*Swoosh.
Five figures arrived simultaneously in the middle of training ground seven with a gust of wind and swirling leaves.
'Woah, I've gotta learn how to do that.' Ashura thought, as he observed the sudden change in his surroundings.
He then looked to Orochimaru to give him instructions.
"Now the process is simple. I'm going to have you walk into the forest and I'm going to attack you in ways that you won't be able to predict." Orochimaru spoke with the wind behind him blowing his dark hair.
"The difficulty will increase until you can no longer process an attack coming. At that time we will cease the exercise." He informed me.
"That sounds easy enough." Ashura said, with an expression that didn't show anxiety nor fear.
"Kukukuku, though I should warn you it won't be as easy as you think." Orochimaru smirked.
"From what I've collected on your ability it seems to have only manifested itself when you were in mortal danger.
So it's only logical to assume that to access your ability properly, you must believe that you will die if you don't avoid an attack."
Ashura went wide-eyed in surprise.
He naturally knew this information already but he knew he had to really sell the illusion that he didn't know anything about his ability.
He couldn't quite explain the reason why.
It was just a gut feeling.
The longer he stood in front of Orochimaru the more he felt that if he let it slip that he wasn't from this world he would get dissected.
"Now we will start as soon as you're ready." The snake Sannin spoke with an eerie smile.
Ashura took a deep breath and lowered into his stance.
"Let's dance Sannin." Ashura responded, sounding more confident than he felt.
"Kukukuku very well…."
Shooo..
Gone. Ashura had been watching the pale man like a hawk and he disappeared in front of his very eyes.
Ashura's eyes darted around his surroundings frantically trying to spot his opponent.
During his observations he had noticed his audience had disappeared as well, fading into the background of trees.
'I wonder where…
DODGE!
He flipped backward as a kunai embedded itself into a tree right where his head had been.
'So he's in the tree-
JUMP!!
He leapt into the air in a somersault landing away from his original position.
He glanced back just in time to witness two pale arms starting to recede back into the earth.
"Interesting…" Orochimaru's voice sounded throughout the forest trees.
"Let's see how you deal with this.."
The young blonde responded by going into a series of back handsprings, flipping over and under the shuriken that were thrown at him avoiding each one.
'I'm back baby!' Ashura thought, as his azure eyes seemed to glow with confidence.
He was watching the area where the shuriken came from intently when he suddenly found himself parallel to the ground.
'What the hell??"
Slam!
The sound of Ashura's back hitting the ground resounded through the forest.
'Ughhh.. my back..'
His vision was spinning as his mind desperately tried to orient itself.
"Hmmm..It seems that you can only react to attacks that you can physically keep up with." Orochimaru said, rubbing his chin as he looked down on Ashura from a branch above.
"The attacks before were at high genin level at best which is astonishing in of itself considering your young age.
However, I didn't telegraph any attacks, and only attacked from your blind spot.
They could have all been avoided by an experienced shinobi so it's too soon to determine whether or not you possess a unique ability or just have unusually sharp instincts." The dark haired man spoke while simultaneously fading into his surroundings.
"Oh Great, there's more…" Ashura responded sarcastically, while slowly picking himself off of the ground.
He was about to give another snarky response when a crushing feeling of danger washed over him.
He felt the urge to get away from the area as quickly as possible.
However, there wasn't any attack to react to.
Just the feeling of dread as visions of his own death assaulted his mind.
Him dying over and over again in vicious ways by Orochimaru's hand.
This feeling came in waves that seemed almost tangible and appeared to be emanating from all around him.
Ashura's heart was beating rapidly in his chest as he fought the urge to run away.
Just as he was wrestling with his willpower ten figures stepped out of the forest clearing, enclosing all of Ashura's escape routes.
For a moment Ashuras eyes widened in shock before quickly regaining their shine.
'He thinks he can fool me with clones. He must not know that Father has already told us about the three academy jutsu.
Smirking, he started to pinpoint which was the original by determining which clones did and didn't have a shadow, while also not affecting the environment around them.
But as he was searching he once again fell into a state of disbelief.
They all had shadows!!!
Each one was a perfect copy. From the way they stood, the clothing they were wearing, down to the way they breathed. Every Orochimaru in front of him seemed to be a perfect carbon copy.
In perfect synchronization they all smiled at the blonde's reaction.
Then they each took turns speaking.
"Kukukuku, by the look on your face it seems that you understand that this isn't the standard clone jutsu, but a more advanced version." One of the ten spoke.
"You will find that each clone is indeed tangible, while also being a perfect copy of the original." One behind Ashura chimes in.
"Now prepare yourself." Another let out before they all disappeared in a blur of speed.
Ashura spun around in his fighting stance, each of his senses on high alert as he tried to determine where the attack would come from.
'Left?'
He turned his head.
Right?
Not there.
Above?
He looked up.
BELOW!!!
Ashura quickly jumped as he once again dodged a pair of arms trying to grab him from underground.
However, this left him open for a counter while he was stuck midair.
A fast kick cut through the air aimed at Ashura's midsection.
Using his acrobatics to twist himself into an unnatural angle he dodged the blow by a hair.
Before his feet could touch the ground he was blindsided by a hit from above that made his knees buckle and his teeth chatter.
He crashed into the ground and rolled back onto his feet with a slight wobble.
Avoided another bout of punches from a clone before once again getting hit by a strike he couldn't react to.
'Man does this guy hit like a truck!'
Ashura thought, while wiping some blood from his chin.
'He's throwing me off by alternating the speed of his attacks. One moment a clone is using Genin speed, the next I'm hit with a sucker punch going Mach 2.'
' If I don't want to wake up in a body cast I need to step it up.'
'I can do better..'
In the brief pause in between Orochimaru's attacks
Ashura took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
Hidden in the trees above Kiyoshi, Sakumo, and Kakashi watched the change in Ashura with deep interest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Orochimaru lay in wait, prepared to dish out the finishing blow, the sight of the young man in front of him caught him off guard.
The blonde in front of him was taking this situation extremely well. Surprisingly well in fact.
Any Genin would've folded under the pressure by now but here he was standing up again and again.
He watched intently as Ashura pulled himself to his feet and closed his eyes while stabilizing his breathing.
'What are you up to I wonder?' He thought, as the blonde haired child froze in place.
He stood there completely still.
The only indication that he wasn't a statue was the slight signs of his even breath.
Orochimaru was puzzled for only a moment before letting out a sly smile.
"So that's what you're up to." He spoke into the air. as he disappeared in a gust of wind.
-To be continued.
~Sorry for the no updates guys. I had a crazy week and just couldn't muster up the strength to write. However, things have calmed down and some of Kurama's chakra has restored me to my full power!!
*cough cough*
Sorry about that…but seriously. Look forward to more stable updates and don't forget to toss those power stones at me.
-Mango