We arrived at the Environmental Training Grounds, or what Sojobo had called the ETG for short. It was a large indoor complex held within a free standing dome. The dome contained a large mountainous forest biome, not unlike the type of wilderness you'd find on Izu.
Kagami stepped forward, "Start pairing up, each group will go onto different sides of the ETG. Ukyo's kids go with him to the mountain side, mine come with me to the forest."
The four of us nodded and split into our groups. I looked one last time as I left Hinako & Yuto. Yuto looked back at me with huge puppy eyes and blew a kiss at me. I chuckled and caught up with Kagami & Itsuki.
Once we arrived at the edge of the forest Kagami stopped us. "Ok now boys…" he sighed, "As much as i don't want to, I have to give you a 10 minute grace period for you to get to know each other's abilities and strategize." Kagami looked to the woods. "Go into the woods and come back here when you're done showcasing your puppets to each other."
Itsuki scoffed, clearly not wanting to reveal his abilities. I just nodded and went with Itsuki a fair way into the forest.
We summoned our puppets:
"Jiraiya!"
"Orochimaru…"
My fiery toad sage and his hybrid snake man met each other's gaze.
"Kintaro. I sense a bad aura coming from this boy and his puppet. I feel as though I've felt it before, but it's been so long since my last battle I can't really recall."
I nodded at Jiraiya. Orochimaru stared at Jiraiya the same way that Jiraiya had stared at him. "Could it be that my grandpa & Jiraiya fought Orochimaru and his past user when they used to battle?" I thought to myself. Ultimately I brushed it off as a mere coincidence but still took Jiraiya's warning into note.
I look at Itsuki with a friendly smile so as to not arouse suspicion. "So Itsuki, let's show off our abilities one by one."
Itsuki quietly nodded.
I have Jiraiya strike a tree with a palm strike. "Here's my close range move, Toad's Palm." The tree was left with an oily residue in the shape of a toad's hand that ignited a small explosion after a few seconds.
Itsuki watched quietly, and suddenly he struck the same tree with Orochimaru's tail, knocking it down. "Close range attack: Tail Whip."
I look at the knocked down tree in awe. "Wow Itsuki, that's quite the move! Seems to have a lot of power behind it!"
Itsuki grimaced. "Quit talking so much, Ogata. We're only here to win this, not to be friends."
I chuckled nervously, "O-oh, sorry. Here's my long range move." Jiraiya sent out his scarf and grabbed a stick with it. "It's called Toad's Tongue, the scarf acts like a sticky toad tongue and can grab, bind or smack things from far."
"Tch… What a joke." Itsuki mocked me. "Your moves have no substance behind them, none of them can stand on their own." Orochimaru sends out two small white daggers from his wrist. They barely miss my face as they stick onto another tree behind me, green liquid secreting from the daggers. "That's my long range move, Venom Fangs. They're two daggers tipped with a paralyzing venom that comes out of Orochimaru's wrists."
"Wow… that's a pretty neat move! Orochimaru could totally serve for assassinating and stuff." I admire the move.
"Those paralyzing daggers go great with Jiraiya's Toad's Tongue… Maybe we can bind Kagami with Jiraiya's move and paralyze him with the daggers, leaving him open to attack…"
Itsuki throws a dagger towards me, I activate Jiraiya's defensive ability. The dagger bounces right off me.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! We're teammates!"
"Tch… I told you to stop talking. So what was that move?" Itsuki inquired.
"Jiraiya's defensive ability, Toad Skin. It acts like armor for 10 seconds. It's cut, stab, and heat resistant."
Itsuki nods. "That one is actually useful. Maybe you can help me, as my human shield."
I try smacking him with Jiraiya's Toad's Tongue but he quickly disappears. All that's left in his place is what seems to be the shed skin of Orochimaru.
Itsuki tapped my shoulder and chuckled. "You're starting to become hot headed. Take a chill pill Ogata."
I scoffed at his coy attitude. "So what was that move called?"
"Shed Skin. Orochimaru sheds off a layer of skin making him 5x faster but he can be retired within one hit for the following 75 seconds until his skin's grown back." Itsuki explained.
"It's more evasive rather than defensive…" I think to myself. "I have to watch out how he uses it or else maybe he'll leave me for dead while he escapes."
I nod. "Alright, must be some sort of last resort… So do we show off our wild cards for last?"
Itsuki sharply eyed me. "I will NOT be showing you my variety ability. With your basic moveset it might be my only saving grace to properly defend myself without Shed Skin. Understood?"
I backed away, "Geez, yeah man. Guess I won't show mine either."
Itsuki sighs, "Let's head back to Kagami-sensei to start the next part of the exam.
We emerged from the forest back to where Kagami was, but there was nobody there. That's when we suddenly heard a rustling in the trees and a familiar voice.
"7 minutes, 42 seconds, and 36 milliseconds. That's how long it took you to get ready. I hope making me wait all that time was worth it, because the next leg of the exam…"
He jumps down from the trees with Shuten-doji at his side.
"… Has begun!"