Preparation [P]

Taking some time before the tournament, Koutaku stepped into the military training facility, replaced his wire with its practice version, and then reserved a room for himself for several hours. Avoiding the other shinobi who were training in the large open areas, Koutaku noted several techniques and considered his own arsenal.

Stepping into his private training room, Koutaku locked the door behind him and set the room to 'hidden' making it so that any windows or openings completely vanished, replaced by a gently glowing light generated by some chakra source in the wall. Koutaku would learn how it worked someday. Putting that aside, Koutaku pulled out his jutsu encyclopedia, considered a few techniques, and then stored it back in his pocket dimension.

Without further adieu, the young shinobi performed three handseals, Tiger, Horse, Ram, and then the clone seal with one handed seals. Immediately, Taku and Kou, his two shadow clones, appeared on either side of him. Glancing at their creator, the two clones nodded and then turned away, walking to either side of the room. Koutaku himself took some deep breaths and closed his eyes. That done he began rapidly using handseals: Ox, Tiger, Ram, Snake. Hands blurring through the motions, Koutaku activated Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears. Immediately, five spears sprung up around Koutaku, shielding him from his clones as they both turned to face their creator's location. A moment later, another five spears stabbed up from the ground, angled towards the rest, but positioned between them to fill the gaps. Taku grit his teeth while Kou just frowned.

"This is ridiculous. You'd never do this, so why are we even bothering to train as if you would?" Taku said, clearly annoyed. Kou, on the other hand, took a step back, his eyes widening as he sensed several surges of chakra from within the earthen defense.

"Um, I think we should move," Kou didn't wait to act, bursting into motion at 140 speed he surged towards Koutaku's last known location, only to cut to the right all of the sudden as a projectile somehow flew through the air and almost struck him. Taku, noting the frantic sound to his ally's voice, narrowed his eyes and drew two wirebound shuriken. As if on queue, wires seemed to snake their way out through the cracks of the stone, even as shuriken slipped out of pocket Koutaku's pocket dimension and were snatched up by the wires.


That done, Koutaku--hidden within his enclosure--used minute manipulations of his wire to hurl the weapons at Taku. While they weren't moving terribly fast, they were moving. Taku scoffed and spit on the ground, performing the handseals for a technique. Seal of Confrontation.


Bursting towards the enclosure at a startling 190 speed, Taku evaded the flurry of wirebound shuriken and drew his wakizashi in a smooth motion. Eyes narrowed, he channeled chakra through the blade and focused his will as well. Then he heard something behind him.

Two spears of stone shot upwards from the ground, not aimed in his direction, but upwards instead. Koutaku, knowing the precise locations--as he'd decided them--that the spears would appear, had planned his throws such that the shuriken would strike them. Furthermore, he'd affixed explosive tags to the wire just behind his shuriken, rolled tightly, and adhered with the Sticky Paper Adhesion Technique so as to make them virtually undetectable. They went off, and in an instant, the situation changed as flames, debris, and earthen dust rained erupted forth, engulfing Taku.

Shutting his eyes, Taku immediately began performing handseals even as he heard a whistling in the air. Moving swiftly with Split Second, Taku managed to evade the wire before it entangled him. A half-second after a shuriken began to emerge. He raised his own and used Deflect to send it hurtling elsewhere, before pushing back with one foot, and deliberately falling low as he threw a shuriken out before him. An earth spear emerged just as he'd predicted based on the rising quantity of chakra in the earth. His shuriken stabbed into it and remained. The wire grew taut, and Taku used it to swivel at a near-horizontal on the ground and out of the way of another set of attacks, before turning and pushing off with his other foot at 190 speed. Even more annoyed than before, Taku finished the handseals for Wind Wall (Ox, Dog, Rat, Ram, Clap hands) and it erupted from his person, clearing the haze of dirt and debris, as well as rebuffing several attacks before they could land.

Using the respite, Taku withdrew his wakizashi, focused for a half-second, dashed back in towards the spears of earth that defended his creator, zigzagging as he did, and then performed a ludicrously powerful slash in that direction, before retreating in a two-step backward dash.


With the attack moving at a truly monstrous speed, with drastic force behind it, and no chakra involved, Koutaku had no chance of predicting its arrival. However, what he did know was that something was off. So, within his prison, he did what he had to do: Tiger, Boar, Dog, Dragon, Rat. Ninjutsu Amplifier immediately activated as he did half the handseals with each hand, before utilizing one of his signature techniques.


Initiating a spin and using a small burst of wind chakra as he completed the Bird, Serpent, Hare, and Dragon handseals, Koutaku's wire tore through his own earth technique with frightening ease, sending earthen shrapnel outwards in a deadly spray, and utterly decimating the technique that Taku had sent his way. Smirking, Koutaku turned his vision in a new direction--his extra set of arms finishing another set of handseals--and swapped with his hand, sending a Zephyr Blade at Kou, who had begun to approach at speed. More cautious than Taku, Kou elected to evade the technique by a wide berth as he prepared a rebuttal. Drawing a fuma shuriken and affixing several wires around it, Kou then threw it to behind him, and then pulled with all his might, causing it to be swung on the wire at 140 speed towards his creator.

Koutaku grinned, drew his own Fuma Shuriken, but didn't unfurl it. Instead, he readied himself to use Counter-Strike. However, as Kou's Fuma Shuriken closed the distance, it began to change.

"Shit!"

Koutaku activated the Jump Technique, surging out of the way, as the Fuma Shuriken suddenly ejected its four blades, one of them heading at his former location. Each of the blades was affixed to a wire--unlike normally--and in a swift manipulation, Kou swung them towards his creator from multiple angles.

Koutaku, having performed the necessary handseals with his extra hands, held his Fuma shuriken above his head and allowed it to unfurl. The blades closed in, but so too did his massive shuriken alter in shape as Sokumen Henkou fully took hold. Each blade narrowed considerably, bent, and then shot downwards as they grew. Koutaku smirked and spun the weapon, creating a sort of barrier around himself. Kou's attack collided with said barrier of blades and was rebuffed.

Meanwhile, Taku hadn't been sitting idle. No, he'd been watching for an opening, and one presented itself as Koutaku tried to shift between tactics. Pulling upwards, Taku let the wires that Kou had been laying earlier when he'd run around, from the ground. Koutaku's eyes widened as they raised into the air, some of them far too close for comfort. Before either of the clones managed to act further, however, Koutaku jumped upwards onto a wire and began using them as precarious footholds to alter his location. Taku sneered and twisted his wrist, moving his arm to alter the orientation of all the wires at once.

Koutaku stepped off the wire...and onto the air with a huge grin. He reoriented in an instant, pushing off another set of wires and throw a flurry of shuriken down where they embedded in the ground of their training room. Tearing his arm upwards, Taku had the wires pursue his creator even as Kou used a technique that had just become available again: Earth Flow Spears.

The spears shot up, but this time it was different, they grew on top of eachother, and adhered to the side of one with the surface walking technique was Kou, riding the pillar with an almost practiced ease.

Amused, Koutaku threw a shuriken at him and activated Damage Reduction Shield in the same moment, using Step on High Ladder to retain complete control of his movements. At this point though, Koutaku knew he was in trouble. Airborne and having already used the Jump Technique, while being slowed by another of his techs? Not an ideal situation to be in. Then again, he still had wire.

With that thought in mind he deactivated Sokumen Henkou, affixed the wires that were attached to the shuriken in the ground to the Fuma Shuriken, and then in a turning spin threw it at max speed upwards.

The wires grew taut. Koutaku grabbed ahold of them, mid-air, and then pushed off of them in the same instant, dragging them behind him even as he used the taut wires as platforms to propel himself forwards.

Not merely surprised, but astounded by the ballsy nature of the maneuver their creator had pulled, the two clones lost vital seconds gawking, rather than reacting, before Taku--still adhered to the rising pillar--acted. Brushing off a number of thrown implements, and dodging others, the Clone extended more stone spears from the tower and towards Koutaku, affixing wires to them before leaping out into the open air. Koutaku tsked disapprovingly at the clone, but then noticed the faint refraction of light off of formerly unseen wires.

Taku smiled and twisted his hand as he raised his arm, causing a series of the laid wires that Kou had been controlling to rapidly rise and then enclose Koutaku. Their creator, impressed but not deterred, allowed himself a Split Second of reflection. He trained so frequently with his clones that in his mind he'd given them almost separate personalities, and as such when he used the technique in training that's how the two manifested. Sometimes they alternated, sometimes they remained the same, but always they felt distinct from him...despite looking exactly the same. As he had the thought, Koutaku was performing the handseals to access his pocket dimension. The wires on the other hand enclosed him...and then slipped off a film of chakra on his body harmlessly. He smirked and fully withdrew the large boulder of stone he'd 'pocketed' when he'd destroyed his own defensive setup. Standing on it and slamming his hands down, Koutaku performed the Tiger, Boar, Snake, and Dragon handseals, before leaping free from the technique, als pushing the boulder downwards at Kou, who could not yet see it.

The boulder grew, infused with his chakra, it became an angular boulder with slits and small spikes on it that caught on the wires. Dragging them down to earth, the construct also tumbled at Kou, who rushed out of its way in a hurry, only for Koutaku's fuma Shuriken--with a flick of the shinobi's wrist--to come in from a dead angle and cut the clone in twain. Summarily bisected, the clone vanished in a puff of smoke. Looking defeated, Taku stared at their creator, and the maneuver he'd pulled on them. The construct of chakra seemed rather frustrated, Koutaku had to admit, and he entirely understood the feeling. Nonetheless, the two knew they were here for training. They'd forgive him, so to speak.

With the massive construct crashing downwards into the ground, Koutaku had a host of newly taut wires to jump between, approaching Taku at speed as the clone drew its own fuma shuriken and then wakizashi in its offhand, narrowing its eyes at Koutaku as it did so. Quickly closing the distance between them, Taku’s creator lunged into the air, performing handseals as he did, his fuma shuriken collapsing back into its storage mode as it flew towards them.

Taku on the other hand bid his time, waiting for Koutaku to descend on him, and as he did, the clone blocked with his wakizashi, deflecting his creator’s attack, before spinning the fuma shuriken into motion and driving it at Koutaku’s chest.

Koutaku however reacted, using Quickdraw to rapidly unsheathe his blade and meet his clone’s strike with his chakra-infused wakizashi, even as he used another weaponry technique: Metal Crusher. As such, the Demon Wind Shuriken was struck aside, leaving Taku wide open, or so it seemed.

Spears of earth erupted out of the one that the clone stood upon, going at diagonal 45-degree angles to the horizontal platform. Taku dropped both his weapons and pushed back in a retreating step even as he recalled the weapons with Dimensional Storage. Drawing shuriken with hidden arms instead, the clone seemed far more prepared for a rebuttal than Koutaku had anticipated.

Nonetheless, he continued his advance, evading the pointed ends of the stone as his own Fuma Shuriken caught up to him.

Catching it with one hand, Koutaku performed several handseals, spun it once, and then hurled it at Taku. Earth spears attempted to rise to stop it, but it simply bypassed them with its own speed, and even when one formed in time, it was sliced straight through. Eventually, Taku was forced to face it directly.

Performing handseals, the clone used Verdant Mountain Gale to redirect the massive shuriken, but it had already come too close. An identical swirling blade of wind erupted out of the shuriken and towards Taku, totally bypassing his defenses and cutting him in half in the process at the midsection. Koutaku slowed down, now standing on a huge composite pillar of earth spears. Chuckling to himself, the young man performed a single handseal and then jumped to the top of the construction before it began to crumble and topple beneath him.

Using the seals for Step on High Ladder, Koutaku slowly drifted towards the ground, the rubble and chakra swiftly turning to dust and then being consumed by the room’s natural recycling systems to clear the area for its next use.

Touching down, Koutaku sat, taking on a meditative posture as he considered what else he needed to learn. Immediately something sprung to mind as he sat with his thoughts. He needed a technique of significant power, to deal with others of a similar degree of potency, but also for a greater ability to control the exact circumstances of a given battle and the field upon which it was waged.

With a smile, considering the techniques he might be able to learn that might serve this purpose, he settled on one in particular: Wind Release - Great Vacuum Sphere. Rising from his seated position after several minutes of visualizing the technique and running through chakra cycling exercises to memorize the necessary patterns, Koutaku rose from his seated position and walked to the door.

Unlocking it, and switching the display sign to “Open, but Occupied,” with his name below that, Koutaku turned back to his training and began cycling wind chakra through his body, and then to his hands.

Gradually he let it loose and it gathered gradually about his hands as he slowly and deliberately wove handseals with both hands. If anyone entered, Koutaku would be wreathed in wind chakra that was gradually gathering together before him, tugging at his clothes and hair. Concentrating as intently as he was, Koutaku would only faintly notice the intrusion of another shinobi if such occurred.

Spoiler:

Nico was having a wonderful day as always, well not as always but you get the point. Upon waking up he had gone about his daily ritual. After finishing so he would pace around his house he really needed to get around to training more in preparation for the upcoming tournament. He needed to be in peak performance in order to be competitive in this tournament. When he had joined he had based himself off of the other participants strengths and it seemed like Niko had a decent chance of making it to the top 4 or 3 at the bare minimum. Though he had no doubt that his fellow participants were practicing and training themselves as well in preparation. He did not know much of the other contestants and as always information is power that is why Niko does his best to limit the info others know of. It keeps people on there toes being underestimated. Plus everyone loves an underdog do they not?

Putting on his shinobi vest Nico would walk out of his apartment and into the busy and bustling streets of Kirigakure. Bobbing and weaving throughout the different paths he had set out for himself and stopping briefly for a breakfast Nico would slowly but surely make his way to the training arena to practice. Who knows maybe he would find someone that would indulge him with a spar just for practice of course. Arriving at the training area. Nico would walk into the building looking for a familiar name or two in the occupied stalls. Soon after looking he would hit the jackpot. Koutaku a fellow genin and tournament participant was having an open training session so Nico would walk in. 

Locking eyes with the fellow genin Niko would pose a question upon entering. "Fancy meeting you here Koutaku. How have you been since we last spoke. I heard you were also going to be participating in the tournament soon. Is that true"
(TWC 330)

After several long moments, Koutaku noticed Niko’s presence, barely able to hear him over the sound of his wind technique. Taking a deep breath, the Iouchiryo forced his chakra under control and with deft control dispersed the wind in a gentle breeze that blew outwards from his person in all directions. Turning to the puppeteer, Koutaku gave him a lopsided smile as he replied, “It is, why do you ask?”

That said, Koutaku’s hand twitched and a wirebound shuriken was suddenly in hand. He played with the weapon idly as he awaited Niko’s response, his gaze holding his peer’s for a prolonged moment before he turned away and threw the shuriken in another direction.

“Clearly you have something in mind if you came to the training facility. Care to tell me? I’d be glad to spar if that’s what you’re looking for.”

Spoiler:

Niko would answer affirmatively to his question. Niko needed to practice and to practice he needed to fight someone competent outside of the few weak people he had met. Now Nico had a perfect sparring partner in the form of Koutaku. Before when he had first met Koutaku he had seen him practicing chakra infusion. A technique that is a part of a completely different skill set. This would allow Nico to learn more about another combat style allowing him to practice for more different confrontations. 

"So how should we go about this one" Nico would ask. Depending on his response Nico would move 20 meters away from Koutaku towards the end of the 80 by 80 training area. Taking note that the surroundings had absolutely no obstacles and were simply an open floor.
(TWC 463)

“Just move over, yeah that’s far enough I’d say. I’ll activate the VR so we can properly go all out.” Koutaku did just that and a scan swept over the room as the genin sat down. The simulation swiftly took hold and they were both seamlessly transported into the Virtual World in their positions. The only difference was that Koutaku was still standing, his distance from Niko the same 20 meters as before.

Taking several deep breaths with his eyes closed, the young Iouchiryo centered himself, and as his eyes opened and met Niko’s a shift seemed to occur in Koutaku. Where before his eyes were a piercing sky blue, they seem almost a steel blue-grey now. There was something honed about him, something altogether different from the last time they’d met when Koutaku had yet to become anything worth writing home about.

“The Simulation will count down to three. Once it hits zero, we go.”

Unmoving, the countdown began.


The cold mechanical voice announced, Koutaku’s stance shifted slightly and his eyes moved just shy of Niko’s own, avoiding direct contact.


The genin let his breathing guide his chakra through his form in cycling patterns similar to techniques, but nothing formed. No handseals had been used, no actions taken, no rules broken.


Koutaku spoke, addressing his peer, his adversary. The enemy. “No holds barred.”


A chime went off and the genin erupted forwards into movement, immediately utilizing Hidden Arms even as he drew his Fuma Shuriken--something he’d recently acquired--into his left hand. At the same time he keyed into his 6th sense, allowing him to precisely track the location of his adversary and any puppets he might use. Similar to his left, his right hand had already drawn a host of three wirebound shuriken, though it had had a fourth a split second beforehand. Now that shuriken trailed wire back from Koutaku, the weapon itself embedded in the stone of the ground. Flicking his left wrist, the weaponry user unfurled his Demon Wind Shuriken and chakra surged through it as his right hand--which had been moving since before he’d even drawn the four regular shuriken--finished its last handseal for a total of ten: Boar, Bird, Hair, Dog, Dragon, Serpent and then Ox, Tiger, Ram, Snake. All were performed at max speed, the same as his ‘mad’ dash at Niko.


Followed swiftly by another technique, which had far more immediate results.


The ground seemed to rupture and morph in several locations 3 meters away from Niko, one to his left or right, another behind him, and two about 2 meters apart and in front of him. Each of the warped bits of earth shot up into the air, reaching a startling 7 meters in height in an instant. Koutaku, already having drawn more wirebound shuriken with Hidden Arms, hurled his shuriken at the tops of each pillar, before swerving to the right so that one of them hid his exact location. As he passed behind the pillar, Koutaku continued to perform the final handseal of Earth Flow Spears, holding it in place.

Spoiler:

Mid Thread Claim:

Approved.

Listening to Koutaku talk Nico would pay attention to the genin watching his moves as the voice began to countdown Niko would put 40 meters between him and koutaku and would run through the summoning jutsu seals at max speed finishing he would attach his string to the two Sen'un puppets that were one meter to his left and right respectively. He would then move the 10 meters forward and criss-cross them with his chakra strings that are currently cloaked. he would watch as koutaku rushed towards him one meter and then formed spears 19 meters ahead of him (range for spears is 20 meters and I have 15 over that range) meters away" Niko would make sure his puppets stayed alert and on the watch for any further movements toward him. 
(Sorry for the half assed post gotta claim some words) (Everything is done at max speed)
(TWC 612)
Mid Thread Claim
Claiming the remaining 283 added onto 842/1125 for Zetsu Thread Control previously trained here

Approved

As Niko and Koutaku began moving at the same time, Koutaku’s 140 speed made it such that for every meter Niko moved, Koutaku moved roughly 1.5x that distance. Further, given that he’d recently improved his mastery of Earth Flow Spears, he had an effective range of 30 meters. Since Niko hadn’t accounted for their difference in speed—perhaps only recalling his fellow genin’s abilities when they’d last met—the puppeteer would run directly into the Earth spear that had formed 3 meters behind him thus slowing his retreat further.

Remaining placid and calm, Koutaku—still holding the last handset of his earth technique—directed the formation of the next five spears. His shuriken would become embedded in the other spears he’d laid out even as the genin threw another wire bound shuriken into the ground behind him where it became embedded. Then—already obscured by the earth spears he’d ducked behind and now certainly no more than 16 meters from Niko—Koutaku did something few shinobi dared. He jumped into the air, moving at a 60 degree angle forwards. Immediately, Koutaku took a tighter hold on his various wires, ready to maneuver as necessary. At the same time he performed one handed seals with both hands—the wires nestled firmly between his fingers. Paying close attention to his chakra sensory throughout, Koutaku noted the appearance and animation of what he assumed must be two puppets. He was ready to cancel any of his movements if necessary, but for the moment he persisted, finishing the necessary handseals for a technique. Three in total, all at max speed.


Two clones appeared, each 3 meters ahead of him, mid air, but positioned such that they landed on the taut wires that suspended and pulled Koutaku forwards. The shinobi had reached an elevation of 6 meters off the ground and had been moving forwards at his same 140 speed via his wires throughout.

The two clones—situated three meters ahead and diagonally to the left and right of Koutaku, ran along the wires like tight ropes with practiced ease and hopped each onto a pillar of earth, avoiding the sharp bits so as not to be hurt by their own technique.

The first clone, Kou, sighted one of the two identical puppets and immediately drew its demon wind shuriken, affixing wires to the massive thing with Hidden Arms at max speed before sliding down the earth spear at 140 speed, reaching the ground, and then pushing off towards the clone at the same velocity. The second clone on the other hand hung back, remaining on its pillar as it activated the transformation technique. Two additional arms emerged from a foot or so beneath its normal pair. Poised, the clone was prepared to utilize handseals.

Koutaku himself, in the meantime allowed another round of five earth flow spears to emerge from the ground. One emerged—strangely—from the very earth spear that Niko had run into, before another emerged 10 meters back from that selfsame pillar. Koutaku threw a wire bound shuriken into the taller earth spear, and then ran along the wire at 140 speed. Two more spears emerged at two different angles in front of the Sen-un puppet that Kou wasn’t engaging with, each 6 meters ahead of it, but with the two skewed to the left and right. They stabbed towards the puppet at an angle, their 7 meter maximum length allowing them to reach the puppet at their 65 speed and power. The last spear emerged about 7 meters in front of Niko, pointed directly at the sky, Koutaku there a wire bound shuriken at it, the projectile—as usual—moving at its maximum 110 speed.

Spoiler:

Mid Thread Claim 2:

Approved