[Konohagakure] Forty-Forth Training Ground (Forest of Death)

[Apollymi]

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A metallic fence surrounds its perimeter with 44 gates equally spaced around it; this perimeter is where the shinobi entered. Inside is a river, the forest, and a tower located in the exact center; the forest's radius is about ten kilometers. Its primary function served as a testing ground for the survival and fighting skills of genin trying to become chūnin. It was a very dangerous place, filled with hordes of flora and fauna, often gigantic, poisonous — or even more likely, both — hence its name. Within the forest are several large and deadly creatures such as leeches, tigers, and bears.

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The tower in the center of the forest houses a large arena which is often used as another potential area for the exams. Otherwise it is also a normal building, recently used as storage for grains and other dry goods during the off seasons. It is upheld and maintained by the Chunin and Jounin of the Konohagakure.

[Bloodedge]

One afternoon, a pair of red-haired twins from the Land of Whirlpools left Konohagakure to return to their homeland. One of these twins was a male in his mid teens. He carried on his back a large scroll, which had been used to seal a great number of ninja tools. The pair's journey brought them through the forty-forth training ground, which was a bit of a shortcut, as they seemed to consider it worthwhile. Whatever dangers were ahead of them, these two apparently thought themselves capable of dealing with it. "Mendokuse! We got dropped off so much earlier, but the trip back is already making me tired!"

[Apollymi]

"Oi, don't have that sort of attitude you'll make me tired too!" The red haired female of this pairing was also in her midteens and she wasn't carrying anything, her stroll was casual as she looked through this particular forest with all the interest in the world. "Eh, maybe we should have gotten Aneki to pick us up~ We could have gotten a better look around the village." the girl said. Their trip had been rather fruitful but she still felt like it could have included a bit more sight-seeing. Whatever the case, the pair didn't think themselves to be in any particular danger.

[Bloodedge]

"You should be tired! We have to walk all the way back to the boat, then wait to get back home once we get on it! I can feel the seasickness coming already..." The longer he walked, the longer the young man known as Akira felt the trip home was going to be. He was beginning to drag his feet already, not due to actual fatigue, but due to the mental tiredness he gained from looking forward. "We couldn't have asked for that. Her kid up and disappeared on her; she had to get back to him. Besides, she's got a bunch of stuff going on in Suna. We'll be alright... when this is finally over."

[Apollymi]

"Where's your energy Aki?! Going new places, doing new things!~" She asked, in general this girl seemed to reek of optimism. "You can't think about all the bad stuff associated with the trip, it will just make it seem longer~" Finished the red haired young woman. It seemed that they were indeed making progress. To her point that they could have gotten their older sister to pick them up, her brother came back with some pretty factual information. "Yes, I guess you're right. To be fair though, that kid can probably take care of himself even without Aneki. He seems like the type anyways, what with him just skill checking, reading minds, and teleporting people out of thin air and all~" she added as they took a step forward. As they progressed deeper into the forest she began to see more. "Besides, after home, we can go visit Aneki directly, she never actually said what she does in the Suna..." she said seemingly curious about what her eldest sibling had started doing with her life after her previous exile.

Meanwhile, the pair was slowly but surely being approached. A red mist seemed to be gathering blowing in from the east where the river should have been. Of course, this would seem strange even to the red haired young woman and as she moved she became a bit uneasy.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, that's cool and all, but... I dunno. I just kinda wish someone would invent a big flying machine or something. Maybe one that people could sit down in, and look through a window while it carried them where they need to do on another plane entirely. A plane! They should call it a plane!" he said, spinning around to face his closest sibling with flailing hand gestures to make his excitement over this idea obvious. As for the apparent strength of Benihime's child, he had a bit more of an idea to share. "He was kinda freaked out back there, though. A kid's still a kid, and that one probably needed some emotional support or something. Anyway, I bet she's a Jounin by now. She's gotta be with strength like that." As they pressed onward, Akira found himself walking out ahead, and doing so backwards as to gaze upon his twin directly while they conversed. Since he was looking, he could easily take note of her discomfort. "What's up? Something bugging you?"

[Apollymi]

"Plane huh? That sounds... fun and all. You figure out how they are going to keep something big enough to travel in up in the air without it falling, and I'll try it out with ya'!~" the girl said, find this entire thing to be something amazing and definitely worth looking into, if they should need to. Moving right along, her closest sibling mentioned that their nephew might have needed some emotional support, in spite of his strength and supposed that their eldest sister might be a jounin by now. "Hmm, I suppose that is true" she said her nephew, her eyes narrowing. "I hope she's a jounin, it'd be so cool, to get a show of her new skills~" And just like that, she came to a stop looking around the forest with her twin walking away facing her, apparently noticing her obvious discomfort. "Something doesn't feel quite right." she said and as she looked around but there was no obvious explanation for the feeling she had. "I thought the whole, Forest of Death thing might have been getting to me... but Aki, we might be in trouble."

"Perceptive, kitten." These words would be spoken as a man launched himself out of the trees. He was dressed overly ornately with hair of red and white trimmed around his face and trailing down his back. Beyond this, he had eyes like pupil-less moons blood red in color, he had an old world feel about him. On his shoulder a pauldron which had the shape of a tiger's head for whatever reason. After launching himself out of the trees he would aim to immediately capture the male of these twins by the neck, with a single hand sparing a single glance and a question. "Where is he?" A simple enough question but in the context of this situation it made no sense.

[Bloodedge]

"Eto..." When Teruko voiced her thoughts on the feeling in this area, Akira raised a hand to gather what he expected to be a small amount of chakra from the surrounding area. What he got instead was many times more than his expectation, which left him wide-eyed. "Now that you mention it, this place is kinda..." The young man would never get a chance to finish his statement. Mid-sentence, he was cut off by the words of the white and red-haired man, who immediately went on to grip Akira by the neck during his appearance. This man's question was one Akira did not understand, nor was it one he could answer while being stifled in such a manner. His right hand quickly reached for his katana, which he aimed to draw and slash across his assailant's midsection in one swift motion.

[Apollymi]

After a second or two her twin seemed to understand her discomfort, but before they had enough time to process what was going on here, a man appeared out of nowhere attacking her twin and asking of the pair a question which neither of them had the ability to answer. The male twin to his credit tried to cut himself free, but the man didn't seem to care much about the slash coming toward his midsection. In fact the young man would find the blade met a piece of armor worn beneath the kimono worn by the man who seemed disappointed by the action. "You cut my clothes." he said without loosening his grip. While this occurred the female twin launched herself forward, without a moment of forethought a spinning back kick at her full speed and physical strength launched at the man's back a bit higher than her brother's strike had been. The strange man seemed to be a bit surprised by this, even so he reached behind him at the top of her kick and grabbed her by the neck and was presently holding both twins in this way. "Oh kitten, you give me hope. I didn't think the pair of you would be worth hunting. I have greater prey on my mind than you. Perhaps, you'll be a good pre-game hunt. Though I will be needing you to answer my question." He spoke those words, belittling the pair and their skills, before aiming to slam the surprised and still struggling female twin, into her male twin. This was done, apparently without care for brandished weapons nor potential injury to either of them, taking the time to let both of them go as he did. "Speak." The man said, apparently in wait for an answer to his question, regardless of the current state of both of the twins.

[Bloodedge]

Much to Akira's dismay, the connection of his slash did not yield the blood of his target. Beyond that, his sister was soon at the receiving end of this man's choke-hold as well, after failing to connect an attack of her own. This would lead to another speech from the strange man, which in-turn led to him aiming to slam the two into one another. As their bodies drew closer, Akira gathered chakra from the surrounding area to create a cushion of sorts between them, softening the blow for both ends before they were released. Their attacker's query was still in demand, it seemed, but Akira had no clue what he could be getting at. "What the hell are you even talking about?"

[Apollymi]

Teruko soon found herself falling into her brother after being held in a choke hold, but a cushion between the pair would keep them from feeling most of the hit meant to bash them together. "Ugh, still hurt." She managed before the white and red haired man declared that one or both of them should speak. The one who did so was Akira who claimed to not know what he was talking about. The man to Teruko's surprise let out an exasperated sigh. "The one like me, who entered my space yesterday. His chakra is around, but it's everywhere, I can't pinpoint after he moved. I saw him in my space, but he left before I could pull him in. He's worthy prey, where is he?" After his speech, Teruko tried to put together what he was saying but it still didn't make any sense.

"Yeah, we still don't know what you're talking about. Beyond that if this entity's chakra is everywhere, it is probably just coincidental." Her eyes were on this man waiting for any movement, any thing which would give a way for the pair of them to escape. This obviously wasn't really a fight they could win, they'd have no choice but to run when the time was right. While she thought this the white haired man stared at his hand apparently confused, he knew he'd sensed someone of much greater power than these two, and he knew they'd been in contact with this person. It was possible that they didn't know of the contact, but that would only serve to make them expendable. "And you, shounen, is that your answer as well?"

[Bloodedge]

The white-haired individual gave a bit more information pertaining to the question he wanted answered. Teruko spoke then, stating that she still had no idea who he could be seeking. The man's attention was redirected to Akira, at which point he asked if the young male had the same response. While he knew there was a very high chance this man spoke of the twins' nephew, he could certainly not give such information away. "It is. Mind leaving us alone now?"

[Apollymi]

It seemed that the pair of twins had the same answer to the man's question. That being said, it wasn't the answer he was looking for, and beyond that they'd actually managed to put up, some form of a struggle, even if it had turned out to be fruitless. He looked down at his slashed clothing and rotated his shoulder around the place where Teruko had kicked him before looking directly at both of the twins. "Iie, if I can't hunt what I want, you two will have to do," the white haired man spoke ominously as he shifted. "Run or attack, but do make it interesting."

Teruko looked at her brother, and then at this man, as his reasoning became obvious. The power difference here was likely way higher than anything, but she'd still react under the assumption that if they managed to get away, nothing bad would befall them this day. As such, she immediately launched herself forward, giving a feint attack of a high kick followed by a low kick aimed at the white haired man. The first of which caused the man to dodge, in a very specific manner and the latter of which would connect in the form of a spinning roundhouse kick, which wouldn't have the normal effect of sending the man flying since he apparently had the physical strength to withstand it, and instead his legs buckled only slightly. She'd leave the rest of this combination up to her brother, knowing that he'd know what to do, after the attack, they'd scatter into the forest, and hopefully regroup well out of this man's radius of influence.

[Bloodedge]

"Mendokusai!" Akira yelled immediately, knowing this man would be more of a hassle then either of them could, would, or should, deal with. Either way, Teruko initiated an offense that didn't seem to accomplish much. It did, however, cause a momentary stumble the likes of which Akira saw an opening in. Without a moment of hesitation, he dashed forward with his sword in his right hand, and his sheathe in his left. This was also a feint attack on his part, as he quickly hopped back from striking range to sheathe his blade and bring his right hand to his mouth. "Katon: Haijingakure no Jutsu!" From his mouth, Akira expelled ash infused with his own burning chakra toward the partially stunned man, aiming to blanket not only him, but the entire area around him for several meters in the fiery substance. As it spread, he would aim to make his escape alongside Teruko.

[Apollymi]

Her brother's utterance of how annoying this would be, could be echoed by Teruko as well. It was kind of a hassle to be this man's target simply because he wasn't getting his way in something else. Regardless her brother seemed to capitalize upon the man's stumble, if only for a moment. And the man himself seemed further stunned by the feint attack which turned instead into camouflage for both of the twins to try and escape in. "Sugoi sugoi!" He said, though the man didn't seem at all distressed by the idea that these two were getting away from him. Nor did he seem distressed by his obstructed vision. In fact, it wasn't obstructed at all. Instead, he found himself staring in the direction the pair were running in and he took off after them, leaving them just enough space to feel like they were alone. To her twin Teruko had this to say. "Run the rest of the way and clear the forest. If we do that we should be alright," she mentioned, knowing her brother would be at her side within seconds of completing his jutsu. Even so, something about this would likely feel a bit too easy to them, considering how easily they'd been captured in the first place. As if to mark this the white haired man would appear at Akira's left aiming a sweeping kick of his leg into the boy's torso to send him flying away from his twin and into a nearby tree.

[Bloodedge]

In no time at all, Akira was running alongside Teruko to begin their getaway. There was a plan of escape spoken by the female twin, and the young man was certainly on board. Before he could even think to reply, though, the very man they were running from suddenly appeared to the left of him. Everything happened too quickly for Akira to even register the movement next to him, and before he knew it, the wind was being knocked from his lungs, and he was quickly flying in another direction. This movement didn't cease until it was forced to by Akira slamming into the trunk of a tree, shattering its bark and cracking the tree itself. He wasn't quite sure what, but he was quite sure something on either side of his torso had been fractured by these two impacts.

[Apollymi]

"Shounen, if that broke something, your body is too weak." The man said. His actions had been enough to completely halt the movements of the male twin. The female one to her credit kept running forward, before she ran up a tree and flipped upside down and over the white haired man. As she fell she aimed a drop kick on top of the man's head, which he raised an arm to meet. "Nice reflexes, kitten." The man said as he extended his arm and opened his hand to take a reversed grip of her leg and toss her in the same direction as her twin. The rather sudden change in his grip was something that Teruko wasn't prepared for, and she was soon enough having her own body add to the cracked and broken tree they were both over. She at least, had enough decency left not to land directly atop her twin, and went to his right side. "Oh hell!" she mentioned bruised feeling against her back ribs, which didn't let her know if she had actually broken anything. Even so, they obviously couldn't stop here. The hunter approached both of them at lightning speed. "This can't be all, what else?" he asked as he reached for the boy by the front of his gear aiming to lift him off the ground while he looked at the girl. "Show me something else, or this one dies here and now." As if to make clear on this threat, he aimed a simple slicing motion with the claw like nails at his right hand vertically up the boy's left cheek, aiming to draw blood here and now. They couldn't tease him with the possibility of fun, and end here.

[Bloodedge]

"Urusai!" said Akira upon being told the apparent weakness of his body. He remained immobile while Teruko retaliated in his place, only to watch as she retrieved the same treatment as him in the end. It seemed he would then be next on the chopping block, being lifted by their attacker and having his life threatened. This was even topped off with blood being drawn from his cheek, which was something that somehow felt worse than any blade wound he'd received. In response to this, Akira grabbed this man by the collar with his left hand, while drawing his sword with his right. The blade of his sword was brought not to the man that held him, but to the back of his tekkou. "Ni no Hiken: Guren Kaina!" Akira quickly dragged his blade across the tekkou on his left hand, cutting through it while his sword caught fire. Inside his tekkou was gunpowder, which combined with his burning blade would create an explosion that usually killed anyone he managed to grab and use this technique on. In this particular case, though, he only hoped he'd be able to free himself and retreat.

[Apollymi]

The boy's snap reaction to being informed of his weak body, made the white haired male laugh just a little. But now, this white haired man was holding the young red haired male by his clothes and threatening him and his sister. Such tactics usually brought about more shows of skills, more interesting things. And he was not let down, soon the boy in his arms began to struggle a bit without his sister putting forth any additional efforts. The white haired male had his clothes grabbed as well, not that this put him in any sort of distress, but what followed was nearly amazing to the man. The boy used his sword to create an explosion from his wrist guards. Such a thing was nearly unheard of, and the explosion would indeed engulf the man and cause him to let go of the boy and before the dust would clear Teruko would be up and running knowing her twin would the same thing in mind. "Amazing!~" The white haired man commented, his wounds healing at an accelerated pace, but his upper torso and face had previously been covered in burns and wounds, and the upper half of his gear except his armor was also burned and singed. These little twins had been backed into the corner, and were now fleeing once more. "I was wrong, Shounen, and Kitten, you two will make fine prey!~" He called out to the pair. This only distressed Teruko as she ran.

"Aki, are you going to be okay to keep running?" she asked simply. Broken ribs were likely on the young man's plate, but as they kept moving they'd soon enough find they were headed towards a tower in the middle of the woods. This was something she at least hadn't known was here.

[Bloodedge]

The man's statement to the pair as they ran away sent a shiver up the male twin's spine, but this only caused him to increase the pace of his fleeing. His injuries were very much a pain to him, but he knew much worse would come if he were to slow down at all. As such, when Teruko posed an inquiry, he was very quick to respond. "No, but I'm less okay with dying! Let's go!" he said as he reached the maximum speed his current state would allow.

Little did this pair know, their current path would soon lead them directly to another figure. This one was another male; one with a slim figure clad in a primarily red kung fu uniform with a large sedge hat upon his head to cover most of his facial features. On his back, he carried a basket of rice twice the size of his torso. He also had, under his left arm, a parcel containing a large quantity of seaweed. Aside from his obvious labors, there didn't seem to be much about this man. Sensor types would note his chakra as being exceptionally low for one who dressed like a martial artist of some sort. One could easily say this gentleman was about to have an encounter he never expected.

[Apollymi]

A smirk crossed the girl's face. "Must not be too bad, still got all that attitude~" she said of her twin. She was quite astounded by his fortitude, and she wished she could keep her own disposition as constantly as he seemed capable of it. Even though this situation at present seemed dire, she wouldn't want to go through it with anyone else at her side. And so they ran, but soon enough they were headed towards a strange man who seemed to be carrying large packages. Stunned that anyone else would even be in this particular forest, the female twin opened her mouth to speak. "Run! Dangerous!" These two words were all she managed, because soon enough the white haired man who chased them, made himself known again. This time, instead of attacking the male twin first he went for the female one, knocking into her with his shoulder as she turned. She was trying to take the brunt of the damage away from her core, but wouldn't be able to manage a complete turn before she went flying around and straight into a nearby tree. Her ribs made the loudest popping noise coming from the left side, and she immediately became short of breath. "Slowing down a bit there, Kitten, are you tired already?" he questioned, seeming not to have noticed this extra man at all. The girl, to her credit, tried to speak, but it came out as wet and slightly pink bubbles. She gurgled; a broken rib had punctured a lung, and she wouldn't be able to run anymore. His prey were this pair of twins, and there wasn't anything which would get between them. His gaze shifted to the boy once more, and he was already drawing back aiming another slash of his hand at the boy's face, to cross the line already created on his left cheek. "Oi, Shounen! show me something else," he demanded. He would have his fill of entertainment from this pair before the end of this day.

[Bloodedge]

The random laborer was unsuspecting of any other pedestrians within the training grounds. As such, his surprise was evident when a pair of twins sprinted past him, one of them going so far as to warn him of danger and demand that he run. It was his initial assumption that these two were running from the creatures within the forest, but he was quite wrong about that.

It seemed Akira would be receiving a momentary break from the white-haired man's torture. Instead, it was his sister who received a brutal thrashing without a moment's notice. Even from where he stood, Akira could hear the snapping of ribs in the lass' body. This wasn't good at all. While looking toward his sibling, before he even knew what struck him, another slash wound from the attacker's hand had been placed along his cheek. The second mark gave him a rather large cross on the left side of his face. As he stood before this man with wide eyes, he knew there was nothing in his arsenal that could accomplish anything after what had been done to Teruko. "I... I don't have anything. Just leave."

As these words were spoken, the man these twins had recently passed was walking toward Teruko at the tree she'd so recently been slammed into. With his focus on the white-haired man, Akira failed to notice this one's presence, but he was no enemy. In fact, the rice-carrying male crouched in front of Teruko to inspect her injuries, all while producing several acupuncture needles from his maija. "Shh," he whispered to the girl. "You're bleeding internally at multiple points. I can help you."

[Apollymi]

The white haired man had his hand make contact with the young redheaded male's face, given this he knew the secondary cut to be one which was made. A smile crossed this ornate man's head, he seemed to find something funny in the young man's reaction to his apparent inability to show him anything else. "Don't say that, you two are the first interesting things I've seen this century, the least you could do is entertain for longer than a few moments," he stated plainly, he expected this pair to keep the fight in them, after all, if they didn't they wouldn't be worth hunting. So he motioned to himself telling the boy to attack him again, while they waited on the recovery of his sister he looked over to find another man standing there. "Oi, that Kitten is my prey," he stated as if to tell the other man to clear off before he became next.

Meanwhile the female twin tried to gather herself enough to speak and she still couldn't. But she was more than a bit surprised by the male who crouched down before her, whom she'd just seen, she still couldn't speak but he seemed to have some sort of medical ability. Anything to get her back where she needed to be as soon as possible, which was at the side of her twin who was currently standing before the man who was hunting them both.

[Bloodedge]

"Chikushou," Akira mumbled under his breath when it became apparent that this man would not simply leave. If he had anything that could do any sort of damage to this man, it was his ultimate Kenjutsu technique. At this point, there was nothing else he could even think to do, so he placed the base of his blade against the end of his sword's scabbard. When doing so, he noticed this man speaking to the individual Akira and Teruko recently passed, who seemed to be tending to the red-haired lass. If this was truly the case, he would have to distract the white-haired individual to allow this man time to work. "Tsui no Hiken: Kaguzuchi!" By scraping his katana blade from base to tip along the scabbard, Akira ignited the sword with a spiraling flame, which grew larger as he raised his sword overhead. He then slashed downward, as if aiming to cleave through his enemy while also bringing the full force of the flames upon him.

In the meantime, the man in the sedge hat glanced in the white-haired male's direction only for a moment. He didn't seem to bothered by the latter's statement, and instead of worrying about this, he returned his attention to Teruko. "Don't try to speak; it will only make things worse. Here." With that said, this individual inserted various acupuncture needles along the young woman's body, seeming to target her injuries with them. With a single Tiger hand seal thereafter, he channeled a mysterious healing technique through the needles, which would work toward rapidly repairing even Teruko's broken bones. It would only take a few moments.

[Apollymi]

Soon enough there would be a moment of eye contact between the white haired man and the one who was tending to Teruko, and in it he figured the man understood not to interfere. Moving right along, his attention was brought back to the male twin, by the sound of his sword scrapping along the scabbard of his weapon. The swirling fire created by it, made the man widen those blood filled moons as looked towards this growing attack. "Sugei!~ I knew there was more," the man seemed to be excited, and less than concerned even as the sword swept down towards his person like he would be cleaved in two. But he wouldn't be, though he didn't bother to do anything about the swirling inferno of death, he did raise both his hands, clapping Akira's blade between them without any issue and stopping the cutting motion. "Shounen, you're not bad. Better than most of the trash I find myself hunting," the man mentioned, apparently thinking it a compliment. These words alone would lead the man into pivoting on his left leg and sending his right hard into the boy's side after he let go of the blade aiming to send him flying way off in the distance before his attention returned to the other.

Meanwhile, Teruko was very quiet, as her injuries even her broken bones began to feel better without much work or time being put in. After a few moments she felt so much better, and once this was done. She looked to the man that had helped her utterly stunned. "That was amazing, arigatou gozaimasu. But really you should run, this guy..." she paused watching as the final attack of her twin was stopped. "Aki!!"

[Bloodedge]

The moment Akira's sword was stopped by this man's bare hands, he heard the call of his twin sister. There was then a sudden movement of retaliation from the white-haired man, which would surely result in Akira being incapacitated, at the very least. Luckily for him, this would not be the case. The man that had tended to Teruko's injuries had already made his move, and now stood at Akira's rear with his left arm outstretched to catch the assailant's kick by the shin. "This forest is an official training ground of Konohagakure. Leave now, and your intrusion will not be taken as an attempt to do harm to the village."

[Apollymi]

Teruko was alright but it appeared her twin was about to get another pummeling. Or maybe not. Instead of Akira receiving the kick intended to send him flying quite a long distance, the man who'd so recently been at Teruko's side, caught the man's leg before it could make contact. This thing was very much a surprise to the white haired man who'd fully expected to kick the male twin clear across the forest. "Nani?! Didn't I tell you already these are my prey?" He questioned this man interfering in this battle while being excited by the prospect that he'd actually managed to stop him. The rest of what the man had to say, seemed interesting as well. "Village? They still have those? Anyone strong in there? I'm still looking for something worth hunting." the man didn't seem to care either way about the village itself, he was looking for proper prey. "Well, after I've finished off the kitten and the boy." His eyes were still moving about this space, he could see the female twin all fixed up and the recently saved male twin as well. But this little man before him seemed to take issue with his activities. "Or are you one of the strong ones?"

Teruko watched this and wondered if she'd just been left alone. It seemed their hunter of coincidence had an easy switch to flip in this case, and was only looking for strong people to fight against. Even so, she didn't doubt that she would have died from such treatment long term, even with the man giving his creepy compliments. Beyond all this the man's words seemed to indicate that he was indeed not planning on leaving her nor her twin alone at all, and even with more preparation time, she was almost certain that it'd be impossible to kill the man by any conventional means.

[Bloodedge]

"You won't leave then?" he asked rhetorically. "Sou ka. I have no choice then." Suddenly, this man's incredibly low chakra became quite large, reaching a quantity that would be expected of a Jounin, and it only continued to grow from there. The second burst made it seem as if he'd received a high-quality boost of some sort, and in fact, he had. This man was Fon of Konohagakure, and he was a master of the Eight Gates. Here and now, he had unleashed the first gate to multiply his natural strength five times over. "Sumimasen," he said as he spun between the white-haired man and Akira, subsequently pushing the latter out of the fray as he utilized his flexible limbs to aim an upward kick at his opponent's chin, aiming to launch him into the air with it.

[Apollymi]

The white haired man seemed to think nothing of this man, who had a funny way of speaking in his own mind. Even so, the boy was soon pushed out of the way after a major boost of some sort being supplied to the man. The red eyes of the white haired man seemed to widen at the sight, and before he could even rightly react to it, the man's foot was making contact with his chin. Such a thing was utterly surprising to say the least, the man was soon downed completely, and it'd only taken a matter of seconds. But instead of a sound of pain escaping this man as he sat up and wiped a tiny bit of blood from the counter of his mouth there was a wide grin upon his face. In his own mind, he'd just won the lottery. "Sugoi, sugoi~ I didn't think the children of this time would come with enough skills to do such a thing. Come, I have to repay you for that~" the man stood once more taking a rather aggressive stance, both his hands forward and palms open with hooked fingers and his left leg gently sliding forward. Still he waited, for the next attack, for the next show of skill, for the next great being to amuse him this day.

Meanwhile, Teruko seemed to be utterly stunned. Even if she wanted to run right now, she doubted she could clear the area completely. Beyond that, a match up between a pair of individuals one of whom had actually managed to down the man who'd been chasing them nearly to their deaths, was one worth spectating at the very least.

[Bloodedge]

This man was obviously a very experienced fighter. To receive such an attack from him, and recover so quickly with a grin of all things upon one's face, was quite a great feat with this individual utilizing even one of the Eight Gates. What's more, he demanded that he be able to repay the hat-wearing individual for the blow. The stance he chose to take in response to this was a straight stand, his right side facing his opponent. His left arm was tucked behind his back, and his right was bent in front of him with four extended fingers and a tucked thumb of his right hand. To be honest, he was already becoming excited by this battle. "Hai. Onegaishimashita," he said. Without further hesitation, he forced open the second of the Eight Gates, increasing his strength further. This led to him dashing at lightning speed from tree to tree. Eventually, he would be led back to his opponent's location, aiming his open left palm toward the white-haired man's sternum. It was his intention to cause his opponent's ribcage to cave in, or at the very least, send him crashing through the forest behind him.

[Apollymi]

The white haired man seemed prepared for proper battle against the savior of the pair of twins. And unlike the previous hunts, he seemed to respect the battle from a place deep within himself. As the man opened another gate and began moving around the stance of this man never changed, but just a moment before the man launched the attack at his sternum a burst of energy came from the man which was the opening of the first gate. Such was done to increase his strength and give him the resistance to apply a block at the point of impact. This stop would be followed with an outward push of the left hand of the black haired man, and a quick jab aimed at his torso with the white haired man's left hand in its current almost clawed state. Such a strike was meant to damage internal organs and even break bones, but he had high hopes for the man he was fighting against. Too high to be stopped now.

[Bloodedge]

In the middle of his most recent attack, Fon came to realize something; his opponent also had the ability to access the Eight Gates. Activating only one gave him enough strength to block and deflect the attack against him, which made Fon wonder if he even needed it in the first place. With a counterattack inbound, the man from Konoha had to make a quick decision. He opened the third and fourth gates simultaneously, granting him enough of an increase in strength and reaction speed to deflect his enemy's jab downward and away using his right hand. "Only Opening?" he asked, pertaining to this man's gates. His own skin had already gained a slightly red tint due to a great increase in his blood flow, but this only seemed to fuel his strength and speed. "Bakuhasu Kenpo!" Immediately following his own parry, Fon thrust his right palm toward the other male's torso, though he did not do so with the intention of making contact. From this thrust, he unleashed a dragon-shaped wave of chakra, which was volatile in nature enough to explode upon making contact with its target, threatening to disintegrate anyone or anything in its path.

[Apollymi]

The grin on the white haired man's face never seemed to falter. If anything, he'd become more jovial over the course of this battle. When his counterattack was deflected downward, and his use of only the first of eight gates was questioned he had a rather interesting reply. "One is usually enough for those who survive the hunt. Oh, but you're different!~" he seemed excited by this, and after the man parried him, the white haired hunter, seemed to only move forward the second, third, forth, and fifth gates would open simultaneously giving the man the ability to dodge the coming thrust and hop backwards. His red tinted skin seeming to be nearly ablaze with heat as he took a strange stance. This did nothing to stop the coming chakra based attack but a smirk of the utmost arrogance crossed this man's face as he exhaled with a mighty bellow which would occur prior to the opening of the Sixth Gate. Such a monstrous bit of energy and body heat would leave him, it would cause the melting the man's dragon based wave of chakra before it would be any real threat to his physical self. The white haired man would then begin bouncing on his toes, seeming to have shifted to a different martial art entirely. "I like you, I'll show you something none have seen from me in a century or more." And with that he launched forward a multitude of punches which were so fast they ignited the air by friction alone. A fan of these punches would form around Fon as he aimed to maim the man with blazing fury under the guise of a docile creature. "ASAKUJAKU!!!!~"

[Bloodedge]

"I am not your prey. Watashi wa Fondesu," he replied calmly. This man had utilized multiple gate openings when avoiding, and then nullifying his attack. The fighting form which followed made the man named Fon narrow his eyes, and the claim that he would be shown something did nothing to deter his suspicions of the coming assault. "Kyoumon," he said, opening through the Seventh Gate: Wonder. The opening of this gate was instantly depicted by a green aura flowing from every inch of Fon's body, looking almost like a cloak of chakra, while being a visual effect of his evaporating sweat in actuality. This action was powerful enough that it blew away his hat, revealing his billowing hair beneath. When his fringe was moving away from his forehead, one may take note of a diamond-shaped seal beneath, which currently spread markings around his face.

"Fuu~... Ikuze," he muttered. Fon's stance then changed as well. His legs spread wide, and his left arm extended to his front with all fingers of his hands curved inward, though his fore and middle fingers protruded a bit further than the others. His right hand was held the same way, but was placed adjacent to the right side of his chest as that arm's elbow reached behind him. When the attack of the white-haired man began, a gleam crossed Fon's eyes. "This is the end. My Koenken will finish you."

The fireballs from the enemy's fists were rapidly encroaching upon him, but Fon did not seem worried. He awaited the moment they were in range, and suddenly, his arms began moving individually at lightning speed, all toward a single goal. Each outward strike would seem to collide with a separate fireball, but each strike also had another in its wake to push forward bullets of air pressure along the flames' original pathways, moving toward the white-haired man. Once he'd cleared the last of the attacks on him, and sent forth the last vacuum strike behind it, he added something else to his offense. One of his palms pointed toward the enemy, and he used his other fist to tap it and create air pressure. This was immediately followed by Fon forming a hand seal in the likeness of a tiger to unleash said air pressure in a massive, tiger-shaped blast. For the sake of the training grounds, he held back the power of this enough to only destroy the forest in front of him, where his opponent stood, but this massive explosion of pure force was sure to be felt for miles, in all directions, regardless of this restraint. "HIRUDORA!!!"

[Apollymi]

"Fon? Hm... I'd return the courtesy but I don't remember my name anymore," the man said seemingly in deep thought. But his eyes were all for the battle, and so were his instincts. Soon enough the man was launching a series of attacks his way while dispelling the fiery fists previously launched by his Asakujaku. This was all providing the man with the utmost amusement. Beyond this seeing the seal on this man's forehead and watching it spread was something entirely different and unknown to this man, he'd seen many things in his life, but never a seal which function the way this one was apparently doing. "Sugoi! The Seventh Gate! Fon you are a worthy opponent!~" the man said while he moved quickly dodging the random vacuums created by the dispersal of his own techniques while he activated the same gate as the man whom he was presently fighting. For all this he got to be amazed, as the man launched an attack which would surely engulf him but his own body was evaporating its sweat as it was going and he also quickly formed the same special handseal previously created by Fon. A push forward would create a slightly larger tiger to combat the one coming towards him, and in the process, crash the forest around them creating a blowout of massive proportion, still seemingly less than it could have been. "Hirudora, a small bite from a tiger. And you've managed to make it even smaller than it should be." the man said as he straightened his posture his entire body inflamed. Being in such a state should have been something deadly for him. "I wonder if you can handle what it is truly supposed to be!~"

At this point something strange would happen. And the white haired man would place a thumb over his heart before pushing it in, apparently causing himself an injury but, that wasn't the case. He was forcing open the final gate gave the man a blood red aura which seemed to pour from his very being and after doing so, he lowered his stance, opening his hands into a claw like formation with even his thumb curled like his fingers instead of tucked into his fist. "Shimon!" the invocation of the Eighth Gate implying that he was willing to die here and now to fight this fight. He grinned towards this man he was waiting to be met or disappointed, but somehow he felt he wouldn't be disappointed this day.

[Bloodedge]

Fon's opponent counteracted the Hirudora with one of his own, causing even more destruction to the forest around them. This was something Fon had been trying his hardest to avoid doing, but in the face of this retaliation, all he could do was move his body in a way that would redirect the backlash from the pair of twins nearby. "You two should leave. I don't have enough time to hold back for long against this," he said for the brief amount of time he was before them. Once his attention was back on the white-haired male, he heard words which disturbed him to no end. "It was my intention to avoid destroying the forest as much as possible. We need this land for training purposes," he replied to the man. What this man did next was something that made Fon's eyes widen. He couldn't believe he was witnessing the release of the Gate of Death, which was certain to end one's existence when used... in most cases.

"You fight in the realm of gods," he said while unfastening his maija. Fon released the garb from his body to reveal his perfectly sculpted musculature underneath, including a strange dragon tattoo wrapped around his left arm, stemming from his wrist to the left side of his chest. The dragon's mouth opened just above where his heart was, which was a location Fon soon drove his right thumb into. This unleashed the eight gate for Fon as well, but also caused the dragon tattoo to slither briefly. The blood aura around him was not just red; it was highlighted with hues of gold, making the aura appear more flame-like in nature. As his power erupted, he turned 40 degrees clockwise while raising his right knee to chest height, with his right foot over his left thigh. His right arm rose as he bent his elbow until his open right hand hovered just over his collar bone. His left arm was outstretched at a downward angle, with his fingers tightly curled inward from the outer knuckles. "Bakureppuuken. Ikuzou."

[Apollymi]

The white haired man found the other man's warning to the twins he'd previously hunted to be something completely unnecessary. But it had been a long time, since he'd done such a thing with spectators about. The female of these twins looked at her male twin and frowned. She obviously wanted to stay but she also realized the danger, she turned to begin travelling away but the words of the man who'd previously hunted her and her twin rang out. "Don't send the children away, you've saved them already, let them watch until the end." The white haired man said as if he hadn't been chasing this pair through the forest recently apparently intent upon their deaths. In a moment of charity for one reason on another the swirling red of his eyes fluctuated sending out a barrier of yang chakra which created around the pair a bubble for their full protection. "There, I won't tolerate you holding back on me, I want to see this~" the man still seemed beyond amused, and after opening the Eighth Gate he felt like his person was on fire, but such a feeling was being controlled by slow deep breaths. "Yosh!~" The young girl to her credit pumped a single fist in the air, apparently excited that she'd get to continue watching without risking her own life, which was very strange considering the man who'd done it, had initially been the one she was running from.

Soon enough his patience was rewarded by the opening of the Eighth Gate by the other man and the claim that he fought in the realm of gods. "If that is the case, you must be one too," he mentioned as he took note of the dragon seal moving on the man's person. A grin came to him, and he laughed in a way which would make many think he'd completely lost it. "What's that saying, about dragons and tigers..." he seemed to have found something amusing, "Oh yes, it was ryuuko~" he said, a statement which meant they made the greatest of rivals, and a complete archaism likely unused and unknown by most. It seemed that this man would get to experience some sort of great amusement and he as such when he was motioned towards the man, he'd take off towards him. His form was fluid and centered around the core of his being, he'd then immediately strike out with his arms with their clawed hands. Each of the barrage hits he aimed to berate the other man with would be swift, sending pulses of tiger head chakra out of his fists aiming to neutralize the man's body with each of his strikes, helping along the process which would ultimately cause the true mortals to disintegrate from their use of the final gate, should any of them make contact without any resistance.

[Bloodedge]

Fon was confused by the idea of this man wanting the others to spectate, and further confused by the barrier he erected around the twins. This was soon clarified by the clause that this man did not want Fon holding back in their battle, which was something Fon could understand, being a martial artist himself. "Sou ka. Very well. I'll use my full power against you." This was perhaps an easily misconstrued statement from Fon, as he did not actually intend to use his full power. Instead, he would utilize his ability to conserve as much stamina as possible when using all eight gates.

"Ryuuko?" he questioned when his opponent spoke again. This word was one he hadn't heard since his childhood, from the very old master who trained him. It was his assumption that this man had a master from the same era, or one who had inherited the old stories at least. Either way, the topic of this phrase would have to take a back seat to the fight at hand, as the white-haired male was initiating his next assault. Fon kept his stance steady as the man approached him. When the barrage of hand strikes began, Fon responded with an equally fast barrage of both punches and kicks. Each of his strikes were aimed perfectly to parry the attacks of his enemy, which in-turn caused his chakra tigers to be released away from Fon's body. This, of course, wasn't all. Between each parry, Fon slipped in a punch or kick of his own, unleashing his chakra in the same way as his opponent, albeit in the form of the very same dragon he'd attempted to strike this man with earlier in their encounter.

[Apollymi]

"Good man!~" the white haired man seemed to be elated. Having his wish granted in such a way, and continuing an obviously challenging fight was among one of his favorite activities. As such they continued and soon he found his own strikes being met by counters given by Fon. Unsurprisingly in the shape of dragons which seemed to clash with tigers at every turn to those who could see such a thing. "Hai, it's a phrase made up to describe my brother and me. I am surprised you know what it means, the most recent century hasn't been kind to words." the man mentioned as he aimed another series of attacks in response to the ones he was taking. Soon enough though he'd hop back a grin on his features, still looking as composed as he had initially. Both his arms began to move from their positions parallel to the ground into a more upward position as he built up chakra to expel into a large white tiger which was practically a projection of his inner strength. In this moment, he would remember his original name and smile, a genuine expression of his happiness. And once it was out, this massive chakra beast would aim to swallow up the man before him, this was the most respect the white haired man could pay to the young one before him, and he'd more than earned the honor. This steaming bit of chakra would stir the wind and raise the ground around it seeming to destroy with its very presence. If it could not be met with something equal or greater, this man would fall, but his death would at least be honorable in the eyes of the white haired man.

[Bloodedge]

"You make it sound as if you've lived for centuries," Fon said with a hint of light sarcasm. He had his own secrets to use of the Eight Gates, but for this man to have some other method of surviving the release, his story actually seemed somewhat believable. His barrage of parries and strike attempts continued until the white-haired man hopped away from their back-and-forth encounter. In this moment, Fon thought he would be able to prepare his final attack, but it was not to be. The enemy quickly prepared a massive attack to be used against Fon, forming a much greater tiger from his chakra than either Hirudora that had been used this day. Fon resumed his previous stance in the face of this tiger, but he didn't seem capable of counteracting it before being consumed by the great construct.

All was not lost. While true, Fon had been engulfed by this chakra tiger, his body had long since begun healing at incomprehensible speeds. This took an obvious toll on his chakra beyond the use of the Eight Gates, but it served a much greater purpose for the time being.

"Bakuryuu Enbu!" These words, in Fon's voice, suddenly came from within the tiger. Suddenly, a red dragon of Fon's chakra broke through the tiger head and dispersed it. This dragon was much larger, and had a more enhanced disintegration property. After its rise through the tiger head, it would twist in the air, until ultimately crashing down upon the white-haired man's location with enough force in its explosion to wipe out the entire forest outside of the barrier, and even threaten the outer walls of Konoha in the process.

[Apollymi]

"I have lived several yes, but I lost the exact number quite a long time ago," the man explained of his own longevity. Of course, he didn't expect anyone to believe him, in fact, he wasn't at all sure any would even understand the kind of circumstances which had lead to his extended life. Even so, his final attack seemed to make a great deal of impact encompassing the man who seemed so apt to fight. But even as most would have relaxed, and considered their day won, this white haired man had his eyes on the tiger and as such he saw what was to happen next. "Sugei!~"

This man was stunned as he saw the rising dragon of flame. If he had any potential worry about the end of the life of the man before him, it was all but gone now. Soon enough the giant flaming dragon came crashing down upon him, appearing to take him out as well as everything in the vicinity minus the area which protected the two twins presently. The white haired man looked towards this dragon and opened his arms to embrace it, it was a strange thing to behold and he would be lost in flames for several moments. But when the dust cleared he would emerge, clearing off his skin of the dust, debris, and cinders. And in a very odd showing he would bow to the young man before him. "I haven't had a fight like that in centuries. To know a generation produced a man like you, is very interesting indeed." the man mentioned, it was as honorable a thing as he could manage. And soon after he'd turn and walk away. "Some other time, when you can play for longer. We'll do this again." The white haired man seemed to be finished here and had nothing else to say about anything. Of course, as he walked the gates closed and his body went back to being just a normal amount of imposing. Even so, he walked as if nothing was wrong with him, his entire body seeming to heal any damages by unknown means while he took casual strides away from this area. Unlike others, he could continue, but all good hunters knew, when prey was or wasn't ready, and he had no problem letting this one go... for now. As he walked away the barrier around the pair of twins disappeared, leaving them free to come or go as they pleased. He no longer cared to hunt them for whatever reason.

[Bloodedge]

Labored breath became Fon's curse by the time he emerged from the white-haired man's seemingly final attack. There was little chakra left in him after unleashing the dragon, and it seemed this man knew it. Their fight was over, by declaration of the man who began it all. No complaints would come from Fon. When his Eight Gates closed, the seal on his forehead remained active for several more moments before receding into the diamond. There was no more fight left in him; nor was there even much ability left to stand. He could only fall onto his knees as his opponent walked away, wondering how such an individual could have existed. "Not a scratch on him... I have much more work to do."

[Apollymi]

A few seconds after she was sure the white haired man wouldn't turn back, Teruko went to join the man who'd fallen to his knees in the defense of herself and her twin. She could do nothing but offer him thanks and a hand up. "Arigatou Gozaimasu, we couldn't have even done that much." she offered with a bow supremely happy to still be living this day. She'd then extend a hand to the man before her. "It's the least we can do to help you out a bit." she said with a curt nod. This man had healed her injuries and fought off her attacker, she felt indebted to him. Beyond all that, she was also amazed by his fighting prowess, witnessing a match like that, made her keen to increase her own skills as well. Such a fighting spirit would be visible in her eyes.

[Bloodedge]

Shortly after the fall, Fon was joined not only by Teruko, but Akira as well. The latter still had his injuries upon him, prompting Fon to immediately toss a set of acupuncture needles his way and begin the healing process with what chakra he had left. "There. You should both be alright now," he said as he reached up to accept Teruko's hand. When he rose, he looked the girl in the eye. He saw in her the soul of a martial artist, much like himself, and the seal upon his forehead vanished to restore some of his chakra when he did. In the face of another fighter like this, he had to show enough respect to stand on his own two feet. "I'd ask what you two did to make that man chase after you like that, but I get the feeling it was a chance encounter."

[Apollymi]

Having her hand accepted she helped him up. Seeming to be amazed that he'd even go so far as to heal her brother even after all he'd done for the pair. To his question about their chance encounter with the hunter the red haired girl shrugged. "He was looking for someone and thought we might have known where they were." she said of that man. "He didn't just say that initially though, he attacked us both, and our reactions seemed to set him off a bit." The young woman mentioned seeming to find it odd that all this had taken place only over the course of a few moments, but still somehow the start of this ordeal felt like it was truly ages ago. "Sumimasen, Suzukou Teruko and this is Akira." she said of herself and her twin apologizing for their rudeness.