Scouting Kujaku

Standing face to face with his opponent Kujaku was in the middle of a heated spar. The circular ring contained both of the fighters, each with their blades drawn.

Kujaku was wielding his katana, and held it pointing at his opponent with the side of the blade near his cheek. His red hair blew in the wind as he circled around his opponent.

Nekro was Kujaku's opponent. He was a doton user who specialized in lance combat. Nekro held his long spear out in front of Kujaku. With just one big step he could stab at his opponent, but Kujaku was clearly familiar with lance combat.

Growing up Kujaku sparred with his cousins a lot, and several of them specialized in lance combat, a famil tradition among some members of Kujaku's Uzumaki family ties. He knew the range a lance had, and more than that he knew the maneuvers that a lance user could cycle through.

In the begining of the match Kujaku seemed to have the advantage. Using his sharing Kujaku parried all of Nekro's fancy strikes. Kujaku was good with a blade and he was showing it off as he twirled around the lances reach and went in for a finishng sweep of his katana.

To everyones surprise Nekro had mastered a technique that he employed right as Kujaku slid through his offense. Earth packed into the air around him and collided with Nekro's leather armor. A film of earthen dirt compacted itself to Nekro and shielded him from Kiujaku's katana strike.

Kujaku was most surprised to see such a level of mastery from a genin, and was taken off balance by the recoil. Kujaku stumbled in Nekro's close range. Nekro swung his lance upward from the handle, striking Kujaku in the chin and sending him backwards. As Kujaku clumsily regained his balance he found himself in the pathway of NEkro's lance. The bukijutsu specialist swung his blade at Kujaku, but the Sharingan eyes saved him. Kujaku could see NEkro before he moved, and he had just a second of foresight. Kujaku deflected the blow with his katana and doubled back.

Then there the two squared off. It was a close match so far. With Nekro's earthen dirt armor Kujaku would have a tough time cutting through his defense, and with the Sharingan Kujaku was able to weave safely in and out of the lances range. Kujaku knew what he needed to do if he wanted to gain an edge. He would have to employ his chidori. A shock to the nervous system would surel end the battle, but Kujaku wasn't sure how he would do it. With a shadow clone he could bu some time, for hand seals, but Kujaku wasn't sure he would be able to guarantee an opening. Kujaku had another idea though.

The UChiha put together some hand seals and created two Shadow Clones. The first one ran forward, engaging Nekro in hand to hand to combat. With the Shadow Clone using Kujaku's dojutsu it was good for evasive tactics, distracting Nekro from the second clone. The clone began weaving together handseals for chidori and within seconds the shirping sound was formed as lightning formed in the clones hand.

Meanwhile the first clone was backing Nekro up, slicing at him with his sword and evading the lance. Kujaku's second clone dashed forward, and the two clone's worked in perfect harmony. The first one weaved behind the second one allowing for an open chidori strike.

The lightning shot off Nekro's earthen armor. There was a crack, but dirt from the air began collecting to repair the armor.

"Well.." Kujaku said to himself and tightened his grip on his katana. He loosened one hand from his blade and began forming hand seals. "Sky Sword Shattering!" Kujaku yelled and swung his blade in a crescent arc that collided with the ground. The earth shattered open and lightning began erupting from the ground. Nekro buckled down in a defensivve posture, likely hoping to wait out the attack. "Perfect.." Kujaku said and formed two more Shadow Clones. They performed the same routine. Despite the earth grumbling Nekro was still light on his toes and succesfully fended off the repeat combo.

What he didn't expect was for Kujaku to follow up with a rein of Chidori Senbon. A thousand needles flew at Nekro and collided with his armor. Nekro held his dirty arms up, the earthen shell armor protecting him. The more needles that collided with him though, the more the armor eroded.

With his Sharingan eyes Kujaku watched the armor slowl chip away, the onslaught of his chidori senbon doing just what he expected it to do. As Nekro was distracted by the senbon the Sky Sword Shattering jutsu threw him off balance and he fell to the ground with a tremor. Kujaku quickly flash stepped over to him, holding his blade to the ninja's head. "Surrender." He said.

Suddenly Nekro faded into dust, revealing himself to have been a clone. Kujaku was stunned, and looked around the battlefield for Nekro. Even with his chakra vision he saw no one.

After the battle Kujaku stood around where the fight was and stretched out. He started his stretches with his upper back, reaching high into the sky and pulling on his loins. He could smell his armpits and made a mental note to take a shower before he sat down when he got home. As he was stretching a kid came up to him.

"Hey mister.." The kid said to Kujaku.

Kujaku released his stretch, hopeful the kid didn't smell his smelly pits. "Heya.." Kujaku said and bent over at the knees to ge tcloser to the kids face. The kid was probably only nine at the very most but he seemed bright eyed. Kujaku was genuinely curious what the boy wanted. His bright orange eyes looked purposefully into the boys eyes and Kujaku listened to what he had to say.

"Well I saw your battle, with that guy Nekros." The boy held his hand to his lips and let out a polite cough. "Well, you looked confused when he faded away." The boy scratched the back of his head and tried to look like he was going to laugh. Kujaku lifted his eyebrow and nodded his head as if to say, "Go on.."

"Well, he does that." The boy made some hand gestures as he spoke, signifying his seriousness in the matter. "Nekros fights unsuspecting fighters here in the Water Gardens using clones. He always lets them win, and no one knows why he works the way he does." The boy slammed his fist into his palm. "Nekros isn't even his name. The rumor is he's a high ranking shinobi that practices his technique incognito to prevent anyone from finding out who he is through the shinobi system. My friend says he's one of the NOVA. Anyway he lways seems like he's winning, then he loses unexpectedly. It's like he's eyeing up the village fighters, and no one knows why." The boy cracked his knuckles, popping the air in between his joints. "So there ya go, now ya might get why your battle seemed rigged."

Kujaku was wide eyed as he listened to the boys tale. He certainly believed the boy, since during the fight he did feel like the battle was rigged. Nekros definetely seemed like he was pulling back, but Kujaku figured it was just because of the sparring limitations. Kujaku carefully considered what the boy said, and after a second of thought he replied.

"Well, thanks. I guess that means I'll see him again." Kujaku smiled ferally. "I'll tear him apart quicker, now I know his ability." Kujaku pounded his two fists together. "Thanks kid, you have been very very helpful." Kujaku reached into his pocket and pulled out a ten dollar ryo coin. "Here, for the info." Kujaku flipped the coin into the kids open hand.

After the talk Kujaku finished his stretching. By the time he was reaching side to side and stretching his lats Kujaku had a nice, clear mind. He felt free of all weights and could easily balance his chakras. The serenity was nice. As he finished up with some toe touches Kujaku found himself considering what the boy had said.

Nekros was certainly a curious figure, even more mysterious than Blue. Blue mostly kept to himself on the training grounds, but it sounded like Nekros was essentially scouting out the sparring field. Kujaku wondered if he reported to anyone. The boy said his friend suspected Nekros to be NOVA, Kujaku wondered if he was in fact scouting out the village shinobi. Anyone who took training seriously came to the Water Gardens of Hoshigakure to train, and this would be the perfect place to find talent. Kujaku smirked as he thought about it, hoping that he had made a good would be impression.

After his stretching and deep thoughts on Nekros Kujaku headed home. He didn't live far from the Water Gardens in his new home. Ever since his father had been murdered and he burned down his childhood home,  Kujaku had been learning new ways around the city. Despite the grief of losing his father, and the amnesia of awakening the Amaterasu flame inside of his Mangekyo Sharingan, Kujaku enjoyed finding new paths home. He carried a map to record which ways he had been.

Today Kujaku planned on exploring a little bit before he got home. Kujaku took the long way around, hopping across roof top to roof top. Eventually he made it home and marked his path on the map.

When Kujaku got home he immediately jumped in the shower, ever careful not to forget his important mental list. Not to mention he absolutely despised being stinky and dirty. NEkros' earth jutsu made sure to leave a grimey residue all over Kujaku's body and he was eager to wash it off. Once he was squeeky clean Kujaku hopped out of the shower and made his way to the kitchen for some food. His mom used to cook, but since his father was murdered Kujaku was usually left to fend for himself. He grabbed a banana and a can of anchovies. Kujaku ate the salty fish straight, and then chased them down with the banana. He had unusual eating habits.

Kujaku went right to bed afte reating a whole can of anchovies, sleeping right on the couch. Since his father was killed Kujaku was paranoid to sleep alone in his room. Instead he slept on the couch, ever vigilant for the mujrderers to return.

In a lot of ways Kujaku's dream in life was to protect his mother, but deeper than that he sought revenge.

WordCount: 1,786

Technique Training: 25% Area Discount
Mangekyo Sharingan (Previous Training) (6,000/6,000)
Lightning Spheres - D Rank (177/500)

Approved