“It’s not simply a matter of cutting down a tree, Isami-chan, but rather that it would help make the course a bit easier for us. I know it’s practically impossible to do forty laps in one afternoon. Especially with a field of this magnitude. That’s more a jounin’s specialty than ours.”

Of course it was practically impossible. No, it was impossible. If their sensei had this sort of training exercise in mind, what sort of crazy things lay ahead of them?

“Sensei’s a bit insane, I have to say, but I see what you’re saying. I am obsessing over the water a bit, heh. And don’t worry so much, I’m sure there’s something we could do!”

I'll probably die a miserable death by tripping over a tree root before we even find out there's 'something we can do!'

Her dark thoughts reflected onto her face with her eyebrows wrinkling up in worry. Supposed death was just inches away from her face and worst of all, Isami's head was in complete shambles. Also, it wasn't like their sensei was going to wait an entire day for the team to come up with some sort of strategy. Takeo seemed more than ready to kick some Genin butt, while Isami was stressing over plans and honorifics.

"I've been doing some thinking also...I think eighty is a better number for the test. Forget forty."

Isami almost dropped to her knees after hearing her sensei's words. Did she hear that right? Had her sensei really scrapped the whole forty laps idea and replaced it with eighty? What was this, and Isami death trap specifically planned out to exhaust and kill the little girl?

But that wasn't the end of it. As soon as Isami had started her jog into the deadly eighty lap course, Takeo formed a couple of handsigns to bring a wall of earth to the height of the surrounding trees. The looming shadow that stood over Isami made her eyes widen, terror written all over her pale coloured face. Looking back, she noticed that the amber-eyed boy remained stationary in his spot, most likely just as horrified as she was.

"Tsukarei-san, above you-"

Not wanting to get squished like a fly on a hot summer's day, Isami leapt to the side, the large dirt wall crashing down onto the forest floor. The impact shook Isami off balance, making her tumble to the ground. Being as light as she was definitely had its many disadvantages.

Staggering to her feet, Isami stared ahead, eyeing the destruction her sensei had caused. Why Takeo decided to do something like that was unknown to her, but at least all those troublesome trees were out of the way now. It was about time Isami actually got a move on, though. Her sensei wasn't far behind, and who knows what other techniques he would be willing to pull on his squad?

Following after Keita, Isami weaved her way through the remaining trees until she reached the large earth path.

Mission Impossible was a go.

Kohaku chuckled, amused by his apparent "Senseo's" title. After the brief greeting he was directed to join his new teammates. He walked away with a short wave and sauntered over to the two awaiting him. As Kohaku approached the two he could overhear them discussing what he could assume was their test. "Forty laps, huh? That's rough..." He said in a matter-of-fact tone.

The notably taller of the two seemed a little tense and decided to introduce himself. “My name’s Ryuukaze Keita, by the way. I specialize in ninjutsu, but I also know a bit of taijutsu and have been trained to use weapons as well."

"Yo, Kohaku's the name and I specialize in afternoon naps, but I'm good with ninjutsu and a blade as well~" He said with an amused grin. After introductions Keita and the quiet girl continued to try and make a plan. Standing with his hands on the back of his head Kohaku's let his eyes wander over their sizable track. He found it a little silly that they were strategizing over running laps. They seemed more stressed about it than the situation really called for.

"It's not just that we should be stressing about. We should be worrying about how we're going to get through this entire course alive rather than pondering on how to chop a tree to be able to cross a lake. We have to think of the bigger picture here. Could there be traps? Land mines? Hidden holes perhaps? And on top of all that we have to figure out how we're able to complete this test without depleting so much of our stamina."

Looking back to the others Kohaku gave a quick chuckle. "Just deal with it as it comes~" He spoke in a lilting voice as if the answer was as simple as it seemed to be. "Traps, no traps...we don't have enough info to know for sure and no way to know where they might be. So there's no point in sitting around fretting over things we can't avoid without more intel. We might as well just deal with it as it comes~"

"Alright-o. Get set.....GO!" Senseo's got the right idea even if he did up the laps to eighty. He seemed to think it was an improvement. They weren't gonna get anywhere by just standing around speculating.

Kyu! Kohaku seemed oblivious to the slab of earth rising up behind him. Even after Keita darted out of the way and the quiet girl leaping to the side. "If there are traps as long as we keep an eye out for each other we should be fine~"

"Tsukarei-san, above you-"

"Hm?" Kohaku looked behind him with an unnaturally relaxed expression for his situation. With little in the ways of distress the Tsukarei clan prince jumped out of way of the slabs fall and barely avoiding being turned into part of the soil. "Yeah, like that. Thanks~" His necklace shone with a heated magenta glow momentarily. "What's got you so ruffled?" He asked obliviously as he followed after his squadmates.

Jiro heard the explosions, and briefly entertained the notion that he had succeeded as he dashed further around the circle. The sound of roaring flames and the impacts of what sounded like an avalanche quickly dispelled this foolhardy notion. Of course it would not be that easy. Jiro once again stopped his maneuver around the ring, now approximately 100 degrees from where he began, and traipsed back to the treeline.

He was careful to take in the sights. Information was never more harmful than ignorance. He noticed the scorch marks from where his shuriken detonated. Looking carefully, Jiro saw three kunai embedded in the ground nearby, clearly having been used to deflect the oncoming projectiles. That was excellent, just what he needed. It meant Hideo was unlikely to dodge, or so Jiro figured. Jiro noticed the arrows embedded in and around the circle. He thanked his lucky stars that he had accidentally followed the first rule of ranged combat.

Bring a friend who is also skilled in ranged combat.

This would make everything so much easier. Finally, Jiro noticed that there were three copies his teacher standing in the circle. Jiro leaned forward, trying to get a better angle on the ground surrounding his teacher. He was looking for shadows, of course: certain clones left shadows, and certain clones did not. Or, so he had read. He only saw one, stretching out along the ground from the one in the middle (from Jiro's perspective, of course). The two not casting shadows were basic clones, which would dispel with a good hit, or so he assumed. Jiro honestly didn't know what a Jonin would be capable of with academy-level techniques, but it would most likely be more than Jiro expected. The one casting the shadow was either Hideo, or a more solid clone. Either way, it was the correct target.

Jiro readied three more explosive shuriken, and then dropped one of his bullets into his hand. The steel-coated lead felt familiarly heavy in his hand, some excitement building. Jiro considered sticking a tag to it, but thought better of it: having to account for an explosion would only restrict his shooting options.

If your stance is good, you’re probably not moving fast enough or using cover correctly.

Jiro had to ignore the rule for a moment, just for a crucial second. He tossed the three shuriken all together, spreading them wide enough to cover the whole circle. He very much hoped that Hideo had not given his clones real weapons, with which to deflect the arcing metal disks. As he threw his barrage, he checked where his teammates were, and angled his next attack appropriately.

Always be aware of what it behind your target

Both were in the clear. Jiro tossed the bullet up, and made the bird hand seal. The bullet stopped its upwards trajectory, held in place for a moment before Jiro whispered his favorite words.

"Magnet Acceleration Jutsu"

The shuriken were halfway through their flight when the crack of the sonic boom met Jiro's protected ears. The cone of metal spun and bolted away, imbued with all the force Jiro could muster. He felt the chakra drain out of him, more than he was used to. He was aiming for the leg of the only solid target in the circle, hoping that the supersonic cone of metal would catch his teacher off guard and strike home. The desire to process the result was strong, but Jiro knew better. A breath after he had fired his technique, he was back into the trees, listening for the telltale explosion and the hoped-for yells of frustrated agony as supersonic metal meets femur.

Kiyoko started to stumble, but caught herself. She had caught something out of the corner of her eye. Miya-err, Rima was it? Rima had ripped a chunk of the ground itself and hurled it at Sensei. The girl had to admit, she was impressed. That couldn’t have been an easy technique. Simple, yes, but far from easy. And from the looks of it, effective to boot. She would not want to be on the receiving end of that one. She was a good shot, but uh...rock beats arrow.

Hideo was having none of that. The jounin blocked the fury of the earth using a vicious ball of flames. Seeing an opportunity to put an end to the nonsense, Kiyoko pulled loose an arrow and readied herself. Yet before she was able to turn their leader into a pincushion, the man was enveloped in a smokescreen. The girl cursed under her breath. To take a shot now would be a waste of her time, energy, and resources. Instead, the girl took the opportunity to make like Nakahara and enter the woods. Hopefully the smoke would last long enough to cover her repositioning.

The girl had gotten up into a tree before the smoke dissipated. With the advantage of height and surprise, Kiyoko would feel more comfortable taking a touch longer on her shots. Take smarter shots and the shots will smart. But her small hopes were dashed once the circle became clear once more. Inside stood not one, not two, but THREE smug looking bastards. Kiyoko frowned and shook her head slowly. That...complicated things. Just a bit.

But not too much.

Kiyoko drew a bead on one of the three Hideo. She took a deep breath, drew back fully, then-

WHOOSH

-released. Straight and true. As before, she didn’t waste any time soaking in the shot. She quickly drew another arrow and almost launched it...but a sudden loud crack threw her off. The bow hadn’t been fully drawn, but when Kiyoko flinched, her grip on the string slipped. Whoops. The arrow sailed out half-heartedly, doing little more than just tumbling to the ground. It took her a moment to put two and two together, but...that sound...it was something from Nakahara, perhaps? What the hell was the kid capable of…?

She didn’t have time to dwell on it. Nor was she going to just wait around to see if anything worked. Both of her squadmates were giving their all, it seemed. In that, at least, they had passed her test. She would have to give more if she didn’t want to be left behind. Two hundred percent. She had to strike now. Hard and swiftly.

Nonstop attack.

Relentless assault.

Victory.

Kiyoko aimed towards the sky and launched an arrow. Then another. Then a third. She would strike the heavens, blighting out the sun in a rain of arrows if need be. Well, maybe that’s a bit much for just three arrows. A vicious shower then? A destructive drizzle? ...three missed shots?

Only time would tell.

Just as he took cover, Rima distantly heard the woosh of fire from behind him and summed it up to their assault being ineffective. Unsurprising, since they were three kids fresh from the academy facing a jounin experienced in the field for who knows how many years. ’Kinda disappointing though, he hardly seemed fazed.’ Enforcing his thoughts, the cocky grin on Hideo’s face made him wonder if they had any effect on him thus far.

Roughly he reached the position where Jiro was last estimated to be, obviously the boy having vacated it with his prior attack. ’We’re not going to make much of a difference at this rate.’ Figuring he wouldn’t catch the younger boy any time soon he took the time to peek back into the clearing, just in time to see their sensei drop a smoke bomb and cautiously waited for it to disperse--only to now see three sensei standing in the circle once it cleared.

Carefully sidling out once he realized it wasn’t a screen for a retaliation, he made yet another split decision for himself. As much as Rima didn’t want to displease his teammates, he couldn’t exactly ask their opinions when he couldn’t even get their attention in the first place without alerting their “enemy” and he already revealed his only ace when it came to a ranged technique.

Taking a quick glance around he noticed Kiyoko preparing to draw her bow again, Jiro probably not far behind to prepare another near simultaneous assault. The older teen rushed chakra through his fingers and forcefully pushed them into the ground and violently pulled another slab from the ground, this one rough and misshapen around the edges due to his haste, dropping all attempts at camouflage in that moment ’I want him to be distracted. If it helps my squad mates, then all the better.’

Quickly pivoting on his feet, again he threw the larger piece with as much force he could after Kiyoko loosed her first arrow, not quite having the speed to sync his attack with hers. The teen let the slab of earth fly a moment before pulling his kaiken into his right hand and rushing in behind it, using it as a cover between himself and their sensei and hoping to Kami he wasn’t spotted immediately for his practical insanity--and nearly staggered at the sudden loud crack, immediately diverting half of his attention to where it came from. ’What the hell was that!?'

Three shuriken were launched, their arcs wide which he assumed were to attack Hideo and his two clones along with something that shot through much faster than the weapons currently flying, ’Did Kiyoko miss?’ He wasn’t sure, nor was he certain on what Jiro just did just yet a little too preoccupied with his own mission and could only hope it wouldn’t literally blow up in his own face like the shuriken before.

Rima continued running, shadowing just behind the thrown piece of earth and carefully charged himself with another technique. Unlike Land Reflection, this one took more chakra due to it invoking an element instead of practicing control and he had to maintain it on his body until contact and the afterthought crossed his mind that if this were any other technique he knew, it would have required hand seals and he has dumbly occupied one of his hands before rushing in.

The teen would have face palmed if he didn’t have a sharp object in one hand and building electricity in the other, ’Hindsight is always twenty-twenty but now is not the time to think about it!’The hairs on his arm and neck stood on end as static buzzed across his skin in a low hum, if anyone were to touch him at the moment they would be in for a literal shock. It was a nasty surprise when unexpected though nowhere near debilitating, maybe enough for one to flinch or to cause a muscle spasm nothing more. ’I just hope this is unexpected enough for our objective, and if not...I’m probably going to be in a world of pain.’

Having reached his target, a little too distracted with his thoughts to really register what Hideo did to counter their continued assaults beyond vague acknowledgement he would swing the dagger from the side aiming towards their sensei’s kidneys, keeping his other arm up defensively in case. Rima wasn’t putting much faith in his attack following through, against his better judgement he was hoping that his sensei would make a grab at him (rather than straight up punching or kicking his ass out), get a shock and hopefully give him a second’s worth of advantage and push him out with force. They were nearly the same height, he was maybe an inch or two shorter than the man but he was wider than Hideo. Maybe he would have a chance?

’Nah...I probably should have prepared the med kit.’

The two clones of Hideo would stand together mimicking every small movement of his exactly. The jounin did not plan on using the cloning technique at all during the tests due to its faults. He suspected he would probably be easily found out by anyone who has a good eye and at least half a brain. Not my kind of thing but it should wrap things up quickly. The jounin still improvising much of the test would relax himself for the most part. He would expect a barrage of even more complicated attacks to come his way so there was not point in attempting to counter any of them. To think he would actually be beat by a couple of genin was shocking to the experienced man, especially during a test. The man ether way had accepted his fate then and there.

Almost on cue, an arrow would go through one of Hideo's clones who wouldn't move as the projectile passed through him. After the sensei would turn towards the arrow that was struck in front of the ground of his surrounding clone, he would cock his head bac-- Before he could complete his action, The jounin would turn his head to hear a loud crack followed by a sudden sharp pain in his lower leg. The pain would make him stagger a bit, but he would manage to keep his balance and remain slouched over. He would look down at the leg to see a small hole in his leg. No blood.

He would then be met with another pain, even more intense than the leg, strike his back and skull. The jounin didn't need to look at the objects to know it was the girl's arrows that had made their mark on the man from above. Finally, he would be met with another similar rock like before to the face, followed by the feeling of a slash to his mid-section. The cut would also come with a powerful shock through Hideo's body which he would feel travel through out him. The rock would cause him to stumble back sending his head back and the cut to his abdomen would only add insult to injury with its electrifying reaction. He would manage to catch a glimpse of the attacker. The one who dared to step into the circle with him. That white-haired kid.

As the man would fall to the ground, causing the arrows driven into his back to drive deeper through him. He would lie there motionless, eyes closed for a quiet moment.

.......

The body of the Sensei would then spontaneously eject into smoke to reveal a damaged log with several arrows struck through it, a single hole through the wood, and scorched slash marks in it's center. As the genin would realize what had happened, their attention would be drawn by a quick whistle. It would be their Sensei standing by the training grounds entrance unscathed and grinning prominently.

"Wow! That was a close one!" He would say playfully. "You all did a pretty good job, I must say. Quite better than I had expected." He would start back towards the circle motioning the remaining genin still in the forest to regroup back together.

"Welp, you all managed to get me out of the circle so I guess I owe one of you 21 ryō, right?" The jounin would add digging around all the pockets on his body. "Ya' know what! Forget the money."

His tone would become lighthearted as he looked at each of genin sincerely. "No amount of money could express how proud I am of each of you. You all combined your skills and proved to me that you all are very capable ninja."

He would walk over to Jiro, putting his hand on the smallest boy's shoulder. "Essentially this test was to see how you all would react to an enemy in realistic combat." Almost unexpectedly, Hideo would drive his knee into the boy's stomach deeply. His clench on his shoulder would tighten as he drove his free hand into the boy's nose sending him back a distance. Much of the surprise attack would come from the pent up anger Hideo had been storing from the boy's previous rock throw and the atack would be seen almost in a blur. Hideo, though not the strongest looking guy, coupled with his Taijutsu skills and moderate strength he is capable of dealing devastating blows occasionally. "And like realistic combat. Your enemy will not always follow simple rules they or you may put in place."

He would turn towards the other two, fists clenched tightly, looking down on them with a neutral yet intimidating face. "I guess what I'm trying to say is: The test still continues. Except this time...no boundaries."

Keita didn’t know what to do, or what was going on.

What was their sensei expecting from them? What was this test really for? Was it to test their endurance? Was it to test their obedience? Was it to test their limits?

Was it to question the man like he was doing now?

Keita was confused and a little frustrated. He knew sooner or later the man would overcome the distance traveled and closed the gap that was made by the ten second start. In fact, why hasn't he yet? The man was more than likely faster than them. He could overcome the distance in a heartbeat. When he caught up with them would he pass by or attack? Was that mud wall a foreshadowing of a future assault? Would he keep pace with them? Encourage them to do their best? Impart some life long lessons? To look beneath the underneath (a proverb passed down from some ninja some generation ago; he didn’t remember the name, though)?

Keita tended to over think but couldn’t help it. It was one of those ‘bad habits’ he had. He would over analyze his opponent and before he knew it, he lost. Granted, his father was more experienced than he was so he was able to beat the habit from him when it came to combat. Literally. But left with his thoughts like this, while running wasn’t a problem, he became distracted and unaware of his surroundings.

The lake was coming up. Keita felt a brief apprehension at seeing the reflective surface but was soon relieved upon seeing that the falling trees had luckily thrown one across, providing an impromptu bridge to the other side. It cut diagonnally across the water, leaving a few meters of the shore from the tip of the tree to dry ground. Leaping over the shore shouldn't be much of a problem.

“Hey, look!” he would point out to the others what he saw. He noticed that Tsukarei-san had managed to make it safely from the falling mud wall and was pleased. At least their sensei wasn’t trying to intentionally kill them anyway. He would run across the fallen tree as soon as he reached. Then another thought occurred to him. Was this some pursuit and destroy kind of test? Was that why they were given so many laps? Were they supposed to take out their sensei, in a sense, so that they wouldn’t have to run so many laps? Was he their pursuer? Hmmm, the idea did have some merit. It was impossible to do all these laps. Especially as genin. So maybe...

Foolhardy though it was, there was no other way to find out. Once he reached the other side, he would whirl around to face the incoming jounin, allowing his teammates to bypass him to safety before expertly throwing two of his shuriken in the direction of the following man. Once that was done, he would follow after his teammates, ready for any protests that may come his way.

He doubt the two blades would hit their mark. He wasn’t aiming to maim, after all, but hopefully since the man was right behind them all he wouldn’t be expecting one of his genin to attack him out of the blue. That, or he was and had been expecting all along, thus proving Keita’s theory. If not, wellll…..

He’d just sealed their coffin-shaped fates with rusty nails.

The Jounin would stay above ground through the forest, jumping from the trees that were not affected by his devastating jutsu. He did not expect the damage to be this catastrophic and only really meant to use the mud wall for his own lazy, yet show-off'y needs. The man would manage to follow right behind the ever growing path of fallen and knocked over trees with the little broken chunks of his mud wall sprinkled everywhere. The man had hoped the genin were quick enough to evade his accidental attack. It was a slow falling mud wall and it was fairly breakable. The destruction it caused would have made it look a bit more intimidating all the while and possibly injury risking if under the object when it impacted the ground. Not necessarily what he had planned, but it would still give Hideo a brilliant idea.

The Jounin would finally catch up to the genin, remaining a good distance away as to stay hidden. Hideo, for the most part, wanted to have a father nature role in the test. He wouldn't attack the genin directly but instead try and strike at them through environmental causes. Not only would the race encourage endurance and speed, but it would also be a nice step into awareness skills and reacting to your surroundings. A Shinobi's biggest fear will always be around them. Hideo would think up the quote shrugging off whether someone actually said it or not.

He would snap out of his thought as two shuriken came rushing towards him. The man would react quick enough, pushing himself off the branch. As the shuriken would strike the tree, he would roll onto the ground before popping back up and turning towards the attacker. It was the grey eyed genin from earlier who was already on the other side of the lake. The man would quickly notice the other two genin behind him and a quick feeling of relief would overtake him as he saw all three, from his distance, looked fine. Why did he throw those Shuriken at me? Is he mad at me? The man would start towards the edge of the lake and stand on the soft, wet edge slightly confused. For now he couldn't do anything with the lake and their next obstacle was the steep hill. It was climbable yet still very tricky to get around. The jounin had no choice but to attempt to past the squad up and hope to cut them off ahead. He would then with ease start to jog at a light pace on the surface of the water, carefully leveling out his chakra with the lake. His first few steps would be slow, but he would gradually start to gain speed and improve his running form.

Isami's current situation wasn't looking to bright. No matter how big her steps were, she couldn't shake that churning feeling in her stomach off. As the seconds ticked by, Takeo's chakra seemed to draw closer. It would have made sense if he had caught up to Isami by now, but she could sense him chasing his squad at an unusually moderate pace. Just what were these man's intentions?

Peeking over her shoulder, Isami spotted Kohaku in the distance. Breathing a sigh of relief, she continued to run towards the lake. The least she wanted was to see her teammate being slapped into the ground on her first day as a Genin. Reaching the edge of the lake, Isami came across the large tree that had toppled over the water.

Bingo.

Well, looks like there was no need to stretch her hair across to the other side. Isami slowed herself down just so she had more control and balance over herself. Getting soaked while the others ran ahead wasn't exactly her idea of 'fun' either. As long as she remained calm and composed, she was less likely to falter in the face of her enemy. This went back to her previous question though. What were her sensei's intentions? What was the purpose of letting that giant earth wall fall on them? And to be honest, why hadn't Takeo caught up to Isami already? She wasn't really the fastest of people, and knowing that her sensei was lurking behind made her stomach twist up even more.

Thankfully, Isami had made it to safety on the other side along with Kohaku following nehind. Soon enough, Takeo neared the lake's edge just a few moments later.

As expected… He's fast.

Whoosh.

Swivelling her head around, Isami's large eyes followed the direction of Keita's shuriken as they hurtled towards Takeo on the other side. What was her teammate planning on doing?

"Um, Keita-san, what… what are you doing?"

Looking up, Isami waited patiently for an answer. Maybe he was trying to hold him back perhaps? It did make a little bit of sense, though. Takeo had almost flattened Kohaku back there, so maybe he was just waiting for one of his Genin to attack. If that was the case (which, in Isami's eyes, seemed unlikely), then Isami was going to have to put on a show too.

If she was going to go down, she might as well do it in style.

As the blade sunk in Rima froze in confusion, his mind not wanting to process what his two eyes were telling him as he watched their sensei. ‘W-what!?’ Hideo’s face was arched away from him, having taken the rock full force and body instinctively arched from the electric surge before gravity took its course. Wide eyes watched as their sensei fell back with a heavy thud and as the teen opened his mouth to question, he was further baffled as their sensei dispelled in a puff of smoke.

Automatically the boy stepped back at the potential threat, his mind still having yet to catch up on what exactly happened before the spoke dispersed and he was left looking at a very beaten up log. ‘A body replacement? Then where---’ The sharp whistle had Rima springing around like a startled cat, pivoting his body to face the noise arms defensively crossing his torso as he readjusted his kaiken into a better grip. Only to be met with the smug grin of their obviously unscathed sensei. "Wow! That was a close one!" Playfully said but the white haired teen couldn’t help but remain tense. ‘There was no way that was close, he played us!’ However he forced his body to relax, ‘Was the test over? He’s out of the circle now.’ Plum colored eyes gazed at Hideo in suspicion as the man spoke, “You all did a pretty good job, I must say. Quite better than I had expected."

As their sensei motioned for his other two squad mates to join them, he couldn’t help but feel happy at the approval but it didn’t prevent him from edging away from the blonde anyway--he didn’t want to be within arms reach just yet, let someone else be closer. Because although he had no reason to suspect, his gut instinct told him his first impression of the man wasn’t wrong and Hideo had more than enough reason to get back at them all for anything he may feel slighted against. "Welp, you all managed to get me out of the circle so I guess I owe one of you 21 ryō, right?" Rima relaxed a little, in honestly having forgot about the money as 21 ryō wasn’t enough to warrant his interest but he couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow as the man frantically patted his pockets. "Ya' know what! Forget the money."

‘Did he not have any money to begin with!?’ He couldn’t help but facepalm with his free hand at the man’s nonchalance. In the marketing world you would be in the world of hurt if you couldn’t pay what you promised when it came to money, that was enough to be a deal breaker and destroy lesser businesses. ”That’s cheap, sensei.” Rima became rigid again, he did not mean to say that out loud even if it was a mutter, ‘There was no way he didn’t hear me!’

"No amount of money could express how proud I am of each of you. You all combined your skills and proved to me that you all are very capable ninja." The man gave no visual indicator that he heard the towering teen, maybe he was safe and absently watched Hideo put his hand on Jiro’s shoulder. "Essentially this test was to see how you all would react to an enemy in realistic combat." Only to cringe as the smaller boy was kneed roughly in the stomach then thrown away with force.

Rima nearly took a step in the direction the boy landed wanting to make sure he was alright, although he was not subjected to anything severe he wouldn’t be surprised if the younger teen would be sporting nasty bruises later but the next sentence of his stilled him.”And like realistic combat. Your enemy will not always follow simple rules they or you may put in place. I guess what I'm trying to say is: The test still continues. Except this time...no boundaries." He looked back to the man in disbelief, were all their efforts so far in vain? ”What? We’re not done?”

This...was not going to be good, he had already wasted at least half of his chakra on this exercise and already he could feel cold sweat beading itself on his forehead and neck. ’We’re screwed, totally screwed!’ The dark skinned male flashed a glance at his only remaining teammate before he lunged at their sensei, desperately trying to charge another current across his skin as he raised his arms offensively. He didn’t have much faith in truly being able to counter their sensei but he could buy time for the other two.

Rima had nothing left to offer when it came to ranged techniques but Kiyoko might and hopefully she would drag Jiro with her as she attempted to gain some distance to line a shot while he would have to try and tough it with Hideo-sensei until then. Feeling more of his chakra drain, he realized he only had enough to pull off only one more offensive technique after this. 'I just have to keep attacking, don't focus on my ass getting kicked--just gotta do something.' Rima continue mentally coaching himself as he again kept one arm up to defend himself in his rush forward, this time though holding the kaiken in a reverse grip positioned in front of his guarding arm before swinging it in an outward arc towards their sensei’s ribs.

Hideo would look scan all three of the genin as he readied himself into a defensive stance. Given the results from the test before, he was able to assume most of the squad was proficient in ranged combat. There close combat was questionable though. The only one who attacked him directly was the white haired boy who seemed to be almost the same height of the Jounin. The other two seemed to rely on their ranged attacks, which Hideo would understand given their lack of experience. Hideo expected the girl with the bow to retreat or likely gain some distance. As for the youngest genin, Hideo would anticipate the boy trying to fight him. The Jounin would attempt to keep them in at a minimal distance by keeping track of each of their locations.

For a moment, the four would stand in silent after Hideo revealed the news. A ninja must be able to handle anything thrown at them. You must anticipate every worst case scenario. Before he knew, the dark skinned genin would charge towards the sensei. He got me pretty good last time. Can't let that happen again. The boy would have one arm up defensively, while his other held a weapon he swung fiercely. Hideo would be able to dodge several of his body swings, but as he came in to grab the boy's hand in an attempt to disarm him he would be met with a painful static shock sent throughout his body. The Jounin would react quickly and jump back a distance, trying to realize What the fuck! just happened. His left arm in would hang limp from his shoulder, as if unable to move.

Fuck! What did that kid do? I can barely feel my arm.

Water splashed outward under the man's feet as he ran across the surface of the lake, hoping to overtake his squad of genin. I can't make this test too easy for them. I need to hurry. As the man transitioned onto land, he would speed past the genin in a blur and use his momentum to leap and cling onto the steep hill. His impactful grip onto rocky hill would cause small rocks and pebbles to fall and land on the ground in a hard patter. It's breakable. Using his chakra control, he would manage to climb the hill with quick-short leaps. Mainly using his chakra to remain almost attached to the rock surface while also using one hand to grab a nearby ledge if needed. The show-off Jounin would remove his hands from the ledge and look down at the climbing genin, his hair flowing downward with the wind. "Remind me to teach you cats this someday, alright?"

The man would go back to progressing a few more leaps up the hill until he was positioned almost at the top. This should be a good vantage point. Standing up once again from his inclined angle on the steep hill, he would manage to face the genin and make handseals in a quick, rapid succession. A single sweat droplet would run off the tip of his nose as he made the last handseal. "Earth Release: Earth Shore Return" In that moment, a small piece of the hill, almost rectangle shaped, would spring up and stop at the tips of Takeo's feet. The man would drop onto the impromptu platform and lean his head over to look at the three genin. Now...lets see if this'll work.

The man would then again make another succession of handseals. This jutsu, being one of his custom ones, was significantly easier for him and he essentially didn't need to spend much chakra on it for the time being, seeing as how he's not using it seriously. "Earth Release: Rock storm" As the Senseo uttered the jutsu, the ground beneath the hill started to rumble before a barrage of rock shaped shuriken ascended from the ground and into the air. The rock-formed shuriken, flying almost in formation, would impact under Takeo and start to send fragments of rock and the broken shuriken shards raining down on the three younger ninja's. "Rock slides are common, right?"

The simulated rock slide would also send the platform Takeo stood on sliding down as it under gave away. The man would in a quick panic grab onto the rock before it fell, clutching it as he and platform came rolling down. "I-I-I'm a-a-l-l-r-i-ii-igh-t." He would manage to scream as he spun down the hill in a trail of dust.

Despite her best attempts to focus on the attack, Kiyoko couldn’t resist the temptation of checking her shot. After the last arrow left her bow, her eyes floated back to sensei, just in time to see him stagger. One of the clones had dissipated due to her arrow but...if it hadn’t been a clone…

Kiyoko’s free hand jerked up to her mouth when she saw what happened next.

One arrow lodged deep into the man’s back. She...she hadn’t expected him to actually get hit. Just...just DODGE or something! She silently hoped that it was just a clone, but when the second arrow pierced the back of his head, it was all Kiyoko could do not to squeak. He hadn’t disappeared yet. Was that really Hideo-sensei? Did...did she just…

Nausea flooded the girl.

As if becoming a human pincushion wasn’t enough, one of Rima’s rocks collided with him, right before the giant genin came in with a slash, sending Hideo-sensei onto the ground and presumably deeper into the bowels of hell.

...

What…

...What had they done?

Kiyoko waited in the tree, not moving, barely breathing, too stunned for action. They had just murdered their sensei. In less than an hour of meeting him. That wasn’t the mission. There was no need for him to die but…

...but…

Smoke covered the corpse for just a few moments, only for it to dissipate and reveal a...log.

Full of arrows.

…

A whistle shot through the silence followed by a familiar voice. Kiyoko turned her gaze to the risen shinobi, a spectre from beyond beckoning to join him on his pitiful quest to the grave. He woul - Kiyoko slapped herself. She was being ridiculous. He wasn’t an undead abomination, just your average shinobi with their average replacement technique. How she even let herself get dumped by such a textbook maneuver, Kiyoko didn’t want to know.

“Wow! That was a close one! You all did a pretty good job, I must say. Quite better than I had expected.”

Kiyoko hopped down from her tree and began walking over towards Rima and to an extent, Hideo himself. She was frowning at the smug sounding jounin. He continued. “Welp, you all managed to get me out of the circle, so I guess I owe one of you 21 ryō, right?" Kiyoko glanced over to Rima. He was the one who made the final contact. And he had placed himself in the most danger by entering the ring in the first place. By all rights, the cash should go to him.

“Ya’ know what! Forget the money.”

The girl crossed her arms, glaring daggers at Cheapeo-sensei. Rima pretty much gave voice to her own thoughts.

“No amount of money could express how proud I am of each of you. You all combined your skills and proved to me that you all are very capable ninja.” the elder ninja spoke. Kiyoko loosened up a little bit. Maybe, just maybe, this Hideo guy wasn’t such a gaping colossal assho-

Hideo, after crossing the distance to the genin, who had been joined by the sharpshooter Nakahara, proceeded to violently knee the youngest genin. Needless to say, Kiyoko was still a bit thrown off by yet ANOTHER change in the man’s temperament.

“Essentially this test was to see how you all would react to an enemy in realistic combat.” he spoke before attacking the boy and sending him on a one-way trip to Pain City. “And like realistic combat, your enemy will not always follow simple rules they or you may put in place.”

A chill went down Kiyoko’s spine. What was he getting at?

“I guess what I’m trying to say is: the test still continues. Except this time...no boundaries.”

Fuck.

Kiyoko scowled. Well, she was wrong. Cheapeo-sensei was every bit the asshat that she had thought. Joyous day. But...if their were no boundaries now...then what the hell kind of test was this? What was their goal? Was it just beat the shit out of Hideo? Because quite frankly?

She could get down with that.

Rima turned back at her before charging their so-called teacher. The look in his eyes...desperation? Perhaps. She could sympathize. But to just charge in so careles-

The girl glanced over at the fallen genin. Was...was THAT what he wanted? To buy time to get the little one to safety? The girl didn’t waste a moment in second-guessing herself. Even if that wasn’t the case, even if he had just gone off in a blind fury, she could use the distraction.

She moved over towards Nakara and sort of half-scooped/half-jerked the boy up. In an awkward sort of shambling run, Kiyoko drove the boy over towards the wooded area once more. It wasn’t too far from melee combat going on now. Nor as safe, now that the circle was abolished. But it was better than just leaving the poor kid out in the open. She wasn’t exactly the gentlest chick around, evident from her simply shoving the boy towards the trees once they got near. If he was all banged up and broken, he was useless. It would be better for him to simply remove himself.

Kiyoko turned once more in time to see Rima swing towards Hideo who moved swiftly to disarm the genin. But…

But that’s not what happened. Instead, shortly after making contact, the jounin disenganged. And the way his arm was just...flopping and now hanging there...what the hell just happened?

…

Opportunity.

Kiyoko rose her bow towards the sky and pulled out one more arrow. She nocked it, drew her thumb around the string, and pulled back. Gathering all the force she could to her diaphragm, she yelled at the top of her voice.

“HEY FUCKFACE! CATCH!”

She then launched the arrow in an extremely high arc.

She let the arrow rise for a moment, and just about the moment it hit the peak, Kiyoko quickly moved her draw hand down to her thigh where she pulled loose two kunai. Without speaking another word, the girl launched one kunai followed by the other directly towards Hideo. Due to his slight repositioning, Kiyoko felt relatively positive that Rima was clear of the kunai’s path but…

She hoped against hope that he didn’t make any sudden movements.

For his sake.

As Rima swing the kaiken towards sensei’s ribs, the man stepped back allowing the blade to pass by harmlessly. Undeterred the teen was quick to make a follow up, keeping his left arm as a guard for his torso as he adjusted his handle on the weapon and thrusted it forward--also dodged. ‘Damn it, he’s not taking the bait!’ He was getting anxious, his mind fearfully reflecting on Kiyoko and their collapsed teammate ‘Did they make it to cover? Was Jiro truly okay?’

He didn’t want to risk looking back in case Hideo took the opportunity to blind side or even leave him to go after the other two and the thought of being no use to his team frustrated him.Changing his position slightly, the white haired giant dropped his attempts to aim for vitals in exchange for more speed. His swings wide to keep his teacher’s attention on him and Rima mentally cheered as he saw the blonde finally reach out and grab onto his right hand--probably aiming to remove the kaiken in his grip.

Goosebumps spread across his skin as the live current he worked to maintain during his charge surged through his right arm into the connecting flesh of his opponent. Fascinated, Rima watch the hand spasm for a moment before Hideo leapt back to put a distance between the arm flopping at his side and momentarily useless. From what he read of the technique, he could imagine the painful shock that followed the touch along with the pins and needles feeling to numbness side effect as the muscles twitch to regain natural feeling.

Plum colored eyes took the short opportunity to glance back, noting the empty field with relief. ‘Good. Kiyoko did take Jiro with her.’ He had his doubts that she would at first as the youngest boy was out of the game having taken such a rough hit in the first place as to whether he regained consciousness was another matter. He wondered if he should reassess his assumption, Jiro wasn’t like one of his siblings--all whom were the rough and tumble types in their younger years and he was pretty small. ‘Hopefully it wasn’t too bad.’

Redirecting his attention back towards his teacher, Rima took a step forward, intent on charging again but was distracted by Kiyoko’s shout “HEY FUCKFACE! CATCH!” Eyebrows rose to his hairline being that this was the most unreserved thing he had ever heard the girl say and but it also had exposed herself to the teacher. ‘Why did she shout? She just gained his attention!’ Another glance revealed her releasing the arrow from her bow in a high arc, something his dismissed assuming it was aimed for the teacher but the next thing she did drew his attention.

Watching her pull two kunai from a pouch make him want to face fault in realization that although she specialized with her bow she was also trained to proficiently typical weapons as was everyone else in the academy. ‘I totally forgot! Why did I think she could only use the bow!?’ Again he was grateful they were on the same team because that in itself was a mistake that probably would have cost him if they had to fight each other.

He took a quick breather, he was starting to get tired--scratch that, he was wearing down. Usually his stamina would be better than this but he used much more chakra than he was expecting--most of it wasted on their previous efforts; especially for how long he's kept two currents running. ‘When we actually had a possible chance?’ before rushing in again, this time taking mind to the projectiles thrown by Kiyoko. Whether Hideo dodged or countered, he would attempt to rush the man from the side--sadly without a running current.

The teenage giant could only hope the man would be wary to touch him again and not counter immediately. As soon as they made contact the game would be up but he hoped his strength would at least give him another edge even if his taijutsu wasn’t much at this time. Rima took another swing with this kaiken but this time following with attempted punches and kicks if their sensei made the attempt to dodge or counter.

Hideo would crouch as the current in his arm made it fall limp towards the ground. Was that a jutsu? I didn't even see him do anything...This was the first attack to catch Hideo off guard so it left him a bit bewildered. Even so, he wasn't gonna let it happen again. "You got me there, kid" The limp arm jounin would say as his fingers starts to rapidly move and bend slightly. Hideo was slowly gaining back the feeling in his arm, but the most he could was move his fingers and wrist. "I guess I should do a little jutsu of my-."

Before the man could finish he would hear the arrow girl shout out, “HEY FUCKFACE! CATCH!” before he saw the high arched arrow race towards him. Oh yeah...her. Instinctively, he would lower his good arm and in a fast blur input hand seals. "Fire release:Phoenix Sage Jutsu!" Hideo would shout as he sent a spree of fireballs in various directions with his hand. This time he would maneuver the fireballs in attempt to hit the girl and her projectiles primarily to overwhelm her. Hideo hoped the fireballs would keep her busy for the most part while he dealt with the boy. The jounin could have came after the archer but turning his attention away from the boy could be risky.

The man would once again be caught off guard as the white haired boy charged towards him. Hideo would keep a much greater distance from the boy's attacks. As he quickly dodged, he would be cautious to keep his limp arm away from the boy even though it swung around like a carrot attached to a string. Jeez, kid. Back the fuck up willya! The man would in a frustrated haste, lower to the ground and proceed to sweep kick the boy before attempting to punch the boy's chest if he still laid on the ground.

Whether his counter worked or not, he would quickly remove and toss his jacket aside, revealing his skinny pale body under a dirty tank top. "Fire Release: Intensive Heatwaves!" The man would shout as sweat started to drip from his forehead and form in wet spots on his tank top. His face would now not have his usual sly smile, but instead an irritated frown. The man would charge towards the boy only to dash around and attempt to attack from behind.

Keita wouldn't stop to see if he had managed to hit Takeo. He already suspected the Jounin would dodge due to the distance. He was a little surprised, though, that his throw managed to make it so far, maybe even a little pleased; he supposed adrenaline would do to you. Keita was apprehensive that all he'd done was antagonize their sensei into attacking them, but apparently the man had no intention of doing them any harm. Which made him more confused as to the reason for this extreme test. However, he drew up short at Isami’s question.

"Um, Keita-san, what… what are you doing?"

Kohaku chuckled at Isami’s confusion over Keita’s actions. “Takeo-sensei doesn’t seem like the type to unjustly attack us. You shouldn’t be so on edge~” It was clear that Kohaku had no intention of flustering himself. He kept up with the others but his pace never seemed to alter unexpectedly or abruptly. Completely calm and rather amusedly.

Keita would throw the other male of their team an irritated look but not because of the other boy. He was mostly annoyed at Takeo since he couldn’t figure out the man’s intentions. He would grab Isami’s hand in response and would let go once he was sure she would follow. Takeo hadn't stopped. Won’t stop.

He was proven right when the man made his way over the water's surface. Being this close to the shore also made him a little jittery, too. "Don't stop, keep running. I'll explain as we run, he's gonna catch up," he would say, coolly, before attempting to run up the steep slope.

Isami squeaked as she was dragged by Keita, almost tripping over her own tiny feet. There was no time for any unnecessary breaks. Just keep running until your legs eventually crumble beneath you. Not the sort of thing Isami liked, but a plan was a plan. Unless she wanted to get squashed by her sensei’s earth jutsu, Isami wasn't going to stop for anything. Her heart was beating furiously in her ears, so loud she couldn't even get a grasp of her surroundings anymore. Damn, adrenaline rushes sure were unpredictable.

“Oi, Keita. Don’t you think you’re being a little too anxious? At this rate I don’t think Isami’s used to this kind of pace…” Kohaku’s lackadaisical approach to life might seem like nothing to appreciate but it did give him a lot of time to take in his surroundings which developed into a keen awareness and observation skills. As if to induce a little wariness into the ever relaxed genin, Takeo overtook them and reached the hill with time to spare before they made it. Kyu! Kohaku’s necklace shined momentarily. “Yeah, I see him.”

“You were saying?” The raven-haired boy would toss over his shoulder to the other, tightening his grasp on Isami’s hand as reflex. Eyes blinking rapidly in surprise, he watched as the jounin would then send what appeared to be a rockslide down the slope, if only a bastardized version of the natural occurrence. Was he trying to kill them? He would have screamed “I told you so” at the other male but that was unbecoming of a Ryuukaze; plus they didn’t have time, anyway so he darted to the side where there would be less rocks since the slide was more focused on the three of them down the center. Releasing Isami’s hand and running through a weave of hand signs, quick and efficient, instinct now driving him. Keita would build the necessary chakra in his throat, like he’d done so many times before.

He winced a little at the jostling since the chakra was expanding and knocked against the soft insides, but then released the wind-style jutsu with a shout of “Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!” It didn’t much matter if he was heard since he was not hiding and anyway Takeo had them in their sights. Even if the man’s intentions were not to harm or kill them (which was unlikely since they were genin and the Hokage wouldn’t much like that his jounin were killing his students off on the first day), there was something obviously misleading about this test since the man was outright attacking them. Or seem to anyway. He didn’t think the sliding down on the rock thing was intentional if the man’s startled cry was anything to go by.

The blast of wind would knock what rocks may be coming down the hill out of his way, throwing them carelessly to the sides and away from the smaller sized genin; Takeo would also slide past them harmlessly since they had moved, making the path clear for them to once again take. Soe debris would still fall on them but nothing that could potentially injure them. Keita felt slightly winded, at the deep gouge of chakra reserves being used and from the nature of the chakra itself. Having that being the only one in his arsenal of his natural chakra affinity, he was actually quite proud of the result.

Isami looked towards Keita, eyes wide. Who knew that a mere Genin could muster up enough chakra to perform a jutsu like that? At this point, Isami looked even more shocked than their own teacher. Well, if the teacher was in shock at the sight of this jutsu, that is.

The little girl had to be properly careful this time. She wasn't too keen on letting someone else drag her along the ground because she wasn't exactly on guard at the time. Her chakra flowed throughout her frail body at a steady pace, ready to make any last second attacks.

“That was an impressive jutsu, Keita-san. Maybe you scared Takeo-sensei away~”

Keita blushed a little, cheeks stained a little pink, not at all expecting to be praised for something that came naturally. He had just moved on instinct, is all. “Er, somehow I doubt that.”

Kohaku was unfazed by his teammates critique of his thoughts on the situation. It was startling to see the gap between genin and jounin being demonstrated just through a simple foot race but as far he could tell the situation hadn’t changed. The objective laid out for them was to run this obstacle course. Takeo-sensei had simply added another obstacle with the clear intention of seeing how they dealt with it. Watching for any more obstacles that he might throw their way, the genin was surprised to see the following scene. Takeo-sensei came sliding towards them but not in the cool way he seemed to initially have planned. Kohaku seemed to have found a little joy and motivation as their jounin harbouring ill intent went tumbling past them. He moved a little quicker up the slope unhindered thanks to Keita clearing a path. “Still think he’s got some grand master plan~? Nice job, though.”

Keita snorted, silently agreeing. Still, he didn’t let down his guard. There had to be a reason why the man was allowed to be a jounin, right? “Let’s just get this over with,” he muttered, already fed up with the test and wanting it over and done with. He ran up the slope, following behind the other male.

For a moment, just a brief moment, Kiyoko believed that maybe, JUST MAYBE, her attack would land true.

And then the moment passed.

Sensei pulled his arm up and with a speed Kiyoko had not before seen, made a sequence of signs. While looking in her direction. Kiyoko’s stomach lurched forward and her entire body shuddered. She uh...she was going to have a bad time, eh?

Yep.

“Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Jutsu!” roared her sensei as he conjured flames running in just about every direction she wished they weren’t traveling. The girl cursed as she watched her arrow pierce the fire and seemingly warp into ash. Her kunai didn’t fair much better. This...this wasn’t fair. He had been injured. He shouldn’t have been able to…

No.

There was no time to lament her failed attack. The fire hadn’t just been a shield, they were screaming towards her. The girl started to back up, but she made a terrible mistake. She hesitated. The fire did not. There were too many fireballs spread out for her to dodge to either side. She could try to jump over but...that was dangerous as well. She could- NO! There wasn’t enough time. The girl turned on her heels and ran as quickly as she could. She wasn’t the slowest around but…

The fire was gaining on her. She could feel the heat growing nearer. Kiyoko glanced back. If she didn’t do something soon, she uh...she was going to get a helluva sunburn.

Unless…

The fire was large but...but it didn’t seem to be dragging the ground. It was a gamble, but it seemed to be her only option. Kiyoko pivoted and quickly spotted a small gap between two of the fireballs. She took a few quick steps, then tucked up and slid, foot first into the flame.

WHOOSH!

The girl couldn’t see the flames pass, what with her arms covering her face, but she sure as hell felt it. It wasn’t pleasant. But just as quickly as the flame arrived, it was gone. Kiyoko wasted no time. She quickly made sure that she was clear of the flame and any additional fire (check), she wasn’t aflame herself (check), and that her weapon was in piece (lucky check).

The girl, feeling her heart racing, got back to her feet. She was farther away now. The other genin and the jounin were now going at one another. She couldn’t help but feel defeated. No matter what they threw at the bastard, he simply shrugged it off and threw sometime twice as dangerous back. But…

Her eyes rested on the white haired boy for a few moments.

If he could bring himself to get right into the thick of things with a foe as dangerous as Hideo-sensei...what the hell was she doing sitting here whining about a few flimsy flames? Was she REALLY going to call it quits just like that?

HELL NO.

Kiyoko, eyes trained on her target, moved her hand to her quiver an-

…

…

Wait…

What…?

Kiyoko blinked.

WHAT?!

She looked down. Her quiver was fine but...there were only three shafts sticking out. But...but she knew she had more than tha-

Kiyoko looked behind her and her heart sank. Her other arrows were lying in the ground. Aflame. When she slide through the flame, her arrows must have fallen out. And...well, it would only take one to catch fire for the rest of them to follow suit.

She swore once again, likely reaching a personal record for number of curses in a single day. Turning back to the guys, she noticed that...Hideo had uh...stripped. Just down to a nasty tank top. Right then.

Kiyoko pulled one of her three arrows and tried to take aim on the bastard but...it was no good. She couldn’t get a clean shot without risking friendly fire. Though she could try to get...creative. Though it would require getting closer.

Kiyoko rushed forward, trying to close the gap between her and the boys. As she did so, she shifted her grip up to just under the tip of her arrow. She attached a chakra thread to it. The plan, if it worked, would be to shoot PAST the boys, then tug the thread to pull the arrow back, hopefully ripping open this asshole’s back. And if it didn’t work well…

Huh.

Thinking about it just made her uncomfortable. So thinking was now off-limits.

All she could do was try to get close enough to shoot.

And uh...maybe, just maybe, not kneecap poor Miya- err...Rima.

Dust would fly under the slab of rock as Takeo impacted the ground. The slab of rock would crack due to the heavy landing of Takeo. Takeo's strength training essentially allowed him in certain situations to make his body almost rock-like when needed. It is not a technique that requires chakra but a physical enhancement Takeo has grown to master. The senseo, who laid facing up to see the squad of genin ascend the hill, would grin at their accomplishment. The man unfortunately only caught a few glimpse of the team's acts to counter the rock slide, but seeing them make progress was all he would expect. Way to go, cats! The man would rise up from his grounded position, rocks sediments falling off of him, and begin to climb back up the mountain. This time at a much slower pace. There was no rush seeing as how they have already completed the first obstacle. All there's left is descending down the hill, traversing the forest, and they're done. He would look up at the sky reminding himself of the time then begin to climb faster.

Keita picked his way down the slope carefully. He would offer his hand to Isami but then he wouldn't want the girl to think he was coming onto her or anything. It was natural for him to extend a helping hand when he saw that it was needed but then he didn't want her to also think that she was helpless. Females could be scary sometimes when they thought they were being treated like damsels in distress, and anyway, he'd already breached their physical boundaries more than enough today. Kohaku was already an obvious enough conclusion on his own.

He sighed when he saw that the end was near. He didn't think he wanted anything more to do with this test. He was tired and he wanted to sleep. His chakra pools were pitifully depleted, that last jutsu took more juice from him than he'd like and only now he wondered if he could have used something more simple. He had forgotten that that was one of the more recent jutsus he'd been learning. Heat of the moment, can't help it, he thought and moved slowly toward the edge of the forest after very nearly slipping more than once down the steep slope. At this point, he didn't even care if his sensei followed or passed them this time.

It seemed his breather was a mistake, their sensei being quick to launch a jutsu towards his remaining teammate before the white haired teen could reach him. "Fire release: Phoenix Sage Jutsu!" Hideo-sensei shouted as the man’s good arm, palm flat, shot a volley of fireballs in the archer’s direction. Rima could only shout a warning, ”Watch out!” his voice ragged due to his pace in attempts to close in on their teacher. Inwardly, the giant was panicking. He had noticed Kiyoko’s hesitation as the flaming projectiles advanced, taking her own previously shot arrows and kunai with it.

’That means I have to face him...alone.’ That thought alone chilled him, solely on the fact that despite Kiyoko’s distraction Hideo’s attention never fully left his form since he shocked the man, literally. Hastily he shook his head as his kaiken swung outward towards the man, ’No no, don’t think like that! I just need to bide more time than I expected but Kiyoko is fine, she’ll back me up soon enough.’ He could only hope that she came out unscathed, for the most part; maybe even a little singed. He didn’t want to imagine her possibly having gained second or even third degree burns as not only were those not pretty and immensely painful, but Rima didn’t have enough knowledge in medical jutsu to take care of such wounds beyond basic first aid.

Rima suddenly blinked, having lost direct sight of his sensei in his distraction. ’Shit! Wh--’ He only had time to catch Hideo’s crouched form before the teen felt his legs be swept out from under him, expression morphing to surprise as he fell as mouth opened to express a near silent “Oh.” His back hit the ground, the force slightly winded the young giant in the process before catching sight of his sensei’s fist aiming for his chest. Before the man could force the rest of the air from his lungs, Rima desperately swiped for the man’s arm in attempts to fasten the man in place and use the momentum to kick Hideo over him.

However, his sensei’s approaching fist unexpectedly retreated. He supposed Hideo was reluctant to see if he still had a current and instead rolled to his elbows and knees to try and get back on his feet, trying to ignore how the dirt had decided to stick itself his exposed skin and hair as his sweat acted as a cohesive. Rima felt he was lucky that their sensei stepped away instead of continuing the assault--Or not. Getting a proper look at the man had him inwardly flinch at the frown that was now on Hideo’s face as the man removed his jacket, ’Oh Kami, he’s pissed! I’m dead! Soooo dead!’

Rima could only watch with tired eyes and a wry smile as the man’s hand blurred to form another jutsu, preparing himself to dodge if needed with quick breaths to try and even his labored breathing. "Fire Release: Intensive Heatwaves!" The boy nearly stumbled at the announcement having been unprepared to suddenly feel as if he had been dumped in the Suna deserts at the peak of noon. Sure, the Land of Fire itself was notorious for humid weather in itself but this sort of intensity was near ridiculous for the teen on top of the hot summer typical to his home village--especially with his dark skin.

The teenage giant nearly swayed as the wave of heat hit him and could only wonder how his sensei was faring at it’s epicenter. Hastily, Rima followed his sensei’s example, entirely regretting that his wardrobe choice was primarily black as he proceeded by removing his gloves first and tossing them aside before divesting himself of his jacket, revealing a similar but already sweat soaked tank clinging to a broader pair of shoulders and chest. The added heat only making the dust that had clung to Rima’s face and arms cake into a mud-like substance within seconds and he had half a mind to remove his pants as well if he didn’t think Kiyoko would take offense and attack him with the excuse of being some kind of pervert.

’I’m just going to have to endure and hope Kiyoko has a plan as I’m fresh out of them.’ Exhausted at this point, the genin invested all of his energy to focus on his sensei, inwardly resigning to his fate as sensei’s soon to be current punching bag. As much as he would have liked to see that Kiyoko was alright, he couldn’t risk taking his eyes off his sensei anymore as the man rushed towards him before suddenly darting to the side. Side-stepping in attempts to keep Hideo in his sights, he clenched the fabric of his jacket in one hand having realized he had dropped the kaiken in his fall, he would try and use this to trap one of the man’s limbs as he swung at the teen, then use the distraction it hopefully provided to grab a kunai from his waist pouch and go back on the offensive.