Private Welcome to the Jungle: Hunting Kids with Mr. Normal (Exam)

[Midori Futotta]

Sitting by a tree, Maru sipped his saké from his Ochoko as he sat back to relax at the entrance to the ancient forest. Two youkai servants of his tended to make him feel comfortable, a floating purple cyclopean demon with hair fashioned in the shape of horns held a black Tokkuri that was cracked with a mouth and a eye ready to pour more saké into Maru's bowl. The second one looked like a small monk with it's completely bald head and robes wearing a white mask over its face. The masked spirit waving a paper fan too big for it to be holding as Maru sat in the shade, enjoying his saké along with the magazine that he flipped through of his foxy nine-tails. Just a moment ago, Maru offered to graduate anyone who would meet him at the ancient forest saying as long as they met the minimum requirements for graduating that he would be able to give them an exam to become a Gennin. Obviously Maru just used this as an excuse to get out of the academy to avoid his responsibilities at being a headmaster at the school, the higher ups were starting to notice his absence so Maru decided to use the exam offer as a way to cheat so if anyone asked he was simply giving an exam to a 'worthy' student.


Maru had a few students approach him while he was relaxing, shooing them away telling them that they didn't meet the requirements for graduating despite not knowing anything about them. Some got the hint, some Maru had to threaten with suspension which obviously he couldn't do but his threat seemed convincing. After turning away another student, Maru waved his free hand and his cyclops poured him another fill of sake. "Supreme Commander. Don't you think you should at least test one of these students so your misdeeds won't be noticed?" asked the youkai who was fanning Maru, the question made Maru's fox ears on top of his head twitch. "Hey, they don't meet my requirements problem solved. Did you see that last student having the nerve enough to come to me with a mean gap and a chipped tooth? Should've recommended early retirement for his butt!" he laughed, taking another sip of his saké. Maru was a wild fox, out of control even and his servants could feel that he was going get himself in trouble. "Well at least give one a chance, you can still fail them if you don't feel like they are doing a good job. Making them walk here to be rejected and turned away is bad. Making them walk here, giving an impossible task, and force them to work hard only for their dreams to be ripped away is EEEEEEVVVIL."


Maru thought about it for a moment, he did enjoy the look on Nanami's and Eye's face when he was harshly judging them based on what he assumed. Even if he did pass them in the end, Maru snickered at the thought knowing those student's would've tried to fight him should he unjustly fail them. He was fair, so he decided that the next student who approaches him will be tested and he was sober enough to at least give them a fair grade. "Tell ya what, next student to show up I'll test them. Guess saké time is over." he set his Ochoko down and then opened up his magazine to examine the beautiful foxy ladies with a perverted chuckle. As he waited for the next student to approach him, not knowing what he'll do for the exam but he'll think of something.

Ooc:
[Exam for Uchiha Moeka Starts here!]
[Good Luck!]

 

[Midori Futotta]

Not soon after he turned the page of his magazine someone was approaching him, sighing the closed his magazine then looked up then gave a cocky smile. "Well took you long enough, here I was about to leave since no one else was brave enough to– Hey. Hold on. Wait a minute." he cut himself off after realizing that this wasn't a new person that didn't know about him turning students away. This as a student he threatened to suspend who for some reason came back as if he'd change his mind. "Little girl, I told you that you don't have enough talent for me to give you the exam at this time. Don't you have one of those bull crap flower picking or medical classes you female humans need to take?" he shook his head, then stopped to think. Some of the other students might get the same idea of just coming back, Maru didn't understand the rush these children had to becoming a shinobi anyway. After all they had a high mortality rate after all, hell he died like… 3 or four times before coming to Kumogakure.

An idea hatched in Maru's mind, knowing that he couldn't put off testing someone forever. An idea that'll be mostly fun for him and would be able to have a story to tell his demons when they gathered for the hour meeting. He moved forward to do a quick cat stretch, shaking himself as if he was a dog then stood up, tucking his magazine underneath his armpit. "Well, I guess I need to show you how difficult this exam truly is before I suspend you. Come follow me, I need to get you at least lost and as deep into this forest as I possibly can. Then I'll show you exactly what you're going to deal with.." he sneered, chuckling he ordered his two smaller Youkai to stay put while he took the child into the darker parts of the forest…. He also said something to them in a weird language that utilized his voice and a weird whispering sound. "Nng set yogor Wire Trap llll fahf area ahlloigehye. L' ah'gotha lure h' ph'nglui if h' h' uaaah fahf naIIIIor." the two demons nodded, then Maru walked into the forest gesturing for Moeka to follow him willingly and the two waved wishing the child luck and when they were out of view they got to work on what Maru told them to do.

As Maru lead the child, not looking behind him as his tails writhed behind him and his getta making loud clopping noises against the dirt he decided to break the silence. "So tell me about yourself. What's your name, why do you wanna be a shinobi and all that jazz. I mean I know it's because you have to but.. I can always recommend early retirement." he said out loud, shrugging as he took a left turn. "Besides with me running the academy and CPSS it'll be easy for you to be able to live a normal life. It'll be illegal if you use jutsu and all but hey you'll be a citizen at least. Beats having to save lives or shipped to the frontlines as a wall of flesh for a terrorist to cut through." he offered, taking them further and further into the forest.

Ooc:
[Maru tells his two Youkai something in a weird Language and then attempt to take More into the forest. Will she follow?]

[Maru's Youkai servants does what he ask, everything set at the entrance]

 

[Midori Futotta]

Maru chuckled at the young Uchiha's response to his question. "Is that right?" he asked, certainly finding it amusing that she was using the family name as the reason for wanting to be a shinobi. "You know, I had another Uchiha student of mine like you who told me not to underestimate the power of a pure Uchiha…. I knocked him out. First lesson: Just because people of your kin are powerful doesn't mean you're as good as they are. " he laughed, continuing to walk deeper into the forest until the dirt road vanishing from view, medley of beastly sounds, which were caused by birds, added life to the forest that was growing dim due to trees that shaded the area. Maru occasionally making these weird squeaky fox calls stopping suddenly to listen for a moment, then continued walking further into the wooded area seemingly looking for a particular sound as they walked seemingly without direction.


They eventually came upon a small clearing which he eventually stopped again to make the same weird animal noises, cupping his hands around his mouth to enhance his sound before raising both his ears in attention. His nine fluffy tails sticking straight up as he listened, making the noises at a lower pitch then listened again… He shrugged then gestured for the child to follow him deeper into the greenery, not making much conversation as they went. Soon the sounds of the wild began to dim, the greenery above making the land look darker as they ventured into the heart of the forest. Once they were in this part of the forest, he stopped to set up a web of ninja wire traps in three different places. Maru's tails wagging as he worked, always setting the traps in mostly places where they looked invisible with a small glimmer of light that could exposed where the wire was a while always setting the traps up behind them so they didn't walk into it. Finally, once they got to a completely unknown and deep spot in the forest he completely stopped then put his hands on his hips. "Perfect, we are here." he declared.

He spun around to the child, folding his arms with a smug smile on his face. "Last chance, Uchiha. We are completely lost but I can always alter the environment to find our way out, giving you the option to back out now and forget about this whole being a Gennin thing." he offered again, trying to get the child to leave to test the determination of the child. "Do you believe in monsters? Things like ghost, demons, and all that. Surely you gotta believe with most of my servants being demons, heck it's in Kumogakure's history that demons did indeed attack the village." he asked, seemingly wanting to know if the child believed in any sort of strange and scary things rather than the basic 'humans are the real monsters.' While terroristic shinobi are indeed what the child could very well be dealing with things that are less than human like himself….

Ooc:
[Maru for some reason set Ninja Wire traps in 3 of the clearings in the forest… weird….]

[The forest becomes silent, a chold wind blows by that had a metallic scent of blood wisp by...]

 

[Midori Futotta]

"Because, Uchiha, your exam will rely heavily on avoiding monsters." he said right after the child asked him, moving one of his nine-tails closer to his left in front of him to pull out from it's fur two gems one was red with a fiery glow to it while the other was a clear crystal with a rasengan like spiral spinning around in it. He held out the gems for the child to take from him, clicking them together twice before explaining their importance. "These two gems represent your eyes. The Uchiha clan are strong, yes, so strong bad people and evil creatures will seek to harvest your organs to further their own power. The most useful being the eyes, especially if they are plucked out while you're still alive because the trama will make them adapt faster inside of the new host. Keep these gems on you for they are worth 50% of your grade." Maru explained, waiting for the child to take the gems so he could continue.

Finally when the stage was set, and everything was set into motion Maru without warning set out a dark red vapor like aura that threatened to knock the student down from the sheer force behind the chakra. The sudden spread caused the trees to shake before stilling… Maru stood there, not moving anything for the exception of his tails for about a good minute before he smiled. So why did Maru truly ask about monsters, as well as a strong aura of miasma rolled in to cover their ankles demonic laughter and cackling could be heard in the background. Strange shapes began to materialize, around the trees hard to see because they hid among the shadows but not all of them hid away. It was as if they wanted to be seen as they causally moved from the trees to stand behind Maru like some unholy army of grotesque terrors. Things that looked human took off their faces to expose that they were faceless, skeletal looking abominations popped their joints then licked theirs lips, a red thing with eyes covering it from head to toe blinked then opened its mouth to scream for no apparent reason, and huge 9 ft bulky ogre like creatures with massive clubs moved trees out of their way just for the intimation factor. A large flock of bird people in monks robes landed on the branches to draw their katanas, big monkeys as tall as Moeka dropped from the trees munching on a kill to laugh at the child… and among all these horrors both animal like, humanoid, and downright demonic were ethereal beings that could only be described as just ghost. A whole mob of unknown things gathered in this one area, not making a move as Maru seemingly had some kind of power over them.

"Your test, Uchiha, is to flee while being pursued and hunted down by 88 demons! Well 89 if you include myself… run, hide, fight but we won't rest until you're captured or we get those gems. Oh, I almost forgot." after entering his Youkai sage mode, he puffed his cheeks out then blew on the ground below them causing the ground to rumble as if it was just awakened. "Just made the environment an ally, so I wouldn't hide in somewhere too long or take the same path. Because now I could move the earth around so you could be in a clear plane one moment and a sea of tree's the next. So good luck kiddo." Maru said overly cheerful, turning to his group of demons to tell them the rules of the hunt and offering a reward for helping him make this child's exam hell!

"Hey guys! First one to capture her or bring the gems to me gets to be the leader of that demon tower I just took over! Loyal servants, treasures, all the sacred saké you can drink for the small price of a little brat failing! No killing or ripping her soul out but everything else is fair game! I'll even let whoever brings her in physically pick a punishment for the poor child! Countdown! 10… 9… 8…"​

For all his power, Maru was a bit over confident… so confident that he allowed the child a window to run away while he was announcing to his demons what they'll receive for the child along with a 10 second head start. Not to mention with him opting to use the environment for heavy cover to make the child lost made it easier for the mob of confident demons to lose track of where the child was running. Will Moeka find the way out of the forest!

Ooc:

Moeka's Progress

Moeka's Sanity

Maru's Progress

[Welcome to the Jungle! Moeka is about to be pursued by 88 different species demons plus Maru. Environmental alterations: Heavy Cover. Objective: Get Out of the forest!]

[Some scary things will chip away at Moeka's Sanity, making Maru's progress bar increase the more scared Moeka is.]

[Combat is optional, some Youkai will help Moeka and give her items that'll help her with her progress, improve her sanity, or decrease Maru's progress.]

[Progress decreases when Moeka is trapped, captured, or gets the Jewels taken from her increasing Marus progress]

[Sanity level decreases when attacked, sees something disturbing, or cursed increasing Maru's progress]

[Maru's progress can decrease from items, beating a demon, escaping capture, and sabotaging Maru himself by setting traps of your own/using genjustu against him.]

[Whoever gets to 100% first progress wins!]

 

[Midori Futotta]

While Moeka had already been gone before Maru set up the ground rules for the demons to follow, while some wanted to chase after the child right then and there they respected the rules of the game. Shrugging it off since there was a 1 out of 89 chance that someone would be able to find the child. It wouldn't be fun, nor fair to chase the child now especially since the odds are stacked against one measly child… the chase makes it more fun so instead they started to count down with Maru so the games can begin! " 7! 6! (..66) 5! 4! 3!.... 2!... 1!" and in that moment was when all the demons scattered! The ground rumbling with the footsteps of many different things, while the leaves shook from those who took to the trees to hunt the child down. Maru was crawling at an inhuman speed backwards, pushing by demons much bigger than himself causing one large Oni to trip causing the area to shake when the ogre fell to the ground with a loud boom. Causing Maru to go a few inches airborne before landing, continuing to crawl in that odd fashion as though nothing happened.

A group of five Sarugami, the big monkeys in monks robes, hopped from branch to branch while everyone else who decided to head where they think the child went giving the direction they believed she began running. A few moments into the chase Maru heard one of the monkeys in the trees yelling among the chaos. 'Check this out, the human cracked a branch here.' one of the Sarugami told it's group as they examined the branch while the other demons just stampede into an unknown direction screaming like maniac's. Maru stayed clear to watch the monkeys plan, smirking to himself almost caught up with the less intelligent approach to hunt. A good hunter doesn't rush to catch their prey, strategy is needed especially since the prey is trained shinobi. Maru closed his eyes, getting to a safe place to sniff at the air and letting his fox ears rotate to see if he could hear something. Inuzuka's are known for their smell and hearing rivaling that of wolves and bloodhounds. So it wasn't hard for Maru to lock onto a particular smell, then he smirked…. 'Got Cha….' crawling normally he zig-zagged passed the stampede of shouting demons to branch off alone into an unknown location.

The Sarugami group and the other demons went in the false trail while Maru was pursuing the smell. He surprisingly covered more ground crawling like a wild animal, because a few moments into the chase he could see his target in the trees hopping from branch to branch. He snarled to make his presence known, his tails radiating with a crimson vapor like aura and the sound of his crawling through the shrubs sounded like they were getting closer. "Stupid little girl! You're just a human! You can't outrun a God!" he taunted, lunging up towards the child with a snarl bearing his canine like teeth at the Uchiha when suddenly he was tangled inside of a web his own ninja wire! 'N-NAAAAANI! Maru thought when finding himself bound struggling against them from his carelessness when manipulating the environment. "JUST WAIT UNTIL I GET OUT OF THIS, KID! I'LL FIND YOU!" he sent out his aura as a last stitch effort to slow the child down but it didn't do much…

Ooc:

Moeka's Progress

Moeka's Sanity

Maru's Progress

​

[The Chase begins! Youkai scatter through different locations]

[Oh-No! Maru caught on to Moeka's scent. The five monkeys were fooled and the stampede chasing Moeka followed the monkey's leads.]

[Superise! Maru found Moeka in the trees! Wasn't paying attention so he is now stuck instead of ninja wire allowing Moeka to get away. -1 Sanity from experience of almost getting caught and +6 progress from escaping!]

[Maru's spreads his dread aura in fustration! Nothing happens...]

 

[Midori Futotta]

Maru struggled against his restraints again, seeing how the child was getting away and the mob of greedy youkai that he called were heading in the wrong direction. He made a loud high pitched screaming sound that sounded more like loud barking with a mixture of weird gekkering. "WHAOOOOOW!..... WHAOOOOW!!!!!.... eeh! ehh!.... WHAOOOOW!!!!!" the demons looked in the direction of the fox calls, an oni pointing into the direction of it knowing where the signal was coming from. "That's Maru's call! That way!" with a battle cry a large majority of youkai stampede into the direction of where Maru's calls came from. Maru hearing the ground rumbling a few moments later, he looked back then smiled knowing now he'll be free. "Hey, took y'all long enough, mind giving me a little-" Maru started to say, but the whole stampede just passed him by with the same battle cry going in the direction where Maru's body was facing. He tried to get their attention, but none of them paid him no mind and just kept running to god knows where. A flock of flying disembodied heads zipped past Maru's face then headed up above the trees, seeing a flock of Kotengu flying to get a bird's eye view of the surroundings.

There were five heads in total, all looked pale and wrinkled with crazed smiles of mad men. "Damn fox, how are we supposed to see in this dense forest." one head said. "All that stampede is doing is screaming and running without direction! How can we possibly- not soon after were there fiery explosions and bodies of wimps of Youkai flying. The leader of the gang of vampiric disembodied heads grinned, while the Kotengu flew in to check on the injured the floating heads flew towards where it saw the blast come from. They are small human sized heads, that gave them an advantage because they can easily cover more ground faster. While the attack did have the other demons forced to take a detour due to the walls of flames in their way and it did mask her scent from anyone with sensitive noses did end up revealing her location to those who could fly!

Eventually these bodiless fiends ended up locating her among the trees then all five heads began to swarm the child all screaming in at the same time. "GIVE US THE JEWELS!" they closed in like small birds than began biting her arms, face, and shoulders to disorient her. Wanting to make her trip and fall out of the tree so they can search her properly for the gems… with their teeth. Meanwhile, Maru was able to break free from his binds and continued his pursuit with the scent of fire and burnt flesh lingering in the air. 'Damn the forest is on fire, there's no way I can sniff her out in something like this. If she's this desperate to light the forest on fire, the chances that she'll get away is slim to none…. Maru thought to himself. 'However…. That inferno shard I gave her must be glowing at this point from the heat, if she figures out that there is something in that shard. I'll have to call Cold-Blooded…' he nodded to himself coming up to a wall of flames head on. "Move!" Maru told the flames which began to part open to let him pass unharmed while closing in behind him in case there were any other demons looking to pass with him freely. He ran, running to where he believed was where the child was probably heading towards.

Ooc:

Moeka's Progress

Moeka's Sanity

Maru's Progress

​

[Maru struggles to get free, failing he calls forth the stampede who don't really help him but pursue the child]

[Moeka made the reckless choice to use the fire ninjutsu Fireball: Mythical Phoenix Fire Jutsu to avoid the demons! Sneak attack! Moeka hit five different demons and lit chunks of the forest on fire causing them to make a detour. 6+ progress! -4 Sanity because it exposed Moeka's location.]

[Moeka is swarmed by five heads biting her like bats! Using their teeth to search for the jewels Maru gave to her. -5 sanity]

[Maru manages to get free then join the chase again, using the power of his Breath Of the Wild Senjutsu to alter the flames so they'd move out his way]

[The red gem (Inferno Shard) glows a fiery red from the heat in the air…]

 

[Midori Futotta]

The disembodied heads continued to bite even when the child who screamed and flailed in confusion. When they were punched away, they laughed then went back in to bite again! 'Where is it! Where is IT!' the chance for them to rule over the Youkai that dwelled inside of the forest was so close they could taste it! Literally! Unfortunately after the girl managed to wiggle herself free and the heads dashed forward, looking for this time draw blood and get the jewels even if they had to tear the child apart. As the heads moved forward the child shot flames towards the flying heads, them being at a close range were quickly consumed by flames which caused them to shriek in surprise as they were suddenly on fire! 'GHEEEEEEEEEEAH!!!!!~' they all screamed before falling to the ground cussing the child as they escaped leaving them to burn.

Meanwhile, Maru hopped through the wall of flames than looked left then right before running straight again. At this point, none of the demons were able to find the child. The smoke was hampering the visibility of the forest, plus with them having to take a detour thanks to the flames they were practically looking wondering at this point. But Maru wasn't a Jounin for nothing, he had experience in hunting things both human and supernatural not to mention he had a few years of the Anbu under his belt. Maru made a handseal to coat his hand in a blue flame then made a foxfire to use for his Crystal Eye Jutsu. Once it was completed he threw the foxfire that split up into four and he commanded them. "FOXFIRE! FIND MOEKA!" his foxfire scattered, not soon after when he closed one eye he was aware of where his demons we're, what happened to the five heads, and finally he could see where Moeka was running or at least a vision of the surroundings. 'Heh, you're mine!' Maru declared running through the trees.

Moeka could only see a blue fireball behind her, completely harmless since it just floated not really doing anything. But the foxfire was acting as a sort of security camera that made Maru aware of exactly where she was, however there was one problem…. She was a good distance away, getting there by foot would be difficult since Maru wasn't that fast. That was when he found a giant centipede crawling around in front of him like a huge train going by and an idea hatched into his mind. Hopping on the insects back, Maru slammed his hands on the centipedes back to infuse natural energy with the animals. The cursed chakra gave Maru complete control over it, making it's eyes glow red and sticking onto the bug by channeling chakra into the soles of his feet he screamed 'Yah!' and the cursed centipede got to moving into the direction he wanted it to head towards. With Maru focused on the location, the Centipede moved there making a loud rumbling noise that almost sounded like rocks were moving when in reality it was the centipedes legs.

Eventually the centipede managed to close the distance so Maru could see the child moving in the trees and Maru decided to get the child to slow down he'll have to make a move. "Yanno! After you lit the forest on fire one would think you'd use a clone or transformation technique to make yourself stick out less." Maru taunted, tapping his centipede ride which made it use it's antennas to shoot small bolts of lighting at the child. Missing every shot on purpose to scare the child. "I wonder what your fellow clan members would say if they can see you now. All sloppy, running around like a frightened deer, not even using techniques that the academy teaches to fool a few demons. If you give in now, this will all stop and you won't have to be a shinobi. You aren't going to pass. I mean a failure is worse than someone who just isn't ready, disappointment yes, but it'll be a smart decision to give in." Maru continued to taunt the child. Enhancing his words with genjustu that would cause the child to go into a fury at him and make her attack him. He was planning something to make the hunt a bit more… interesting. Especially since the trees are hampering his progress.

Ooc:

Moeka's Progress

Moeka's Sanity

Maru's Progress

​

[All five heads we're hit! Perfect shot! +5 Progress!]

[The Horde is unable to find Moeka! +5 Progress]

[Maru cannot find Moeka either, uses Crystal Eye Jutsu Along with its special action! Maru is aware of Moeka's location! +4 progress]

[Maru uses a Giant Centipede as a ride! Maru finds Moeka and uses Taunt against her! Moeka has a small headache and feels a bit angry -3 Sanity.]

 

[Midori Futotta]

It was a good plan, but in this case it wasn't going to work. Maru coated his hand in natural energy as soon as he saw the child begin to weave handseals, than as she let loose a volley of fireballs he allowed the child to believe that they made a direct hit on the centipede that seemed to charge towards the fire instead of trying to avoid it. All the fireballs looked like they hit, but instead they turned into blue harmless chakra that absorbed into the palm of Maru's hand. The centipede and the kitsunebi remained unharmed from Maru simply dispelling the attack before it did any damage. "Thank you kindly for the donation! he laughed, the centipede shot another bolt of lighting that missed on purpose as the child changed directions. Maru was growing bored, so from his sleeve he drew his whip then brought his hand over his head. Coating his hand in a light blue aura then attempted to strike at the child's back, missing and instead hitting a tree instead. The focus wasn't exactly to harm the child but give them a boost of energy through Fist Of Virtue: Charity since he knew she will get tired, especially since she's using high level ninjutsu. 'Suit yourself, Uchiha.' Maru thought.

Maru raised his hand, then dropped it down when Moeka hopped off a branch to make an entire row of trees sink below the grass as if the grass itself was water! Maru moved his hand to clear a whole 120 yards worth of tree's making a grassy plains with the trees pretty far away at this point. Maru hopped off his Centipede that continued the chase in the deforested area as, the sage trying to call another monster to help in the chase but alas his calls weren't heard. Figuring the child would close the distance between her and the trees, Maru began weaving hand seals. Using his manipulation of the environment to cause massive swirling storm clouds overhead however there weren't any clouds where Moeka and the Centipede stood because they were in… the eye of a cursed purple clouded hurricane! The Centipede seemingly unaffected or didn't care about the wind continued to shoot lighting at the child, this time the storm bolt hit sending a electrical shock through Moeka's body. The Centipede snapping it's jaws, staring down at the child not even attacking anymore as though it was waiting for Moeka to make the first move.

There was a way out of the storm, though the winds were harsh it wasn't exactly impossible to find a weak point in the winds to get out. But of course, as Maru appeared on top of the centipedes head decided to again try to get the child to quit. "See what I told you, by the time you get out of here the other demons will be here." he said, sitting down cross legged putting a hand on his cheek. "You're tired, scared, a bit bagged up there. I even tried helping you out back there, we both know I can make you loop through this forest right? You won't find a way out now with this hurricane. Just give up already, my friends are already waiting to swarm in and you haven't even made any progress. What do ya say? Give up, you leave, and I forget this exam ever happened?" If Moeka knew anything, demons were very much known for lying. Maru was most likely bluffing about the demons coming and by how he could loop her around the forest. If he could do that, wouldn't he have done it already? There was a way out of the hurricane, Maru was just trying to get her to quit by making the situation hopeless. "I don't think you're willing to die for a rank that gives you just about the same amount of respect as an academy student. If you keep going like this. You're.. going… to.. DIE." lighting flashed in that declaration, but will Moeka give up now?

Moeka's Progress

Moeka's Sanity

Maru's Progress

[Maru uses Naturalization Senjustu against Moeka's fireball, jutsu dispelled and absorbed into Natural Energy. -2 sanity]

[Maru tries to use Fist Of Virtue: Charity to try to help Moeka last longer. Maru misses, Moeka gaining distance. +4 progress!]

[Maru uses the Breath Of The Wild Senjustu to alter the environment so it's clear for 120 yards! Maru attempts to call another bug but nothing is around because the others are still lost +4 progress!]

[Maru calls a Hurricane to trap himself, the centipede, and Moeka in the eye of the storm! +2 progress for Maru]

[The Centipede uses storm bolt to zap Moeka! Ouch! -5 sanity]

 

[Midori Futotta]

"Hmmm…" was all that Maru could actually say after hearing the child tell him once again that she would rather die than give up. He did consider himself a demon, so how did she know that he wouldn't just fail her in the end? There are… well 83 demons who were working against her for personal gain, the environment wasn't on her side neither since Maru can change it at will, the weather also worked against her and don't get him started on himself who was rooting for the child to throw in the towel. So why does this Uchiha have hope that they'll pass?! It both interested and annoyed the fox that she was willing to die for such a lowly rank, exactly since there wasn't a guarantee that she would even get the rank. Maru let the child run towards the wind barrier to attempt to escape, he made another call to draw the attention of the other demons but they were still lost looking around for Moeka. Ignoring the big ass hurricane behind them and the whistle to run in the wrong direction that would make them go deeper into the forest! "THAT'S MARU'S CALL! THEY'RE THIS WAY! FOLLOW ME!" said a drunken red Oni that was leading the stampede into the wrong direction, their battle cries can be heard getting farther away. The storm behind them flashing lighting as if attempting to get their attention but the band of imbeciles we're still going the wrong way.


As the wind knocked Moeka back, Maru grew frustrated with the lack of reinforcements ignoring Moeka for a bit to complain. "When this test is over, someone is going to either get eaten or I'm killing all the males." Maru declared. "They aren't citizens anyway… CENTIPEDE GET HER!" The centipede hissed with venoms, then charged in making electrical sparks with its antennas to fire another stormbolt at the child that missed her by an inch. Maru was hoping to give one of the demons a chance at capturing the child, but the giant centipede was good enough and was a lot better at taking orders. The insect fired another blast again, missing and the centipede hissed with the growing frustration that was boiling up inside of Maru who was starting to grow bored with toying with the child. "I already said that you aren't getting out of here! Fine. If you're not going to quit, leave me the choice. CENTIPEDE GRAPPLE HER!" the centipedes eyes flashed red then it ran forward, opening its jaws looking to bite on the child to end the exam once and for all.


But just as all hope seems lost, Moeka was able to find the weakest point in the wind barrier on her second attempt at freedom and would be brought back to the forest where her path to exiting the forest would be unchallenging for the exception of the fox fire that floated over her head. Maru and the Centipede attempting to get out were trapped inside the hurricane while Moeka was able to take full advantage of the lack of any obstacles in her way. 'Damnit.' Maru thought as he hopped off the Centipede, looking at the winds trying to time his exit so he could get out while he still was aware of where the child was. She couldn't get that far, but he really needs the other 83 demons to pick up the slack on this one because she was getting a little too close to actually exiting the forest. 'Looks like I have to actually take this whole cat and mouse game seriously now. Gotta use all my tricks to ensure that Moeka doesn't pass.' Maru thought to himself, the child had pride he could give her that and stubborn too. Maybe a different approach is in order to ensure his victory.

Moeka's Progress

Moeka's Sanity

Maru's Progress

[The First attempt at escaping the hurricane failed! Maru and the Centipede are closing in. -5 sanity]

[Maru attempts to call the demons attention! But they seem to be really lost by now….. +5 progress]

[Maru's Centipede begins firing storm bolts! All of them miss… ;-;]

[Aha! Moeka was able to find the way out on the second attempt and would succeed! No obstacles in their way making it smooth sailing for now. +5 progress]

[Maru and his Centipede attempt to chase after the child! Can't escape the wind barrier and still trapped within the hurricane…... ;-; +5 progress]

 

[Midori Futotta]

'Damnit' Maru thought once more, losing his vision on where Moeka was from his kitsunebi being extinguished. Getting back on his Centipede, he made the insect charge towards the swirling wind barrier, succeeding in breaking through and continued on the chase. Upon Maru breaking free the hurricane dispelled, clearing the sky so Maru could make another attempt at getting the attention of the stampede of Youkai that were chasing after nothing. Maru made the Centipede charge into the forest, looking up he saw one of the man-sized monkeys in the trees who were on the pursuit. He didn't even realize that this was Moeka in disguise so he decided to shout out to the monkey demon to let it know where the child was. "Took you guys long enough.. she went that way I think. Keep going straight, I'll try and cut her off." Maru told the false demon, then steered his Centipede right and before Moeka realized it Maru was off her trail.

Despite being found at least three times, right now there were no demons nor was their Maru pursuing her with her transformation technique. The tengu flying around like vultures looking hard to find the child from the sky were flying a good distance away, and Maru was searching elsewhere since he lost her when his kitsunebi was destroyed. Plus with the blaze it hampered Maru's sense of smell so he couldn't sniff the child out with all the smoke around. This was a big win for Moeka, not only was she was able to fool her pursuers but there was nothing holding her back now. This meant that Maru was going to have to do something extreme in order to flush the child out of hiding. 'Damnit she's close, it's looking like I'm going to have to really do something drastic in order to find her this time.' Maru had choices. Choices, choices, choices, he just needed to think of the pros and cons of what he was about to do next.

Ooc:

Moeka's Progress

Moeka's Sanity

Maru's Progress

[Crystal Eye Jutsu dispelled! Maru is no longer aware of Moeka's location. +5 progress]

[Maru breaks out of the Hurricane! Dispelling the Jutsu to continue the chase! The demon stampede is still lost!]

[Moeka transforms into one of the man-sized monkeys! The disguise was convincing enough to fool Maru and the Centipede making them search elsewhere! +5 progress]

[No Maru or demonic obstacles this round! SMOOTH SAILING! +10 PROGRESS]

 

[Midori Futotta]

Maru rode on his Centipede looking for any trace of Moeka, but couldn't find her anywhere which was starting to make him sweat. He made another call to try to get the demons attention, Maru knew that they were lost, so lost that even if they heard him it'll take them forever to get to where he was. 'Fine, looks like I'm going to have to bust out the firepower.' Maru thought as he withdrew his aqua shard, channeling his chakra into the shard before pricking his finger on the sharp end of the shard then he began making slashes into the air as he performed some kind of summoning technique.

"(臨) Rin
(兵) Pyo
(闘) Toh
(者) Sha
(皆) Kai
(陣) Jin
(列) Retsu
(在) Zai
(前) ZEN!!!"​

With the completion of the technique, a blue snowflake seal appeared Maru and the sounds of the wind came from the seal as a beautiful pale blue spirit wearing an extremely thin sky blue kimono crawled out of the seal. The elemental turned towards Maru, the head causing her to look a little glossy since she was made entirely of ice and snow. "Yes, what do you want?" she asked and Maru wasted no time in telling her what he wanted. "I'm chasing some wannabe Gennin through the forest, she's a perfect opponent for you PLEASE capture her!" Maru screamed with urgency, the Elemental nodded. The eye's of Cold Blooded clouded over into white orbs as she focused on a certain point in the sky to combine her natural energy to pull the water in the air to make a storm cloud and used the freezing winds from her realm to summon a mighty snowstorm! This wasn't just some diamond-dust harmless snowstorm neither but it was a straight up blizzard punching you right in the face. All heat around the area had been purged putting out the fires that hid Moeka, the chilling winds blew violently causing the young uchiha to go flying backwards into a tree which on impact dispelled her transformation technique upon impact. Maru decided to use his handy Crystal Eye Technique again to summon a new kitsunebi again, throwing the foxfire into the snowstorm to command it to search for Moeka. It didn't take the foxfire long to find Moeka, Maru now aware of the child's position as well as seeing through any disguise she may have, the chase began once more this time more serious than before.

When a body that resembled Moeka came into view, Maru pulled out his paper fan then pointed at the child. "There she is now's your chance!" Maru yelled at his elemental. Cold-Blooded channeled her chakra into her hands than pushed her hands forward making the snow move like a wave towards the fleeing academy student. The snow pushed trees causing them to snap then fall forward, the icy vapor radiating from the super chilled snow that started off as a very destructive avalanche that started to go slower once the momentum died. Moeka would've been able to outrun that, but Maru used his fan to lift the freezing snow again then thrust the snow forward to make the avalanche hit pushing Moeka forward with the wave of snow…. Everything went calm, Moeka was on the ground with both of her arms and both legs encased in large icicles. She was still able to feel her limbs were just stuck inside ice as though the ice froze around her arms and legs rather than freezing her cells themselves. She could easily break out of the ice that served to weigh her down and keep her from using jutsu properly.

Maru, the Centipede, and the ice elemental came into view. The ice elemental blowing white smoke on the child to rob her of more heat, sending a burst of sub-zero energy into the joints of the child, dealing no noticeable damage, but affecting her muscles. This freezing chakra significantly reduces a victim’s speed and coordination, making each movement sluggish. When Maru believed the child to have had enough, he raised his hand to tell his ice elemental to stop. "Had enough yet." he simply said, not wanting to waste his breath on a long speech. He believed she already knew what he wanted, it all seemed hopeless so far but in behind every storm lies the sun. Moeka could see a light flashing in the distance in front of her, a red light flickering as though it was Morse code. The Youkai that she first saw were trying to signal that they were close, so close that she could hear their voices faint in the blizzard. 'HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!!!!!! OVER HERE! TO LEAVE IS RIGHT HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE' They continued to shine the red light yelling at just how far the child had come. "That's for real yanno? If you can manage to get up and run to or pass that red light without being caught. The exam will be over. The other 85 can't catch up, they are way behind right now so there's no tricks." Maru assured, whether or not the child believed him he didn't know. "Now what Uchiha, your limbs are sealed in ice, you're starting to get hypothermic. In the end a Uchiha who was just as strong as I was couldn't pass his final exam, if an S-RANK shinobi couldn't do it you don't have a chance in hell. Heck I'm willing to bet if I give you a 10 second head start you still won't make it." Maru threw his head back then laughed, even though he was serious about how confident he was that she wouldn't make it even if he gave her a ten seconds to get to the exit. What will Moeka do?

Moeka's Progress

Moeka's Sanity

Maru's Progress

[Maru calls his demons! They heard the call but the 85 demons are so far it'll take three post for them to join +10 progress]

[Maru summons his Ice Elemental Cold-Blooded! Cold-Blooded uses the power of Natural Disaster Senjustu to cause a blizzard! Wind pushes Moeka into a tree causing her to drop her transformation! -5 sanity]

[Maru uses the Crystal Eye Jutsu Along with its special action! Maru is aware of Moeka's location!]

[Cold-Blooded uses
Falling Snow to send an avalanche at Moeka. Cold-Blooded's avalanche wasn't able to reach Moeka so Maru sends one of his own that hits Moeka. Arms and Legs frozen to slow Moeka down. +5 Maru Progress]

[Cold-Blooded attempts to chill Moeka with hypothermic touch Moeka is cold and even slower. +5 Maru progress]

[With running from and going with the avalanche it pushed Moeka to a distance to where she can find the way out, the two demons from before signaling where they are. +15 progress]

 

[Midori Futotta]

Maru seeing the child struggling to get up made him cringe, any normal person would've given up by now but instead the child attempted to take on his challenge. He watched as the child broke through the ice that coated her arms and one of her legs. Listening as the child told him that 10 seconds in her condition was all that she needed, the child had spirit. He could give her that much but even he knew that she'll need more than ten lousy seconds in order to make it in her condition. Nonetheless he shrugged since he was always in for a bet, after all deals were his speciality. "Fine, you get ten seconds to prove you can make it. Don't think you can but hey I offered anytime you're ready." he said, tapping his foot onto the snow as he waited for the child to get herself prepared. Maru wasn't entirely unsympathetic, he could see that the child was closed so he didn't have a reason to end it all right here when he could have more fun. As he waited for the child to free her last limb, Maru looked at his wrist as if he was looking at his watch. When the child was finally ready, Moeka told him to start the countdown which Maru started without waiting for her to fully get up just like she wanted. "Ten. Nine. Eight." he counted low when Moeka was fumbling to get up then began to yell when she got farther away from him.

"Seven!…. Six! Six… Six… Six?...." Maru wondered what came after six, he said the number before but he couldn't quite get the exact name of the- "Five?" his ice elemental corrected, making Maru remember the number again and despite the headache Maru shook his head to begin the countdown again the genjutsu only buying the child mere seconds.
"Five!" he said seeing Moeka was almost halfway there and halfway through the countdown he began to weave hand seals. "Four! Three!" When the hand seals were completed he outstretched his hand out into the direction the child was sprinting towards. Moeka was closed, so close that she was able to see where the trees end and where the buildings started. The two figures waving their arms, telling the Moeka to hurry and to not look back. "TWO!... And THAT'S ONE!" Maru yelled, then fired a blue beam which caused a small explosion sending snow and debris scattering with a loud 'Boom!' The Youkai that were cheering Moeka on screamed in horror at the sight, she was so close, why did Maru just go all out like that?! So much for his reputation for no Student deaths. Cold-Blooded's eyes widened in shock, Maru was smirking as he put his hand down after his attack was finished then after the smoke cleared it was revealed that there was a big cube of ice around the child. Maru simply froze the area around Moeka, trapping her in a barrier of ice leaving her unharmed. "Well that's a relief, shall I capture her then?" Cold-Blooded asked.

"Sure. Here I'll give her a little bit of my chakra so you can escort her out with at least a fight. Can't say I didn't give her a fighting chance." he said, beginning to glow with a light blue to create a chakra link between him and Moeka so he could transfer some of his chakra to her. It wasn't enough to fully restore her, but it'll do to at least reenergize her enough to fight back. "There we go! Well she put in a valid effort, gave me a run for my money but I'm bored now. Please escort Moeka out now, hey, at least she almost passed." Maru shrugged, a bit disappointed but nonetheless his elemental followed by Maru's centipede walked towards where Moeka was trapped. While Mokea was stuck in the ice the two Youkai from before were still cheering the child on, she was about five meters away and Maru didn't exactly say that she failed. Will she accept her fate, be thrown out of the exam while Maru just sits back and watches or will she see the exam to completion. Maru did give her his chakra so perhaps he was giving her one last chance to do something.

Ooc:

Moeka's Progress

Moeka's Sanity

Maru's Progress

[Moeka genjustu only bought her a few seconds. Not as effective since Cold-Blooded reminded Maru how to count but she at least got close enough to the exit. +4 progress]

[Maru traps Moeka in a Ice Prison! Maru is growing bored so he sends his elemental and his Centipede to attempt to escort Moeka out of the exam +25 Maru Progress]

[Maru uses Energy Transfer on Moeka. Giving her a small amount of chakra to see what else she has before final decision is made. Last post means everything…...]

 

[Midori Futotta]

Maru chuckled, making the ice prison shatter when his Elemental and his Centipede got close enough so Moeka wouldn't be able to pull any last minute tricks without being attacked. He decided to stick around for a bit, hanging back at a good distance to watch as his minions got closer… but something happened…. The Centipede saw the Moeka, or at least what it thought was Moeka, make a dash for the finish line. This made the insect hiss then dash forward to chase after the illusionary clone, shooting lighting at it though the illusion made it believe it was missing so it continued to fire wildly moving in zig-zags at full speed. This lead to the Elemental taking her focus off the child, while Cold-Blooded was able to resist the child's genjustu she believed the Centipede to be under the effect of a betrayal genjustu since it looked like it was charging at the two Youkai who were attempting to lead Moeka to the finish line. "You wretched insect! Those are allies!" Cold-Blooded shouted, grabbing the insect by the antenna's to try to steer the centipede away. Maru watched unamused as the child had easily slipped by in the chaos, Cold-Blooded being unable to control the insect as it made a dash for the two Youkai who were cheering the child on which made the two smaller demons break and run to get out of the way of the beast. "COLD-BLOODED LET IT GO! IT'S DANGEROUS! GET OUT OF THERE!" yelled the masked Youkai trying to tell the Elemental to let go of the Centipede.

Cold-Blooded could let the insect go, it bucked her off it's head then fired another lighting bolt at nothing when suddenly…. 'snap!' the centipede triggered the ninja wire trap that the two Youkai had set up for Moeka at the very beginning of the exam! Maru told them in that strange language to set up a ninja wire trap so at the very last moment he could fail the child for not seeing the trap coming, he knew that they glint in the sunlight hence why he called Cold-Blooded to summon a blizzard so the Ninja wire wouldn't be seen. His two Youkai were supposed to cheer the child on leading her right to the trap then if she made it to the finish line, bam! She's stuck in the Ninja wire trap then he could inform her that she failed if she didn't quit or get captured already. But instead of Moeka being in the trap, the goddamn centipede has its head stuck in the trap making it writhe around trying to get itself free. Cold-Blooded blew her frigid breath on the centipede to freeze the insect so it would stay still, making sure that it wouldn't cause any more harm. The two Youkai stepped over to where the frozen centipede was, standing next to Cold-Blooded who was looking a bit embarrassed. "Well then… I guess that backfired." the cyclops said with her hands on his hips.

Maru clapped his hands slowly on a job well done. "Congrats, you three, including the other 85 still coming, showed me that you're all completely useless. You ALL let an Academy Student get the better of you! Academy Student! You all had one job here." Maru screamed at the three spirits that he had as his officer's of his night parade. He was in his good mind to order them all to commit harakiri, luckily he was nice so he'll think of a punishment later for them. Maru turned to Moeka, who had already escaped the forest and overall passed her exam. He went into the sleeve of his kimono to pull out a single shiny silver headband that had the Kumogakure's symbol of allegiance etched into it, handing it to the child. "By the power granted by the Raikage, Lord Enma, and all the horrors that lurk in the shadows of Kumogakure. I hereby promote you to Gennin. Congrats Uchiha, you beat me this old fox." he nodded, changing his tune sounding like he was impressed.

"Now that you passed your exam, which branch are you thinking about joining? With a glowing recommendation from the academy headmaster you'll easily be able to get into any branch you want. Being able to avoid a Jounin along with 88 Gennin level 'Shinobi' makes you look pretty good to anyone wishing to hire you, they do like the best after all." Maru asked, reaching into one of his tails to pull out a scroll from underneath the fur along with a quill and a jar of ink. So now what path will Moeka follow? The path of the medical nin, helping to keep the village healthy and harvesting organs for the progression of science? The elite Anbu shinobi who operate in the shadows maintaining the law in the village, taking on the most difficult missions that will challenge you both physically and mentally? Or the Main Branch who are given a bit more freedom with how they operate, being hired for all sorts of tasks to keep the village going from saving the world to helping cats out of trees. The choice is Moeka's now...

[Uchiha Moeka PASSED their Exam!]

[Will request banner once branch is chosen]​

 

[Midori Futotta]

Maru gave Moeka a nod before beginning to write up the child's promotion letter, the corners of his mouth curled up in a smile as he heard the branch that the child had chosen. "The Main Branch, huh? That's an excellent choice." Maru stated, putting the finishing touches on the letter before tossing the ink and quill behind him like trash he folded the paper in half before putting the letter in his sleeve. Though Maru could work with just about any branch he wanted, given that one of his jobs as headmaster was running CPSS which all branches participated in. Whether it be to kidnap new recruits or announce fake flu vaccinations to find children that held potential the medics or the anbu will still be fine. But Maru always favored the main branch despite the new Sennin being someone he…. wouldn't necessarily say was ready for the responsibility. Maru rubbed his chin, then looking at his three spirits before deciding to offer the child something to go along with the promotion. "Well all done now. You're officially a beginner shinobi, you're pretty much free to choose what kind of path you want." he paused for a moment before starting again.

"While I'm here, how about I become your Jounin supervisor so you can keep rising the ranks. Give you a few tips in combat, doing a couple missions on my behalf, get you connections to some high profile shinobi to help you get to my rank and all that jazz." Maru offered since he was the first one around that could possibly help the child keep moving forward . "You see, I've been attempting at forming a team to reflect my.. ahem… our worth to the high ranks. I can see that you have potential, well at least enough to be stronger than two of the Sennin that our Raikage recently appointed. Basically, I want to prove to those weaklings that we are the best not that we are just as good as they are. Who knows, you might get a promotion to Jounin which I'd recommend you for when you're ready. Plus you can be my intern and come along with me when I take trips out of the country…. So how's about it, wanna be a member of my crew or not?" was Maru's final offer. Of course her answer wouldn't affect his decision to pass the child, but he simply wanted to offer to make the child well known if she was willing to put in the work to do so. Besides, he was starting to grow bored with the village and needed a little something to spice up his life even if he had to train up a new Gennin. Not to mention he hadn't seen Ai in a bit so he might as well start looking for a new apprentice to help ease his boredom.

[Moeka NOW Promoted to Cloud Gennin!]
[Maru offers Moeka to be his apprentice!]

 

[Midori Futotta]

Maru could see the child was hesitant at first, looking as if she was going to cook up some excuse and bail on him. 'One last push.' "Hey I'm just letting you know I have some pull to make you great. As a teacher I want to see all my students succeed and I know first hand what a lack of guidance can cause." Maru explained. He didn't remember much about his past in the leaf village but Maru knew he wasn't necessarily a good fighter persay. He could blame it on his lack of knowledge but if he actually had someone who could've shown him what to do Maru believed he could've been successful back then. The fox could tell the child was at least serious given everything he threw at her and how she came back after sending her away. With enough training Maru's pretty sure he could make her a prodigy to flaunt around the village, besides none of the members of the Kurū are necessarily interested in advancing the ranks so creating a team of graduates seemed like the second best option for the villages (and the Kurū's) protection.

With that, the child had accepted his offer. Officially declaring herself his apprentice, Maru chuckled at her enthusiasm and with a nod the deal was sealed. "Perfect. First thing tomorrow I'll teach you some more advanced lessons in combat so we can start building around your talents. Right now, get some rest and change out of those ragged clothes when you get home." Maru said, hearing rustling in the trees the 85 demons peeked out ready to capture Moeka not knowing that the exam is over. The man-sized monkeys hopped out then got into a fighting stance, speaking all at the same time. "We've got cha now! It's over!" said the monkeys which made the officer's that knew of the exams' conclusion cringe. Maru remained smiling, turning towards the demon mob and raising his hand to demand their attention. "The exam is over, all the female demons are dismissed but all the males stay behind. I need to have a conversation with you all! Oh and all who are actually shinobi of the village are allowed to leave with the women! he ordered. With that, a good portion of the demons that were pursuing Moeka walked away slowly, kicking at the dirt as they went away seemingly unhappy with the result.

A good handful of the lesser demons remained behind with confused looks upon their faces as Maru proceeded to crack his knuckles making the team of monkeys back up.. "Now Moeka if you need me, I'll be turning these Youkai into corpses. If I were them, they'd better start running." and ran away they did! Maru wasn't as nice to them as he was with Moeka, he ran after them leaving Moeka alone as he went to genocide the real failures of this exam…..

[Left Topic]