In the Shadows, Strength Grows

There it was...The response he had been wanting for. A smile crept onto his face as he flicked the girl in the forehead and chuckled," No need to rush into your death preemptively, You need to learn that sometimes protecting secrets if you're going to lock them away. My point was that your last resort shouldn't be your first resort. I know more than most would know about holding in secret what should never be told, but I will never seal it nor make a method in doing so, i wear my strength as my weakness and vice versa. I am not making fun of you my student i am simply giving you a life lesson," of course as he finished he simply turned towards Jason to allow Akiko to think on what he had said. He didn't want her making something seem more than it was nor did he want to discourage her from her path, his words were more of a future warning than anything else and thus he would keep it as so.

At the continuation of the spar and how the teams would be divided, his arm wrapped around Akiko and kind of pushed her to the side for a moment so that he could speak to her in private," Team meeting and keep your fox there out of the conversation, I know you two can speak mentally. After all it takes one to know someone who can speak with another entity without them knowing," alliterating to his bond with Corbinek and how the two could discern rather or not someone was peeking in, he could know without saying much. It went without saying that his bond with the spirit was on the level of a parent and their kid. Pushing the semantics aside, he walked with Akiko some ten meters away with his back towards Jason as he spoke to her," I know this isn't going to pan out because he's stronger, but I want you to do me a favor. I know how your eyes work and I know the vision in which you can see...I need you to be my eyes and let me know the moment something is wrong. If we do this right then we can win and probably show the Hokage that you are one tough cookie. If we do win I will take you out for lunch after our next training...well its a rather we win or lose situation, but yeah," with that he would turn back to jason, their conversation being in whispers as he smiled.

With that he waved towards jason to make the first move, Zero standing slightly in front of Akiko so that if he launched an attack he could take it head on and if he tried to teleport behind them he could replace himself with her to take the attack in full. As a precaution he quickly made a string of half baked hand seals in order to throw him slightly off his plan, but as a just in case he activated his gauntlets by summoning them onto his person signaling he was ready for battle.

Akiko was surprised when the Hokage said that there was no reason to be embarrassed and that he was proud of her. She stood there in a state of shock until her sensei flicked her in the forehead. She listened to his words of wisdom and then smiled. "Yes, Sensei! I'm just trying to be a step ahead of the enemy." She then realized what the two had been talking back and forth about, but got pulled to the side by he Sensei. "We're going to spar with the Hokage? Are you sure I'm ready for this?" Her face showed concern about how this will go, but as her Sensei stepped in front of her she realized that she didn't really have a choice and she activated her Byakugan and got into a battle position as she started studying the Hokage's chakra network and waited for him to make his move prepared to do her best in the upcoming fight despite her lack of experience.

AP: 99

Jason watched as Hideyoshi spoke some kind words to the Hyuuga girl before grabbing her by the shoulder and walking away from Jason about ten meters. Hideyoshi smiled as he told Jason not to listen in and that he was aware Nami and him could speak telepathically. Jason wasn't surprised since Nami had felt a second presence within Hideyoshi when they had first met. He respected Hideyoshi and did not listen in on the conversation. He was having with his student. It was some kind of strategy meeting so it wouldn't do for him to listen in anyway. That would be no fun to Jason.

'I wonder how well the girl will do in this situation. I'm sure Hideyoshi can handle fighting me and protecting her if it came to that. Let's see what happens. What do you think?' he said to Nami through their telepathic link. 'It doesn't matter to me. I just want it to be over quickly.' Nami would say back in an irritated tone. The fox would yawn at that point, showing it's boredom at the oncoming spar. 

By this time Hideyoshi and Akiko had finished their talking and Hideyoshi would motion for the Hokage to begin the fight. Taking a stance with his right leg forward Jason would pull a kunai from his weapon pouch while simultaneously marking it with his unique seal that was a part of the flying thunder god technique. Jason would then immediately throw the kunai aimed straight at Hideyoshi's chest. As soon as the kunai left his hand, Jason would perform the hand seals Ram-Rat-Bird-Boar-Tiger. There would be a cloud of smoke as the kunai he had thrown would duplicate itself and the seal placed upon it to become one thousand copies, each flying straight at Hideyoshi and Akiko. The kunai would span to cover an area of thirty meters wide and ten meters tall. A spiraling high density ball of blue chakra would begin to form in Jason's right hand.

jutsu used:
rasengan -40AP
shuriken shadow clone -40AP
904AP remaining

"With one last thing, Always give it your all no matter what alright Akiko?," these were the last words he had uttered to her before turning to face Jason before the spar had started. With his training earlier his body had been perfectly ready for this and since he had fought the Hokage before it would be a more...interesting fight now that Hideyoshi himself had learned a bit more in the way of close range fighting and a few in ninjutsu. Before Jason had made his move, Hideyoshi moved a sing meter in front of Akiko before taking his fighting stance. Sliding his left foot out only a few feet he would tuck his right arm in a slightly bent position by his side while straightening his left fist having it point at Jason.

With his stance ready he had been watching Jason carefully for any and all moves he could perform. When the male had pulled out the Kunai he was ready to block it however the small trace of Chakra on the kunai itself made it appear to be too suspicious that he was simply throwing it. When the hand seals were made after shortly throwing the Kunai, he was a bit concerned that over a thousand copies of the same weapon werw coming at him which meant he had to do something to prevent his student from getting hit. Taking a deep breath his right fist would begin to thrust forward as a familiar wind to Jason at least would stop the Kunai dead in their tracks. As Hideyoshi began to punch furiously, the wind vacuum would push the Kunai off track and soon towards him due to the immense pressure of the vacuum along with the intense winds that accompanied it.

Watching the Kunai that he had wanted to use against him go back towards him, he returned to his position as he smiled and waved to his student," When you get stronger expect to be able to do things like this...I promise you that yo will become stronger that you ever hope to be," though his eyes would never be taken off of Jason he kept watch behind him through his gauntlets which would be looking at Akiko before looking around

Jason would watch as the thousand kunai he had aimed at Hideyoshi and Akiko turned back on him after a powerful attack. A wall of sharp steel now set upon it's master. Jason smirked as he witnessed the quick turn of the battle. Not a bad opening of events. Jason would quickly perform the hand seals Snake-Ram-Hare-Dog-Snake as he begun to use one of the Senju clan's secret techniques. The Wood Release: Wooden Dragon technique. 

Jason would finish the last Snake hand seal just as the kunai were eight meters away from Jason. Jason was still working on mastering this technique and had not used it in any kind of battle, spar or otherwise, yet and was curious to see how well it would work out for himself. A large wooden dragon would grow forth from the ground and curl around Jason protecting him from the kunai as a snake would protect itself from harm. The kunai would bounce off of the wooden dragons hard body as if they were dull rocks being thrown at a large tree. 

While Jason was still hidden from sight behind the large wooden dragon, he would crouch down and place a seal on the ground in front of him. The seal placed would be Jason's unique teleportation jutsu formula for the flying thunder god technique. It was a fail safe in case he got himself into trouble.

The instant the kunai were all safely out of the air, the wooden dragon would uncurl itself and head straight for Hideyoshi at an immense speed(125 speed). The dragon would be three meters in diameter and fifty meters long. The dragon would aim to wrap itself around both Hideyoshi and Akiko, attempting to trap them where they stood.

As the wooden dragon was headed toward Hideyoshi and Akiko, Jason would perform the hand seals Tiger-Dog-Snake at his maximum speed. Two clones would begin to form from the wooden dragon as it charged forward at Hideyoshi and Akiko. The clones would each form from the left and right side of the wooden dragon and immediately begin to run in a semi circle around the Jounin and Genin. They would stop exactly eight meters away from the two.



jutsu used:
wooden dragon -200AP
wood clone -80AP

The attack was a success and the kunai were sent flying back towards their owner and yet Hideyoshi had no time for patting himself on the back. As the Kunai flew backwards, he made a single seal causing another version of himself to appear behind Akiko. This other version of him would wrap his arms around Akiko while the original spoke," Trust your sensei and keep your eyes peeled for me, and don't panic alright," as the last few words slipped from his mouth the clone dashed away from their original position and moved ten meters back from where they could see Jason being surrounded by some wooden construct," Oh this is just about to get fun."

As the wooden dragon spiraled from its owner on a course for him, he ran and met it head on, his body becoming charged with lightning as he smiled and readied his attack. From the first punch the dragon would feel its end, the immense power of the Jounin known as Zero would manifest like no other as sparks of flame and lightning sparked from his body until the wooden dragon was destroyed, noticing the clones he would begin to make his way towards them quickly.

With one fluid motion he would pull out his spine and whip it towards the clone on his right extending the fluid in the spine to elongate it and capture the clone before it fully popped out of the dragon and swinging it towards the other yet he wasn't done. During the apex of the clones swing, Hideyoshi would have used the Clone as a springboard, kicking it into the other clone before landing and looking at Jason," Come on using clones against me? Unless you didn't know i'm the tree breaker," a smirk on his face as he began to slowly walk towards the Hokage, body flickering with lightning.

Jutsu Used:
Lightning Javelin
Morning Peacock

Jason watched as Hideyoshi charged at the wooden dragon head on. Jason knew the Jounin's strength was great but was it enough to destroy the immense wooden dragon that had been summoned and was now on it's way towards Hideyoshi? The young Genin had already been taken out of harms way by the Jounin's clone. 

The crackling sound of lightning could be heard and sparks of fire and lightning would come from the Jounin's body as Hideyoshi stepped forward and hit the enormous wooden dragon with a powerful punch. The resounding crack was that of thunderclouds in a raging storm as the dragon's head cracked in several places and the shockwave caused the dragon's body to splinter out and backwards towards Jason, ultimately exploding into thousands of pieces. Jason tilted his head to the right slightly as a sharp piece of wood flew past his left cheek, leaving a shallow scratch that would immediately begin to heal. 

The two clones that had been summoned would be on the immediate right and left of the Jounin that had just caused the destruction of Jason's technique. Without hesitation Hideyoshi would tear out his spine and use it as a whip, extending to wrap around the clone on Hideyoshi's right and swinging it to send the clone flying directly into the second one, destroying both and causing them to disappear in a cloud of white smoke. At the same time Hideyoshi had wrapped the first clone up with his whip-like spine, Jason would perform a single hand seal and another clone would appear on Jason's immediate right. The clone would draw a kunai marked with the teleportation formula with his left hand while a spiraling blue ball of high density chakra would form in it's right hand. 

"Come on using clones against me? In case you didn't know I'm the tree breaker"

A smirk was now on Hideyoshi's face as his body was surrounded by lightning and he disappeared from Jason's sight. Using his Kenbushoku Haki Jason could track the Jounin's movements still. The moment Hideyoshi had began the body flicker, Jason would perform another single hand seal before disappearing in a flash of yellow light. The clone Jason had summoned would disappear in a flash of yellow light at the same time. Jason, the original, would appear three meters behind the Jounin at one of the fallen kunai from earlier and spewing forth an immense wall of flames from his mouth spanning fifty meters wide and twenty meters wide moving directly toward Hideyoshi. 

The clone that had disappeared would reappear directly in front of Hideyoshi, it's rasengan aimed directly at the Jounin's chest with all the power the clone could muster. If Jason had learned one thing it was never to let Hideyoshi get close without a plan and that he was certainly not one to take lightly. Jason would do his best and not hold back this time. He would learn from his mistakes in their previous spar. 

jutsu used:
FTG
Exploding clone
great fire annihilation(110 speed and power)

Clone used:
rasengan(115 power)
FTG

The match was finally starting to heat up though as the two moved faster, it would become apparent that the plans he had laid out would need to be changed. The feeling of the clone being spawned again or rather the particular signature meant that Jason had made another clone, but for what? As Jason disappeared however, his own clone would notice this and immediately move. As Jason disappeared so did his clone and as Jason attempted to sandwich him? Hideyoshi's clone made the same movement. Just moments before the flames spewed, Hideyoshi the original had used Hoho to move himself from between the two just moments before the fire could touch him, but the plan wasn't over yet. As the fire spewed forth, Jason would be pushed further towards his clone by the other Hideyoshi causing the flames to engulf the clone and unknowingly to him cause the other Jason to explode.

With both attacks going on at the same time, the small amounts of damage should have been enough to stop Jason in his tracks, though he remembered the black substance that covered him so he didn't rule that out just yet. Because of this he moved backwards ten meters meeting up with his clone and Akiko waiting for the next movement of his sparring partner. As he stood he could feel the brink of what Corbinek had once reminded him of breaking slowly, cracks revealing on his upper arm as he grabbed firm of it and sighed," Not now...," he knew his limits were breaking and if this continued? He would find himself losing what he tried so hard to keep hold of for so long.

Jason felt Hideoyshi's presence move out of the way as the fire he spewed forth engulfed his clone, which would not explode since the clone chooses whether or not it explodes and it doesnt explode upon being destroyed. Jason quickly released the great fire annihilation technique and pivoted one hundred and eighty degrees to face Hideyoshi who was now ten meters in front of Jason. 

Jason could clearly see Hideyoshi's clone and Akiko standing next to the original. Jason would pull out his bow and knock three arrows. Two were aimed at the center of the originals forehead, directly between his eyes and the other aimed to pierce his left knee cap. The third arrow was aimed at the original's right elbow. Jason would release the arrows nearly instantly after the bow was drawn. Once the arrows were released Jason would immediately put his bow away and begin performing a series of hand seals.

The clone and the original stood in front of Akiko ready for anything Jason would throw at them but something was different. Within the confines of Hideyoshi's mind Corbinek had been pulling at the males attention as if something urgent had came up. As time slowed down at least for him, the moments of Jason's attack would happen in slow motion as opposed to the clone paying ample attention to alert the master at the same time. The conversation was swift as the entity pushed and pulled at Hideyoshi to finally release him and allow for him to finally fight alongside him though this wasn't the spirits true intentions.

"We have been fighting alongside each other this whole time what makes this time no different than the other? What are you getting at?," the male inquired though as a side affect of his question the spirit smirked within the darkness. Finally stepping out he rested his hand against a mental barricade of sorts put up by Hideyoshi without him knowing," Release me from this barricade and we can truly be one...Fighting alongside each other as you had wanted my friend," what barricade? He new nothing of this and yet the spirit had shown him exactly what he had meant.

There were many choices that he could take but the power...he knew that when Corbinek and he were truly one their power was unstoppable...so what would happen if the two truly became one? He mulled over the decision before nodding and trusting his long time companion, placing his hand on the construct before it rippled and destroyed itself," I've trusted you for this long...and i trust you now, let's do this my friend," the only thing that could be seen was the smile of the spirit as all hell broke loose.

On the outside the arrows would have hit the clone and dispersed it as a sharp wind began to engulf hideyoshi, his chakra becoming saturated with blue and black as his once yellow eyes became a mix of yellow and red, his personal aura feeling different. Within this moment the wind would have knocked over his student as he looked towards Jason, not his self. Jason at this point would be able to tell that something had went wrong inside of Hideyoshi, but when he spoke? It was now apparent that the male had became something different," It has been so long since i've had the chance to touch the ground...and feel the air upon my skin. My good friend Hideyoshi you were a fool to trust me... You knew what the price of my power was and now? Heh its time you took a ride on the back seat," looking towards the young Hokage a smirk played upon his face.

Releasing the full extent of his power, he began to move towards the male slowly," Now let's see what my power can do after being dormant for so long," the eyes of the now enraged male setting its sights on something better.