[Kuronmeru Yosei]

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Was there a word for something like that? Yosei wasn't sure, but the futility of his situation wasn't lost on him. Or, at least not after his other hand shattered, his fist hitting home as he punched the young Mizukage's chest. And his hand once again shattering. The boy had broken both his hands in this bout, the moment almost feeling like a callback to a more brutal, bloodier era of this country's history.

There was no way for the boy to continue the bout, physically or mentally. The pain was excruciating, and he'd find himself kneeling, black ink staining the floor as it dripped from his shaking hands. There weren't screams, no tears from him crippling himself. But his breathing was ragged, staring at his bent fingers, unable to move them no matter how hard he tried. It was ironic in a way, the first one out of this fight was the one from the strongest clan in the village. His superior blood leaving his superior body, pooling beneath the feet of his inferiors as they continued the fight. It was the very definition of failure, and for most Kuronmeru a more painful prospect than the pain shooting through the young boys body. But they weren't the ones with their fingers shattered at the moment.

The fight seemed to move as a blur, Yosei only able to pick up bits and pieces in his current predicament. The co-ordination of students while impressive as a feat for those with so little experience, wouldn't have interested him even if he wasn't currently broken on the floor. Working with those lesser than him was something to be tolerated, not celebrated. And even though he had been the first to fall, the first to fail, his certainty in his own superiority hadn't even slightly wavered. Failing in a fight against the strongest ninja in their village wasn't a surprise, it was natural. He'd be the first to fail, but the boy was confident he wouldn't be the last. The entire class would be a class of failures. But only he and Nomu had the black blood that currently ran down the boys palms. And that made him superior.

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world @--

Toru noticed the slack in his parry with Noumu, the impression immediately that the sword was lost. But it was a training blade, and so had it actually made contact with Toru's stomach, it would have cracked severely if not fully shattered - depending on how hard Noumu swung - alas, the boy created distance instead.

He came back, letting out a cry. Toru remained still like stone, like the deepest trenches of an ocean. They were coming at him from all sides, it was a good thing they had finally silently coordinated an attack of teamwork. Hasty, desperate. The cry said it all, An's jump from behind and Tota's attempt to get at his groin.

The only one who was immobile was Yosei, but the final move - Toru would make it so, but also perhaps give them a sense of accomplishment - would be a bit more dramatic. Toru would not move, he was solidly, decidedly immobile. He had not used a single technique. He could let them hit him. Break limbs and their wooden weapons against his body... Instead he waited, and there was a moment where they were all suspended in their movements just at the right moment.

A heat pulsed from Toru's body, it was an invisible shockwave that came off of him that would throw everyone backwards, even Yosei. So powerful that they would be sent catapulting backwards faster than they could likely run, their trajectory the respectful four walls of the training room. But the heat itself? Just the flash of it, it would be like boiling hot steam.

The only one who might avoid the pulse itself would be An but what would she do now, was her choice alone.

OWL

[Gurē An]

gurē an

kirigakure no sato

As the intense battle reached its climax, An found herself caught off guard by Toru's sudden display of power. Unable to even escape even though she had already prepared the jutsu beforehand. The wave of heat that radiated from him was overwhelming, and she instinctively shielded her face from the scorching steam. The force of the shockwave sent her hurtling backward, her body colliding with the unforgiving walls of the training room.

Dazed and disoriented, An struggled to regain her bearings. The impact had left her battered and bruised, her limbs aching from the exertion of the fight. She knew she couldn't continue the battle in her current state. Her body screamed for respite, and she needed to assess the situation from a distance.

Summoning her remaining strength, An managed to push herself up from the ground. She stumbled towards a nearby corner of the room, seeking a moment of reprieve. Leaning against the wall, she took deep breaths to steady herself. The bitter taste of defeat lingered in her mouth, but she refused to let it consume her.

As An's racing thoughts settled, she reflected on the events that had transpired. She had underestimated her opponent, and the consequences were evident in the current state of herself and her classmates. The taste of failure was bitter, but it served as a reminder of the harsh reality of the shinobi world.

At that moment, An made a silent vow to learn from her mistakes and grow stronger. She couldn't afford to let setbacks define her.

- E X I T -

[attr="class","lyrics"]LET ME SEE WHAT SPRING IS LIKE ON JUPITER AND MARS

[attr="class","notes"]NOTES:
WORD COUNT: 254
taneda risa Kaguya Toru Kuronmeru Yosei Tota

MADE BY NIGHTBLOOM

[newclass=.lyrics]font:9px calibri;color:#aa88bb;text-align:center;margin-bottom:-10px;letter-spacing:3px;[/newclass]
[newclass=.notes]font:9px calibri;color:#4d4b4a;height:0px;text-align:center;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition: all 1s ease; -moz-transition: all 1s ease; -o-transition: all 1s ease;[/newclass]
[newclass=.lyrics:hover .notes]height:50px;-webkit-transition: all 1s ease; -moz-transition: all 1s ease; -o-transition: all 1s ease;[/newclass]

[Kuronmeru Yosei]

More scars. It was what was going through Yosei's mind to keep him present mindfully, to keep himself from screaming out at the shattered bones of the fingers he was staring at, to keep himself from giving into the pain. The pride of having more scars, now on his hands instead of his arms. The adrenaline was wearing off, no longer was the black haired boy fighting through masked pain to continue a fight, no longer throwing punches at the stone-like figure before him. No longer fighting anything besides the increasingly intense pain. All that fighting and only two mangled hands to show for it. He really was a failure.

But he wasn't necessarily worried about being weaker than his "teammates", it wasn't like they'd all been hit and he was the first to go down. No, their target stood as still as ever, as if he were surrounded by flies that took too much effort to swat at. No one else here had tried to truely attack the Kage head on, to hit him with everything they had. All except for one. And that one was causing more feelings than acceptance to brew beneath him. Dissatisfaction and frustration gnawing at the back of his mind, as he saw the small black haired boy with red gloves throw punch after punch, just as he had, but keep pressing on. How shattered must be his bones by now, was he even holding back? And why couldn't he have done the same? A member of the Kuronmeru being shown up by a lesser blood, that wasn't failure, that was weakness. And not even Yosei could tolerate weakness.

But he wouldn't have to wonder how much more that boy, Tota, could do as soon it would all be over. The farce of a fight was drawn to a close not with the whimper Yosei had been expecting, but a bang. Everyone, including the pale skinned boy would be tossed asunder, smashing into the far wall. The pain of having his hands hit the wall was excruciating to say the least, and this time he couldn't hold back the loud yelp of pain, the sound of weakness. He had no idea what had happened, heat hitting him in the face and then he'd ended up on the far side of the wall. It was an amazing show of prowess, of pure power. Yosei had asked what had made him the strongest, and he'd gotten his answer. Power made him the strongest, just as the Kuronmeru taught, power is it's own reward. And while he might be near delirious in pain, he wasn't going to be forgetting this lesson anytime soon.

[Tota]

The velocity of Tota's approach gave him little opportunity to react to the sudden surge of energy coming from Toru's body. It manifested out of nowhere, like a heavy wind set forth into the sails of a ship. Before he knew it, the boy's small stature was overwhelmed by the energies and immediately thrown back, falling instantly to the ground and sliding across the cold stone tile. It felt like he had hit another brick wall, but this time it was near unperceivable; an translucent blast of crimson chakra. Even his ability to heal preemptively could not have saved him from the damage that would occur. As he was dragged across the floor by the unknowable force, Tota let out a gut wrenching howl. It would only be a few seconds before his body hit the nearby wall of the academy.

Once his body came to a rest, Tota writhed on the floor trying to contort his body back into its natural position. The boy's eyes swelled to the near point of tears; however with his fellow students present Tota refrained. While pain surged all over Tota gradually arose from the ground, staring directly at Toru as he stood silent and detached from the havoc he created. It was clear, the students understood their lesson.. there was no more to be learnt today.

•notes:

N/A

Word Count: 223

[taneda risa]

THE SECRET IS NOT TO DREAM

One minute, Risa had been tearing through her belongings looking for the homework she certainly hadn’t done. The next, the Mizukage was walking into the room, and Risa promptly became wildly overwhelmed; so much so that she remained utterly silent through the ensuing discussion. She trailed behind quietly to the training field when the discussion ended. And then everything devolved into chaos. Everyone started attacking the Mizukage and getting absolutely destroyed in the process. Risa, her heart pounding, panic and adrenaline flooding through her veins, did the only thing that felt reasonable and practical in the face of such overwhelmingly undefeatable odds: She ran. In the madness of everything that was going on, she slipped away from the group. She abandoned her bag and unfinished homework to the confines of the classroom, preferring instead to flee into rough-stone streets of Kirigakure, her sandaled feet slapping against the ground and frustrated tears streaming from her eyes as she made her terrified, overwhelmed escape. She could only hope beyond hope that the Mizukage hadn’t noticed her leave, preoccupied as he must have been with the others. She’d go back to school the next day and pretend nothing happened, and no one would be the wiser. [EXIT]

Kaguya Toru
203

LAIKA OF THQ