Recent Posts

    Mamushi heard an ominous rumbling, then the long, low groan of metal being stretched. Something creaked. Again, she heard the metal groan.

    "It is strange to have shinobi from so many nations attempting to work together," Naitome said. Mamushi was convinced that he was Kagehebi, like her. He went on, "But if there are any old grudges still standing between us, now isn't the time. Let's mo--"

!

    The ceiling collapsed. The sounds of crumbling stone and ripping steel were almost deafening, echoing loudly in the enclosed space. Still humming that infernal tune, Mamushi danced a dangerous dance, flitting this way and that to avoid the worst of the falling debris. She twisted and bent, ducked and dipped, spun and twirled. The danger came not from the collapsed ceiling, but from the dust. It floated thick in the air, threatening to choke her, gritty in her mouth.

    Eventually, the dust settled. The whole place was a mess, and the elevator was completely destroyed, but they were all relatively safe and unharmed. Mamushi stopped humming, thought for a moment, and spoke.

    "Technology is known to malfunction from time to time. When the elevator doesn't work, how do the samurai get from level to level? There must be a stairwell, a ladder, something." There was no going up the elevator, but maybe the shaft up on the next level was still more or less in tact?

    They could maybe escape through the vents too, she figured, if they were large enough. She wasn't so sure about trying to blast through the walls, though. Anymore structural damage might collapse the whole prison, and beyond that, there was no telling what was waiting for them outside. What if snow-girl found herself out of chakra when she needed it most? Mamushi didn't care if the woman lived or died, but she figured her own chances of survival were all the higher with more shinobi around.

    Then again, if someone could break through the wall, it was probably worth all the risks involved.

    "I'll check around for a way out," Mamushi declared. "In the meantime, maybe one of you might come up with a better idea." She went to search the walls first, for any latches or knobs or buttons to press, then up to the floor revealed by the collapsed ceiling; even around the ruined shaft.

    In the corridor just past the corpse I came upon my first bit of danger. Needles - coated with poison, by the smell of them - littered the floor, and everywhere on the walls and ground and ceiling were holes; two guesses as to where all the needles came from. I figured that there were pressure plates in the floor, most likely, but then considered that perhaps this had once been a shinobi hideaway, and there were strangely configured pressure plates in the ceiling and walls as well. It was certainly possible. I'd come across some inventive traps over the years.

    But then again, maybe I was thinking too simply. Perhaps there was some sort of movement sensing seal painted in with rock-colored ink hidden somewhere in the corridor. Did those even exist? My experience with fuuinjutsu was limited, and I had never met a fuuinjutsu user, so I truly had no idea. Maybe I was reaching, but I'd survived for as long as I had by being cautious. And sneaky.

    I really didn't want to waste any chakra, not even to make a clone. I wasn't what you'd call a chakra powerhouse. No one was, these days. And there was no telling what else I might find deeper in the cave. Perhaps whoever had come ahead of me was some sort of samurai or deranged shinobi. They certainly had no qualms with killing, judging from the corpse in the last room, but I was an unrepentant murderer myself, so I couldn't really hold that against them, whoever they were.

    To test one theory, I lobbed a kunai down the path; it landed in the ground some seventeen meters ahead, just past the last of the holes. If no more needles shot out of the wall, I would assume that there was, in fact, no such motion sensing seal. That meant that if I could avoid touching the floor, walls, or ceiling, I could pass through unharmed.

    To test my other theory, I flipped up to the ceiling and took a tentative step forward, ready to slide my foot backward at a moments notice. I'd always been pretty fast, with a quick eye for danger. It helped having a tongue that could sense movement. If it proved true that I could just walk safely across the ceiling, then I would do so and save my chakra - but if that wasn't the case, and there were pressure plates in the ceiling, I could stretch my legs long enough to bypass the obstacle altogether.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Mamushi Chakra Pool 300/300}
Kagehebi Mastery Level II

Snake Scent: Snakes are wonderful sensors, able to locate things within their surroundings through changes in temperature, as well as the intermingling of odors within the micro-cells in its mouth, and finally, vibrations created across the air as received by their tongues. As such, the user’s birthed with the snake blood have learned to hone this ability, able to spot disturbances in their surroundings at all times. With enough training, the Kage-Hebi turns this jutsu into a costless passive. Their snake skill has grown, and thus this old technique becomes like breath. Jatai no Daija is always active, all costs are eliminated, and hand-seals are no longer necessary. Extreme sources of heat, however, can still throw the scent off.

Jatai no Daija (Snake Scent)
Rank: C
Range: Close (0m ~ 5m), Mid (5m ~ 10m), Far (10m+)
Type: Supplementary
Handseals: 1 (hold)
Chakra Consumption: Low to cast: Miniscule sustain
Snakes are wonderful sensors, able to locate things within their surroundings through changes in temperature, as well as the intermingling of odors within the micro-cells in its mouth, and finally, vibrations created across the air as received by their tongues. As such, the user’s birthed with the snake blood have learned to hone this ability, able to spot disturbances in their surroundings at all times.
Note: This ability can actively track targets up to thirty meters away. However, sensing becomes severely inhibited when the user is within ten meters of considerable amounts of either Hyouton (Ice), Futton (Boil), Katon (Fire) or Youton (Lava).

    "What a sap," she said, frowning.

    The stupid boy still thought she was going to kill him. She couldn't say she hadn't contemplated it since the start of their little scuffle. Sure as shit he'd pissed her off something fierce, and in a normal world, she'd have long since killed him for annoying her.

    But this wasn't a normal world. It was all twisted and fucked up. Wasn't his fault the samurai were dicks. Wasn't her fault either; she was just trying to survive. Trying to give some meaning to the death and destruction of all that she had ever known. And here was this little idiot, fucking it all up. He was crafty though, she had to give him that. Just not smart.

    "I'm not gonna kill you, you little shit. I could've convinced Tanaka to let me handle your punishment, you know. Gotten you off grave-duty for a while. You would've saved us both a world of trouble if you'd just fought me. You chose to kill a samurai instead." She shook her head and spat. "Idiot."

    She knelt in front of him and ran her long fingers through his hair. He reminded her of old friends, long forgotten. They'd been idiots too. It would be so easy to leave. To pull him loose and run off into the night. Link up with the resistance and raid prisons and towns. But the resistance needed information more than it needed bodies, and no other shinobi had the level of access that she did.

    She couldn't leave.

    "No, I'm not gonna kill you. The samurai have this way of sensing when your chakra is low. Kenta would have me killed and blame it on you, with none the wiser. He's always hated me." She paused, listening to the forest. The samurai were still far off. She could smell the search dogs, though she couldn't hear them barking. "I'm gonna leave you something to remember me by instead. So you'll remember how stupid you were."

    She pushed his hair aside and pressed her knife to his temple. "Try not to scream. I've been told this hurts."

    She carved her name into his flesh, hands as steady and precise as a surgeon's. The kanji were tight and precise, as small and neat as she could make them. No need to mar that pretty face of his, after all.

    "You should be able to work yourself loose by the time the samurai reach you. If you still manage to die then, you're too weak to live."

    She left him there, bleeding in the dirt. Left him for Konoha. For a life of servitude and lies. And, ultimately, for a cell at Anchor-9.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Exit!}

    A strange song emitted from the loudspeakers; the tune was excessively chipper, like something from a children's carnival. She smiled at the strangeness of it, oddly delighted by it. This wasn't just a local rebellion on this block only, she realized. Something big was happening. Perhaps... perhaps she might have revenge? On that stupid boy for getting her captured, on Kenta for sending her here... on Tanaka for allowing him to do it.

    The two young samurai glanced at one another in confusion as the music started playing, then looked back to Mamushi - they saw the crooked smile spreading across her face and slowly drew their swords in apparent alarm. The sounds of battle were drowned beneath the happy tune; Mamushi could hardly hear herself think.

    Luckily, for this, she didn't need to think. Killing was instinct to a snake.

    The one garbed in pale brown moved first, loosing a horizontal cut from the left. She backed away out of the blade's reach, felt the wall against her back, ducked beneath his back swing, and snapped out a jab to his unprotected throat. She would never be a taijutsu master, but she was no slouch at close-range combat, either. These boys might've made good genin, if they were shinobi - all they'd be now was dead.

    The young samurai backed away, coughing, one hand pressed to his throat. His fellow stepped forward with an upward cut. Mamushi leaned aside the blow, spun away from the follow up; he went low, swiping at her knees. She leaped up, stepped on his head, and flipped to the ceiling. She longed to use a jutsu, but figured it would be more prudent to conserve her chakra until necessary. She might not have been captured if she'd been more frugal with it in the first place.

    The first samurai had recovered. He crouched, preparing to leap into the air - Mamushi pushed off towards the wall, balancing herself with a single hand, and aimed a scissor kick at his head as he left the ground. As she flipped him, she yanked him towards his comrade. They crashed into one another and fell to the ground with a loud clang. One dropped his sword. It slid over to the wall, struck the dull blue steel, and stopped.

    Mamushi picked it up. The sword was heavier than her old ninjato, and longer, but the balance was superb - the steel sang when she swung it.

    The young samurai died almost painlessly.

    Beyond her cell, the battles had died down. She saw a group of shinobi clustered near the elevators, each with a very distinctive scent. The pale-haired woman smelled of ice and cold and wind. She must not have been a prisoner for very long, Mamushi thought, or else she would have smelled like piss and shit, much like everyone else. She called herself Elsa.

    The second man did smell like piss and shit. He was an inch or so taller than Mamushi, with long silver hair and bright green eyes. His name was Shin.

    The last smelled much the same as the second, only there was something familiar to his scent, something that reminded her of home. Not Konoha, though - he reminded her of the compound. He said his name was Naitome. Was he Kagehebi as well?

    As she neared the group, more samurai arrived, these heavily armored and heavily drilled. They formed up in front of the elevators while she watched on. Naitome proved a decent hand at close quarters combat; the woman, Elsa, revealed a talent for Hyouton jutsu. Mamushi didn't much care for ice. It messed with her senses. She appeared to retreat from the group, sliding back and around to the shadows of the room to flank the samurai.

    She slinked closer, slowly, quietly, as if stalking prey, to catch one of the samurai off guard while the others fought, but something gave her away. As she prepared to kill one samurai, another had snuck up on her, quite the feet considering his armor.

    Naitome shouted, "Watch out!"

    She ducked by reflex - a sword whistled over her head. She twisted as she ducked, reached out a hand - six snakes came spewing from her sleeve, wrapping tight around the samurai's face₁. An unarmored man might've been crushed, but the samurai's protective garb saved him from the snakes and their squeezing. As he struggled, she stepped in close and pushed her blade up into his armpit, before twisted the sword and yanking it loose. Blood splattered over her kimono, ran in thick rivulets down the blade. Some landed on her chin and cheeks. She licked the droplets off, one by one, savoring the taste.

    She heard movement behind her. She twisted around, sword up, just in time to catch an incoming slash with her blade. The steel clanged and sparks flew. The samurai reared back and struck again, putting his full weight behind the blow. The strength of the blow knocked the sword loose from her hands, but also overbalanced him attacked because of the lack of resistance. As he stumbled, she shuffled behind him and wrapped her arms about his neck and her legs about his waist. He dropped his own blade and grabbed for her arm; she put one hand to his chin and another against the back of his head and twisted.

    His neck snapped.

    Mamushi dropped his body and laughed. Her eyes swept over the chaos of the room, those dead and dying, and she laughed harder. She'd forgotten how much she enjoyed killing things. Forgotten how strong it made her feel, how satisfying it was to play god.

    Her laughter tapered off to a wicked smile. "I am Mamushi," she told the others. "From Konoha." She began to hum along to the tune playing over the loudspeakers.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Chakra Pool 270/300}
1. Senei Jashu (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)
Rank: C
Range: Close (0m ~ 5m)
Type: Offensive
Handseals: -
Chakra Consumption: Mid
Senei Jashu is a signature Kagehebi Nintaijutsu technique which allows the clan member to manifest a bundle of quick-striking snakes that extend from the user’s sleeves. The Kage-Hebi extends their arm and shoots out snakes to attack a target, having them move at impressive speeds and strike with their fangs. Though basic, this variation has been known to subdue even the strongest of foes with a single snake bite.
Note: By default, the user can summon up to six snakes from their sleeve. Likewise, these snakes can infect a target with the Kage-Hebi’s Tier 2 poisons.

    Escape? He wanted to escape? Escape where?! The insurgency was still weak, just a disparate bunch of twenty-somethings who had managed Ancho-9. It would take time before the rebellion became a real threat to the Samurai regime, but for now, the rebels didn't even have a permanent base; just caravans.

    Mamushi landed soundlessly in front of Rudolph, as quiet as death. He really thought they could take their freedom here in the forests just outside the village walls. The boy was too naive, too small-minded. The insurgency needed the intel she provided more than they needed her fists, needed supplies and ration more than an extra hand at katon jutsu.

    And what good would he do anyway? All he had known thus far was a life of hard labor, and he was too young to have a great recollection of what life was like before; as far as she was concerned, he was hardly a shinobi at all! She'd tried to connect with him through the strength of their shared misery and mentions of the rebellion - he had rebuffed her, seemingly afraid to voice his true opinions.

    Worse than that, he didn't even seem to realize that he was talking to a bunshin.

    From the trees above, maybe twelve feet in the air,  the real Mamushi looked down on Rudolph and her formless clone; the world had gone infrared, the darks made darker, ever iota of heat appearing to her as great orange and yellow blobs in various shapes. The bunshin was nearly invisible, but she could see Rudolph clearly. That was good, she tought; she meant to end this quickly, before the search parties arrived. If she could put him down before they arrived, she could take him straight to Tanaka and beg for a light punishment; if that proved too difficult, all that was left was to kill him.

    She blitzed through three short seals.₅ The bunshin bull-rushed Rudolph, kicked at his face. Another three seals.₆ The bunshin dove at Rudolph only to burst into a thick plume of smoke before reaching him, blinding him. A much more solid Mamushi came barreling through the haze, fist extended in a straight left to strike his jaw.

"They'll never stop," Mamushi said as her fist sailed through the air.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Jutsu Used}Chakra Pool: 120/200
3. Bunshin - Miniscule
4. Gen’ei-Hebi (Snake Heat Tracking)
Rank: C
Range: Close (0m ~ 5m), Mid (5m ~ 10m), Far (10m+)
Type: Supplementary
Handseals: 1 to activate and deactivate
Chakra Consumption: Low to cast: Miniscule sustain
Pit vipers, pythons, and some species of Boa possess the ability to “see” the radiated heat from a warm-blooded animal through special sensors located between the nostril and eyes. Like many Kage-Hebi techniques, this ability is based off of these snakes. With this, they can see heat via activating an infrared sight. This helps in tracking targets in the dark, or when they are hidden by physical objects.
Note: This heat-vision essentially replaces the user’s standard vision. This means that the Kage-Hebi will be incapable of seeing things which lack heat.
5.--
6.--

    Rudolph was talking to a clone. Mamushi had shunshined closer beneath the cover of bunshin smoke, creeping nearer as he spoke. When he flickered away, she was ready, following behind with a quick movement of her own, dogging his steps as if she were glued to his heels. She simply couldn't allow him to escape, not now - it would seem too suspicious, given her talents; then there was the fact that she'd been seen speaking to him just before he murdered a samurai and attempted to escape. Ichiro was already suspicious of her for Hidechi's death; he would have her killed if she failed.

    Stupid boy, she thought again. If only Rudolph had fought her, they would probably be having a late meal in the servant's quarters of Tanaka's estate while she told him about what she did for the rebellion - explained how vital intel was to the burgeoning warfront; instead, the samurai were out to kill him, and if she didn't kill him or capture him, she would lose either her position, and the power that came with it, or her head, in which case her loss of status wouldn't matter.

    She could think of only one way to salvage the situation.

    One moment, they were on the wall, the next they were in the forest. It was dark, and eerily quiet, save for the ceaseless chatter of cicadas. They wouldn't shut up till winter. An owl hooted from somewhere high in the trees, and the wind whispered through the boughs. The forest floor was blanketed in leaves and pine needles; beneath was cool dark earth.

    Mamushi struck from Rudolph's blind spot, mere feet behind him. She jabbed out with her hand; the arm split and lengthened, transforming into six striking snakes, mouths wide, fangs wicked and sharp₂. The snakes converged on him, to bind him, bite him - break him, if they could. She didn't know what kind of jutsu he knew, but figured it didn't matter; if she kept close and stayed on the offensive, he wouldn't get the chance to use any.

    Her hand reformed, shedding the snakes like skin. There was another burst of smoke₃; hidden for a brief moment by the wafting cloud, Mamushi made a single handseal₄. When the smoke cleared, she leaped towards Rudolph, jumping high in the air to fall from above, as silent as death. She did not yell or shout - her eyes, narrowed, and sharp as knives, bespoke her intent.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Jutsu Used}
Shunshin - Miniscule x4 (thus far)
1. Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Technique) (Last Round)(Miniscule)
2. Senei Jashu (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)
Rank: C
Range: Close (0m ~ 5m)
Type: Offensive
Handseals: -
Chakra Consumption: Mid
Senei Jashu is a signature Kagehebi Nintaijutsu technique which allows the clan member to manifest a bundle of quick-striking snakes that extend from the user’s sleeves. The Kage-Hebi extends their arm and shoots out snakes to attack a target, having them move at impressive speeds and strike with their fangs. Though basic, this variation has been known to subdue even the strongest of foes with a single snake bite.
Note: By default, the user can summon up to six snakes from their sleeve. Likewise, these snakes can infect a target with the Kage-Hebi’s Tier 2 poisons.
3.--
4.--