"Touch you?" Mikone imagined each genin taking a crack at their sensei. It seemed weird that hed ask for a test like that. So far it seemed like an easy idea. Pehaps it was time to think with a bit more of her own twist to the test since she was given free choice.

"HHey he said deceptively simple right? So there's probably a trick to it." the genin looked to her teammates. Hoping that helping others wasnt against the rules of this test she wanted to see if someone could try something first then the others would catch onto whatever simple the challenge lay hidden in the test.

Deceptively simple is right while this may seem like a simple trial it wouldn't be easy as it seemed. He wanted them to touch him but he wouldn't be able to leave his spot so that gave Masatake a few options. Masatake first spoke up "so no holds bar as long as we tag you right?" Masatake asked but he was already preparing his needles he got a small vial of poison and dipped all of his needles in it and he labeled them so he knew that he was secreting the paralytic poison on them one scratch from this and it will have sensei drop like a stone. Once he felt all his needles were coated he tipped his hat down so that Sensei wouldn't see his eyes dark eyes Angelo whispered and just like that his eyes changed color but since his hat was down sensei wouldn't notice. Masatake was able to see Sensei and his entire body workup from his muscles down to the bone. everyone I need you to distract him for a bit and draw his focus to you guys. Once his attention is on you ill come in and hit him with one of my senbon it will make him drop like a stone and we will have won Masatake said waiting to see if they will listen to his plan and go through with it or if they will follow Kuro and just charge in. At least Masatake had a plan...

Fukusho looked at his sensei as he issued the next task. All he had to do was touch Akihiko-sensei with anything he wanted. It seems that everyone was gearing up for some fancy trick. Well it was a good idea since their teacher was probably testing their battle abilities so he wanted to see our best attacks. Fukusho looked around and there was not really a good source of water so his water style was not an option here. That just leves the fun stuff for him to try and pummel his sensei with. The young ninja reached into his right shoulder pouch and pulled out a shuriken and held it in his palm. "I'll take the first move." Fukusho said as he began a charge at his sensei. As he got within range he jumped in the air for a speed break and plated his left leg on the ground. Then he aimed a roundhouse kick right at his sensei's chest.

Masatake could see Akihiko's muscles move but his chakra flow remain hidden from the genin's prying eyes unlike Kuro's sharingan. Kuro merely smirked and glanced at Masatake defiantly. "If you think I'm going in there half cocked and ready to get my ass beat then you're sadly mistaken Masatake. You want to glory you do your own dirty work. I'm content to sit here until I see an opening of my own or until I can figure out a blind spot." Kuro said to him in a hushed voice. Akihiko's muscles didn't move for a moment besides his eyes. His whole body was a stiff as a rock and or tree. He betrayed no movements and he gave away nothing besides from his strange stance.

"Fukusho what the hell are you thinking...fine come at me." Akihiko said in exasperation to himself as he suddenly tensed up which caught Masatake's eyes and the shadows around him suddenly came alive. ""NINJA ART: SHADOW KING OCTOPUS!" Akihiko growled loudly as the ninja star was brutally knocked out of Fukusho's hands from a tendril made of pure shadows from the area around Akihiko. The blow was so hard it numbed Fukusho's hand. Not letting up the next blow came almost instantaneously as another one wrapped around Fukusho's leg just inches away from the jonin class shinobi. The tendril twisted Fukusho's leg causing pain before letting him go as he twisted around in the air only to get sent back to his teammates with a brutal smack from another tendril sending him barreling towards Mikone. The blow had hit him square in the chest knocking the air out of his lungs and would certainly leave a nasty bruise. There came no mocking comment no sarcastic quip following the barrage of attacks from out of nowhere. The elite shinobi's eyes were callous and cold.

Masatake groaned softly knowing he should have expected Kuro to be uncooperative but damn it he cant even listen when it concerns working together. Masatake soon saw his sensei tense his body which could only mean-NINJA ART: SHADOW KING OCTOPUS! that! Masatake quickly got out of the way of one of the octopus tentacles making sure to dodge them as he turned to kuro still think im trying to win the glory you ass!? just listen to my idea and do it! everyone deal with the tentacles and make sure they stay out of the way. Kuro you want to be a hero then come with me! Masatake said starting to take charge but that was because this was a serious situation and if he said their was no holds bar then that means he could easy take them down if they weren't careful.

Masatake soon got out of the way of one of the tentacles and he made his made dash towards their sensei Masatake then took out a scroll and he bit his thumb to make the blood needed for his justsu ninja art summoning justsu! Masatake said and soon his feathered companion came out of the scroll to help him as Masatake charged towards sensei and he jumped and threw his senbon, just one and he will go down like a rock that's all he needed....

"EEEP" Mikone yelled as the genin was thrown at her. It seemed their sensei wasn't against using ninjutsu against them if needed. Having little time to move she ducked down just in time for the boy to land on her. "Owe! You're heavy." Crawling out from undeneath him she looked at their teacher. His techniques were far above their level to fight.

"Back away from him, he'll just throw your tools away. Hey! Masatake!" The girl was having enough of them. Couldn't they tell that their teacher was controlling the battle with every move? Perhaps she was just being paranoid but she didn't want to get close to their sensei. And now that he revealed a technique she wondered if he had many more like it.

"Our sensei is from the Nara clan, he can use the shadows!" It dawned on the girl that a student in their class was a Nara who could use shadow techniques to bind people. This was a far more functional technique than that one though. Mikone hoped that she'd be able to find someway to help the battle but it looked like her techniques, both requiring a less powerful opponent.

Looking at Fukusho she wondered how he'd been hurt. Right now the best option was to get him out of harm's way. "Fukusho, let's get you out of the way, we can watch Masatake and see what our teacher does... then we can plan ahead." The young women hoped she wouldn't have to pull him by the arms toward a location further away.

"Do you honestly think I wouldn't see that coming. I did my research Masatake. I also know how you handle the situation. If I were you I wouldn't be shouting out your battle plans." Akihiko admonished Masatake as he shift his hand seal to make both his pointer fingers point upward and suddenly the tendrils closed in around him in a defensive stance. The senbon smacked into the shadows like they were made of stone. "I'm not sure if you've ever seen Nara Clan jutsu kid but trust me. Mine is a lot different then some of my family's. I'm a breed apart." Akihiko said with a grin as he brought down his fingers back into a traditional hold, not that Masatake or anyone else could see it, and then smiled. "Ninja Art: Shadow Possession jutsu." Akihiko said calmly as suddenly a tendril went along the ground towards the changing genin.

Kuro grunted and spit on the ground. If the idiot wanted his help then he was plain out of luck. He didn't especially care to be ordered around and he didn't care for him being called and idiot either. On the other hand...Mikone had the sense to at least not charge at him like a raging monkey in heat. Kuro walked over to not so gently help Fukusho up as he grabbed him by the hand and pulled him up off of Mikone. "Come on slacker a couple of broken bones and maybe a twisted or pulled muscle shouldn't keep you down." Kuro said bluntly to Fukusho as he looked over to their sensei again. His eyes could see everything..."Our sensei has the entire area around him under his control. A zone of control if you will. Attack full front will just end with us getting destroyed. There's no reasonable way around it. And he has plenty of chakra. Are you sure you just want to wait here though you two? Your buddy is in trouble after all." Kuro said mockingly as he chuckled brushing some sweat off of his brow with a swift move of his hand. "Me? I'm content to watch and see Masatake run face first into an impenetrable wall of shadow based ninjutsu. That clearing he's in was chosen specifically because it's open and because he'd have a chance to react to anything. He knows we're coming as I'm sure that is quite obvious. So trickery will be troublesome."

Fukusho was caught completely off gurd by his sensei's jutsu. The shot sent him flying back towards Mikone and knocked both ninja to the ground. This guy guy has done this before and a simple strike like that was probably something that would have worked maybe a decade ago. Fukusho saw the look in his sensei's eye and it was an entire universe of experience. Fukusho was eager to learn more from his master but to do that he had to pass this test and prove he was ready for that kind of training. If he wasn't ready then he would be the guy that Akihiko-sensei would probably leave him out of the cool missions and tough training sessions. There was no way he would become the best if that happened. After Kuro helped him up he knew what he had to do. "Man, I'm not going to waste my breathe trying to get your help, but when I pull Masa-ken out of there then take your shot. The quicker we watch your butt get handed to you the quicker we can win this." He said as he began testing the pain in his foot.

you think I wasn't prepared Masatake said as his falcon circled around the sensei and dropped flash bombs with Masatakes eyes it wouldn't stop him from seeing his sensei but because of his shadows he wouldn't be able to use his technique to trap Masatake. Masatake turned to his "friends" and yelled I think the point of this is teamwork guys I could use some help Masatake yelled to them as Masatake took out a few Kunai and decided to use them instead of the senbon until he was sure he could get in a good shot. While his teacher was still disoriented from the flash bombs Masatake attacked some paper bombs to them and threw them as hard as he could making sure to hit his chest dead center and if he tried to dodge they were also aimed near his feet. If Kuro doesn't end up helping Masatake swears he will hit him...

"You underestimate me Masatake!" the shadow tendril that was moving towards him suddenly grew spikes and tried to clobber Masatake like a flail. The whole defensive wall that had protected him earlier bent inward to protect Akihiko Nara from not only the full effect of the flash bombs but also served to deny the kunai thrown at him and even protected him from the explosive tags. "You brought explosive tags really? Are you trying to kill me?" Nara grumbled at Masatake as he kept his focus. He now couldn't see anything due to the defensive barrier shadows protecting him. All the same he had a general idea on where everyone was at and the dirt floor around them gave him a clear idea on if they were nearby him. The clearing was devoid of grass after all so no use trying to be quiet. Not that any of these kids were subtle enough to do so. "I got my work cut out for me..." Akihiko grumbled to himself as he waited for the next attack. If Masatake was dumb enough to get near him...

"You're an idiot. You really think I'd go in half cocked like you? I got a plan. My eyes can see the faults in this jutsu. However since I'm going to get my butt kicked I'm sure you don't want to hear it. Fine then I'll do this myself." Kuro grunted as he pulled out his grappling hook tied around a wire that he used to climb surfaces without footholds and used it to scale a tree. He knew the kids may make head way the way they were acting at the same time however...he doubt they would. Maybe they could last long enough for him to get to where he needed to be. Kuro didn't head directly for their sensei instead he jumped out of eyesight into the jungle. The hand signs he formed came to mind easily enough. Nagato sensei told them the importance of their basic jutsu. And he'd use them to his best ability. Brute force wouldn't win this fight. Strategy would. All he needs to do is touch his sensei after all. And Akihiko didn't think much of him if anything.

"Just don't fall!"Fukusho called back to his stubborn teammate. The young ninja continued to tap his foot and slowly regained mobility in his ankle. Yes he was about strong enough to try again but this time he was going to be serious. Since sensei obviously had no intention of plling hs punches then neither did Fukusho. He watched as his teammate jump into the trees. Well he could try something cool if he wants but Fukusho was going to keep this nice and simple. He would have to go back to the basics so he steadily built up his chakra. In only a few moments he was prepare forhis move but he would need help. Masa would be willing to back him up but he was sort of out of communication and Kuro was not willing to help so he had one shot.

"Mikone, I know would don't think you can help but please help me. I'm confident we can win this if we all work to keep him on his toes." He pleaded to her.

"Of course I'll help... but I'm not exactly sure how."

"See the faults in his jutsu?" She wondered just how powerful those eyes were. "Can you... see anything that happens when he strikes back at us?" Mikone said, wondering if anything would get past those shadows.

"Maybe we should just let him stay like that and see how long it takes to deplete his chakra.. I mean that's a high level technique isn't it?"

Masatake was growing more and more angry at the fact his teammates weren't helping he still had faith in Mikone and Fukusho but he wasn't counting on Kuro's help. Masatake was running out of options and if those paper bombs didn't force him to move then Masatake wasn't sure what would. Masatake only knew a few justsu at his disposal but he had to try so Masatake soon got a running start and he started his jump kick motion if nothing else this would keep his attention focused on him rather then his teammates "Dynamic entry!" Masatake called out charging at the shield to keep him focused on defense so the others could go in for the attack behind him

Fukusho saw how the situation had changed. If he was ever going to pass this this test he had to act and he had to act now. Masa had gone out of his way to charge straight at sensei. From what Fukusho did it was obviously a terrible idea but one at a time they couldn't take down their sensei. "We have to strike now." Fukusho told Mikone. Then the young ninja used some of the chakra he build up and used his Shinshun no Jutsu to give him a burst of speed as quickly as possible to place himself in the opposite direction that Masa was coming from. Then he quickly made some hand signs and released the remaining chakra he had built up. "Bushin No Jutsu." He called out and then formed three clones beside him. they were nothing solid but they could make sensei hesitate on a counter attack. He had all of his clones and himself rush at Akihiko-sensei.

"Why won't you adapt damn it!?" Akihiko growled at Masatake as he sent a tendril to flat out stone wall the attack by blocking the kick sending pain up Masatake's leg as it twisted it painfully and tossed him away sending him spiraling through the air at an awkward angle. The reason he didn't ramp up the pain for such a basic mistake was because of the fact that Fukusho was charging at him. Basic clone technique...definitely not shadow clones those were advanced and a secret jutsu no way for Fukusho of all people to know what they even were. That meant that he was planning on trying something either really dumb or really clever. "That's more like it kid come at me!" Akihiko said with a grin as he send two tendrils towards the line of Fukusho's running towards him. The tendrils suddenly stopped midway through, "Ninja Art: Great Shadow Flail." said Akihiko as the tendrils grew spikes and violently flailed out towards them. The tendrils smacked the clones with violent force enough that it would have decapitated Fukusho if it hit him. "Oh it seems I missed..." Akihiko said with a chuckle as he let Fukusho get closed.

Suddenly a smoke bomb was thrown out in the middle of the sky leaving the area around Akihiko clothed in a white mist. "Really Kuro? That's just cheap." Akihiko said bluntly as Kuro jumped off the tree he was perched on and towards Akihiko. Kuro was forming hand signs as he fell down towards him. "You think a sky attack will beat this jutsu? Think again!" Akihiko shouted as he sent a tendril that would have smacked Kuro on the chest but instead it went through him. "It seems clever minds think alike!" Akihiko said with a chuckle as he suddenly sent a tendril through a tree and pulled it through another pulling out a speared Kuro through the arm and holding him in the air. "So smart mouth what do you got to say for yourself?" Akihiko said to the gutted genin. "I say you're an idiot..." Kuro mouthed as suddenly turned into a log. Substitution jutsu. "What!?" Akihiko said as he suddenly realized what that meant. It was too late though. Kuro fell through the center of the shadow king octopus. Akihiko growled as he was forced to break off his jutsu as he jumped backwards and Kuro landed heavily on the ground. However he quickly recovered and spun around with his sword drawn. Akihiko pulled out his kunai and blocked the blade leaving the two dead locked. "You said you wouldn't use tools." Kuro growled as he looked Akihiko in the eyes. "I said I wouldn't use them but that doesn't mean I was going to let you gut me." Akihiko grumbled as suddenly he turned to spin around but thanks to his sharingan Kuro managed to counter attack immediately as he moved counter clockwise and at point blank range he breathed in deeply, "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Kuro growled as he lit up Akihiko's face in fire. Akihiko dropped the kunai and fell to the ground limp...only to turn into a ball of smoke. Akihiko whistled as he sat on tree the fake Kuro had been in moments ago. "Well you got me to move. That doesn't mean I can't pull off a substitution of my own. So should we call this a success? If it wasn't for Fukusho I would have retaliated faster to you Kuro. However if you didn't notice I could have easily killed all three of you boys. Masatake...tell me how would you feel if I told you that you had the charisma of a mercenary captain who just told his men he had slept with all of their wives? Fukusho...while clever you should have attacked at multiple angles. Kuro...you need to work with your team more though I congratulate you on thinking outside of the box. Two basic jutsu and your clan's fire style saved your team. Though that was overkill. I like my face not baked. And Mikone...I don't have words for you simply because you did nothing and proved yourself just an observer. Can your team count on you in the future? I'm not too sure. You didn't try to calm anyone down and you didn't try to rally anyone. Out of everyone here you did the least and while that served you well the rest of your team may have died due to your failure to help. Does that sum everything up?"

Masatake groaned loudly as he got thrown into the distance at an odd angle and hit a tree nearby. Masatake got up just in time to se kuro actually touch him, that bastard was just waiting for something like this so he would go out and be the hero while Masatake looked like the chump. Masatake groaned and he got up putting some pressure on his leg noticing that it had to be sprained from that attempt at the dynamic entry, he still needs to work on his taijustsu for a while.

Masatake listened to what sensei said and Masatake actually laughed a little at the thought. my joke answer would say "wow I didn't think id have enough charisma to pull that off" the real answer would be that " I cant tell if that's meant to be praise or not cause at least I started something to help tweedle dee and tweedle dum over their get a shot in Masatake said sitting down next to his tree thinking he wasn't going to be able to get up to the top of the tree like he thought he would...

As Fukusho continued his charge he saw sensei took out his clones. However if had hit Fukusho then hat would have been a killing blow. Then did he not have the ability to take out Fukusho as well or did he aim specifically for those clones. Then it seemed that sensei shifted his attention to somewhere else. Fukusho watched as his teammate used his attack to find a blind spot in sensei's defenses. Kuro need our help just as much as we needed him he just didn't want to admit it. Fukusho was going to close into sensei's blind spot and win while he was distracted by Kuro until he saw Kuro make another hand sign. There was no academy his teammate was using to blast sensei with right now. Fukusho did quick triple somersault to his left side and avoided flames that sprout from Kuro's mouth. There was no way sensei could have predicted that would happen could he?

"Akihiko-sensei, that was awesome. Come on come on, what is the next test?" Fukusho urged.

Akihiko grumbled as he scratched his head. "You really want MORE tests Fukusho? Didn't I fling you into your teammate just moments ago and you want more?" Akihiko said as he sat down on a tree branch. He pulled out his canteen and drank deeply from it before putting it back and spitting onto the ground. "You're going to be a pain aren't you? Well I could always think of something though I was planning on this being the final test and offer to go eat some food at resturant back at the village. Though if you want I could try to make you guys do some other things that don't involve me invoking the King Octopus again...That jutsu ain't something I just pull out of the wood works kids that takes a lot of chakra. So what is it more bashing your heads against a post or food?"

"Uh.. I'd rather not bash my head against anything really." Mikone said wondering about her sensei's words more than anything. Thinking to herself about what she could contribute caused her to seem distant, not understanding how she could contribute in a fight like that.

"But can you tell us, Sensei... if you were using a high rank jutsu, how did you expect any of us to touch you. I mean they got close but where thrown away like dolls."

"Because if I held back on you I'd be hampering you. If you face a jonin expect much more brutal actions than I gave today. I could have killed all of you easily and I gave myself handicaps including the intention to not hurt you too severely. When you see an enemy ninja of greater skill you hide or you work together. You don't charge them, you don't try to get in a jutsu battle against them, and you don't piss them off unless it helps you. As genin you are all new to this world but that doesn't mean anything can happen at any time. Don't take the peace you've grown up in for granted. Our occupation makes us all the more wary of getting into a fight with a superior foe. Get me?" Akihiko said firmly but calmly as he scratched his head and looked over to Mikone. He spit on the ground again as he rubbed his chin. "I know what you mean sensei...for what it's worth you words aren't wasted on me. In fact I think of all the people here today I'm the only one who really gets it."