![[Iwagakure] Week 1: Shimazu Mochizuki Empty](https://2img.net/i/empty.gif)
Name: Shimazu "Maze" Mochizuki
Age: 13
Village: Iwagakure
Clan: Mochizuki
Kekkei Genkai: Lava Release
Affinity: Earth Release
Appearance: Maze is dark-skinned and has dark brown, waist-length hair that is typically braided, each lock fastened by a maroon clip at the end. He is short in stature for his age, with his peers typically towering over him, and is almost never seen without his sunglasses on. His eyes are black, and his perpetually flat facial expression lends to his cool, docile nature.
His outfit consists of the standard red turtleneck shirt of Iwagakure shinobi and a full-body mesh suit, both of the sleeveless variant. He also wears long maroon shorts with a lapel over his right leg, fingerless black gloves, and black shinobi sandals. When not on mission, he wears his forehead protector around his neck. Conversely, he ties it around his braids behind his head when deployed.
Personality: Often, Maze is mistaken for a reserved, discerning individual due to his perpetually flat facade, a trait carried by most members of his family. A child at heart, however, this betrays his impulsive and immature behavior. Always emulating his father's 'coolness' and using variations of the man's deadpan catch-phrases, he is somewhat of a weird kid.
Having been raised in a household ruled by a hardened and pragmatic authoritarian of a father, the ignorant adolescent that Maze keeps under wraps when in the presence of his father tends to peek through his inherited stoicism when out of the house. This is a side of the reclusive boy that few are aware of, though.
Maze has been shaped largely by the trauma experienced when his father exiled his older brother, Shinsuke, from the household for failing the academy entrance exam a third time. With his closest friend forced out and forsaken, the harshness of the world expedited Maze’s maturation, somewhat. With age, Maze has realized that any illusions of wisdom or caring or kindness that he once believed his father possessed are, in fact, just that: illusions of his own making.
Like any child, however, he holds onto fleeting hope, still yearning for the adoration of his father and the warmth of a stable family. In this, he seeks to excel as a shinobi in all facets, dedicating himself wholly to his Ninpou.
Background: Born as the fourth and youngest son of Mochizuki Shinpachi, the man renown throughout the ninja world as the ‘Mountain Demon of the Hidden Rock’ (岩の山鬼, Iwa no Yamaoni), a childhood heaped with high expectations seemed inevitable. However, the stigma of the family’s utter lack of talent had worn away at whatever presumptions outsiders might have had for the progeny of the great Shinpachi by the time Maze reached the appropriate age. With all of his older brothers having failed their father’s lofty expectations of them as shinobi, Shinpachi assumed no different would be seen from the young Maze.
In fact, not a single member of the Mochizuki family attended the boy's graduation exam.
What comfort he hoped to find in his brothers was nowhere to be found. Having lived under the oppression that Maze’s childhood was mostly void of, Shinsaku and Shintarou carry a deep-seated bitterness in their hearts and an unfounded resentment of their younger brother for how ‘easy’ his life has been. Never willing to aid him in any way, everything that Maze has learned, thus far, has been a product of his dedication.
Excelling in the academy, Maze graduated as one of the top students of his class. As a member of one of Iwagakure’s sensory units, he strives toward reaching levels of renown that eclipse not only that of the great Yamaoni but that of his father’s greatest rival---the Tsuchikage, himself.
Stats:
Shimazu "Maze" Mochizuki - Iwagakure, Genin
Chakra: 1,000
Bukijutsu: 100
Taijutsu: 350
Speed: 300
Strength: 250
Chakra Control: 1,000
Ninjutsu: 900
Genjutsu: 0
Kekkei Genkai: 100
Sample Chapter:
Cold eyes cut across the cragged expanse of the pit, dry plumes of powdery dust still rolling away from the small impact crater. His bandaged fist rose up, flecks of pulverized earth falling from the crevices between his knuckles as he flexed his hand. Removing his eyes from the frightened gazes they had locked, the man looked through the thin golden blonde lengths of his bangs at his palm, as if there were something to be observed there.
And then, cued by something no one else could discern, he cracked a shallow grin.
“That would’ve been it for the both of you, had I connected…”
The three youths standing away from him gave a collective gasp of fear, though, they hushed their anxieties and stowed them away just as quickly. Not one to tolerate such meekness, whatever restraint their stand-in trainer had shown so far would be cast aside immediately if he sensed even a fragment of hesitation.
Still, their inaction at the moment wasn’t routed it cowardice. And he knew that.
“Hmph…!” the lone girl of the genin trio scoffed, crossing her slender arms.
A fierce kunochi with the countenance of a harmless child, Yuuko Ogino was likely the most proficient of the three of them in terms of close-quarters combat. The perennial heir to the Ogino, famed for their many skilled taijutsu practitioners, she was one of the top graduates at the academy and one of her generation’s more promising prospects. And, to top it all off, she commanded the adoration of all her peers, in spite of her shortsightedness.
All in all, she was accustomed to success---which was precisely why the immovable object standing before her irked her so deeply and so easily.
“This is stupid!” Turning her nose up, and looking away, Yuuko bellowed, “We can’t even touch you, and you’re trying to kill us!”
That was all it took.
“I’m going home! I---”
There was a blur of movement mere inches in front of her. She shuddered, feeling the shadow cast over her even with her blue eyes shut, and snapped to. Her opponent, brooding and statuesque in her young eyes, loomed over her, his own icy blue eyes leering down and utterly brimming with cold malice.
Both of her teammates gasped, still looking at where the man had been a moment ago, ‘safely’ several meters away from them. Yuuko, still frozen in shock, didn’t move even as the man’s bandaged hand rose up with the utmost deliberation over her head. Setting his palm down on her crown, his fingers clasped down gently on her short-cut blonde haired head.
Confused, she laxed herself somewhat, and so did the other two of Team Kaneda.
“Is that what you would say…?” the man hissed through clenched teeth. “If I were an enemy…?” Then, those gentle fingers grabbed tighter and tighter on her skull, eliciting a sharp yelp of pain. “Is this what the next generation has to offer? Huh...?”
Looking to his right, the man found the girl’s brother, Sozen, wrought with panic. The strategist of the trio, if any of them could be considered as such, the raven-haired boy understood exactly what the three of them were up against. Not one to beat his head against such a wall, Sozen shared his sister’s disinterest in getting pummeled for no particular reason. Unlike his sister, however, the young shinobi wasn’t so ready to voice his frustrations with this ‘training session’...
Especially not with this man.
“Tsuchikage-sama…!” Sozen managed, nervously swallowing down a wad of spit. “I hate to tell you... but I’d have to agree with my big-headed sister.” The fierce glare of the Tsuchikage narrowed, then. A meek grin surfaced on the boy’s mug as he looked over Yuuji’s shoulder, locking eyes with the third member of Team Kandea. “Which is why we might as well get this over with as quick as possible…”
Suddenly, hurried footsteps approached the Tsuchikage from his blind side.
“...Isn’t that right, Maze?”
Moving quickly, Sozen clapped both hands together. Glinting faintly, the thinnest lines could be seen trailing from the crevices of the boy’s hands toward Yuuji’s ankles. Having already taken advantage of his sister’s unintended distraction, Sozen had already applied the binding tethers of his chakra threads to the man’s ankles, leaving him open to the assault coming from his teammate.
Hair fluttering in the wind, Shimazu---better known by the preferred handle of ‘Maze’---dashed toward the Tsuchikage, his gloved fist balled and reared behind him with all his might curled inside it. True to his self-professed motto, the dark-skinned boy wouldn’t be startled or stifled by ‘the likes of him.’ In fact, it had been the opportunity he was looking for…
To, quite literally, knock his father’s greatest rival down a peg.
“Is that right...?” Yuuji said, unperturbed.
Closing faster and faster, it seemed Maze would connect as the Tsuchikage stood motionless, almost as if he were waiting to be hit.
Then, yanking her up by her collar, Yuuji heaved Yuuko off of her feet and into the path of the oncoming punch. Barrelling forward without the time to redirect himself or his fist, Maze managed only to gasp before all four knuckles crashed hard into the girl’s stomach.
Moving seamlessly out of their path, the Tsuchikage jumped right past the two, utterly ignoring the restraints applied by Sozen. Pulled by the force of his own chakra threads, the boy was hurled forward, straight into his two teammates as they tumbled over one another. A collective yelp of pain shot through the clearing in front of the waterfall.
“Damn…!” Maze groaned, rolling himself off of his teammate. “Almost had him that t---!”
Before he could finish, a hard fist blasted him in the cheek, propelling him away from Sozen and the girl who clocked him.
“You little dumbass!” Yuuko hollered, her fist trembling and her teeth gritted harshly. “Pay the hell attention to where you’re swinging, idiot!”
Maze whimpered something unintelligible, his face planted in the dirt. “S-Sor… ry…!”
Sozen laid flat on his back, staring up at the clearcast sky. For a moment, he thought about playing dead, just as quickly realizing how futile it was.
“Guh…!”
Looking on the three of them, the 'future' of the Hidden Rock and the shinobi world at large, Yuuji uttered a similar sentiment under his breath.
Age: 13
Village: Iwagakure
Clan: Mochizuki
Kekkei Genkai: Lava Release
Affinity: Earth Release
Appearance: Maze is dark-skinned and has dark brown, waist-length hair that is typically braided, each lock fastened by a maroon clip at the end. He is short in stature for his age, with his peers typically towering over him, and is almost never seen without his sunglasses on. His eyes are black, and his perpetually flat facial expression lends to his cool, docile nature.
His outfit consists of the standard red turtleneck shirt of Iwagakure shinobi and a full-body mesh suit, both of the sleeveless variant. He also wears long maroon shorts with a lapel over his right leg, fingerless black gloves, and black shinobi sandals. When not on mission, he wears his forehead protector around his neck. Conversely, he ties it around his braids behind his head when deployed.
Personality: Often, Maze is mistaken for a reserved, discerning individual due to his perpetually flat facade, a trait carried by most members of his family. A child at heart, however, this betrays his impulsive and immature behavior. Always emulating his father's 'coolness' and using variations of the man's deadpan catch-phrases, he is somewhat of a weird kid.
Having been raised in a household ruled by a hardened and pragmatic authoritarian of a father, the ignorant adolescent that Maze keeps under wraps when in the presence of his father tends to peek through his inherited stoicism when out of the house. This is a side of the reclusive boy that few are aware of, though.
Maze has been shaped largely by the trauma experienced when his father exiled his older brother, Shinsuke, from the household for failing the academy entrance exam a third time. With his closest friend forced out and forsaken, the harshness of the world expedited Maze’s maturation, somewhat. With age, Maze has realized that any illusions of wisdom or caring or kindness that he once believed his father possessed are, in fact, just that: illusions of his own making.
Like any child, however, he holds onto fleeting hope, still yearning for the adoration of his father and the warmth of a stable family. In this, he seeks to excel as a shinobi in all facets, dedicating himself wholly to his Ninpou.
Background: Born as the fourth and youngest son of Mochizuki Shinpachi, the man renown throughout the ninja world as the ‘Mountain Demon of the Hidden Rock’ (岩の山鬼, Iwa no Yamaoni), a childhood heaped with high expectations seemed inevitable. However, the stigma of the family’s utter lack of talent had worn away at whatever presumptions outsiders might have had for the progeny of the great Shinpachi by the time Maze reached the appropriate age. With all of his older brothers having failed their father’s lofty expectations of them as shinobi, Shinpachi assumed no different would be seen from the young Maze.
In fact, not a single member of the Mochizuki family attended the boy's graduation exam.
What comfort he hoped to find in his brothers was nowhere to be found. Having lived under the oppression that Maze’s childhood was mostly void of, Shinsaku and Shintarou carry a deep-seated bitterness in their hearts and an unfounded resentment of their younger brother for how ‘easy’ his life has been. Never willing to aid him in any way, everything that Maze has learned, thus far, has been a product of his dedication.
Excelling in the academy, Maze graduated as one of the top students of his class. As a member of one of Iwagakure’s sensory units, he strives toward reaching levels of renown that eclipse not only that of the great Yamaoni but that of his father’s greatest rival---the Tsuchikage, himself.
Stats:
Shimazu "Maze" Mochizuki - Iwagakure, Genin
Chakra: 1,000
Bukijutsu: 100
Taijutsu: 350
Speed: 300
Strength: 250
Chakra Control: 1,000
Ninjutsu: 900
Genjutsu: 0
Kekkei Genkai: 100
Sample Chapter:
Cold eyes cut across the cragged expanse of the pit, dry plumes of powdery dust still rolling away from the small impact crater. His bandaged fist rose up, flecks of pulverized earth falling from the crevices between his knuckles as he flexed his hand. Removing his eyes from the frightened gazes they had locked, the man looked through the thin golden blonde lengths of his bangs at his palm, as if there were something to be observed there.
And then, cued by something no one else could discern, he cracked a shallow grin.
“That would’ve been it for the both of you, had I connected…”
The three youths standing away from him gave a collective gasp of fear, though, they hushed their anxieties and stowed them away just as quickly. Not one to tolerate such meekness, whatever restraint their stand-in trainer had shown so far would be cast aside immediately if he sensed even a fragment of hesitation.
Still, their inaction at the moment wasn’t routed it cowardice. And he knew that.
“Hmph…!” the lone girl of the genin trio scoffed, crossing her slender arms.
A fierce kunochi with the countenance of a harmless child, Yuuko Ogino was likely the most proficient of the three of them in terms of close-quarters combat. The perennial heir to the Ogino, famed for their many skilled taijutsu practitioners, she was one of the top graduates at the academy and one of her generation’s more promising prospects. And, to top it all off, she commanded the adoration of all her peers, in spite of her shortsightedness.
All in all, she was accustomed to success---which was precisely why the immovable object standing before her irked her so deeply and so easily.
“This is stupid!” Turning her nose up, and looking away, Yuuko bellowed, “We can’t even touch you, and you’re trying to kill us!”
That was all it took.
“I’m going home! I---”
There was a blur of movement mere inches in front of her. She shuddered, feeling the shadow cast over her even with her blue eyes shut, and snapped to. Her opponent, brooding and statuesque in her young eyes, loomed over her, his own icy blue eyes leering down and utterly brimming with cold malice.
Both of her teammates gasped, still looking at where the man had been a moment ago, ‘safely’ several meters away from them. Yuuko, still frozen in shock, didn’t move even as the man’s bandaged hand rose up with the utmost deliberation over her head. Setting his palm down on her crown, his fingers clasped down gently on her short-cut blonde haired head.
Confused, she laxed herself somewhat, and so did the other two of Team Kaneda.
“Is that what you would say…?” the man hissed through clenched teeth. “If I were an enemy…?” Then, those gentle fingers grabbed tighter and tighter on her skull, eliciting a sharp yelp of pain. “Is this what the next generation has to offer? Huh...?”
Looking to his right, the man found the girl’s brother, Sozen, wrought with panic. The strategist of the trio, if any of them could be considered as such, the raven-haired boy understood exactly what the three of them were up against. Not one to beat his head against such a wall, Sozen shared his sister’s disinterest in getting pummeled for no particular reason. Unlike his sister, however, the young shinobi wasn’t so ready to voice his frustrations with this ‘training session’...
Especially not with this man.
“Tsuchikage-sama…!” Sozen managed, nervously swallowing down a wad of spit. “I hate to tell you... but I’d have to agree with my big-headed sister.” The fierce glare of the Tsuchikage narrowed, then. A meek grin surfaced on the boy’s mug as he looked over Yuuji’s shoulder, locking eyes with the third member of Team Kandea. “Which is why we might as well get this over with as quick as possible…”
Suddenly, hurried footsteps approached the Tsuchikage from his blind side.
“...Isn’t that right, Maze?”
Moving quickly, Sozen clapped both hands together. Glinting faintly, the thinnest lines could be seen trailing from the crevices of the boy’s hands toward Yuuji’s ankles. Having already taken advantage of his sister’s unintended distraction, Sozen had already applied the binding tethers of his chakra threads to the man’s ankles, leaving him open to the assault coming from his teammate.
Hair fluttering in the wind, Shimazu---better known by the preferred handle of ‘Maze’---dashed toward the Tsuchikage, his gloved fist balled and reared behind him with all his might curled inside it. True to his self-professed motto, the dark-skinned boy wouldn’t be startled or stifled by ‘the likes of him.’ In fact, it had been the opportunity he was looking for…
To, quite literally, knock his father’s greatest rival down a peg.
“Is that right...?” Yuuji said, unperturbed.
Closing faster and faster, it seemed Maze would connect as the Tsuchikage stood motionless, almost as if he were waiting to be hit.
Then, yanking her up by her collar, Yuuji heaved Yuuko off of her feet and into the path of the oncoming punch. Barrelling forward without the time to redirect himself or his fist, Maze managed only to gasp before all four knuckles crashed hard into the girl’s stomach.
Moving seamlessly out of their path, the Tsuchikage jumped right past the two, utterly ignoring the restraints applied by Sozen. Pulled by the force of his own chakra threads, the boy was hurled forward, straight into his two teammates as they tumbled over one another. A collective yelp of pain shot through the clearing in front of the waterfall.
“Damn…!” Maze groaned, rolling himself off of his teammate. “Almost had him that t---!”
Before he could finish, a hard fist blasted him in the cheek, propelling him away from Sozen and the girl who clocked him.
“You little dumbass!” Yuuko hollered, her fist trembling and her teeth gritted harshly. “Pay the hell attention to where you’re swinging, idiot!”
Maze whimpered something unintelligible, his face planted in the dirt. “S-Sor… ry…!”
Sozen laid flat on his back, staring up at the clearcast sky. For a moment, he thought about playing dead, just as quickly realizing how futile it was.
“Guh…!”
Looking on the three of them, the 'future' of the Hidden Rock and the shinobi world at large, Yuuji uttered a similar sentiment under his breath.