A Dragon and its Tale [Training]

[schadenfreude]

I begin to see
That in the whole world there are
Only paths to grief.
Even here deep in the hills
I hear the wild deer crying.
- Fujiwara no Toshinari

SPOILER: Click to show

Suiton - Suiryuudan no Jutsu (Water Dragon Projectile)
Rank: "B" Rank
Skill: NinJutsu
Effect: Creates a massive sized like Dragon to attack the opponent when used upon.
Special: Handseals
Drawback: ---
Description: Suiryuudan no Jutsu is a Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Water Element. The ninja does a long string of hand seals which then causes a column of water in the form of a dragon to rise from the water and then strike their target.
Limit: Water Release

0/80 TP

KIRIGAKURE NO SATO

A peal of thunder broke the silence, followed by the drumming of rain against the window. Working by candlelight, Izoshira removed the yellowing papyrus from its container and unrolled it against the desk. His fingers traced the flowing calligraphy of the scroll's contents, wondering briefly how many hands had done the very same in years before, and after the author. The shinobi's name was lost to the ravages of time, but Izoshira had read a great deal of the histories, and wondered if he could puzzle out their identity. He'd heard stories of peerless masters in the Land of Fire, great innovators of the water style as a whole. Izoshira was... underdeveloped, in comparison. The jutsu he wanted to master brushed the upper limits of his current ability, he knew, but nonetheless he was eager to test himself. The first step, understanding the theoretical principles behind the technique, was a simple enough affair. He'd acquired the scroll from the shinobi repository without more incident than signing his name and stating his intentions, along with the promise that the scroll would be returned as soon as Izoshira finished with it.

By candlelight, he quickly read the technique's description: the correct incantations, the handseals divided into different echelons depending on whether or not an individual's abilities allow them to reduce the amount required by molding chakra more rapidly, even the stance required to properly channel chakra through the body's tenketsu in order to shape water into a dragon's fearsome visage. Like most Suiton techniques, another prerequisite to perform Suiryuudan was a river or at least an ample supply of water in order. He quickly reached the conclusion that it would be inviable to practice in Kirigakure proper - after all, he wasn't about to go using the water in the city's canals to hone his abilities, not if he still hoped to avoid drawing attention to himself. It wasn't a problem anyway. Living in the Land of Water had its perks, he mused, leaning back in his chair to peer out the window and down onto the village streets, into the perennial mist that hung in the air and the stormclouds brewing on the horizon. 

Tomorrow, he decided, could be a fine day for a little journey.

The following morning, shortly after dawn

The sun shone high in the sky by the time Izoshira crept into the mountains surrounding the valley of the Hidden Mist. Wisps of thick fog still clung to him as he broke the treeline and entered the deciduous forest carpeting the hills, following the path well-beaten by decades of use by farmers, merchant caravans and even his fellow shinobi. He had prepared as he would for a mission, sheathing his naginata across his back; normally, one would also carry the jutsu scroll, but his sharp mind had already committed every detail to memory. Travelling alone, even as a trained ninja, he had chosen to err the way of caution and avoid the bandits and highwaymen known to stalk forest roads, for of late he'd heard uncertain whispers in the village. To that effect, after crossing over onto the other side of the hills, Izoshira broke off from the path and made his way through the underbrush, then climbing a large tree to travel instead across the manifold branches of the forest.

Though he was not sentimental in the slightest, and had no need to pretend otherwise in this place of perfect solitude, when his path overtook a herd of serow who had stopped in a clearing to graze, he paused to contemplate them. In that moment, his sharpened senses picked up a trace that would have eluded him if he'd not stopped: the subtle smell of a recent camp, and sure enough, not far from the clearing he uncovered the remains of a campfire.

Suspicious, to be certain, but Izoshira wasn't interested in picking a fight. Mentally repeating the series of handseals of Suiryuudan, as if they would remind him of his original purpose, he took again to the trees and continued towards his destination.

[schadenfreude]

THE LAND OF WATER

The mountain forest gradually tapered into vast tracts of untamed shrubland, wild fields like those in the summertime stories of grandmothers, peopled by kind spirits and sacred animals, where humanity's only transgressions are the small shrines built in their honor. Many, Izoshira knew, felt that cities grew larger with every passing year, as their small worlds of mortar and stone expanded ever outward, claiming these lands inch by inch. He wondered, thinking back to the flowing calligraphy of the Suiryuudan scroll, what kind of world the author had witnessed, whether telephone lines connected settlements like the strung out veins tying together many limbs of the greater human body.

Overhead, the sun left its zenith far behind, gradually burning the sky into the red and orange of an expressionist canvas. Birdsong announced the end of the day. Eventually, near where the grassland segued into rice paddies and huts, Izoshira stopped for a moment at the shrine of a nameless yōkai, for no reason he could distinguish within himself. He scanned the offerings of the local villagers: incense, produce from their farms, rice and slips of paper carrying men's wishes, their hopes and fears... a bowl of water. Izoshira peered at his reflection in the bowl for some time. He felt the familiar rush of chakra through his tenketsu, channeled it into the water, focused his attention on molding it, recalling the incantations in the scroll. Accordingly, the water rippled, gathered itself into a pale imitation of a dragon, collapsing into stillness once more.

For the first time, as if someone had placed it there without his knowing in the brief tunnel vision of his focus, Izoshira saw the kunai lying beside the bowl of water and the blood that ran from its edge onto the stone altar.

"No matter how you look at life, it is ill omen to spill blood on the house of a spirit, great or small," announced a voice over his shoulder.

A momentary chill ran up Izoshira's spine, for the newcomer had slipped past his guard and he remained perfectly unaware, and so perfectly at mercy. He turned, his stance already tightening in imperceptible ways, his muscles just barely tensing... The man's expression was disarmingly warm, as if his path led him to chance upon a brother after a lifetime apart. A traveler by his appearance, the man wore a heavy cloak, but no headband to imply knowledge of the shinobi arts.

[schadenfreude]

THE LAND OF WATER

"It is impolite to frighten a fellow wanderer who is deep in thought," Izoshira replied, using a courteous honorific to insinuate that he felt no lasting slight.

"I apologize!" the traveler said with a laugh. "The road makes a man forget things and grow wild after a lifetime of city-living." His infectious smile melted away and grew thoughtful as the man looked down the road Izoshira had come from. "In any case, nightfall grows near. Since we've already established my rudeness, I feel my curiosity begs me to ask, what brings an honored shinobi so far from the Village of the Hidden Mist?"

Izoshira's head tilted a centimeter to the side, as if evaluating the man's boldness. Commonfolk many times looked to ninja as either heroes or signs of ill omen to be strictly avoided, and few would ever venture such a question. Beneath that superficial assessment, he noted that the man's accent was neutral and could be from anywhere between the Lands of Water and Fire... but deeper still, at a fundamental level, he trusted his instinct. Whoever this individual was, he posed an enormous threat. Though he projected no killing intent, Izoshira felt an unmistakable pressure in the space between them.

"I have come to refine myself..." the wary Kaguya replied guardedly. "What leads a wanderer into the forest after nightfall?"

Behind him, he felt the rustling of water and glanced back, betraying the cautiousness he could not suppress. Like the way a fairy always hovers at the edge of vision in the folktales, he saw the last drops of water falling back into the bowl, and understood immediately the game into which he'd unwittingly entered. Perhaps he lied to himself, but he could just imagine the shape the water held a moment before - that of a dragon. A thought of Suiryuudan crossed unbidden over his mind.

"Sacred duty," the man said without humor. "It calls to me even now. A pleasure meeting you." They exchanged polite farewells and the man pulled a rice hat onto his head to continue on his way. Izoshira hesitated for a moment, then continued towards the village. He felt only a few minutes pass after his encounter with the traveler when the black of night crept completely across the sky, and his only company became the fireflies in the fields and the chorus of croaking toads. Eventually, he stopped at a hut and asked directions to an inn.

Later that night, when lay in the room he rented for himself, he meditated briefly upon the man he'd met, before turning his thoughts to the Suiryuudan scroll and the fact that on the morrow he'd begin his training in earnest.

[schadenfreude]

THE LAND OF WATER

Morning

Ox. Monkey. Hare. Rat.

Standing in the center of the river that serpentines around the small village, Izoshira's senses took in the details of his surroundings, expanding his awareness to encompass the area. Beneath the soles of his sandals, he could feel the fish flitting around him, could feel the small creatures buried into the sand at the shoreline and the fishermen who took him as a minor curiosity to brighten up their routine. The wind tickled his face and he felt it draw its fingers through the trees, rustling their leaves. Birds chattered amongst themselves from the branches like women gossiping about this rare visitor to such a quiet corner of the Land of Water, a shinobi from the Hidden Mist...

Boar. Bird. Ox. Horse.

His hands recounted the seals from the scroll, molding the chakra appropriately, pouring out of his tenketsu and into the river around him. He willed it to rise, conditioning the nature of his chakra to that of water itself, forcing himself to visualize the dragon waiting beneath the surface. The river reacted, droplets of water rising to surround him in the air, coiling into threads like strands of muscle. Detail by detail he repeated the incantation as if it were a victory mantra on the eve before battle. Suiryuudan... Izoshira wanted, no, he demanded this from himself. If even a technique like this presented a wall to him, how could he expect to overcome the other, far more insurmountable obstacles in his path to greatness? Suiryuudan!

Bird. Rat. Tiger. Dog--

The water collapsed back down to the river's surface. A spear of awareness smashed Izoshira's concentration; before they appeared, he felt them in the silenced birdsong, in the stillness of the air, in the tension he felt bubble unconsciously in the guts of the village men... For how could they not feel fear? Prepared as he was, when a kunai broke the from the underbrush beside the river, he need only move his body the bare minimum for it to sail harmlessly past. Preemptively a hand rose to the hilt of the naginata over his shoulder, ready to unsheathe it without a moment's hesitation. He expected a volley of shuriken or similar to follow up the initial attack, but none came.

Eventually, however, two figures emerged onto the shoreline.

"Weeeeeeell, this just won't do," one barked in a voice drenched with cruelty. "Wasn't this place 'sposed to be some defenseless town 'fer rice farmers and fishermen? Boss didn't mention no goddamn Hidden Mist ninja."

"Looks like a pup," his partner said, whistling his amusement. "Looks to me like he just had the bad luck of passing through today. Oh well... His funeral."

Perfectly immobile and utterly ready to react, Izoshira waited for his new company to make the first move.

SPOILER: Click to show

Suimen Hokou no Waza - Act of Water Surface Walking

Rank: "B"

Skill: NinJutsu/Supplementary

Effect: Allows a Non-Ninja the ability to perform even more Advanced chakra techniques.

Special: ---

Drawback: Non Ninjas must learn in order to learn Advanced chakra techniques. Ninjas gain this technique for free in the beginning however does not add into Character Class like other starting techniques. Does not work on Animal Companions.

Description: A variation on the Kinobori no Waza (Act of Tree Climbing), the art of water surface walking allows a ninja to walk on water as if it was a solid surface. Focusing an even amount of chakra out of the soles of their feet, they can balance themselves on the very surface of the water. Allows a user to learn up to Any Rank Chakra related Techniques within the rightful restrictions.

Limit: Universal NinJutsu Technique.

[Moon]

(GM)

---

Though conversationally they appear as little more than yokels, the bandits are a bit more perceptive than they let on - they noticed your easy evasion of the thrown kunai and they focus on your hand touch the hilt of your blade without appearing to. Though confident they can defeat you, they approach with more caution. From the underbrush where they emerged to your precise location in the center of the Xian So'or River is a distance of 23 meters; they will cover nearly the entirety of this distance, stopping only at the river's edge, 7 meters from where you stand.

"Boss didn't mention no ninja at all. 'Spose that means you ain't really here, 'spose that means you dead already."

The first one says tauntingly, though taking no overt hostile actions he cracks his hands loudly, full of swagger; his position 3 meters from his partner has formed a slight angle in relation to your own body, a basic 'arrowhead' formation. They are not attempting to flank you outright just yet, only making it easier to do so if you decide to approach them.

"Don't worry pup, it'll be a nice funeral."

Your second attacker says, reaching behind him suddenly to grasp at...something...though your Observation skills don't allow you to detect quite what it is. He doesn't remove his hand from concealment until a nuance breaks the silence next, and by then, his partner has shifted diagonally in front of his body, hiding whatever the item is once more as they prepare to assault you.

--bbzzzt---dragon-----bzzzzt-----water-----here now oh gods help u----bzzzzzt---

You hear as they get closer, though you cannot immediately see the source of the noise; it is static-filled and lacking clarity, reminiscent of a bad radio communication. It comes from the second of your attackers. They look at each other and nod without words before rushing you from their respective vantage points.

[/b]
[/ul]

---

ELSEWHERE...

---

(Shōmetsu, Tsuki)

---

He licked a dollop of blood off the edge of Paper Swan while reaching with his other hand through the cage bars, his left claw grasping a handful of dirt-stained clothing. In a rush part true exhilaration, part simple stretching, two massive wings of a span that seemed to double his size strained against the oddly glowing bars of the contraption now nearly too small to continue holding him. Dead men littered the area closest to the cage which sat upon a platform of off-blue metal. Inside the cage was a Kirigakure shinobi.

"Mooooooooooon~"

He sang sweetly, his grin widening, as the group of bandits surrounding his cage began to sweat lightly with unease. They would not panic and lose face before the Boss, No, of course not, but trying to contain this...demon...still caused them concern. Moon waved his free arm back and forth, letting it swing Paper Swan through the gore of whatever bodies he could reach, of whoever approached the cage worriedly attempting to take the weapon away. The blade was like a blur, wielded without focus, wildly; like a dog shakes a piece of meat.

"I...sa---ss...I s-s-said, Demon of the Great Abyss, By Canges Arum, By the Theolix of Wakes, And by the Billion Godlings of Song, I Command Thee, Tell Me Your True Name that I may Bind You into My Service!"

A frantic looking woman screamed in the direction of the cage holding a sinister black book engraved with strange writing.

"Moooooooooooooooooon~"

Moon responded again singing sweetly, his face splattered with blood.

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/div][/font]

[schadenfreude]

THE XIAN SO'OR

As the bandits edged forward, Izoshira made smaller moments backwards across the Xian So'or, subtly ensuring that the seven [7] meters from the shore to himself became ten. [10] This also improved his tactical view of the situation and limited the effectiveness of their arrowhead formation. While they continued their meaningless intimidation game, his hands lowered from the hilt of the naginata,and from their perspective he merely assumed a guarded stance, but in reality his hands closed the distance to the secret pouches on his vest where he kept his ninja tools. As soon as Izoshira detected even a fractional lull in their concentration as the radio crackled to life, two kunai slipped into one hand while the other fixed exploding tags on them and slipped them into a loop on the back of his vest.

By the time they nodded at each other and started their rush, his hands were already forming the seals, pausing finally on Ox. His tenketsu were already channeling chakra through the Water Release; it would be more efficient to use a technique that maximized on that small advantage. It was not the Suiryuudan he hoped to learn, but perhaps molding chakra in similar patterns could bring him a step closer.

Inhaling deeply, he felt water fill his gullet, squeezed his muscles in just the way... Until the last possible second, as his opponents closed the distance between them to four and a half [4.5] meters, Izoshira kept his stance loose and gave no indication of his target. Then he twisted his body ever so slightly as he spat a bullet of high speed, high pressure water at the bandit holding the unknown device. One hand dropped into a guard stance as he faced his second assailant, the other freeing a kunai from its loop, channeling his chakra into the explosive tag concealed by his grip, and steeled himself for the coming bloodshed.

SPOILER: Click to show

Suiton - Teppodama
Rank: "C" Rank
Skill: NinJutsu
Effect: Allows a user to shoot a ball of water out of their mouth.
Special: "Handseals"
Drawback: ---
Description: The Teppodama is a Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Water Element. The ninja does some hand seals which then causes a a big ball of water to come from the users mouth and then hit their target.
Limit: Water Release

[Moon]

(GM)

---

Their formation does not break in light of your smaller movements backwards - they maintain a constant distance by moving with you, the second bandit widening his angle of approach so that when your hand leaves the Naginata's hilt their focus can't help but be drawn to it. The crackle of the radio does not divide their concentration (as they are the owners of said radios and are naturally unsurprised that they work), but their shared moment of nodding does cause them to look at each other, and not you, during your time preparing your kunai - they do not notice it, only as they look back in your direction do they see your hands ending on a Seal they lack the knowledge to identify.

They watch you inhale without halting their advance; firing at the lost possible second allows for no margin of error on your part and by only firing 'at' the bandit with the item, and not 'at' any specific part of his body, it is all too easy for the roughly human head sized waterball you spit at the second bandit to be evaded completely by simply stepping to his left (his partner now criss-crossing in front of him to leave a gap in their positions) as the water sails harmlessly by.

They whistle appreciatively.

"Water, huh. Shoulda known it would be."


The first bandit says, brandishing two small knives from his belt.

"Okay then. Let's hear the pup bark."

The second says, using his partners moment of weapon retrieval to lob his unknown item your way. It is thrown in a high overhead arc, not at you, but into the very water where you still stand, as you haven't moved enough to exit the flow of the river just yet. If their throw is accurate, their item will land less than a meter behind you by the end of your next post, detonating its cool chill into a makeshift wall three and half by two and a half meters high/thick.

            Item Used: Northern Wind (In River)

---

ELSEWHERE...

---

Screaming.

Lots of it.

"Moon, moon, moon, mooooooon~"

[schadenfreude]

THE XIAN SO'OR

As soon as he saw that his opponent's reflexes gave him ample time to react to the Teppodama, he threw the kunai in the same fluid gesture as he unhooked it from the loop on his vest. He angled it so that it would strike either of them in the torso depending on whether or not the man in front dodged. Again the bandits paused to chatter rather than pressing what they doubtlessly misconceived as an advantage. Though better trained than he'd anticipated, they clearly had no formal knowledge of combat, to squander themselves on meaningless dialogue. Before they threw their projectile, the Kaguya was already bending his knees and preparing to leap, and did so almost as the second bandit lobbed the Northern Wind.

By then his kunai either struck its target or was in the negligible space between them [assumed <1m]. Izoshira tried not to leave them time to evade by jumping as he was, even if they saw the exploding tag before it was too late, and also to exploit any way their positioning could compromise the vision of the man in back and further delay his reaction, even infinitesimally. As their projectile started its course towards him, Izoshira began a series of short skipping jumps to the side, circling left to face them diagonally from his original position and gaining enough distance [~3, 3.5m] that the Northern Wind detonated harmlessly behind and to his right, near where he stood moments prior. Simultaneously, as his feet pushed off the water to begin his first hop, his hands formed the Ram seal, detonating the kunai when it reached its optimal range to the bandits, given their reaction. [hitting first bandit, between both bandits if he dodges but the explosion can envelop both of them, or else as close as it will come to the second bandit]

In the ensuing chaos of the explosion, Izoshira remained alert and ready to continue their melee... perhaps even eager.

SPOILER: Click to show

Jibaku Fuda: Kassei, 自爆札・活 (Exploding Tag: Activate)
Rank: "E" Rank
Skill: NinJutsu
Effect: A technique used to detonate Exploding Tags and items that resemble the tag.
Special: "One Hand Seal - Ram"
Drawback: User may perform this technique once per tag unless user utilizes more chakra. For every tag the user wishes to detonate the user must hold onto the ram handseal for an extra handseal movement. If user wishes to detonate 30 tags the user must hold onto the seal for 30 handseal movements.
Description: Utilizing chakra, the user is able to activate the explosion mechanism of a distant explosive tags. User focuses the chakra to a nearby tag and detonates it. User must put a piece of chakra into their tag first before detonating. User is unable to detonate tags that is not theirs.
Limit: An academy Jutsu that all is capable of performing if they wish to do so.

[Moon]

(GM)

---

Jumping the instant the projectile was launched would serve you well, initially.


The bandit in front would not dodge; in the same movements as unlooping the kunai, the two knives the first bandit has successfully retrieved - as it occurs in timing with the throwing of the northern wind - are thrown in the perceived direction of your throw - which occurs in the following movement.

At that moment, the first bandit jumps.

Unfortunately, they are bandits, not ninja, and both of the knives miss impacting your kunai completely, allowing your weapon to become embedded in his left leg just as his sail on towards your former place atop the waters. The second bandit has spent the time during which the kunai was thrown by placing both hands out in front of himself, bracing for his partners descending weight. Onto this makeshift limb platform drops the first bandit, pushing off so with the addition of his partners upwards toss, he is launched at an angle (wounded leg making the toss inexpert, fumbling) that will intercept you, bodily (upside down), after the burst of Northern Wind creating a frozen wall of river a scant few meters away, as you land to prepare for your own subsequent jumps. Thunk thunk. Sound of knives impacting ice.

You may utilize the ram handseal to detonate if you wish.

---

ELSEWHERE...

---

The cage is rent, open, riven, sliced; things have shred it like paper and scattered its metal around a piling up of clothes. Just clothes, some stained more with blood than other things. Only two beings remained in the compound; a winged creature with golden scales and long white hair wielding a sword that seemed to extend out of the flesh of its right hand; the hand simply became blade. He was walking towards the second being - the leader of these Bandits, who'd just watched...something...something...

"So what do you wanna---"

An explosion. The giant demon dragon thing is blown back with a force that overcomes the beating of its wings, that drums against its scaled hide with a concussive thundering full only of pain. There is.

A bright violet light.

And then...

[schadenfreude]

THE XIAN SO'OR

In the end there would be no funeral: for Kaguya Izoshira, because death was a duty for another day... nor for the bandits, because no one would mourn them after they became tribute to the fish of the Xian So'or. If the bandits met Izoshira's eyes in the last fleeting seconds of their lives, they would learn a chilling truth... that a man's gaze is a terribly inadequate vehicle for the stirrings of his soul. What else explained the yawning emptiness in a young boy's stare?

They remembered his age as a rush of groping and glory, of hairsbreadth escapes from death and sating the hunger of their aching loins, days spent clutching a frail notion of manhood to their chests, their fragile pride... And though they murdered without cause or warrant, in their hearts they bore the wounds, and their souls chose shame over the pyre, the slow flame instead of the quick. In their own hideous way, the lives they took had meaning to them, cries of defiance to hide their weakness from the world.

How could they imagine the mind of Kaguya Izoshira, to whom their lives meant less than nothing, just more stones on a long, long road... No, as surely as they would never understand the seals of a shinobi's secret techniques, they would never understand the mystery of the boy that murdered them.

As the first bandit dropped into the basket of his brother's arms, Izoshira stared at them like a summer child swatting a fly that particularly annoyed him, and formed the Ram seal. The exploding tag dangling off the kunai glowed red-hot for a fraction of a heartbeat, then detonated, swallowing both men in a cloud of smoke, splashing the water it displaced and sending ripples across the whole of the Xian So'or.

SPOILER: Click to show

Jibaku Fuda: Kassei, 自爆札・活 (Exploding Tag: Activate)
Rank: "E" Rank
Skill: NinJutsu
Effect: A technique used to detonate Exploding Tags and items that resemble the tag.
Special: "One Hand Seal - Ram"
Drawback: User may perform this technique once per tag unless user utilizes more chakra. For every tag the user wishes to detonate the user must hold onto the ram handseal for an extra handseal movement. If user wishes to detonate 30 tags the user must hold onto the seal for 30 handseal movements.
Description: Utilizing chakra, the user is able to activate the explosion mechanism of a distant explosive tags. User focuses the chakra to a nearby tag and detonates it. User must put a piece of chakra into their tag first before detonating. User is unable to detonate tags that is not theirs.
Limit: An academy Jutsu that all is capable of performing if they wish to do so.

[Moon]

(GM)

---

Boom!

Off went the exploding tag, a near instant after the kunai made contact with the bandit's left leg - though perhaps not to quite the fatal ending you predicted. The single tag rocked the bandit off balance, charring a significant portion of his leg and chewing to pulp a bit of muscle, burning bone, his landing now a messy, pained wobble. Caught more in smoke than fire, the second bandit is likewise thrown off balance, and instead of tossing the first bandit's injured body at an angle, he is is simply lobbed forward, past you as the flash ends, towards the wall of ice jutting from the Xian So'or, and the knives stuck in it. The first bandit lands using the knives handles as...handles, his weight tipping the makeshift wall over, into the current of the river behind you, to disappear surfing the surface in a rippling of water, atop a frozen sheet.  He howls in pain once, twice, muttering obscenities, drifting...


It would require you to turn to watch this occur, but by that time, the remaining bandit has simply pushed through the minor secondhand concussive heat of the tag. Through the smoke obscuring your vision of him close the distance between you with a mad dash become a strafe wildly, leaping through its gray-black cloud - a fully grown man, he shifts the few meters necessary for Grappling your free hand (the one not still forming the ram handseal) in a hold, hopefully locked against the adjacent thigh, which his weight (and lack of ability to stand on water) distributes in a sudden downward-dragging pivot aimed to displace your feet, aiding in the attempted total disruption of your balance.

---

ELSEWHERE...

---

"So...hungry...."

A deep voice whines in a blinding nothingness.

[schadenfreude]

THE XIAN SO'OR

The first indication that the pair had survived was enough. As soon as his ears discerned that the bandit's cry was more of agony than a death knell, his hands abandoned the Ram seal, instead with a fluid gesture rising to yank his naginata free from its shoulder-mounted scabbard. Mentally aware of the wounded man clinging to the sheet of ice, Izoshira instead focuses on his healthy partner. He still had chakra, but it would be most expedient to end this bloody encounter without squandering anymore, particularly if there was any hope of mastering the jutsu he'd been learning. Hearing more than seeing his opponent's approach through the smoke, when the bandit launched himself through the air, Izoshira was already taking a short sidestep.

Rather than the young shinobi meant to be his prey, the bandit would find the blade of Izoshira's naginata sweeping towards his neck, timed and positioned so that even if he ducked it would cleave into the side of his skull at a downward angle. The two men were savage, but untrained; Izoshira's honed senses allowed him to maintain control over the situation with ease, so that throughout all these movements he didn't fail to pay close attention to whatever the man's maimed friend might attempt.

At this point, the Kaguya surmised, both men would see they were hopelessly overmatched. Bandits aren't typically the type to fight to the death for their honor, and the young Hidden Mist nin fully expected them to surrender once both were wounded or one fell dead to his blade.

[Moon]

(GM)

---

Your sense of hearing is powerful indeed, and with its aid your sidestep - performed no doubt at the exact moment the bandit's body was in mid-air and thus incapable of switching direction, as opposed to merely when he launched himself through the air, and could still respond to the movement of Izoshira's feet dance atop the waters by also jumping sidewards - your maneuver is a success and your naginata swings towards the man's neck; as you say, even if he ducks, it will catch him along the side of his skull.

But perhaps your youth has made you less mindful of your environment - only clinging to you would have kept the bandit atop the waters - he'd been attempting to grapple you off your feet. Without them to constitute the landing of his leap, he can't duck at all; he sinks beneath the waters like a stone, a little too fast, as your naginata's blade whistles through the air just above. The river now carries the second bandit away in its current as the crackle of a radio dies, half-submerged, ugly and dissonant, a wreckage of garbled screams.

---bzzztt---i'm----bzzzt-----coming to----bzzzztt---you-----bzzztttzzzzzzz--

---

ELSEWHERE...

---

"Do you work?"

A clawed hand picks up a tattered box of technology, broken; bent metal and dents. Taps the end. Repeats the same sentence. Finds another.