The Assassin's Blade. (Open)

The day seemed to be growing closer to nightfall, The village around him seemed to be lively even on such a day as this one. Ariza seemed to be minding his own business as he proceeded to walk about. The streets of Kirigakure would be filled with passerby's of all ages. Someone would look towards Ariza as he headed on his way towards the Weapon Shop. With his mask still on covering his face he smirked a toothy grin. Everyone was now staring at the newly gained Genin with interest. All Ariza wanted to do was to go buy a Cleaver Sword because he didn't wish to use the one his father had given him. Everyone that kept looking at him would make faces of disgust or lust. One or the other..sometimes even both.

On a day like today everyone usually did mind their business. But as they were seeing a unfamiliar face that had never shown himself before. People didn't know what to think, Was he a enemy? Friend? The people couldn't really tell even with him wearing his Kirigakure headband as well as his clothes. Ariza would stop in the middle of the crowd as he grunted and finally spoke up. "If you have a problem with me..Speak up so I may make this easier then it needs to be and murder you right here." Everyone in the vicinity that heard his words would gasp as they continued on their way. No one spoke a word or would even look in his direction. Or so he presumed anyway...

Ariza would continue on his way with his hands in his pockets. He took a nice good look around as the setting sun would now disappear and he had no idea where he was...He had really gotten lost in his own village. How in the world does someone do that? He scratched his head as the lights would turn on surrounding the village in a glare. "Hmmph, It works for now but where is the weapon shop." He said aloud to himself. Little did he know he was actually being followed by another Genin. This Genin had been Ariza's rival the second he entered the academy. And was now tasked with trying to eliminate the poor boy. Sadly for him Ariza was ready to get his hands wet. After walking for what seemed like forever, Ariza would finally find the blacksmith shop. And luckily for him he was going to purchase the last Cleaver Sword that was hanging on the shelf. Unfortunately, The genin that wanted Ariza dead had entered the shop as well. "That sword belongs to me whelp. You are not stronger then me and you never will be!" "You know..its a shame..I was going to let you live..Too bad you have to die right here." Ariza was quick on his feet. But he was stronger then he was fast. He grabbed the giant blade that was hanging up on the shelf and before the other genin could lift a single finger!

SLASH! His head dropped down to the floor. Ariza would chuckle as he looked at the bloodied weapon...It's first kill had been satisfiable. The shop owner on the other hand was now dealing with PTSD after what he just witnessed. Ariza tossed him the sack of Ryo as well as extra for the damage he had caused putting the kid's blood everywhere. "His parents shall miss him..Ha, Or not..I don't care. He was useless..He was nothing."

This is where our Journey begins, Ariza had murdered another Genin in cold blood. He did not care about the consequences of his actions, Hell he didn't even hide the body. The body was left to be discovered. Ariza would buy some ink and a scroll as he wrote down a letter to the kids family.

"Dear Dearly Departed...I have left to go on a mission the Kage has sent me on a special one and I shall be back soon...If I do not make it back..assume the worst."

Ariza did not know the Mizukage was now dead so this letter to the boys parents..would tell it all.

Kiri had been in a rather large amount of chaos recently, but somehow life was still going on. Even more so for Toshiyuki who, after months of hospitalization and the subsequent rehabilitation after his last fight, was just reemerging into ninja life. With the exception of Yon, Toshi's life was rather solitary, and he avoided the other ninja of the village as much as he could. The bane of the Ryuutei Clan would do well to keep out of their sights. That being said he did need to spend a little time in the more populated areas of Kirigakure. He'd been crouching down comparing military grade rations. On the one hand the Ringles brand would last months, but when it came to taste they were beyond trash. On the other hand the Laze brand, simply delicious, they only lasted a few days at most, and he had monumental amounts of debt from his most recent visit to the hospital. His attention would be broken as people began entering the shop. The shopkeep was fine. A fairly decent guy doing what he needed to to make ends meet for his family. He never gave Toshi the same discounts that other regulars received, but he also had never reported his shopping patterns to the Ryuutei or up charged him. All in all though Toshi kinda gt along with him, as much as he got along with anyone.

As two shinobi walked in, probably genin based on their age and Toshi's lack of familiarity with them, the eternal genin would pull his hood up. 'Don't draw attention. Don't draw attention.' He'd repeat the mantra over and over to himself. He'd set the rations down on the small section of the shelf. It was the only section of non-weapon gear in the store, and it was only maybe two foo by two foot of a larger four foot by seven foot shelf. Holding his breath as the two shinobi approached each other. They'd square up for a moment as the eternal genin watched from between the rows of the shelf, and then one of the shinobi would state, "I was going to let you live." As his eyes widened Toshi knew he had to step in. As the other ninja said the line, all but confirming his malicious intent already, Toshi would reach into his holsters on either side, taking out two trench knives. He had a backpack sitting at the door and a hip pouch on his left and right sides of his hip respectively, but those wouldn't be important at the moment. All that mattered to Toshi right here and now was that one of these two ninja was about to die, and he couldn't allow either of those things to happen. He'd whisper, "Faces. SWM." Relying on his tried and true, the little eel would appear beneath his clothes biting him as requested. Leaping forward as the masked kid reached back to the shelf to grab the shelf.

"Too bad you have to die right here."

"Sorry. I'm afraid that's not gonna happen."

Though blood would be on the ground, it wasn't the sweet liquour that the Momochi hoped for. It'd be the remnants of a cut Toshi had made to summon Faces before using the Body Flicker technique to intercept. When he turned to swing, Toshi would have already moved himself the precious few meters to a spot in between the two kids, the fingers of his left hand retracting from a half tiger seal, and his two blades rising meeting the massive Cleaver Sword's trajectory. The force of the blade alone would be enough to slide him into the kid and push the two of them back into the shelf. The kid would tumble over the shelf but the older of the two genin would remain standing. His skin had turned blue and hairless, a set of closed gills appeared on his neck, and his eyes were iris-less with only thin cat-like slits for pupils.

He'd speak up, more nervous than he'd like, to both the shopkeep and the kid who would be scrambling to get up. "Get out of here."

He'd look the Momochi dead in his eyes. It was obvious that the nervous Toshi was more than willing to give the fresh genin the warm up he and his sword required, if he still hadn't been satisfied from the initial exchange. The Hoshigaki's entrance to the situation, would only complicate things further for the Ryuutei given his current fish like appearance. He looked almost like he recognized the genin. Toshi's last fight hadn't gone well for him. He definitely didn't imagine this one would either. "Now!" He'd yell at the two. Prompting them to gather themselves and run to a door behind the counter. A nervous smile would show that the eternal genin was ready to take on the other two, mentally at least. He'd still be well within the cleaver's range, and who knew what the Hoshiyuki had in store. He didn't know how things were gonna turn out, but he knew he wasn't playing hero. He just knew he wouldn't sleep right if this shopkeep and genin would have died, and his body moved before his head. Faces would respond mentally to the situation, "What have you gotten yourself into now, doofus?"

[Observing Ariza, Kaikasame, & the two NPCs 1/4]
[Faces: Observing Toshi 1/2]

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[OOC: I've been jonesing for a fight thread. Don't feel obligated to oblige me. To be clear I'm cool with the 2v1 - not that you need my permission- though Imma probably get my cheeks clapped.

It seemed that things were going to change quick. As Ariza was just about to slice someone's head completely off of their spine and body. Someone had the balls to interfere with his work. Utilizing his super hearing he could hear movement behind one of the shelfs. "Wonderful...Another who wishes to become a main course for my blade." The Momochi would say aloud as he licked his lips. A quick slash that would be made towards the other genin would be blocked by someone with two knuckle knives. "Oh Ho! Are You here to entertain me? Wonderful, I won't kill you since you decided to fight ME!" After his blade made contact with the Knives he himself would get into a Kendo Stance. The problem with this though is that he used it with his Cleaver Sword. Allowing him to use his strength as his speed was going to be a problem for anyone that came near him. The Stance was to allow his defense to be on par with his offense if this guy really wanted trouble.

"You ruined my first kill....I guess you would be a fine kill..Show me you deserve to die!"

After he would say such words it seemed a friendly face finally appeared through the front door.

"Hmmph, Took you long enouth."

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More than anything, Toshi was kinda glad to see that the shopkeep and the basic genin could scramble out the back during his distraction. His brain, though distracted would in a few moments soak in the adrenaline as he processed his situation, and his aggressors. He could run now and escape. The genin before him was wielding a crazy heavy weapon, there was no way he could hold it and keep up. If he went after the shopkeep, would Toshi be fine with that? It'd be fine if he didn't have to see it, right? Hadn't he put in a reasonable amount of effort to stop the swordsman? Something would tighten in his chest. The thought however fleeting welled up like despair. If he gave in, if he ran away this time, Toshi felt like he'd lose something important. He'd lose something he'd never be able to rebuild or take back. No, he'd have to fight, but maybe he knew that before he even stepped in.

Ryuutei Toshiyuki's breath would slow as his mind focused, honing his finest blade in the process. He'd slow only for a moment as he squared off with the swordsman deciding whose terms he wanted to fight on, sizing him up. The day was waning into night, so there weren't too many civilians lingering around. In Toshi's peripherals though, he'd notice one of them paused by the window which Faces would confirm. Until that point the idea of outside influence hadn't even occurred to him. Regardless, his back was still to the shelf, and he'd need to make space to deal with the threat of such a large weapon. In the first few moments after catching himself from the early, rattling blow from the swordsman, Toshi would make the clone seal as his body began to come to a halt, smirking nervously at his comrade-yet-foe's declaration of malice. Not taking a moment to be still, Toshi1 would dash forward out of a small cloud of smoke at full speed swinging his trench knives ahead of him in a pincer motion. His aim was to decapitate his foe just as Ariza himself had attempted and been denied while Faces supported him.

"You ruined my first kill....I guess you would be a fine kill..Show me you deserve to die!" Ariza would say as eased into a sword stance, elegantly displaying the brutish force of the sword, and his refined skill. The blade was obviously sharper in his hands than most ninjas, and Toshi1 could sense it. A misstep would spell Toshi's end.

"Give me your name, so I can know whose body I'll be recording in my report." Toshi1 would retort back with faked bravado as he swung. His dull, brown eyes would lock with the swordsman to help him figure out the ninja's next move

Toshi2 would also not hesitate. He'd make a beeline to his left towards the real Toshi's backpack, reaching back and swapping one of his two trench knives for a kunai with wire attached, his right hand maintaining the half tiger seal ready to use it on a moment's notice. He'd learned his lesson before about not keeping all of his ninja tools on his person, and he'd still rather have his medikit and ration pills near in case stuff went on longer than he'd expected. He like every other Ryuutei, had been blessed with unnaturally large chakra reserves, but he had to make sure. He wouldn't get far though before a second ninja would storm in claiming to be here to apprehend the swordsman, as the swordsman uttered recognition.

A suiton jutsu would simultaneously go off where Toshi had been just moments ago. A lapse of vision would have saved him in the moments between the new combatant and Toshis1&2 splitting up - be that from the cloud of smoke created from his jutsu or the wooden storefront. If the swordsman could use jutsu without seals, Toshis were in for a world of terror. As strong as the swordsman was, sealless ninjutsu would have been made the fight a completely uphill battle. Toshi2 in tandem with Toshi1's swings would pull his hands out of the bag on his left throwing a kunai with an explosive tag trailing a few centimeters behind it. As Toshi2 feinted a willingness to explode a clone and his enemy.

If Ariza stood his ground, the kunai would be aimed for where his back leg would be. If he jumped out of the way, Toshi1 would take advantage of the temporarily airborne ninja's lack of firm footing to push him backwards with his knives, assuming Ariza blocked, and out the side window. Toshi1 would be taking an offensive stance, only paying the newcomer moderate amounts of attention as he continued swinging at Ariza looking for an opening his his guard. Toshi2's hand would go back into his left hip pouch prepared to either grab another kunai, while his right hand considered a different kind of instrument. Toshi2, unless stopped, would end up standing over the real Toshi's backpack. Placing him in front of the display window, and just to the left of the door next to his new ally. Toshi2 wondered what his deal with the swordsman was seeing as to how he called this his 'first kill,' but would simply nod, letting the ninja know that his attention was evenly split between Ariza and Kaikasame. Toshi was sure though that the Hoshigaki's entrance to the situation, would only complicate things further for the Ryuutei given his current fish like appearance.


[Observing Ariza, Kaikasame, & the two NPCs 2/2]
[Faces: Observing Toshi 2/4 - I goofed last round...]

Stats and CP:

Clone Spoilers!!! Read the post and make your guess before looking within!:

As the Momochi dodged the bait Toshiyuki's blow, though not mighty enough to normally move a strong kenjutsu specialist, would be more than sufficient to push back an airborne one. With a rapid exchange, Toshi would manage to launch the genin out of the window into the street. Meanwhile inside Toshi2 would watch the other ninja leave out of the store. He was confused to say the least, but wouldn't stop him as he had no real reason to. After a few moments of silence Toshi2 would pick up the backpack and follow the other two out of the window. In his eyes this alone was the victory. He'd managed to not get the store terribly damaged, and the shopkeep was -probably- in relatively good condition. Before he left through the broken window the genin would pick up the tools he'd thrown, but would other wise leave the mess to the shopkeep. He felt bad, but he'd have to make it up later, assuming he didn't lose.

Toshi1 would land on the other genin and with a couple of strong blows to the chin would knock him unconscious in the middle of the street. It was late enough where he assumed it wouldn't be a problem. By the time the second clone would appear out side faces would have been sent back, and it would just be Toshi in the middle of the street with Ariza, and a second Toshi standing just out side the window. The main Toshi would be breathing a little raggedly, smiling before turning and giving his other self a thumbs up. Something else had caught his other's eye though. Toshi1 would turn around to see a wagon coming his way. He'd look down and then back up at the cart and then down again. With one quick burst of strength he'd throw Ariza out of the way before his vision would go dark.

He'd wake up days seconds later, just before he'd hit the ground. He'd somehow manage to get Ariza to the nearest anbu before blacking out.[Exit]