Under the Moon [Training]

Slowly, the grey blankets covering the sky shifted and rolled over the horizon. A normal person would expect it to rain but Diana knew better. It hardly rained here which made her question how anyone was able to live in such harsh conditions but she had to remind herself that everyone who resided here was of a different breed. They were faster, stronger and smarter than the average shinobi, in fact, they themselves believed that they ascended beyond that of ordinary shinobi, they were Knights. She had known these streets like the back of the hand as if she was born and raised here and though the Ash that began falling from the sky obscured her vision she was still able to navigate her way through. Where was she going? Who knew? Most of the landmarks were reduced to rumble and all that littered the streets were bodies and the vultures that were looking for their next meal. It pained her heart to see the village in such ruin, it was a strange sensation as she hardly knew the place yet she felt at home here in the climate, amongst the people but yet the place felt foreign to her, like a place that only existed in her dreams. As she trudged through the streets those who were actually still alive would spare a glancing look before nodding as if they were acknowledging her presence as an ally and not an enemy which was strange as she, of course, knew she wasn’t of this side of the world but they accepted her as their own. Maybe it was due to that fact that she was wearing this strange headband or was it because she wore this badge that held her name or at least she thought it was as it didn’t say Diana Erlang, it said Diana Is- something. She couldn’t make it what exactly it said for some strange reason maybe it was due to the terrible weather or maybe it was because she was tired?

“Yo, we’ve been waiting on you. Thought I told you to stop wandering around?” A familiar voice called out to her the distance. Sitting on a fallen pillar, there was Zhao her guardian who seemed to be waiting on her. The truth was she didn’t recall agreeing to a meeting with him but she wasn’t surprised as this entire situation seemed off. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting  Zhao-dono, but where are we going?” She asked as she made her way closer towards him. “We have a family meeting silly. A rather urgent one so we better hurry before we get scolded.” He said with an unusual smile on his face. It wasn’t the smile he normally had when they were together, the deranged lunatic smile where he went on his usual ramblings. It was a smile of a man who was content with his surroundings. She wasn’t sure what exactly he meant about a family meeting as they weren’t in  Mahougakure so there was no way this was a meeting with the Erlang Clan members and elders so who exactly were they going to meet? “Right. Let us go then.” She said softly before following him to where ever it was they had this family meeting. They had been walking for about three minutes engaging in idle chatter here and there until it Zhao had made it clear that they were here. The building they stood before seemed out of place as it seemed completely untouched compared to the ruins it was surrounded by which was completely odd. Zhao would knock on the door and after a thirty-second wait the door would open and he would nudge her forward.

Inside the building was just as immaculate as the outside which made ever even more confused. What was going on with this building? She thought as she followed her guardian through the halls of the building and when they arrived at the end of the hall they were greeted by a large number of people sitting at a table. It was evident that she was the youngest person in the room and it was a bit unnerving as everyone was looking directly at them. Some looked annoyed, while others seemed indifferent and there were a few with a smile on their faces. Diana’s pink hues would scan the room and though each person did seem to have an unnatural disposition about them, this was something she also noticed about Zhao but there were three particular individuals she felt a completely different vibe from. The first was a pink haired individual that seemed pretty much uninterested as he petted a white snake that was wrapped around his arm. At first she thought that they might have been directly related due to the similar color hair but she quickly dismissed that claim as he seemed to be a right prick guessing from his demeanor. The second was a handsome man with long flowing onyx hair and beautiful grey eyes, he was the one of the few with an actual smile on his face, it was a warm inviting smile and it made her feel as if she was welcomed. It was a feeling she could only attach to a parent that loved their child but she knew that this man could never be her father, maybe she was a direct descendant? She found herself staring at the man and the sound of someone clearing their throat would bring her back to reality. The person who had done that was the man in the middle of the pink haired and the onyx-haired man. This man was something else. This was the first time in her life she felt pure fear from an individual, this man made her completely uneasy as it felt that he could kill her at any time and probably without her even knowing.  “Now that we’re all here, it’s time for us to discuss on how we’ll be moving forward as a village and as a family.” The man said before lighting a cigar. Diana would quickly move to her chair adjacent to Zhao. A small discussion would begin and just as the onyx-haired man was about to speak a strange ringing would erupt between her ears causing a headache.

Her eyes slowly crept open revealing familiar surroundings and her ears would pick up the sound of the alarm clock going off. “Ugh, why do I need to get up this early…” Diana muttered to herself before rolling over to shut it off. She’s been having the same dream for quite some time now and it always followed a familiar pattern and always left her with questions like where was this place? Who were those people? Why did she feel at ease there? “Right, I need to go get ready.” She muttered to herself as if she spent all day dwelling on that dream she’d be in bed all day. Having gotten ready, she would make her way to the dojo that they had in-house and waiting for her there was, of course, her Guardian Zhao. “Look who’s finally decided to show up? I hope you’re ready.” He said after finishing his cup of tea. The truth was that she was actually pretty early it was just that he spent the majority of his time in the dojo for whatever reason. “Now grab your sword and let’s go. Today I’ll be teaching you a secret technique that’ll allow your sword attacks to be unseen by anyone who you’re faster than. Pretty useful for people who like to dodge. It’s call lack of intent, so watch carefully!” Zhao would grab his samurai weapon before delivering a series of seamless strikes to the training dummy at a speed he knew she could comprehend before looking towards her. Nodding, she would grab her ordinary katana and would mimic his movements flawlessly hitting the dummy in the exact same spots he did. “Magnificent, you really are your mother’s daughter.” Zhao said with a bright smile while patting her on the head. “Um, Zhao-dono. Is this a Denkou style? Or something that you created?” Diana asked curiously. Zhao would chuckle when he heard her question and sheathed his sword. “You see my beautiful moon, this isn’t something I’ve created nor is this something that anyone in the Erlang knows of. This is from the other side of your heritage.” Diana would roll her eyes after hearing his response knowing he would now end up going on a tangent about some secret bloodline.

“You see lil moon, we’re special you and I, you more so as you are a direct descendant of one of the greatest swordsmen in the world. I was just taught these techniques in order to ensure you learn them. Everything will come to light sooner or later little moon.” He said with a strange smile on his face. Diana had no idea what he was going on about as she was told by the elders of her clan that her mother and father were ordinary Denkou that were pretty good shinobi but they weren’t that special or outstanding. So she wasn’t sure who to believe as they didn’t have any reason to lie to her but neither did Zhao. That and she kept having those strange dreams about a faraway place and being amongst people she had never seen before but felt a connection to. She wouldn’t mention that to him, however, not yet anyways. “Right, so what else do you have for me to learn?” Diana stated completely dismissing the man and his delusions. “Hmph, fine let’s have a little sword fight. If you impress me enough we can go for ice-cream.” Diana’s eyes would illuminate having heard his offer. There had been a flavor she had been dying to try but wanted to spend her money on equipment for a mission. “Hehe, fine let’s do this!” She was all fired up and wasn’t ready to lose.


Taking her stance, she would take a deep breath steeling herself for the fight to come. Though he was a bit on the strange side she knew that he was a force to be reckoned with and one misstep would mean no ice-cream! Kicking off the ground she would launch herself towards the man at crashing ground speeds aiming a horizontal slash at his mid-section. Unfortunately for her it would seem as if he was anticipating such a move as he simply aimed his sword downwards to block her strike. “Tsk tsk. I can see your through your techniques Dai-chan, surely you can fix that?” He said in a slightly disappointing tone and a front on his face before pushing her off. Stumbling backward she was unsure what exactly he had meant by that but before she could ask she would be forced to defend herself as he was charging head-on releasing a flurry of attacks. Thanks to the fact that she was part cypher, she was able to react quick enough and easily parried his attacks. She wasn’t finished there, however, as she would follow up with a few strikes of her own, this time at a faster speed than before as she tried to overwhelm him with speed. “Better but I can still see your strikes kiddo.” He said sounding a bit more impressed than her previous attempt. Being the skilled shinobi he was, he was easily able to parry her strikes forcing her back yet again. Clicking her tongue she was all about ready to give up this meaningless exchange until it finally dawned upon her. There was a reason why he kept on mentioning that he could see through her techniques and with that she found a way to win. “Shouldn’t be daydreaming in mid-battle Dai!” Zhao called out to her instantly snapping her back to reality. Just in time too as she would raise her sword to parry his strike to the left. Having gained an opening, Diana would charge towards the man at her fastest speeds possible, without killing herself of course, and aimed to carve open his chest with her blade. The difference was that now, she used the lack of intent technique to make her kenjutsu harder to read. “Whoa there!” Zhao exclaimed before blocking the sword at speeds she had never seen him use before. “Whew, that was close! You almost killed me there!” He said as he ran his hands on his chest to see if it was still intact. Once he was certain he didn’t get killed, he would sheathe his weapon before making his way towards Diana and patting her head. “You did good Dia-chan. Ice-cream is on me.” He said with a smile. With training complete, she would sheathe her sword as well before placing it on the rack where they kept all the training equipment. It had been some time since she felt this good about training and she was pretty much pleased about the results. Maybe she was cut out for this ninja stuff after all? “Hey! Wait up! Don’t leave without me damn it!” She beckoned as she noticed that her guardian had already left the house without her.

WC: 2203
WC Needed: 2100

Trained:

Approved

Diana’s life had taken a rather interesting turn of late. First, she had managed to somehow graduate from the academy with her exerting as minimal effort as possible, which also came to surprise to most of her peers and her instructors but not to her guardian as he always held this high regard for her for whatever reason. Secondly, she had managed to get drafted in a team of rather interesting individuals, the first was a ronin soulless that seemed a bit too sexual frustrated for her age and another Erlang who had all the characteristics of a true leader and someone who she knew she could depend on, in fact even though she had only met them twice she knew that both of them would be quite reliable. Now that she was apart of a team she had to start training and bettering herself as they would be relying on her to pull her weight as if one of them were far off from the pack not only they would become a burden but it might end up getting them killed. Having come to that realization, she was now training vigorously with Zhao, much to his amusement, as she wanted to hone her craft and master the way of the sword.


“Today my beautiful moon, we’re not going to spar, we’re going to become familiar with your weapon. Though you only have one weapon currently in the future when we’ve started more fighting styles you’ll be using different weapons, but for now, let’s practice with this.” Zhao ended before tossing a katana he had been holding for quite some time now. “Whoa, heavy.” Diana muttered as the weight of the katana almost forced her to the floor when she caught it. This was the first time she held a katana that wasn’t made of wood or those flimsy ones that Zhao had laying around. “It may seem heavy now but once you’ve become one with your blade it will become as light as a feather. Now I want you to do a hundred swings vertically. Whenever you’re ready.” He ended before making his way to the corner of the room to have a seat. Taking a deep breath, Diana would wrap her fingers of her right hand around the hilt of the blade, while wrapping the fingers of her left hand slightly above the left gripping the hilt as firmly as possible. Once the blade was gripped she would raise the sword above her head and swung it downwards as hard as possible. “Very good, 99 more reps to go.” Zhao started from the corner of the room. This seemed easy enough, Diana thought to herself as she began the second and third reps consecutively. But it was on her thirtieth rep she started feeling pains in places where she had never felt before and this forced her swings to slow down considerably. “Haha, not so easy now is it!” He said with a smirk on his face as he watched her starting to struggle. She wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of seeing her crumble, however, so she would grit her teeth and began to pick up the pace. Her breathing would become labored every other swing but her sense of pride prevented her from faltering and within just a few minutes she would get to a hundred reps with her sword. “Congrats, you even managed to beat my best time. Then again you are your mother’s daughter.” Zhao said with a smile before stopping the timer he had held in secret. “Alright, so this is the plan. As you know I taught you a number of fighting styles and we still have a couple to learn, with each new fighting style you’ll be required to master a new weapon. It might seem like a hassle but each weapon is essential to the fighting style, of course, make you quite the opponent. With that said you currently have three fighting styles that require two Tantos, a Kodachi, a Ninjato, and two Wakizashis. I would give you the money to purchase them but you should learn the value of hard work and not accept handouts. So you’ll have to go and get that money yourself, should be easy enough considering that missions pay well these days.” Zhao said with his usual smile as he explained his motives. “Now, of course, I have all these weapons here so what I want you to do is to get acquainted with the weapons so when times come for you to learn that little technique we made together you’ll be ready.” He ended before walking over to Diana and patting her on the head. Though she was grateful for Zhao teaching her everything he knew she felt that she only knew a ton of supplementary techniques and just three if so much, truly offensive techniques. It just felt as if she was stacking up on a bunch of, well, useless techniques. She wouldn’t say this to him however as she knew she would receive a lecture on the importance of every technique and not just offensive ones but what was a swordswoman with no actual techniques? Either way, she would have to figure out what she would need to learn on her own before he turns her in a fighting style hoarder.”Thank you for the lessons Zhao-dono, I’ll try my best to make you proud.” Diana reply before bowing slightly. She did want to make the man proud as he was the closest thing she had to family and the only one within the Erlang who she truly felt connected to. With that said, Zhao would leave her in the training room and thus she began examining every crevice and corner of each blade to ensure she was familiar with since each was not only different appearance wise but weight and height as well.”Well, the best way to get used to these weapons would be to practice so I’ll try to do a hundred reps with each. As painful as that sounds.” Letting out a sigh she would choose a weapon at random and began practicing her reps.

Pure Technique Specialist [Perfect Physical]

WC Needed 1000
WC: 1027

Approved B.D.

It had been another eventful couple of days for Diana and her teammates. The last mission made it glaringly obvious that they had a rift in personality and it was affecting how they operated as a team but one thing she wasn’t going to do, was to strike someone when they were down or have given up and if her ideas and principles were to cause a rift between herself and her teammates then so be it, she would always get assigned to another team or even just go about this whole ninja experience alone, after all they held no special bonds or meant anything to her, they were just strangers nothing more, nothing less. Besides the fact that it was obvious they were obviously the world’s a part personality wise it also brought up the fact that she was still not at a level she was satisfied with, which was all down to the fact that Zhao had taught her nothing but supplementary techniques. It wasn’t that she was being ungrateful but it was more than she hated the feeling of inadequacy and also the feeling that she was holding the team down, as such she needed to train so she could at least hold her own once the situation arises. “I’ll make that my point of duty… Tomorrow. Imma head to bed, all that monkeying around made me exhausted.” She muttered to herself as entered her home before removing her shoes and making her way to the living room where her guardian was sitting to tell him of the day she had.

Today was probably the earliest she had ever been up but she knew it would be for a good cause as today was the day she began training a number of offensive techniques. She stood on a hill overlooking a forest with both her tantos in hand as she took a deep breath. Today’s exercise was simple. There were three clones of Zhao hiding in the forest and it was her job to take them out. Of course, their strength was scaled back massively to ensure that she stood a chance but even then she wasn’t sure if what she knew was enough to take them all on. But it was too late to back out now and she was determined to make the best of what she had beside it was better to have Zhao curb stomp her ass than be in an actual situation where she could potentially die. With that said, she would leap off the cliff she stood on and into the forest where she would start her game of extreme hide and seek.

Diana would try her best to move throughout the forest as silently as possible but due to her lack of stealth techniques, she was doing a terrible job at it. Every twig she stepped on would snap and that snap would echo throughout the oddly silent forest which of course would give away her position. Clicking her tongue she would try her best to avoid any more twigs and the like but that would be the least of her worries as thanks to her reaction tiers she was able to pick up a clone hiding in the area and would be able to successfully dodge the attack that was a bit too close to her neck for the liking. “Hey, what gives? You almost took my head off!” She growled before drawing both her tantos. “You think just because I’m holding back to match your strength I won’t actually aim to at least maim you? Can’t have the best of both worlds, kid.” Zhao’s clone said with a smile while twirling around what appears to be a plain old katana. Scoffing, she would take the crescent moon stance before trading blows with the clone. The clashing of the swords would echo throughout the forest which would no doubt alert the other clones and she couldn’t have that since it would leave her in a disadvantage should they all descend on her at once. The Zhao clone would begin attacking her with a numerous of slashes simultaneously which she would be able to easily dodge thanks to her superior reaction abilities and would parry the final slash before decapitating the clone, causing it to disappear. “That was revenge you prick.” She muttered to herself before making her way further down the forest. It wouldn’t take her long to come into contact with the other clone, the only problem was that instead of one it was two of them.  “Just my luck huh?” She sighed before drawing both her tantos as she prepared for her the onslaught to come. And onslaught it was as she was on the defense for the majority of the fight forcing her to dodge and parrying all attacks. “What’s the matter kiddo? Can’t keep up? It’s a shame. Guess this is the end of the road for you.” The clone on the left taunted her while the one on the right had a stupid grin on his face. This was a bit harder than she would’ve actually appreciated but this would be good to build character and battle awareness, granted she didn’t die that way. Standing on her two feet, she would take a deep breath as she gripped her two blades tightly with a smile. Bending her knees, she would use A rank worth of blood to move at Blinding light speeds towards the two clones before delivering a flurry of aimed at the vitals of both clones. The sudden burst of speed would, of course, have caught the clones off guard and she would subsequently dispatch them instantly. Falling on her knees she would take another deep breath to steel herself. The worst was yet to come as she had the original to deal with and she was positive that he wasn’t going to be a pushover like his clones were. She would take a moment to rest before heading up the mountain where her final challenge was waiting.  

WC: 1009
WCN: 1000

Learned:

Approved no Solo Training for 3 Days.

Diana had been training a lot recently. She had come to the realization that with her teammates not really on the same page as her and the fact that her sensei was practically useless, she was basically in this whole ninja thing on her own, with a little help from Zhao of course. With that said she had picked up the sword more seriously and spent countless days looking to perfect what she had already known and in truth, she was getting there and even though she was proud of what she was accomplishing, there was another aspect of her game she was neglected, which was her elemental side. Diana had been naturally gifted with the lightning release, meaning that she could fire off lightning techniques with little to no cost whatsoever and thus it would be wise to capitalize on such a unique ability in the event that her kenjutsu was useless, as unlikely as that sounds. Diana did know a few filler lightning techniques thanks to being a part of the Denkou branch of the Erlang Clan, but she didn’t really understand the complexity of the nature which meant that she had to seek someone out for assistance and even though her sensei was a master of the lightning release, she was unable to actually remember the last time she had seen him, as such she had to go to the next best thing, Zhao.

“Huh? Lightning release? Sorry, I have no idea about that sorta stuff, I’m a samurai remember.” Zhao said with pointing towards the samurai weapon that was fastened to his hip. Diana couldn’t help but groan out loud as she had completely forgotten about the fact that Zhao had no elemental knowledge beyond the one that his sword held and even then he was unable to harness it to the extent that she was able to as it was more the blade’s element than his. “I did suspect that you’d be asking about such a thing in the future, however, and I know just the person to help you out. Remember your aunty Elysia? I’ll give her a call.” He said with a sly grin before looking to send out a carrier pigeon. She did indeed remember Elysia, however, she wasn’t any direct relation to her nor was she married to Zhao. The term aunty was just so that she would warm up to her whenever Zhao brought her home. The term lost its value some years ago, however, as Diana came to find out that she was just one of, and she couldn’t stress this enough, many women that Zhao kept at his leisure, how he managed to do such a thing was beyond her and the worst part was that they actually knew he was a womanizer and continued to get strung along anyways!  Most were forgettable generic women and she could only recall one from each of the five major villages.  Elysia was the most memorable due to the fact that she was the one that she saw the most and she had this wicked lightning birthmark on her leg, hence her name which translated to struck by lightning and of course she was from the same branch as her, Denkou.  

A few minutes had passed and Elysia had agreed to take Diana under her wing to teach her what she had known only if Zhao had stated away from the both of them, more specifically her. Since Zhao didn’t seem too bothered about the request and thus Diana left to meet the woman at the training grounds she suggested. Having arrived at the Erlang clan’s headquarters and to the Denkou training grounds, a voice would call out to her from the distance. “Di-chan! Oh look how cute and grown up you are!” Elysia stated before flashing towards her and giving her a hug. She wasn’t too comfortable with Elysia hugging her, not that she didn’t like her, but due to the fact that she had such beautiful breasts and always smelt like roses, truth be told she was kinda attracted to the woman and who wouldn’t be? She was stunning.

“You know when I got Zhao’s message I was about to rip it into shreds before heading over there to stuff it down his throat but once I noticed it was about you I decided not to.” She said with a smile. Did I mention she was also extremely hot-headed and violent? She once witnessed Elysia and Zhao fight with her underestimating the man and resulting in her crushing defeat as the only thing Zhao took seriously was Diana, fighting, and food. “Thank you for helping me out Elysia-dono I really approach it. Also, sorry for my guardian’s behavior” Diana said before bowing, which made Elysia hug her again due to how adorable she was.

“You wanted to learn about lightning yeah? Well, I can tell the basics. As you know lightning has a special bond within all Denkous and thus was known as the masters of the element. Lightning techniques are normally generated by increasing the vibrations of one’s chakra and it can be used for a number of things. Piercing tough defenses, which would be good for your kenjutsu and causing numbness which can aid in crippling your foes. I’m certain you already know how to harness and utilize the element so there won’t be any need for me to go that far back to the basics. What you should know are the matchups. Lightning is weak against Wind so it’ll be futile for you to challenge a skilled wind user with Lightning. Lightning, however, beats earth so those pesky earth techniques will crumble and finally lightning has a unique relationship with Water as it’s an insulator and based on what I’ve heard from Zhao your salamander has the water element so it’ll be wise that you invest in some combination techniques to gain the upper hand ” She ended seeming to continue to pick her brain for any more useful information. “Now that I’ve thought about it, I’ve hardly seen you around. I know you don’t particularly feel connected to anyone here but learning from others would help you finding out what your true  purpose as a shinobi is.” Elysia was one of the few people who knew Diana’s reason why she tended to distance herself from the Erlang but she was right in this case. “Thank you Elysia-dono. I’ll use this knowledge and apply it to the best of my abilities.” And with that said she would continue to chat with Elysia as they had a lot of catching up to do.  

Lightning Release Specialist (Perfect)

WC= 1,108
WCN= 1000

Approved but how are you breaking down the gained Lightning Release techniques? However you decide to break it down please include it in your claim however next time include it at the bottom of the Spec Training in spoiler tags for ease of approval.

Breakdown examples:

The months haven’t been kind to Diana. She had been what seemed to be a never-ending slump which caused her to temporarily put aside her shinboi duties. Not like it would’ve impacted her team in the slightest, however, since it had been quite sometime since she heard from either of them. Maybe it was due to the fact that they never really saw eye to eye, especially after that argument they had during and after their first ever mission together. Her teammates wanted to end the life of the poor creature that was obviously frightened and in a place it wasn’t comfortable being in. What was the point of taking the life of something that wasn’t purposely out causing a havoc? Either way she had distanced herself from her teammates for the time being and just so happened to meet someone who understood everything she stood for and it was honestly a strange feeling. As the days went on she felt herself thinking about Praise constantly even envisioning a life where they two were together, not as best friends as they promised but as something more. She knew that such a thing wouldn’t be possible, however, since Praise was probably not interested in girls, then again could she really call herself female? After all she had different parts from “ordinary” girls. It was a sad thing to think about as she had genuine feelings for her as she was the only one who truly understood her in this cold harsh reality. Well, atleast she could count on her as a friend, even though it had been awhile since she heard from her as well, which was mostly her fault as she had been too busy feeling sorry for herself to even bother to reach out to anyone. Was this what depression felt like? Could someone as young as her even feel depressed? In truth she was living quite the ordinary life, she wasn’t struggling to get food on the table and her guardian is a kind and caring man. Even though he had high hopes for her, he understood and accepted the fact that she believed that being a shinobi might not be for her, so why did she feel empty? Why did she feel as if she didn’t belong in the Erlang clan or in the Five nations as a matter of fact. Why did she feel as if there was something that she didn’t know about, something that would make her whole and grant her a purpose in life? “Damn, I can’t keep mulling over the same shit everyday!” She bellowed angrily before hitting the pillow beside her. It became quite exhausting living her life like this and maybe some fresh air would actually do her good? Thinking that it was about time that she actually left her room she would hop off the bed and made her way to the shower and then grab some breakfast.

“You know, I thought there was a stench coming from your room and thought you had finally kicked the bucket. Maybe it was just the carve I have, I should probably get rid of that as soon as possible, imma lose money!” Zhao said with a smile as he signalled her to come and join him at the table. “Very funny old man. As you can see I’m pretty much still alive, so you might have to cancel any plans you had on moving your harem in.” She said poking fun at him before taking a seat before him. The table was stacked as if he was expecting some company, naturally she would assume that one of his many women would be joining them but it was all the things that she enjoyed. “I cooked your favorite breakfast and dinner hoping you’d come and eat with me, I’m glad we were finally able to sit and eat again like the old days.” Her heart sank. She was grateful that he allowed her to suffer in silence but now it finally dawned on her that he must have been hurting as well, after all, he was the one who raised her so of course he would’ve been worrying like crazy about her and her state. “Listen… I’m sor-” Before she could even finish he would raise his hand interrupting her. “No need to apologize, you needed time to overcome a few demons, I’m just glad that you’re now out of that room. So let's take this one step at a time. Who knows, you’ll maybe even find Quinton and get some training done in time for the Chunin Exams.” He said with a smile before taking a sip of his coffee. “Though I must admit that I might have forgotten to hold a sword, he’d be the last person I’d ask for any kind of training. He’s not only a terrible teacher, he’s also incomptent and unreliable. Maybe if I didn’t have such a loser as a teacher I wouldn’t have had a slump to begin with.” She stated coldly before eating her pancakes. To say he was taken aback by the way she spoke about her sensei was an understatement. Mainly because he had never heard her speak about anyone in such a tone or manner which was quite surprising. But he did understand her anger as a few weeks after graduating from the academy, she was very much excited about being a part of a team but ever since she had actually became apart of Quinton’s team it was obvious she didn’t look forward to it anymore. After all it was common knowledge that a good sensei is imperative for genin to realize their full potential. “Is that so? I get how you feel though, unfortunately as a Hunter I’m unable to take a Genin team but if you’re still up for it, I'll be more than happy to help you out when you’re free. After all who knows more about Diana than I do?” He said with a smirk. It was true that he was her best shot at realizing her potential but she had noticed that when it came to training that he always held back against her no matter the situation which was fine but the truth was she was afraid of what might happen if he actually decided to try but if he did decide to kick up the training a notch she might actually gain the edge that she lost. “Fine, as long as you don’t treat me like I’m some delicate flower, I wouldn’t mind training.”

After a few more minutes of idle conversation, Zhao had left to go and attend to his duties. Apparently there was an outbreak at the prison and some pretty dangerous guys had escaped, Zhao himself had seemed tired as it was obvious that he was doing his best to gather them all dead or alive. “I just hope he isn’t over working himself.” She said as she slipped her shoes on before ensuring the place was secure before leaving. She didn’t have anywhere she wanted to go in mind so she ended up just wandering around the village for a bit saying hi to the people who had called out to her and stopped for a conversation or two with a few friendly elderly people. It wasn’t until she was a couple blocks away from home where she noticed something unusual. It was a crime scene with a number of hunter nin and ANBU, a large number of them at that. Slipping a bit closer but not too close to get detected she would eavesdrop a bit. Thankfully she wasn’t detected, maybe due to the fact that they were too focused on the task at hand but she was able to gather that it was one of the escapees that managed to murder the young woman who recently graduated from the academt. Heart breaking stuff really. Also, it’s apparent that he’s known for this these type crimes. Insane? Perhaps. Sick? Absolutely. Not wanting to get caught eavesdropping, Diana would look to head out and get as far away as possible from that wretched crime scene. “That was pretty disturbing to be honest.” Diana said to herself while she walked around with no real purpose. There were more than one sheets and only talk of one victim in that alley way so that simply meant that she was probably dismembered. Shuddering at the thought, she would continue to walk while deep in her thoughts until she ended up at a dead end at an abandoned section of the village. “You seem lost there little girl.” A voice called out to her from behind. Turning around, her eyes would fall upon a very slender and sickly looking man who seemed very much out of place here as much as she did. Normally she wouldn’t feel cautious of anyone in the village, it was obvious that he was as he had a headband on, but something about him didn’t seem right. “Yeah I just took a wrong turn somewhere, I’ll be fine though.” She said a bit timidly as she tried to make her way beyond him but would be stopped by him before he placed his hand around her shoulders. “No worries, love. I’ll be helping you out. I am a Jonin after all. How bad it would look if I left a young genin in need?” He said with a smile that was honestly a bit terrifying to say the least.

There wasn’t much she could do about the entire situation as the man had held her tight and had been leading her in some alleyway. It hadn’t taken her long to figure it out that this man was one of the escaped convicts and a dangerous one at that. Thus the she only had two options. The first was to of course run away as fast as she could. She knew that she would’ve been fast enough to out run him but if she did someone else would probably end up running into him and who knew if his next victim was as fast as she was. The second option of course would be to fight. Sure there was a chance that she would be able to beat him but what was that percentage? Due to her lack of training the odds weren’t heavily in her favour and thus she decided to make the decision with her instinct. “You know I’ve heard that a bunch of guys escaped from detention and I’ve never seen you around here before. Never seen such a coincidence.” Diana said as she reached for the scrolls that held her weapons. The man’s face would change for a quick second before he quickly regaining his composure. “Hehe. Well I guess the cat's out of the bag. Doesn’t matter a kid like you could never beat me anyways.” The man said with a smile before taking out a sword he had hidden within his flak jacket. Once he had sized up the young girl he had rushed towards her at crashing ground speeds, Diana swing her katana to meet his blade in an attempt to block his attack. She could feel that this man was clearly stronger than her. Gritting her teeth, she would push the sword to the left and attempted to hit him with a follow up slash but his flak jacket would absorb her hit easily before grabbing her hand. “Hahaha. Weakling.” He said with a smile before kicking her in her gut. This kick would cause her fly into the nearby building and due to the poor structure of the building she would crash through the concrete. A gasp would escape her lips as the pain resonated through her body. The man would walk through the hole that her body created while laughing. “ All that bravado and this is how it ends. Pity” Diana would force herself to her feet while catching her breathe. He was strong but she was definitely faster. “Here are your weapons kid, show me what you got” He said with a chuckle before tossing her her weapons. Catching them Diana couldn’t help but smirk. She had gotten herself in this situation and she needed to get out or else this would be the end of her. Gripping her blade she simply stood there holding her stance. “ I guess you wanna die then.” He said before running towards her at crashing ground speeds. She wasn’t held by him now so she was free to react and that was exactly what she did. Using her natural cypher abilities she would duck his horizontal swing. While he was in mid swing, she would coat her sword in lightning release chakra and would aim a vertical slash to his neck. Though he was unable to dodge he would put his hand in the way to protect his neck and her sword would cut through his flesh like a hot knife through butter. He would let out a pain filled scream before landing on his knees. Unfortunately for her, his hand was completely cut off but it was obvious that he was unable to use that hand anymore. “You stupid fucking bitch” His entire demeanour would change immediately and his nonchalant look turned into a psychotic one. Diana would feel a chill down her spin as if her body was warning her that she was in danger. The man got to his knees and bolted towards her at echoing flash speeds before delivering another kick to the gut. This time it felt as if every vital organ in her body was crushed due to the force that he had hit her with. As she flew through the other wall of the house and landed in an abandoned alleyway. This time she was unable to move as all her efforts were used to try and breathe. The man moved towards her with his blade placing it on her neck. “I might you keep you alive and just use your pretty little body for my pleasure.” He said with a crooked smile and just about to pierce her chest with his blade she would close her eyes. SHe didn’t want to see it, instead she wanted to just think about her friends and Zhao. Maybe they’ll be able to bring justice to her killer. “Tsk, your fuckers are just crawling out the woodwork huh?” Diana was confused at what he was talking about she would open her eyes and see Zhao standing between the two of them. “I’m sorry, Di-chan. I got here as fast as I could” The man said with a sad smile on his face” Still struggling with breathing she reached out to Zhao but was unable to do so. “You’ve hurt my Di-chan and for this you’ll pay.” He said in a tone that she had never heard him speak before. The man would smirk before making a mad dash towards Zhao. Zhao’s samurai sword would let out a bright light which would blind the man and just as he had arrived it was over as Zhao simply cut him in half. Letting out a soft sigh, Zhao would sheathe his blade and turn to Diana. Picking her up he would take her to the nearest hospital.

Her eyes would slowly open revealing nothing but white surrounding her. Did she die? If so why did heaven smell like bleach and was filled with a weird beeping noise? It had taken her a while to grasp the situation but she didn’t in fact die but she was in a hospital bed? But how? She wondered as she tried to force herself to sit up. “Whoa there kiddo. You should be resting not moving.” A voice called out to her. Turning her attention to the voice, it would reveal that the voice belonged to none other than Zhao. Seeing him forced her to remember what had happened in that alleyway, in truth if he didn’t manage find her she would’ve most likely died that night. “What happened to that guy?” She found herself asking even though she should probably have known the answer. “I took care of it. I’m actually impressed you were able to hold your own for so long especially for someone as lazy as you are!” He said with a smile before handing her some chocolate before continuing. “We also caught the others that were working for him so the streets are now safe thanks to you!” She didn’t really feel like she did much since he was obviously toying with her but she was glad it was over but there was something that was still bothering her. “I don’t want to be weak anymore.’ She found herself saying after a long pause. If she was stronger she would've ended up in the hospital and she would’ve been able to take down the man herself and would’ve saved Zhao the trouble and the heartache of seeing her beaten and broken down. “That’s good. The first step to being a better shinobi is wanting to be better and we have the perfect opportunity for this.” He said with a smile.

It had taken her a couple of weeks but she was finally released from the hospital but when she was fully fit, she had gotten down to training with Zhao. It had turned out that the Chunin exams and Zhao had suggested that Diana take part in this year's exams to test her current abilities. Though it was a bit extreme she agreed that using the exams could show her where she stood amongst the others with the Republic of Five and if she did succeed then she’d take one step further into the shinobi world and maybe she’d be able finally fill the void within her heart. “Well, lets get it going then” She said having entered the dojo where Zhao was sitting and waiting for her. “Sadly we don’t have much time due to your little stint in the hospital so let's try and get as much done today as possible. Then again, are you sure you can handle this?” It took her awhile to answer but when she had finally come to terms with her situation. “I’m ready”

WC: 3,047

Learning :

Approved

Having entered the dojo, Zhao would genuinely surprised at first but it would immediately change to one of pride. “Glad to see you’re up and out of bed so early, I assume you’re ready to get this training show on the road?” He said with a smile before signaling her to come sit with him. Nodding she made her way towards him before sitting at his side and placing her sheathed katana before her as did he. He would immediately noticed that the sword was no ordinary sword, but one that was imbued with some special properties. “Interesting sword you have there, where did you buy it from?” He asked genuinely curious. “Oh this? I found one of those massive swords laying around while on a mission and decdied to bring it back with me, of course I don’t know or want to swing around such a gigantic sword around so Praise managed to pull some strings and got it turned into a katana for me. Pretty neat huh?” She said with a smile thinking about Praise. Thinking about her always made her feel happy, like butterflies in her stomach. It was strange feeling since she didn’t feel this way about Indra.

“That’s interesting. How are you and Praise though? Have you told her about your feelings?” He asked while stretching. Diana thought about this and she wasn’t really sure about letting Praise know about her feels as she was pretty sure that she had romantic feelings for her and that presented two problems. The first was that both Diana and Praise were girls and though there was nothing wrong with being in a same sex relationship she was unsure that Praise would be okay with that. The second problem was that even though Diana was technically female she did have male genitalia due to before born with a defect. Though Zhao was pretty understanding she wasn’t sure that Praise would even though she was so nice and helpful to her. “No I haven’t, I’m not sure she would accept me for…you know, the fact that I’m a freak.” She muttered before sighing. Zhao couldn’t help but frown at the words that had left her mouth, he really didn’t know what it felt like living the life that one wouldn’t consider normal but he knew one thing. “Just because you’re different doesn’t mean you won’t find love or be loved. Besides you may never know what might happen if you admit your feelings. But that’s all up to you. I do hope that one day you’ll be comfortable enough to share that side of you with people you like and care about. Like how you shared it with me.” He ended with a smile before patting her on the head. She always hated when he patted her on the head but this time it did feel a bit good and made her cheer up. She wouldn’t let him know this, however, since he’d make it into a habit and she didn’t want that to happen.

“Now that we’ve established that let’s get into the meat of the matter, training.” Zhao said before getting up and turning his attention to the bokken in the corner of the room before making his way over to the rack and picking up two. “Let’s not use real swords today, let’s use bokken since I don’t want to damage your pretty new sword. “ He said with a smile. Diana would nod after catching the bokken. “As you already know the techniques that I taught you from my ancient scrolls mesh well with the Denkou Style Kenjutsu as such what I want you to do is attack me with a combination of both to try and overwhelm me. So let me have it.” Diana would take a deep breath before assuming her fighting stance, she had thought a lot about mashing her techniques together and this was her chance. With that said, she would bolt off towards Zhao at crashing ground speeds before swinging her sword in a wide arc. Zhao would naturally block this move and thus her plan would come into motion. She would immediately cross her legs and propelled herself up and over Zhao. But instead of going over him completely she would follow up by using Way of Kendo: Tairetsudan to immediately plummet through the air while waving her sword back and forth to cause motion blur. Her attack was simple, yet effective, however, Zhao would immediately use his superior speed to deflect her attack and then putting a gap between them. “Wow that was pretty amazing. I never once thought of combing those three, good job!” He said with a thumbs up. “I do notice that you aren’t using hoho that much, then again I do understand since it must be quit taxing on your body. I could never really expect you to be as skillful with it as Hiroshi-“ Realizing where he was going he would stop himself in his tracks. “Thanks, I thought of that once upon a time but who did you say use Hoho effectively?” She ask as it was obvious he was about to say something. Cursing his bad luck, he decided to tell a truth that wasn’t the full truth but also not a lie. “I met someone once upon a time who could use Hoho without it draining his life force. He was feared far and wide due to the explosive speed he had and the fact that he was a master of lightning. In fact I can honestly see you making it to his level if you try hard enough” He ended with a smirk. Diana was surprised that there was someone who could’ve used Hoho like it was just ordinary tiers. Hoho was pretty scary to handle so she would shudder at the thought of going against someone who she could barely see and keep up with. “Hm, if you say that I can match that person then I’ll work towards that from now on.”

Pure Technique Specialist [Perfect Physical]

Approved

“Home at last” Diana muttered to herself having opened the door to her room and flopping on the bed immediately. Zhao was nowhere to be found of course probably somewhere chasing some skirt so she wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t noticed that she was gone for an entire month after the exams but there was someone else that must have been worried about her. Placing her thumb in her mouth, she would sink her canine into her flesh causing her thumb to start bleeding. Making the appropriate seals, she would place her hand on the unoccupied side of the bed to summon her familiar. “Hm? Oh, look who it is! It’s been a while maybe you’ve finally found some use for me? How may I assist master?” Vivaan said condescendingly before bowing his head. “Quit it, dummy. I didn’t purposely disappear for a month; you know I’m not that type of person.” She said before picking him up and laying him on her chest as she was too tired to sit up and talk. “Hm. That is true, you may be lazy but you aren’t inconsiderate. Then what’s been going on?” Vivaan asked curiously as to what had happened in his absence.” Diana was silent for a while since she was ordered not to speak to anyone about her promotion but Vivaan was her partner and a salamander so that meant that she was free to let him know right? Well, only one way to find out. “Okay I’ll tell you but you have to keep it to yourself and not tell any other summons cool?” She said making him swear on their bond and once she was certain it was safe to talk she would begin to tell him all about her training and what had happened in the month after the Chunin exams. “Wow…That’s…something” This was the first time she had seen Vivaan taken aback and unable say something witty for once. “Wild I know. To be honest that coupled with the fact that I made it to Probationary T. Jonin was all thanks to you. I honestly went to the exams hoping to be carried by Praise and Indra but when they flipped that idea on my head I had no idea how I would’ve survived. Yeah being paired with that Zakiyoshi was a bit lucky as well but without you, I wouldn’t have beaten her and I think that was the reason why they took an interest in me so I’m forever grateful!” She said with a smile before petting him on the head. Everything she had said was in fact true, she owed him and Zhao a lot as they both decided to not give up on her when she gave up on herself and all of her success was due to them being in her corner. In truth, she was pretty excited for what the future will bring for her once she started going on missions as an ANBU. It did suck, however, that Praise would have to be in the dark about her life. She didn’t want to keep secrets from Praise but it was either that or risk whatever repercussions the ANBU had in store for her.

“Wow Diana, I’m really happy that you think of me so deeply and truth be told I-“Before he was able to finish his sentence he would notice that the young ANBU was out cold. Though he was a bit annoyed he wasn’t able to finish his sentence, he understood that the training she must have gone through must have been like anything she had ever done. “I am proud of you. I hope that we can have more days like this in the future. In fact, I know we will.” He said with a smile before gripping the sheet with his mouth and tossing it over Diana. He wouldn’t be outdone by his partner, however, as he too would need to get to the next level in order for him to be able to be of further use to her in the future. With that said, Vivaan would leave a note for Diana stating that he’d need some time away from being summoned a bit as he had some important things that needed to be done. What he didn’t tell her is that he would be off training with the stronger salamanders in hopes of becoming bigger and stronger. “I’ll see you soon kid. Thankfully it won’t take months like your training,” With that, he’d take off as he looked to take the next evolutionary step.

Training Info:

Approved

Life was an interesting one. Ever since she was growing up she always felt out of place within her clan and to a larger extent the village. She  had knew Zhao for as long as she could remember and they always shared a special bond, a bond that was especially evident when they crossed swords in training. It was like they were performing whenever they were fighting, pure artistry that they alone could understand and now she knew why it was like that. It had been a few days since Zhao had told her the truth about her parents and where they came from and the truth of her rightful lineage. It was a bit much to take in if she was to be honest as she didn’t know the reason why he took so long to tell her. Maybe it was because he didn’t know how she’d handle the information or maybe it was to protect her. Who knew in truth? Maybe if he had told her earlier she would’ve decided to take training and life as shinobi more seriously. Or maybe it would’ve driven her to do something that could jeopardize their current living situation. Either way, now she knew the truth but it was only a fraction of the truth and so she decided to see if she could dig up any information in regards to the Pandoran Empire. She could’ve just used the local library to find the information on Pandora, however, she knew that she’d only get surface level information so she decided to pay a visit to the ANBU corps.

Dressed in her ANBU attire, Anbu Newt would take to the roofs at in the middle of night where she would make her way to the logistics and support branch of the military police where she would come in contact with a man watching over the facilities. Walking up to the man he would nod before opening the door and letting her in. Normally someone of her stature wouldn’t be allowed to even look over such sensitive information but thankfully she was able to convince one of the more senior member of the ANBU that she wanted to gain more knowledge about the history of the world and that the normal library wouldn’t cut it, which was half true in truth but what she wanted to learn was only going to benefit her selfish needs and not the needs of the village. Either way she’d make her way down to where they had kept all the information they had and closed the door behind her before taking off her mask and putting in on the table after she scanned the room to see if it was safe enough to do so. “Now, let’s see. Pandora, Pandora. Ahh here it is.” She said pulling out the draw of the file cabinet. “Yeah this is a little bit too much information here” She muttered as the draw seemed to hold never ending folders of papers and the like but after a quick scan she decided to pull out the folder that was marked location. “Let’s see the Pandoran Empire was scattered throughout the world but the main location which they used to house new comers and hand out curse marks was located in the Land of Ash and it was called the village Village hidden in the Ash. During the war we were able to neutralize and destroy each village aligned with Pandora. We are unsure as to what with the undead infestation that is currently plaguing the lands to the south of us. They don’t seem that intelligent in truth as they simply roam around aimlessly but we are keeping a watch on them.” She finished reading before pulling out a map which showed all the known locations of the Pandora Empire strongholds, or at least what used to be. “Hmm, that’s interesting.” She thought before putting back the folder in the right slot where she found it. “Now, it’s time for some names. Let’s start with mother.” Diana had learned that her mother’s name was Selene and that she had died giving birth too Diana. Even though they had no connection it was sad to see how Zhao felt as he had advised her that carrying Diana full term was a bit too risky for her health but she went along with it anyway. It was obvious that they were close and he wanted the best for her which is why he had taken full custody of her while her father was nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, she was told that her father was some random Denkou that her mother slept with in order to get some leverage in the clan and so that they could unlock the dormant Denkou genes that her mother had passed down to her. “Let’s see Selene Sato. Nothing much here in truth besides her rank and cause of death. I guess they really did keep a low profile. She is rather beautiful though. I wish I could talk to you mother. You scarfiiced a lot for me and I’m grateful” She said with a frown before putting back her file next on her list was someone she had heard about and the man that she was a direct descendant of. “Here it is. Hiroshima Isley.”  Zhao had mentioned the man once to her and said that he could tell her stories if she wanted but she couldn’t wait until he got back from his mission, she wanted to know what he was like now. Taking out the rather large folder, she would begin skimming through and the first thing she would come across words in bold red letters, do not approach, flee on sight. Pretty ominous to be fair but based on the little information Zhao had given her it had seemed that he was quite the scary person. “Hmm, let’s see. The son of the Bloody Ruler, Xan Isely. A denkou who was originally from the Land of Paradox, he was adopted by Xan Isley and molded into become the head of the most powerful swordsmen in the world, the Isley Family. Hiroshima and Xan had been looming threats for quite some time and any and all attempts to learn anything about them had failed prior to the war.” She go on to read about the exploits of Hiroshima that were witnessed on that day before he was killed in action. Though the flies phrased it as if they weren’t sure he was actually killed during the war. “Hm. He and I have a lot of similarities in truth. I guess why my mother was adamant to get in bed with a Denkou.” She though to herself before closing the file and putting it back in the draw. Staying for any longer would be a bit too suspicious so she would put her mask on and exited the building. When she got in contact with the guard she would realize he was fast asleep at his desk. Thankfully for him she could be trusted not to steal any of the information there and that they were living in a rather peaceful time at the moment. As she passed she would tap him on the leg he had on the desk to gently wake him and would signal she was done with her business and was heading off. The man would nod sleepily before shutting his eyes again.

Having got home safely and without any problems, Diana was unable to fall asleep as her mind was filled with even more unanswered questions. She was unsure as to what to do now with the truth. She was the rightful heir of the Isley family but she didn’t know where these people were and Zhao didn’t seem to know either. After all it had been years since he and her mother had split up from them so who’s to say that they were even alive at this point. Should she even try to find out if they were alive? Should she try to see what Pandora was about as she was positive that there were remnants out there scattered and looking to come back. Or should she just let the evils of the past lay to rest and focus on living her life here. After all, life for her is going pretty well at the moment. She passed the exams, she got promoted to Anbu, even though no one knows about that or will ever know about that, and she’s in a relationship with someone that she cared deeply for so life wasn’t terrible, or was it? She still had this sense of misery and pain within her that she couldn’t seem to get rid of no matter how much she had achieve in the Republic of Five so maybe it was time to try something new? “Ugh I hate this.” She muttered before throwing her pillow over her head. It would take it her awhile of second guessing her existence she would finally fall asleep.

Having woken up from her sleep, she would head downstairs to see if Zhao had returned but unfortunately he hadn’t as yet. Getting ready for her day in training, she’d get dressed, brushed her teeth and had something to eat before heading outside and began meditating. After a few minutes of clearing her head she would sink her teeth into her thumb and summoned Vivaan. “Yo. Been awhile. Hey! Have you gotten bigger?” Diana said as she cocked her head to left analyzing the new look that Vivaan had. “Yeah I did. I told you that I had things to do you weren’t the only one that needed more power." Vivaan stated before jumping on her shoulder and going on top of her head.  “So what’s new?” He asked as he was sure she didn’t summon him to train as the area she was wasn’t conducive to the types of techniques he had in his arsenal. “Well, I found something out and I just needed someone to talk to” She said with a sigh before taking a deep breath and began talking. For about thirty minutes straight spoke and made him know about everything from beginning to end, to what Zhao had told her during training to what she had learned snooping around in the logistics department. “Damn…. Shit just keeps hitting the fan huh?” Vivaan stated as he was yet again at a loss for words. He always knew that she felt out of place but actual be right about all of it was something else. In truth he could never understand how she was feeling as all salamanders were a tight knit group from birth but she was his partner in crime, his friend, so he knew this was something he had to say. “Well whatever the choice you make, I’ll be with you. I’ll never abandon you and I’m positive Zhao feels the same. But I should also warn you. If you continue to dig in the past there will likely be consequences, major consequences so if you go ahead with trying to find these people there will be a point where you’ll have to choose between them and the people you’ve formed a bond with here. Especially with Praise. Is that something you’re willing to risk? He asked her knowing that Praise was someone she truly cared about. “I… I don’t know. I guess we just have to find out when the time comes.” She said with a frown as she recalled the time she shared with Praise in her room. There was an awkward silence between the two of them for the first time she could remember but it would be broken by Vivaan. “So, want me to show you the cool stuff I learned while I was away?” He said jumping off her head and landing in fornt her. “Sure” She said with a smile before grabbing her sword. “Plus I’d like to practice some more combination techniques; we’ll need them for the future.” Whatever happens from here on out will determine who she’ll be in the future. Hopefully it will be the right choice.


Retraining Specialist [Perfect]

I thought Diana was B-rank. If I’m not mistaken I spot 2 specializations and retraining specialist would make 3 when B -rank characters allow 2.

ANBU get +1. So she can get 3.

Ok approved

Zhao had been distraught for about a month since he had gotten back from his mission. He had heard the news about what had happened to the village while he was away but to see the aftermath was a bit too much for him. Now for clarification he didn’t care about what happened to the village and its villagers, he was more concerned about what happened to the brand new house he purchased just so he could be near his lovely niece and now it and everything he owned was now gone while Mahougakure was still standing. Diana couldn’t help but sigh at his obvious dramatics over the house and waited until he finished his theatrics before approaching him. “Well, look on the bright side, we’re all homeless?” She said trying to make him feel better but instead, he just felt worse. “Ugh. Damn Bijuu. The good thing about this is our house back in Mahou is still there and it wasn’t sold. So we could go back for the time being.” He said before getting off his knees and dusting off his pants. What he was glad that he was away from the village during the attack as it was obvious that the Kage wasn’t up to standard and was put into a coffin but atleast Diana was safe and that all that mattered. “Your right, it was rough out here, I was jumped by some dudes that escaped from the prison. It was crazy.” She said with a chuckle recalling the fight she had with the prisoners. Zhao couldn’t help but raise his eyebrow at the statement as he wasn’t sure what was so funny about getting jumped by murderers but she’s alright so he wouldn’t say anything.

After shifting through the rubble and picking up what was left from it, they would collect what was left and made their way back to their village of origin where they would have breakfast and talk about random details here and there before the topic shifted towards her. “You’re a Tokubetsu Jonin now huh? Congratulations must have been quite easy to pull off with your current level of skill.” He said with a smile before stuffing a bagel in his mouth. He was right that it was easy but it she didn’t go the normal route and it was thanks to being a part of the ANBU which was why she was able to breeze into Tokubetsu Jonin with no real effort and she was grateful.  “Yeah it was alright. Now it’s time for me to think about the next step for me, well for us.” Diana said thinking about what they were going to do from now on. Initially she was on board with the idea of looking for a way back home with him but now since she had finally found somewhere where she actually belonged unfortunately it isn’t something she could tell him but she was now happy for once even though she hadn’t seen Praise in a while. “Ah yes, that. I managed to speak to someone I know about what’s going on back home. Unfortunately the situation hasn’t changed much. There needs to be someone who unites the family once more. Most are scattered far across the continent some are content with their lives currently so it wouldn’t make sense to disturb them. Others, on the other hand, are still loyal to the cause so if you are still interested in it we can arrange something.” He said nonchalantly as he poured a glass of orange juice. “I.. I don’t know anymore.” She finally managed to say after a few minutes of silence. “I’ve actually found a place where I can belong now. I have friends, a girlfriend and for once I can truly say that I’m happy. Why should I be bothered with all that Isley nonsense? Its in the past, the whole Pandora thing is in the past. What’s the point anymore?” She said hoping he wouldn’t take it the wrong way. She knew how much he wanted to see everyone he had left behind but he was currently bounded to her by duty and would be forced to do whatever she wanted. “I see.” He muttered to himself before putting down a bagel he held. “Well, honestly whatever you want is up to you. I understand how much of a pressure it can be hearing about all this Pandora nonsense and being responsible for something you had absolutely no part in until recently. What you do have a duty of, however, is to rebuild the Isley Family. You are the living heir of the family and so you’ll have to take the position of the matriarch so it is your responsibility to gather those who share the bloodline so that the others can follow suit.” Having heard that Diana couldn’t help be feel a response within herself. She couldn’t imagine herself as a leader of anything really but she did feel a sense of duty towards gathering those who were of her blood to ensure that her family could live on. “Right, I understand and I’ll do it. For the family.” She said feeling pride in what she had said. If she had managed to become an Anbu with some standing in the future she could probably vouch for those that were stranded to become a part of the village and subsequently start their families here. “Wonderful but as you know, no one is going to respect someone who they can beat in a sword fight so go practice some more. I’d join you but I have to check and see if my lovelies are okay will come back soon though so who knows, might even end up sparing with you again.” He said with a smile before hurrying out the door. He had speculation that he only cared for the well being of a certain Denkou over the other women he had dated which is why he hurried over to where she was staying and not the opposite direction. She was silently pleased that he was leaning more towards a specific woman instead of trying to be with them all and it was wonderful.

Diana would quickly take a shower to wash all of the dirt she had accumulated over the hours she had spent doing all that manual labor around the village and once she was squeaky clean she would head down to the dojo they had built and began her exercises. The first exercise of course would be to do her thousand sword reps. Initially, a hundred reps for her would be torture but now thanks to the training she had been doing with Zhao and the ANBU a hundred would fly by in a matter of seconds which made her decide that it would be best to do a thousand reps and get it over with. That too seemed like no problem so by time she got to one thousand she was ready and warmed up for training. Her first order of the day was to practice her Tuning Blade techniques. The Tuning Blade kenjutsu fighting style revolves around the user striking a physical object with the tip of their blade causing it to vibrate with the displaced kinetic energy from the impact. This causes the blade to emit a tuning sound similar to metal clanging against something. These vibrations result in a serrated cut which is made possible by the user freeing their body completely to conserve the vibration within the blade while dealing strain to their form due to the constant vibrations. While usually, it would be painful the originator of this style is incapable of feeling pain and as such it doesn't affect him visibly as it would others. The use of this fighting style deals damage to the user as a trade off for being capable to pierce through defenses when used with Kenjutsu techniques while dealing multiple cuts to an object as a result of the vibrations depending on the amount of damage dealt. It was one of the first techniques she had learned from the Isley scrolls and one she had been using up to this day. Now she would move closer to the dummy before striking the blade on the sheathe causing the blade to vibrate as well as hurt her in the process. Thankfully being part cypher meant that she was resistant to such pain as such it wasn’t as much to bear as say someone else one. That said she ran towards the dummy before slashing it in the mid-section causing the three cuts to appear. It was a pretty simple technique in name and execution which made her wonder what Xan had done to even come across such an attack. From the stories, Zhao had told her he seemed to be a figure of nothing be skill and fear which sounds a bit cool to be honest. If only she could meet him or any of his descendants for that matter. Sheathing her sword she would roll her shoulders to get rid of the strange feeling she go in her arm whenever she used Tuning Blade and moved on to the other staple fighting style, Stumbling Edge. Another technique she wondered how Xan came across. This is a hybrid Taijutsu and Kenjutsu fighting style which was created by Xan I. Isley to perfectly blend his Erasure of Iaido with Shunpo, but has since been integrated into the Isley Family arsenal for use by those members of the family that do not possess the creator's exact skill set. While made for Xander's own Kenjutsu, it can be applied to any type of Kenjutsu as long as the user utilizes Shunpo as a movement base. While utilizing this fighting style user loosens their body before moving towards their opponent seemingly unfocused often stumbling and seeming to trip over nothing. This causes opponents to underestimate them and despite seeming to be uncoordinated in the movement they have a unique sense of balance being able to stumble and trip out of the way of incoming attacks and turn seemingly clumsy mistakes into deadly strikes. While using this fighting style, the user is capable to making use of their Shunpo techniques without making use of the falling forward motion rather any type of fall can be used to initiate it. This one was indeed interesting as Xan never sounded like the type to be stumbling during the battlefield so it did beg the question again how did he even come across such a technique. With that said she started practicing stumbling but not the clumsy kind, but the kind with purpose which sounds strange but the practitioner of this fighting style knew when and where to be clumsy. “You look stupid by the way.” Vivaan said having walked in on her practicing to stumble on her feet with his tail wrapped around his tail. “Yeah it may look stupid, by it’ll save my life in the future. She said with before sticking out her tongue at him. She would go at it for a few more minutes before taking a break and pulling out the scroll once more. “I’ve never seen you train this much in a while. Are you preparing for something?” He asked curiously before putting down the egg beside him. “Not really. I’ve been slacking off recently so now I’m just trying to do some catch-up. I don’t think I’ll be able to perfect everything but polishing up on some might help me out in the long run.” Diana said before letting out a yawn as she began feeling a bit tired. There was no time to rest, however, as she wanted to finish what needs to be done. Vivaan couldn’t help but agree that she was slacking off and welcomed her training after what had happened during the ANBU training. It had left a bitter taste in his mouth that they had made such a rookie mistake and he would ensure it wouldn’t happen again.

“ Oh my God! Diana you’re safe!” A voice called out to her before hugging her from behind. She would be startled at first but the familiar voice and smell brought her back to her senses. “Hi Elysia. I’m glad you’re safe as well.” She said with a smile before turning around and giving her a hug. Out of all of his girlfriends, Elysia was the only one she truly had a connection with. At first, she thought that it was because she was a Denkou like her but it was much more than that. She found her like a motherly figure which is weird because Elysia was a rather violent and rash individual but she had a side that made her and Zhao really into her, Zhao more than her of course. “Yo shit was insane! They didn’t let me get into the fight sadly so I was running around making sure all the kiddies were alright. Zhao told me you had a run in with some losers that escaped from the prison. Glad to see you’ve gotten strong enough to take care of yourself. Speaking of which.” She said with a smirk before drawing her sword and taking a step back. “Let’s see how much you’ve grown Di-chan.” Zhao would smirk before taking a seat next to Vivaan and the egg before they watched the two spar. “I gotta warn you Elysia. This won't be like the last time.” She said with a smile before drawing her weapon and pointing towards her. “Heh it better bot be.”

The two would start of slowly by running towards each other at Swift Release before their swords clashed. “That’s a nice sword you got there.” Elysia said with a smile before they pushed off from each other. Elysia would pick up the pace by running towards her at Bullet Release before looking to cleave her in half but Diana would shift her body to avoid the slash as her natural reflexes would kick in. She would immediately move to put her foot down on her blade before looking to cut her in her mid section. She wasn’t successful with keeping her blade down, however, as she would use her lightning to simulate strength to push her foot off the blade and up to her mid section to block the attack. ‘Nice try kid.” She said with a smirk before looking to punch her in the gut with a lightning fist, Diana would follow suit and the collusion would push them apart once more. “Ohohoho you have gotten pretty good. But! This is just the beginning!” Activating her Joukai Raidengan she would shroud herself in white lightning before bolting towards Diana at Vacuum release speeds. Shit! Diana thought before shifting to the right to avoid her fist which coincidentally blew a hole in the wall of their dojo. “Oye! You gonna fix that shit Elysia?” Zhao called out pissed off she destroyed his wall and possibly could’ve taken down his house with her. “Yeah yeah. I’m good for it. Now shut up and let me concentrate!” She bellowed before shifting her focus back at Diana. Diana had already got to her and attempt to reverse slash to her chest but Elysia would easily block it with a sword and looked to use her strength to overwhelm her. Thanks to her Denkou origins she would be able to easily deny her attempt thanks to her countering her strength with her speed. The two would continue you to clash their blades until Elysia’s blade would eventually crumble thanks to Diana’s technique. “What the fuc-“ Before she was able to finish her sentence, Diana would look to cut through her armor with her blade but she would summon another blade through flash blade creation to block her attack. “Damn you have some fucked up tech kid. This makes things interesting but bad for you!” She said before pushing her off at strength she would be unable to counter which would cause her to be launched across the room. “She’s strong. I can’t allow her to get serious which means I have to end this fast and now.” Taking a deep breath, Diana would look to capitalize on the fact that she has her Joukai activated Diana would use Hoho to boost her speed to samurai blinding light speeds while using bunshin to create a bunch of clones to throw her off guard before leaping in the area to perform a combination of serial moon slashes, tuning blade slash and Tsukikage to take her out once and for all. Her plan would work flawlessly as Elysia would be caught off guard and the rapid onslaught would be too much for her to handle thus she opted to body replace and not get hit by her malicious attacks. “Holy shit… That was something else. You really did get better at this. Wouldn’t expect anything else from a Tokubetsu Jonin and Zhao’s niece of course.” She said with a huge grin before powering down and deactivating her Raidengan before coming over to hug her and pat her on the head. Diana couldn’t feel a bit uncomfortable as Elysia was a rather busty woman so her head was literally buried into her chest not that she really minded however but with she was pretty sure Praise wouldn’t approve of her actions. “Thanks Elysia, I’ve tried to improve a lot to not hold anyone back or be a burden to anyone. I have a long way to go but I’ll be ready and I’ll be one of the strongest there is.” She said with a smile. “Hm. I believe you. We cant wait to see what happens in the near future.” Elysia said hugging her once more before turning to Zhao. “All that fighting has gotten me riled up! Lets to grab something to eat!” She said walking upstairs. “But.. my wall…” Zhao muttered as he followed limply behind his girl. Diana couldn’t help but giggly as she attempted to clean up the mess she was a part of.

Having finished cleaning up what she could actually clean up from the fight with Elysia. Diana would look to go back upstairs to take a load off after the training. Vivaan would follow suit with the egg in tow before jumping on her lap which Diana would start petting him. She would end up falling asleep almost immediately and would wake up a few hours later with Vivaan apparently gone and the egg in her lap. He probably had to go back home for whatever salamanders did when they were back home. Picking up the egg she would stretch for a bit before making her way to the shower and stripping. Placing the egg on the bathroom counter she would enter the shower and began showering. The warm water would caress her skin she would feel a tingling sensation between her legs as she thought about Praise. It had been a while since she had seen Praise and ever since they had made out that one time before the Chunin Exams she felt this odd sensation between her legs whenever she thought of Praise and she had caved in to the feeling once and relieved herself but the whole ordeal had made her uncomfortable so she avoided talking about it with Zhao or avoided doing it again. This time, however, after the stress of the Bijuu attack, almost getting murdered by the prisoners and all that manual labor she needed a release from all the stress that she was feeling. “Maybe…maybe this one time?” She muttered to herself as she slowly started playing with her chest and pinching her nipples. A soft moan would escape her lips as continued to aggressively caress her breasts and pinch her nipples she would begin to be a bit too much for and so she began to stroke her shaft for about five minutes, stifling her moans so that if Zhao ended up coming back home he wouldn’t hear her. The thought of being with Praise was in the forefront of her mind as she continued to masturbate and within a split second of doing the act, her mind went blank. “Whoa, that was…. A bit too intense.” Diana muttered to herself before she began washing off the spunk from her hand and out the shower. Though she felt a bit dirty about what she did she did feel relieved so she did manage to accomplish what she wanted. Letting out a sigh she would finish up showering before exiting the shower, drying off, putting her clothes on, and headed back to her room with her egg before lying down on the bed. The moment she had plopped her face on the pillow she would notice a letter next to her face. She would pick up the letter and opened it to see it was of course addressed to her from Praise. Opening the letter she would read what was sent and was filled with joy. Praise was writing to see if she was fine and apologized for not reaching out to her sooner and even invited her to come and stay with her. Having seen this she was overjoyed about being able to see her again but with the village in shambles and the ANBU working overtime she wasn’t sure she was able to get the time off but she had to go see her even if she had to beg the commander for some time off. “I’ll see you soon my love.” Diana muttered to herself before falling asleep, clutching the letter and her egg.

It had been pretty early but Diana was already up and about doing her shinobi duties at first helping those who needed in the village and afterward she did her daily ANBU routine. She had asked the others if it was possible for her to speak with the commander and though everyone was obviously wondering why she needed to speak with the commander but since they viewed her like a little sister Hippo decided to meet with the commander on her behalf. After they had finished their rounds she had a meeting. She had been waiting in the office for a while and when the commander arrived she explained that she wanted to take some time off from ANBU duty to visit her girlfriend as it had been ages since she had seen her. She understood that it was a selfish request considering what was happening in the village so she had expected that her request was going to get denied but to her surprise, the Commander for the first time had seemed sympathetic towards her and granted her the vacation solely on the basis that they were getting new ANBU recruits so she could be afforded the time off. She also understood that as a new recruit Newt was probably overwhelmed and probably needed the time off anyways. She was extremely grateful for the Commander’s kindness. She had spent the rest of the day on cloud nine for the rest of the day and it felt as if all her tasks had flown by and before she knew it she was back home. She had advised Zhao that she was looking to visit Praise where she was and will be going away for a bit. Zhao himself seemed to be pleased for her and her little vacation and it gave him so much time alone to think and make his plans. Letting out a sigh, Diana went to her room and packed what she needed to pack, at first she thought about leaving the egg home but decided to take it along as maybe Praise was able to help her to help it grow into whatever it was supposed to be. She had been packing for quite some time until the sunset and after going back and forth with what she wanted to carry she finally settled with what she had packed and went to bed. It took her some time to fall asleep as she couldn’t wait to see Praise and just the thought of being with her again made everything that had happened prior to this worth it. “I can’t wait to see you.”

Training:

Approved