Hello folks. We'll be doing a very slight reboot since the most recent thread wasn't archived. I know it's been a few years since the last episode of Boruto Quest, so for those who may not be familiar I can answer any questions you may have.

https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Boruto%20Quest

This is the list of archived threads for those who may be interested or looking to refresh their memories.

We'll be picking up with a slightly altered version of events from the end of the most recent archived thread.

---

After a harsh day of training, you're on your walk home when Kakashi Hatake leaps down from a rooftop and lands nearby. His eyes say that he's smiling as he speaks. "Hey there, Takeshi. Glad to see you're back. Hopefully Sasuke wasn't too unbearable."

You shrug. "Well, it was intended to be learning experience. It certainly was."

He nods. "I'm sure. I think he borrowed some of his teaching strategies from me, possibly..."

"Ai said as much." you chuckle. "She seemed grateful for it. It wasn't as rough on her as it was the rest of us."

Kakashi sighs. "Yeah. Naruto and Sakura are a little too easy on their kids, I think. Sasuke being rough around the edges might actually be useful for once."

He reaches into his robe, and pulls out a sealed letter. "This is for you, by the way. From the Hokage. Someone else was going to deliver it, but I figured I'd go ahead and welcome you back. So, welcome."

>>5330751
You take it, and grin widely. "Thanks, Kakashi! It's good to be back. I already feel like my training is improving from a refreshed environment. Working with Sasuke was great, but I was starting to feel a bit burned out."

He nods. "Understandable. Anyways, I'll see you around."

You head home, and take a shower before preparing to open the letter. Breaking the quite old fashioned wax seal on it, you unfold the paper and peer at the message.

Apparently you need to be ready for a mission in two days. The information regarding this one is more sensitive than most, so you're not going to be told much else for now. All you know is that you're headed towards one of the larger cities in the Leaf. The same city in which you fought Shozuku to a standstill, once and for all.

After eating, and relaxing for a while, you decide that tomorrow should be used to unwind before the mission. Though you're not sure what to do, yet. You ponder over it as you drift off to sleep.

The next morning, you take your sweet time eating breakfast, watching the news, and checking various websites.

As you're starting to get ready to leave the house, you suddenly look around the living room. You have a couch, a coffee table, a game system, as well as a pantry and fridge stocked full of snacks.

Looking out the window, you notice that it's actually quite cloudy and gray to today. There's a sprinkle of rain on the window.

Maybe today you could just stay inside and chill some more.

>>5330752
You take off your clothes, and change into a pair of gray sweat pants. You take out a small laptop that you and your brother share, and put it on the coffee table as you turn the television on. The TV plays the news as you mess around online, sipping a cup of green tea.

The news says that there's a highway being built from Sunagakure to Konohagakure. It's intended to help both of the villages. Simultaneously linking mining resources from the Sand, and tourism and technology from the Leaf. Security is a large concern, as allowing such free movement between two countries is a new concept entirely.

You wonder how long it will be before each nation is linked by heavily guarded highways.

As you look around online, you investigate a number of weird rumors circulating around town. Most of them seem to be pretty bogus. Spirits angry over the industrialization of the environment, Jashinist Cultists tricking people online into dangerous stunts. The type of thing you'd see on the History channel.

Suddenly, you discover one rumor that you just so happen to know to be true.

There's a forum dedicated to government conspiracy theories, and one poster is convinced he knows something about an underground facility.

He's even going into off topic threads, and spamming his beliefs in them. Apparently it's a research facility of some kind, used to abduct orphans and mutate them into frankenstein slave-soldiers. You roll your eyes at this. You do find it odd that someone would think the Leaf would do that to it's own people, though.

Sure, years ago, people like Danto, Itachi, and even Sasuke plotted to undermine the Leaf. But that was a different, war torn era. You glance out the rainy window of your living room again, at the skyscrapers in the distance. It's peaceful, and serene.

That's enough relaxing at home for now. Is there anything you want to do? You have today and tomorrow to spend freely before your mission.

>A. Walk around town
>B. Go to the weapons shop
>C. Go to the Academy
>D. Go to the training ground
>E. Visit someone else (Write-in)

Holy Fuck, I thought I wouldn't live to see the day. Welcome back.
>E. Visit someone else (Roku)
I've been wanting to get his blood techniques since forever.
Also what did we lose from last thread, we were gonna fight the chakra armors from sunogakure or whatever its called... and that's about it. We had started making bubble clones too.

>>5330779
Originally you were in Yukigakure, snow village. Yes. To be frank I don't remember the immediate plotline I had going with that/the thread didn't get archived so we'll be splitting off in a new path. Apologies for any inconvenience.

>>5330779
Update incoming

As you're preparing to leave, you think of who to visit. Roku pops into your mind. His various techniques revolving around using his blood as a weapon are pretty interesting. It's fairly common for you to end up in situations where you're bleeding, so why not take advantage of it? Throwing in your jacket and gear, you head outside to find the man in question.

You've never actually been to Roku's house, but it was a trivial matter to text Shizune and get his address. His family lives several blocks away from yours, in a different apartment complex. Seeing as there's no hurry, you enjoy a calm walk to his place.

Once you've arrived, you buzz into his apartment building. A woman answers, presumably his mother. "Is Roku home? I was hoping to ask him for some assistance."

She's quite happy to collect him, and just a few moments later Roku is on the intercom. "Hello? Who is it?"

You chuckle. "Oh yeah, guess I didn't say. It's Takeshi. I was hoping you could show me some techniques!"

"Hold on." He says. "I'll be right down."

In the meantime, you turn and look at the scenery in the Leaf village. The updated modern look is still odd to you, though it's certainly vibrant and youthful.

Roku arrives, stepping down the short stairs onto the sidewalk. Now that he's older he's even bigger and stronger. He's not the size of Kichirou by any measure, but he is thick and muscular. He's wearing a dark purple sleeveless shirt and baggy gray pants. You notice that his hair is a little bit longer, and tied back into a short ponytail. "So, you want assistance, eh? What was it you wanted to learn?"

You grin. "Those blood jutsu that you can do! They're really something."

His shoulders slump. "No way. That's an original. I worked really hard to come up with that, man. I'm gonna teach it to my sole apprentice or my kid or something and that's it."

You frown.

He looks to the side. "Tell you what. We can spar, if that works. That will benefit us both. I don't want to teach you really though. It's not anything personal, but I don't want to make a guy I consider a rival stronger."

You blink. "We're rivals?"

He facepalms.

>A. Spar with Roku
>B. No thanks, I just wanted to train. I could get hurt sparring.
>C. I have a mission in two days. Wouldn't wanna get hurt. But when I get back, sure thing.
>D. Write-in

>>5330814
>>A. Spar with Roku
Sounds fun, might as well. So, did Roku ever get better at getting dates?

>>5330814
>A. Spar with Roku
>Best boy time.

>>5330819
>>5330822

Update incoming.

>>5330819
He did, yes. He's a successful medic shinobi which is always held in high regard. As well as maturing a bit.

>>5330819
>>5330822
Although the thoughts of the upcoming mission sit on the back of your mind, you can't pass up a chance to catch up with an old friend like this. Before answering, you lean back slightly and observe Roku.

You grin slyly. "Sure, we can spar. But I have a condition for you, Roku."

He stiffens, furrowing his brow slightly. It's odd for you to ever be anything but easygoing and relaxed. For you to add on a condition could mean anything. "What is it?" he says, watching you carefully. Looking back at him behind a calm poker face, you wonder if he's thinking about paying you back for the chunin exam prelims.

"Neither of us holds back. We fight like it's an official match in a tournament."

He gulps, visibly surprised at your challenge. "Well, I guess your time with Sasuke has vastly improved your confidence, huh?"

If your hunch is right, you may be able to lead him into a fight now. Fighting in a public space would suit your more compact abilities, while his destructive blood techniques would be limited.

Or, you could lead him to the training stage for more of a fair match. How do you want to approach?

>A. Suggest that you begin the spar right now.
>B. Suggest that you go to the training field
>C. Suggest you get a small snack first, and take a walk before going to the training field.
>D. Write-in

>>5330847
>>A. Suggest that you begin the spar right now.
No time like the present

>>5330847
>A. Suggest that you begin the spar right now.
No such thing as a fair fight. Always gotta be ready to throw down.

>>5330852
>>5330857
Word!

Update incoming

>>5330852
>>5330857
One of your index fingers twitches.

Roku notices this. His eyes snap down to your hands, and then back up to your gaze. His brow furrows even deeper, and his stance widens slightly. He begins to slowly draw a hand towards his weapons pouch. "So, I think we're both thinkin the same thing, huh?"

You grin. "You betcha. Isn't it more interesting that way, after all? It's unrealistic to always be fighting in the training fields. That's what Sasuke said, at least. You'll never get good training that way, you gotta learn to adapt to the-"

He whips out a kunai from his weapon's pouch and slashes at you with it. You lean back just far enough, still grinning. "-situation!"

You drop down to your feet, and spin into a sweeping kick. The Leaf Cyclone is like a reflex for you at times, yet as fast as you are Roku managed to anticipate it. He leaps out of the way, putting a hand on the wall of his apartment complex behind him and sticking to it. With his free hand he's still holding a kunai, and looking down at you. "Sorry for the cheap shot, but you made a big impression on everyone by beating Sarada with your speed before you left. We've all talked about how fast you probably are now.."

He throws the kunai, and flips off the building over you. It's trivial for you to sidestep the knife. You still have plenty of time to intercept Roku as he's falling. Based on his current arc, he'll probably land in the center of the road.]He'll have a hard time dodging from this position in the air.

>A. Water Style: Starch Syrup Capture Field. Spray sticky goop where he's going to land, and trap him in place.
>B. Use your Fatigue Genjutsu as he lands to drain his energy as the battle goes on. You used this to defeat him in your last spar.
>C. Throw a flash bomb, and then attack him with overwhelming-taijutsu
>D. Write-in

>>5330883
>>A. Water Style: Starch Syrup Capture Field. Spray sticky goop where he's going to land, and trap him in place.

>>5330883
>A. Water Style: Starch Syrup Capture Field. Spray sticky goop where he's going to land, and trap him in place.

Slowing or pinning Roku down will save us a lot of trouble, keeping out of his range is the best plan. Freeing us up to use genjutsu or ninja tools.

>>5330889
>>5330892
update incoming

After the required handseals, you hold your hand to your mouth and begin to spray a viscous clear goop along the road where Roku is going to land. It says 'starch' in the name, but honestly you're not entirely sure. It seems as if it's going to be a sure thing, with no way for him to alter his trajectory. That's what you had been thinking, at least..

Roku finishes the handsigns he'd been going through, the final one being a clap. He releases his own torrent of liquid from his mouth, but this one is a highly pressurized stream. The stream strikes the ground with enough force to not only partially disperse your Capture Field, but also alter Roku's trajectory.

He lands with a flip, facing you with a combat stance.

From what you can tell, it's true that you have the speed advantage. But he's still perfectly capable of reacting with his own jutsu. There's no reason to believe that Roku's been slacking off, especially if he considers you a rival as he said.

You notice that he's not attacking you, currently. That would have been his chance there, after that jutsu. Yet, behind you is his own apartment complex. You don't have to imagine what kind of earful he'd get from his mother for blasting the place with a powerful jutsu or something.

There's a brief standstill. A mother and her son quickly pass between you two, excusing themselves. As they make haste to exit the area, it seems you're safe to continue fighting.

You take the moment to fully assess Roku's potential abilities. He's capable of using high level water style jutsu, as you've just seen. He's also powerful in Taijutsu thanks to his training with his sensei, Rock Lee. If that wasn't enough trouble, he's also capable of powerful medical ninjutsu. He's most dangerous in close range, because of this. How do you want to approach the spar from here?

>A. Attempt to overwhelm him with your speed and Taijutsu. (Hold back Dragon Boxing)
>B. Attempt to overwhelm him with your speed and Taijutsu (Use Dragon Boxing)
>C. Try to poison him at long range with senbon, and if he moves to heal the poison, attack with more powerful long range jutsu.
>D. Summon Danpei the Owl for additional support.
>E. Write-in

>>5330908
>B. Attempt to overwhelm him with your speed and Taijutsu (Use Dragon Boxing)

Square up. He would be expecting us to try and lame him out with genjutsu after our trap failed.

>>5330908
>E. Do your signature Water+Haze Clones barrage, and set up a Substitution Jutsu for a rainy day.
It is in fact a rainy day. Tho can I really call it our signature when the hokage does it better all the time?

>>5330908
>C. Try to poison him at long range with senbon, and if he moves to heal the poison, attack with more powerful long range jutsu.

Fuck you Mini. Not for being gone so long but making me think it was 2016 again when I saw this thread.

>>5330924
>>5330933
>>5330924
>>5330933
We're tied between these two choices. Personally I think both are good. We'll do a 15 minute extension for another vote to come in

>>5330942
my b lol. also your vote was slightly too late, sorry. Also my internet cut out briefly just now,

>>5330933
I'll change to B

It's great to see you back again, Mini. However, I have to go to sleep so I'll have to read the thread later.

>>5330924
>>5330965
B it is then, update is incoming

>>5330967

Thanks anon, and everyone else as well.

I will probably finish shortly as I also have to sleep.

Holy shit. No fucking way. It's back?!

After Mini's Twitter account died, I just about lost all hope for this. I'm glad to see you back, my dude.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZeMz2Egy-Y

Today, you decide to waste no time at all. Instead of slowly measuring his new abilities against his old, you intend to put him in a situation where he has to try to quickly assess what you're doing instead!"

Thanks to your enhanced speed, a single light step is enough to close the distance between the two of you in an instant. When this happens, Roku's eyes go wide with surprise. He releases an uppercut at you, punching from the waist with a relaxed hand. You lean to the side ever so slightly, the punch going wide. If you had really been concentrating, you might have been able to cause the punch to miss from an even closer distance.

As your speed increases, your mastery of the striking range also seems to enhance.

After slipping the punch, you use the momentum to shift your weight to the right side and set up your own attack. It's a right, directly in Roku's stomach. As the punch is in it's mid-way point, you activate the jet-boosting effect of your Dragon Boxing. From the elbow, a jet of flame rockets the iron-hard punch forward at an even greater velocity.

Roku barely has enough time to bring his arms down to block. He crosses them over his stomach, just in the nick of time. If he hadn't reacted, the spar may well be over from that one blow.

Roku still goes flying, a burst of wind blowing back dust and grass from the impact. He's sent clear across the street, crashing into a postbox and demolishing it. Roku scrambles to his feet, panting. His arms are both already deeply bruised.

The particularly dangerous thing about your punches against people with no special defense is the penetrative power they have. Your superior speed, combined with the iron hard conditioning, and the extra velocity of the Dragon Boxing has turned even your most basic blows into lethal weapons.

Across the street, Roku has begun to heal himself. He starts to talk, making no effort to disguise the fact he's buying himself time.

"What a punch! I'm not even sure how to begin to break that down. You know, I was sure that after all these years you were going to be powerful, but whatever that jutsu is.. You're out of this world, Takeshi. Here I was afraid of your 'Boil' style jutsu that people have been talking about."

He lowers his hands, having healed his arms fully. It's apparent his growth as a medic has been smooth. Injuries of that level would certainly take you longer than a few seconds. You have the edge in power in speed, but you know better than anyone that doesn't mean you can let your guard down...

---

That's all for tonight folks, although we'll be resuming shortly. I'm going to be running every wednesday ideally, though I will also try to find time to update threads periodically in the week, so keep checking back.

I'll be around a bit longer for questions and such.

>>5330993
First things first welcome back!

Secondly, how have things been? Not trying to intrude or anything but it's been a while.

>>5330993
Welcome back mini.
Gotta say I'm glad to see this continue! It has been a while but still feels like I started reading along just yesterday.

>>5331014
Thanks. It's been going well, I have a dog now so that's awesome. My new job has a super regular schedule so I figured since I have the time I should get back to running this. I dearly want to follow through on all my old plots.

>>5331021
Thank you. I'm psyched to see there's still old fans around even all this time later

>>5330993
Welcome back, Mini! As for my question... Do you have a new Twitter or something to follow for updates on your quest, or did you have something else in mind?

>>5331066
I'll make a new twitter later on and post it here, yes. I'd almost forgotten my last one was compromised by bots selling knockoff handbags and such lol

>>5331078
Aha, that explains it, gotcha.

Well, I'm glad to see the return of the best Naruto quest. I'll have to reread the archives again sometime.

>>5331126
Speaking of the archive... I found the 'Snow Ninja' thread. You can find it by searching the title 'Boruto' in the archives, rather than the tag "Boruto Quest". This is likely due to the misarchiving of the tag 'Bourto Quest' (rather than the correct 'Boruto Quest'). Incidentally, you can also find the 'missing' threads like Boruto Quest #4 to Boruto Quest #7, so I recommend any newcomers or archive divers use this link instead.

https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?searchall=Boruto

>>5331130
Thanks, I appreciate that. Sometimes the archives can be a bit slippery.

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>>5330749
Holy fuck, you are back? Awesome!

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Welcome back Mini, imagine my surprise when I'm browsing the board to see it's mostly full of garbage that'll be abandoned in a few days and I find that you've made a new thread! No pressure, but I sincerely hope that life lets you keep updating, at least for a little while, as your quest was the original deal that got me into this whole weird hobby in the first place.

>>5330749
Holy shit, it's good to see you back Mini. Great to see this back up and running.

>Miniseries_Anon is back
Oh.
Shit.
Welp, guess it's time for another reread of Boruto Quest.
Great to have yah back, MA.

>>5331346
>>5332553
>>5333799
>>5334794
Thanks everyone.

https://twitter.com/AnonMiniseries/status/1547037526531112967

This will be my new twitter, for updates on when threads will continue. Keep in mind I may do the odd couple updates throughout the week, but primarily I intend to run on wednesday nights.

>>5337097

Glad to hear it, Mini! Excited for the next set of updates!

https://pastebin.com/cTAtJphL

Updated skills. Just fixed a minor error and added your dragon boxing

Roku isn't interested in giving you an opportunity to make the first move. He begins by performing several handsigns and summoning a small squad of water clones to surround him in a protective formation. There's 5 of them altogether. The three in the front crouch down, while the two at his flank begin to perform handsigns of their own. Meanwhile, the original keeps this up as well.

At this point, you begin to move. No point in letting him get set up any further. He uses the Water Whip Jutsu, and coats his hand in liquid. It can extend into a whipping blow at any point now. You know Roku is smart, and he probably has a wide variety of jutsu under his command at this point. The more time you give him to think, the worse off you'll be. You opt to keep up the pressure and launch directly at him at high speed.

The two water clones at his sides begin to fire water bullets, trying to catch you as you advance. You're able to quickly stop and turn, dashing in a zig zag pattern and avoiding the blasts. As you're dashing and dodging, you manage to throw a couple kunai. The blades pierce one of the clones in front, and one that was shooting bullets. In a burst of water they collapse to the ground.

The water whip suddenly comes flying at you in an arc, and crashes into the ground with a painful crack. You leap to the side, narrowly avoiding it and skidding to a stop. His clones adjust their formation, one moving to cover Roku's rightflank again. There are three clones left, in total.

You're much closer now, about 2 meters away from the small group. What do you want to do?

>A. Great Fireball Jutsu on the whole group (Sustained stream)
>B. Use the Afterimage technique to speed behind Roku and attack him unseen
>C. Use Boil Release: Soap Spray on the whole group
>D. Use your Dragon Boxing to attack directly. Mix attacks at range and from afar.
>E. Write-in

Taijutsu: 3.5
Ninjutsu: 3.5
Genjutsu: 2.0
Strength: 3.0
Speed: 2.5
Intelligence: 3.5
Chakra Control: 4.0
Stamina: 3.5

These are Roku's stats. If you know the stats of the opponent in question I'll post them (unless I forget, in which case feel free to ask)

>>5338047
>>B. Use the Afterimage technique to speed behind Roku and attack him unseen

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>>5338047
>B. Use the Afterimage technique to speed behind Roku and attack him unseen
>SPEED

>>5338054
>>5338071
Update incoming

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUDVm69z2rQ&ab_channel=HGhaleon

Crouching down into a running start, your fingertips lightly touch the street. Your concentration heightens to it's uptmost limits as you prepare to move with the greatest speed you can muster, so fast as to produce an illusion. The key is to dodge at the absolute last moment, and then strike from an unseen angle.

The training for this move was brutal. Sasuke would repeatedly come at you with attacks while you attempted to perform the technique. Thankfully he wouldn't use his Sharingan, but even then it was nigh impossible. Against anyone else, it feels fairly doable in comparison. The two clones on his flanks fire off more water bullets, and just as the first appears to strike your face, it phases through the Afterimage. The illusion flickers out of existence, and Roku and the clones can't help but show shocked expressions.

They all search around for where you may be, some looking up, others looking down the street. Roku himself begins to turn around, his cheek turning just in time to meet your iron fist. His head is whipped to the side, and he stumbles over the clone that was kneeling in front of him. The Water Whip he was holding dissipates. The two clones at his flanks turn to face you, prepared to attack. The left one rushes in with a front kick. You react by stepping to the side to evade the direct attack narrowly, and then you strike before the clone can recover with a fierce low kick to it's exposed leg. It splashes into nothing, and the other clone rushes what it presumes to be your blind spot. Of course, you're already turning around and bringing your leg up into a spinning kick directly into the clone's midsection. It's blasted back into a spray of mist.

Roku and his remaining clone both stand up. Roku is healing his swollen face. Even though you pulled your punch, it landed with twice as much force from him turning into it. The Leaf Chunin in front of you has his brow furrowed, and a bit of blood leaks out of the corner of his mouth. The clone next to him holds fast, standing for protection should you decide to rush while Roku heals. After a moment, he speaks. "I was hoping to make you use your Soap Style techniques before I brought out my new jutsu, but I guess your speed is just too much.."

>>5338094
He goes through a short series of handsigns, and beautifully clear water swirls and gathers in his hand, forming a rough sphere. small tendrils extend from the liquid sphere and wrap around Roku's wrist, before he places it on his shoulder. "Medical Water Release: JellyFish Jutsu."

This time, he performs the seals for his Chakra Scalpel Jutsu. His hands begin to glow a bright blue, and the strange orb sits on his shoulder. The water clone stands at the ready still.

How do you want to proceed?

>A. Continue being direct. Use your Dragon Boxing to overwhelm him at close range.
>B. Use the Haze Clone Jutsu and attack him using a variety of needles from different angles. Poisoned, bells, and without bells.
>C. Use the Roof Tile Shuriken Jutsu to attack Roku and his clone with the remains of the postbox you crashed him into. Be prepared for his counter attack.
>D. Write-in

>>5338096
>B. Use the Haze Clone Jutsu and attack him using a variety of needles from different angles. Poisoned, bells, and without bells.

>>5338105
Update incoming

>>5338105
Once you us the Haze Clone Jutsu, the entire mood shifts. As your Chakra Control increased during your training, so did the quantity of clones you could create. The illusory copies fill the road front to back, only leaving a small circle around Roku and his clone. If there were more space, say, like an open field, you would actually be capable of creating far more Haze Clones these days.

This will certainly be enough for now, though. Roku looks around with an annoyed glare. "I can't exactly cast any broadly destructive jutsu thanks to all the civilian buildings around. Good thinking having me fight here.. You're way more suited to-"

Ignoring his attempts to stall for time by talking you throw several needles at the water clone from behind and destroy it. Before Roku can turn to see where they came from, you've already dashed to another point and thrown a needle with a bell on it. He hears the ring of the bell as it flies towards him, and backsteps it. This time you dash through the clones so that you're hidden in front of him, and toss three poisoned senbon towards his midsection. Making them dodge first and then intercepting them before they can recover is yet another way Sasuke taught you to land attacks.

Roku reaches down and the needles strike his forearm instead of his midsection. He simply reacted, but this allows him to easily pully out the poisoned senbon. He immediately begins to remove the poison using a jutsu. It's going to take him slightly longer to do this than simply healing himself. Now that he's got his Chakra Scalpel deactivated, what do you want to do?

>A. Dash out from the clones and attack him with fast taijutsu
>B. Jump and use the Phoenix Flower Jutsu to attack him as he removes the poison.
>C. Use False Sense: Fatigue to wear down Roku's stamina over time
>D. Write-in

>>5338127
>>A. Dash out from the clones and attack him with fast taijutsu

File: naruto-sasuke.gif (6.66 MB, 498x278)

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>>5338127
>A. Dash out from the clones and attack him with fast taijutsu

Keep the pressure up and interrupt his attempts to heal the poison.

>>5338133
>>5338141
Update incoming

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwPI2R9QH6E&ab_channel=JapaneseMusicCenter

Before he can finish the signs, you're upon him. The only reason you didn't dash directly in before was because of his Chakra Scalpels. You know firsthand how dangerous they can be, especially from Roku himself. Of course, he'll have to preform the seals to utilize it again.

You smirk. You won't give him that chance. You slide your foot forward, and push off with your rear leg to fly into a straight punch. Roku manages to duck under it in the nick of time, but you skid to a stop in front of him and press your forearms on top of the back of his neck to push him down. Even though he's a little bit taller than you, and considerably stronger physically, from this position you have a great amount of leverage.

With all the force you can muster, you swing your iron hard kneecap up into his face again and again. he puts his arms in front to block it, but it's only partially effective, and his arms are just as hurt. He wrestles way from your grip, spinning around and coming back with a big overhand punch. You throw your guard up and pivot off of your foot, deflecting the shot off of your steel forearm. Roku stumbles forward, having been thrown off balance by your parry. From here, you whip a roundhouse kick up at his face. Your shin is like a baseball bat when it strikes his face, and his nose audibly crunches from the impact. As you bring back your leg, blood splashes on the road.

Roku stumbles, and falls to his knees. You had assumed that the battle was over, but you're shocked when he suddenly rises and throws a series of punches at you. Blood still streaming from his face, you lean back and use footwork to avoid the blows. That's when you notice the orb of water on his shoulder glowing. Healing energy pulses from it, restoring Roku's nose to it's former unbroken state.

>>5338161

As you're dodging, he suddenly stops and flings a series of senbon at you from close range. You move laterally to avoid them, surprised at the sudden change in flow. When you turn to look at him, you see that Roku has performed a few handsigns. The orb on his shoulder has evaporated as well, having accomplished it's purpose. You retreat back into the crowd of Haze Clones.

He claps his hands, water surrounding them. He pulls them apart, and the water stretches out and extends into two insect-like scythes on his arms. They extend a couple feet, and have crescent blades. "Medical Water Release: Praying Mantis Jutsu."

If you had to guess, the large crescent claws function similar to huge Chakra Scalpels. Even if you're faster than him, with the range on those things, close range could be dangerous if a single swipe can be disabling. However, your poison is still in his system, and the Haze Clones are still giving you cover.

What do you want to do from here?

>A. Use Water Clones to distract him, and then set up the Paralyzing Bells
>B. Use Chakra Scalpel and your speed to try and disable his arms
>C. Use False Sound to distract him momentarily with an illusion of a civilian, and then cast Ephemeral on him when his attention turns back to you.
>D. Write-in

>>5338162
>>C. Use False Sound to distract him momentarily with an illusion of a civilian, and then cast Ephemeral on him when his attention turns back to you.

>>5338162
>C. Use False Sound to distract him momentarily with an illusion of a civilian, and then cast Ephemeral on him when his attention turns back to you.

>>5338162
I've noticed that we're being a lot more direct and aggressive in this fight that how we usually would be before. We didn't get so far by raw power, but rather through trickery and playing the long game by wearing our opponents down with illusions and genjutsu. While we are a lot stronger now, I don't think we should abandon our roots, because I doubt we'll ever reach the level of raw bullshittery as some of the original cast and even our own class. So, I'm going with;

>D. Hidden mist jutsu to fill the area with thick fog, then False Sound to make him hear his mother yelling at us to stop fighting, and then cast Bubble Bomb towards him while his back is turned.

>>5338174
Keeping momentum is a pretty valid tactic as far as I know. And using our bigger jutsu in the middle of the village is a bit rude.

>>5338165
>>5338170
Update incoming

>>5338174
While you're right that a keep-away game is typically a pretty good play, I think you gives have been doing a smart mix of hit-and-run here. Though you attack directly at times, you've been doing it at moments he's off balance.basedpk

>>5338181
One day I will stop typing the captcha into the text field

You wait for a moment to see what Roku's going to do from here.

It appears that now that his hands are covered he can't perform any additional jutsu. Good, no more surprises for the time being. That probably means he's going to try and anticipate your next attack from the clones and intercept it, as opposed to beating you to the punch. It seems like your speed has demoralized him over the course of the fight. If it wasn't for his ability to heal himself, he probably would have had to stop a while ago. Of course, you could always just wait him out now that he's poisoned, but he may start swiping through your clones and looking for you.

You go through the signs for False Sound, and target him. It only takes a moment for the pulse of silent chakra to reach Roku, who's standing at the ready for anything out of the ordinary. In his mind, the illusory voice of a young boy calls out from over his shoulder. "Help, I'm hurt! I fell, what's going on out here!?"

Lucky for you, Roku is a pretty genuinely friendly guy. He turns over his shoulder to look, baffled that anyone might come this close to two shinobi fighting. "Hello? Where are you? I can come and heal you!"

He turns back, presumably to speak to you. "Takeshi, we should put a hold on-"

When his eyes meet your finger, he is already inside of your Genjutsu. He just doesn't know it yet. Within the Genjutsu, you begin to explain that the voice he was hearing was merely a Genjutsu.

Roku blinks. "A..Genjutsu? So you just wanted to get close to me, then?"

In the illusion, you are still standing at a distance from him. In reality, you are now at arms length from him, holding a kunai to his throat. In the illusion, you continue to explain. "Well, I just needed to set my trigger off in order to land THIS genjutsu that you're inside of right now. In reality, I have a knife to your throat. The spar is over, my friend. It would have been a little suspicious had you not responded to a kid crying out in pain though, haha! I guess that was a little cheap."

You prick him with the blade, ending the illusion. His water-blades splash against the road harmlessly, dissipating. He blinks again, his eyes going wide. From his perspective, it must have appeared as if you had suddenly teleported. "That was.. something else. Who'd of guessed you'd have a genjutsu of that level. I can see the difference in our training."

Putting the blade back in your pocket, you smile.

>A. I've come a long way since our first fight in the prelims.
>B. You've gotten stronger too, though. You've got some jutsu I've never seen before.
>C. It's only because of Sasuke's training. Without him I'd never have learned Ephemeral, or be this fast.
>D. Write-in

>>5338174
Roku is familiar with our tricks. So he probably knows what to expect and how to counter them. we gotta surprise him and mix it up.

>>5338194
>>A. I've come a long way since our first fight in the prelims.
>B. You've gotten stronger too, though. You've got some jutsu I've never seen before.
You are gonna have to get Ai's number on your own, hehe.

>>5338194
>A. I've come a long way since our first fight in the prelims.
>B. You've gotten stronger too, though. You've got some jutsu I've never seen before.

>>5338198
>>5338223
Update incoming

Also, anybody got the old art of young/adult Takeshi? I know I can trawl through the archives for it, but I'm hoping one of you bros has it saved.

You grin. "I've come a long way from our fight in the prelims."

He wipes his brow, clearing it of sweat. "Yeah, no kidding. You had improved a lot before you'd even left with Sasuke. It seems like whatever training you went through has pushed you into a whole new class of ninja. That's how it seemed to be for the ones who got to train with Naruto, as well."

"You've gotten stronger too, though. You've got some jutsu I've never seen before." You start to pick up the needles that are scattered about, while listening to him. He follows, putting his hands in his pockets. "Thanks. They're pretty rare, but if you combine water release with medical jutsu you can create some interesting effects. I'm really only just getting a hand on it. It's an extension of my Blood based jutsu, in a way."

Once you're done, you turn to him and smile. "You're pretty determined on creating your own style of jutsu, huh?"

He nods. "Yeah, I want to start my own clan, hopefully. Invent a powerful enough technique, keep it hidden, and pass it down. That's all it takes I think. You should think about doing that with your Boil release techniques. They're really unique. Anyway, this was fun, but I need to get back to my mom and finish helping her with some stuff. Then I'm gonna brush up on my strategy. Start thinking of how to deal with speed.."

Roku sighs, and walks away, giving you a thumbs up as he does. "Later!" you say, waving. As you turn, you wipe the sweat off of your brow as well. You may not have gotten hit, but using Ephemeral always takes a large chunk of your chakra pool. You'll have to be careful if you get into anymore little tussles for the rest of the day. It's about afternoon now. There's the rest of tonight, and the whole day tomorrow before your mission. Where do you want to go now?

>A. Go to the training field to work on something
>B. Go to the Academy to research something
>C. Go to Ichiraku Ramen to get something to eat
>D. Write-in

>>5338234
>>A. Go to the training field to work on something
Let's get started on the bubble clones

>>5338234
>C. Go to Ichiraku Ramen to get something to eat
We gotta keep our energy up, and who knows, maybe we'll run into somebody at the ramen joint.

>>5338239
>>5338240
I'll keep votes open for another 15 minutes for the tie to be broken

>>5338234
>C. Go to Ichiraku Ramen to get something to eat

>>5338234
>C. Go to Ichiraku Ramen to get something to eat

>>5338240
>>5338255
>>5338256

Update incoming

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAGvQDoL5s4&ab_channel=ssj5Bardock

When you think about it, you actually haven't eaten very much today. After a workout like that, you think some food is in order. Opting to save your energy, you merely stroll your way to Ichiraku ramen as opposed to dashing there. Now that the fight between you and Roku is over, people start coming out onto the street again. A few of them are grumbling about shinobi battling in the streets, and others look frightened, but most seem not to really mind.

If it were you, you'd love watching people fight, but you're probably a bit biased on that. You decide not to think about it too much on your way to the shop.

After a short while, you arrive. There's many different chain locations of Ichiraku's these days, but as always you prefer the original shop with the original owner. The recipe may be the same everywhere, but you're sure the personal touch matters. As you approach, you happen to spot two old friends of yours. Both Sarada and Boruto are just now seating themselves at Ichiraku's.

You approach, and call out with a smile. "Hey, guys. I see we had the same idea."

Sarada and Boruto both turn to meet you. Sarada raises her eyebrow, and Boruto grins and waves. "Hey Takeshi!" he yells. "Me and Sarada were sparring, decided to get some grub. How about you?"

You walk into the shop and sit down next to Boruto. Next to him is Sarada in the corner, watching the two of you. She's well accustomed to your antics. "I was sparring Roku."

"Did you win?" Sarada asks, leaning forward. She takes a drink from her iced tea, which the server has already provided.

You nod. "Yeah. I took every advantage I could to do it, though. Fighting him in the street was a good idea."

Sarada squints. "You're always so sneaky with things like that. Well, regardless, great job. Order something."

You sit down and start to look through the small menu with Boruto. It has a streamlined menu full of delicious options. Naturally, you go for the deluxe pork ramen, being especially hungry..

---

That's all for tonight folks. I'll be around for a bit for some questions. Keep an eye on my twitter https://twitter.com/AnonMiniseries as I may update throughout the week sporadically. Other than that, Wednesdays will be my regular day. Thank you for attending this session, hope you look forward to the next!

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>>5338260
Forgot this image of your friends

>>5338260
Aw man, looks like I missed this session. Nice to wake up to updates, though! Thanks for running, Mini!

>>5338269
No problem anon. Follow the twitter for the best chance at catching updates/threads

>>5338364
Will do! Thanks again.

>>5338364
Hey mini, some training related questions.
Could we learn to do this https://naruto.fandom.com/wiki/Wind_Release:_Gale_Palm but with Steam?
Also, can Takeshi stack genjutsu already? And is that more chakra cost effective than using Ephemeral?

>>5339089
>https://naruto.fandom.com/wiki/Wind_Release:_Gale_Palm

Functionally, it's pretty close to boosting your mobility using your Dragon Boxing. You could learn something like that, but personally I think it would be a bit redundant. You can't stack Genjutsu, no.

Ephemeral may be very expensive but with that cost comes a host of benefits. The first being the illusion can be whatever you want it to be and the trigger is relatively easy to land compared to some jutsu.

Layering multiple genjutsu together is a master level technique (imo)

>>5339352
Fair enough, I mainly wanted it for throwing things.

My problem with Ephemeral is that it's limited to one target and there has been a few team fights. But if stacking requires specialization I'm fine with leaving it as our last genjutsu.

>>5339392
I'm considering restricting stacking to Uchiha, as it's so powerful.

Keep in mind Uchiha is one of the clans you can "join" by obtaining a set of eyes..

>>5339409
I'm not sure if I can endorse more Uchiha favoritism and I don't really wanna trade eyes for powerups, feels cheap. If Takeshi rips an eye out of some Otsutsuki then it's cool.

So are we going for Sarada, or are anons still lusting for the Snow(?) Village queen? Although I suppose that if we get rejected by both of them, there's always Choji's daughter.

>>5340019
Most people are probably still aiming for the Hyuuga girl

>>5340035
Who? Himawari? Or is there another one, because Hima's a bit young for us I think.

>>5340019
I was team Ai until we got evil brother zoned. Now I just don't care.

>>5340166
I forgot about Ai. Shit, I'm gonna have to reread this quest. Again.

>>5340173
The only girl who could match our battle autism. She's probably a monster now with that four arm move she had.

>>5340019
There's always Mari, who we went on a date with a couple threads ago. I'm not normally a Hyuuga fan, but I like the chemistry she has with Takeshi.

>>5340035
>>5340049
Mari, Ten-ten and Neji's daughter.

>>5340019
I want Sarada, but Takeshi already went on a date with Mari and that might as well be a route lock to me.
...unless I'm remembering things slightly off and that bit never happened.

>>5340363
You give up too easily, anon. Especially since everyone apparently forgot about Mari's existence.

>>5340386
>>5340363
Yeah, I did straight up forget about Ai and Mari. To be fair, it's been four years since the last thread, so a little forgetfulness makes sense. Hopefully we get a chance to catch up with the main cast before the main arc really begins.

File: Shippuden Takeshi.png (229 KB, 742x1208)

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Also I found the art for post timeskip Takeshi. I find it somewhat hard to imagine goofy friendly Takeshi looking like such a chad, but maybe we'll grow into it over time.

>>5340403
I think something that helps to cancel out your mature appearance is that you're more casual and relaxed interpersonally now. So while you're more attractive you're also more upbeat and casual. In the past you could be described as "flat"

>>5340390
Yeah it's going to be a task to reintroduce everyone in full lol. If anyone has any questions about anything, whether that be characters, relationships, techniques, ect. then feel free to ask. I will answer to the best of my ability. I've just recently re-read the quest myself so I should be fairly sharp on it.

>>5340166
Getting "Evil brother zoned" has to be one of the worst friendzonings of all time. That's fate. You can't fight that.

>>5340363
There's no aforementioned "lock", but there may be consequences to going on dates with multiple girls. It's not like you guys have even kissed yet though.

>>5340417
>There's no aforementioned "lock", but there may be consequences to going on dates with multiple girls. It's not like you guys have even kissed yet though.

Mari *does* seem like the kind of girl who would disapprove of us going on dates with multiple girls, even if we haven't committed to anything.

That being said...

Mari > Nyoko > Ai = Sarada > Yasu = Kayo > Himawari > Chocho. With the secret Shikadai route being about on par with Nyoko route, I'd say.

>>5340417
I feel like you could've just not done that, but in retrospect it's kinda funny. And our super autismo kids would've broke the setting so it's only fair.

>>5340497
Yeah it was a purely aesthetic choice at the time. I'm a huge dweeb for dante/vergil so that was certainly an influence in that choice.

>>5340283
>>5340486
Mari is best girl. Ignited Takeshi's instincts as a male lol

>>5342271
Truly. There's nothing quite like watching the synapses fire in Takeshi's autist brain and essentially go "oh shit, girls are cute!" The date was cute, too-- it's easy to forget that these are characters are still basically child soldiers.

>>5341650
I love me some Dante and Vergil. Just don't like that it turned Ai into Trish as a result.

I'm just hoping we don't end up having some super secret super special bloodline that makes us ironically very strong through no effort of our own, defeating the point of the whole story. If Mini can avoid falling into that trap, he will officially understand the point of Naruto better than Kishimoto. That probably won't be the case but us looking exactly like Shozuku does make me wonder...

Heads up, Mini-- there's a jutsu missing from the skill list. You can find it here:

https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2017/1200036/

In particular, it's...

>D. Uknown Fire. By pointing at someone after preforming handsigns, a purple wave of energy will fire from your finger. If the enemy is struck, they will see themselves suddenly surrounded by a ring of blue flames. The pain of the technique feels real, and if the opponent is frightened enough, it can cause them to pass out.

Probably incorrectly spelled as Uknown rather than Unknown. Either way-- the only reason I still remember it is because we've forgotten about it in the past, and it helped a lot in the final fight with Shozuku. Being able to throw out actual fire and illusory fire that hurts like the real thing seems pretty handy.

>>5343572
Awesome, thank you. Great catch anon. I had kinda glossed over that bit I think lol. That jutsu is radical

>>5342343
Lmao this is quite the funny comparison.

>>5342365
Nah, no special bloodline for you.

Although, I do have to say. You guys haven't really discovered the true "secret power" of the quest.

The real ultimate power of the entire Naruto series. You have it too, but an even better version of it. In some ways you've already used it without realizing it, and every time you guys have resolved some of Takeshi's past angst by making a decision to do something about it, you used that ability on yourselves in essence.

It would be something if you guys could figure out what "it" is before the ball drops and I tell you at the appropriate point in the quest.

The last thing I'll say is that it both is and isn't a special ability of sorts. Everyone in the world of Naruto can do it but no one can do it in the way that you guys can.

I still want to look into Sage Mode. It sorts out so many of our issues in terms of physical strength and chakra pool. Plus learning from the Owls should be a real treat.

>>5344479
True secret power, eh? Maybe it's just sheer determination? Or drawing on the realization of your own weakness to make yourself stronger through epiphany? I really am gonna have to reread the archives, and it's been too long since I watched Naruto to really have any idea. Anyone else got any guesses for it?

>>5344809
Those things you mentioned are *elements* of it. I'll give you that much.

I will give one last hint then speak no further on the subject until the appropriate time.

Everyone hates it when it happens in the show/manga.

>>5344925
I'm guessing talk no jutsu?

>>5344951
I will speak no further on the subject until the appropriate time!

Speaking of which the quest will be resuming tomorrow at 5 PM EST

>>5344473
It's pretty good-- it's one of the few Genjutsu in our arsenal that causes direct pain, and can end a fight against a weaker opponent in an instant.

>>5344634
We're definitely going to need to look into Sage Mode in the future. It was just a few threads ago that Hanto basically showed us the difference in our power by just... blasting everything with high-level fire jutsu. Opponents like that exist quite frequently in the Naruto universe, and sometimes, no amount of finesse will be able to stop them.

It's what makes Sage Mode so appealing-- iirc, it's what let Jiraiya keep up with both the genius Tsunade and the warcrime Orochimaru. Giving us a bigger (or maybe unlimited?) chakra pool would solve some of our biggest issues, for sure.

>>5344479
>>5344809
>>5344925

This one's interesting. I don't actually know either. If it's not determination, then maybe it's flashbacks? Oh, it could be our... plan-formulating skills? I remember Mini mentioning at some point that anons voting on and discussing options essentially means that Takeshi only needs to think for an instant before coming up with a viable solution? Though I suppose 'instant planning' isn't really something people hate...

Whatever it ends up being, I'm interested in seeing what Mini has planned, heh.

>>5338260
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6N9f1ad9Ow&ab_channel=katsuraiden

The sun is just beginning to set as you all receive your meals. Typically, while out with Sasuke, you would all have to forage or hunt for your food. The vast majority of your training took place in the wilderness, travelling from destination to destination and then staying there and training for differing amounts of time.

Sarada sits in the middle, with Boruto on her left and you on her right. The three of you aren't talking, instead choosing to soak in the atmosphere of the streetside restaurant and the village you all grew up in.

Thinking back fondly on your training, you recall Sasuke being an incredibly strict mentor. Ai says that he was similar to Kakashi, but even more serious. He kept his own camp separate from your group's, and mostly watched from afar. When he appeared it was typically only to give instruction. On rare occasions he would bring gifts for everyone, such as large beasts he'd hunted by himself. Those feasts with your serious sensei are something you'll probably never forget. Especially the day that Sarada had unlocked the final stage of her Sharingan.

She was sparring against you when it happened. You slurp your broth, and take a glance at her picking up shrimp with her chopsticks. It was about a year into your training with Sasuke, and you had managed to increase your speed even further at this point. Sarada had been training to boost hers as well, but the head start you had was too large. She did manage to improve, but just the same improved at a similar rate, and so the gap remained the same. It all changed that day, when you were practicing Taijutsu, that she changed completely.

>>5346083
You set your bowl down and take a drink from your glass of lemonade. You'll never forget it. The exact moment when her Sharingan activated. Even though you were far faster, it was if she could see your blows coming in advance no matter how fast they were. Each one was parried and shot down, and an extremely dangerous counter from her came flying your way. A chill passes over you, causing your hair to stand on end. Even though you were faster, again, it was like she could predict where you were going to dodge. In the blink of an eye, her Taijutsu began to overpower yours. More than a year of training to improve your speed, and she undoes it all. You sigh.

"Everything alright?" Sarada asks, turning and looking at you.

You nod. "Yup. I'm just curious about this mission I have tomorrow. Lord Kakashi didn't really have much to say about it. I hope I'm going with someone I haven't seen in a while."

Boruto burps, and wipes his mouth. "Excuse me." He then leans forward, looking at at both you, beaming. "We're probably gonna get all kinds of rad missions now that we've been specially trained! I still don't feel like I've really had a chance to stretch my legs."

Sarada rolls her eyes. "We return to civilization after two years and the first thing you want to do is go on a mission! What is wrong with you two!?"

>A. Hey, don't include me in this. I was hoping to get more time to train.
>B. I actually wanted to see more of my friends first.
>C. I agree with Boruto. All that time away sharpening our skills was just for this.
>D. Write-in

>>5346086
>C. I agree with Boruto. All that time away sharpening our skills was just for this.

"I wanted to see more of my friends first, but This is what we trained for."

>>5346086
>B. I actually wanted to see more of my friends first.
>"Training constantly and growing stronger every day is important, but I think it's even more important to remember why we do this in the first place. To protect our friends."

>>5346098
>>5346107
In the interest of time I'll do a compromise between these two responses as opposed to extending due to tie. Update incoming

>>5346126
Works for me.

"I wanted to see more of my friends first. Boruto is right, we do spend all this time training to do missions for the village, but it's also to protect each other."

They both look at you. Boruto has a grin, meanwhile Sarada has a frown. She rubs the bridge of her nose. "You guys really sound like a department store gift card sometimes."

Boruto rests his elbow on the table, smugly grinning at her. "Your dad totally rubbed off on you a bit while we were gone. You're even more serious than you were before."

She crosses her arms and turns away from him. "Or maybe you guys just turned into bigger dumbasses. I think that's pretty likely, too."

You finish off your drink, and shrug your shoulders. "How do I keep getting dragged into this? I'm just eating!"

The three of you bicker and joke for a while longer, before the sun begins to set and you decide to head home. Tomorrow morning your mission starts at dawn. You're going to meet the rest of your team and be debriefed at the gates, as usual. You manage to have a peaceful night of rest, in large part thanks to your spar with Roku. Before you go to bed, you pack your gear for travel. Using Ephemeral is such a sudden drop in chakra it can tend to leave you fatigued for an entire day. Sasuke told you that enhancing your speed and physical strength would help mitigate your smaller chakra pool. As it is now, you think that if you performed Ephemeral twice in one day you may pass out. There's also summoning your largest Owl companion, Majima. That takes roughly 1/3rd of your chakra. So, if you summon him, you probably couldn't also cast Ephemeral in the same day without causing yourself to pass out.

You contemplate these things as you drift away. Soon enough, the next day begins. You have a hearty breakfast and grab your bag and equipment after a thorough shower. Then, you head off to the village gates. Birds are chirping in the air, and there's a cool mist on the ground as you check out past the guards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1afpwzdlyvI&t=4s&ab_channel=Kiba1511

Waiting for you outside the walls is your small squad. It's not too often that you're the last one to arrive.

>>5346205

Kichiro and Kayo, as well as the huge black beast, Akahiro. The dog was small enough to fit in your arms last time, but now you're fairly confident that you could ride it. As soon as you step through, the animal rushes over and starts to sniff and chortle at your feet. It's huge tail quickly wags back and forth, making a small draft. You reach down and scratch him under his chin, and Akahiro looks up at you with large black eyes. He clearly remembers you.

Kayo waves. "Hey, buddy! Good to see you!" Kayo has also grown, now several inches taller. She's wearing a dark gray vest and fishnet sleeves on her arms, as well as the traditional navy blue shinobi pants. She's got a small backpack on, as well. Her hair isn't a ponytail either anymore, now falling past her shoulders in bouncy, curly locks. She looks wild, but pretty as well. Her eyes and teeth are as sharp as ever.

You wave. "Good to see you too." As you walk over, Akahiro happily follows. Once you join the group, you look around. "So, it's us three today, huh? Which one of you two has the debrief?"

Kichiro proudly points a thumb to himself. "That'd be me, sir. We're to track down a Missing-Ninja from the Water country. Apparently he's been meeting up with some kind of new terrorist organization."

You and Kayo both look at each other, before glancing back to Kichiro. Before you can even say the word 'Jashin', he continues. "It doesn't seem to have anything to do with the Jashin cultist. Capturing this guy is actually the second priority here. What Naruto really wants us to do is do find out who he's meeting with."

>>5346206

Kayo nods. "I see. So, that explains why me and Akahiro are here. We're gonna track this bastard."

Kichiro nods. "Yup. I've been instructed to hang back and monitor the situation from afar. It'll be up to you guys to actually do the recon, but if things go sour you can just call for back-up and I'll be there." Your huge friends digs through his pockets for a moment, before handing you and Kayo each a small earpiece microphone. All you need to do is press the button on it and you'll be able to communicate with your whole squad. It rests comfortably in your right ear.

The four of you begin to quickly run off. It's always entertaining to you how the Inuzuka clan dogs are just as capable as most shinobi. Akahiro has no problem at all keeping up with you all, though for his sake you do stop and take a few more breaks than usual.
Nearing the end of the day, just as the sun starts to set, you cross over the mountain, and look down the valley path to see the large town you all plan to investiage.

Marching down the trail, you remember the conflict with the cultists you had here many years ago. In spite of those terrible times, the setting sun and wildlife fill you with a sense of calm. The lights of the two glow softly, and you all soon enough find your way to an inn and each get separate rooms.

Then, Kichiro turns to the group. "So, I say we start looking for this guy first thing in the morning. Naruto said we could stay here for a while if necessary. Tonight, we kick back after that trip. What do you guys say?!"

>A. Sounds like a great idea! (Go have fun with Kichiro)
>B. I think I'm actually pretty beat. Maybe another time. (Skip to the mission.)
>C. We should stay low. (Encourage Kichiro to keep a low profile.)
>D. Write-in

>>5346207
>C. We should stay low. (Encourage Kichiro to keep a low profile.)
We can kick it back at Konoha. Gotta stay on point on a mission for now.

>>5346207
>C. We should stay low. (Encourage Kichiro to keep a low profile.)

I hope everyone is excited as me!

>>5345217
Speaking of learning things, If im remembering it correctly, didnt we convince / coerce Naruto into promising to teach us the Shadow Clone technique? That combined with Sage mode would increase our staying power massively.

>>5346218
I think at the time you opted for something else from him, though I do remember it being an option. I have been wrong before though. It wouldn't be too crazy to ask again though.

>>5346215
>>5346216
Update incoming

"We should try to keep a low profile, I think."

Kayo nods. "Yeah. We already kinda stick out as it is, the less we're out in the open the better."

Kichiro slumps a little bit. "Yeah, you guys are right. But they have casinos here, I wanted to check some of them out. I guess we can always come back another time. Or maybe after the mission, depending on how things go."

The three of you sit down in the small lobby of the rustic hotel you've decided to stay in. Nearby the owner is minding the front desk, absentmindedly reading a book as a large gray cat roams about. The three of you whisper, somewhat poorly, over cups of tea. "Any word on what the guy looks like, Kichiro?"

He flips out a bingo book, and opens the page to your apparent target.

The man in the book is unfamiliar to you. Nonetheless, it has all the information you could ever want about him. Quickly, you scan over his facts and statistics. His name is Toshi Suzuki. The young man is 24 years of age, has lavender colored hair that covers one eye with his bangs. The rest of it is cut fairly short. He wears a navy blue combat vest and shinobi pants when in battle, though he will probably be undercover using the transformation jutsu.

Kayo reads his statistics outloud. "So, he specializes in Ninjutsu. He has a 4.5 rating at the Chunin scale of power, which means he's on par with some Jounin when it comes to his Ninjutsu. It claims he didn't naturally have the ability to use Ice style jutsu, but he trained hard to attain it. The rest of his statistics are average to some-what low. The Bingo book says that he managed to evade the last squad sent after him using his highly specialized mix of Ice Ninjutsu."

You look up at the group around the small table. "So, we don't wanna spook him, or he could get away from us. But if he's in disguise, how are we going to track him down exactly? We can't go bonking random strangers."

Kayo chuckles. "Did you forget? Me and Akahiro have the best noses in the village. But first we have to discover his scent. Going about that is the real question. Kichiro, you should stay here while me and Takeshi search. You can organize any findings we bring back in your room. This could take a while, after all."

You nod. How do you want to go about this search?

>A. Akahiro comes with you to search the East side of the town, and Kayo searches the West side
>B. Search the East side on your own, and let Kayo and Akahiro search the West
>C. Stay as a group and search the East side thoroughly today
>D. Write-in

>>5346251
>A. Akahiro comes with you to search the East side of the town, and Kayo searches the West side
Wide net for now, can hone in if we get any leads.

Oh hey, finally caught one of these live. And an ice specialist, huh?

>>5346251
>A. Akahiro comes with you to search the East side of the town, and Kayo searches the West side

If I'm reading this right, it seems Kayo can also sniff things out on her own, so we'll take Akahiro with us to expand our searching capabilities. If anything goes wrong, we've always got the communicator to speak with Kayo and Kichiro.

>>5346259
Correct, she has a super powered nose.

Also for the best chance at seeing these live follow me @ https://twitter.com/AnonMiniseries

>>5346256
>>5346259
Going to eat dinner and then the update will be on it's way. Be back briefly, everyone.

>>5346277
No problem. Enjoy your dinner!

>>5346251
>A. Akahiro comes with you to search the East side of the town, and Kayo searches the West side
Kichiro's mellowed out so much that I almost thought it was a different character than our old squadmate. Gotten a bit more formal too, I wonder how we'll compare when we do finally get into a serious scrap.

(it still had more to cook so I had time to finish the update lol, now I will brb)

You decide the best plan of all is to fan out, and then focus in on particular areas once you may catch any leads. Akahiro comes with you instead of Kayo, so that each side of the two is getting a good helping of their super powered nose. While they may not know exactly what they're looking for yet, Missing Nin tend to give away certain signs. Kayo explains a little bit of it to you before you part ways and go to bed, meeting up again in the morning.

Kichiro has the fortunate of sleeping in while the three of you start early. The town isn't huge, but it's enough that with it divided up it will take roughly the whole day to search top to bottom. The roads are still mostly dirt. It's strange to you how the Leaf Village itself is so advanced compared to the surrounding towns and villages. You can't imagine a car ever crossing through the forests and mountains to get to a place like this, but maybe one day a highway will be built.

"G'morning" Kayo says with cheer. "So, like I was saying last night, Missing Nin have some dead giveaways. The most common one is metal. Even if they're transformed, Akahiko and I will be able to suss out any blood or iron they have on their person. Even if you clean the weapons, they're still not safe from our noses."

Akahiro pants, beaming up at you happily. He seems quite proud of his job.

You grin at him. "What happens if they don't have any bloody iron on their person?"

Kayo touches her chin. "Well, there's also good old fashioned detective work. We can ask around about any suspicious activity. We are supposed to discover the group he's meeting, so maybe if we find them, we'll find him?"

Yu nod. "Makes sense. Well, let's get to it."

Kayo instructs Akahiro to follow you and listen to your instructions. He barks once as if to say "Copy that" and immediately strides to your side. Kayo walks off to the West, and you and your new compatriot head to the East.

How do you want to conduct your search?

>A. Go door to door asking residences if they've seen anything strange
>B. Scout the shops and markets, and hotels on this side of town. If he's here he has to eat.
>C. Head to the municipal center of town and ask the local law enforcement if they've seen anything strange, first.
>D. Write-in

>>5346293
>B. Scout the shops and markets, and hotels on this side of town. If he's here he has to eat.
Going from door to door is way too obvious and suspicious, and if this guy is even halfway decent at being a ninja then the local cops ain't gonna know anything. But everyone has to eat and sleep somewhere, so this seems like a good place to start.

>>5346293
>B. Scout the shops and markets, and hotels on this side of town. If he's here he has to eat.
Seems like the correct way to approach it for now. Door to door seems too obvious and surely a missing-nin is keeping some tabs on the cops in the local area.

>>5346293
>B. Scout the shops and markets, and hotels on this side of town. If he's here he has to eat.

The classic stakeout.

>>5346299
>>5346300
>>5346307
Update incoming

>>5346218
>Speaking of learning things, If im remembering it correctly, didnt we convince / coerce Naruto into promising to teach us the Shadow Clone technique?
We did, in the retconned thread

>>5346320
Aha. That probably means we'll need to ask again. No biggie-- it's worth it for the Shadow Clones.

The two of you decide to begin with the shops, markets, and hotels on this side of town. If Toshi is here, he has to be getting his food from somewhere and also sleeping somewhere. Unless he happens to be in the woods on the outskirts of town, which is possible. But first, you'll start here.

Instead of bothering the staff directly, you choose to stick to the sidelines and let Akahiro take the lead. He confirms whether or not he can pick up the scent of blood in each area. One time you thought you had a solid lead, but it turns out one of the cooks in the kitchen just nicked himself on the slicer.

When you reach one of the few hotels in town, you ask the owner if he's heard or seen anything suspicious from any outsiders. The town isn't too large, so it's possible they could spot something. The elderly man strokes his bearded face, considering the things you've said. "Well, it's not too often we get Ninja around these parts. Most people just bumble around kinda confused, but there was this one fella in a white robe who seemed all business. Real short, too.

"White robe?" you ask?

He nods, slowly. "Yep. Had one of them straw hats on, too. Looks like a kid. But that doesn't sound like who you're looking for."

You shake your head. "It doesn't. Thanks, I'll keep trying. Where does this kid in a white robe appear?"

The man turns, and nods down the road. "He picks up orders of food from the market about once a week. Been doin it for about a month now. Think he's got some friends at one of the hotels on the West end of town. If you hurry you might be able to spot him."

You and Akahiro take off in a run, leaping to the short rooftops and quickly dashing to the market. It takes no time at all. Once you've arrived, you let him do his thing. "Okay boy. Smell any blood? Any weapons?"

He sticks his nose in the air, and rapidly begins to sniff. Sure enough, he catches hold of something in the breeze, and jumps down into the small market and begins to lead the way. You follow, and as the two of you step across the street into the market square, you spy the kid in the white robe the hotel owner was speaking of.

The strange character is probably about Ai's height, if you had to guess. He's holding a bag full of groceries, and turns. He's going to spot you if you don't hide quickly. What do you want to do?

>A. Use the Transformation Jutsu to look like a civilian
>B. use Shunshin to dash to the rooftops before he spots you
>C. Use the Paralysis Genjutsu to attempt to freeze him in his tracks
>D. Write-in

>>5346332
Use shunshin, we’re probably faster physically than we would be trying to cast transformation, this seems like a safe bet to me.

>>5346332
>B. use Shunshin to dash to the rooftops before he spots you

>>5346332
>B. use Shunshin to dash to the rooftops before he spots you

Tough choice. He's probably not our target, but Akahiro can smell either blood or weapons on him.

>B. Use Shunshin to dash to the rooftops before he spots you

A high-level Chunin might be able to spot us either way, but this seems to be the safer choice. If he's been here for months, he probably recognizes the general populace.

>>5346332
>>B. use Shunshin to dash to the rooftops before he spots you

>>5346332
>B. use Shunshin to dash to the rooftops before he spots you

>>5346346
>>5346347
>>5346348
>>5346353As he finishes turning, you're already gone. There's nary a puff of dust left on the street next to Akahiro as you're landing on the rooftops, out of the strange boy's field of vision. He and Akahiro seem to make eye contact, locked in a standoff across the street. Akahiro barks once, and sits down, playing the part of the oblivious pup. The cloaked boy walks forward, crossing the street and passing past Kayo's dog.

At once, your furry friend crouches down and begins to cower. This sight causes you to lean forward and try to look closer. Akahiro is a seriously strong shinobi hound. Even a powerful ninja wouldn't normally cause him to cower. What's going on?

The strange boy doesn't seem to notice the dog, continuing on his way and heading back towards the hotels on the West side of town. What do you want to do?

>A. Follow him from a distance using Akahiro's scent tracking.
>B. Meet back up with Kayo and report this encounter to her. See what she discovered.
>C. Keep searching the East side for your original target, Toshi.
>D. Write-in

>>5346369
>A

>>5346369
>>A. Follow him from a distance using Akahiro's scent tracking.

>>5346369
>A. Follow him from a distance using Akahiro's scent tracking.
Way too suspicious not to at least check on.

>>5346369
>A. Follow him from a distance using Akahiro's scent tracking.

Maybe use our communicator to tell Kichiro and Kayo that we've spotted a suspicious target (that probably isn't Toshi), and are intending to follow.

>>5346369
>A. Follow him from a distance using Akahiro's scent tracking.

>>5346373
>>5346376
>>5346378
>>5346381
>>5346391
"Guys, I've spotted someone suspicious. I don't think it's Toshi, but Akahiro reacted really strangely to him. I'm gonna follow this guy and see what comes up. How are you? Over."

Kayo responds first, buzzing in. "Great. I think I've got a lead on where Toshi is staying. Heard from some people that it's one of the Hotels on this side, and sure enough I snuck in and smelled blood. Whoever these bastards are, they've been busy. I remember in the report it said that Toshi killed one of the Chunin who was after him. Be careful Takeshi, Over."

Kichiro pipes in. "I went ahead and got some additional supplies for when you guys get back. Remember, if either one of you think you might be in a tight spot, don't hesitate to call. This area isn't too large so I should be able to get to you quickly. Uh, Over."

Dashing back down, you meet up with Akahiro and follow him. Some of the townsfolk look at you oddly, having noticed your many meters long leaps of speed. They simply shrug and go about their day as you head off down the path, letting Akahiro lead the way. The beast has no trouble at all keeping his distance but staying locked on with precision. Through every twist and turn, Akahiro seems capable of following. After enough time, the white robed boy begins to head outside of town. From here, in the open clearing of the valley, you have to be extra careful to stay stealty. Now you opt to follow him from a much further distance, barely visible. Akahiro's nose makes it easy to catch back up to him when you do lose sight, however. Soon enough, you come upon a partially dilapidated barn. There is a path leading to the barn, and you stay far away from it so that you can watch the boy go into the entrance, and stay hidden from anyone else who may approach.

>>5346423

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E6b3swbnWg&ab_channel=andrearomano

Sneaking closer, you can see a small group inside. This looks to be a camp of sorts.

There are five people in total. One is the white robed boy with the straw hat. The four other figures also wear white cloaks and straw hats, and they are of varying size and gender. From what you can tell, there are three males and two females. The boy you followed is the smallest, and the largest is a truly colossal man in the center, sitting near a camp fire. He cracks open a small bone, and throws a piece in before sucking on the marrow of the larger piece. If you had to guess, he's actually even larger than Kichiro, which didn't seem possible in your mind. He truly appears to be a giant. The other three are not so physically distance, though they do have assorted colors of hair. One of the women is a golden blonde, and another has a dark purple shade of hair. The other boy's hair is a blazing red, not unlike a cherry tomato. You can barely see their features underneath the cloaks and hats.

The largest man speaks. "Our little brother returns to us, bearing gifts no less. Tell us, what have you bought from the townsfolk my friend?" He leans back, and for a moment you can see the man's grin. His teeth are large and pearlescent, his maw huge. You're sure he could eat a whole apple in one bite if he wanted to. You still can't see his eyes, however. The small boy takes off his straw hat, revealing pale white hair and delicate features. He softly smiles. "Hi, everyone. I got everyone's favorites. If I remembered right, at least."

The colossal man claps. "Wonderful. Our bellies will be full and Toshi should be arriving shortly after, if all goes as planned."

The red-haired boy speaks for the first time. "Then we can leave hicksville here. We don't have to use barns as meeting places when we're in the city."

The purple haired girl nods slowly. "Yeeah, I agree. A nice warehouse really does wonders for the vibe. The cheery birds and shit out here kinda kill the whole 'professionalism' aspect."

You can scarcely hear the more softly spoken boy. You begin to inch closer, but beside you Akahiro softly whines. It seems like he doesn't want you to get any closer. What do you want to do?

>A. Stay where you are, and keep listening in.
>B. Call your allies in, tell them you've found the group Toshi is going to meet
>C. Return to the town and meet back up with your team, and tell them you've found the place where Toshi and his group will meet.
>D. Write-in

>>5346426
>>B. Call your allies in, tell them you've found the group Toshi is going to meet

>>5346426
>B. Call your allies in, tell them you've found the group Toshi is going to meet
Keep our distance and maintain a low profile, a 5v1 is a very bad prospect to get involved in.

>>5346426
>B. Call your allies in, tell them you've found the group Toshi is going to meet

>>5346426
>B

>>5346432
>>5346433
>>5346437
Update incoming

>>5346432
>>5346433
>>5346437
>>5346457
You touch a finger to you earpiece, once again calling upon your allies. Thankfully the range of this thing is several miles. Technology keeps improving all the time, much to your benefit. "I've discovered the group Toshi is going to meet. They seem like a bunch of Missing-Nin, possibly. I'm gonna wait for you guys to arrive instead of doing anything."

Both Kichiro and Kayo buzz in, letting you know they're on their way. It should only be a couple minutes before they arrive. As you finish speaking, you try to concentrate on listening to the group again.

They've all taken their individual meals, and are sitting around the campfire preparing to eat. Before they begin though, the largest man places his hand on the back of the small white-haired boy. "Could you do us a favor and make sure you weren't followed? It's been a while since we've checked, with you gone and all."

The young boy holds up a handsign, and chills spring across your body. Shit. He's about to discover your location in one second flat.

Sure enough, the young man stands up and points in your direction. "There's a Shinobi over there, watching us." he says. "He's an ordinary Chunin in terms of chakra."

The large man stands, suddenly surprised. He walks out the entrance of the barn, and gazes out in your direction. "Why, sure enough, there he is! Come here young fellow! Don't be alarmed! We can just have a chat!"

That would be preferable to fighting, you think. It could help you buy time while your allies arrive. What do you want to do?

>A. Go out and speak to him.
>B. Try to make an escape with Akahiro before they can get closer to you.
>C. Try to pull off an Ephemeral on him, and knock him out before making an escape.
>D. Write-in

>>5346482
>>A. Go out and speak to him.

>>5346482
>D. Send out a clone to speak to them, and use the False Sound Jutsu to make it sound like the footsteps and the voice is coming from the clone. Get ready to move if spotted.

Of course, this is assuming that we ourselves have not already been spotted. If we have, then...

>A. Go out and speak to him.

>>5346489
You've been spotted, yes. This man has particularly good vision.

>>5346491
Gotcha. In that case...

>>5346482
>>5346489
Changing to...

>A. Go out and speak to him.

If he wants to monologue, then he can monologue. I'd like to keep our distance if at all possible, though-- we want to stall for time while not falling into any traps. If Akahiro hasn't been spotted yet, then he could feasibly back us up if they end up rushing us.

>>5346482
>>A. Go out and speak to him.
Buy time for the team to show up, keep all their attention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI7Jc-fSQQ8&t=27s&ab_channel=ThatNeganLover

"Stay here, boy." you say, patting Akahiro on the head. The cowering dog whimpers as you walk away, heading out onto the dirt road to stand across from the colossal man.

In a mere few strides, you face him, a distance of about ten meters away. You have to speak quite loudly for him to hear you completely, but sure enough you can engage like this. You stand there, your jet sheath on your side, prepared at a moment's notice to lash out should you need to. You've no familiarity with this group, and for that reason you're completely on your guard. In particular, the large man leading them is concerning.

The two ladies in the back remain seated, while the two boys watch closely near the entrance. They don't seem at all concerned by the events taking place, for the most part. The boy with the white hair wears some concern on his face.

The huge man begins to take several steps towards you. "Stop." you yell out.

He obliges. "Very well. My name is Sato. Now that you're out in the open, I can see that you are Takeshi of the Hidden Leaf Village."

Your eyes narrow. "How do you.."

He interrupts. "My boy, if there's something worth knowing in this world, I promise you, I am apt to know it." He rolls his fingers over a coin, seemingly playing with it as you speak. In spite of his large hands, he dexterously flits the coins from knuckle to knuckle with no effort, even rolling it over and passing it through time and time again. From the distance, you see his huge smile reveal itself yet again. "You're the one who personally struck down that absurd cultist, Shozuku."

You don't move, and keep staring him down. That's not exactly common information. So, not only does he have intel, but he's revealing it to you right away.

You keep your hand hovering above the grip of your wakizashi.

He chuckles. "Please, there's no need to be so tense. If anything, I'm quite impressed. I'd expected it would be one of the Jounin who put down Shozuku, maybe even the Hokage himself should circumstances demand. But you proved yourself quite capable, no?"

The others from the barn have now all stepped forward and stand beside him, quietly. The white haired boy places his straw hat back on. Standing uniformed in a row, they look imposing. You hope Kayo and Kichiro arrive soon.

"What do you want?" you ask. May as well try to see what their motives are, if they're meeting with Missing Nin.

The large man frowns, and takes off his hood. His bald head is enourmous, and pale. The most concerning thing about him, by far, is his eyes.

He is staring you down with the Rinnegan.

"I want the same thing everyone else wants. Justice."

---

That's all for tonight folks. I'll be hanging around a bit for some questions. Follow me @ https://twitter.com/AnonMiniseries to catch the next updates.

>>5346513

>He's got the Rinnegan

Holy fuck. Time to bounce-- if we can even manage it.

Also, thanks for running, Mini! What would've happened if we decided to have some fun with Kichiro?

>>5346520
You would have actually accidentally ran into Toshi immediately, but would have both been drunk when it happened

>>5346513
Oh shit, it's not!Akatsuki. I'm in. Don't even start your speech, I'm defecting asap.

>>5346525
That would've been pretty funny. How about if we tried to use the Paralysis Genjutsu on the white-haired boy in the markets?

>>5346528
He would have broken out of it and begun a fight, as he is actually fairly strong. All of them are. He most likely would have gotten away from you guys, and then you would have had to follow Kayo's lead instead

>>5346530
Hoo boy, gotcha. Looks like we're in the deep end of it now-- though I suppose that's not really all that different from the norm.

>>5346531
indeed. Granted you're not usually outnumbered. Plus there's a LOT more to learn about each individual foe here.

I'll put it this way; everyone here now is far and above way stronger than Shozuku ever was.

>>5346534
Yeah we could guess as much if a chunnin beat him, he was pretty much a figurehead anyways.

>>5346513
Damn, could we have avoided detection while staying close(ish) or was leaving the scene going to be the safest bet?

Also thanks for running, a rinnegan user is always going to raise the stakes in any situation, so that should be interesting going forward.

>>5346534
Sounds about right. Granted, we're much, much stronger than the average Chunin (maybe even Jonin-level) thanks to our experience and training, but... each of these guys have to be treated as if they're stronger than Jonin.

Our main goal now is to just get as much info as we can, before retreating and making it out alive. Anything more than that is optimistic at best.

>>5346548
The white haired boy is a powerful sensor. He was going to detect all of you whether or not you were here watching him. His range is miles (will not say how many lol)

He now knows about your entire team as well. Whenever he uses the sensory jutsu he's capable of finding chakra signatures within his range.

So you would have been safer leaving in the sense that you would have been more distant, but also the enemy would have gotten the upper hand on you later as they'd know about you in advance. So you put yourself in more immediate danger but managed to surprise them at the same time.

I fell off of Naruto long before the Rinnegan was even mentioned as a plot element, so I'm curious, what does it do exactly? I know sort of what the Sharingan and the Bakugan does, but the Rinnegan is an enigma to me.

>>5348900
>Bakugan
those are little ball monster toys. Anyways, the Rinnegan does pretty much whatever the fuck you want, it's powers are divided into six "paths", one controls gravity, one has super powerful summons, one absorbs chakra, one turns your body into weapons, even fucking a RPG, and I dunno, a fuckton of things. It can even revive people but that kills the user. Only Pain really used all of it's powers but it also has some special ability depending on the user, Madara had invisible clones and Sasuke can swap the places of whatever is in his FoV.
Originally it was the dojutsu of the Otsutsuki clan which are the aliens who unintentionally created the setting of naruto, supposedly someone who has the blood of Asura and Indra (the sons of the Sage of Six Paths, Hagaromo Otsutsuki, Ninja God) can develop one, but Madara cheated this by implanting himself with Hashirama cells.

>>5330749
oh shit
you're alive!

>>5348927
>those are little ball monster toys
Whatever, you know what I mean. Anyway, thanks for the info.

>>5348900
Can be summed up to dealing with the fundamental building blocks of the world. How they manifest depends on the user, but gives user access to gravity, space-time techniques, entropy and matter manipulation (on top of other shit I'm probably forgetting)

Short story is that it's possibly the worst thing to go up against in the Shinobi world with very few exceptions.

Thread will resume at 7 everyone

Your knuckles whiten as you squeeze your grip tightly. The surrounding area is quiet for a few moments after the big man makes his statement. "What's your name?" you ask.

He stands, relaxed, hands at his side. "I am Tadashi. That's all you need to know, for now. These are my adopted children, of sorts. I'm sure you'll come to learn their names in time."

At once, Tadashi starts to chuckle. It comes in low at first, before building into uproarious laughter. The others standing by him don't react, oddly enough. He bowls over, holding his head and stomach as he cackles.

"What's so funny?" you say.

He suddenly shoots upright, and claps once, loudly. His wild gaze returns to you. "You've managed to just wander upon us! What kind of odds are those?"

The pale boy tilts his head to the side. "There's a shinobi dog with him. He must have tracked an unfamiliar scent to get here."

Tadashi nods, slowly. "Well. This sure is interesting. Keep your senses open for anyone else approaching. After all, Toshi should be here any minute. I'm sure Takeshi has allies nearby as well."

His ally nods in confirmation, holding the sensory jutsu handsign and shutting his eyes to focus. The other three are motionless, and quiet. While they seemed casual as you hid, now they have a completely different air about them. The pale boy starts to speak. "I'm sensing three powerful chakra signatures in town, still. All three of them are on their way here. One is going at a relaxed pace, and two are grouped together and approaching rapidly. We've got five minutes until the group arrives and at least fifteen until Toshi gets here."

The bald man nods. "Interesting. So, we've got a little time to kill. We still have to deliver orders to Toshi and ensure he escapes, but as far as I can tell.."

His sinister grin widens. "We have utter control of the situation. So don't try anything, Takeshi."

>A. No promises, baldy. (Attack)
>B. What do you want? What are your goals?
>C. What's your connection to Shozuku? What do you know about him?
>D. How do you know who I am?
>E. Write-in

>>5354087
>B. What do you want? What are you goals?
>D. How do you know who I am?

Talking could put them at ease, it might help with escaping suddenly. Fighting will just get us flattened.

Glad you're back Mini.

>>5354087
>B. What do you want? What are your goals?

>>5354110
>>5354113
update incoming (sorry that took a bit long, had some pizza)

Your eyes narrow. "How do you know who I am?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhhQrFfzFM4&ab_channel=CarpenterBrut

The big man keeps his silly grin on his face. With the hypnotic ring pattern in his eyes, he looks somewhat psychotic though he's merely relaxed. "You know how you Shinobi have a Bingo book for Missing Nin? I've created a book of Shinobi for Missing Nin, or other interested parties, to utilize."

Sure enough, he reaches into his coat and picks out a literal book with a black cover. "The pages are actually empty. All I need to know is the name of the Shinobi in question, and if the information has been entered into the book, it will pull their information up. Of course, you can do all this with a computer these days too. There's a virtual version for people who don't have access to chakra to use."

He puts his finger to the page. "Takeshi of the Hidden Leaf."

The book glows with a faint light for a moment, and then he begins to read. "Brother of Hideki of the Hidden Leaf. Rank: Chunin. Age: Fifteen. Height Five eleven. Brown eyes, brown hair, lithe build. From there it goes on to list a brief personal history, including your psych profile and accomplishments as a shinobi. Even the more covert details that the public isn't aware of. Few people actually know how closely involved you were with the cultist uprising, from beginning to end. But I do."

That's enough of that, you think to yourself. He's made his point. He knows everything there is to know about you and your allies, it seems. As if having the Rinnegan wasn't enough, it's looking like he's come as prepared as possible. This guy isn't just powerful, he's composed. Time to change the subject. "What do you want? What are your goals?"

His smile fades, and he crosses his huge arms. "I already told you. We just want justice. We've been wronged, you see. So, so, so many people have been wronged by this Shinobi ruled world of ours. Including you, isn't that right, Takeshi?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" you quickly snap back.

He snidely grins. "I wonder what your parents would think of you, if they could see you now.."

The white haired boy opens his eyes. "Tadashi, the other Leaf Shinobi will be here any second now."

>A. Fuck you!
>B. You cultists and terrorists are all the same. You just want to take power for yourselves.
>C. Why haven't you just killed me?
>D. Write-in

>>5354152
>>C. Why haven't you just killed me?

>>5354152
>C. Why haven't you just killed me?

Stay calm, Takeshi.

>>5354185
>>5354200
Update incoming

"Why haven't you just killed me?" you ask, suddenly. It doesn't really make sense that they're allowing you to group up with your allies, especially if they know you specialize in support. If they wanted to they could take you out right now, easily.


The girl with the blonde, braided pigtails chuckles. "Kill you? Hell, we like you. All of us."

Sure enough, all of the heads in the group begin to nod in agreement. The purple haired girl speaks up next. "You're always getting more powerful, Takeshi. It's a bit enchanting, really. There are only a handful of Shinobi as disciplined as you are, these days. Tell him about what you said, Manabu."

The red hair boy, Manabu apparently, shoots her a sharp glance. "Don't speak for me like that. It's true though. You don't take your life for granted like most modern Shinobi. But you're still just a tool, all the same."

Tadashi chuckles, his voice low and rumbly. "The multi-purpose army knife of the Hidden Leaf. No, I don't really want to kill you at all. Doesn't mean we won't though, keep that in mind. Wouldn't you rather join us?"

You furrow your brow, grimacing at him. You could never imagine abandoning the village to join a group of terrorists living outside of the law, killing as they please. Of course, he must know that loyalty is a quality of yours. He's just trying to rile you up. A moment passes, and Kayo and Kichiro both skid to a stop next to you.

Kayo starts to speak, before freezing. "Takeshi, what-.."

She slowly turns and looks at Tadashi and his group. Her nose is twitching. "W-what.. What the hell. Takeshi, my senses. They're all telling me we need to get the hell out of here."

Kichiro growls. "Takeshi, did you find out who they are!?"

You nod. "Yeah!"

He clenches his fist and raises it. "Then we should scram! We're just here to gather info, Toshi is small time if these guys are the leaders."

Akahiro races next to Kayo, taking a stiff stance and growling at the enemies down the road. The furry black dog is encouraged by seeing his master return. He's still obviously frightened, though.

You step forward. "So you're not going to kill me. But I get the feeling you're not just gonna let us go, either."

The huge bald man grins. "How about we play a game? A fair contest. A one on one battle, one of yours versus one of mine. A Leaf Shinobi versus my Freedom Fighters. Not to the death, of course. Regardless of who wins, I'll let your little group leave. It's of no consequence that you've discovered us."

Kichiro steps forward and shouts. "You're on!"

>A. Refuse his game. As a group, cheese it!
>B. Accept his game. Offer yourself as the combatant.
>C. Accept his game. Suggest Kayo and Akahiro as the combatants.
>D. Accept his game. Let Kichiro be the combatant.

>>5354234
>E. Then What ARE the rules? Because you just complimented me for taking things for not taking things for granted.

>>5354239
>Then What ARE the rules? Because you just complimented me for taking things for not taking things for granted.

I'm afraid I don't understand. What's this mean?

>>5354234
>>5354234
>B. Accept his game. Offer yourself as the combatant

I'll show you the path of a true Shinobi

>>5354234
>B. Accept his game. Offer yourself as the combatant.

We're the most versatile, and most likely one to come out of this having learned the most out of everyone here.

>>5354246
>>5354256
Update incoming

>>5354239
Sorry i am confused by the meaning of your post anon, otherwise I would include it in the upcoming update

>>5354246
>>5354256

You take a glance between you, Kayo, and Kichiro. Kayo is still shaking slightly, along with her poor dog. They're clearly in no condition to go up against foes of this caliber. You can't blame her at all for that. With her enhanced senses, she can probably detect exactly how dangerous they actually are. You and Kichiro are lucky to be ignorant in that sense.

When you look up at Kichiro, the gaze he returns to you fills you with confidence. Without words, you both understand each other. He would gladly fight if you asked him to, and he knows that you would do the same for him. He starts speaking first. "I can tell you want to fight here. Just be careful, alright? I'll take Kayo and the dog and get the hell outta here. You be safe."

He took the words out of your mouth before you could even begin. You guess that must be what they call a bond. "I'm gonna get all the information I can out of this, and then I'll meet you guys in the village. If I can last a minute against Sasuke Uchiha, I should be able to last ten minutes against anyone else."

Kayo chuckles. "You guys are nuts. Thank you, though. Look, Takeshi, I have to tell you though. There's something going on with all of them. I don't know how to explain it, but.. the big guy smells like.. he smells like Sasuke, right?"

You raise an eyebrow. "That's weird. Maybe because they both have the Rinnegan."

She nods rapidly. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking. But then get this, the other four, the kids.."

Kayo gulps, and takes a deep breath before staring you down. "They all smell like Naruto, the Hokage. But different, too. Be careful, Takeshi."

>>5354274


You put a hand on her shoulder and squeeze it. "I will. You guys be careful too. If you can capture Toshi on your way back; do it. He should be getting close to here."

Kichiro nods. "Let's roll." He turns and flips the terrorist group off, before marching away with Kayo and Akahiro in tow.

You chuckle. He must be confident they'll honor their word. You turn, and face the group of five. "Well, who's it going to be?"

The group all takes glances at each other, except for Tadashi. The big man keeps staring you down with those freaky purple eyes.

"I don't wanna go." says the youngest, the white haired boy. The purple haired girl holds up a finger. "Yeah, I actually was in the middle of eating. I don't want a stomach ache or some shit."

The red haired boy sighs and looks at the blonde girl. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that you don't want to have a go, huh Kanna?"

She shakes her head. "All yours, tiger."

Manabu steps forward. He's a tall slender boy, quite similar to you in build actually. He's roughly your same height, but also a bit more muscular. He has maybe an extra thirty pounds of muscle on you, spread throughout his build. He takes off his white robe, and tosses it to the ground. Underneath he's wearing a burgundy combat vest, and similar shinobi pants. He discards the vest as well, and there's an explosion of dust.

You cover your eyes and wait for the blast to subside. He was simply removing his weighted clothing. When it clears, there's a crater where his gear landed. underneath the combat vest, you can see he was wearing a simple white tank top. His hands and forearms are covered in bandages.

He's wearing a headband as well, a dark red and brownish color. You imagine it's covered in dried blood. It was probably white, at some point. He's lean and muscular. Based on his build, you imagine he's a powerful Taijutsu user.

He speaks. "I'll let you make the first move so that I don't instantly crush you."

>A. Use the Haze Clone Jutsu and pepper him with poison senbon and regular senbon from afar.
>B. Throw shuriken at him to draw out an attack, and then use the Afterimage technique and counter.
>C. Use the Water Clone Jutsu and have your clones use the Water Bullet Jutsu to storm him with projectiles.
>D. Write-in

>>5354244
Rules of the fight, because not to the death, leaves a lot of room for crippling, mind control, etc.

>>5354277
>B. Throw shuriken at him to draw out an attack, and then use the Afterimage technique and counter.

>>5354281
Ah I see, I'll include this in the next update

>>5354277
>A. Use the Haze Clone Jutsu and pepper him with poison senbon and regular senbon from afar.

If he's a taijutsu specialist who's using weighted clothing, then we should assume he's on par with our high speed-- or even higher. I don't know if we have the possibility of using Afterimage to surprise him in that case.

If the white-haired boy is the sensor, then this guy probably won't have any techniques to counter the bread and butter, though I will admit that the fact that they probably know all our techniques and strategies makes this way more difficult.

>>5354277
>A. Use the Haze Clone Jutsu and pepper him with poison senbon and regular senbon from afar.

>>5354301
>>5354304
Update incoming

>>5354312
"Before we start, what are the rules of engagement? No killing, but where do we stop otherwise?"

Tadashi thinks for a moment. "If it looks like anything goes too far, I'll step in and stop it. You'll just have to take my word as an honest and fair judge, I suppose."

Already, Manabu begins to walk forward slowly. There's a certain tension in his steps, as if he was ready to spring into action at the slightest hint of an offense from you. Even though you've never seen this man fight before, you're getting a good feeling that he's pretty damn fast. As if the vest-crater didn't give that away enough.

He begins to speak. His voice is measured and even. "Admittedly, your time with Sasuke made it difficult to track your exact advancements. Our little booklet isn't completely up to date. One thing is certain though. You've sought to make speed your realm."

At once, you fly through the signs for the Haze Clone jutsu. Your illusionary creations take the forest by the dozens, providing you with more than adequate cover. They all begin to move in a circular pattern around Manabu, and you follow suit. From this position, you begin to throw in the odd senbon. Some of them you poison, in an effort to conserve your materials for now.

From the moment you began to move, however, it seems as if Manabu still has a lock on your position somehow. He keeps turning to face you as you circle him, though he doesn't move otherwise just yet. One of the needles flies directly between his eyes, and he throws up two fingers and catches it between them before it strikes him. From here, he spins it in his hands and deflects the next several senbon, scattering them to the ground harmlessly. He drops the one he's holding, and flies through a large number of handsigns.

"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu!"

He holds his hand up to his mouth, and the resulting fireballs he fires screech forward through your clones. He seems to scatter them about randomly. The missiles are shaped like the head of a dragon, and when they impact the trees they cleave straight through the flora in a violent explosion. There's a thunderous sound as splintered wood scatters across the forest, and burning branches and the remains of tree trunks crash against the road, billowing smoke and dust rolling over you and your clones.

The sheer destruction takes a bit of chakra from you, to reform the clones you'd lost. There are now large fires in several spots throughout the forest.

Manabu holds up a hand, and the flames produced by his attacks seem to swirl around and gather in the air, before sucking into his palm in a rush of wind.

You're not exactly sure what you're seeing, but you know it can't be good..

---

That's all for tonight folks. I'll be around a bit for some questions.

>>5354335
Hoo boy, what a lad.

Thanks for running, Mini! How would Kichiro or Kayo have fared, if they fought instead of us?

>>5354338
Kichiro would have lost decisively for reasons you'll soon learn. Kayo would have actually done decent once she overcame her fears.

>>5354343
>Kichiro would have lost decisively for reasons you'll soon learn

Oh boy, that'll be interesting to see. Am I correct in assuming that Takeshi is Jonin level, even as a Chunin? And that these guys are Jonin level or higher?

>>5354345
The lines on what is Jonin or Chunin level have gotten a bit blurred ever since the events of the Naruto series. These days you have many Genin who are well above Chunin in some areas, but may not be as experienced or well rounded. Then you also have people like you, while you have the mere chakra pool of a typical Chunin your age, your raw power doesn't reflect the actual lethality of your skill set.

To answer your question though, you are somewhere between Chunin and Jonin.

These guys are all far above your typical Jonin

>>5354356
Gotcha, that makes sense. Would we have fought any of the other Freedom Fighters instead, if we chose different options? If so, how would've those fights gone?

>>5354356
>you are somewhere between Chunin and Jonin
So a special jounin?

Also damn this is the second week in a row I missed it, but at least I caught up now. Thank goodness it isn't Kara and you still aren't touching Boruto canon with a 10 foot pole. I do miss a couple of the (anime) canon girls though...

I just have one request.

Please for the love of god don't use Ephemeral in this fight.

>>5354361
Probably not. They all know that Manabu wanted to fight you in particular.

>>5354394
Interesting. Let's try not to disappoint, then.

>>5354387
In fairness, the correct usage of Ephemeral has ended fights instantly, but incorrect use or timing has made for losses-- and against folks like Hanto, who can just power through it... it's not as effective.

I fully expect this dude to be similar. He might have ways to escape, or he might just be strong enough to break the mental prison.

>>5354417
>Here have this crazy strong ability
>It uses most of your Chakra
>Just about anyone you'll fight that's not a jobber will break out
Super fun.

Holy shit, Mini is back. Thank god I decided to look over qst again. Just reread the last few threads to catchup again. Mari is still best girl.

>>5354417
>>5354578
I mean, couldn't we, I dunno, try to tire him out a bit and then go for Ephemeral? I don't really remember the rules of Naruto for things like that, but it could work no?

>>5354578
You have to actually realize you're in a Genjutsu in order to break out of a Genjutsu. The benefit of Ephemeral isn't just that it's relatively easy to land (no hand signs, practically instantaneous at close range, the trigger is subtle)

The real benefit is that the illusion can be whatever you want it to be. No one can break out of a Genjutsu if they haven't realized they are in a Genjutsu.

Landing the technique is only the first part; constructing an illusion that's completely believable to the target is what'll give you enough time to end a fight instantly, against anyone. In theory.

There is an exception to this though. Anyone with a Dojutsu who can see chakra will be able to see the technique coming, and if you unfortunately land it on a fully developed Uchiha, they will be able to copy and reverse your Genjutsu right back onto you.

Missed last night session because of bullshit, but things are heating up nicely! They obviously know a lot about us, so relying on ol' reliable tricks and techniques isn't going to do much, if we're gonna win this sparring match then we'll need to step our game up and come up with something totally out of left field.

I wonder if they know about our Soap style jutsus, as that was a pretty recent invention and not known by pretty much anyone who isn't close friends with us. I think we could slip one bubble bomb in if we use water clones to make several bubble bombs, combined with haze clones to block his line of sight while the rest of the water clones and us pepper him with water bullets, but I'm sure some other anon can come up with a better plan than me.

>>5354707
>No one can break out of a Genjutsu if they haven't realized they are in a Genjutsu.
>Landing the technique is only the first part; constructing an illusion that's completely believable to the target is what'll give you enough time to end a fight instantly, against anyone. In theory.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't we have a similar defeat when sparring our sensei because we didn't know about a liquor bottle he had nearby? My gripe is that it seems laughably easy for stuff like that to happen for what a big investment it is. It's like having a gun that has at least a 50% chance to shoot you in the face when fired. Just never worth using for the risk.

>>5354727
It's more like the risk factor is diminished the more detailed information you have about someone. You didn't know about the liquor bottle in advance (you couldn't have) and so it wasn't part of the illusion, and Hanto was able to realize he was in a Genjutsu and then break out of it.

Conversely, against Roku, you used the fact that he's a medic ninja and one of your friends against him. You had foreknowledge that he was a kind person so you had someone call out for help, all but guaranteeing his reaction.

You're right that things can just 'happen' and ruin the illusion. Details you couldn't have known about, special bloodlines or fighting someone who's injured but still dangerous.

There might be a 50% chance things could go horribly wrong, but there's also a 50% chance you will make the correct read on your enemy and just win the fight right then and there. It's all about having the foreknowledge/guts to make the play regardless of knowing it could potentially backfire on you.

It's certainly not something to be liberal with, but it has the potential to be useful all the way up until the very end of the quest if you pick your shots carefully

>>5354739
It just feels like we have so much better uses for that amount of Chakra that doesn't hedge on essentially random chance. That also isn't already completely useless on the big bad.

>>5354743
That's fair, it certainly isn't the answer for everything.

You've got a big bag of tricks though, and you're only going to add to it more over time.

>>5354417
>>5354623
My worry is less about us being able to win, and more about revealing our trump card to a bunch of high-level rogue ninja, one of which has the Rinnegan, in a relatively low-stakes spar.

>>5354751
Good point.

YOOO HOLY SHIT I DIDN'T REALIZE YOU WERE BACK

>>5354770
I'm back and as error prone as ever!

Get 1 mini point if you can spot the major error I've made in this thread already

>>5344479
Is it shutting up and thinking about things for more than a half second?
Is it long term planning?
Is it being considerate of people around you?
Because those all seem like extreme rarities in this setting.

>>5354335
Missed the run but this is getting spicy. Racking my brain to think of ways to get the rinnengan, Sasuke developed his one after the Chakra infusion with Hagoromo, so cloning seems like the most plausible?

>>5354623
Possible! Also truly-- Mari is still best girl.

>>5354751
Fair enough!

>>5354751
Yeah. Our focus should probably be more on laming them out and getting this guy to demonstrate exactly what he can do.

>>5355939
This.

Thread continuing at 7 PM tonight, everyone. Will probably be the last time I run in this thread before archiving it and making a new one for next time.

The flames look odd as they're drawn into the raised palm of the opponent. Typically fire doesn't look so fluid, but as the blaze travels through the air it seems to snake towards Manabu. The hot wind swirls around the forest, suddenly stopping when Manabu shuts his palm and all of the flame is gone.

He slowly draws his glowing palm down, still looking around for you through the reformed clones. The red energy in his hand dissipates. You're not entirely sure, but if you had to guess, it looked like he absorbed the flames that were a byproduct of his attack. He probably replenished a bit of the chakra he spent.

The places that had been burning are now burnt black with soot, but not completely destroyed.

Manabu pauses, and glances around. Kanna chuckles behind him, next to the barn. "Well, that sure looked impressive. But you missed him."

He growls, and turns around for a split second to respond to her. "Shut UP Kanna! I knew he was gonna dodge that, I just wanted to see!"

She holds up her hands and shimmies them. "Ooooh okay, nevermind."

The whole enemy group chuckles at his expense. It's strange to see enemy combatants so relaxed like this. It reminds you of how you and your friends with each other back home.

He's distracted for a moment because of her. What do you want to do?

>A. Maintain your defensive position. Send in Water clones to attack him, and use weapons from afar
>B. Maintain your defensive position. Use False Sense: Fatigue to put a tax on his stamina
>C. Use the Chakra Scalpel Jutsu and attack him head on. If you can land one hit while he's distracted you'll be able to disable him
>D. Use the Shadow Shuriken Jutsu with your Fuuma Shuriken.
>E. Summon Majima, your largest owl, and retreat to the skies on his back.
>F. Write-in

>>5361347
Yeah boy, we back.
>A. Maintain your defensive position. Send in Water clones to attack him, and use weapons from afar

>>5361347
>>A. Maintain your defensive position. Send in Water clones to attack him, and use weapons from afar
>Set up one as a Substitute
Can we do this? Also, is substituting with a clone too noticeable?

>>5361361
You can have an extra clone ready to be substituted with, yeah.

>>5361347
>Maintain your defensive position, and ready the Soap Style: Bubble Bomb.
>Create some water clones and have them pepper him with water bullets from different angles, and send the bubble bomb hidden behind several haze clones

>>5361347
>A. Maintain your defensive position. Send in Water clones to attack him, and use weapons from afar
This will be good to see how he reacts to some of the more conventional shinobi tactics.

>>5361358
>>5361361
>>5361372

Update incoming

Crouching behind the cover of your intangible clones, you put together a measured offensive while maintaining your distance. If this guy wants to fight you head on, he's gonna have to come and get you first. You make five Water Clones in total, keeping one of them in reserve to serve as a Substitution should things go awry. The other four clones fan out at once, and you begin to dash around your haze clones and search for various angles of attack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KMBjIjbqvA&ab_channel=MUSASHIPROJECT-Topic

The first of the Water clones breaks the ranks of your Haze Clones and charges directly at Manabu just as he begins to turn around to face you again.

Your clone leaps, flying in with a wild punch at full sprint. Manabu shoots his hands up and grabs the clones arm just before it was about to impact him, pivoting slightly out of the way. In that split moment, he bends forward slams the clone into the ground by it's arm, splashing him with water.

Can't say you weren't expecting something like that, but the speed of his reaction is what worries you. Your clones may not be durable, but they do have your relative speed at least. The next two clones shoot out in a pincer formation from the front, coming in at both sides. While Manabu is distracted by this, you release a handful of poisoned Senbon from behind, hidden by your Haze Clones.

Sure enough, as he's facing the clones, the poisoned senbon stick into the back of his thigh in a small group. The clones leap in for a two pronged attack, one of them using the Leaf Cyclone for a sweeping kick, and the other leap frogging off of it's back for a rising knee.

Your senbon hitting his leg mid-stride caused him to falter, and the sweeping kick from the clone sends him tumbling forward. Then, the rising knee slams into his cheek, sending him spinning and crashing to the ground.

Your two clones look at each other, shocked. They then rush forward and start kicking and punching Manabu while he's on the ground, not electing to give him a moment's rest.

>>5361387
Truthfully, you weren't expecting the attack to work out that well. Your relief is short lived, however.

There's an invisible shockwave that blasts from Manabu's body, blowing away both of your clones in a spray of mist instantly. The man slowly rises to his feet, his crimson hair wavering as some force causes the wind to pick up. Suddenly, chills spread throughout your body in a wave. You can't help but skid to a stop, something primal inside of you gripping your senses.

He's a Jinchuriki, like Usagi was. That's what this is.

Well, at least the poison is in his system. It's going to take some time to take effect.

Manabu scans the crowd of Haze clones, his eyes now crimson and catlike. He rips the senbon in his thigh out one by one, and a strange steam seems to emanate from the wound. You're not entirely sure what's going on, truth be told. But it can't be good. He forms a couple of hand seals, before holding the last one and shutting his eyes.

"Wind Style: Ominous Breeze."

At once, the wind begins to spread out from around him in a steady stream. As if Manabu were the eye of a storm, wind gently pushes out in every direction from his body. You feel it pass over you, somewhat refreshing.

The enemy opens his eyes, and at once the wind stops. He turns to your direction, and suddenly blasts forward at high speed. You almost lose track of him. Thanks to you're training, you're capable of registering that he's heading directly towards you. He seems to be done playing games, it's probably going to be a fierce Taijutsu onslaught.

What do you want to do?

>A. Meet him head on with your Dragon Boxing
>B. Use your Substitution and Afterimage technique to confuse him and stab him with a Senbon poisoned with Dream Cotton extract (Causes intense drowziness)
>C. Use Boil Release: Soap Spray in his path to cause him to slip at extremely high speeds
>D. Write-in

>>5361389
I fucking knew it
>A. Meet him head on with your Dragon Boxing
We are gonna substitute as soon as we eat shit

>>5361389
>B. Use your Substitution and Afterimage technique to confuse him and stab him with a Senbon poisoned with Dream Cotton extract (Causes intense drowziness)

>>5361389
>A. Meet him head on with your Dragon Boxing
They never expect the zoner to come around for an in-fight, do they?

>>5361390
>>5361395
Update incoming