Young Swords Meet (P. Jai)

Momo watched as he admired her sword. He then got up and began to stretch. He then began to say something about sleeping then admitted that he was going to begin smithing his sword now which Momo found strange. It reminded her of her father who used to smith swords himself. As he continued to set up the necessary measures for him to begin crafting his blade, he would tell her that he was unsure of why that Momo shared the same last name as the “Demon of the Mist”, but he did confirm that he was a great swordsman. “Demon of the Mist?” Momo thought. It seemed cool almost. Momo wished she could learn even more. Jai almost made a comment about his integrity, although Momo battled with the same issues, maybe it ran in their family’s blood?
 
Momo then watched the tedious process of creating a blade. The whole time she was day dreaming and not really paying too much attention to it. As he was beginning to wrap up the process, he would thank Momo. Momo was unsure of why he had thanked her. “Thankyou? Why?” She asked. He then told her that he had not taken the time to use a real weapon and had just been practicing with the wooden ones at the dojo.
After what seemed like forever, he had finally finished, making the final touches and polishing it down. He seemed to know a lot about swords and swordsmen, he was going to be vital to her future success. Momo was beginning to not mind his lazy attitude, but was actually growing found of him in some weird way.
 

Now that they both had swords, it was time to start training. “Well, since you know so much about swords you should show me a thing or two if you know it.” Momo would say to him as she rested her wrist on the top of her hilt across her body, the hand closest to it grabbing it loosely on the hilt. “We can train on the logs and spar at the end if you want.” Momo wondered if she would unleash the true power of her blade. She was unaware of his true talents as a swordsmen and if things were to get out of hand she would have to react, but she didn’t think it was like that. She awaited a response and hopefully a start to some useful training.

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A smirk came on Jai's mouth as the little kunoichi decided she'd like Jai to teach her a thing or two. He pondered the idea over for a few seconds, before unsheathing his newly polished black blade, looking at the craftsmanship on the blade, the perfect balance of the pommel and the hilt, even the grandiose finish on the scabbard. All were formed perfectly and ready for combat. 


Swiftly and without warning, Jai quickly slashed his blade in MoMo's direction. It wasn't with the intent to kill or maim but it did have the power to harm her. He swung down hard over her shoulder. If she was quick, he sword would already be drawn to catch the blade in its place, if she wasn't Jai would stop the blade right above her shoulder, not harming the young lady at all. But the exercise wasn't a prank of ploy to scare her. Jai did it to unlock her swordsman's spirit. Her flight or fight reflex. To get her adrenaline flowing. It was the best way to be when training. It was the perfect condition to be in when honing skills with a sword. It was only then that one's sense were at their peak. That's one's morale could be activate. That's one's sword an be at its sharpest. Training with a sword was no joke, so the silly lazy Jai was gone. Little Momo had awaken a part of her new comrade that slumbers deep in inner recesses of his mind. 
 
Tenken had come to play. "Now, if you're ready", said Jai retracting the sword as jumped back a few feet. "Ready yourself, Momo-chan. It's time to learn the Cloud-Style", said Jai bending to a one handed, swordsman's ready stance, holding his blade in is right hand out in front over his body, legs wide and bent, and his other arm outstretched behind him, balancing him in place. 


"Take your position."


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Momo watched as he smirked. She still waited his reply to see if he knew anything, but she would learn soon enough, Momo watched as she quickly unsheathed his blade and sent an attack. The blade aimed towards her right shoulder. Momo’s natural instincts kicked in and she was able to block the attack by unsheathing her blade just enough and raising the blade parallel to her body to meet the blade of her attacker. A smirk came over the girls face as well. When it came to swordsmen especially, and shinobi as well. Sometimes, the clashing of blades or the exchanging of fists or jutsu in battle said more than words would ever. It was how each person tried to understand the other.
 
The boy’s blade that he had crafter was nice, but nothing compared to that of Momo’s. She was still a little skeptical that her father was able to make such a fine blade (he didn’t but she thought he did), but didn’t really pay much attention to the idea because she wanted to honor his death and continued to believe it was his work despite some speculation. The boys attack, although not seriously had caused Momo’s blade to cause a small cut in his blade where the two blades met. Nothing serious enough to damage the blade completely, but to a swordsmen, they would be able to tell when an opponent’s blade’s sharpness exceeded their own. It was a sign of respect and acknowledgement.
 
The two blades retracted and Jai had put some space between the two. Momo held her sword in front of her, the tip at her eye level. She had both hands on the hilt in a ready position. He then told Momo to ready herself as he was about to teach her ‘Cloud-Style’. She watched as he held his blade with his right hand out in front over his body, she also made note of his widen stance and his legs being bent. He also noticed his outstretched arm behind him balancing him in place.
 
Momo copied the stance, bending her legs and keeping a solid stance. Holding her blade in her right hand in front of her with her other arm elongated behind her so that she could keep her balance.
 

“Ready when you are Jai-san.”

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As soon as their swords met, the lecture began. Her new friend was clearly more skilled in the art of the sword then she was. She had only known what she had taught herself so she was in for a lesson. The boy said that her posture was all wrong and that there was no ferocity in her swing. Momo lacked the true confidence she needed. She watched as the boy jumped back and slid a few feet.
 
Momo perked up as a result of the boys comment. She changed her fighting stance to something she was more comfortable with. She now placed both hands on the blade. She then assumed an athletic stance. Then she held the blade diagonal in front of her face with the tip of the blade leaned back towards her left shoulder. During this time, he would then inform her about the ways of the Cloud style and how it originated from the village hidden in the clouds.
 
As soon as his words ended, the boy would disappear from sight and cause Momo to tense up, he was too fast for her to react to although she could tell what was happening. She could feel his presence as he appeared next to her and then vanishing again. Spectacular. The truth behind the cloud style was deception. He then informed her on the name of the technique that he had performed and then began to instruct her how to perform it.
 
Simple enough. Momo would keep eye contact with the boy acting dazed as if she was still trying to calculate the information that he had provided her with. The girl would then slip a hand behind her back and take a kunai out of her bag. She would then throw the kunai into the dirt next to her friend and would shunshin behind him with her hand on the hilt of her blade. She did this in fact to catch Jai’s attention and draw it away from her and to the kunai, thus allowing her enough time to shunshin behind him, hopefully catching him off guard.
 

She hoped that it would be enough. She was now beginning to feel some type of way. She was beginning to let her guard down emotionally while staying completely focused on the task at hand. She was ready to be instructed. Momo felt thrilled. Finally she was getting to use her blade again. When she was fighting opposed to when she wasn’t, it was like she was another person. Her personality completely changed. When in battle, she was deadly; otherwise she was more calm and relaxed. Momo waited for Jai to instruct her further. 
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