born to the Rose clan they select a slightly older child from my family become a lifelong companion.  We serve as playmates to begin with and in turn receive a higher standard of education than most can dream of.  Then when we become of age we act as more of a personal assistant.    Doing things such as cooking and cleaning and the like.”  

Sophie answered his question trying to answer as comprehensively as possible.  Ryuko treated her like family, like an older sister so she had no complaints about her lifestyle.  She was well looked after and paid and about the only thing lacking in her life right now was a man which was why she’d quickly locked her sights on the younger Mort who was exactly her type.

[22]