Hustling for the gains (io, nk)

Time is of the essence. The sun is just now rising, the morning begins. The sky is still dark but in the direction of the morning star it takes on an orange hue. The clouds curve as an effect of the sun rise, an astrophysical effect. The term for these cloud formations is "morning glory clouds". They are long and relatively thin compared to the average cloud. They all are parallel, or as parallel as curved clouds can be. Yes, they are slightly curved with their concave sides facing the sun as it rises. This side is also lit up by the orange light coming from that direction. These formations streak across the sky.

Moisture also condenses upon the glass of the windows as the humidity of the area rises. Temperature increases due to the sun beginning to warm surfaces. Satoru feels the touch of the sun's rays upon his brown skin as he walks into the street. Down this street, the sun shines uninterrupted. One is able to gaze down this street and watch the bright ball rise slowly over time.

We've spent a good amount of time describing the setting here. All that is further necessary is to explain the fact there is an area in the shape of a square surrounded by fences. This is the location to which Satoru is going. It is surrounded by fences on its perimeter. The area is as large as is needed. See, this is why the dimensions are not explicitly being stated, so that they might be conjured up when the information becomes needed. 

Finally, why is time of the essence as previously stated? Because Satoru is meant to pay the rent for his room this morning by a certain time. The problem here is that he has no money. So, he is at a shop nearby selling his kunai to a shopkeeper for money. He is not in need of much. So, when this transaction is made, he moves to return to his room. This training ground is to be passed on the way.

(345/345)

Morning air was always so nice to feel on the skin. It was probably why so many people did outside stuff in the morning, running, shovelling, walking or even if you're like Tsume and Haku, training. Today's morning sun was warm and refreshing, so it wasn't a bad day to go outside early to get some training done. So that's what the duo set out to do. Tsume had all his gear this time and the white feathered bird was taking to the sky. Tsume walked to the grounds at a calming pace, he wasn't in a rush, he was out to get all the morning air into his system. 



Their arrival was quicker than some because they didn't live very far from the grounds. It made it especially nice on days that they work extra hard and come home sore to the bone. Today's training wasn't going to be much, just him attacking invisible enemies with jutsu, making targets out of the trees and getting some rest when they were done. Lightning style: chakra blade was active, the sparks flew around the blade as it was activily being electrocuted with Tsume chakra. Then Wind Style: Chakra blade, which instead of the blade being surged with electricity, it was being surrounded by sharp wind style chakra. Both were probably his favourite jutsu, but his strongest was Rupture. Launching a chakra blast, the tree that he chose for a target was cut clean in two. Hakucho was impressed but he had seen it all before, so it wasn't new to him. 



Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, Tsume and Hakuhco spotted their dear friend Satoru Nara. They had sparred with each to face their sensei and they also took down a fire together. Yet with all this, he still didn't know the strange ninja that well. Hakucho rested on Tsume's shoulder as he went over to his friend to catch up or maybe ask to train together. "Hey, Satoru!" He called from afar, closing their distance. "What are you doing up so early?" He asked to get a conversation started. Tsume knew that the best way to analyze some or something was to get to know it or physically examine it. This was no different, but this wasn't to plot against him, it was so that if Satoru was ever in trouble, he knew his limits and jutsu. Analyzing his teammates would help them to become a better team. 

WC:409

The use of three techniques within the fences of the training grounds catches Satoru's attention. Their damage to the targets is quite extensive and Satoru finds himself intrigued by their ability to pry him from his perpetual thought while walking. The user of these techniques is someone whom Satoru has met on two occasions. Tsume and his bird named Haku previously sparred against Miyamoto. After this, the three of them had aided each other in putting out a fire which Miyamoto was also present for. Yes, the four of them (including Haku) made a fine team. In fact, Satoru has likely found the greatest enjoyment through interaction with these people which is quite an extraordinary thing to happen. Very rarely does Satoru find a person to talk to whom he enjoys interacting with to any extent. This is not to say that he dislikes people in general, just that he does not feel drawn to social interaction. Miyamoto and Tsume break the mold.

Satoru approaches after Tsume calls his name. He enters the training grounds through the gate of the fence and returns the greeting. "Good morning. I'm just returning home to pay my rent."

He leans over to look at the fallen tree which was broken in two by Tsume's jutsu. Its new state is a testament to the strength of this ninja. So, thinking about it, Satoru feels as though he has not seen the extent of Tsume's abilities first hand. In their spar with Miyamoto, the chuunin, Satoru grew tired quickly and had to call it a day. Maybe he missed Tsume pulling out his stronger techniques.

Wanting a challenging opponent to fight in order to strengthen himself further as he hates his own weakness, Satoru makes an inquiry.

"I think I saw you cut through that tree over there with your weaponry technique. I haven't really fought you at your full strength I don't think. If you have time now, we should spar." He says, referring to the tree now behind Tsume. It may be noticed also that Satoru has a large fan upon his back. This was not worn during the spar with Miyamoto so Satoru thinks that this might let Tsume know that he has also obtained new prowess.


"Before, with you and Miyamoto, I got tired and had to step away. But since then, I think you might be surprised with the current state of my abilities." He states while taking some steps back to put five meters between himself and Tsume. Satoru then stands ready to spar should Tsume respond affirmatively to his request.

(432/777)

Saturo wasn't a bad teammate and held nothing against him. In fact, when the fought together against sensei, he thought the ninja was quite interesting. From what he could remember, Satoru also used lightning and wind style. After Tsume asked what his dear friend was doing up so early, he told him that he was returning home to pay rent. "That's always a bummer." Then Tsume had a thought, a generous offer, "If you ever need a place to stay, my place has a guest room."

Hellos and general topic starters now out of the way, Saturo completed on his jutsu, which was good cause Tsume worked hard on all of them. This lead to him saying that he had never really seen the Chokyoshi and his bird at full strength. And then that leads to him saying that they should spar. Tsume was down, he still had energy, then Tsume looked at Hakucho, and he nodded. Both of them could spar. "Sure." The Chokyoshi said in a short reply. 

They got into their proper distance from each other, about 5 meters. Satoru boasted about how he might be surprised with how powerful he was now. Tsume smirked, you would be too. The Chokyoshi drew his katana and stood at a ready position. Hakucho took off from Tsume's shoulder and flew about 10 meters above Tsume. "Ready when you are." Tsume said timidly.  

WC:233
TWC: 642

To reply to Tsume's offer to stay at his house, Saturo agreed. Tsume knew it wouldn't take much hearing about his living conditions at the moment. Hospitality was always Tsume's forte, he got that from his mother. They were both fierce but welcoming. So it was no trouble for Satoru to stay. Plus some extra hands around the house could make chores go faster, meaning more training. Hakucho didn't mind either, it was just more people to give him attention. Satoru said that they could discuss this later, which Tsume nodded, getting ready for the spar. 

As Hakucho ascended for battle positions, Satoru made a clone. It wasn't a mirror or an illusion, it was solid. Shadow clone? That's new, Tsume thought. At that moment, Tsume grabbed his katana's sheath with his left hand. He was ready with steady eyes. Tsume knew the game he was playing, he was evening the playing field. "Clever." Tsume thought out loud. He clone started at Tsume with a pretty fast movement. He was using lightning javelin, something he had seen before. It wasn't ranged, so Tsume was glad. Seeing all the clone's movement with his amazing eyes and speed, he gripped his katana's hilt with his right hand as the clone got within katana distance. He slashed at the clone with a speed of 109 because of his Quickdraw jutsu. If it hit, it would cut through the clone making it disappear. Tsume wasn't worried if it was the real Satoru because he saw it get spawned in and he didn't really do anything to make it seem as if it was the real him. 

As that was going, Hakucho was flying upwards more, reaching 50 meters high. This was so that Satoru would have to attack one of them, leaving him open to the other. He stopped at 5 meters behind Sat, 50 meters up. 

If the blade hit, then Tsume would look at Satoru with cold eyes, the intimidation tactic. "Come on, I'm only getting warmed up."  


WC:336
TWC: 978

The clone of Satoru which is sent forward to take on Tsume up close is actually put up against quite a formidable situation. Tsume is skilled in the use of weaponry, a fact that Satoru should be weary of seeing as how the tree in the background has been cut in half as a result of Tsume’s sword technique. However, Satoru desires to test the waters of his opponent by sending one clone his way. He will gain the experiences of said clone when he is dispersed.

Before Tsume swiftly dispatches of the clone, that clone is able to see what it is that does him in. The speed of Tsume’s quick draw technique is not so high that it cannot be perceived. Satoru’s clone sees him clasp the hilt of the katana within his reaction time but the actual drawing of this sword occurs a bit above that value. It is perceived and the clone is likely able to make some sort of defense against it but such an action would be to no effect. The blade is too sharp and moving at a speed too great for the clone to have a hope of surviving.

Cold. But not really. Tsume knows that his target is not the original Satoru. But the look in his eyes is less important than the information obtained by the clone. Satoru has a feel for exactly how much faster than him Tsume is. With this in mind, he chooses his next moves carefully.

“With his speed, I can’t afford a two to one fight. He isn’t much faster than I can perceive when my lightning javelin is active. But Haku is an aerial asset, he rules the skies and gives Tsume a powerful advantage. To eliminate as many disadvantages to myself as possible, he need to either stun Haku for a moment or increase my speed even greater.” A thought then crosses Satoru’s mind. “My curse mark. I’ve experienced its power, it gives a speed boost with the potential to surpass Tsume’s current speed. That’s if I train to control curse mark. But right now, it’s too unstable to get much out of it. So, option A it is.”

With his fan in hand, Satoru quickly turns himself around and swings the weapon to create a gust of wind. This wind goes on to form a vortex which moves blades of wind in eratic ways in order to inflict damage upon an enemy. Satoru makes sure to decrease its strength as he does not know how much damage Haku is able to sustain safely. This will suffice simply to spin the air around the bird and disorient him.

Those actions not defined with a speed are performed as quickly as possible. Satoru’s senses are also peaked in order to listen for movement from Tsume and react accordingly. His fan is held at the ready as it doubles as a defensive weapon as well.

(490/1,783)

The clone that Satoru used against him stood no chance against Tsume's speed. Tsume had displayed his fastest speed but Satoru didn't know that. Tsume would just have to see how long he could keep the illusion. Sat started to unfold his fan, not good news for Hakucho. The wave from the fan blew Hakucho, the wind started to disorientate him. But this still left Satoru open for an attack. So, not waiting for what Sat would do next, it was time for Tsume to use his turn again. 

As Satoru turned around to Hakucho to launch his wind style, Tsume fired his own attack, Rupture. The wave of chakra starts racing towards the companion. Knowing that Sat would have to counter or dodge his wave, he used that chance to get his buddy back from falling from the sky. The Chokyoshi used body flicker to go and get his friend since childhood from the sky. The body flicker made him appear beside Hakucho in the sky at a speed of 104 while the Rupture was still moving towards Satoru. His weight made them descend to the ground faster. 

Their attack wasn't done yet. Once they hit the ground the rupture should have reached Satoru location unless he had moved. Using that, Tsume would transform the white feathered bird into a clone of himself. They spit ways, going to the right and left of Satoru. Then, after spreading out, the two waited. They were both about 10 meters away from him and 20 meters away from each other, making a triangle. Were ever Satoru was, Tsume would take out a lightning-infused shuriken and fire it at him at a speed of 70. If landed it where Tsume wanted it to, it would hit the right arm, implanting in him. After a post, the arm would cramp up if not dealt with. Again, it was about timing with Tsume and Hakucho. And they knew each other's weak side. This made them so deadly. The cramp would be healed after the spar.

WC:340
TWC: 1318

Tsume had to admit, Satoru was a fun opponent. He was not too weak were Tsume had to hold back to not kill him nor too strong so that Satoru wouldn't have to tone it down so he wouldn't kill The Chokyoshi. All three of them had to go their very best to get the advantage of each other. Tsume always had that kind of spars with Hakucho went it's just the two but they both knew each other so well that they couldn't get a nice blow on the other. But with Sat, they didn't know too much, so it was always nice to see what counter he had. 

Satoru used the tree from before as a substitution while throwing his fan around like a baton. The rupture went right through the tree substitution and past between the space between Hakucho and Tsume before disappearing into nothing. 

Now that he dodged Tsume's attack it was Satoru's turn. The Chokyoshis wait for his attack, waiting to see what he had in store for them. Satoru exclaims that he still has two tricks left for him. The one that he displays must be one of them. It was a glowing ball of chakra with rings around it. Tsume guessed that it must be a wind style based on its looks and that he knew that Sat had wind style. Strangely enough, he didn't launch the attack. Tsume thought that maybe the jutsu had to charge. 

Hakucho stayed back as his taijutsu probably wouldn't work. So it was up to Tsume again. Like Hakucho, he figured getting to close could be dangerous as he didn't know what his jutsu did. Tsume took out a smoke bomb from his pouch and threw it to where Satoru was. The smoke from the bomb burst by his feet and at a speed of 50, spread around the 10-meter perimeter. Saturo was about 20 meters away from where they were, so it didn't spread to them. Tsume waited for an attack to come from the mist. The wind from the wind style jutsu was stirring up the smoke but all it did was bring the smoke closer to Sat, so it was no help on clearing it. Tsume, in anticipation for an attack, drew his fuma shuriken from his back.

WC; 384
TWC: 1552