Fighter's Build [P]

Ayato was still thinking about some of what had happened. Nowadays Hibari Hyuuga put up a ruse of a spineless citizen of Hoshigakure. Ayato knew this was done in order to protect their identity but he could not help but feel that his father had made peace with his past and had come to terms with his new life. Ayato could never do that, a great shinobi like his father deserved better than this. “I have to become a strong shinobi, true to our family name.” Let the Hyuuga elders say that Ayato was no Hyuuga then if they dared. That he was only a bastard of a kin-slayer and a nameless peasant. 

"I need to become a strong shinobi, entirely stronger than what I am now." Over the months that passed ever since Ayato had made it to Genin and had completed a few missions successfully. Even though not much,  Ayato was one step closer to accomplishing his goal. Which was well, many things. And he was too tired to think about that now. “Eyes on the prize, not the Horizon.” He thought as the locked door of Dojo in the City’s outskirts loomed above him.

Today he had set to improve his jutsu, but he wasn’t sure where to start from so when he asked some Chuunin the other day and they had referred to him at this place. Here, a jutsu master supposedly made his services available to aspiring ninja for a fee. Ayato was waiting for the Taijutsu Master to arrive, but he was taking an unreasonably long time. "Where the hell is he? I’ve been here for three hours waiting for someone to show up.” Deep down there was part of him that feared this whole Dojo thing the Chuunin gave him was meant as a cruel joke. The place looked deserted. The details on the woodwork were magnificent as if the greatest carpenters joined forces to build it together. Yet for all its glory the years and the bandit raids had not been kind to it.

While Ayato was ranting, someone’s footsteps echoed in the back, crashing the fallen autumn leaves. “Could it be?” Ayato thought in excitement, believing he would turn around and look at a well-built macho man similar to Kyosuke Snow, or perhaps a more sophisticated greybeard with a more philosophical approach to martial arts. Both his expectation was poorly met. "Hey you brat! What are you doing here?!” The old man with the afro and the sunglasses yelled with a voice sharp as steel. He was well over fifty years of ageAyato guessed, but there was nothing sophisticated about his old age. And his plump composition was not that of a martial arts trainer either. “Chuunin cunts. Now way this man is a shinobi, only a drunkard that caught a kid trespassing into his property. Almost time to yell to get the fuck out of here.”  Ayato thought in dismay, looking at the ground trying to hide his embarrassment.

“Well answer me dammit! I've got things to do; dealing with a snot-nosed Genin is the least of my concerns right now!" Ayato was taken aback by the words he heard and mostly by the fact that the man had knowledge of Ayato’s rank, all previous thoughts of anger subsided into nervousness.  "Yes, I’m a Genin. I was told by Chuunin to come here and find a trainer. It appears I’ve been tricked. I’ll be on my way then." The man shook his head in disapproval.  "I don't believe you. They  told me that the kid I was supposed to train was some sort of prodigy who went down to the waterways and captured two missing-nin...Not a total wuss who can’t  even make eye contact." So Ayato had come to the right place after all. The old man eyed Ayato up and down, looking at him with disapproval “You don’t look the part either." Ayato’s nervousness towards the man soon turned to frustration and anger, but he tried his hardest not to openly display that emotion in his expressions. He didn't dare want to offend an elder, or a taijutsu master for that matter if he was one. But it didn’t matter, though; since the man could definitely sense it. "Oh-ho, now that’s a look I wanted to see. Getting a little flustered there brat? My words are hurting your precious feelings?" The man said this with a mocking but harsh tone, trying to antagonize Ayato. The young Genin almost lashed out about what was happening, perhaps this was a test.

But at this moment he remembered his time in the Academy, where entire classes spent on how to maintain your cool, and  refrain from showing your enemy your temperament, for they predict what you would do and that could ultimately lead to death. Ayato almost laughed to himself. "I’m being played." The afro-man looked at Ayato with a curious look as if he could understand exactly what Ayato was thinking about. "Hey, something on your mind, speak. “Ayato turned to look at him with a calm and expression "Nothing really. But I might say that I’m honored to be in the presence of such a strong jutsu master. Tell me are there any other disciplines going to join us soon?” The man was confused for a second but then he began to laugh as if to agree. "So you get it now brat. Well, there are no other students currently. But consider yourself lucky it’s not every day that a Genin slacker like you comes face to face with a shinobi of my caliber!" He gave his belly a strong slap and continued on with his self-praise. This started to annoy Ayato Hyuuga "I can’t read him at all. Maybe the tactics I thought he was using weren't really there at all..."

As the man proceeded to unlock the door of the dojo in a soft push that kicked the dust from the ground he continued on and on and on with his talk about how many missions he had been a part of and the time he saved a group of civilians from a bunch of lowly bandits. And while the man continued with his talk Ayato decided he had enough by now. There was no way a man with this demeanor was a taijutsu master.  "More likely a fraud that rips off people by tricking them." Ayato thought as he took up his Gentle Fist stance, careful not to make any sound as he positioned himself.

“Time to expose all of your lies.” Ayato thought and with the man’s back turned on him, he leaped and launched a strong palm strike in the form of a karate chop at the man’s back of the head “I got him good. “ Ayato was pleased by the results. He could see the man falling unconscious before he even knew what happened. He crashed headfirst on the wooden floor that squeaked loudly in his fall. 

“Serves you right crook. I hope you are not dead, though. This total wuss of Genin can report you in for the arrest. “It was only a split second after Ayato's little victory speech he felt a pat on his shoulder, "What he-" Ayato turned to his right to see who it was and in an instant his face met with a strong punch to his jaw, sending him flying. Ayato began to roll on the wooden floor of the dojo until he came to a stop. Ayato forced himself back up, spitting out some blood. "Who the hell did that?!" Ayato looked up to see the body of the man he had hit dissolve and disappear. Ayato was in shock, "This isn’t substitution. What is going on?" While lying on the floor, trying to figure it out he heard an all too familiar laugh.

"Haha, so I guess this is the first time this has happened to you, isn't that right brat?" Ayato looked forward to seeing a figure walking towards him; it was the crooked old man, completely intact. Ayato still didn't understand what was going on so he stupidly exclaimed, "But I got you! I felt my hand slamming on your head." He just laughed at Ayato’s comment. "Just a little trick I picked through the years. But tell me, did you honestly think a green Genin like yourself could beat someone like me? Or perhaps you didn’t. “The tone of the man’s voice had changed considerably Ayato realized “Or perhaps you didn’t, perhaps you simply dismissed everything I said as lies."  Ayato rolled his eyes, "Just tell me what the hell is going on!" Ayato vexed as he attempted to rise to his feet, still groggy from the blow. "The later it is then. It pains me to know that. Still, I suppose there is no surprise there. Even I find it hard to believe that I’m the same man I was thirty years ago. But it seems you are hungry for a response but I just don't think a person who just got beaten as badly as that deserves to make demands of me." 

Ayato searched for words that didn’t come. He just looked down at his crusted blood on the floor. The man was right, if this had been a real fight Ayato would have been mercilessly killed in seconds. "Apologies, my earlier judgment was off. You truly are who you say you are." Ayato bowed in apologetic manner and blood from his nose dripped on the wooden floor. The man remained silent for a while until his response came in a form of a loud sight. "I suppose I can tell you...Approach lad." The man proceeded to sit down on the floor, and Ayato proceeded to do as he was told; approach in order to listen carefully. "What you just experienced was a genjutsu, an Illusion. The "me" that you were talking about earlier was all but an illusion, hell even the three hours you waited was an illusion. I needed to get payback on you; you were staring at my dojo as if it was a dungeon."

Ayato felt extremely impressed yet discouraged at the same time, he admired the power the man seemed to possess but at the same time, he couldn't see how his strength would ever amount to that in his lifetime. The man noticed immediately the look on Ayato’s face "Keep your chin up, lad. You did pretty well. I guess…"  It appeared as if he attempted to think of something to praise Ayato about, "You can take a punch better than most. This is a skill that'll come in handy when training to be a great shinobi!" The man started to laugh turning into his goofy version once again. Ayato at first was reluctant to laugh at the joke, but soon came around and began to laugh as well. He had to keep laughing even if he had to fake it. “Make him forget about my earlier slight.” The man then stood up and extended his hand towards the young Genin, "We let our first do the introduction but I trust it is time for us to be more formal. The name's Herzo, Herzo Hittori. Nice to meet you student."

“Likewise. My name is Ayato. Ayato Hyuuga.” Ayato smiled and shook Herzo’s hand with a firm handshake. “Herzo Hittori huh? That is an alias if I ever knew one.” The man named Herzo began to speak, "Apologies I had to be so hard with you earlier, wanted to test your metal. Many Genin would have either broke down crying or been mad enough to keep attacking me. “He started to laugh. Ayato chuckled as well since that sounded exactly like something his hothead teammate Miyamoto would do. But then he realized that’s exactly what Ayato did. "But Herzo-sensei...I did attack you...well actually the fake you. But it was my true intent." Herzo laughed some more at Ayato's confusion, "No arguing there. But you did it when you thought I wasn't going to expect it when I was off guard. When dealing with an enemy ninja of a higher rank that’s your best bet for survival." Ayato was taken aback; he never expected to learn so much from this man after meeting him just a little while ago. But for some reason, he could feel an aura of strength and knowledge about him that he didn’t notice before. And think that some suggest the Hyuuga don’t miss many thanks to their Byakugan. Today, that couldn’t be more far off. Ayato nodded his head in agreement he couldn't wait to be trained by him.

Herzo then proceeded to stand up. "Alright then, since you appear to suck at genjutsu. Let me see something else..." Gamma stood up. "OK, Ayato  I want you to fight me using your all. Don't hold back, because if you do I will know. And I will be highly pissed off...I don’t think you want to see that." Ayato’s lips formed into a smile in his excitement. "I have no qualms about that. Last time I underestimated you, this time I won’t make the same mistake.” Putting his hands in front of his chest he used his hand signs and yelled out, "Clone Jutsu.” Three clones completely made of absolute nothing less appeared suddenly beside Ayato. "From your punch earlier I can tell that taking on of those head would be suicidal. I'll just make more of me!" Ayato proclaimed hotly then signaled his clones and the four of them ran out towards Herzo.

As the four of them confronted Herzo he simply smirked. "Yes I see it, the images of you copied down to the last detail. Your clone jutsu is exceptional but I this won’t be enough!" Herzo jumped forward and quickly dispatched with two of the clones with swift kicks. He then took out the third with a lightning fast straight right punch. Herzo then ran up to Ayato and as the young Genin attempted to launch a strike at him, Herzo performed a sweep kick, causing Ayato’s feet to fly from under him. Herzo then grabbed Ayato firmly by the collar of his cloak lifting him up with brute force as if he weighed nothing "This all you got? I must say I’m disappointed." The young Hyuuga then gave a soft smirk as his legs moved under him "Not quite." Ayato then disappeared with a poof, leaving a small smoke bomb behind to be crushed in Herzo’s grip. The dense cloud of smoke spread in the dojo within seconds. 

"*Cough *so you actually used a substitution jutsu combines with a smoke bomb in a time like this? *Cough* Not bad.” While Herzo was talking Ayato decided to make his move.  Herzo understood that Ayato managed to establish a major advantage for himself in this situation; he had disappeared from Herzo’s sight and at the same time hide himself within the smokescreen. The smoke would effectively blind both of them but Ayato had one more card at his disposal to play; the Byakugan. The Hyuuga’s clan bloodline would make him able to see through the smoke while Herzo couldn’t.

Herzo looked up to see Ayato's shadowy figure charging at him with a fist flying towards his face. "You can't dodge this one Herzo-sensei!" And no matter his experience Herzo would never guess Ayato could see through the smoke, expecting to meet Ayato on even grounds suffering from the same handicap. It wasn't possible for him to know what the Hyuuga name meant was it?

"Is that so?" The confident response of Herzo Hitori felt like a slap in the face and gave rise to nervous tension. A split second before Ayato’s fist landed on his face, Herzo quickly moved his head to the left effectively dodging, but that wasn't all. He then threw up his knee in a flash smashing Ayato in his gut. The Hyuuga let out a deep sound as all the air in his lungs escaped.  The knee counter sent Ayato flying upwards but he was quickly grabbed by his ankle.

Herzo shook his head, "Nice try there Ayato, but I don’t strictly rely on my eyes to see." Even with the Byakugan Ayato vision started to blur that knee counter made him extremely woozy, and the fact that he was dangling upside down by his ankle wasn't helping anything.  Herzo locking his grip tightly on Ayato’s ankle began to turn his body 360 degrees, his left foot pivot and the right kicking up the wooden floor. Instantly Herzo had increased the momentum for the powerful spin and at the end of it loosened his grip, the force sending the teen flying  to the ceiling as if he was ragdoll. “This geezer he barely wasted any movement..” Ayato focused the chakra on his feet for the Surface Walking Technique and titled his body accordingly, attempting to cushion the impact. He landed with the sole of his sandals, the concrete ceiling cracking from the force of the landing. The world was upside down engulfed in smoke. But even conditions that other would be impossible to perceive anything, Ayato’s Byakugan pierced through the smoke, making out Herzo’s chakra pathway system.

Ayato Hyuuga locking on the target several feet away took up his battle stance and extended his left arm forward. The palm pointing towards Herzo’s direction while the palm of his right remained closed to his waist. “Eight Trigram’s Vacuum Palm” With a sharp exhale his right arm took flight, unleashing a powerful burst of chakra.The dispersing smoke kicked up, forming walls around the projectile as it traveled towards the opponent.

“That’s more like it.” He let out in amusement “But…” Herzo extended his arms in front of his chest, forming a unique hand seal with his hand that Ayato had never seen before, hell he couldn’t even describe what it looked like. “You’ll have to do better. ” Ayato tightened then, with his Byakugan he could tell there was no movement in his Herzo’s chakra pathway system.”  The Vacuum Palm projectile was halfway there and with Herzo remaining still, Ayato’s victory against the man was clear as morning daylight. “Hirodora!” Herzo yelled and unleashed a compressed blast of air roughly shaped like the head of a tiger. It traveled in a straight line, towards Ayato’s Vacuum palm. The two similar jutsu clashed with another in a form of muffled explosion that sent a powerful shockwave, blowing away all the lingering smoke from earlier and for a moment it seemed at if the whole building leveled the entire building.  

Ayato held his breath as the two jutsu remained interlocked with one other “A wind release ninjutsu?  No…This… “ There was no visible chakra streams behind it for his Byakugan to see. The tiger’s head air blast pushed the Vacuum Palm projectile back and it literally pierced through it. “My strongest technique crushed just like that.” The tiger head kept traveling at increased speed towards Ayato who was on the ceiling. He had to dodge if that thing hit he would die. Almost out of instinct he executed the hand seal for the body flicker and disappeared with a swishing sound to the right of the ceiling, far away from the projectile’s range.

With the corner of his eye, he saw Herzo on the ground smiling. It cut deep like a blade. How could he admit defeat like this? Not landing a single blow. “I have to press on no matter what. “ This is an opening. Herzo used his strongest jutsu, whatever the hell that was. There was no way that thing could be used without a cool down. This was his golden chance. Ayato reached for his weapon pouch and pulled out a kunai with nervousness. Before he leaped from the ceiling to attack Herzo’s eyes met his. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Herzo playfully said and pointed to Ayato’s right, where the air blast would have crushed when the Genin dodged. And then it hit him, there was no sound of the collision, no shattering of concrete no nothing. Slowly turning his head around in awe Ayato saw the air orb that began to expand. “No one said it explodes on impact.” Herzo added and then the shockwave followed. He didn’t even have time to brace for it. The explosion of compressed air engulfed the young Hyuuga.

Breaking his surface walking technique that pinned him to the ceiling, Ayato fell and hit the ground with a thud, the aftermath of the air explosion not getting him. "It worked." He attempted to stand but he couldn't move his arms to push himself up. Ayato felt exhausted, he had used so many jutsu at one time, and his chakra reserves were nearly at their limit. "Well, well, well. You got out of range just in time. " Herzo patting his arm looked over to Ayato “Seems like your done for today. Good job!" Herzo then began to laugh again. "What was that jutsu you used, never seen one like it before. It felt as if it were similar to the one by used. But…there was no chakra behind. It’s as if it was composed of well, air." Herzo nodded his head

“I thought so, how is that possible?" Ayato asked slowly getting back to his feet.Herzo then turned around and faced the wooden sliding door of the Dojo. "Well, this is punch and, contrary to its appearance, purely taijutsu in nature.” Ayato was taken aback. Was he supposed to believe that a punch released a blast of compressed air was capable of crashing a B-rank jutsu and keep going? A punch. No chakra. No element. Not even a handsel. But a punch, a normal fucking punch.  Was Herzo bullshitting? Every second passed it seemed more possible.

“You don’t seem convinced. “ Herzo had noticed Ayato’s frown. He needed to become better on hiding his emotions. But it was reassuring to know that Herzo took them into consideration.  Ayato wasn’t used to that. “Well let me explain. The  user places a palm facing forward in front of their face with one hand and then taps it with his other hand, formed into a fist” Herzo began and performed the said motion with his hand. “Do it properly it will create a massive amount of air pressure. Next, you form a unique hand seal resembling a tiger. “He formed complex hand seal with his right hand for Ayato to see. If he hadn’t told that was supposed to be a tiger he would never have guessed.

“This launches the air pressure at the opponent in the shape of one by leaving a gigantic tiger-shaped impression into the initially built-up air pressure with the hand seal. The air pressure will condense as it's moving and be focused into a single point. The technique then explodes on command, releasing the built up air pressure in an instant.” He concluded his explanation with a smile, careful not to be too tiring for Ayato.
“That's it for today, I can see you're worn out...training will start again tomorrow and this time brings your initiation fee along. This place doesn’t run cheaply" Herzo said to which Ayato gave a weak nod. His newfound taijutsu trainer walked out of the door leaving Ayato alone in the dojo.  

He remained there for a while, repeatedly executing the form of the punch. Hours passed like minutes and the atmosphere around him darkened. “This technique is exactly what I need. It’s similar to the Vacuum Palm, only with more range and power and even more flexibility due to the second explosion. I can’t wait to successfully use it in a battle. Wait, he never told me what it’s called. “The young Hyuuga thought as he attempted to stand up leave and this time he fell flat on the floor passing out.

The night passed, and in turn, the hour of dawn came. As the first beams of sunlight pierced through the morning mists Herzo Hittori walked towards the dojo. "That Genin, he better not be late today,“ Herzo said with a yawn covering his mouth with the back of his hand. “I'm finding another student to train, no matter how weak they are. If they are punctual they will have a shot. Then again maybe not, this place needs student after the mess that Naizu caused.” Herzo’s face frowned in consideration and perhaps even hints of suppressed anger. “I’ll have him clean the dojo instead.” Herzo changed his unpleasant expression and chuckled at the thought.

He made to open the door but realized it wasn’t locked. “Did that Genin forget to lock? He didn’t appear to be the negligent type so I didn’t bother telling him.”  Sliding the door with force, the morning shed its light on every dark corner of the dojo. Ayato was lying there, on the wooden floor, asleep. Wearing the same clothing he did the day before, which were now met by moisture and dust.

With a shake of his head, Herzo gave a loud sigh "He didn’t get home?  Seems like the poor bastard been here the whole night....well no matter." Herzo then leaned over Ayato "Hey! This is no featherbed. Get up." The Hyuuga’s eyes opened and he looked up to see his teacher. He tried to get up but his head felt enormous, too heavy to lift. His body felt sore and his back ached with a stabbing pain with every move he attempted to do. "This…where am I." Ayato looked around and saw he was in the dojo, "Curses, I passed out.”

“You don’t say.” Herzo jested with a face palm. “I made sure you were fine when I left, how did this happen. “ He asked with a calm tone tilting his head slightly to the right side. “I guess I really did push myself too far last night. But truly I meant to train only for a little while. I don’t know how this happened. " Ayato said apologetic ready to be scolded. Herzo then began to laugh aloud. "So you trained here all night, even though I told you to go home? Some guy you are.” His laughter made Ayato’s head hurt as if it was about to burst. Thankfully he ceased his laughter a few moments later.

“You got that tired and passed out? Well, guess we'll just have to change that.  We're going to go do some training in the forest. But first go home and take a shower, I think I can smell you from here.”



WC - 4431

Progress towards Daytime Tiger [4000/4000]
Progress towards Leaf Whirlwind [431/1250]

22 stat points for my work.