[Kyokujitsu Asahi]

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Asahi had never been in a maze before and he honestly wasn't sure what to expect aside from walls taller than him and whatever tricks and obstacles were lying in wait, but one thing that did surprise him was the frequency of turns that he was having to make. Not more than a few steps after making a right turn yet another split would come into view, this time making the boy choose between continuing forward or taking another right turn. It'd be difficult to make progress towards his destination if he had to keep making cuts.

Tracing the route he had already walked along his palm, the boy figured that going straight would get him closer to the room but there was no way to tell how far he'd get before yet another turn or dead end would impede him. If he could focus on getting on getting either his latitude or longitude correct first then correcting the other would be simple. At least, he hoped it would be. This was a guessing game more or less, with only vague clues from the starting room aiding him. Getting to a room would possibly offer more clues to an escape from the maze, if not being the escape itself. It'd also give Asahi some time to center himself assuming the rooms weren't filled with traps and enemies. High pressure situations were an area of improvement for the boy, and while his last mission had given him some decent experience with them, he still wasn't completely comfortable and level headed.

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Yoshiko]

First Exam: Maze Five Fun Not in the Sun Asahi would choose to go forward, as to avoid getting sent farther off from his goal. He'd take two tiles forward though before having to make a right turn anyways. The right would take him down six tiles, before he'd have to make a left turn. Four tiles upwards Asahi would have to take another left, it'd be followed by two tiles before a third left. At this point there'd only be two tile travel before another turn, two rights, two lefts, two rights and two lefts. Though the last two lefts wouldn't go without effect. Turning the last left there'd be a very close and abrupt snort, as hooves immediately scrapped against stone. The silhouette of a large boar would be staring down the kumogakure genin. It'd loudly squeal and immediately charge the boy, he'd have little time to react, as the boar was legit a tile or two at max from goring the poor boy. How would his shinobi instincts react to such a threat?

[Kyokujitsu Asahi]

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After choosing his desired path Asahi would be led down turn after turn without having to do much more than follow the route. There were no choices to make, no mind numbing riddles to solve, just walking. After who knew how long the young Suna shinobi would finally be met with a split in the road. To be honest he had become just a tad accustomed to just waltzing along and thought for a brief moment that maybe he had found the correct path to get him out of the maze. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, but at least he had made some kind of progress in the maze... hopefully.

However, before the boy could even begin to muster up a thought on which direction to choose a most odd sound would fill his ears. Snarls and the clacking of hooves, and it was close. Turning to his side a large silhouette would fill his immediate field of view and it looked an awful lot like a big pig. Asahi had so many questions but adrenaline wouldn't let his mind wander. No, it was either fight or flight and considering just how close the animal was to him trying to loose an attack was out of the question.

Instead the boy would jump up and to his side, supplying chakra to his feet as to stick to the wall. It would hopefully create a bit of distance between he and the beast, if not letting it charge down the corridor for good. Fate surely wouldn't be that kind to him so a fight was probably on the way, but he'd wait to see if the pig would scurry off first.

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Yoshiko]

First Exam: Maze Five Fun Not in the Sun Asahi would try to take a field the boar couldn't, it was naturally a good tactic to say the least. It however would prove much more difficult than it'd ever before. Latching himself to the wall, he'd find himself almost immediately slipping. Applying more chakra would prevent the slipping, but it'd be at a high cost. As the boy would quickly feel the chakra being sapped from his being by the wall itself. A larger amount of chakra could be used to negate the slip, but it'd be at the clear cost of lots of chakra. The beast didn't blindly charge off, it didn't really have a corridor, as the boys last left was like the last directions, the only direction to go. So the boar could only go the path Asahi had come from, but it'd do no such thing it'd instead charge. Then pounce it's upper body up, as it'd attempt to swing it's snot at the boy. Vicious and almost sharpened looking tusks would sway in the air attempting to strike the boy. The boar simply moving where ever the boy stood on the wall and looking up at him, as though it's sole purpose was to gore Asahi.

[Kyokujitsu Asahi]

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Asahi believed himself to be free from harm for the time being, unless he was fighting some sort of ninja pig that also had the ability to walk on walls, which would be both amazing and terrifying. If not outright just walking on the walls for the remainder of his time through the maze it would at least give him a few to think on how to best put down his opponent. However, the genin would find himself slowly sliding down the wall as if he hadn't put any chakra on his feet at all. Had he messed up the balance? No, it couldn't be that. To add more bad news, the boar hadn't simply run off like the boy was expecting but instead was very intent on staying right next to him and trying its hardest to swing at him.

Using what little grip he had left on the wall, Asahi would push himself off in the opposite direction that the animal was coming at him from hoping to gain a bit of distance. He could probably outrun it but that would hinder his ability to choose correct paths and pick up useful hints for exiting the maze, so the boy would have to end things here. The wine seal would work wonders but that'd require getting close to the animal and the last thing the Suna genin wanted to do was get even closer to those tusks. Damage at a distance, or at the very least keeping the animal at bay were his best options, but Asahi couldn't very well loose his signature technique for the likes of a pig; the chakra drain just wasn't worth it.

Thinking quickly, the boy would focus Shakuton chakra to his right hand which would take the form of a hilt. It would then extend outwards to create a whip that stretched for five meters. Swinging his arm, Asahi would aim to lash out at the boar if it had chosen to charge him again. A hit from the whip would cause burns and begin dehydrating any parts of the animals body that it came in contact with, which would hopefully either halt the pigs attack altogether or at the very least slow it down.

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Shakuton: Kogatsue [Scorch Release: Flare Whip ]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Shakuton
DESCRIPTION:
: Shakuton chakra is focused in the user's hand in the form of a hilt, which is used as a focal point. The user then channels Shakuton chakra through the focal point and outwards to generate a string of chakra 5 meters long. With this technique, users can sweep their foes with the flare-whip, which can evaporate water, and burn and dehydrate living tissue upon contact.

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Yoshiko]

First Exam: Maze Five Fun Not in the Sun The boar was vicious and trained to fight, it was here to take on the boy. It however wasn't dehydrated with insane amounts of heat chakra, this wasn't daily pig training. Instead it'd go from following the boy through the snaking path, to merely screaming in pain. It'd shake it's head attempting to bust and knock away the whip of chakra. Not working the pig would give up, as it didn't know such pain existed. Screaming it'd run off back to the dead end it came, it'd not willingly remain in the boys range anymore. Choosing to chase the pig could choose a challenge, as it had the potential to run at roughly the shinobi's pace. Returning back from where he came Asahi would have the choice to go back further to a past turn or continue down the path he'd taken. So far he'd only really found one dead end, so he could run off the theory more choices was the right direction. Taking the path he hadn't he'd go ten tiles before hitting a right or straight path. Split by the fork of it, the straight could be considered a left.

[Kyokujitsu Asahi]

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It didn't take long to realize that this was not a normal pig and that it seemed especially ferocious like the boy had intruded on its den or something. That was, until it got hit by the whip a couple times. Areas of flesh would shrivel while pain coursed through the animal. In what was both an instant and too long the animal would forego attacking and run back to whence it came. Hopefully that was a sign that it'd be done trying to maul the young shinobi but one could never be too careful in this maze. The clopping of hooves would begin to fade signaling that the pig was retreating... for now, though that could have been very temporary and Asahi didn't want to stick around for a possible round two.

Moving forward would be a risky manuever so it'd probably be best to do a little back tracking and try out one of the other paths. Releasing the technique, Asahi would work his way back to the last split before taking the other option to see what it held; which of course would be another split. It was essentially left or right and the boy would choose... left. There was little rhyme or reason to it other than wanting to further distance himself from the animal, but there could have very well been something waiting for him down this path as well.

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Yoshiko]

First Exam: Maze Five Fun Not in the Sun Choosing left or to continue straight, he'd actually only move one tile before seeing the split of left or right in the next tiles shadow. Entering would light one torch putting him two tiles from his last choice and presenting a left and right to choose from. It was an oddly short distance to already present a turn, but it wasn't the first one of these the boy had seen. Which would he take or would be back track the two tiles and try the other path instead?

[Kyokujitsu Asahi]

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Asahi could barely confirm his decision before yet another was presented. Left or right. Not being able to see more than a couple feet ahead was beginning to become a problem, as if the boy had known he wouldn't have been making much progress from his previous choice then perhaps a different route could have been taken. Of course, that option was still available as it'd only take a slight turn and a couple steps for the boy to be where he once was. But moving backwards would technically put him closer to that raging beast --if only by a couple feet-- so maybe it was best to keep moving forward.

Well, now that the Suna genin had decided that he wasn't going backwards it was now time for him to choose which direction, and that may have been a tougher decision. Neither gave a hint one way or the other as seemed to be the norm down here, but pouting about it wouldn't get him out of here any faster. The good news was that if one path proved to be less than satisfactory then it would take little effort to just turn the opposite direction and try again; though that theory worked better if one of the directions chose to be a dead end. With no other options to weigh it was time for Asahi to get a move on, and he'd choose to go right and see what that path offered. He hoped an exit but was prepared for just about anything.

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Yoshiko]

First Exam: Maze Five Fun Not in the Sun Discerning the pig might be behind him still, he'd choose not to go back on his last decision. Instead he'd look at both options as equally good and making a decision he'd go right. The path would travel four tiles down, then hit a dead end. At least it'd be a quick dead end. To the other direction or back to the choice prior? OR maybe attempting even farther back tracking? What would the Sunagakure shinobi choose to do?

[Kyokujitsu Asahi]

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Asahi wouldn't make it too far before hitting a dead end, well that wasn't great. Thankfully he had only taken a handful of steps before his progress was halted so it'd take little effort to turn around and head the other direction, which was exactly what he was going to do. While it was unfortunate that his previous decision didn't amount to much the genin found solace in the fact that he hadn't traveled too much and committed too many resources that he'd have to backtrack on.

The boy wondered if the second path would also be a dead end or if he'd be able to progress further into the maze and potentially find an exit. If the former then it wouldn't take long to retrace his steps though that meant he'd have to make his way closer to where the boar lay to find a new path. He truly didn't want another encounter with a wild animal though even if the creature were raring for another fight it'd still have some nasty injuries to deal with.

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Yoshiko]

First Exam: Maze Five Fun Not in the Sun Finding a dead end Asahi would choose the opposite path to it. Reaching the split again, he'd head straight up instead of left. However this would only be for six tiles, then he'd be forced left anyways. Back in a direction towards the boar. Granted there'd been no path untraveled near that pig, unless it followed and split down the other directions. Asahi had mostly made decisions with more decisions. Over two tiles, he'd be forced to make another left turn. It'd drive him four down, then force him right two. It'd be then the familiar sound of pig arouse. A new contender animal, it'd be farther than the first for confrontation. Though that meant it had more space to gain speed, as well as gave more mystery to it's actual size at first. Since Asahi would hear the animal well before seeing it, but it'd not be long before the boar came full bore for the boy.

[Kyokujitsu Asahi]

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Asahi's choice would take him down yet another winding path, he'd barely make any progress in a single direction before having to make a turn. With all these twists and turns it was near impossible to keep up with the paths he had created on the grid in the beginning room and by this point the boy was more concerned with just finding an exit. The genin had utilized more or less all the resources available in the start to give himself the best chance of finishing the maze, perhaps not first but finishing none the less, but couldn't predict where walls would pop up and when wild animals would attack. He thought it cruel to devise an entire room dedicated to making them think that it was there to help guide them through the maze, but it was looking to be just that. The busts were of no help, the symbols held little meaning, and the grid held so little detail that it was pretty much obsolete the moment Asahi stepped foot in the maze.

Frustrating for sure but that's how life went sometimes. One couldn't always count on things to go smoothly every time or for all the information to be provided and it would be up to him to adapt, persevere, and survive; but surely there could have been a better way to go about getting that message across (if that was even their intention in the first place). Perhaps one day the genin would be able to look back on this and laugh, but today probably wasn't going to be that day considering he was still in the middle of this damned maze.

A familiar sound would fill his ears, one that had given him trouble not too long ago. It was a pig. He couldn't see it just yet but its squeals were getting louder with each passing moment and it was clear that it had taken notice of him. "You gotta be kidding me..." Asahi muttered to himself. He had come into these exams fully expecting to fight people, not pigs, and would have preferred avoiding them altogether than having to waste chakra incapacitating them. Complaining wasn't going to get the animal to stop charging him so he'd just have to put on his big boy pants and take care of things.

The whip was always an option, it had done wonders against the last pig, but that creature hadn't gained as much speed as this one so even taking a hit may have left it still careening towards him. There was a fuinjutsu that would work perfectly to stop movements but Asahi, thinking back to the previous encounter, remembered the odd feeling of chakra being drained from his feet when he tried to stick to the walls. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to believe that the floor held the same properties meaning that as soon as Asahi placed his hands on the ground the chakra being used for the technique would dissipate leaving him in a tough spot.

So plan B would have to be used, a bit risky but the most definite should it work. Taking air into his lungs, Asahi would then expel a jet of flame that raced down the hallway; the wind nature chakra fanning out the stream of fire causing it to fill the entire hallway. Barring extreme circumstances this would probably be the end of the pig and the beginning of a toasty plate of bacon.

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Shakuton: Kasaiha [Scorch Release: Conflagration Wave]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Shakuton
DESCRIPTION:
Fire Release and Wind Release chakra are both saturated in the lungs as the user inhales. The user will then exhale a powerful flamethrower-like stream from their mouth, igniting targets in a sudden wildfire. This fire may not be as destructive as most Fire Release techniques, nor does it cut or buffet its targets as expected of Wind Release techniques, but its true strength lies in its incredible speed; the Wind Release chakra simultaneously fans and expands the fire as it’s exhaled, resulting in the creation of a rushing stream of fire that can reach its targets almost immediately after being released.

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Yoshiko]

First Exam: Maze Five Fun Not in the Sun The pig didn't have time to react, as the jutsu used against it was too quick. A sudden stream of flame upon the creature would quickly reel it into a vicious scream, it'd thrash about on fire before collapsing a burning sizzle chunk of pig flesh. The line of fire lighting the hall enough to reveal the animal had come from a dead end, it'd seem there had been at least one split choice in the maze with no right answer. Asahi could go back two forks in the road, four or five. These were the paths he'd not travel, but anything past the second would mean possible re-encountering the boar from before. What would Asahi do now?

[Kyokujitsu Asahi]

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Flames engulfed the hallway, the roaring fire almost drowning out the death throes of the animal. Asahi didn't really feel all that great about going overkill on poor creatures as there was a good chance the thing was just scared and trying to protect itself, but that was the name of the game when it came to these exams. The rule card had made it clear that anything living was free game and if he hadn't ended things then the boar surely would have. The technique would pitter out as the animal fell to the floor in a heap, it wasn't going to get back up, and Asahi sighed as he took a moment to catch his breath.

An added benefit of using such a jutsu was that the boy had been able to see a bit further down the hallway and took note of the jet of fire reaching a hard end denoting that the path led to a dead end. Well shit. Not only had the boy had to fight once again, it was essentially all for naught as there'd be no pot of gold at the end of this rainbow; and to make matters worse any message that may have been attached to the animal was surely burnt to a crisp meaning that a possible hint was now dust in the wind. Well message or not it was clear that Asahi was going to have to go back and take another path, but which one? There were a few paths that could have been the one he was looking for, one that was close and others that were... a ways back, and nearer to the first boar.

While not his favorite option given how things were going that was probably were the exit lie. Decision now confirmed, the boy would begin his journey four fork-in-the-roads back. It would no doubt take a while and he'd do his best to remember which turns he had previously taken.

MADE BY VEL OF GS