The Desert Wastes (Private)

Taro felt the strong fist connect with the square of his back. It knocked him to his knees. Taro could feel his temper starting to get the better of him, but he repressed it. Now was not the time to be losing his head. In a real fight he would have been dead and that was not something he could shake. Glancing behind him he saw the cloaked man draw a tag of sorts and throw it near him. If his ninja training taught him anything it was that it was smart to not be anywhere near anything an opponent throws at you. Acting on his base instinct to get out of there he wove the needed hand seal and recalled the tree he had created while he had been talking with the cloaked man earlier. The blast would seem to swallow up Taro, but all that the cloaked man would find after the blast cleared was a decimated tree with a few singed white flowers that would float down to the ground. Taro would be in the place of the tree, which would be behind the cloaked man by a two feet. Acting quickly and hoping to act upon the possibility of catching the cloaked man unawares. Now without a weapon he aimed the strongest point of his body, his right elbow right, which was braced by his left arm, at the center of the cloaked man’s back. Taro was determined to show this man his worth and this was his way of doing that.

Azaiyo would smile as the man had used a previous demonstration in this spar to attempt a comeback. With a quick glimpse, he would see the man launching his weapon at Azaiyo, this time aiming at his back. The spear would hit as Azaiyo would make a blank face, watching as the spear would reflect off of his cloak, the strength reverting as the great reflection would cause even a strong spear like this to fall back, resulting in the one wielding it to fall back as well. Azaiyo would as he could feel the force of the repellent knock Taro back down, this time on his rear. "Not bad, you are indeed improving." Azaiyo grinned, "Next time however, be sure to examine the opposition first. As you can see, my cloak has five seals, meaning I can enhance my power in five distinct ways. Also, if you are shocked due to your attack not going through, my cloak has reflective armory capable of handling any weaponry except heavy ones at full force. Thankfully, underneath I have thin under armor, making it impossible to strike me in the chest or back area with any weaponry at all, even with full force. You should know now that a Shinobi always has several plans in combat, so be wise with your next one."

A grimace of shock would appear on Taro’s face. He had not expected his attack to do nothing. He yet again sat on the ground blasted back incidentally by the force of his own attack. His staff had been split in two by the force and now lay on the ground around his feet for later use. While the man spoke Taro would take his chance to weave the snake hand sign. It seemed that it would be harder to land a hit on this guy then he originally thought. Seeing that the man had not moved or made any attempt to counter attack Taro took his chance. Long wooden pillars of the same dimensions and composition of the staff would surround the cloaked man in a circular fashion, which would surely restrict his movement as they were roughly a foot from the man’s body. If Taro could not get an attack in he planned to limit the cloaked man’s movement. This technique drained his chakra quite a bit forcing him to pick up the two now ruined staff pieces. One piece was roughly four feet long and the other was two feet. “Please dodge this…” Using his innate Senju ability he would sharpen the staff ends into weighted stakes so they could be thrown like a kunai knife. He then threw them with the intent of hitting the cloaked man in the legs. Taro assumed and hoped the man would be able to easily dodge the attack so he had no qualms in aiming to wound.

"Hmph!" Azaiyo would smile, "Looks like you will have to move to step four." Another repellent would come as the two, smaller but more sharpened spears would hit, only to fall to the ground due to reflection. "Over and Under Armor!" Azaiyo would chuckle, "Although I have just revealed that you cannot hit me in any place hidden under my cloak, it is still a smart move. I'm sure if you were to use a stronger technique, you would've made a dent. That's right I am covered in all areas except my head and hands. Now let me show you how one escapes restriction." With disabled movement as the wooden structures would bind around his arms, legs, and feet, Azaiyo could still open his hands, using a skill known as the Flying Thunder God. With this, a seal would quickly shroud around Taro as Azaiyo could now teleport to him. Using this skill, he would appear unexpectedly behind the Senju as he would knock him over for the third time. As the man was knocked over, Azaiyo would make the handsign of a ram and a tiger as he would form a huge tidal wave which would knock Taro into the air, still containing him within the waters as it would rush towards one of the large wooden poles. If this would hit, Taro would be knocked unconscious. "Prove your worthiness now or forever remain alone!" Azaiyo would shout as the wave would swiftly make its way to the large obstacle.

For some reason Taro was not surprised that his improvised kunai had not worked. Though utter shock fell over him when the cloaked man appeared behind him and knocked him down for the third time: this was getting old fast. Being knocked down was not the end of it. A large wave of water rushed all around him and brought him towards the mouth of the cave, but more immediately his own trap. He could just barely hear the cloaked man yell something, but it was irrelevant right now. He was being washed closer and closer to the wooden poles that would surely knock him out at the speed at which he was going. In the last couple seconds before impact he clapped together the snake seal, and not having any time to retract the wooden pole he merely willed it to bend in such a way that it there would be an opening large enough for him to fit through. As Taro threaded the needle he took in a mouth full of water as to fit through the hole he had created he had to go underwater. Finally he was washed through and out of the cave. With the wave dispersing across the desert Taro stood back up and walked to the entrance of the cave. Looking in he really had no idea how to take on this man. So he decided to open a dialogue again: “So now what?” He smiled weakly as he dropped to one knee. His chakra was for the most part gone he doubted he would be able to break out any jutsu so for now he waited.

Azaiyo would smile brightly as the spar was complete. "Although youmay not have seen in, I could see a warrior resting inside of you, constantly trying to refresh himself until the very end. The reason I drove you near those pillars was because I wanted you to see that those pillars represented the ones you put your life before. By separating those pillars apart, you metaphorically saved about eight people, a true deed of a man of peace. Restricting the enemy is good as well, but you need to be able to act fast enough to strike the person physically, and also enfuse extra strength and chakra into the binding to prevent escaping from jutsu. Overall, your performance was exceptional. Continue to train hard as I can see you are slowly forgetting your past sufferings already. Your acts of peace allow me to hand this scroll to you. Show it to the guards and you will immediately be accepted into the village as a villager, for it is certified by me. Well done Taro Senju. I hope to see you soon as your Sensei on the Training Ground." With this, Azaiyo would rush to Sunagakure, still keeping some secretive thoughts of the man in mind. [EXIT]

[Azaiyo's sparring stats and WC: 838= 4 SP and 8JP]

Upon hearing the good news and retrieving the scroll Taro breathed a sigh of relief. He then collapsed in the cave. The spar had taken a lot out of him and taught him that he had a long way to go. He watch as the cloaked man left. He almost called out to ask his name, but chose to find that out later. For now though he would make a small camp in this cave. The sun in the sky was sinking low and he felt that it would be better to join the village hidden in the sand in the morning. It felt good to have accomplish what he had set out to do albeit a bit round about. Starting a small fire outside the cave he brewed a small pot of tea and watched the stars. ["Exit"/Topic closed]

(Taro's Spar (spar started after Azaiyo's fourth post) stats gained WC: 1275: +6 stats +12 JP and permission to join the village hidden in the sand granted by deputy Kazekage)

Both approved for stats listed and JP listed