Sumika didn't respond immediately, instead, downing the rest of her first drink and raising a hand into which iron sand swirled from beneath her jacket and coalesced to form a pair of chopsticks. It was clear Kai had trouble taking the lead here, so Sumika would do it for him, snatching up one of the pieces of faux meat and dropping it into her mouth as she lounged in her makeshift recliner. It didn't exactly taste like beef, but it certainly wasn't bad by any means. You could definitely screw up tofu, but it seemed like Kai was close enough to being right about the place's rep that the meal would be fine. She twirled one of the sticks around her index finger effortlessly, catching it as it pointed at Kai and gesturing in a circle as she finished chewing - as if suggesting that she was about to refer to him and all the stuff he just said.
"I’d put good money on your mistake not being as bad as you think it is. We’re stupid monkeys that enjoy making s**t up in our heads. All that crap is what these are for. " She said as she tapped the chopstick on the brim of Kai's Blackberry Smash and collected hers, laying the utensils across the top as she ferried it over closer to herself like the claw in a crane game."Perspective, is what I think Sanae would have called it. As for whatever problem you thought you were trying to solve with me, let's say there's a few things those eyes can't catch and a few things that you can't fix. No matter how hard you want to." She said it with her normal bravado, brash and unrestrained like she was mocking him for it and adding a wink on the end. One might think, at that moment, this was exactly what Sumika had planned. That Kai was here because she willed it into being, to impart specifically the effortless suggestion that all he needed to escape those anxieties was the momentary simplicity of a glass and some liquid - and maybe some letting go of whatever savior complex he had. She'd never tell, though. It was just one of those things. She grabbed one of the dumplings this time, purposefully not making eye contact with Kai in an effort to dissuade him from speaking. Both because she had more to say and needed the time to consider it, and because while she appreciated the candor he was right and that was enough venting for now, at least on his side of the conversation.
"What does this place mean to you? The village, you know, not the stupid restaurant. What would you tell someone about it? What words would you use?” Her tone was obviously more thoughtful and subdued as she asked the questions. Part of Sumika had wanted to have her own go at blowing off steam. But what would it matter? Kai couldn’t have possibly understood the road she took to get to this seat at this moment. While she certainly wouldn’t let someone like Sadayo off the hook, it didn’t seem like there was a reason to vent about it to Kai. The Uchiha might have had some status but even he would have trouble changing the Hokage’s mind, and Sumika could only lay out the specificities of her past so many times before she’d start to seem trapped in them - and not just to the people around her. Besides, she didn’t want to risk Kai getting stuck on trying to fix the unfixable - that wouldn't be fair to him, and she didn't know him well enough to just drop her level of s**t in his lap.
Deconstructed Essence: When custom metal armors, weapons, and items are successfully reduced to iron sand by the deconstruction ability, the jiton user is able to retain [1] of the custom abilities of the original item in their iron sand for the duration of the battle. Up to [3] custom abilities from [3] separate weapons can be obtained in a single battle.
Kakumei no Hono Ryu: techs treated as spiritual in strength for collisions
Flame Breathing Pattern: Defend against an activation without using an activation once every 3 posts. Status: Active
Fluid Movement: Techniques used for a blocking, countering or evasive action have their cost reduced by 5 stamina per rank of the technique.
Whirlpool Walking: In the Deflecting Stance, the user can deflect a technique of their body rank or lower once every three posts for no activation, still requiring the stamina/chakra cost paid.
Move As Water: Techniques that target multiple opponents may now have additional reserves paid in order to strengthen the effectiveness of the individual attack to the next highest rank.These can be paid individually, not requiring chakra or stamina to be paid for every split technique.
Riptide: In the Weak Stance, the user may perform 4 activations in a given post. In the Strong Stance, the user may perform an additional offensive activation each post. Each additional technique costs an extra 20 Chakra to perform and must be either basic combat or come from this Style.
Sen Gekiretsu Nagareboshi: All Simple techniques in this Style are treated as Complex when interacting with other techniques.
Unwavering Balance: Any techniques below the user's body rank cannot knock them over.
Dual Elemental Charge: Able to charge Sen Gekiretsu Nagareboshi with an extra element for [ 10 ] chakra.
Magnet Release: Jiton users can freely convert the earth and their Doton techniques into any magnetic material that they can control for [5] chakra and no action cost.
◁ Combat Inventory ▷
ghostfinch
Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 5:50 pm
Quote:
KAI UCHIHA
Kai's gaze fell on the distance as Sumika assured his mistake likely wasn't that bad. He wondered if his mom felt the same. Her next remark caught his attention, though, and he refocused on her. He had a lot of comments to that - 'what, you think I can't fix my social skills?' - but he held his tongue. The air felt heavy under the weight of his previous unloading and he didn't want to cover it up with a lame joke. He felt like Sumika was considering it seriously, even if she was trying to convince him he was reading too much into his own past.
"What... words would I use?" Kai tried the blackberry drink as he thought over her question. He didn't think she'd bother with a trick question. "This village is home. I've rarely ever left it. I'm not sure I could describe it faithfully, since nothing stands out to me. It's all blended into, like, familiarity. I think I'd describe it as... comfortable. Not quite safe - I remember Takijinsei like it was yesterday - but it's all I've ever known. I don't feel like I'm missing anything when I'm here. Well, besides the opportunity to tour and rack up some international fans." He smiled at that as he ate a bite of his dinner, though he belatedly realized he was trying to fall back into the same habits he was trying to break.
He shrugged as he thought about it. "It's got a lot of potential," he finally said. "I love training new students like nothing else. I like to believe I can see that Will of Fire within them, that undying commitment and loyalty to whatever values they hold dear. I value protecting people, and I like to believe the Will of Fire moves me forward in that goal, too.
"How would you describe this place?"
-
Chakra Pool: 2,225/2,225 Stamina Pool: 1,900/1,900
The woman eyed her new drinking partner to see how he was handling his liquor. He seemed unconcerned with it, which was good, a nice change of pace. She’d managed to get him off his hangups and on to other things. Step one out of the way at the very least, a thought that she tipped her glass to, trying some of the blackberry drink as well. The puppeteer wished he’d not thrown the question back at her, but he’d answered honestly, and so she would too - even if it wasn’t likely to make Kai feel particularly good.
“When I was like fourteen, I guess, trying to make my puppets look more real, someone told me about how their parents used to hang up their drawings from when they were a kid, to make them feel good and try to motivate them. When they were older they realized how garbo the drawings were. How they couldn’t put anything in the right spot, because they didn’t know what stuff should look like, they were just drawing what their head used to stand in. Eyes are round, circles are round, so an eye is a circle and yada yada yada. The lesson was to use reference, but to me, this village is that drawing. It’s hanging on my fridge, it’s got my name on it, but I didn’t draw it and none of it looks right.” Sumika said, taking a sip of her drink as she danced around the topic of Takijinsei in her head for a moment, trying to decide if discussing it was something for this moment.
She visibly made a face, eyes turning upwards as she bobbed back and forth in the seat like she was having a conversation with herself. As with before, she wanted to vent, because it hurt her that someone like Kai regarded Takijinsei only as a battlefield. “But he’s not entirely wrong.” She thought to herself as her eyes drifted down to one of the compartments on Cobalt’s pack while the panda crunched into another large veggie and caused his plate to lift and plop back down with a clatter. Even without interference, every day the pieces of Takijinsei that still represented the old village, at least recognizably, slipped further away. The fight with the Jashinists hadn’t helped either, leveling a few still extant landmarks Sumika had considered somewhat important, including completely obliterating the building that housed her old apartment.
“I’m glad you feel the way you do, kinda, cause I remember being that way and obviously it’s not hurt you, big shot.” She said with a smirk. “I remember when I was getting ready for my first squad assignment. Like, take me now but double the energy output and about five times as clumsy - actually clumsy, not faking it. I was super excited, couldn’t sit still. I just wanted to go out and do cool stuff with my friends. And Miss Takamatsu, the last Hokage before San and Uzu, she’s there in the Academy telling us a bunch of stuff, big mission briefing, exactly the type of thing you think you want as a kid, and she finally gets around to announcing squads. I’m front and center, the chair I’m in is actually vibrating I’m so excited. I did a bunch of little nothing missions and training to get ready. Beat the kage to the academy, first person in their seat. It’s all I wanted, to go run around and do cool ninja stuff.” Sumika said, pantomiming a few vague actions, and then taking another sip of the fruity cocktail. “I wanted to prove that I could already do cool stuff, even though I tripped and fell on my face all the time because I was like four foot nothing and carried my body weight in iron sand around in a replica flak jacket like an idiot. I wanted everyone in the village to look at the runt and at least think, ‘you know what, she might be a loud little idiot, but at least she tries hard’.”
Sumika told the story casually, but it was a nice little microcosm of her shinobi experience. It also let her test Kai’s ability to analyze things his sharingan couldn’t help him with. Would he connect the dots, and realize Sumika got no squad assignment that day, or any other day prior to being summoned for the mission? That her enthusiasm had never been rewarded like his, and for most of her time as a shinobi she’d never been given challenges commensurate with her skill level? The reality of it was, even the mission they’d just gone on hadn’t really been enough to tax her abilities. With the human puppet she’d just added to her arsenal, she probably could have handled the whole thing solo if push came to shove. Kai's participation had gotten him another promotion, but what had Sumika's gotten her? Drinks from the squad lead were better than she got from most missions, so she wasn't complaining, but the lack of equivalency didn't go unnoticed.
Sumika led the charge against the samurai, despite the village leadership literally threatening her life only a short time before, and didn’t even get a pat on the back. She stopped Limelight from hitting the village at the cost of her puppets with no expectation of reward. She evacuated the old village multiple times, resisted the UHV and Kogarashi on the village’s behalf. Fought invaders on the streets of her home multiple times, sustaining serious injuries in the process. She’d also traveled the world and still decided that this was where she wanted to be. Anyone else would be lauded, a household name, beloved and regularly called upon. Sumika, on the other hand, was strikingly anonymous. No one here remembered the girl that gladly accepted even the smallest mission with unmatched enthusiasm. And they didn’t care to find her in the woman they’d shoved into the village’s margins.
“Oh, right, before I forget!” Sumika said, making an obvious attempt to sound brighter even though she wasn’t exactly feeling it right now. “I didn’t plan on getting you a gift, but, well, I have a bunch of these.” She snatched another piece of the tofu beef before finally taking her feet off the bag and rummaging around in it for a moment. A little clockwork bird slid onto the table as she reappeared. She wound the captive key in its back, flipping it down into the recess meant to conceal it during operation and then plopped the bird down on her finger where it clamped on and began a futile attempt to fly away. “I call them Clockwork Couriers.” She said as it did a few more flaps and then stopped. “I got the first one on the same trip I picked up Cobalt here, and kinda decided to copy them. They’re real fun to work on, even if they aren’t quite up to the standards of modern chakra battery tech. It’s almost entirely mechanical. Give it a little bit of chakra for the sealing formula inside and it’ll return to wherever you’ve set it to. Just like a normal messenger bird, but it won’t poop in your pocket and you don’t have to feed it. It stopped because the gyro didn’t move like it expected, but normally a few turns is all you need to get it from anywhere in the land of fire back to the village. I calibrated them to the Konoha that’s in Takijinsei now but they seem to make it here just fine. Village doesn't even trust me with ninjutsu, even though I know more of it than just about anyone here, so you'll probably have more use for it.”
Deconstructed Essence: When custom metal armors, weapons, and items are successfully reduced to iron sand by the deconstruction ability, the jiton user is able to retain [1] of the custom abilities of the original item in their iron sand for the duration of the battle. Up to [3] custom abilities from [3] separate weapons can be obtained in a single battle.
Kakumei no Hono Ryu: techs treated as spiritual in strength for collisions
Flame Breathing Pattern: Defend against an activation without using an activation once every 3 posts. Status: Active
Fluid Movement: Techniques used for a blocking, countering or evasive action have their cost reduced by 5 stamina per rank of the technique.
Whirlpool Walking: In the Deflecting Stance, the user can deflect a technique of their body rank or lower once every three posts for no activation, still requiring the stamina/chakra cost paid.
Move As Water: Techniques that target multiple opponents may now have additional reserves paid in order to strengthen the effectiveness of the individual attack to the next highest rank.These can be paid individually, not requiring chakra or stamina to be paid for every split technique.
Riptide: In the Weak Stance, the user may perform 4 activations in a given post. In the Strong Stance, the user may perform an additional offensive activation each post. Each additional technique costs an extra 20 Chakra to perform and must be either basic combat or come from this Style.
Sen Gekiretsu Nagareboshi: All Simple techniques in this Style are treated as Complex when interacting with other techniques.
Unwavering Balance: Any techniques below the user's body rank cannot knock them over.
Dual Elemental Charge: Able to charge Sen Gekiretsu Nagareboshi with an extra element for [ 10 ] chakra.
Magnet Release: Jiton users can freely convert the earth and their Doton techniques into any magnetic material that they can control for [5] chakra and no action cost.
◁ Combat Inventory ▷
ghostfinch
Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2021 7:54 pm
Quote:
KAI UCHIHA
Kai's eyes narrowed as Sumika spoke, trying to predict where she was going before she got there. He waited for her to explain how happy she was about her assigned squad, but the words never tumble off her lips. He was almost on the edge of his seat as he waited -- surely, the suspense of the story must have some payoff -- but the moment hung between them without resolution. He finished off the blackberry drink by the time she pulls out a mechanical bird and, well, he certainly didn't see it coming. She explained the bird's limitations but all his mind was still stumbling over how a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Sumika could become someone that, at first glance, was so reserved and cynical.
But her tinkering to recreate the bird had to mean she wasn't entirely removed from that vibrancy she held as a fresh genin. He was sure of it. It seemed like she only become more resigned when the village itself came into question. Or, perhaps, just its government. "What did you do?" He blurted out, unable to keep the words from spilling out under the flood of all of his thoughts. He was squinting at her as if he could find, on her face, when she had been let down by her fellow shinobi for the last time. The final straw before she resolved to never rely on anyone else. Anyone besides Cobalt, maybe, who didn't really have the cognitive ability to want to leave someone who treated him well like Sumika. At least, he was pretty sure pandas didn't have that kind of capacity, but shinobi animal sciences were far from his specialty.
It took a long moment for him to correct himself. He felt sluggish, and couldn't figure out why despite the two empty glasses next to him. He wanted to backtrack, compliment her on the birds (they were really cool), but he had realized, too late, that he couldn't come back from his invasive interest in her. "What did you do when they left you?" It came back to what Sumika had said. About what she needed them to think. 'She might be a loud little idiot, but at least she tries hard.’ And now, what? She had to give off this air of apathy?
He wondered if she would resent him if she knew that his journey to Chunin had, to a T, been like her plans. He'd been the loudest genin, but he'd put in the work on the battlefield and in the hospital, so they promoted him to lead the others. Or maybe she knew. Her unaffected demeanor made her hard to read, which made it all the more difficult for Kai to not blurt out all of his questions. She might have figured that his promotion to Chunin had been easy, but he was confident she had no idea it had been the worst day of his life. He worried her story was far from the worst day in her own.
He took the bird from her finger and cradled it as if it were a living, breathing thing. He should have seen it's potential use while he was out on missions, but his mind was stuck on Sumika's. That had been his job, right? To maximize her potential by shaping her up to be a better team player? And now, all he could do was think about how she had been made to avoid teams altogether. Belatedly, he ran a thumb down the length of the bird and remembered his manners. "Thank you." -
Chakra Pool: 2,225/2,225 Stamina Pool: 1,900/1,900
Sumika’s initial response was a laugh, and quite an unrestrained one at that. She might have been slightly red in the face after the drinks but Kai was on the verge of floating away after a couple cocktails. A sight she obviously found amusing; though, she supposed it was to be expected. “Oh, if we can get all our drama sorted you’ll be a fun drunk. Though, you'll probably want to sober up if you plan to stop gawking and make a move before the village finds more s**t for us to step in.” She said as she polished off her own drink and slid the empty glass back to the center of the table, decidedly unconcerned with the nature of her latter comment. A part of her liked that Kai was so invested in finding out more about her. She couldn't recall anything like that happening to her before. While she had taken to hanging out with the civvies, she mostly went for the variety that wasn't overly impressed with long winded recounting of highly embellished battles. She certainly hadn't had a shinobi give a damn about who she was or her story, at least outside of Sanae who was there for most of it.
“As for what I did, at that moment, I sulked off to the forest that became Takijinsei like the big baby I was. Outside of that, I did what I do now: I worked on my own. It wasn’t like I never got put on a mission, but I was always the last pick and usually only as a replacement, so I made work for myself. San let me wander around when the whole Uzu thing was being sorted, gave everyone the chance to make a decision about their future. Not all of my friends made the same choice I did, or could still make the choice.” With a dramatic flair Sumika snapped a bit of flame into existence on one of her thumbs and gestured in the direction of a somewhat taken aback server like she was drinking a shot. It took a few attempts, and clearly Sumika had some kind of rapport with her normal watering hole wherein this process was much simpler, but the man came to the proper realization and nodded while holding up a finger.
“I needed the time to figure stuff out, and when I finally got there I fell into the same rut. I love San, more than anyone in the world, but she’d already found the people she relied on and kage tend to get pulled into worthless crap that distracts them from what’s actually important. She’s human, so she wasn’t any different. I mean, she at least let me run a graduation exam when the actual people in charge were around, which… maybe wasn’t the best idea, but asking a couple kids if they knew how to tie their shoes was about as serious an assignment as I got. Cue all the Kogarashi crap, Saegahara lady takes over as Kage and gets offed in front of students in the Academy. Boom, Uzu is gone, Sanae’s a pariah, and I am too. Kage in charge has been evaporated and you can’t find the last one to yell at about the crater that used to be your house? Pick the next closest relation.”
“Hell, even when I tried to put in the effort with Lahlil she up and disappeared on me. Got it straight from the mouths of Sadayo and her spooky little JUEI zoo, exactly what they think of me. I’m a 'lazy', ‘privileged’ little 'bloodline having brat' who’s done nothing except 'ride the coattails' of a past kage that was a ‘failure’ because she ooooonly managed to stabilize a village that was on the verge of crumbling and couldn’t stop a group that was strong enough to assassinate her predecessor in the heart of a ninja village. I ‘have no genuine connection’ to this new Konohagakure, my past efforts are entirely worthless even though I was busting my a** at the same time Sadayo was. She views me as a dangerous, uh, s**t, what’s the word, dissidient? Dissedant? Whatever, stupid political words, point is: Her spooks stole my spicy snacks and messed up my materials shipments, oh and her husband? Are they married or just banging like rabbits? Never mind. Masato threatened to kill me.” She said as the server set down a shot of cinnamon whiskey and she downed it without even a hint of hesitation. The whole thing was a bit of a non-sequitur, of the variety Sumika was obviously prone to, but in her rambling, scattershot answer was one of the core pillars of what Kai had seen in her. A detailed map of a life full of being the odd one out, constant refrains of ‘not now squirt, I’m busy’, and undeserved antagonism - much of which she had and still was persevering through, even if it had undoubtedly colored her perception of the world, and its of her.
“They even forgot I was at the Chunin exams dude! Same s**t as when I was a kid, sitting around waiting for my match, not making a scene, suddenly someone’s announcing the end of the exams like I don’t exist. What the ******** am I supposed to do with all that, man? I know I’m not smart, but I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to get something out of busting your a** all the time. Also, like, I got a panda that follows me around, I'm kinda hard to miss unless you're trying.”
[ Edit: I'm trying not to OOC but I have no other way to communicate since you have PMs off. I know I'm ruining everything for everyone I'm around right now, and I'd understand if you felt like I ruined this too. Don't feel compelled to keep going if you don't want to. ]
Deconstructed Essence: When custom metal armors, weapons, and items are successfully reduced to iron sand by the deconstruction ability, the jiton user is able to retain [1] of the custom abilities of the original item in their iron sand for the duration of the battle. Up to [3] custom abilities from [3] separate weapons can be obtained in a single battle.
Kakumei no Hono Ryu: techs treated as spiritual in strength for collisions
Flame Breathing Pattern: Defend against an activation without using an activation once every 3 posts. Status: Active
Fluid Movement: Techniques used for a blocking, countering or evasive action have their cost reduced by 5 stamina per rank of the technique.
Whirlpool Walking: In the Deflecting Stance, the user can deflect a technique of their body rank or lower once every three posts for no activation, still requiring the stamina/chakra cost paid.
Move As Water: Techniques that target multiple opponents may now have additional reserves paid in order to strengthen the effectiveness of the individual attack to the next highest rank.These can be paid individually, not requiring chakra or stamina to be paid for every split technique.
Riptide: In the Weak Stance, the user may perform 4 activations in a given post. In the Strong Stance, the user may perform an additional offensive activation each post. Each additional technique costs an extra 20 Chakra to perform and must be either basic combat or come from this Style.
Sen Gekiretsu Nagareboshi: All Simple techniques in this Style are treated as Complex when interacting with other techniques.
Unwavering Balance: Any techniques below the user's body rank cannot knock them over.
Dual Elemental Charge: Able to charge Sen Gekiretsu Nagareboshi with an extra element for [ 10 ] chakra.
Magnet Release: Jiton users can freely convert the earth and their Doton techniques into any magnetic material that they can control for [5] chakra and no action cost.
◁ Combat Inventory ▷
ghostfinch
Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2021 11:28 am
Quote:
KAI UCHIHA
Sumika's words eventually got through the sludge in Kai's head, though his sobering up was slow as she spoke. He ate as she spoke, hoping to ease the fluffiness in his mind. He hadn't been victimized by the changes in leadership, as he had only ever interacted with Sadayo. It was hard to imagine that the world he grew up in, that had nurtured him, had only ever turned its back on Sumika. "So, how long are you going to keep going like this?" He straightened up.
She had resilience and bite even if it wasn't acknowledged. He wasn't sure he could kudos her out of it with his reports, because a reputation for hard work hadn't fixed things. Maybe she needed to do something big, or maybe... maybe she needed to be somewhere else that appreciated her. But she had an attachment to Konoha, at least old Konoha, at least Takijinsei, and it was out of pocket for him to offer advice on something he'd never experienced.
"Sumika, I see you. I do. I see you, even if they don't. And I don't know how to solve this problem for you but I want to, y'know. I think you're different from all the other people in the village, at least that I've met, and I think that's really cool, yo. Have you like, talked to Lady Hokage about this stuff directly? I feel like, even if you earned a promotion, it wouldn't solve the core problem. I... sorry. I'm not a therapist or anything, I specialized in surgery instead of psychiatry even though I know my way around medicine and poison. I should, um, stop being so nosy."
He picked at the fake meat on his plate as he thought about how he could fix things. He'd wanted to have fun with her, but his own nosiness had gotten in the way. He didn't want to bring her down or make her feel like a failure. "I think it's pretty cool that you ran a graduation exam," he commented belatedly. And then he remembered-
"Oh! Can I - you're a Sage - and I need to go speak to the Crows. I, um, want to see if they will teach me the Sage path. And, uh, I've never done anything like it before and I was wondering if you could tell me if you think, like, I'd be a good one?"
-
Chakra Pool: 2,225/2,225 Stamina Pool: 1,900/1,900
Rocket Punches
Sorry for being so hard to reach! You would have been OK to enter my DMs, it's not like you regularly flood my discord notifications, which is what I strive to avoid by not welcoming DMs. We can still talk there if you have anything you want to say but I really like writing with Sumika so I'd like to continue. c: No hard feelings, though, if you'd like to tap out for the time being.
She supposed she walked right into that one. But what answer was she supposed to give to that? Sumika was here because there wasn’t a good one. The strings holding her up like one of her puppets were few and far between these days, but outside the village they didn’t exist and Sumika wasn’t sure she’d manage without them. What was she supposed to do? Go track down the rogues that had been in the village and join their group after one of them tried to murder her in cold blood? Go kick it in Arashi like she wouldn’t have the same problem? She wasn’t going to go off and start something like Kogarashi, because she’d lived through that and found the prospect disgusting. Didn’t leave much.
“Eh, I guess until someone decides to kick me out. What else am I going to do?” She said with a shrug, as if it was an inevitability she’d accepted. “Sadayo doesn’t have time for me, and I don’t get the impression that she’d care about why I am the way I am even if she did. I mean, we had most of that part of the talk when all this kicked off, didn’t go super great.” The woman arched an eyebrow as Kai dipped into an apology after her relatively terse response. She appreciated the sentiment, but realized she’d just done exactly what he had not too long ago and way over shared. What a pair of drama queens they made. “Kinda think I just need someone to do this. You know, not treat me like I breathe fire. Well, I mean I do breathe fire but like, not all the time. Meh.”
An awkward silence fell that Kai had to take a couple cracks at breaking but then he was back off to the races, thankfully on a different topic. “Well, what do you know about the crow summons, or like… any summons really? Bet a contract like that you gotta be on point. No one was interested in the rats so I got to just walk right in and cut a deal. Those birds are probably a way stingier bunch, ya know?” If anything should have been clear to Kai it was that, as evidenced by her unrefined speech and lack of reputation, Sumika had spent all of her effort in the ‘growing up’ department on the little details of her ninja craft and the ninja crafts in general. She was a hard headed, clumsy kid who’d lacked anything resembling talent or strength but focused every ounce of her energy on learning - specifically ninjutsu, but broadly a bit of everything she could get her hands on. She’d chafed most recently not on rank, but on the village limiting her access to higher level jutsu. That was the thing she wanted most in the world. To continue her never-ending dive into the complexities of one of her favorite subjects. The Uchiha was right, a promotion wouldn’t solve the problem, at least not to Chunin which was about all Sumika could hope for at this point.
Deconstructed Essence: When custom metal armors, weapons, and items are successfully reduced to iron sand by the deconstruction ability, the jiton user is able to retain [1] of the custom abilities of the original item in their iron sand for the duration of the battle. Up to [3] custom abilities from [3] separate weapons can be obtained in a single battle.
Kakumei no Hono Ryu: techs treated as spiritual in strength for collisions
Flame Breathing Pattern: Defend against an activation without using an activation once every 3 posts. Status: Active
Fluid Movement: Techniques used for a blocking, countering or evasive action have their cost reduced by 5 stamina per rank of the technique.
Whirlpool Walking: In the Deflecting Stance, the user can deflect a technique of their body rank or lower once every three posts for no activation, still requiring the stamina/chakra cost paid.
Move As Water: Techniques that target multiple opponents may now have additional reserves paid in order to strengthen the effectiveness of the individual attack to the next highest rank.These can be paid individually, not requiring chakra or stamina to be paid for every split technique.
Riptide: In the Weak Stance, the user may perform 4 activations in a given post. In the Strong Stance, the user may perform an additional offensive activation each post. Each additional technique costs an extra 20 Chakra to perform and must be either basic combat or come from this Style.
Sen Gekiretsu Nagareboshi: All Simple techniques in this Style are treated as Complex when interacting with other techniques.
Unwavering Balance: Any techniques below the user's body rank cannot knock them over.
Dual Elemental Charge: Able to charge Sen Gekiretsu Nagareboshi with an extra element for [ 10 ] chakra.
Magnet Release: Jiton users can freely convert the earth and their Doton techniques into any magnetic material that they can control for [5] chakra and no action cost.
◁ Combat Inventory ▷
ghostfinch
Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2021 3:38 pm
Quote:
KAI UCHIHA
Kai finished off his fake meat as Sumika answered him. He wasn't happy about the answer, but what was he going to do? "Well. If you continue to not breathe fire, I'm happy to work by your side. I need an opening act for my grand performances, y'know?" He was settling back into himself, no longer feeling so vulnerable since they'd both exposed a little of the traumas that left them raw.
Her perspective on the summons was entirely new. "A stingier bunch, huh? I think you might be onto something there. Maybe it's in bad taste to follow the expected path like all the other Uchiha. It'd go against the brand to be such a square," he said as if he hadn't just accepted a promotion to continue working with aforementioned squares. The waiter stopped by with their ticket and Kai paid immediately with a generous amount of ryo before returning to the conversation. He had an idea and leaned in conspiratorily. "Now, how dangerous does a mission have to be for me to meet these rats of yours?"
-
Chakra Pool: 2,225/2,225 Stamina Pool: 1,900/1,900
Rocket Punches
You can def poke me in the future for leaving things hanging over 3-5 days! Was my bad this one slipped. Usually the beginning of the semester doesn't screw me over this hard but I should be getting over the hurdle by the end of next week after a metric ******** of tutoring meetings with students.
”Feel like it might actually be an advantage to breathe fire in that case.”Sumika interjected as Kai mentioned her being his opening act. Kai wandered out into the line of fire a moment later, and Sumika couldn’t help taking a shot. “You know, I could make you a really cool wooden hat if you wanna add another dimension to that square. Feel like it’d really set you apart, being a blockhead.” She held up a finger gun and pretended to blow smoke off the barrel before ‘holstering’ it again. Tagged him on the move with that one, what a shot. Though, as usual, there was an air of unseriousness to the words.
The sage was honestly surprised when Kai asked about the rats beyond questions about contracts in general. Most were not so curious about creatures often regarded as vermin, especially considering how many regarded Sumika in a… similar vein. Most of the other contracts were regarded as more prestigious or desirable, and thus typically the focus. “Oh, definitely triple S+, yeah. Real, real, dangerous. But hey, maybe I know a place that isn’t here, with a triple S+ rogue, smack dab in the middle of Konoha. And maaaaybe, if we go deal with the rogue, you’ll get to meet the rat queen... and see all my cool stuff.” Of course, Sumika wasn’t talking about an actual rogue, and was instead inviting Kai to her puppetry workshop.
It wasn’t that she didn’t know where to find a rogue or that there weren’t any in the village, because she was probably one of the few people who knew that there were, but… they were running out of potential topics that were appropriate for this weird restaurant garden. She doubted that many of the diners here would consider the particularly aggressive, man sized rats welcome company to their meals anyways. “Come on it’ll be fun.”
[ So if Kai is interested, we can move this to The Office of the Sumikage MiT, since it’s implied that’s connect to the workshop, or the bazaar, which would be the physical location of the shop in RP. Either is fine with me. ]
Deconstructed Essence: When custom metal armors, weapons, and items are successfully reduced to iron sand by the deconstruction ability, the jiton user is able to retain [1] of the custom abilities of the original item in their iron sand for the duration of the battle. Up to [3] custom abilities from [3] separate weapons can be obtained in a single battle.
Kakumei no Hono Ryu: techs treated as spiritual in strength for collisions
Flame Breathing Pattern: Defend against an activation without using an activation once every 3 posts. Status: Active
Fluid Movement: Techniques used for a blocking, countering or evasive action have their cost reduced by 5 stamina per rank of the technique.
Whirlpool Walking: In the Deflecting Stance, the user can deflect a technique of their body rank or lower once every three posts for no activation, still requiring the stamina/chakra cost paid.
Move As Water: Techniques that target multiple opponents may now have additional reserves paid in order to strengthen the effectiveness of the individual attack to the next highest rank.These can be paid individually, not requiring chakra or stamina to be paid for every split technique.
Riptide: In the Weak Stance, the user may perform 4 activations in a given post. In the Strong Stance, the user may perform an additional offensive activation each post. Each additional technique costs an extra 20 Chakra to perform and must be either basic combat or come from this Style.
Sen Gekiretsu Nagareboshi: All Simple techniques in this Style are treated as Complex when interacting with other techniques.
Unwavering Balance: Any techniques below the user's body rank cannot knock them over.
Dual Elemental Charge: Able to charge Sen Gekiretsu Nagareboshi with an extra element for [ 10 ] chakra.
Magnet Release: Jiton users can freely convert the earth and their Doton techniques into any magnetic material that they can control for [5] chakra and no action cost.
◁ Combat Inventory ▷
ghostfinch
Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:38 pm
Quote:
KAI UCHIHA
Kai snorted at Sumika's brand of comedy, glad she was coming back to her lively self instead of the down - but honest - side of her. Though, he had to acknowledge, rapping with a blockhead could be his shtick that would be recognized for decades to come. He'd have to give it more thought.
He rubbed his chin as she listed just how difficult a mission would need to be to warrant the help of her rats. He liked what she was saying, especially since there seemed to be a promising adventure there. He didn't know if she was serious about there being a rogue, but whatever there was, he hoped it would lead to the grand rat reveal. "Is there really a rat queen? Or is that like, a line you're feeding me but you're the rat queen?" He laughed after asking, then rose to his feet, feeling warm but not inebriated. "Alright, but I expect a good delivery of cool stuff and fun!"
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Chakra Pool: 2,225/2,225 Stamina Pool: 1,900/1,900
Sumika hucked a hefty bag of ryo onto the table, more than enough to cover the food and drinks, not bothering to count it as she deftly spun her chair back to its proper position and heaved Cobalt’s pack up onto her shoulder despite its weight. “Eh, yeah, I guess Ink Eyes isn’t really a queen. She’s just like, really dangerous. And I mean, I do call myself the Rat Queen of Konoha, because it kinda rolls off the tongue, ya know.” The woman did something resembling a shrug as she headed for the door. “I think I can work something out.”
Deconstructed Essence: When custom metal armors, weapons, and items are successfully reduced to iron sand by the deconstruction ability, the jiton user is able to retain [1] of the custom abilities of the original item in their iron sand for the duration of the battle. Up to [3] custom abilities from [3] separate weapons can be obtained in a single battle.
Kakumei no Hono Ryu: techs treated as spiritual in strength for collisions
Flame Breathing Pattern: Defend against an activation without using an activation once every 3 posts. Status: Active
Fluid Movement: Techniques used for a blocking, countering or evasive action have their cost reduced by 5 stamina per rank of the technique.
Whirlpool Walking: In the Deflecting Stance, the user can deflect a technique of their body rank or lower once every three posts for no activation, still requiring the stamina/chakra cost paid.
Move As Water: Techniques that target multiple opponents may now have additional reserves paid in order to strengthen the effectiveness of the individual attack to the next highest rank.These can be paid individually, not requiring chakra or stamina to be paid for every split technique.
Riptide: In the Weak Stance, the user may perform 4 activations in a given post. In the Strong Stance, the user may perform an additional offensive activation each post. Each additional technique costs an extra 20 Chakra to perform and must be either basic combat or come from this Style.
Sen Gekiretsu Nagareboshi: All Simple techniques in this Style are treated as Complex when interacting with other techniques.
Unwavering Balance: Any techniques below the user's body rank cannot knock them over.
Dual Elemental Charge: Able to charge Sen Gekiretsu Nagareboshi with an extra element for [ 10 ] chakra.
Magnet Release: Jiton users can freely convert the earth and their Doton techniques into any magnetic material that they can control for [5] chakra and no action cost.
◁ Combat Inventory ▷
ghostfinch
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:18 pm
The Gilded Queen Rank:Chunin 磁気 | Classes:Puppeteer | Bloodline 力 | Body Rank:A 勇 | Elements:Water,Earth,Lightning,Magnetism,Wood
From where Moriyama and Nimure stood in the street, they would be able to see the window to Kiku’s room. With part of her secret out to her squadmates, she’d instructed them to stay a decent distance away from the massive building she called home. However, it wouldn’t be obvious which window belonged to Kiku at first. Not until a young person that looked like a boy with black hair crawled out over the window sill before jumping to a nearby tree. This person, once they were situated on a branch, would disappear with a Body Flicker down to the boys below. “Walk.” Was all they said, not even making eye contact with Moriyama or Nimure as they walked away from the building. While it looked nothing like their teammate, the sharp, piercing eyes and the brisque walk made it clear who was leading the two away.
Once the group was around the corner, and a safe distance away, Kiku released her transformation. With a cloud of smoke, the blonde haired puppeteer stood before her squad. She left out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding before giving her friends a smile. “Sorry about that, just a few precautions is all.” The three of them were meeting to celebrate the Chunin promotion of Kiku (and Moriyama, if he had taken it). “So, where did you guys wanna go?” Kiku asked, a sparkling look in her eyes. It was a far cry from the look on her face when she was still nearby her house. "Hey Nimure, it's your turn to treat us!" Kiku jabbed a finger at her masked friend as she stood next to Moriyama. "Right, Moriyama?" She added as she put her hands on her hips.
tab Within the bustling streets of Konoha, Moriyama could be found in the company of his best friend, Nimure. Leaning back against the fence the two stood at, he let out a light sigh, interlocking his fingers behind his head. "Jeez. What's taking her so long? If we don't get moving soon, my stomach's gonna start trying to eat itself." he wined. Hearing his stomach let out a particularly loud gurgle, Moriyama moved his hands down to comfort it, giving it a few gentle pats. "Settle down, boy. We'll get some food soon. Promise." he said in a consoling tone. Taking a moment to turn his attention towards the large estate that stood in the distance, he let out yet another sigh. 'Still no sight of her.' he thought. Not that he even knew where to look in the first place. This was the closest that Kiku had ever let get to her family's residence so it's not like he knew which room was her's or where any of the entrances/exits were. Honestly, with how secretive she was with the matter, he had been surprised she'd let him even get this close.
tab"Alright. I say if she doesn't show in the next ten minutes, we go on without her and let her catch up. A guy can only hold out for so long." However, hardly even a minute after he spoke these words, a figure suddenly appeared before them. At first, Moriyama only vaguely recognized the individual, knowing he'd seem them somewhere before but not being able to quite put his finger on it. It wasn't until they spoke that he recognized the tone of their words and it all came flooding back to him. 'Oh wow. It's been forever since I've seen her in that form.' he thought, though he didn't say anything about it out loud. He knew it was a sensitive matter for Kiku and while he loved poking fun at her for many things, this was a matter best left alone.
tab Once it seemed they had finally reached a safe distance, Kiku finally dropped her disguise, returning to her normal appearance. "Yeah. Yeah. That's all well and good but can get a move on? I'm starving over here." he wined, though it was mostly in jest. When it came to the matter of who would be picking up the tab, he had no qualms with Kiku's suggestion that Nimure be the one to pay. "Works for me. So long as I'm not the one footing the bill, I ain't complaining." he said, letting out a spirited laugh as he patted Nimure on the shoulder. "Whadya say, buddy. Wanna hit up Not Ichiraku's?"
▱▰▱Before I let headquarters, the Aburame agents finished injecting the remaining Rinkaichu into my system. After that, I changed out of my JUEI uniform into my green jacket, t-shirt, pants, and white sneakers. I hopped along on my feet and enjoyed the Sun. My promotion to Jonin put a pep in my step. I walked up to Moriyama as I saw him first out of Kiku's house. "What'd you expect? She's a diva, always has been." I smiled under my hooked beak mask at my sarcastic quip. When a mysterious figure jumped from the window and landed on the tree, I tensed up for a moment. My training conditioned me to rely on my reflexes a little too much.
▱▰▱I walked behind Kiku as I remembered back to the boy who saved me when I was poisoned. Despite being in a haze, I remembered that part all too clearly. I relaxed and felt safe behind my friend, even though I knew that was not who she wanted to be. I felt like I was being saved all over again, in a way. When Kiku transformed and spoke of the meal arrangements I nodded quietly. I shook off how startled I was earlier relatively easily as I continued to be amused by Moriyama's wining. I took a few steps away from the group as I put my hands behind my head, interconnecting my fingers. "I guess I can pay...being a jonin and all." I bragged playfully as I broke the news of my promotion. I smirked with excitement and waited for their reactions as I turned to face them again.
▱▰▱Hivemind. I'm not sure if I liked the codename or what it represented. It was chosen for me by JUEI and it felt somewhat ironic to me. Ever since I started my training, I was experiencing what I started calling "the long quiet." That's right, for over a month I have not heard so much as a peep from my swarm. I was feeling so much better and wasn't even experiencing the brain fog anymore. I was also allowed to focus and become so much more powerful and able as a JUEI agent. I figured that my advanced power over my insects was what was allowing me to control them. I felt happy and free for the first time in my life. I was making traction from sheer willpower alone, I knew I could do it. And yet, I kept feeling a nagging sense of fear that the voices would return.
Technique Used: [ Technique Name ] ▱▰▱○ [ Rank ] Techniques Active: [ Technique Name ] ▱▰▱○ [ Rank ]
Active Effects Specialized Breeds: • Rinkaichū: Nano-size parasitic insects. This breed was deemed too dangerous and risky and was essentially labeled as forbidden. Rinkaichū essentially function close to a virus. Causing cellular destruction and spreading rapidly with rapid reproduction until no organic material can be further consumed. Those infected by Rinkaichū will begin to turn a shade of purple while simultaneously having their skin bubble and appear to rot. This breed Augments all Taijutsu or physical touch that makes direct skin contact, even those of lesser rank to apply a Tier-4 Poison that can only be cured with the [Poison Removal] and [Virus Removal] technique. The trade-off for this devastation is Rinkaichū cannot be used for insect techniques. Due to its forbidden nature Rinkaichū are only given to those with Anbu/Oinin Titles or minimally Konin. The host can choose when to turn their Rinkaichū 'on' or 'off'. A Kage or Moderator will determine whether or not an Aburame will be given access to Rinkaichu. • Yorochū: A breed which sports a much thicker carapace and are a heartier beetle. The main advantage of this breed is that it allows for a much sturdier host. This increases the host's stat caps granted by class for Endurance and Strength by 1. When used for Defensive Insect Techniques those insect techniques are treated as Overwhelming up to S-rank. Status Effects: • None
Poison Data
Personal Attributes ▱▰▱ Harmonic Hive | Once per post, Nimure is able to korabo one Aburame and one Harmonic Death Arts technique. ▱▰▱ Swarm of Pestillence | By applying 10 chakra at no action cost, Nimure's insects inflict tiered disease status on contact based on the rank of the Aburame technique. ▱▰▱ Swarm of Acidity | By applying 10 chakra at no action cost, Nimure's insects become acidic and inflict tiered corrosion status on contact based on the rank of the Aburame technique. ▱▰▱ Unstable Mutation | When your Kikaichu adapts to a specific element the Kikaichu also gains that element. Insect techniques utilizing these Kikaichu can apply up to Tier-2 of their elemental status. Tier-4 if [Ninjutsu] class. Temporarily share your Kikaichu's adaptive resistance gaining a 1-rank reduction of its currently adapted resistance. ▱▰▱ Give and Take | The Chakra your Kikaichu drain to reproduce themselves can instead be stored within their bodies. When the Kikaichu return to you the host you can instead regain the chakra that was drained at the expense of the Kikaichu that were used to drain said chakra. Because of this your initial Chakra pool is also expansive netting you an additional +100 Chakra. ▱▰▱ Hive Meister | The max amount of Insects you can store in your body increases by [100]. You can house [2] Specialized Breeds instead of [1]. The Aburame may cast Ninjutsu using Insects instead of Chakra as the resource. When preforming ninjutsu in this manner, their insects swarm through their ninjutsu, latching to any targets it contacts. These ninjutsu techniques can be used in exchange for bugs at 1.5 times the cost. ▱▰▱ Genetic Palette | With intensive genetic therapy and strong blood, this character is able to possess more than one transplant. This allows the character up to two transplants total, of any of the three categories. ▱▰▱ Plague Doctor | Nimure's mask has been electronically enhanced to resist the effects of gas-based poison. When this effect is active his voice becomes highly distorted and buzzing to further conceal his identity as a JUEI agent. This effect can only occur when Nimure is wearing his plague doctor mask with the goggles attachment that obscures the top half of his face. ▱▰▱ Night Air | By applying five chakra with no action cost to a Mahofu miasma-based technique, a tier of disease is applied to the miasma equal to the technique's rank. This effect can only occur when Nimure is wearing his plague doctor mask with the goggles attachment that obscures the top half of his face. ▱▰▱ Cloak and Dagger | Once a shinobi has completed 50 missions without gaining any fame or infamy, a shinobi is able to erase their presence almost entirely. For 5 posts, the shinobi is considered to have tier 2 jamming preventing sensory techniques from sensing them. Once these five posts are over, this PA is put on cooldown for 3 posts. This cooldown cannot be reduced. Additionally they are considered to be invisible. Dojutsu simply do not acknowledge their existence unless they are in their advanced forms. I.e. Mangekyou sharingan, Tenseigan, etc. The user may choose to activate this PA at any point for no activation or cost. The invisiblity be broken by a shinobi with Infinite perception using a technique at least one rank below the shinobi's body rank. I.e. The cloak and dagger shinobi is B rank, the infinite perception shinobi must use an C rank technique. Finally, the shinobi unlocks access to this exclusive technique: ▱▰▱ Demonic Presence | The user's fog carries a choice of two additional factors that are scaled to the same levels as the poison's. The user may choose between the Mental Stress Status or the Insanity Status and apply these effects to those under the influence of the Miasma. The user gains an additional 4 genjutsu per body rank.
Class Information First Class: Medical ▱▰▱ Maladies Physician → Shinobi of this discipline are experts in iryojutsu and are especially well-versed in afflictions. Their medical techniques cure all symptoms of status effects applied to the user, rather than where most of the techniques cure them one at a time. In addition, medical techniques which inflict a status may inflict three different applications of the status, rather than just one. The user's crafted poisons also carry this property. The shinobi also obtains 5 custom techniques for medical ninjutsu as well as a Medical Ninjutsu Keystone technique. Refer to the Keystone Guideline for more information. Second Class: Taijutsu ▱▰▱ Brawler → Your taijutsu is just one side of your skill, as you are also versed in utilizing ninjutsu as well. Your Speed and Agility are enhanced by [+1] and you gain an additional [4] ninjutsu slots per rank. Once every other post all three of your actions in a post can be used for offensive taijutsu. Additionally, the user gains a keystone technique and two additional custom slots for taijutsu. Refer to the Keystone Guideline for more information. ► Signature Style: Harmonic Death Arts ▱▰▱ Cross Class: → Medical – Taijutsu: The user is able to cast healing medical ninjutsu on themselves for no hand signs. Once every three posts, this ability can be used for no activation. In addition, the user's medical and taijutsu techniques are reduced in resources by five per rank of the technique.
pyrategross
Stumpleton
Ephemeral Ozymandias Captain
Obsessive Prophet
Offline
gucci-shinigami Crew
Offline
Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2022 4:43 pm
The Gilded Queen Rank:Chunin 磁気 | Classes:Puppeteer | Bloodline 力 | Body Rank:A 勇 | Elements:Water,Earth,Lightning,Magnetism,Wood
“Woooooowww Jonin, huh?” Kiku smirked and wiggled eyebrows as she ribbed Nimure with her elbow. “How much a** kissing did you have to do for that promotion? How much brown is on your nose behind that mask, Nimure?” She laughed at her own taunting, but made sure to stay in step with Nimure. She poked fun at him, but the puppeteer was immensely proud of the Aburame and it would be evident on her face.
Kiku felt great today. She always liked being out of her house on any occasion. But for the three of them celebrating how far all of them had come really lifted her spirits. In her excitement, Kiku hopped up and looped her arm through Nimure’s as they walked. The only thing missing for their celebrations was Momotaro, who had been on a mission since Takejinsei. The thought of being away for so long pulled at her heartstrings. Was he mad at her for Nimures confession at the hospital?
Kiku shook the thoughts from her head and replaced her smile that had faltered for a moment. She was sure his mission to Grass was going smoothly, but kept the Kaguya busy.
Sometime later, Team Kiku sat at Not Ichiraku enjoying their meal, with Nimure sitting between Kiku and Moriyama “… and then Moriyama, after his daring sacrifice was all like-“ Kiku was in the middle of recounting the Chunin Exams her and the weapon smith had been a part of. “‘Please Kiku… take the scroll in your beautiful hands and go on without me..’” she continued in her most accurate, yet dramatic, impression of Moriyama. “Turned out the dummy just ate some berries he shouldn’t have.” The Chunin finished with a scoff before taking a pull from her sake, placing the bottle next to an already empty one. “Nimure, would you eat anything that you found in a place called ‘The Forest of Death?’”
Kiku rolled her eyes and made sure to pass her food over to Moriyama. “So how’s JUEI been going, bugboy? Is it everything you hoped for and more?”
