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This article, Sand and Stones (Can’t Break our Bones), is the co-property of both ShonenChicoBoy and EmperorKamui. |
Perception[]
Shinki's policy was to work smarter, not harder—although he was nowhere near as lazy as his adoptive cousin or uncle-in-law. Still, when he had been given the assignment of restoring a semblance of order to the Wind Temple after the recent battle that had occurred there, his first move had been to contact Kankurō, who had loaned him a few dozen of the Hundred Puppet Army. He had then used these puppets, in conjunction with several sand clones to make quick work of the clean-up.
While he had used a few Earth Release techniques to reconstruct the temple wall and ceiling where it had caved in, he was mostly concerned with ensuring no trace of the skirmish remained. Their mission had been entirely clandestine, and even without Gaara's orders, he knew how important it was to make sure no one caught wind of what had happened there—especially the Shinatobe Tribe, who would no doubt eventually wonder why one of their priests had gone missing. Shinki had the puppets shove the statue of the bodhisattva back into its alcove, swept the floor clear of debris and blood, and had replaced all the cracked and missing tiles. With the Puppet Army, he had been able to complete the work in less than a day, and as such he was able to turn his attention to something far more pressing—and more appropriate to his pay-grade.
Shinki bit down on his thumb and pressed the spot of blood that appeared into the ground, summoning two hawks. He gave a message to the first hawk and sent it off towards Sunagakure, explaining to his father that he would be gone for the next day or two. He hadn’t exactly been given leave, but as a member of the Suna Council and the second-highest ranking Jōnin in Suna, he had some ability to act on his own—and decided it was about damn time he started acting. At least, that’s the explanation he told himself, hoping that his father would be as understanding. If not, then... His results would have to speak for themselves, he supposed.
The second hawk, Hayamaru, was the hawk he had summoned at the Fire Temple. He greeted the large bird of prey, meeting its unblinking yellow gaze without flinching.
“I’m sorry to ask this, but I’m strapped for time. Could you carry me to the Land of Fire, Hayamaru-san?”
The hawk tilted its head, considering this for a moment. Then it nodded, and soon Shinki was soaring over the desert, heading north west towards the Fire Temple.
There was something that had been bothering him since the attack there, and now with the information they had gleaned from the traitor, Minegumo Kurama, Shinki’s suspicions had grown. Namely, why had Yue Hōshu attacked him? When he considered her apparent motives compared to the attacks on the other tailed beasts, it didn’t add up. Instead of focusing on capturing the two-tails, she had risked everything to prevent him from going after the two mercenary-nin who had broken in. And as he mulled that over, the only conclusion he could arrive at was that they must have been carrying something—the sword they had taken, or a piece of information that they absolutely could not allow to fall into the Shinobi Union's hands. Either way, he aimed to find out.
As soon as they had crossed the border, Shinki switched on his cellphone. Despite being hundreds of miles from Konohagakure, he had a single bar of service. Amazing, he marveled quietly before dialing a number.
The voice of his cousin was barely audible through the static. “Where are you?” Shikadai asked. “It sounds like you’re in a wind tunnel!”
“That’s about right,” Shinki admitted with a chuckle. “I’m flying towards the Fire Temple at the moment.”
“Eh? What the hell Shinki? Didn’t you just leave Konoha?”
“I need a favor from you,” he cut him off abruptly. “The attack at the Fire Temple: those two mercenary-nin my team and I fought. Did that kunoichi traitor say anything about their identities?”
“...”
“I know the Hokage’s personal aide must have been informed with the results of the interrogation.”
“I told you to quit referring to my old man that way,” he sighed, loud enough for Shinki to hear. “Anyway, she didn’t say anything about them but—” he paused as there was a crackle of static. “The investigation squad gathered chakra samples from the Fire Temple during the clean-up.”
“And?”
“Eh, we couldn’t get an exact reading, but there seems to be a confirmed match for a missing-nin from Kumogakure. The other one wasn’t so clear, but we know the guy’s latest partner was from Iwa, according to the bingo book.”
“Do you have a name?”
“You know it really bugs me when you assume I just know these things,” Shikadai complained.
Shinki smiled. “If you’re hunting for compliments, I’m afraid you’ll have to pick another target,” he responded wryly.
“Jeez you’re such a mood killer,” Shikadai said with a groan. “Anyway, the name you're looking for is Tenjin. Tenjin Amamiya. The Kumo-nin is Fūjin Amachi.”
“Impressive work,” Shinki said. “And thanks. I owe you one.”
“Sure,” Shikadai muttered.
Shinki ended the call. If the Konoha investigation squad had already picked over the scene at the Fire Temple, then it would be redundant to visit it a second time—at least until he had gathered more intel about the attackers themselves. “Did you hear all that Hayamaru-san?” he asked. “How do you feel about flying to Iwa?” The hawk gave him a tired expression, but shifted course nonetheless, picking up his speed as they blurred over what would have been several days of travel by foot.
A Request[]
When he at last arrived in the Hidden Stone Village, Shinki purchased the equivalent of an entire raw cow from a barbecue restaurant, which he gave to Hayamaru before releasing the summons. There goes the month’s paycheck, he realized. Still, it always paid to maintain good relations—with both his summons and allies. And, on that note, Shinki decided his first stop would be to track down the Wood Release user he had fought alongside during the Wind Temple battle.
While he could have gone directly to the Tsuchikage, he was aware that hierarchies existed for a reason. Gitsuchi probably had access the files Shinki needed anyway, which meant he wouldn’t have to bother the village’s leader directly. So, he asked about the Jōnin’s whereabouts from the customs office before setting off towards a shallow valley some distance outside the dome of the hidden village.
He assumed he was getting close when he felt tremors beneath his feet—as though massive boulders were smacking into the surface of the earth. He spotted Gitsuchi from a distance and stopped, observing the Iwa-nin train as he waited for him to notice his presence.
Gitsuchi stood in one of the training fields of the Stone Village. The man was coating his fist in stones and increasing the density of the stones as he did so. Taking of into the air, Gitsuchi was aiming to drop the stone fists on targets from above. The fists, while not all that large, slammed into the earth with intense power from the increased weight and the free fall. The targets were struck, shattering them. Landing on the ground, Gitsuchi inspected the broken plates. "Looks like it struck the upper part of the plate, some shards are too big. Man, I gotta get better at this," Gitsuchi said with a slight sigh. Preparing to grab another set of targets, the man looked confused: a Suna-nin approaching him.
"Shinki? What a surprise, what brings you to Iwa?" Gitsuchi said this earnestly, but it felt as though it were a jest. With what Gitsuchi was becoming more and more aware of, he knew this wasn't a friendly get together by any means. This was especially true when said visitor was the Kazekage's son and a popular option for the next Kazekage from whispered breaths of Suna and the world should Gaara resign or... worse. Grabbing a canteen of water, Gitsuchi drank as he came face to face with the foreign shinobi.
Shinki’s sharp gaze swept over the training field before at last settling on Gitsuchi. They were almost the same age, although Shinki hadn’t fought against him during the Chūnin Exams ten years before. And, while he hated to admit it, there was painfully little that he actually knew about the Wood Release user. Unlike the newly appointed Tsuchikage, Gitsuchi seemed to keep to himself. It wasn’t necessarily that he was withdrawn, rather that Yoshitsune’s feats were more notable... or rather, disclosed. Shinki had sensed ever since the mission to the Wind Temple that Gitsuchi was—or was soon to become—Yoshitsune’s right-hand man. In that sense the two of them were equals: meaning Gitsuchi wasn’t someone to be underestimated.
Shinki shrugged, the cloak of iron sand shifting forward along his shoulders. “I’m trying to track down intel related to a missing-nin formerly from Iwa. Instead of bothering the Fifth, I thought it would be better to ask you. If you don’t mind, of course.” He nodded towards the destroyed targets that littered the ground. “How’s training?” he asked. “I see you’re familiar with the Light-Weight Rock Technique. Kekkei Genkai users don’t typically branch out into the subbranches of their release natures, myself included.” He smiled, but it was only in the corner of his mouth as he wasn’t being entirely truthful when he said it. “I’m impressed,” he added, genuinely.
Gitsuchi nodded. "It is a trend, isn't it? However, it is an Earth Release ability, one of the natures that forms my bloodlines. That and Lord Tsuchikage seems to think of it as a tradition of sorts. In fairness, being able to fly is rather fun." Gitsuchi thought back for a moment to his time training with the man, him wanting Gitsuchi to be a more rounded combatant without making him learn entirely different skills than what he should have. "I know the temple may not have made it look so, but I try not to use my ability too much outside of the village. Some of the elders think it would cast doubts on Iwa's position..." He trailed off part way through this statement, not wanting to bore his counterpart with the details behind why this was, nor make him think of Gitsuchi as some sort of lab rat freak.
The man's eyes sharpened at the mention of a missing-nin. "Who are we referring to? A few names have been floating around the jōnin of the village. One in particular has almost become a boogey man- er, woman of sorts." Disappointment entered his voice as he said this, as the woman had inherited a great power of the village, only to leave the village and join with those who want to end the peace of the world. "In any case, I will try to be of service."
Shinki crossed his arms and frowned. He had somehow forgotten that Yue Hōshu originated from Iwa, but now that he thought about it, it explained her use of the Dust Release. He grimaced. That was two blows against the Hidden Stone village so-far, and as to what Gitsuchi said about the doubts cast on Iwa’s position… the fact that they had Son Goku in their custody raised more doubts in Shinki’s mind than Gitsuchi’s use of a rare Kekkei Genkai anyway. He wouldn’t be surprised if his father was the only one actually upholding the tailed-beast pact formed in the wake of the Fourth War. And, while he shook his head at Gaara’s naivety, he was quietly filled with admiration for the Kazekage’s commitment to his sworn ideals. At the same time, he wondered if he should repurpose his trip to Iwa to try and gain a sense of just what exactly the Tsuchikage intended to do with the four tails, as he didn’t fully buy the story Yoshitsune had sold the Shinobi Union.
“Actually, I’m not here for Yue Hōshu.” He briefly explained the details of the Fire Temple mission—at least the ones he was comfortable sharing with a relative stranger. “So, whatever records you have on Tenjin Amamiya would be helpful.”
Before Gitsuchi could respond, however, Shinki paced over to one of the craters formed by Gitsuchi’s rock fists and crouched down, inspecting the pulverized target. “Considering Iwagakure’s current circumstances, wouldn’t it be more practical to practice your Wood Release techniques?” He raised an eyebrow, subtly prodding at Gitsuchi: testing him.
"For the time, the Four-Tails is not an issue. So long as we give him things he wants, namely fruit, he doesn't cause any sort of ruckus in his bunker. Son is really somewhat lazy since he isn't having to protect its territory for now. Thankfully none of the old guard is harassing him for now." The man thought to the ape in its pin, probably sleeping on one of its rocks. The bunkers were made to protect Iwa civilians, should the need arise, but for now there was no harm in it becoming the room for a prideful ape. Some of the older Shinobi, remnants from when Iwa had two tailed beasts voiced wanting to use its power to create new jinchūriki. Thankfully, the Tsuchikage resolved himself to maintain the ideals of the Shinobi Union, merely acting as a safeguard for the beast. Gitsuchi glanced over the Kazekage's son. He had a feeling the man wasn't content with all that was said, but Gitsuchi couldn't blame him. He knew of Gaara's history with the tailed beasts, as well as Iwa's own troubled history with the other villages. "As for Wood Release, I am prepared to help with tailed beasts should the need arise. All I need is the command."
Gitsuchi brought his hand to his chin upon hearing Tenjin Amamiya. "I've heard of him, but I didn't know him all too well." Most of the time Tenjin spent in the village, Gitsuchi was being raised in a lab. Gitsuchi shook his head, not wanting to remember such times. "I've heard he was rejected from the Earth Temple for possessing strange ideals regarding chakra, from there he seemed to develop them into his own following of religious shinobi. For more specifics, we'll have to go to the Iwa's central building. Files on our shinobi are kept there. I have the clearance to check on missing-nin files." Lifting his canteen again, Gitsuchi turned towards the central building, a massive tower that stood high above the village. Signaling Shinki to follow, Gitsuchi began the trek towards it.
However, Shinki didn’t immediately follow him. He straightened up, the wind rustling through his dark hair. “I see,” he said. Briefly, he considered that the fact Tenjin had been associated with the Earth Temple meant there could have been a connection between him and the Fire Temple that ran much deeper than what Shinki had previously thought. Nevertheless, he tucked that information away for later. Right now, there was something that interested him more than the files on the missing-nin.
“Can you prove that assertion, Gitsuchi-san?” he asked. He tilted his head, looking at the Iwa-nin over his shoulder. There was a dark gleam in his eyes, and the dust around his feet began to spiral with the release of a threatening aura. “Your abilities from the Wind Temple were undeniable, but are you able to stand on your own? Or are you merely resting your laurels on the Tsuchikage?” He turned, facing Gitsuchi directly. Shinki extended his hand, curling his fingers upwards. “Consider this a request on my part, or perhaps as part of your training. But whatever that alleged power of yours is... show it to me.” He spoke calmly, but his grin was wild. He needed to let off steam, and the prospect of a fight against the “Forest Fire” of Iwagakure excited him to the point where he momentarily seemed to forget about the original reason he had come to the Hidden Stone Village.
One thing was clear, however, and that was that he wanted a fight.
Gitsuchi turned back in confusion. He thought the man wanted information, but now he was questioning his abilities. "Very well, if you want to train then so be it." Looking the man over, Gitsuchi thought of his abilities. Iron sand manipulation is his primary skill, going in close doesn't seem beneficial with that cloak. I guess I'll keep space for now and wait for an opening. As for his puppet, I'm not sure if he has it on him, I'll need to keep an eye out Gitsuchi came of the ground, floating above it. Outside of these abilities he had seen and heard of from looking over past chūnin exams, Gitsuchi wasn't sure of what else he could do. "I am ready whenever you are."
Testing Mettle[]
Upon seeing Shinki be prepared, Gitsuchi launched a fireball at the man. It burst into brilliant light and sound as it reached the man. In the flash of light, Gitsuchi formed a wood clone, who then quickly faded away from all senses. The clone would be used to help create an opening when the time should arise, but Gitsuchi stayed focus on the present.
Why is he reaching for a Fire Release technique? Shinki briefly pondered. Earth, Water—these were the elemental natures that formed the basis of the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai. But the flash bomb seemed farther outside Gitsuchi’s expertise, and thus, nothing more than a diversion. Shinki lifted his hand, placing his palm straight out to block the fireball with a wall of iron sand that shifted to form a barrier in front of him. The fire exploded against it, the light seeping over the edges. Fortunately, however, because of the size of the barrier, he escaped being blinded by it.
Shinki then formed his own technique. Closing one eye, he created an orb of iron sand, which he allowed to hover above his shoulder. He assumed that Gitsuchi had placed a trap somewhere around him, and if it followed standard combat patterns, it would likely be a hidden clone. He wanted to be aware of when and where it emerged to attack, and as such prepared a technique of his own which would counter it. He smirked. The last few battles were beginning to give him the impression that it always paid to keep a net of awareness active at all times, which gave him an idea.
For the time being, however, Shinki focused on a counterattack. Instead of remaining stationary, he allowed the wall of iron sand to continue after blocking. The wave shot forwards before splitting into two arms, which extended towards Gitsuchi, intending to wrap him in a pincer maneuver from both sides. The speed of Shinki's iron sand manipulation had improved drastically since his days as a genin, and crossed the distance between them in an instant.
Placing his hands on the ground, trees bursting forth from the earth. The field of trees served more than one purpose. It gave Gitsuchi a defensive cover, an offensive barrage, a means to weak the power of Shinki's Third Eye, and to mask his hidden clone all the more. The trees proved to be able to disperse the iron burst from Shinki as the wooden field grew in size and thickness. The invisible clone of Gitsuchi perched in a tree, awaiting an opening to attack.
Meanwhile, the true Gitsuchi formed a wooden spear. Keeping it by his side, he leapt into the branches above. Moving towards Shinki's last location, Gitsuchi spotted the man. Throwing the spear with full force, Gitsuchi leapt back into the cover of the trees. Landing nearby the hidden clone, it faded back into view. Gitsuchi placed his hand on the clone and it converted into another spear for usage. Gitsuchi had larger plans for this one, but for now used the cover to be ready for the next move.
The spear rocketed through Shinki’s figure, which dissipated into a plume of iron sand—revealing the clone he had formed earlier. The real Shinki shifted across the distance, careful to avoid the roots that cracked through the earth from Gitsuchi’s forest. He concentrated on the sand that had dispersed around Gitsuchi from the latter’s defensive technique, clenching his fist at his side to draw the particles in close to the Iwa-nin. However, Shinki kept the sand disparate and, he hoped, unnoticeable, intending to mark his opponent with a small handful of the grains.
In the meantime, he released an attack to distract Gitsuchi from his intended plan. Extending his free hand, a volley of iron needles lanced through the branches of the trees, seeking to pierce their target wherever he might be found. Shinki extended the barrage across the field, thereby disregarding Gitsuchi’s attempt at cover.
He was struck by the versatility of the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai. Normally, he didn’t fight opponents who could completely shift the terrain according to their liking. It was clear that, as long as Gitsuchi had control of the forest, he also controlled the battlefield. For a moment, Shinki pondered the release natures that formed Wood Release. While he supposed he might have something that could counter it, he was loathe to use it. Best to concentrate on regaining control of the battleground through other means if possible, he decided.
Turning his attention to resume the battle with Shinki, needles shot by. One grazed the arm of the shinobi, sending a trickle of blood down his arm. In response, Gitsuchi brought his arms together and the tree creaked and shifted, forming a nest around Gitsuchi to take the many needles. Opening the wooden floors beneath him, Gitsuchi dropped to the ground, spear in hand as he landed on his feet.
Leaping up on the a tree branch, Gitsuchi flipped around it to stand on the arm of the tree. Jumping from branch to branch, Gitsuchi moved towards the direction the needles flew from. Once again spotting his target, Gitsuchi launched his second wooden spear at him. However, rather than acting as a piercing weapon, the spear began to morph back into the wooden clone from which it had been formed. With that, the clone burst with a great explosive power, sending a shockwave out as it did. On top of this, as the exploding clone was forged from a wooden clone, splinters of sharp wood pierced the ground and moved towards Shinki with incredible speed. Surely it was not to the power of the Explosion Release or Dust Release that the village was known for, but the explosive clone proved to be a handy technique for those willing to learn it.
Shinki was not a Sensor Type, but even then he could tell that something was wrong the instant the spear hurtled in his direction. It had been launched almost blindly, as if Gitsuchi had barely taken the time to aim, and as it began to transform in mid air, Shinki realized it was the same tactic the Uzushio-nin had used back at the Wind Temple. Sudden horror drained the color from his face as he raised both hands to block, forming a wall of iron durable enough to withstand the brunt of the attack... and without a moment to spare.
The shockwave rocked across the ground, and Shinki nearly lost his footing. Chunks of sand were shorn from his barrier by the wooden shards, but Shinki managed to maintain the wall’s structure, his fingers trembling as he exerted his control over the sand. However, part of his attention was drawn elsewhere—to the grains of sand he had successfully placed on Gitsuchi with his iron needle diversion earlier. At the last second, just as it seemed he had been stretched to the breaking, Shinki opted to risk an action which would leave him momentarily vulnerable.
He abruptly vanished into the ground, simultaneously releasing the wall of sand. It collapsed into a liquid pool that hovered in midair. Relying on his Third Eye to guide him as he moved beneath the surface, avoiding the roots of Gitsuchi’s forest, the iron sand he had left behind in the wake of the explosion was pulled towards Gitsuchi, almost as if it were being guided by a magnetic force. The iron sand split, coiling around the Iwa-nin from both sides. Perhaps the same pincer maneuver as earlier? But then its volatile nature was revealed as the two masses of sand slammed together, each repelling the other with an opposite magnetic force. The sphere of iron sand burst into irregular branching spikes that showered unpredictably around Gitsuchi, cutting off any clear path of escape: a perfect imitation of the Iron Sand World Method.
Gitsuchi watched in horror as the iron sphere unravelled, forming branches of iron that threatened to skew him. With little time to react, Gitsuchi began to form bindings of wood to enclose around himself. Forming a sort of cocoon, the wooden binds pushed the metal away with its own durability; however, it was not a perfect defense. Even the strongest of woods could begin to crack. Blades of the iron pierced through it, stabbing Gitsuchi at a few points. Gitsuchi had to deal with the mass.
Clapping his hands together in the cocoon, a wooden hand erupted from the earth. Wrapping its massive size around the main mass of iron, using its where size to grip tightly onto many of the branches, Gitsuchi flowed another nature into the hand: fire. The wooden hand burst into flames, spreading quickly from the height of the hand to the surrounding woods. Quickly, the entire area's temperature began to rise. However, the main goal was to heat the metal. Iron was a powerful magnetic tool, but heating it enough could kill the magnetic properties normally associated with iron.
Gitsuchi thought back to the iron needle that grazed him. Realizing the fact he himself had been magnetized due to the nature of how the metal moved, Gitsuchi resorted to repurposing his bindings. The wooden arms began to unwrap from himself and form into the shape of a dragon. Using his connection to the construct, Gitsuchi used its chakra consuming abilities to eat away at the magnetic chakra within him. Disconnecting the dragon from him and jumping to its head, Gitsuchi started to recognize a sort of similarity between the way Shinki used his iron and how Gitsuchi used his own wood. In this instance, much like how the Suna-nin used the iron to form a cloak, Gitsuchi knew the dragon could prove to be a strong safety against further attempts to make Gitsuchi a magnet.
Subjected to the intense heat of Gitsuchi’s fire attack, the iron sand exploded into color as it melted: bright orange and stunning purple flames curled from the wooden fingers of Gitsuchi’s construct. The magnetic field shifted back and forth in the make-shift blast furnace, and the iron spikes dissipated as Shinki lost control over his favored weapon.
But, if Gitsuchi watched closely, he would see the globs of molten iron blossom outward and crack. As they cooled, they shattered into brittle specks. Something like snow glittered in the air around Gitsuchi, falling gently towards the ground.
Shinki had watched it all with his Third Eye, still hidden beneath the crust of the earth. At first he had wavered, briefly weighing whether he should tip his hand to his sparring partner by resorting to that or not. Although the fire had disrupted his control of the iron sand, it had also served to purge its impurities. As such, it had been a simple matter to coax the heat just a little more. Bird, tiger, snake. Shinki had blurred through a complex series of hand seals, and he felt the strain on his chakra reserves. Still, resorting to the use of his pseudo-kekkei tōta was better than losing the use of his iron sand entirely. Yet he didn’t use the converted glass immediately, instead biding his time to carry out his original plan.
The ground under Gitsuchi’s forest buckled, a circular web of cracks radiating out from the center. Then, the surface caved in. The trees sank, pulled down into a field of quicksand. Shinki had used an Earth Release technique to accomplish the mass-scale conversion, turning the ground into a sea of sand around him. He wished he was capable of grinding up the ground itself into sand, but he lacked either the chakra or finesse required to perform his father’s technique. So, as cataclysmic as the technique's scale was, it was merely a poor imitation of the Kazekage’s own.
At last, Shinki emerged a short distance away, tunneling to the top of a rock outcropping. He crouched, panting to regain his breath as he watched the trees tilt at strange angles as they were pulled downwards. His placid green eyes then turned to Gitsuchi, and he waited eagerly for the Iwa-nin's response.
Show it to me, he urged, the thrill of battle beginning to overcome him once more. After all, he had challenged Gitsuchi to spar with a very specific purpose in mind. According to rumors surrounding the Hidden Stone Village, Gitsuchi had been trained by Yoshitsune personally in several release natures. Ultimately, Shinki wanted to test his mettle against Iwa's infamous Kekkei Tōta. Would he be able to withstand it? He didn't know for sure, but taking that gamble—which was in stark contrast to his typically calculating and cautious nature—was exhilarating. He just hoped he could pressure Gitsuchi into using it.
All or Nothing[]
Gitsuchi watched as his forest began to crumble around him, but he could not focus on saving it. Remaining perched on the wooden dragon, Gitsuchi focused his chakra into making it grow upwards, against the pull of the mud. Even as a chakra absorbing technique, the pull of the swamp was still powerful enough to drag it down, leaving only a small path of land directly around the serpent that wasn't directly pulling it. It was through this small grace Gitsuchi could still rise, but the pull of the land around it made it no easy task.
As the swamp began to settle in place, Gitsuchi looked out towards Shinki. Even as a member of an allied village, Gitsuchi could see the man wanted to true battle. The wooden dragon was one of his strongest techniques, but Gitsuchi could raise the stakes further himself. Clapping his hands together, Gitsuchi began to call upon the wood beneath the mud. While it had been burnt by the fire and molten metal, the wooden hand remained in a scorched state within the pit. Using it to lighten the thickness of the pit, albeit in a slower rate due to its great damage, Gitsuchi began to call upon the wood within and forming more too form a wooden statue with many arms. Its hands breached the surface of the pit and began to pull itself upward. Wrapping the dragon around its neck, Gitsuchi jumped the the head of the rising guardian of wood.
Gitsuchi surveyed his options. Due to the pit below, even with the help from the wooden hand in decreasing the thickness of it, it would surely keep him stuck for whatever move Shinki may make. For now, the sheer force of the guardian was both his best defense and offense. The many hands of the guardian balled into fists, taking aim at the Suna-nin. While it was a simple barrage of punches, the sheer size and strength of the hands made it one of the strongest techniques Gitsuchi possessed.
Shinki’s eyes widened as he watched the wooden statue emerge from the pit of sand. Gitsuchi was now a small speck on the statue’s head, which towered over the surrounding plain and cast a narrow shadow towards Iwagakure. He recognized it as the same technique that had been used at the Wind Temple to immobilize the statue of the Kinjutsu-controlled wind deity. As such, he could guess what might come next. Using the distance between him and Gitsuchi to his advantage, Shinki prepared a counter.
Quickly forming four symbols, Shinki slammed his palms into the ground.
“Doton: Doryūheki!” he shouted.
An earthen wall erupted in front of him as the wooden hands blurred towards him in a wide frontal assault. They easily crushed through the thin layer of rock and soil, creating a massive cloud of dust—just as Shinki had intended. However, while he had been able to gauge the trajectory of Gitsuchi’s attack using his Third Eye, the dust cloud also prevented him from seeing the attacks clearly, and one of the wooden beams rammed into his shoulder and glanced off to the side before he could react. He slid back, grimacing as he formed another series of hand seals.
Using the dust as a smoke screen, he formed two duplicates of himself. They emerged from the cloud of dust as the same time as he did, sprinting across the field towards Gitsuchi, flickering around the wooden projectiles that streamed down and left impact craters in the ground around them.
Shinki knew how much of a disadvantage he had without his iron sand. Typically, he preferred to remain stationary during a battle, relying on his sand-based techniques to maintain the distance between him and his adversary. That strategy worked well against Konoha-nin and others who utilized more agile forms of combat, but it was less effective against Iwa-nin whose Will of Stone formed an unbreakable root. As such, instead of trying to regain the uphill ground he had lost, Shinki decided to switch tactics and play to his weaknesses.
As he ran, he placed his hands on top of each other horizontally, a movement the clones simultaneously mimicked. They circled around the pool of quicksand, their footsteps stirring up a stream of wind that coiled around the entire area, gradually building into a dust storm of massive proportions. The maneuver was meant as a diversion, and taking advantage of the sand screen, Shinki moved his Third Eye closer to Gitsuchi’s position. It hovered inconspicuously between the charred branches of Gitsuchi’s forest, locking onto his position...
The wind kicked up the dust, surrounding the field and towering high. Even on the head of the wooden statue, Gitsuchi's vision was compromised. He lacked any sort of Wind Release to blow away the cloud, so working around it would have to come in another form. Using the statue, Gitsuchi could use its many powerful arms as a makeshift fan, but Gitsuchi began to think the cloud could serve his own needs.
Putting his hands together to form the snake seal, the hands of the statue stretched into different directions. On the palms of the statues many hands, flowers began to bloom. The many flowering plants began to release pollen into the dust cloud, with the wind of the technique mixing the particles into it as a blight as it continued to expand. With this, even the defense Shinki created could become his own downfall. A single breath of the pollen-infused air could bring a shinobi into a weakened state as it worked to render them unconscious.
It was here that the non-flowered hands of the statue stretched out their palms and brought them down with great force in an irregular pattern. This was not to dispel the cloud, but rather aide in its growth to encompass the wider region. Being unable to truly see Shinki, turning his own defense against him was all Gitsuchi had beyond just having the statue strike randomly in all directions. However, if it came to that, Gitsuchi was not above such tactics.
Shinki ducked his head as he ran. Being a shinobi from the desert, he knew how to breathe in a dust storm, inhaling through his nose and keeping the air in the top of his lungs. His eyes were barely open as he moved through the cloud. However, his Third Eye maintained his awareness of the battlefield. As such, he was shocked when delicate petals sprouted abruptly from the charred branches of Gitsuchi’s forest. Shinki frowned. Flowers? But why was Gitsuchi releasing flowers in the middle of a battle? He scowled at the unnecessary ornamentation.
At that moment, a yellow strand of dust coiled past his external line of vision. The clone, who was running on the other side of the forest, stumbled. It grabbed its throat, eyes bulging, before it gagged and disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Shinki’s first thought was that the air had been poisoned. With little time to think, he folded his fingers together and phased back into the surface of the ground. However, he soon realized that that had also been a mistake. The earth shook as the hands of Gitsuchi’s wood statue pounded into its surface, and Shinki was tossed back and forth underground, like a pebble in a bucket of sand. He knew he would have to emerge eventually, but before that, he left a scroll behind him, unsealing it with a small dose of chakra.
Extending his will to the particles littered about the pool of sand, Shinki condensed the glass into large panes that shot up from the sand, forming a pyramid on the surface of the quicksand. Only then did the son of the Kazekage appear, safe from the poison carried by the wind behind his shield of glass.
Shinki’s green eyes glittered in the veil of dust and pollen. He crouched low, reaching into the sand around him as though he were preparing another technique. He hated to admit it, but his limbs felt heavy, and he was beginning to feel the drain on his reserves as he resorted to the use of his pseudo-Kekkei Tōta and last remaining trump card. As the pollen spiraled outwards, he concentrated on directing an invisible shadow towards Gitsuchi. In the next instant, a skeletal form materialized from a dark cloud. Pointed horns and ghost-like yellow eyes shone through the streaming wind, locking onto Gitsuchi. The puppet reached towards the Iwa-nin, its ribcage spreading open to wrap around him, after which it would begin to siphon his chakra and, hopefully, destabilize his ability to use Wood Release jutsu.
Gitsuchi saw the light glint off the panes of glasses, though it was dim due to the dust suspended in the air still blocking out the light of the sun. Gitsuchi was puzzled by this, but had little time to react to it as he saw the incoming puppet from his peripheral vision. Raising one of the arms of the statue, Gitsuchi intended to block the puppet with the massive wooden hand.
However, around Gitsuchi appeared a dimly glowing wall. The skeletal puppet slammed against the wall, which flexed slightly against the force but remained strong. Gitsuchi looked up, realizing he was trapped in a familiar box. Looking behind himself, however, there was thankfully no glowing sphere. Another box appeared around Shinki below. Gitsuchi looked up upon hearing a loud sneeze.
Yoshitsune floated above the pair, a hand outreached towards each with an open palm. "What is going on over here? Reports from the village have talked of shockwaves, loud noises, a massive dust cloud, and now villagers are falling unconscious."
Gitsuchi looked slightly embarrassed. "We were sparring, Lord Tsuchikage. I suppose things got away from us..." The Tsuchikage pinched the bridge of his nose. "That is well and good, but please remember for next time that you are both still in the confines of the village." Yoshitsune began to float down, drawing the two imprisoned shinobi towards him as he solidified the sandpit back into normal terrain. With that, he released both from their temporary cells. The man shook his head, fighting off the effects of the pollen before Gitsuchi released the technique.
Shinki’s eyes widened when he saw the translucent cube materialize around him. But the sudden spark of excitement he felt at the display of Dust Release died as soon as the Tsuchikage spoke and he realized it had been Yoshitsune’s—not Gitsuchi’s—technique. Unamused, the Suna-nin crossed his arms and straightened to his full height, allowing the cubical structure to phase over the triangular panes of his glass release while he remained still. The two barriers shimmered against each other before both dissipated, neutralized.
However, Shinki was more concerned about the fate of Dokuro. He had felt the iron sand begin to dissipate as soon as it contacted the dust barrier, and had quickly pulled the puppet back before any significant damage could be done to it. While he wasn’t normally the sentimental type, Dokuro had been designed for him by Kankurou, specifically to be used in conjunction with his Magnet Release. He didn’t want to imagine his uncle’s face upon hearing that Dokuro had been dematerialized to smithereens. For the time being, he allowed the skeletal figure to collapse, and it clattered onto the ground in a sad pile of bones. Extending his hand towards it, Shinki crushed his Third Eye to form a narrow stream of iron sand, which he gathered the puppet into before enclosing it within the same scroll he had used earlier. He stooped over and picked up the scroll, slipping it into the pouch on his hip, before finally looking up to address the Tsuchikage. Completely calm, he began: “My apologies sir, I can assure you that we only intend—intended...” Shinki’s eyes started to water, and he was overcome by a series of violent sneezes. At last, he regained control of himself by pressing a scarf over his mouth and nose. He blinked at Gitsuchi. “Is this... pollen?” he asked, the realization dawning on him at last.
Gitsuchi nodded. "The last technique I used, it creates pollen to knock out those who inhale it. How long it lasts depends on the strength of the target, or if I maintain it. Now its just regular pollen." The boy seemed to beam a little bit, enjoying the battle he had just under gone. Yoshitsune, however, wiped his nose with a handkerchief. "Is it possible for you to get rid of it?" requested the Kage as he himself did not much care for the allergy-inducing specks.
The young man, with power over nature, did as he was asked, pulling the pollen towards himself and away from the two shinobi with some plant-based allergies. "Your intentions are fine Shinki. Nothing either of you have done has caused any... serious damage. This field can be cleaned up later." Looking the boy over, Yoshitsune could see the boy was curious about something. "While the Shinobi Union is more relaxed with going to village from village, given the troubled times we are in, I can't fully imagine you were just here for the sake of fun Shinki. If there is anything you need from me or the village, feel free to ask." The boy was trustworthy and strong, this was something both men could see, even if he was not entirely trusting of them. It was no matter, Yoshitsune wanted to work to move Iwa out of its shady past and be more transparent with its allies. That is, of course, so long as it did not compromise the security of the village. Gitsuchi himself knew this and wanted to help the village enter this new era.
Shinki nodded his thanks towards Yoshitsune: both for his generous offer and for telling Gitsuchi to get rid of the irritating pollen. While it hadn’t been the kind of dust Shinki had been hoping to encounter, he was still satisfied with the results of their sparring session. He felt both tired and exhilarated in the wake of the battle, like the cleansing sensation after a long run. Still, he wished they had been allowed to draw it out to its natural conclusion. But, glancing around him, he could see that things had gotten out of hand, despite what the Tsuchikage said.
“To tell you the truth,” he began, “The reason I contacted Gitsuchi is because I didn’t want to cause any inconvenience. I certainly didn’t think I’d end up dragging the Tsuchikage-sama himself all the way here.” He closed his eyes, accepting responsibility. “Please excuse my lack of discretion.” He then looked at Gitsuchi. “I’ll help with the clean up, so I hope you still don’t mind showing me those files. Oh, and thanks for agreeing to spar with me. It was enlightening.” He gave a short bow to his opponent, gauging the Tsuchikage from the corner of his eye as he did so. Briefly, he wondered what the relationship between the two of them was, supposing that Gitsuchi’s identity was somewhat troublesome for Iwa. They were a bit alike in that regard.
Shinki gave Gitsuchi one of his rare smiles. “Next time, don’t hold back,” he said cryptically.
Yoshitsune nodded and placed a hand on Gitsuchi's shoulder. "Seems like you found a rival, my boy. Value that, they can help bring out your strength in ways you weren't aware you could. Give my regards to your father Shinki, have a good night." The Tsuchikage blew his nose in the handkerchief and flew off back towards the central office of the city.
Gitsuchi watched the village leader for a moment and adjusted his gaze back to Shinki. "I'll keep that in mind. I will stay and help clean as well, it took more than just one to make this mess." Gitsuchi looked around at all the scattered shards of wood and unleveled earth. It would take some time to get done, but the area should be back to normal before the end of the week. Looking back to Shinki one more time, Gitsuchi admired his capability. The word rival resonated in his head, something Gitsuchi hoped could make him more capable moving forward and believe in his own abilities more. "Let's get started then."
End.