[juryoku yusei]

The mission that took him through and out of Konoha took a lot out of Yusei. He hadn't looked at a map and had his spot on it pointed out to him yet. Landing in Frost Country was a shocker too. This far to the north, it took a while for his body to acclimate. To then travel further north and east was its own form of "rest". Yusei wasn't cut out for fighting at sea, but now in the cold, misted air, he didn't need an ice-bath for his muscles.

He'd spent the past several days in an inn in Kumogakure's capital city, adjusting further to the thin, high-altitude there. The roars of thunder did as much to rock him to sleep as any natural-born citizen. Every day, he'd see to it that he ate well and exercised, running around the training field. The entire time, he wore his navy-blue jumpsuit, Kusagakure bandanna around his neck. His off-white hair spilled all over his face, and his youthful, placid face made him fit in well with their genin.

This newest visit took him to the middle of the training field, under a grey sky in the middle of the day. Dirt to absorb the shock of landing, chalk-lines to mark distances from the center. Yusei worked one of those classic dummies with wooden limbs, rotated by striking it. He found a use-case for Irregular Dodging. He wove around swings sent right back at him.

Shosuke could've "seen" him from a mile away, but he was pretty easy to pick out of a crowd even outside of sensory jutsu. As he drew closer, Yusei's eyes shifted, half-lidded as he looked at him.

"...I don't believe we've met. My name is Jūryoku Yusei. Do you have a few minutes to spare? I'd like to spar, to stay in shape."

Yamamoto Shosuke , 436

Can't you see it's all flown out of my hands?

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Fukisoku Kaihi [Irregular Dodging]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Taijutsu
ELEMENT: N/a
HANDSEALS: N/a
REQUIREMENT:Taijutsu Secondary or Agility SA

DESCRIPTION:

While any individual can try to jump from the path of an attack, those truly skilled at the art of evasion will find less obvious methods to avoid attacks. Dropping down to a split, flipping just over the area of attack, contorting their body into unusual angles and so on. This technique is effectively just a higher degree of training to use either the terrain or the blindspots of an attack to dodge in usual ways so that the user may either more readily escape or press their counter attack.

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

One might assume, given the extremely recent promotion, that Shosuke might be resting on his laurels a bit. After all, since leaving the hospital he had sought recognition for his abilities, and surely his promotion to a fully fledged Chuunin was sufficient to prove it?

It would seem not, or at least, that he thought it didn't. He still had far more to make up for, years of inaction to rectify, and so he would continue to train and push himself until he finally made it up to them. There was a part of him that told him Kizumi would say he would become a walking corpse if he continued like this, that he would burn every inch of life and vitality out of himself trying to catch up with an impossible goal, but he quieted that voice. It was just an irksome, irritating little thing.

Either way, as Sho came into the training area, he could feel the vibrations of someone else who had arrived before him. From what he could sense through the earth, they had been training, beating up some inanimate dummy as if they were beating their frustrations out on it. Judging by the fluidity of their movements, they seemed skilled - at least as skilled as he was, if not more so. But he wasn't the type to force people to talk to him if they didn't want to.

It seemed, however, that they very much wanted to.

For Shosuke's part, he was dressed in the white Kumogakure flak jacket that denoted his rank, his hitai-ate resting on his right arm, and his thick black sunglasses rested on the bridge of his nose. Those glasses, so much darker than a regular pair, refused to let more than a little light in, painting what little of the world he could see in twilight hues. However, even with them he was able to tell there was something off about this guy.

The man was shorter than he was, of middling frame, but it was his hair and eyes that stood out to him. Pure, jagged white, with irises that seemed like dinnerplates. His medical training told him they looked dilated, as if they were unfocused, staring at nothing. Much, he assumed, like his own would if one could see through the scar tissue that had formed over his corneas.

"... Albino?" Shosuke said, more to himself than to the other man, before realising that the other man was still waiting for an answer. Clearing his throat a little, as if to clear out some of the awkwardness that had formed between them, he spoke again.

"You're right, we haven't met - I don't know your name, at least, and that's unique. You must be from out of town, am I right?" With how confident this guy was walking around, he was probably from an allied village, like Konoha or Kusa. It seemed that there were a lot of those wandering around lately, though he wasn't complaining. Probably to do with the upcoming Chuunin Exams...

"I must admit, I think you'll find me a poor sparring partner. I'm not the most skilled Shinobi among our ranks, but if you truly wish to fight me I won't say no."

Patiently, Shosuke waited for confirmation, one way or another.

551 words | juryoku yusei

SPOILER: Click to show

Chakura no Mesu - [Chakra Scalpel]: 1/9
Jutsus Used: None

[juryoku yusei]

Yusei, oddly enough, was without his flak jacket. He just had on his compression-wear, and those classic navy-blue tabi. Yusei was right there with him: overworking himself, and this was his idea of fun. He slammed a few missions together in a row to have rent secured, then travel for a while. Frankly that taste of the seemingly always autumnal Konoha felt more "home" than home.

"...Albino." He said, pausing. There was an audible beat. Nothing on Shosuke's part, Yusei was still waking up. While Shosuke met him halfway with an answer, this diversion was welcome too. Yusei blinked, his dark-ringed eyes signaling trouble sleeping. Shosuke's flak-jacket conferred a level of authority; he should've deferred to him before trying to get a word in. Shosuke stood taller, with more tidy black hair, and had a calmer presence too. Without probing further, he just looked like someone who should be a leader. He reminded him of Ichi.

His second comment gave him a chance to open up, and his eyes lit up a little. His voice had the murmur, the slight scratchiness of someone who'd rolled out of bed recently. "Out of town is one way to put it. I'd have to charter a ship, then hike through Konoha to make it home." He said, raising a thumb and tugging at his headband. Yusei admittedly had a little bounce in his step, the idea that any training field is his backyard. Now, back to "albino". "We're one of the oldest families in Kusakagure. My full name spells out "star, gravity"."

To illustrate his point, Yusei steps away from the training dummy. He didn't want to make any assumptions there based on the sunglasses, so it was time to do the parlor trick that wowed everyone back home. As shinobi often did, Yusei had one of those beige pouches at one hip. He opened the clasp and dug around, dumping out all 12 of the shuriken in his possession. He forged two seals, a Bird and a Hare. As soon as those metal stars clattered to the ground, they were picked up, and all gently drifted off. Too slow to be a threat, they just sailed in the air like a balloon turned loose.

"...I don't wanna twist your arm here. If you're just here to hang out, that's cool too. But if you won't say no, I guess we're doing this, then." He said, before starting that Bird seal again. He clasped his hands together, causing the array of wandering shuriken to clatter to the ground again. Yusei turned and walked back 200 meters. He then unstrapped the pouch from his waist, throwing it off to the side.

Yamamoto Shosuke , 527

Can't you see it's all flown out of my hands?

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Uku [Float]
RANK: D
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low {Continuous}
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
HANDSEALS: 2, Bird → Hare
DESCRIPTION:

A sphere of gravity surrounds the user fifty feet outward. In this zone, objects that don’t weight very much will get picked up by the reduction in gravity. The user will have no control over where things go, but they will float. This jutsu has no effect on humans.

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

Those dark-rings around the other man's eyes... they were emblematic of someone who had difficulty sleeping, someone who worked themselves too hard, who stayed up too late. Shosuke recognized them because they were almost identical to his own, with the only difference being his were hidden behind those black glass lenses. They weren't the type of things that came over night, they were the type that were perpetually etched into one's face through years of abusing one's body.

All that aside, this kid was from Kusa? Shosuke had been there recently, visiting that Ichi guy. It was quite the coincidence to find someone from there all the way over here, though he supposed he shouldn't be too surprised. After all, it seemed that people were travelling to and fro freely between allied nations nowadays. A lot of the more paranoid secrecy of old seemed to be dying out if they could have such open conversations and trades of information.

"Star gravity, huh? Your parents must have been pretty nerdy to give your name such thematic resonance." He said, before realizing that he had the man at quite the advantage. Beginning to stretch since it was pretty clear how this was going to end up, he returned the man's kindness by introducing himself.

"I'm Shosuke - Yamamoto Shosuke. I don't know if it has any deeper meaning than that, but I figure it'd be rude not to return the favor. We're pretty old ourselves, but I couldn't tell you anything about how that compares to other families in the village. Hope that's not too disappointing."

As he was speaking, he couldn't help but notice what the other man was doing. His vision was far from perfect so it as a little hard to make out, but he could tell this man was somehow causing some shuriken to float. Was he using fuuton or was this something else? If something else, it would be a little foolish to so brazenly show off your unique talents before even beginning the fight proper, but.. well, this guy seemed a little off to begin with, so it wasn't outside of the realm of possibility.

"If you're sure... Let's do this!"

Throwing a couple of handsigns together, a series of thick vines began to span out from Shosuke, beginning to wrap and cling to any and all available surfaces on the area - railings, the very floor of the training area, the light fixtures of the area. In but moments from when Shosuke started, the arena suddenly seemed far more aged and dilapidated than it had even a moment before.

437 words | juryoku yusei

SPOILER: Click to show

Chakura no Mesu - [Chakra Scalpel]: 2/9

Jutsus Used
NAME: Budō o sasu [Strangling Vines]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Mokuton
HANDSEALS: 6
DECRIPTION: Once the shinobi completes the handseals vines grow up from the ground within thirty feet winding their way up trees or ledges to drape down and spreading over the likes of a building in a lattice like pattern. From then on the plants will appear to simply be normal dormant vines, but will attempt to entangle and strangle anyone that touches them or comes within their reach of five feet who is not their original caster or designated by their caster. This justu was often left behind as a trap by the Senju or cast over their homes or outposts to prevent intrusion.

[juryoku yusei]

Yusei blinked. Shosuke looked to be cut from the same cloth. Working too hard, so he could afford to be hardly working. Those sunglasses likely hid eyes like his. He looked thinner too, maybe even more of a danger to himself than Yusei was.

"...Shosuke. It's nice to meet you. " He said, thinking for a second. Matter of fact, he was cooking his brain over there, eyes darting and looking for an opening. Closing in and entering his field unprepared was out of the question. Shosuke could see those wide eyes narrow as he thought, slowly backing up. The entire arena started looking more and more withered, aged and overgrown with a lush green that reminded him of home.

Yusei forged a dragon hand-seal, reaching into that bag he threw aside. "That doesn't disappoint me, really. It's just nice to do a little walk-and-talk either way. Have you always lived here?" He said, etching a series of kanji into its handle. He leapt forward in the air, doing a small flip. During this twirl, Yusei launched his kunai. He'd hoped to bury it in the field of vines near Shosuke, rather than hit him.

Had it made its mark, he held that Dragon seal, trying to test the strength of his vines. He didn't squeeze further, trying to save his chakra, but if he'd made his mark; Shosuke could feel something pulling at his legs. Not a hard yank, more of a tug like a friend trying to pull him aside. In either case, running away didn't suit him. He had to get hurt to get anywhere. This left him more or less in the range of his field, all the while Yusei got to free his hands without breaking his Fuinjutsu technique.

"...Don't go easy on me. I can handle myself in a scrap." He said, wincing as the words escaped him. This was so close to something Atagi told him. Yusei hunkered down, trying to sprint towards him. Between his attempted Imparting technique and his reckless charge, Yusei wanted to figure this "vine" thing out right away, even if he hurt himself in the process.

Yamamoto Shosuke , 503

Can't you see it's all flown out of my hands?

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Tsutaeru [Impart]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low {To form Seal} Low-High {To Activate}
CLASSIFICATION: Fuuinjutsu
HANDSEALS: 1, Dragon {To Activate}
DESCRIPTION:

Chakra is released into one’s hand forming the shape of the kanji ‘伝える on the palm. When the user touches a surface with their hand, this will be burned into it. When the seal is activated it forms its own gravitational pull. Depending on how much chakra is used during activation this can could turn into light resistance to pulling someone in. For pulling light objects in it would be a low chakra cost. To pull a human being in slowly it would be medium. To pull them in quickly it would have a high chakra cost. The force of it depends on how far the target is from the seal.

SPOILER: Click to show

Enhanced Speed
Yusei would rather be out of breath than speak a word about his feelings. His habit of sublimating frustration and pain into physical exercise often manifests as running 5 km/~3 miles at night. As a result, his legs are sinewy and dense like that of a construction worker. He's able to close distances between him and his target as well as position himself with speed a cut above others in his class.

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

Working too hard so he could afford to be hardly working? Hardly. Shosuke might have agreed with the first bit, he had been known occasionally to work until his breaking point, until his body literally gave out under him, but the latter half couldn't be further from the truth. He couldn't remember the last time he had ever just "taken it easy", even when he was ostensibly on break at the Chuunin Exams he had been pitching in and helping and working to make himself stronger.

The end point? Well, there wasn't really one. He was Sisyphus, dressed in combat gear.

Regardless, once Yusei moved to back up, the trap was already sprung. Immediately, uncoiling itself and shooting from every corner of the training field, strong green vines moved to shoot around the boy's body, aiming to wrap itself around every available junction point and clamp on tight. They moved with speed and fluidity one might not immediately credit to non-sentient objects, looking almost more like snakes that Shosuke had charmed than mere vegetation.

Should they successfully grab ahold of the Kusa-nin, they would begin wrapping around him, keeping him trapped whilst constricting his arms and legs, beginning to bruise and crush them like they had been trapped within a vice.

For Sho, however, his concentration was on the pull he felt from the very ground itself. Unfamiliar with a lot of the families from Kusagakure, he didn't know about the Juryoku's gravity release. Even so, he could feel that there was something wrong, it was like he was being pulled towards the ground. Not severely, but enough for it to be distracting, as if he was beginning to sink into quicksand or something.

Recognizing that whatever this was was probably just the beginning of some larger set of techniques, Sho began to take precautions against the worst of it. His hands shot together various signs, rapidly knocking them out before landing on horse, causing a series of wood-like pillars to form behind him, becoming more and more human with every passing second.

"MOKU BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

Popping out of their "statue" bases, a trio of clones manifested around the field, quickly becoming more and more human with each passing second until they perfectly resembled their original. And, as one, they charged forwards, each one intent on striking Yusei with their raw fists. Sho might not be a taijutsu specialist, but he didn't need to be to hit a pinned man.

"Don't worry; I hadn't planned on it. Not really training if you don't try..."

430 words | juryoku yusei

SPOILER: Click to show

Chakura no Mesu - [Chakra Scalpel]: 3/9

Jutsus Used
See previous post.

NAME: Moku Bunshin no Jutsu [Wood Clone Technique]*
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Mokuton
HANDSEALS: 3
DECRIPTION:
A clone that is created by altering the user's own cells with chakra to create vegetation. Possessing more endurance than the normal shadow clones. the doppelgangers are more resilient to damage. The clones have the ability to travel far distances from the user and are able to communicate with the original albeit the can only pass reconnaissance or simple messages with more complex thoughts and strategies depriving them from their full combat potential. The clones can be as simple in function as a wooden dummy for use in the Body Replacement Technique.

This makes this technique extremely convenient and a perfect clone technique that only the most powerful and fully developed dōjutsu will able to see through. By directly touching the wood clone with their hand, the user can absorb the information it gathered or change the shape of the clone. Because clone is made up of the user's own cells.

[juryoku yusei]

Be that as it may, that "hard work" bound them. It certainly didn't help that his gait, his mannerisms felt like Atagi's in slow motion. All that pep reduced to wry grins and moments of silence, with the odd comment that said nothing about himself and tried to prod at someone else. He'd certainly rubbed Kazui the wrong way like that.

Shosuke's vines darted off the vine as he dashed. Yusei was tripped, hands infront of him to catch his fall. He was then held up in that position, legs parted and arms slowly peeled apart from eachother. Despite this struggle, he smiled wide and foolish. The first real challenge to his body, to his self-image. His grey irises even exposed themselves, his half-lidded eyes wide open.

Yusei tried to wrench the vines off, his legs aimlessly kicking. Despite his Taijutsu acumen, he couldn't build momentum to completely tear it apart. His arms however were slowly parted, as he squeezed every muscle in his chest and biceps. "Tsutaeru." He said, trying to mash out that dragon seal one more time. That off-white chakra of his rose off his forearms in veins.

That tug at Shosuke's feet turned to a hard yank, but Yusei could go no further. The vines holding his arms wrenched them apart, squeezing his forearms enough to hold down on the tendons and keep his hands wide open.

"...You're good at this. ...No pain, no gain, I guess." He murmured. The vines pulled tighter, squeezing blood vessels in his legs and causing a burning pain to shoot from his calf muscles up. A single tear rolled from the corner of his eye down to his jaw, landing on one of the vines below. And then there was the matter of the clones closing in. He hadn't an answer for this, save for holding out hope that injuring Shosuke could give him a small window. Yusei was wide open.

Yamamoto Shosuke , 542

Can't you see it's all flown out of my hands?

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Tsutaeru [Impart]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low {To form Seal} Low-High {To Activate}
CLASSIFICATION: Fuuinjutsu
HANDSEALS: 1, Dragon {To Activate}
DESCRIPTION:

Chakra is released into one’s hand forming the shape of the kanji ‘伝える on the palm. When the user touches a surface with their hand, this will be burned into it. When the seal is activated it forms its own gravitational pull. Depending on how much chakra is used during activation this can could turn into light resistance to pulling someone in. For pulling light objects in it would be a low chakra cost. To pull a human being in slowly it would be medium. To pull them in quickly it would have a high chakra cost. The force of it depends on how far the target is from the seal.

SPOILER: Click to show

Enhanced Speed
Yusei would rather be out of breath than speak a word about his feelings. His habit of sublimating frustration and pain into physical exercise often manifests as running 5 km/~3 miles at night. As a result, his legs are sinewy and dense like that of a construction worker. He's able to close distances between him and his target as well as position himself with speed a cut above others in his class.

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

Shosuke could see something in this guy, something that reminded him of Atagi. The way they walked, the way they carried themselves, the sheer confidence... Yusei may not carry Atagi's heroic ideals and noble bearing, but other than that they might as well have been brothers.

Had Shosuke not observed Kojirou in action, Shosuke might have thought that this was just how all Kusagakure Shinobi were. The frank foolishness and childishness of Kojirou, however, rather undercut that idea which meant that this guy was somehow connected to Atagi directly. He just hoped they weren't actually siblings, that this wasn't another Miroru situation.

What was it with his friends and having to fight their little "siblings"? It was becoming a bit of a bad joke.

Distracted just for a brief moment, Shosuke felt the pull that was drawing him towards the ground go all the more intense, suddenly yanking him down towards the ground. With no real way to stop it, and no way to catch himself, he went down like a tonne of bricks, head bouncing off of the dirt as he did so. Fortunately, the training ground was designed to ensure the floor wasn't particularly hard since they expected people to fall over and trip here, but even so...

From that one strike alone, Sho could feel the vibrations rocket through his skull. His nose was bloody and his lip was cut, but fortunately it didn't seem like anything was broken. Nothing that he couldn't patch up in mere moments, and nothing that stopped what was coming from his clones.

One of them stopped in its tracks, standing before Yusei as if taking him in. The other two, however, continued their work. With Yusei restrained, the pair began to wail on him. It was clear in the way they handled themselves that Shosuke was no master of Taijutsu, but when the body of the thing punching you repeatedly in the face and chest was made out of dense, solid wood? You really didn't have to be.

Each strike, each punch, was like being hit with a bat. It may lack a lot of training but the density and the weight of the punches more than made up for that. After all, force was equal to mass times acceleration, and if the acceleration was low then one could still rely on the sheer mass of the object.

The one standing before Yusei stood there proudly, speaking as if he was the main body.

"You know, there's something in the way that you carry yourself... You remind me of my friend, Atagi. Ironic, then, that you got trapped in the same thing he did. I suppose its a flaw in all you tai-specialists, you don't have a lot of ways to counter being tied up and suspended."

This scene was so similar to Shosuke and Atagi's training before the Chuunin Exams the previous year. Only difference was that Shosuke had grown so much stronger since then, whereas this guy... well, he was a mystery. Would he be able to outthink the vines the way that Atagi did, or was it a lost cause?

"You may feel free to tap out at any time, you know. If you don't, I'm just going to beat you into a mess until you do. There's really no point putting on a brave face unless you actually have a way to change your circumstance."

573 words | juryoku yusei

SPOILER: Click to show

Chakura no Mesu - [Chakra Scalpel]: 4/9
Jutsus Used: See Last Post

[juryoku yusei]

Shosuke sure was something. That might've been the highest compliment he'd been paid up to that point. That he was like that... endless engine of energy. That golden retriever of a man. Yusei admittedly was a little rougher around the edges, the type to egg on his peers. So was it that much of a surprise that he folded?

Shosuke's vines kept him held taught. Yusei thought he was finally onto something, rotating his wrists to grab the vines, and trying to yank them down. He was, like in his sparring match with Atagi, thinking a few moves ahead and a fraction of a second too slow to execute.

His movements didn't totally free him, but his hands were together again. "Ain't that something. I thought I dodged one of his punches, and my nose still bled afterwards. What a guy." Yusei thought he finally had enough time to execute, having freed his hands somewhat. His attempt at working that "dense" chakra towards his hands led them to buckled further, but the vines still held strong. He could almost taste it. Three hand signs, and they'd all fall down.

Then what looked like three of Shosuke walked up, taking punches at his face and ribs. While his pain tolerance was average for a shinobi, the fact of the matter remained that his chest would be covered in bruises in a minute. He tried to weave a little, but that served only to choose where he got socked next. The sounds escaping his body were dull and low, like a basketball hitting the floor.

"...Make me tap." He held his hands high, working out a Serpent, Hare, and Dragon. The off-white veins around his hands returned, pulling all within 6 feet down. He thought he'd stopped the clones short of knocking him out. But! The vines that still held him slammed him into the ground. If he wasn't knocked out then, he'd be sobbing... having smashed his fingers on the ground.

Yamamoto Shosuke , 518

Can't you see it's all flown out of my hands?

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Keisei jūryoku[Forming Gravity]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
HANDSEALS: 3-4, Serpent Hare Dragon {To Activate} Hare or Dragon {To Switch}
DESCRIPTION:

A gravitational field is put into place around the user. This can extend outward up to seven feet. Within this sphere the user can control gravity at will with a single hand seal. The dragon seal will increase the pressure while the hare seal will decrease it. At its highest pressure, the victim will feel as if their whole body were made of steel. Difficult to move limbs but not impossible by any means.

SPOILER: Click to show

Enhanced Speed
Yusei would rather be out of breath than speak a word about his feelings. His habit of sublimating frustration and pain into physical exercise often manifests as running 5 km/~3 miles at night. As a result, his legs are sinewy and dense like that of a construction worker. He's able to close distances between him and his target as well as position himself with speed a cut above others in his class.

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

Make him tap... If Yusei wasn't completely unable to read other people's body language, he would be able to see how those sentences made Shosuke grimace uncomfortably, his face actively shifting into one of deep discomfort and distaste at the situation that he had found himself in.

There was an irony... despite everything? Despite being a soldier, having dedicated his life to the path of a warrior, despite having killed many people on his previous missions? Shosuke abhorred violence. He was a doctor, he wanted to save people, to make the world a better place, to keep people from getting hurt. So the idea of visiting violence upon someone else for basically no reason was something that had always nauseated him, down to his very core.

There was a part of Shosuke, one that he didn't like to talk about or admit to, that was far more sadistic than the rest. A foul, twisted little pit in his body that enjoyed the sensation of power such violence brought, the knowledge that he was better than someone else, the awareness that he was able to affect change in the world, even if only a little, by crushing other people. But when calm, when rational, when fully anchored to the world as he was right now? He could tell that voice to shut up and get lost and keep it from interfering in his rational decisions.

Were this man Hotarubi or one of the slavers he'd fought or, if he was honest, maybe even Miroru? He might have been more ready to give into that ugly voice, those intrusive thoughts, that roaring, festering madness at the bottom of the well that was his psyche. But as it was...

"If you insist." The words fell, cold and heavy as lead, out of the clone's mouth.

Yusei's had indeed managed to free his wrist somewhat from the vines that were currently wrapped around him, but the simple fact of the matter was that this jutsu was designed to take out entire squads worth of low-level shinobi at once. As such, there were always more vines, each one grabbing a hold anywhere it could, crushing and constricting and binding. Any bare flesh that he had was wrapped in writhing, slithering vines like being trapped in a den of vipers, unable to get out, barely able to breathe, any and all oxygen being restricted within that crushed chest, beaten out more and more with each passing second by the clones.

Sho, for his part, was already picking himself up off the floor, wipng away the blood from his busted up nose and lip, spitting out the bit of dirt that had wound up in his mouth whilst he was on the floor. That was when the gravity well shot out again, the sheer force of it stopping the three clones in their tracks. Their own density was betraying them, their bodies too heavy to move with Shosuke's physical strength.

Though, honestly, letting them be the thing to knock them out might have been the kinder option.

Standing outside of the graviton well, the main body of Shosuke wove together a series of short handsigns before his own hands began to grow and deform, forming into strange, thick, glove-like wrappings. Vines and leaves protruded out of them, looking all the world like some sort of monstrous living tree parasite.

"I'll try to make this painless."

With a single swing, those gloves seemed to stretch out, warping and elongating, before moving to strike Yusei hard, once, across the side of the face. Hard enough, Shosuke calculated, to knock him out but, hopefully, not do any lasting damage to the boy's body or mind. Honestly being unconscious for any amount of time was not great for the brain but then neither was taking multiple bats across the face.

Though the gravity was heavy within the well, it wasn't Shosuke's strength that this technique was relying on but the strength of the vines themselves, something that far outstripped his own limited capabilities. If Shosuke had calculated correctly, this was the best way of dealing with this.

Still, he was probably going to have to give this guy medical treatment once they were done.

680 words | juryoku yusei

SPOILER: Click to show

Chakura no Mesu - [Chakra Scalpel]: 5/9

Jutsus Used
See Last Post

NAME: Mokuton: Budōnoki no Te [Wood Release: Vine Hands]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium, Low Drain
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Mokuton
HANDSEALS: 6
DECRIPTION:
By using kneading the chakra, the user is able to transform his tissues into vine-like constructs. Then, by activating the vines, stimulating them to grow rapidly, they lengthen at high speed ending in hands composed by durable vines that can be manipulated as if they were composed of actual digits, with this the user is able to use the wine-arms like whips or by even grasp objects with finesses as well swing themselves from above the ground. If the technique receives damage at the base of the technique below the elbow, the damage is transferred to the user.

[juryoku yusei]

Did he... Good lord. The way Shosuke's face twisted in a grimace made him feel guilty for a second, wincing. He looked disgusted that he'd said that. Yusei just figured he'd get beat up, and they'd hang out later. Worked with... a shocking number of his peers.

The two couldn't be more different in that way. Yusei liked looking cold and distant. Doling out words sparingly, and building a reputation as a complete monster. A man who could and would fold you up like a pretzel. But he squeezed Atagi slightly too hard during training and started crying.

He felt like locking horns with other people, then, was an obligation. His Chunin Exams match turned into an argument with his brother right away. So Shosuke going cold on him put a knot in his stomach. His eyes widened, and irises narrowed.

The vines that he fought so hard to peel off just kept coming, twisting his limbs. His breaths went shaky, but didn't cease. They constricted, popping more blood vessels in his legs, with rope-burns and a tightness around his chest to follow. While he had chakra reserves for days, his body couldn't move. His muscles felt heavy.

The vines, practically weightless, didn't completely buckle. He'd only succeeded in dropping himself directly on his hands. He had a splitting headache, various bruises lining his chest and neck. He couldn't support the weight of his own body like this, and almost welcomed the vines picking him back up.

"..." Then... the clones folded. But... was that Shosuke in the distance? His arm slowly grew, bones and skin giving way to vines twisting around eachother, forming a veined hand. It was headed straight for him, Yusei's eyes widening. His arm continued to grow, twisting at an unnatural angle to slap him. The smack that came out was sharp and high-pitched, like a whip. He was thrown to the ground, out cold at best. The well he'd made dissipated all at once.

Yamamoto Shosuke , 516

Can't you see it's all flown out of my hands?

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Keisei jūryoku[Forming Gravity]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
HANDSEALS: 3-4, Serpent Hare Dragon {To Activate} Hare or Dragon {To Switch}
DESCRIPTION:

A gravitational field is put into place around the user. This can extend outward up to seven feet. Within this sphere the user can control gravity at will with a single hand seal. The dragon seal will increase the pressure while the hare seal will decrease it. At its highest pressure, the victim will feel as if their whole body were made of steel. Difficult to move limbs but not impossible by any means.

SPOILER: Click to show

Enhanced Speed
Yusei would rather be out of breath than speak a word about his feelings. His habit of sublimating frustration and pain into physical exercise often manifests as running 5 km/~3 miles at night. As a result, his legs are sinewy and dense like that of a construction worker. He's able to close distances between him and his target as well as position himself with speed a cut above others in his class.

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

On that much, Shosuke and Yusei appeared to agree. Locking horns with each other, competing with each other, was an inevitable part of being a Shinobi. It was the most efficient method of training, pushing yourself against someone else in order to grow stronger. But that was what it was, an obligation. Outside of that sadistic, twisted side of himself, Shosuke did it because it worked, not because he liked it. Because, unlike Yusei, Shosuke had seen what came from fights that people didn't walk away from. He had seen people ruined, crippled, destroyed by a single fight that went wrong.

Shosuke had joined the Shinobi Corps specifically to stop that violence, to prevent that from happening to people. He didn't want to become the source of it himself.

Speaking of, the moment that the Vine Hand landed its smack across Yusei's face and Yusei went down like a tonne of bricks. Sho paused for a moment. His feet against the ground reached out, testing the boy's heart-rate, checking to see if the boy was feigning or if he was actually out cold. From what he could tell, the boy was genuinely out cold.

With a sigh of relief, Sho let go of the chakra needed to maintain the various jutsu he had maintained, the clones disappearing in a satisfying cloud of smoke and both the vine hands and the vines themselves dissipating, withering into nothingness and leaving nothing behind but a few errant leaves that had fallen off on their way. Should someone enter the training ground now, they would have no idea what had occurred.

Tracing his finger along his busted lip, wiping away the blood slowly trickling from his nose, Sho took the moment to catch his breath. The boy was strong, but Shosuke had faced stronger. Far, far stronger. Comparing this one to someone like Miroru would be doing them a disservice, so he decided to take them on their own merit.

Speaking of their own merit, Sho used his blindsense to check over the boy's body. The boy was bruised black and blue, everywhere the clones had struck there was going to be a pretty enormous mark, but they had mostly managed to avoid from doing any lasting damage. There were no fractures, no breaks, not even any sprains really. The boy was injured, but there would be no lasting damage. Not from the clones anyway.

The more troublesome injuries, ironically, was from the knock-out blow. Beyond the potential brain damage that being knocked out might cause, the bigger problem was the boy's face. The sheer force of the blow had impaled several twigs and vines into the boy's face, and they were going to need to be dug out so they didn't cause any lasting scar.

Crossing the training field, Sho crouched down, reaching out to touch the still unconscious body of the other Chuunin. Unfortunately, having been out for training and not having expected to have to visit this much violence on a training dummy, he hadn't exactly brought his tools. There was nothing on hand that he could use to excise the bits of vegetation physically embedded into the boy's face.

Well... there was a first time for everything.

Sho had watched other doctors in the hospital use this technique a lot when he was younger, but it was his first real time employing it in the field. Still, he remembered how they had explained it. A few quick handsigns and a concentration of chakra around his hands... a small, glowing aura of chakra manifested, forming itself around the doctor's index and ring finger.

A few quick incisions... Well, it was going to hurt, but the boy shouldn't have any lasting damage. Hopefully.

At least, not physically.

625 words | juryoku yusei

SPOILER: Click to show

Chakura no Mesu - [Chakra Scalpel]: 6/9

Jutsus Used
NAME: Chakura no Mesu - [Chakra Scalpel]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low [Continuous]
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu [Medical]
REQUIREMENT: Enhanced Chakra Control
ELEMENT: N/a
HANDSEALS: 5
DESCRIPTION:
After forming the needed handseals, the ninja will focus chakra to his or her hands. When his or her charged hands reach the body of the target, the user can use it as a normal scalpel or even extend the chakra internally into the target's body to cut and neatly slice the target's muscles and blood vessels without harming the surface skin. This technique can be used in battle, but because of its hectic nature, the fine precision required for an instant kill is not feasible. Damage can still be done to the vital organs, but the technique should be used carefully in battle.

[juryoku yusei]

He went down like a tonne of bricks. Yusei's hair spilled all over his face, though when Shosuke inspected him, a number of small branches embedded themselves in the side. He was, thankfully out for the time being, as Shosuke opened his face and plucked them out, a blood droplet pooling and trailing down his face marking the occasion.

Not that there was a difference between awake and not awake. His brain was on standby, as if anesthetized. He couldn't rest, he couldn't even dream in this state. His chest still heaved with stiff breath. Though he'd live, his consciousness returned slowly. Dazed, with a splitting headache, he awoke with vision blurred at first.

He felt like his entire body was on fire. He almost didn't want to wake up. Eventually, those grey irises managed to settle on Shosuke again. What was he... Was that a fistful of twigs in his hand?

He blinked a few times, and his breath remained sharp. Yusei could move, sure, but raising a hand produced a dull, burning sensation, as if he'd worked out too hard. But, laying directly on his back may be his best bet. There was an audible beat; he looked like he wanted to say something, and didn't.

Yusei slowly put an elbow under himself and pushing off the ground. He winced as he raised himself and reclined on his elbows, looking at Shosuke. Yusei noted his pouch was just slightly out of reach, and his eyes widened.

"...Could you do me a favor, and dig out the pill in there?" He couldn't for the life of him put two and two together. The moment leading up to him being knocked out was foggy to him at best. And Yusei tried riffing anyways. "D'you think I can sleep this one off...?"

Yamamoto Shosuke , 449

Can't you see it's all flown out of my hands?

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Blood Pill
CLASSIFICATION: Supplementary
DESCRIPTION:

Blood Pills are medicine that are widely distributed to shinobi. The pill is used by shinobi to speed up the formation and increase of blood in the body. After having lost a significant amount of blood in battle, a ninja can use this pill to replenish their blood so they can keep on fighting.

SPOILER: Click to show

Enhanced Speed
Yusei would rather be out of breath than speak a word about his feelings. His habit of sublimating frustration and pain into physical exercise often manifests as running 5 km/~3 miles at night. As a result, his legs are sinewy and dense like that of a construction worker. He's able to close distances between him and his target as well as position himself with speed a cut above others in his class.

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

Ah, good. It seemed like the boy was only out for a moment or two, but that was still not great. Honestly, any time when you involuntarily lost consciousness after a blow like that, it probably wasn't going to be a good sign for your future health. Even with his blindsense, it was hard for Shosuke to know just what kinda damage would be dealt with long term from this little incident. After all, not everything showed up on X-rays.

"Pill?" Sho asked, turning his attention towards the pouch just laying on the floor nearby the boy's collapsed form. With his sensory abilities, he could tell there was something near the bottom of the bag, a small case made of what he had to assume was plastic with several small rounded balls inside. Just from the feeling alone, Sho was pretty sure he knew what it was, but he had to make sure nonetheless.

Pulling open the pouch and rifling around for a moment, he found the case of pills. Unfortunately the writing on the packet was pretty small so he wouldn't be able to read it without getting his shades off, but the same was not true for the pills themselves. Even with his greatly reduced vision, he was able to tell what one of these was just by looking at it.

"... Blood Pills?" Sho asked, turning to look down at the still prone form of his opponent.

"That's... not going to be the best idea. Blood pills increase the flow of blood in your system, which considering the fat that you DEFINITELY have a concussion? It's only going to make things worse. Best case scenario, it'd give you the worst headache you've ever experienced in your life. Worst case? Might even cause an aneurism."

He shook his head, before slowly standing up, tossing away the small bundle of sticks he'd managed to pull out of Yusei's face, before turning back to look at him.

"In fact, speaking of concussions - You're going to want to avoid falling asleep alone for a little bit. Do you have any friends or family you could get to wake you up every few hours just to make sure that everything's okay? If not, I might have to get you checked in at the local hospital, at least over night..."

It seemed Shosuke's personality had switched like a lightswitch. Compared to the serious, dour, determined fighter that he had presented as earlier, he came off far more like a medical specialist now. A practiced and proper doctor giving advice to a patient, even if said patient was someone that he had just beaten the shit out of.

443 words | juryoku yusei

SPOILER: Click to show

Chakura no Mesu - [Chakra Scalpel]: 7/9
Jutsus Used: None

[juryoku yusei]

In either case, while he was "up", it wasn't fully up to speed. Yusei had a splitting headache, and it looked like it took a toll on his arms to keep his weight supported. His grey irises wavered, but didn't blank out again.

Yes, pill. He may be freaking out a little, but bruises mean internal bleeding. This was, frankly, the biggest challenge posed to him thus far. That meant going into survival mode. Eating all the pills and sleeping it off. But, Shosuke's tone told him that was a bad idea.

He'd rifled through his belongings, and Yusei watched in astonishment. He was blind, sure, as some of his reactions proved, but he could still make out quite a bit. Frankly, this whole exchange sent a chill down Yusei's spine. This is what it'd look like if he got on Ichi's bad side.

He pushed off with his elbows, slowly curling his legs and straightening his back. Sitting cross-legged came naturally to him, and he looked up at Shosuke with that same tired look he'd always had.

Yusei glanced aside for a second. There was an audible beat, as if he had something to say and held back. The fact that Shosuke knew his peers made his eyes light up, but that silence returned.

"...Point taken." He talked with that morning murmur. Yusei talked as if he was trying to bargain down a jail sentence, more or less against his own body. "I'm as far from home as I could possibly be. But... I have housing here, for now. Admittedly, I'm put up in a room with four people, but that's better in this case, right?"

Yamamoto Shosuke , 449

Can't you see it's all flown out of my hands?

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Blood Pill
CLASSIFICATION: Supplementary
DESCRIPTION:

Blood Pills are medicine that are widely distributed to shinobi. The pill is used by shinobi to speed up the formation and increase of blood in the body. After having lost a significant amount of blood in battle, a ninja can use this pill to replenish their blood so they can keep on fighting.

SPOILER: Click to show

Enhanced Speed
Yusei would rather be out of breath than speak a word about his feelings. His habit of sublimating frustration and pain into physical exercise often manifests as running 5 km/~3 miles at night. As a result, his legs are sinewy and dense like that of a construction worker. He's able to close distances between him and his target as well as position himself with speed a cut above others in his class.