I HATE OPENERS [Conor]

Ryūka smiled after seeing the katana, as he looked at Ikigai with a "You're damn right a katana." or maybe a "Nice.", or anything else Ikigai might have thought of it as, it was an eye contact with an excited smile. Ryūka jumped out from his seat. "Let's bail!" he repeated, realising the two were collectively saying it for the third time, and this was already becoming all talk no fight before there actually was any fight at all. Ryūka passed through the door Ikigai opened, although he hadn't even heard the Hoshigaki offer him to go first. All Ryūka was hearing at that point was his inner thoughts, "And don't forget to block low, you almost never block low. At least if you're not gonna block low, don't give away that you're not gonna block low. At least act a little bit like a person who would block low.".

Ryūka happily followed Ikigai to the training ground. He knew the way himself as well, but being able to follow the faint figure in front of / next to him made it much easier to think about the logistics and plan ahead for the spar that was presumably about to happen. When they arrived, his hand was already on the sheathe of his katana, eagerly waited. Ever since the day he had walked out of the academy with a headband, he had been waiting for this day. The day he'd finally face another swordsman. He couldn't wipe the hybrid smile/grin from his face. His fight with Zyxis was a joke. His fight with Zyxis and Hoshi later, was once again a joke. Now he was going to find out if he was actually as fast and as strong as he seemed in contrast to the other two, or was it the general inexperience that seemed to drag him and his squad down, that made him seem remotely competent.

Ikigai's words were all Ryūka needed to hear. He did the seal of confrontation to show respect to his opponent. He then unsheathed his katana, and dashed towards Ikıgai, slashing at him from the right side. This was not a strategy Ryūka expected to defeat the other Genin of course, this was simply a throw away attack to test Ikigai, to warm up. He was carefully watching the shark-looking boy. He wanted to be able to see the slightest changes in his expression and the motion of his body. This was not just a fight after all, this was an opportunity for Ryūka to analyze, to study. And he would.

[WC: 1769]

The purple haired boy moved first, unsheathing his katana and blitzing forward in a mad dash towards Ikigai's right side. The opening of a battle often told you more about your opponent than the end, these movements did just that. They told Ikigai that Ryuka was confident, and eager, useful tools for a student, but also a possible weakness.

He'd lodge the information in the back of his head for later use as he unsheathed his own blade on his right side with rehearsed precision. Ryuka was fast, but Ikigai was faster still. He'd swipe the katana upwards and crash it into the bottom of Ryukas blade, guiding ryuka's katana and thus his left arm upwards, exposing his side.

If all went according to plan he'd send his left heel, into Ryuka's left side. The blow would be enough to send him backwards, but it would by no means end the spar. After all, this was training what good would 10 seconds do either of them.

WC: 1176

Ryūka was shocked. Ikigai had deflected his attack that easily. It's not that it was an impossible, or even a hard thing to do... It was just that nobody Ryūka had fought against until that point had managed to do what Sharkboy had just done. The shock in Smokeperf's face left its place to a smile, the sign of pure joy Ryūka was feeling to have finally found his match.

Noticing the kick headed in his direction, instead of jumping back, Ryūka turned his body counter-clockwise (from birdview) and slightly leaned back, so the kick would scrap by his stomach, his right shoulder facing Ikigai, left shoulder facing the opposite direction. Keeping his momentum going, Ryūka launched his right shoulder against Ikigai.

[WC: 1891]

He seemed to have underestimated Ryuka, the boy's smile gave way to more confidence. And the quick adjustment he pulled showed the skill to back it up. Whoever this guy was, he was impressive to say the least. Ikigai's foot grazed past harmlessly as Ryuka turned his right shoulder to him, and used it as a weapon. He'd plant the missed foot to the ground, keeping his chest facing the shoulder before he reacted.

Most people would have tried to stop the shoulder, but Ikigai knew from experience he wouldn't have the time given their similar speed. So instead he used his left arm to send a punch underneath the cover of Ryuka's shoulder. The movement would be almost impossible for the purple haired boy to see, and would land in Ryuka's lower right side, just underneath the ribs, while Ryuka's shoulder hit him in his chest. Both of which would be enough to send them staggering backwards.

WC: 1334

If only Ryūka knew. If only Ikigai had spoken instead of thinking, allowing Ryūka to step into his mind, even for a brief second. It might have angered Ryūka to the point of throwing him off balance, making the battle an easy win for the Sharkboy. But alas, Ryūka did not, as of yet anyway, he just lived in the sweet world of ignorance.

It was spelled Ryūka, not Ryuka.

But that was not the point now. The point was to answer Ikigai's attack. Well, he would have, if it was not one thrown at point blank range. Ryūka, not even seeing the attack clearly, but a slight movement in that general are, had only one choice: to take the trade, his shoulder attack for Ikigai's punch. It was a trade Ryūka might have made himself anyway, even if he had the choice. His right shoulder slammed into Ikigai, as a second later it was pushed back by the boy's punch. The hit on both sides sent them away from each other, as Ryūka would add to it with a few backwards steps, opening a distance once again, of 2 meters. Ryūka smiled. "Nice." he simply said, and this time waiting for Ikigai to engage. "You learnt by yourself?".

The both of them were sent sprawling backwards with force, out of each others reach. Ikigai would use the moment to re position his pommel to a more comfortable stance, while Ryuka used it to move a bit further back. Now that they were both a safe distance away, the purple haired genin would speak a compliment followed by a question.

"You learnt by yourself?"

He'd tilt his head and laugh. "Hardly" His katana would point in the direction of Hakai's academy. "I train under a swordsmaster of a kumogakure down that way with the cloud villages best"

He'd be quick to bring the katana back to a useful position, not daring to leave himself exposed long. "What about you?" He'd point with his open hand, gesturing towards the boy. "Did you learn by yourself, or do you have a Sensei as well" He was curious to the mans answer, his assumption that Ikigai had learned by himself pointed to the idea that he'd trained alone.

But his skill, reflected that he had been taught. could it be he was he just a natural?

Ikigai would wait for a response both verbally and physically. He'd been taught to fight defensively, and to always let the opponent open first, after all Hakai had always said it was easier to react than to act.

WC: 1555

What did Ikigai think Ryūka was? Stupid? He of course wasn't going to fall for a little trick like that. To be honest, he didn't expect something like that from Ikigai, not an honorable move, but a smart one, trying to get Ryūka to look somewhere else in the middle of a battle. There was nothing there. Whatever Ikigai was pointing at was a lie. Ryūka smiled. The story the Sharkboy told however, could be true, as there would be no real advantage to making up a story like that in the middle of a fight.

"What about you? Did you learn by yourself, or do you have a Sensei as well?"

It was a good question. "It's a good question.". One that he couldn't answer. "One that I can't answer.". He was not sure. "I'm not sure.". After all, he had no memories of learning, but only of remembering the feeling of wielding a sword. "...". He didn't know if it was inherent. "...". He didn't know if he was self-trained. "...". He didn't know if he had a sensei. "...". A mom, a dad. Of course, physically, it was a given, but he didn't know if he was raised by a couple or not. It was a packed question, that demanded a packed answer, "It's... Complicated. I'll explain later.".

Ryūka noticed the boy was waiting for him to make a move as well. There was no point in both of them waiting forever, as that wouldn't have made this training useful for either of them. He dashed towards Sharkboy once again, this time swinging with his right arm from his right side (to Ikigai's left), when the boy was within his range. But unknown to the Sharkyshark, it would be a front to his actual attack If Ikigai went to block it with his sword as he did before, Ryūka would cut the swing short, attacking Ikigai's right foot with his left foot; and at the same time attempting to grab onto  Ikigai's hand that held the sword, with his empty left hand.

Ryūka thought the plan was well-thought, as Ikigai's momentum in his arms would presumably be in the direction on his swing (his right), so he might not have been fast enough to react to his grab attempt from his left. But he also knew that trying to pack more actions into a single attack meant creating more openings, and Ikigai had already proven he was good at taking advantage of these. Ryūka wanted to see how Ikigai would answer to his attack. As once again, this was not just a fight, but also an attempt to learn.

[WC: 2542]

Ikigai seemed to be blunt enough not to even attempt to dodge or block Ryūka's attack. The Sharkboy's sharky wet skin left an ooze on Smokeperf's katana. "Ew." Ryūka thought, though he did not voice this, "What an ICKY GUY!".

Ryūka stepped back. "Sorry about that, hope it didn't hurt. Anyways. It was nice to meet you. See you at the exams, if we make it there.". 

[EXIT. WC: 2609+ Using 2000 from the Halloween coupon received from the Tiara set.

Total WC: 4609.

Claiming;
13 stats
600 words towards Reinforced Katana
4000 words towards Great Cleave (4000/4000)]

Unless I am mistaken, you can't claim WC towrads jutsu's and stats on that halloween WC. So approved of 13 stats and the jutsu. (If you think I am wrong about that, please send me a PM with evidence and I will change my rulling.)

edited the claims