It's A Long Road To Being A Shinobi

Takeda smacked the wooden training dummy with the flat of his palm once again, huffing and puffing in a metallic tone through his gas mask. Overhead light gray clouds hung over the morning sun, casting slight shadows over the battlefield that the young man cloaked in black had decided to visit. He'd tried his best to time it so that it was one of the coolest parts of the day, and yet Hoshigakure's climate rendered it nearly impossible for him to achieve a comfortable weather. As of current it was hot and muggy. Not a good combination for someone working out outside, especially one covered in black.

Takeda had come out with his full black coat, pants, gloves and shoes, though he had set some of his "non-essential" clothing to the side to keep cool, revealing a black tank top and black gym shorts underneath. It a neatly folded pile nearby sat his jacket and long pants, set aside until Takeda had finished his routine. His eyes, the iris' the color of a diseased yellow peered out from behind the curtain of hair as he backed away from the training dummy, huffing and puffing as he prepared for yet another assault against his motionless wooden opponent. He partially debated taking off the mask so that he could get a breath of fresh air, yet dismissed the thought. If anyone happened to be around and Takeda's "gift" got out of control, someone could be killed. It wasn't worth the risk he thought as he delivered a weak roundhouse kick to the side of the dummy's chest, causing it to give a hollow thud. Immediately afterwards though he fell to the ground in a heap, caught off guard by his own poor balance. The man slowly brought himself upward, rising to a sitting position.

"Damn it... I'm never going to master hand to hand combat, am I?"

Word Count - 315

It would be another training day for Anastasia. She had planned on going to the training grounds to work on her skills in close combat, both with and without weapons. As such, she would simply remove the training aspect of her routine, since she would be aiming to spend a good chunk of the day in training. Her exercises would be a little more rigorous to start in order to prepare her body for the training session that she’d had planned for today. She also made sure to eat a breakfast that would provide her with the nutrients she would need, while not causing issues while the food digested. She would also bring with her a few bottles of water, in order to stay properly hydrated. Before leaving her home, she would attach her sword to her hip and her shield to her back, opting to leave her armour at home for today.

Luckily when Anastasia had left her apartment, there was some clouds in the sky which would obscure the sun a bit which would help to keep the area at least a reasonable temperature. She would walk through the Water Gardens on her way to the training grounds, enjoying the serenity of the area. There weren’t many people there at the moment, which made for a better experience in her opinion.

When she at last arrived at the training grounds, she was disappointed to find that the clouds had not improved the climate of the training areas in any appreciable sense. Nevertheless, she would persevere, she knew that it would be harsh before deciding to come to the training grounds. It appeared that there were others that had the same sentiment as her. There were other shinobi milling around doing some form of training. One in particular caught her eye, Takeda Takeshi. A recently accepted student of the Ninja Academy in Hoshigakure, and he was clearly hear to work on his skills. She seemed to show up as he was practising some basic hand to hand combat, and not doing very well. He was sitting on the ground lamenting his close combat skills as she approached him. “Perhaps you just need someone to help you, rather than an inanimate object,” Anastasia would say to him with a smile on her face. “I came here to work on some close combat moves as well if you’d like some company.”

WC: 400

Shinobi Involved: Uchiha, Shiroyasha

Shiroyasha was wearing his purple jacket. The clouds at the end were particularly dirty, having spent the whole day swinging his lance around with other Genin. He was wearing his Hoshigakure headband, but didnt have the Uchiha emblem emblazoned upon this one. Instead the Temples insignia, the outline of Kitsune head, was ironed on. 

In his hands Shuro was alone, swinging his lance around. The golden lance shined in the sun, and he held it in one had. Putting together one handed seals Shiro was practicing, he spit out a fire ball. It was grey, mostly comprised of asbes. It blew in the wind, not fiery st all. Shiro sighed, and grumbled to himself. 

To his delight Shiroyasha noticed that his friend from before was with another user of these Advanced Training grounds. Waving the crown of his staff Shuro smiled. The young man shouted, his white hair waving in the wind, "Good to see you again!" Shiro was eager to impress the swords-lady with his new lightning release Technique. 

There was someone else training with her, and Shiro called to them. "Let's all spar together!" The priest smiled wildly, running fast to the group. 

Shiro noticed the young man had a mask on, he wondered what kind of ability he was concealing.

Total WordCount: 213

Even through the clouds, Takeda noticed a shadow beginning to loom from behind him, and he heard the sound of someone familiar call out to him. The man cast a glance over his shoulder to find that standing there was the same Genin who had introduced him to the village, Anastasia. The man grinned under the mask. With some effort, he spoke in a slightly strained force as he brought himself to a standing position.

"Ah, hey Anastasia! Good to see you again!"

The man got to his feet, and turned around to properly greet what he considered to be his new friend.

"I could use the help if I'm being honest. I think you can tell from my little drill with the dummy that my training isn't going well..."

Takeda shrugged.

"As someone who's a lot older than most of their classmates, they usually keep you out of the sparring matches when you can casually punt a kid out of the ring. Can't say I disagree with the practice, but it means I've got to do a little extra practice on my own."

Takeda chuckled a little bit at that. The image was horrible, yet there was a sort of grim absurdity imagining it. He shook his head once, almost as if to fling the thought from his mind. Yet as he did so, he heard another voice off to the side. Takeda turned his head to gaze at the new individual who had approached them. A friend of Anastasia it seemed, as he seemed rather happy to see her. Yet his eagerness for a group spar was somewhat surprising. Takeda blinked slowly taking in the newcomer. He didn't mind if Anastasia is okay with it.

"Uh... Sure, I don't mind. Though you'll both have to give me a minute to grab my clothes. I'm going to need some padding if you guys are going to be coming at me at the same time..."

The man turned around to let the two of them chat and catch up as he began to nab his coat and pants. The newcomer seemed to be an odd fellow, but Takeda probably wasn't one to talk. After all, "padding" wasn't the only reason he needed to adorn those hot garments. The virus that hid inside his body spilled out through not only his breath, but his sweat as well. It wasn't necessarily dangerous to Takeda's knowledge unless it was ingested or got into the bloodstream, though it was better safe than sorry. Especially considering how much he'd sweat already, and the fact that there would likely be some blood by the end of this fight. After he got dressed, he came back, fully adorned in his ankle length pants and leather jacket.

"My name's Takeda by the way. It's nice to meet you."

Word Count - 470

Total Word Count - 785

Takeda got to his feet and turned to face her. He explained why he was out here and not training with the other students in the academy and it made sense why. She laughed at his commentary because the concept itself was amusing, at least a little. “Well, I think we can safely assume that you won’t be able to punt me.” She said to him with a smile.

As she was getting ready to begin the one on one sparring session with Takeda, she heard a voice calling from behind her. Anastasia would turn her head and look as another familiar face ran towards them waving his staff around shouting that they should spar together. They’d done that one previously, and with him, he’d provided enough of a challenge that she would have no problem going all out should the situation demand it. Takeda however was another matter altogether. He had only recently joined the academy and would definitely not be much of a match for either of the two. She would hold up her hand in a stopping motion when he got closer. Takeda would mention that he had no issues with the newcomer joining in, mentioning that he would need to put some layers back on. “Hello Shiro, it’s nice to see you again,” she would say to him. “I was just about to help Takeda here with some close combat training. He’s one of the students at the academy.”

She paused for a moment, looking at Shiro contemplatively. “I also have no problem with you joining the session, however I would make one request. As Takeda here is still fairly inexperienced, we resort to martial arts only. No jutsu or weapons. Does that work for you?”

WC: 290
TWC: 690

Shiroyasha nodded happily and stuck his spead into theground. There was no reason to press himself with Bukijutsuthat he couldnt quite use yet. In truth Shiroyasha could work on his flexibility, and close quarters combats wasnt his greatest of skills. So the variance in his training would be perfect.

Shiroyasha promised to keep all of his ninja moves within the Rank Skillset of an Acadamy. Bowing to Anastasia Shiro swore to no jutsu, and even promised to keep his special tricks up his sleeve. He didn't specifically say his Sharingan eyes but that's what he meant.

After promising to keep all of his techniques in the stall they are stored in, Shiroyasha took his shirt off. The sun was hot, and the vigorous physical training would cause him to work up a sweat. His fair complexion shined brightly in the sun, but there was a sort of tan to his skin. He wore a fang shaped necklace, which morbidly contained his dead mother's hair. The necklace dangled in front of his chest and Shiroyasha held his fists out.

"I'm ready." Shiroyasha chuckled, realizing it would be proper to respectfully introduce himself. Speaking clearly Shiroyasha bowed with his fist inside of an open palm. "Takeda. I'll be your opponent. I'm a Genin, and look forward to pressing you to the limit."

Tying his hair back in a headband that was around his wrist, Shiroyasha prepared himself for battle ince again. With two fists held up, he playfully rustled them back and forth while weaving back and forth in each participants direction.

WordCount: +262 = 474 TWC

So would he be fighting both of them? Takeda winced. However this went down, he had no doubt that he'd be thoroughly sore by the time he got home. Taking cue from the newcomer, Takeda bowed for a moment before shifting into a combative stance. He gave a long exhale through the metal mask as he bent his legs and raised his hands into fists before his face. Defending his head was important, but preventing his mask from breaking or being struck was even more so. He didn't have a particularly good model, so a decent punch would likely either break the thing or send it flying from his face. Both were options he'd hope to avoid.

When they were all ready, Takeda would size up the battlefield for a moment, trying to determine who the best target would be. They were each in a sort of triangular formation, 3 meters away from one another at the start of the fight. To Takeda's right was the one introduced as Shiro. To his left, Anastasia. His eyes flicked between the two combatants, trying to size up which of them would be the bigger threat to him. A small exhale of air left Takeda's nose when he realized that both could likely end him in an instant. Still, he had to try his best.

Takeda's eyes settled on Shiro. Truth be told, he wasn't entirely sure if Anastasia was even fighting after the man's insistence that he would be the Academy Student's opponent. Until proven otherwise, he'd simply have to assume that this man was his only opponent. The young member of the Canopic gritted his teeth in determination as he began to approach the other man, sizing up his options in the blink of an eye as he got closer. With his hands where they were, his head was well defended. Bad spot to strike. Maybe Takeda could get a strike on his torso? No, Takeda didn't want to take that risk so early in the fight. Maybe his legs? Takeda wasn't sure. It seemed like the best choice for now.

If nothing interrupted the man's actions, Takeda would attempt a right leg roundhouse kick directed at his opponent's left knee, and pray he was effective in his strike.

Word Count - 378

Total Word Count - 1163

The other Genin accepted her condition to the training session, planting his spear into the ground. Anastasia nodded to him and would move off a little way, removing her shield and placing her sword on the ground beside it. She would then walk back to her original position. This would be a sparring match of just martial arts, no jutsu or anything else because of Takeda’s relative inexperience compared to the two genin. This was also meant to be a teaching moment for her friend, as he would need to get stronger in order to eventually hold his own in the shinobi world, and she wanted him to succeed.

The other two shinobi also appeared to be ready, with Shiro stating that he would be Takeda’s opponent. Anastasia had no issues standing back for the time being in order to watch Takeda’s form and provide feedback but allowed herself the indulgence of jumping in should she wish to do so. She watched as Takeda approached the younger shinobi and sized him up. Shiro had adopted more of a pugilist’s stance; both hands up in a good position to protect his head and upper body. It seemed that Takeda realised this and had decided to go for a kick at one of his opponent’s knees. It was a good strategy to start off with, but it would depend on how fast Shiro could move to see if he could get his leg out of the way in time. She would honestly be surprised if the hit landed, but stranger things have happened. She would simply wait and watch for now, and would provide commentary after the first series of blows were resolved.

WC: 281
TWC: 971

Takeda wasn't sure if his opponent blinked or if he simply let him get the strike. Either way, the one called Shiro made no movement as Takeda delivered a painful kick to the side of his knee. With a sickening sense of horror, Takeda watched as the man's leg gave way under the force of the kick. He began to fall back, tumbling to the ground where his head fell with a hearty smack. Takeda winced under the sound, realizing that it was not a sound befitting of someone falling into the soft dirt. With fearful apprehension Takeda peered to the side of the man's slightly elevated cranium, eyes widening as he realized that the man he fallen head first onto a rock, knocking him out instantly.

"Oh my lord! Are you okay?!"

Takeda quickly rushed over to the man's unconcious body to check his pulse, breathing a sigh of relief once he found the faint pulse within his veins.

"He's alright! He's just asleep right now."

Takeda turned back to Anastasia with a shameful look in his eye, almost like a dog whose owner had just scorned him.

"Should... Should we take him to a hospital or continue?"

Word Count - 199

Total Word Count - 1362

[EXIT]
971 WC
claiming
9 stats (9 Vigor)
971 towards towards Flowing arts (1271/2000) proof here