Awkward Goodbyes and Punching Hello's

Damn no genjutsu, there must be something making him this way. What is it though, will knocking him out fix the problem? The genin looked over to his fellow sand shinobi as he continued to assess the chakra. "No he's still human, he just doesn't like to talk about it." Maybe calling Salzem human made him mad, maybe it didn',t but there was a set of claws coming toward him either way. As the ninja dodged his muscles tightened and his skin began to pale, along with that he created three more scorch orbs that seemed to just leak from his body. "Time to raise the temperature."


If the ninja had not activated wind glaive he would not have been fast enough to react, but at speed 130 he dodged the orbs proficiently and without a movement sent two orbs in their direction at power 75. For his next attack Ryu didn't run away instead he ran at the wolf with a swirling ball of energy in his hand. "Rasengan!" the genin yelled as he thrusted the chakra sphere at power 80, speed 130. He wasn't trying to kill Salzem though just disable him. "Remember when we trained this jutsu, Salzem? I've gotten better at it."

Next the ninja looked into Togi's dirction. "I'm going to try to disable him, but his re-gen-al, re-gen-ation, that way people heal fast, might be a problem." He looked over to the kunai in the ground and up to his ally once more. "Thanks for the assist."

'If you say so senpai but I can feel his chakra it is not as it should be...' Togi silently declared. The Hansho Byakugan was currently on overdrive sensing every tiny detail that it could, it was the first time that Togi had been in a potentially life or death situation and he was determined not to miss a thing, the tiniest trace of chakra or the slightest fluctation in it's chakra signature could give away this dangerous creatures next move and if Togi paid carefully attention he could perhaps prevent Ryu from being hurt. Other than the floating orbs the creature did not appear to be using any significant amount of chakra instead relying on its superior physical might. Togi's attention however was soon drawn to the chakra usage of not the woflfman but that which Ryu was using instead. 'Is Ryu-senpai infusing his body with wind chakra?' Togi thought to himself as he sensed the scorch user suddenly convert his chakra to a large amount of wind natured chakra.

The Hyuuga genin then observed as some of the densest and most concentrated chakra he had ever observed began to form in Ryu's hand while he began to move in such a way that suggested he was about to charge straight at his opponent. 'No senpai that attack is far too direct it will never work... not unassisted it won't atleast...' Togi thought to himself making a snap decision. Togi then much like his senpai suddenly infused and energised his body with chakra, unlike his senpai he did not use wind natured chakra and instead used raw unaltered chakra and a large amount of it. Togi then moved at the fastest speed he had ever moved at in his life as he activated the body flicker jutsu (speed 200), one second he was standing at the side lines and the next he was directly behind Salzem. Togi had moved so fast that likely both boy and wolf had not seen him move.

As he reappeared after body flickering he was already in one of the most famous stances of the Hyuuga clan. The dull lifeless grey eyes were gone replaced with pure midnight black orbs. 'You are in my field of divination and you shall not hurt Ryu-senpai!' Togi silently declared as he began to lash out as fast as a viper (speed 118) with palm strikes that glowed with chakra. The blows were swift and accurate and Togi homed in on the Tenketsu that to the Hyuuga's vision were glowing brightly like tiny little beacons just asking to be sealed shut. Togi however knew that his opponent was fast so did not know how many blows that would hit their mark but for each of the possible 64 strikes that Togi made then the wolf would have some of his chakra sealed away (each strike that hits deals -5 chakra and -20 actions). Even if he did not hit his targets Salzem would now be sandwiched between the chakra enhanced blows of a Hyuuga and the overwhelming power of a rasengan. Hopefully this would be enough to weaken the wolf that was apparently able to regenerate if what he had just heard Ryu say was correct.

(FYI Togi was attacking with this Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms)
(wc: 536)

Salzem's hands soon began to burn as the chakra sphere began to form in Ryu's hand. He knew about the other one, as his senses attuned to his new speed and power. Salzem's flaming hand latched onto Ryu's arm, the one holding the rasengan (speed 135, flame power 50, Strength 50) and redirected his rasengan before it hit him at the the other kid (Speed 135) as he seemed to be mumbling some garbage about a field of divination before starting to dance around like a marionette in the middle of a seizure. Salzem then leaped back a good 20 feet, His hands extended out in front of him. He fell to his all fours, thoughts beginning to form in slowly in his mind. No... No... he shouldn't be doing this... he shouldn't be trying to hurt them like he was doing... He twitched and shuttered, nearly reaching his flaming paws up to his head in an attempt t silence the noise clouding his thoughts, the white noise. The horrible empty noise dimmed just a little for Salzem to get his barrings, for him to actually move his body. For now, it was his again. He twitched and growled, his instincts still fought against his mind. It was as if his muscles were rusted gears, for how fast he was moving. Salzem forced his body to obey, mind over muscle, smarter men than him said. With pure will, she shut down his senses, forcing them to attune to his will and his will only. He roared in triumph over himself, still feeling stiff on the outside over the battle on the inside. He looked over at the two boys, putting on a mask-of-a-smile, attempting to defuse the situation, but just in case, he kept his flaming hands active.

"Hey, Hey." Salzem managed to choke out. He was still getting used to speaking again. "What, I can't catch you off guard, Ryu?" He didn't know whether or not the kid knew he was lying, but the other one, the one with black eyes who danced like a mentally unstable sock puppet seemed to look up to Ryu and might listen to him should he back down. He hoped he'd back down. If Salzem was in control again, he would hate it if he had to hurt them both consciously.

When the flaming hand grabbed onto the ninja's wrist it burned, an experience that Ryu had grown unaccustomed to in his dealings with his own chakra and that of the phoenix. The pain wasn't unbearable however and the next thing Ryu knew he was getting tossed rasengan and all towards Togi. Damn, damn, damn. Forcing his body downward, the boy forced his chakra sphere into the sand. This however left the genin completely open to Togi's attack. Maybe Togi could see the fact that it was Ryu and would stop, maybe he wouldn't though.

"Well you did catch me off guard." The genin said as his body returned to its normal tan color and his muscle tone returned to what it once was. If this is Salzem why are the beads still going? Maybe he is worried that we will continue our assault. Ryu didn't approach though he had a feeling something was still off, but he wouldn't attack either. "Why did you attack me, like that?" The genin asked smiling while rubbing his wrist which had a Salzem's hand sized burn mark on it.

Togi was quite surprised when Salzem's arms suddenly burst in to flames for one Togi had carefully studied the wolf man's chakra before engaging and he had been absolutely certain that he had not possessed fire natured chakra and secondly the flames themselves did not actually seem to be fuelled by chakra. Togi however had little time to ponder this mystery as he was surprised once again when the giant wolf managed to catch Ryu by the arm and hurl the rasengan using Genin straight at him. 'Huh I never considered this outcome...' Togi briefly thought to himself as Ryu managed to slam his destructive orb of chakra in to the ground. Togi was however mid strike and with Ryu tumbling towards him there was little chance of not hitting the blonde scorch user. Fortunately there was a reason that his academy records had always noted that the boy possessed near perfect chakra control and as the two Genin neared their collision Togi moulded and converted the nature of his chakra before it left his palm. So when Togi's palm struck Ryu instead of a powerful and sharp needle of blue chakra a soft green chakra began to radiate out washing over his body and speeding up the healing of any wounds he might have taken. 'That was close.... too close....' Togi thought to himself as he continued to channel medical chakra in to his friend.

In their moment of distraction Togi expected to be attacked at any moment however when he returned his attention to their opponent the giant had dropped to all fours and seemed to be behaving slightly erratically. "Something is wrong his chakra is destabilising..." Togi whispered as he began to study the chakra of the wolf once again. The chakra was still the same as it had been before, still powerful, potent and very wild, raw and primal but unlike before the chakra seemed to lack purpose. When he had first arrived chakra and body seemed to be working in harmony but now it was almost as though the wolf man's body did not know how to use its own chakra. It reminded the young medic nin of something he had read about the possible side effects of chakra transfusion and how a recipient of chakra could sometimes reject or fight against the donor chakra. Was something similar going on here? Togi wondered.

Togi took half a step forwards as he continued to study the very strange chakra before him. Ryu's large friend seemed less inclined to fight now that was good. "Are you sick?" Togi suddenly questioned as he cocked his head to the side. The boy's eyes of pure black had begun to fade back to their usual dull grey and he was once again facing in the general direction of who he was speaking to though he was not looking at them.

(WC: 485)

Salzem once again forced a chuckle. He reared back up on his hind legs and gave Ryu a friendly wink.

"Decided a punch wasn't good enough." The beads halted their erratic flights, forming a loop around Salzem's neck. The cord then slid through each of the tiny holes before reconnecting with the other end, reverting the necklace to a piece of jewelry again. His face was beginning to strain from the smile still plastered on his face, so he dropped it in exchange for an easy-going neutrality, one much easier to mimic. The marionette kid asked if he were sick and at that, Salzem almost felt a twinge of humor. Yes he was.

"No, I'm not." Salzem rolled his eyes. They seemed more blank than usual when looking at the unknown boy. Natural defense? Who know and who cared? Salzem had just enough patience to keep this facade going. "If I were, what would I be doing here, amongst you? It would be counter-productive to just spread it to everyone." Salzem tried to from a smirk but the expression was lost on him so he did a shrug instead. Anyone could do those and seem sincere. "Sorry if I scared you two. I have to keep you on your toes." Excuses excuses. That last bit ringed with more echos than a 100x200 empty marble hallway, at least to him.

With the healing energy flowing through him the burning became less of a sting and more like an annoying tickle, eventually though even that feeling dissipated. Whether through acclimation or it healing Ryu was happy to get rid of the pain. 

Listening to his allies whisper, the genin didn't want to make a snap decision, Salzem's attitude had seemed to be back to normal. That was good enough for the naive genin, he still wouldn't approach in case he was not correct though. Well that makes sense, sometimes punches aren't good enough. Kicks usually are though. Approaching the wolf the orbs around the boy winked out of existence leaving little trace of them ever being there in the first place.

"So how have you been Salzem?" Ryu asked still half expecting a punch to the head. It is what they had agreed upon after all. "I learned new stuff since I last saw you, but I could still use some practice." He smiled not sure of what his allies response would be. "Do you both want to help me out?"

Togi carefully observed as what remained of the floating beads drifted back towards their owner and reformed what appeared to be some kind of oversized piece of jewellery, once they were back in place the chakra inside them then seemed to return to a dormant state. 'Well it certainly seems that he is both calming down and stepping down but it is worrying that he was in such a bloodthirsty state to begin with...' Togi thought to himself.

Being blind Togi could not see the eyeroll on Salzem's part though he could hear the tone of the wolfman's voice disguised as it was beneath the gruff and growlish nature of his voice. "Not all diseases are infectious nor are all diseases physical..." Togi replied calmly. "And if you are a friend of Ryu-senpai then your well being is my concern!" Togi declared as he kept his chakra senses trained on the wolfman analysing every single detail that he could.

"Ryu-senpai you never did properly introduce us..." Togi declared as soon as Ryu had mentioned the name of the wolf man. "Please allow me to correct that error, my name is Togirama Hyuuga and despite the circumstances I am pleased to meet you Salzem-san" Togi declared bowing as he did so. "Salzem-san if you do not mind me asking, are you a ninja of Sunagakure?" Togi then questioned.

"Ummm what did you have in mind Ryu-senpai?" Togi then hesitantly asked as soon as soon the blonde Genin asked if they would like to help him practice. While Togi was always willing to help someone train if Ryu was looking to spar with Salzem then Togi was not sure if that was quite a good idea incase such an action set off another bout of bloodlust...

(WC:301)

Salzem nodded his wolven head at Ryu's offer. He, too, had learned some new things since they last met. About his body, really. It seemed through out various places under his skin, there were several glands, some that produced pheromones. Salzem just knew they were there, like he came aware of their presence one day, feeling them rest underneath his flesh. Salzem did not return Ryu's smile, instead, he had something of a critical look on his face, as if he were getting ready to chastise at a moment's notice. He said nothing, however, and waited for the attack to come, his back-leg's wolven muscles flexing in anticipation. The rest of Salzem's sentient mind, however was more bored than anything. Nothing about anything he ever did anymore caught his interest, really. He felt lazy, slow, despite being in better shape than he'd ever been. His mind felt fuzzy, hollow, void, despite there being two voices in his head instead of just his own now. If he had anyone to compare himself to, he'd compare himself to Isshin, his old friend. How that name infuriated him now. How much sway it held over him was disgusting, like a dog and its treats. Of course, his anger wasn't distributed at his friend, just how much power the name had over him. He felt that if anyone told him that he was alive, Salzem would immediately do their every whim to obtain this info. He felt exploitable, like a golem from the ancient stories. Mindless shamblers with one purpose. Rage was really the only other thing he had felt in days besides his own depressing boredom. Rage over his potential to be exploited, his critical failures in life due to his impulsive nature and weakness. Pathetic was all he had to say about himself in that regard. Feh.

"Salzem, is not from the Sand. But it could be his home if he wanted it to." Ryu said smiling to Togi's question of whether or not the wolf was from Sunagakure. "Well I don't have anything in particular, I wanted to train." He turned to each of his allies and asked them what they would want to do. I have a feeling that Salzem has something he wants to train and so does Togirama, probably. 


"With three people training together everything will be much easier. Don't you both agree?" The boy asked as he began to back away from the both of them. "Lets have a one vs. one vs. one. Where you are free to train whatever techniques you want, just don't kill your opponent. Sound good?