[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Progress was coming from the weight training she had begun a month or so back with Miho. Though that was only a subsidiary for today. A thought that crossed the young python's mind as she moved behind a small legion of grass snakes. She had been called upon and her companions had shown her the signs by immediately moving towards thge woods. It would be midday by now, school would likely be searching town, but the snake procession would make a note of why she was gone if nothing else. She would be punished later at school for something else probably anyways, so she chose to do as she wished to instead today. Rain had fallen on the village only a day prior though, and the heavily weighted girl was feeling the effects of the bad weather as she sank into the soft earth whenever she walked over a grassless patch of mud. She had been hiking for likely three or four hours though under quite a bit of weight since she was always wearing the clothing that her teacher in the academy had placed the weighted seal onto. Having put it to its lowest weight it had originally been far too much to handle without having worked to distribute the weight across the cloth rather than centralizing it. But since then she had slowly been working. Eventually the forest gave to mountainous fog and she knew she had reached the home of the snakes, the place the sage had called for her to. As her snakes stopped their motions and began to circle and then coil up her legs, or for some her hands as she bent down the snakes would gleefully escape back to where they stayed with the girl. TAGGED | Kekkan Mitsuda NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Kekkan Mitsuda]

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[attr="class","mitsuda"]For quite some time, Mitsuda’s scaled friends had sent him word of a potential prodigal interest. Their slitted eyes would share with him a rather interesting girl. Snakes seemed to love her, even grouping with her, and taking host in her body as they did with the Red Sage. He had sent word to her through the snakes she seemed to host. She would receive the word of his instruction, one way or another. In Mitsuda’s eyes, however, if she couldn’t understand the request through her little grass snakes, then she didn’t deserve to learn under him anyway.

The connection needed to be strong. Snakes were…finnicky creatures. They didn’t bond like some pathetic dog or cat. They were not creatures that could be domesticated or ordered. Respect was needed and oh…how they respected Mitsuda. Several snakes fed off Mitsuda’s vitality daily, but he would have it no other way. They served him great use, and he repaid the favor by protecting and nourishing them and their ancestors. From what he had gathered, this girl was not very different. Mitsuda was intrigued.

His quarters were quite far from the village. He preferred it that way. Being as far away from the grime that was the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans was all he wanted. If that meant traveling quite a bit farther to simply live a peaceful life, well, Mitsuda was more than willing to accommodate. After his scroll was stolen as well, keeping his personal belongings in a simple, unprotected apartment seemed like a severe lack of protection. No. He wanted to control his life. He’d lived long enough to deserve the honor. The apartment still existed, but it sat there with dust and blank white walls with the echo of footsteps through empty rooms each time he did decide to visit. It no longer held meaning.

Mitsuda sat slumped in a make-shift chair of rock, a ray of sunlight squeezed through a crack in the craigy rock of the cave. The smell of fresh coniferous surrounded him and the remnants of fog crept through the opening. The sun, however, kept the rock within warm. Snakes gathered around it, basking near his bare feet, and slithering around him anxiously.

"Keep calm, my friends. She will come.”

It meant more to Mitsuda than his friends would understand. He had lived a long life, and he could feel that its end would come…sooner rather than later perhaps. He needed someone to take his place and to keep his friends close as he had all these years. Would this girl be the one? Time would tell.

A lazy yawn escaped him, "It took you long enough to get here,” he said seemingly to nothing in the air, though the presence of the small girl was known to him as she stood within ear length of the entrance. "Come so that I can see you.” Mitsuda remained seated, resting his head on his knuckles lazily as piercing eyes watched the entrance.

Tateyama Yakitsukeru

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yakitsukeru couldn't say she was out right panicked by the sudden voice, though what little color she had had in her face drained as she stressfully stood back up from the heavy weighted squat that only further burned her already tired legs. The great snake sage had mentioned a trial before she would become a true inheritor of the Sage proper... She assumed that was now, but was it not early for her? Perhaps not though, as she thought more on the matter she cooled back to a normal demeanor. For the teenage girl this was a slightly gloomy mood that seemed to permeate when she was shut up in a quieted manner, as her tongue was far sharper than her initial looks would suggest. Walking inside she seemed unperturbed and more so fascinated as she witnessed snakes of all kinds almost swimming along the ground. As if knowing her call further inside, or possibly because of the unnatural friendliness that she had to snakes she would assume they parted in places she stepped only as a way to guide her, as sometimes they would turn slightly as if showing her where to walk rather than where to run. A path was laid before her told in endless serpents as she found herself before a heterochromic man, matching his stare somewhat boldly. Though there was no distinct show of defiance or spark of egotism, she was an ant to the man she easily correlated to being the sage of the snakes. The human sage anyways. "Greetingsss Sssage-Sssama. I am Tateyama Yakitsssukeru, though I sssuppossse you know that fact. I wish to be your direct disssciple." Yaki would state without hesitation. A selfish demand fitting of one who wished to walk the path of the snake, a path that demanded dominance and a lack of empathy. More importantly, it was a path where the shrewdest journey held the best results. Snakes were surprisingly truthful, but for all their honesty they still only ever eluded to the full truth, instead preferring half truths. TAGGED | Kekkan Mitsuda NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Kekkan Mitsuda]

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[attr="class","mitsuda"]Mitsuda glared with lazed slits, taking mind of the presence that was now standing before him. He stood from the stone seat and walked forward, his bare feet slapping against the mossy crag of the cave. He circled the girl, eyes gazing as he summed her up in a way that seemed he was looking straight through her, or more so at the soul within. As he returned before her again, he took note of the scales are her face and then stood straight with crossed arms.

"You’re weaker than I expected,” he said bluntly with distaste on his face as he scowled at her flimsy and unconditioned meat sack. He yawned and then casually shrugged, "but, our little friends have shared quite the interesting stories.” He reached out his hand and a snake slithered out, curling around his arm, and stretching its long body outward. It, too, was assessing Yakitsukeru. A small slit tongue wriggled from the closed mouth before the snake returned to wherever it had come from. Like Yakitsukeru, Mitsuda played host to a plethora of serpents. They fed off him in various ways, a symbiotic that most would find repulsive.

"Very well,” he said, "I’ll give you a chance—” he paused suddenly as if he had an idea. "If…you can prove you’re worth it.” A sinister smile crossed his face. He wasn’t just going to let any needy academy student who had love for the same scaled beasts reap the benefits of his hard and long life as his disciple. No, she needed to prove she meant it, and that she was worth the time he would be putting into her training. "There’s only one you truly need approval from. How naïve of you to think it was me,”

Mitsuda skillfully drew blood, slapping his hand into the ground where a seal then formed. In a puff of smoke, a giant snake appeared. If the girl had any sense, she would recognize this snake immediately. Upon the snake’s arrival, the Sannin instantly bowed, his head lowered for several seconds before rising.

"Manda, you have trained countless shinobi and bound many to your ways. Your judgement is final. Please, allow me to introduce you to Tateyama Yakitsukeru. Peer into her soul as I have and confirm with me. Is she the one that has been prophesized?”

The snake glared at the girl for several seconds in silence. Red slits burned through the girl, and then…he simply disappeared. Without a word. Without moving, so it would seem to Yakitsukeru.

Mitsuda turned to her, saying nothing but assessing her once again. For several moments he stood, then his head cocked to the side.

"You have a lot to learn... Don't waste my time...” he would pause again, eyes furrowed. "There is a second...but perhaps we will find them another day."


Jutsu Used: Summoning Technique - Manda

Tateyama Yakitsukeru

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Was she supposed to come in here strong? Her eyes would twitch, one did not need a reason to seek becoming powerful, and it was not power that dictated the will of the Great White Snake Sage. No that creature seemed to have a will that was almost its own seperate entity. When it came to the whims of such a vastly ancient creature the eccentricities did not escape Yaki, even as she was but an ant. "Of courssse I am weak, it isss why I ssseek after your disssciplehood where my companionsss have lead me to find it," Yakitsukeru would state bluntly, if there was a time to show no hint of backing away it was now. She could show respect and obedience when she needed and it was sought, but now she could not show such vulnerabilities, even if she did feel herself shrink as the titanic presense of a certain snake came to present its overwhelming stature and gaze upon her. Still Yaki held herself from flinching, thankful to that blonde moron at the academy for once as the three hundred pounds on her back held her firmly in place. Seeing Mitsuda bow his head still she found herself compelled as if by instinct to follow suit. This not an enemy to make, this was not a creature she could make light of. Stillness overtook the girl as she waited for a verdict on life or death. Yet there was none... or rather, the one she recieved did not come from the great snake's maw but rather Mitsuda again. As he spoke she would straighten and stare forward determined in mind, body, and soul. "Then I shall not ssspend a moment more on anything that I should not need to," Yakitsu would say bluntly in reply. Dissappointment already riddled this strange man's face. She would not catch herself saying she would not dissappoint him. Currently, she already was a dissappointment. She would become more then... and quickly. At the mention of a second her brow would furrow, she had never been told there was another. TAGGED | Kekkan Mitsuda NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Kekkan Mitsuda]

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[attr="class","mitsuda"]Mitsuda didn’t scoff, but his face didn’t budge either. It seemed as though she assumed he meant that she was weak in terms of her combative capabilities, but that is where she would be wrong. The man let the comment slide. Yaki was still young, and all too often he forgot what being that young did to a person. He hadn’t thought the way she did in over a century, and it showed from time to time.

For the time being, he would give her a chance to prove her worth. Manda seemed to approve of her, at least. If he hadn’t, he likely would have killed her on the spot, not that Mitsuda would have allowed for it. She was the future of his village, and if luck would have it the one who would someday take over the name of the Snake Sage. He needed to find a suitable replacement, or he’d never hear the end of it from the White Snake Sage, and that thought alone was already beginning to annoy him.

As she continued to speak, Mitsuda was amused with her response. "No, you won’t,” he said matter-of-factly. "Show me you mean it. Just what can you do,” Mitsuda would not take on an offensive stance but would stuff his hands in his pocket. His words would carry threat, but strangely enough would also carry a hint of encouragement and morale. He wanted to see the potential he had been told about, and he wanted to see it…now.

Tateyama Yakitsukeru

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yakitsukeru would frown for a moment at the words, not because she didn'tg understand them. It had to do with the fact that Yaki did not consider herself much of a specialist in melee combat if that was truly what the man wanted. If he meant with anything then she could likely manage it fine. Crouching she would hiss for a moment and all twenty snakes that filled her clothing and haori would slide from underneath and deposit their rather small forms onto the ground. Most of the snakes she carried were no bigger than a forearm if even that large. "I sssuppossse that isss an invitation for combat?" Yakitsukeru would ask rhetorically, she would form a snake handseal and the weight from her haori would disappear lightening the girl as she pressed in to meet the man. Moving surprisingly quick as she approached, it wasn't anything uniquely startling, but it was quick. Jumping she would twist the attack into a simple dropkick, in the process though she would switch her handseal to that of the dog and she would begin to plummet faster as she reactivated the seal as that idiot instructor had taught her. Assuming Mitsuda didn't just side step the three hundred and eighty pound teenager would come crashing onto the man. If he did dodge, she would force herself into a roll. Slow to stand back up under her own clothings weight. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Kekkan Mitsuda]

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[attr="class","mitsuda"]Yakitsukeru would guess right and seemingly would waste very little time as well, much to Mitsuda’s liking. It seemed she was catching on quickly, which was a good sign. Mitsuda only had to mention once that he didn’t want to waste his time and here she was rushing in head first.

"How foolish,” he said flat-faced as Yakitsukeru rushed towards him. Granted, she had quite a bit of speed, but it was nothing compared to what Mitsuda had experienced over the years and compared to his own speed it was laughable. Still, she was only an Academy Student. If her speed was this promising early on, then perhaps something could be made of her.

Mitsuda waited until the last second where the girl’s foot was only centimeters away from striking before disappearing in a flash, only to reappear behind her seemingly just as quickly. From behind Yaki, Mitsuda would crouch, grabbing her at the ankle and lifting, though noticed that her weight seemed disproportionate to her size. "Ah, a weight seal. That’s a clever one. Who taught you that old trick?” he said before dropping her foot with a thud.

Ten snakes were now flooding around in his den, he eyed them fiercely. Even with his position as a Snake Sage, these snakes were deathly loyal to Yaki. They didn’t seem to budge in backing off. "I don’t know if you know this, but I have a thing for snakes…Keeping such puny specimen so close to you in combat…one would think you don’t care for their safety, no?” He said tauntingly.

Mitsuda glared in Yaki’s direction, meeting eyes with her. Yaki would feel herself be unable to move just from the site of his red and white hues. The sage would walk closer, his boots just a good foot from the girls face before he would crouch, continuing to stare her down. "Please, don’t tell me that’s all you can do?”

Tateyama Yakitsukeru

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Curses. Yakitsu internally was cursing herself for getting caught so simply, but she had no reason to worry about the outcome. That was to be expected... a hazing initiation seemed likely on a surface, and she was correct. Mitsuda was likely planning to beat the living hell outta her and see if she would be an obedient little pet afterwards. Well she had news for him, falling to the ground with a resounding thud of a heavy object hitting the ground. A quiet groan of pain as her head would hit stone before the rest of her heavy body from how Mitsuda had held her upside down. "An inconsssiderate bassstard wasss the one who taught me. What isss it to you Sssage-Sssama-" Yaki would start to his a sarcastic insult into her question, but stopped as she caught the sage's gaze. Her companions were hissing at the man who was harming her; their home. Intolerable as he was about it, she couldn't let him hurt them even if it meant she really would be taking a heavy beating. He would croach next to her and the young girl would glare back at the taunting as she shot out with both fists one aimed squarely for his nose, and the other for the man's groin, with the face shot being the easier tracked of the dual-strike. If she couldn't make ground with that she would attempt to create some amount of space, but she had a confident doubt that she could unless she was allowed. TAGGED | Kekkan Mitsuda NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Kekkan Mitsuda]

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[attr="class","mitsuda"]
With a cock of his head, the Sage did question who she meant by ‘inconsiderate bastard’ however. He refrained from chuckling. The irony so far was that she had an equally bad mouth as he sometimes did, and at this time he was trying his best to not curse in front of someone as young as he was, but perhaps she wasn’t truly as innocent as he would have believed. He left the question without verbal queue, but it was definitely a topic he would bring up.

The snakes formed around him, hissing at him to which he would simply glare. He’d had his fair share of snake bites and truthfully ones of their size didn’t scare or worry him at single bit. He was immune to snake poisons, and their bites would feel like little more than a cat scratch. He would blink and find the girl aiming to him with a crouch as she would then attempt to land a fist or two at various parts of his body.

A part of Mitsuda wished that he could give her some sort of confidence as her methods for attacking were not bad, but his innate instincts to dodge with his reflexes and speed did not allow for much room in those warm regards. He would dodge the fists with ease. "Good. Very good.” He would say to reassure her either way. "Promising, I’d say.”

Mitsuda would allow Yaki to create some distance, though his eyes stayed glued to her. With all things considered regarding their difference in age, rank, and overall experience, she wasn’t doing half bad in keeping herself separated from the rocky floor of his hut. Mitsuda had not been entirely sure what to expect from this potential mentorship, but so far, he wasn’t entirely unimpressed. There were still many things he wanted to test, including her temperament with the snakes, though if she was allowed to play host with them, then he didn’t question their loyalty. Snakes did not quickly become fond with humans and did not often create bonds very easily with their kind. If she was able to gain trust with as many snakes as she had already, then perhaps that was something to be said about her connection with them.

He would give her one more chance to land something, but he wasn’t one to give free hits even to a child. "Come, now, Yaki. Let’s see once more what you can do.” She couldn't really be expected to land much of anything, but her efforts showed the resolve and determination and even skill that he sought in an apprentice.

Tateyama Yakitsukeru

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

So her new teacher, the great sage was far above her. That wasn't exactly a surprise to someone of her current station, but that gap would fill in time. It would take her five years maximum and she could probably easily surpass the man in front of her. Her vision would narrow as she crouched in her weighted form and formed a handseal again as she lauched herself forward as much as she could. It was an idiot's move to directly approach, and so as she got to what she guessed was Mitsuda's outer striking range she would slide and rotate the man whirling out to his backside, attempting to hide a technique she was forming from in the motion. If she was successful or not, a downward axe kick would be swung to the old sage. Aiming to get the man to lash out at her. If he would he would find a stone left in the place that she had been in as she had attempted a substitution jutsu. "How isss thisss for sssize?" Yaki would hiss as she would now jab upwards at the man. In the ideal scenario, striking the man with her fingertips in a stab at his spine. That was all, assuming she could even begin the process for all of this. Even she had doubted this would work, but she had tried it anyways. TAGGED | Kekkan Mitsuda NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Kekkan Mitsuda]

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[attr="class","mitsuda"]Mitsuda, with his years of experience, could see through Yaki’s moves, but he was thoroughly impressed with her strategic abilities and her variation in skillsets. So far, she had displayed a very interesting kit and for an Academy student it showed great promise.

He would allow the girl to play out her scheme, though to Mitsuda it was quite obvious with her substitution. Against even a genin, this would maybe have worked well enough for the upper jab to go through, but Mitsuda would not play easy against his student.

As she would jab outward, Mitsuda would seem to disappear after a single handseal was performed. He would reappear behind her in a crouched position. "Very well done, Yaki.” While monotone, his words were genuine. He would simply stand and walk to stand in front of her. There was no smile, but with a subtle and gentle movement, he would pat the top of her head.

"That will be all for today. You’ve shown great promise. We will meet again soon. Perhaps we can begin more detailed training towards your path as a Sage.” He would pause, crossing his hands over his chest again. "That is, if you’re sure this is what you want. Please know…this is a lifetime of hard work.”

Tateyama Yakitsukeru