Light From Their Eyes, Blood From Their Veins

Mission:

The sound of trickling water ripple off of the walls of this floor. A small oil lantern clipped to Nakaba's belt was his only source of light as he navigated giant stalagmites and stalactites that stretched from floor to ceiling like  a forest of slick wet rock. The source of the river sounds were nearly impossible to determine from where Nakaba had entered from, but as he ventured deeper and deeper in the light trickle of a stream soon gave way to the resounding force only a river could muster. It was far enough away though that the light from his hip lantern couldn't reach it.

This time Nakaba came decked out a little different than normal he was wearing a black, tight, muscle shirt that had a facsimile of his skeleton printed on both sides and a pair of dunn, ruddy orange autumnal colored pants. On his back, held up by some leather straps around his torso, was a collapsed giant tessen that matched his current outfit. Beneath that was a form tightly bound in bandages. The ninja's boot falls landed silently, especially under the cover of the river. Amber eyes that caught the glow of the flame, scanned the area looking for the enemy that they knew existed nearby.

A chill went up Nakaba's spine. slowly he'd unsheathe the giant fan he was carrying. He slowly lowered his center of gravity as a tag came into sight. He would need to be cautious going forward. Where one of these tags lay danger was always nearby. Patience the mantra would resonate in Nakaba's head. Don't strike too quickly until you can land a decisive blow. Pacing will play a very important factor in surviving any of the threats that the tower was about to reveal. Silently the figure illuminated in the dark would wait for his opponent to reveal himself.

[Entering with and maintaining Chakra Suppression]
[Entering with Monarch's Scales, Mocking Puppet, and 6 Ungraded (C-Rank) katana]

After Rotwang had finished his latest round of exploring the castle on the previous day, he returned to the "Mugen Base Camp" once again so that he could sleep away the travails that he had faced in retrieving the tag of the latest floor that he had unlocked in the castle.

Morning already, eh? How irksome...Oh well, duty calls once more, so it is off to the trenches again...O ye Norns, let not this day bring any undue trouble to me...

Rotwang mused thus silently as he mapped out what he had learned about the latest floor of the castle that he had begun exploring and then started preparing himself and his gear for the day's outing just as he had done on the previous series of days of his undertaking this special mission series on behalf of Iwa in "Menzagakure Village". Naturally, since he was so used to doing so, he made sure to equip his puppet armor, the "Tálōs Mk-I", to his person along with his 9 remaining explosive tags that he received as part of his Iwa shinobi's employee package from the Blasting Corps portion of the Iwa ninja army. Along with that, as was his default practice for attire, he also made sure to don his physician-scientist outfit. Finally, he took the home-brew map that he had been making of the "Mugen Castle" and headed off to said destination to explore the castle some more.

What trials and tribulations will come my way today? Whatever they may be, hopefully, my survival will not be jeopardized...

With that thought in mind, Rotwang hurried up the chains to the castle and made quick work of the guard by using one of his remaining 9 explosive tags before heading inside. Then, he started to make his way through the floors that he had already explored before. However, along the way, he discovered a hidden passageway that he had somehow missed during his previous days of exploring the mysterious, floating "Mugen Castle". So, he headed into this one instead to see if he could find any more tags. This new area seemed to be darker than the rest, so he made sure to reach for the torch that he noticed in the socket on the wall that lay just outside this new area

Hmm...since it is darker here than outside...it would be prudent of me to be cautious in entering it...and to that end...

Rotwang thought silently about possible plans of action that he could use to explore this new area and began by activating his "Chakra Suppression" so that he could avoid unnecessary fights during his exploration of this new area. Then, he slowed his pace to a tactical crawl in the manner that he had been taught during his Academy days and moved the torch in his hand around to illuminate the new area some more. After several minutes of doing so, he spotted what looked like a tag in the distance, and now he could also see what seemed to be streams of trickling water nearby as well as stalagmites and stalactites littering the chamber as far as his torchlight allowed him to view in this otherwise dark chamber. Naturally, he tried to make as little noise as possible while moving slowly through this new area to not tip off any troublesome enemies to his presence and waited to see what would happen next in the situation.

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OOC:

Rotwang's Appearance (his puppet armor's synthetic skin AND his real self):



N.B.: Rotwang currently has his puppet armor (Tálōs Mk-I) equipped and usable as is reflected in his stats given in the signature below. This image depicted here is the synthetic skin coat covering his puppet armor while his actual body (also this FC) is fully concealed under both his puppet armor and its synthetic skin coat.

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Rotwang's CP Usage:

• Starting CP: 110 of 110 CP
  
  
• Used CP: 0 (b/c Chakra Suppression not requiring CP usage)
  
  
• Remaining CP: 110 of 110 CP
  

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Equipped Gear:

• Puppet Armor (i.e., Tálōs Mk-I)
  
  
• 8x Standard Marketplace Explosive Tags
  

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Jutsu Used:

• Chakra Suppression (D-rank)
  

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Personal Post Count: 1

Post XP: 10 (for basic 2-person multiplayer thread)

Maintaining a walking pace and taking in information was Nakaba’s general plan as he wandered the area searching for the tag. An errant bit of light caught his eye as he noticed a small amount of illumination reflecting off of the stalactite that the tag was attached to some ways off. Nakaba froze though. The light that was flickering off of the stalactite seemed to be a little more erratic and wind blown than his was. In fact it was also too bright to be his light, now that he thought of it. From this distance there was no way the reflection would be this bright.

Nakaba shifted his fan from his back as he began to feel his nerves tingle. Looking around for the other source of light Nakaba would hold his breath to see if there were any sounds that accompanied the glow. He could tell that the figure was closer to the water than him as he focused more and more, but only if they were beside of whatever light source was casting onto the tag, but that seemed unlikely. It would likely be to his benefit to control the timing of their interaction, but that also seemed impossible to do without just a little more information.

(OOC: Chakra Suppression doesn’t cost chakra to maintain)

Rotwang had been making his way through the darkened area that he had entered as slowly as possible to avoid tripping any traps or being blindsided by any opponents while slowly moving the torch in his hand about to light his way. Little did he know that he had been spotted by another who was already in the area ahead of him. However, he too spotted what looked like a flicker of light against the stalagmites and stalactites that were present in this new area, but seemingly coming from the general direction which was opposite to his current position

Hmm...judging from the angle this light is falling against these stalagmites and stalactites...It is doubtful that it is issuing from my torch...but rather from something else present somewhere else in this area...This bears further investigation, so here goes something...

With that thought in mind, Rotwang came to a complete stop at his current position in the area, and then, he calmed his breathing to the usual recommended tactical level that he had learned from his basic stealth training during his Academy days. Naturally, he did this so that he could observe whether the adjustment of his movement pace and body activity would trigger something to happen from the direction that he presumed the source of the newly discovered light was present in relative to his position in the area. Thanks to his adjustments, he noted that the light from his torch was appearing against the stalagmites and stalactites that were present in this new area in a more stable fashion and not as erratic as it had been before now. Finally, with that done, he began to silently wait for whatever else was going to happen in the situation at hand.

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OOC:

Rotwang's CP Usage:

• Starting CP: 110 of 110 CP
  
  
• Used CP: 0 (b/c Chakra Suppression not requiring CP usage)
  
  
• Remaining CP: 110 of 110 CP
  

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Equipped Gear:

• Puppet Armor (i.e., Tálōs Mk-I)
  
  
• 8x Standard Marketplace Explosive Tags
  

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Jutsu Used:

• Chakra Suppression (D-rank)
  

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Personal Post Count: 2

Post XP: 10 (for basic 2-person multiplayer thread)

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Flashback
"When it comes to taijutsu even the simplest maneuvers performed with form prioritized can increase your chances in a fight. A punch." An open palm strike would chain into two then three more on a dummy. Nakaba stood in front of the group in a way that was obviously not posturing, but came from an earnest desire to teach and spread knowledge. "A kick." A rising kick would knock it off of its stand and into the air. As it came down Nakaba would perform a spinning kick to send it flying. "First we're going to do some endurance training. Come on! Let's get some laps in. Do your best to keep up." Nakaba would run ahead doing his best to guide Rotwang's and the others' form with helpful tips and pointers as they jogged. As any questions came in Nakaba responded to them in kind with thorough earnest answers.

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Present
Slowly shifting Nakaba caught sight of the lights origin only a few seconds now after originally noticing the shift. The genin would begin Sprinting to close in with the target at C-Rank speeds. As he closed in, if he got within 30 meters he'd launch a powerful gust at the other Iwa-nin using the Arhat fist to amplify his swing strength. A powerful gust would be created from the swing of the fan that would be powerful enough to knock the average genin off of their feet and even an experienced athlete a ways back.
"Hey bud. You should just turn around. Abandon the tag and back go home." The barrage wouldn't stop. If He was caught by the first hit a series of consecutive swings would follow in an attempt to pin the puppeteer to a wall or column. If he was deprived of mobility he'd be at the disposal of the taijutsu user, and whatever tricks he had up his sleeves.

Teaching Jutsu:

Jutsu Used:

Relevant item stats:

Flashback

Rotwang listened to his new acquaintance and fellow Iwa ninja, "Nakaba", explain Taijutsu concepts in depth to prepare him and the other ninja who were attending the class to train in the use of various techniques from that ninja art

"That makes sense...However, what of the requirement of physical strength and other such bodily parameters? Would those requirements be compensated for if one employs proper form when executing Taijutsu at all?"

Rotwang inquired of Nakaba briefly after watching him demonstrate a chained Taijutsu form against a wooden dummy and then, he got in line with the other ninja in the class as Nakaba led them on a brisk jog for some much-needed endurance training. Thankfully, even though his innate physical prowess in terms of movement capacity was severely lacking at only E-tier, his puppet armor helped compensate for it since it allowed him to move at C-tier velocity throughout the exercise thanks to the various movement assistance mechanisms that he had built into it.

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Present

Rotwang had been examining the environment in that mostly dark area wherein his only source of light was his torch when he noticed someone or something hurtling at him at C-rank velocity from out of the darkness on the other side of the area which was opposite to his current location

So...there was someone else here before me...This specific tag retrieval round just became quite a bit more complicated and irksome...Oh well, that cannot be helped...So, here goes something...

Rotwang frowned as he noticed his mysterious assailant thanks to his perception also being C-tier which matched said assailant's movement capacity, at least currently. Additionally, he also noticed that this assailant started to attack him with a strong zephyr which he generated with the force of his incoming strikes. Thankfully, with the B-tier durability granted to him by the puppet armor that he had equipped at present, Rotwang managed to stay on his feet and avoided getting knocked away by the wind gust that had been launched at him. After that, his assailant's warning finally registered in his mind, so Rotwang turned his attention to answering

"That will not be possible, for this current mission of mine requires me to discover and retrieve proof of as many tags as possible...and my growing collection of them would not be truly complete without the one in this area...So, your offer to let me walk away in exchange for leaving this tag to you is hereby declined, friend."

Rotwang spoke thus to his assailant, thus revealing his voice to be a naturally rich, baritone, and melodious one that was heavily laced with a rather thick accent that was as truly strange as it was clearly of foreign origin and not at all anything that could be found in any of the five great ninja nations of the Kishin continent. Then, Rotwang retaliated against his opponent by first dashing toward him at C-tier velocity, and when he got within 1 m of said opponent, he activated his puppet armor's flight module to lash out with each of the two wings therein at C-tier velocity, aiming a single strike each time. If the impact of the wing strikes was successful, then this mysterious opponent of his would receive B-rank blunt force damage per successful wing strike.

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OOC:

Rotwang's CP Usage:

• Starting CP: 110 of 110 CP
  
  
• Used CP: 1 (b/c Chakra Suppression not requiring CP usage and E-rank cost of Puppet Technique)
  
  
• Remaining CP: 109 of 110 CP
  

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Equipped Gear:

• Puppet Armor (i.e., Tálōs Mk-I)
  
  
• 8x Standard Marketplace Explosive Tags
  

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Jutsu Used:

• Chakra Suppression (D-rank)
  
• Puppet Technique (D-rank)
  

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Personal Post Count: 3

Post XP: 10 (for basic 2-person multiplayer thread)