[hirana kizumi]

Educating the youths was not something that brought Mayumi any particular degree of pleasure, and she was still displeased by the necessity of her involvement in facilitating the chuunin exams. But needs must, and if the youths needed to be educated, she would at least ensure that education was thorough, correct, and unforgettable. Those with the talent and proclivity for it were taught interrogation techniques, but everyone needed to learn how to endure an interrogation in one way or another. There was always risk of capture, and leaking information was unacceptable, no matter the circumstances--at least, that was true in Mayumi's eyes. It was her job to separate the wheat from the chaff, evaluate who had the potential to join the ranks of the newly-formed SOKA, and pit them against the rest. The interrogator: Choronsanzai Sayuri. A creepy little girl with a long dark hair and a vacant expression who would have been clear black ops material from the jump, before the restructuring. The victim: Kurata Yakeru. A pissy, mischievous little boy with a chip on his shoulder. She wondered how long it would take for him to break. There was a group watching, another six or so students who were all part of the same practice today, there to observe and take note for when it was their turn to wield or be put under the knife. "Choronsanzai-san, genjutsu only," Mayumi said sharply. "No physical implementation this time--I want you to use your words in tandem with your illusions to extract the information from the target. Understood?" The girl nodded. "Kurata-san, with me." She pulled the boy aside where they would not be overheard by most, but certainly not by Sayuri. "Your role is to endure. It will not be pleasant, but it is imperative that you keep this secret for the duration of the exercise." She leaned in close, and whispered in his ear: "I wear fluffy pink socks to bed, with little brown foxes stitched into them. I have poor circulation and my feet get cold at night." She was stonefaced as she pulled away, and she gestured to the chair that he would be strapped to. "Take a seat and we'll begin."

Kurata Yakeru

LAIKA OF THQ

[Kurata Yakeru]

Training. This was where the men were made, and those of great will were born. Yako was surprised that he was getting put into interrogation training so early, but he appreciated it. After all, what better way to get stronger then to master the most powerful tool of all? The mind!

That's right, despite being a rotten little shit, Yako understood the importance of mind over matter. Someone like him knew it from his time before his more rough experiences. And he was more than willing to be the punching bag to gain that strength.

That said, there were two things to note here. One, his teacher was hot. Like, bombshell hot. Like, making Yakeru question if he had a thing for foxes hot. Or maybe it was the pink hair. Something to think about later.

Two, the girl to do the interrogation was hot as well. Some saw her as creepy. But that bad girl look, those squinted eyes, that long hair? Whoo boy, way to make a kid sweat! She might just get an answer out of him without even having to use Genjutsu with looks like that!

The rabid dog contained himself though as the secret was whispered in his hear. Fuzzy socks he could understand. Pink too- Matched her hair. But foxes? Kind of childish, wasn't it? Whatever.

"Right..." He stonefaced himself, pulling off his teachers look as he stepped into the chair, taking a seat.

"Be gentle with me, alright?" He asked sweetly, almost mockingly to the woman before him. That crazed look in his eyes- It was gentle right now. But she'd understand it better as time went on.

[hirana kizumi]

Yako sat, looking nearly as stern as his teacher. "A final warning,” Mayumi said as he took his seat. "You will control yourself. If you cannot, you will be restrained. Do I make myself clear?” This was a standard-issue disclaimer for her; fear could elicit any number of emotional responses, but anger was the one she saw perhaps more than any other, in this line of work. Yako struck her as the type of boy who metabolized fear almost as quickly as he felt it. Sayuri stepped forward, only the faintest tinge of pink rising high on her cheeks as evidence that she’d heard what Yako said. She closed her eyes, clasping her hands together in a single handseal; with her head bowed, she looked almost as if she were praying. Then Yako would hear a voice in his head. Soft, girlish, but with an odd resonance to it, as if another, lower tone was speaking in perfect unison. ’You have information that I need,’ Sayuri said, though her lips didn’t move at all. 'It’s only a matter of time before I find it. Please make this easy on yourself; I don’t want to hurt you.’

Kurata Yakeru

LAIKA OF THQ

[Kurata Yakeru]

She was staring pretty sternly at him. Yako glanced off to the side, rubbing behind his head as he realized the severity of the situation. Control himself, or he'd be restrained. The obvious joke of getting tied up by two beautiful women actually didn't go through his mind at this point, as he felt scorned- Like a dog being yelled at to not pee on the rug.

"...Right. Alright. Yeah, sure." She was stern, but still helping him. Yako appreciated that kind of behavior. Someone who understood what kind of creature he was, and was able to accommodate that. Though, anyone who realized what kind of person Yako was and respected the way he was earned a certain level of respect back.

Real recognize real.

Finally, the woman herself was coming over. Yako chewed his lip as he looked up at her pink cheeks. God, she really was cute. Maybe she really wouldn't need to do any torture techniques to get him to speak. But... As he licked his teeth, he stared forward, and in an instant, he felt it.

A voice in his head. What an interest point of view- To have someone speaking in your head. A soft and low tone, almost relaxing. He leaned back a bit, surprised at this sudden event, though... Much like any entry-level genjutsu, it wasn't too hard to understand.

He had information she needed. And it was only a matter of time before she found it. What, did she intend to root around his head?

No, no. She had to interrogate him. She couldn't just pluck the information out. And even if she could... His mind was already performing tricks to counteract such a thing. The secret he had- The type of socks the teacher wore- Were already tossed into what he saw as his 'second personality'. The feral, more beast side of him. The monster in his mind.

This dual-layered work of the mind was a rather unique thing that only came to being from the years spent slowly losing his marbles over time. The constant breaks and snaps- The pressure that seemed to crush someone who was not used to more than a few feathers on their head.

"Hurt me? Please. A pretty girl like you talking in my head? That might just be a dream." He gave another wink at the girl. There would be no anger for now. No violence. He just had to endure... Though he glanced away at the teacher.

"...I'm okay to tease back, right?" He wanted to make sure he wasn't breaking the rules here. He wanted this training to actually stick, after all. Voices in the head were a rather simple form of torture, all things considered. What's the worst she could do?

[hirana kizumi]

Mayumi nodded, satisfied with Yako’s acceptance of her disclaimer, and withdrew to observe. Her peachy-pink ears twitching as Sayuri clasped her hands together, listening for the tell-tale sound of chakra manipulation. Sayuri’s opening volley—ineffective! Yako bantered back with ease, causing a deep frown to entrench itself in Sayuri’s brow even as a vibrant pink flush rose high on her cheeks. She chewed on her lip, considering her next move, while Yako glanced aside to check in with their sensei. "Yes,” Mayumi replied, her cool gaze flicking from Sayuri to Yako. "You are playing the part of an interrogation victim. If Choronsanzai-san cannot handle a mouthy subject, that is her problem to work through.” Sayuri’s frown deepened, but she said nothing either out loud or in Yako’s head. Instead her hands separated, and Mayumi’s ears twitched again as Sayuri shifted from one technique to another—Sayuri released a small burst of chakra, catching Yako in its radius. Yako’s senses would begin to be assaulted by the technique, catching glimpses of gray pelts and huge paws, the sound of lupine panting, the thick smell of wet dog flooding his nostrils as Sayuri tried to convince him that a pack of wolves was circling him, as though they were at her command.

Kurata Yakeru

LAIKA OF THQ

[Kurata Yakeru]

Right, he was the interrogation victim. He could fight back. Just not physically- He was supposed to be like, tied down here, forced to do as she said. As she began to circle around him, chewing on her lip with that cute blush, Yako believed he had this in the bag.

However, belief and reality were two separate things, as the young girl was about to show him. Suddenly, the scent of wolves, the blurs of fur- Why were there wolves in this room? His mind had a natural fight or flight instinct here, and it was telling him to run, or fight, or something- It was triggering something deep within his brain.

Wolves, here- He had to get out of here. He had to run, or hide, or fight back or escape. Sweat began to form at his brow, before rational logic began to ripple through his mind. The teacher said this woman couldn't do anything to physically hurt him, correct? No, no, she could hurt him, just- Only using Genjutsu.

Could Genjutsu hurt someone? Damnit, if only he'd paid more attention in class! His eyes opened again, staring over at each of the totally real wolves and gripping his hands into fists.

"Dang, when I was thinking you were going to sick your puppies on me, this isn't what I had in mind..." A crease of a grin broke through as he tried to find the woman in the chaos. Another innuendo, because Yako was a dog. A dog surrounded by wolves.

How quaint.

[hirana kizumi]

Yako mouthed off again, throwing another innuendo in Sayuri’s face; Mayumi suppressed an amused smile, covering her mouth delicately with her hand as she observed. Sayuri’s flush grew darker, if that were possible, her pinched expression sinking deeper into frustration as the session went on. "Mind your chakra, Choronsanzai-san,” Mayumi interjected, her tone perfectly even. "Remember, use no more than absolutely necessary. Kurata-san, ground yourself. If you cannot trust your senses, what can you trust?” None had ever accused her of playing favorites in the classroom. She was there to guide and advise; who succeeded and who failed in the exercise was of little import compared to what they learned in the process. Sayuri focused, her eyes screwing close as she focused on the flow of chakra maintaining the illusion; sharpened it, refined it. The smell of wet wolf grew stronger; Yako would be able to hear a threatening growl, the tell-tale sign of a creature about to strike. "You’ll tell me what I want to know,” Sayuri said, the first words she’d spoken aloud all day. Her voice was thin, airy, raspy from disuse. "Or I’ll have them rip out your throat. You want to die for Murahira-sensei’s sock color?”

Kurata Yakeru

LAIKA OF THQ

[Kurata Yakeru]

The wolves were closing in. And words were spoken to him- For the first time since this began, as they sure were not whispers. Tell her what she wants to know, or the wolves rip out his throat?

That was terrifying, in truth. He wasn't expecting any of that. But even still... No, he had to hold on. What can he trust over his senses?

His mind. No. More than that. The beast inside of him. What the hell was a wolf to a monster like him? A joke, right? Why did he care if this woman tried to- Wait, no, she couldn't kill him. Only absolute necessary force. That means he was immune to death here. His look of frustration turned into a grin, as he stared the woman dead in the eyes once again.

"I don't know... But if I have to keep hearing your raspy-ass voice, I might just die from second-hand shame." He shot back like a zinger. It was a battle of wits, right? So it was okay if he decided to strike when the iron was hot. Either she broke or he did, at least in his eyes- And Yako had a second mind sitting behind him ready to back up the pilots seat here.

[hirana kizumi]

At this point Sayuri looked less like she was blushing and more like she was about to explode, the cute, delicate flush that had at first dusted her cheeks swiftly becoming something much more splotchy and frustrated. She whipped her head around to Mayumi as if to say, "what now???” to which Mayumi’s response was a delicate shrug. "Any idiot can use knives and pliers to extract information from a captured victim,” Mayumi said. "It will not be accurate information, but it will be an answer. Fear and doubt are more effective than any threat you could hope to muster, Choronsanzai-san. Clearly Kurata-san has found something with which to ground himself—how will you undermine his efforts? How do you shatter the foundations of his faith?” A heavy question for a Wednesday morning, but these students were not here to be coddled. They were here to learn. The question was posed to Sayuri to help her re-adjust her strategy, but it was as intended for Yako as it was his would-be torturer: if her goal was to sow the seeds of fear and doubt in his mind, then his job was to eradicate those seeds before they could take root. Sayuri breathed in deeply, and dropped the illusion, the sound and smell of wolves fading away as if it had never been there at all. She leaned in close to Yako, tucking long black strands of hair behind her ear, her flustered expression growing serious and dour. "Murahira-sensei said you have to control yourself,” Sayuri said, whisper-quiet and air-fried. "But she doesn’t know that I staged the room with explosives before we came in.” As she said the word explosives, Yako would suddenly become aware of explosive tags in his peripheral vision. If he tried to look directly at one, it would suddenly disappear; and yet their presence, terrifyingly, remained. "They’re low grade, so they won’t kill you,” Sayuri went on. "But they’ll hurt. I really didn’t want it to come to this, Kurata-san. Her socks—they have a little pattern, don’t they? I already know. I saw it in your mind. Just give me the rest, and no one has to get hurt.”

Kurata Yakeru

LAIKA OF THQ

[Kurata Yakeru]

Truth be told, Mayumi was already giving Yako the answers he needed. Fear and doubt were a crippling truth, and Yako was doing well at grounding himself to reality.

As Sayuri got close to him, he'd glance towards her. God, every time she got close to him... That was kind of hot! Maybe if she used her appeal as a girl, she'd have better luck, but she seemed to keep going back to danger. Scary things.

Explosive tags, huh? Yako's eyes glanced around the room, and... Indeed, there were explosive tags. Low-Yield, so she said, but still actual, real explosive tags. A bead of sweat dripped from his brow again, as it seemed she had got him down.

"You wouldn't. You'd hurt Murahira-Sensei. And yourself, in the process." He reasoned, as his eyes tried to get a better look at those explosives. But man... He was distracted by the fact that he kept looking at the two pretty girls in the room! But he was still sweating.

Some things were difficult to break out of. He wasn't a trained shinobi yet, and even if the explosives weren't strong enough to kill him, they'd still hurt, and Yako didn't want to get hurt. This was... Distressing.

But he had to stay strong. He couldn't crumble under this. What kind of shitty ass shinobi would he be if he did? He looked at the girl...

And distracted himself the best way he knew how. With something silly and lewd.

"...Okay. Fine. Fuck- Don't do that. But you have to give me something in return... Sayuri, if you tell me what color panties you're wearing, I'll tell you what color her socks are." His eyes darted over to Mayumi- Then down to her feet. What color were her socks right now?

He quickly glanced back up towards the woman in front of him, his heart racing. Distractions... He hoped this would work. Because it'd be funny if it did.

[hirana kizumi]

"I would,” Sayuri shot back quickly, her voice rising in pitch. "I will, if you don’t tell me what I need to know. Lots of people will get hurt, but you can stop it from happening, Kurata-san.” Mayumi just watched with a stoic expression, her vulpine ears twitching faintly as she caught the sound of the technique being used. She made no move to intervene, said nothing—implicit permission for everything to continue apace, betraying nothing in her body language or expression. Sayuri looked temporarily victorious as Yako gave in—but her victory crumbled to ashes as his resignation segued into the lewdest thing she’d ever heard, and she shrieked with disgust and dismay. ”No!” Sayuri shouted, her voice cracking under the sudden increase in volume. "That’s disgusting, no way that’s allowed! Murahira-sensei?” Mayumi only shrugged and shook her head. She stood up, crossing the room to put a hand on Sayuri’s shoulder and pull her away. "If you cannot handle a mouthy subject," Mayumi repeated, "that is your problem to work through, Choronsanzai-san. Your use of genjutsu is impressive, but it will fall apart if you cannot reinforce the reality you’ve created. Go take a break, and come back when you’ve collected yourself.” Steaming hot and cherry-red in the face, Sayuri slunk out of the room, blistering with shame and the disappointment of failing the exercise. Mayumi turned her attention to Yako, vivid aqua eyes sharply amused. "An adequate performance, Kurata-san,” Mayumi said, "but we will need to work on your resilience against and knowledge of genjutsu techniques.” The illusion plaguing Yako’s senses faded, revealing exactly no explosive tags staged around the room. "I wonder how you would fare against a more experienced hand.”

Kurata Yakeru

LAIKA OF THQ

[Kurata Yakeru]

A victory, narrowly won. She grew frustrated. Her Genjutsu was strong, but his mental abilities were stronger. At least at this point. Or maybe his ability to deflect was just good. Still, when the fox woman stood before him, he folded his hands over one another and smiled at her praise. Yeah, his resilience really could have used some work, she wasn't wrong there...

"Thanks. I was going to tell them what color socks you were currently wearing, by the way." He played out his 'gotcha' moment in real time as he scratched his head.

"... You offering to try against me? I warn you, I'm quite the beast." He was high on himself now, and more than willing to give the teacher a try too.

That is to say, the reality of the situation was one over confident Yako was about to get his mind broken by a beautiful fox maiden. If nothing else, at least he'd end up in the insane asylum smiling?

It was down to the teacher to see if she wanted to truly test his skills, however.

[hirana kizumi]

Mayumi’s eyes narrowed, pink lips twisting with wry amusement. There were a half-dozen or so students still spectating, watching the proceedings with a mixture of horror and fascination, as Yako boldly challenged their sensei. High on his own success, it seemed. Bold little boy. She was no educator—she taught by circumstance, not design. Thorough, correct, and unforgettable. If Kurata-san wanted a challenge, she would give him one. "Very well,” she said. She placed a hand on Yako’s chest, pushing him back against his chair and pinning him lightly in place—not impossible to escape if he struggled, more a formality than anything. With her free hand she formed eight handseals, then gently touched the boy on the forehead, delicately brushing a lock of his hair away from his eyes. It was a powerful illusion—overkill, to use it against an academy student, but it would be educational. Yako would feel an overwhelming sense of bliss, soaking him through to the bone. "You’re quite the beast,” she said, echoing his own words. "What beast lies within you, Kurata-san?”

Kurata Yakeru

LAIKA OF THQ

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Jigyaku no Jutsu [Time Reversal Technique]
RANK: A
CHAKRA USAGE: High [Medium Continuous]
CLASSIFICATION: Genjutsu
PREREQUISITES: ANBU
HANDSEALS: 8
TRIGGER: Touch to the Forehead (Touch)
DESCRIPTION:

This technique is used by the Anbu to pull out forgotten memories. After forming the needed hand seals, the Anbu will put the target into a state of reverse hypnosis, allowing them to remember details that they otherwise would not. The target will comply with interrogation, but seems to retain his or her personality while under hypnosis.

The genjutsu effectively puts the target under the illusion that their body is experiencing a powerful sense of bliss, to where the target's body typically feels relaxed and may potentially allow the target to recollect their own memories more vividly. With the belief of total body relaxation, the expectation is that they will comply more readily with the questions asked of them of their own free will, but not ensured.]