[Suzuki Taru]

Some days, Taru feels compelled to bother people. Not in the purposefully annoying sense - Taru is rarely aware enough of her own mannerisms to intentionally come off in any kind of way - but in the sense that sometimes, a person exudes a certain energy. A certain aura. And sometimes that aura happens to resonate with Taru's mood.

Today, for example - there is a lean young man at the training grounds. She recognized him, of course, as one of the members of the Seven Swordsman, though if you asked her which sword he held she would definitely get it wrong on the first guess. His familiarity seemed to extend further than that, though. If she really dug into her memory and recalled his name, she could probably work out why quickly, but Taru wasn't an incredibly patient girl when the situation didn't demand it. Why contemplate when she could converse?

The flows of her mind were as simple as that. She wanted to talk to him, so she would. So she bounded over to him.

"Good morning," she greeted in that way she tended to, approaching everyone in the world like she already knew them and they already knew her. Her smile was wide and maybe a little wild, but definitely earnest.

"I'm Suzuki Taru. Why are you here today? I've decided I'm supposed to help you." Surprisingly, she introduced herself to people like that frequently. It was how she had met Asahi!

[Kuronmeru Inei]

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]陰翳

[attr="class","skulloverlap"]NOT SCARED OF THE DARK, ARE YOU?

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Inei wasn’t exactly what one would call a fan of the public training grounds. He preferred to use the grounds that were at the Kuronmeru compound, if he was being candid. Don’t get him wrong, both grounds were useful, but the public one had something that his private grounds did not: people.
[break][break]
Trying to get a decent day’s training at the public grounds was like pulling teeth. Too many people knew him, as one of the Seven Swordsmen, and a lot of them liked to bother him about it. What was his training regimine? Would he teach them? He should spar with them, show off his skill.
[break][break]
It was annoying. But with his smile and his "cheerful” demeanor, people didn’t get the hint…until he acquiesced and pummeled them into the dirt or to the hospital.
[break][break]
But today, he had no choice but to use the public training grounds, as his eldest brother had commandeered the private one. And of course, just as he was about to start, he was accosted by a child of all people. She had a smile on her face, like him, but her’s had a wild edge to it rather than a sinister one.
[break][break]
"Training," he said, answering her question as he stretched out his core muscles before adding on, "and is that so?"
[break][break]
He normally would refuse and send the child on their way, he didn’t need genin ruining his training. But he was feeling generous today, or maybe it had to do with the fact that this particular genin was on the same team as his baby brother. Anything dealing with Enyo always brought the most sadistic side of him out.
[break][break]
"Perhaps you can. How good are you at throwing kunai?" he asked the girl as he pulled out one of his kunai, tossing it, spinning, up into the air before catching it as it came down.

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SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used

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Items Used

• Kiba [Fangs] | Raitō [Thunderswords]
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SAs Active

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[attr="class","skullinfo"]1/9 / Suzuki Taru

[attr="class","skullcredits"]TAIKO!

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[Suzuki Taru]

He didn't dismiss her immediately, which was a good sign. She wouldn't have been dismissed easily even if he had, so even better for them both that she didn't have to be a proper pest. He pulled one of his kunai and inquired with her how good she was at throwing them.

It was almost kismet - she knew that the thread of fate had marched her to this conversation. Though she still felt she had some way to go, Taru's aim had been rapidly improving. It had been one of her sole areas of focus for the last couple of months and each day she felt herself become more precise, able to aim quicker, able to aim even from a far distance.

"Really good," she decided, letting herself be confident for the moment. She didn't want to be all talk, though. She pulled one of her own from her belt, spun it around her finger, then, utilizing the fundamentals she'd learned from the one shot technique, turned and whipped it at a distant target. With the muscles she'd been honing, she threw it just that little bit harder, and it hit center mass with a satisfying thunk.

"Projectiles are one of my areas of expertise. Kunai, shuriken, senbon, bows," she informed him. Bow and arrow was where she'd been putting a lot of her focus, but it never hurt to diversify - that made a skill stronger, if she could learn how to apply it elsewhere!

[Kuronmeru Inei]

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]陰翳

[attr="class","skulloverlap"]NOT SCARED OF THE DARK, ARE YOU?

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After she answered in the affirmative, Inei watched as she followed suit by showing off with her own kunai. It was...refreshing, not having someone fake humility in an attempt to get on his good side. People, outside of his family, thought he liked that for some reason. To the point of being irritating.
[break][break]
So the young girl having confidence in her abilities was good. And she seemed to be able to back up her talk with action. He nodded as he looked on at the target she had struck. Good for her. Good for him.
[break][break]
"Excellent," he said, snapping his kunai out of the air. "Then you can be of use to me."
[break][break]
He had come to the training grounds for a purpose and his plans would be easier with two people than just one. Even if the second person was a literal child.
[break][break]
"I need to work on my speed and reactions, and the best training involves some stakes," He began lazily spinning the kunai around his finger. "So you throw the kunai. I dodge them."
[break][break]
He flicked the kunai into his hand and threw it towards the girl, striking and sticking into the ground near her feet. "Simple enough, right?"

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SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used

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Items Used

• Kiba [Fangs] | Raitō [Thunderswords]
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[attr="class","skullinfo"]2/9 / Suzuki Taru

[attr="class","skullcredits"]TAIKO!

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[Suzuki Taru]

Perfect, her skills would be of use to him! She knew that their fates had drawn them together today. He wanted to work on his dodging, and that usually came with a good bit of risk. She could use training kunai or blunted arrows or something, but that wouldn't be quite as exciting, and those things flew slightly differently than the real thing - to get the practice he was looking for, he needed the real deal.

She nodded, crouching down to pick up the kunai he'd tossed her way.

"Okay, sounds good. I'll really be aiming right for you and don't know how to patch you up, though, so if I hit you you'll have to take care of it yourself," she warned, not sounding particularly concerned. She had no reservations about the idea of tough training. She'd done plenty of dangerous and even potentially deadly stuff before, both with Asahi and Toru.

Taru shook her hands out and held up Inei's kunai, starting to take several paces back.

"I'll start pretty far away so you have more time to react to start. Then I'll gradually get closer if you do a good job."

If Inei agreed to that, then Taru would get started. She would wait a few long, cumbersome seconds to make the timing of the first throw a little unpredictable, then would whip the kunai at Inei.

[Kuronmeru Inei]

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]陰翳

[attr="class","skulloverlap"]NOT SCARED OF THE DARK, ARE YOU?

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Either the girl wasn’t intimidated by him, or she was a master of disguising it. Whichever it was, it made Inei actually give the girl more than just a passing glance. The sort of interest a child with a magnifying glass would have towards an ant hill.
[break][break]
He stopped himself from rolling his eyes. If, in the incredibly unlikely event, the girl managed to hit him with the kunai he would be capable of patching himself up. He hadn’t studied medicine all those years for nothing. But Taru probably didn’t know about Inei’s medical prowess. Not that he was forthcoming with the information.
[break][break]
"I’ll be fine," he said, shortly, moving into position.
[break][break]
Her plan of starting far and moving close was the logical choice for this sort of training. But he doubted that it would even give him the barest of workouts until well into the training. Maybe not even then. He wasn’t holding out much hope that this would work, but it was better than nothing.
[break][break]
He stood at the opposite end of the training ground, waiting for Taru to make her move. He was resting on the balls of his feet, body looking relaxed and loose, as if he couldn’t be bothered. But when the genin whipped the kunai at him, he easily danced out of the way. Like he thought, it wasn’t even a little bit of a challenge.
[break][break]
He heard the knife thunk into one of the training dummies behind him but didn’t look. Instead, he pulled out another kunai and began spinning it around his finger.
[break][break]
"Again," he commanded, with a bored tone, awaiting whatever she did next.

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SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used

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Items Used

• Kiba [Fangs] | Raitō [Thunderswords]
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SAs Active

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[attr="class","skullinfo"]3/9 / Suzuki Taru

[attr="class","skullcredits"]TAIKO!

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[Suzuki Taru]

Prepared as he was for her throw, Inei was able to dodge it easily, gracefully avoiding the kunai with a casual posture. Taru watched the way he moved, trying to keep in mind the way he dodged and held himself so she could correct her aim and try to do better on the next toss. He seemed a lot more experienced than her, so he'd surely be able to read her movements well, but she also needed to be sure to present a worthwhile challenge.

Taru pulled another few kunai out, getting ready to toss them in succession. She considered his position and stance, the most efficient way he would move to dodge something being thrown directly at him. She whipped another kunai at Inei, aiming for the center-left of his body, then quickly threw another one out to his right. This would hopefully force him into a trickier situation for a dodge, since dodging too far to the right away from the first kunai would throw him right in the path of the second kunai. Dodging to the left would put him in the path of the first, but if he was fast enough he might even be able to dodge past that one entirely.

She continued to observe him carefully to see how he'd handle this one - she'd need to factor all his behavior into her tossing calculations!

[Kuronmeru Inei]

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]陰翳

[attr="class","skulloverlap"]NOT SCARED OF THE DARK, ARE YOU?

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Though he didn’t move from his current spot, there was a barely noticeable flicker of movement in Inei’s eye as he studied the girl across from him. She was also studying him, he noted, but she probably had nothing on his practiced gaze - not at her age. Every shift of weight, every twitch of a muscle, nothing escaped his sight.
[break][break]
He could tell that Taru was trying to formulate some sort of plan for her next move. It was only logical, and studying him and his movements was probably a smart play. But it wouldn’t matter. He wasn’t so simple as to allow a genin to be able to predict his movements. Inei was confident that he could outpace and outmaneuver anything the girl attempted to throw at him.
[break][break]
And throw something she did. Another kunai came racing towards him and Inei didn’t even blink or give an outward sign of his plans of movement until it was almost upon him. Then he sidestepped it, shifting over with his natural speed out of its path - and directly into the path of the second kunai Taru had thrown.
[break][break]
But even that didn’t give him pause. Inei shifted again, spinning on the balls of his feet to practically dance around the flying blade at close-quarters. Perhaps too close of quarters, because as he spun to a stop, several white hairs fluttered through the air onto the ground. The kunai had shaved a bit of the fur that lined his jacket.
[break][break]
Inei tilted his head at it, his constant enigmatic smile hiding his true thoughts, before flicking his eyes up to focus on Taru once again. "Try again," he said, smile taking on a more sinister edge. "So...close."

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SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used

• 
  

[break][break]
Items Used

• Kiba [Fangs] | Raitō [Thunderswords][break]
  These twin swords that are imbued with Raiton which increases their cutting power. They are said to be two of the sharpest swords ever forged. Additionally, they help the wielder by reducing the chakra costs for raiton techniques drastically.
• 
  

[break][break]
SAs Active

• 『Blood of the Kuronmeru』[break]
  As an inheritor of the Kuronmeru's bloodline, Inei's veins run black with the dark, thick ichor. He was born to become a powerful member of the family and over the years he has learned to manipulate his blood on par with the masters of the clan. He can bend, move and shape, the blood to his desire, almost as if the blood were alive itself. He is also capable of hardening the blood to form weapons, projectiles, and other shapes. Because of his genetics, Inei's blood regenerates at a much higher rate than the average person, thus making his blood a deadly weapon.
• 『Exquisite Control』[break]
  Practicing from the moment he learned he could manipulate chakra, Inei has become quiet proficient in controlling the usage of his chakra. Not born with vast stores, and being interested in the medical field, he had to learn how to perfectly utilize every bit of energy, not wasting a single bit on frivolous, showy techniques. The utilization and skill at control allows for him to trump those who don't put time and energy in studying how little energy a technique truly needs. His ability to use chakra without wasting any allows him to function on a level as those born with deeper chakra stores than him.
• 『Medical Scientist』[break]
  Initially learned as a curiosity and continued on as a passion, Inei learned to understand the body, its mechanics, medicine, and ways to apply it from a young age. Training day in and day out, in order to learn techniques to further his experimentations and bolster his deadliness on the field, he is quite knowledgeable in the medicinal field. The knowledge he has gained over the years allows him a greater understanding of medical techniques both healing and harmful and allows him to use his techniques with practiced ease compared to those of lesser talent.
• 『The Mad Genius』[break]
  It is no secret that Inei is incredibly intelligent and that his mind is a dangerous weapon. His IQ is nothing to be taken lightly, even with his odd behavior. He possesses incredible mental capacity, is able to concentrate even in the heat of battle, can calculate things in his head with great speed, and is able to remember many things with perfect recollection. He is capable of analyzing and memorizing an opponent's fighting style and determining the best ways to counteract against them. It’s incredibly difficult to deceive the man, especially if one is not skilled at lying. He is highly alert and analytical, and is capable of thinking outside of the box. Moreover, Inei can formulate numerous plans to certain situations in mere moments. He thinks numerous steps ahead, and always has a back up plan.

[break]

[attr="class","skullinfo"]4/9 / Suzuki Taru

[attr="class","skullcredits"]TAIKO!

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[Suzuki Taru]

At first it seemed like her plan went as expected, Inei dodging out of the path of one kunai and right into the other. Than he dodged again, only narrowly. He had an easy confidence about him, as if even though it'd shaved really, really close, he'd intended that all along. It seemed like he was pretty good at reading her movements, then. Still, there was more to dodging than just reading movements. His reaction time was nothing to scoff at!

He smiled at her and she grinned back, seemingly earnest despite whatever sinister-ness he was exuding.

"You're really good at this, you know," she informed him, pleased. This was an exciting challenge. Maybe she should learn some of those techniques that involve more random throws? For now she'd have to use what she had to give him the best challenge she could.

Pulling out three more kunai, she shuffled them in her hands. She unbound one of her training weights from her wrist and tied it instead to one of the kunai to give it a little more heft - if he hadn't seen how much the weight weighed when they talked, it would make the flight path of this kunai a little less predictable.

She tossed the three kunai in succession - first one of the regular ones, aimed center mass. Then the weighted one, to the right - it would drop more rapidly than the others, and aim for about his thigh level. The last, another normal one, would fly to his left.

However, right as she released the third, she would clap her hands together and, suddenly, the weighted one would grow in size to about the size of a sword. If he tried to do that showy narrow dodge stuff again, he just might get caught!

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Shuriken Henge no Jutsu [Shuriken Transformation Technique]
RANK: C-rank
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT:
DESCRIPTION:

This technique is a surprise attack that is designed to maximize the killing potential of thrown projectiles. At a hand clap, the projectile is instantly enlarged, proportionate to its size. This causes, for example, a shuriken to reach the size of a fūma shuriken, or a kunai to reach the size of a short sword.

[Kuronmeru Inei]

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]陰翳

[attr="class","skulloverlap"]NOT SCARED OF THE DARK, ARE YOU?

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Curiouser and curiouser. The girl was either ignorant of Inei’s bloodlust and reputation, or she just didn’t care. She just smiled back at him, making the Kuronmeru tilt his head like a cat looking over its prey.
[break][break]
He didn’t respond to her compliment other than to incline his chin in acknowledgement. Of course he was good at it, he wouldn’t have gotten this far in the military if he wasn’t able to dodge a few kunai. It was common sense, complimenting it was just a waste of breath.
[break][break]
He shifted his weight to the balls of his feet, waiting for Taru to continue their exercise. This time she pulled out three kunai, making him wonder if she was just going to keep increasing the number in an attempt to overwhelm him. It wouldn’t work, if that was her plan.
[break][break]
What was she doing? Messing with the kunai over there? Inei tapped his fingers against his thigh, as he wondered what the girl was doing with her kunai instead of throwing them. But finally she finished whatever it was that she was doing and finally moved like she was going to throw, alerting Inei to tense in preparation.
[break][break]
She tossed and he moved, easily sidestepping the first one. He moved again, away from the slower kunai, the one aimed lower and towards the normal kunai when Taru threw another loop and made the kunai grow in size. Where Inei had plenty of wiggle room before, now he had to drop to his knees and slide under the blade in order to avoid it from slicing into his face.
[break][break]
He pushed off with his foot spinning up and back onto his feet. He nodded at the girl and awaited her next choice of action.

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SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used

• 
  

[break][break]
Items Used

• Kiba [Fangs] | Raitō [Thunderswords][break]
  These twin swords that are imbued with Raiton which increases their cutting power. They are said to be two of the sharpest swords ever forged. Additionally, they help the wielder by reducing the chakra costs for raiton techniques drastically.
• 
  

[break][break]
SAs Active

• 『Blood of the Kuronmeru』[break]
  As an inheritor of the Kuronmeru's bloodline, Inei's veins run black with the dark, thick ichor. He was born to become a powerful member of the family and over the years he has learned to manipulate his blood on par with the masters of the clan. He can bend, move and shape, the blood to his desire, almost as if the blood were alive itself. He is also capable of hardening the blood to form weapons, projectiles, and other shapes. Because of his genetics, Inei's blood regenerates at a much higher rate than the average person, thus making his blood a deadly weapon.
• 『Exquisite Control』[break]
  Practicing from the moment he learned he could manipulate chakra, Inei has become quiet proficient in controlling the usage of his chakra. Not born with vast stores, and being interested in the medical field, he had to learn how to perfectly utilize every bit of energy, not wasting a single bit on frivolous, showy techniques. The utilization and skill at control allows for him to trump those who don't put time and energy in studying how little energy a technique truly needs. His ability to use chakra without wasting any allows him to function on a level as those born with deeper chakra stores than him.
• 『Medical Scientist』[break]
  Initially learned as a curiosity and continued on as a passion, Inei learned to understand the body, its mechanics, medicine, and ways to apply it from a young age. Training day in and day out, in order to learn techniques to further his experimentations and bolster his deadliness on the field, he is quite knowledgeable in the medicinal field. The knowledge he has gained over the years allows him a greater understanding of medical techniques both healing and harmful and allows him to use his techniques with practiced ease compared to those of lesser talent.
• 『The Mad Genius』[break]
  It is no secret that Inei is incredibly intelligent and that his mind is a dangerous weapon. His IQ is nothing to be taken lightly, even with his odd behavior. He possesses incredible mental capacity, is able to concentrate even in the heat of battle, can calculate things in his head with great speed, and is able to remember many things with perfect recollection. He is capable of analyzing and memorizing an opponent's fighting style and determining the best ways to counteract against them. It’s incredibly difficult to deceive the man, especially if one is not skilled at lying. He is highly alert and analytical, and is capable of thinking outside of the box. Moreover, Inei can formulate numerous plans to certain situations in mere moments. He thinks numerous steps ahead, and always has a back up plan.
• 
  

[break]

[attr="class","skullinfo"]5/9 / Suzuki Taru

[attr="class","skullcredits"]TAIKO!

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[newclass=.skullbody b]color:#0f77bb;[/newclass]
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[newclass=.skullcredits]width:380px;font-family:roboto;font-size:8px;text-align:center;[/newclass]

[googlefont=Oswald]
[googlefont=Roboto]

[Suzuki Taru]

Sure enough, her plan managed to make him work a little harder to dodge! He actually had to drop to his knees to duck under it instead of casually stepping to the side each time. She let out an excited,

"Woohoo!" Raising her hands in the air to celebrate his success. Even if he'd still dodged it pretty easily, it seemed like she'd finally found a way to make him work out. Still, now that she'd done the trick once, he'd be more prepared for seeing something like that again.

What could she do to bring this up another level? Well, she'd been avoiding going for her bow and arrows since the idea had been initiated with kunai, but since he was so good at dodging, maybe it'd be good to recommend.

Pulling her bow off her back, she fiddled with the string to make sure the tension was good.

"You're too good at dodging. I'm not sure I could ever hit you with a kunai. Maybe we should try out with a bow and arrows?" She suggested.

The bow was a little cheap looking, but still hefty. From the way the bow string looked and the way the wood flexed, it might be easy to tell it had a decent draw weight. That meant an arrow from it would fly a fair bit faster than a thrown kunai.

[Kuronmeru Inei]

[nospaces]

[attr="class","skullhover"]

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]陰翳

[attr="class","skulloverlap"]NOT SCARED OF THE DARK, ARE YOU?

[attr="class","skullbody"]


This girl was throwing Inei for a loop. Why was she so happy that she was failing at hitting him? Had it been his family, even against a more advanced opponent, consistent failure would have gotten him severely punished.
[break][break]
His head tilted again, with a look on his face that most would consider fond exasperation, thanks to his perpetual smile. Inei was just confused. But Taru just continued on, she acquiesced that Inei had the speed to easily continue dodging her attempts with kunai and wanted to upgrade to something that would be faster: her bow and arrows.
[break][break]
That might prove a challenge for him. They would definitely be faster than kunai and the damage they could do would be much more of a dodging motivation than the small blades. He didn’t see any problem with this path and nodded. "Might as well," he said.
[break][break]
He had no comment about the state of her equipment. He didn’t use bows, swords were more his speed, but he’d been at the receiving end of arrows before and knew what to expect. Inei readied himself to move at a moment’s notice by resting his weight onto the balls of his feet. His eye scanned that girl watching how she drew the bow and where the path of the arrow would fly. All there was to do now was to wait for her to fire.

[attr="class","skullbody"]

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used

• 
  

[break][break]
Items Used

• Kiba [Fangs] | Raitō [Thunderswords][break]
  These twin swords that are imbued with Raiton which increases their cutting power. They are said to be two of the sharpest swords ever forged. Additionally, they help the wielder by reducing the chakra costs for raiton techniques drastically.
• 
  

[break][break]
SAs Active

• 『Blood of the Kuronmeru』[break]
  As an inheritor of the Kuronmeru's bloodline, Inei's veins run black with the dark, thick ichor. He was born to become a powerful member of the family and over the years he has learned to manipulate his blood on par with the masters of the clan. He can bend, move and shape, the blood to his desire, almost as if the blood were alive itself. He is also capable of hardening the blood to form weapons, projectiles, and other shapes. Because of his genetics, Inei's blood regenerates at a much higher rate than the average person, thus making his blood a deadly weapon.
• 『Exquisite Control』[break]
  Practicing from the moment he learned he could manipulate chakra, Inei has become quiet proficient in controlling the usage of his chakra. Not born with vast stores, and being interested in the medical field, he had to learn how to perfectly utilize every bit of energy, not wasting a single bit on frivolous, showy techniques. The utilization and skill at control allows for him to trump those who don't put time and energy in studying how little energy a technique truly needs. His ability to use chakra without wasting any allows him to function on a level as those born with deeper chakra stores than him.
• 『Medical Scientist』[break]
  Initially learned as a curiosity and continued on as a passion, Inei learned to understand the body, its mechanics, medicine, and ways to apply it from a young age. Training day in and day out, in order to learn techniques to further his experimentations and bolster his deadliness on the field, he is quite knowledgeable in the medicinal field. The knowledge he has gained over the years allows him a greater understanding of medical techniques both healing and harmful and allows him to use his techniques with practiced ease compared to those of lesser talent.
• 『The Mad Genius』[break]
  It is no secret that Inei is incredibly intelligent and that his mind is a dangerous weapon. His IQ is nothing to be taken lightly, even with his odd behavior. He possesses incredible mental capacity, is able to concentrate even in the heat of battle, can calculate things in his head with great speed, and is able to remember many things with perfect recollection. He is capable of analyzing and memorizing an opponent's fighting style and determining the best ways to counteract against them. It’s incredibly difficult to deceive the man, especially if one is not skilled at lying. He is highly alert and analytical, and is capable of thinking outside of the box. Moreover, Inei can formulate numerous plans to certain situations in mere moments. He thinks numerous steps ahead, and always has a back up plan.
• 
  

[break]

[attr="class","skullinfo"]6/9 / Suzuki Taru

[attr="class","skullcredits"]TAIKO!

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[newclass=.skullbody b]color:#0f77bb;[/newclass]
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[googlefont=Oswald]
[googlefont=Roboto]

[Suzuki Taru]

Inei kept up a smile, though it seemed a little... Well, he didn't not look happy - he was smiling, after all - but it was hard for Taru to place the exact emotion. Maybe she would have to ask him later? He seemed really focused right now, so he'd probably be less than excited at the idea of Taru interrupting to ask him what kind of smile he was wearing.

He agreed to the use of the bow and arrows and she nodded, finishing the preparation of her bow to make sure it was in proper shape for this kind of practice. This was something she'd done a few times before, now - both in training with other live targets, and on the battlefield against enemies. She'd sniped opponents in bird's nests and ones hiding behind logs in the middle of the forest, so she was much more confident here.

Nocking the arrow, she assessed Inei's posture, the distribution of his weight. Light, equally distributed, ready to turn on a time. She pulled back her bowstring and gave a slight twist, which would give the arrow a small rotation and shift its power in an arc.

The second the string was at its maximum draw, she released it. The arrow flung forward, though curved slightly to the right, aiming for Inei's lower-left torso.

[Kuronmeru Inei]

[nospaces]

[attr="class","skullhover"]

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]陰翳

[attr="class","skulloverlap"]NOT SCARED OF THE DARK, ARE YOU?

[attr="class","skullbody"]


Something finally seemed to shift in the girl’s expression as she studied him. Inei’s smile never reached his eyes, but it did grow a fraction at the change. He didn’t know what the change was yet, but he looked forward to seeing where it led Taru's perception.
[break][break]
But he needed to focus on the activity at hand, rather than muse about the inner workings of the weird child. The arrows would be much faster than the kunai, and he needed to account for that. Just as she was studying him, he studied her. The way she stood, held the bow, the way she compensated for variables like the wind. It let the elder judge her aim and guess where she was planning on firing her arrow.
[break][break]
As soon as she exhaled and released the arrow, Inei was moving. She was firing towards his lower torso, so he dug his foot in and pushed away from the spot. Even with his speed it was going to be close. So he moved further than he would like to have, choosing safety over showing off, so that even with the curve in its path, the arrow wasn’t near enough to him to strike.
[break][break]
Skidding slightly as he stopped, he exhaled hard through his nose. Staying on his toes, he awaited the girl to fire more arrows and to see how long he would be able to keep up.

[attr="class","skullbody"]

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used

• 
  

[break][break]
Items Used

• Kiba [Fangs] | Raitō [Thunderswords][break]
  These twin swords that are imbued with Raiton which increases their cutting power. They are said to be two of the sharpest swords ever forged. Additionally, they help the wielder by reducing the chakra costs for raiton techniques drastically.
• 
  

[break][break]
SAs Active

• 『Blood of the Kuronmeru』[break]
  As an inheritor of the Kuronmeru's bloodline, Inei's veins run black with the dark, thick ichor. He was born to become a powerful member of the family and over the years he has learned to manipulate his blood on par with the masters of the clan. He can bend, move and shape, the blood to his desire, almost as if the blood were alive itself. He is also capable of hardening the blood to form weapons, projectiles, and other shapes. Because of his genetics, Inei's blood regenerates at a much higher rate than the average person, thus making his blood a deadly weapon.
• 『Exquisite Control』[break]
  Practicing from the moment he learned he could manipulate chakra, Inei has become quiet proficient in controlling the usage of his chakra. Not born with vast stores, and being interested in the medical field, he had to learn how to perfectly utilize every bit of energy, not wasting a single bit on frivolous, showy techniques. The utilization and skill at control allows for him to trump those who don't put time and energy in studying how little energy a technique truly needs. His ability to use chakra without wasting any allows him to function on a level as those born with deeper chakra stores than him.
• 『Medical Scientist』[break]
  Initially learned as a curiosity and continued on as a passion, Inei learned to understand the body, its mechanics, medicine, and ways to apply it from a young age. Training day in and day out, in order to learn techniques to further his experimentations and bolster his deadliness on the field, he is quite knowledgeable in the medicinal field. The knowledge he has gained over the years allows him a greater understanding of medical techniques both healing and harmful and allows him to use his techniques with practiced ease compared to those of lesser talent.
• 『The Mad Genius』[break]
  It is no secret that Inei is incredibly intelligent and that his mind is a dangerous weapon. His IQ is nothing to be taken lightly, even with his odd behavior. He possesses incredible mental capacity, is able to concentrate even in the heat of battle, can calculate things in his head with great speed, and is able to remember many things with perfect recollection. He is capable of analyzing and memorizing an opponent's fighting style and determining the best ways to counteract against them. It’s incredibly difficult to deceive the man, especially if one is not skilled at lying. He is highly alert and analytical, and is capable of thinking outside of the box. Moreover, Inei can formulate numerous plans to certain situations in mere moments. He thinks numerous steps ahead, and always has a back up plan.
• 
  

[break]

[attr="class","skullinfo"]7/9 / Suzuki Taru

[attr="class","skullcredits"]TAIKO!

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[googlefont=Oswald]
[googlefont=Roboto]

[Suzuki Taru]

This time, Inei dodged in a much less showy manner, deciding to push himself further out of the path of the arrow. Instead of the confident near dodge, he chose to give himself more room to account for potential arrows. Taru knew that it was just because of the faster flight of an arrow compared to a kunai, but it was still a little validating considering their relative skill - Inei was definitely a much more experienced shinobi than her, if his practiced dodging was any indication.

"Good dodge!" She complimented again, already reaching into her quiver.

The other good thing about the wider dodge was that it gave her more time to notch another arrow. She was able to begin pulling up her second arrow while he was still in motion, though her notching pace wasn't breakneck or anything - she could fire just about twelve arrows a minute if she really put her mind to it.

Still, the second she could she pulled back her bowstring and fired another arrow, this one a direct line towards Inei's center mass. That would make it a little harder to settle on a direction to safely dodge, compared to aiming towards one of his sides. She notched another arrow as soon as she loosed that one to fire a follow-up, trying to track the path of Inei's dodge to fire in that direction.