Naruto SoundITP IC 1: A Melancholy Song of Hope To Come

[Rater202]

"Okay, Kimiko-chan," Menko says, "now keep it memorized until you can sign a contract. Very rarely, according to legends, doing the technique will reverse summon you to the domain of a tribe or clan that you're supposedly destined for or ultra compatible with, but in most cases, you're just wasting chakra. My contract with Senko-Sama is exclusive, as I am effectively her sworn retainer as though I were a Samurai and she were my Damayo except for the 'ordering you to kill yourself' part."

"Trust me, even if you were so bound you would have nothing to fear on that front. I find the idea of needless killing, and of forcing people to kill needlessly, utterly abhorrent. The only involvement you may ever have in such a matter is if I need a witness or kaishakunin should I be unable to get my rages until control before I reach a level of raw power where I can no longer be easily contained and must be put down for the safety of the village and the people within it."

"Well, that just got incredibly dark."

"And that's why it is so important that I get certain skills mastered on a reasonable time table. I suspect I have as few as eight and as many as fifteen years to teach my body to produce a sufficient amount of Yin energy to mold properly balanced chakra, develop my chakra control to the necessary level, and master Sage Mode before I will be too dangerous to be permitted free reign of the village and a few more years tops after that before my rages become to frequent and powerful to be contained by normal means."

[Lord Raziere]

Kimiko:
She listens, contemplative about what she is saying. Her intellectual equal, perhaps someone who can truly understand her is casually talk about she can one day die.
"...that won't be a problem. I have an incredibly good memory for jutsu. I'm actually studying the the hand signs themselves and what they mean. So many people just memorize what works that they don't look deeper to actually figure out how one could construct new jutsu with them."
She thinks a little.
"Or fuinjutsu for that matter. Though I guess its hard for others who aren't me to get into, because the two disciplines are basically codes or languages for chakra. Much like how math is a language."
Okay now she was just avoiding the subject. She puts a hand on Senko's shoulder and looks her in the eye.
"...Also? Please don't die."
She says seriously with no hint of being businesslike about this.

Spoiler: Kimiko's Notes: On Symbols

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With chakra, many things if not anything is possible. This is due to the interaction of Yin and Yang chakra combined solidifying thought and imagination into reality. But why then, can we not do anything with it yet? Why does it need fuinjutsu and hand signs to work? We use hand seals to reduce our chakra consumption at the cost of time and memorization, but why does that even work in the first place? And why do most people just memorize what already works and only make a couple variations of jutsu already known, rather than make entirely new ones?

The answer is that the hand signs form a kind of language. The twelve most common hand signs are based on the zodiac animals from the myth of The Great Race and are used by everyone, but there are more for various other jutsu. Generally the more complex and high level the technique, the more seals required, with some even requiring a number of hand seals somewhere in the 40's. Though “seals” is a bad colloquial term. The proper technical term for them is mudras. Since the jutsus can be so long, there are many possible combinations of mudras, its enough that the only way to express the number of possibilities is in exponential notation, if its not completely limitless. Similarly fuinjutsu seals require exacting brush strokes and intricate designs.

Both of these are vital because they control and direct chakra to very exacting levels. Why? Because my theory is that they're languages and thus directly tied to symbolism- and thus tied to Yin chakra over Yang chakra. The symbolic nature of the mudras does not work without minds to attach meaning to them. But cultures and people change over time, aside from those ere individuals who master one hand or even no hand jutsu, the mudras are the same, even if people can cut out most of them with training. Why can't we just change the meaning of the mudras and just do any jutsu with any mudra?

I have a theory that might work: if its a language, then the mudras symbology is somehow metaphysically shared between people. On some metaphysical level, the mudras are what they are because everyone agrees on what they are. But this doesn't explain everything, some clans have secret mudras they use that aren't common, not well known and thus can't be explained that way, because then you could invent whatever new hand sign you want to work as a hiden new jutsu as long as you kept it secret, but you don't see that happening.

No, my theory extends beyond the living realm. This symbology agreement aspect extends even to the realm of the dead: The Pure Lands. Every ninja who has ever died goes to the afterlife, and since the world of the living is full of yang chakra but not a lot of yin, the realm of the dead as per the principle of yin-yang balance, has to be where all the yin chakra primarily is when its not apart of our own minds. It makes sense: souls and spirits are not physical and full of thoughts so they are more yin than yang. Therefore all the dead shinobi have an effect on how the mudras work, and the dead outnumber living. By majority rule then, the mudras are symbolically the same because thats how they always were since their invention and will remain that way because the souls of the afterlife are unchanging. Its possible to use chakra without the symbols, but fundamentally the yin side of chakra bends to our minds and thoughts, all of them. For that to happen the mudra language or code is formed as a natural middle ground because it not working and everyone getting their contradicting desires immediately.

Thus to know how jutsu works is connected to how the symbols of the cultures have stayed consistent over time. Its not enough to say that one thing represents another, it has to on some level, be agreed that a symbol by people living and dead means what it does. So one has to know the meaning of the mudras, to know how to make new jutsu, for one cannot make new sentences without knowing the meaning of the worlds or how to put letters together. To defy this is to pull on the yang side of chakra which does not care for languages and codes, but instead cares more for the constant training to essentially brute force chakra with pure will and discipline to let go of the shortcut of symbols to enact your raw will upon creation. It is however of no surprise that this results in few people learning mudraless jutsu: such achievement is a personal internal thing that can't be communicated well unlike the mudras and the seals and is essentially doing it the hard way. It is likely that every person who has done jutsu without mudra, did it differently without much of a uniting method to it. Thus not something that can be widely taught. Mudras and Fuinjutsu are used because they allow for mass production and easy learning of jutsu by everyone, because their methods are much more easily understandable, teachable and replicated.

[Rater202]

"I do not intend to die, Kimiko-san. In fact, the secrets I would be entitled to as the Snake Sage would, assuming my new familiar hasn't been lying to me, would help me manage my problems sooner rather than later."

"Trust me, I fully intend to live to be old enough to drink, gamble, take a lover, and die of old age... Incredibly advanced old age, I have actually got some theories about how to delay senescence. True immortality in a biological sense is impossible but if I can perfect a certain procedure and get ahold of certain samples... That's talk for later."

"But, members of my clan in whom the power of senninka activates tend to either die young or end up hermits living in isolated woods with nothing but animals for company becuase the content intake of natural energy and molding of senjutsu chakra means we are effectively constantly training. If I stopped training right now, by the time I turn eighteen I will have a level of power comparable to a high-level Jonin. If I train diligently in that time, my power could equal a Kage, a Jonin of the Uzumaki clan, or a Jinchuriki. My berserk state is a form of Sage Mode, my power increases many scores over when I enter it."

"If I live to be, say, twenty-five? If I do not have my rages under control by then, then my very existence would be akin to having a Jinchuriki with a particularly weak seal in the middle of the village. Having a plan by which I can be neutralized if it gets to that point and I can no longer be easily contained is simply being responsible."

"Of course, if Menko has not told me lies about the powers bestowed upon those worthy of Snake style senjutsu, there is a distinct possibility that I will be unable to be easily killed and the whole thing would become a moot point... For the record, in the event that I accidentally turn myself into an immortal homicidal berserker instead of fixing my rages, I would prefer to be sealed in a drinking gourd. Do not let them put me in a tea pot."

[igordragonian]

Odayama nod, keep doing his chores, just making sure, the girls aren't killing themselves for now.
'Very well. Feel free to explore your abilities, I will stop if things are going to far. When you are ready to train squad coordination, tell me.' he say casually.'


Usagi go pale.
'Don't listen to the stupid snake! Reverse summoning isn't a joke! This how I lost my legs!' she said worried.
She wrap her hands around her head. 'Bah. Getting old is overrated, I don't want to end up, like Odayama or Jirou, or any other boring geezers.'

Odayama, pause his laundry foldings only for a moment.
'Well, there might be a better soluation, then sealing you.'
he smile.
'Self conditioned genjutsu. Mine is too strong and unstable on myself. But your expriement seems to be progressive comparing to mine, so it will be more effective, I believe.'


Nezumi

'Very well. In the intelligence cycle, what is your specialty?'*

Spoiler: If Nezumi should know about this term

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I lately read about espionage, and hear lectures. Some are relevant here.
in short, 'the intelligence cycle,'
is how the system work-
direction- what questions are we researching?
gathering sources-
Intelligence Processing- making sense of the sources, splitting between what relevant and what isn't
Analysis- analysing the processed intel, so report could be made to the decision makers.

in large intelligence body, each of those parts, is a whole department and speciality.

[Lord Raziere]

Kimiko:
She looks at Usagi and considers what she says
"Noted. Reverse summoning, very dangerous."
Then shark grins
"Hyuhyu, can't say I disagree. Watch I think I got Yuyuyu's jutsu down."
She forms hand seals and turns invisible just like Yuyuyu had been doing during their training.
"....Agh, I've been practicing to get that down long before I told you about it and you just do it as good as me...Mm."
She shakes her head.
"I'm not surprised though."
"I know, awesome right?"
Kimiko says back, oblivious to Yuyuyu's frustration who doesn't pursue the issue. You get the feeling that if you don't stop her soon and get to team training, she is just going to keep doing this until she learns all of Menko's and Yuyuyu's genjutsus over whatever amount of time this is.

Nezumi:
"...Analysis, But isn't that for LARGE intelligence bodies? If we're so small and new, why would the specialty matter?"
She figures that if she is in Analysis, she would be able to get close enough to Ameoku to observe her, as well as have control over the final part of the process to give information to her. Direction would not help the mission she was assigned, nor would Gathering Sources, Intelligence Processing might allow her to eliminate sources that she would not want Ameoku to look into, but Analysis? She could both make sense of what Ameoku is trying to find out AND determine how much she tells her. A few little inaccuracies can go a long way.

The alternative was saying her specialty was gathering sources and that had two levels of processing past it where other ninja could fool with the information. She would not want to be on Direction as she had no idea what direction the village's intelligence should be going and if she messed that up it would be catastrophic, while Intelligence Processing has similar potential as Analysis as it determines what will be analyzed and put into a report, but Analysis was probably ideal for this: Direction would be if she wanted to sabotage the entire village's intelligence and she didn't want that, Gathering Sources would be if she wanted to sabotage them by going into the field and determining getting info directly playing double agent but that wouldn't let her observe Ameoku, Intelligence Processing or Analysis are the most finesse options as its very possible to only affect information so that Ameoku doesn't harm Jirou rather than any other level of intelligence where it would be possible to affect intelligence on everything else which would harm the village.

If she is in Analysis, all she had to do was a little tweaking on the reports about Jirou that everyone else already compiled and leave all the other other stuff untouched so she won't mess something up that is actually important for the village to know.

[Rater202]

"Okay. Apparently the legends are true and if it happens it can mess you up. That's good to know. But yeah, unless Bunny-chan want to share with you the secrets of the big angry foods, don't do anything with the technique anytime soon."

"Odayama-san, my research has nothing to do with Genjutsu. Furthermore, Genjutsu work by manipulating the flow of chakra into the subject's brain. Even if I were capable of using a genjutsu on myself, which I cannot as I cannot use genjutsu at all, it would last up until my body stored enough Senjtusu chakra for me to become Overwhelmed wherein the alteration of both my chakra and my brain chemistry could... well, it could do anything from break the genjutsu to interface with it and turn me into a calm and collected homicidal maniac. I understand that you mean well but your suggestion is unworkable and could potentially make things worse."

"There is a procedure that I am working wherein I graft cells from a compatible donor to a host to train the host's body to produce the donor's chakra in addition to their own and amalgamate it with their own to create a blended third chakra. If I performed this procedure on myself, then assuming I can find enough compatible donors I could train my body to produce properly balanced chakra and start actually working on proper chakra control in preparation for training to manage my clan's sage mode."

"However, I have hit a stumbling block. The procedure works perfectly 15% of the time in rats but is fatal the remaining 85% of the time, from either terminal cancers or the body tearing itself apart attacking the organs and tissues that the grafted cells amalgamate in. It should be much higher in humans, but even with my best estimate the results are still to low to start human testing."

"Those who have been deemed worthy of studying Snake Style Sage Mode are given the White Snake's power of orientation. I myself am much to young to demonstrate any of those abilities in a literal sense but her great honored Baggness is over a thousand years old and is in far better shape than the Geezer who rules the bug-slurper's mountain. Apparently, over the centuries some snakes and human sages have been able to restore their own youth, regenerate portions of their body, or survive fatal injuries by shedding their skins. Supposedly the power allows for immortality or Apotheosis into a Dragon-God, but nobody's actually been able to prove it."

"If I acquire this power for myself, then even if I cannot make the procedure safe enough for general human use, I should be able to survive it myself."

This whole time, Senko has been going through the motions, practicing the hand seals for the summoning technique. At least a dozen times.

This time she rolls up the sleeve of her robe, exposing the coiling serpent containing a compressed summoning contract and the formulas needed to make it work.

She then bites her right thumb hard enough to make it bleed, goes through the sigms—boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram—and smears blood down her arm of the tattoo.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

In a blast of smoke, Menko vanishes from where she was standing simultaneously to a burst in front of Senko

"Ow!"

As the smoke clears, it reveals Menko splayed on the grown in a rather undignified position and is rubbing the top of her head.

"How did you screw up so that I ended up a foot off the ground upside down!"

Senko, meanwhile, has a look you'll all recognize. The pride and joy of a child who successfully preformed a Ninjutsu for the first time in her life.

She's actually smiling like a child her age is supposed to.

[igordragonian]

Nezumi

"Well, yes. But as same as in techniques, we sre all supposed to know Taijutsu, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu to some extent but still we have activies we are more comftrable doing, so it useful to know." She explain.

"Actually the Captain is now anakyzing intel in the back room here.'

The back room, is a nice yet quite used to wear room.
A summoned cat greet herr at the entrance of the room, his eyes go white for a momemt like Hyuga checking Nezumi for inside bombs, transformation jutsus and stuff like thar.
"Nya. I like your mask' the cat say.
Ameoku sitting ON the table, documents and papers spread around in what looking as a chaotic mess, but there were a specific pattern to it, thar worked well for Ameoku.
If Nezumi is quick minded, she will see, that the papers of the table, mkinf out the map of the world, and files are placed by their geograpgical source.
Ameoku sit at what supposed to be Ottokagure on the map, sitting on pile of files.
"Why would the Damiyo of the Land Of Grass buy million umbrellas?' She ask Nezumi right away with no hellos and greetings.
"And why the hell, there is an umbrella factory in the Land Of Wind?"
Ameoku for better and ill wasnt a woman of tradition and ceremonies.
-----

Usagi snicker a bit.
Odayama smile.
'Huh. I guess I am useless to you after all. Very well. How about I'll train you as group? With a new member our coordination will need to be redfined' he looked at Usagi.
'I don't want to see arrows inside of Kimiko again.'

Usagi blushed a bit.
"Hey! It's not my fault the princess decided to get in the way!"
Odayama wave it off.
'It might be, but it's our responsibility to make sure it doesn't happen.' He pause.
"So. I think I'll give you a training styled over a genin test common in Konoha."
He show four bells.
"It will be dangerouse, but from what I see you can do it. I'lll give you ten minutes to steal them for me. If you fail, you'l do my chores at home for one evening, if you win....' he paused and thought.
"You as a team, can ask me one thing, and I'll have to do it. What do you say?"

[Lord Raziere]

Nezumi:
She thinks and analyzing the situation in response.
"Well, Wind and Grass are both neighboring countries of Rain. Grass being a minor nation itself, wouldn't normally move against Rain, But Wind having a factory suggests they are backing Grass, possibly manipulating them to one day move against Rain first during a potential future war as a distraction and to weaken Rain, obviously so that Wind can claim the Land of Rain's bountiful water for their parched land, either making Rain a vassal-state or apart of Wind entirely.

The question is what does the Daimyo of Grass think he will get out of this? His chief concerns should be Iwa to his West and Konoha to his East. A minor nation like Grass could not possibly hope to win over Wind, Fire and Earth and Rain itself, he'd be a fool to send troops into that four-sided mess of a war zone. Either the Daimyo of Grass is being fooled about the effectiveness of this and Grass will get nothing out of this either that or Wind, Grass maybe both are hiding something up their sleeve.

Given that sunagakure is currently being led by the Ninth Kazekage, Sabaku No Karagi, the Spider of Mirage Threads, legendary for being a mastermind and planner without peer during the Third Shinobi War... Its likely he has some sort of plan involved. Though keep in mind, its suspected he has fingers in everyone's rice to one degree or another and if we're picking up on this, he might be manipulating us as well by letting us find out for what purpose I can only guess. But if the stories I heard are true, its best to assume that whatever the plan is, its far more devious and dangerous than one realizes, and it is said that he has a thousand plans. I would not recommend getting involved if we can help it."

Kimiko:
Yuyuyu is completely supportive:
"Good going Senko! I'm sure you'll get it down in no time."
"Good job...?"
Kimiko is awkward and doesn't know how to give praise to Senko. Performing jutsu and doing it well as something normal for her so it was kind of like seeing a pro-horse rider watch someone ride on their first pony for the first time and doing it a little awkwardly. Internally she doesn't get how people can be supportive of something so clumsy.

When Odayama offers the bell challenge
"Of course, I'm up to the challenge! I'm Kimiko Ishikawa, Genius of the Hope Generation, why wouldn't I be?"
Kimiko draws her sword with confidence. She is distracted temporarily from her goal of learning all jutsu. It is inevitable that she will get back to it like gravity, but for now you've ensured her progress is reasonable.

[Rater202]

Flaming energy spreads across Senko's body, leaving a seemingly random assortment of diamond patterns of various shapes and sizes across her visible skin(oddly, when these black markings cross over her contract tattoo, the tattoo turns white.)

"That is a challenge you will regret issuing, Odayama-san."

At this point, Menko has stood up. She looks Odayama in the eye. "You want to give Senko-sama all four of those bells."

This prompts Senko to briefly glare at Menko, but obviously the Genjutsu using summon is going to try and use a genjutsu to help her summoner.

[igordragonian]

Ameoku

Ameoku tilt her head thinking.
"Sabaku IS troublesome." She hiss at the documents of the Land Of Wind.
'...But we don't have enough intel to justify risking our agents. That true. Nya." She say annoyed.
"For now, we will keep awarness... but will focus on other things." She pick in quick motions the relevsant papers, tossing them at Nezumi.
"File it.' She command, and jump off the table.

(If you enjoy the interaction we can continue. I just wanted to introduce Nezumi to the place and Ameoku. Unless you have your own ideas? But my original porpuse of the scene,more or less were fulfilled.)


----

Usagi summon Yojimbo.
Yojimbo frown at Menko.
"Are we forced to work with the enemy?' He ask, staring daggers at Menko
'Outside of your dimension.. you shouldn't uphold your feuds.'
Yojimbo look away.
"Just don't forget your loyalties, Usagi-sama.'


Odayama smile.
'Well... before you go crazy, let me set the rules. By the end of the ten minutes, each one of you four,need to have a bell. I won't attack you, at least not directly... I guess we can start.' He place a hourglass on a rock.

[Rater202]

"Yes. You are expected to work with 'enemies.' You're a summon. You agreed to the contract with your summoner, to fight by their side and be at their beck and call no matter what."

"In Ryuchi Cave, cave politics stays in the cave. If the Giant Angry Food Kingdom doesn't leave politics at the door that's your problem. I actually find your reference to loyalties quite concerning, since it is the summons who are supposed to be loyal to the summoner, not the other way around, Samurai-san. You aren't exploiting poor Bunny-chan, are you?"

"Regardless, my loyalty is to Senko-sama, as her familiar. As long as you don't act against my master, we don't have any—"

Menko is cut off by Senko suddenly jumping into the air, flipping, and trying to bring the heel of her right foot down onto Odayama's head.

[Lord Raziere]

Kimiko:
Is using the distraction gotten by Senko to run to the side to try and grab the bells using her Origami-no Tsurugi, its paper blade lashing out as a whip to try snatch them quick.

Yuyuyu meanwhile uses both Senko and Kimiko attacking as an opportunity to go invisible while Odayama is distracted by other people to wait for her time to act.

[igordragonian]

Yojimbo-https://cdn.weasyl.com/~kylfu/submis...gi-yojimbo.jpg
with this symbol just glare with hatred at the serpent, not answering.
Usagi looked pale for a second.
Her contract was... different.And Nagaishu-Dono would preffer other humans wouldn't be aware to what extend.

Both now joining the attack, Yojimbo slash with his katana, and Usagi raining bell needles.

Odayma dodge the kick, with an exgarated scared expression, and it seems Yojimbo has cutted him- but in puff of smoke, pair of mismatching socks apear in Odayama's stead- he stand now on the roof of the abandoned building.
Usagi switch to her harp bow, shooting arrows with exploding tags.

'Oi, you just supposed to pickpocket me or something, not to assassinate me!' jumping away, from the bits of the crumbling roof.
Is Odayama, sort of lame,or it's an act?

[Rater202]

"You are a jonin while we are mear genin. If we do not come at you with intent to kill then we will have no chance of taking those bells."

As Senko says this, the markings on her arms change and spread, before clearing with her forearms turned a ruddy red with her too-long fingers tipped with claws as sharp as surgical scalpels. Senko makes a jumping leap to try and slash at Odayama.

[Lord Raziere]

Kimiko:
Meanwhile Kimiko leaps after him. But pickpocketing him was what she was trying to do! Using the threat of death as a distraction. She instead tries to use her paper whip to grab at Odayama's leg and pull him so he swept his feet and falls on the roof to try and incapacitate him to make it so others can take advantage of the vulnerability.

[igordragonian]

"A Chunin! my wife being a Junin doesn't make me one!" Odayama argue with Senko on panicked tone.

Kimiko has used the distraction well, and Odayama fall on his face.
Usagi ride Yojimbo up the wall, sending arrow with a rope, tieing his other leg.

Odayama throw tag traps around him.
What will those do if stepped on?

Spoiler: this:

Show

They are sound bombs, supposed to stun.
Odayama himself have tiny special earbuds to block those.

[Rater202]

Senko skids to a stop.

"Excuse me? You are only a chunin?"

"...I was under the impression that a squad of three or more genin was meant to be mentored by a Jonin until the entire squad graduated to chunin or circumstances forced the team to dissolve or otherwise be reassigned."

"If you are only a Chunin, then either Lord Otokage drastically undervalues the education of Kimiko-san, Usagi-san, and Yuyuyu-san... Or the sound village is dangerously understaffed."

"Which in turn means that I need to drastically up my genjutsu resistance training, becuase if we are this understaffed than we desperately need the political and military clout that having a major summoning contract and an acknowledged Sage gives a village."

They could also use a Jinchuriki. But Senko didn't know when, or even if, Jirou-sensei would take her proposal to Lord Otokage and the plan was to deliberately leave the 'Jinchuriki' part out of briefing to Otokag so he'd have deniability, so it'd be best not to mention that plan and focus on scoring the snake contract first.

Idly, Senko wonders if becoming the Snake Sage before making the proposal to cloud would help, because clearly an acknowledged sage is differant from a mere child, or Thunder it, becuase they'd be less likely to assume she was a rube who didn't know what she was doing and give up something they'd failed to get anything meaningful from in favor of something of value.

Meanwhile, a nine-foot-long snake is slithering up around Odayama trying to get to the bells, dong her best to avoid the tags, and all the while covered up in a genjutsu that makes her actions seem perfectly normal.

[Lord Raziere]

Kimiko:
"We're a minor, newer village Senko, we just haven't had the time or resources to get a good force of Jounins or lost any we had during the attack on Konoha. So yes....understaffed. Its actually kind a concern for how my education will continue past Chuunin. What you didn't listen to Anikii? I'm pretty sure he would've mentioned a detail like that to you."
Kimiko cautiously stays where she is, eyeing the scattered tags knowing that careless movement could set them off to do something and keeps holding her whip steady. Also Menko was already trying to get the bells so it'd best to watch Menko and see what happens.

[Rater202]

"I am primarily a researcher Kimiko-san. Military Logistics were outside the scope of my job until a few days ago, but..."

The obvious solution was to find missing ninja and ronin who werren't that bad and offer them asylum in exchange for joining the ranks in the village and sharing what they knew to bolster numbers and improve the general competence of the average ninja. Maybe, if they were lucky, get a few hidden techniques or other secrets, but... that was tricky. One or two would be overlooked, and a few hundred would be enough to make the village too strong for the other villages to think raises a fuss was worth it, but right int he middle?

The sound would be screwed. They weren't strong enough to take in ten or so at once without their nations and villages of origin getting pissy and acting in retaliation.

"...Kimiko-san, hypothetically, how would you feel if every single ninja in the sound village had Paper Release?"

Senko was gonna need to step up her plans if the Hidden Sound Village was going to have the leverage to survive...

Maybe she should ask Jirou if she could be more involved in his sage seal project? She wasn't making that much progress with her own research right now, maybe she should give her notes on drugs and herbs to help the integration process to a researcher more specialized in drugs and contribute lab time to helping Jirou give bastardized knock-off sage mode to as many sound Ninja as possible.

And definitely, definitely, she would need to rethink her proposal to cloud. She'd ben operating on the assumption that Sound had some clout that would keep them from being backstabbed if Cloud decided to have their cake and eat it too. Now?

Or, question for the whole team, if I drugged you all and you all woke up with several body mods that made you a much more effective ninja?

Senko is more or less distracted from the bell test now, though hopefully her tangent will keep Odayama distracted from Menko.

[igordragonian]

A sweat drop has appeared near his head.
Did other Squad Commanders had to deal with Genins questioning their competence over and over?
Well. Ameoku in his mind,screamed that it was his fault.
On the other hand, people looking down on him,worked for his advantage when it really counted.

Odayama can be distracted-by his children, choees... but otherworldly snakes? Pff.

Common snakes were common in the water systems of the village. Capturing snakes while washing dishes was almost a weekly happening.
He open a scroll and pull a wierd looking stick( https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...rnJ8g&usqp=CAU
He try to capture Menko by the neck and toss him away.
"Three minutes have been passed.' He state fairly, while Usagi finally has joined on the roof, prepared with the bow, not wanting her arrows to be used against Menko

[Rater202]

(Is that supposed to be a picture of Fluttershy?)

The snake gets thrown and starts cussing about how her genjutsu isn't working anymore.

And then there's a lot of smoke.

There are now a frackload of snakes surrounding Odayama and they're slithering around and over each other to make it hard to find which ones are just images in the air and which one is the real Menko.

Of course, since they're illusions, they don't have mass or physical presence so they wouldn't set off the tags, now would they?

[Lord Raziere]

Kimiko:
She stands and waits, still not making any moves between the tags and menko there. This could get messy real quick.

(OOC: Yuyuyu has three invisible actions banked up.)

[igordragonian]

(No. My brain is just stupid.https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...U5Tqw&usqp=CAU)


Usagi tired of waiting leap and spin from Yojimbo's shoulders, waving her bow harp like a melee weapon.
Odayama wriggling away from the snakes much as possible, catching Usagi's bow, throwing her away- she toss few needles which hit, and Odayama wave the snake catcher through the herds of snakes poffing them into smoke.
"Four minutes!' But he is seems to be distracted.



(I make every post a minute for tension sake. If it immersion breaking unrealistic, I'l stop, it purly to make the scene more entertaining)

[Rater202]

Clone snakes vanish in a puff, but more and more of them come in all the time. Each one is only slightly more complicated than a basic clone and the technique Menko uses is designed to conjure them in mass, so it's quite easy to replace them as they vanish.

Meanwhile, on the roof, Senko stops panicking for a moment and looks down.

Clearly the gears are turning in her head. And she gets an idea. An awful idea. A wonder, awful idea.

Her hand vanishes from the sleeve of her robe and returns with a scroll labeled "緊急配給" (Kinkyū haikyū, emergency rations.) Clearly the emergency snacks she mentioned before.

She pulls it open and... If Kimiko is paying attention, with her knowledge of seals, signs, and formulas she might recognize this as a very specific type of storage fuinjutsu for a very specific stored well.

In a burst of smoke, she pulls out what is very clearly a human corpse. Whoever this person was in life, they are unrecognizable now. It is clear from how emaciated they are and the stitching holding their torso together that most of their organs were removed for either study or transplant and there are clear signs of skin, muscle tissue, even bones being extracted the same. Even the brain and eyes, judging from some of the sutures holding the body together.

Senko focuses more of her Senjutsu chakra into her arm and shoulder, and then tossess the used up medical cadaver directly at Odayama while he is distracted, aiming so that it will land on him, not on the tags around him.

How's that for a distraction?

[Lord Raziere]

Kimiko:
Her eyes widen at a corpse being thrown at Odayama. Apart of her is just a little disturbed at the unexpected tactic, but then uses her Origami-No-Tsurugi to harden and extend her the paper blade to vault over the tags and try to land on Odayama then try to grab the bells while he is distracted by the corpse.

Yuyuyu still has three actions banked up, she has a lost her fourth action due to being utterly horrified by the corpse being thrown.

[igordragonian]

Usagi stare horrified at the thrown corpse.
Her eye twitch.
Rain of blood and limbs.
Her reaction is a bit random?
'Mommy?'

Well Odayama has seen a lot of messed up stuff, but he wasn't expecting it in casual bell test, for kami sake!
Odayama fall, activating the tags, deafening buzz is heard, while his earbuds make him immune to that, the tags aren't THAT bad, to freeze the girls from afar, it supposed to stun who ever step on it.
At best Menko is affected.

'...Quite... intense.' and.. fall asleep under the corpse, dropping the snake catcher

Usagi shake her head. 'Is this a kind of a genjutsu!?' she ask confused.
'I... see rain of blood,and Odayama has fallen asleep...'


If they feel the time, this is five minutes.

[Rater202]

"Oh no. No illusion. Just..."

Senko moves quickly to jump down, retrieve the cadaver, and reseal it.

She's not particularly interested in the bells anymore.

Meanwhile, all of Menko's clones are dispersed. Snek is laying on her back, clearly disoriented.

"...Did anyone catch the village logo on the headband of the ninja pulling the cabbage wagon than ran my scaley ass over?"

[Lord Raziere]

Yuyuyu:
Reveals herself, dispelling the illusion, revealing that she had already pick-pocketed a bell for herself.
"I....Guess thats done..... I was going to take all of them while you were distracted and give them to you when you weren't looking, but I guess that might be unnecessary..."
Yuyuyu actually seems the most shaken up by this, not saying anything but looking at Senko in a different light now.
"Careful....this might be a trick....but nothing that I, Kimiko Ishikawa, Heiress of Clan Ishikawa cannot handle!"
Kimiko says a little disturbed at what Senko did for now, but falling back her psychological-masking method to keep her moving. She will carefully move back from the corpse, taking care not to step on the tags, then retrieve the rest of the bells will the paper blade turned into a whip to grab them.

[igordragonian]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly3l62lZ53g
At once, Odayama still snoring and with closed eyes, change into half beast mode.
Fur cover him, and strange tatoo like marks apear,mostlyon his face, but also on his exremlu long limbs, with extremly long claws.

Odayama has fallen asleep. The Sloth Slayer has awakened.
He wave his hand as if, waving off a fly- beside Senko, the three girls, seen he could cut iron and stone with those claws.
Odayama/Sloth Slayer doesn't attack directly, but making pushing moves to who ever get close to him.


Usagi wipe her tears, clenching his fast.
'Sorry for being a whiny baka.' She pulled bunch of kunais and jumped on Odayama who has blocked her with his second arm, claws clashing with kunais.

Six minutes.

[Rater202]

"I simply must figure out how to use the soft body modification." Senko deadpans, "Or chain."

She sighs. "I am not wasting valuable research time cleaning the house of a psycho like his wife. Instead, I am about to do something incredibly stupid without any prior testing to see what'll happen."

Most of Senko's body returns to normal, but the diamond patterns on her legs engulf them entirely, turning them as black as soot before they turn a familiar brick-red and start bulging like a bodybuilder flexing the relevant muscles, visible veins and all.

And then, she backs up a bit, gets a running start, and jumps up as high as she can go. In the air, she flips herself over and her legs suddenly shrink back to normal.

At the same time, her primary arm turns a dark solid black and sort of glow a dark purple as she focuses every last bit of chakra and natural energy she has to spare into her Sage Transformation: Limbs of Holy Steel to make her arm as strong and as hard.

She pulls her fist back as she falls headfirst at Odayama and strikes out with the strongest punch she can throw in the hopes of hitting him dead on.

Senko has never done something like this before, she's pushing her body to its absolute limits.

Sage Art: Heavenly Javelin!

Which didn't stop her fromimrpovising a name.

Of course, since this is most of her chakra in one attack(and thus, none strengthening the rest of her body) so... Yeah, incredibly reckless.

Spoiler

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I hope this is okay. It's mostly just putting everything she has into her two basic "enhancement" powers.