[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Uzumaki Ichigoni

Toru found some success in his attack, but then Ichigoni surfaced in a literal flash. The Mizukage found himself confused in that moment, he glanced up towards the surface to see where the man had come up and was now sending ripples across the water's surface where his feet touched the water. Why had he run up there after having made a desperate escape to the bottom of the lake? Something about the situation was off and Toru decided to surface as well, his cloak receding to a glimmer, only visible in the heightened red of his eyes and the firmness and splintered variation of his off-white hair.

"Did I go too far?" It seemed a silly thing to ask, but he had never had such a reaction in the middle of battle, such a pivot in energy from one energetic attack and dodge to this attempt to get reprieve. Toru was not extremely good at reading emotions, but he was good at reading battle and this was one of those moments that felt inherently strained.

It was not as if he had done anything to really damage Ichigoni beyond repair, hurt? Sure, but none of his attacks had maimed him. So there he stood on the surface of the water, heavy mist clinging to him and the pale of his clothes just in eye shot of Ichigoni who was catching his breath.

OWL

[Uzumaki Ichigoni]

[googlefont=Crimson Text]

くたばれ
Ichigoni stood on the water for a moment, contemplating his situation. If he were truly to be a victim to some deranged ritual sacrifice, then why would the beast in the form of the Mizukage stop to question him? Perhaps they were toying with him, but if Ichigoni were to act on that impulse and he was wrong then he would become a traitor. Every suspicion cast upon him in his youth would be validated.

He drew in a deep breath and then exhaled slowly.

"Forgive me. Your ability to use coral is beyond impressive, Mizukage-sama," Ichigoni said. "I've only seen its like once before, nearly ten years ago."

He paused and tried to clock Toru through the mist. For a moment he thought he spotted a visage of the kage with red in his eyes through the vapors, coming from the sound of his voice, but found himself unable to keep a bead on them.

"Cost me both my pride and my eye that day," he said. "So much destruction, because I was too weak to complete my jutsu. Now I stand here, wondering how a man has the powers of a beast. Or has the beast decided to finish what it started?"

🗡️

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Uzumaki Ichigoni

Ichigoni was fearful, and it was a valid fear. Some had suppressed it facing against Toru, but those that had vivid memories in relation to the monster would vividly and viscerally fear Toru's display. Toru himself had seen the beast destroy the village, but he understood it better than most now.

It had never truly intended to destroy and had only retaliated after it had been attacked by shinobi. Large, cumbersome, but not truly violent in the way others had thought him to be.

"Swear to secrecy." It was a quick demand and if Ichigoni complied Toru would continue, if not he would simply wait. They did not have to fight, but if Ichigoni wanted the answer to his question then he would have to swear an oath. He could not speak of this to anyone, it was a government secret after all... But he was a high enough rank, and was sung high praises by those at sea. Toru trusted his higher officers the most. He had to, or else the entire village and nation would fall apart...

He could not think everyone was there to betray him, even if sometimes things did not always play out how he hoped.

"I am not finishing anything, all of these techniques and abilities are under my control. He - as you call him 'the beast' - Isobu and I are partners. But you should not fear destruction from him again, he did not do it purposefully. He had tried to run that day, but was attacked and retaliated only to protect himself. As any of us would have. He is not naturally violent."

SPOILER: Click to show

9/13 training posts

OWL

[Uzumaki Ichigoni]

[googlefont=Crimson Text]

くたばれ
Ichigoni felt confused. If the kage was the beast in disguise then surely he would have attacked. The Uzumaki decided that was not the case.

"You are the lord of this land and my loyalty is to Mizu no Kuni, I would not dare betray your secrets,” Ichigoni said.

The explanation of the two being partners further confused him, but his deep knowledge of fuinjutsu made him come to a realization. There were powerful seals out there that were meant to contain such monsters. There were methods to draw power from seals as well, to tap their chakra. Had they truly managed such a feat? To pair such a power with another? It was the most probable explanation, and so his look of bewilderment began to fade.

"Using a human body as a container— It seems very dangerous, but I will trust your wisdom and abilities. I would be careful with testing the limits of your seal, any perceived friendship you may feel could simply be a manipulation to free itself from its prison.”

Mixed feelings remained. He knew Toru was in control right now, but he still felt hatred for the beast and it was hard to believe that Isobu was benevolent.

🗡️

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Uzumaki Ichigoni

Toru shook his head at Ichigoni, he knew better. He knew that Isobu was no manipulator, and while Toru was not an extreme empath there was something in the way Isobu spoke that made Toru feel that the beast was just doing its best to protect itself and run away on that day. He had once been terrified of it too, and angry. But as the vessel, he had learned more perspectives and truths. Toru's world had been nothing but a change in perspectives and truths in reality.

The boy leader stared a moment longer at Ichigoni before putting out his hand, palm facing up. It was an open gesture, to show that he meant no harm. That he meant well in the situation as he looked towards the jounin.

"We can stop now, or we can continue... The red chakra is only in my control if I continue to use it and continue to know it. As long as I do not let my emotions get the best of me, you are safe." But in that regard, Toru was among the safest of jinchuuriki as he always had his emotions in check to an almost eerie degree. He was always mitigating them, no matter how strongly he felt about something.

OWL

[Uzumaki Ichigoni]

[googlefont=Crimson Text]

くたばれ"I will take the chance on you that the village took on my father and I,” Ichigoni said with a bow. His emotions were mixed, as he was burying revenge against his "white whale” for the sake of his loyalty. In a way, it felt good to know that he was blinded by vengeance and could control himself. "Forgive my questioning, I am sure you are more than capable of controlling it.”

He drew another chakra stake from his arm and let himself sink back into the water, trading to keep his head above for a moment.

"Let’s keep going then, I doubt I will be much of a challenge to you, but that will mean I can push my limits,” he said with a grin.

Giving Toru time to reset, he swam back down towards the bottom of the lake after taking in another long breath for use with hidden mist breathing. It was still his best means of counteracting the hidden mist jutsu so that he could see.

Toru’s armor seemed to be impenetrable. By extension the beast was. If they ever lost control, Ichigoni would have to be ready to try to stop the beast. He hoped that others within the country had similar or more refined skills as well.

🗡️

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Uzumaki Ichigoni

Toru nodded in response quiet, not responding with words but rather watching as Ichigoni relaxed at all of this slightly. He understood what kind of scars his shinobi carried after the rampage, he had been one to have witnessed it firsthand when he was much younger. It had killed many, totally took out two clans in the process. It was nothing to be trifled with and he understood that deeply. But, he also knew himself and he knew that he and Isobu were working together and only the greatest catalyst could put Toru out of control. He was not an emotional boy, stunted by years of trauma in this regard, and this lack of emotion allowed him to keep things well wrapped... Though his empathy was often lacking too, and this made for a brutal weapon if used correctly.

Granted, his empathy was uncovering itself slowly in the last several years as he was forced to wrestle with being a leader that was benevolent in his own right.

Ichigoni sunk beneath the steady water of the crescent lake and Toru joined him, his body wrapped in its signature red shroud once more as he lowered himself to the bottom of the lake and with a stomp on the ground, sending sand, dirt and debris upwards coral shot across the ground in a trail towards Ichigoni for the man to dodge.

SPOILER: Click to show

Posts for training 10/13

OWL

[Uzumaki Ichigoni]

[googlefont=Crimson Text]

くたばれ
Ichigoni paused briefly as Toru made the ocean floor explode with a cloud, and he caught the tendrils of coral rushing towards him through the silt. In a real situation with a foe of this magnitude, he’d be positioning to try to set up a desperate attempt to seal them away. Since this was training, he’d focus on conventional tactics.

Making a hand seal, the Uzumaki flickered through the water to avoid the coral, his body thrust to Toru’s right flank about ten meters away. After that he took advantage of the rush of water to make three hand seals, which in turn created three clones. Although their swimming wouldn’t churn the water, the water was already in motion from his flicker. They swam to encircle Toru from all directions, though a watchful eye would be able to catch a bubble or two escaping the nose from Ichigoni leading the front of another clone going clockwise while the other two wrapped around counter clockwise.

Not hoping for a long term distraction, he hoped only for a split second of misdirection as another stake drew into his hands. He’d send it launching towards Toru at full force without restraint, confident that the kage could handle it.

[just bunshin]

🗡️

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Uzumaki Ichigoni

There was a lot of movement which made discerning the clones a bit more difficult and with all the shadows at the bottom of the lake he could not use that to tell if these were just bunshin or not. So he had to rely on pure instinct, and reflexes. He kept his gaze quickly jumping between the clones and the real Ichigoni, until the real one produced a stake and tossed it at Toru. His immediate reaction was to pull up a wall of coral to stop it from reaching him, whilst also jumping back to create just a moderate amount of distance between himself and the stake reaching him, hoping that if the coral did not stop it then its slowing trajectory in the water would inevitably.

If not, he would have something else to worry about.

Regardless, if he were even moderately successful in his attempt to get out of the way of the attacking object then he would form three hand seals in the privacy of his long sleeve before kneading chakra and expelling a rather strong jet of water going straight for Ichigoni from his palm. It would probably not hurt that much since they were in water, but it wouldn't feel great either.

SPOILER: Click to show

11/13

Name:Suihashu - [Water Wave Hand]
Rank:C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low [Continuous]
Type:Ninjutsu
Element:Suiton
HANDSEALS: 3
Description:
Suihashu is a Ninjutsu utilizing the Water Element. The user will raise their hand into the air and emit a continuous jet of water to disrupt their opponent's attacks. Due to the nature of water, this attack works especially well against smoke, ash and fire based jutsu.

OWL

[Uzumaki Ichigoni]

[googlefont=Crimson Text]

くたばれ
Ichigoni’s stake flew fast and true, but got stuck in the coral and lost momentum. He began thinking of how he might handle such a situation against a foe whose defense could not be beaten. It was clear that he’d need to brush up on additional fuinjutsu to deal with these sorts of situations in the future, but he thought about his current arsenal.

Against the incoming barrage of water jets, the shinobi allowed himself to sink to the bottom of the water and bit his finger. Pushing his hand to the sandy bottom of the lake the toad Gama emerged in front of him, putting his arms up and taking the brunt of the force from the incoming water pressure. Still, some water moved beyond the toad and Ichigoni felt small debris and sediment cutting superficial scratches against his flesh.

Afterwards, the toad would whip a tongue towards Toru, attempting to wrap him up in his tongue and then slam him onto the bed of the ocean floor. Ichigoni had his doubts that the toad would be able to keep hold of Toru, but he couldn’t communicate much about the situation underwater. He was curious to see if Gama could restrain the kage for even a few moments, anyways.

SPOILER: Click to show

Summoning Jutsu +

NAME: Ai no Muchi [Whip of Love] ❖
RANK: D
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Taijutsu
ELEMENT: N/A
HANDSEALS: 0
DESCRIPTION:
The user stretches its tongue out with an incredible speed and force, delivering a powerful blow to the opponent. The toad may also use its tongue to wrap around the enemy and smash them into the ground.

🗡️

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Uzumaki Ichigoni

The water was really nothing to get excited over, the toad managed to block all of it without being moved and whatever debris there was, it was probably more of a nuisance than actual damage to Ichigoni who stood just behind the summoned beast. Toru was not one who had ever signed a summoning contract, having never seen a use in it but he could see some merit with having a sentient companion who could take on attacks easily without expending much chakra to do so - like a clone would be.

Normally less relaxed Toru found himself getting wrapped up in the toads tongue. Had this been a battle in the field or another situation he might have found himself paying more attention instead of getting caught up in his thoughts about summons and the toads presence itself. Not this time, so he got slammed pretty hard into the ground. It hurt, enough for him to grimace slightly but between the cloak and his passive toughness the slam actually did very little to the boy king.

The cloak was a bit hot to the touch as well, which could or could not motivate the toad to let go sooner... Though it was uncomfortable it was not exactly going to burn flesh.

Toru manipulated the chakra around him then, as two could play at this game, and a hand shot out to try and slam into the toads face as a punch.

SPOILER: Click to show

12/13

OWL

[Uzumaki Ichigoni]

[googlefont=Crimson Text]

くたばれ
After slamming Toru down with his tongue, the toad retracted his tongue and his eyes closed as if he had just tasted a mouthful of Szechuan peppercorns. In his cringing moment, Toru got ahold of him and cleaned his clock. The bulky toad was pushed back in the water and landed on the surface.

In the brief moments that Toru dealt with Gama, Ichigoni brought his hands together to form two seals. He’d begin to launch himself like a torpedo towards Toru once more, forming another sealing stake on his approach. As he moved, he spun the stake in his hand to build momentum, and then channel futon chakra into the spear as he approached Toru and attempted to pierce his arm once more. A vacuum like air bubble would form surrounding it, threatening to pull Toru into the blow if he narrowly dodged it.

Gama stood on the lake floor with a wobble and a swollen left cheek. The speedy collision between Toru and Ichigoni made it difficult for the toad to discern the results. It was clear Gama thought better of using his tongue against Toru again, and instead pulled the large pair of sai on his back from their hooks and began swimming towards the fray.

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Suichuu Senkou [Underwater Submarine Voyage]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Suiton
HANDSEALS: 2
DESCRIPTION:
Suichuu Senkou is the suiton version of Dochuu Senkou. After forming the needed hand seals, the user can sink below water and quickly travel at their normal land speed, moving through the water as if they were a torpedo propelled by chakra. Although this jutsu provides movement capabilities, it doesn't allow the user to breath underwater.

NAME: Hisan Fūgui [Soaring Sealing Stake]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Hiden | Fūinjutsu
DESCRIPTION:
With his clan's secret style of wielding seals, the Uzumaki manifests an iron-hard meter of chakra in the form of a sharpened stake-like rod, created to be wielded as a weapon. To be pierced by this metal-rending spear is to activate the sealing effects of its nature, as it quickly binds to and paralyzes the actions of the surrounding body parts. The stake itself actually fails to wound its target, despite how it may appear, only petrifying the tissues surrounding the seal. This works to immobilize the enemy, as a single stake to one's limbs or torso is enough to turn a fight against their favor. Implied by the name, the user may also create and launched a stake from their body, manifesting as an unexpected flying projectile with sealing capabilities. When added into another seal, this technique acts as a temporary paralyzing defense mechanism against those who physically tamper with the benefitted seal, save for its user. This includes outside threats as well as those within the seal, preventing captives from releasing themselves through rudimentary means.


NAME: Kaimetsu-tekina Ryū [Devastating Drake]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Bukijutsu
ELEMENT: Fūton
HANDSEALS: 0
REQUIREMENT: Ryū no Mai [Dragon Dance]

DESCRIPTION:
The user will twirl their polearm using the Ryū no Mai [Dragon Dance], building intense momentum before delivering a single strike against their opponent, aiming for the torso of their enemy. While this strike carries intense power behind it, the true strength is in the results of a block. Should the opponent intercept or block this maneuver, the force of this strike will push air rushing towards the opponent, creating a vacuum-like pull. Those unable to resist this vacuum's strength will find themselves pulled backwards, leaving them off balance and exposed to the second strike the user delivers aimed for the opponent's skull or torso.

🗡️

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Uzumaki Ichigoni

Toru had reflexes and speed on his side, but he was still a bit disoriented from getting smacked into the ground, which made things well a little more complicated. He could try and summon a wall, but he simply did not have the time. The torpedo with which Ichigoni was moving in was a bit too fast in this close of a proximity and so the two of them collided a bit with the stake making its attempt to drive itself into Toru's flesh. The collision for Ichigoni would probably nothing soft to endure as Toru especially in his cloaked state was nothing short of an impenetrable force.

It probably took an extra bit of effort to drive the stake into Toru's arm, though now it was heavy and awkward out of the boy king's body. He tried to use the vortex and Ichigoni's body to dive out of the vortex like one would a riptide, and if it worked he would end up falling on the lake ground by the wayside with a grunt.

Once he sat up he would reach over towards the stake to try and pull it out, he was unsure of the properties of the stake itself. Though he knew one thing immediately, he couldn't move the arm it was piercing.

OWL

[Uzumaki Ichigoni]

[googlefont=Crimson Text]

くたばれ
Once nestled inside his flesh and activated, the outside of the stake itself had a protective seal around it to ward enemies from simply pulling it out. Toru’s attempt to pull it would be met with a numbing sensation in his pulling arm and loss of feeling, though it would end if he ceased to touch the stake.

Ichigoni’s body slowed from the pass and he turned. He’d paralyzed one of the arms. He knew that many swordsmen could still form hand seals without both hands, so the Uzumaki didn’t dare consider this small victory enough to create an advantage against the Mizukage. In a way it still affirmed what he suspected: the beast inside the kage was still susceptible to fuinjutsu. He could imagine such a construct would interfere with many other arts like genjutsu. Should he come across more people like the Mizukage, it seemed it would be his best bet.

Gama arrived at Toru’s position and began swinging each of his sai towards him in a flurry. Ichigoni himself swam forward and drew another stake from his arm and started swinging it towards the kage as well to hit with the bludgeoning end. He had little hope for piercing another limb this way, but going for another right away would be too obvious.

🗡️

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Uzumaki Ichigoni

It was a strange thing, but that didn't mean Toru was going to suddenly stop fighting. Being one arm down was far from ideal but he could still perform hand seals and he could still use a sword, one way or another he would fight. He wasn't really one to back down anyway, it was not in his nature, and though it certainly did not feel good, he had felt far worse pains in his life.

Gama had arrived soon enough and Toru would aim to quite literally stop the toads swings with his forearms, perhaps a touch bravely but at this close proximity he would use quick rotation to get around and tap the toad on the shoulder to leave a bit of coral to grow there. It would be enough if he were successful to also get out of the way of Ichigoni's wild swings, but only narrowly before using his palm to push off of Gama and get away from the pairing.

Toru did not think this was an ideal scenario without one arm - but who would think this to be ideal?

Either way, he needed to come up with another plan and so he decided to pull out his blue mist blade, he could use water techniques through it and defend as necessary with one arm for now and if he needed he could stomp and use his feet and cloak to use the coral.

SPOILER: Click to show

Quick Rotation

NAME: Sangoshō no Jutsu [Coral Reef Technique]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Jinchuuriki [Sanbi/Isobu]
ELEMENT: Coral
HANDSEALS: n/a
REQUIREMENT: Jinchuuriki [Sanbi/Isobu]
DESCRIPTION:
Chakra is focused to a certain part of the body, usually the palms or fists. Once the powerful blow is delivered to the target, coral begins to grow from the point of contact. The coral is durable, heavy, and hard to break.

The rank determines the durability and rate of which the coral grows.

At B-Rank the coral is extremely difficult to break with even a powerful strength enhanced punch, most shinobi cannot manage it without significant talent and power. The coral grows to cover to cover about half the body from where it starts before the growth expires - takes five rotations.

OWL