Souta Field Hospital - Basement [P]

[The Heron]

1/30

Kanikei waits outside the hospital, operating as a silent guard for Hiromasa as he undergoes Okiri no Higi.[/url]
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SPOILER: Click to show

Okiro no Higi (Ritual of Awakening)
Materials: Benihime Sword, one quart of the user's blood.
Special: ---
Preperation: The user must fast for a total of three days and nights. When that is done, the user will cut themselves using the Benihime sword and collect the blood that comes out until they have a quart (this is a lot of blood). Because of this, it is dangerous to perform this Ritual outside of the range of a medical shinobi. The fasting is meant to purify the blood before it is used for the Ritual, to make sure that as little corruption is within the system as possible.
Description: Once the blood is obtained, the user will perform the Hand Seals of every animal within the Chinese Zodiac in chronological order. A bright blue aura will overtake the user and then the user will pick up the sword. Dipping the edge of it into the blood, the user's chakratic aura will slowly begin to shift into red. Blood from the bottom will begin to run up the edges of the blade, giving the blade a crimson tint. This process of blood moving up the blade takes about thirty posts. When the blood reaches the guard of the sword, the blood will move from the left and to the right, forming the shape of three ribbons on the left and twelve triangular beads (Chibi-zu) on the right. Within five posts, these will harden completely and becoming almost like a fabric.
Effects: Allows the user to use the Blood Techniques of the Benihime.
Drawback: The user will be forced to rest for a total of twenty RP posts after performing this ritual.[Blood transfusion jutsu performed by Myriam Nade. Cutting time to 0 posts] It is very physically taxing, requiring that the user regain all of the blood that they have lost. After they have rested, their difficulty class when considering them using any Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, or Taijutsu will be cut in half for a total of 50 additional RP posts after resting.
Limit: Must be Gained by the Great Swordsmith Masters;; the scroll for this Ritual is a part of the price paid for the sword.

Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Moneky, Dog, Boar

I needlessly chanted them in my head as my hands twined into each symbol of the venerable Chinese zodiac. I had the out of place wonder about why we Japanese shinobi used signs based on the Chinese, but just as quickly as the thought had entered my mind it was gone again. As my hands closed in the Boar seal I felt an electrical tingle build in the nexus of my being - my soul responded to the stimuli, sending along more ripples, as if a pebble had been dropped into a pond.

The calming sensation reverberated outward to the rhythmic pulse of my heart, a’thump thumpon to the tune of my life. The tingle grew into a blue light that manifested as my aura, as if I were a light. I grabbed Benihime from my right side, dropping my hand to the hilt so delicately you’d have thought she were a baby. I dipped her tip in my blood, and then…

It began to move.

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[The Heron]

2/30

The blood crept of the two-toned blade slowly, like sloths slinking sluggishly through the canopy. I watched it with extreme fascination, for this was the very liquid that’d leaked from the cut on my arm – the fluid that supplied my life-force… that kept my brain thinking and my heart pumping. I realized, in that single moment, that blood was an important factor in the shinobi life… we were born in blood, pulled screaming from our mothers wombs… we were bred in blood, learning from a young age the quickest ways to kill and maim… and we died in blood, lives cut short because the fight was our life.

I felt a sliver of sadness sneak into me… but the rapture I felt overpowered it; this event had been one anticipated for a long time… it was now coming to fruition.

[The Heron]

3/30

As the blood moved my chakratic aura shifted hues, phasing through the color wheel until it became red. The glowing ruby light cast a sinister sheen on the sparsely lit room, giving it an ethereal glow. I thought of vampires at the sight - thought of blood dripping from their pale mouths, splattering against the floor with wet 'plops'. Even when I closed my eyes I saw red... it was everywhere and everything all at once.

One would expect to feel some sort of pain, but I felt none. The electric tingle grew warmer, but that was it; I felt my essence mingle with Benihime, seeping into her soul...

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[The Heron]

4/30

Time began to loose meaning as I watched my blood crawl up Benihime's two toned blade - one vertical half black and the other white. The blood moved as slugs move, slowly and steadily, continuously in motion and yet gaining no ground. I wondered why the blood moved so slowly, and yet at the same time I knew; knew that the sword was taking my essence from the blood, absorbing me, assimilating it into itself. My blood was the blood of it's birth.

No one came to bother me - it was why I'd chosen this location. The basement was isolated and restricted for shinobi; Kirigakure was so putrid nowadays, our numbers were so scarce...

No other shinobi would bother to visit this place.

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[The Heron]

5/30

The bittersweet, russet glow emanating from my body played with the shadow's in the corner's of the room; the shadow's danced in rhythm with my flickering chakratic aura, slivers of darkness gyrating across the floor and up the walls, receding into nothingness before awakening once more in full force.

And still the blood inched up my blade, imbuing the sword with me. She, Benihime, was robbing me of my strength and taking it for her own.

I didn't mind.

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[The Heron]

6/30

My mind began to wonder as it was want to do in stagnant times such as these; my eyes closed, cutting off the russet glow of my aura, opening my mind to a world all new. The forests of Mizu no Kuni grew in my minds eye, manifesting from the darkness behind my closed eyelids.

...

I thought I was alone, at first. The forest was alight with life – I could hear the birds singing overhead, lamenting the futility of their short lives. I heard leaves rustling loudly as all manner of beasts rushed through the undergrowth, fleeing from some unseen phantom. The air was cool and the sun was low; a typical day in Mizu no Kuni.

And then… she appeared.

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[The Heron]

7/30

She was Benihime. I didn’t know how I knew, but I knew. Her hair was like fire – not he color of fire, but literally like fire, all shades of red at once, rippling through each hue. I gasped in wonder, utterly amazed at her beauty. She was tall and fair skinned, clad in nothing more than a translucent cloak. Her breasts sat high on her chest, red nipples erect. Her waist was thin and her hips wide; my eyes fell from her face to her feet, noting the hourglass figure. Her features were both soft and fine at the same time;, and her curves and angles fit together perfectly; more perfect than was possible for a mortal being. Her lips, full, and luscious, were like finely shaped drops of blood; I found myself salivating at the sight of her.

“Hiromasa…” She whispered, her voice husky.

My knees wobbled.

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[The Heron]

8/30

She moved towards me, but it seemed more like I was drawn towards her – as if the earth itself moved me forward in an instant. I blinked, and she was in front of me, face inches from mine. Her eyes, like pearled dahlias, bore into my own lavender windows, gaze demanding and all knowing in the same moment. My breath hitched in my throat – I was overtaken by lust, pure and unadulterated. She emitted such an aura that I could not ignore it, and yet, I could not move, nor blink, nor breathe –

I could only gaze back into her eyes, baring my soul.

“Tsk, tsk… where’s my warrior, Hiromasaaa…” Her voice was like liquid fire pouring through my veins.

I inhaled. She smelled of blood.

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[The Heron]

9/30

Hn. Just like that, her spell was broken. The blood reminded me of reality – reminded me of who I was. I was Wakamusha – I was the King of Mizu no Kuni, and in the times to come…

I would take my throne.

“Ah…” Benihime purred. “There’s my warrior.” She lifted a finely sculpted hand to my cheek, brushing her thumb over my jaw with feather light touches. “Ready to take on the world.”

I grabbed her wrist and pulled it down from my face, just a hair – not shunning her contact; simply pausing it. Regulating it, and asserting my dominance.

Or at least attempting to.

Her eyes narrowed, as I suspected they would, for I could tell, just from the fine arch of her perfect eyebrows, that she was insanely vain. I decided to tell her how I felt.

“You are perfect.” I announced, voice breathless. She smiled, and the sky began to bleed.

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[The Heron]

10/30

“And so shall you be,” and then she seized my face with both hands and pulled me into a crushing kiss. I felt my strength wane; felt my strength falter – I knew that I would have to submit to her, but I didn’t have to let myself be dominated; just as I submitted, so would she,

I grabbed her shoulders and pushed her backward, breaking the kiss.

“Hiromasa,” she moaned in sultry despair. My resolve faltering and my knees buckled. Again.

“Wait.” I said gently, yet firmly. I would have to play this close; it was hard to even look at her and not feel the overwhelming urge to ravage her. She looked so distraught…

But I stayed strong. “You – you are the spirit of the sword. You are… Benihime.”

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[The Heron]

11/30

Her attitude changed. She still oozed sex… and yet the red light flickering in her eyes spoke of eons of knowledge; she realized that I would not be swayed so easily.

“That is the name your ancestors gave me.” She slipped her arms around my neck, and she grasped a lock of my hair, toying with it sensuously. She even smelled of sex. Not the musky heat of natural sex – it was a hot, spicy smell, but sweet at the same time, and sent a tingle down my spine as I inhaled. It strengthened my blood.

“But,” she continued, “it is not my true name. That, my dear, you are not ready to hear. Not yet…”

She trailed off, eyeing me speculatively, red eyebrow arched inclining to her hairline. Her gaze was coy, but I could see the dark behind the fire. It was what lured me in.

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[The Heron]

12/30

“So what should I call you?” My voice had returned to its usual lifeless tone, bereft of feeling. Benihime pouted.

“Whatever you like.” She answered swiftly, slowly pulling me closer. I resisted, digging my proverbial heel into the ground, though my faced inch forward ever so slowly.

“How is this even possible? Swords do not have spirits that reside within them.”

I longed to sink into her flames; to forget my purpose and bask in her warmth… and yet, I wanted – no, I demanded answers. I would not give in to unknown tempation. Just what was this ‘Benihime’?

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[The Heron]

13/30

“I am not a spirit and Benihime is not just a sword; it is the physical manifestation of my power. It, is me, and I am a god.” She finished, playfully nipping at my nose as she hadn’t just revealed her ‘supernaturalness’.

“My origins are beyond the realm of understanding your human mind is capable of – I exist in a world based on different principles, with different natural laws; explaining my birth to you would be like you explaining your birth to a single-celled organism.”

The fire in her eyes dimmed to ice; I felt the cold seep into my bones, but I ignored – I could recognize a play for dominance.

“Any more questions?” She whispered, breath frigid.

“… Yes.” I answered shortly.

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[The Heron]

14/30

“Your previous owner,” I began tentatively. “What… how did he perish?”

I remembered the tales regaled upon me by Pyru. His treachery fatally wounded the trust I’d had in his words, but his father, Shamon, had never done anything more than speak the truth.

And he believed in the same legend.

“Old age,” she replied, cutting my musings short. “He gave himself to me, body and soul. Body and soul. He became a god

[/i].

Don’t you want to be a god?” she asked, her voice riddled with sexual overtones. “You are powerful now…

But you are no god.”

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[The Heron]

15/30

I couldn’t remember the particulars of what Pyru had said… but he too believed the original wielder of Benihime to be a god – believed that with the sword, he’d be undefeatable; that he would be able to conquer the world.

“Not now,” I agreed. "I am not a god." Not yet. My eyes grew shiny with purpose, the fire within them blazing. “But I will be.

Soon.”

Benihime slid away and grab my hand, coyness leaking from her pores. She pulled me into the forest, and I couldn’t help but wonder, if I’d resisted, would it have mattered…

Probably not.

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[The Heron]

16/30

As she pulled me along my mind swarmed with thoughts of power. Was it truly as easy as that? Just giving myself to her?

My eyes fell to where she gripped my hand within her hand, sending electric tingles up my arm – they fell further still, to the curve of her backside beneath her sheer ‘dress’ dragging along in the dirt. She wore no shoes, and around each ankle was a bracelet of blood red beads. I counted twelve – six on each ankle.

“What’s on your mind?” She asked as she pulled me. My eyes lifted.

I said what I was thinking. “The use of power need not involve coercion – it is, essentially, control. Control of life, of environment… of self. Can you truly give me this? True power?”

She turned her head to face me, a dazzling smile on her lips. My steps faltered.

“Yes.”

[The Heron]

17/30

“We will have a test.”

She’d never once let go of my hand, but now we walked side by side in the forest. She leaned on me heavily, but it wasn’t uncomfortable; I welcomed the contact, addicted to the warmth she gave me. I felt a euphoric chanting in my hand where our skin touched – it was something I could bury myself in.

“A test of what?” I questioned.

“Of you. You will fight as you are, and then you will fight as you could be, and then you will make your final decision.” She paused, and stepped close to me, her face mere centimeters from mine. I could taste her breath; see every single eyelash. I searched her face for any imperfections.

I found none.

“Very well.”

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[The Heron]

18/30

As I suspected, she kissed me. She seized my lips and plunged her tongue into my mouth – I welcomed it, if only for a fleeting moment, before gently pushing her away.

I still hadn’t given in.

She gave her usual coy smile and then faded away into nothing – wait, not nothing. As the light in the clearing shifted I saw a thin mist of blood floating into the sky. I was instantly reminded of Dracula.

And then a true monster entered the clearing, and I couldn’t help but laugh. It was twice as tall as I was, with thick, long limbs and dark, charred skin. Its teeth were long and sharp, and its aura a twisted red, like the blackened blood of festering flesh. It stunk garbage and sweat – a thick, primordial sweat, like the smell of gorillas gathered in one small enclave.

It looked at me, it’s yellow eyes narrowed in rage, and then it screamed.

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[The Heron]

19/30

My hands came together without thought – within a couple breaths I’d already released my chakra into the earth. As it spread the earth reverted into a thick, viscous, liquid state, oozing and bubbling toxins, teeming with death. I had to hold my hands together in the Rat handseals for a second or two, but the beast was ensnared with my attack – mid thigh deep.

It roared again, and began to drudge through the swamp water – my hands came a’flutter once more, and the liquid from the swamp rose around his hulking form, its consistency transformed into oil. After that, all I need do was release a small jet of flame to send the ball of oil on fire.

But even after all that… the beast didn’t stop. After the oil prison burned away, he continued drudging through the muck, his thick skin smoldering.

I waited till I could see the whites of his eyes.

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[The Heron]

20/30

In those moments I realized that I would not be able to rely on my strengths. His skin was truly thick – it could withstand fire, and judging from its looks, it could withstand piercing damage as well. I would need either a massive concussive force lightning designed to paralyze.

I decided to try lightning, jumping backward as my hands closed in a swift dance, lightning ravens bursting into life due to the action. They swarmed the monstrous beast, diving into his body all at once. The beast seized up, his eyes got wide, and then he fell backward into the swamp water, body still. I prepared another jutsu, calling another wave of raiau karasu into life instantly.

The beast didn’t stir.

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