Special Jounin. Hikari still couldn't believe that her and her twin had been here for just a short period of time and already they had risen up two ranks. Not that they didn't deserve it of course - both of them had been busting ass right and left between doing missions for the village, helping out in anyway that they could, and training until - at least in Hikari's case - they were too sore to move. Still, this promotion gave Hikari a new burst of energy and determination. She had much more training to do and after having spoke to Kouki had been given permission to go out of the village to get some extra training - she wanted to learn Medical Ninjutsu so she could be a better asset to the village. Of course, she didn't feel she was ready to venture out yet. She wanted an ace in the hole type move, and she hoped that the scroll her brother had been given by the caretaker after beating all of those kids asses would do the trick.

She was strong, but she wanted to be prepared for anything, and this was the way to do it. Already she had noticed Shinsai improving more, details become more clearer and sharper - she knew it was nothing like how her brother could see, but she was getting there slowly but surely - it helped to give her the courage she was going to need to make the trip to the desert alone. She normally traveled with her family and there was safety in numbers, but the trip to Yokuchi was likely going to be one she ended up taking alone - unless her brother wished to tag along with her.

She had taken special care to prepare for the days training; she ate a good breakfast so that she had plenty of food fuel to keep herself going and she had made sure she got plenty of sleep the night before. Long black hair was back in a braid that hung down her back as to keep it out of her way, laying on top of the white bear eared hoodie she wore whose hood was down for once. Beneath the hoodie was a white shirt and shorts combo. Feet were planted firmly in black shinobi sandals. Around her head she wore her Hinowa headband, and around her right leg was strapped the pouch that held her weapons - not that she planned on using them today. Nope, today was to be for jutsu training.

She left her room once she was sure she was fully prepared, wondering where exactly her brother might be... she focused on Shinsai, searching to see if he was nearby.

Word Count Rasengan Training: 448 / 2,000

The night before he'd learned a new special move, and was involved in a fighting tournament just outside of the village, in an old warehouse that was once part of Korigakure. He lie semi conscious in his bed, still sort of worn from the action that happened the night before. He could hear his sister in the room next door as clearly as if he were in the room with her. She seemed to be preparing for something. He could smell the heavy odors of food hanging in the air, causing his stomach to begin growling. Eventually the food smells woke him up fully, and he sluggishly made his way up out of bed. Pulling on the top half of his body suit, he did a zombie walk across his room to the door, to open it and shuffle past his sister to the bathroom, eyes half shut, to relieve himself.

The bladder drained and feeling much refreshed, Kurai washed his face and made his way to the kitchen, where his mother began her daily ritual of running her hands through his wild black hair. She always did this, so standing there and still looking somewhat tired he just let her. “Special Jounin, both of my children,” she said to Hikari and he. “Big important people in the village! First of their kind! I honestly don't know what to say, besides maybe those crazy old elders were actually right.” Kurai's expression didn't really change. He just shrugged his shoulders. Mother Yanagi gave Kurai a kiss on his forehead. “So humble too! But I know it's all just an act, you must be dancing with joy on the inside!”

”Bleh,” was Kurai's response, fixing himself a plate of the breakfast made earlier. His hair was sticking up in random places, and as usual, he didn't care. He sat at the kitchen table, thinking that Hikari would possibly want to learn how to perform Rasengan now that she was strong enough. The caretaker did say the scroll was for both of them, after all. He'd be glad to show her how he did it, then possibly find some sucker to test it on. Maybe she'd even want to come with him to the fighting ring outside of the village. Most of those muscle heads would underestimate a defenseless looking blind girl and leave themselves wide open. While she learned how to do that, he could take the time to see if he could reverse one of his oldest techniques to have the opposite intended effects. It was something he'd been thinking about since he fought the speedy guy yesterday.

There was also the matter of getting permission to travel to Niwa in the hopes of finding the Sage Ape Clan... but he would cross that bridge once he got to it.

Word Count Light Weight Rock Technique training: 470/2,000

Useless eyes blinked several times as she realized just how far she could now see with Shinsai. A grin spread across her face and she poked her brother as he walked out of his room and past her to the restroom. She moved back to the kitchen, moving around her mother who was messing with Kurai's hair at this point. She slid into one of the chairs and plucked an orange out of the basket of fruit.

Hikari giggled at Kurai's response to their mothers praise as she sliced through the skin of the orange with her thumb nail. Once the slice was made she peeled off the skin, tossing it into the garbage. She pulled out a sliver of the orange and popped it into her mouth. After chewing on it and swallowing she turned her focus to Kurai. "Are you still going to teach me that move from that scroll? Kouki's given me permission to leave the village when I'm ready to go do some training elsewhere. I want to learn Medical Ninjutsu - I think it'll be helpful since there's really no medics in the village. I heard of this clan, the Holeman's, they're supposed to be medical experts. They live in Yokuchi."

When she finished speaking she popped another slice of the orange into her mouth and repeated the chewing and swallowing process. Repeating the action all over again when she was finished. She wasn't in a rush - she had no idea where her brother had been last night, but she had guessed it had something to do with some sort of training, and so she figured he'd want to eat some breakfast before setting out.

Word Count Rasengan Training: 279 + 448 = 727 / 2,000

Kurai nodded his head while shoveling food into his mouth. “Slow down Kurai! You'll give yourself indigestion,” Mother Yanagi said. “...Just let me or your father know before you two leave the village. Kurai, are you going to venture off somewhere too?” Kurai nodded again, thought he didn't know if it was alright for him to leave or not. He stood and went back to his room before returning with the scroll he found in Spook's bag, the scroll that spoke of the Sage Apes in Niwa. His mother looked the scroll over as Kurai finished his plate, and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Niwaurushigakure... That's quite a long way from here. But, with as far as you two have come, I know that kind of journey isn't beneath you. Just let me know before you leave here, alright?” After another nod, Mother Yanagi moved off to another area in the rear of the house, possibly to continue unpacking...

Kurai had several balloons left from yesterday, and again he filled 2 of them up. There was also one more rubber ball that was almost the size of the balloons that had water in them. Kurai put his plate in the sink and motioned for Hikari to follow him out onto the front porch. He put one of the water balloons and the rubber ball down, and handed the other balloon to Hikari. ”First... try to make the balloon explode by moving the water inside with your chakra... You have to make the water move in all directions. The way I did it, I practiced moving the water to the left, then to the right, then in other directions first. It's easier that way...”

Being Earth manipulators, the Yanagi's had decorative rocks around the front yard of their home. There were larger decorative rocks the further up the front walk, near the porch. Kurai sat on the stairs and picked up one of the larger rocks next to the stairs. Kurai, since a very early age, had always known how to raise the weight of rocks and earth. Now he wanted to try making rocks and earth lighter, so that they could be manipulated easier. His very first try was successful, although very slightly, meaning that it was indeed possible, though he would need to practice the technique to get the hang of it.

Word Count: 395 + 470 = 865/2,000

Hikari finished the rest of her orange slice by slice, also nodding in between bites to their mother: she didn't plan on leaving without letting everyone know, she didn't want to worry them anymore than they might be already with the idea of her going out to some village to go learn techniques from random strangers. Not that Hikari wasn't more than capable of protecting herself at this point; but still, parents worried, siblings worried, it's just what families did for each other.

Once the orange was finished off Hikari rose up out of her seat and went over to the sink, giving her hands a quick rinse so that they wouldn't be sticky. She then followed her brother outside curiously after having watched him fill the balloons up. She couldn't imagine what sort of exercise he might have in mind to help her learn this new jutsu, but figured she would find out soon enough.

She took the balloon carefully and gave a nod to her brothers instructions. She sat herself down on the railing of the porch; getting comfortable as she sat indian style on it. She put her focus on the ball; blocking out everything else for the moment. She needed to pop the ball by moving the water inside of it with her chakra: it should have been a simple task, but she doubted it was going to be that easy. However, she didn't hesitate. She focused her chakra on the water inside of the ball moving it to the left just as her brother had done when he had practiced it. The water moved slowly at first, but began to pick up speed after a moment: the faster it swirled the more distorted the balloon became, but it didn't pop. Her brows furrowed as she kept concentration; determined to see the thing pop before the day was out. 

She then started to move the water to the right; doing it in much the same method as before. Slowly at first, and then faster and faster the water swirled within the balloon. It again caused the balloon's shape to shift and move, but the balloon still continued to hold. Still with her brow furrowed she continued to manipulate the water; even making it go vertically within the balloon since her brother had said to manipulate it in all directions. She could feel a bead of sweat moving from her hairline and down her cheek, but still she ignored it, fully focused on the task. "This is harder than it looks... but I'm not giving up.", she muttered. Seconds later the ball burst; though the reasoning behind it could have been any number of things, including the chaotic water within it.

Hikari was instantly soaked but she didn't care - nor get upset like a normal female would - instead she just grinned in a very pleased manner. "Haha! What's next?!", she asked excitedly.

WC Rasengan Training: 485 + 727 = 1,212 / 2,000

Kurai was gripping the rock so tightly in his right hand that it began to crack, and his arm began to tremble. Taking a technique he'd known almost all of his life and trying to do the opposite of what it did, it was harder than he expected it to be. Easier said than done. Nevertheless, Kurai began to make progress, even if he were crawling along an inch at a time, so to speak. The large rock began to become lighter and lighter.

In the meantime, Hikari managed to burst the balloon, as he thought she would. It took her about as long as it did him. He put the rock down and stood, coming back up the stairs to grab the rubber ball that used to belong to the family pet. ”...That exercise was getting the control of rotation,” Kurai said. When it came to secret techniques or training something, he didn't mind talking about it at all. ”This next exercise is about power.” Kurai handed her the rubber ball next. ”This might take a while, but it's alright. Try and shred this ball the same as the balloon. Since rubber is thicker, and air is completely different from water, it forces you to use denser chakra to break it.”

Kurai went back to the stairs then, picking up the rock again and continuing on with his own training. Hikari probably thought these exercises were silly or pointless, and she probably had no idea what it was she was learning how to do, but he knew that she would be totally amazed at the end result, just like he was. He could almost see the ear-to-ear grin on her face once she'd mastered this. Meanwhile, the rock in his hands became lighter and lighter, until it nearly weighed nothing...

Word Count: 300 + 865 = 1,165/2,000

Her curiosity peaked as she felt through the vibrations of the porch her brother get back up, pick something up, and then walk over to her. She held her hand out and took the rubber ball without hesitation. She was curious as to the purpose of all of these exercises as she listened to her brothers instructions and the reasoning behind it all but she wasn't going to ask. If he felt these exercises were necessary than they were and she would do them until she completed them.

Thinking back to what her brother had said about how air was different than water it would force her to use denser chakra to break the rubber ball compared to the balloon; especially since the rubber was thicker than the balloons stretchy surface. She took a deep relaxing breath, repeating over and over again to herself the task she had to complete: it helped to focus her and to keep her calm so that she didn't get so easily frustrated if she were to happen to fail - and she was sure this was all going to be about trial and error; with a lot of error.

She felt the vibrations on the porch again and then the steps which indicated her brother moving away and sitting back down. So, she turned all of her focus on the rubber ball in her hand, running her fingers along it curiously to get the feel of it - it was an old pet toy, that much she could tell. 

She began to focus her chakra into the rubber ball, attempting to move it as she had done before with the balloon. As she started swirling the air inside of the rubber ball with her chakra she noticed that the rubber didn't move as the balloon had done when it had almost completed changed shapes due to the force of the movement. Brow furrowing she remembered what her brother said and poured even more chakra into the ball; giving the air an extra push. She could almost feel it now, all of the movement going on within the ball as she circulated the air inside of the ball to the left as quickly as she could. More sweat dripped down her brow; one drop sliding down the bridge of her nose and then dripping off, but she paid it absolutely no attention since her focus was completely on the rubber ball in her hand.

Forcing herself to remain calm she poured even more chakra into the ball which caused it to begin to finally change shape. The swirling of the air and the chakra to the left inside of the rubber ball caused the balls edges to begin to stick out at odd angles, but it wasn't nearly enough to cause the much thicker material to burst like the balloon had done. She wasn't about to let this discourage her however, and continued to press on.

Remember how she had moved the water inside of the balloon in all different directions until it burst she began to do the exact same thing with the air inside of the rubber ball. From the left to the right the air started to swivel and swirl; faster and faster which caused once more the edges to begin to distort and stick out, the material beginning to stretch to the point to where it started to lose some of its color - yet it didn't burst quite yet. Then she started to swirl it vertically and all different directions that she could think of; the rubber beginning to stretch more and more with each movement of the chakra infused air inside of the thing until finally with a loud POP the ball broke, sending little bits of rubber flying in all directions. Hikari jumped slightly, having not been expecting it, but thankfully didn't topple off of the porch railing. "What's next?", she asked eagerly. 

WC Rasengan Training: 652 + 1,212 = 1,864 / 2,000

Kurai stood up and moved to a large boulder in the front yard. It was about the width of your average tree, and stood about the height of his waist. Kurai touched the boulder with both hands. Ordinarily, The boulder would be incredibly heavy and nearly impossible to lift up, even with as strong as he was naturally after carrying around all of the family belongings all of those years they went from here to there, staying in various inns and hole-in-the-wall taverns. To people walking past the Yanagi home, it would seem that this skinny kid lifted something incredibly heavy above his head with no effort at all. He wasn't straining at all; the blank look on his face never even changed as he seemingly just casually lifted something impossibly heavy above his head. They were even more taken aback when Kurai balanced the boulder in one hand.

This was around the time he heard the pop sound behind him. Kurai put the boulder back down and walked back up onto the porch, to see the rubber ball in many pieces. Hikari was sweating, probably from putting so much effort into completing this exercise. It looked like she was getting the hang of it. Finally, Kurai gathered the pieces of the rubber ball and threw them away into the trash bin his mother put on the front porch. He handed Hikari the other water balloon. ”...The last exercise is taking what you learned from the first 2 exercises and combining them. Remember, the first was getting the hang of rotation. The second was getting the hang of adding power to it. Now its about controlling the power and rotation of the water inside of the balloon without letting it burst, or causing the balloon to change shape.”

When she got that down, she'd be ready, and then it would be time to see her put it in action. Practicing it right here at home where it was safe was fine and dandy, but real experience was a better teacher. It would be better put to use against someone else, in an actual dangerous situation. Kurai was sure he could find some idiot or knucklehead that would be a willing test dummy, unknown to them. All fingers were currently pointing at the fighting ring outside of the village, but there was always the chance that they could run into some bandits or something, sort of like the incident yesterday with the merchants and the women. In which case he wouldn't have minded getting some more training of his own in.

Kurai sat on the stairs again, picking up some of the larger rocks and stones around the stairs. He began to train his new light weight technique to see how fast he could decrease the weight, as to get a better hold upon it the same as he could increase weight.

Word Count: 483 + 1,165 = 1,648

Hikari focused on the porch vibrations once more as her brother moved; she figured he was picking up the pieces, a task that would have taken her likely ten minutes had she tried to do it alone. She could see a lot better through Shinsai, but her vision wasn't one hundred percent perfect yet - maybe one day she would be lucky enough to have it like that. Who knew what Yokuchi held for her in her future: all of that medical knowledge could be turned around into something good, maybe even a way to heal her lack of eyesight if she got good enough.

She took the balloon once more from her brother, again focusing on the instructions and information he was giving her. The first exercise had been all about getting the hang of the rotation, while the second had been getting control of the power. Now she was to combine those two; manipulate the water within the balloon all without popping it or causing it to change shape. That was definitely going to be the hardest of the three tasks, but she wasn't going to give up here - she had come way too far for that. She gave a nod of understanding to her brother and then took another deep and calming breath as she focused on her current task at hand.

It was far easier this time around to use her chakra to manipulate the water and get it to move; and she was careful as she poured chakra into the balloon to increase the power - putting enough without causing it to pop. At first the ball started to change shape and she had to pull back on the amount of chakra; but after several minutes of trial and error she got the water to begin to swirl around rapidly all without disturbing the outside of the balloon at all or causing any sort of stretching. "I think I got it.", she said after another moment of making sure she was doing it right. "Is this right?", she asked curiously, wanting conformation on what she was doing.

WC Rasengan Training: 350 + 1,864 = 2,214 / 2,000

Right. She was ready now. It seemed like she'd quickly gotten the hang of all of the exercises, almost as fast as he had. Kurai put the rocks back in their places around the front of the house before walking back up onto the porch. The water was moving around within the balloon, swiftly, but she'd gotten control enough not to cause the balloon to pop, or to cause it to take another shape besides the circle that it was while filled with the water.

Kurai held out his right hand next to the balloon as chakra began to gather within, swirling and collecting into a cylindrical shape. He formed a Rasengan within his hand the same size as the balloon. All of that condensed power moving and swirling right next to the balloon, which had water within resembling the very same motions. The vibrations from that much power compacted into such a small space could be felt clearly.

”...Rasengan,” Kurai said, showing her exactly what she'd been training to do. ”It means Spiraling Sphere.” If she couldn't see it through Shinsai yet, she would definitely be able to feel it. ”...The best way to get the hang of using it is in a real situation, against a live opponent, when you're excited and a little scared, and the adrenaline is pumping. I have a few ideas on how we could arrange this without getting into trouble with mom or dad... let me know if you're up for it.”

Kurai dispersed his Rasengan into the air and nodded his head as how fast his sister had come along. If she wanted to get into a real situation to test hers out, that was no problem, but if she wanted to stay here and get practice in her own way, that was no problem either. There was something Kurai wanted to try himself first though. He stepped down off of the porch and concentrated, using his newfound light weight technique on himself, just to see if it were possible. It was a success, and while it made him much faster on his feet, he found that his Taijutsu didn't have as much... “oomph” as it did when he was his normal weight. He quickly moved around the front yard, resembling a black blur. A technique to use for escaping, or to launch a jutsu, such as Rasengan, in a matter that it would be nearly impossible to dodge.

Light Weight Rock Training Word Count: 402 + 1,648 = 2,050/2,000[/color]

Hikari was able to see as Kurai came over and began to do the same thing in his hand that she was doing inside of the balloon. Rasengan. This was definitely something that would be interesting to use; that was for sure. She knew that to get the proper training down on it the best way would be to go ahead and get into a real situation with it - just like her brother said, with her adrenaline pumping and things actually on the line. She nodded several times as she withdrew her chakra from the ball, causing the water to move around for a moment before settling. "Alright, let's do it - but this looks dangerous, who am I going to use it on?", she asked curiously as she stepped off of the porch before watching through Shinsai as her brother began to zoom around the yard.

She could only imagine what he'd been practicing while she was busy - since she hadn't really been focused on anything but the balloon in her hand. She was confident that she got Rasengan down well enough to use it on someone else, and could feel the excitement of the idea beginning to fill her; which caused a huge grin to sweep across her face and remain there.

Earth Shadow Clone Training: 214 + 213 = 427 / 1,500

Kurai returned his weight to normal. He moved over by the stairs so it was earlier for Hikari to “see” him, motioning for her to follow him.

He walked through the village with his sister, gathering themselves a healthy helping of stares. Those Yanagi kids who had already ranked up to Special Jounin. Kurai returned the stares with his blank expression. He passed by a bench where Jin and Hitomi were sitting, both heavily bandaged with black eyes and wounds, all purple and red. Both of them looked to still be in bad shape, especially Hitomi, who had so many bandages around her face that she looked like a mummy, or she was wearing some kind of home made Halloween costume. They were surrounded by many kids who'd decided to remain loyal to them, some of them also sporting bandages and dark colored wounds. All of the gossip stopped as Kurai and his sister walked past. Some of them gave devious and evil stares toward the twins, but Kurai just kept his blank expression. Kurai was left to assume that they and those kids would never get along, but they'd brought it on themselves.

Nearing the entrance to the village, Kurai and Hikari would pass the gardens. The caretaker peeked out to see them coming and looked surprised and happy to see them. “Ah, the Yanagi twins! Good to see the two of you,” he said, bowing somewhat. Kurai nodded his head. “Doing well today I hope. I was wondering, have you had any luck learning the technique that was written in the scroll that I gave you?”

Instead of telling him, Kurai just showed it to him, as he asked him to do the last time he was here. Kurai held out his right hand, leaving the caretaker with a confused look. Chakra began to visibly gather within Kurai's opened palm. It began to gather into a circular shape until it was a perfect sphere, glowing blue. The caretaker's face took an expression of complete surprise. Some of the kids sitting around Jin and Hitomi caught a glimpse at what Kurai was doing, taking looks of surprise and fear, just like they had the other day.

“Rasengan,” the caretaker said just above a whisper, staring at the glowing blue orb of condensed chakra with wide eyes and an expression of total fascination. “Just as I imagined it... I knew you would be the one to master using it, I had a feeling about you... How about you, Hikari? Have you had any luck learning how to wield this?”

Earth Release Golem Training Word Count: 430/2,000

Hikari followed after her brother, wondering where exactly he was leading her to. As they walked she could feel and see somewhat those who were staring at them, including the more evil and devious stares from those who had had their asses beat just the other day. Hitomi's face was still in bandages, making it impossible for Hikari to even catch a glimpse of what she used to look like - but she figured her face was going to be like that for a while to come. She also wondered why the other guy was even hanging around her; unless it was because he was ruined too and no other female would likely want him.

She continued to follow after Kurai; stopping by him as he showed the caretaker what he could do. When the caretaker looked as her she nodded and held her right hand out too and concentrated up the chakra that caused Rasengan to form within her hand. She grinned again, proud of such an accomplishment. "Yup, sure can!" After another moment she let Rasengan disperse - not wanting to risk harming anyone accidentally with it. "Kurai just taught me how a few minutes ago."

She wondered if this was who her brother had been taking her to, or if he had something in mind - another way for her to use Rasengan. She doubted any of the kids from before would want to fight after what had happened to them all, but she could be wrong - sometimes stupidity infected people in mass numbers. She also had another technique she wanted to learn - a way of turning earth into clones of herself to help even the odds in case she ever ended up in a situation like that again, or put the odds even more in her favor if she were facing off against a touch opponent.

WC Earth Shadow Clone: 307 + 427 = 724 / 1,500

“Very good! You kids are surely something else! Mastering such a difficult technique in such a shot amount of time. I heard it took my father months to master using this move. The two of you managed to master using it in only a few days!” The kids behind them on the bench caught wind of what the caretaker said. Expressions of envy and fear were upon the faces of those that weren't covered by bandages, but Jin and Hitomi still seemed obviously jealous. Kurai, humble as usual, just shrugged his shoulders. “...Well, I should get back to my duties around the meditation gardens, don't let me keep you two! I'm sure i'll be seeing you twins around!”

Kurai motioned for Hikari to follow him and made his way through the front gates of the village, and down the path that lead out into the wilderness and wilds that surrounded Hinowa. People were coming and going, making Kurai have to step around and between a few people. The foot traffic thinned out the farther from the village they went, and soon there was only Hikari and Kurai. The older Yanagi twin lead his sister onto a path off of the main road, leading into a brush of trees and growth. It lead to a tunnel into a cave that lead down a distance. Cheers and excited voices could be heard down within, making it sound as if they were entering a stadium.

Down inside of the tunnel, one could see some of the ruins of Korigakure. There was a large intact warehouse that was once part of the destroyed village, pushed underground by the explosion. Many people were gathered inside, seated all around in a formation of a large circle. Inside of the circle, 4 people were fighting. Spectators could be seen at various points inside of the circle holding bundles of Ryo: The bet takers. Just like last time, Kurai remained in the rear and just watched for now. It seemed today, double battles were taking place, which meant double the money. 2 people that could use Ice Techniques, still dressed in Kori garbs, were against 2 people that could use Taijutsu and Fire techniques. It would have seemed like the Ice users were outmatched by the fire and Tai users, but the Ice people were faster than the fire users. It was an interesting spectacle to watch, since the fire and Tai users were proving themselves tougher than the Ice people. The Kori survivors were slowly wearing them down though, so the match could have went in any direction...

Word Count: 431 + 430 = 861

Hikari just smiled, having no real reason to brag. When it came to Kurai and herself she just considered them lucky - lucky that such a prophecy as the one the Yanagi elders had talked about was really about them. She offered a simple nod to the caretaker and then took off after her brother; sticking close. She ignored the fact that the other kids, the ones who had had their butts handed to them, looked envious and jealous of them; figuring that if they would just stop following around such a weak leader that perhaps they too would be able to hone their skills to perfection.

She kept close to her brother, bobbing an weaving around the people that thankfully Shinsai always alerted her to; which saved from any sort of messy run-ins that would have happened otherwise. Eventually the crowd evened out and then disappeared completely, leaving only the pair walking. She didn't ask questions, figuring she'd find out where they were going when they got there.

When the sound of cheers reached her ears her head cocked to the side; brow furrowing in curiosity. What in the world could that be? She entered in after her brother and instantly picked up on what was going on; a double battle was being fought with people standing around holding large amounts of ryo - which she assumed were bets placed against those fighting. Apparently, her brother had just led her to some sort of underground fighting ring. This was definitely going to be interesting. "Was this where you were last night, Kurai?", she asked curiously as she paid close attention to the fight at hand through Shinsai, glad that it had developed further to allow her for a semi clear picture of what was going on in the fighting.

WC Earth Shadow Clone Training: 298 + 734 = 1,032 / 1,500

Kurai nodded to Hikari. The Tai and Fire duo began to get the drop on the Kori survivors. It was around this time that the same guy from before, one of the non-violent kids from the garden who'd made a large amount of Ryo because of Kurai last night, once again noticed Kurai standing in the rear. He made his way over to where he and Hikari were standing and watching.

“Ah! It's you again, Kurai! I see this time you brought your sister with you, huh? How lucky, today is double battle day! You get to take someone of your choosing into battle with you. It seems like you showed up just in time, it looks like these martial artists from some small settlement south west of here are about to win and be 5 times champion. No one has been able to beat them, they're so tough!” One of the Kori survivors was grabbed out of his speedy motion and pounded into submission. The other had no choice but to keep moving, leaving him no room to fight back. He was very fast, but the Tai and Fire partners lured the remaining Kori survivor into a conveniently placed trap. A fire technique involving a small explosion rendered him unconscious. The crowd began to cheer as the same attractive blonde from the night before announced them the winners and still undefeated.

“But hey, now that you two are here, I bet you'd be able to knock them off of that throne they're sitting on! Their streak has gone to their heads! They act cocky and show off during matches, I bet you two could use that to your advantage! I know you guys would win if you went in there! How about it, you both think you could take them?”

Kurai stared closely at the two partners. Both were about Kurai's size, thick with muscles because of hard Taijutsu training. Both weighed close to 200 pounds. They'd be slower than he and Hikari, but tough and durable, meaning it would probably take a lot for them to go down and stay down, similar to Jin a day ago. Kurai had a few tricks for tough guys. Both of them would likely underestimate Hikari and leave themselves open to some devastating attack.

Kurai nodded his head, then looked to his sister to see if she were up for going against these undefeated martial artists. He began to step forward through the crowd, and once people saw him and remembered last night, a loud eruption of roars began in the warehouse, for they knew this next match would be nothing short of spectacular, if last night was any evidence.

“Ah, we have the new guy again, and this time he brought back up,” said the blonde as Kurai stepped forward out of the crowd of spectators and into the fighting ring. “We all saw what this guy could do last night, but does he and this little lady he brought with him have what it takes to face the undefeated Team Engine?”

The Engine brothers looked at this skinny kid and his little sister, laughing loudly. Kurai didn't react. He simply rolled his shoulders and moved his head back and fourth, producing popping sounds on each side. Obviously they didn't think Kurai and this little girl would be able to do much. That was good. For now, they had the element of surprise on their side. Kurai didn't plan on dragging this out too long, there were other things that had to be done. He had to find out if him hitting the road and leaving for a while to visit Niwa would be legit. There was something he wanted to test out during this brawl, but besides that, he was going to make this quick.

Word Count: 636 + 861 = 1,497/2,000

A double battle? That sounded like loads of fun, and an excellent way for her to train up the jutsu idea she had had; clones made out of Earth, more durable than most other types of clones. Given what she had just witnessed if she could pull this jutsu off then they would definitely be set battle wise; these other two weren't going to know what hit them, just like the bullies back in the meditation garden didn't.

So, she gave a nod to her brother and grinned. "That sounds like a bunch of fun.", she said softly before looking back towards the ring. She didn't care about the cheers and the roaring crowd, she drowned all of that out so that she could focus completely on what was about to go on. She focused on her future opponents and took in as much detail about them as she could; they were definitely taijutsu users and likely were going to be slower than herself and her brother - Hikari had always been able to move faster than the average person her rank.

Hikari entered in after her brother a plan already forming in her mind that would work on either opponent; surround whoever she ended up facing off again with the Earth Shadow Clones, distract them, and then use her new ability to teach 'em a lesson pain. Simply, effective, and it would knock them down several notches and get them to stop laughing - that much she was positive about. However, she never let any of this cunning show; she simply kept a slight smile on her face, allowing nothing else to show. It likely made her look like she had no idea what she was getting herself into, but that was exactly the plan.

So, she simply stayed quiet and waited for everything to start; she was going to wait for the idiot she was paired off with to make the first move - and she planned on it being his last. Simple, and quick.

WC 334 + 1,032 = 1,366 / 1,500

“Alright folks, last match until the evening sessions, get your bets in! It's the Yanagi Twins vs Team Engine! It's sure to be a hot one!”

The blonde left the fighting ring. Kurai took a fighting stance and stared blankly at the brothers. They'd already been in a previous battle, but both still looked fresh. The older brother set his sights upon Kurai, whereas the younger brother took aim at Hikari. The younger one tried to make a cute face at Hikari, saying something along the lines of “I promise to go easy on you cutie pie,” while the older brother began to bounce around, smirking, performing flashy kicks with flames bursting from his feet. It appeared he had the strange ability to ignite his hands and feet right as he punched, adding a nasty surprise to his physical blows. The younger brother seemed to have this same ability. Kurai paid close attention to that.

Kurai had a plan, and began putting it in motion. He leaned over to touch the ground, causing bowl-shaped sections of Earth to rise on either side of the older brother. The bowls came together and enclosed the older Engine brother inside of it. Kurai knew that it wouldn't be enough to hold him inside for long; he was counting on him to break out of it. A fiery tornado kick broke the older brother out of the trap, leaving behind a large pile of rocks and boulders, which was exactly what Kurai wanted.

Kurai began his assault. He was quickly upon the older engine brother, starting off with Whirlwind. A high kick that he missed on purpose, followed by a low kick which began the chain into the Great Whirlwind. The middle kick came next, then the high kick, knocking the brother airborne. Kurai jumped with him, and instead of executing the heel drop that would likely knock him back to the ground violently onto his face, he instead performed The Violent Heel, knocking him backwards at high velocity. Like last night, the crowd ate it up, making loud OHHHH sounds as Kurai's attacks connected.

Kurai landed and could be seen doing something to the pile of rocks and boulders left behind from his dome attack. Suddenly the rocks began to move as if they had a life all their own. The rocks and boulders began to pile up, assembling themselves into a humanoid form. Kurai's Rock Golem stood about 7 feet tall, had massive arms and legs, and two large boulders for hands. Everyone watched speechless, including the Engine brothers. The Golem stepped toward the older brother and executed a punch, he dodged, leaving the Golem to sock a large hole in the floor. The brother counter attacked, seeing that his blow did little to nothing to stop the newborn creature. It turned and began swinging at him again. Kurai didn't hear any laugher or see any flashy moves from him now.

The ability to make Golems pretty much mastered now, Kurai folded his arms and waited to see how long it lasted against the older Engine brother before stepping in and finishing him off.

Word Count: 522 + 1,497 = 2,019/2,000

So she was going to get to do battle against the younger of the two brothers; this was perfectly fine. She ignored the face made in her direction and the words spoken - she wasn't here to play nice, she was here to whoop this guys ass an get it over with. The plan was simple; create her clones by spewing forth mud which would likely make her look like she had just gotten sick to her stomach, once her clones were created and distracting the guy then she would move in and finish him off with her newly developed Rasengan.

As Hikari focused on her inner Doton chakra she could feel the rise up of the mud needed to create the clones and felt it being to rise up and out of her; spewing out of her mouth and all over the ground. She could hear the many ewws and retching sounds coming from the audience and could even hear the younger brother mutter "That's disgusting, she must be scared if she's puking like that". Which meant of course that her plan was working flawlessly. She spewed forth enough mud to create three clones; and out of the mass of mud on the ground said clones emerged, all looking like perfect replicas of Hikari down to the very last detail. The three clones and her took position around the younger brother just as her brother created a dome around the older brother that was then shattered; which led to... a golem, she didn't know he could do that: perhaps she'd pick up on that technique later on down the road.

Clone one struck out with a fist to the younger brother just as the younger brother executed a kick towards clone three. Clone three dodged out of the way, causing the kick to hit clone two. Clone two took damage, but quickly recovered; being made out of mud made it able to withstand great deals of physical damage. Given the younger brother was too busy attacking clone two and three to notice one's punch it collided with the kids skull but did very little damage. Clone one jumped back, preparing another attack. While the clones continued on with their barrage of punches and kicks towards the younger brother, and taking the constant punches and kicks back, Hikari took position for her own attack: the Rasengan.

Hikari concentrated a high dose of chakra into her right hand, manipulating it all into a sphere roughly the size of a skull; the whole process taking roughly six seconds. With Rasengan prepared - and just in time as the younger brother seemed to realize that the clones were effected by fire and damaged by it compared to regular physical attacks - she moved in for her attack. The younger brother turned just as Hikari darted in close and she slammed Rasengan right into his chest where it began to cut away at flesh and broke several ribs. She dissipated the jutsu before it could kill him; but he was definitely done for. The younger brother fell backwards and instantly rolled protectively on his side; curled up into a little ball, or as little of a ball as his large size could get into, to protect himself from any further Rasengan attacks.

With her opponent down she focused on Shinsai to see where her brother was at in his fight; all while making sure the younger brother didn't get back up and try sneak attacking her.

Jutsu and Chakra:

WC Earth Shadow Clone: 579 + 1,366 = 1,945 / 1,500

The ewws that the spectators made soon turned into oooh's and ahhh's when the clone Hikaris appeared, and then to the same loud roars of applause when she used the very same technique her brother had the night before to send the younger brother down for the count. “Baby Engine is doowwwnnn! Floored for the first time at the hands of a little girl! What a burn! How embarrassing!” announced the blonde.

By now the older Engine brother looked scared for his life upon seeing his brother go down at the hands of Hikari. He continued dodging and ducking the attacks of the Golem, that is, until Kurai was upon him once again in a flash. A rapid amount of punches and kicks came, bowling the man over with an equal combination of speed and power, unlike the previous Kori team.

Kurai executed an uppercut that sent the older brother into the air, right after the Golem reared back and winded up a massive haymaker. With the brother airborne and wide open, it was easily able to hit him with the attack. He was sent into one of the far walls like a bullet, then fell to the floor motionless. “And there goes big brother Engine! This fight is over ladies and gentlemen, this fight is ooovvaahhh!”

The spectators roared loudly with applause. The Golem returned to the place in the floor where the dome appeared, collapsing itself back into a pile of rocks, which Kurai caused to sink back into the dirt floor. The Blonde came and held up both Kurai's and Hikari's arms in victory. Kurai didn't mind. Hikari managed to perfect the Rasengan and get some practice in, as did Kurai with creating that Golem. That would be a very helpful aid in the future. Now, it was time to get back to business.

The blonde said “You two are welcome here anytime, you're famous here now,” causing Kurai to nod his head. He motioned Hikari to follow and began to leave for home.

\Exit\