Elysian Ranking Exam

¥¥ Sora watched, bewildered by the way this guy had sliced through each and every crescent he cast. Even with this speed the proctor was utilising, Sora was cringing. He was barely able to trace the man's movements, but, that was to a fault. He had to actually squint, and surprising as this may be to tell, it actually allowed him to see the man. Though, simply looking at him gave Sora zero gratitude as the man zipped around, leaving a blur, along with several afterimages.

With each of the man's movements, Sora's eyes widened in horror for fear that he lose sight of him altogether.

He's too damn fast...

The thought crossed his mind, spotting it with the words, filling Sora with doubt.

Astra: "Pfft... You pride yourself as a thief, but you lack the actual mobility to move around. What good are you as a thief, exactly? Get ready, here comes the slash... Focus."

There it was again... That sudden stream of consciousness which totally invaded, Sora's mind. With a grimace, upper torso lit up with a brilliant white flash of lightning, indefinitely igniting his upper shoulder. This all ripped the sleeve from his right arm, showing his right, bionic arm licking out dangerous flecks of white lightning. Sora's right shoulder bolstered with white lightning energy at this point, causing certain distortions to manifest within his surroundings.

Sora's visual perception flared with a certain presence which illuminated his awareness onto the very moment the man was preparing his slice through Sora's body. All of a sudden, the man would be able to feel a hard repulse of wind emanate from Sora's very person. This was a subconscious release of a Crushing Wind Wave which encompassed his surroundings.

Astra: "Use your shoulder as your barrier, thief... Then, crank out your offense. And, we shall see if you will be my champion. Fail, and this man just might kill you where you stand. Your choice, really."

That was when the man would notice Sora's presence speed into action, rolling his shoulder up, forward and down, causing the dense shoulder encased in lightning. Coupled with atmosphere shifting pressure, Sora could see the sword and apply his shoulder in such a position to parry the slice and burrow the man into the ground for a gale pressured thunderstorm type of block.

So escalating was this attempt at a parry/block that it actually caused Sora to rebound; Sending his body into the air at a diagonal, but short distance. When he got to about 7 feet or so, the wind behind him began to solidify, giving Sora a cushioning stop before he relocated his left hand to grip his Sorujin... ¥¥

"Lightning style; White Bludgeon Barrage..."

¥¥ The lightning which was attached to his shoulder began to furiously fluctuate with the wind which held Sora stagnant. Clouds began to form up over Sora's head, and little specs of rain and lightning began making itself known before Sora, parted his lips. ¥¥

"Cancel... Replacing; Crushing Wind Wave..."

¥¥ With that utterance, Sora's body took off, fast like the wind which shifted his speed to a high height. With this singular burst of wind, Sora ignited his arm with the power of his shoulder, bringing it down with all of his might onto Shadow for a lightning charged smash of epic proportions. Hit or miss, this attack actually caused the earth around them to be laid to waste, 50 meters in diameter.

As the dust cleared, Sora could be seen standing, chest taking in big heaves of breaths. His shoulder continued to spark, but faint was its glow to him and perhaps to others. ¥¥

As Sora did his 'perry', he would manage to move just far enough away to escape Shadow's blade. He was impressed to say the least, but upon Sora retreating, Shadow would continue to smile with an almost deranged expression on his face. Eyes slowly spinning and tracing Sora's trojectory with intense precision, Shadow would quickly decide to continue down the path of activity rather than the path of laziness. Utilizing wood style once more, a slab of wood would come up from the ground at a slight angle. This would pose as his launch pad. Halfway hopping onto the slab of wood, only one foot would make contact with it. Upon landing on the wooden launch pad, a quick glimpse of an emerald flash at the bottom of his foot would be the only thing that could be seen by the naked eye. This was Shadow's Flash Step Technique. It allows him to move much quicker than the speed of sound within an instant.

"Trying to escape so soon, huh?"

With the acceleration and velocity like a black bird stealth bomber jet in full throttle, Shadow would fly towards Sora. The time it took Shadow to reach Sora was brief. Brief enough to cut Sora short and reach him before his ascension (and inevitably make the rest of your post after you beginning to ascend null and void). As Shadow reached Sora mid-air, he would quickly and powerfully grasp the collar of Sora's shirt and stare into his face.

"This isn't over just yet.. Sora Takudo.

Slightly shifting his weight to position himself for what was about to transpire. Still in constant and rapid motion, the two would quickly be headed for the side of a mountain. If Sora looked around, he would see a blur of green treetops, blue sky, and a grayish white mountain range. Shadow couldn't help but to wonder what Sora would try to attempt.

¥¥ Things were moving fast as fuck... And Sora could feel his awareness of this foe, slowly becoming actually readable. Sora might have been a thief, but, his mind was far more advanced intellectually. There was practically nothing he could not figure out within his line of vision. Intellectually, Sora knew that Shadow was a metaphorical demon of speed thus far, but, there was something about all of his movements that held a familiarity to Sora's subconscious.

It was something he could not yet grasp, but he needed to snap out of his thought process after hearing the words of Shadow, something about escaping? No... Sora was levitating, attached at the hip by the wall of invisible wind. His legs, not in the slightest bit visible. Utterly, and swiftly covering his legs from sight, and soon, his midsection giving Sora the image of being mawed by a cloud of ravaging winds. His upper body and head were the only visible values of seemingly tangible points of aim. As Shadow showed himself, Sora was inevitably ready for an onslaught. So with a decompressing chakra release, lightning chakra erupted from his arm, putting it in motion toward S hadow's neck where it gripped, damn near encompassing his whole neck and in synchronicity, lightning would too, shoot down S hadow's body looking to discharge...

But what would the lighting withing Shadow's body discharge into? Sora's body was connected to a massive wall of wind chakra which he fed the untamable lightning energy which lived within his arm

At that moment, that spiritual voice within Sora's mind spoke.

Astra: "Your will is showing through now, thief. I am now granting you access to my legacy. Know that with this power comes with a subsidized immortality attribute. I will explain more later."

" Guess you were lying about all that dying stuff the last time we talked, huh? " Sora asked, his awareness being able to hold both his connections on realities. Be known to Shadow, Sora was smirking, smugly.

Astra: "... Yes, Boy. I had to be certain that you could carry my will. I guess, it will suffice to say that you passed. Astrape, out."

Sora's connection to Astra was severed, leaving him tied up by the collar by Shadow. He too, had Shadow by the neck, feeding a large amount of lightning chakra from Astra into his body which aimed to ravage Shadow's insides, could he not disperse the lightning. ¥¥

" I'm right fucking here...!!! "

¥¥ Sora exclaimed, about tired of Shadow's talking. He was taking a stand that he would face this guy with everything he had. In this moment, he felt like he held a strong power. He felt like nothing could stop him with the storms he could create. He was the storm, and the storm was him.

His eyes began to grow wide, the moment Shadow began using his speed to push Sora back at a speedy pace. Sora's upper body simply joined his legs in the wall of wind, where he stood, smirking at Shadow. ¥¥

" Hi... "

¥¥ Sora said, as he waved his two fingers and beamed a smile. Without another moment wasted, Sora's body jolted into motion, causing the invisible wall to radiate with a fluctuation of lightning energy before, conjoined tornadoes one by one began licking itself from the wall to trample over Shadow alternatively from different angle with a speedy zip. Each tornado left trails of lightning behind it to just suspend in the air, causing the space between the traveled tornadoes to explode with storm chakra which was manifested from the fusion of the two elements lightning and wind. This storm chakra would hold a deteriorating attribute which ripped all asunder. ¥¥

Upon being blasted with electricity, Shadow would cough slightly and blood would drip from his lips. Releasing Sora's collar, Shadow would spit blood then, slowly, would wipe the blood from his mouth. Eyes locked onto Sora like a targeting system, Shadow would smile. Teeth covered in blood, Shadow felt the tides turning within his village and within all of Mylania.

As the electric storm Sora had produced began gaining speed towards him, Shadow's grip on his Demon's Blade would get tighter and his knuckles would go white.

"Enough"

Sheathing his blade, Shadow would take a deep breath. Utilizing Space-Time Migration, Shadow would teleport in a twist of space moments before the electrified wind would reach him. Appearing behind Snow and Azusa, Shadow's focal point was still on Sora as he would put each of his hands on the shoulders of the Genin trapped within his Genjutsu.

"Tsukuyomi.. Release!"

Removing his hands from the two, Shadow would take a step backward and close his left eye and stare deeply into Sora; who was at least a few hundred feet from the rest of the group. He would be the victim of this technique.

"Kamui!"

Suddenly, without warning Sora would be sucked into a black portal unlike Shadow's Space-Time twist. Traveling through Shadow's pocket dimension, Sora would have a quick glimpse of what was being kept within before being sucked through what seemed like the very same portal that took him the first time. Re-appearing besides Snow and in front of Shadow, Sora wouldn't be physically affected by the Jutsu whatsoever (but may suffer from confusion).

"Alright Gentleman, the combat portion of this exam is over. Now this isn't customary for me but, I want you to team up for one single massive attack. If you can't flatten that mountain over in the distance, then none of you pass."

Looking over towards the mountain, Shadow would smile softer than usual as he waited for them to start.

After being released from the seemingly endless illusion, Azusa would fall to his knees before Shadow and the others. Hanging his head, Azusa would remain motionless as Sora entered the same general area as them via Kamui. There's virtually no escape..... . . . . . . . . . what is true reality and what is false?!? I can't handle this!!! Azusa would be stuck in thought. Silent and unresponsive as well. Not heeding what Shadow had said, Azusa would remain silent.

"..."

**Upon being released from the Tsukuyomi, Snow would almost instantaneously leap backwards towards the lake. As he was within the Tsukuyomi, he was focusing his energy towards his legs. Leaping backwards and gaining a large amount of room between them and himself, Snow would land on the surface of the water and begin to do a long sequence of hand signs. Preparing his ultimate technique, Snow would smile slightly as he heard every word that Shadow said.

"Let me show you all what I'm truly capable of.."

Finishing his chain of hand signs, Snow would crouch for a brief moment and the entire lake would ripple from the outside to where Snow was standing (which should be about the center of the lake). Extending his legs in almost a jumping motion as the ripple came to him, Snow would be launched high into the sky almost as if he was in a plane. Performing a slow front flip with his right index finger extended upwards, Snow would make a pulling motion with his right arm and then do a throwing motion pointing directly at the mountain.

Seconds later, the lake and it's entirety would begin to levitate and form into a massive hydro orb within the sky. The orb would easily be the size of a medium sized village and would begin to ripple ever so slightly.

"Hydro Style: Super Exploding Water Serpent!"

As he uttered those words, the gently rippling, massive orb of water would flatten like a disk instantaneously. Without warning, a whirlpool would begin within the thin disk of water giving the illusion of an immeasurable depth within. The cry of something ungodly would ring throughout the battlefield as the Super-Huge Water Serpent would fly out from 'within the depths' and make its way for the mountain with haste. Using a strange type of movement, the Water Serpent would serpentine throughout the air as it headed towards the mountain. On his descent, Snow would call towards the others.

"That's.. the best I've got.."

With that, Snow was out like a light.**

Still stuck in his mind, darkness would surround Azusa as if he was still within the Tsukuyomi. Shuddering with debilitating fear, Azusa would begin to cry silently. I.. I can't do this..

Suddenly, a bright white figure would gleam through the darkness and hold their hand out to him. Moments later, the figure would speak with an angelic voice.

"Your strength is truly unlimited.. my child.."

Head still hanging in sorrow and despair, tears would begin to hit the ground by his feet. Opening his eyes slowly, Azusa would feel a presence that he hadn't felt in years. Looking up to see none other than his very own mother standing before him with her hand outstretched, Azusa would be caught off guard. Simply staring into her eyes, more tears would stream down his face as he grabbed her hand confidently. As he did so, the darkness that surrounded him would disperse as the figure of light that represented his mother grew brighter and brighter.

"...mom...I love you"

Clenching his hands into fists, Azusa would stand to his feet and wipe the tears from his face with a brand new sense of pride in his soul. Eyes meeting with the final objective, Azusa's knuckles would turn white and a thick deep blue aura would engulf his entire body, giving him the appearance of being on fire with blue flames. This was all so new to him but it almost seemed as if he knew what he was doing. His basic ability gives him a slight blue lining around the edges of his body; this is usually not noticed in battle since it tends to be rather dim. Slowly getting into a running position, Azusa would clench his fists once more as he flexed all of the muscles in his legs. Letting out a sigh, Azusa would speak softly but enough for Shadow to hear.

"Velocity Trigger"

Seemingly teleporting forwards at breakneck speeds that greatly exceeded the speed of sound, Azusa would head for the mountain. Stomping one of his legs down every so often would give him an unpredictable serpentine movement the very same as the massive hydro serpent flying above him. Seconds later in the spot where he had just launched from, the ground would begin to disintegrate and create a crater. Azusa's focus was on the mountain alone but it seemed as if Snow and him were synced perfectly in that brief moment. Catching up to the serpent almost instantaneously, Azusa would have a certain flair in his eyes that clearly hadn't been there before. Cocking his right arm back as he approached the mountain and the head of the serpent, Azusa would flick his ankles and take flight. Flying into the head of the hydro serpent with perfect placement at the perfect time, Azusa would launch his fist forwards and smash it directly into the side of the mountain. Regardless of what was to come of the mountain, the sheer shock and force from colliding with the stone would be enough to send a jolt of pure kinetic energy throughout his whole arm. Fractions of a second later, Azusa's entire right arm would seemingly dematerialize/disintegrate. Falling to the ground, Azusa would start to lose blood and consciousness. A feint smile would be on his face before passing out.

"...hehehe..."

Observing Snow carefully, Shadow would pull out a cigarette from his pocket and place it in between his lips. Sparking it with a simple glance, Shadow would take a shallow drag and exhale through his mouth. Glancing over towards Azusa, It seemed as if didn't have the will to move forwards anymore so he paid him no mind.

"This is.. an Elysian..?"

Taking another yet deeper drag, Shadow would exhale and then spit on the ground beside him. At that moment, Azusa would get to his feet. Lifting an eyebrow slightly, Shadow would be motionless.

Oh..?

As Azusa seemingly exploded with newfound power, Shadow's eyes would open wider and wider. A reoccurring thought in his head would dart through his mind at that precise moment and a burning curiosity deeper than any ocean or fissure would eat at Shadow's core. Then, Azusa took off. Moving at a speed that even surpassed the Eternal Mongekyoū, Azusa would unknowingly already have passed the exam with flying colors due to incredible circumstance.

"He's so fast!"

As Snow and Azusa synced for a fatal tag-team strike, Shadow would grin with a wicked intention in mind. Utilizing Flash Step, Shadow would almost instantaneously catch Snow mid-fall, then utilize the Space-Time Migration technique to bring himself and Snow to the ground safely. Dropping Snow from about waist height to the ground, Shadow would turn his head and see something spectacular, something he didn't think was possible from 2 Genin.

Spoiler:

"...close enough."

Closing his eyes and smiling, Shadow would inhale deeply and then exhale. Flash Stepping over to Azusa, Shadow would fold his arms and simply gaze at Azusa's unconscious body. Shadow would crouch down and turn him onto his good side and look closer at his wound.

"This.... is going to hurt....alot..."

Closing his left eye slowly and covering covering it with his left hand, Shadow's pupil would dilate and the tomé in his retinas would begin to spin with grace.

"Amaterasu"

After speaking the name of the technique, Azusa's wound would instantaneously combust in a controlled burn of blackened flames. It is said to be true that the flames Amaterasu burn twice as hot as the surface of the sun, but in conditions like this, the overall intensity of the heat can be dialed back. Nonetheless, Azusa would no doubt be woken from his unconsciousness from the sheer pain of Shadow cauterizing his wound but undoubtedly would pass out yet again from it. Moments later, the flames would extinguish themselves with the same haste they had ignited. Utilizing the Space-Time Migration technique once again, Azusa and Shadow would teleport to Snow.

Looking over to Sora with a look of slight frustration on his face, Shadow would pick Snow up by the back of his shirt and have Azusa over his shoulder.

"This is why you're weak."

With that being said, Shadow and the other two Genin would teleport to another location, leaving Sora behind.