[center][h3][b][u]Jounin Exams
[sup][sub]Nisekuru, Koutaku V.S. Ōtsutsuki, Kaijin[/sub][/sup][/u][/b][/h3]
[img]http://img-cache.cdn.gaiaonline.com/67a81715525cf0642cb54ab254dd3d03/http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l602/6Paths_/nar-death-forest1.jpg[/img][/center][hr][INDENT][sup][COLOR=silver][b]TIME:[/b] [i]Present Day[/i] | [b]LOCATION:[/b] [i]Land of Fire - Forest of Death[/i] | [b]INTERACTION:[/b] [i][@Syn].[/i][/COLOR][/sup][/INDENT][hr]One moment they were in the stadium as the others disappeared for their respective challenges, and in the next Koutaku and another were gone, transported to the edges of a clearing in what appeared to be the Forest of Death. It was all rather sudden, but he was used to having to swiftly adapt to new circumstances for even though the war had long since been over...his clan had never strayed from their customs.

He was a shinobi, through and through. He had killed, and people had attempted to kill him. He had struggled and he had overcome with his own blood sweat and tears. Expression blank for a moment while he scanned his surroundings. Trees and foliage everywhere, the sound of animals and insects--large and small--in the distance and around him. Furthermore, there was another who had been transported along with him, someone across the clearing from him, about 15 meters away. The clearing wasn’t terribly huge, and it was apparent to him that there were no real boundaries.

Smirking a moment, before letting his expression shift to a less cocky smile, Koutaku called out across the space to his fellow chuunin. [color=#525087][b]“That’s you, isn’t it Kai,”[/b][/color] he said, even while he considered how he could deal with someone who could not be tricked. After all, Kaijin had the Byakugan, which would certainly make this a challenge. That was for sure.

Drawing a kunai, Koutaku channeled chakra into it and began spinning it around his finger. It was a good thing that they hadn’t had any dangerous missions together. In fact, there really hadn’t been any really dangerous missions to begin with...not from the village at least. This was good for Koutaku. Why? Well, it meant that practically no one would really know his techniques.

He hadn’t made it a habit of bragging to people...or sparring too often. It made him something of an enigma to his peers, and while it also isolated him somewhat...the pros definitely outweighed the cons.

[color=#525087][b]“Guess we’re gonna have to do this huh? Go easy on me, will ya. I don’t want to die today.”[/b][/color] He grinned, his free right hand touching the tree trunk to which the branch he stood upon connected.Chakra threads extended from his fingers, down the palms of his hands, into his sleeves, down his shirt, and into his pouches where they affixed themselves to kunai and wire alike. The wire was pulled along their length, manipulated by chakra alone until they wrapped around the fingertips of his right hand.

He was as ready as he could get, he supposed.

The Hokage was quite the mysterious fellow and yet Kai never had the opportunity to speak with him and dissect his brain for knowledge regarding his fallen clan. He would eventually get his answers but hopefully getting the rank of Jonin would help his endeavors. Before he could find his way through the crowds he was teleported to what seemed like an empty forest. Kai took one whiff of his surroundings and automatically knew where he was. [i]”The Forest of Death.”[/i] this was quite the familiar terrain for him since he liked to travel around the village alone at times.
 
He stopped reminiscing however as he was reminded he subjected himself to declining the team events and participating in the combat portion instead. Kai wasn’t one for team affairs or working with others, he was direct and hungry. Anything that got in his way of showing him his purpose in life and why he was born into this desolate clan would be met with crushing opposition. Kaijin turned to face what seemed to be his opponent for this portion of the test. While hoping for easier prey he was still pretty content with facing Koutaku as he was still a question mark in his mind.
 
“Indeed it is.” Kaijin waved to his opponent removing his large white over coat and throwing it in the wind which would eventually land on a distant tree branch. Kai rolled his neck cracking several times before he cracked his hands next. It had been far too long since he had gone out and sparred with someone of his caliber. He tightened his wrist straps and the red and yellow sash he has to make sure he was completely limber and mobile. “Good thing we keeps the morals and rules on I wouldn’t want either one of us dying today. I hope the best man wins and if one of us doesn’t hopefully next round is kinder to us.” Kaijin bowed before he readied his stance. While he did want to take it easy as Koutaku suggested, he wanted to move onto the next stage more, win or lose.
 
“Byakugan!” Kaijin shouted, veins bulging around his eyes, the pupils becoming more distinct. The world turned into a blue and black as he saw the chakra threads connected Koutaku’s belt and the kunai winding up in his fingers. Kaijin sprang into action running at top speed closing the gap between the two. As he approached Koutaku, 15 meters, 10 meters, he drew his arms across his chest and swiped them downwards diagonally across his body slowly moving into a spinning movement. 

Koutaku’s small smile widened into a grin as Kaijin sprung into action, clearly having noticed his preparations. With a flux of chakra Koutaku began a series of long handseals, as if he were performing a particularly powerful technique.

[center][i]Kiyō Sonae([sub]器用備え[/sub] 'Dexterous arrangement').[/i][/center]

He knew Kai could see the chakra moving throughout his body. He knew that Kai would try to stop him from preparing techniques, using handseals, and building up a chain of actions. He knew about Gentle Fist and its ability to block one’s tenketsu. Koutaku knew a lot of things. He studied tirelessly, always, and prepared for anything and everything he possibly could. Sure, Kai had the Byakugan; sure, he was a master of the Gentle Fist and had predictive and analytical abilities by the sheer virtue of his genetics, but there was one thing he didn’t have, one thing he might never understand.

Endless Paranoia.

Koutaku sprung into action, leaping off of his branch with surprising force, propelled forwards by what appeared a burst of chakra.

[center][i]Ura Jōshō no Jutsu([sub]裏上昇の術[/sub] 'Reverse climbing technique').[/i][/center]

Still spinning a kunai on his left pointer finger, Koutaku hurtled forwards, twitching his right middle finger as he did so. The motion drew a kunai up through his clothes and into his hand in .1 seconds, and in the next moment it was thrust backwards from him where it pierced deep into the tree, almost the entire kunai buried, only the ring remaining visible. He let the wire remain slack as he hurtled diagonally downwards at his adversary, but not headfirst, not for long.

Shifting position with tiny adjustments of his body, Koutaku angled his body so that his feet would meet the earth first.

He knew Kai could sense him, he knew he could detect every use of chakra, no matter how minuscule.

He was counting on it.

There was something disconcerting with the way Koutaku had been setting up for this fight. How long could it have been that he arrived before Kai and had already began working on a series of plans to oppose Kai. The one fault of being an ancestor to the Hyuuga was the fact that everyone had already know their fighting style and the way their abilities worked so there was nothing he had to surprise ninja who were from the leaf with. Koutaku was a mysterious case, even though it seemed like he set up a trap for Kai he decided to launch himself at Kaijin while forming multiple hand seals. Powerful indeed if it was taking this many seals to conduct.
 
His body was a wave of chakra firing on all cylinders, he wasn’t close enough to hit his tenketsu points so he had to close the distance or launch a long ranged attack. Kai in his battle trained mind knew that it was rather difficult to dodge while in the air especially when falling in one direction. It was almost too good to be true. His arm swinging motion stopped as he receded them tucked into his sides forming a perfect 90 angel with his arm. “Yasogami Kūgeki” stopping in his tracks and tapping into his Otsustuki potential, Kaijin faced upwards. With his mastery of chakra at this stage of his life he would be able to execute this jutsu quite well. Chakra loaded into his palms, he shot his arms outwards and up towards Koutaku. Instead of manifesting around his arms he created a barrage of fists to create a wall effect.
 
If the attack didn’t manage to hit Koutaku as such range as he fell it would surely pulverize the tree and branches within a 10 meter distance, while not as powerful to destroy a complete body Susanoo it was at the level where it could destroy a semi completed skeleton. 

Koutaku didn’t even hesitate as he watched the lines in Kai’s body tense, he framed the space between Kai and him in his mind and executed his first real jutsu.

While most would not see it coming, Kaijin had a unique advantage unlike anyone else without doujutsu or sensory abilities, he could see the very instant that chakra shot forwards--invisible to the naked eye and the normal senses--forming a 10 meter long cylinder, its radius 1.5 meters; with Koutaku at one end, and Kai at the other. However, even though the edges of this hollow cylinder went around him and Koutaku, he would feel nothing. The chakra was intangible, but only for a moment.

His chakra fluctuated, despite the fact that he hadn’t used the kai handsign to cause it. It appeared that Kaijin wasn’t the only one with excellent chakra control.

Taking in a deep breath, the Iouchiryo layered chakra over his skin and clothes, and then utilized a second technique before the first had even finished.

[center][i]Kōdo Henge no Jutsu ([sub]高度変化の術[/sub] 'Advanced Transformation Technique')[/i][/center]

The Transformation turned the entire surface layer of his skin, and all of his clothes, into a material like metal, but that wasn’t the spectacle.

A kunai already in his right hand, drawn by a chakra thread, with wire attached, and explosive tag ready, he threw it. In the moment that it left his hand, he shifted his body so his back was faced slightly upwards. Adjustments made, he spoke.

[color=#525087][b]“Shinkū-shitsu(真空室 'Vacuum Chamber').”[/b][/color]

A tremendous shockwave, formed behind Koutaku, shunted itno position by the cylinder of chakra. For about a second, Kai would feel his breath taken away utterly, with nothing left to be drawn on. He was in a vacuum.

Then, the technique concluded, sending all that gathered wind down the cylinder of chakra at tremendous speeds, rocketing Koutaku forwards, and firing the much lighter kunai directly at Kaijin like a tiny rocket. However, it never reached him, instead, the explosive tag went off, and the pressurized air of Shinkū-shitsu turned from a wind cannon, into one of flames.

The technique on its own was powerful, far stronger than one would expect for a C ranked technique, requiring Koutaku to use about 1/3rd of his chakra for its max output. However, with fire added to the mix it was easily a B or A ranked attack. Thus, as Kaijin executed his ranged assault with chakra, a 3 meter wide hole was torn straight through the middle by the chamber of ignited wind chakra. The light was blinding, the sound was deafening, and the force was overwhelming and it was headed directly at him.

Kai had painted himself into a rather precarious position. It seemed that Koutaku had taken extra precautions and had set up a web of culminated attacks that together would create a symphony of beautiful destruction. The attacks seemed to occur in the blink of an eye. Luckily for Kaijin he had been blessed with the Byakugan and was able to see the constructs made in front of him. First was the cylinder that spanned from Koutaku all the way down to Kaijin as some form of vehicle for whatever he was concocting.     
 
Suddenly Koutaku’s body turned a sleek metallic color, he took the form of what appeared to be metal. However that was a mere feint or a cover for what he was prepared to do next. The kunai aimed at the boy exploded violently. The cylinder was the vessel to transport the explosion all the way down to Kaijin. There was no backing out of this mess or rather there was less likely the opportunity to. However the Eight Gods Vacuum attack was nothing to laugh at. The ability itself was the caliber of high ranking ninjas and at full power could decimate a six path chakra complete bodied Susanoo.
 
Kaijin buckled down into the earth and condensed the range of the fists and number to increase the power of these fists. The arms would rip through the fire and pulverize the kunai, most likely reaching Koutaku. As insurance, Kaijin condensed two gauntlets around his hands and thrusted down towards the ground, sending his body upwards and spinning. He was gaining enough velocity where he could spin at ridiculous speeds, whatever was left of the fire signed his clothes back. “Hakkeshō Kaiten” (Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation) Chakra exploded out of his body creating a small condensed ball of rotating chakra. If it were as if someone had shot a highly pressurized marble into the cylindrical pathway heading straight for Koutaku.

[center][i]Kazaho([sub]風歩[/sub] 'Wind Step').[/i][/center]

A burst of wind from his feet pushed him upwards suddenly, even as the wire connected to his kunai in the tree behind him went taut, swinging him upwards and out of the way of the powerful fists of chakra and. He moved 2 meters upwards, moving him from the trajectory of Kaijin’s oncoming attack as well. Of course, once he’d gained the necessary momentum, he gave the wire plenty of slack and blasted it back downwards

He had to say, the Hakkeshou Kaiten was a sight to see, but he had studied it as he had studied many other things. It was a spinning vortex of chakra, shaped into a dome or a sphere...and things that spun had a simple weakness.

Koutaku’s fingers twitched and kunai were in his hands, already charged each with two jutsu, the handseals long since prepared. He threw them and they erupted forwards at frightening speeds.

[center][i]Ten no Tsunzaku(天の劈く 'Pierce the Heavens').[/i][/center]

He had thrown 4 kunai at Kai, wire attached as usual and they flew at tremendous speed. So fast in fact that, with him being roughly 5 meters away, there would be no time to change his direction to dodge. Granted, the Rotation would make it so he wouldn’t have to.

Koutaku took a deep breath and focused. His chakra calmed, his aura wavered and then settled, and he felt every sinew of muscle, and every nerve in his body for a moment. His awareness expanded so that he could feel all aspects of his body. He kept his breathing even, but he did not do what he usually did once he’d achieved this state.

Instead...he waited.

He waited for his adversary’s [i]second[/i] mistake.

It seemed as though Koutaku had been well versed in trapping and luring his opponents into what seemed like a seven layer trap. Kaijin didn’t really have anything to lose or gain from this test imposed by the Villages. In his own right he already achieved certain prowess in combat, and to fight a potential ally was a waste of time, especially if they had to wear weighted gloves somewhat. Instead of pivoting back or regaining his ground, Kaijin pressed his assault. He was bound to connect once or finally succumb to the boy’s trap.
 
While he was rotation his eyes pulsated as if they could nearly be seen through the rotating ball of chakra. Even though he was spinning at high speeds he was still able to decisively read Koutaku’s movements even if it didn’t necessarily meant he knew what he was scheming. After all Koutaku had a thing for scheming. The four kunai came at him at volatile speeds, had he not been spinning he might have been skewered like a kebab. However the amount of spinning he was allotted due to his initial push off was enough to deflect the onslaught of kunai, even if it bit into his chakra reserves.
 
Dispersing his chakra ball while meeting the remaining kunai that sliced his shoulder open was only a mere hindrance. As a participant in the main branch Kaijin was taught special techniques that were limited to just the main branch. “Jūho Sōshiken! (Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists)” he shouted as he released chakra into both his hands forming large guardian lion shaped gauntlets. His range and destructive power was augmented tenfold. Dashing towards Koutaku might have been a mistake but he was risking it all. His first fist what meant to be a ranged attack and if that had missed he would aim his second fist to any part of the boy’s body and drain his chakra. 

Just as he’d expected, the Hyuuga, in his arrogance, had allowed the kunai to strike his defensive sphere of rotating chakra. Koutaku’s grin spread wide as the kunai were somewhat deflected, only for the wire to be caught onto the surface of the rotation and pulled around it rapidly entangling it in a web of vicious cutting wire. For while he could not--without considerable preparation--break through the defensive technique, he could certainly tangle it up so that his opponent had one of two terrible choices.

The first was to let the rotation go and attempt to extricate himself, somehow, from the web of durable, sharp wire; while the second was to continue his rotation indefinitely until he tired out, which would allow him to move, but not to launch another attack. In fact, he would run out of chakra, and rotational momentum before that maneuver ever did him any good.

If Kai released his rotation, Koutaku would pull, and the wires would close in, binding the Hyuga completely in place. At this point Koutaku might push himself backwards and towards the ground with a Kazaho, where he would channel chakra through his body, using his leverage, chakra threads, and natural gravity to swing Kai down at the ground. He would amplify this with a supercharged Kazaho, releasing a powerful blast of wind  from the top of the tangle of wires, shooting Kai down to earth at considerable speed. He was careful not to make Kai go down headfirst.

Conversely, if Kai did find some way to get out of the wires, the kunai that had struck his shoulder, would suddenly swivel in the air behind kai, the round bit of metal orienting towards his head where it would slam into it, likely knocking him out.

Kai had made his second mistake, the question was...would he get a chance to make a third?

Kai’s headfirst approach was quite admirable, but he knew it was going to fail eventually. With an unknown opponent and having been studied like a book due to his clan history, he was at quite the disadvantage. The sands of time in his hourglass all but ran out, the boy had quite a clever attack regarding the kunai that wrapped around his rotation, the ability to do such a thing was interesting to Kai. He would later have to find out the physics behind it, regardless his rotation was for naught. Like a fly trapped in a spider web the wires wrapped around his body quite comfortably and pulled him towards the ground. Kai acknowledged he was at a disadvantage and in order to save his chakra for the next fight he decided to submit.
 
Before he could even utter his surrender Shinko appeared and uncoiled the wire binding and returned it to the young tactician while catching the hyuuga and setting him down. Kai bowed to the opposing ninja and accepted his defeat gracefully. Shinko delivered the Hokage’s message to the two that the others were receiving currently. Shinko touched the forehead of both ninja before teleporting them to a random location as he headed towards the other hyuuga battling in the view of Yogensha.