The Green Dragon [P]

[Okami]

Jin was happy to see the man wake up. He had many questions to ask. But before that could happen the guy started asing questions of his own.

"Why did you help me get in here kid, you don't look like your from around here and who knows, I could be your enemy for all you know. Also you didn't use your eyes to spy on my house did you? Those eyes are able to pierce any solid object aren't they kid?"

Jin let out a laugh. "All I'm trying to do is find a blacksmith, what sorts of enemies are there in this world to stop that. I need friends more than enemies around here. Even if you were my enemy, you wouldn't fall asleep in front of me. I could have slit your throat. I could have robbed you blind and left you on the side of the road. But that wouldn't help me search." The man seemed to be doing better. He got up and began preparing some breakfast and tea.

Jin followed him to the kitchen. He was a bit tired from staying up all night, but that was something a ninja of his calibre should be able to handle. He took a sip of the tea, and narrowed his eyes at the man who made it. "Anyway, I'm searching for a womanizing master blacksmith, and you are a hell of a womanzier who lives in a blacksmithing shop. What kinds of things do you make here exactly?"

[destroyer]

I'd be sitting there sipping my tea, hearing the words of the man echo in my head but who knows what it meant. "All I'm trying to do is find a blacksmith, what sorts of enemies are there in this world to stop that. I need friends more than enemies around here. Even if you were my enemy, you wouldn't fall asleep in front of me. I could have slit your throat. I could have robbed you blind and left you on the side of the road. But that wouldn't help me search." he had said to me, but why didn't he? There was something that didn't add up even though he was looking. A dead man was one less person he had to find and I'm not even from the same country as him.

Soon, however, I got the answer as to why he didn't and almost as soon as he finished, I had spit out the tea from my mouth onto the floor adjacent from me. "Anyway, I'm searching for a womanizing master blacksmith, and you are a hell of a womanizer who lives in a blacksmithing shop. What kinds of things do you make here exactly?" he'd ask me. Wiping away the tea, I'd wonder why he brought it up, or rather another thing. "Had he discovered my swords? He probably saw them with those eyes of his, those Hyuuga eyes can see everything can't they?" I'd say to myself eyeing him.

"I craft weapons, is that such a crime to be able to craft items for self defense? Items for my own health and welfare?" I'd ask him wondering if he had seen the weapon I had laying around, the one I called Banryu. Sure it was just one of my speciality, but had this guy figured out my secret?

[Okami]

The man was so surprised he couldn't keep his tea in his mouth. Not only that, he affirmed that he crafted weapons. Things were falling into place one after another, but Jin wanted the man to explain it himself. "Items for your self defence? How do you intend to use your weapons for self defense when you keep none within reach? I know that this is a shop. I saw the sign 'out to lunch' when I brought you in here. Only shopkeepers use those signs. And you just said you make weapons, but I see none on display. In other words, you must be a specialty craftsmen who chooses his own customers. Am I wrong? That would of course mean that you need to charge more for every weapon wou sell. What makes your weapons so special that you can do that?"

[destroyer]

I'd look at this man with an odd expression coming over my face at the question he had just asked. "Items for your self defence? How do you intend to use your weapons for self defense when you keep none within reach? I know that this is a shop. I saw the sign 'out to lunch' when I brought you in here. Only shopkeepers use those signs. And you just said you make weapons, but I see none on display. In other words, you must be a specialty craftsmen who chooses his own customers. Am I wrong? That would of course mean that you need to charge more for every weapon wou sell. What makes your weapons so special that you can do that?" was the question posed, but I had an easy answer ready for him.

"I always keep weapons on me that I've learned to hide from peering eyes who snoop around my house like you kid. If I left weapons out of reach and in places the enemy could see, everyone would know how to raid my house and I'd be left penniless on the street," I'd say in a little frustration getting up to make more tea. The other times were not well enough for this kid, but he was beginning to catch on to me, but I shouldn't do anything to start a war.

[Okami]

Complete denial. Even when Jin directly asked him to explain the situation, he wouldn't budge. This guy was really hard to deal with. But if he really was the swordsmith that Jin needed to find, he couldn't even ask him to make a sword until he admitted it... or could he? He needed to switch gears. The way this was going he would just end up in a fight. Even if the guy admitted it, there was no way he would make Jin a sword.

"I've spent all this time searching for a swordsmith who might not even exist. That's because I have a real passion for amazing swords, and I would do anything to seek them out." Perhaps he could make this into a real conversation before he fell back into his habit of interrogating everyone he met. "I couldn't help but see the sword you keep downstairs. It's gigantic, yet finely crafted as a single piece. If you can weild that for self defence, then you're not just a normal guy either. You would have to be massively strong and skilled to weild that blade. Do you think I could I see it up close just once?"

[destroyer]

After preparations were complete, I set the tea down, sitting down in my spot sipping some, but then he came outright with some strange words to me. "I've spent all this time searching for a swordsmith who might not even exist. That's because I have a real passion for amazing swords, and I would do anything to seek them out. I couldn't help but see the sword you keep downstairs. It's gigantic, yet finely crafted as a single piece. If you can wield that for self defense, then you're not just a normal guy either. You would have to be massively strong and skilled to wield that blade. Do you think I could I see it up close just once?" was what he spoke, but what was he doing now, all of a sudden trying to change subjects.

"What are you getting at kid? Last time I checked I had no downstairs which would be the 'basement' of my house. The only thing below my house is some grass which is below the floor which is below me sitting. Other than myself, the only people I let wander around my house or look around freely are the women I carry home with me after my day. Need anything else kid? Doesn't seem like your making much sense with this 'downstairs' of my house which doesn't exist," I'd say in return finishing my tea, hoping he wouldn't find out but my facial expression might keep it up. I was good at keeping straight faces, which was my trademark for getting guys away from me mainly.

[Okami]

Jin was surprised by the man's response. He even denied the fact that the weapons he hid were downstairs. "I see." Jin said, wondering how he should deal with this bluff. It was obviously a bluff. The man said that he smithed his own weapons for self defence, but the only anvil and furnace, indeed the only weapons in the house, were located underground. "Well then I have something to show you. There is a secret basement under your house with no apparent way in. It houses many weapons, including a particularily large and beuatiful sword. I don't know the way in from here, but I can create water clones down there and they can find a way out. It's really a nice sword. I think you'll love it."

If the man didn't stop him Jin would activate his Byakugan and look into the basement again. He would search more vigarously for an exit this time, and would create a team of 8 water clones from the air in that room to search for an exit from a different perspective. A couple of the clones would check out the other weapons too and look for anything else interesting.

SPOILER: Click to show

Water mastery

Byakugan

Water clones

[destroyer]

This guy would never give up it seemed to me, his determination wouldn't ever be unwavered. Soon, however, he took his own techniques and would intrude on the privacy of mine. "Well then I have something to show you. There is a secret basement under your house with no apparent way in. It houses many weapons, including a particularily large and beuatiful sword. I don't know the way in from here, but I can create water clones down there and they can find a way out. It's really a nice sword. I think you'll love it." the man said to me, but my determination to not allow him a sword was unwavering.

This man has a knack for getting into trouble and making enemies it seemed, but how far would he go. "What are you talking about? There's nothing but ground beneath me kid and there never will be. Is there something below my house that I don't know about that was buried across time with new land built over it? What are you even talking about you sound like one of those guys who speak of radical changes that will never happen kid. Your eyes will get you into more trouble than they're worth so you shouldn't use them on this kind of stuff or you'll be dead. You said you wanted to make allies more than enemies, but you're doing the exact opposite are you not?" I'd ask him with a questioning look.

[Okami]

This guys still wouldn't budge. "Well, if you don't want to let me down there I guess I can't go down." Jin sighed and deactivated his eyes. He drank some more of his tea and thought for a while. The guy was so stubborn that Jin would have to either sneak down into the basement and steal the swords, or wait until the guy decided to let him down there on his own. It was a tough decision, but Jin eventually decided that even if he stole the swords, he probably wouldn't be able to unlock their abilities on his own.

Jin relaxed, trying to ease the tension that had built up in their verbal battle. "But I'll tell you one thing. I'm not leaving town until you let me down there. I don't care what I have to do or how long I have to stay. I'll do whatever it takes." Jin was just as stubborn as this guy, and there was no way he would stop now that he was so close to finding out the secret. "Since I'm going to be staying here a while, I'd better introduce myself. I'm Hyuuga Jin." He said with a smile.

[destroyer]

This man was persistent, but like every other domino he collapsed due to the pressure from the previous one. "Well, if you don't want to let me down there I guess I can't go down." he said as a smirk crossed my face, basking in my victory which was soon short lived. "But I'll tell you one thing. I'm not leaving town until you let me down there. I don't care what I have to do or how long I have to stay. I'll do whatever it takes." he said as the smirk slightly lessened.

Persistent people were always the hardest to deal with except if they were women, but then the persistent one would be me sometimes. My womanizing ways were legendary in my own book as I knew how to get them to lower their guard. This man would prove to be a persistent one, but why should I reveal anything to a guy like this who isn't even a woman? "Since I'm going to be staying here a while, I'd better introduce myself. I'm Hyuuga Jin." this man said without even asking for permission to stay or anything.

"You would stay uninvited in the house of another country and still say that same crap over and over again until death? I do craft weapons yes, but my shop is not even close to my house as I keep it away to practice in peace under the guise of another. My swords, pikes, naginatas, polearms, everything I make is made from the finest material and are normal weapons like a katana you would carry," I'd say, avoiding too much face to face contact with this persistent kid.

[Okami]

The guy was still trying to convince Jin he didn't have a basement, which was literally impossible. Jin had seen it. It was also impossible that the guy didn't know about the basement, because his words kept contradicting themselves. The house even smelled to Okami's nose like a blacksmith's shop, so the basement must have been used with some regularity. "I would." Jin replied simply to the question he was asked. Jin didn't want to make this guy his enemy, but unless he stayed here then there was no way to do anything else.

Now Jin had to decide whether he would stay here and make the guy's life hell until he cracked, or if he was going to try to become friends with him. Once again it was a tough decision, but if these swords really did have abilities then Jin needed someone who knew what they were to show him what they were. If he made the guy his enemy first and it didn't work, it would be impossible to become friends with him. However at any point during his attempt at being nice, he could easily just attack the guy or steal his swords. "I've introduced myself, but I don't know what I should call you. What is your name?"

[destroyer]

This man was strange indeed as his actions contradicted his words time and time again. At first he said he wanted to make allies more than enemies, then he made clones in my blacksmithing area, then retracted them. A strange man indeed, but the simple fact of him not having female parts was what made me stay strong and resist him. "I've introduced myself, but I don't know what I should call you. What is your name?" he said to me as I raised an eyebrow, wondering what this guy's game was.

"How much will it take to get you to leave? If I use force and let you leave that way, I'm pretty sure you can go back to your silly Konoha and tell the hokage some story about the grass country which will start a war. So what will it take for you to leave?" I'd ask him and if he wanted me to craft him a simple weapon, I'd ask for a few... favors first before I'd do it. A guy this desperate would do anything to get me to make him a weapon of some kind.

{OOC: Okami gets a +1 bonus to charisma!(Fallout 3 reference XD)}

[Okami]

Finally! Although the guy still wouldn't introduce himself, he said something that wasn't just 'go away.' That was good enough for Jin. The Hyuuga finished the last of his tea with a smile on his face. He explained what he wanted. "I came here after acquiring information about swords with amazing abilities. If you are indeed the craftsmen who makes them, then I would like you to make me one. I don't expect you to do it for free of course. I'll pay you well."

[destroyer]

This man was finally getting to leave, but what his answer was shocked me as I smirked. "I came here after acquiring information about swords with amazing abilities. If you are indeed the craftsmen who makes them, then I would like you to make me one. I don't expect you to do it for free of course. I'll pay you well." is his response, but he had no idea of the other costs I'd have him do. A desperate guy will do anything to get what he wants and I mean anything like this one.

This would be fun for me and only me as now I had a... "servant" who would get my job done. "Pay? They'll be more than ryo coming to me, I got some 'chores' for you to do before I even start preparations," I'd smirk at him, finally getting my way with the desperate.

[Okami]

Chores? This guy wanted Jin to do his chores? It was a strange way of doing business that Jin did not understand. It seemed more reasonable to simply charge more for the weapon and use that money to hire a cute maid. Though perplexed by the man's strange proposition, Jin would remain calm and composed. The conversation had boiled down to haggling over the price of a business deal, and that suited Jin just fine.

"It's alright if you want me to do chores, but realize that I am a Jounin. Any work you ask me to do is valued according to my profession, whether it is cleaining your yard or an assassination. You won't get a good deal unless you happen to have some extremely specialized chores." He said. And as an afterthought he added: "I can also offer you the services of that large winged monkey you saw earlier. He is very intelligent for a monkey, and well trained. He doesn't have a wide range of skills, but he is extremely fast and strong, so he can complete manual labour or any other physical tasks very well."

[destroyer]

The curtain was rising on this one man show as I was there to judge it all, seeing if I liked it or not. A one man show is boring at first, but has the potential to become an extraordinary performance. "It's alright if you want me to do chores, but realize that I am a Jounin. Any work you ask me to do is valued according to my profession, whether it is cleaining your yard or an assassination. You won't get a good deal unless you happen to have some extremely specialized chores. I can also offer you the services of that large winged monkey you saw earlier. He is very intelligent for a monkey, and well trained. He doesn't have a wide range of skills, but he is extremely fast and strong, so he can complete manual labour or any other physical tasks very well." was what the man opened his act with as I raised an eyebrow, ready for my first critique.

"Look kid, I don't care what you are profession wise nor how anyone else can 'help' you, as these chores are going to be done by you and you alone. If you truly are a man, you'll rely on your own abilities using nothing but your own abilities. Tasks must be performed solo in order to bring out a person's true abilities, each testing each of your skills. They'll only be one task that you are going to have your pet help you with, but that won't be for awhile, got it kid?" I'd ask with anger and determination to break this kid down to have him scurrying back home.

[Okami]

Judging from the man's response, neither the amount of work done nor the value of the work done was important. Perhaps Jin had misinterpreted the sword smith's intentions when he asked for work to be done. If he didn't care about the actual work completed then he must have cared about the person doing the work. In other words, the work to be done was a selfish way of judging whether or not he wanted to craft a sword for Jin. He made no promises of ever making the sword and gave no hint as to how much work would be required for him to craft the sword. It was an annoying set up, but Jin didn't have much choice in the matter.

"Alright, I guess I'll leave Okami here then. That's the monkey's name by the way. What do you want me to do?" There wasn't all that much more Jin could say.

[destroyer]

At last the caged bird will sing as we reach the climax of the play with all the action happening before the final curtain call as well as the final scene of the play. I couldn't help but smirk as I knew exactly how to draw this scene out onto the screen.
"Alright, I guess I'll leave Okami here then. That's the monkey's name by the way. What do you want me to do?" the caged bird asked before singing his greatest number.

Which one should I do first as I had already put the one with the monkey creature last. Coming up with the order, I'd give him the four parts of the build up before the climatic final chore before heading to the end. "After careful consideration, I've decided the order of these events, you'll receive info on the next one when you finish the previous one. Your first task is one that can either end in public humiliation which is most likely or complete success. The end result will determine the difficulty of the next task: complete success means the tasks will get easier, humiliation will mean they get harder. Anyways it should be simple enough for a kid like you: since you rely heavily on your eyes, you will put on a blindfold and, without activating your doujutsu, find your way out of the maze. If you use chakra, I've set up special sensors that will immediately give you a shock to your system should they notice the presence of chakra. This will be done in my backyard with people watching from the stands. Testing your mind is what needs to be done first, for if it is unable to complete this task, it is unworthy of wielding a sword," I'd say before walking into the backyard.

Once there, I strung together some handseals, and a maze of earth appeared from the ground along with some stands to the side. Hopping on top of it, which was a good thirteen feet off the ground, I'd toss him a blindfold when he came out tell him to put it on. "When I see you clear of the maze, I'll tell you to take it off," I said as I leapt across to the exit of it.

{OOC: Maze is a perfect 50x50 ft square}

[Okami]

So it wasn't really chores that the guy wanted done but tests. The first thing Jin saw when he stepped out into the back yard was a large earth wall, apparently part of a maze. That was all Jin got to see of the maze, because he was told to put a blindfold on before he entered the maze.

So he had to make his way through the maze without being able to see. Jin also had exceptional hearing and smelling abilities thanks to his time training with Okami, but that wouldn't help him in a static, silent, odorless maze. This meant that unless he did something, he would have to navigate along using only his sense of touch. This would ultimately end up in him being unable to locate the turns in the maze, and being unable to tell where he had previously been when he hit a dead end. At least the maze couldn't be very big. It was only the size of a back yard after all.

Considering all of that, Jin decided to make a few preparations before heading into the maze. Jin could utilize his Inkaten technique to simply dash over the top of the walls and quite easily make it to the other side, but this was supposed to be a test of the mind. If he used his physical abilities to pass a test of the mind then he would not satisfy the criteria that the sword smith was judging him on. What he needed was a pair of two long sticks. He snapped a couple long branches off a nearby tree and headed into the maze.

Any maze could be easily solved if two criteria were met. First, there must be a method to determine whether or not the path had already been crossed. Even if by some freak chance Jin took every wrong turn imaginable, as long as he knew where he had been he would not waste time by searching places he had already searched. So Jin took a lesson from Hansel and Gretel. As he walked down the maze path he left a trail of spiders who were not allowed to move once they had been placed. Jin usually used these spiders to poison his opponents, so he kept a swarm of them on his body for such occasions, but today they would act as beacons telling him where he had been.

The second problem was that he was blind. He could not see the exits to take when he came across them. This was the reason for the two long sticks. With them, Jin could walk along the centre of the maze path and just drag the branches across the walls of the maze. When one or both of the branches was suddenly not brushing against a wall he could know that there was an opening there.

His strategy was simple: Take a right turn whenever possible. In this way Jin would make sure that every exit was checked. If taking a right turn led him to a dead end he would turn back and take a right turn when the opportunity presented itself. On his way back the left turns that he missed would then be right turns, so he would not miss any turns. The spider trail acted as a failsafe. Especially important was the fact that Jin could immediately recognize if some unexpected design in the maze caused Jin to travel in a repeating loop, at which point he could correct the path. If some point in the maze could not be solved by taking a right turn, the spider trail would let Jin know where he had been and the areas that still needed to be explored. Most of the maze would be covered by the right turn method, which meant it was likely he would find the exit, but he could not be entirely sure. If he couldn't find the exit for some reason he would simply find the paths that had no spiders planted on them and then explore those ones.

Of course this was a strange task with no real reason for it to be done, so Jin could not be sure he would be entirely safe. For all he knew it was a trick by the sword smith to make Jin let his guard down and attack him. Submitting himself to an ultimatum of no sight and no chakra use meant he would have to be on guard for traps. His boxing sense generally took care of that, but Jin made sure he was ready to pull out his shields at any time.

SPOILER: Click to show

Boxers Mentality
Rank: D C B A
Skill: Supplementary
Effect: By fighting on and on, a boxer becomes more proficient when an attack may come by. This happens usually when the boxer becomes unable to see the attack. However by being in combat for so much they can feel when an attack is coming making them less able to be flanked.
Special: ---
Drawback: The user may only learn this technique by the class that they are. This means that in order to learn the C Rank version they must be C Class, if they wish to learn the B Rank version they must be B Class.
Description: A technique where the subconscious mind, where the subconscious body reacts just as they are attacked while flanked or while their back is turn. The body reacts in such a way to where they are capable of withstanding so much. This technique makes it where the Boxer is incapable of being surprised attacked, a sudden second sense kicks in as their body screams out to them yelling at them telling them to move, duck, dodge or anything else within that manner. This works on whenever they are being attacked. This technique however has a major flaw. The user is capable of dodging only whenever the opponent's class is equal or lower to that of the rank of the technique they know. This means that a D Class user that knows this technique cannot use this against an opponent that is C Class or higher.
Limit: Must learn in a gym that teaches Bokushingu (Boxing), Must know all Basics

[destroyer]

About 3 feet in, you reach your first 3 way intersection: behind you as well as to the sides. Taking a right turn would lead to a dead end, forcing you to go back and in the opposite direction which would go for about 10 feet before you had a left turn which was the only way. That would be short lived leading to another three way intersection. This would lead you to making a right turn which would mean you are now at approx. (X = length(left and right), Y = width(up and down)) 40,0. Going right would lead you to 36,0 where another intersection would appear, go straight or right, since your strategy is to go right, you go right.

Going down around 7 feet(36,7) you meet a dead end, but as you head back, you get a sense that there is something there as you bump into a wall where you entered as a left turn has appeared where the first dead end was as well as a right. What do you do?