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Now that they were situated on the crossbeams, Notwen turned and watched Takera as he got himself situated on his own wooden beam. The crippled Uchiha made sure Novvus' head was lowered so that the puppet's face was shrouded in shadows for the time being. The sounds of sweeping and relocating of objects could be heard coming up from below. After a few moments of contemplation the dark-skinned blonde crossed his legs and addressed the masked boy verbally.
"Based on how you were acting back at the first exam i deduced that you knew more than you were letting on. There is only one other necklace that looks exactly like the one i am wearing. That blue guy, Kyu, told me that he knew my brother as well, though it was for a short time before he died. It also appeared that you were trying to avoid one of us for whatever reason." Notwen scratched his head, allowing a short break before continuing his statement. "I am not saying that you have the pendant, but i am assuming that you were in some way involved with my brother before his death, and i want to know exactly what ties you had with him." The whole time he had been speaking to the masked boy, the dark-skinned blonde had been life streaming his brother's consciousness into the puppet. Novvus blinked on his own and rubbed his artificial eyes, still keeping his head down. After blinking a few times, he turned his eyes up to look at Takera. Notwen sealed the white-haired boy's connection to the web of intrigue before establishing a new connection with his brother. Does he look familiar in any way? asked Notwen, keeping his attention riveted on the masked boy.
There were three individuals on the team with white hair. answered Novvus. Their names were Takera, Zeru, and Rinku if i recall correctly.

Oasis shrugged slightly as she munched away on her chicken kebab. "Well... Oasis tried hard, and over an over again... While the injured person in Oasis team was allowed to stay back an be safe, yet... Oasis score was only just more than that persons." she states with a dejected voice. She took another big bite and gnawed on it while thinking about what had happened "It seems sorta unfair to me..." She states obviously losing the third person tone. "So do you think we will be able to find a sword for Oasis?" She questions as she thought about their previous mission "also how likely do you think it is that we will make chuunin, it would be pretty neat." she states with a sideways little cat-like grin. "Oh... Oasis isn't sure about those that were in her team really... They seemed talented but they didn't do a lot so Oasis isn't really for sure about them. She sighed slightly and held a hand to her head the remainder of that poison they used had her feeling kinda miserable. She leaned back until falling over onto her back "Oasis says shenanigans to these exams." she adds with a light chuckle "who's ever heard of poisoning other countries genin during a chuunin exam, sounds sneaky to Oasis..." she mewls plaintively. "Oasis needs to try an remove this poison sooner or later, prolly maybe sooner." she states with a little smile.

Takera had finally gotten situated the sounds of movement and cleaning below ceased. A slamming noise came from the tape-layered window below them. Then a voice could be heard outside remarking how the window wouldn't break and the old man kept repairing it. Suddenly a blue flame burst forth to give a lighting to them and the puppet moved forth towards Takera. He noticed as it got closer that it seemed familiar. In just a second the puppet was propped infront of him, the glow illuminating it's face entirely. Takera got a glance at the puppet's face before turning to hear the voices below begin to panic and before long a load of footsteps were heard as if they had all began to run away. "Crap! They're getting away." Takera said as he slipped off the edge of the wooden beam while doing handseals to form an ice mirror below him and another out the door. He shifted through the mirror and the speed granted caused him to, within the next second, be at the next mirror and phasing out to land quickly at the center of the outside area infront of the shop. He wasn't quick enough as the bandits had turned out any lights they had when them and scattered like cockroaches.

Takera scoffed at their unfortunate failure to catch the bandits. His mirrors faded and he turned to walk back into the shop. "I wasn't able to catch sight of them. The cowards turned out their lights and scattered." Takera spoke as he saw the old man and the kid at the doorway. He moved in past them and looked up to the wooden beam where Notwen and his puppet were. "What kind of game are you playing?" Takera spoke up to the crippled boy who was up on the wooden beams. "Was that suppose to be some kind of joke? Making a puppet that looks like Novvus? Takera's own words rung in his mind for a second before all of Notwen's comments flooded in. "Wait... Your brother is Novvus?" Takera questioned as he watched Notwen and the puppet with a puzzled look. "No offense, but that seems a little obsessive. Are you not able to see Novvus anymore?" Takera continued to question.



[Lines: 23]

Notwen and Novvus slid down the wall using chakra control moments after the masked boy jumped into an ice mirror he had created. He had created one outside at the same time and exited from it, but it was too late. The assailants had escaped. Apparently the old shopkeeper had remained within walking distance because he was outside when the dark-skinned blonde and his puppet sibling got to the door. The white-haired kid had walked in past the old man and had begun firing questions at Notwen, asking if the fact that he had made Novvus a puppet look-alike was some kind of joke.
Bingo! thought the crippled Uchiha with a triumphant smile on his face. He had successfully solved a mystery of the mysterious masked boy's origins. So he's a Mist refugee for some reason. Novvus frowned.
"Yes, Zeru. I am his brother. And you should know more than anyone that he can't see me because i am no longer a living physical being." replied the puppet. "By the way, why are you a Lightning Country shinobi? And whatever happened to Takera? If i remember correctly you two were inseparable." Novvus folded his arms, tugging on the chakra threads connected to his twin's fingertips. Notwen slackened the threads just enough to allow his brother some degree of free movement. It was at this point when the old man interrupted the conversation, looking at the dark-skinned blonde with interest.
"Remarkable... How are you doing that with your puppet, young man? It's as if it's actually alive!" Notwen turned to face the man.
"He is alive, sir, but i can't share the secrets of how this is possible." The old man laughed.
"I like that. You know how to censor yourself pretty well, but i know about the secret Jouryoku Puppet Jutsu. I just never thought that i would see it outside of that village." The crippled Uchiha immediately relaxed in the old man's presence. It was as if he'd met with an old friend after a long time. "The third exam is soon to take place, but i think that i can teach you a few of my tricks before then." Notwen's face lit up in surprise.
"Really?! That would be much appreciated, sir!" The old man smiled.
"It would be a pleasure to pass my skills down to an up-and-coming puppet master. We can start right away. By the way, you may call me Cheiron." he said to the dark-skinned blonde, then turned to the masked boy. "Sorry, but i am going to have to ask you to leave. This is something that outside sources can not witness." With that he escorted the white-haired boy outside of the store and closed the door behind him. Turning back to Notwen the old man continued. "This is something i haven't been able to do since i was younger because Arthritis has been paining my fingers, but i am sure you can pull it off. It is a method i refer to as Arma Synch..." For the next few hours the old man explained the process in which a puppet could be combined with another to form a brand new creation. Notwen also got to try out the technique hands-on, an experience that he found to be enjoyable and memorable. After hours of instruction the dark-skinned blonde shook Cheiron's hand.
"Thank you master Cheiron. I will try my best not to let you down in the exams. Also," Notwen hung his head. "I apologize for failing to carry out your wishes and letting those guys get away." The old man placed his hand on Notwen's shoulder.
"It's alright. There's only so much you can do with one arm. Hopefully they'll be to paranoid to come back for a while." he said with a hearty chuckle. "Besides, with your new toy you should be able to get ahead of the game." Notwen looked at the large wooden box that was now strapped to Novvus' back. "Take very good care of it."
"I will." said Notwen and headed out the door with a farewell to his new mentor. If the white-haired boy was still outside after all that time, Notwen would raise an eyebrow and say, "Obsessive much?". If not he would simply return to his tent with Novvus at his side the whole time.

Kyu chuckled, "Yea, yea. I'm a wuss for keeping my strength up." At first, it would seem that Saikoro wasn't interested in training, but as soon as he caught a glimpse of Kyu's right tattoo, the tone of his voice changed completely.

The man grabbed onto his arm, and examined the mark, "I got it from some medic nin back home. This one in particular is used to enlist the aid of jellyfish. Its a rather long and complex process, so I won't bore you with the details, but more or less, the tattoo they gave me holds the information to generate jellies with just chakra."

"While I was in the hospital for a month, I whipped up an ink manipulation and duplication jutsu, so I can share these things as I like; or retrieve them if I wish. Here, I'll give you a sample," Kyu took hold of the ninja's right hand with his own, and made a one-handed seal with his left hand. The ink on Kyu's arm glowed faintly began to stretch and spaghettify from his forearm to his hand. The ink traveled from his fingers over to Saikoro's. It flipped and mirrored before falling into perfect place on the other ninja's arm.

"Now that its in place, I'll show you a jutsu to do with it." Kyu released his comrades arm and took a step back, "Like I said, what you have on your arm is an encoded form of two things. The first is a jutsu that creates nutrient-rich water. It's a mix of classic H-two-O and a bunch of other minerals that are needed to sustain life. The second thing is the most basic blueprint for a jellyfish. Using the mineral water and by a process of trial and error, you can manipulate those blueprints to make the type of jellyfish that you need to create a new jutsu. You following me, bro?"

"The one I'm going to show you is something I whipped up. I call this one Nebula Grenade. More or less, I make a ball of nutrient ice in my hand. I manipulate the inside to create a type of jelly I engineered. When you throw it, it will explode like cover an enemy with tons of jellies. The poison in their tentacles causes a visual effect that will make it difficult to see, and give you a bit more leeway when you're trying to be stealthy during battle. I'll demonstrate."

Kyuzaku held out his hand, and charged his hand with chakra. A ball of lightly tinted water emerged, and froze over. Inside the ball formed little specks. Quickly, they multiplied into an incredible number of dimly glowing bits of jelly. Once the grenade was finished, Kyu tossed it in the air, then caught it with the back of his left hand. Kyu moved his hand dexterously and made the grenade slip right into his left palm.

Kyu outstretched his left arm, and handed Saikoro the grenade, "Give it a look over, then try it yourself."

Oasis groaned lightly "Dunno, Oasis doesn't really feel like trying hard." she complained lightly before sitting up and drawing her feet together. "Okay, maybe Oasis will keep trying hard... but still... Yea they were not Oasis' speed at all. They were a good team... Its just, hard to keep up with me." she states with a broad cat-like grin on her face. Oasis popped to her feet, though with less vitality than her usual movements and brushed herself off. "Well, I still think a poison is going a little too far." she mewls lightly as she looked to Hatsuma and nodded. "Oasis really likes the idea of going to a bath house... When we get there, maybe an herbal bath will help to alleviate some of the effects of the poison." she states as she tapped her feet against the ground lightly and then closed her eyes and sniffed at the air. "Just let Oasis lead you to water." she muses brightly before opening her eyes and pointing in what seemed like a completely random direction, however Oasis was not picking randomly, she was pointing in the exact direction of the bath house. Her ability to pinpoint water was flawless. After pointing Oasis set out with a lump of chicken stuck into her mouth from her kebab. "Its bath time!" she cheers before moving with a little more speed in the right direction.

-Dream Sequence-

Drake wondered through an endless corridor, closed doors and darkness all around him. He walked pass them all, never paying attention to his surroundings. He felt as if he wasn't even there, as if this was all being done through the actions of someone else. But, he knew it was him. The familiar black duster he wore waved about as he stalked pass through the corridor. The familiar chakra when his Eye was active. Though it was much different. He felt a dark power coursing through him, and he could feel the pressure of a millennium old hatred and bloodlust beating in his mind. The surrounding were irrelevant, as they had no part in his actions. He continued to move forward, till finally, a door appeared not far from where he was. He continued on toward it, feeling a sinister smile come across his face, right when he reached the door, Drake lifted his boot and kicked it open. As he did, he saw a black figure stand up suddenly, turning with surprise in their eyes. Before the shadowy figure could speak, Drake lifted his hand, and lightning erupted forth, striking the figure square in the chest. The shadow flew backwards, hitting their back against a near-by wall. Drake walked forward toward them, hearing the person start to go into sharp coughing fits. As he got closer, he saw spatters of blood all across the ground, and more appearing as the person kept coughing. The person was finally able to lift their head, and Drake saw that it was a middle-aged man, probably in his late forties, wearing a long grey night robe. Drake suddenly felt disgusted by the mans weakness and kicked him hard in the chest with his left boot, then planted his right on top of the mans head. Drake leaned down close enough to hear the mans whimpering, knowing his fate was about to pass. Drake leaned closer, and in a whisper, asked the man something. the mans eyes went wide, and tried to shake his head even as Drakes boot was on top of it. Drake asked again, and the man refused to speak. Drake asked one more time, and this time the man tried to stand up, but Drake firmly put more pressure on to the guys head. Drake was starting to have enough of this, and asked the man one more time, adding that he will kill him right here and now if he didn't answer, then he was going to burn the place down. The man laid there on the ground and started to cry, begging for forgiveness. Then he told Drake what he wanted. Drake thanked the man, then lifted his boot off the mans head. the man stood up, then tried to run pass Drake. Before he could make it a foot toward the door, Drake threw his hand outward and sent it straight threw the mans chest. The man had a look of surprise and pain rip through his face, as blood poured from his chest wound. The man slumped to the ground, then with one last look at the corpse, Drake moved on toward the objective. As he walked along another dark corridor, he felt no remorse or guilt for the death he had just now dealt out. This the way of life, for the weak to fall before strong. drake learned long ago what weakness could do, and he wasn't going to allow any weakness to stop him and his goal. As Drake approached another door, he opened it with another kick, and found no one inside. As he moved forward, he saw what he was looking for. In a glass case in the middle of the room, sat a large black scroll, with red lettering wrapping around the cover. Drake saw the language and knew it was the right one. He smashed the case, and took the scroll. Without warning, he ripped the bindings off it, and unraveled the scroll, revealing all of its dark secrets. He read through them all as fast as he could, memorizing all of its contents. As he finished, drake dropped the scroll to the ground, then used his lightning to burn the scroll where it lay. as it burned, Drake looked over, and saw his reflection. Nothing was really diffirent, except for the fact that that the Eye was emitting a sickly orange glow from it, and behind him, he saw seven large eyes all of the same color. Then, he heard Harbinger's voice speak out, and saw that his own mouth moved with each word he said. 'Soon, all will be prepared for ascension. Their salvation shall be through destruction!'. With that, Drake turned back toward the door, leaving as the building around him burned to the ground, the screams of men, women and children in the background.

-Dream Sequence End-

Drake awoke with a start, a cold sweat on his forehead and back. He took long gasps of breath, realizing that he could hardly breath. He soon saw that he was lying in a hospital bed, with no idea how he got there. He laid back down as a fit of coughs racked through his body. He tried to think back to what happened. He remembered that he, Aya, and Hayato were attempting to get across several moving planks, and that Aya had attempted to get to a secret panel, while Hayato attempted to run across, only for both of them to fail. He remembered how he was going to try to get to the secret panel, only to feel a sensation go through him, then he blacked out. Drake tried to think back about what happened, and he remembered why he collapsed. The people had told him that the cave was filled with a poison gas, and that they were to get across the cave to reach the antidote.They failed, and now Drake could feel the poison inside him, as if it burned in his blood vessels. He also felt weaker than he was before, yet strangely, he felt different, as if a new power was in him. 'Was it the dream? Was that what it was about?' Drake had no answer for these questions, and laid in his bed thinking about the incident in the cave, and then the dream. As he laid there, he turned his head and saw his stuff laid out next to him, with a note saying to wait till he was called for the final exam. Drake got himself into a sitting position, then sorted through his stuff. Everything was accounted for, except that there was a particular scroll that he never put there. He looked at the scroll more closely, thinking he had seen it somewhere from before. Then, he remembered; This was the scroll Takera used to seal samahada in. He was taken aback, as he gave this to Takera to help him in the exams, but now it was with him again. As Drake looked at it, he instantly grabbed his pack, and stuffed the damn scroll back in there. If this was a message that he was going to have to hang onto the thing, he was going to make damn sure it never was going to leave this pack. As Drake put all of his stuff also into his pack, he started to wonder what time it was. He looked over to see through a window, and noticed it was night. He stood up to get a better look outside, and noticed that he was actually in a medical tent. The proctors must have carried him here. Drake wondered if Aya and Hayato was also here somewhere. As he looked out, he thought he saw someone walking toward his tent. He couldn't see the guy clearly, then he noticed who this guy was; it was Takera. As he looked on, Takera clearly was coming to enter, so Drake turned back and sat down on his bed.

(Will post lines soon)