Iron Sharpens Iron (Miyamoto)

Shiro stands before a wooden training post much more intricate than the makeshift version he procured at home. That improvised object is little more than a cut out tree trunk made to stand alone with its pointed end staked into the ground. Though this professional piece of work sports rotating sections of limbs and is formed of a much harder wood.

"Why haven't I been coming to this section of the training grounds? I always practice jutsu right in my front yard with the old trunk I chopped down but the setup here is much more productive for my work." Shiro thinks, placing the back of his right arm against one of the extended limbs. With one swift motion, he strikes it, causing it to spin around the center of the main pole and impact Shiro's left arm. "Definitely much more robust than my own means of training. I can easily get into a rhythm with these mechanisms and spend a good amount of time here. And due to the density of the wood, I don't need to worry about breaking any of this equipment."

The tests continue as Shiro repeatedly strikes multiple pole extensions of varying lengths and countering or dodging any of the rebounding limbs.

(207/207)

Arriving at the training grounds, Miyamoto was finishing an apple as he took in the fresh cool-ish air of the morning.  He was feeling good, his grades at the academy were good enough to push him into his provisional shinobi line so that he could be assigned a team.  Happy that he now no longer had to keep going to school at age 10 was an extraordinary and the fact that he did it in less than two months of being there was even better.  His Jutsu was getting stronger each day, and after watching a few martial arts bouts in the training grounds, Miyamoto was ready to put some of what he learned to use.  

After throwing away the leftover bit of apple Miyamoto looked around to see if any of the training posts were open, and upon his investigation he saw that Shiro was there.  Excited Miyamoto ran up to the practice post next to him and began to practice his upper arm exercises before getting into a boxing stance as he moved at a speed of 10 and hit with a strength of 10.  He skipped his normal warm up today as he was trying to see if he could talk someone into a spar so he could learn a bit more.

"Hey Shiro-Kohai, how are you today it has been a while since I had seen you?" 

Miyamoto asked in between moving his arms to jab and parry hits before ducking and redirecting.

[ENTER]
[WC:247]

Shiro's attention is split as Miyamoto enters the corner of his vision. Part of his mind stays focused on testing out the wooden practice pole while the rest of his focus is on listening to Miyamoto's greeting.

The morning has gone well so far. Everything which Shiro has schedules has gone off without complications of any kind. Back at his home, bags are packed in preparation for the coming trek to Tengakure. Tasked with gathering information on the fallen village, Shiro has been setting his sights on ensuring that he will have enough supplies to last him the trip going and coming back. The shops have been generous to him because of the news that both final contenders of the chuunin exam arena battle had been allowed to advance towards the final test. Shiro, however, felt otherwise about the results.

"Good morning, Miyamoto. I'm feeling fine today, thank you for asking." Shiro grabs a hold of each of the revolving arms so that they slow to a stop before continuing. "It has been some time, hasn't it? I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer. But we have time to catch up now. Since we're both here at the training grounds, how about a spar?"

At 30 speed, Shiro steps back from the line of modified wooden stakes and stops five meters away. Turning to Miyamoto, he makes a slight bow.

"To understand exactly what you can do."

(236/443)

Miyamoto stopped the bars on the training pole just as suddenly as he started, exhaling long and smoothly he looked over at Shiro as his greeting question was answered.  He listened to Shiro talk for a few minutes telling him sorry for not being able to stay the last time they had met.  It was then he was asked to a spar as he saw for just an instant that Shiro seemed to take a quick step back, his eyes caught the movement ever so slightly before Shiro appeared in the middle of the training area, the shinobi practicing had stopped and turned to watch what would happen.

"Of course, I would love a spar, I have not had a good fight since I arrived."

Miyamoto would say before moving at a speed of 15 to flip from the dummy to the center of the field opposite Shiro.  He was met with a bow as was customary.  Miyamoto moved his hands out in front of him and brought them together in traditional Taoist Ying/Yang symbol before bowing to Shiro as he exhaled again, centering himself knowing that he would give his all in this spar...Shiro would expect that.

"I have been training a bit since we last met, I hope I can at least keep up with you."

His stance was now the horse as his legs were as wide as his shoulders, and his arms positioned for combat as he clenched his fists, inside of each hand was a rock in case he needed to fire up the Rock Fist.  He waited to see what would happen next.

[261/508]

"I don't believe I've seen that stance before. It seems to be based mostly on stability so I can discern that most of his tactics will be hard defense rather than swift offense or counter attacks. Still, I should keep my guard up." Shiro looks over Miyamoto's form and sees its strength as well as its weaknesses. "Most defenses, if not all of them, have weak points. My best shot in a fight is to locate those weaknesses and exploit them while avoiding the use of strategies that will play to my opponent's strengths. As this battle progresses, I should be able to do that better. Right now, I don't know enough about Miyamoto to begin doing that but most defenses crumble under attacks from multiple angles. I'll test that theory here."

Finally deciding on a stance, Shiro lets his shoulders loose and places both of his hands in front of him with the right below the left. The hands are turned so that the palms are facing each other and the elbows are bent so that they point towards the ground. Shiro's arm muscles relax as does his core. At the same time, his legs are slightly bent and ready to move.

At 87 speed, Shiro's hands tilt forward so that his fingertips face Miyamoto. Immediately afterward, ten bone bullets emerge from said fingertips and fly straight forward, closing the ten meter gap between Shiro and Miyamoto while traveling at 60 speed.

Shiro dashes forward with 43 speed, following the bone projectiles, and removes his Fudo Pike at 87 speed.

(261/704)

AP:

Weapons:

Miyamoto did not have time to react in order to set up something major in terms of defense.  He would quickly make the ram hand sign at max speed of 15 as he would attempt to body flicker out of the way of incoming projectiles.   He was able to catch that Shiro himself had taken off behind the the projectiles, nearly blinking out of his ability to catch him by speed.  If the Body flicker would work he would dust would rise up as if he had jumped into the air at a speed of 45, however he meerely moved within 10 meters of Shiro again.  He knew he would quickly be caught as he would try to get away.  Miyamoto was in a bad situation as he would move with body flicker he would perform the hand signs for Rock Fist at a speed of 15.

"SHIT!"

He would think to himself.  His arms up to his elbows would become large half sleeves of rock with gauntlets over his hands.  Upon landing he would try to close the gap again at a speed of 15, keeping his eyes on his target so that if he came within a meter he would attack with a volley of strikes at a strength of 30, and a speed of 30.  If it hit, he hoped that the attack would stagger Shiro enough to try and sweep his legs at a speed of 15 and power of 15.

However if instead he was too slow, his body would most likely be struck by the projectiles first, then if Shiro were to hit him, most likely he would be knocked out in one hit.  He had to avoid this at all costs.

[WC:288/796]

The bone bullets accelerating before Shiro do not hinder his sight of Miyamoto as his target utilizes the body flicker technique to dash out of the way. On Shiro's left, Miyamoto stops and performs his hand seals. Each of these actions, the body flicker in progress and the hand seals, are clearly perceived by Shiro's eyes as they occur, in fact, he tracks his target as he moves across his line of sight and comes to a rest 10 meters to his left.

The ten bone bullets lines up vertically fly forward and continue until they fly past the fence wires and into the dense forest. As for Shiro, he stops his 43 speed dash in the position where Miyamoto previously stood. With his Fudo Pike still in his right hand, Shiro raises his left hand to his bottom lip at 20 speed and builds up the necessary chakra for his next technique. As he is doing this, Miyamoto is performing his own hand seals and Shiro watches as they unfold at 15 speed.

"That's going to be the Rock Fist Technique." He notes in thought. Just after Miyamoto finishes his hand seals and materializes his rock gauntlets, Shiro blows forth a cone of flames at 20 speed burning with 20 power. The cone expands and reaches a range of 3 meters ahead of Shiro, not nearly enough to effect Miyamoto. The bright stream of fire ends its reach by spreading flat with a diameter of 3 meters.

"A bit of cover and..." Behind the light of the flames, Shiro claps his hands together, the back end of the pike paced over his shoulder, and kneels while lowering his hands to the ground. All of this is done at 30 speed.

Below Shiro, the ground cracks in a 5 meter by 5 meter square and the closed off section with Shiro at the center begins to rise and stops when a height of 10 meters is reached.

(327/1,031)

AP:

Miyamoto noticed he was able to barely dodge the bullets, his reactions were the cause of that as he knew that Shiro could see his every move, the Rock Fist Technique would surely be found out.  As he skidded to a stop he was able to catch Shiro as his turn was up next.  He spewed forth a cone of flame, spreading out in a wide arc at a speed of 20 speed.  He moved to quickly dodge as he focused chakra in his body as he sank down into the ground at a speed of 20, meaning the flames would reach Miyamoto's location just as he sank underground.  

"Narrowly escaped that nightmare...Gotta try and get the surprise on him, his reaction time and strength, is much stronger than mine."

He began to think, he knew he did not have the energy to just hang around underground the entire fight, and that he had a limited amount of time with the Rock Fist Technique.  He then noticed using his magnetic sense that he was using through the Hiding Like a Mole Jutsu that Shiro had just used some sort of jutsu that raised the earth.  

"Damn...surprising him is going to be tough now..."

He moved at a speed of 20 through the earth and as he began to move up the square of earth under Shiro's magnetic area, he noticed that the workable area got noticeably shorter.  He smiled to himself as he went up to about a meter under Shiro's current location as he focused his energy into his right hand.  He punched with a strength of 30 to try and explode the wall outward to simulate his emergence from the earth.

If the diversion was successful he would pop up under Shiro and try to punch him with a speed and strength of 30 hoping to push him from his new area.  

If he was not successful he would be surely caught in front of Shiro.

[AP=190
-10 Body Flicker
-20 Hiding Like a Mole
-30 Rock Fist Technique
AP=130]

[WC:328/1,124]

Shiro's attention stays fixed ahead of him, particularly at Miyamoto's position at the time that the fire stream technique was casted. As the Moving Earth Core technique elevates Shiro 10 meters above the ground, his head moves to stay on target to where his opponent was last seen. The flames die out as the  5 meter by 5 meter rock pillar finishes its ascent and fixes itself into position but Shiro is greeted by an empty space where Miyamoto used to be.

"I'm not surprised by the fact that he used my cover to escape into a better position." His eyes narrow as he uses his left hand to grab three shuriken from his left ninja pouch and bring them to his front at 87 speed. At the same speed, he turns his head to scan the area around him, only slightly turning his upper body. "He isn't in my line of sight. Not to my left or right. He's not behind me either. Based on the technique he used earlier, I know that he utilizes earth style so it isn't impossible that he dove underground. That technique is a basic earth release jutsu so the odds are good that he's beneath me right now. Though, his speed is inferior to my own and he's going to need to travel a total of... twenty meters to reach me. Of course, this is assuming that I've already seen him travel at his full speed..."

Scenarios flip through Shiro's mind as he formulates a strategy to satisfy as many of them as possible. His Fudo Pike is still held in his right hand with the point forward and the back end behind him.

The small and isolated quake caused by Miyamoto's emergence from the ground grabs Shiro's attention and his eyes dash to the source of the disturbance. Just under him, Miyamoto's body rises from the rock below and Shiro's left arm moves up closer to his chin, quickly realizing that this is an attempted upper-cut. The shuriken in Shiro's left hand are let go of as Miyamoto's rock fist impacts the forearm. With his now free hand, Shiro forms the ram seal, slightly tilting his head to make room for the pike. All of this occurs at 70 speed.

At 157 speed, Shiro body flickers backward for 10 meters and places his Fudo Pike into the holster on his back once again at 70 speed.

"I thought that I would be using my pike but it doesn't look like I'll have that opportunity here. With the way Miyamoto's fighting right now, close range isn't going to happen unless I close the distance. But that would imply offensive tactics and my Fudo Pike is a defensive and countering weapon." Shiro thinks, placing his hands together and forming five hand seals at 87 speed. At the final seal, the tiger seal, he blows forward and releases a compact ball of fire .5 meters wide. The fireball travels at 30 speed towards the rock pillar 10 meters ahead. Upon impact, the fireball will explode with 30 power and a radius of 2.5 meters. The rock pillar, having a health of 20, will crumble and shatter at the force of the explosion, forcing shards of rock to fly in a cone shape away from the explosion.

"One more time..." His hands clap together and are placed onto the ground as Shiro whispers. Below him, the rock separates just as before. The 5 meter by 5 meter square elevates up to a height of 10 meters before coming to a slow stop. Through all of this, Shiro keeps his eyes fixed on Miyamoto's position.

A sharp pain emanates from Shiro's left shoulder, spreading to the rest of the upper arm. In response, his right hand moves at 40 speed to press against the area, massaging is slowly. Despite this care, the pain in Shiro's shoulder does not subside.

"He only hit my left forearm, never my shoulder. It could be poison." Shiro thinks back to just moments ago when Miyamoto had attempted his uppercut from below. "But he never broke my skin, how would he have poisoned me?" With the intensity of the pain growing and continuing to spread, he lifts the short sleeve over his left shoulder at 40 speed to examine his curse mark. The sight is fearsome. From the initial black and curled mark, an extended pattern reaches across the rest of his shoulder, following the path of the pain. The black mark and those flowing from it glow a mixture of red and orange as the speed of this infection grows. Within a few moments, the red glow fades and leaves his skin laced with black curves no more than one inch long that interconnect with duplicate curves. Shiro can see these markings across his arms, legs, and hands as well as feel the slight pain that they hold. This discomfort has decreased in strength now that the process is complete but it still exists.

"This must be the results of the experiment that Tomoya told me about. It's painful... but I can feel the power that it gives me. My body is invigorated." Shiro thinks, removing his right hand from his left shoulder. Through all of this, his eyes remain locked on Miyamoto's position and follow him as he makes any movements.

(891/1,922)

AP:

Stat Boosts:

Curse Mark Deterioration:

"SHIT!"

Miyamoto said to himself as he watched Shiro block his oncoming attack, his uppercut turning into a heavy punch against Shiro's forearm.  He was able to catch Shiro leaping from the risen earth as he escapes from Miyamoto's view.  This made Miyamoto uneasy as he looked around, sweeping the area as he was finally able to catch sight of Shiro.  He was able to read what seemed like two hand signs before Shiro launched a fireball towards Miyamoto and the earth.

"Damn!"

Miyamoto exclaimed though his mind already worked on a counter, he made the ram hand sign as he body flickered with a speed of 45 down to the left face of the raised earth and to the edge of the woods about five meters away from Shiro.  He caught a glimpse of the fireball colliding with the column of earth causing it to explode.  If Miyamoto would have been slower, he would have been reduced to ashes...or he would have been obliterated judging by the damage done to the column.  Miyamoto knew he would not have much more time while using the Rock Fist Technique, so he reached down and picked up a stone from the debris the explosion  had caused the column to surrender.  He moved his left hand up to make a one handed Tiger hand sign as the stone he had picked up sprouted like a tree in his hands forming a hard stone cane about 1.5 meters long.  Miyamoto looked to his opponent to notice him looking uneasy, maybe the punch he landed made more of an impact than what he had originally thought.  

Miyamoto contemplated his next move, knowing the honorable thing to do would be to wait for his opponent.  However, this was not how you won a fight in the shinobi world, here everything was won on how strong your will was and the strength of ones attack.  Miyamoto launched towards his opponent with about 10 speed as he would need to keep running to reach his maximum speed of 15.  He saw a glimpse of something happening to Shiro's body as some sort of mark began to spread from his left shoulder, he could not tell if Shiro was infected with something or if this had to do with some part of his clan's strength.  Regardless he pushed on hoping to reach his max speed of 15 within the distance it was between the two.  If he were to get in close enough he would strike Shiro across his chest swinging the cane from the top left down to the right, targeting the area in which Shiro seemed to have the injury.  The attack would come with a speed and strength of 30.

If the attack with the cane were to be blocked, and if Miyamoto were able to see an opening, he would try to strike once more with his Rock Fists at a strength and speed of 30 aiming to try to hit Shiro in the face once more.  

If the cane attack was successful Miyamoto would still aim to attack Shiro one last time, but this time again with the cane as he would move with a strength and speed of 30 to sweep his legs.

[WC=540/1664]

AP=130
-10 For Body Flicker
-5 for Rock Section Cane
New AP=115