Gearbox and the Golden Flower

Kiyoshi would move through the village at a rapid pace as he rode his Zip-Board down the street towards the Grand Konoha Training Facility, his hard work was about to pay off. He was still having complications with Goliath, but that was to be expected when working on a masterpiece of art such as the puppet was. This setback did not stop Kiyoshi however, he continued to make puppets and even upgraded one of his orginal puppets, Mini-mi. He has plans of upgrading his puppet armor, but for now they were just that, plans. Kiyoshi had a long road ahead of him, and a lot of work that he had to do to get everything done. Still with the completion of the upgrade to Mini-mi, and the completion of the other three new puppets, Kiyoshi felt that it was time to do some trial runs with them. Sealing his Zip-Board into his empty ring, Kiyoshi would walk through the doors of the grand konoha training facility. Walking up to the desk clerk and requesting a room for him to do some training in. Getting the room, Kiyoshi would make his way down the hall to the elevator, riding it all the way up to the tenth floor before disembarking it and heading down another long hallway to the room at the far end of the floor. Opening the door, Kiyoshi would once again marvel at the master craftsmanship that went into the creation of a building such as this, it was truly a wonder to behold and each time he entered the building it would seem to take his breath away. Each time he was given a different room and each time the room would be more wonderous than the last, it was as if he was working his way up through the beauty of the architecture. He doubted that many took the time to appreciate such craftsmanship, but he did. After all he aspired to be a craftsman better than the man that built this, and if he was going to do that he was going to have to keep working at it. Once he was in the room Kiyoshi would move towards the center of the room before unsealing the new and improved Mini-mi, his miniature double. Though it looked completely the same as it did originally, at least on the outside with its appearance looking like Kiyoshi, on the inside it was like a brand new puppet. The original Kunai launcher removed and replaced with smaller work so that it could hold more weapons, even the outside of the puppet was technically different even if it looked the same. Now made out of harder materials so that it was much more durable. Kiyoshi would attach his chakra strings to the little puppet and begin moving it around, activating some of its functions as he test its abilities with the new weapons, though he would not be able to test all the functions just yet, he was able to test enough that he felt confident in his construction of the puppet and felt that it would hold up to combat.

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Training "New Upgraded" Mini-mi (B-Rank Puppet) 500/500

Hanabi looked up to the elevator ceiling, sighing and waiting for the top of the floor. It seemed to be her favorite place to train anything but right now she only had one thing to train but it would seem as though she gained more insight here, no matter the training she did. When the elevator dinged, she would step out, one foot in front of the other, her swords on her thigh and one on her back. Hanabi dressed in her new black and gold attire to match a wonderful Gold Flower that seemed to be in the shape of a necklace, accompanied by a ring that remained laying next to it. Her amber eyes winced from the light when stepping out, making her blink a few times before her vision came back. In the distance, Hanabi had seen a fellow that she hadn’t recognized, peaking her interest, with her movement getting closer to him. She would raise her hand to wave at the red hair fellows each step making her bell jingle that was on the hilt of her sword. It came in handy as she always carried her swords around which made them quite tiring sometimes. Maybe there was something she could do to help that. The thought passed when she finally showed up close enough to Kiyoshi and offered a hand shake. “Yo. I don’t think I’ve seen you around. I’m Hanabi. You are?” She would ask with a smile on her face. Whether Kiyoshi told her his name or not, she would glance to the puppet he had out and try and get closer to it. “Hey this is pretty cool. Do you make stuff a lot? Like weapons and all?” She asked while looking at the puppet from a distance, walking around it. Not knowing Kiyoshi at all and whether or not he was here wanting to spar, she decided not to try and do anything unless Kiyoshi wanted to try something out, in which she would agree to for the purpose of training a particular Jutsu she had come up with. Golden flowers were her aesthetic, her name partially even meaning Flower. It was destiny i suppose. Hanabi’s amber eyes would look to Kiyoshi for a moment and cock her head to the side. “So you training?”

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Potential Jutsu being Trained:

Name: Secret Technique: Underworld
Rank: S
Power: S
Activation Cost: 30
Upkeep Cost: 20
Range: 200m
Speed: Instant
Element: N/A
Skill: Genjutsu
Classification: Secret
Requirements: Genjutsu, Tomoe 3
Parent Technique: Genjutsu: Sharingan
Hand Seals: Finger Snap (tell/sign)
Description: When Hanabi snaps her fingers, the afflicted opponents fall below the ground, slipping into a Life or Death state called Limbo. The opponents feel as though they cannot breathe, speak or see, let alone hear. They are left in complete darkness, suffocating on whatever air they had left from the world above. This deals S rank psychological damage upon the first post within the Genjutsu and the pain lasts until it’s over. When the opponents escape or are released from this Genjutsu, they will feel their body hit the ground as if they dropped from 10 feet in the air, causing some bruising but nothing major. This Genjutsu takes 2 posts to set in and lasts 2. They will feel like they’re are short of breath if they are in the Genjutsu for the full amount of times losing -1 and 2 (—) tier(s) to stamina.
Weaknesses: Genjutsu Kai, Certain Dojutsu’s.

Kiyoshi would unseal the other three puppets that he brought with him today as he was testing out the improved Mini-mi, he had his other puppets still sealed away, there was no need for them to be out. Today was about him testing out his next creations, ensuring that they all worked properly before he got into a real fight. The last thing that he needed was to get into a fight and one of his creations to malfunction or something, everything had to be perfect, otherwise this would all be a huge waste of both time and effort. That is all there was to it in Kiyoshi's eyes, perfection or failure, and for him to continue to be a shinobi his form with these puppets had to be perfect.

Kiyoshi was just finishing up with testing Mini-mi's new functions when he would hear the voice of a woman behind him, it wasn't a voice that he recognized and when he turned to face it, he was met with the image of a woman he did not know. "Uh.. Kiyoshi, nice to meet you." Kiyoshi replied as the woman introduced herself, though it would seem her attention was quickly taken by Mini-mi. The fact that she showed interest in the puppet would cause Kiyoshi to smile, he always liked when people took notice of his crafts. Kiyoshi couldn't help but chuckle at Hanabi's question of if he made other stuff, and one of his fingers would twitch causing his puppet Yami to spring to life and move forward closer to Hanabi. This movement would not be fast as he did not want her to feel threatened or that he was trying to attack her with it or something like that. He would stop the puppet a few meters away from her before causing the puppet to lift its arms up with it's palms facing it, revealing its hands to her. Its fingers, each small blades the size of a tanto. "You mean like these?" Kiyoshi would asking in a questionably sarcastic tone in his attempt to ask it in a jokingly manner. He would then pull out his ebony tanto that was stored on the back of the belt of his puppet armor, "to answer your question, yes I make other stuff too." Kiyoshi would state with a smile as he held out the tanto for the woman to inspect. The blade the most recent thing he had forged, and he wouldn't turn down the chance to show off his craftsmanship to a potential customer.

"I mostly make puppets for myself as I enjoy the company," Kiyoshi would continue in his attempt at humor, though it would likely sound awkward. "I make other things from time to time, or if someone asks me to make them something. I can craft pretty much anything, weapons, armor, little gadgets and other ninja tools. Just been trying to save up the ryo for a shop really, though I am not doing such a good job at that as I keep spending my ryo on these guys." Kiyoshi would laugh slighly as he finished his comment. Kiyoshi had been so lost in talking about his crafting that he forgot she asked about him being there for training, though as he laughed the question returned to his mind. "Oh, right. I came up here to get a little practice in with these guys." he said motioning to his other puppets that rested idle behin him. "I guess you could call that training." Kiyoshi would then look down at the blades that rested on the woman's belt, "What about you?"

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Trained B-Rank Puppet: Yami (500/500)

Hanabi’s eyes sparkled when Kiyoshi brought Yami out, inspecting the tanto fingers and then her gaze going to Kiyoshi, holding a tanto out for her to inspect. “I see..” she would grab hold of the tanto and quickly make a few slices with it. “Nice and sharp. Easy to use. I’d say you got a knack for making things, yeah?” She would tilt her head and smile, her necklace moving just a bit and the ring next to it shining. “Puppets too, yeah? I guess they could be your specialty..” She would crouch down to Mini-mi and inspect it a bit closer. As Kiyoshi would explain that he made other neat things such as gadgets and weapons, Hanabi’s head would turn to look at him. “Well I guess you got yourself a new customer.” A smile remained on her face, her hands quickly coming together as they clapped. “Hey! Since you’re training, can I try something?” Hanabi would appear closer to Kiyoshi, asking a quick question. “I’d like to test to see if my Genjutsu will affect puppets, if that’s okay.” She closed her hand, making a fist and giving a determined expression to Kiyoshi. “I have a Genjutsu that isn’t harmful, neither will it affect them horribly. Ive used it once but I want to confirm my suspicion or not. Even if you get caught by it, it shouldn’t last for very long.” Her eyes showed honesty and she was really trying to see if Genjutsu’s would work on puppets, either if it would affect them differently or would it affect them the same way as humans. It may not be such a smart idea but it was something to try. She didn’t understand Genjutsu when it came to non animate objects or at least things that didn’t have a soul so she wanted to attempt it. Still she waited for Kiyoshi’s final answer, she would insist on him looking at the flower on her necklace, accompanied by the ring. “Hey what do you think of this necklace. Is it too much?”

Watching Hanabi with the tanto, as well as seeing the blades on her hip and back, it was easy for Kiyoshi to assume that she was a sword user. He wondered if maybe he could convince her of allowing him to make her some swords to advertise his work, but it seemed she had thoughts of her own. It would be hard for Kiyoshi to hide his smile when Hanabi said he would have a new customer, it was as if she had read his mind or at the very least had similar thoughts to his. Kiyoshi would smile in curiousity at her question of wanting to try something, though the smile quickly became one of slight concern with her following question. Thinking to himself that there was no way that she was serious and was simply trying to pull his leg, surely a genjutsu user knew how genjutsu worked or at least they should. His smile would turn to that of a slightly quizzical stare, at his side his fingers would begin to twitch as he brought Chitora forward and pulled Yami back next to Mini-mi and Kenro. "You do understand that they are not real right? They don't work like me or you, they are just tools no different than a sword." Kiyoshi would stop for a second as if thinking about what it was that he was saying, "well slightly different than a sword," he would add with a chuckle.

Kiyoshi would take a slow deliberate breath, as he collected his thoughts and tried to find the right words for him to explain to Hanabi what he was trying to say. Twitching another finger causing Chitora's torso to open to reveal its hollow inside, "you see they are just tools. I control them with my chakra, but they are no more than simple... Well, I take that back. They are no more than complicated weapons, or rather mixture of various weapons that I can manipulate, does that make sense?" Kiyoshi would ask, watching her face the whole time that he was talking to judge her reactions to see if she understood what it was that he was saying. "For instance, this puppet here is Chitora. I designed it to be more of a containment unit to trap targets, Yami the one before is more for attacking hence the blades. Another big difference in the two of them is that Yami is made of metal and Yami of wood, but as you can see." Kiyoshi would twitch his finger causing Chitora to slightly twist side to side giving Hanabi a clear view of the hollow puppet, "the puppets don't have their own chakra for the genjutsu to effect. Of course, your technique could always effect me, and then by proxy the puppets as I would not be able to make full use of them or at least I doubt I would be able to make full use of them while under a genjutsu." Kiyoshi would look upward before looking back to Hanabi, "tell you what. I am going to let you in on a secret, but don't tell everyone. In combat with a puppet user, it is best to get past the puppet and get to the user. If you stay on top of the puppet user, its less likely their puppets will be able to get to you."

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Trained B-Rank Puppet: Chitora (500/500)

Hanabi’s eyes remained on the puppets, listening to Kiyoshi’s words clearly. It was kind of a dumb question but she hadn’t been around a puppet user at all, so she had no idea how they worked. Hanabi’s eyes looked up to Kiyoshi, pulling her sword out as she stood up and swinging it lightly, extending her arm out and keeping a very small distance from the tip of the blade to Kiyoshi’s chin. “Like this?” If that were to happen, she’d make a small smile and lower her sword and sheathe it, giving a tilted headed smile. Hanabi looked around and then back to Kiyoshi. “Hey. Think you can make me some weapons? I don’t have the money but when I do, I can definitely get it for you! Unless you want a deposit now to ensure the rest of the money.” She would ask while placing a hand on her hip. “I’m a Kenjutsu user so I like to have my advantages in close battle if I can..” Hanabi explained. If Kiyoshi were to accept her request, she’d explain what swords she’d like or at least the general idea and Kiyoshi could take away from that. “And if you could, try and put like a gold flower on the sheathe or something. I’m trying to make it like my signature or something…” She chuckled to Kiyoshi, before her attention was grabbed by the puppets again.

Kiyoshi would smile at Hanabi as she pointed her sword a few inches away from his chin, his eyes looking from hers to down lower on her body. If she were to look down she would see that a small scorpion tail-like blade was mere inches from abdomen, Kiyoshi's eyes would then drift to over the woman's shoulders where both mini-mi and Yami stood with their blades a few inches from her back. A small almost inaudible ringing would be heard coming from Kenro, the puppet that he had not displayed yet. It was more than close enough to cause some discomfort as well as mess with her coordination with the blade, and while Chitora was still behind Kiyoshi, it's mouth was open with its Kunai launcher pointed at her ready to fire as well. This would of all happened in a matter of a few seconds, when she first unsheathed her sword, his fingers would twitch unnoticed by the female so much so that as soon as she did point the sword at him his puppets would move into position near instantaneously at 200m/s and his scorpion tail moving at the same speed. Ensuring that it stopped the proper distance away that it would only pierce into her if her blade was within the range of hitting him, "it's more than just blades that I can make, and I don't like weapons pointed in my face." Kiyoshi would reply as the woman sheathed her sword and he withdrew his puppets and the scorpion tail, Chitora's mouth would close however the ringing would persist as if to show his annoyance at her pointing a weapon in his face. Though after a moment it would subside, likely due to the woman's mention of him making weapons for her. "Well, I am not exactly rolling in Ryo. So, it would all depend on what it is that you are wanting. Depending on how much it would cost would determine if I need the payment before or after." Kiyoshi would reply with a smile, he could make her some powerful blades, but it depended on what she wanted from those blades that would determine their cost. Kiyoshi would chuckle slightly at her comment about the flower his eye looking to her necklace, "I see that, Hanabi the Golden Flower has a nice ring to it if I say so myself, considering your eyes match the necklace as well. I can add any decorations that you would like to it, but what kind of blades are you wanting?" Once he figured out what kind of blades she was wanting and what she was wanting to be able to do with them, he could determine a price for them and be able to give her at least an estimated price as it would also depend on the number of weapons that she was wanting to buy from him. Though she seemed far too ditzy for him to try and take advantage of her in the pricing, he was far to nice to take advantage of the naive.

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Trained B-Rank Puppet: Kenro (500/500)

With the scorpion ready to launch and his puppets ready to attack, she should’ve known to keep a close eye on him. “Quick.. and scary..” She then sheathed her sword and continued on with her words. Hanabi nodded to Kiyoshi and thanked him for hearing her out. She would look at the puppets a bit more before standing up and beginning to walk towards Kiyoshi again and held out a hand to give him a handshake. She had done business with him and she would give him the sum of money some way or another. “You’ve got yourself a customer. Thanks.” Upon shaking hands, her eyes would quickly swirl, flashing into a three tomoe and giving Kiyoshi a quickly friendly wink. “Thanks for the nickname. I’ll be sure to use it in the future.” She would close her eyes briefly and opened them again, her eyes back to normal. “See ya then!”


[exit]

Kiyoshi would explain to Hanabi what it is that he could do with making her blades, and once they came to an agreement as to what it was that she was looking for, he was able to set the price of the items and with that they would shake hands and Hanabi would leave. He didn't know how long it would take her to come up with 1 million ryo, but he also did not know how much money the clans like hers had. For all he knew a million ryo could be a harsh price and they wouldn't be able to help her, or they could be rich and a million ryo was nothing to worry about for them either way. He would explain to her that he would need time to make the items and though he wouldn't make her leave a deposit, he also stated that he would not hand the items over until he received the ryo. If she didn't get him the ryo, he was sure that he could find other for his creations. Though he had planned to train longer the conversation with Hanabi would leave Kiyoshi's mind flooding with ideas and he could no longer focus on his training and wished to return to his crafting, even just drawing out the design in which he discussed with hanabi.

Exit Thread