[hirana kizumi]

The first round had taken place over so wide an area that it was very difficult to catch on film in a way that was enjoyable for the exams’ spectators. The second round, being centralized on a single mountain, was much easier to arrange: camera were set up along the three mountain paths, relaying a staticky, black-and-white feed back to the various pubs and viewing parties in Akazaya. Each group had its own dedicated watch parties, and the overall atmosphere was joyous and cheerful; people were cheering on their friends, family, and fellow shinobi, as well as placing bets on who they thought was going to make it to the top first. Anyone who was anyone who wanted to watch the Kuronmeru twins, Nanashi Yuki, Kisei Sachi, Hono Saya, Uchiha Kai, Uzumaki Ataru, or Ikonokoru Yamatsu succeed, would be watching here. LINK TO ROUND TWO GROUP B

LAIKA OF THQ

[Futago Kumori]

Kumori was watching with intensity at the screen, though it's hard to clearly tell what's actually going on. What she knows is that her fellow gate guard and friend from the Academy hadn't won herself a scroll in the first round, though she was only vaguely aware of what went on in that particular round. Another member of Kusagakure had won the scroll for herself, though she knew at least that that was in a different group, so who knows how that went down. All she knows is that Saya isn't really the type to try and steal a scroll from a fellow Kusagakure shinobi, so it actually limits her options to the Uchiha, one of the very few Iwagakure ninja participating this year, and some other no-name from Kumogakure, another village that had only a few participants despite the fact that Kumogakure itself was the host of this year's exams.

Although, it seems that the no-name from Kumogakure had at least one outrageously outspoken fan, some flat-chested girl in a dress that was cheering his name loudly, practically hopping up and down in her excitement. It was enough to give her a headache, and she can barely concentrate on the screen with all of the movement from the girl's dress, making her put her face in her hand as she lets out a low, barely-audible growl of annoyance. She's at least able to keep her exasperation in check, but she's not sure how much of it she can stand, because if she hears this for the entire 5 miles, she's going to say something. Maybe not now, but soon.

She lifts her head from her hand just in time to watch as Saya pauses in front of the water obstacle, and she wonders what the hell she thinks she's doing before she seems to rapidly teleport ahead, and she peers in closer, excitement flooding through her now, almost enough to make her exclaim and cheer just like the odd dark-haired woman next to her. Almost.

[risi]

♔

Risi cheers loudly as he watches his boyfriend start the race, although it seems at first that he's one of the first to fall behind. At least he still held onto the scroll for now, as it seems like none of the other shinobi are entirely focused on stealing his, at least right off the bat. He'd heard a rumor about Yamatsu having outsmarted the proctor to an extent in the first round, so he was already very proud of what Yamatsu could do.

"You can do it, Yamatsu!~ You're gonna beat 'em all and win the whole thing, I just know it!~"

Although he's a bit self-conscious about drawing so much attention to himself, he really can't help it, bouncing up and down in his dress and very nearly leaping with a delighted squeal when he sees one of the fuzzy-looking figures transform into something on two legs. Knowing his boyfriend's penchant for wolves, he assumes it must be his own Yamatsu, and he watches with delight as he runs along the lower level in order to avoid having to go through the slightly more dangerous water hazard that covered the path ahead of them. It was exciting, but traveling along the edge might be just as dangerous, so Risi was also quite worried about what might happen to his beloved Yamatsu if one of the other Genin decided that he was an easy target in such a position, so his cheering is somewhat tempered with this worry. It was odd for Risi himself to experience such emotions, at least legitimately instead of feigning them for the purposes of fooling others. He can quite clearly tell that he's getting on the nerves of the black-haired woman nearby, the one with some big wooden sword strapped to her back, but he's just too invested in the show to care too much.

coded by pinn @ thq

311 words

[Sora Minami]

Sora watched the grainy, indistinct image on the flickering screen with an intensity that would have rivaled even the excitable woman’s cheering, had she chosen to vocalize her desires. All three of her Genin were in the race, but she had faith in Amaya’s ability to handle himself; the boy was practically a Chuunin already, needing only a small push to reach out and take off. No, it was her other two students that the pink-haired woman was worried about (though she would never admit it to either of them). Enyo and Shiu were capable Genin, but the competition was stacked this year, with a massive Konoha delegation that was currently dominating nearly every group.

So when her kids decided to take the easy way out, not wasting chakra but saving their energy for the later round, the Kiri Jounin smiled. She hadn’t been able to directly teach the two of them much, but that particular lesson had been one of the few she had managed to beat into their thick skulls. If you couldn’t win a fight straight out on the first exchange, there was no point in wasting extra energy; it was almost always better to conserve your strength, bide your time, and wait for an opening than burn chakra and stamina trying to plow through an obstacle that wasn’t going to budge.

Just keep up the pace you two. As long as they finished, the two of them would have a decent shot in the final round; provided, of course, they didn’t waste too much time at the bottom of the mountain. She’d have to wait and see though. None of the others in the group seemed inclined to go after anyone who had a scroll- but, if she knew her boys, the pair of them likely would try to grab one sooner or later. It was just a matter of finding the right opportunity.

[Futago Kumori]

Kumori is sitting on the edge of her seat now as she watches both of the Kusagakure Genin that were working to get ahead of the crowd for this race up the mountain. It really was quite exciting, at least thanks to the fact that her own gate guard friend was doing quite well in the race, since she had nearly caught up to the two in front. It was actually quite odd that a much younger Genin was able to make such ground, but she thought that might be because of Konoha's expertise in their Academy and their Genin training program. She might have to ask a shinobi from Konoha about it sometime, as they had some alliance with one another that should make it somewhat easier to get that kind of training regimen from them.

Regardless, it was time now for the third round, where the proctor was throwing a series of kunai, with each pair of kunai linked together with wire that allowed them to hold a charge of Raiton chakra between them. With the kunai thrown in quick succession, Kumori felt that it was a shame she wasn't involved in the exams this year; she would have liked to slice through the wire with her own Wind Release techniques, but she had not felt herself ready to take on such a challenge just yet.

[risi]

♔

Risi had been watching quite ecstatically as his boyfriend seemed to be doing well at first, but had fallen behind due to the first obstacle being some sort of seal that locked him in place while he was trying to use the surface-walking technique. He winces as the first obstacle trips him up a little, but he climbs up the cliff face to safety, letting the raven-haired young man breathe a sigh of relief. His reassurance is short-lived however, because the next obstacle similarly trips up his lover, though he tries to use a technique that Risi had not yet personally seen before; a fire release technique that created birds... no, not just birds, but ravens made of flame that crashed against the mud ball being spit out at him. His cheeks burn red from the heat rising to his face as he recognizes it as a technique that was clearly inspired by him, and it made him a bit giddy and fuzzy inside.

He resolves to congratulate Yamatsu quite heartily regardless of how he finishes the exams. The placement in the race likely doesn't even matter that much, since Yamatsu hasn't yet lost the scroll, and it seems like many of the other shinobi have either forgotten the importance of the scroll for the third round, or have decided that the race is more important, failing to recognize that the scroll is likely to be the object of the game, and that the obstacle course and race were merely pretenses that would add pressure to each contestant. This was a good thing, however; since Yamatsu is one of the Genin with a scroll, it's all the better that none of the other Genin are even aware of the necessary nature of the scrolls that some of the other Genin had. The black-haired Genjutsu specialist cheers even louder for his lover, hopping up and down and willing him to break through the dried mud and continue.

coded by pinn @ thq

[Hachisuka Ahma]

[googlefont="Bitter"]
[googlefont="Shadows Into Light"]

I wish you would die

The steps were slow, paced. Moving in a methodical, calculated tune. After stopping to sign into the town of Azakaya and heading to one of the dedicated watch-party buildings, Ahma pulled her jacket a bit closer. As she entered the building, her eyes fell on the screen. She watched an interesting proctor announce the round, that being a race. The Hachisuka didn't quite understand what the appeal was for these exams. However, if she wanted to dismantle a system that exploited children; she needed to understand every part of the system. That involved at least trying to understand what made these exams so special. The current round, a race, on a surface level, didn't make sense. If athleticism was the goal, a combat spar may be best for evaluation. So, why was a race on the set?

It was mentally exhausting trying to find an answer, so instead, the young woman remained in place to watch the proceedings. They started the round in an interesting fashion, with impressive speed, at least the bulk of them did. The rest tried to follow the leaders and even less moved there own way. What's the end goal here? The woman quietly mused to herself. A mixture of tools and jutsus aided them, with varying physicality. Despite her calm demeanor and thorough silence, part of Ahma was cheering the Kusagakure shinobi, she believed their names may have been Sachi and Saya. They were moving at a grand pace but they both could be faster. Ahma found herself with drifting eyes looking at all that were there. Yet she looked back at the television. At the end, there had better be some action, over there on the mountain, or in this building. Some of the racers after a good sum of minutes passed looked tired.

The small crowd from within started to become noisy. Earning Risi a glare of disgust from Ahma each time their vocal cords hit a certain note. The woman said nothing however, she remained studying but so far. The Exams showed nothing on capability and everything for entertainment. Pathetic.

@ Some Tags Here @

SPOILER: Click to show

SA(S) USED:
Onyx Nuke
Ahma is considered one of the generational lucky few who has access to the clan's most cherished ability. The Kekkai Tota, Shōton. Having access to crystal release sets up a wide array of possibilities of possible jutsu to learn and utilize. As with many advanced release abilities, having keys to the vault is only half the battle. Unlike the classic violet Amethyst of other Shōton users, Ahma's Crystals (unless specifically indicated by the jutsu) appear like Onyx in coloration.

天国の贈り物 | Tengoku no okurimono
Ahma learned her 'Heavenly Gift' from the clan's teachings. Her gift affects her Ninjutsu, allowing her to wield unique, powerful, neigh-impossible to replicate elemental enhancements to her elemental ninjutsu. Her Heavenly Gift also deviates from enhancing all her basic elements to focusing on two, Fūton and Doton. What this means is that inherently, Ahma's doton jutsus can act as a minuscule seismic sense when in active use. Her Fūton becomes harder to see, while it still has a translucent color when applicable, the jutsu overall comes out faster compared to other non-SA-enhanced ninjutsu specialists.

SPOILER: Click to show

Ahma's Seismic Sense is not a true dedicated sensing ability but instead, a passive effect/bonus of a Doton Jutsu, thus, each Doton Jutsu has this added benefit only when the Doton jutsu is in active use. Not being dedicated nor is it is it fully powerful, the ranges are extremely weak, only serving more as accuracy than true sensing.

Each range* is divided by rank of the Jutsu and behaves conversely than expected. This is due to the concentration of higher ranking jutsus require. This Seismic Sense reads vibrations on the ground and thus cannot sense those above ground or on water.

E-Rank Sensing Range: 90 Meters

D-Rank Sensing Range: 75 Meters

C-Rank Sensing Range: 60 Meters

B-Rank Sensing Range: 45 Meters

A-Rank Sensing Range: 30 Meters

S-Rank Sensing Range: 15 Meters

*These ranges are capped regardless of Shinobi rank due to relying on concentration and not natural ability.

Unique Seal Adaptation
Every Tenchi clan member is taught unique handseals and instead, prayer gestures and sutras for Jutsu, Ahma is no different to this. As such she is considered an advanced level sealist [re: Handseals] in the art. This does not grant her speed in the hand seals of common ninjutsu, rather she has an edge in the delivery of her clan's specialized jutsu.

Fine like Jade
Through extraneous training in chakra usage, Ahma has developed an unnatural level of chakra control. While it still isn't perfected, she has learned to efficiently mitigate excess exhaust from the jutsus she casts and how to give the proper input for the desired output, rather than pouring as much as she can and hoping for the best.

JUTSU(S) USED:
N/A
EQUIPMENT USED:
01 | Masterwork Claws (Continuous)

[Kuronmeru Yuuto]

Yuuto would never mingle with the likes of these people. He wasn't pleased at all that he was anywhere near the general public somewhere like this, but there wasn't a good other option. He made sure there was a table that was separated from the rest of the families or friends that were there to cheer on the others.

He sat in that corner space, traveling hat still on his head as he watched the screens, waiting for them to show the two boys he cared about. He wasn't yelling out like that strange individual further off in the room, nor was even a hint of emotion showed on his face as he picked up a small hot tea cup to sip at, intently concerned about the matters at hand on the screen - but only when two twin boys were shown.

"Hideo. Call for someone. The tea is cooling." He instructed, not even looking towards his eldest son that he was currently tolerating the presence of. Hideo was fine, of course he expected the best of him just as he did all four of his children, but his annoyance with his eldest was that he was well past the age Yuuto had been when he'd married their mother and had him.

He wasn't worried his youngest children would be injured. They knew how to handle pain and physical challenges. He was more concerned about them showing their skill and honoring the family name. He didn't need to come to the country where the exam was being held to watch that, and of course the boys would never hear that he did come, but he made the journey regardless.