[kuishinbou kashiwa]

The first two rounds showed Kashiwa that these exams drew in shinobi of all manner of experience. On some level it was to be expected but the differences between some of these kids, with regard to how prepared they were, was at times astronomical. Some seemed fit to be jounin, let alone chuunin, while others would make excellent applicants to the shinobi academy; their skills either so rudimentary or specialized as to be useless in most mission scenarios.

Kashiwa felt confident he was closer to the latter category. While his abilities were perfectly competent for things like puzzle solving and mission preparedness, the monumental gap between him and the other participants when it came to battle strength was a different matter entirely. It had become especially apparent when Kashi had failed to produce much of any combat showing during the second round.

Kazue had boasted of his physical prowess and with a kekkei genkai there was little the grass nin could do to measure up to him. And then Kazu, another shinobi well versed in bloodline abilities, had used his ice techniques with such ease, tossing needles and freezing things left and right. Kashiwa had… a bow. Sure, he was a great shot and with his rotating shuriken technique he never missed, even if he did. But archery would only get him so far against the caliber of opponent he expected to face in the following round.

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[kuishinbou kashiwa]

Just looking at those two, he was confident he’d struggle to match them, let alone beat them. And, when he considered his fellow participants from Kusagakure, who were his peers in little more than rank, his head began to swim. They were each his elder and had all been doing this for longer than him. They had more mission experience, techniques and general competence. Some of the stuff Ichi had pulled off during the first round was completely alien to him; regardless of their battle efficacy.

And again, he was sure fancy shootin’ wasn’t going to be enough. It was the cornerstone of Kashiwa’s combat but he felt he needed to work on his abilities with ninjutsu. Skill with the wind release was what had gotten him this far, an early exit from the academy and a short run as a genin (potentially). Hopefully it would propel him through these exams as well.

It was early in the morning following the close of the second round when Kashiwa made for the training grounds. Some part of him weighed the benefits of training now, when the opposition would no doubt be out collecting information; spying on rival entrants to gather intel on their abilities and limits. It may not even be the other genin themselves and could easily be their leadership or hired attendants. But Kashiwa didn’t have the luxury of idly passing time. He needed to grow as best as he could approaching the next round.

With a shrug of his shoulder, the young shinobi’s black bag fell to the ground at the inner perimeter of an empty training ground. It was stone all the way across the surface yet held cracks and gashes from decades of combat training. Compared to the majority of spots, that were either dirt or grass, this was a perfect fit for Kashiwa’s fuuton training. Were he to practice these techniques on the typical dirt floor he’d just kick up a massive cloud of dust before too long.

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[kuishinbou kashiwa]

Kashiwa reached into his bag and gathered all the supplies he’d need to begin: exploding tags chief among them. He stood and faced his targets, several archery targets at the other end of the round training site. The first steps were as natural as breathing. He slid the bow off his shoulder, rolling the wooden shaft in his hand ever so slightly before raising it, lining it up with his mark. Without taking an eye off of it, his right hand fell to grab an arrow, his index sliding against the shaft of the projectile before it came in contact with the fletching at its base.

No bump; a regular arrow.

He drew it in a flash and brought it to meet the side of his bow. To close the fluid motion he brought the bowstring back with an inhale, his index and middle finger gripping the base of the arrow tightly. As he held his breath for a count, chakra began to seep from his fingers into the arrow shaft, running along its length, before Kashiwa exhaled and released.

As soon as he did, his free hand moved to the side, fingers splayed and directed first toward the arrow and then away to the right. The arrow’s trajectory quickly followed. The projectile flew first straight and then curved to match Kashiwa’s hand gestures.

He felt like the conductor of an orchestra composed only of raining steel. His hand whipped in a tight circle and came back around to aim across the target, now to the left. The arrow followed, moving back exactly where it had come from and landing into the side of the target with a loud crack. Anyone skilled enough with a bow could land bullseye after bullseye all day long. Kashiwa’s goal was to strike the sides or even the back of his target.

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[kuishinbou kashiwa]

But this was just a warmup. Kashiwa could use the rotating shuriken technique to manipulate a single arrow as easily as he could walk. While it was a good review, it struggled to enhance him as a shinobi. Instead, he needed to push what his wind release could do.

He readied again, his left arm outstretched, bow in hand, his eyes focused on his target, and his right hand hovering over his quiver. After a beat his hand ran across the base of three arrows, his index, middle and pinky fingers checking to see what kinds of arrows he’d stumbled upon. His index and middle felt no bump but his pinky slid across the surface of rough paper before dropping less than a millimeter to the smooth surface of the arrow’s shaft.

He made a mental note of the position of the different texture and grabbed the three arrows, one between each gap in his fingers. He brought each to rest against the bow’s length and drew the string back once more. With a breath he allowed an ounce of chakra to travel into each arrow. But, just before he released, he brought the bow upward, aiming toward the sky. The three arrows fanned out as they left, shooting up and outward, in a seemingly chaotic manner.

Kashiwa again reached out his right hand to orchestrate the arrow’s trajectories. He made a mental note that the rightmost arrow was the one he’d felt with the bump before sending all three back down, his hand swinging downward toward the targets when each had hit their arc’s apogee. Each one struck true, along the top of the target.

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[kuishinbou kashiwa]

The young man brought his right hand, formed in a seal, to his lips. With a gentle closing of his eyes he whispered, "Boom.” Though no actual explosion followed; no need to waste good arrows or tags.

Right, that was three and all in the same direction. Not unimpressive by any stretch but Kashiwa knew he could do better. He and his targets were both still, a luxury he wouldn’t be granted during any real combat scenario. That aside, he needed something more dynamic than his already near impossible to avoid arrow shower. Despite their killer accuracy, Kashi expected that he’d miss more than he hit if his opponents had anything to say about it.

He readied another volley, this time bringing two standard arrows to bat. He drew the string back and breathed in a deep breath. This time, however, he dashed to the side, moving to avoid a pretend return onslaught. He didn’t know what each of his fellow participants brought to the table, save what he could imagine based on his limited knowledge of those that had been on his previous teams, but he would no doubt need to be prepared for return attacks.

After his dash, Kashiwa came into a low stance before leaping backward, his body turning over itself in the air in a tight backflip. An imaginary jutsu coated the stone surface beneath him in a wave of passing flames. As he came upright midair, he once again empowered and released the arrows. He landed in a low crouch, absorbing the impact of his flip, before reaching out to command the projectiles once more.

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[kuishinbou kashiwa]

The two arrows spread naturally in the air, one flying left and the other flying right. With his hand outstretched, Kashiwa closed his index and middle fingers together in a pinch. The arrows followed the motion, closing in on one another and both striking the center of the target with a low thud.

He didn’t know what the battlefield would look like or what his potential adversaries would do to make it hostile to him but Kashiwa never lacked for mobility. Hopefully between his own onslaught and movement, coupled with the shape of the arena, he’d be able to land one or two strikes on his opponent. Normally his archery was reserved for enemy shinobi, the sharp arrowheads far too lethal. But he couldn’t afford to be gentle at this stage. He’d need to bring everything to take out his opponent, to include killing intent. Mizu no Kuni no doubt had means to save anyone he gifted a mortal wound.

Kashiwa took a moment to collect his arrows. He’d fired off six and all but one was still in firing shape; one of the arrows that had struck the top of the target now sported a minor fracture down its length and he broke off the head to repurpose later, placing both it and the discarded wood by his bag at the entrance of the grounds.

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[kuishinbou kashiwa]

Still, despite his confidence in his ability to land hits with his bow and arrows, he couldn’t shake the image of the wall of flames from the second round from his mind. If he fired an arrow through it, it would no doubt burn to a cinder, especially if coated in wind chakra. His other primary means of combat were reliant on his wind chakra as well. If he went up against a katon specialist, he’d likely be stuck with taijutsu or some other close range fighting style.

He let out a steady sigh and set his bow and quiver down by his stuff, opting instead for a single kunai. He stuck one finger through the hole at the object’s base and spun it around idly as he walked toward a reinforced metal and wood dummy at one end of the training ground.

It had been quite a while since Kashiwa had any measure of dedicated training with hand to hand combat so he considered that a foregone conclusion at this point. If he wanted to gain any edge in close quarters he’d need to do so with a blade. He squared up against his new opponent, the dummy, and began to hop back and forth from foot to foot, keeping his balance centered and flexible. It was maybe pointless against the hunk of wood before him but against a real opponent standing still was a surefire way to end up on the floor.

The genin raised his kunai to his lips and let out a steady breath, wind chakra flowing from his mouth to the steel of his weapon. As he pulled the blade away the chakra extended outward, forming a rudimentary shape of a curved sword where it extended out beyond the regular length of the throwing weapon. The weapon itself was now more or less simply a hilt to a much more threatening blade composed solely of wind chakra.

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[kuishinbou kashiwa]

He gave the newly furnished blade a few test swings. It was impossibly light, given its make-up, and it sliced through the air with ease as long as Kashiwa maintained proper edge alignment. He turned his form slightly, keeping his profile thin, creating as small a target as he could without sacrificing any mobility; in fact, standing like this allowed him to extend his arm and body even further, increasing his effective range.

After a few moments of preparation, Kashiwa swung, bringing the chakra blade swiftly across the front of the training dummy. It struck metal yet managed to cut deeply into it regardless and, as the blade left the target, Kashiwa followed up with a quick snap of his wrist, rolling the blade in his hand down to the left and upward diagonally across the dummy’s chest. He exhaled sharply before leaping back to survey his results at a safe distance.

The dummy wasn’t looking so good. Where Kashiwa had struck it there were thick and deep gashes, the regular metal giving way to the enhanced cutting power of Kashiwa’s wind chakra without much fight. He closed his eyes as a soft smile broke across his lips. ‘It’s a good thing I avoided the wooden parts, else I’d owe these guys a new dummy.’ He opened his eyes and began again for another attack.

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[kuishinbou kashiwa]

This time Kashiwa set up two dummy’s on either side of him, one in front and one behind. By no means did he expect to be fighting two opponents but if he was allowed to use his summons then his opponents would no doubt be allowed to as well. He didn’t expect the technique to be allowed during a one-on-one but it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared and training his combat awareness was just as crucial as enhancing his techniques.

He steadied himself, his eyes on the opponent in front of him. If it were a real thing with a face and expressions of its own, Kashiwa would watch for subtle changes in its gaze, potentially indicating a strike from behind. The young genin leapt forward a meter, bringing his sword down in front of the dummy, intentionally missing and halting the balde’s movement just after it would have struck its target, were he a bit closer. He then quickly spun, on his heel, coming down low in anticipation of an attack to either his head or legs and brought his sword out in front of him.

With another leap, Kashiwa drove the blade up into the chest of the other opponent, cutting deeply into the metal, before pulling back. A single exhale. With a strong drive of his right knee, Kashiwa lept up and back, twisting tightly in a quick flip as he brought his sword up across the chest of the enemy he was facing and, as he came to face his other opponent with the turn of his flip, down across that one’s shoulder. All the while he ensured his aim was striking the metal reinforced parts of the targets. The last thing he wanted was to destroy his training partners.

As dust settled and Kashiwa rose, he felt a pain surge through him. The very tangible result of his exhaustion. He could probably have afforded to take a proper rest day before coming out here to train; and he’d used quite a bit of chakra during the second round, but he needed to be pushing himself. He knew his opponents, especially those that had already surpassed him, would be doing the same.

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[kuishinbou kashiwa]

Though... 'pushing himself' could very well be another focus of this training. Where Kashiwa needed to improve his ninjutsu and close quarters options both, he also needed to ensure he didn’t get tired halfway through the fight. He’d fought through it before but, if he didn’t have to from the start, all the better.

He brought the blade up again, blowing more of his fuuton chakra across the surface of the blade to repair where it had grown warped. It wouldn’t have decayed much at all from so few strikes but it was a good habit to have; like having (arguably) infinite whetstone. After reapplying his chakra he set to work again. Striking each opponent once or twice before swapping to the other to ensure he wasn’t getting ‘snuck up on’.

He jumped toward one, drawing the blade swiftly across the target’s chest, before pressing his foot against its head and leaping back off of it. The dummy sailed backward to the ground and Kashiwa brought his off hand up to make a quick seal. In an instant wind chakra expelled from his front and sent him flying backward, behind the other dummy. Were this a real opponent, they’d likely wonder where the grass ninja had disappeared to before he brought his blade across their back in two quick cuts.

He landed hard behind the dummy and let out another long breath. "F- fuck…” He was closing in on his limit with regards to chakra. But he needed to keep going. He needed to push past that barrier and ensure that he didn’t end up quitting the first round simply because he couldn’t muster up the energy to keep up. The real purpose behind these exams, preparing for missions, rang through Kashiwa’s mind.

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[kuishinbou kashiwa]

Sometimes escape was the best call. Sometimes retreat was the most sound tactical decision. But sometimes you were without the luxury of choice. Determining what losses were acceptable was crucial during any mission and if Kashiwa was so ready to give up, he’d come to know little success in his shinobi career.

He straightened up and brought the blade to his side. ‘I need to push myself.’ He gritted his teeth and raised the blade in front of him, letting it hover over the image of his adversary. With his other hand he quickly formed five seals before running his thumb along the length of his chakra blade. While summons may very well not come to play in the following round, it was certainly a substantial drain on Kashiwa’s chakra.

He brought his hand down before him as seals spread from his palm and, as the resulting clouds dispersed, a gorgeous blonde mare appeared. "Just enjoy the show.” He spoke calmly as he rose again, preparing to strike the dummy.

With two quick slashes he brought the blade across the dummy’s torso and, with a snapping twist of his hips, brought a final back kick to meet the wooden body, sending it back a few meters before it tumbled over its partner and joined it on the ground.

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[kuishinbou kashiwa]

Kashiwa looked rough, his eyes half-lidded and his breath labored. He’d been going for nearly two hours but the sun had barely climbed to its highest point. He spat and turned toward the other dummies that laid off to the side of the training grounds before sweeping his kunai blade down, as one would to clean a blade of blood, and the wind chakra dispersed.

He’d take thirty minutes or so to serve as both rest and preparation as he set up the dummies at different places in the training ground, separated by no more than ten meters each. All in all there were about eight of them set equidistant apart.

After his short reprieve was up, Kashiwa stood ready at the front of the training grounds. He brought the kunai up and extended its length with wind chakra once more. By now he was exhausted, his form was ragged and his movements a bit more sluggish than usual. But his gaze was laser focused. Rakurai watched on from the sidelines as Kashiwa leapt into action.

He first jumped at the closest target, bringing down his chakra blade and using its shoulders to jump off of. As he did so he twisted midair, again using the wind release shift ability to propel him in a direction opposite his initial one, expelling wind chakra out one side of his body to move. He brought the blade across another target, landing on his feet to the side of it before bringing his blade quickly against another that stood now to his left.

The next dummy was further away and he allowed some of his chakra to escape his palm and coat the already smothered kunai before tossing it in the direction of that closest dummy. The blade slid across the enemy’s side, cutting a large gash in the wood before Kashiwa directed it, again with the rotating shuriken technique, to move back to him. He caught the blade and with another quick hand seal, disappeared and reappeared behind another target.

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[kuishinbou kashiwa]

He was all ready to cut into the wooden flesh of his unsuspecting victim when a shock of pain surged through his legs and he came crashing to the floor. ‘Tch… only one?’ He cursed and shakily rose to his feet. It made sense. Despite only being his first use of the shunshin technique today, its strain on the body, compounded with what Kashiwa had already done during the training session, was enough to knock him out of his stride.

With another slash to his side, the wind chakra extending beyond the end of his kunai disappeared and he tossed the tool back toward his bag. It had been an effective training if only to serve as a test to Kashiwa’s limits. He could potentially keep going, and he just might if he was feeling up to it later tonight, but for now he could feel the waves of exhaustion decaying the sharp edge of every one of his movements.

Instead he took the opportunity to expend his energy cleaning up. Pretty much every dummy was still usable, if a bit worse for wear, so Kashiwa stacked them back up where they’d been sitting initially.

He wanted to keep going, to keep training until his legs burst and his muscles screamed in agony. But he knew he was nearing the limit of his chakra reserves and instead opted to spend the next few hours studying and resting. And, most importantly, getting something to eat.

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[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

None of the genin had passed the second round, though they had all made a valiant effort. Each of the participants had been retrieved from the wilderness and treated in Kagamino no Shi for whatever they were suffering from after their efforts on the road; cold, dehydration, chakra exhaustion, just the plain old need for sleep. Most were still resting. One wasn’t. Same as Mizu no Tera, Daichi was on surveillance duty, checking in on the dorms regularly to make sure nothing was amiss. He passed by the training yards in the early morning and found one genin already there, bag left at the perimeter of the yard, bow in hand and an expression of intense focus on his face. Group five’s sacrifice, he remembered suddenly; he’d watched it on the bunker’s feed. One of the younger participants from Kusagakure, not much older than Lord Mizukage. He couldn’t recall his first name, and didn’t have the files on hand. Daichi folded his arms across his chest and watched quietly from the gate. The genin worked himself nearly to the point of chakra exhaustion; Daichi was nearly about to intervene to stop him when he seemed to recognize that he was at his limit, and stopped himself. Tidied up the dummies, gathered his things. "Kuinshinbou, right?” Daichi said, stirring from his position by the gate as the Kusa shinobi prepared to leave. He leaned back against the fence surrounding the perimeter and smiled. "Yamaguchi Daichi, I’m assisting with the exams.” Not technically a lie, and better than getting into detail, he thought. "You doing okay? You were pushing yourself pretty hard, there.”

kuishinbou kashiwa -- 273

LAIKA OF THQ

[kuishinbou kashiwa]

Kashiwa wasn't expecting company, whether it be that of one of his fellow competitors or otherwise. But, as he was about to call it a day and head back to his room or to a restaurant to fill his belly, he was stopped by a mist ninja. Security detail maybe? Even so, Kashiwa had every right to use these training grounds so he couldn't imagine he was being detained.

He couldn't hide a veneer of wariness over the way he carried himself and behind his gaze as he addressed the man. "Morning, sir." He began, his eyes stuck on the stranger's form in case he tried to pull anything. Kashiwa'd been warned of the foul play that could take place in these exams. He'd performed well in the first two rounds so it'd come as no surprise if he'd been marked a target.

He couldn't afford to be too uncooperative though. He was exhausted and would be unconscious if he hadn't stopped when he did. If he had to defend himself and it came to blows, he'd probably just pass out. He acquiesced, his form softening a bit and the bite behind his gaze receded. "Yeah, I..." He searched for the words, trying to express himself honestly without giving anything away to someone who very well may want to pass it along to a hopeful mist genin.

"I have a lot of room to grow if I want to really compete." Maybe a bit too honest. "I'm behind." He gestured vaguely to some imaginary lineup of all the other genin participating in the exams. "If I don't push myself like this I'm going to embarrass myself in this next round."

It was true. Kashiwa was one of the youngest participants and by far had the least amount of practical experience of any of them, as far as he could tell. Looking just at the genin from his own village, the boy was younger, weaker and had a comparatively pathetic spread of learned techniques.

His gaze returned to his sudden guest, again suspicious. Why was this guy interested? It felt harmless but that could just mean this Daichi guy was good at his job. "Are you a cop?"

--- words | yamaguchi daichi