Team Seven Decide on a Mission! (Sakaiza, NK)

Nobu leaves the Kazekage’s Chambers, a sand ninja headband in his hand. He couldn’t stop staring at it, standing there speechless. He was a ninja now. Nobu Sen Katto was officially a ninja of Sunagakure, and his face was beaming with pride. No longer would he have to consider himself inferior to true shinobi, for now he was one. Nobu uses part of his cloak to shine the headband before placing it on his head and proudly walking down the street towards the mission boards.
 
Nobu had reached the boards within moments and immediately began to look around. Sakaiza Hyuuga, his friend and fellow member of Team 7, sent a letter to the Akari house stating that he wanted to meet up here and find some work to do. Nobu was more than happy to begin to actually do things to help out around the village. So far, he had been saving every Ryo he could and lodging for free at the Akari household with their team leader Raizuko. Earning a few extra while also helping his new village sounded like it would kill two birds with a single stone.
 
Taking a quick look at the missions that were posted Nobu thought about a few of them that could be done by the duo. “Hey that doesn’t sound so bad.” He quietly says to himself as he looks over a mission to help teach the Sand Village Academy Students learn a thing or two about being a Genin. Nobu had little in the way of experience actually being a Genin so far, but he had learned to use the basic jutsu both in and out of combat effectively. Thinking back to a battle he just had the other day reminds him of just how useful the Substitution Technique could be if properly used.
 
“Of course, there are other missions as well.” Nobu says returning his focus to the matter at hand. “This one says that there are thieves around here stealing beautiful works of art, and this one says that there is some type of graffiti artist on the loose.” Nobu began to try and piece those things together before his thoughts wandered to his own times of need. A time where stealing wasn’t something done because he wanted to or because he wanted to make money off of art, but because one needed to eat or else waste away to starvation.  Nobu quickly shakes such dark thoughts. He didn’t have to worry about such things now. He was a shinobi of the sand, and he would never be in such a predicament again. This realization brings a big smile to his face.
 

Leaning up against the wall while waiting for Sakaiza, Nobu ponders for a moment and then he looks up at the sky. “I will say one thing though, I’m going to miss the rain.”

As Sakaiza ate his breakfast, he could think of one thing and one thing only: Ryo. He needed it, he wanted it and he needed ramen from the local shop. Sakaiza loved food and in order to get that food, he would need to pay for it somehow. Eventually he would no longer be able to mooch of his mother's delicious cooking for the rest of his life, so he decided that he would need to take some initiative and bring home some Ryo and food on his own. He took a quick break from eating to search for a piece of paper and a writing utensil. He had searched all throughout his room for one, checking his drawers, underneath his bed and even in his closet. Then he realized that the last time that he had ever written anything was in the academy, two years ago. So he checked his academy bag and as he expected, he found an entire notepad and countless pencils. He grabbed the pad and pencil and went back to the table, setting them aside while he continued to eat his breakfast.

Upon finishing eating, he brought his dishes to the sink, washed and dried them then put them in their respective locations. Sakaiza returned to the table and began drafting a letter. As he wrote, he realized that his handwriting hadn't lost its neatness that it had from the academy, although it did feel strange to be writing again, but he liked it. What he was writing was simple, it was a letter to one of his squad mates informing him that he wanted to meet with Nobu and decide on a mission to get their team to undertake. It was short, punctual and to the point, yet also friendly. When he finished the letter he would have it delivered to Nobu. Because of them living in the same, small town the letter would be delivered that day, therefore Sakaiza only had limited time to prepare himself and meet up with Nobu. 

He got dressed and knocked on his mother's door who was writing something in a scroll of unknown information to Sakaiza. She took several minutes before opening the door, finishing the scroll and sealing it. "Mom, it's time that I grow up. I'm 15 now and I'm a genin, I need to take on some missions and bring home some Ryo!" Sakaiza said as if he were a grown man. It had been his birthday two days ago, so he felt as if it was time that he asserted his growth. Laughing, she agreed with her son and handed him the scroll. She told him that it contained a secret jutsu that he should begin practicing, although she understood if it took the backseat to missions. Sakaiza grew very excited inside, for she had been responsible for many of the techniques that he had presently known and seemed to just be providing more and more. He hugged his mother, bid her farewell and started out the door to meet with Nobu. Walking to the mission boards and removing the scroll from his weapons pouch he began to read it. It was entitled, "Eight Trigrams: Mountain Crusher". The description of it was vaguely similar to that of the Vacuum Palm, yet it seemed like a close combat version of the other jutsu. Nevertheless, upon finishing his reading of the scroll, he rolled it back up and placed it in his pouch. By the time he had finished reading the scroll, he had been at the mission boards and saw Nobu waiting for him. Nobu seemed to day dreaming, staring at the sky, almost as if he were reminiscing. Sakaiza knew that gaze all too well, for he was a notorious day dreamer himself.

When he was closer, he would wave his left hand casually and call out to Nobu, "Nobu! So you beat me here? Have you already looked over some of the missions that we could do?"

Sakaiza was rather excited to begin his day with his teammate, for they hadn't done any team bonding exercises together yet. "I was going to send for Giichi to meet up with us as well, but I believe he's busy training today. Something about having bugs?" he said with a slight laugh as his eyes studied the mission board. 

They fell upon a posting titled, "Helping the Academy". It seemed rather interesting to him since he could showcase his talent as a genin and teach the students a thing or two. The mission consisted of, what Sakaiza could only speculate as an in class demo. He would probably only be performing basic E-ranked ninjutsu techniques, but the job was still paying 1000 ryo. 


"Hey, what about this one?" he suggested while pointing to the Helping the Academy mission. 

(WC: 803)

Starting to wonder if it ever rained here in Sunagajure, Nobu quickly looks down for fear of the suns brightness hurting his eyes. This heat was intense today, and Nobu had almost decided to step away from the mission boards to seek out some shade. Snapping out of his own thoughts, Nobu hears Sakaiza approaching saying something along the lines of Nobu beating him here. “Well, I was already out and about. Had an early start today, that’s all. Yeah, I took a look at them. Many of the missions require us to be with a higher rank ninja, but there are a handful that don’t require such. I’m not sure which mission we should do as of yet. Still thinking over all of the options, you know?” Nobu stands there quietly thinking to himself as Sakaiza looks over the options.
 
“Wait a second… Giichi has bugs?” Taking a moment, it sinks in on Nobu that Giichi was of the Aburame clan. He ALWAYS has bugs. “Ha, I get it. Good one!” Nobu says with a smile. Giichi was likely mastering the use of his clans useful abilities associated with the Kikaichu beetles hiving within his body, which Nobu had a similar experience dealing with as Nanabi had decided to make his body a nest in a similar fashion.
 
So he decided on helping out some academy students, eh? Even though Nobu had considered this an option upon first looking at the boards, the time he had spent in thought caused him to question that choice. While helping the Academy Students was a noble cause and would pay well for seemingly little work, every moment that they spent not hunting down those who were stealing would mean the potential for even more to be lost by those they are targeting. The graffiti artist was a nuisance as well, though that did little harm to anybody in particular and was not as pressing a matter. Concerned with that choice, Nobu quits leaning on the wall and approaches his teammate.
 
Nobu wasn’t sure how to say exactly what he meant without whatever he had said coming across in a way that he hadn’t intended. He didn’t want to just say, ‘No, we should do something else’ as that seemed cold and mean.  He wanted to go do something that would protect the village, something that would help train his body and mind for what would likely be harder missions ahead.
 
Then it donned on him. Maybe Sakaiza was picking the easy mission as a test to see what Nobu would say. Maybe he had really wanted a harder mission as well, one where we might get a chance to showcase our abilities. Then an even harsher thought entered the mind of Nobu. What if Sakaiza was picking the easy mission because he didn’t feel as though Nobu was ready for real combat? Nobu was younger than the rest of his team, and he hasn’t had any opportunity to really show them that he is not just a little kid playing ninja. Nobu had an idea on how he could show Sakaiza that he meant business.
 

“Well, how about we warm-up a little first before picking something? You said yourself that we have a little bit of time before Giichi will be done training. Why don’t we spar a bit? The winner can decide on the mission. How’s that sound?” Nobu says as he gets himself mentally pumped for what might be a really tough battle.

WC: 583 

OoC: I know it sounds I am against the Helping the Academy mission but do not worry it is still the plan. Nobu just isn't sure IC if that is what they should do or not.

(Yeah don't worry, I didn't forget how the plan is supposed to work!) 

As Sakaiza's joke settled in on Nobu, he watched it take it's slow, lingering effect. He could see the thought process of his comrade, watching his facial expressions changed as he thought it threw. Initially, it was utter confusion. Then as he evidently began to ponder the joke, it seemed as if at some point he realized that Sakaiza was making a connection between bugs and the Aburame clan. Once Nobu got the joke, Sakaiza could see his mouth break their blank expression and morph into a pure smile, laughing and enjoying Sakaiza's humor. Sakaiza's laughed in turn, not at the joke but how long it took Nobu to get it, nevertheless this seemed like the first joke that the two shared. "This guy's not half bad if he laughed at one of my jokes, maybe team 7 is better than what I thought." he reflected as he still exchanged a friendly smile and laugh with his comrade. 

Sakaiza now grew with excitement to undertake a mission alongside Nobu. Expecting Nobu to agree, Sakaiza awaited Nobu's response eagerly. He figured it would just be a 'yeah let's do it!' and then the two would relay the information to Giichi and they would be conducting demonstrations in the academy. It seemed like a nice way to give back to the institution that trained him and allowed him to become a genin, so Sakaiza was all for it. But then a thought occurred to him. What if Nobu did not want to do this mission? He was originally an outsider, from the Hidden Rain Village, so perhaps he never got the academy experience considering that Amegakure had been destroyed in a previous war. Nevertheless, he still anxiously awaited Nobu's response.

But Nobu did not accept or decline this mission, instead he seemed to be more focused on warming up. Sakaiza was liking the sound of this. Finally, Nobu offered a spar between the two, with the winner deciding on the mission that the two would participate in. Wasting no time at all, the eager Sakaiza would let out, "Yeah let's do it!" giving Nobu nearly no time to finish his statement. 

"If we're going to do this though, we should head deeper within the training grounds. I wouldn't want either of our jutsus to hurt a nearby bystander or cause any property damage. We haven't made money yet from missions to pay it off." Sakaiza said with a friendly laugh as he began walking towards the center of the training grounds. He expected Nobu to follow along as well. 

As he walked, nearing the center of the training grounds one thought arose to Sakaiza. "I'm going to push this guy to his limits...then I can finally see what he's hiding from us. Also, this would give me ample time to learn and practice that new Eight Trigrams technique..." 


When they would arrive, Sakaiza would walk towards a separate side of the training grounds creating a 10 meter space between the two. If Nobu were to do the same, the separation would likely be 20 meters. He assumed his Gentle Fist stance and waited for Nobu to assume his fighting stance. "So, you ready Nobu? Don't hold back!" he called out with confidence in his voice. 

(WC: 543)

Nobu would agree upon hearing that Sakaiza wanted to take this spar deep into the training grounds. “Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. Wouldn’t want any property damage. Plus…” Nobu looks at Sakaiza, a strange, taunting grin on his face, “Wouldn’t want anybody to witness you lose, huh?” Nobu lets out a small chuckle before making his way to the center of the training area with Sakaiza. There was no real rush in his steps, unlike his usual methods of running everywhere as fast as possible. He didn’t realize it consciously, but sub-consciously he was not giving any information to the adversary that he didn’t want them to have. This wasn’t something that Nobu had tried to do, but these small habits of avoiding giving any details were forced into his mind at a young age during his training. All knowledge was power, even something seemingly unimportant.
 
Gazing around what would be their makeshift battlegrounds, Nobu notices that the majority of the field is sand, a handful of rocks protruding from their sandy graves. So long as nobody hits one of those, any impact to the ground should be softened a great deal by the cushion of the sand. One must also keep in mind the looseness of the sand beneath their feet. If it shifts underneath you, it could cause you to lose footing. This would likely be capitalized on by the opponent, and with his growing up in the desert he was even more used to it than Nobu had gotten over the training he had put in over the course of his time here.
 
Nobu would start with a quick stretch. The last thing he would want would be to hurt himself during the spar. The opponent would have that particular aspect of the combat covered. Nobu would do several muscle stretches, working each from head to toe for at least a few minutes. “You might want to stretch out first. And injury now would make training rather difficult. Possible, yes. But it would be difficult nonetheless.” Nobu would then focus on his own stretching, allowing Sakaiza to do as he had pleased.
 
After stretching everything out for a solid fifteen minutes or so. Nobu would look over to see if Sakaiza was ready. It appeared to be so as he would assume the fighting stance of his clan, the Gentle Fist style of combat. Nobu wasn’t going to lie to himself, the style was rather impressive from what he had seen of it so far. Granted, it wasn’t much, but it was effective enough to make quick work of an opponent.
 
Sakaiza was fast, this much Nobu had known, but how fast exactly? Nobu pondered this while finishing his stretching and making his way to the seemingly agreed upon distance. “Twenty meters, too far for me to reach him without effort...” He thinks silently to himself. Was he aware of the details of Nobu’s skills? No, why was Nobu being so paranoid? This was his teammate and friend, not some random ninja trying to lure him into some trap. Both Nobu and Nanabi were fairly safe within the Sand Village, and Nobu smiles to break the cold stare he was giving Sakaiza while deep within the confines of his own head.
 
"So, you ready Nobu? Don't hold back!"
 
“Of course I’m ready. And I wouldn’t dare hold back against such a worthy opponent!” Nobu would give a grin and a slight nod to this statement. A lie, but potentially a necessary one. Lord Kazekage had made it quite clear that he was not to utilize the power of Nanabi unless needed, both for the safety of Nobu and those around him. Holding back was not something that Nobu had a choice in. He had to hold back, every moment of every day. He was in a constant struggle with the forces trapped within him. Losing that control, even for a brief moment could have catastrophic results. Nanabi could use that small opening to force its way out, likely ending in a destructive rampage around the village. No, Nobu couldn’t allow something like that to happen. Koroshi had placed his faith in Nobu, something few had ever done prior. He wasn’t ever going to forget that kindness, and therefore would do nothing that would cause him to regret that decision.
 

Nobu would focus his breathing, lowering his core, widening his legs and exhaling deeply as he slowly move his hands forward ‘pushing’ the air out it would seem. They both looked ready, and Nobu would try to gain advantage by being the first to attempt a strike, dashing forward ten meters (Speed 17) and performing a high jump kick (Dynamic Entry: Speed 44, Power 40).  Likely not fast enough for the strike to actually connect the move was more for positioning than anything else. He was now where he wanted to be, within striking distance. Both of these combatants had focused on Taijutsu and this positioning wasn’t really only advantageous to Nobu, but Nobu would rush in regardless. He had faith in his Taijutsu skill. He WAS going to be the best Taijutsu master ever, so he had no reason to question the decision.

(WC:868)

Sakaiza shrugged off the comment on losing, for he wasn't one to be overly boisterous with his confidence, instead he just gave a slight laugh while keeping his eyes focused ahead. As the two walked, Sakaiza thought to himself what he would need to be prepared for in this sparring match. He knew Nobu was a taijutsu specialist, and thus this would be a close combat spar. Therefore, Sakaiza would need to be quicker than Nobu, and with his Eight Trigrams and Gentle Fist techniques, he knew he could. Additionally, he would need to create spacing and implement precise timing in order to ensure that his jutsu would work. Finally, he would need to ensure that Nobu didn't have any room to breathe; while being offensive, Sakaiza would have to cover his defenses.

When they stopped, before Sakaiza took his stance, he would heed Nobu's suggestion and also begin stretching. It was characteristic of him to begin stretching before training, however he did not expect Nobu to maintain this tradition as well. It was pleasant, as the two stretched and then began to undertake their respective stances. Sakaiza watched as Nobu took on his stance; it seemed to be more Leaf oriented, or as least Sakaiza would assume so from reading different books devoted to taijutsu. However, Sakaiza was not afraid, nervous or anxious. He was calm. The only things going through his mind were analyses of Nobu and his movement. As he finished readying his stance, he activated his Byakugan. His eyes now strained but not in pain as they had once been when he first unlocked this potential. They studied Nobu, carefully. Looking over his chakra network and the flow of his silver chakra. While he studied Nobu, he was essentially just waiting for his teammate to make the first strike. He knew Nobu would by the way he carried himself to the spar, being overly confident in his words and stride. But Sakaiza was unaware of his abilities, maybe he had something to back his ego.

And then it began. Nobu began sprinting towards Sakaiza at a basic, low speed and covered about 10 meters in the process. Once Nobu seemed at the halfway point from Sakaiza, he leaped up and prepared his body for a kick. Sakaiza saw all this with precise clarity, and thus was able to react accordingly. As Nobu's neared him, he did not break his stance until Nobu was roughly 2 meters from Sakaiza. Then in one swift motion(60 speed), Sakaiza shifted his left leg and arm forward in a thrusting motion, unleashing the Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm. Thus, a chakra based projectile was hurled at Nobu's torso(40 speed, 40 power) which was lunging towards Sakaiza, 6 inches in size(think of a circular shaped ball). Because of the location the projectile was targeted to hit and the flying kick form Nobu had taken, it would be difficult for Nobu to dodge this projectile. However, if he somehow did, then Sakaiza would be prepare to side step Nobu's follow up attack.

If he did not dodge it, Sakaiza anticipated the projectile to knock Nobu back at least 5 meters, likely off his feet. If this were the case, Sakaiza would await for Nobu to begin to rise to his feet. Then, Sakaiza's hands would take on the Ram handseal and thus propel him forward(110 Speed) to the direction of Nobu, stopping just two feet in front of him. Following this, Sakaiza in a timely fashion would pivot off of his stopping, left foot and quickly raise his right knee up at the abdomen of Nobu to deliver a high knee strike(60 speed, 25 power). Following this strike, he would remove his knee from the stomach of Nobu then plant his right foot firmly on the ground behind his body, reform the gentle fist stance and ready his body to begin to deliver a series of strikes to the would be recovering Nobu. 

[AP: 250 - 35 Vacuum Palm - 10 Body Flicker - 1 Byakugan = 204 Remaining AP; The body flicker is contingent on if Nobu dodges the Vacuum Palm.]

(WC: 659)

In the middle of his attacking rush is when he had noticed it. He was too busy prior to notice, but Nobu had expected it, the Byakugan. He hadn't seen it used too much, but it had seemed to be a major part of the Hyuuga fighting style and so to be anticipated. It would be difficult to catch him off guard, for literally had eyes in the back of his head. There was nowhere you could attack from that he would not see coming. Seeing and reacting were different things though, and Nobu had hoped that he was fast enough to teach Sakaiza that difference.
 
While midair, Nobu watches as his sparring partner rapidly shifts his position, a powerful projectile is launched at him. He was fast, faster even than Nobu had been it might seem. At this distance while in the middle of his jump it would be near impossible to dodge it. He couldn’t let it hit full force though, as that could end very badly. He would have to resort do a blocking attempt, though he had hoped all of his training in momentum would pay off as an idea had rapidly formed in his head. It would take some precision, but Nobu had confidence that he could pull it off.
 
As he had been attacking with his left leg he knew what motion he would have to do in order to pull such a difficult maneuver off. Shifting his torso ever so slightly, not enough to dodge but enough to choose the exact point of impact, he took a shot to the left arm and shoulder, using the impact to his advantage the best he could.


The force causes Nobu to begin to rotate, in which he will use to throw a fast kick straight to the face of Sakaiza (Speed 34, Power 30) hoping to use some of his own force against him. The kick swings and misses right in front of Sakaiza’s face before the force of his Vacuum Palm would launch Nobu back by a distance of eight meters. Rapidly spinning through the air due to his own movements, he lands pretty hard in the soft sand. “Missed the timing…” He would mutter from the ground. Wasting no time in getting up Nobu rises to his feet, noting that Sakaiza hadn’t pressed his advantage. What, was he just toying with Nobu?
 
In what seems like an instant, Sakaiza made a handseal and was in front of Nobu. That's more of what Nobu had expected. Sakaiza brings a knee up towards the stomach of Nobu. Not enough time to move away from the strike. It was going to have to be another block it would seem. Lifting his knee to parry as quickly as he could, he would drive it into the side of Sakaiza’s leg, not to do damage but to divert the blow.
 
Assuming Sakaiza still steps back and assumes his stance Nobu would try and shake off the thumping in his shoulder. That palm technique was no joke. If he wouldn’t have avoided the brunt of it this match might already be over. “I guess you are a lot better than I had thought. No matter, though. I still got plenty of fight left in me!” Nobu would have to pull out some more from his arsenal if he wanted to best his newfound rival.
 
Stepping forwards he would perform a rapid series of kicks with both his left and right legs. The first kick would be a sweeping kick low with his left leg aimed at the knees of the Hyuuga, followed by a continuation of this momentum into a roundhouse kick aimed for his left arm with Nobu’s right leg and then a spinning heel kick aimed for the head with the left leg, and finally completing the move a devastating heel kick aimed at the top of the skull with his right again (Leaf Great Whirlwind: Speed 69 power 35). If these should connect, Nobu would give a reassuring nod to Sakaiza that he wasn’t out for the count yet before reassuming his own stance.
 
WC: 688

[AP 103-10 (Dynamic Entry)-32 (Great Leaf Whirlwind) = 61 AP remaining]

As Nobu attempted to strike the face of Sakaiza with timed out kick, Sakaiza's vacuum palm sent him hurling away. Had Sakaiza not shifted his head back as he saw Nobu's kick, he would had taken a pretty serious blow the face, perhaps even a swollen jaw. Nevertheless, he did not dwell on this, as this was the risk any shinobi faced when sparring with a well trained shinobi. Sakaiza however had successfully launched Nobu back away from him, thus eliminating the initial offensive maneuvers that Nobu likely had planned out. As his strategy had been developing just as he planned, Sakaiza went ahead and fulfilled the next portion of it. He swiftly transported himself to Nobu through the use of his body flicker technique and thus began his next attack. He brought his knee up to strike Nobu in the stomach, but it seemed as if Nobu recovered quick enough to be able to react to Sakaiza's offense just in the nick of time. As Sakaiza's knee flew up to Nobu, he seemed to stop it through using his own to parry Sakaiza's blow.

Sakaiza didn't expect his all out offense to be enough to break Nobu, and thus he had intentionally planned on retreating back to his modified, defensive gentle fist stance in order to prepare for any counter attack that Nobu would have up his sleeve. Therefore, Nobu's parry of Sakaiza's knee was anticipated. As the two had been locked in eyesight for a brief moment, they would take the time to exchange few words. Nobu assured Sakaiza that he still had fight in him, which brought delight to Sakaiza, who wished for the spar to continue. He still had intentions of two things for this spar. He wanted to successfully release the mountain crusher technique, and he wanted to see the power that Nobu was holding back. At the current pace of the fight, Sakaiza knew he would be able to continue for awhile and deal blow after blow to Nobu, but he only wondered how much Nobu would be able to withstand until he would finally release his true power. Therefore, Sakaiza quickly responded to Nobu's reassurance with a brief statement.

"Show me that power of yours."

Once Sakaiza had terminated his statement, Nobu would begin his next attack. He began dashing towards Sakaiza, who remained in his defensive gentle fist stance. Sakaiza's arms were more brought in and centered towards his body than what they initially were, his knees were more bent and his feet were less spaced apart. As Nobu rushed towards Sakaiza, he would deliver a flurry of kicks. However, Sakaiza's extrasensory vision would allow him to see each and react accordingly to them. The first of which was a low leg sweep intended to knock Sakaiza off balance. Sakaiza would simply short hop over this. Just as his feet would return to the ground however, Nobu was pinpointing a roundhouse kick to Sakaiza's left arm. Sakaiza would duck just underneath the roundhouse kick, causing Nobu's leg to sweep just over top of Sakaiza's head. Once Nobu's other foot had made it back to the ground, it seemed as if he was using his momentum to allow him to send his opposite foot hurling towards the head of Sakaiza. Sakaiza, who was still ducking at this point, easily avoided the heel kick since his head and body were low to the ground, beneath his intended target. 

Sakaiza, now starting to unbend his knees to stand fully up, was now subject to Nobu's next attack: a heel aimed at the crown of his skull with the right foot again. As Sakaiza rose up, he brought his left forearm above his head, intercepting and catching the heel of Nobu before it could crash down on Sakaiza's head. But Sakaiza had felt the strength of Nobu's kick on his forearm, noting that he was likely stronger than he was fast. With Sakaiza's body fully extended, Nobu's leg would be rested directly on Sakaiza's left forearm, putting Sakaiza in an advantageous position. As soon as Sakaiza had Nobu's leg caught, he would then deliver a swift, two fingered strike to a tenketsu point upon Nobu's inner right leg which was positioned upon Sakaiza's arm(70 speed, 50 power, - 5 chakra due to one tenketsu point being sealed). While he did so, his Byakugan allowed him to simultaneously yet carefully pay attention to Nobu's left leg, in case he would attempt to send another kick Sakaiza's way. Following this quick strike to the leg, Sakaiza would throw Nobu's leg off of his left arm. 

Regardless if this tenketsu needle struck Nobu's leg, Sakaiza would immediately follow up with unleashing a defensive maneuver unfamiliar to Nobu. Due to Nobu's closeness and aggressiveness, Sakaiza wanted to create spacing between the two to once again go on the offense. Thus, as soon as Nobu's leg was off of his right arm, Sakaiza began to immediately rotate in place, expelling a sphere of rotating chakra from his body to hurl Nobu away from him(50 power, 50 speed, 30 health, 2 meters in radius). This was Sakaiza's palms revolving heaven technique, which was intended to be more defensive than offensive, but would still damage a nearby opponent, sending him away and off of his feet. As he would spin, he would only stop once Nobu was a safe distance away from him. He would then begin to think to himself. "I really need to make my move with this Mountain Crusher technique. Once Nobu is a good distance away, I'll need to swiftly charge him and then release the palm. But I have to be careful to limit it's power, I don't want to damage or injure him. He's my comrade"

(WC: 959)

[AP = 204 - 1 Byakugan - 10 Tenketsu Needle - 30 Palms Revolving Heaven = 163 Remaining AP ]

Before Nobu could react Sakaiza would use his mastery over the opponent’s tenketsu points to launch an attack on his chakra network, notably on that of his leg. The attack hits with almost surgical precision, Nobu wincing in pain. He’s never experienced such an attack before, and welcomed the new experience even if it pained him. Then it would seem as if Sakaiza would begin spinning rapidly and causing a barrier of chakra to launch Nobu back again. Landing hard, Nobu would again get up, this time a little slower than the first. He was now six meters away.
 
Nobu’s leg wasn’t reacting like he had expected. It was hard to put weight on it at first as he stood. Was this the effect of his attack? He weakens your ability to fight, slowly over time it seemed. No matter who you were, one would experience fatigue in a long battle. This was a given. But the Hyuuga’s attacks were causing more than just fatigue and normal wear. No, something felt much different but Nobu couldn’t really place the feeling. He thinks that normally his reserves of energy were more than that of his opponents, but maybe not this time. His conditioning and training made his body quite used to the rigors of combat, as he had built up quite a pain tolerance during his earliest of ninja training. He wasn’t going to be able to win this war of attrition though it had seemed. Not only was Sakaiza easily just as skilled at martial arts, but his hitting of chakra points would rapidly wear away at Nobu’s strength. He was going to have to try and pick up the pace, hoping for a speedy victory. But how….?
 
“Hard to find a weak spot in his defenses….” Nobu would note to himself, assessing the capabilities of his sparring partner. It seemed to Nobu that the Hyuuga’s Gentle Fist Style was heavily defensive in nature, or at least this particular practitioner was. Even when he did manage to find himself in a position to strike, Sakaiza was able to block it with what seemed like ease, his motions fluid and calm. He would have to plan some type of indirect attack in order to throw him off guard. What would work though? His Byakugan didn’t allow much in the way of a sneak attack, and he wasn’t fast enough to land the blows regardless.
 
Just then an idea had occurred to him. While it would require stealth in a sense, it would be less stealth and more of deception. While Sakaiza was able to ‘see’ everything around him, it didn’t mean that he was able to look at the field and completely understand everything that was going on. He was able to receive the information, but whether or not he would process it and see through the deception was a different matter. Nobu wanted to smile, but he thought that this might only reveal to his opponent that something was up.  
 
This was going to take a bit of set up. Finding several small stones, Nobu would throw them at Sakaiza as fast as he is able (Speed 72 Impact Force 16) two of which would be coming straight for Sakaiza while the other three seemed to completely miss. Sakaiza would likely think that Nobu just wasn’t very accurate with his throws. There was a reason that Nobu never carried any kunai, shuriken, or other ‘ninja equipment’. He failed to realize their usefulness, instead relying solely on his own martial arts skills to come out ahead for each confrontation. This hasn’t failed him yet, and so he would continue down this path he has chosen. Sakaiza likely noted this lack of ‘ninja tools’ while his Byakugan was active, and Nobu would hope that Sakaiza would make this connection.
Nobu quickly looked around finding three more rocks, this time of a decent size, maybe twenty pound or so each. He might not have been the most skilled at the use of weaponry, both manufactured and improvised, but he would still need it for his plan to work. Throwing one rock seemingly straight up, Sakaiza would note that the trajectory was all wrong if Nobu had hoped to hit him. The other two rocks would be aimed at Sakaiza, one directly at him and the other slightly off target but close enough to be a grazing hit (Speed 72, Impact Force 16) to his right arm.
 
Fully anticipating Sakaiza to defend against his rock barrage, Nobu would then rush in (Tai Body Flicker Speed 64) as he was defending and attack with a kick aimed at the face with his right leg (Speed 34, Strength 30), hoping to catch the Hyuuga distracted, but also anticipating his speed to counter the attempt. This was also a part of Nobu’s plan as the rock was now falling towards the backside of Sakaiza. Any attempt to parry or strike Nobu was anticipated, as he rapidly forms the handseals for a Substitution. His target – the large rock now behind his foe.
 
If the Substitution Technique was successful, he would attempt a brand new move, the one that he thinks he has developed enough to utilize. It would be tough, but he would try regardless as nothing else has seemed to be able to connect. Putting as much into the move as he could muster, he launches a fist at the back of Sakaiza’s neck – the first strike of Evening Elephant (Power 94 Speed 90, but reduced to not be lethal or crippling). The technique causes a powerful vacuum of pressurized air to ‘suck’ (Power 50 needed to escape) the target into each of the five strikes of the Taijutsu. The air formed large ‘tunnels’ that resembled the leg of a large elephant. Based on the timing and the deceptiveness of the attack, it would likely be difficult to dodge and once the move began it would be really hard to escape.
 

If it would connect, the first strike would hit hard into the Hyuuga, followed by a rapid sidestep into the next punch of the series of five. Another crushing wave of air would strike into the target, followed by yet another. In reality there are five part to this move in total, but Nobu had yet to truly develop his technique and the count fell short. The crushing blows of the attack would hopefully buy Nobu at least a bit of breathing room. Realistically that technique had drained Nobu even more than he wanted to let on, his breathing now heavy and rapid. He couldn’t continue for much longer at this pace and he knew it. His body was growing weaker and weaker as his stamina reserves began to fail...

(WC: 1124)
[AP 61 - 5 Substitution - 55 Evening Elephant= 1 AP left]

As his fingertips made contact with the tenketsu on Nobu's leg, he could feel the swelling of the chakra beginning. He successfully had sealed his first chakra point on Nobu in the match. He smiled, knowing that this would be a hindering to Nobu, who would likely have to adjust to this feeling seeing as he had not fought a Hyuuga before. The pain would be new, not like a punch to the gut, but more like an internal strike directly to Nobu's muscle. He could see the expression in Nobu's face, indicating that he too had felt the intensity of the swift strike to his leg, which slightly bothered Sakaiza. He did not want to injure Nobu, yet it was just the way the match was carrying on. Therefore, he didn't capitalize with several more tenketsu needles. Instead, he would create spacing once more to allow Nobu to come at with another approach, essentially leveling the playing field. Although Nobu was quick and strong, Sakaiza was quicker and relied on his high understanding of his chakra network to attack, not his strength. 

Thus, Sakaiza dropped Nobu's leg from his left forearm and immediately began rotating in place. As the chakra simultaneously began to expel from all tenketsu points along his body, it would successfully make contact with Nobu would again be sent away roughly 6 meters from Sakaiza. As Nobu flew away, Sakaiza noted that Nobu had not tried to recover nor send an attack Sakaiza's way while he was airborne, instead it seemed that Nobu had just tanked the fall. "Is he getting tired? Or did the sealing of the tenketsu upon his leg disrupt his chakra network to that extent...?" Sakaiza wondered as he concluded spinning. As soon as he did, the chakra retracted back inside his body and shield dissipated in turn. He would firmly back step roughly 2 meters and place his feet back on the ground with his hands still in a defensive position, one in front and one in the back. Sakaiza was assuming that Nobu would continue the dynamics of the fight, consisting on him rushing in for attacks and Sakaiza analyzing them and reacting to them. 

In his training as a Shinobi Sakaiza had been instructed to learn how to react and adapt accordingly, whether that be to an opponent's fighting style, an environmental situation or even within conversations. Such training would teach Sakaiza the importance of waiting until he had a certain opportunity before acting. He noted that this had been nearly impossible in his spar against the advanced genin, Ryu, and so he needed to work on it. He found himself reacting to the bandits that his genin team had come across the other day, allowing himself to dodge their attacks while still pressing the advantage. But considering that, he also realized that he hadn't adapted yet to an opponent's combat dynamics. Such adaptation could consist of running in on an opponent's attack to prevent him from capitalizing on the failure of any defense Sakaiza would have. Therefore, he needed to take a risk before he would allow Nobu to create a window of opportunity. 

However it wasn't the time yet, instead Sakaiza let out, "You're still holding back." fully aware that Nobu had not unleashed the power hidden within him yet. Truth be told, Sakaiza could continue sparring for awhile, but it seemed as if Nobu was beginning to feel the fatigue. Maybe if Sakaiza had made Nobu aware that he was holding back, Nobu would summon that power within him to keep him going. Or maybe not.

Seemingly simultaneously as Sakaiza finished his observation, Nobu began to chuck rocks at Sakaiza with high speeds. There were still of ease for Sakaiza to see with his byakugan, but he would likely be able to see them without it as well. Instead of simply waiting for the attacks to come to him, however, he would come to the attacks(60 Speed; 130 RT). As the first two rocks flew directly towards the running Sakaiza, he would simply bat them away with the outer portion of his hands. The next three rocks would soar past and behind Sakaiza, seemingly intentionally due to how off the trajectory was. Sakaiza noted this as he continued to sprint and prepared himself for the mountain crusher. Now 3 meters closer to Nobu(still 6 meters difference between the two), Sakaiza's speed accelerated greatly due to the preparation he was taking to unleash the mountain crusher(110 Speed) now running full force at Nobu. 

Nobu at this point was hurling larger rocks at Sakaiza, throwing the first straight up in the air and the other two directly at the approaching Sakaiza, only slightly off to the side however. Due to the proximity and Sakaiza's rapid speed, he had short time to respond to the rocks. He did not attempt to dodge them from one side, however instead he leaped up, pivoted his left foot on the rock coming directly at him and used it as a stepping stone to simply hop over the rocks. The other, because it was to the side was dodged completely due to Sakaiza leaping over the rocks. The last however, seemed to be quite a distance back(~4m due to Sakaiza's advance), almost as if Nobu's throws didn't react properly to Sakaiza approaching him. Maybe he did not expect Sakaiza to shift from a defensive style to an offensive style in the battle. Nevertheless, Sakaiza was closer now, probably only 3 meters from his comrade. 

It seemed like Nobu had it all planned out if Sakaiza had remained stationary and dispatched of the rocks, yet that wasn't the case. But now, it seemed as if Nobu was traveling towards Sakaiza at a speed much quicker than what Sakaiza had seen him run at before. It wasn't the ninjutsu Body Flicker, meaning it could logically only be the taijutsu version of it. Thus, now the two were approaching each other with intense speeds. However, there was a reason Sakaiza had built up his speed so quickly. This was his Mountain Crusher technique finally being attempted for the first time. As his left foot led and he was now within striking distance of Nobu, Sakaiza lifted his right palm and swiftly thrust his palm towards the chest of Nobu(35 power, 50 speed) slightly holding back because he did not want the attack to seriously damage his comrade. As he was doing so, Nobu would also be attacking, as he was sending a kick Sakaiza's way. Both attacks, to Sakaiza at least, seemed as if they would be unavoidable due to the two being so close together. Perhaps both shinobi would take the other's attack, and thus be repelled from each other.

[AP: 163 - 1 Byakugan - 40 Mountain Crusher = 122]

(I figured that because I sprinted forward and dodged over the rocks in the process, it would likely take Nobu's eyes some times to adjust and so he wouldn't hurl the larger rock directly behind Sakaiza, but he would only be capable of targeting the rock several meters behind him due to Sakaiza's high speed from the beginning of the mountain crusher technique. Therefore going off your post, I figured we would meet each other's attacks as we both dashed towards each other quickly. Let me know if you have any problems with this!)

(WC: 1125)