A symbol associated with both the Man in White and the dagger Team Six retrieved from Nusu
A shinobi-elitist group that means different things for different people. It was founded on the basis of weeding out impurities in the population and reclaiming the land for shinobi. Their primary goal, then, is to get rid of the daimyo and common people of the ninja nations, then of the lands beyond their borders since those who use jutsu are superior to those who don't.
Their secondary goal is to collect and spread existing jutsu to both strengthen the shinobi population and prevent jutsu from disappearing into history. Thus, they respect strength and power and are against the notion of forbidden jutsu since all jutsu has intrinsic value.
Though largely unspoken, a tertiary goal of theirs is the unification of all the shinobi countries. Since civilians easily outnumber shinobi, this unification is necessary for the Guren to amass enough power to challenge the civilian forces outside the shinobi nations.
Literally, their name means 'crimson-colored lotus', which is one of the eight cold hells. It derives its name from the shape of flesh that has cracked open due to the extreme cold of the hell, which can cause one's back to resemble a crimson lotus flower.
Taking inspiration from their name, the Guren's signature/MO is leaving a similar pattern of scarring on their victims, whether by use of ice, fire, lightning, or simple bladework. By doing this, they are able to portray their victims symbolically since those they target will live through the hells in the afterlife. Thus, the Guren help their victims repent for their sins.
Man in White
Age Unknown | ‘Chalkhead’ | Rank Unknown
White and pale with immaculately clean clothes draped upon his tall, almost frail frame.
A stranger Team Six met in one of Kumogakure’s lightning temples as a clone.
Often wears an amused and somewhat chilling smile
A descendant of the Wakahisa clan who was born a sickly child and who watched his loving, caring family burn during the rebellion of Doto Kazahana, the man who killed his own brother so he could crown himself daimyo with blood and steel.
Born as Akiyuki Wakahisa (晃雪 若久) but has since taken on the name Kannon to better serve as the figurehead of the Guren.
Still rather frail and sickly, but has gathered enough allies and followers that he rarely has to do much himself.
Partial to clones so can both accompany many people at once and avoid putting himself in harm's way.
Embodies the Guren spirit with his kekkei genkai since his ice reddens as the battle progresses, gradually absorbing the blood of his victims.
Early Afternoon || Land of Fire: Konohagakure — Kawaguchi Household Azumi’s words left Kazuhiko stunned, unable to formulate a thought in response. While he hadn’t expected anyone to be angry at him, he also hadn’t expected complete forgiveness, and he listened to the rest of Azumi’s words silently, his mind empty for her words to fill. By the time Minoru chimed in too, Kazuhiko had hugged Azumi back, his head buried into her shoulder. When Minoru’s arm wrapped around him, his eyes welled up, and he inhaled as they let go, nodding at them.
“Thank you, Minoru-sensei, Azumi-san,” he said, bowing again. “I-I’ll do my best.”
He wasn’t the best at putting his thoughts into words, especially not when feelings where involved, and he knew that. Currently, he was searching for more to say, more to help express how grateful he was, but he kept drawing blanks. Besides ‘thank you,’ it didn’t seem like any words properly encompassed his thoughts, and he was tempted to repeat those words—thank you, thank you, thank you. But, meeting Azumi and Minoru’s eyes, Kazuhiko realized that he didn’t need more words; they’d already understood. The specifics weren’t necessary because his true intents and emotions had already been expressed, and that was enough.
“Thank you,” he repeated once more, hugging them both again. Then, looking around, he grabbed a dishcloth off the counter.
“I’ll clean the table.”
Further words weren’t needed, and he was grateful for that. At home, cleaning up after meals was never his job since he was to focus on training and learning to be a proper heir to the clan, but outside of his clan compound Kazuhiko felt that he wasn't just an heir. Here, he was simultaneously less and more, both merely human and a treasured part of his sensei’s family. Being here made him feel like he was different, like he was tapping into another part of his personality, and he appreciated it.
Another few minutes or so of helping around the house later, Kazuhiko felt his clone dissipate with a twinge, almost like something had metaphorically popped inside him. Blinking, he turned to Minoru and Azumi.
“I think I should go find my teammates,” he said. “My clone just got dispelled.”
Natsuko Rinha
Early Afternoon || Land of Fire: Konohagakure — Training Grounds Natsuko’s jaws dropped as Kazuhiko vanished with a ‘pop,’ but her surprise quickly morphed into anger. Though she listened to Koharu’s reassurances, her annoyance didn’t waver until Kouji interrupted to call Koharu a traitor. Natsuko’s eyes instantly focused on the boy from the other team who wore a smile too cocky for his own good. Before she could interrupt, his teammate, Kage, did, his voice trembling even as he spoke. Though the way he’d held himself had prompted Natsuko to write him off, his protest had her reevaluating him in a new light. With some encouragement, perhaps he’d grow a backbone after all.
The banter passed her by, though, and soon enough Team Five’s sensei, Reiko, interrupted to allow the fight to take place. As much as Natsuko hated the idea of allowing Kouji to fight Koharu, she also trusted that her teammate was strong enough to hold her ground, and she pumped a fist before cupping her hands around her mouth.
“Go Haru-chan! Show him why Team Six is the best!” she shouted, easily ignoring the glare Kouji shot her way. Compared to Koharu’s glares, his was pretty tame.
When Reiko spoke, it took Natsuko a moment to figure out that the stern-looking woman was indeed addressing her. Truth be told, Natsuko found Reiko intimidating since she was used to Minoru’s laid-back style of mentorship. Reiko reminded her of her teammates on the days when they would train without taking a break, as if training was be all end all of activities. It was because of this that Natsuko was glad Reiko hadn’t been Team Six’s sensei since though she knew Reiko was probably stronger and sterner than Minoru, a genin-ship without Minoru’s bad jokes and Azumi’s caring presence was hard to imagine, especially for Natsuko’s teammates.
“Yep, Koharu’s a Wakahisa, so she’ll kick Kouji’s butt,” Natsuko said with a grin before remembering to tone it down a notch for Kouji’s sensei. “No offense, I mean.”
A flash of amusement crossed Reiko’s face as she met Natsuko’s eyes. “No offense taken.”
Nodding quickly, Natsuko focused back on the fight, relieved when Reiko did the same. Soon enough, though, the fight alone was enough to transfix her, and she called out another cheer when Koharu caused Kouji to double over, gasping.
“So, are we just going to watch?” Mariko asked, glancing at Reiko, who gave permission without batting an eye. With her sensei’s approval, though, Mariko turned to Natsuko with her trademark sweet smile.
“Don’t hold it against me, Natsuko-chan.”
“Wait, Mariko-san, hold on,” Natsuko said, backing away with wide eyes. “I don’t think me sparring you is a good idea. How about I, um, spar Kage over there? He looks like someone that wouldn’t flatten me immediately.”
Mariko’s smile remained on her face as she followed Natsuko’s steps, her smile unfaltering. “Are you going to bully Kage too, Natsuko-chan? That’s not very nice.”
“What? No, no, of course not. I would never!”
“Hm.” Mariko paused, then looked to her tall, nervous teammate. “Kage, what do you think?”
“I-I don’t know,” Kage said, glancing nervously at his sensei. When Reiko gave him a nod, though, he copied the motion, nodding to himself as he turned back to Natsuko, his back a little straighter than before.
“Okay, N-Natsuko-san, a-are you ready?”
“Ready? Yeah, yeah I’m ready,” Natsuko said, retrieving a kunai from her belt as she glanced again to Mariko.
“Alright, have fun,” the Hyuga heiress said, still smiling as she stepped aside. “I wonder how long it’ll take for Kazuhiko to get here?”
Natsuko didn’t know the answer to that question, though it reminded her of her flaky teammate, stirring up annoyance she’d momentarily forgotten about. What was with heirs being freaky strong and thinking they knew better? While it was comforting to have two teammates who knew their priorities, it became annoying when they were hindering themselves, especially when it came to opening up or being honest. In what world was attempting to deceive her better than telling her the truth?
“Right, Kage, let’s do this,” she said, bracing herself as she crouched. Then, leaping towards Kage, Natsuko swung her kunai forwards, only to find herself blown back by a sudden burst of wind from Kage.
Rolling to her feet a few meters away, Natsuko grinned. “Great Breakthrough?”
“Y-yeah,” Kage admitted with a sheepish smile.
“Nice, but I can do Wind Release techniques too,” Natsuko said, signing her Gale Palm. Across from her, Kage mirrored her signs, causing Natsuko’s grin to grow wider. So she might not be winning this fight either, but hey, at least she wouldn’t get her chakra paths blocked for a good few hours due to “practice.”
Wind Release:
Gale Palm: a technique where the user increases the velocity or density of wind to form a powerful gale capable of knocking over a person.
Dark Release:
Kusunemasu [Needs Practice]: A basic technique that allows a Rinha to absorb chakra from others and use it as their own. They can do this through direct physical contact or from a distance (Limits: distance-restrained, more concentration required without direct contact)
Kazuhiko Taketori
Afternoon || Land of Fire: Konohagakure — Training Grounds Kazuhiko arrived on the training grounds by hopping off a nearby rooftop and jogging over. There, he found Koharu and Natsuko already engaged in battle with two members of Team Five as Mariko and the Team Five sensei, Reiko, watched from the sidelines. Koharu seemed to be easily winning against Kouji, the boy who’d earned a reputation for himself through his use of callous words, and Natsuko was—though far from winning—surviving against Kage, a boy who, though taller than Kazuhiko, tended to stumble over his words. When he neared, Reiko looked over without much emotion, Mariko following suit to glance over with a smile and a wave.
“Nice of you to join us, Kazuhiko!”
Rather than responding, Kazuhiko spun around with just enough time to dodge out of the way of Mariko, who dispelled the clone standing at her sensei’s side with a sheepish smile.
“Oh, I wasn’t going to hurt you, Kazuhiko-kun, just surprise you a bit. Besides,” she said, her Byakugan flashing on, “dodging wouldn’t work if I used a Shadow Clone.”
“I’ll deal with that when we get there,” he replied as his Sensaigan blinked into life as well. Though it was mostly intimidation tactics since neither of them had much experience using their dojutsu yet, there was more at stake here than just who won. Unlike when they sparred inside either clan’s dojo, which was a long-held tradition to pay respects and avoid further conflict, there was no conceding to let the dojo master’s heir win. This meant that whoever won here would prove their superiority and, by extension, their clan’s.
“You sure this is a good idea?” he asked.
“Where’s your sense of fun, Kazuhiko-kun?” she said, her tone light. And, springing back, she quickly signed as Kazuhiko jumped forwards, signing around the kunai in his hand.
From a backpack beside Reiko, a stream of water was called up, splitting into three orbs of swirling water. Needles sprouted from the edges of the orbs, lengthening as Kazuhiko threw a crackling kunai that left a zig-zag trail of lightning as it flew through the air, exploding an orb on touch. Then, with two loud splashes, the needles flew through the air at Kazuhiko, who dodged out of the way, another arc of electricity sparking to spark through the needles closest to him. Hit with electricity, the needles lost their shape, popping into droplets of water that hit the ground, darkening the dirt in splotches.
Kazuhiko took this chance to close the distance, taking up a stance opposite of her and prompting Mariko to take up her own stance. Across from his Keen Fist stance was her Gentle Fist stance, each posed to take down the other. Meeting Mariko’s eyes, Kazuhiko wasn’t surprised to realize that her smile still hadn’t budged, and he doubted his frown had either.
Keen Fist: The Taketori style of Taijutsu that uses their Sensaigan’s nerve-cutting abilities to compound the damage done to struck areas. This style of fighting emulates the movements of staves and spears, aiding the Taketori in landing their Sensaigan techniques.
Lightning Release:
Thunder: creates arcs of lightning that the user can direct towards a target.
Thunderbolt [Needs Practice]: creates arcs of lightning that can hit multiple targets at once.
Lightning Strike [Needs Practice]: creates a strong arc of lightning that can hit multiple close targets or be extended to hit a faraway one.
Lightning Clone Technique: creates a tangible clone that is dispelled with very little damage and cannot perform jutsu. The clone will also dispel if enough time passes.
Currently, Marcella was poring over her notes, comparing her latest samples to those recorded. In plastic bags were leaf trimmings of various members of the Euphorbiaceae family, some already perspiring inside their containers. With them, though, were silica crystals inserted precisely to counter their natural humidity. As her goal was to collect samples for DNA extraction, Marla needed a way to collect and maintain the quality of her samples for the duration of the journey, and she’d devised this method several trips ago on advice from a fellow. The crystals, then, were there to soak up and humidity inside the bags, thus preventing the proliferation of bacteria that the Amazon heat and humidity naturally encouraged.
“Right, samples noted for the last stop” Marla said, packing her things back into her backpack. “Let’s make another stop in a few hundred meters, okay, Hugo?”
“No problema,” Hugo said, giving her a thumbs up around the oar he was holding.
“Obrigado, Hugo, Marco,” Marla said, smiling. Then, with one final bagged sample in her hand, she walked over to the bow of the boat to join Han.
“Hey, remember this? Alchornea castaneifolia—Professor Lorenzi went on about this plant forever back in the day. As much as I hated him for making us memorize all those random compounds found inside medical plants, those really came into use after I started studying Euphorbias. Poisonous sap aside, this leaf has been used to relieve pain by the locals around here. An islander friend actually showed me how to do it with a relative of this one, though this one’s apparently the go-to. Maybe we should collect some more, just in case someone gets a scrape.”
No one had missed the bright red box under the boat’s benches, especially not with the now-universal cross symbol to advertise its use for all to see, but Marla had only meant it as a joke. She herself had never had an occasion to use her medical knowledge of plants, at least not on trips. First aid and hospitals were her default choice, seeing as most tribal salves were a far cry from antibiotics and painkillers, but she could entertain the prospect. After all, these plants were the focus of her study, and she would have all this knowledge stacked away for nothing if she never put it to use.
Wet Caverns || Day 3: Late Morning When the Onix roared—and by roared, she meant produced an earth-rattling cry that made her bones tremble—Eryn thought her living days had come to an end. A gross overestimation of her charisma was about to lead to her death at the hands of an extremely large Onix. Thankfully, though, instead of finding herself crushed or trapped in a collapsing cavern, Eryn saw a second Onix emerging from within the tunnels, then a third, and then a fourth and fifth. However, her relief faded when she realized that she was now surrounded by Onix. Though she had an exit waiting for her, what were the chances of her escaping five Onix at once?
When the original Onix opened its mouth for a second roar, Eryn closed her eyes, hugging Dei and bracing herself, but Dei shifted in her arms, prompting her to reopen her eyes. Instead of coming together to ritualistically bludgeon her to death, it seemed the Onix had gathered to discuss what to do with her. And, since she couldn’t understand a single sound being made at this point, she directed her gaze down to Dei, whose eyes were fixed on the biggest Onix with wary attentiveness.
“Please tell me we’re not going to die,” Eryn whispered.
Dei flicked his tail, and Eryn traced his gaze to the Onix beside the biggest one, who’d produced an egg from the shadows while shooting Eryn a displeased look. Eryn, though, hadn’t noticed, her jaw down as she stared at the egg that had been deposited in front of her. It took Dei whacking her with the side of his tail to snap her out of her staring, and she immediately swapped to a grin, which she took note to drop a few degrees of intensity off in order to not seem as utterly delighted as she was.
Clearing her throat, she met the main Onix’s eyes with a slightly-dimmed grin. “Thank you so much Mr. Onix! I promise that I’ll do my best to train this Onix to be the strongest out there—maybe even stronger than you, but that’s the dream,” she said, backtracking with a sheepish grin.
Then, meeting the scornful gaze of the Onix who had handed her the egg, she composed herself with a more solemn expression. “Thank you, Ms.—Ms. Onix. Don’t worry, your kid will be safe with me. I’m pretty fragile compared to him, after all.”
She attempted a laugh but quickly realized that the mother Onix wasn’t laughing along. So, with some more awkward thanks to all the other Onix present as well as a final goodbye to Ms. Diglett and a casual remark to Eri to note the Diglett and Onix’s forms—because who knew the limits to his shapeshifting powers—Eryn traded Dei for the egg and set off out the makeshift exit. With her back to the Onix, her face-splitting grin had appeared again, but it relaxed as she stared at the egg while walking. Was there a way to tell if an egg was about to hatch? The egg itself looked rather standard, with an impeccable surface marred only by indents that mimicked the surface of the Onix’s natural habitat.
A crash behind her sent her shooting up into the air, and she looked back half-expecting to see the horde of Onix coming at her. Thankfully it appeared that it was only her exit being collapsed behind her, and though Eryn was a little disappointed she wouldn't be able to have her own "secret entrance" now, she figured she had too much to be grateful for to care. And, having concluded that she would indeed live to see another day, she refocused on the egg with a hearty sigh.
“Egg hatching, well, we can get the egg checked at the Pokemon Center!”
She looked to Dei and Eri with a smile. Dei had adopted a sort of apathetic exasperation by now whereas Eri nodded and smiled at her in her form. Neither appeared to have a negative reaction to the introduction of the egg, which was a plus in her book.
“Oh, Eri, you wanna hold it?” Eryn asked, offering the egg out to Eri, whose eyes widened as she did. He shook his head, and when Eryn frowned, he waved one hand through the other.
“Woah! Woah, Arceus, what… What was that?”
Eryn rounded on Eri, reaching out to touch her double, and just as she’d seen, her hand went through Eri’s arm as if there were nothing there at all. It took her some more staring and another hand pass or two before she nodded, sighing.
“Yeah, got it. This form is an illusion, which explains why your ability is called ‘Illusion.’”
After another moment of consideration, though, Eryn dropped her frown for a grin again. “Hey, drop the illusion, Eri.”
As soon as Eri did, a funny look on his face as he stepped towards her as his normal self, Eryn scooped him up and held him beside the egg, smooshing them together in her arms.
“Alright, dunno how long I can keep this up, but let’s get to the Pokemon Center before I find out. You think you can keep up, Dei?” Eryn asked, glancing back at the Charmander. When he nodded, she grinned, taking off up the hill towards Lakewatch Town. Obviously she didn’t get too far before she was forced to set down Eri and just hold the egg alone, but whatever. By the time she’d reached the town proper, she’d already narrowed down possible names for the Onix. Dumont if they were a boy and Peri they were a girl, or Monty and Per-per, as she’d taken to cooing at the egg.
In the Center while she was waiting for a nurse to check on her egg for her, Eryn struck up some conversations with the people around her, inquiring about the sorts of Pokemon around the town. Specifically, she looked for information on Pokemon her team would be effective against but weren’t too far away to travel to. Then, after that, she quickly made her way to Route 5 to begin a walking and training until the egg hatched because, after all, it was an Onix, and an Onix would be pretty sweet to have on the team with a little training.
Actions: Accepted the egg (of course) and moved onto Lakewatch Town, where she healed her Pokemon and got her new egg checked out (while sneaking in some casual conversations about what sorts of Pokemon were on Route 14, Route 5, Route 6, and in the Frozan Cave). After that, she'd move onto training on Route 5, where she’d first throw in Tula, then switch for her “most effective” Pokemon against whatever is there, running back to town to heal whenever necessary. She’ll do this until either the egg hatches or until levelling efficiency plateaus, at which point she’ll look around for some trainers to battle.
Shaking Ty’s hand, Aedre listened as he described the origins of his Scyther. Hearing Ty’s own struggles with being a trainer reminded her that struggling with trainership was a universal thing, and this made her feel better about her own insecurities. Perhaps not knowing what path to pick and not having the background most trainers had was alright.
“I really hope I do,” she said, smiling. “And Dee, well, I actually got him from Eria, the Kraterdesh gym leader here in Kosei. I’m originally from Hoenn, and our lab studies Pokemon and the phenomenon around them to clarify popular beliefs around them. Pokemon like Absol, who were once believed to be harbingers of disaster, were proven to be nothing of the sort, so who’s to say what we know about Honedge is true?”
She paused to consider what she should say. Though she’d covered the factual, research-related of why she’d come to the region and taken in the Honedge, those reasons didn’t give a cohesive story. What she needed, then, was to put her thoughts about trainership—why she’d considered and chosen to pursue it—into the context of the story about Dee, whose presence taught her much more than just how Honedge tended behave.
“Technically, my job is to research Dee, to take notes on him and his usual behavior and motivations, but, well, I guess I took it a step forward and decided maybe I’d try being his trainer. After all, trainers are able to gain their Pokemon’s trust and coax out abilities they might not usually have in nature, and perhaps doing this will help dispell the negativity around Honedge, and even other ghost-types. The unknown has a way of drawing unease, after all, and…”
At this point, Aedre realized she was pretty much rambling about the same few points she’d already made. So, stopping, she opted for a final smile. “And that’s pretty much it.”
As the gym in the distance, Aedre turned to Ty and Amber. “Say, are either of you planning on challenging the gym as well?”
@Alamantus@Vertigo Pebs’ exploration of the speakers yielded little results, but on the truck she found a closed compartment with a note that two D-sized batteries were required. A quick glance at the existing stash of batteries showed that there was only one D-sized battery, which meant they were one short. However, the clattering from inside the truck made it sound like there was something inside, and Pebs figured it wouldn’t hurt to unscrew some things and check.
“Hey Duncan, wanna try unscrewing this compartment on the truck with the screwdriver? We have one battery right now, but maybe there’s one inside or something.”
She paused, looking back at the drain. “Maybe the drain cover too while you’re at it? I’ll try tying these wires together to try and make some sort of hook-like thing. I don’t think they’ll tangle, but… I’ll set aside these two wires just in case since they match the colors on the speakers.”
She shrugged, then moved over on the counter to give Duncan room to get at the truck. Meanwhile, on the end of the counter, she dragged the mess of wires towards her, picking out the two useful colors and setting them aside before sighing and attempting to tie together the remaining wires. The goal was to not death knot them since they might have future use, and keeping that in mind she went at it, putting the wires together just under the fray and attempting to knot them
a team of 3 G E N I N learning under 1 S E N S E I who hasn't yet R E A L I Z E D that he's in over H I S H E A D
T R A I N I N G
the story of G E N I N learning ropes to become C H U N I N and discovering their P A S S I O N S to establish their I N D I V I D U A L I T Y
M I S S I O N S
the dysfunctional J O U R N E Y S where the I N N O C E N T throw in the T O W E L on their U P B R I N G I N G S
L I F E
a collection of A N T I C S and fluff depicting the L I F E & T I M E S of teammates who B O N D & G R O W over shared travels and E X P E R I E N C E S
Remram
Achronum
- n i n
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