[Honō Kojirou]

Kuwana was still a huge labyrinth for poor Kojirou. He wasn’t used to big, stony walls surrounding the clouds above him – he was used to Kusagakure’s open, grassy fields with the bamboo forests in the distance, the house-tall grasslands where people often got lost, the river beds, et cetera! This place was the opposite of all of that!



… But the buildings were far fancier. Most fancy, in particular, was the tallest in the distance that he could still catch with his fleeting eyes – a huge monolith of a building in the heart of the city, towering above all others. It would cost a hefty sum of chakra to run all the way up there, but it was something that he had in mind.



Chakra Control, remember? Kizumi-sama had left wise words in the heart of the boy, words of constant improvement of his breathing and usage of chakra. Training his stamina and conditioning to longer periods of labor was a good way to draw nearer to his end goal of mastering a Kenjin Nōdo, and he’d have to make use of his Art of Tree-Walking a lot to get up there. Still, that required that he took his usage of chakra far more seriously than before. He couldn’t waste any, or he’d end up failing his goal.



Plus, it’d be a huge plus. The exams were hairs away, but he had plenty of time to check the town out-



"Move it, boy!”



A sudden push caused Kojirou to topple over up front and land flat on his face, caused by a passing construction worker. It looked as if the swordsman was knocked out cold purely by that, but it was more the embarrassment of having stood in the way of people that caused him to stay down. Chisai-neechan was right – he had an issue with glaring too long at things.

[Murahira Hana]

Hana Murahira Do your best until you know better once you know better, then do better

in life, honor - in death, glory Hana had been wandering Kuwana for a few days now since the chuunin exams were coming up. It wasn't her first attempt, but it was her first time in Kuwana, and seeing a foreign country was an opportunity she didn't want to pass up. It'd be a while before she was able to return to such a place and she was going to make the most about it. The only problem she was having was that it caused a lot of interruptions to her normal training-heavy schedules. Hana liked to train all day every day. In Kuwana, it wasn't as much of an option as it had been back home. She'd found a few opportunities to sate her urges for self-improvement, but it was still eating away at her in the back of her mind. But sometimes opportunities fall into one's lap.  Hana was walking down one of the streets of Kuwana when some kid got tangled up with a local worker - or what looked like one - and was left lying in the dirt like discarded trash.  Seeing that no one else decided to check on the poor fool, Hana crouched down near his shoulder and reached out to poke him on the side of the head, as if trying to roll him to the side to see if he was alive, or at least awake. "Are you okay?"

TITLE: The Race of Clans TAGS: Honō Kojirou WORDS: 229 Words

[Honō Kojirou]

… H-Huh? Someone was poking his head all of a sudden… he’d been on the ground for too long. He had attracted some sort of company… and by the tone of the voice, it was the company of a young girl. She didn’t sound like a little girl, though…

She did ask him if he was okay. It was nice of her, and he couldn’t just pay kindness with awkward silence for too long. That’d be rude of him. "I’m alright… but this city’s too much stone for me,” he spoke up from the ground, slowly turning his head to face her. From his angle, the world was suddenly tipped 90 degrees, and he got a quick look at the samaritan. "How many rocks does it take to build those houses in the distan-"

Huh… she had the ears of a wolf. It came as a surprise to the swordsman, meeting a girl with wolven ears like hers. His eyes widened a bit at the sight, not really sure what to say or how to comment that… he had heard of something like this, but not quite precise. Of clans with traits of beasts… yeaaah, of the few lectures he attended to back at the Academy. However, details were lost to him.

"… Fluffy… wait, you’re not from here either, are you? You must be here for the same reason as me, then…” The badge at the front of his haori did reveal the number #2 and his name Kojirou… but too bad, he didn’t have fluffy ears like her. What if they aided with her hearing? Did she hear like a wolf, too? Like, if he scurried across dead leaves from a mile away, would she be able to hear that? That would be so cool… the visible scar across his forehead, that of burned and crispy dark skin, didn’t grant him any heightened senses in the end. Slowly pulling himself up on his feet, he wiped some dust off of his haori before continuing: "They have tall buildings like that one over there where you come from, too?” he asked, pointing a finger towards the tallest building in the city further away, towering above the establishments all around it.

[Murahira Hana]

Hana Murahira Do your best until you know better once you know better, then do better

in life, honor - in death, glory Too much stone?  Hana tipped her head slightly. It seemed that he was still alive, but apparently, he hit his head. He was babbling nonsense, or some such thing and it didn't make a lot of sense at first. "How many?" Hana glanced in the general direction. "At least twenty, I'd bet." He managed to look up at her. Fortunately for him, it was her ears that he focused on and not anything else considering what she was wearing. But he was not wrong - she was fluffy, and she was not from around there. "I'm not from here," Hana answered plainly. "I think they are some tall buildings where I come from. Maybe not the same style, though." After a moment or two of consideration she reached out and poked at the fallen boy again.  "Are you okay? You're not injured, are you?"

TITLE: A Race of Clans TAGS: Honō Kojirou WORDS: 143 Words

[Honō Kojirou]

Twenty?! No way… she was out of her mind, that monument couldn’t have been built by twenty stones tops. "Y-You must be kidding…” A pearl of sweat managed to drop off of his face at the mere notion, clearly showing quite the disbelief in her statement, "At least a hundred… I mean, look at it…”

It was a magnificent monument. It made him wonder and question things… things such as whether people were allowed to venture up the building. From his angle and position, no signs of balconies were seen at the very top… even when he had already gotten up on his feet, dusting off the rest of the sandy debris cut on his haori. His headband dangled around his throat, clear enough to reveal the Hidden Grass symbol.

… He was okay. She didn’t have to poke him, he functioned perfectly well. "U-Uhm, I’m all good… look, no injuries on me?” he responded with reassurance, poking his thumb at his forehead to show her no signs of pain… except he did poke the scar on his forehead that he, for a second, forgot was right there. Only when he felt the rash skin on his thumb did he realize that he might’ve been an itsy bitsy wrong on that account. "… T-This is an old injury, got nothing to do with any of this…”

Awkward.

"… Hey, what do you think the Exam will consist of, this time? You think they’ll have some new challenges for us, perhaps?” he spoke up his mind, staring at the distant castle in fleeting thoughts, "Maybe… no, that’d be silly. I heard that last Exam had a literal race as part of it… hey, is this your first Chūnin Exam?”

[Murahira Hana]

Hana Murahira Do your best until you know better once you know better, then do better

in life, honor - in death, glory It is quite possible that both of them were correct. The structures likely used at least twenty stones, and it was also quite likely that they used at least a hundred stones by the time they were completed. Nevertheless, Hana looked up at them and pondered who was correct - or at least closer to correct.  "I see," Hana replied uncertainly. His status was questionable. However, if he insisted who was she to contradict him? Granted, after her had gotten up she had to admit he didn't seem to be in poor condition, just dirty.  "I do not know what it will entail," Hana admitted. "I suspect there will be a test of knowledge, a test of teamwork, and a test of skill." Hana figured they'd provide challenges for all of the genin. They generally did, and generally tried to test a variety of fields so that the genin were pushed to show their abilities.  "I have been part of one exam before, but I did not pass," Hana replied. "It was difficult in many ways. I do suspect that it'd be possible for them to add a race, but that feels too simple. I would imagine there would be a twist."

TITLE: A Race of Clans TAGS: Honō Kojirou WORDS: 201 Words

[Honō Kojirou]

A test of knowledge... a team of teamwork... and a test of skill... it’d be wise to remember this.

As he now stood up, he got a full view of the kunoichi next to him. The sight of her did captivate him, for he wouldn’t let bashfulness delude him from what he felt was the truth. She was pretty, and the slight but notable blush on his warm Honō face expressed so. "... Oh, you have?” he let out in intrigue, only to be let know that she did not pass... which did explain why she was here now. A second chance to prove oneself, not giving up... respect.

"Twists and turns – just like in real life, huh...” Kojirou mumbled in deep thought, cupping his chin, "Oh well. I hope you pass this time. Name’s Kojirou-" Fox ears, fox tail, foxen traits – whatever that clan’s name was, she was likely from it, so he’d make it fair to her. "The Honō clan’s Kojirou... say, have you ever been up there?” He’d point directly at the large monument he looked at earlier, implying something fun to kill time with, "You’re from... Kumogakure, right? Just like Kizumi-sama? Must mean you’re light on your feet, too – but I bet I’m faster! If we were to race up to the top of that building all the way over there... I believe I could win. Wouldn’t be a properly proud Honō if I didn’t believe in myself some more...”

[Murahira Hana]

Hana Murahira Do your best until you know better once you know better, then do better

in life, honor - in death, glory "Passing would be nice," Hana replied. "But I think the important thing is that no matter what happens, I leave more skilled and better off than I was before I showed up." Hana looked him over for a moment now that he had gotten to his feet. He didn't look injured, so that was good. "I'm Murahira Hana," she answered with a slight bow. "And no, I have never been up there. It is my first time in this city." She turned around to look up at the indicated destination. It was a good way away, but it was not like it would take more than a handful of minutes for either of them to reach it if they really pushed themselves. "I don't know how I compared to the Raikage," Hana replied with a slight frown. "I would assume she would be faster than me, but I have not really met her before. But you, Honō-san - I suspect I could prove a challenge for you."

TITLE: A Race of Clans TAGS: Honō Kojirou WORDS: 167 Words

[Honō Kojirou]

No matter what happened, she’d leave more skilled and better off than she was before she showed up… that was her philosophy of the Exams. Her standpoint. It was sound; it meant that only death would be a disappointment to her, as any would learn something new from a perilous challenge such as the ones coming up soon. It made Kojirou’s heart shiver… for it was a reminder that he shouldn’t take the Exams lightly. Not one bit… and yet, he wanted to. He wanted it to be a thoughtful yet exciting experience… but many a shinobi had heard stuff. That it really changed one’s view of the world… huh, maybe he should ask Hana-

Nah, not now. Also, Murahira Hana… so that was the name behind the vixen ears, the fluffy tail and the soul-piercing eyes. He simply bowed back to her greeting in due respect, and he listened to her comments about the Raika-

What? Wait, he was talking about Kizumi-sama earlier. "… You mean to tell me I was trained by the Raikage? She didn’t even tell me!” he groaned in shock, only now realizing what an honor that was. Looking at his shaking hands, he regretted not spending a little more time with her… heh, it was honestly worthy of telling. Raikage-sama… nah, Kizumi-sama sounded friendlier. Then again, maybe he was obligated to refer to her as Raikage-sama from now on.

That was when he heard the words… the green light of any Honō was when someone spoke to them these honeyed words sending pleasant shivers down their forged spines and tempered souls ‘A Challenge For You’. Kojirou’s entire face lit up like the sun, sparkling in excitement already, not caring how little Hana had taken her own words for. "You think so? Wanna race up to the top of that building?” he immediately laid down the framework for the challenge that she, allegedly, gave the thumbs-up for. He began rolling his arms out, stretching them a bit and letting rusty joints oil up deep inside his tissue. "This is my first Chūnin Exam ever, so… you can see it as me checking out where I stand. Lots of Genin are participating this year… and I can tell you’re a worthy challenge. Ooooohh, I can’t wait anymore- r-ready when you are!”

His feet were already vibrating. He was more than ready to channel chakra down to his soles and run up walls, damn the commotion they’d likely make, as long as he got to see if he could outrun a previous participant of the Exam of a lifetime.

[Murahira Hana]

Hana Murahira Do your best until you know better once you know better, then do better

in life, honor - in death, glory "Hmm... maybe?" Hana replied uncertainly. "It could have been a different Kizumi. It's a common enough name." It would make more sense for it to be someone else, but the Raikage was also fairly distinct for a couple of reasons, so she was easy to identify. Hana had a feeling she was correct and that is exactly who he had been referring to but prodding for more info wasn't something she cared to do at the time. When he asked if she wanted to race to the top of the building in the distance Hana turned and looked at it again. It was a good run and quite suitable for a race as there were a number of different avenues they could take, as well as plenty of obstacles in the way.  "Sure, why not?" Hana replied. It'd be good practice if nothing else. She glanced at Koji as he spoke, and when he was finished, she commented: "Try to keep up." Hana practically vanished from sight. It was no shunshin, but still quite fast. A mere moment later she appeared further down the street, running full speed towards the tower.  Koji would have to work hard to keep up with that girl. Techniques Used:  Subakage-ryū: Hohō [New Shadow Style: Step Method] Subakage-ryū: Shunpo [New Shadow Style: Flash Steps] Equipment Used: Moyakikō

TITLE: A Race of Clans TAGS: Honō Kojirou WORDS: 203 Words

[Honō Kojirou]

Oh, he’d make sure or at least try his damn best to keep up- what? Oh, she already… vanished. Wait, no, she must’ve teleported away! Kojirou, unaware of the technique having been used, turned his head around to finally spot her further down the street sprinting towards the destination with himself so far behind! He was already losing, and he hadn’t even given green light!

"Wait, woah, woah, I’m not-" Kojirou protested at first, kicking himself up to run towards her with a slower start, "Was that a Shunshin?! So we’re using Jutsus, after all!” Yeah, sure, kind of cheesy to run off without green lights, but it was sneaky… and shinobi were all about sneaky. Still, she was ridiculously fast… he’d have to figure out a way to catch up.

Should he try and use the Nekketsukan already? It’d probably let him catch up to her, but he’d also be heavily exhausted very quickly… he began wondering about his plan on the way to the tower, simply running across the street at first when his brain suddenly lit up! He had a brilliant idea, and it would be shoved in her face about being all cheesy!

… Nooo, he had to stretch it further- no, no, it couldn't break! He needed to focus… take a deep breath, Kojirou, don't panic. Remember Kizumi-sama's training, just make sure the chakra that ran through wouldn't burst the rope. As long as you could do that, the rope would be as elastic as you'd want, and that was what he aimed for. And why was that, you may want to ask?

…

Hana would soon hear the distant, muffled cry of a certain Kusa swordsman, but she wouldn’t exactly see him, per say. Instead, a human-sized rubber orb was bouncing from roof to roof in a rather chaotic but linear direction towards the tower from her side, catching up to her at first but losing speed overtime. Kojirou had used two Jutsus to make this possible – the Rubber Rope Jutsu to make a human slingshot, and the Rubber Ball Jutsu to encase himself in a rubber ball for utter survival. Stretching the Rubber Rope was kind of a pain, though - it was a fabric created by chakra, and he needed to make a loooooooooooong slingshot, so he'd have to pour more and more chakra in to increase its length. He couldn't let the rope break before he was launched too, so he also had to pour enough chakra into the rope to make sure that it was sturdy enough. He thanked that one time Kizumi-sama taught him a little about controlling his chakra via breathing for making this possible. Kojirou didn't possess a ton of chakra, so this method was tiring him out faster than he expected… but if he just poured enough chakra in, then this Jutsu could work.

Anyway, where were we- oh yeah, the Rubber Ball. It was causing quite a bit of ruckus wherever it landed, for many roofs were also attended by guests of restaurants, business workers, street performers and guards. But he was catching up, slower and slower and slower…

SPOILER: Click to show

Techniques Used:
Lava Release: Rubber Rope

Lava Release: Rubber Ball

[Murahira Hana]

Hana Murahira Do your best until you know better once you know better, then do better

in life, honor - in death, glory Hana was focused on her own progress at first. It was going well. There weren't any major obstacles and most people moved out of the way without issue or were at least easy enough to avoid. So, she was confident enough that she was going to maintain a good pace. Whether or not that would suffice to win the race was another matter entirely. Kojirou seemed to have something up his sleeve as he'd basically dropped off the radar as far as she was concerned, only to appear shortly after as a bouncing rubber ball rocketing across the rooftops.  Hana merely rolled her eyes. That certainly explained why he had been lying face down in the mud earlier. Silly things like this ended up with results like that, but he was catching up, at least at first. Unfortunately for Kojirou, he had no way to maintain momentum like that, much less gain it - so he'd begin falling behind again soon enough. Hana just shook her head and kept running. "Some people..."

TITLE: A Race of Clans TAGS: Honō Kojirou WORDS: 171 Words

[Honō Kojirou]

Once he finally clawed himself out of his Rubber Ball, Kojirou realized that Hana darted further away with ease. While he’d gone and put his own neck in danger just to catch up, she was invalidating all of his efforts with how damn fast she was on her own.

On her own… wait… now, it might’ve been considered cheating, but Kojirou still got some chakra to spare. And this Jutsu wasn’t going to be that taxing, so… deep inside of his mind, he was plotting something mischievous, but it was for the sake of the challenge, and Hana definitely needed a greater opponent than the slowpoke that this swordsman was.

…

Hana’s fast-as-the-wind movement would soon introduce to her the grunt and growling of a beast approaching her from about a block away. Whether or not she desired to check the source of that voice, it would soon be substituted with confused yelling from the swordsman who just got abandoned by his own contract due to the lack of honor in riding a lion during a race. "W-Wha?! Shūsuke, why?! What do you mean- f-fine! FINE! I DON’T NEED- I’LL CATCH UP TO HER MYSELF!”

Despite having gotten a little closer to Hana’s position, Kojirou was running as if his life depended on it. Shūsuke, his friendly lion contract, had ditched him once the obviously honorless part of riding a lion came to view – this was his race, so he should finish it by his damn self, just like a proud Honō would…

The large, castle-like building was coming into view again, with the other houses paving way for it. This race was about to turn vertical.

[NPCTICIAN]

A RACE OF CLANS

Shuusuke, being thoroughly unimpressed by the swordsman’s antics, peeled off nearly as soon as he was summoned, having infinitely better things to do with his majestic time than help Kojirou win a child’s gambit. Besides, Koji would be perfectly capable of making his own way up the building. It was a huge structure, bigger than any of the other buildings around it and mountain-like in its profile. The surrounding homes were much shorter, though they increased in height the closer Koji got to his destination, potentially providing something of a way of ascending further up the side of the building. The side of the building itself would prove to be tricky, however, as it was peppered with massive windows, each laden with a box filled with vibrantly blooming flowers. The facade of the building was coarse and uneven due to the stones that made up the bulk of it, and it seemed that this was a popular nesting spot for the local birds. One particularly ornery falcon circled overhead, cawing menacingly as Koji drew closer to his goal. If he wanted to win this race, he would truly have to push himself to the limit, and use whatever tricky techniques he could think up to gain the upper hand—and avoid the ire of that falcon! Honō Kojirou -- 215 LAIKA OF THQ

[Honō Kojirou]

Oh good heavens… the tower-like structure was much taller when getting up close to it. Kojirou was also feeling the pain from wasting so much chakra on summoning Shūsuke, as well as all of the chakra he burned from the human slingshot he created earlier. Chakra control, his ass… he wasn’t cut for something like that, and it seemed to bite him in the butt once he realized that he also needed chakra to run up the tower.

Wiping the sweat off of his face, he kept pushing on. Hana really thought she was sleek with her superior speed, but he’d find a way to catch up to her! Although, watching the buildings approach him, he did spot that their increasing heights could grant him a ‘stairway’ to get a better start on the gigantic tower in the end, but… did he have enough chakra to do so?

He could still feel his muscles aching in pain, but was… was that because of a lack of chakra? No, upon further self-inspection, Kojirou came to a shocking revelation. He might have been physically exhausted, but his chakra reserves were doing fine! Yes, even he could feel it!

A new fire had appeared in his irises, along with a couple handseals to manifest another Rubber Rope – his previous plan might’ve not done enough, but since he got chakra to spare, why not try it again? Kojirou launched himself from the road up onto one of the rooftops of the smaller houses before finally launching himself again, this time aiming for the tower… but instead of readying his feet to meet the tower wall, he slung the Rubber Rope up towards a taller point on the building – specifically coiling it around a balcony holding flowers.

Then, he allowed his body to fall down… but it didn’t hit the floor. Instead, he felt the straining on the Rubber Rope carry his weight, until he was mere feet away from slamming his head onto the curbstone. The built-up strain launched him straight up across the tower wall, passing by both the balcony and the nest. "I-AAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

The damn falcon did not like his screaming, so fearing for its eggs’ safety, it rapidly flew into Kojirou’s back mid-launch. "O-OW! OW OW! SORRY! I’M SORRY! I DIDN’T MEAN TO SCARE Y- AY AY AY, WAIT, STOP!” he panicked at the ferocious onslaught that the falcon handed to him, pecking at his face, his chest, his arms and his butt without discrimination.

But the Rubber Rope did its trick… so he did it again! Before he’d lose momentum, he weaved the same handseals and manifested the exact same Jutsu – only this time, he’d latch the other end of the Rubber Rope around what looked like a flag mast. This way, he used his body’s weight to gain strain, and like a spring-trap, he launched himself further up the tower to avoid the falcon’s wrath.

And he did it again… and again… and again…

Until he met the flat roof tiles face-first. Quickly recovering from that, he panicked at first – but the view clawed all of that panic away… and he barely noticed the lack of Hana around. Unbeknownst to him, his crazy wasting of chakra he didn’t know he had allowed him to-

Oh damn it all, she made it here a dozen seconds prior.