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Post by Kiri on Apr 8, 2007 0:22:27 GMT -5
Poof!
Mere moments after Eiji had disappeared into the trees, the downed canine disappeared in a puff. A puff that left behind a very upset-looking Taro-sensei.
"Iiiiiiiiiiiitaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai!" he shouted, rubbing a reddening spot on his forehead. "He did it! He really did it! He threw a rock at me!"
The little girl that Eiji had "rescued" was apparently trying to hold in a giggle, as she covered her mouth with both hands and stamped her feet gleefully.
"Alright!" Taro said, hopping to his feet and pointing toward the area where Eiji had disappeared. "You're gonna get it now! Come on out here and fight me like a man, you three! Err... like... well... you're not all a man... you're two boys and--well you know what I mean! But I demand reparations for my head!"
Holding up his hands, he grinned. "I'll make it easy for you! I'll tie my hands behind my back!" he called out. "Come on! It'll be fun! Just see if you can land a blow!"
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Tensei Kaori
Hokage
Konoha's #1 Henge Master
Taking over the world, one bishie at a time...
Posts: 7,888
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Post by Tensei Kaori on Apr 8, 2007 23:41:00 GMT -5
"You hit our Sensei with a rock?!?" Eiji whispered incredulously as he dropped from the trees to land by his siblings.
"I wouldn't have had to if you hadn't run off," Daichi muttered with a sigh.
"This is true...." was the younger brother's reply.
"Moving on," Hideko interrupted, "He wants us to try and land a blow. Which strategy should we use?"
"How about Number Five?" Eiji asked, thinking.
"Too flashy."
"Number Seven and a half?"
"Quit making things up!" "Now's not the time for that!"
"Sorry, sorry."
"Number Three?"
"Yeah."
Nodding, the three formed quick hand seals. "Bunshin no Jutsu!" they chanted together. Though each only created a few clones, the fact that all three of them had performed the jutsu led to a rather impressive amount. Wordlessly, they sent their clones to surround the area. Eiji shot off as well, while Daichi and Hideko remained behind, waiting.
"You think this'll work?" asked Hideko. "We're just out of the Academy, and he's a Jounin."
"It's our best chance," Daichi replied with a shrug. "Besides, how many Genin know any jutsu at all other than the basic E-rank techniques? We might be able to surprise him."
"And that surprise may be all we need," finished Hideko. "Maybe."
Daichi nodded. "Maybe. Ooh, it's about to start."
Sure enough, it was. In the clearing, a voice could be heard, shouting out from the trees.
"Hey sensei!" the voice shouted. "Are you sure you wanna do that?" suddenly the voice shifted; it was the same voice, but came from the opposite direction. Softly, so faintly it could hardly be heard, a beat started up. "We're not your normal Genin!" The beat got louder, and the voice changed location again. From somewhere, a female voice started singing a wordless, yet enticing melody. "We've been working hard!" All three sounds suddenly took on a stereo-like quality, as though coming from many directions at once. "So don't be surprised..."
Eiji suddenly appeared in the clearing, grinning confidently. "...if we actually succeed!" He moved as though to charge...
.... and vanished, revealed as nothing more than a bunshin. At that precise moment, a flurry of shuriken whirled in from the opposite direction.
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Post by Kiri on Apr 9, 2007 0:12:08 GMT -5
Taro waited, listening for the triplets' response. At first, there was nothing, and he assumed they were conferring. Finally, though, there was something.
"Hey sensei![/i]" he heard a voice shout. "Are you sure you wanna do that?[/i]"
Raising an eyebrow, Taro tried to deduce where the voice had come from. He had little time to think about it, however, as the source of the voice changed. Softly, very softly a beat started up.
"We're not your normal Genin!" The voice changed directions again.
The beat grew louder, and he could hear a female voice beginning to sing a wordless, ethereal melody. Trying not to get pulled in by the music, he remained on alert, waiting and listening. What was it? Some kind of Genjutsu? Just what were they planning?
"We've been working hard![/i]" the voices all said at once, coming from several different directions, which unnerved Taro just a little. "So don't be surprised...[/i]"
There! Movement! Whirling around, he was just in time to see Eiji charging.
"...if we actually succeed![/i]"
Prepared to face the kamikaze genin, he blinked as Eiji vanished. A bunshin, he thought. The sound of shuriken whistling through the air met his ears and he pivoted on a heel to face the oncoming blades.
He grinned. For genin, they were pretty good! Without enough time to form seals (and also limited by his boast to keep his hands behind his back), he kicked up a nearby branch with his foot in such a way that it had a little spin to it, managing to block the majority of the shuriken as they embedded themselves in the wooden stake. The rest whizzed past either side of his head as he knocked the shuriken-laden branch to the side with a spinning kick before it could hit him.
That was kind of close, he thought in amusement as he waited to see what they were planning to do next.
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Tensei Kaori
Hokage
Konoha's #1 Henge Master
Taking over the world, one bishie at a time...
Posts: 7,888
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Post by Tensei Kaori on Apr 9, 2007 0:26:26 GMT -5
Eiji grinned from the trees, darting off again to some other location. The Daichi and Hideko Bunshin continued their ethereal melody, and this time the Eiji clones started in as well, singing an alluring counterpoint to the female part. It was time.
As soon as they saw Taro-sensei dodge the Shuriken with an impressive display of footwork, Hideko and Daichi seized their chance. Hoping their knowledge of Genjutsu at such a young age would be enough to catch their teacher off guard, the two put their hands together - Daichi's left in Hideko's right to form a solid grip, and Daichi's right in Hideko's left to form a simple seal - the two murmured a simple incantation.
"Tensei Genpou," they changed in perfect unison, their chakra flow swelling yet remaining hidden, controlled. "Ten no Uta!"*
The incantation complete, the two siblings worked in tandem, releasing a large portion of their chakra and weaving it into the ethereal song in the patterns in which they had been meticulously trained for practically as long they could remember. Into the notes, among them, around them, until the Genjutsu permeated the clearing, luring an unwary listener - or someone who didn't know how to properly dispel the technique - into a blissful, trancelike state.
Desperately trying to resist the pull of the Genjutsu - it was tempting, even outside the target area, to let himself melt away into the song - Eiji waited for his chance.
*Tensei Genpou: Ten no Uta -- Tensei Illusion Style: Song of Heaven. This is the basic Tensei jutsu, using music as a medium by which to cast Genjutsu upon a target. This can have a specific target, or an entire area (though the former, being much more selective, is also much more difficult).
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Post by Kiri on Apr 9, 2007 0:45:12 GMT -5
The song seemed to swell up out of nowhere, its otherwordly sound enveloping him and fogging up his mind. It took a moment for his murky senses to realize that it was some kind of genjutsu, and a pretty well-woven one, considering it was composed by genin. Had they been any stronger, he probably would have fallen prey to their little siren song. No, he definitely would have. He was an intelligent man, unfortunately his lack of mental focus gave him a great weakness when it came to genjutsu.
Doing his best to shake the dazed feeling, he grounded himself where he was and concentrated, resisting the allure of the song and waiting to see what the triplets' next move would be.
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Tensei Kaori
Hokage
Konoha's #1 Henge Master
Taking over the world, one bishie at a time...
Posts: 7,888
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Post by Tensei Kaori on Apr 9, 2007 0:53:11 GMT -5
"I figured as much," Hideko muttered, her voice burdened with keeping up the genjutsu.
"There's nothing for it," Daichi replied, his voice equally strained. "On three. One."
"Two."
"Three!"
Hideko squeezed her eyes shut, and Daichi couldn't help but squeeze his sister's hand. Together, they forced all the chakra they had into the jutsu, knowing it was the only way they would have.
Eiji, sensing the sudden surge in chakra, didn't take long to figure out what had happened. It was now or never. It took every bit of genjutsu avoidance training he'd had to keep out of his siblings' trap. All the clones he created were contributing to the song, and his siblings could use all the help they could get - he'd have to go in for real this time, hoping the illusion was enough of a distraction. Adding a portion of his own chakra to the Genjutsu, he dashed out from the cover of the trees, running up behind Taro-sensei. Hoping to death that this would work, he launched his attack.
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Post by Kiri on Apr 9, 2007 1:08:51 GMT -5
Taro was surprised when the genin managed to pour even more chakra into the jutsu. In spite of his attempts to fight it off, he found himself--if only for a few moments--almost completely ensnared in the song. He was trapped, and the precious seconds it took him to extricate himself allowed Eiji to land the blow he needed.
The kage bunshin vanished with a loud bamf, and a cloud of streamers and confetti rained down in its place.
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Tensei Kaori
Hokage
Konoha's #1 Henge Master
Taking over the world, one bishie at a time...
Posts: 7,888
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Post by Tensei Kaori on Apr 9, 2007 1:19:25 GMT -5
Eiji stumbled forward, his blow going completely through the kage bunshin. Not expecting the Sensei he'd targeted to be a fake, he found himself flying forward. "Whoaaa!" he shouted, hitting the ground with a thud and rolling over a couple times before he could stop himself.
"We... we did it?" he asked the air, panting as confetti rained down on him and got stuck in his hair. "DAICHIII! HIDEKO!" he shouted, unmoving from his current resting place. "WE DID IT! Come on out!"
"Easy for you to say, man!" Daichi shouted back, panting as he and Hideko emerged from their hiding spot, leaning on each other for support. "You can still move. Or. Well. You could."
"Until you took a flying leap at the ground," inserted Hideko. "You all right?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Eiji answered, flicking a bit of confetti at his siblings. "But where's Sensei?"
"Good question," Hideko sighed. "I hope we don't have to do any more tests," Daichi added. "I'm completely out of chakra."
"Me too."
"I'm not out, but I'm close...."
Conversation among the three genin ceased as Daichi and Hideko sat down next to their brother, and the siblings looked around for any sign of their Sensei.
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Post by Kiri on Apr 9, 2007 1:30:40 GMT -5
Whew. Taro rubbed his forehead from his concealed spot in a nearby tree. He really hadn't expected them to go all-out so early, nor to test his own skills quite so much. Hokage had certainly made for a strong group by putting the triplets together, but maybe he should have warned Taro that he was composing a powerhouse Tensei team before assigning him to them.
He would cut things short, then. Whipping out the last riddle he had prepared and a kunai, he made a quick change to the note and pulled a little bag out of one of his vest pockets. Tying it all to the kunai, he aimed and let it loose onto a tree near the triplets. Knowing their reaction time would be slowed by their exhaustion, he threw it in such a way so that they would not have to evade it.
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Tensei Kaori
Hokage
Konoha's #1 Henge Master
Taking over the world, one bishie at a time...
Posts: 7,888
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Post by Tensei Kaori on Apr 9, 2007 1:35:29 GMT -5
Eiji groaned as a burden-laden Kunai found its way to their group. "Another one?!?" he exclaimed, distraught. "SENSEEEEEI!" he shouted, sounding rather pathetic. "Are you trying to kill us---AUGH, let go! I'm talking to Sensei!" the last was directed at Daichi, who had left their sister's side and was now attempting to restrain his unruly brother. "Hold still, darnit!" the eldest shot back. "Quit being so disrespectful! Besides, we don't even know what it is---eh?"
Distracted by Daichi's sudden silence, Eiji followed his brother's stare to Hideko, who was in the process of silently sorting through the kunai's burden.
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Post by Kiri on Apr 9, 2007 1:49:26 GMT -5
The bag contained three soldier pills. Above the riddle, Taro had squeezed in an extra message.
"You guys really don't play around, do you? Sorry for wearing you out. No special trick with the pills, by the way. I just thought it'd be better if you were--you know--concious for the end of the test.
I am a place where ghosts of the past can meet the sky Towering high above with their stony expressions Stern and strong, though dead, forever immortalized
Find me, and find the end of your journey."
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Tensei Kaori
Hokage
Konoha's #1 Henge Master
Taking over the world, one bishie at a time...
Posts: 7,888
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Post by Tensei Kaori on Apr 9, 2007 2:08:20 GMT -5
"SENSEEEEI!" Eiji exclaimed dramatically, fake tears streaming dramatically down his face. "How wonderful of you!"
"Oi, weren't you just yelling at him for trying to kill us?" Daichi asked pointedly, reaching for one of the pills.
"That was before he gave us these," Hideko reminded him. "I guess in a way, they could be considered food."
"And we all know how much Eiji loves food," Daichi laughed as he took the last of the pills.
"You're one to talk, Mr. I-need-five-servings-cause-I've-got-Taiko-today," Eiji shot back after swallowing. Daichi just grunted and cleared his throat. Hideko couldn't help but laugh.
"ANYWAYS," Daichi continued, shooting a pointed look at his siblings, "I think we all know where we're supposed to go next. Agreed?"
"Agreed," Eiji and Hideko replied in unison.
Strengthened as they were by the soldier pills, the three elected unanimously to walk to the monument. They may like to go all out, but they weren't about to wear themselves out all over again just in time for whatever would happen during the last part of the test.
"You know..." Eiji said idly as they walked along, "Speaking of food..."
"Hm? What is it?" Daichi asked, curious.
"Don't tell me you wanna stop for food at a time like this," Hideko said, her voice carrying a reprimanding tone.
"Of course not!" Eiji insisted, sounding somewhat scandalized (and playing it up, of course). "Besides, I don't need to."
"Oh, don't tell me..." Hideko groaned.
"I still have that cookie I snuck into the graduation exam practice last week! I got so worked up I never ate it."
"That's disgusting!" the kunoichi said with distaste.
"Whaaaaat? It's still wrapped!"
"In wax paper."
"Of course."
"That you stole from the kitchen at the same time you stole the cookie."
"Well, yeah."
Hideko sighed. Daichi, on the other hand, looked quite pleased. "Can I have a piece?" he asked eagerly.
"Well, duh!" Eiji said with a grin as he reached into one of his cargo pockets. "Want some, Hideko?"
"Are you kidding? After that thing's been in your pocket for a week? No thanks! Men are disgusting." As though to put the period on her sentence, her stomach growled loudly. Her brothers just looked at her expectantly.
"You ARE one of the guys," offered Daichi, quoting the song they'd perfomed earlier, as he held out a piece of the cookie. Despite their sister's refusal, Eiji had divided it into thirds instead of halves.
"Well..." she paused, thinking, then reached for the cookie piece with a smile. "That's true. Thanks."
"Ennythym!" Eiji replied, mouth full, but still managing to flash that winning grin. One could only assume he meant to say "Anytime".
"Hey," Daichi said as they finished their cookie pieces. "We're there."
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Post by Kiri on Apr 9, 2007 2:23:10 GMT -5
Taro was waiting for the genin at the top of the monument, standing lazily with his hands in his pockets as he looked out over Konoha. Sensing the approach of the triplets, he turned and waved with a grin.
"Hey!" he greeted. "That riddle was pretty easy, huh? I figured you'd all be tired by the time you got to that one, though, so I didn't wanna make it too hard...."
He paused. He felt a little bit like he'd forgotten something. What could it be?
All of the color drained from Taro's face. Oh, man. Oh man oh man oh man.
Hotaru was going to kill him.
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Tensei Kaori
Hokage
Konoha's #1 Henge Master
Taking over the world, one bishie at a time...
Posts: 7,888
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Post by Tensei Kaori on Apr 9, 2007 21:10:04 GMT -5
The Triplets blinked, exchanging glances.
"What's wrong, Sensei?" they asked in unison.
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Post by Kiri on Apr 9, 2007 23:51:02 GMT -5
"Uh, we might have one last little task," he said with a nervous laugh. "I, heh... forgot something back at the Training Grounds."
Maybe he should go back on his own. His daughter had probably gotten tired of waiting around for him and wandered off. That meant it was going to take him even longer to locate her, and it sure would be a lot easier with some help. Still, he was horribly embarrassed. He really didn't want to start off with his team thinking of him as a total flake.
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