Desert or Dessert?

Shin looked back over his shoulder at the gates of the village. After long and hard deliberation, he had decided it would be in his best interests to leave the life of a shinobi and pursue his own goals away from the village that sees fit to persecute and target him over his beliefs. He wouldn't stand idly by as they spit on his religion and attacked him for his values. He had turned in his ANBU mask and shinobi I.D. to the acting council as there was still no decided Kazekage in the village as of yet. They had let him go simply because he had no important knowledge. He, due to his unique skills and abilities, was kept out of the loop on anything important. They used him to take care of their suicide missions and things that no other shinobi could handle without dying. So, he had no valued information about the village, nothing more than what their bingo books revealed or other village spies would be able to uncover should they enter the village at all. He knew little more than the average chuunin, but it was his abilities that afforded him the position of ANBU, not his knowledge. He was nearly three hundred meters from the gates now, having left his house empty, his belongings sealed away on his person, he didn't know where he would go, but he would find somewhere to belong. 

[Leaving Sunagakure, in 48 hours im successful]

With a burst of sand, Kozura would land in front of the village after a (really really) long jump. One might say that her physical abilities were now quite superhuman. She certainly didn't feel that way, though. Still a long ways to go before she caught up with the First Elder of her tribe. Then she'd be ready to go into the Sacred Land, become fertile, and prepare to reform the tribe. So much to do with so little time, though the occasional interruption was welcome. Speaking of interruptions, there was this fellow just wandering out of the gate. She recognized him as one of the village's operatives... so what was he doing here, without his headband? Something didn't smell right to her.

"You there! Stop and state your business." Obviously, the intent here was to ask the man what he was doing leaving the village. She'd been away for a few hours, so she didn't quite know what the whole deal with this guy was, but if he was going to desert them, he was gonna get his just desserts for sure. People who lost their loyalty to the village and left were frequently not equipped to survive the world outside.

Shin supposed he couldn’t count on his luck to be good enough to avoid coming across another Shinobi. Though he supposed he was no longer a Shinobi, so it was just bad luck. Looking over at the young girl that had called out to him, he figured she looked to be a Genin, but she carried herself with confidence and a level of power similar to most jōnin. He would need to be careful here. “No business here Shinobi-chan! Just a civilian leaving for some much needed vacation.” He would produce the relevant documentation such as his civilian-veteran card. No need to be rude to the girl just yet. “I’m just heading to a sacred temple in fire country on a bit of a religious sabbatical.” He was watching her closely, ready to react in a moment should she try to attack him, but he had given no real reason for such a thing to happen just yet. He studied the girl closely, she seemed thin and wiry, but held herself in a very controlled manner, showing great control over her own body. Something that many didn’t have, and those that did were powerful. He wouldn’t hold back, but he also wouldn’t try to kill her, she was simply doing her job.

A veteran? So he'd decided to leave the shinobi life after all? Pathetic. Still, she was sure that he had his reasons. Nevertheless, she still couldn't verify if he was telling the truth about his destination.

"Without the necessary papers? Come, now. You may not be a deserter, but you seem woefully unprepared for what's out there." She doubted that he thought she had much credibility. After all, all he saw before him was a slip of a girl. Dammit, she needed to go through her adulthood ceremony soon, but only with the kage's permission. Oh well, it wasn't a situation she had control of.

Nevertheless, she had a duty to perform, after a fashion.

"Whatever. I'll let you out, but only if you can prove to me that you've got what it takes to survive out there, beyond the desert." She clenched her fist, and a red aura blossomed around her arm. "Otherwise, I might as well kill you right here; wouldn't make a difference." If he was searching for death, Kozura could show him how easily his search could end. Well, she didn't really want to kill him, but she had to impress upon him the recklessness of his actions.

Shin looked down at the girl, it was painfully obvious now that she had doubts in his abilities and much less faith that he would survive on his own in the desert. “Well, it’s clear you are itching for a fight, and, if it’s the only way you’ll grant me passage, I will humor you.” He would lower himself into a stance he had all but perfected, to a trained eye, it looked full of openings and exploitable areas. That was the goal, to lull his opponents into a false sense of control and hope, draw them in. Though, he wasn’t much of a close range fighter, he would need to get up close with the girl to figure her out. At the moment, the two were still around 20 meters apart, but it wasn’t too early to begin his preparations, without any given tells, he would begin forming iron sand below the surface of the desert, just a contingency. He wouldn’t be fooled by her small stature or lack of obvious strength, he was too experienced for that. Once he was fully in his stance, he would motion to the girl in the classic ‘bring it on’ motion. “Whenever you are ready.”

Chakra: 1,510/1,580

Jutsu Used:

The second he began moving in order to form some kind of pathetic combat stance, Kozura would sigh inwardly. Was he really insulting her like this? If you were going to fight, just use your strongest move first, dammit! Oh, well. If he wanted to take it easy, he'd just have to suffer the consequences. With naught but a pulse of chakra, invisible to the naked eye, the sand around them would transmute into searing-hot lava for 100 meters around Kozura, the liquid mineral bubbling and tinging the surroundings with a red-orange glow. While certainly not Kozura's strongest move either, it was a REALLY big attack.

This jutsu being performed before Shin could finish lowering himself into a stance, there would no longer be any sand within any decent distance of her to turn into iron sand, though she had no way of knowing that. Maybe he'd be able to form some at the edge of her radius for about 20 meters, but given the distance, it probably wasn't a good idea to waste chakra on it.

Minutiae aside, Kozura was operating the Water Walking technique in order to stay on top of the lava. Naturally, because she was immune to the effects of the Yonbi's lava, her already-bare feet would not be affected by the lava in any way. She certainly couldn't say the same, however, for Shin.

Don't disappoint me she thought, as the lava around him in an approximately 5 meter radius would rise immediately after turning into lava from sand, and attempt to envelop him entirely. She was sure he had some way to avoid it. If he didn't, then he certainly didn't deserve to leave the village in the first place.

Chakra: 4907/5040

Jutsu Used:

The moment he would begin to get into a stance, his opponent would send a pulse of her chakra into the ground, the sand almost instantly transmuting into hot, boiling lava. Shin was quick on his feet, or off of them rather, as he lifted into the air, using his control over his cape to enable flight. He was lucky to have done so, as the lava beneath him rose in an attempt to envelope him. It seemed his opponent had no care to ease into this, so he wouldn't either. He would form a handsign, causing dark rainclouds to form over their head. Not a moment later, it would begin pouring blood in a rainstorm. The red liquid pelting the lava covering the ground and sizzling into nonexistance. This would not be an easy fight it would seem, as the young girl was clearly immune to her own jutsu, so he would have to fight from this distance. Aiming his hand at the slim girl, he would fire five thin streams of blood at his opponent moving with 100 speed and strength. He wondered how much punishment her body could take, she was obviously a tough one after all.

Chakra: 1,380/1,580

Jutsu Used:

She noted with chagrin that the sticky lava had only managed to take the man's boots. Still, she didn't need to maintain control over the lava around it. It would just sit there for a VERY long time, still hot and deadly to anyone except her. However, she had other things on her mind, she thought to herself as she maintained her position using the surface walking technique. It looked like this guy had some amount of air maneuverability, which was unfortunate. Still, there was no prey she could not hunt. As he began to rise into the air, a red cloak of chakra would surround Kozura. She wouldn't honor this man with an ounce of her own power. The monkey's, however, would suffice. Raising her arms, which now looked molten themselves (a motion that would be finished right before Shin began to perform his handsign), Kozura would fire a variety of twenty lava fist projectiles, two each directed at each of Shin's limbs, one at his head, four at his torso, and the remaining seven in the air around him, making dodging in any direction (except maybe backwards, if he was fast enough) non-viable.

Should Shin continue to form the clouds and cast his jutsu, he'd find himself in quite a bad situation, what with the 200 power and speed fists of molten lava coming at him. Still, she was still sure he could defend himself from attack of such low strength.

[4774/5040 chakra]
[Strength:100[+40 bijuu cloak][+50 Lava Body]
Speed:100[+40 cloak][+50 lava body
Durability:100[+40 cloak]
Stamina:100[+40 cloak]
Perception:100[+40 cloak]]

Jutsu Used:

The moment that her body was engulfed in a lava like cloak, Shin was preparing himself for motion. Luckily, he was already in motion when she launched the attack of lava balls. He would seem to vanish and then reappear behind her with his hands already in the formation to create his jutsu. The sky would grow dark and it would begin to rain blood, not just any blood though, as she would find this blood melted through her flesh when it touched it. Acidic blood was one of his more useful jutsu, but he wasn't done. The moment a drop of blood managed to melt past the first layer of skin and intermingled with her own blood, a seal would form and his skin would become black. He was in the end game now. He of course needed to wait for such a thing to happen, but such was his goal. 

Chakra: 1,170/1,580

Jutsu Used:

For awhile Kiseragi had been sitting within the compound of his in laws talking to them about what was to come as far as him continuing on the path of being a shinobi. A large family each wanting him to take a break from the Shinobi life while the majority wanted him to continue for his wife's sake. A split party in which they would make their points in a rather civilized manner, but then again... he had made up his mind. What was supposed to be a clear afternoon one could hear it even with music ablaze. Not stepping outside of the house he could hear the pounding of something hitting against the roof, and something else... Upon closer inspection by heightening his hearing he would hear the sizzling of something...what it was however was mystery to him. Choosing to investigate, he covered himself in one of his own protective jutsu and stepped outside to see rain...but it was red?

The sizzling he had been hearing was apparently a by product of the rain itself. Apparently during his time inside the clouds became dark and wept acidic blood...how quaint. Knowing this was anything but normal the male did two things in rapid succession. One he would place the entire house in a protective cube and then activate his Byakugan. From his sight he could follow the trail of rain or at least use it to pinpoint where the chakra had been originating. With the extensive sight of the Byakugan he could make out two distinct and rather potent chakra signatures at the gates, one of which matched the rain.

Of course knowing that this was either a spar or something happening it made it worth investigating none the less. With the barrier around him slowly sizzling, Kiseragi would begin to reinforce it so that it could properly resist the acidic nature of the rain. Without haste, the cube around him would shoot up into the air and toward the gates at high speeds before arriving fifteen meters above the two hovering there and looking at the situation. Giving special attention to the lava on the ground, he would plan to keep the cube properly reinforced so that for some reason he didn't fall in and burn to death (Don't want that). With this hands placed firmly on top of one another he began to process what he had been seeing though the results of said observation would not be in play just yet. In an instant his body would be overtaken with a bluish glow as he focused his eyes into their true power and smiled slightly. The girl, as she was about to launch an assault against the unknown male would intrigue him more and because of this he would do a simple interruption.

Before the attack of Kozura could meet Shin's body and ash him, Kiseragi and the cube would be in front of the two. Of course one would think that the shield would crumble under the onslaught of the lava based blows, but thanks to his reinforcement it would be able to withstand the oncoming attack but only if barely. Looking at both of them at least from his point of view, the blue cloaked male who's hair and clothing flickered like a wild flame would clear his throat and smile," Can we instead of burning our village with acidic rain, figure out and fix the problem? I'd like to resort to not fighting among fellow shinobi," if two agreed he would drop the shield and speak to both of them. If not he would keep the shield up and try to diffuse the situation without having someone die.

Stats:

Strength: 75 (+20) = 95 [+130 TCM]
Speed: 80 (+20) = 100 [+130 TCM]
Durability: 60 (+20) = 80 [+130 TCM]
Stamina: 50 (+20) (+20) = 95 [+130 TCM]
Perception: 70 (+20) (+5) = 95 [+130 TCM]

Chakra: 585/725

Spoiler:

Intruder? An outsider, so it would seem, intent on defusing the situation. A little distasteful, but this wasn't entirely unmanageable. As long as the other man didn't get away. As the outsider was speaking, Kozura would give him a flat look. Either this guy was really good, or really stupid. Nevertheless, the speed at which he had interposed himself gave her a little pause. If he went on the offense, she'd have no choice but to respond with a similar level of power, which she could with ease right now. Hell, she probably didn't even need to use the higher gates if she wanted to overpower him. Then again, that's not what it was about now, wasn't it?

The acid rain would do no damage to her, the areas that the corrosive droplets touched changing to lava at the last second to evaporate the liquid, then morphing back again. A neat perk of the lava body, of course. Even if they did or could do any kind of damage, the lava would simply grow back into the damaged area, allowing her to have a "healing" of sorts.

Staidly, she pointed at the sky above them.

"Up." She would simply state.

You see, this whole time, the fists that had NOT been intercepted by the barrier, numbering seven in total, had finished their ascent and begun their descent. At the time she began to speak, the fists, now three meters in diameter and falling fast would come down upon the intruder (not intentionally, two in total) and on the former Suna nin (not intentionally, three in total) the other two falling on either right and left side of Kozura, about ten meters away. She could feel the glorious heat of the lava as the fists splashed down into the constant pool of molten rock beneath them. Of course, being that the fists were moving at the same speed and power as before, who knew how much the two would be able to take?

Still, she also had yet to figure out the secret of the former Suna nin's incredible dodge. It seemed blindingly fast. Was it teleportation? Or perhaps something else?

[Jutsu used: Surface Walking LOL, chakra: 4769/5040]

When the barrier appeared to block the fists that came at him, he was glad to have a potential ally to arrive on the scene, though it wouldn't matter as  more of them that hadn't been blocked were still in the air above them. The moment she pointed up and Shin saw the fireballs he would begin to move, but he wasn't fast enough. One of them caught him on his left side, the ball burned through flesh and bone, taking off the left half of his face, his entire left arm and part of his torso. He let out a yell of pain as he hovered away from the area a bit more. The rain would stop the moment the other man had arrived, it was obviously not helping him any. Looking at the girl who so obviously overpowered him and outclassed him when it came to destructive jutsu, he would need to be honest with himself, if it came down to her stopping him from leaving the village, she had succeeded. He knew he couldn't get past her and he knew that he couldn't outlast her. So, to continue this battle was basically suicide. He would raise his hand in the air to draw her attention. "I surrender. It's obvious that I lack the power to defeat you, and I lack the chakra needed to outlast you. I know when I'm beat. I will return to the village if that is your wish, as a testament of my respect of your battle prowess." He would wait for her to acknowledge him, but would remain prepared to move should she not accept his defeat. He would also acknowledge the one who came to help him. "Thank you very much ninja-san for coming to my aid, but this is only a friendly spar. No need for you to get involved." He said this with a smile, but if the girl didn't accept his defeat or surrender, he would need all the help he could get.

Chakra: 1,135/1,580

Jutsu Used:

There had been progress at least. The female had indeed acknowledged his existence in the area to some extent though the look she decided to share with him was somewhat...concerning. As the female spoke or more specifically the moment she pointed up, his eyes would catch her meaning as she spoke and the attacks he missed consequently came down. There was a small frown on his face, not one they could make out clearly, but it would seem the jutsu he had been preparing as a just in case. While he had been floating above he had made note of the lava, both on the ground and on the girl, comprising the data he saw at near instant speeds. With such a revelation he began to form complex sequences which would take shape in the form of cubes, similar to the one he was currently floating in. Dubbing the lava as a 1 in nature, he began a complete and instantaneous process at least mentally to him that would create 100 of these cubes in the span of seconds while these two fists were coming down on him.

The cubes themselves, five to be exact while the other eighty-five floated harmlessly in the main cube (not obscuring his view or the view people had on him) would collide with the lava. Now here is where at least from a bystander would see the cubes disintergrate, the would instead be reinforced and their true magic put to use. The cubes (three colliding with one molten "fist" and the other two colliding with the other) would begin to push against the two even though their power had been subpar to the fists, they would instead lower their power to an extent where the cubes would be able to contend with them.Cube and molten fist both gone before their eyes. The frown soon turned into a smile as he heard the current male shinobi speak and his eyes, still fixated on Kozura would give her a second glance over.

Within the realm of Numerology, he couldn't quite make out what had been producing the lava that would currently be on the ground. Sure he could discern it as a jutsu and leave it at that, but it had no origin at least from what he could tell. As Shin finished speaking Kiseragi would wave a hand dismissively and smile," Think nothing of it my friend. We've met on more than one occasion though I couldn't help but wonder what kind of spar involves lava. Though if I could ask that the um...rather volcanic action cease for a moment maybe we can continue this conversation in a more friendly manner. Unless of course the two of you would like to continue your "spar"," why he had continued to be so polite was....interesting of course, but at least at the moment he would without a doubt still hold their attention for the time being.

Chakra: 445/725

Spoiler:

It would seem the man who intervened was keeping the lava girl busy enough that Shin could make his grand exodus. But, he had more honor than that. They had made a wager and he lost, he had enough humility to accept defeat when it reared its ugly head. He would use this opportunity to fly back to the village to begin healing himself and preparing more. He had learned a lot from this battle, he would use it to prepare himself for coming conflicts. For coming wars and battles, challenges and quests. Preparing for those who wouldn't go easy on him. He would arrive back to his house to let the healing process begin. It would be a long road to recovery, but he would survive, he always did. He was just tough like that, tough to never give in and never die when they wanted him to, his enemies that is. Either way, he would do his best to grow stronger, so that the next time he left this place, it would be on his own strength, not a charity of some little child. 

EXIT