Day 2 Encounter! Team 2 vs ???

Spoiler:

Lily and Hisha had found an exit from the maze, luckily enough. Having survived that, they find themselves in a lush Oasis. Many had already found some respite at this particular biome of the exams. As they enter the area, the Duo finds that they had stumbled onto the aftermath of a battle having taken place in this location.

Several trees had been scorched and were still showcasing some burning embers. The hotsprings around had trails of water from them, indicating they were used as the basis of some suiton Jutsu. Several rocks jutted out randomly, and two heavily injured genin lay at the base of a tree, either asleep or unconscious. One held an unopened bag tightly in his arms.

The genin had some wounds and were still drenched in water, 2 large puddles of water within 4 meters of the bodies. The scene told that a recent battle had gone off, and that these genin must have had a hard fought battle.

Lily was getting really tired of this mess of a labyrinth maze thingie for this test. At first it was kind of fun, sure, but as time went on she was just getting plain old tired. Maybe it was because she wasn't used to fighting for so long, which she doubted. Maybe it was because she wasn't really able to fight much against proper human opponents and had to stick to animals during the jungle, which felt more likely. Maybe it was because her partner, for as good as a fighter as they were, seemed to have something about him that was keeping him from accepting reality. Maybe it was because the death of the marshmallow woman Innocence actually was getting to her. Even if she wasn't the one to kill her, it just seemed to linger in her mind.

Why Kit-Kit...no, why did Kitsuki ever had to close the Pits and show Lily just how big the world was? Did she not realize that kindness could be used like a weapon in such a way? That perhaps it was better to have just left the Pits alone and let Lily be ignorant? Her mind wandered back to her talk with the Shabnak Jaakuna and how she killed bad people. How things had become a lot more gray instead of the black and white she was oh so used to. Stupid emotions and thoughts.

As she munched on one of the protein bars from the fallen Innocence , her mental pity train would get put on hold as the scenery changed. The dull, mind-bending maze that gave her headaches would transition into something a lot nicer; trees, water, food. While they hadn't gone through all of their rations, they did go through a lot more then she would have liked. Even so, she couldn't let her guard down. Thrice now she herself had run into other teams, and given that they still needed another scroll that number would have to go up to four eventually. A part of her was a little worried; would they get someone killed again? Clearly the proctor wasn't happy, and while Lily did want to sate her desire for blood; it was currently tempered. She had shown control against the purple and red eyed genin by using the back of her current blade. She could have killed the purple eye'd one. She could have made another Innocence.

Hopefully Number 43 got the message and would drop out. He was too in over his head. And as she'd keep moving forward that same thought would occur as she'd see signs of battle: Embers, displaced liquids, rocks that had little signs of being stationary. Without even thinking her right hand was hovering over the katana, The Child listening for anything that could be a sign of life as her steps became even lighter. No need to give away her position through footsteps after all.

It wouldn't take her very long to notice the two Genin at the base of the tree however, being on edge as she was. Holding her non-sword hand up and motioning to Hisha (unless he had spotted them first and motioned to her instead) she'd indicate the two's position and begin talking in handsign. "Two people in sight, possible trap. How to proceed?" The obvious answer was the move forward and simply take the bag they held, but since seeing Innocence's attempt to travel through the floor, she was hesitant to simply do such an act. She had already met the team of three, but if people had their scrolls teaming up wasn't out of the question. There could be hidden allies in the tree, in the ground, in the very water itself. And as much as Hisha seemed to be a bit out of it, he understood wat-Suiton better then she did and could better track hidden opponents better then she could.

Hopefully this time he wouldn't kill any of them; heels in this competition as they were now, she didn't need to find out if that red-eyed proctor would punish them. She just wanted this encounter to be over quickly so she could move on and not have to think about the consequences of this Exam anymore.

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The deets:

23
The maze had come to an abrupt end, and while he felt a slight temptation to feel some level of accomplishment for his various calculations coming out correct, something stole the thrill from him. Probably that he still felt a weight pulling on him from his lackluster sleep and that, despite his increased stamina from the protein bar, a thin film of exhaustion still clung to him. He still tried to keep himself vigilant, both through his various information gathering sources and his bird, but the sudden shift again to the forest caught him momentarily off guard. He’d though they were headed to the middle of the maze, not an exit, but he quickly realized that this well could be the middle. The maze – and the whole of the arena – really messed with his otherwise sharp senses.

 

As he scanned the farther horizons and probed deeper into the forest via his thermal vision, he snapped to as Lily paused, signing to him about a possible trap. He’d seen no active indicators of a fire, though the smoldering embers indicated one had either just burnt out or some attack had taken place. Katon perhaps? His body immediately tensed, regardless of his limited physical prowess as compared to his partner, and his mind began working again in overdrive. A wavering, blurry effect passed him for a brief moment, his grip on himself already starting to slip without his even realizing. He maintained himself though, evaluating the scene. Caution he quickly signed with one hand as his other formed a single seal, silently forming a clone before him. It seemed too good to be true, though there were other possibilities. It felt like a trap, though the exact nature of which he could not yet identify. Alternatively, it could be that these two had both gone to bed after a fight, foolishly not establishing shifts for their rest. Finally, they may be as unconscious as they seemed, their scroll and goods looted, left with only the dregs of battle at this point. In that case, it seemed most prudent to avoid them, though there was no way to really know. Regardless, his clone would spawn a second a moment after its birth as his main body gave yet another scan of the terrain with this thermals, though the still-glowing embers threw up some interference. For now, he felt no sensory eyes upon him, which seemed good.

 

Adzuki, flitting for branch to branch now, would soar up higher, alighting on a tall tree some 20 meters above the bodies. He took a step back, leaving a solid 15 meters between him and the corpses, allowing one of his clones to step a touch forward standing at 10, while the third moved a hare back, putting 20 meters between itself and the bodies but also distancing from Lily, arcing around the remains of the battle to Hisha’s right, getting a better vantage and climbing into the bulging roots of another tree. The convolutions created by the prior battle with earth release users made him reluctant to remain fully on the ground. As the clones shifted around, he contemplated a few avenues of exploration or attack. They were in the perfect position to launch a non-lethal but fully incapacitating attack on these two, but he also had gotten a bit of a sense that his snapping fingers had not only caused much of the drama from the last fight but had also upset his partner. She’d seemed agitated after and about it, so he hesitated to actually do much of anything. A well-placed projectile could quickly cripple them without death, but so could any number of his genjutsu, though they would create some kind of sonic or visual indicator in most cases, and he did not want to upset her or trip something. His mind flashed through a few potential barriers and he withdrew another nail from his pouch, signing again with the other.

 

Use clones. Probably trap, don’t know what. He completed with a quick chop, indicating that beyond his suggestion that she protect herself with a clone, she was clear to attack. He had his launcher ready, as did either clone, and his main body preemptively cycled a bit of chakra in anticipation of a possible trap springing, ready both to move out of the way or cast his spell should the need arise. He figured that should this be either an abandoned site of two incapacitated and useless combatants or should they exert excessive precautions on some ill-prepared genin that the two might feel a touch embarrassed, but it was a better possibility than being caught unawares. Belatedly, he thought it could be a trap not from the proctors, but from another group. That would at least help with finding one of the scrolls they needed. If Lily should engage, he would not only be poised to support in multiple ways, but would specifically have either his nail or launcher read to loose into the unsuspecting bodies at a moment’s notice.

 

Analyzing bodies 1/2

 

Chakra and Such:

(a very, very long awaited 48hr skip)

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Lily patiently waited for her ally to reply, and after a tense moment of worrying that he'd jump the gun...he had a pretty reasonable idea of using clones. Giving a small nod back, she'd preform the Tiger sign and one Lily became four Lilys. In sync the three copies Lilys would draw the katana out of it's sheath and squat down to make their approach, using the tried and true method of being a very dexterous person to quietly approach while Lily Prime stayed back. They had to get this right, just get the scroll, make sure the duo can't follow, and leave.

God she hoped that this time she'd be stealthy enough, they didn't need a repeat of Number 31.

Slowly the trio would approach by sidestepping, watching the surrounding area for ways to hide what little sound she'd make that even she wasn't able to fully pick up on. Thankfully the ground was dirt, so that alone would muffle their steps, and given the dying embers & small streams of water those would be able to hide even more sound. Each would step down on their toes, then roll the foot back to their heels so as to not disturb too much of the battlefield remnants before lifting their other foot up and crossing one leg over the other; the process continuing again and again. They wouldn't rush it, unlike...the others, they had time on their side.

Eventually though they'd have to arrive at the water. The odds were low, Lily knew they had to be low, but the clones would point the tip of their katanas as the puddles while they began to walk over the puddles with the water-walking technique; each miniature ripple heartpounding. They knew cutting would be useless, but perhaps they could cut fast enough to split water for a second to escape if there were water people hiding in the water. By the sage she hoped that there weren't people in the water.

Should the three clones pass the puddles unbothered, they'd reach the seemingly sleeping duo. Carefully Clone 1 and Clone 2 would move up to bring their blades to their necks, blade side facing towards their skin. It was a decision she didn't make lightly, risking them slicing their own throats, but both clones saw little other choice. Holding their hands could possibly poof them, and no other place on the body would elicit them to comply in case they became conscious. It wasn't even fun, it was just work, effort, whatever. Their free hands of course were hovering in front of their hostages eyes while their own focus was on the bodies, especially the hands, just in case the tired shinobi acted.

Once the duo had their blades in place, it was Clone 3's time to shine and made their move. Lining up the tip of the katana blade carefully alongside their free hand, they'd cut the of the bag open by taking some of the loose bit of bag and slicing it open with the blade so as not to damage the scroll or proctor kunai inside. With the bag open, they'd reach in and pull out the contents.

Should the proctor kunai be in there, the Clone would gently set it down, pressing the tip into the dirt so it stood up for them to wake up to as an indicator to (hopefully) quit, or at least make it easier for a proctor to pick them up. Should the scrolls be in there, the Clone would pocket the scroll. Anything else they'd pocket for possible use for the rest of the maze. Once they had gone through the bag, Clone 3 would retreat back to Lily Prime while the other two clones waited.

If everything went to plan and Clone 3 returned with the scroll, she'd nod to Hisha and move to retreat back a little bit so as not to disturb the duo, then circle around and continue the hunt for the finish line of this accursed maze, letting the third Clone be dismissed after a dozen or so meters while the other two waited for a short bit to let Lily get some distance, then walking in the direction perpendicular to their planned route with deliberate effort to throw them off of Team 2's trail and eventually poof once they left Lily's range.

Just once. Just this once she would try to solve a possible fight without anyone coming to harm.
Kitsuki would probably be proud.

{Exit if Scroll is acquired from other Team}

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The deets: