Her right hand rubbed at her face momentarily as she felt the burning rays of the sun against her lightly tanned flesh. She had no idea what time it was, and felt no reason for using her chakra radar to try and look at the clock. Her brain was groggy; she was exhausted from busting so much ass at the hospital. Exhausted from having to handle the secret she was now keeping for the Hinowa Council up until they choose to reveal it themselves. It wasn't her place. It wasn't her information to give. But, she hated not at least telling her brother. He had told her about the bijuu sealed inside of him, and other secrets... it felt wrong keeping it from him. That's why she had spent the majority of the night up and thinking about telling him compared to keeping it to herself: and she made the decision she would tell him. However, she had passed out before she had a chance.

She had a lot of training to accomplish. She had recently found out the explosive potential that her chakra held. She could blow things up when she wanted to. She had also gained a very good aptitude for Fuuinjutsu. She had combined the two to make special gloves she wore all of the time unless she was sleeping: gloves that let her slap seals on things to later blow up. Useful, or so she figured... she hadn't got the chance to use them yet, but she was sure she would soon.

Once she was finished with rubbing her face she stretched for a good minute, fingertips and toes pointed. When she was finished with her whole stretching routine she used her chakra radar to look around, more particularly to find Shiro her new lemur friend. Normally the lemur slept in the bay window on the pile of cushions she had put them for her. However, at the moment she wasn't there. She was raiding the fruit bowl and had mother Yanagi laughing up a storm from it.

A smile filtered across Hikari's face and she sat up while pushing her shaggy black hair back and out of her face: it would end up in a ponytail before too long. But first she wanted to shower. She wandered over to her dresser and rifled through the drawers until she pulled out a black tank, a black overcoat that would be light enough so she wouldn't over heat, black shorts, and under-garments. She stepped into her private bathroom, closed the door, and started the water. Once she got the temperature set to what she wanted it to be she started the shower and then stripped out of her night clothing. She stepped into the shower and just stood there for a moment to enjoy the hard massage like spray that hit her shoulders and neck. However, shortly afterwards she washed up using scent free soaps and shampoos. Finished with her shower she stepped out, turned off the water, towel dried off and got herself dressed. She brushed her hair after towel drying it some more and then threw her hair back into a ponytail so that she wouldn't have to worry about it getting in her way. She tied a black clothing around her eyes to keep them hidden from view and to help remind her to keep them closed when using her chakra radar, and then slipped her fingerless black Boom Boom gloves on. As she started to walk out of her bedroom she snatched her headband off of the dresser and her bag of scrolls for the jutsu she wanted to learn for the day. She tied the headband around her left leg, along with the pouch of weapons she had grabbed, and slung the bag over her shoulder.

She walked into the kitchen and dropped the bag into an empty chair. She slid into another and pulled an orange out of the bowl of fruit. "Good morning, mom. You too Shiro." The lemur ran across the table and then up Hikari's arm with an apple in her hand. She sat on Hikari's shoulder, giving her head a one armed hug while her free hand held the apple she was nibbling on: Shiro she had learned rather quickly was rather affectionate for a lemur. Hikari sliced a line in the orange with her thumb nail and then started to peel it.

"HIkari, that's a lot of scrolls... are you planning on learning all of that jutsu today?", asked mother Yanagi as she eyed the stack in a way that suggested she felt Hikari was pushing herself too hard - but it was something she wouldn't say out loud.

"I plan on trying to. I've done it before... I have the next few days off from the hospital to rest and train. They won't bother me unless they need me.", she said with a shrug. She pulled the first scroll out she wanted to learn after finishing peeling her orange and laid it out on the kitchen table. The jutsu was called Explosion Release: Exploding Palm and it looked simple enough. Shiro leaned forward so she too could see the jutsu and tilted her head to the side at the diagram. "You're going to be blowing stuff up today? I plan on watching that!" Hikari just grinned slightly and popped a slice of the orange into her mouth.

Explosion Release: Exploding Palm: 901 / 565
Explosive Weapons Tech: 336 / 1,125

It was another day and another chance to learn something new. Kurai was up early this morning for some reason; he and Little Kong doing casual runs around the perimeter of the village. While walking through the village back toward home, many said hi to he and his simian partner. A fruit market vendor gave Little Kong a free banana that he was grateful to receive.

It was while nearing home that he encountered a familiar face from not too long in the past: Riku. He was a double agent; one who infiltrated powerful rouge groups and dismantled them from the inside out. At the moment, he looked as if he'd been in a fight. His uniform was torn, and one corner of his mouth was bleeding. At various points of his frame were the welts and bruises from the blows he'd taken. Kurai looked at him with a strange expression.

“Kurai... good I found you,” he said, catching his breath. “Hinowa is in trouble again... it's Remiel's brother, Yaz. He seeks revenge for his brother's murder and is bringing with him a group of the worst kind of scum. I was successful in eliminating many of them, but there's still a small army headed this way. I'm lucky to have even made it here in one piece...”

Kurai knew it would probably be a matter of time before someone came along seeking vengeance for some goon he'd beat up or killed. It was the perfect opportunity to shake out the rust and possibly develop new techniques. For Kurai, the midst of battle with real opponents was the best way to devise new signature moves. In his Fuuton training to prepare to learn the kekkei tota known as Dust Release, Kurai decided to create more techniques for his mostly forgotten second element. This looked to be a good of a time as any.

Riku began to give Kurai intel on what they would be up against, just like last time. Kurai, before he started talking, took the opportunity to tap the ground twice with the heel of his right foot; a signal sent to his sister that let her know that something was up. With her highly sensitive senses now, he knew she would probably start paying attention the second she either felt or heard the taps.

Yaz was the leader. His was proficient in the uses of Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, and a basic amount of Ninjutsu. His elements were Katon, Fuuton, and Suiton. He wore a special chest armor that gave him the speed and power of an A Ranked Jounin. Yaz stood 6 feet 3 inches and had shaggy black hair.

His right hand (wo)man was Ayane. She had S-Rank skills in Puppetry and Fuuinjutsu, her elements being Fuuton and Doton, and was mostly a long ranged fighter. Ayane was a very attractive female, dressed in a revealing dark purple uniform. She was a very alluring individual; her demeanor and looks were designed to distract the opposite sex, mostly to lure them into deadly traps. It was unknown how she and Yaz came to be in the same company.

The powerhouse of their squad was an individual known only as “Kuma.” Rumored to be a part of a clan of long lost giants, Kuma was a huge monster of a man, standing over 10 feet tall. Kuma looked like one giant muscle. His arms were the size of tree trunks and looked sculpted from stone. With the simple minded mentality of a child, like Ayane, it is unknown how Kuma came to be under the control of Yaz, yet the giant is fiercely loyal to him, following all of his orders without question. Kuma was absolutely ruthless in battle, known for pulling the arms and legs off the unlucky individuals that got too close. Kuma also wielded a large, jagged-looking sword, and would chop his opponents to pieces to wear various bodyparts as trophies. Upon his belt hung the various arms and legs of past victims.

Last but not least there was Tsuikage. S-Rank and proficient in the use of clones and Genjutsu. He was dressed head to toe in a dark colored uniform and wore a mask to conceal his features. He was a very secretive and mysterious individual who rarely spoke to anyone, even his own team mates. Tsuikage was a very patient and calculating individual, and has been known to toy with his victims for days, sometimes weeks, driving some of them insane and breaking their will before killing them. The same with the other members of this strange team, it is unknown how Tsuikage came to be under the employ of Yaz.

With them were 30 basically trained ninja, all with the skills of Chuunin. Some of them had swords, stolen from past victims, some of them had Nunchucks, other had nothing but Kunai knives. Several few were unarmed. Often, these 30 ninja, who were constantly being replaced with more goons as they either died or more joined up, were often the first wave sent in to weaken the target before the more stronger of the crew came in to finish the job. This crew had managed to cross the arctic tundra and were currently on their way across the newly built bridge over the great lake.

Kurai could see them all coming, and popped his knuckles. Little Kong began to jump around and scream, excited and amped up. As usual, even with a major threat headed in his direction, Kurai's blank expression didn't change any. He, with Riku and Little Kong, calmly began walking toward the village entrance, intending to intercept this crowd out in the wilds where he didn't have to worry about anyone innocent being caught up in a flashy technique that came with splash damage.

”Are you alright to fight, Riku?” Kurai asked, looking him over again. ”Sit out if you have to, or stay out of sight like you did last time. It looks like you've taken enough of a beating. Leave the rest of them to us...”

Riku nodded his head. “Fine with me. I'll lure some of them into traps like last time, if I can. I truly appreciate you helping me again, but also apologize for letting this situation land on your front doorstep...”

”No need to apologize. I should be thanking you, to be honest. Besides, knowing my twin sister, she'll probably want to get involved this time around.” Kurai saw all of them marching across the bridge, steadily coming closer through Shinsai. The 30 small fry would prove to be an excellent warm-up for the main event. He'd already come up with several different ways to take them all out while taking minimal to no damage in the process...

Word Count, Wind Release Slash: 1,126/1,500 - 25% = 1,125
Word Count, Wind Release, Dust Cloud Technique: 1/1,500 - 25% =1,125

Hikari had made quick work of the orange she had peeled. After she popped the last slice of orange into her mouth she watched as Shiro ran back down her arm after releasing her one armed hug from her head. Shiro stood on the table which allowed Hikari to get up, gather up the orange peels, and head over to the garbage. She dumped the whole lot into the garbage and then proceeded over to the sink. As she turned on the water and began to wash the orange juice off of her hands she saw and felt her brother stomp his foot twice. Her head jerked up and she focused clearly on her brother and the individual he was with. A frown formed across her face: something was up. It was especially easy to tell with the way that the man with her brother looked like he had gotten his ass beat: though it also looked like he had done some ass beating himself - something had happened.

She dried off her hands on her clothing as she began to walk back towards the kitchen table. She held her arm out to Shiro who instantly lept to it and climbed up her arm to her shoulder. "I'll be back later, mom... stay in the house. Tell dad to stay in the house too.", her tone of voice as she left was enough to have mother Yanagi knowing that something was wrong - even without Hikari having explained anything.

"What's up, Hikari?", Shiro asked curiously as she one arm hugged Hikari's head again as the two traveled. Hikari was moving quickly towards where her brother and the other individual were headed. As she went she saw through her chakra radar the group of thug looking individuals headed straight towards the village: someone had apparently decided to attack. Though, this group didn't seem like they were going to last long. Hikari wasn't the type of person to judge a book by its cover but they all looked rather weak.

"It would seem there's a mob of people headed towards us. I doubt they're up to anything good, especially with the way my brother and this other guy are headed towards them."

"I guess your training is going to become more practical.", Shiro commented as she tightened her grip so she didn't have to worry about slipping off of Hikari's shoulder. Shiro was rather looking forward to all of this: she had heard rumors of the things that Hikari had done along with her brother but she had never gotten the chance to see it for herself: and now she finally was.

Hikari knew her little lemur companion to be right. She was going to end up training all of these explosive moves out on these bad guys. She reached her brother and the other individual with an eyebrow raised behind the cloth around her eyes. She adjusted the fingerless Boom Boom gloves on her hands as she turned her attention towards those who were headed their way. "I take it this isn't a a party..." She was ready to fight, prepared for it. This was what all of her past training had been about after all: being able to help protect her village so that nothing bad happened to it and now she was going to get to do that.

Explosive Weapon Tech: 557 + 336 = 893 / 1,125

As Kurai stepped out of the village with Riku and Little Kong, he could see that his sister was indeed not going to pass up on the opportunity to use idiots such as these as punching bags. Kurai and Little Kong began to run. It wouldn't be but a few minutes of travel that they would reach an area in the wilds a distance from the bridge across the great lake with hills and trees. It was a perfect place to hide for someone who could fire arrows and control them in mid-light like Riku could.

Kurai decided he was going at them head-on. Knowing them, they were going to send the 30 goons in first to see what whatever resistance was made of; a preview of abilities. If they wanted a display Kurai was prepared to give them one. He already figured that Yaz and the big man were his and Little Kong's; he'd leave the female and the sneaky man to Hikari. The first thing to do would be to thin out their numbers.

The Ambush began as the 30 goons followed by their 4 betters entered the range of trees that surrounded the wilds outside of Hinowa. Kuma easily knocked over trees and left footprints in the ground, quaking the earth with each lumbering step. Something fast and black began to move through the trees. A goon's head suddenly fell off of it's shoulders. The body stepped several times before falling over and twitching. Something small and brown moved rapidly between the branches, releasing something that looked like a large sphere of air. Several of the goons were knocked severely into other goons which created a big bloody pile of them. The fast black thing moved past several other goons with Fuuton chakra charged into his palm, making chopping-like motions. Blades of wind were produced sharp enough to sever limbs and even decapitate victims. Each of the goons had their legs severed at the knee. None of them realized at first until they lost their balance.

Kurai made a pulling motion, causing a large section of earth to rise out of the ground. He jumped, and executed a heel drop, causing the piece of earth to explode into many pieces and smother several unsuspecting goons.. Kurai landed amongst the many fragments and began spinning Fuuton Chakra around his body at a rapid pace. The pieces of earth were swept up into the extreme winds and turned them into a literal sand blaster. Some of the goons unfortunate enough to be pulled into the winds were literally turned into hamburger. Other goons were hit with arrows that seemed to come out of nowhere.

A jutsu such as that would be chakra taxing, so Kurai didn't keep those winds up too long. But already into the battle and Kurai had devised 2 new techniques. Yaz decided that he wasn't going to wait until all of his men were beaten and grounded into red meat, and rushed in to begin helping them attack Kurai. Yaz combined his Taijutsu and Kenjutsu, swinging a sword stylishly towards Kurai while occasionally performing kicks that were blocked or avoided. Yaz seemed to become frustrated that even with his special armor, this kid before him seemed faster still. He began to breathe fireballs at Kurai, which he avoided and allowed to hit one of his own goons. Yaz would also shoot what looked to be bullets of water from his mouth, bu the kid was fast enough to avoid even these.

A goon attempted to attack Kurai from behind. Kurai was easily able to see the punch coming through Shinsai and roll backwards across the attacker's arm to end up behind him. A Mossberg 500 kick sent the goon flying forwards toward Yaz. The goon projectile slammed into him, sending the two men backwards helpless to mother nature. Other goons got swept up with them and tumbled through the trees. Some of the other goons that had been downed but not killed began to get back to their feet.

Ayane had been up in the tree branches, watching the carnage below. Tsuikage was nowhere to be found at the moment. Kuma, fed up with just watching, grabbed several of the bodies of the dead and began heaving them toward Kurai, who managed to dodge them, and block them by raising wall sections of earth out of the ground as shields. When he was able, Kurai pulled house sized sections of earth from the ground and kicked them toward the giant, while at the same time avoiding the sword, kicks and juts from Yaz. Amazingly, even though hit with the big earth pieces dead on the head and upper part of his body, Kuma would shrug off the pain and continue throwing bodies.

Yaz became the victim of the “You're too close” combo. A right hand slammed into his groin, making him stop in his tracks and producing a scream from his throat. Three punches to his mid-section were next, knocking the winds from his lungs, then the uppercut blow that launched the leader airborne. Kurai jumped with him, spinning his body around to heel drop Yaz in the direction of Kuma. Yaz's body flew into the giant like a comet, slamming into his head with his chest. Kuma howled in pain and spilled backwards. When he fell he landed with a tremendous THUD that caused the ground the quake. Random goons continued to be shot by random arrows; the sharp projectiles burying themselves into their heads.

Kuma began to get back to his feet, madder than ever. Apparently this was the giant's first time being knocked down and hurt in this fashion. It wasn't settling too well with the big man, as he'd began attacking goons. Some of them had arms ulled off, while others were just outright ripped in two. Yas was no longer seen upon this field of battle. He was probably somewhere unconscious or dead. As Kurai's upper body expanded and his normal coat became the stylish one it became when using Sage Mode, he knew this giant would easily rip through Hinowa if it made it that far. That was when he decided that the giant would have to die. It charged forward covered in the blood of it's goon comrades and began attempting to grab Kurai, intent on breaking the skinny little thing into several red pieces.

Word Count: 1,067 + 1 = 1,068/ 1,125

God, this had turned violent quickly...

Hikari had darted into the trees for some attack and dodge tactics. The lemur, Shiro, took to the trees to not only stay out of the way due to her drastic side difference compared to humans but so she could also help from above. Rocks, coconuts, anything the lemur could get her paws on was grabbed and used to hurl at the group of goons. Several, after being struck numerous times with the objects launched by Shiro attempted to climb up after her. The lemur took to the much lighter branches of the trees, and due to the lack of intelligence of the individuals after her the branches broke which caused several of them to fall to the ground and die due to broken necks or otherwise end up too broken up to continue fighting.

Hikari, who normally didn't use weapons to fight, had pulled out several kunai from her pouch on her leg. The weapons became coated in explosive chakra; glowing orange to signify such. She ducked and dodged numerous taijutsu attacked launched her way with the help from Shinsai and her chakra radar. Taking notice of a group of goons who were clustered around a tree she gave a flick of her wrist and sent three kunai, all coated in explosive chakra, flying straight towards the three. The three kunai hit the their marks and when they did they let off explosions that sent chunks of flesh flying and the goons falling. It also was enough to momentarily stun those who hadn't been hit by the kunai lurking nearby: though she had been careful to make sure neither or brother or the other man was around when she had did it.

Knowing she wouldn't have to worry about that particular group of goons she moved onward. Punches and kicks were launched towards a goon nearest to her. A fist to his jaw, a knee to his groin, and then an upper cut to his chin that sent him flying up and backwards into the air to come crashing down on another goon. The goon he landed on quickly threw the stunned man off of him and came barreling straight towards Hikari. Thinking quickly Hikari coated her feet in the same explosive chakra that she had coated her weapons with.

As the man got close enough she cocked her fist back and sent it slamming into his face. The impact caused a great explosion that turned the mans face into hamburger and sent the rest of his body flying backwards with a very loud bang. The next goon that came running towards her met a similar fate as her hand made contact with his chest, right where his heart was, and blew a hole straight through it: turning all of the organs in the area into hamburger as well. She dodged out of the way of the falling body and waited to see who else wanted to try her and her new explosive techniques.

Meanwhile, Shiro had spotted Ayane in the trees who seemed as if she had simply been watching and gave a warning signal, a certain movement of her ears, as a sign to alert Hikari of her presence in case Hikari hadn't noticed her. With her new target in sight she made her way towards the female - ready to whoop her ass the same as the goons and teach her a lesson in coming to Hinowa to cause trouble. As she moved she could see her brother whooping similar asses: including some giant of a man.

However she turned her focus back on Ayane who seemed on a higher level than the goons she had been dealing with on the ground. The woman looked far smarter, obvious by the way she was keeping herself out of the battle. Shiro lifted up a coconut that she had plucked from the tree and sent it hurling into the back of the womans head. The purpose of the attack was to distracted her from Hikari's advances and it worked. The woman turned and headed straight towards the lemur. However, unlike the rest of the goons who had been stupid enough to follow her direct path when she scurried her way over the weaker branches the woman kept to the branches she knew would hold her weight: causing her to gain on the lemur. Shiro let out a cry of frustration and that's when Hikari took her mark.

Ayane was in a tree next to her with a smaller trunk then the rest. She cocked her fist back once more as she coated her hand in the orange explosive chakra and sent it slamming into the tree. The explosion caused large portions of the trunk to explode and a second explosive punch finished the job; the tree falling freely. Shiro jumped out of the tree and to another where she safely stayed so she could watch what was coming up next, and Ayane was given no choice but to fall with the tree, tangled in the branches. However, that wasn't going to keep her down and soon she was getting to her feet and turning very angrily towards Hikari.

Hikari stared at her and took a fighting stance: awaiting for the woman to make the first move. She could tell she was stronger than the other goons and she wasn't going to make the mistake of thinking she was. No, this woman was going to be slightly more challenging then them...

Explosive Weapons Tech: 917 + 893 = 1,810 / 1,125
Sky Rocketing Punch: 685 / 1,125

The giant was taking large swings of both arms. Trees and fellow comrades were felled while Kurai nimbly avoided the giant. Little Kong was nearby, beating on what remained of the goons. The simian made use of his “Monkey Ball” attack to trip and disarm many of them, and to trip up others. Kurai began to return fire whenever the giant missed one of it's long looming swings. With arms coated in rock made heavier by way of the Added Weight Technique, Kurai slammed punches into the ribs and mid-section of the behemoth. Even in Sage Mode, they didn't seem to be affecting Kuma the giant, but Kurai's blank expression didn't change.

Kurai went back to the defensive, dodging punches and allowing goons to be hit in his place. Kurai put his hand on the ground and raised large dome sections of earth surrounding Kuma the giant. The dome enclosed upon it, trapping the giant behind several feet of rock. The giant began to punch the inside of the dome. This gave Kurai some space to form the next plan of attack. This also gave him the opportunity to notice his sister coating weapons and trees in a strange looking chakra that looked to explode either at her whim, or upon contact with another surface or person. He wasn't exactly the type to ask about his sister's secrets, but he couldn't help but to wonder how she learned that. Perhaps it was something unique to her, such as Dust was to him?

It took several tries but eventually the giant Kuma was able to punch a hole in the dome and escape, there was a big pile of rocks left behind after the giant forced it's way out of Kurai's trap, and that was exactly what he was intending. The giant's skin started turning red and it seemed to only become angrier, yelling at the top of it's lungs and slapping it's large palms against it's head repeatedly. It looked to be throwing some sort of temper tantrum. Kurai manipulated the rock pile left behind with Doton chakra, causing the pile to form into a rock golem. It stood and revealed itself to be about the same height as Kuma, and the two began to trade blows. Kurai added in his own attacks, continuing his assault upon Kuma's ribs, legs and mid-section with hard punches and kicks.

He began to circle Kuma and the rock golem, inhaling air into his lungs in the meantime. Using Katon, Kurai began to convert his breath into a flammable fog that spread around the two giants that continued to trade hard blows. He made sure that his sister was a proper distance from the area before leaping high up and tossing a kunai toward the giant. The kunai knife hit his creation; the spark being created by the metal hitting rock caused the black cloud in the area to ignite. There was a tremendous explosion that knocked over trees and blew an impression into the ground. Kuma the giant could be heard screaming within, but this wasn't quite the end of him just yet.

Kurai hadn't even intended on training his Katon, but in the heat of battle he'd even developed an explosive technique of his own. Perhaps it was because of that brief time looking to see what his sister was doing was what gave him the inspiration for such a maneuver. When the smoke and fire cleared, Kurai was able to see Kuma the giant severely burned on the upper half of his body. He was screaming and flopping around on the ground like a spoiled child that couldn't have it's way, which was also causing the ground to tremble and quake, trees to fall over, and a transformation of the surroundings. It was difficult to keep a steady footing the closer one got the to raging giant, so Kurai and Little Kong reduced their distance from him for the moment.

Kurai rubbed his hands together and figured that maybe it was about time to put this giant down for good. He de-activated Sage Mode, causing his jacket to return to it's normal black, his body and eyes to return to normal. The aura of a bull wielding a hammer would appear surrounding Kurai next, raking one of it's hooves across the ground and snorting. Kuma stood to his feet again and ran, still smoking toward Kurai; every step he took shaking the ground violently. Kurai used Kua's gravity to move inches above the ground at high rapidity, approaching the behemoth to smash the hammer against the bottom side of Kuma's chin, sending the big mound of muscle airborne. Kurai had learned to channel Fuuton chakra into his hands to create blades of air that could be thrown toward opponents with the force that could sever arms, legs and even someone head from their shoulders, but he wanted to see if he could concentrate the chakra even further. While leaping airborne toward Kuma the giant, Kurai focused Fuuton chakra into the index and middle finger of either hand. He was able to release another blade so incredibly focused that it was invisible and moved at a blinding speed, slashing off some of the giant's flesh and causing it to scream even louder than when it was burned. Kua's aura smashed the hammer into the giant again, sending it speeding toward the ground like a comet. The impact was nothing short of a bomb exploding, creating a huge dust cloud.

The two fingered wind technique would be best used close range; Kurai figured that out immediately. While still airborne, Kurai began to notice the appearance of vast herds of bulls on the horizon. He figured it had something to do with Kua, or the fighting going on. Had they survived the trek through Arctic tundra and a swim across the great lake to come and graze these lands? It wasn't something he could really think about too much at the moment, hearing movement down within the smoke and dust below. After being burned and beaten severely, it seemed that the giant still had some fight left in it.

Word Count Wind Release: Dust Cloud Technique: 1,025 + 1,068 = 2,093/1,125
Word Count Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning: 968/1,500 - 25% = 1,125

Hikari faced off against Ayane as the female slowly rose to her feet from the tangle of tree she had gone down in. She had been making due with getting up up until the large fellow started having what looked like a childs temper tantrum. Hikari watched him for a moment through her chakra radar and shinsai while also paying attention to Ayane. Ayane caught her stance while Hikari had remained standing the entire time: she was far too used to this sort of earthquake style fighting with how she had learned explosion release.

Hikari had been preparing to charge at the female who otherwise looked as if she were trying to keep her distance when movement caught her attention: there was... something... heading straight towards Hikari: attempting to sneak attack her. However, whatever this thing was it wasn't human, and as she took notice of the way Ayane was moving her fingers she figured it was nothing more than a puppet or some kind of weapon. When the puppet moved closer to her, looking as if it were going to try and grab her and hold her still she cocked back her fist while it glowed orange with explosive chakra once more. She sent her fist slamming into the puppet, right in the center of its chest, and the explosion that followed blew the thing to pieces. Ayane wasn't going to be able to fix that puppet easily: she might as well start over new - if she survived this. Hikari had no intentions of letting her do so.

Hikari focused back on the female while side stepping some goons that came tumbling past her. They tripped over each other as they missed her and went sprawling on the ground only to be crushed by a falling tree: it saved her from having to handle them so she wasn't about to complain. Ayane was beyond pissed at the destruction of her puppet and the woman began to do something that Hikari quickly recognized: she was drawing up a seal in the middle of the air. It was a hard task to do, and one that took time. Which, was what was going to give HIkari the advantage.

Hikari ran forward with one idea in mind: touching the female's face and leaving behind her own seal before the woman could form hers. The woman looked up, stunned by Hikari's speed and the fact that she was suddenly in Ayane's face, just as Hikari reached her and slapped a seal on her own face courtesy of her Boom Boom gloves. The seal formed instantly on the females face where it burned jet black. Hikari kept going, moving herself a good twenty feet away from the female before turning around. All it took was a snap of her fingers which happened as she came to face the woman again and the seal went off: blowing Ayane's head clean off of her shoulders and taking with it a chunk of the top half of her due to the power behind the blast.

However, Hikari didn't have time to savor in the short victory as a goon came running straight towards her with a kunai knife in his hand. HIkari ducked under the man's arm, dodging the knife. The man turned suddenly to face her and rushed at her again. Hikari side stepped and ducked off to the left this time which sent the man running past her and into another: stabbing him right in the neck. Yelling and enraged the goon turned back towards her and gave it another go with his body lowered to the ground in an attempt to tackle her. Hikari lowered herself towards the ground slightly as well so that her fist was level with the man's skull. She sent an explosive punch towards the man head which he barely managed to dodge - tripping and falling over his own clumsy feet. So, Hikari made quick with with coating her feet with explosive chakra and sending her foot slamming down straight into the fallen mans back. When her foot hit the man's back exploded with much the same force as the explosive punches she had been using.

With yet another new explosive taijutsu technique under her belt she turned to face the next goon who was headed in her direction: it seemed like there was an endless supply of them and she had already quickly lost count in the number of them she had taken down. Of course, in the end numbers didn't matter, all that did matter was the fact that they couldn't cause harm or trouble to the village or its people. As the goon got close enough Hikari punched the guy in the face, stunning him. As he listed from side to side Hikari took a step back, shifted her stance, and sent her foot slamming into the underside of his chin - coated with explosive chakra. The man flew up into the air, the bottom half of his face exploding, before his body came falling back down and landed lifeless on top of another fallen goon.

She focused on her brother, noticing that he seemed to be using the bijuu sealed inside of him as a way to take on the giant of a man who had been throwing a temper tantrum, and then returned her focus back to the goons at hand, wondering where the other more powerful guy had got to... and what he might be up to.

Sky Rocketing Punch: 912 + 685 = 1,597 / 1,125
Sky Rocketing Kick: 472 / 1,125

Kurai landed on the ground again, deactivating his Kua aura. He straightened out his black Dust Mastery jacket, watching as the smoke and dirt in the air cleared to reveal Kuma the giant, burned and bleeding, turning over and making to get up once again. Kurai used his natural senses to locate the position of Little Kong, who was still taking on what remained of the goons. Even with the number of goons and how some of them kept getting back up, the monkey didn't seem to tire at all, effortlessly confusing his opponents with his Tai Sheng.

By this point, the giant Kuma had to be worn down and hurting. Kurai figured he didn't need to waste chakra in a powered up state to be able to handle the brute now. Kuma stood up and let out another loud yell, then began running toward Kurai. He'd only taken one step before a wall of earth was risen from the ground in front of him, with Kuma running head long into it, stopping his forward momentum. As the wall lowered back into the dirt, Kurai did a pulling motion, yanking a car sized piece of earth from the ground. A jumping roundhouse kick sent the big piece toward Kuma, smashing into him and exploding into thousands of pieces.

Even with all of that, Kuma the giant still got up for more. It was beginning to seem like the long this dragged out, the madder and stronger Kuma seemed to become. Seeing a lot of the goons running away and be felled by Little Kong and Hikari, Kurai figured it was time to finish off the giant. Between opened hands did Kurai began to form a cube. While Kuma struggled to get to his feet again, this gave Kurai enough time to fully form his new death maneuver.  Kuma gave one last loud yell before charging toward Kurai again, simply to be engulfed within a large transparent cube which expanded rapidly as it was pushed toward him.

The end came quickly, probably so swift that Kuma never got the chance to feel it. The inside of the cube detonated in a blinding explosion. The giant was instantly pulverized into minute particles of dust; so fine that nothing seemed to be left behind within the cube when the light and dust cleared within.

The morale of the remaining goons was ruined with such displays of power demonstrated by Hikari, Shiro, Kurai and Little Kong. Those lucky to still be alive began running away. Some of these runners were gored by some of the bulls that appeared in the wilds. Kurai saw through Shinsai that Riku managed to defeat Tsuikage, the sneaky guy with illusions and clones.

The battlefield was littered with the bodies of dead and injured goons. Village security had a shitty job on their hands playing clean up. Yet another invasion job thwarted by the prodigies of clan Yanagi, but by this point Kurai knew that if he or his sister didn't do it, no one would.

Word Count: Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning: 507 + 968 = 1,475/1,125