An Engineer and A Scientist: The Shinobi of the Future

It would be early in the morning whenever Kiyoshi would arrive at the Grand Training Facility for the third time, though this time with a different goal in mind. The first time he had entered the building was when he was still attempting to prefect his art craft, the second time he had been summoned here by Neo Uchiha to meet with his new team, now he was here simply to enjoy himself. With his Zip-board prototype now completed he figured it would be better for him to test it out here where there were some safety measures, rather than out in the open where someone else could get hurt. The last thing he needed was for his new invention to malfunction and some innocent bystanders get hurt because of his mistake, no it would be better this way so that if something did go wrong, he would be the only one in danger.

Walking through the doors, Kiyoshi asked for a simple but large room with a lot of open space and only minor obstructions to the ground. A few rocks and trees here and there for him to test his maneuverability with the board, and of course if he did happen to get the inkling, he could always train with his puppets more considering the fact that he had all of his puppets with him. Other than the puppet armor that he was wearing, the troublesome trio would also be there, sealed safely within his gold rings that adorned his fingers. Once in the room he would place his zip-board flat on the ground, stepping onto it as he slipped his feet under the leather straps and began flowing chakra into it to activate the board's transducers, which would in turn activate the board's fans that were on the bottom of it. The board would lift off the ground hovering just off of it by six inches at first, he would be a little wobbly as his legs got use to the change compared to being on the ground. Once he got use to the feeling of it all he would begin adjusting his positioning on the board, the movement of his feet causing the board to begin moving as he pulled his goggles down over his eyes to protect him from the sharp wind hitting his face as he began to move at sixty meters per second around the room. After a few laps and he was sure that the room was bigger than a hundred and fifty meters from wall to wall, Kiyoshi would begin another lap only this time activating the overclock function of the board. Pumping in a little more chakra into the board, which shot him forward at a speed of one hundred meters per second for a hundred and fifty meters before slowing back down to its normal speed.

---

[1]

It had been a while since Nikola's latest adventures. These had come in the form of another trip to the Grand Konoha Training Facility wherein he had mastered some more jutsu to add to his ever-burgeoning repertoire of ninja techniques. Since then, Nikola had gotten back into the grind of his ongoing and ever-burgeoning mad science research efforts, especially those that were geared toward learning even more jutsu and also towards trying to devise new ways in which to command his Aburame insect arsenal along with studies on new insect types and even hybrid possibilities for enhancing the variety of options afforded to him by said arsenal

Hmm...now that I have learned the theory regarding the execution of these new jutsu, perhaps it is time for another training session at that one training center...

Nikola mused thus silently as he stirred from beneath the veritable mountain of research notes that were current piled up high in his residence/research lab in the Aburame clan compound on this particular day. After managing to drag himself out, he rose to his feet and proceeded to ready himself in his usual work attire, this being specifically comprised of his standard researcher's outfit and with his various pieces of ninja gear equipped to various strategically chosen areas on his person along with his insect reserves confirmed properly. Then, after informing his family's support staff of his potential whereabouts and intended destinations for the day, he set out to once again to the Grand Konoha Training Facility so that he could master the various jutsu on his field testing agenda for the day. Upon arrival, as per usual, he inquired about the rooms available at the training center and once again, it seemed that most if not all the rooms were occupied by the village's various shinobi and so, he was going to have to share an already occupied room

Hmm...this one has the fewest, so perhaps it would be wise to choose that one for field testing the jutsu and other things that I have planned for today...

With that in mind, Nikola requested use of the room in question and after getting permission, he headed off to the room and after stepping out of the elevator and in through the entryway of the room, he then started looking around for a quiet and isolated spot which could serve his purposes, and eventually found one such subsection. So, he headed over there while mentally developing his strategy for the physical conditioning progress, he spotted a training dummy nearby and so, made his way over to it. Once there, he took up a basic stance and activated the mechanized training dummy to begin his physical conditioning development session

Now then, time to begin...I should probably endeavor to find an appropriate rhythm so that I can forestall potentially premature onset of fatigue...

Nikola mused thus silently as he eased himself into his Taijutsu forms and while it did take time for him to find his groove, as the saying went, but eventually he did managed to slip into an easy enough routine of alternating kicks, punches, dodges, weaves, palm strikes, and so on which slowly but surely started to improve each one of his physical prowess parameters. Fortunately, since he was far enough away, the only sounds that could be heard from his location if any at all were just faint thudding noises as his body parts collided with the training dummy in a steady, controlled, and rhythmic manner, so he was fairly sure that he would have no interruptions as he continued along with his planned work for the day. That said, since he was preoccupied with his silent musings and his training session with the dummy thus far, he did not yet realize that this room was being used currently by none other than one of his new teammates, that being Kiyoshi.

---

OOC:

Nikola's Appearance:



-----

Nikola's CP Reserves:

• Starting CP: 135 of 135 CP
  

=====

XP earned for this post: 15 (10 base for multiplayer + 5 extra from training in Grand Konoha Training Facility)

[1]

The overclock function would work out perfectly, achieving a speed at a hundred meters per second as though it was nothing. It was unfortunate that it was only a short burst of this speed, but it would provide a great means of escape if he ended up needed one. Not that its base speed was not faster than he could ever move, but the ability to move faster was always on his mind. His mind never stopped, so it was all he could do to keep up with it. Always inventing whatever popped into his mind, it was how half of his inventions were made though now he was coming up with ideas faster than he could craft. It was unfortunate, but his new creations had to wait, which was why he was taking a break here to try to take his mind off of inventing and just enjoying one of his many inventions.

He would just be coming out of the overclocked speed, slowing back down to its base speed of sixty meters per second. As he made the banking turn to continue around the training room, he would spot someone entering the room heading for the center of it. Noticing that it was Nikola, Kiyoshi decided to stop his messing around and go say hi to his teammate. Having not had any interaction with him outside the team's meeting, he decided now was as good a time as any for him to get to know the man. Riding his Zip-Board over to where Nikola was with the dummies, Kiyoshi would move to greet his teammate. "Nikola, I did not expect to see you. What bring you here today?" Kiyoshi asked with a friendly smile as he stood perfectly balanced upon the board hovering six inches above the ground, still wearing the same armor he was wearing when they had met with their team leader Neo.

Nikola had been preoccupied with his mindless beating up of the training dummy before him and would have been oblivious to Kiyoshi's approach...that is, he would have if he were not blessed with possessing some 180 shokaichu which were buzzing around in his body and which now alerted him to his new teammate's approach and thus, Nikola was able to save face via the combined use of this surveillance network with its passive 30 m radius all around him and his keen intellect. So, to that end, he turned about on his heel and while taking a break to allow his body to cool down from the physical exertion he had been putting it through, he returned Kiyoshi's friendly smile with his own cordial, well-practiced but natural seeming businessman's smile that he was now highly accustomed to deploying as a facade to hide his true nature as a mad scientist from the world. To that end, he even gave Kiyoshi a brief bow in the interest of being courteous while remarking

"Ah, I know you from that team meeting of ours that we attended recently with Suzuya and with those two sensei that are now in charge of us three. It is quite a pleasure and honor to meet you again as well and after such a short time, Kiyoshi, my new friend."

Nikola paused there for a second or two to collect his thoughts and to mull over how best to answer Kiyoshi's query to him and after a split second more, Nikola resumed

"As to what brings me here, it would seem that I have hit a roadblock of sorts with my research, so I figured it was the optimal time to stop for a period of respite from all that mental exertion and instead put my body through its paces to clear my head in preparation for the next round of said research work."

Nikola spoke thus in response to Kiyoshi's greeting and question after which point, he took notice of the hover-board device that Kiyoshi was standing on top of and now, his face shifted from its cordial smile to one that could only be described as that of a mad scientist, that is, with a wide, borderline manic, ear to ear grin and his eyes now positively ablaze with excitement at having encountered something unfamiliar to him and since this something was of the technological variety and thus something that he was truly and endlessly fascinated by and had only dreamed of pursuing the study of ever since he could remember as a child due to lacking the means and inspiration to do so. So, he inquired about it with his voice now having lost all measure of calmness and composure and having gained the same level of boundless excitement that the glint in his eyes showed while his eyes were completely riveted to the hover-board device as he crouched down without warning to get a closer look at it, that better look at it being his face mere millimeters from the device he was now studying, but heedless as he was of personal space boundaries

"This is quite a magnificent device, indeed! I had no idea that the ninja world even had such a capacity to spawn such a technological device! I have only ever seen these in the novels I used to peruse as a child! 'Tis a wondrous sight, truly! I must thank you, Kiyoshi, for you have now given me new hope in this matter and renewed muse to pursue such technologically inventive endeavors again!"

Nikola spoke thus, thanking Kiyoshi for giving him this idea to pursue engineering studies in his own right and then, he fell silent, waiting for Kiyoshi's reactions and remarks if he had any, but all the while having his focus and attention solely focused on Kiyoshi's hover-board device.

---

OOC:

XP earned for this post: 15 (10 base for multiplayer + 5 extra from training in Grand Konoha Training Facility)

[2]

Kiyoshi laughed at the way Nikola seemed so impressed by his Zip-Board, deactivating the board and letting it touch down to the ground before stepping off of it and picking it up. "It's not all that technical really, I made it myself. It runs off of chakra, I flow chakra into the transducers within the board. The Transducers use that chakra to power the fans of the board and provide it with propulsion foward, as long as your coordinated enough to control where the board goes the operation of it is rather simple as well." Kiyoshi would explain to Nikola as he held the board out for the other man to examine more closely. The board was a simple design, at least to an engineer like Kiyoshi. The outside of the board though would be deceivingly simple as Kiyoshi explained it, but if he were to actually open the board up to show Nikola the inner workings of it, then the complication of its design would be revealed. Of course, in order to open the board up he would have to break it or decommission it completely. Kiyoshi would not be willing to do either, but allowing Nikola to examine the outside of the board would not be a problem nor would it reveal any of the secrets to its creation. "I plan to make more, once I get some income. I can always make one for you if you like, its not too expensive or complicated to create, it would just take me time. If you pay me the price of the materials, I will make you one." Kiyoshi would add with a friendly smile, more than happy to craft a similar board for his teammate. Not only would he be doing a favor for his friend, but he would also help get his name out there. If Nikola had a board as well, then it was likely to grab the attention of more people which would help in increasing his customer base.

---

[3]

Zip-Board:

Nikola noticed Kiyoshi laughing in response to his unwitting descent into his true self as a budding mad scientist and realized that he had let his mask slip again despite his best efforts. So, he arose to his feet while shifting his face to a more neutral expression and while listening to Kiyoshi explain the mechanics that went into his Zip-Board's functionality after which point, he remarked in response to Kiyoshi's explanation

"Ah, I see. So that is how it works, eh? I had heard of transducers before, of course, but I had not realized before now that they could actually process chakra into other mundane forms of energy which could be used in the manner you have described, especially for purposes such as propulsion technology...and perhaps there are other applications which could make use of them too, in a slew of other forms of technology...this certainly does give me some ideas of what to try in the future once I master the basics of engineering myself...moreover, it never ceases to amaze me as to just how mind-boggling the sheer versatility of chakra utility is, to be honest...to think it can power not only a vast array of different jutsu...to enhancing one's own physical and mental prowess...to even mechanical devices..."

As Nikola spoke, his eyes gleamed brighter still while his grin stretched even wider and his speech became a fair bit more rapid, if that were possible, making his excitement over the various aspects of the subject he was discussing quite unmistakable. This excitement was only increased by several degrees more when he heard Kiyoshi's offer to construct a Zip-Board for him as well because he realized that this could be his chance to study this device's internal workings in greater detail in the future after studying engineering in his own right which could lead to an ability to reverse engineer the device's technology for use in whatever technological inventions he would no doubt be crafting in the days to come. For now, however, Nikola merely nodded with a friendly smile that more than matched Kiyoshi's own while replying

"Oh? Well now, that is certainly generous of you, Kiyoshi and I would be very appreciative of the chance to acquire one of these myself, so I would be more than happy to pay for the cost of the materials needed to manufacture this Zip-Board device, and it is sure to be useful in more ways than one depending on the situation...though, I suppose, this also means I would have to improve my physical and mental coordination parameters to the point that would allow me to use said device effectively in the manner you have described to me...perhaps you can provide me with a list of all these materials so I can get started on compiling the finances necessary for them? That would more than facilitate this transaction, methinks...also, if I may ask, would you like the payment before or after you have manufactured my copy of the Zip-Board?"

With all that said and asked, Nikola then fell silent and waited to see what would happen next and also for Kiyoshi's responses to his remarks and queries, though he did realize that Kiyoshi was not just offering to create a Zip-Board for him out of mere goodwill, but rather also to use him as a living advertisement platform for his wares, but he chose to not comment on that since he was also gaining something practical out of the deal he was in the process of making with Kiyoshi.

---

OOC:

XP earned for this post: 15 (10 base for multiplayer + 5 extra from training in Grand Konoha Training Facility)

(3)

Kiyoshi would think about what Nikola asked for a few seconds before he would finally answer, "well I can tell you this much, if I were to give you the list of materials and you went and bought them it would cost you around 40k Ryo for everything I would need. However, if you pay me 35k Ryo I can acquire the materials myself and make it and it saves you some money in the process. I would of course need the money upfront, not that I don't trust you. It is simply that my money is currently tied up in other ventures, so I would need the money to get the materials." Kiyoshi would pause to judge Nikola's reaction to this information before addressing his earlier question. "As far as riding the board, yes it requires quite a bit of coordination. It moves at 60 meters per second from a standstill and by channeling just a little more chakra into it, you can provide it with a boost to speed up to 100 meters per second for a brief time. So, all in all. Yes, it does require the rider to be coordinated in order to operate it without hurting themselves. I am afraid when I do open my shop I will likely have to put a disclaimer on the display, removing myself from liability if someone were to purchase one and get hurt riding it." Kiyoshi would chuckle lightly at the thought of having to do such a thing, but in truth it would be the only way to ensure that he did not get sued. "Anyways, I can make one as soon as I have the funds to do so, but I do ask that you not try to do anything dangerous with it. Of course, there is no rush for the funds, I have a few other projects I need to work on before I can move on to other ventures but I will add it to my list as soon as you are able to get me the 35k."

---

[4]

Nikola nodded as he listened to Kiyoshi's reply to his queries and then he remarked in response to them

"That is certainly understandable...I too am an aspiring businessman, so I can see the reasoning behind such a request. Very well then, I shall try to wire you the money from my bank account at the earliest possible time so as to not delay the processing of my request for a Zip-Board on your end."

After that, Nikola turned his attention to Kiyoshi's more detailed explanation of the mechanics that governed the operation of the Zip-Board and committed them to memory after which point, he  remarked in response once more

"Understood, I guess the future use of this board is as good an opportunity as any to inspire me to undertake some much needed training to improve my coordination and reflexes, which will then be useful for other purposes that are governed by them. Also, you need not worry about my doing anything dangerous with it, either, as I am a fairly cautious person."

With that said, Nikola fell silent and waited to see what would happen next in the situation as it continued to unfold before him.

---

OOC:

XP earned for this post: 15 (10 base for multiplayer + 5 extra from training in Grand Konoha Training Facility)

(4)

Once Nikola was done looking at the board, Kiyoshi would seal it away in one of his three empty sealing rings. "Well, I had come here to work on my coordination myself. Perhaps you could train with me, it would help us both. A spar I believe it is called, like how we were to face Neo Sensei, one on one." Kiyoshi would say with a slight smile, this was not some kind of dubious smile, as if he was hiding something from Nikola. This was more of a smile at the comment of the one on one, because when it came to Kiyoshi, he was never fighting alone. He always had his puppets with him. He was interested in testing his abilities against an Aburame considering the warnings he received from others about their bugs messing with the joints of puppets, he wanted to see what they could do for himself as well as work on a way to counter such actions. Though, in order to learn how to counter it, he would need to experience it for himself first.

If Nikola accepted his challenge Kiyoshi would take up a position approximately 50 meters away from Nikola before summoning his Troublesome Trio of puppets, Bumi, Knives, and Mini-mi all appearing in front of him as he attached his chakra strings as they appeared. Kiyoshi and his puppets standing together in his trademark Violet Secret Formation, he would make no move to advance or attack, seemingly posing for a picture as he waited for Nikola to be ready himself and make the first move.

---

[5]

Nikola had been finished looking at Kiyoshi's Zip-Board and making the deal for buying his own copy of said device from him at a later date when he heard Kiyoshi mention wanting to spar with him in preparation for possible future tests administered to them by their mutual sensei, Neo. He had just been about to suggest that himself, so naturally, he nodded to show his agreement and remarked

"A spar, eh? That is a most excellent idea, indeed. I too am curious to see how my insects would fare against those blindingly fast and marvelous puppets of yours."

With that said, Nikola fell silent and waited for Kiyoshi to get into position and noted that he had taken up a position which was about 50 m away from where he was standing now. Then, Nikola watched as Kiyoshi brought out his trio of puppets in that same type of formation he had seen them stand in when they had to undergo the bell test from their sensei in a prior meetup, albeit one that had been alongside Suzuya as well who was not here at present. After that, Nikola prepared himself as well, starting with calling out 500 of his 800 kikaichu and then directing them to form into a single doppelganger of himself via the Insect Clone Technique, this taking shape right beside him to still maintain line of sight.

Now that my setup for this spar is complete, I must proceed to replenish those used up 500 kikaichu...Egads, these clan techniques always use up too many insects much too quickly...such inefficient methodology...curses...

Nikola grumbled silently in his mind, after which point, he proceeded to activate yet another of the Aburame secret arts, namely Secret Technique: Insect Cocoon by flipping through the Ox → Dog → Bird → Ram handsign sequence for it so that he could start replenishing his used up kikaichu stores at the rate of +200 regained per post thereafter. Once that was complete, he stood perfectly still, and so, the only movements his body was still making being the involuntary actions needed for life support since the Insect Cocoon jutsu required this of him. Still, since he could put his senses to work analyzing Kiyoshi as well as his puppets in preparation to react without interrupting his Insect Cocoon jutsu's function, he chose to begin it immediately and then waited for Kiyoshi's move and then, for the last bit of action this round, he called out 50 of the 200 newly tamed kaikochu in his arsenal which swarmed out in a small group which now rested on each of his shoulders so that he could have them at the ready if necessary for next round.

---

OOC:

Nikola's CP Reserves:

• Starting CP: 135 of 135
  
  
• Used CP: 4 total instead of normal 8 total for both Insect Clone + Insect Cocoon (due to 50% CP reduction for Aburame Hiden jutsu from UA)
  
  
• Remaining CP: 131 of 135
  

Nikola's Post Actions:

• Used Insect Clone Jutsu (consumes 500 of 800 held kikaichu, 300 of 800 kikaichu left) and created 1 Insect Clone
  
  
• Used Insect Cocoon Jutsu (replenishes 200 kikaichu per post used, +200 gained this post = 300 of 800 kikaichu left previously + 200 = 500 of 800 kikaichu left now)
  
  
• Started precognitive analysis on Kiyoshi and his puppets (elapsed posts: 1 of 4)
  
  
• Called out 50 of 200 kaikochu (baby silkworms) to be on standby for next round. No jutsu used with these yet.
  

=====

Jutsu Used:

Insect Clone Technique:

-----

Secret Technique:

=====

XP earned for this post: 15 (10 base for multiplayer + 5 extra from training in the Grand Konoha Training Facility)

(5)

With Nikola's formation of his insect clone, Kiyoshi would go to work. Small twitches of his fingers would send his three puppets forward at two hundred meters per second, closing the fifty-meter gap between the two of them in a quarter of a second, before Nikola could form the hand signs that he needed for whatever it was that he had planned. The Puppets moving so fast that Kiyoshi would seem them in a blur as they moved, having to strain his eyes to focus on the task at hand. To Nikola it would likely seem as though the puppets simply appeared in front of him out of nowhere, in less than a blink of an eye they would go from standing in front of Kiyoshi to being directly in front of or next to Nikola. Bumi and Mini-mi standing directly on either side of Nikola with Knives directly in front of him as the three of them began striking out at him. These puppets weren't meant to be used in this manner of course, they wouldn't do much harm on their own, however Kiyoshi would be flowing an extra amount of chakra to coat his puppets to increase the damage they deal. While Bumi and Mini-mi wouldn't be much threat with their fists, Knives had blades instead of hands meaning that it would not be wise to be struck by them even without the chakra enhancement.

For the time being Kiyoshi would ignore the clone, focusing solely on the real Nikola as he saw the clone appeared and knew which one was the true Nikola and which one was the fake, though he would be able to easily react to the clone if needed. When they had started Kiyoshi had wondered if he should bring out his other puppets, but seeing how these three puppets were able to so easily overwhelm his sparring partner it was obvious that his two wolves would not be needed.

---

Chakra Math: 185 Start
1st post: -25 Chakra (Zip-Board activation & Overclock function)
2nd post: -5 Chakra (Zip-Board Maintained)
3rd post: 0 No Chakra use
4th post: 0 No Chakra use
5th post: -7 Chakra (-3 for Enclosing of Zip-Board, -1 for each puppet unsealing, -1 for Violet Formation Style)

Current Stats:
Strength: E
Constitution: B
Stamina: B
Speed: C
Coordination: S++
Intelligence: D
Perception: C (B due to Violet Formation Style)

Chakra Starting This Post: 148
Secret Art: Violet Formation Style: -1
Violet Secret Technique: Troublesome Trio Barrage -3
Ending Chakra: 144

Techs Used:

Nikola was sure that this impromptu spar would be rather difficult considering Kiyoshi's puppetry display in the team meetup session and bell test they all had to undergo before, but he was truly surprised when Kiyoshi's three puppets seemingly appeared out of nowhere right in front of him when, just the moment before, they had been standing still with Kiyoshi. Naturally, Nikola was far too slow to react to that, and thus, he ended up taking the attacks of the three puppets without being able to raise any defense in time, leading to him being bowled over with bruises, cuts, and lacerations from the attacks of the three puppets on him. Consequently, he was thrown back some paces and landed hard on the ground, but thankfully, was not completely knocked out yet and to make things worse, his attempt at trying to replenish his kikaichu stores had been promptly stopped by the attacks made on him by Kiyoshi's puppets.

Curses...yet again, I prove inadequate in actual combat...oh well, I am a scientist after all, not a warrior...so it is only to be expected, I suppose...

Nikola rose to his feet gingerly and nodded to his Insect Clone which then proceeded to execute the Secret Technique: Insect Sphere after draining the necessary chakra from Nikola for powering the jutsu in question. So with that, the clone made up of 500 kikaichu fell apart and 400 of the 500 started to move at B-tier speed towards Kiyoshi as per the design of the Insect Sphere technique that had just been activated this round. While, his clone was doing that, Nikola got the idea to field test the new insect he had just tamed and brought out to play, so he focused some more of his chakra into attempting the new technique he had developed, namely the Ensnaring Cocoon Trap which caused the 50 kaikochu resting on his shoulders to then spray 50 m of thick, sticky silk webbing towards each of Kiyoshi's three puppets (i.e.,  Bumi, Knives, and Mini-mi) at a max of B-tier speed and this thick and sticky silk webbing would hold each of them immobile with C-tier Strength if it ended up making successful contact with them. Then, Nikola stood back to try to examine what would happen and how Kiyoshi would react to it.

---

OOC:

Nikola's CP Reserves:

• Starting CP: 131 of 135
  
  
• Used CP: 16 (5 for Insect Sphere [C-rank] and 10 for Ensnaring Cocoon Trap [B-rank] + 1 CP upkeep for Insect Clone)
  
  
• Remaining CP: 115 of 135
  

Nikola's Post Actions:

• Made the Insect Clone perform Secret Technique: Insect Sphere which caused 400 of the 500 kikaichu comprising the clone to start moving towards Kiyoshi at B-rank speeds in an attempt to converge on him, which in turn, caused the Insect Clone to fall apart due to not having the 500  kikaichu required to comprise it, ending that particular jutsu.
  
  
• Used up 50 kaikochu to perform Ensnaring Cocoon Trap at Kiyoshi's puppets. 150 of 200 kaikochu left. (Note: 126 training WC written for Ensnaring Cocoon Trap against 125 WC required for B-rank custom Aburame Hiden jutsu due to Training Reductions UA = Secret Technique: Ensnaring Cocoon Trap learned by Nikola E. Aburame successfully)
  
  
• Maintaining precognitive analysis on Kiyoshi and his puppets (elapsed posts: 2 of 4)
  

=====

Nikola's Current Insect Reserves:

• 300 of 800 kikaichu (in body)
  
• 20 of 20 bikochu (in body)
  
• 180 of 180 shokaichu (in body)
  
• 150 of 200 kaikochu (in gourd)
  

=====

Jutsu Used:

Secret Technique:

-----

Secret Technique:

=====

XP earned for this post: 15 (10 base for multiplayer + 5 extra from training in the Grand Konoha Training Facility)

(6)

Seeing Nikola get knocked back by his attack, Kiyoshi would instantly pull his puppets the fifty meters back to him, returning them to his side in another quarter of a second. A look of concern would be on his face for fear of having hurt his teammate, when he would see Nikola return to his feet. Kiyoshi would wait this time, as due to the knock back the real Nikola was now out of the sixty-meter range of his chakra strings. He was about to switch threads when he saw the clone break apart and the swarm of bugs coming for him, moving at 45 meters per second they would reach him in just over a second and this he couldn't allow. Activating the smokescreen of his puppet armor, a ten-meter radius around Kiyoshi would be shrouded in a cloud of smoke. He wouldn't stop there; he knew the smoke screen wouldn't stop the bugs. In the same motion that he would activate his smoke screen he would also, activate two techniques, the first his hidden puppet technique on the puppet armor he wore effectively turning himself invisible to the naked eye, while with the second technique he would shoot out a chakra thread that would allow him to swing away from the smoke screen and away from where the bugs were targeting. Having to resign to leaving the Troublesome Trio behind untethered to him, the three would fall limp to the ground still hidden within the smoke screen.

Kiyoshi would swing on the thread to a safe distance to the left of where Nikola was, trying to get some coverage from the trees in the area at the edge of the clearing the other genin was standing. Having left his puppets behind, he would have to bring out his wolf puppets. Touching the two rings that held them he would unseal the twin Wolf puppets, instantly dropping them into their Armadillo mode and commencing their Roll-Out function as they hurtled towards Nikola. Though his Hidden Puppet technique would have hidden his movement to this place the unsealing of the puppets would no doubt draw Nikola's attention to where he was now 60 meters to the man's left as the two wolf puppets would begin to spin at a rapid rate before launching forward towards the man.

---

Starting: 144
Hidden Puppet: -3
Swinging Threads: -3
Unsealing 2 Puppets: -2
Ending: 136

2 Puppets:

Techs:

Notes:

• Bumi/Knives/Mini-mi are still out however do not have chakra threads connected.
  
• Because he is only using 2 puppets and not 3, Kiyoshi does not have the boosted perception from Violet Secret Formation so technique ended.

Current Stats:
Strength: E
Constitution: B
Stamina: B
Speed: C
Coordination: S++
Intelligence: D
Perception: C

Nikola frowned briefly as he saw the field testing of his newly developed Aburame jutsu yielded less than optimal results, but he let it go for the time being since he had more pressing matters that he had to attend to, namely Kiyoshi apparently disappearing behind a smokescreen along with his first trio of puppets and then loosing a duo of what appeared to be lupine puppets which also moved at the same blindingly high velocity as his other three had done before. As if that were not already bad enough, to make things worse, since these were bestial lupine puppets, they managed to trigger his caniphobia rather strongly, freezing him in place with his face and his body language clearly showing what could only be considered as abject terror due to that rather unsavory memory from his long gone childhood where he had been attacked quite viciously and gravely wounded by a pack of stray dogs

Curses!...This again?...Why must I be confronted with such a debilitating stimulus at this sort of critical juncture?...

Nikola thought thus silently as he felt that visceral fear bubbling up and slowly encroaching on his conscious mind. Sadly, due to this, he was unable to even attempt raising a defense, not that it would have helped any since he knew from his previous round of engagement that he did not have anything in his repertoire or arsenal that was even remotely fast enough to guard him. So, he was bowled over yet again and made to take a rather bad fall some paces away from them onto the ground by the B++ force behind the rollout attack that Kiyoshi's wolf puppets now managed to hit him with successfully due to his caniphobia paralyzing him and rendering him helpless against said puppets. This time, however, due to this unfortunate combination of circumstances, the force of the double impact from the wolf puppets ended up not only doing considerable physical damage to him with muscle sprains and bone fractures, albeit to the non-vital areas of his body due to how he fell, but also knocking him out cold completely.

---

OOC:

XP earned for this post: 15 (10 base for multiplayer + 5 extra from training in the Grand Konoha Training Facility)

=====

(7)

Kiyoshi would see the fear in Nikola's eyes, the hesitation. To say the thought of taking advantage of this did not cross his mind would be a lie, however he could not bring himself to do it. Seconds before his puppets would have hit Nikola, a small twitch of Kiyoshi's fingers would cause both puppets to swerve around him. Nikola would feel the wind of the puppets passing by him at high speeds but ultimately be unharmed, Kiyoshi would use this as a distraction for him to reattach his strings to Bumi, Knives, and Mini-mi. He had dropped the threads on the before having feared that the bugs Nikola wielded would use the strings to get to him however it seemed that the bugs weren't interested in the puppets when they weren't attached leaving them open. Keeping the strings on the wolf puppets as well as the troublesome trio would of course slow their speed but not by much, still capable of moving individually at a hundred and seventy-five meters per second. Kiyoshi would pull all five of his puppets back to him, jumping onto the back of one of his Wolf Puppets now back in its normal form. Using it to put another sixty meters between him and Nikola in less than a second, putting a distance of near a hundred and twenty meters between the two men before jumping off of the wolf's back.

From this distance Kiyoshi would not be able to reach Nikola with his puppets, via the typical chakra strings. Switching the technique to his extended threads, this would allow him to control his puppets from further back but he would have to sacrifice some of their speed. With the extended range of his strings and his puppets now only able to move at a hundred meters per second, Kiyoshi would return his focus back to Nikola. Kiyoshi did this for two reasons, one he wanted to see what his friend could do and he wanted to show off more of his techniques. Even with the reduced speed of the puppets, with all five of them now out he had an even larger advantage than he had seconds before. If Kiyoshi was the malicious sort someone might say he was toying with Nikola, however that was not the case. Kiyoshi simply desired to prove he was better than other Shinobi, and the only way to do that is to know the full extent of his opponent and their abilities.

---

Beginning: 136
Extended threads: -3
Violet Secret Formation: -1
Ending: 132

Nikola had fully expected to be knocked out cold by the attack of the twin wolf puppets that Kiyoshi had sent against him, but it seemed that at the last moment, Kiyoshi had decided to relent for some reason, and thus, Nikola found himself shaken from the force of the wind gusts that brushed him from the wolf puppets swerving around him, but he was still conscious despite all that. Furthermore, now that Kiyoshi had withdrawn his two wolf puppets far enough away from him, Nikola could feel that initial fugue of terror brought on by his caniphobia towards bestial dogs and wolves starting to fade to the point that he was back in control of his body and mind once again

Hmm...I wonder why he changed his mind at the last minute as he did, but I am certainly not one to complain about unexpected good fortune coming my way...for as the saying goes, "Do not look a gift horse in the mouth"...now then, my next best move in this spar would be...yes, it would be imperative to employ a defensive measure such as Insect Jar...followed by Insect Cocoon so that I can safely start to replenish my insects...since I do not have any minions to assist me in this situation...

Nikola thought thus silently and while doing so, he developed a plan of action for his next move in this impromptu spar he was now in the middle of having with Kiyoshi. Then, in accordance with that plan, he called out 300 of his remaining kikaichu and activated the Insect Jar Technique which then allowed him to direct these 300 kikaichu to start flying in the shape of a 60 m diameter dome-shaped defensive barrier which revolved around him at B-tier velocity, giving it a max of A-rank in power, meaning it could successfully protect him from any non-Katon jutsu or attack which was below A-rank and from A-rank power/force attacks once while also hopefully concealing him from Kiyoshi's line of sight. Once that was set up, Nikola then went on to flip through the  Ox → Dog → Bird → Ram handsign sequence for the Insect Cocoon jutsu which then encased him in a cocoon made of a beige waxy material that then started to stimulate the remaining kikaichu in his body to reproduce at a much more rapid rate than normal, replenishing his stores of them by 200 per replication round completed by them. Then, he brought out 50 more of his kaikochu from his terrarium and had them on standby on his shoulders again and waited to see what would happen next.

---

OOC:

Nikola's CP Reserves:

• Starting CP: 115 of 135
  
  
• Used CP: 13 (10 for Insect Jar + 3 for Insect Cocoon)
  
  
• Remaining CP: 102 of 135
  

Nikola's Post Actions:

• Activated Insect Jar Technique by using up 300 of remaining kikaichu to form a 60 m diameter dome shaped defensive barrier which revolves at B-tier speeds, giving it A-rank defensive capacity against non-Katon attacks and C-rank defensive capacity against Katon attacks.
  
  
• Activated Insect Cocoon to starting reproducing kikaichu at a rate of 200 per post henceforth, while cancelling the passive 50 per post regeneration.
  
  
• Brought out another 50 kaikochu and directed them to wait on standby mode until further notice. No jutsu used with these yet.
  
  
• Maintaining precognitive analysis on Kiyoshi and his puppets (elapsed posts: 3 of 4)
  

=====

Nikola's Current Insect Reserves:

• 350 of 800 kikaichu (in body, +150 from passive regeneration (for last 3 posts) = 450 - 300 for Insect Jar Technique = 150 left + 200 active regeneration from Insect Cocoon = 350 left, passive regeneration of 50 per post cancelled until further notice)
  
  
• 20 of 20 bikochu (in body)
  
  
• 180 of 180 shokaichu (in body)
  
  
• 150 of 200 kaikochu (in gourd)
  

=====

Jutsu Used:

Insect Jar:

-----

Insect Cocoon:

=====

XP earned for this post: 15 (10 base for multiplayer + 5 extra from training in the Grand Konoha Training Facility)

(8)

Kiyoshi would watch as Nikola formed a defensive barrier of bugs around himself, suddenly thinking that perhaps he shouldn't have lightened up and took the advantage when he had it. There would be no way for him to get around those bugs with his puppets now, if he got to close then the bugs could use his strings to get to him. He had to play it smart, so for now he would keep his distance with his puppets so that he would not need to worry about the bugs getting to his puppets. He would fire off a few Kunai from Mini-mi's launcher, but due to the speed the bugs were moving the kunai was swept away in the spinning vortex of the bugs. Kiyoshi suddenly wished that he had a puppet that had a way of dealing with bugs like this, but for now he would simply have to wait for the technique to end or at the very least see some kind of opening that he could possibly exploit. Positioning his puppets in a wide arc around the dome forming a half circle, keeping the puppets at a minimum of 60 meters away from the dome of bugs with a little distance between them as well in case Nikola decided to attack. This would keep his puppets from being all grouped up together and easy targets, as he waited to see what Nikola was going to do next.

Fortunately, due to the preparations he had made mere moments earlier, Nikola was able to live through Kiyoshi's next attack which was a kunai barrage from one of the five puppets that he had active at the moment since this barrage simply got swept up in the Insect Jar's rotating defensive barrier, leaving Nikola unscathed

So...I do have some counter against those puppets of his, eh?...That is most excellent to learn from this encounter...now then...

Nikola thought silently with a neutral expression on his face as he pondered the situation and what to do next in this spar he was having with Kiyoshi. Sadly, the continuance of their impromptu spar was immediately cut short when Nikola noticed a swarm of Aburame insects heading towards him, and these were ones he recognized as being from the hives of his parents and family within the Aburame clan and realized that they were calling him away to attend to some matter of utmost importance from the size of the incoming swarm and their frenzied buzzing. So, he quickly came to a decision on what to do next and to that end, he dropped his Insect Jar and Insect Cocoon jutsu that he had active currently and then, once he was back within view, he called out to Kiyoshi to let him know about the clan emergency and the fact that he had to leave abruptly while also letting him know that he was submitting himself as the loser of this spar of theirs and that Kiyoshi had won against him handily.

Now with that done...ah, yes, there is still that one remaining matter of the financial payments that I have to make to Kiyoshi for the Zip-Board...so in that case...

Nikola thought silently and then ended his communique to Kiyoshi with an invite for him to come to the Konoha Credit Union so that Nikola could transfer the funds to him as per the agreement that they had made today. Once all that was over, Nikola bade farewell to Kiyoshi and then, he took his leave of him, with the intent being to head over to the Konoha Credit Union as per his plan.

---

OOC:

(9)

(NIKOLA'S EXIT --> KONOHA CREDIT UNION)

Kiyoshi would let out a disappointed sigh when Nikola called an end to their spar, he had been looking forward to testing his puppets against the bugs the man had to fight with, but it would seem as though that would have to wait for another time. Kiyoshi would pull all five of his puppets back to him, sealing them away within his rings one by one before unsealing his Zip-Board once more and mounting it as it hovered above the ground. Once he was on his board Kiyoshi would use it to follow Nikola to the credit Union to receive the money from Nikola for his Zip-Board, though he was surprised to see the amount that Nikola gave him as it far exceeded the amount that they had discussed, however he was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth so he accepted it and said goodbye to Nikola as he headed home to continue his work.

{Exit Thread}