Blooming Sprouts (flashback 2 years ago) [Open]

A gentle breeze rustled the trees outside of the Training Hall, as the evening sun peaked inside, causing the wooden flooring to give a pleasant warm feeling; shining a dull brown from the rays. The Hall was empty with the exception of a single student, using the current solitude to put in some extra work.

Riku's face held a light shin of sweat as he moved your the forms of the Strong Fist; the staple taijutsu utilized by the village's shinobi. He didn't consider himself suited for it, but he was well aware of the value in having a strong foundation in all disciplines.

As he moved, he used his breathing and the steady buzz of his colony to time his tempo, and rhythm of his movements; striving to fix the errors he made, with the aim of reaching the textbook examples showed within the scrolls and by their instructors. With a sharp thrusting side kick, Riku forced his body to keep his form for a few seconds longer, then pulled back and gave a quiet exhale of relief for completing his task.

As he moved to his belongs, which had rested against the wall of the hall, Riku stretched his aching arms, mind reviewing all that he had just done. Riku sat down with his back against the wall, and his legs streched; hands moving to grasp a scroll that contained his notes and plans for his training routine.

With that warm up done, he would move on to ninjutsu and genjutsu. While he trusted his Kage and the shinobi of his village to ensure the end of the ongoing conflict, he planned on taking the exam soon to graduate, and hopefully do his part as an Aburame. Along side the Hyuuga, they were the go too force multipler when it came to stealth, counter espionage, recon and Intel; it was only logic he provided the necessary means to aid in a swift end in Konoha's favor.

With thoughts focused his introspection, and future goals, Riku drifted briefly from his surroundings; secure in the knowledge of the village's safety, and his colony's vigilance.

Ah, training. Was there anything more ubiquitous in a young shinobi's life? They were weapons, after all: blades fresh from the forge. Like any weapon, regular maintenance was needed, lest it go...

‘Wait, am I really using the 'shinobi are tools' metaphor? The instructors must be rubbing off on me more than I thought... I think that's enough of that then.’

Grinding his train of thought to a halt, Shigeru continues to make his merry way to the training hall of the academy. The evening sun was dyeing the sky with orange and pink as it sank, but there was still plenty of light to see by.

“Oh, hey Riku!” The boy had come here expecting the hall to be empty, but training alone was way more boring than training with someone else. After all, outside of clones and stuff, it's kind of hard to beat yourself up.

“You know, since both of us are here,” Shigeru begins to do his stretches as he continues to address his cousin, “How about we make this a little more interesting? Up for a little spar? If you really need a little more incentive, then... loser has to pay for the winner's ramen?” A simple wager to try and persuade Riku, though whether it was really needed Shigeru didn't know.

Underneath his coat, the kikaichu begin to crawl out of their living hive, crawling along his skin in preparation. It was perhaps a little early for that - he could still decline, after all - but being caught flat-footed was poor form in combat.

As Riku's attention was solely focused on the scroll in his hands, which contained the notes had made for the three main jutsu needed to pass the practical, it was his Kikaichu that first alerted him to an additional person in his vicinity, then the call of his name. Looking up, he took in the site of his distant cousin and fellow clansman, Shigeru.

Giving a nod in greeting, Riku intoned as the older boy approached,  "Shigeru. I didn't think I'd see you at this time or here in the training hall." he finished with his greeting, Riku listened as Shigeru continued on, stating his desire to spar; his hive informing him on the elevated pheromone levels of his cousin.

It seemed he was eager to do so, if he was reading the Intel he was gathering from what that suggested about his Kikaichu's movements. Looking down once at his notes, Riku contemplated his options and surroundings. His entire focus had been on his genjutsu and seal work. And given the fact he hadn't seen  Shigeru in those classes, the boy had more than likely been either focusing on his taijutsu or the clan ninjutsu.

Looking up, Riku took the chance to survey their surroundings behind his shaded glasses. The terrain was mostly empty, with the exception of the training logs and staw dummies located at either side of the large area. Riku couldn't locate any weapons, but that was more than likely due to protocol against the lower years using them without supervision.

He would be at a disadvantage, unless he could leverage what he knew and was revising in his notes.

Closing and securing the scroll back into his bag, Riku finally replied,  "Very well, but I was planning on practicing some techniques, having an active partner would help with that, but we should set some ground rules."

Having stated that, Riku got up, and walked passed, he intoned within his mind,  'Demonic Illusion: False Surrounding Technique'. Riku continued to have his Chakra infuse from where he stood, to where he stopped; a 100 meters away. With his plan forming, he continued speaking.

"We continue until we either lose half our colony, capture our opponent, or by forfeit." he stated as he released 100 of his Kikaichu above him in a loose swarm. Riku continued as he made the seal of confrontation.

"We'll start when you're ready."

Summary:

Stats:

The member 'Riku Aburame' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Normal Dice' : 6

Shigeru breaks into a grin when Riku mentions the lose condition based on the swarm. The boy had almost solely been working on his techniques with the kikaichū, and it was certainly no coincidence that such a limiter had been placed on his abilities. Still though, arguing over victory conditions for hours was pointless, especially if there were ways to mitigate it. And besides, it was a little admirable that Riku was trying to leverage the situation in the way that he was.

“Alright then, I accept those terms.”

In a similar fashion to his cousin, Shigeru instructs his swarm to flow out into the air around him, though opting for a comparatively less conservative number of two hundred. Mingling his chakra with his elemental affinity, Shigeru feels his skin grow hard and heavy. Stoneskin was a surprisingly efficient way to bolster the Aburame's defences, but had the caveat of giving him the pace of a snail.

“Then begin!” Shigeru yells, before loosing the kikaichū on his opponent. In the hopes that Riku would be preoccupied with the bugs, the boy begins weaving the seals for the Insect Cocoon technique. The technique was... annoyingly cumbersome to weave, though considering it was hardly meant to be a spur of the moment jutsu that was to be expected. Still, four seconds of handseals... perhaps Shigeru needed to work on his hand dexterity some more. It was a blessing that Stoneskin only affected macro-movement, and didn't hamper the more fine movements needed to form seals.

Actions + Pools:

Riku observed Shigeru as he spoke his agreement as he responded with calling out a large swarm above himself. But Riku found himself frowning slightly as he continued, noticing his cousin's suddenly sluggish movements. Was that intentional? Why did he does so? 

His thoughts on the matter were halted however, as Shigeru sounded the attack; launching his Kikaichu at him, while he slowing brought his hands to start doing seals. Riku couldn't positively state that he knew everything about Shigeru, but as a fellow Aburame, he knew his thought process to some extent, and with his genjutsu firmly in placed, it was time to deal with both the hive and its leader.

[stamina: 42/50 (genjutsu upkeep)]

As the swarm drew closer, Riku acted by sending his smaller swarm to attack the encroaching one. As it did so, Riku took in the state of his surroundings and shadow, before he molded the genjutsu to have him stand there while 'he' looked on confidently as 'he' sent two more 'swarms' of the same size to attack Shigeru's in a pincer strike; ensuring the 'swarms' flew well above the godrays entering the building. With the genjutsu in place over the leader, it was time to focus on the soliders.

As Shigeru made the Ox seal, Riku ran through the seals needed for the replacement technique; switching with his bag. With his substitution set, Riku ran through the transformation technique in his new position, turning into a copy of the bag he had replaced; a steady stream of 300 Kikaichu, working there way into the floor boards; following his instructions to remain unseen as they left the 'bags flap'.

[stamina: 40/50 (replacement & transformation)]

The fact that the Kikaichu were immune to genjutsu, was something that few outside the clan would be aware of, that didn't mean he couldn't trick their sense of smell and the orders they would receive from a confounded master.

"That's all, Shigeru? You're going to have to do better than that" The genjutsu Riku taunted out confidently, while remaining in the same position as 'bag-Riku'.

It was only a matter of time and opportunity now. And the Aburame were patient hunters.

summary:

The two swarms clash, Shigeru's overwhelming Riku's simply through larger numbers. Of course it was still taking hits, but the outcome would likely be in his favour if it continued to be a brawl like this.

Riku was beginning to go on the offensive now, throwing two more swarms at him. He was still pulling his punches, a pair of one hundred and fifty swarms should do the trick. They fly out, grouping as instructed, and then...

No response. No response? But why was- ah. The only time kikaichū didn't follow orders was when they couldn't, owing to their drone brains not having much capacity for dissent and complex thought. It also meant that genjutsu held no grip over them, two facts which were helping Shigeru unwrap the situation unfolding. ...Unfortunately, he had neglected to train any form of defence against illusion. While his bugs meant his senses weren't entirely at the whim of his cousin, it meant he would still need to waste precious moments on fruitless commands to figure out what was reality, and what was not.

Irritating, but commendable. All these roadbumps and limitations were certainly making the spar more interesting than it could be.

‘If his two extra swarms are illusionary, they can be ignored. In that case, the fresh swarms should converge on his opponent himself...’ No response. ‘Right, of course Riku isn't Riku... that would be too easy. How do I find him, then...?’ There was an invisible timer on each of Shigeru's thought processes; every moment spent considering his plan was another moment for Riku to do whatever he wanted. ‘I can't look for Riku... but my bugs can look for his! Go find the biggest cluster of them, try and feed when you do!’ This was just a setback - his cocoon was ready, and when he finds his opponent, Shigeru would be too. [-3 CP from Insect Cocoon]

Actions + Pools:

From his hidden position, William observed Shigeru as he remained in his position, continuing to turtle up in his defense. The battle was already won for one of them, Riku's focus was entirely on his next possible moves.

With Shigeru currently within a nest of his Kikaichu, and his active drones going in a recognizable holding pattern, Riku decided discretion was the matter part of Valor, especially with his waning reserves of Chakra. If he was battling any other shinobi in similar circumstances, he would finish it now, but it would seem one would need a direct means of assault when facing another Aburame.

[stamina: 35/50 (genjutsu, replacement, transformation upkeep)]

"What's wrong Shigeru" genjutsu Riku spoke calmly while staring at the cocooned boy, as two swarms flew out of his arms and then formed into a pair of Rikus "I have been waiting for you for awhile now." they all spoke in unison.

Two of the Rikus jumped away from the original, then all three rose their arms as a swarm came out from them; covering the ground between them rapidly, and begun to circle around him aggressively, the sound of there wings buzzing loudly around him. "This can't be all that you've planned Shigeru. What are you doing to try and beat me?" the Riku's voice shouted over the insistent droning that surrounded the boy.

It was then that Riku decided to act.

"What is going on here!" An annoyed voice sounded out, causing the swarm surrounding Shigeru to halt, and disperse slightly from around the boy. All genjutsu Rikus turned to look towards the voice, and took in the form of one of the Academy teachers standing infront of the open door. His face holding a scowled as his voice continued in annoyance. "Using the hall after school is fine, but sparring is prohibited without supervision. Recall your insects and leave."

Doing its best to remain innocuous, both would see a lone Kikaichu working it's way towards the sensei, before it was then grabbed by the man in a blur of motion, and promptly crushed.

"I don't know which one of you sent that. But the next time if happens, I'm sending you both to do laps around the entire village and marking you down for attacking and insubordination."

The three rikus would then fade away, along with the swarm surrounding Shigeru, then the 'bag' behind Shigeru would pop to reveal Riku him.

"That was one of mine sensei. I had to make sure you weren't Shigeru using a transformation technique." 'Riku' stated as he then turned his attention to Shigeru, the boy would see him standing there, with his hive slowly collecting up his legs and back into his body.  "Seems like we'll have to take this to the clan grounds. Though I would like your he-"

"The both of you can play catch up when you're out of this hall, I have papers to grade and you are holding up my time." The academy teacher interrupted Riku impatiently, then looked up at the flying insects, and then at the still cocooned Shigeru.

"Academy student Aburame Shigeru! Recall your insects."

In his personal opinion, it was a masterful gambit. With his options limited, it was clear that he was searching by the use of his Kikaichu. Now, Shigeru would be in the bind of disobediencing a direct order from a superior and being unable to verify with them, less it be viewed as another attack.

In his transformed state, Riku held the tiger seal ready; curious to see how Shigeru would react to his psychological attack.

summary:

“Yeah, yeah, you dork... keep trying to push those buttons.” Riku was evidently trying to get Shigeru to lash out, to act a little too rashly, giving him an opportunity... And then two more Rikus join the fray. Wonderful. At least with these two, it was obvious at least one of them was an illusion; the Insect Clone technique required a certain amount of insects in order to for the clone jutsu to work. Enough bugs to hold a human shape, and to emit the tiny amounts of chakra they stored to play the part. Taking into account the bugs already on the field, the fact that an Aburame host could only have enough bugs to unleash two of these clones, and the fact that doing so was arguably against the rules... Still, one of them could be real.

Genjutsu really was a massive pain. Then it got even worse.

A teacher - or 'teacher' - had apparently rocked up as well, intent on putting an end to their spar. Or at least, that's what it looked like. Riku had tried to prove it wasn't an illusion - or genuinely had thought it was Shigure? - but it was a far cry from allaying his suspicions. It was entirely possible that this 'teacher' was just another part of the illusion, but there was also the possibility he was real... which was a smaller potential? Giving Riku the ability to rub this in Shigeru's face (and a bowl of ramen), or laps around the village? The ideal situation would avoid both.

“Alright, fine...” Shigeru sighs, the insects on the field flying back towards him. That move was a definite; avoiding the lap around the field was the bigger priority. What then? Release the cocoon jutsu, step out of the Stoneskin technique, put up a face of acquiescence... what then?
“Right, clan grounds it is then! Enjoy marking, teach!” Shigeru says before starting to jog out of the compound. “Don't be too slow, Riku!” [-5 CP from Stoneskin]

Actions + Pools:

Riku watched patiently with his hand seal at the ready. His Chakra was running low, and he had accomplished his desired objectives in being able to use the academy jutsu; the exception being the clone technique due to its lack of utility in this situation.

As Shigeru made the logical choice in obeying an authority figure, an recalled all his active bugs. Now...it was a matter of calculated luck and timing.

[stamina: 32/50 (genjutsu upkeep)]

Riku dropped his transformation and the replacement on his bag; hoping the sudden burst of smoke and noise would stall Shigeru's reaction time to the real threat as he triggered it.

[stamina: 27/50 (Insect deception technique)]

Whatever he was doing to make his skin take on a darker tone was clearly Chakra based, and between that and his slowed movements, his Kikaichu were surely able to catch their prey. The only threat now was the opposing Kikaichu.

Riku ensured his attacking Kikaichu were hidden from Shigeru's sense of hearing and sight. And while slightly more than a third started to cover and bite, the rest were given commands to find all of Shigeru's colony entrances; something that was shared among all Aburame. His aim wasn't to overcome the coming tidy, but to bulwark it long enough to drain whatever reserves Shigeru had.

Luck, was both his enemy and his ally now.

summary:

The member 'Riku Aburame' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Surgical Dice' : 66

OOC dice post

The member 'Aburame Shigeru' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Surgical Dice' : 88