How It Happened...[Flashback]

[Hopalong]

[OOC: Fun little explanation for my transition]

To think that seven years already have passed since that traumatic day. Everything started moving so fast after that, it was such a turning point in my life. It's rather interesting actually, how vivid everything is. I can't help but remember, after all I wouldn't be the same person without it...

It all began with rain pouring outside on the village. Since all the missions were taken for the day, I decided to enjoy myself at a small restaurant. I looked so weird back then, even then I chuckle a little at it. I preferred all these skull symbols, wearing a baggy sweatshirt, black skull bracelets, and baggy pants. I didn't even look like a serious ninja, more like a lazy teen. The old me was foolish also; all these ideas of changing the world, being some form of innovator. How silly, I was a meager genin, letting the fact that I had a useful Kekkei Touta convince me I was special. Old Me is so pitiful, spending all his time with those visions. As if a ninja could ever aspire to such things.

I got sidetracked. Anyways, I entered a small ramen shop. Immediately I encountered a woman my age and entertained myself conversing with her. She didn't really take a shine to me, but eventually she opened herself up to me. But she isn't what led me into this mess- I mean, started this. Soon after meeting her, a different man appeared. His entire visage spelled worry. He alerted us both of shocking news. The mist village had waged war, and set it's sights on the leaf. I was devastated. Of course war isn't the most shocking thing, at least wasn't, but my younger self never witnessed such an event. When the major war before this one occurred, my age prevented me from recognizing how agonizing it really was. Excluding a few graphic images, but that's another story...

Damn, I sidetracked again. Whatever, that's what made it began. The three of us moved our separate ways quickly. To clarify, they went about their own business while I rushed to attempt some heroic action. How stupid, I moved recklessly, without order, no guidance. The exact opposite of what a ninja should act like. I should be gracious I'm alive.

[Hopalong]

The younger me was so charismatic. In only a few minutes I grabbed hold of my spear and dashed for the gate in nearly 5 minutes. That spear... A plain, generic wooden spear bearing a steel tip. Why did I even feel so connected to that thing? It's better off in some random closet at my house. Regardless it was an unnecessary weapon I brought with me to battle.

Enough about that stupid hunk of wood. Back to the story, I found my way out of the village gates. I exited my common sense and any hint of intelligence as I exited the gates also. Without thought I dashed in a random direction. Now my eager self awaited the enemy. It was at that moment I realized something peculiar of the situation. Randomly barging outside of the village in such a manner, and based on what? A random stranger foretelling war? I felt stupid(even back then I knew it), so gullible. Ready to turn around and return home in embarrassment, I realized I heard footsteps. I convinced myself the man was right now, without any extra thought, and waited patiently for the enemy to present themselves. God, the more I go into this story the more stupid I sound. Not thinking, just impulses...

[Messatsu!]

Konohagakure, a city of cultivated life, of which thrummed with cultivated activity. Its citizens always seemed busy, always active and productive, resting very little if at all, their enthusiasm for business seemed unparalleled. Funnily enough this is was what Ue saw through his observant eyes as he began sifting through the swath of vagabonding civilians just like the other one thousand times. Boy did they understand variety, they housed many different ethnic groups and it seemed as no racial tension was present, at least during twenty plus years Ue spent as a resident within this intriguing village. During his months of ceaseless observation he did come across that they were leery towards newcomers and truth be told, they - we had every right from having experienced war on several occasions.

("Yet another fruitless day it seems. Its for the better I guess, a little peace and quiet never hurt anyone.")

His eyes darted repeatedly as they surveyed the area, one of which his eyes grew accustomed to a thousand times over, however, he always saw new faces, new clothing, even new shops and products, Konoha was forever changing. It was for this exact reason that brought Ue to the entrance of a tavern, one recently built despite Konoha housing a plethora of ramen venues all throughout the city. He'd never seen this particular one before given that he hadn't been in the specific district often. His sandaled feet stood infront of it as his eyes peered upwardly to acquire the shops name - The Devils third. An interesting name, or so Ue thought.

"Looks like this could be interesting. Wonder how popular it is so far"

With an outstretched palm to push the diamond shaped doors open, his eyes brimmed with great exuberance as his eyes fell upon the bustling vitality of the place, it was seemingly packed, yet, there were countless of areas to seat oneself. Slowly he walked table by table, observing all that his cognitive mind allowed. There were many people around, groups of friends, ruffians, loners, and a family or two, they were all here. He tried to listen in on conversations as he seated himself in the far back away from the bar area, but he could only here blurred and distinctive words. All he could do now is merely observe the expressions of those around him. Unfortunately his time of peace was short lived as a distressed man thrust forward through the doors, going on frantically about Kirigakure waging war on neighboring country's. The Jounin had arisen form his seat, following the fellow Konoha shinobi towards the village gates.

His gaiting was swift and precise, soon coming shoulder to shoulder to the man as a means to make his presence known without hostilely alarming him. With the gates guards scouting out the area they saw nothing, not a soul in sight - not initially. Making his way outside of the village, Ue came to a quick crouch, palming the mounds of earth with his left hand, feeling the vibrations and agitations within the earth in a attempt to 'foresee' the coming of Kirigakure forces. It would make sense for them to come now, given that there had been an ample amount of time since the flagitious attack on bakudon gai.

"I don't think this is a false claim, kirigakure are coming, but I doubt they'd be foolish enough to approach the village directly. Knowing Kouketsu Uchiha, god knows where they're forces could emerge from."

[Hopalong]

So much panic. I was so consumed by the destruction of war that I didn't even notice a man standing right next to me the whole time. Did he follow me? Like I would've noticed. Regardless, the man clearly belonged to the same village, slightly older but height-wise we were eye to eye. I shifted a quick glance to him, finally recognizing him as he began talking. All his talking did was encourage the youthful, energetic me, to overreact even more. Then again, finally talking to another man also allowed me to get some grasp of common sense, and calm myself.

"Kouketsu..." He muttered questionably, not familiar with the name. Of course as a kid I never bothered to pick up a newspaper, so I probably didn't even know my own kage's name. Pushing past the small details, I watched the man check for any presence through contact with the ground. An interesting tactic, even today I doubt I could rely on such a method.

I looked out into the cluttered forest, trying to see past the barrage of trees. Fully matured from the years that they've surrounded this village was a benefit and a setback. One could easily hide with these, but he figured an army would be pretty easy to locate. In that small moment I acknowledged my surroundings. I was off a small distance from the gates, casting a large shadow overhead, spanning for a distance. The grass beautifully decorated the ground as it was ankle high. Birds chirped and small woodland creatures scurried. How saddening to think that it would eventually became a violent battlefield.

"Is there anything around?" He helplessly asked. I still stood ready, actually convincing myself I'd somehow end this war myself. To think I got anything done when I was that ignorant.

[Messatsu!]

"They're Hiding. . ." A simple word escaped from Ue's being after having felt a medley of vibrations through the earth. They were faint and far in the distance, much too far to accurately determine their specific locations, but judging from that simple environmental experiment, there had only been a small amount, namely enough to be a small scouting squad. Though Ue himself was ignorant to war as a great many of others, he knew about scouting tactics as he'd done himself during missions as his time as a Konohagakure chuunin. Needless to say the thing to do right now was fish them out, and unfortunately Ue knew just the way.

A quick hand dove deep into the pockets of his flak jacket, searching odds and ends for his lifeless companion Shiva, which was oddly nothing more than a small hand size cube. Much to everyone's surprise this 'cube' was but a meager puppet that sported a compression system which allowed its joints to seemingly fold and compress without end, turning a 10x10 meter into a portable cube to increase its maximum mobility. Wasting no time at all, a quick backwards flick of his wrist sent the cube itself 2 meters behind him with a single thread of chakra attaching onto its surface. "If the guard towers can't make out the enemy, I'll flush them out myself, maybe even dispatch of them in the process."

In an instant his puppet began to release itself from its compressed state, elongating and fixing their joints as if to be the very quintessence of a transformers. Within a couple of seconds this hand sized cube blossomed into a fully functional 10x10 meter puppet which stood 2 meters at Ue's back, unlocking and opening its mid-section like sliding doors as he himself retreated into its hidden cockpit with a backwards leap. In that moment its mid-section closed, allowing Ue to climb up into the higher most cockpit which was around the chest and head area, allowing him to maintain a field of vision through the eyes of his puppet. With a single finger attacked to the puppets interior, this single finger was all that was needed to control it as if it were his own body.

. . .only hell waited for Leaf's intruders.

[Hopalong]

The leaf shinobi informed me of the presence of multiple enemy's, concealed. Surprising to my younger self, yet not to hard to piece together that it had to be a small group to efficiently hide, and specialized in stealth for a whole group to remove their presence. Of course, this couldn't be the only group.

My youthful self was worried, unsure of how to prepare himself. Things seemed complicated, this being his first major battle, how do I fight? Questions like those ravaged my mind. Desperately I looked to see how the other man would ready himself. He grabbed a small block. Was such a contraption capable of fighting off invaders? I was astonished swiftly as the little cube morphed into a lifeless, human-like being. Though it's anatomy so contrasted no one could mistake it for a human. The man joined himself with the puppet, controlling it from the interior. To think this was originally a small little block, technology is amazing.

In whatever meager matter I could attempt to prepare myself, I set my spear in a sturdy position as the shaft firmly met the ground at a perpendicular angle. In the other hand I had a kunai grasped. In comparison I looked pathetic. I still feel lucky to even have escaped that attempt of a fight.

Despite our preparations, silence remained. Were they anticipating the first move? Again questions of said sort clouded my rational thought, which would've be to go alert someone who could handle this. Instead I simply uttered, "...Do we attack first?"

[Messatsu!]

". . .Attacking first? With pleasure, this magnificent puppet will undoubtedly take care of these fools. . .I'm sure of it!"

A distorted voice rang through Ue's armoured shell, of which were crafted by the finest and most durable of materials, giving him offensive and defensive capabilities otherwise unattainable. With his puppet at the ready, aching to pain the world with the blood of these invaders, using the earth itself as his artistic canvas. Truthfully Ue himself was fairly excited and overjoyed, you see, having recently mastered the cunning and destructive art of Kugutsu, he had his fill with just using practice dummies and stationary targets as mere playthings. Just the mere thought of finally having some kind of festering violence as a means to test run his puppets, it sent blissful chills down his very spine.

And so the magic really happened. . .

The back of the puppets calves began to bulge, opeining a circular slot upon each respective leg, allowing its thrusters to engage which had ultimately augmented its speed to an extra 100%. With its speed boosted to a maximum of 200%^{(kaimon // first gate speed)}, with a mere thought and flick of a single finger, the puppet blitzed forwards at near incomprehensible speeds, sifting through columns of trees, one after another, arching around as to flank the enemy, and without much effort, he compromised their position, well, at least one of them. With Shiva's hulking 10x10 meter frame, a swift arm lunched forward, crashing into the epicenter of his back, basking in the sound of this mans end as he screamed helplessly in pain. Small tremors of earth transcended across the land, a testament to Shiva's power and Ue's mastery over the art of Kugutsu.

"One down. . .now for the rest!"

---

Concurrently as the events with Ue unfolded and transpired, a swift Kirigakure shinobi, emerged right from beneath the Chuunin's feet, a kunai deeply welded within his hand in a rising (vertical) thrust to his chin. The attack was swift, but nothing that couldn't be avoided with proper maneuverability and quick thinking. Though this tactic would have caught him by surprise even if a little. Doton is a crafty nature manipulation to have when applied to shinobi who specialize in reconnaissance missions. With Ue's massive puppet working its own magic, the chuunin had no choice but to show his worth and defend for himself.

SPOILER: Click to show

Earth Dominion 'C'

Earth Decapitation 'C'

[¤ Tenkai ¤]

hop ;; 19 exp added x 2 = 38

gene ;; 22 exp added x 2 = 44 + 2 = 46

[Hopalong]

Undoubtedly this man had every right to speak with such confidence about attacking the unseen enemy. In a swift motion, the puppet attacked the unknown. Despite the size of the contraption, it retained agility, even faster than myself. Before I even knew it, the man tracked down one of the enemies, putting him to a grueling death in an instant. I felt lucky to not have to face this guy, as I already felt inferior.

The man's assault had shifted the men's reconnaissance into countering us. They approached us with division in mind, distracting the man with a sneak attack. Meanwhile, a smoke bomb tossed in my direction cut off any sight in his direction. Perhaps a stroke of luck, as I was outside the blurry cloud. Otherwise the man who rushed me might have gone unnoticed. First only a blurry silhouette, but I could see the sharp instrument in hand. Extending my spear, I aimed a poorly thrown slash with the tip. With my poor skills with such a weapon I couldn't do anything other than whip the thing around like a stick, how foolish to even use such a thing without experience.

Regardless the slice was capable of distracting the man, moving his kunai in the way to parry the spear. This did nothing more then set me back, though now I could see the man's face. He belonged to the mist village, which in the lone moment my heart began to race. All I could think of is the fact that everything the man who I came to me giving crackpot theories was true. The invasion was clearly on, and this is all I could think about. What a bad time to get so distracted, now instead of trying to get another hit on this guy, I stagger backwards like an idiot.

I wouldn't snap out of this trance until the overhead shadow foretold an aerial attack. Glancing up quickly another ninja was spotted, using some form of doton jutsu to form a rock armor, moving downwards towards me, gaining momentum quick. In a pitiful attempt to dodge, I performed a simple roll to my left, moving out of the way and distancing myself from the gate to prevent getting cornered.

Landing on my shoulder, and rolling out a distance of two meters from my previous location, I look up to see yet another mist ninja, this one with a broadsword, attacking me with a vertical slash. Luckily the up rise of the blade went slow, allowing me time to plant an hand on the ground and taking a small leap, just enough to avert danger. I stood to face my enemies, all of us in distance for close combat. All three allied together, putting me at a major disadvantage. Guess that's karma for making such an unguided decision.

[Hopalong]

Surrounded, all of these men vying to spill my blood. It was somewhat horrifying, remembering the whole thing. For some reason I found this sort of unnecessary fighting an entertainment, at least at this age. I had myself armed, with only a spear, lacking any skill with the arm.

The man closest to me, whom bore a broadsword swung the blade at me at full force, aimed at my neck. Reacting swiftly, I made a duck beneath the blade, countering with a slice of my spear's tip at his stomach. Noticing this attempt in an instant, he launched off his feet, easily averting the attack.

I was preparing a follow-up attack, but the sound of treading behind me lured my attention away from the man. The first man to approach me, still bearing a single kunai, made a charge towards me. His kunai cocked back with his arm, halting to take a stab at my back. Not risking to make a strength contest, he swung the shaft of his spear out to smack his arm off course. Working successfully, the kunai drove past his face. Riding the momentum of his first swing, he twirled the spear, moving behind the man, also standing and simultaneously bringing the shaft to his back, then shoving him forward towards his ally, distracting them both.

In all this hype to avoid getting stabbed, my attention completely diverted from the third man, almost forgetting there was a third man to begin with. Realizing he was coming from behind, I attempted to meet him head on, but I failed, one second too late, turning just in time to meet the man's fist square in my ribcage. It was slow, but enough power too it to send me back, landing on my back into the grass, my hand releasing the spear as it rolled off into another direction. I figured the cracking sound was my rib breaking.

Just perfect. Injured, disarmed, and outnumbered. What a lovely fight I decided to pick. I mean, if I was assigned to do this it'd be another story, but being reckless as to run into this mess on my own call? How foolish....

[Hopalong]

The pain shooting through my broken rib made standing a near impossibility. Teeth gritted, attempting to endure the searing pain. Was that the first time I ever broke a bone? I sure didn't handle it too well. I realized the man who wielded the broadsword finally made another charge at me, exploiting my down time. The adrenaline the coursed through me in response to this advance gave me the push I needed to at least roll out of the way, as the sword stabbed into the grass next to me. Again my chest pulsed in pain as I put weight on my rib cage, yet I managed to push off my hands and land again on my feet. At least removing any weight put on my torso took some of the pain away.

I wasn't out of the woods yet. All my injury did was allow the men to pursue me more vivaciously. The rock covered man swung another punch. This time around enough distance was placed for me to dodge, a simple back step put me out of his reach. At this point I spotted the third man, who ceased attacking me momentarily, distanced from me, weaving seals, using his two accomplices to block me from interrupting him. Though I didn't need a direct approach to stop him.

I continued my backwards movement, forming my own seals at the same time. Finishing quickly, I held the last seal as a flurry of crystals consumed the area before me. The first two men were caught. The third man, more vigilant, leapt backwards, spinning and proceeding with a handspring to launch himself further away, just enough to avoid the crystals. Those who were caught found the crystals covering their feet, pinning them to the floor, needing to find a way to break through.

Immediately afterwards, the man began to run around the crystallized ground. He probably figured since I could attack at a long range he couldn't rely on simply distancing himself. Ready to take him head on, I prepared another set of handseals. Again he simply relied on the use of a kunai to attack. Did he have anything else? Regardless, he was in close combat range, just as my jutsu finished. My entire forearm began coating itself with materialized crystal, reaching out to my hand in a pointed fashion.

As we came for contact, the man lacked hesitance, despite the large weapon my arm became. I cocked my arm back anticipating his attack. He thrust the kunai forward, and I attempted to meet it. Contact was made, but I failed to push the projectile away, it only skidded along my arm. My arm went forward, digging into his chest, a definite puncture of his heart. Simultaneously the kunai skinned my forehead, slicing through the skin but luckily avoiding anything fatal. It hurt like hell, to think I was nice enough to give the man a quick death. He fell backwards, sliding off my appendage. I thought to myself, One down. If only I could be finished, in the next few seconds I'd realize how out of my league I was.

[Messatsu!]

+30 @ Hop