[Mimoto Ekō]

(OOC Note: Takes place 3 weeks after Sagey Soul-Searching)

Honor Among Thieves,

even better than soldiers.

Ekō was clearly running out of places to hide. He needed to learn an effective method to hide or fight back, or, he could just rest for once. When was the last time he rested? The nuke finally arrived to Akuram, a long, hot journey left him tired and drained. He was not suited well for hot weather but this was one of the few countries no one would willingly chase him. At least, not one from this country. No one recognized his trash Bingo description, it was almost as easy as any demilitarized village. The on-hand shinobi however stressed the boy beyond comfortable. Given his new title, his new label, and his favored activities, Ekō was always in hostile territory. Swiping some cash and selling some jewelry in Igaku, Hi no Kuni's border town was good planning on Ekō's part, it gave him the funds for a room and shower at a local inn in Akuram. Placing his pack and gauntlets in his room, Ekō headed straight for a shower.

Under ice-cold water, Ekō contemplated his journey thus far. He was found by amateur hunters in Yu no Kuni. Trying his hardest, Ekō ran southwest, planting so many traps the hinder, even stop his pursuers. Frequently, he had to restock at small villages, looting houses of both shinobi and civilians to gather food, and tools for the long run. A new group caught up with him, a slightly weaker two-man team. Using Genjutsu, he was able to trick the younger of the two that she was choking to death. The other took a fierce blast of Fūton straight to the face, turning his head fatally. The young girl didn't need to die, she could have walked, but loose ends couldn't be risked. Ekō had no choice, rather, he chose to deliver a debilitating kick to the girl's jaw, knocking her into a groggy stun. Taking the kunai and making the dead man's hand raise the kunai and that's all she wrote. Ekō continued to run, he thought he would find safety in Konohagakure, he ran to the border town debating whether he should return to the sage or go his own path.

He decided to go southwest, hoping to get lost in the sand of Kaze no Kuni. Ekō continued running past Tani no Kuni and Arashi no Kuni and the trail got cold for now. There is a fair chance that his pursuers went into Tani no Kuni, Kaze no Kuni was known to be unrelenting; but, Ekō needed to disappear, no better place than one of the more inhabitable countries. Ekō stopped the water, drying himself off as he threw on his casual clothes, a tired sigh escaped the adolescent's breath as he walked into his room, using a key to unlock the door. Going through and closing the door behind him, only one word went through his thoughts, Fuck! Right before falling on the bed and passing out.

Thirteen hours later, Ekō awoke to the sound of knocking on his door. Much like a drunkard, Ekō hid his eyes from the blazing sun, pushing himself up. Ekō put on his gauntlets and pulled his sleeves over. He swung his pack over his shoulder before going to open the door. Before, the thing pulled open and awaiting was a burly man, "You only paid for one night, get out!" Ekō looked at the man before clapping his hands to a seal and scissor open his right eye. Immediately after, his eye would open and appeared as if a neon yellow Dōjutsu awakened. The man ran and Ekō laughed before jumping over the railing, landing on the ground feet below. Smiling, Ekō made his way away from the inn onto a journey to another checkpoint before attempting to cross the Sea of Dunes.

Didn't take long for his calm stroll to see a welcoming figure, perhaps she was a sort of escort, she looked prepared enough for frequent journeys, "Hey Ms! I need to head pretty far south, will you accompany at least partway? I don't wanna get lost and, ya'know, die..."

Attempt by Necro
Some Tags Here: Yutakako Keiko

SPOILER: Click to show

SA(S) USED:
All-day, all night

Ekō wasn't born a shinobi, but he was born with the potential of being one. He was gifted with a large reservoir of chakra, being untapped for most of his life. Only upon learning how to bend this energy did he learn the concept of what chakra was. He found himself able to maintain or do multiple skills at once, pushing longer each day like a muscle. This exertion to satiate his curiosity not only exhausted him, it grew with him to satisfy such. Soon, the growth of his ability outpaced what he could train, and his limits were hidden from him. That is until Ekō was labeled a criminal, being on the run and needing to use his full capabilities to get a rest has left him fighting multiple odds over a longer period.

Reverse Engineering

When curiosity is at its peak, Ekō has a habit of taking any acquired stimuli and breaking it apart to understand what's before him. From a young age, he can take external stimuli from any external observation and essentially tear the pieces off until all that is left is a puzzle; from there, Ekō learns key concepts and ideas behind anything he wants to learn when he puts the pieces back together. Multiple observations solidify the mental picture, but he needs to form how to make the idea work mentally in order to learn how to do something with this knowledge, such as recreating a concept. The harder learning something, the longer it takes to learn the idea.

Heightened Intelligence

Due to his unique learning method, there was a great need to store and process this knowledge. As an answer, Ekō learned to be able to develop and nurture a heightened state of intelligence. This enables him to memorize information of extended periods of time, construct/deconstruct the many factors of an idea into a vast theory, observe the patterns of the natural world to apply into the psychological and metaphysical worlds, finally, he can process information at an increased rate. This skill is what sets him apart from the vast majority of individuals. Despite being an acquired skill, it quickly developed to be Ekō's trademark signature.

JUTSU(S) USED:
NAME: Henge Hitomi no Jutsu [Eye Transformation Technique]
RANK: E
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu [General]
ELEMENT: N/A
DESCRIPTION:
Much like it's parent technique Henge no Jutsu [Transformation Technique], this justu focuses on transformation. However, this is to a far lesser degree. By making a single rat handsign and with slight focus of the user's chakra towards their eyes. They are able to change the colour easily. This is most often used by those within the ANBU alongside the Henge Kaminoke no Jutsu [Hair Transformation Technique] for use in missions that require the Shinobi to be undercover. Thanks to the low chakra cost needed to maintain such a justu; many users keep it active throughout their day.

EQUIPMENT USED:

[Yutakako Keiko]

I Will Always Be
My Own Kind of Different

"Hm? Where you going?”

The redheaded girl with hair tied high upon her head. Blazing reddish eyes that focused on him near immediately. There were others around Akuram, for it wasn’t a small village. It even hosted a previous chunin exam! But no one would have been there currently for such a thing. That was months in the past.

With a pair of black shorts clinging to her hips and near halfway down her thighs, her figure would have been no mystery due to that lower half. Upper would have kept a loose and burnt orange tank top upon her body, layered beneath with a tighter white one. The edges of both almost seeming to have been burnt off to no sleeves but the girl looking not concerned at all, nor marked up. Fairly clean, though a little wild. Lovely hair pulled up but wind blown and sand throughout. Hands would hold at her hips as she paused her walk, focusing on the lad.

It’s not like she had anywhere to be at the moment. She was biding time to meet up with someone later. And she didn’t like to be bored! So when she was called upon, or at least thought she was called upon. She figured she may as well answer. See what was up. And maybe indulge in some antics!

"Death is for the weak. I’m not exactly a bodyguard.”

Chilling words, though spoken with a smile. The girl seemed to have no real darkness about her in the way she grinned and was full of abundant energy. To his discredit though, she was far from packed or stocked. No pouches upon her, no equipment. The redhead was herself in all she could be~

Yutakako Keiko

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Mimoto Ekō]

Honor Among Thieves,

even better than soldiers.

As the figure confirmed his question, the young woman was no doubt beautiful. The tight shorts definitely complimented her exceedingly well. Her orange top kept tight by an equally burnt white tank top. Ekō couldn't help if he was staring, he was admiring an enchanting figure. A fixation broken by her incoming words. Ekō didn't know what to say, 'death is for the weak', calmly, even happily said through a smile worried the adolescent but it was followed by a 'I'm no bodyguard.' The Mimoto smiled and prepared to tell the girl his story. "Listen, I'm actually headed to Ōetsu, but I need to make two stops. Here to Ryūmyaku, there to Rōran, and the home stretch, there to my goal. It's gonna take me awhile. I don't expect an escort all the through, maybe part way to Ryūmyaku if you're willing. Throw a little fun along the way; you look like a girl who likes a fun time. What do ya' say?" He made a gesture intending to say 'Damn, look at this woman!' Whether that was interpretted or not was up in the air, nonetheless, he knew what he needed for this journey. If the woman agreed, he would motion her to follow, if not, he'd be talking to a ghost. A fun spin on the preparation phase.

"It's unnatural how much they charge water like we don't need this vital resource, as if we're puppets. We're free-willed individuals all with natural needs." Ekō raised a hand to stop, his idea coming clear before actually explaining it. "What do ya' say? Going on a long journey through the desert. Nature shouldn't be priced, so we take a few water bottles here and there. Maybe buy a few snacks. A show we mean good. Of course someone as naturally beautiful and free as you have a choice. My family's MO." The adolescent explained.

His plan was incredibly simple, yet, clearly thought out, patterned by other activities. If one can help it, avoid super busy or dead shops. Employees are always hypervigilant, easy to tell when something's amiss if you are looking for it. All the shops are but these are so watchful it hurts. Using small pebbles, create a diversion across the store with a good, subtle throw. They will always look there if there is only a handful of customers, take only one item. Fewer things missing, more inconspicuous you are. Target is 4 water bottles each. If we are both in play, you can give the bottles to me and my sling pack, I exit, you pay for whatever snacks you think this journey calls for. Always look like you're indecisive about what to buy. Look like you're evaluating prices, deals, health labels. Think of it as a protest, water should be free, people need it as much as every animal, as much as every living thing.

Ekō would turn around to explain the plan he thought of, hopefully, if the girl was still behind him, she could hear it if she hadn't turned tail and run. On the chance the beautiful enchantress heard and agreed, with a sly, warm, inviting smile. "Well dear, any places that has need for a good protest. Something with mild traffic?"

Attempt by Necro
Yutakako Keiko

SPOILER: Click to show

SA(S) USED:
All-day, all night

Ekō wasn't born a shinobi, but he was born with the potential of being one. He was gifted with a large reservoir of chakra, being untapped for most of his life. Only upon learning how to bend this energy did he learn the concept of what chakra was. He found himself able to maintain or do multiple skills at once, pushing longer each day like a muscle. This exertion to satiate his curiosity not only exhausted him, it grew with him to satisfy such. Soon, the growth of his ability outpaced what he could train, and his limits were hidden from him. That is until Ekō was labeled a criminal, being on the run and needing to use his full capabilities to get a rest has left him fighting multiple odds over a longer period.

Predator or Prey

??

Heightened Intelligence

Due to his unique learning method, there was a great need to store and process this knowledge. As an answer, Ekō learned to be able to develop and nurture a heightened state of intelligence. This enables him to memorize information of extended periods of time, construct/deconstruct the many factors of an idea into a vast theory, observe the patterns of the natural world to apply into the psychological and metaphysical worlds, finally, he can process information at an increased rate. This skill is what sets him apart from the vast majority of individuals. Despite being an acquired skill, it quickly developed to be Ekō's trademark signature.

JUTSU(S) USED:

EQUIPMENT USED:

[Yutakako Keiko]

I Will Always Be
My Own Kind of Different

A tilt of her head when he mentioned places. Should she know where these were? The red eyes of the girl glancing around as he even spoke the name of the town they were in as if in wonderment of that being actually named so. Him mentioning fun would get her attention to snap back though, grin relit to her face.

"Well, I dunno where the heck you’re going~ But I do like to keep moving and amused.”

At least she wouldn’t be the guide. Sense of direction was minimal at best, completely nothing at worse. The hips of the girl playfully swayed as she practically skipped to follow him, light bounds more than graceful movements but no less energetic and free. He got her to go that far at least.

He had a lot to say. A plan for water and food as they traveled. Eyes watched him and ears listened, keeping to his side as all was carefully laid out to be executed to the letter. Distract, snag, pay, and hit multiple places. Spread out the theft so that they might not be noticed. This guy must be a real snake! She never stopped grinning though, amused in her own way. Everyone got to be their own kind of different, this boy was just weird. But him.

A laugh as he’d finish up though. Ask her where to turn their sights. Amused and shaking her head, her far arm swinging around to give a swift jab to his arm.

"You do what you want~ The song of nature calls to me. I’ll find my water and food like every animal and living thing.”

A wink. And further chuckling. She denied him. He wasn’t paying for water, silly~ he was paying for convenience. Did he know where to get water in the desert? No? Well pay for having it on hand! The lizards, scorpions, and whateer other nonsense in the desert could find water! So she could too! Something that was arguably true, whether she’d admit and realize it or not. BUt by no means was guaranteed… evident by her previous wanderings through the desert.

But curious as all was, it didn't seem as if she might turn him in or report him. Simply allowing him to do as he wished while she denied herself. Far from a fully moral girl, but apparently too proud to admit she couldn't find her own resources to survive.

Yutakako Keiko

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Mimoto Ekō]

Honor Among Thieves,

even better than soldiers.

With his initial explanation, the young woman agreed to travel and have fun. Rather, be amused by the journey. Ekō had no clue what it meant, however, he was happy just to have her company. On their walk, he laid down the complex plan for the woman to tale in, at any moment, she could turn and hand him over to the authorities. But, she stayed and listened, almost like a good precious child. He enjoyed this, made so many things easier to explain. Alas, when he finished, the girl simply laughed and jabbed him in the arm. The adolescent looked at her with a black expression as she stated nature calls to her and lead her to water like most animals of the desert. The boy looked at her and smiled at her optimism, Whatever god made you, at least he made you pretty. "Alright, I'll meet you where I found you and we can get going! I'll be quick!" Ekō only walked a few feet to gather roughly ten pebbles to put in his ninja pouch. The adolescent went on ahead, pretty certain the girl would just wait by that checkpoint.

Seemingly window shopping, Ekō scanned for an optimal target, four shops down, one was found. He entered and went to look at the snack, he grabbed a bag of trail mix and headed to where the water was located. Focusing Fūton chakra in his arm, Ekō threw a pebble over his opposite shoulder, the speed made a loud clang. The noise attracted the attention of all shoppers as Ekō reached for a water bottle, one second it was there, the next, it was gone and Ekō rubbed his head with his hand. Tightening his pack, Ekō went to the counter, greeted the owner with a smile, and gave the few Ryo to pay for the item. Walking away and waving farewell, Ekō put the mix in his bag. This routine repeated twice in two different shops with both times having double the swipes to make up for the woman's reluctance.

No other shop was at middle capacity and Ekō had to think, had to improvise. He eyed a nearly empty shop and went around back, looking for the back entrance; finding one, he hugged the wall next to it. Activating his Jutsu, [Hiding with Camoflauge], he hit the door with all his might. The shop owner opened the door to look out before slamming the door shut. Ekō gritted his teeth as this process repeat 3 times. On the fourth, the shop owner cursed before stepping outside; Ekō took this opportunity of annoyance to sneak in through the back door. Ekō quickly closed the door on the owner before shoving his left hidden blade in the keyhole, twisting and breaking it off, locking the door. The adolescent disabled his Jutsu to shove two water bottles in his pack. He shrugged off the food and exited the shop before the owner could get around in time.

Hiding and traveling with the crowd, Ekō would travel to the checkpoint and look for the woman if everything went according to plan. If he saw the young woman from earlier there, he would ask "Please tell me you know the way or at least grabbed a map?"

Attempt by Necro
Yutakako Keiko

SPOILER: Click to show

SA(S) USED:
All-day, all night

Ekō wasn't born a shinobi, but he was born with the potential of being one. He was gifted with a large reservoir of chakra, being untapped for most of his life. Only upon learning how to bend this energy did he learn the concept of what chakra was. He found himself able to maintain or do multiple skills at once, pushing longer each day like a muscle. This exertion to satiate his curiosity not only exhausted him, it grew with him to satisfy such. Soon, the growth of his ability outpaced what he could train, and his limits were hidden from him. That is until Ekō was labeled a criminal, being on the run and needing to use his full capabilities to get a rest has left him fighting multiple odds over a longer period.

Predator or Prey

Amplifying the boons of the Meisaigakure no Jutsu [Hiding with Camouflage Technique], Ekō is able to increase the ability beyond standard capabilities by using his large reserves to fuel the jutsu. Both activation and maintenance chakra costs increase to a High in both aspects. While unable to erase his chakra signature, he can avoid detection in 3 key senses. Any noise created by Ekō is reduced to almost non-existent levels. Unless aided by an enhanced hearing SA, the detection of Ekō without being a sensor is extremely difficult. Giving an extra boon to both defensive and offensive maneuvers when using the Meisaigakure no Jutsu [Hiding with Camouflage Technique].

Heightened Intelligence

Due to his unique learning method, there was a great need to store and process this knowledge. As an answer, Ekō learned to be able to develop and nurture a heightened state of intelligence. This enables him to memorize information of extended periods of time, construct/deconstruct the many factors of an idea into a vast theory, observe the patterns of the natural world to apply into the psychological and metaphysical worlds, finally, he can process information at an increased rate. This skill is what sets him apart from the vast majority of individuals. Despite being an acquired skill, it quickly developed to be Ekō's trademark signature.

JUTSU(S) USED:
NAME: Meisaigakure no Jutsu [Hiding with Camouflage Technique]
RANK: A
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium High[Continuous]
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu [General]
ELEMENT: None
HANDSEALS: 8
DESCRIPTION:
With careful chakra control, a shinobi is capable of manipulating the means to which light affects their body as well as what odors escape them, completely concealing oneself from both sight and smell. While in this state, the user will fail to even cast a shadow. This leaves the shinobi in a state that makes them almost impossible to detect outside of chakra-detection, the other three senses, and noting disturbances to their surroundings.

NAME: Onkyō: Gōsutosunatchi [Acoustic: Ghost Snatch]
RANK: D
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Taijutsu
ELEMENT: Fūton
HANDSEALS: N/A
DESCRIPTION:
A simple thief technique used to quickly steal an exposed item, equipment, weapon. The user must be within arm's reach of the target, roughly a 1 meter at most. Using Fūton chakra, the user speeds their arms to the point where it looks like the wind blows as the snatch the item inconspicuously. Another drawback is the strength aspect, a wallet everyone can snatch. A two-ton weight. Nope, not unless you have the required strength and skill to even carry it.

EQUIPMENT USED:
01 | Fmeo ha [Hidden Blde](broken)

[Yutakako Keiko]

I Will Always Be
My Own Kind of Different

"Okay! I’ll be… around~”

Definitely not in the same place. His plan seemed to take a lot of time and she really did not want to just stand around waiting for him to be done. So waltzing about the little village would be the aim, get to see more things and people~ There’d be a moment where her attention would be caught by the ruckus he caused. Throwing pebbles and letting off energy making the energy in her ears swirl, the call of nature being disturbed even in small ways. She’d never be able to tell what he was doing if she wasn’t looking at him though~ And she watched! For a little. But at the repetition she got bored… and meandered off with a light step to look at what else life had to offer.

Missing his tricks and trials with the last shop, he gathered water diligently at least. A prime candidate for petty thief of the year! Not that Keiko really paid attention… To his luck, she was actually close by. Getting her attention not all too hard with her reddish eyes turning towards him and a tilt of her head. A grin lifted and hand waved, with her weaving through the crowd to make her way back to him

Only for her to be confused in the end. A map? Know the way? A tilt of her head then as she very much looked empty on the subject. Innocent as could be~

"Why would I know where it is? I already said I didn’t? I don’t need to go there anyway~ You do!”

Silly boy. Chuckling to herself and shaking her head she’d give a wave of her hand.

"C’mon! You said South, right? How hard could it be?”

Very very hard. The foolish child would dart off into the desert if no one kept her in check. Tadami had certainly helped in that department up to that point… but truly the girl was one that flew by her own song.

Yutakako Keiko

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Mimoto Ekō]

Honor Among Thieves,

even better than soldiers.

After an unbelievably long time fooling and taking... borrowing with the intent of never returning, Ekō was at least semi-ready to go trekking the desert known as Kaze no Kuni. Once completely situated with stocking what he thought would be needed, he headed back to the spot where he had promised he'd see her at, the red-head obviously had separate plans, however, it was easy to reel her in when he called out if she had a map. Her answer was true, she didn't need to go there, he did. The girl was simply in it for the fun, or the thrill.

The Mimoto nodded in acknowledgment, Well... this will be something. The adolescent gypsy thought in answer to her response of lacking a map, for a good reason too. Why? She chuckled to herself before giving a wave of her hand. According to her, how hard was it to go South? Very babe... very. The Mimoto thought as he chuckled at her optimism. "I doubt it'd be a challenge for us!" Ekō stated as he started walking in the general direction of south. He waved the girl he had in tow before slowly transitioning to a light jog. The dry air made the heat a bit more bearable but from time to time, that would just slowly burn his lungs. Eh, who cares, they had water.

Turning his head to the girl, hopefully, she was keeping up or he was keeping up with her, whoever had the most energy. "Name's Ekō." He continued to jog, waiting for the young woman to say her name if she wanted to. "So how did I get so lucky to have such a beautiful woman journey with me, some random stranger?" He was honestly really curious, if he could just attract some woman to do what he says, what's the limit of that? Maybe, just maybe this was a chance to find such a thing out.

Eh, maybe... Sand is not really a big turn-on. Keeping his pace up as much as possible. "Feeling like taking a walking cruise or a small race. I'm heading there, but with company, I'm not that much in a rush."

Attempt by Necro
Yutakako Keiko

SPOILER: Click to show

SA(S) USED:
All-day, all night

Ekō wasn't born a shinobi, but he was born with the potential of being one. He was gifted with a large reservoir of chakra, being untapped for most of his life. Only upon learning how to bend this energy did he learn the concept of what chakra was. He found himself able to maintain or do multiple skills at once, pushing longer each day like a muscle. This exertion to satiate his curiosity not only exhausted him, it grew with him to satisfy such. Soon, the growth of his ability outpaced what he could train, and his limits were hidden from him. That is until Ekō was labeled a criminal, being on the run and needing to use his full capabilities to get a rest has left him fighting multiple odds over a longer period.

Predator or Prey

??

Heightened Intelligence

Due to his unique learning method, there was a great need to store and process this knowledge. As an answer, Ekō learned to be able to develop and nurture a heightened state of intelligence. This enables him to memorize information of extended periods of time, construct/deconstruct the many factors of an idea into a vast theory, observe the patterns of the natural world to apply into the psychological and metaphysical worlds, finally, he can process information at an increased rate. This skill is what sets him apart from the vast majority of individuals. Despite being an acquired skill, it quickly developed to be Ekō's trademark signature.

JUTSU(S) USED:

EQUIPMENT USED:
N/A