Jaakuna Aka
Location - Konoha Kage Booth / Interaction - @Odin+@Syn+@Yoshua171_________________________________________________
It was so odd seeing Gisho have to delegate between three different people. A dirty rain person, A dirty mud person with the title of Tsuchikage, and himself. A dirty fox person who wondered if any bath could get that smell of dirt out out of his nose. Being buried dead was probably the second worst thing to happen to him. First worst... That was Seijuro. He was tasked with keeping Seijuro in hell. One lone duty to preform over the rest of time until both of them where forgotten and it could get easier. And yet, it didn't. He swore he'd fended off at least three different attempts to rescue Seijuro from hell. At least two of them where Seijuro's own plans. Maybe if the puppet fuck didn't complain so much he wouldn't have had to resort to an improvised muzzle for him. Either way, hell had been humbling. And then the chains broke. One second holding them, the next they where breaking apart in his grip. Only to watch as that cackling madman returned to the world. And now? Jaakuna was dragged out too.
Well, in the very least Gisho really did care about h- WAIT A MINUTE! Did he just called Jaakuna's family a
skulk!? As in a bunch of foxes! How long did Gisho sit on that jab!? Did it take a funeral to give the guy a good sense of humor and witty comebacks!?
"You son of a-" Wait... He was still in disguise.
"Ah... Yes..." He leaned back, fingers pressing together. Oops, a bit too much of his signature relaxing pose.
"Well, my father loved to tell stories. He'd gather us around, make a little circle, and spend hours just recounting his adventures. I admit, the ninja life was never for me, and I became a merchant." He laughed softly at this.
"Ha ho!" Was he even trying to hide who he was anymore? Maybe he just wanted to see how blatant he could get?
"I bet that if he was still around, he'd be insisting you still do all that stuff for him. You're doing a great job." He leaned forward, watching the TVs with a smile.
Everybody was doing such a great job. Especially that boy who seemed to be stealing his clan emblem. Not a familiar face he had to admit. But there must have been at least one kid he had before he died. So that was something. Couldn't swim worth shit. And the Earth Challenge? Riveting stuff. To be honest, he'd have failed that one in a moment. Patience was never his thing and he would have just called on Kurama to tear the whole mountain apart. Thankfully he had Gisho back then to help him remain focused on something other than building up his combo score or juggling routine.
And then, he felt that surge. His heart cracking in two, and it was over. A single tear ran down his cheek, and then another. His eyes drifted to the hand clutching his shoulder, but he didn't pull away. No, he deserved all of this for screwing up so badly. This was his punishment, and everything bad from here on out was on him for not keeping Seijuro in hell. Tears streamed out like a waterfall, crashing to the ground in soft plips. Tears running down his sleeves as he tried to wipe his cheeks.
"I'm so sorry... Gautama." And then, he couldn't hold it together. Before anybody could protest, Jaakuna slammed his hands together, and poofed. The fox tipping his hand and revealing they'd been playing with a clone.
Miles away, the real Jaakuna sat alone on a branch. Occassionally he looked down, to make sure his least favorite person was still around. Until he placed a hand to his cheek. Feeling the tears running down and soaking into his pants.
"Damn it... I'm going to set things right... I swear Gautama." He whispered to himself.
"I swear it."---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Golems, of course. They'd seen a few earlier. To Kurin at the very least this seemed to be rather obvious. He stepped closer, a hand running along the rock structure, appreciating just how it seemed to be structured. Impressive, and the stone was magnificently carved. And yet, it was very clear what they where expected to do. At least from what the designer of the event had in mind. These where guardians, and they where most likely intruders. But still, even intruders could admit that something was well designed, if a bit of a stand out difference from the others. "Incredible." He whispered to himself, leaning in to look at the core.
But the writing on the wall made it clear how it worked. Raiton jutsu. And electrical charge that would power the metal core. And judging from what he knew of the others from the exams, only one of the four was skilled in Raiton techniques.
"I don't think Shizuka will have much to say." Kurin said, looking to his ally. His telescopic eye whizzing and whirring as he looked at the most important person in the room.
"I think this is all your choice here. The machine needs a charge. A structure this big, no matter how efficent will require a great deal of energy." Kurin said, trying his best not to sound bossy.
"In effect, you're the only person here who can make the choice of what to do next. So, I guess that makes you team captain for the moment. Will you take the burden all yourself, or delegate?" This was a lot of pressure to suddenly dump on somebody, and Kurin knew it. Unfortunately breaking this hard point down into something easily digestible was nearly impossible.
"Keep in mind, whatever choice you make, I'll back you up." Kurin added, throwing in a smile for extra measure. He had faith in his team at the moment. While very little seemed to have been done, they could at least work together when the moment called for it. But even for what he had to say, he knew Shizuka's vote of confidence was needed. After all, he brought them through the last challenge. Taking a step back, the senju tapped the floors and walls. Investigating the rest of the room. The shafts of light seemed to give him a bit of a shimmer as he walked around. But he never strayed too far from the other three.
"Kiku, what do you think?" Kurin said, as if acknowledging the blind ninja for the first time. It probably was.
"Do you sense any way forward that may not require charging the golem?" He knew that Kiku would probably sacrifice some of her energy to help Jaakuna, if only because at this point, the team was in a situation in which none of their particular brand of skills worked. Genjutsu may not be useful against the golem if it turned out to be the enemy for the challenge. But, he could hope.
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Bumu Aka
Location - Water Challenge, in which a fox learns to swim / Interaction - @BladeX+@GlitchyBugger_________________________________________________
Bumu's fingers dug into the seams of Koma's robes, holding on tightly as if her life depended on it. And chances are his life DID depend on it. It was clear that Bumu never properly learned how to swim, but at least the others did. The way down though? Bumu was struggling to hold on fairly quickly. Fingers seemed to slip more and more frequently as the lack of air made him ache from the inside out. Vision dimming, and senses swimming in confusion. In all honesty, it seemed the trial was over. Losing grip, Bumu black out, mouth open to take a deep breath. And then, air! But it didn't come in through the lungs, but something new that tickled the sides of her neck. Bumu's vision cleared suddenly, hands reaching up to his neck, only to be stopped by one of the mermaids surrounding them. Oh shit, merfolk. So the legends where true! Wonder what they tasted like...
"Are we all having the same dying hallucination, or did sushi just save us?" Bumu whispered with incredible difficulty. After all, learning to talk underwater was a trial in and of itself. It was all very pretty underwater, despite the salt hurting her eyes a little. But the challenge itself seemed to point in one direction, as there weren't any other structures around that seemed to be so pointed to. And yet, the fish people gave Bumu the hibby jibbys. They may have saved them, but boy was it never a good sign to see the mystical side of things.
"Oh! And thanks for the help! But, I have a question..." Bumu said, raising a hand at one of the merfolks.
"What's that building? Do you know what's inside?"
