[Deleted]

Akira was not having an easy time: there were... adjustments that needed to be made. Yes, he thought he'd been fast and strong and he was, but test driving still needed to take place. It was a grilling, burning pain as he fought between the three of them in a cramped space: using nothing but the Kunai. They were enhanced, and perhaps Chunin or even Jonin level themselves: one wouldn't have been able to tell. The blood that they manifested from their self mutilation spilled out on to the harder cobbled floors.

And they fought dirty. Trying to flick blood over him. Trying to get him to ingest it, pouring it over their own weapons. He hoped Shigure was seeing this - was it mind control? Was it blood control? Akira couldn't fully understand it yet, but he supposed if he lost he would.

The opening he needed came when the three of them attacked at once with different sizes, one going overhead: one going for his legs with a sweep and the last trying to corner him. It was a beautiful moment that Akira noticed and he would fully seize it. He stepped forward into the lunge, over the sweep of the leg and grabbed the wrist of assailant holding the blooded knife - pulling it down and into the shoulder blade of their friend who had tried to sweep his leg. He stepped past them, so that even his own back was to the back of the weapon holder, and then pulled the cornering man backward and into their friends: and all three of them collapsed and leaving them to scramble over the pile they'd caused unto themselves.

"Ha. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha." The room filled with Akira's palms facing the sky, as if welcoming them. His head went back, and he was wildly ready for it. "Pray to your god that there is meaning and receive no answer, nobody will remember you insignificant ants." On his own front the tide was changing, because even through their own enhancements - they had failed to get the soiled ingredient into him.

Akira waved to the wall, much to their confusion. The kunai in his hand flipped forward: and he took a stance and then simply.... flung. The Kunai disappeared from his person - and appeared magically in the wall behind him after having entered, and exited, the three of them - though the third was moreso grazed from his position. The first? Thrown back, and suddenly a hole in their abdomen, right through to the other side - not one he could see through.

Akira grinned, showing off the other fourteen kunai. "Guess where I can hide these?" The dread and cold persisted.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}NAME: Chinkonka no gekido | [Requiem's rage]
RANK: A
CHAKRA USAGE: High
CLASSIFICATION: Bukijutsu
ELEMENT: None
DESCRIPTION:
A throwing move of the weapon, with incredible strength that can cleave a human into two halves and cut three thick trees in one blow.
The user will have to move their whole upper body with a firm stance on the floor, throwing the weapon in a perfect vertical line. The strength behind the move will allow the weapon to force it's way through the intended target.
The speed of this attack is neigh avoidable, unless one has the full sharingan or is an experienced master bukijutsu or taijutsu user with superior reflexes.

[Hyūga Shigure]

"followers of blood". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." ONE DOWN The cultist would raise their hand and people would quickly grow silent. "Heretics, defilers... You shall be granted a chance at salvation, a proof of your devotion to the one true God. Those who have the guts to do what it takes, step foward, partake on this gift of blood. Leave behind your frail selves and transcend from cattle, to predators." he said, and although the people did gather there, nobody seemed very eager to move. They were victims there, being forced upon this creed they didn't believe, but they didn't have the strength to fight it. "Today we offer this blessing to three of you. Now, don't make us waste time." and in order to not miss that opportunity, Shigure shakily rose his hand, and stepped forward. "Old man, do you think you have what it takes?!" the man challenged with a smirk on his face. "I will leave it in the hands of our lord. If he deems me worthy, I shall endure." he said, trying to keep the tone humble. "Wise words. Come forth." he ordered and Shigure did just that. When he was offered the bowl with the blood, he approached it from his face, but instead of drinking it, he dropped it to the ground, and dashed forward, dropping the transformation technique and revealing his true form. "Hakkeshō Ranbu!" and by expelling the chakra from his tenketsus, he momentarily paralyzed the main cultista and dashed in to assault him with several palm strikes, aiming at his heart, lungs, and kidneys, all vital points, and despite the fact that his body was enhanced, he couldn't withstand the internal damaged caused by the Gentle Fist and collapsed. The people there seemed shocked by what was going on, and the other two cultist grabbed kamas from within their robe and got ready to engage with the Hyuuga. "This is the end of your wicked cult. The people of this village will no longer suffer under your cruel heel." with those words, the people started running away from the church, while Shigure readied himself to fight his two foes. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." B-Rank Mission [17/20] Uses Palm Storm Dance to kill one of the cultists, ready to engage the other 2 in battle [@akira] [370 words]

Technique used:

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Hakkeshō Ranbu [Eight Trigrams Palm Storm Dance]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Taijutsu
REQUIREMENT: Hyuuga Clan, Byakugan and Chakra Control SA
DESCRIPTION:
Using the area of the Eight Trigrams, the user expands the chakra from their tenketsus to stun the opponents for a brief moment, enough for the Hyuuga to deliver several palm strikes aiming at their vulnerable organs. It can be used against multiple opponents, as long as they are within the area of the Trigrams. If hit by this technique the targets are stunned for 1 rotation.

[Deleted]

Obviously, the three of them attacked: the first didn't seem deterred in the slightest - prompting more enjoyment from Akira. The man danced around them, glancing blows: they were doing numbers on him as well, and it was a moment where a blade ended up between his ribs and into his chest, drawing breath. Up until the moment he died. "See you next time," Akira breathed, coughing out blood - and fell forward into the first man's arms.

That was a quick movement from one life into the next, because the hug turned into a bear hug: they thought they could relax with one wiping off their clothing, to the scream of the one who had attacked him: his own back, creaking under Akira's new strength. It seemed, lines ran through his body. "Don't scream, little bug," Akira breathed into his friend, steam billowing from his body which elicited a second round of attacks, and Akira threw the first one off him: pulling out the blade and cutting the throat of the second assailant. "Poor boy," Akira's garb removed, and a slice of cloth where it had penetrated through him.

The blood, apparently, seemingly, took no effect on him. Was this Akui's doing? Was the other god simply not trying to draw the anger or wrath of a superior god? It remained to be seen, because his gifts were doing more. The one who had his throat cut, though, didn't seem to be dying either - the mutilation didn't deter them.

Interesting. He carried on fighting: one incapacitated, on account of a broken back and inability to move, and two more on the way. But not dead!

---

What Shigure had observed was the effective equivalent to the turn off switch - while they had some enhanced resiliency, he had just... one moment they were alive, and the next they weren't: it was highly effective as a Anti-Religion attack went. Shigure had drawn the attention of two further clansmen.

The entry to the church was barred: by the same people that had been running - they didn't dare leave without the permission or certainty of their safety. Just like the fight with Sozin, the two of them withdrew their Kamas and cut themselves first with their own weapons.

One would slice downward through the Kama and the pew as Shigure would have dodged. That was it! Their blood seemed to make everything sharp, enchanting their weapons as a form of self mutilation, but they were going to try and be a bit hardier. The other one - grumbled something religious and also attacked, his own impetus was to stop Shigure from moving by trying to cut at his feet, sweeping downward while holding an opposite hand up to guard.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Add any jutsu, relevant information here

[Hyūga Shigure]

"followers of blood". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." HYUUGA HIJUTSU When they cut themselves with the kamas, he noticed that the blood seemed to have interacted with the blade in some way, but since it wasn't necessarily chakra, it wasn't obvious to the Hyuuga how it worked, but he needed to be mindful of it. "Perhaps it can cause some poison effects... I better avoid getting hit by it." he thought to himself, as he adjusted his Gentle Fist fighting stance, keeping his enemies well within his nearly three-hundred and sixty degrees area of sight. One of them came charging at Shigure with a downward attack, but the Hyuuga's sharp reflexes and incredible agility allowed him to dodge the attack and ready a counter. "Shoutei!" he roared as he hit the man's chest with Palm Bottom. Not a fatal strike, but enough to send him a few feet away, falling on his buttocks. The next one tried to seize what he saw as a distraction to aim for Shigure's feet, but even though he had his back turned to him, he could still see him and would use his agility to somersault over the man, landing behind him and taking a half-step forward as he hit him with a couple palm strikes to his back, aiming at where his kidneys should be. The man groaned in pain and fell down, but the other one was already up and had thrown the Kama at Shigure. "Hmph!" he groaned as he took a step to the side, but surprisingly, the kama changed direction and hit Shigure on the flank. The tip of its blade hit his chakra-reactive mesh armour, and failed to cause any serious damage other than concussion. "Ugh... This was gonna be bad... So they can exercise a degree of control over it, uh?" he thought to himself. Grabbing the Kama, Shigure would throw it towards its owner, who managed to guide it to his own hand, getting into a fighting position, as his partner struggled to get up from the previous attack. "Let's end this, shall we?" he said, as he spread his arms open. For his opponent, his actions made little sense, but he was already visualizing both of them within the area of his Eight Trigrams. And when the two of them got ready to attack, so did Shigure, dashing forward with ferocity. "Hakke Rokujuuyon shou!" he roared, as he advanced to throw his clan's secret technique. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." B-Rank Mission [19/20] Uses palm bottom at the first enemy's chest, then dodges an attack and counter with gentle fist strike to their kidneys. Tries to dodge the attack, but it's hit, fortunately on his armour, so only concussive damage. Starts executing the 64 palms against the attacking enemies. [@akira] [448 words]

Techniques Used:

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Shōtei [Palm Bottom]
RANK: D
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Taijutsu

DESCRIPTION:
The user thrusts their palm forward, hitting the enemy’s body with a quick and precise motion. The technique is both basic and deadly; this is because like any other Gentle Fist technique it injects chakra into the target causing a great deal of internal damage. When the technique is used it usually temporarily paralyzes an opponent but the collateral damage is not on par with much more elaborated techniques.

NAME: Hakke Rokujūyon Shō [ Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Taijutsu
DESCRIPTION:
The Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms is a taijutsu that should only be passed down in the main house of the Hyūga. Using the Byakugan’s near 360º filed of vision the user will strike the enemies within their eye reach with violent palm or finger thrusts. By striking sixty-four of the tenketsu, they will cause a huge disruption in which the chakra flow of the enemy will be forcefully stopped, making it unable for them to even properly stand after the assault. Each set of strikes is done at an exponentially increasing pace and strength. The attack not only disables the enemy but also knocks them back with every set of strikes.

Item used:

SPOILER: Click to show

mesh armour shirt [universal]


OWNER: Hyūga Shigure, among others.

RANK: B

CLASSIFICATION: Defensive.

ELEMENT: Wind

RESTRICTIONS: N/A

DESCRIPTION:
A well-crafted mesh armour shirt, protecting the user from the base of the neck to the wrists, with a plate of metal also covering the back of the hands. It can be used underneath the user's clothing, as its especially tailored for shinobi use. Its special metal alloy allows the user to channel chakra through it.

ABILITIES:
Wind Repulsion [Conductive]: To properly use this armour, the user needs to have access to Wind Release. When wearing the armour, the user can channel their chakra to add a thin layer of wind covering the armour, which acts makes it harder for weapon attacks to connect, as the moving wind seeks to deflect attacks off the user [Low chakra drain per use]

Built for Shinobi: The metal alloy used to create this mesh armour shirt is strong, but that's not its main perk. The armour's weight is neglectable to the point shinobi wearing it suffer no negative impact on their agility and speed. However, due to its design, it is more effective against slashing attacks, and more vulnerable to piercing attacks.

[Deleted]

The sound of metal against metal was clear as it rung: but the smell of iron was stronger. The smell of death was peculiar: one of them had been dispatched and two more were truly on their way. Akira wiped down the front of his clothing, having pushed a second assailant and they fell back against a wall, clutching at a gaping wound he had created with organs showing where they ought not to be shown before. "That looks painful," the third raged toward him as well, but where Akira had maintained his counters, continued to do so: only serving to exhaust the Shinobi more. This was pathetic. Were they even trained? He lazily waited for the attacks.

Another Kunai pulled from the wood in a table, only to be thrown at the downed enemy, eliciting a snort from the man. Just to cause them more pain as it cut through and into their shoulder. By this point, the people who had been ... next on the butcher's block had escaped, and would more than likely have begun working their way either to another town or back to their homes.

It had all been rather fun, but he had to be careful with what he wanted to say. "You'll be well received in your... hovel of a heaven, I'm sure. Die now." And Akira lunged toward him with Mercy in his hand, for justice he would deliver.

---

What a fantastic war effort from Shigure against his own adversaries who seemed to be enhanced. The protagonist would not be downed today by any mere Kama: and one was sent backward. A small thing, but giving them a little opportunity to stand, recoup, and advance once again.

They didn't know nor care for the Hyuga's secret techniques, and they had not yet learned to fear the abilities: and so while they thought they could have tanked the one, the following 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 strikes! They'd be felled. Each time being sent back a little bit further that by the time the final strikes were pushed through their body, they would have been back to the wall of the church: and through the wall by the sheer force he was emitting.

And the door opened to Sozin, waving at Shigure, having finished what he was doing there, dragging three human men by their scruffs and dropped just inside the door of the 'Lord.' "Busy?" Sozin was trying to be funny. The people who had coralled near the entrance and saw Sozin: backed off a bit, until they had noticed who he held. Then hell broke loose as they began to run from the church.

Like children, they would return when the bell was rung, but for now, people needed to be taken care of.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Add any jutsu, relevant information here

[Hyūga Shigure]

"followers of blood". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." ALL ENDS WELL The fight was over, the enemies had been defeated, and now the people would be free from the influence of the Apostles of the Blood, or so he hoped. Considering how many times they had been eliminated before and somehow managed to rise from the ashes, he didn't want to hold his breathe on that. With the Byakugan, he confirmed his opponents had been killed. He also noticed the approach of his mission partner, successful in his share of the mission. When the man waived, Shigure nodded to him. "I was, but things are taken care of now. I see all went well on your end. That's good." he said as he looked at the person he dragged their way. He was dead, and that was but a corpse. The people seemed a bit afraid of the man, cowering for a moment until they realized their true nemesis was there, dead. Chaos would ensue for a short moment as people ran from the church, too scared to even thank them. Well... That until they returned when the bell rung. "Let's make sure they are okay." Shigure said to Sozin, and once people were back, he would address them. "The evil that tried to take root in this place is now gone. You don't have to live in fear anymore. Now... We just want to make sure everyone is alright, and hopefully, you will be able to return to your normal, peaceful lives very soon." his tone was kind and caring, he was genuinely concerned about the well-being of the people. One by one, Shigure would check on them, and even though he wasn't a medic, he could see inside their bodies, search for injuries. Nothing of real concern, no further evidence of the presence of the evil they fought, and when he was finally satisfied, he would turn to Sozin once again, giving him an enthusiastic thumbs-up. "Seems like everything is in order. We can take our leave. Thank you for your work, Sozin-san. Without you, this mission would've been much harder. Perhaps too hard." he admitted. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." B-Rank Mission [21/20] Good to wrap up? [@akira] [354 words]

[Deleted]

The fight was over, but not for Akira.

"They were." Shigure had the bright idea of checking in on the individual people. This wasn't a large town so Sozin would do the same thing and begin to check on people: though he didn't have as much particular medical ability, so he cared for their emotional wellbeing - his honey silk voice playing to their woes.

"We're still not done yet," Sozin gently spoke to Shigure. He wandered past him with a light pep in his step, over to the flock: they didn't sit down - but corralled toward the entrance. With a slight sigh, Akira instead returned to them, coming back down to the front of the church. "You're all lost... that you cowered and accepted a fate without aid from your neighbours." he started, uncaring for if Shigure had left or not. "You should be aware that they may return, and this is what will happen to them. I will return, and you will be as free to live your lives then the time you had forgotten. My colleague ensured you of this." He spoke slowly, commanding their presence. Enhancing their emotions through the power of his lord - they wouldn't have really felt it, beyond the amplification of their emotions ten fold.

"I will be back, and you shall all know peace. You should reach out to Kusagakure or Konohagakure - because money is not an issue in the trade that is your free will, your lives. Some of you were being butchered, and you said nothing. Is this truly a God you wish to serve? The God I serve begs for peace, and the silent enjoyment of your world. There is no room for barbarism." There was some relief on their faces, but not all: the talk of another God unsettled them, and Akira could see that. His method of speaking was less diplomatic than Shigure's pragmatic and kind point of view. He would tell them the harsh truths, and they would listen - perhaps on account of the power they themselves did not possess.

"You are under no obligation to follow my beliefs - all that I would ask is that you communicate with your hearts. I will send someone to support your community. Perhaps you'd like to root out this evil blight of this.... cult of blood... and tell us anything we need to know to protect you for the future?" To obtain more information about the blight, that would be his next step. Shigure could go home, and he could go investigating in their rat hole to obtain the source of their powers, and where they would be next.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Add any jutsu, relevant information here

[Hyūga Shigure]

"followers of blood". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." WILL OF GOD Akira was not done with the place yet, and that surprised Shigure, who looked at the man with a puzzled expression. "We are not?" he asked, but the answer would come with his sermon to the lost flock, trying to guide them into the arguably more merciful light of his own God. The Hyuuga had waited, further removed from the place, enticed by his curiosity. Akira's words were strong, and especially effective for such vulnerable and hurt people. In a way, he believed him, that his God was a peaceful and merciful one. It was not a far-fetched thing: Shigure also wanted peace in this world, but his hands were covered in blood. Once he listened to his sermon, he would smile at the man, give him a nod in approval and then waive, continuing to make his way back to the village. With Akira deciding to further investigate the place, even though his Byakugan had found nothing, he rested more at ease. He was a godly man, and he understood those matters far better than the young Hyuuga. A sliver of admiration grew inside of him, and he hoped he would be seeing the man in the future, on a mission, or just casually. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." B-Rank Mission [Completed] Exit post. Thanks for the thread bud! [@akira] [213 words]

[Deleted]

And true to form even by the time that Shigure had left, if he activated his Byakugan again he would have seen Akira doing an assortment of things: first returning to the cave and their hiding spot, after instructing the bodies be piled and burnt as a symbol of the future. Generally mulling around, into the butchers shop, noticeably taking the "prime ribs" and the rest of the bodies and throwing them atop the fire as well.

And he truly did: anything so he could continue his pilgrimage, leaving behind the stench of death wherever he went in service of his true lord. Anything that would help him stamp it out... the investigation continued. The cult of blood would be destroyed yet.

[finish]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Add any jutsu, relevant information here