Training is better in a group (IO)

The day had barely started; sunlight seeping into her bedroom as she woke up, enjoying simply laying in bed. Normally she would have gotten out of bed already, following her daily routine. Today however would be a slight deviation. She didn’t have anything in particular going on today so the Akari Genin felt entitled to a day of taking it easy. She would enjoy the comfort of simply laying in bed for another fifteen minutes before climbing out of bed and beginning her normal routine. Her meditation that day lasted about an hour and a half. Rather than move on to her next step of exercise and training, she would grab some food, get freshened up, and collect her gear. Today instead of performing her routine in the small park across from the building she lived in, Anastasia decided that today, she wanted to train at the Training Grounds, hoping to run into someone that would be willing to train with her. Today, because she wanted to get some proper training in, she would go to the Training Grounds fully equipped. Her Bastion of the Pure was a reassuring weight on her body, comforting her in the knowledge that it would protect her should things get a little out of hand. Her Starfall Defender was placed on her back, and her Starfall Blade was sheathed at her hip. She didn’t carry any other gear for now, she didn’t need to. Her current equipment should be more than enough for any training she planned on doing today.

She closed the door to her apartment and made her way down the steps of the building and made for the Water Gardens. The Training Grounds were connected to the Gardens in a couple of spots, so Anastasia opted for a long walk through them on her way. There was nothing quite like the Water Gardens, and she simply could not get enough of them. Every day they were different in some way, and it allowed her to enjoy them all the more. She would nod to the odd person that she recognised, most of them being frequent visitors to the Water Gardens like her. Eventually though she had to leave the Gardens themselves and enter the Training Grounds.

The Training Grounds had a few people in various areas doing training solo or in small groups. Anastasia would find a spot out in the open and draw her sword and shield. From that point, she would start with some basic sword and shield techniques, slashes followed by ducking behind her shield, or bashing/slicing with the sharp edges. She’d save the combination maneuvers for later.

WC: 440

Shinobi Stat Page: Uchiha, Shiroyasha

The morning was a hassle. Shiro woke up at 2:30 am, thirty minutes before usual. Bumi had snuck into his sisters room and woke up up. Iunna, typically a crabby 9 year old in the morning, began screaming. Shiroyasha leapt from bed, shirtless, and shouted aloud. He was scared to death, deep in his mind fearing that Temple Dissenters had attacked his home again. Shiro grabbed Moerusharin, his spear, and headed into the hallways. 

In a bittersweet way the cause of the sound was revealed. Iunna was on top of Bumi, beating him with his fist. Shiro sighed, his fears put to rest. Screaming at the kids for an hour he was wide awake and after putting them to bed again, Shiroyasha made some tea. He sat at the table for an hour, Moerusharin leaning on the table, the crowned lance sticking straight in the air. 

Shiroyasha sighed, and silently recanted a prayer. The Uchihas lips moved occasionally, and he prayed to his goddess, Aiya, for the strength to endure raising children. After his prayer Shiro made some of his favorite breakfast, egg fried rice, and got dressed. Wearing his favorite purple jacket, and black slacks, the Hoshigakure genin prepared for a day of training. 

Usually he proceeded with civil service, however his passionate frustration at home was mounting. The fires inside Shiriyasha were welling up. Before leaving the temple he stood in the courtyard for a good hour. The Uchiha practiced his breath, controlling the natural instinct for air to coincide with the pattern of hand seals. He moved with swiftness, sealingntigether chakra as the mudras were cast before his belly. 

Shiroyasha released three fireballs, that curved into the sky. Upwards they flew until they burst like fireworks. Shiro did this a few times before deciding he was ready to leave for the Training Grounds. Casually making his way to Hoshi, Shiro retained his remaining strength for more practice.

As he  approached the Training Grounds, Shiro saw a few groups of people practicing. Some of them with swords, others casting earth from the ground. Shiro noticed some were even channeling chakra, a higher skilled technique where the user molds chakra within them for more pronounced jutsu. Shiro walked nearer to that group, having recently studied features of other elements. 

There was a pool of water where he sat, and a young, ugly, kunoichi sitting in it. Presumably meditating. Shiroyasha was holding his lance, watching the girl. Curious why she was in the water, Shiro stared at her. 

Eventually he got bored, and not particularly fond of water anyways. Shiro made his way near anclearing, and closed his eyes. Maintaining the Ram handseal, Shiroyasha once again concentrated on his breathing. In his stomach Shiroyasha could feel his tenketsu drawing on the wind he breathed in, his chakra was forming. The Uchiha moved his hands into the Boar sign, and the chakra reactively began to reform as Katon. Shiro held the pose for a few moments, eventually clapping his hands with a flash of fire. 

Loikingnaround Shiro noticed the clearing had enough space for ninjutsu. He flashed his one tome Sharingan, checking with supernatural ability for anyone moving near him. The ninja jumped into the air, flipping upside down and preparing more handseals when his Sharingan noticed a chakra aura particularly clear value. He put his hands at his side and landed antickimatically, facing the swordsmanship direction.

Shiroyasha heaved, wiping his white shirt and lightly dyed purple jacket. The Uchiha was wearing his headband, and his staff Moerusharin was at his backside. He walked over to her, his Sharingan still active as he glanced over her chakra signature. Shiroyasha wisely deactivated his Doujutsu after confirming his interest and waving in her direction. Be was smiling happily, hopeful to sate his curiosity  and introduce himself to learn about her. 

Shiroyasha rarely noticed chakra in his vision without looking for it, most of the spectram imagery being a passive detail to the 1 Tomoe. For this ninjas to stick out while he was moving in the air so nimbly meant she was special to him.  An example that his mind naturally was drawn to.

The priest was casually walking over to where she swung her sword at the Training Grounds.

Total WordCount: 708
AP Used: 490-20= 470

Anastasia Akari was in complete control. Her sword and shield were both extensions of her arms and where she wanted them to go, they went without a moment’s hesitation. Flowing through the forms her father had taught her. This was a special sword and shield combination. Most shields had blunted rims, the better to catch and trap an opponent’s weapon. Her shield, the Starfall Defender, had a bladed edge, all the better to attack with. A quick swing with her shield would cut just as effectively as her sword, and it wasn’t as expected as the sword strike. That was of course unless the opponent had encountered her in the past.

It was as she was about to transition into a new attack combo that she noticed someone approaching her, who seemed to be playing with some hand seals. Upon releasing the second seal, she saw a burst of fire. ‘He must also wield fire release.’ The Akari Genin thought to herself, noting one of the two basic elements that made up her clan’s Light Release. The other of course was Lightning, which was her natural affinity. She wasn’t as skilled with fire release as she was with lightning. Thinking about it now, that would probably explain why her skills with light release were also lacking. I would make sense that the ability to control an element comprised of two basic elemental releases would require expert control of both. Something she would need to think on more later.

She looked at the approaching newcomer for a brief moment. They were about her height, and very thin. They had shortish white hair, and pale skin. It was difficult to make out their eye colour from the current distance, but that would change once they got close enough, assuming they were indeed coming over to her. They were wearing a white shirt, a light purple jacket, black pants, and combat boots. In addition to clothing, he wore a Hoshigakure Hitai-ate, and wore some kind of staff or spear strapped to his back. It was an interesting design to say the least; the top of it had seven spikes all attached to a round disk. Also connecting the spikes was a ring that seemed to intersect each ring at the mid point. The only exception was the middle point, it seemed to be part of the staff itself and was longer than the rest, roughly double the length of the others.

There was still a little more time before the other shinobi got too close for her to keep practising, so she would skip her intended form and move right into the final series of movements that she’d been taught. Naturally she wanted to show off a little. She would start by bringing the sword to her chest, holding it vertically in front of her. She would then calmly slide her shield arm over to her sword and detach it from her wrist, connecting it to her sword at the point where there was no blade. From there, she would infuse her lightning release chakra into the shield and start to spin in a circle, lowering her blade until it was parallel to the ground. The lightning would coalesce on the bladed edges of her StarFall Defender, creating a crackling noise and lighting up the blades with waves of electricity. As she started to spin, she would trigger a switch built into the sword’s hilt which would allow her shield to slide up the blade of the sword until it reached the tip. As the shield travelled the length of the blade, the shield would separate, creating a massive axe head which she now swung around in great arcs as she continued to spin on the spot. As the newcomer got to within six meters of her, Anastasia would swing the blade up and over in a vertical arc, with the blade striking the ground about a meter away from the approaching person. When the axe hit the ground, it would discharge the lightning release chakra, creating a slightly louder electric sizzle, but not spreading beyond the ground where the weapon had impacted. Anastasia would then look at them, “Can I help you?”

WC: 700
TWC: 1140

-20 ap (Temple Style: Discovery of an Incomplete Truth)

Mid topic claim (1000 WC):

10 stats (10 speed)
1000 WC towards Fire Release (1000/1000, 75% Advanced Training Facility discount)

Approved

Shiryasha watched the young lady. He was quite impressed by her acrobatics, the blonde haired girl swinging around beautifully underneath armor. Shiroyasha, a novice craftsman, was incredibly impressed by the detail put into each facet of direction the armor faced. As she spun the light was shining from the sun off her armor. 

With her axe still in the ground Shiro jokingly asked,"Where's the razzle dazzle?" The Uchiha laughed at his own joke. The Second Hokeage shit his pants. Shiroyasha's voice was surprisngly raspy for a young man. 

He didn't speak much as a child, more interested in solitary time than other kids. Shiroyasha was eight years old before he had ever met a young who was an Uchiha. The young lady might have noticed it, but Shiro spoke fast, and pulled a cigarette out of his pocket. 

"You've got a lot of talent hidden. Nice to meet you, here of all places being the best places. My name is Shiro." Shiroya introduced himself with a friendly Cantor and lit the cigarette by pressing it into his thumb. Puffing deeply Shiro watched the electricity around the girl travel around her as if it had a mind of it's own. Exhaling and releasing the sweet stank of cigarettes in the air beside his left shoulder, Shiro made sure not to pollute the air directly next to his company. 

Shiroyasha had been studying other elements of Ninjutsu. He was learning how to wield Lightning, but the study was backseat to his other priorities. A day didnt go by without Aiya's ritual communions, not to mention his shinobi mission work.The youth had showed promise with Raiton however and he wondered if the girl had any tips for him. 

Shiro inconspicuously sparked chakra inside of his hand., curious if the link was still as dormant within him. He felt the oddly familiar twang of lightning run through his tenketsu and inhaled again, this time without smoke inside of his mouth. His skill with chakra control recently was instinctual, and he felt a new power rise inside of his hand as the chakra flushed then receded in its typical flowing pattern.

Shiroyasha was smiling widely, excited to meet someone so talented;and asked for the girls name. The yellow filter of his cigarette was pressed between his fingers, and with his two foremost fingers he pointed when he spoke. The Uchiha spoke with his hands.

Shiroyasha said, "What do you go by stranger?" Shiro smiled, his high cheekbones revealing his full set of mostly white teeth. 

Mid-Thread Training Approval Check
Total WordCount: 1,110
Affinity Trained: 
Raiton: (1,000/1,000) 75% Discount: Advanced Facility Training 
Sharingan, 2 Tomoe: (3,222/4,000)
Stats Trained: +2 Strength, +1 Vigor = 250 Total
AP Trained: None, Discount restriction

Approved

The kid in front of her introduced himself as Shiro, and completely avoided her question by talking about her potential as if she wasn’t a skilled shinobi who’d already been on countless missions. “Nice to meet you Shiro, I am Anastasia Akari.” The Akari Genin would say to him. “Yes, I don’t make a habit of displaying what skills I have at my disposal unless the situation requires it. To do otherwise is would put me at a disadvantage which is not acceptable in my eyes.” Speaking of things that were not acceptable to her, she raised an eyebrow as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it with his finger. It was a disgusting habit that she was not a fan of. Naturally she would not tell someone else how to live their life. She however would take a few steps so that she was upwind of Shiro, so that the smoke itself would waft away from her. “Aren’t you a little young for that?” she would ask him, indicating the cigarette with her head.

The Akari Genin would pull her weapon out of the ground and activate the switch built into the handle to cause the axe head to slide back down to the bottom of the blade, where she would disconnect it from the sword, sheathe the sword back on her hip, and place her shield on her back. “Was there something I could help you with?” she asked Shiro. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I was in the middle of something when you walked over.” She didn’t mind associating with other members of the village, she just didn’t enjoy wasting her time, so she would wait to hear what this boy wanted, if anything, before deciding what it was that she would do next.

WC: 300
TWC: 1440

Shiroyasha frowned and ashed his cigarette. He failed to answer whether or not he was old enough, which was. Instead he grinned, and put the cigarette out kindly. "I'm old enough to know better, yeah?" Shiro watched the girls fancy weapon activate and assume a different form. It was quite the technology, and he couldnt help but be amused by her tenacity for training.

After all, Shiroyasha thought to himself, weren't they at the training grounds together. Shiro nodded as she introduced himself. The scrappy priest servant swung his own blade around. The two meter long pole arm twirled in his hands, and he pointed it into the ground so he could pull his hair back for a sparring match if Anastasia would oblige. Shiroyasha had been so engrossed in training his skill with ninjutsu, he had forgotten his martial arts were falling behind.

The Uchiha put his sweaty hands together and rubbed the greasy sweat evenly in; and then he pulled his hair back from the roots. His pale complexion shined in the sun, sweat sticking to his skin and sheening with a greasy film that now extended into his hairline. Shiro adjusted his hair behind his ears where it stuck and then h pulled his spear from the ground, quickly dashing backwards and brandishing it from a distance.

The smoker said, "Here we are in the training grounds. How about you help me brush up on my Bukijutsu?"

Shiroyasha raised an eyebrow and turned the pole arm in his hands until the Moerusharins crown was vertical to the ground. The crown faced the sky, and Shiro could see the reflection of Anastasia's chin from below. If she looked at his weapons blade, she might see his eye and discern how friendly he was since she was so impatient. Or be thrown into a Genjutsu, the choice was hers.

WordCount: 310

[EXIT]

Claiming 440WC
4 stats (4 speed)
440 WC towards Pole Arm Defense (682/1500) Proof here