Seasonal Onset Depression (IO)

Ketsueki awoke with a smile, jumping out of bed and stretching his near nonexistent muscles. "I don't know what Xeno has been practicing but his hits are sticking with me." He groaned, each part of his body felt like there was a massive knot in the center of it, likely due to the damage to his chakra network, no matter how minor it still messed with his body.

He then began to dress and left his home, Mitsukatta as well. Lately the dog had grown to be a little larger, it had only been a few months so that was to be expected. He smiled as he walked down the near impossible to see road, the mist had been awfully thick that day and he'd been caught in the brunt of it. He began to think of the jutsu he'd recently learned, Hidden Mist. Just as he'd passed the park where his encounter with Mors had happened he saw another figure further away. 

Rather, he felt odd as if eyes were on him. He felt far better about his odds this time, he has so far had two draws, one victory. He would have considered the thrashing Mors could have given him a loss but he hoped that the next time he saw the man he'd accept a match, double or nothing.

Sinai looked at the mission board with clear dismay. Since the war had started, missions had been either nonexistent or requiring the best of the best. The only call for shinobi required Junin or higher and seeing as the last blood games he was confined to a hospital due to an “accident bird watching”, he was still stuck at Genin. “Training it is…” he said to himself. He really wanted to train under that serpentine being he pledged his life to but with the war and everything, he would not be surprised if he was somehow drafted to lend his prowess. Even though he did not have an amazing vast arsenal of jutsu, he did manage to get the hang of a pretty complex Raiton jutsu and he wouldn’t mind brushing it up even more. It was an unstable jutsu, draining on both the mind and body.

He made his way towards the Academy, its gates always open for the eager to train. Kirigakure wasn't full of elite shinobi for nothing, it’s training was as compulsory as the need for one to eat and sleep. The sun rose over the mist, its rays slowly shining the isles of the killer shinobi. He dreamily thought of the latest pin-up he bought, of a brunette with short hair and…well endowed features. It was his new favourite. He slowly made his way towards the gates of the academy, the huge muscular statue of the Mizukage overshadowing the square in front of it.  He easily found his way through the halls of the academy and as soon as he stepped onto the training grounds, he realized no one was there. Before he could conclude that his training was fucked, he felt the familiar heavy hand onto him and his eyes took on that familiar crimson sheen. Far off in the distance, an opponent approached, from the other entrance to the training grounds, coming in from the bridge to the Northern Isles. “Thanks, I guess, Ghast. Hope you don’t mind calling you that but ghastly ally is a damn mouthful; Unless you know, you want to give me your name." He said to the now familiar being. The Ghastly Ally did not reply.

[360]

Ketsueki eventually confronted the figure after some time, finding it to be nothing more than yet another villager, he let a disappointed sigh escape his lips as he had just then remembered the Uzumaki boy. Such a pity he didn't get to see him again, Ketsueki had hoped he'd died. Not out of ill will but because that would be the best way to know whether or not his feelings were worth it. If he didn't hear about a funeral he may not have been all that great. 

The frail boy crossed the bridge to the academy, his jacket fully zipped up and his arms crossed inside it. 'It's getting colder than I like.' He thought, not speaking of the weather of course, Kiri was an absolute dream for him. No, he was speaking of his blood. His body wasn't tense, he wasn't feeling the air scratch at his throat, nothing. He was at peace, but since the battle with Mors his body had become much more restless to the point where he started to resent the times of peace. Then again, this wasn't a time of peace. Right now and across the sea, Mors and the Mizukage were off to war. Sure there were others but all Ketsueki had on his mind was fighting Mors and studying under his lord.

Soon the boy got to the Academy gates. He looked to the statue with reverence before wordlessly heading inside the academy and making his way toward the training ground. Hearing a voice as he approached. Yet another tally. Maybe he'd get a true victory. But that's if the voice belonged to someone worth their salt. The boy made his presence known by calling out to the two figures that came into view. "Hello! You're not students, are you?" The yelling was necessary for both his quiet voice and his distance.

Sinai looked at the figure that called out him. It was another shinobi, easily identified due to his shining Kirigakure headband. He appeared to be much younger than him yet at least this was a boy; So, misogyny crisis averted. “Aye Mate!” He hollered back. “Yea. I’m a Genin. But there is only me here.” He said, a bit confused at the use of a plural. He looked around him just to be sure and no one else was in sight. He began walking towards the other shinobi, planning to meet him half-way. “I’m guessing you got put in the backlines to hold the fort too, aye?” Sinai said with a half-smile as they were closer; wanting to break the ice a bit. “I have a bit of jutsu I wanted to try out, so how about a bit of sparring to refine the senses and get the blood boiling?” he would say. “No need for high stakes.” He would say as he would throw his sword off. Sparring in Kiri could mean a lot of things and most of them meant blood would be shed indiscreetly. He had plenty to train apart from his swordsmanship anyways.
 

He seemed to be just a kid, but it was better than training alone and hell, he was a Kirigakure Genin; the finest there could be in any shinobi village; so he surely would have some fight in him.


(360 + 235) = [495]

Ketsueki neared the man silently until he saw the man toss his sword aside. This caused the boy's little black hole to flutter. 'He's a Kenjutsu practitioner.' He thought, stopping a meter or two away he let Sinai catch up the rest of the way. "Yes, I was held back as a war asset, likely because I have yet to distinguish myself." He said, looking up at the clearly older man with his arms unfolded. He did steal a few glances to his blade as he spoke before he nodded.

"Sparring is what I need the most right now. I accept." He said, backing up to give himself a good four feet of distance between them. It was obvious that range wise Ketsueki was outclassed, and more so with apparent strength. However, this didn't matter as he had proven with his size and with his rank that looks can be deceiving. The small boy had learned the importance of setting the pace himself rather than allowing others to get their rhythm in.

He threw the Mors kunai toward Sinai's blade and despite his lack of care for precision as his eyes were on Sinai, it landed two feet away from his sword. Once the kunai left his hand, Ketsueki broke into a short dash as fast as he could go toward the man, keeping his hands up to his chest and his forearms down his abdomen. If he wasn't intercepted by a strike he'd use his small size to weave around Sinai's right side and turn once he passed him, digging his feet into the ground and firing a left straight directly for his liver at full strength and speed. If he recieved a strike his guard would do it's best to keep him from taking any major damage.

Ketsueki's weaving motions hadn't worked as planned, his guard punctured by the man's double handed strike. Were Ketsueki to compare it to anything it would be as if someone had been jolted based on pure instinct to throw a perfect strike at the boys arms, unfortunately Sinai's retaliation didn't rest there and once Ketsueki was halted by the strike, Sinai had already been in the process of kicking at his chest, damaging his guard further but only to the point of injuring him minutely, both strikes differed in speed but they were only just enough to give him pause strength wise.

Once the boy recieved the blow he struck back as well. With the boy being incredibly close to Sinai, just a foot apart in the lower body because of Ketsueki's charge and two feet apart in the upper body. He decided to kick forward between Sinai's raised leg and his dominant leg. He pulled it back as fast as he could and attempted to hook Sinai's now completely dominant leg and bring him to the ground. Simultaneously using his left arm from his guard to grab at Sinai's leg which he'd then use force him backward.

If he couldn't get a grip on Sinai's leg he'd sweep at Sinai's leg with his own and strafe backward two feet.

Ketsueki kept his grip firm on the dummy feeling Sinai's presence behind him, as he strafed backward he felt this feeling of unease, it was much like the kind a person might feel if they felt afraid of something jumping out at them, in this case the 'it' would be an attack from behind. The smartest thing the man could have done was to hit his least mobile area, his torso.

Ketsueki acted on this, turning to the left side a full three hundred and sixty degrees to the side, it was more of a swap of position with the dummy. He did this at a speed of twenty and before he even made it halfway, he felt the first kick strike the dummy in the shoulder/arm area on his right side (The dummy's left side.) The dummy bent one way from the pressure before being hit by the other kick, as well as Ketsueki's left arm which the boy had hooked, damaging him once more but just on the threshold of his resistance.

The boy then released the dummy once he was sure it would work with his new plan and charged forward again. Given their close range, his next plan did have a far greater chance of working. He'd released the dummy right between Sinai and himself with his left hand and threw what appeared to be a right straight aimed to go right through the dummy's left side into Sinai's midsection as he advanced at a speed of twenty. However it was a great feint and a major bluff. The boy only rolled his shoulder and moved his arm outward just enough to give it the look of a genuine punch. 

However, this was not the case, as Sinai would react the boy would weave around his adversary and execute a left hook to his liver at fifteen strength, the boy was going for a repeat assault despite it not working the first time, because this time he had a feint and something covering Sinai from seeing his full follow through. If it were blocked or otherwise countered, Ketsueki's right arm remained loose and free but vigilant to defend from counterattacks.