Shrimp vs Shark [IO]

The Water Gardens is a place with two faces, or at least Satoru finds this to be true. One can be in the area to experience the beauty that is born from seeing what the name implies: water moving in a way that pleases one's visual and auditory senses. Then there are the training grounds, a place for physical activity, often fighting and sparring. Two different faces, one location.

Right now, Satoru stands gazing at the beauty of the moving water. He is looking like he has nothing to do, and this is true. However, coming right out of the hospital with new legs, he is eager to get back into the work of a shinobi. A spar is preferred, and the opponent is not important so long as Satoru is challenged.

(132/132)

Dawn, the time period where the light of the sun begins to radiate within the sky before the sun itself makes its appearance. The ever burning light so powerful, it combats and dispels the darkness before it even fully appears. It was this form of strength Valen himself strived for, to become a beacon for the people under so that they may utilize his ‘light’ to combat the darkness surrounding. To utilize his might to face their fears and become stronger themselves. It was Valen’s favorite time of day, his time of reflection, his few moments of peace. He cherished these moments dearly, as it usually ended all too quickly. Having to return to his office to do his paperwork, or being requested for a meeting or some other. It would only be a matter of time, this would be certain. The Deputy kage would be sitting in a tree overlooking the water gardens. His view of the slowly rising sun unobstructed by any buildings. The tree would be sitting on the edge of one of the training grounds, overlooking the beautiful gardens nearby. The ashen haired man would be leaning against the tree, sitting in a branch a decent bit above the ground as he reflected. His muscular body covered in his armor and cloak already, prepared for combat at all times as he should be. After all, one never knew when the next danger would come to his home. His favored weapons of course would be leaning on the branch as well, Twilight, his personal blade. As well as Shapeless, the sword of his late master. Always within arms reach of the trained killer, lest he be caught unprepared. 

Grey eyes would sweep the horizon as the edge of the sun broke the horizon to begin its ascendance into the sky to bring the warmth and light it possessed to the day. It was quiet, peaceful, and the beauty the day had already brought to him was resplendent. Clouds coloured by the sun’s influence would be seen in the sky, pink, purple, orange, these colours would paint a fleeting tapestry across the sky as it’s artist slowly rose to illuminate the beauty within the rest of their world.  Valen himself would take in a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air that graced them all with it’s existence. It was time to begin the day, and so with a deep sigh the Deputy would collect his sword as he casually rolled off the 20 meter tall branch, landing on the ground with the grace of a cat. Casually tying off the swords at his waist he would turn to begin walking toward his office before something caught his eye. Or rather, someone. Standing at just over 6 foot tall would be a genin whos name had crossed the Deputy desk at least once or twice within the past few weeks. ‘Satoru Nara, I guess Kenshin managed to find the time to heal him.’ The teenager would think as he noted the male was enjoying the scenery as well. Or at least, he seemed to be. 

He knew all about the failed mission, how could he not? One of his shinobi had been severely crippled for a time and another failed to make it out of the mission alive. He still needed to speak to Miyamoto Terumi about the mission soon. Such screw ups were not tolerated, especially when the Chunin had been meant to watch over them and make sure they were ready to be Chunin as well. He was there to guide them and protect them. He followed the mission parameters yes, allow each one to lead at different times to see how each of them do. However he failed to stop them from making large mistakes that in the end, caused the death of one of their genin. ‘First the incident in the training grounds, where he not only used a large scale destruction jutsu within the village training area. But admitted he didn’t know how powerful it would be, a failing for any shinobi. As one must always be aware of one’s own strength when it came to having it. Now this mission, he’ll have to work hard to progress further.’ He would think as he began to walk toward the boy who in all honesty, was the same damn age. He could see the restlessness in him, fresh out of the hospital after being in their for a time after a failed mission. His Chunin fight coming up sometime soon if he recalled ‘He wants to get stronger.’ He would mentally note the obvious. How could he not? The failed mission, his hospital time, the upcoming fight. It all led up to the obvious conclusion of why he was here, in the training grounds, at sunrise. It would appear however that there would be a severe lack of training partners for the boy to fight against. This simply wouldn’t do, a resetless genin, desiring strength, and no one around to push him? This was part of a leader’s duties as well. Something he would take care of personally. 

Approaching the boy the male would make his presence known with a brief flare of his chakra. Because approaching a trained killer and potentially surprising them when you naturally moved so silently even the trained ears of an experienced shinobi couldn’t pick you up, was stupid. “Nara, it would appear you’re here to train, needing an opponent perhaps?” He would ask simply, they both knew the answer to that. It wasn’t as if there was a long line of combatants after all. “I’ll be your opponent, rest assured, I won’t use my full strength on a genin. It would be a waste” He would say, the words intending to cut mildly, he wanted to breed a desire within the shinobi to prove him wrong. He seeked to ignite a fire within his belly to strive for strength to make the Deputy words untrue. He wanted to see Valen as a challenge to overcome. Wanted him to see the teenager standing a mere 10 meters from him with his hand on the hilt of his personal blade as an obstacle to transcend. Only the next few minutes would tell them if he would be up to the challenge. 

WC: 1050

Ooc Shit:

The call of the name “Nara” causes Satoru to turn his head ever so slightly to his left so as to give attention to the source of the voice. His body then follows to fully face his addressor. However, the first thing on Satoru’s mind is who the stranger is. His appearance is not familiar, nor is his voice, nor is his manner of speaking. All that can be gleaned from visual inspection is that power is one of this man’s attributes. Without seeing firsthand any example of the stranger’s skills, Satoru simply understands that part of their atmosphere; by no means is it difficult to put together. Being unable to sense chakra just yet, the surge exhibited by the jounin is not what Satoru goes by.

Further, the stranger appears to know who Satoru is. It is clear that he at least knows his clan name, Nara. No visual clues should give this away unless Satoru himself has made a mistake in his dress and grooming. Inhabiting Hoshigakure after originally coming from Kumogakure continues to be an uncomfortable position. This is why Satoru has put work into seeming like a different person from who he truly is. Yet, here a stranger easily speaks his clan name when addressing him. Some combination of fear and curiosity emerges in Satoru.

The man continues to speak and Satoru continues to listen. He is correct about the Nara desiring a sparring partner. Having found one, Satoru of course will answer affirmatively. Following this, the stranger’s words give Satoru yet more to think upon. A waste of his full strength? While Satoru cannot argue with this point as it is likely true, he does question the man’s confidence in this fact.

“My name is Satoru Nara.” He states his name although the stranger must already know of him. Still, a greeting is a greeting and the Nara cannot bring himself to be rude. “You seem to know me already. If you’re already so sure that I would be a waste of your efforts?”

Yes, offense has been felt on Satoru’s part. It is mild but it exists. The fact does not cause Satoru to act any differently, however. Rather, he comes to the conclusion that the stranger before him must be of a higher rank, possibly jounin. The lure is irresistible for the Nara given his drive for what he does. The chance to test himself against a powerful opponent is important for knowing where one’s own strength lies.

“I didn’t get your name.” The Nara states as he puts himself into a ready stance.


(431/563)

It would appear the genin wouldn’t know the identify of his Deputy Kage. Of course this wasn’t truly a large surprise as they had never met in person. He was almost positive the boy would recognize his name if he said it though. This would cause a problem, as he didn’t want this genin to give on the spar before it began. He needed to be pushed and if he went in automatically assuming he would lose it would be completely wasted. “Ah, see that’s the privilege of information. You’ll have to wait till after the spar to discover who I really am little Nara.” He would say as took a deep breath, his hand never leaving the hilt of his sword. “Begin” He would say simply. At the same moment as the first syllable left his lips he would activate his cloaks ability to light up, blinding those looking at him, sunglasses or not. The brilliant flash of light would cause the boy to lose his vision for three posts if he gazed in the direction of the Deputy Kage. As he did this he would take his hand from the hilt of his blade and form the Ram seal and summon a clone of himself. The doppelganger appearing silently in a bright flash of light. The clone would appear two meters directly in front of Valen and immediately dash forward as quickly as it could manage to launch a vicious punch into the boys stomach. Should it land it would potentially double the boy over in pain. A warning strike, to take this seriously or face defeat. “I warn you young Nara, I have quite a bit of pull within this village. Should you fail to meet my expectations, their could be consequences.” He would say stoically, having not moved from his location whatsoever. 

Should the strike land the clone would merely back off to a meter away from Satoru, and allow him a moment to compose himself. Should it miss it would merely be prepared to counter the boys assault. Assuming the boy launched one without the use of his eyes. 

WC: 354
TWC: 1404

(I need to get better at filler WC o.o)

Now this was just unreasonable, attempting to utilize so many techniques, most of which required two hand seals when a copy of Valen was coming for the user from merely 10 meters away. The two seals alone needed to create the clone would take up a majority of the time. Then the clone attempting to utilize two seals of it’s own to utilize some form of jutsu? That seemed sort of silly to the deputy kage. Of course, he wouldn’t stop it, nor would he even argue against it. Instead, the technique would succeed. The tendrils would form out and strike out toward the clone when it was merely a meter away from the clone, and therefore, three meters away from Satoru. The tendrils would pierce through the skull and body of clone, dispelling it abruptly, and unleashing it’s payload. For Valen’s light clones exploded outward in a radiant blast of light when they were dispelled by any means. The doppelgangers body would explode outward into a dome of light release chakra, merely a meter in front of the clone of the young Nara. The dome would also expand to it’s full size of 5 meters. Dispelling the clone and violently colliding with the wind wall of the boy as it expanded 1 meter off of his body. Of course the wall wasn’t quite wide enough to reach him (since the 5 meter is the area of effect from the point of destruction) it should however collide with the wind wall, dispersing it should it do so. 

Valen himself would pull a kunai out of his pocket with an exploding tag attached to it. The tag was low grade, only powerful enough to cause minor burns that any third rate medic could heal. The concussive force behind it wasn’t anything to sniff at though. He’d channel chakra into the tag and throw the kunai directly at the boy, aiming to clip his cheek with the blade. Of course the boy could somehow manage to dodge or deflect it. Should he do so Valen would activate the tag, causing an explosion that would radiate off the kunai the moment the boy was presumed safe from the blast. Other than that however, the deputy would remain stoic and still. Waiting for the next move of the young Nara, with the exception of placing his hands into the ram seal once more. 

WC: 399
TWC: 1803

It was a good morning so far, the sunrise was beautiful, the village was peaceful, and he got to beat a genin into the ground before work. Technically this was work though, but he enjoyed this. Motivating others to work harder by demonstrating the gap in their power often times brought the real strength out of people. Sometimes however, no matter who there were, people had brilliant moments of stupidity that Valen just couldn’t understand. The boy jumped to the side, merely two meters. To which Valen would simply activate the explosive tag on the kunai. Which reaches outward five meters. The explosive force of the tag would strike the boy, not even coming close to killing him or even truly injuring him. It would however throw the boy aside violently. However luckily, the tree he had been standing was a large one. The boy would be able to remain in the shadow, causing his technique, which he would utilize as he was in the air, to work. This is where things get rather sad though, for it would seem the purpose of the technique would be to attempt to hide the user from the opponents eyes. He would also note he couldn’t hear him any longer. ‘Interesting technique, but futile’ he would think. Since his Golden Eye allowed chakra vision, he could see the Nara quite clearly. 

One always had to learn from one’s mistakes, and the boy as of now didn’t even know Valen could still see him, as he was still blinded from his cloaks light. THe effects would be fading soon however. So before the boy moved too far Valen would merely create another clone. The copy appearing in a flash of light silently, just as before. Before it ran over just as silently as quickly as it could and launched the same brutal punch the original clone tried to do before. Should the punch land the clone would follow it up with a savage kick to launch the boy out of the shadow. While Valen would speak plainly “I can see you, you know.” He would say simply, never moving from his location. “So this is all the strength you have? No water Tsume Chokyoshi died. His teammate clearly was not strong enough to pick up the slack.” He would say, further prodding the knife of emotion. He would make this boy angry, he would motivate him to become stronger so that such travesties would not occur again. As it was his job, his duty to the young man. As well as to the other shinobi of the village he swore to defend. 

WC: 438
TWC: 2241

The concussive force of the explosive tag shakes Satoru’s body as much as it does his train of thought. While he previously had the plan to move up the tree upon making it into the shadow and activating his stealth technique, Satoru is slowed somewhat in his actions. It is as though he reels from the unexpected impact and must gather himself once more before continuing to fight at full mental capacity. Understandably, having been unable to know that a projectile had been sent his way, Satoru did not at all see an explosion to be possible. And yet, one is set off right next to him.

“Wait, what?” He asks himself as the force pushes him slightly along in his lunge. It even takes a moment for Satoru to be convinced that the pain is real.

However, the Nara will not be afforded this luxury of recovery. When he is standing within the shadow of the tree and of the opinion that his opponent cannot see him, a punch finds its way to Satoru’s abdomen. Again, an unforeseen attack. The following kick knocks him backward for enough for his stealth technique to be rendered ineffective. Feeling the sun’s rays once more, Satoru understands that he is no longer within the tree’s shadow and deactivates Cloak of the Night.

The words of his opponent follow. While he is still composing himself, he has the capacity to comprehend what is said. Simply put, the Nara is unable to determine if the pain in his gut is worse than the cut of these dagger-like words.

Satoru has nothing to say either internally to himself or externally. Instead, he is only able to think about the parallel between his recent disastrous mission and the takeover of his home village. When Amegakure fell to the Land of Lightning, Satoru was out of action due to injury. Weakness prevented him from protecting his own people. Weakness prevented him from protecting someone right in front of him. In both instances, dear lives were lost that were so tantalizingly within reach of saving.

After the sadness caused by his opponent’s words comes and goes, anger is next to consume the Nara. For a boy with such experiences as well as a drive to prove to himself that he is anything substantial, his opponent’s words are like sodium dropped into water. Likewise, Satoru explodes.

While the Nara’s character is a passive one, he does feel true rage at this instance. The rage is not such that he seeks to harm someone; his anger is not directed at any person but himself. Mentally, he is stomping his feet in frustration as he struggles with his own feebleness. For a moment, he goes on a mild rampage within the confines of his own mind; the equivalent of throwing chairs and flipping tables in contempt. Then, the Nara stands up straight, returning to reality. If one could sense emotional atmospheres, they might describe Satoru as possessing controlled irritation.

“I don’t deny my failure. You’re right about my insufficiency at the time of Tsume’s death.” Satoru admits. 
“But you would be mistaken to believe that this is all the strength I have. I take particular objection to that.” It is notable through his tone that he intends to cease acting as a punching bag in this spar.

Satoru opens his right hand and forms a bright ball of compressed wind chakra. Rather than rushing himself, he remains where he is and removes the large fan from his back. The weapon is held in his left hand, opened and prepared for use. Its wider portion rests upon the ground and Satoru would appear almost to lean upon it.

(615/1,961)

It was natural human nature to face a threat when presented with one. As such, when the tag went off by Satoru, from the kunai he didn’t know had been thrown, he would turn toward where it had been before attempting to continue on when the Deputies clone struck him. This cause him to be launched back out of the shadow, on the other side of it from where Valen himself was. There would be about 15 meters between them now. As the boy had moved to the side to get to the shadow, and then was kicked out of it violently by a light clone. Of course, the boys eyes were still useless to him, something he would keep causing to occur. The less experienced shinobi had lost a teammate because of his utter lack of ability to know what was going on without the usage of his eyes. Something shinobi trained to deal with all of the time. This was a lesson Valen would personally beat into the young man. Watching the genin for a moment as he seemed to contemplate his words the clone that he kicked the genin would still be about. Moving ever so silently through the surrounding area, maneuvering around the boy. The copy would be in position to strike before the boy even spoke, standing mere inches behind the boy, silently, with breathing controlled and actions stilled. A wraith waiting to strike out from the shadows of the boys reality. 

“I don’t deny my failure. You’re right about my insufficiency at the time of Tsume’s death.” the boy would readily admit to which Valen would respond. “You’re all at fault, none more so than Miyamoto, but worry not. I’ll be taking care of him soon enough.” He would say, anger lacing his voice at the utter ineptitude of his subordinate. One might be able to glean a hint as to his the Akari’s true identity if they thought about those words a moment. Although at best one would be able to find out that the ashen haired shinobi was a prominent shinobi that utilized light to fight. “But you would be mistaken to believe that this is all the strength I have. I take particular objection to that.” The boy would say, in continuation with what he had just said before a bright ball of wind chakra would form within his hand before the boy reached for his fan. To which his clone would finally intervene. The moment the boys hand reaches the fan, when his elbow would be the most vulnerable, the doppelganger would slam his open palm into the joint, not only knocking the appendage away from the teens weapon of choice, but potentially shattering the elbow at the joint.

The clone would, at the same moment, take hold of the boys fan with his right hand, and take it from him unless interrupted. Before tossing the fan toward Valen’s actual body, the large weapon landing harmlessly next to him with a clatter, undamaged, but utterly useless where it was. “I seem to not be mistaken thus far, by all means prove me wrong. I’ve yet to actually move since our fight began young Nara.” The deputy would say before continuing “What would Gaelio do to you right now in this situation I wonder?” He would ask “Would he kill you? Execution style like he did your teammate? Blow off your arm like he did to the same one before that? I certainly hope you didn’t consider Tsume a friend. Because if I trusted someone such as you at my back I would be killed in an instant.” He would say, intending to continue stripping the boys mental and emotional barriers, assaulting any insecurities about the situation that might be going through the teens head. It was through this Valen would empower the shinobi before him. Spurring him on to greater heights. Should all previous actions within this post go as planned then Valen would continue on. “You haven’t even managed to land a hit on me, you can’t even seem to get past my clone. Shall I make this a spar with just him? Or do you think you might have more a chance if I get an academy student out here?” He would continue, finishing the mental and emotional blows he was launching at the boy. ‘Watching this side of you is actually amusing jailer.’ A deep voice would say in his head, to which the teen would roll his eyes before responding ‘Glad to amuse you power cell.’ He would say, causing the bijuu to growl. ‘How DARE you! I have a name, a title.’ The beast would begin to the response of Valen ‘And I have a name, which you know, use it or I’ll continue disrespecting you. I recaptured you after my masters death because our village needs you. I know Den promised you freedom, I’m willing to do so as well, but only when our world is at peace. Then when I die, I’ll make sure you retain that freedome. However your blatant disregard for my name until then is frankly, annoying. For a being centuries old you certainly didn’t last long in battle, so if you won’t respect me enough as a creature. Then respect me enough as a fighter who felled you in a single blow. Now shut up, I’m dealing with a situation that needs to be addressed.’ He would think to the great beast of legend that was sealed within him. Of course Satoru would not hear any of that, and since Valen wouldn’t need to focus to speak back he would be paying attention to everything around him to make sure an attack was not coming. 

956
3197