Are you afraid

Cascading down a steep valley side, a leaf floats on the wind, down passed the light brown mountainside, sparsely populated with wiry trees. The leaf hangs on the wind as it passes by a lone building, wooden decking sitting atop of wooden stilts, each set of stilts extending further into the ground, the house seeming to grow out of the mountainside like a branch sticking from a tree. Simple, clean wood makes up the structure of the house with occasion sections of glass laid in to create windows. The house sported five rooms, a kitchen and dining area, two modest-sized bedrooms, a bathroom and a dojo.

Another gust of wind picked up and carried the leaf further down the mountainside until it settled on the knee of a man. The man sat cross-legged on a small outcropping that hung above the joint where the valley met the mountainside. A constant motion of long and consistent breathes coming in and out of the man's nose and mouth, in through the nose and out through the mouth. He was well built, tall and had a strong noble look about him. Physical prowess terminated from his body, except the missing left arm and a milky right eye, the sight long since vanished. He wore a kimono that was grey in colour with black trees adorning it and sharp pink leaves flowing off the tree branches. At his side lay several weapons, a simple jo staff, tanto and a dozen mixed kunai and shuriken. Each weapon adorned with the mark of the man's clan, the bloodline of which was lost generations ago, the members of the family now nothing more than caretakers of the name.

The man rises from his position, his morning ritual completed. Retreating from his position the man heads back to the house that hangs off from the mountainside, sliding open the front door he enters the second bedroom "Ryu, get up, its time for your lesson". The man says with a flat tone. "Yes Yamamoto" the reply comes as Ryu rises from his seated position on the floor of the bedroom, the sleeping roll undisturbed next to him.

WC: 359

Stretching out muscle group after muscle group Ryuuzaki began to warm himself up for the coming training session. Yamamoto stood in front of him the usual hard stare stamped on his face. "Do you feel fear?" the words escaped Ryu's master mouth as though he was saying them to himself. "Of course not, I have suppressed my emotions" Ryus reply came, a puzzled look upon his face. The reply itself came like a starter pistol, Ryuuzaki set off forward at full sprint and Yamamoto dropped into a stance, his back foot a half step back, his weight mostly on the ball of his front foot, his one remaining arm extended before him, fingers pointed up in stop motion. 

Charging forward Ryuuzaki balled his fist, his charge led him to within three paces of his master as he transferred his weight onto his front foot and threw his read clenched fist at his master. "Predictable" Yamamoto said as he caught Ryu's wrist, his forward momentum is stopped. Ryuuzaki let an agitated noise escape from his mouth as he stepped in getting his body close to that of his master and brought up his free hand to grab the arm holding his wrist, he then transferred all his weight and dropped his hips, dragging Yamamoto over his head and attempting to dump him onto the ground with a hip toss. Ryuuzaki twisted his master's arm to make him release his grip as he felt his weight transfer over Ryus shoulder. However, it had not been because he was successful in throwing Yammot but because he had let himself be thrown. Planting his hand on the floor Yamamoto used it to stop his momentum and with unseen strength springboarded back into the air, as he did so he twisted and allowed his leg to swing round, attacking Ryus head with a kick. The blow landed, but only on the guard, Ryu managed to get up at the last second. The impact still knocking Ryu back a step.

"Good," Yamamoto said as he dropped back into the all too familiar stance "But slow". Yamamoto appeared to hang on the last word, but then his image in front of Ryuuzaki disappeared, and he reappeared behind him, an open-handed slap aimed at the back of Ryu's head. The only thing that saved Ryu from the strike was the sheer intent he sensed from behind him, he dropped forward and rolled, twisting as he returned to his feet, looking back at his master. "So do you feel fear now?" Yamamoto quipped again.

WC: 426

Rising back to his feet and turning to face his master Ryuuzaki thought for a moment "I have done what I was taught, my fear has been beaten out of me" his eyes narrowed, knowing what he was about to say would cause a reaction from Yamamoto "By the ninja at the academy". Yamamoto drew a shuriken from his pouch and flung it at Ryuuzaki, the speed of which surprised Ryu. Ducking under the half-speed projectile Ryuuzaki drew his own weapon, a kunai from his leg holster. As his eyes returned to the front they were met with only the image of his master's fist. "Don't take your eyes off your opponent". He said withdrawing his fist and taking several steps back. "You know that what you are taught in that institution are basics" Yamamoto drew his own kunai "Your understanding must evolve with your experience".

"What I understand is that fear dulls the senses... freezes the body... it has no place in battle" Ryuuzaki replied as he reached into his weapon holster and pulled out a second kunai, one now brandished in each hand. Ryuuzaki took a step to the side, Yamamoto paralleled his movement, then another, slowly the momentum picked up till they were circling each other at a brisk walking pace. Ryuuzaki acted first lunging forward and slashing with his off-hand, the blade was met by Yamamoto's kunai. Ryuuzaki then speered his main hand forward, aiming to take an opportunistic attack at the one-armed man. Yamamoto span away from the attack his blade retreating from that of Ryu's, the sudden lack of resistance pushing Ryu's weight forward for a moment before he regained his balance. Suddenly he felt cold metal against his throat "Are you afraid". Yamamoto let the blade hang there for a few seconds before allowing it to retreat once again. "You have died twice now" Yamamoto dropped back into his familiar stance "Where is your fear".

WC: 324

"Enough with Taijutsu". Yamamoto threw his kunai towards Ryuuzaki, the speed, like with the earlier shuriken was not meant to harm, but only to distract it was easy for Ryu to deflect the knife and send it away from him. As his eyes returned to his master, he saw a handseal being formed. Yamamoto's hands were brought together, one slightly lower than the other, the lower hand had the rear two fingers folded in and his front two fingers pointed straight up, the hand that was slightly higher had the rear two fingers laid across the opposite hand's fingers and the front two fingers pointed up identical to his other hand, both thumbs were brought together. "Let us move on too one of your weaknesses". Ryuuzaki dropped his kunai into there holsters he started to skirt backwards.

Ram, the handseal was obvious and one of the basics, Ryuuzaki began to run through the possible techniques that could follow, but there was no time "Suiton: Stormy Blockade". Yamamoto slammed his hand to the floor, water started to swell behind him, after a short time it exploded forward, a circle of safety around Yamamoto, but then the water started to rush forward, there was no area of safety within reach, Ryuuzaki was taken aback by the sheer volume of water that was created and the width of the technique. However, he could read the speed of the water. He squatted down and used all the strength in his legs to push upwards, sending himself to the highest point he could. As he reached the apex of his jump Ryuuzaki closed his eyes for a split second as he concentrated on his stomach, building up chakra, as he began to fall back to the ground he pushed the chakra down through his body to the soles of his feet. A faint glow emanated from his sandals as he landed on the surface of the water, the current was still gushing but it was not strong enough to drag him away. A smile pierced the edges of his mouth and Ryuuzaki looked back towards his master "Good... you can stand... like any small child" Yamamoto started to stride forward, the current stopping and the amount of water settled, but now covering the small area they were in. Yamamoto's feet began to glow in a similar fashion, striding atop the surface of the water. "But can you fight".

WC: 403

A few seconds passed after Yamamoto words, the two ninjas staring at each other, one old, one young. The water between them now still, the air was warm and close, the sun had reached the peak of its daily journey, for a few minutes it would hang at the zenith of the horizon. Ryuuzaki scanned his teachers face, looking for some precursor to action, a tell, but none came. Yamamoto's hand began to form a sign, bird. As he finished forming the sign, the water around him started to move and come up to shoulder height, then started to swirl and formed into ten water shuriken. "Suiton: Water Shuriken".  Yamamoto pushed his hand forward and the shuriken began to fly towards Ryu.

Ryuuzaki started to form hand signs, Tiger, Boar, Ox, Dog, Snake. As he finished the final handsign one of the shurikens connected with his shoulder, he was able to still pull off his jutsu, and avoid the remaining nine projectiles. His body was replaced with a nearby boulder in a puff of smoke, the impact of the water shuriken against the hard rock did very little damage, but they would have hurt Ryu a considerable amount. Ryu appeared ten metres away and took off running along the water. Ryu made his way to the edge of the makeshift lake and ran up the side of the cliff that hung over their battlefield. Ryu vaulted over the edge and rolled to his feet, finally letting go of the technique to run on water or up cliffs. 

Ryuuzaki pulled the water shuriken from his shoulder and formed the boar handseal. Chakra began to build up in his palm as he moved it over to his shoulder, the chakra then started to transfer from his hand to his shoulder, the wound started to clot and scab, the small amount of bleeding then being halted. "Good... you have some medical jutsu now" the familiar voice came from behind him "You were able to maintain your water walking while performing the substitution jutsu, your chakra control is improving"

WC: 346
TWC: 1858

Ryuzaki rose to his feet as he turned to meet his master's gaze "What about you then" motioning towards his training partner "What do you fear?" Yamamoto smiled "Now you're asking the right questions" Yamamoto sat down his hand reaching into his kimono and producing a water skin "I fear this country I am tied to, I fear that I have raised a boy who was left by loving parents exactly to avoid this life, I fear that I will exit this world before I have made you able to survive it, but most of all I fear the things I have done to keep those things from happening" He took a swig from the skin and tossed it over to Ryuzaki "I fear the things I will still do" he finished, almost to himself. "Fear does not dull the senses" he motioned towards Ryuuzaki regurgitating the answer he was given earlier "It does not freeze the body. In fact, it does the opposite of those things, if you accept it". Ryuuzaki drained the rest of the waterskin before tossing it back towards his master "I wasn't lying to you, I have buried my fear, how do I get it back?" Yamamoto returned to his feet "I will drag it from the depths"

The battle between the two went on for a few more minutes, Yamamoto slowly started to push Ryu further and further beyond his limits, a few more injuries happened, although not major. The pressure began to get to Ryu, he was on the defensive the whole time and his masters' power started to overwhelm him, plus his injuries started to add on to the pressure. "Remember this" Yamamoto began taking his stance one last time "If you do not fear the sword you hold, how will you obtain the power to use it?" Yamamoto began to build chakra up in his body "If you do not fear the sword of your opponent, then how will you find the power to overcome them?" Yamamoto's aura started to manifest in the physical realm, his chakra building more and more. In Ryuuzaki's mind his masters' physical form started to swell as well, his muscles appeared to grow. The aura around Yamamoto started to take form, glowing in dark silver, a tree started to unfold from nowhere its branches bare and whipping in the wind. Ryuuzaki began to scramble backwards the sheer overwhelming power that was in front of him piled on top of the exhaustion he was under started to affect him. The image itself held no fear but the display of power was frightening. "Finally... you are on my level," Yamamoto said as his power crescendoed and he burst forward, his aura exploding forward in front of him.

FEAR!

Ryuuzaki rose to his feet, his energy all but sapped from him, his masters form started to approach him with a speed he had never seen


DEATH!!

Death was all that went through Ryuzakis mind, but it was too late he could not react, then it was gone, the scene in front of him dissipated and his master tapped him on the shoulder. "Well, you have your fear back, of course, your skill is still far to low to contend with me!" Yamamoto smiled for the first time in this training session, a slight touch of humour to his comment. "Next time we will talk about instinct".

WC: 567
TWC: 2425 

Claiming 2000 words for one-handed seals, the final 344 of c-rank shadow imitation. +15 chakra, + 9 vigor

Approved for exit and claims!