A change of will.

[Maikeru]

Maikeru watched the missing shinobi with careful eyes, squinting as his Sharingan spun into life inside of his pupil. What he saw struck him to the very core with cold, primal fear. His chakra it was.. muddied, was the best way he could describe it. He had never seen anything like it before, not in Kenshin, not in any Uchiha, not even in Maru. It was as if the very presence of it was suffocating him. He grasped at his throat with a bare hand, massaging the sides as he swallowed every ounce of air that his lungs would take, forcing it down his windpipe. This man was not like any other shinobi he had seen before, he was different. He and Reicheru were not prepared to fight him, if they did Maikeru knew they would die.

"...are there children here?"

The words from the kunoichi behind him rang in his ear, bringing him back to clarity. He shook his head, exhaling the oxygen he realized had been being held inside of his chest as he looked in the crowd. Among the older faces, with vest ranging from different colors signifying their jobs and ranks inside the village he noted a few with the same color that he had been given. Closing his eyes, he took a calming breath, every step that Kenshin made towards the man resonating in his ears. He had to move, he had to act. He had just told the Hokage that he was ready for a promotion, it was time to prove it.

"Yea, uhm, I see a few in the crowd." He said in response to Reicheru, placing his hand on her back. "Come on, let's.. let's get them out.."

He couldn't tell her what he saw in Yong, not now at least. One of them needed to be clear headed, thinking rationally, and right now that wasn't Maikeru. He moved to the children, hoping that Reicheru would come with him. As he got to the children, he would kneel down behind them, placing his hands on the backs of two of them as he spoke.

"Hey there disciples." he said, giving the best fake smile he could muster. "We need to leave. We don't want to get in the grandmaster's way, do we? Come on, Reicheru and I will see you out."

At those words, the battle began. Maikeru turned in time to see the two combatants weaving hand signs, a flurry of movement normally, but with his Sharingan he saw every sign, every movement of their fingers. His eyes spun, copying and memorizing every movement of the two men for later. It had dawned on him in that moment, how completely and utterly outclassed he and Reicheru were. He moved quickly, gently shoving children when he had to in order to get them to move. They were just in the way right now, despite how badly they wished to watch the ensuing chaos that was happening behind them.

Taking another glance over his shoulder, was when he noticed the ANBU operative that had apparently been watching them this whole time. His mask was unfamiliar to Maikeru, he did not know who this man was. What he did know about him, though, was that he was casting a water style jutsu. That was the moment that Maikeru would hopefully live to regret.

Around the three S-ranks, a large arena of water began to fill, impossibly so, creating an amalgamation of liquids.

"God.. damnit.." Maikeru said aloud, reaching for the scroll that contained his kensei weapon. "Reicheru.."

He looked to the young woman who he had been with for what felt like a long while now, letting out a tired, fearful sigh. He moved to her, lightly pressing each of his hands on the side of her face, looking deep into her eyes for what he already assumed would be the last time.

"Kenshin needs our help." He said simply, closing his eyes. "We didn't come prepared, we thought ourselves safe, and now we can't call for actual back up. We're what's left. So.. I'm going to go to help him. I wish you wouldn't come with me, but I know you well enough by now that there is no way for me to convince you not to. So, instead, I am going to do the next best thing."

He leaned in, planting a soft, short kiss on her lips, before giving her a small smile.

"I love you Reicheru. I'm sorry I waited so long to say it, but it's true. So.. please, just stay safe so I can keep saying it for a bit longer."

And with that, the Uchiha ran off, unsealing his blade and heading into what would hopefully not be his last fight.

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Kenshin would look around. He felt the gates open as he activated his gates and felt the surge of energy. He popped his neck.

"Well I guess we need to get things started." Kenshin would say or attempt to as he was surrounded by water by the ANBU that had snuck in. Smart move it kept the higher ranked away from the lower rank.

"ANBU to me. Help me contain this threat to our village!"Kenshin would say as he summoned his toad summon. Ren looked around a scowl on her face.

"so this isn't a spar Kenshin boy?"

Kenshin silence spoke volumes.

Ren equipped her weapon a set of small blue spiked knuckles that blended into her blue webbed hands.

"Maki unknown assailant at my clan house. Aid is needed immediately" Kenshin would say into his headset

Now it was time to start the real fight.
[Actions sent]

 

[Doku]

The smell of Ramen permeated the air as Doku poured the boiling water over the bowl of instant noodles. He preferred the real thing but his apathy got the better of him most times as the instant variety was just easier. There was a clink of metal as he put down the kettle on the bench top and moved to his armchair with his delicious broth and noodles, he was really looking forward to this as he had skipped lunch while out for a run in the forest. As he sat he let himself disolve into the embrace of the soft cushions and then carefully placed the bowl of noodles on his lap and with a twist of his wrist he broke the chopsticks apart from each other and readied himself for deliciousness...

"Um Doku," The noise of his headset crackling to life startled him and he managed to spill a bit of the boiling water on his lap in surprise. "can you please get your unnaturally stupid young face over to the Ishi Clan house. Yong has decided he absolutely needed to challenge Kenshin right now, and we need to do something about it."

... Swearing under his breath because now he was really hungry and he could see he wouldn't get to eat anytime soon. "This better not be a waste of my time Hisao, last time you called me out it was because you wanted to show me the tea leaves at the bottom of your cup that looked like Daichi." Carefully placing the ramen down on the counter, knowing it would be well cold when he got back, he made his way to the window and left as hastily as he could without making a mess.

[Word Count: 290]
[Arriving Round 4 @ 7 seconds]

 

[Yong]

Yong flew through handseal’s with practiced accuracy and extreme speed. Dog, monkey, ram, dragon and then held on the seal of the serpent. The handseals served no real purpose other than to draw the eye of his opponent and the crowd. As Kenshin’s fierce aura burst through the building Yong’s hand seals suddenly froze in place, as did the rest of his body for that matter. It seeming to all appearances as if the pulse originating from Kenshin had caused paralysis.

This was a performance...

The Sennin began to release bursts of chakra as his internal gates opened in rapid sequence. Yong maintained his frozen position for a full five and a half seconds waiting for a blow that never came. Shit...</COLOR><i></i> he thought, ... now I have to improvise...<i></i>

...And the show must go on!

His hands shook slightly before separating. Yong’s arms fell to his sides limply. He stumbled forward as if finally released from whatever had held him in place. He fell to his knees as he stumbled. Turning his head slowly towards Hisao, Yong locked eyes with the old ANBU, the first indication that he was even aware of Hisao’s presence. “Plaese... Halp...!”<i></i> The words came out chocked, as if he was greatly struggling to breath. But they had power...

The old Anbu reacted almost instantly as he flashed through handseals. Hisao’s familiar Supreme Aqua Realm soon covered the area, isolating the three of them from the crowd...

A dark shadow appeared behind the waterlogged Sennin.

<COLOR color="#006400">Perfect.<i></i>

Spoiler: “OOC”

Sending Actions.

Just so you all know, Yong doesn’t really use handseal’s (except for a couple of advanced elements that is) but I put some in the RP so Maikeru could watch Yong do them

 

[Myakashi Migoya]

Humility.

A concept that few truly understood, most ignored, and those who needed it most avoided. That rare ability to place yourself in a position where those around you would respect you, not for your strength, knowledge, or position, but because they cared for you. To have the respect of others because you cared about them, and wanted what was best for them even at the cost of your own pride.

This. THIS was the Will of Fire.

Humility was certainly a hard lesson to learn, especially when you did not understand that those with true power did not need to flaunt it. It was a lesson that Migoya had learned over and over, and probably needed to learn some more.

But not as much as Kenshin. Not as much as Takeshi. And the fact that they had been jerks to him just compounded his own frustrations towards them.

Not many knew the true motivations of the Myakashi clan. Most looked at them as a bunch of rejects, of misfits that had banded together to scrape through the muck of the lower ends of society. Those in the know knew of their links to organised crime, but they didn’t seem that much of a threat. The truth however was that they, the disregarded, ensured balance.

Leaders only were effective if they acted in the best interests of those they lead. Their positions were only guaranteed by respect or fear – the latter requiring that they were in fact the strongest. It was time to test this fact at a time that would seem inopportune, but in fact was the perfect moment. The village was supposed to be on alert, yet fools traversed the streets, leadership was moved around like cheap prostitutes, and little to no actual defense measures had been set up – effective ones at least. Missions had been organised, funnily enough ones suggested by Migoya, but still the people knew nothing of their enemy. Their leaders were silent.

The village looked to their leaders for hope. Takeshi had made it known that he did not care for the village as much as his own self development. Kenshin, loyal as he was, needed to understand that he did not stand above anyone – no his job was to hold others up. That was true leadership, and if the Myakashi had to prove it then they would through the toughest and most effective lesson of all.

Failure.

Public humiliation in front of academy students and his own clan.

No… a dead Kenshin would be a waste to the village. He was strong, dependable and loyal. A fine ‘soldier’ but some education and assistance was required with broader issues. Perhaps, with this reminder, he would grow into something much more important and effective. Thus he was targeted to send a message – one that would in no doubt spread through the village like wildfire.

He was predictable after all.

The bait was set, and he would learn who his true friends were. He would learn to fear the shadows as all in power must. Tough love - Myakashi style.

-----------------

Migoya smirked as he placed the strange mask over yet another mask, over yet another, that hid his identity. A black robe hid his features and none would guess who he was, if indeed he was in fact a she. Old muscles would be stretched that had not done so in quite some time.

The shogi board was set, and soon he knew that magically others would join the field for a game that had high stakes. Certainly those stakes were high, his own ‘death’ included, but that was their burden to bare, and his family were no pushovers. Indeed, hopefully all those who participated would learn something, even if it was their own weaknesses.

Let the games begin.

[OOC: Entering using the ability 'Squadron' linked with Yong - Round 5. 0 sec.]

 

[Kairyuu]

“Maki uknown assailant at my clan house. Aid is needed immediately”

Maki was….honestly doing not a damn thing really. He was sitting on the roof of his place, looking up at the clouds go by as he contemplated what had led to his losses of late. He lost his freedom to this village, a life of wandering and without purpose had been bound with chains to a place he thought dead and long lost to his memories. Friendship bound him here, but how far did that go? Was there a cost he would refuse to pay to keep that relationship? He found himself wondering more and more if the cost he’d already paid was too much.

He lost his eye. A warrior without an eye was a damn useless sight to be sure. He lost all vision on his right side, something that spoke volumes when it came to his ability to fight. An entire hemisphere of his sight was just missing now, a wide open weak spot to be taken advantage of. And he lost his left arm. That hurt the most, considering he was left handed. He’d had to begin relearning the blade with his off hand, not an easy feat. To unlearn doing everything with one hand and redefine the muscle memory needed to do it with another was no easy task, and indeed Maki hadn’t even begin that process to be fair.

And now he was being called on the radio because someone was attacking Kenshin. It wasn’t enough the Frost was assaulting the village, that he’d given up parts of his body for this place. Now he had to put his life at risk once more because some ass decided to attack a Sennin. He could only hope the person in question was from Frost so he could feel good about ripping their head off when all was said at done.

”On my way. Hold off until I arrive if you think you can. Is it Frost?”

The Hokage Advisor, that was a title that screamed ‘I don’t have any use in a fight anymore’ if ever anything did, takes off at a dead run for the house of his ally. Here he was throwing himself back into the fray. Back into a fight for a place that he felt more and more was alienating the concept of home. Back into the battlezone that had led to his mind already betraying him and causing the past months of suffering.

Could more fighting fix a man whose mind was broken from the fight? Or would he simply wound himself more with this?

(Entering, arriving in 3 rounds)

 

[Saitou Rei]

In the eye of a hurricane there is quiet, for just a moment. As the two sides readied themselves, five seconds of near silence passed, or at least it seemed so quiet to young Reicheru whose own heartbeat filled her ears as she and Maikeru made their move to get the children out. As the Uchiha moved to grab a few from the crowd that had formed around the arena, Reicheru made a slight detour into a back hallway she had seen on her way in earlier. Quickly checking rooms on either side, she found and grabbed the few youngsters who had actually listened to their parents when they told them to stay back. Once all was clear, she made her way back to join up with Maikeru who had rounded up the others outside. Passing quickly through the arena, she saw that the quiet indeed would not last forever; someone had cast some sort of water prison jutsu… no, this was bigger, greater than that. She saw Kenshin floating inside with the intruder, as well as a third figure she didn't recognize. A friend? …or foe? Regardless, she was thankful that at least for now she could get by without risking harm to the children in her care.

"I think that's all of them…" Reicheru commented to Maikeru as she set down the youngest child she had picked up in her arms on the ground outside of the clan house, taking deep breaths to calm her heart rate. Those breaths caught in her throat at the next words Maikeru spoke, indicating his intention to stay and fight. Her jaw tightened as conflicting emotions rolled through her mind. Kenshin had not only repeatedly asked for her trust, but also given her his trust in return. He'd asked them to leave, and though she desperately wanted to stay and help she wanted to respect and trust his judgment. What was the saying about a shinobi who doesn't follow the rules? Yes, if she and Maikeru left to get someone who could actually be of help here, she could find a way to come to peace with that. But if Maikeru stayed… what was it he had said that day? "Live as one, die as one." Funny… he meant it as a motto for the swordsman, but the implications ran so much deeper now…

Implications that were reflected in the kiss Maikeru left her with, and the three words that followed. Her closed eyes opened with a start, but with that he was gone before she had a chance to respond. Well, that simply would not do. They had to make it out of this alive, she would be sure of it. She looked around her at the Ishi clan's youngest members, identifying the two oldest of the group - one quiet looking boy and a raven haired girl. She knelt on one knee in front of them to look them in the eye, grabbing each of them by their blue disciples vests. "You go and get help, as fast as your legs will take you. Kenshin needs you, he needs you to do this." She added the last part in after their eyes narrowed in protest, clearly wanting to fight as well. What else could be expected from a clan of front line warriors? The idea that their Grand Master needed this from them seemed to soften their disappointment, as they nodded first to Reicheru and then to each other before taking off running.

Turning back toward the dojo, Reicheru let out a shaky sigh. Though young, this wasn't her first time on the battlefield, nor the first where death stared her in the face. As she ran in behind Maikeru, she remembered their fight with the Frost shinobi and summoned the image that had calmed her fears then: the future Konoha… a better Konoha.

[OOC: Sending actions]

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

SO WTF HAPPENED!?<i></i>

----
NOTES:
@Yong:
- One of your actions for the Mirror clones couldn't be done because it has the same restrictions as you do, thus you can't do it (even with clones)
@Hisao:
- NOTHING
@Kenshin:
- i know all of these actions look super fishy, but everything rolled is legit and done properly. If you wish for someone to review it, you are more than welcome to have someone review the rolls. I know it looks awful, but I guarantee you it is 100% legit.
@Reicheru:
- NOTHING
@Maikeru:
- Your last action couldn't be completed due to there being no conditional stating to change targets once the Supreme Aqua Realm was destroyed.


@ALL:
This mod took me about 8-9 hours to complete. There might be some mistakes -- if there are, send it to me via PM and I'll review it.
I will ask everyone, including spectators, to not be hostile towards the combatants OOC, be it on the site or on discord (or any other medium for that matter). I will be asking the combatants to forward screenshots of any vitriol spewed their way to the administration. Vitriol over IC decisions is childish, immature, and speaks volumes of you as a person -- so play nice OOCly. We're all a community and we should act like one.
- Rules of Engagement still applies unless there is a MASSIVE fix that needs to be done, to which I will pause the fight -- if necessary.
- All of the rolls were done properly and all critical hits and misses were rolled in the official BMod Rolling area. None of the rolls were fixed or 'rigged'. Good luck and bad luck just happens sometimes.

CHANGES:
1) I forgot the second roll for Kenshin's Fist of Virtue -- Diligence. It still missed.
2) There were a lot of rolls I forgot for Hisao's rolls, involving Earth Style Shatter and cumulative effects from his cursed seal. Due to this, Kenshin gains 2 ranks of shatter on his leg.
3) Had Yong as the one who did all the called shots at the end -- that was erroneous and was actually Hisao. So i fixed it to reflect properly.
4) Due to #2, Kenshin's bleed increased by 1 level more (bringing him up to 3). Didn't originally post it before so it's on the mod. Also added blood rack damage so Kenshin's HP is lower.
5) Oh my god. I'm playing musical screenshots. NOW it should be right

 

[Metsu]

He had done it. His body had started moving on his own, and he had joined the fray. He had not been sure who’s side he was going to be on until he had started to move, and he was shocked at himself. Taking a side here is going to have consequences. Is this what my mentor had felt when he went missing. Is this all it takes to start the path that leads away from the village, one act in a difficult circumstance, picking a side and living with the decision? Musings aside, he focused on the battle.

His clan’s familiar moves flowed like water, hitting Kenshin’s chakra points with bursts of his own chakra, sealing them off. He wasn’t use how it would affect someone who knew the techniques for releasing gates, but he hoped that there was no long term damage. Out of the corner of his perception, he could see The Voice's shadowy figure trying to get his attention, forget about this fight, he just called your Hokage, just leave Yong and go.</I><i></i> Fear filled him, usually you would have more time to deal with your consequences, but fate was handing them to him straight away.

He was committed now, and abandoning his original plan pushed forward for trying to knock Kenshin out. <I>Maybe we can leave before anyone else arrives, no names were used and they would then be here, away from the gates. This can still end, somewhat peacefully. Using his family’s specialty, his hands blurred before placing a seal on Kenshin, to counter any attempts to prolong the fight, ignoring the distraction of his water jutsu being stopped by the students on the outside.

They were supposed to leave! Why did they come back? Knowing from experience what the pup could do, he focused on disabling Kenshin, with the ultimate goal of forcing him to stand down, striking true at his heart and head. Hisao ignored the tears behind his ANBU mask as he chose family over duty, and steeled himself for what would come. Both Maki and Takeshi were coming, and Hisao planned to be ready for it when they arrived.

As the students had returned, they needed to disable them as quickly as possible, and if Kenshin continued to call in support, this was going to become unmanageable before long. Clearing his throat, he turned to Yong, shouting out, ”Enough playing around Yong. We need to leave. Disable him and let’s go. I will take care of the others.” Considering his words, he looked at the sennin, his Byakkugan enhanced eyes taking in the internal, external and mental damage the shinobi had endured, marvelling at the fact the grandmaster was still standing.

”Kenshin is already defeated Yong, whether or not he knows it, you made your point and forced my hand at the same time. We need to leave, I won’t allow a death to occur here, especially not mine." Preparing himself to do what must be done, he started some more handseals.

WC: 502

[Sending actions soonish]

(Edited to contain additional RP as per permission from B-mod Tenkawa Kaori, as no one else had posted yet.)

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

Mod's fixed. See Changes for details

 

[Yong]

Yong continued to play dead, occasionally violently severing his connection to the Genjutsu he had cast upon the mighty Sennin of the Hidden Leaf. The sever would cause massive illusionary damage in the Sennin’s mind for what the mind believed the body made real.

Two members of the Sennin’s clan disabled Hisao’s Supreme Aqua Realm in short order. Enough playing possum, Hisao is committed now... and there is no going back.<i></i>

Yong landed nimbly on his feet after being released. ”Thank you Master... whatever you did, it worked.”<i></i>

In response Hisao began to shout, far louder than necessary ”Enough playing around Yong. We need to leave. Disable him and let’s go. I will take care of the others.” The old ANBU seemed to be scanning the Sennin with his byakkugan, coming to a quick conclusion.

”Kenshin is already defeated Yong, whether or not he knows it, you made your point and forced my hand at the same time. We need to leave, I won’t allow a death to occur here, especially not mine."

Yong bowed slightly, showing respect to the old man’s wishes, ”...agreed...”<i></i>

Spoiler: “Ooc”

Will send actions soon.

Sorry to anyone that might be upset due to my being in the topic... I hold no ill feelings and simply intended on having epic fights and adding rp fuel to everyone’s reserves.

Upsetting anyone was not what I intended, I was definitely not going to force kill anybody. Chance of death was put on the table because I have about 10 more builds to try and putting down a missing nin would be massive in character fuel for the academy students. Stuff like this is what brought the game to life for me, epic battles, tricky stuff that made good story.

Don’t worry and just have fun

 

[Uchiha Takeshi]

The headset crackled into life in those few seconds, it seemed that Takeshi had something else on his mind as he listened, a war with frost and a Sennin being attacked, things did not look good in those few moments. He was instantly over the desk, what could be said with lightning speed as the headset came up to his hand in those few seconds flicking the switch he allowed his voice to be calm and collect, it was with dignity and duty that he was here, having come back to this so soon he knew full well that he would be required to act.

“Hold on Kenshin, help is on its way, we will all be here. I will be there for you, stay strong”

Takeshi allowed the anger to flash inside of him as he allowed himself to take a few minutes. He allowed himself to take a few moments before taking the headset back up, as he knew full well that people needed to know what was happening as he clicked the switch on his radio. This was a channel that would open access to the entire village, if frost was here they would act as required.

“Sennin under attack in the Clan Houses, I am on route, requesting assistance as required”

Takeshi allowed himself to grab the sword that called to him, not even bother sheathing the weapon instead he headed straight for the location that was given, his hearts raced together as his bodies reacted in the same manner. From the Uchiha that was meditating on the floor in the Uchiha Clan House, now in full spring as only a few blocks away.

The song singer and the medic already moving out as well, it seemed that Takeshi was in full swing as he moved with purpose and drive, knowing full well that everything was waiting for him, he would have to wait and see what happened but right now he would not let one of his friends, one that he trusted and one that he wanted to be by his side fall alone. He was the Hokage of Leaf, he would not betray that job, not cower from the dangers, he would stand tall even if it meant that he would fall.

“I am coming Kenshin, you just stay alive you bastard, don’t fall. I won’t let it happen to another Sennin, never again.”

The will of fire raged inside the paths of the Hokage.

OOC:

Spoiler

Entering fight Round 4 @ 0 Seconds
Profile Sent
Actions will be sent at round 4
Battle Song for Leaf

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

He remembered only a few things from that last bout.

1. He was able to call in Takeshi.
2. He was betrayed by a leaf anbu.
3 He was in a lot of pain. A LOT.

But he Stood. He had trained to this level before. He had fought until he blacked out and still fought. This was nothing. Every fiber of his being hurt and it hurt to draw breath but he was not going to let these people do as they wished.

He spat some blood from his mouth and wiped off his mouth. Ren took a glancing blow but was looking around desperate to help but unsure what to do. There were near tears in her eyes. Looks like something finally got under that skin of hers.

"I can't decide which one of you is worse,the coward who attacks with children, barely genin present, or the traitor who forsakes his village to aid a foreign enemy? Anyways you have it, you are less than scum who deserve nothing but death. But know that even if I were to die here, I know that I will be avenged because I have given my life for the village and they in turn have given me a life. I, a foreign shinobi myself, fought in the war to reclaim to Leaf. I, a nobody from my original village, rose in the ranks to where I stand now. How many students have I taught? How many lives have I saved? How much have I done to protect the innocent and to stand tall against he odds? More than you ever have or ever will. I don't know your reasons for attacking me and I don't care. Actions speak louder than words. And I, Yuu Kenshin Main Branch Sennin, Head Instructor and Head of the Hokage Guard, will show you what it means to be a TRUE Leaf shinobi one who accepts their duty UNTIL THE VERY END! "

[Actions will be sent shortly]

 

[Kairyuu]

He was pushing himself to the limit of his speed. It wasn’t too far from his own house to Kenshin’s, but far enough that he knew any fight would be over before he arrived unless he did so. To those untrained in the arts, Maki would appear to be a blur. His black armor simply a shadow on their vision as he passed. One unfortunate soul got far more, however. Some kid who had too much money and not enough sense. He was posing for pictures with his friends with an absolutely stupid sized weapon. A sword so thick and long that it had to weigh at least as much as two grown men.

Maki sped past, hand snapping out and ripping it from the boy’s grip. That blur slowed momentarily, giving the kid a sight he’d never forget. Maki wasted no time as the sound of the screaming youths vanished behind him and he found himself nearing the location of the brawl. He also heard another call going out, and gave a grim smile of determination that there would be backup on the way.

”I’m coming.” The large weight in his hands was nothing as adrenaline pumped. His metal prosthetic seemed to even grip the handle, the magnets in it doing their job properly.

(Arriving next round)

 

[Saitou Rei]

What a sight the two of them must have been. The barrier that she had given a silent thanks for only moments ago now stood as a seemingly impassable obstacle; lifting her sword to it, the chakra infused with the water repelled her and disallowed her entry to aid her Sennin and clan head. So she and Maikeru did the logical thing - started slashing the heck out of the water with their pointy weapons. Of course the real target was to disrupt the chakra network that held the thing together, the combination of her and her great-grandfather's chakra running through the blade picking away at the stability of the forcefield with every strike. Part of her felt foolish, thinking perhaps it would have been best to leave it and keep the fighting contained. Yet by now most had left, either for their safety or to get help, and so the greater risk was now that Kenshin could suffocate or drown in this thing. They had to get him out.

Though slow going, their effort seemed to be making head way. All the while, Reicheru could only watch as not one but two assailants rained blows down on Kenshin. One of them appeared to be a Leaf ANBU; Reicheru had certainly had her fill of traitors recently. Of course, it could be a guise to get some foreign threat through the village unnoticed. The mask looked familiar though, but then again didn't they all? 'You can worry about that later, after you get Kenshin out of there alive, Reicheru thought to herself, shaking her head and returning her focus to the barrier. The hatred toward this feeling of helpless fueled her strikes, each more powerful than the last. Then, finally, the bubble burst.

As the water poured out about them, Reicheru analyzed the new layout of the field. Kenshin was in bad shape, but Yong stood between her and the Sennin. 'Tch.' If they had done this much damage to the man who led her clan, her branch, and the Hokage Guard, Reicheru was certain she stood no chance if she were to directly attack the mystery man. Even so, his focus even after their aqua prism vanished was so singularly focused on Kenshin, she wondered if she could do even one thing that could help over the long term. Well, there was one thing. It wasn't much, but just maybe it could help. Sheathing her blade, the one thing that could protect her, Reicheru committed to her plan. Running at the man from behind, she began performing the hand signs for Leech Seal, a practical jutsu for the girl to have in her arsenal given the fighting style she'd been developing. Just a few feet away with the jutsu prepared, the young kunoichi launched herself at the target…

…and missed. Though the enemy kept his eyes on Kenshin, she hadn't been able to conceal her presence well enough. She could almost feel him on her fingertips before he moved out of the way, and the dark aura she'd sense earlier struck her to her core. Tucking into a roll as she hit the ground, she leapt toward Kenshin's side. 'I missed… I failed…' she thought with gritted teeth. She'd had her moment and lost it; but in truth, she wasn't here to fight them. She was here to help Kenshin. She looked up at the building of a man as he spat blood on the ground in front of them. "It may come of a surprise to you but I am willing to defend Leaf and by proxy you with my life at any given time should the need arise." Those words had often rung in her mind after that night in the forest, but she had never expected it would actually come to that. Reicheru held back tears as Kenshin made his declaration; she was, after all, still a young girl caught up in something much bigger than herself, something she still didn't fully understand. "I'm sorry we didn't listen and leave, Kenshin-sama. But… we're willing, too." she said, hoping that if anything were to happen to her or Maikeru that Kenshin would understand that they had made their choice and not blame himself. He had enough to worry about; she could only hope that they could actually help and not get in the way.

[OOC: Actions sent.]

 

[Myakashi Migoya]

And…. there. Another piece in the puzzle.

“Did you get the frequency Mikki?”, Migoya asked his erstwhile companion, a rather powerful Tsukomogami.

Yeah yeah… telling your headset now what frequency to use. Mikki responded, clearly unimpressed at the boring task. Learning the Hokages ‘all channels’ frequency was wonderful - the fact that he had put over a distress message, thus enabling everyone in Konoha to be on guard and willing to listen to what happened next… perfect.

Migoya smirked as he continued to rush to what would undoubtedly be an epicenter of chaos - just like he had planned. People were sheep that could be manipulated oh so easily, especially the prideful ones.

A threat Hokage? Or perhaps Takeshi, it is a lesson long in coming… perhaps now you will ‘waste your chakra’ on me.

“Now Mikki”.

A voice, not his own but clear and direct, would play forth the prepared message, broadcast to all communications devices in the village loudly and passionately.


</COLOR>

Citizens of Konoha. A sennin is defeated not to remove him from our battles, but to remind us that power does not reside in the arrogance of the strong. The previous Daimyo of Fire learned that, and now Kenshin is reminded of the same. The will of the people rule.

Takeshi now seeks to leave us during wartime for his own selfish gains. Deny it ‘Hokage’. Explain to the people why you choose to save your friend, yet leave the rest of us to our fate. Explain how you ignore the people unless they agree with you, and slay ‘children’ at our gates should they disagree with your laws, when you yourself reside in the corpses of others using dark arts!

We face a great threat, one that only together we will overcome. Stand down and let Kenshin live, else the blood that is wasted by your vain grab at maintaining your autocracy will flow, and you will be accountable, Takeshi. Learn the lesson that pride cometh before the fall - stand down and save his life.

Show true leadership, and let your representatives learn that they exist for the betterment of the people, not to rule over them.

Let Kenshin learn the lesson of humility, bear the scars of a battle well fought but lost, and learn from his mistakes.

Let the people of Konoha see that you work with them, for them, and not for yourself.

Stand down, or come and face the true Will of Fire!​

<i></i>

Another strange message would now play, a song, an old song in the ancient language of fiero. Only someone who grew up in Konoha would understand it, let alone its meaning.

<COLOR color="#00BF00">“Using bait to catch a fish, to catch a bigger fish, to catch the shark”. A childhood rhyme about a fisherman who uses an unwilling fish to bait a larger one, and in so doing draws out a shark that had been hiding. Now Migoya hoped people would get the reference, that by causing civil unrest the village would seem weak, thus those Frost shinobi in the village would come out of hiding and join the fray at Kenshin’s clan house, only to find a united front… But perhaps that was asking a bit too much. At least the smart ones would get it. That is, if there were any.

In any event, chaos had been sewn, ANBU had been corrupted, and fear had fallen in the hidden leaf. Takeshi now had to decide to risk the life of a friend over his own stubborn pride. Kenshin had to decide to stand down and live, or fight on and die from his own pride. Konoha had to decide what was best for Konoha, and actually be smart and act on something. Anything.

Decisions… decisions...

 

[Maikeru]

As Maikeru watched the fight evolve in front of him, water splashing into his face from every slash he made into the chakra formed water, he could only think of one word to describe it. Ouch. Kenshin was taking a beating like Maikeru had never seen, the Sennin's chakra network being attacked by both physical and mental means. His Mangekyo Sharingan began to quickly shift between the three men, running through a dozen plans in his head to help buy their superior a bit more of time. Finally, Reicheru hit the final blow and they watched as the water cascaded around them.

Sheathing Kusanagi, he began to weave hand seals, before quickly realizing their futility. Even if he could use the jutsu, it wasn't like it would actually work, and it would burn through his limited chakra reserves for nothing. Still, he had to do something. Anything. He had to make a move to help out here, or Kenshin was going to end up dead.

"Reicheru, I have an idea." He said, weaving a few more hand signs. "I think I know how we can buy Kenshin a little time but I need you to he- and she's gone."

He watched as Reicheru jumped to Kenshin's side, doing her own plan evidently. He let out a sigh, turning his attention to the man in the ANBU mask. His eyes drew into a tight scowl as he looked at the man, letting out a calming breath to keep himself from acting irrationally. Maikeru didn't agree with the leaf leadership either, and there was a lot of resentment he held towards many of them. But not Kenshin. Kenshin was one of the very few who were good, and caring, and actually care about this village and it's people. A revolution that started with him, was one that Maikeru wasn't sure he could live with.

"Alright assholes." He said, landing on the final sign. "Let's see if you can handle this... cause I really hope you can't..."

 

[Doku]

Doku ran towards the Ishi Clan house, he had never been there before but he knew the village well enough that he would be to find the place. Now that he had had a little time to think he realised that something in Hisao's voice was a little off when he had called, there was a sinking feeling in his stomach that this wasn't just some prank. What have you done Hisao, please don't be stupid enough to die when I am not around to save your ass. I would never forgive you."

His headset cracked to life once more, interrupting his silent prayer.

Citizens of Konoha. A sennin is defeated not to remove him from our battles, but to remind us that power does not reside in the arrogance of the strong. The previous Daimyo of Fire learned that, and now Kenshin is reminded of the same. The will of the people rule.

Takeshi now seeks to leave us during wartime for his own selfish gains. Deny it ‘Hokage’. Explain to the people why you choose to save your friend, yet leave the rest of us to our fate. Explain how you ignore the people unless they agree with you, and slay ‘children’ at our gates should they disagree with your laws, when you yourself reside in the corpses of others using dark arts!

We face a great threat, one that only together we will overcome. Stand down and let Kenshin live, else the blood that is wasted by your vain grab at maintaining your autocracy will flow, and you will be accountable, Takeshi. Learn the lesson that pride cometh before the fall - stand down and save his life.

Show true leadership, and let your representatives learn that they exist for the betterment of the people, not to rule over them.

Let Kenshin learn the lesson of humility, bear the scars of a battle well fought but lost, and learn from his mistakes.

Let the people of Konoha see that you work with them, for them, and not for yourself.

Stand down, or come and face the true Will of Fire!​

<i></i>

He redoubled his speed, this was not the way he had planned his day to go.

[Word Count: 109 without Migoya's speech]
[Arriving Round 4 @ 7 seconds]
[Sorry for the lack of quality, I have been not feeling well today.]

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

So.. WTF happened?

Sorry, no silly graphic this time.

NOTES: (Yes, this is gonna be an important one)

@ ALL
- Due to being forced to show the rolls, all rolls will be shown. These rolls are what is rolled out of d20 (attack/dodge/checks) or d100 (for percentile based effects). This does not indicate your secondaries.
- All attacks with a red-box are critical hits.
- Mods will start to get slower and slower now that more and more reinforcements are showing up. So please be patient when it comes to how often the mods show up now.
- ROE still stands.

@ YONG
- NOTHING

@ HISAO
- Some of your actions were skipped due to not meeting the conditions of allowing you to attack through Ring of Fire.
- I forgot to indicate your bleeding rank last round in your status, but the damage was still taken away.

@ KENSHIN
- You didn't specifically state to allow Ren to be affected by Ring of Fire without contest. Due to Ring of Fire being considered an attack (and not support), it required an opposing roll to see if Ren was stuck in Ring of Fire or not. He succeeded in his check against you and was thus stuck outside of the Ring of Fire -- which caused his actions to not be able to affect you while you were in the Ring of Fire.
- Your Shadow is dead and thus a lot of damage (illusionary) was dealt to you.
- Your conditional has failed due to the Grandeur Phantom ability "Face Yourself", which caused your conditional to instantly fail. Basically consider it a 'counter spell' against conditional reactionaries.

@ REICHERU
- NOTHING

@ MAIKERU
- NOTHING

UPDATE:
@ KENSHIN -- As stated in the original note to you, your conditional has failed due to Grandeur Phantom Ability "Face Yourself". It basically eats up that conditional. Since you didn't have it twice in your conditionals, it doesn't go off. Changed where it happened, but it doesn't affect the mod at all.
@ KENSHIN -- There is no rule to sending changes, in regards to Ren entering the Ring of Fire, via discord -- I was informed that no other mods allowed that unless they specifically ask for it. If you are to submit changes to your actions, they need to be done ON-SITE and not through discord. That action will not be changed.
@ YONG and KENSHIN -- Due to Viral Affliction not being able to attack allies, I had to reroll it and it affects Kenshin

Spoiler

and Kenshin suffers the negative effects of the cursed seal due to being affected 2x in a row. THUS, will result in a slight change to Kenshin's HP

UPDATE:
Made an error thinking Stardust Nova was holy (don't ask me why) which was why Yong regained HP. Stardust Nova isn't holy so I took away the bonus HP i gave to him and added that damage, which would've made Stardust Nova Cursed due to cursed seal onto Kenshin's HP, changing it by like.. 300ish HP. Sorry for that.
-- So i made a mistake when calculating Reicheru's AP for Coagulation, using 1 AP instead of 1.5 AP. Timing was corrected (didn't affect the mod other than Reicheru's timing), her AP was also fixed, having the proper AP next round.
-- While I was at it, I kept forgetting to add Yong's persona's HP. So there we go.. Crude, yes? But it's finally there. Sorry about that.

MOD PIGGY BANK

Spoiler

42 ASP + 42 ASP + 42 ASP = 126 ASP
10800 Yen + 10800 Yen + 10800 Yen = 32400 Yen

 

[Kairyuu]

He was close. He was also destroying Kenshin’s clan house. Something told him the other would be willing to forgive and forget if they all survived this. If not, well, Maki could afford to replace it if it had monetary value, and for sentimental value he could just hide from the Main Branch Sennin for the rest of his life. He bursts through the main doors like a force of nature, raw speed and power going through and kool-aid-manning the barrier, then doing the same for the back wall, putting him in sight of the dojo.

And with a might of effort, he spins that massive slab of iron like a whirlwind and sends it sailing for the wall to the dojo. No entrance like a grand entrance.

(Sending actions)