Hungry Like The Wolf

Amy and ThatGuy

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ThatGuy
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Hungry Like The Wolf

Post by ThatGuy » Fri Jul 07, 2023 12:24 am

"The alliances are moving, the next generation is busy training instead of doing their usual community service, so you're being enlisted to take care of a problem that academy students would normally be tasked with. You can handle something an academy student could, right?

The town of Socha on the border of Tea Country just finished the first harvest of their new fields and their product has been slowly trickling into the empire. The last couple of merchants expressed feelings of uneasiness, eyes watching them in the dark, and would feel better if a couple of samurai escorted them from Socha to Xincha. No attacks have been reported, it's probably just a wild dog or two that are too scared to attack a moving cart. You're just there as eye-candy, pretty-boy you are. You'll be paid well for your time though, take care of this for me, yeah?

-G"


Yutaka knew that it would only be a matter of time before he got a job from his new friend. But he didn’t expect something so… legal. He wasn’t complaining. Not much, at least. It took a bit of convincing, but he managed to get Misaki to tag along. She was still unwilling to let him out of her sight, and he offered her half the reward. Well, half of what he told her the reward was. So to Socha they went. When they arrived, it was straight to business. They quickly made their way to the merchants and set out.

The first day was boring. Especially considering he wasn’t supposed to drink on the job. Sure, he snuck a drink here and there, but never enough to get drunk. Which made the night watch all the more insufferable. So he decided to spark up a bit of conversation.

"Yo. Misaki. You’re used to this type of work, yeah? What do you normally do to kill time? I can only stare at the sky for so long before wanting to throw myself off the cart."

Knowing Misaki, she’d probably have some boring answer, or she’d just tell him to stay focused. How the hell could she do jobs like this? Yutaka was more than willing to do it for the pay, but he hadn’t expected it to be this dull. Easy money, he supposed.
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Itotsuki, Abari Kirigakure Chuunin [color=#80a0ff]
Akio B-rank Other Countries [color=#ee4a2d]
Nara, Daisuke D-Rank Missing nin [color=#E4EC32]
Kisama, Yutaka Heart Empire Akibushi [color=#BF0000]
Akari, Touji Iwagakure Genin [color=#C0C0C0]

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Amy
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Hungry Like The Wolf

Post by Amy » Sat Jul 08, 2023 5:21 pm

Misaki shook her head and chuckled. He was always so dramatic, it didn’t seem to matter what the were talking about. But he was right about one thing, she had done this many many time. That was why she was stood at the edge of the cart, wrapping her hands with some fabric she had pulled from her pockets. Something she always carried with her on these missions.

Easy,” she said, jumping up and catching the limb of a nearby branch. “You train.

Doing four pushups in rapid succession, Misaki then swung herself a few times before leaping to a branch a little further ahead, keeping up with the cart. This was how she traveled on almost all of her missions because it was the easiest way to pass the time. She didn’t usually care what her wards had to say and if they wanted to talk to her it was usually to be gross. When they saw her using her upper body strength to carry her further than they could walk, they usually chose to start leaving her alone.

On this new branch, she started doing pull ups again, focusing on her form and ensuring that she was activating all of the correct muscle groups. There was no point in training if you’re going to be sloppy.

I usually start out like this for the first day, just jumping from branch to branch and seeing how many pull ups I can do before the cart starts to get ahead and then I swing forward to a new branch and start over. I keep count through the whole day. My record is three hundred and two.

It was time again to swing forward, but it was still easy for Misaki. The day had only just begun. The sun was hot though and it wore her out quickly, by one hundred her skin was glistening with sweat but she didn’t stop. She never stopped, unless she had to actually do something for the men she was working for. And occasionally for water breaks.

One hundred and one,” she counted, breathing heavily but still within control. “One hundred and two.

Misaki loved exerting physical strength. It made her feel powerful and in control and there were few things better than that in this life where so many things had been taken away from her. So she focused on the burn in her biceps and keeping her legs still and locked so that she did not use them to lift herself upwards. There was no point in counting pull ups if she was going to cheat, after all. Plus, the only person she would be cheating would be herself.

Make sure you keep your form, Yutaka. If you start slacking I’ll start throwing things at you just to add an extra level of difficulty.

She laughed slightly, breathlessly, as she counted at one hundred and fifty now. But Yutaka was about to be in for a surprise because there was a stretch coming up where there were no trees at all. Not for about a quarter of a mile. Now, she could take a break of course and rest her arms and just walk for a bit but where was the challenge in that? Instead, she dropped to the ground and flipped on her way so that she landed on her outreached hands. She bounced up and down a few times, finding her balance, before starting to walk forward, this time doing an upside down push up every few “steps.”

Carful you don’t lose your balance and run into me, you oaf,” she said. Amusement laced her voice, she rarely called him an oaf to his face, much preferring to call him one in her head. But occasionally, the situation called for it. Just like now.

These were so much worse than pull ups, Misaki thought to herself as they continued along. She hated the amount of focus and effort it took on her muscles to keep them activated. If she relaxed even just a little bit too much she would lose her balance and then would have to overcompensate with some of her muscles to catch herself and it would start off a horrible chain reaction. So she was slow and steady as she went, breathing deeply in and holding it before she started to drop her nose to the ground. Then, she breathed out heavily, slowly, forcing herself to still. Then, on the way up she started over with a large breath it, giving her body the strength it needed to get back up.

She liked to think about how far she had come, since she first started doing this. She had been like Yutaka at first, bored with no end in sight. And it had started small but now her strength was going and it was perfect. She needed so much strength in the future, it was worth the effort now.

Her arms had started to shake, the tree less distance way longer than she had initially thought. This was definitely the longest stretch that she had ever tried to walk on her hands. But there was no way she was giving up. Not even if she had to quit her pull ups for the rest of the day, she wasn’t going to fall on her ass because her arms were a little tired. She started pushing just a little bit more chakra into her biceps and her abs, trying to strengthen them and pull them further into place.

She got a little bit ahead of the cart, only doing one push up every other step. She could see the tree line now, she could practically taste it on her tongue.

One more,” she whispered to herself. And she did one more, her arms shaking heavily. “One more,” she said again, tricking her brain into following through.

And then, almost before she knew it she was there. And with one large surge of effort she shoved herself off the ground and back into the trees.

How was that?

Strength training: 1000 words
Last edited by Amy on Sat Jul 08, 2023 5:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Sp. Jounin • Kirigakure no Sato • Araki Kiyo #DDA0DD
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Hungry Like The Wolf

Post by ThatGuy » Sat Jul 08, 2023 9:16 pm

Yutaka let out a heavy sigh as the girl mentioned training. Sure, it was a decent way to pass the time, but surely they could have just played a game of cards! The large man had to admit that he’d been getting out of shape. One couldn’t just build muscle and expect it to stay that way forever. So he joined the girl in her special training regimen, jumping to a nearby tree and doing his pull ups. The only thing Yutaka could ever use to get him through training in the past was his competitive spirit. So he channeled that to keep pace with the girl. Her form was a lot better than his. But he did his best to mimic it, swinging from branch to branch as needed. After the hundredth pull up he looked back over at Misaki, wondering if she was seriously going to try and make him do three hundred of these. When she told him to watch his form, he yelled back.

”Will do, Sarge!”

He couldn’t waste his breath laughing at his own jokes this time. The tall man’s muscles were starting to burn a little. There was something addicting about that burn once you got started. He just never wanted to start. A smile started to grow on his face as he pushed himself further. Taking a quick look over at their clients, he noticed the worry in their face. They obviously thought their bodyguards were going to tire themselves out and be useless in a fight. Yutaka might be dumb, but he wasn’t that dumb. He was, however, running out of breath. While he had exceptional cardio for an alcoholic, he’d been sitting on his ass far too much as of late. So when he found a clearing where there’d be no trees, a wave of relief washed over him. It was a good workout, but it was time to rest. They didn’t want to wear themselves out too much, right?

His hopes were crushed as the girl switched to instead walking on her hands, doing an upside down push up periodically. Yutaka groaned, but ultimately went along with it. Now wasn’t the time to show weakness. So he leapt from the tree and fell into “step” with the girl. When she called him an oaf, he couldn’t help but throw an insult back.

”Oaf!? How would you like it if I called you a brutish she-ogre? Because you are one.”

From then on, he didn’t have the luxury of being able to speak. This exercise was much more intensive than the one before. At this point he was covered in sweat, cursing the sun that was only making things worse. Breathing heavily, he pushed forward, realizing that he was falling a bit behind from the girl. At this point he’d given up on ‘winning’. He just wanted to survive. Come on, me. You can do this. He thought to himself. The large man dug deep within himself and found a hidden reserve of energy. Ignoring the screaming from the muscles in his arms, he continued on.

Yutaka could feel his back muscles starting to give out. It was getting harder and harder to keep his balance. His “steps” were starting to go off course in an attempt to stay upright. Or was it downright? Gritting his teeth, he tried to push through. With each push up he found it taking longer to come back up. Come on you lazy drunk! Pull it together! Just a little bit further. At this point he was having trouble seeing, the sweat running down his face was making it difficult to open his eyes. Trying to blink it away, he noticed another set of trees in the distance. Okay surely this was it.

With the false promise of a break, Yutaka moved with a renewed vigor. If this was the kind of training that Misaki did, it was no wonder she’s so strong. Keep going! He gasped for breath, hating the good weather. Of all the days for the sun to be out, it had to be while he was exercising. He stumbled, making a few zig-zag “steps” in an attempt to catch himself. He was so close! Drawing from every muscle in his body, Yutaka avoided falling. Only to actually fall over when he attempted his next push up. Angry at himself, he got back to it instead of taking a break, determined to finish what he started. With great difficulty, he managed the last push up. After standing up, coated in sweat, he responded to Misaki.

”How do you think? Fucking horrible!”

(770/750 words Strength Training)
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Itotsuki, Abari Kirigakure Chuunin [color=#80a0ff]
Akio B-rank Other Countries [color=#ee4a2d]
Nara, Daisuke D-Rank Missing nin [color=#E4EC32]
Kisama, Yutaka Heart Empire Akibushi [color=#BF0000]
Akari, Touji Iwagakure Genin [color=#C0C0C0]

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Amy
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Hungry Like The Wolf

Post by Amy » Sun Jul 09, 2023 11:33 am

A breathless laugh tumbled from Misaki’s mouth as she hauled herself up onto the branch and began stretching her arms. Shaking off the strain her shoulders were experiencing.

Feel free to give up if you want to. I’m sure no one here will judge you too harshly.

Misaki dropped back down onto the branch, holding on tightly with her hands. The wraps were the only thing keeping her hand safe and she wondered if Yutaka had been smart enough to wrap his own before starting. His hands were going to be covered in blisters and cuts if not. Groaning slightly, Misaki pulled herself up, wanting to stop just short of clearing the branch but forcing herself to go all the way. Never compromising on form was very important to prevent injury and make the most of doing terrible exercise.

Her biceps burned but not worse than her shoulders. Her shoulders were in the terrible spot of burning and numbness but that’s what this was all about. Despite their intense protest, the burning only intensifying, Misaki forced them to work with her and contract, pulling her up again and again. The pull ups were almost a relief now, compared to the way she had to build herself up to swing her entire body from one branch to another one, further in the distance. She wasn’t a particularly heavy woman, but her muscles did not seem to care.

Two hundred,” she muttered to herself, thinking that she was getting tired a little earlier today. It was unlikely she would be able to beat her daily record like this. That large stretch of clear land just destroyed her shoulders. She was shaking now as she pulled herself up, tapping her chest to the branch every time. Her control on her breath was getting shaky so that was what she focused on as she blocked out the pain in her body. Sweat poured down her face and down her chest, the heat of the day really getting to her.

Hey, throw me that water skin,” she called down to one of the nearby clients. He looked at her with a hint of disgust and arousal on his face before doing as she asked and tossing the water up to her. If Yutaka thought that would stop her, he was wrong. As she drank she continued to do pull ups except now they were one handed ones. It was a double sided coin, as her right arm enjoyed the break but her left suffered even more. She hadn’t even been sure she could manage the one armed pull ups right now but pride flooded through her body as she found that she was strong enough to go this hard now.

Being strong made her feel capable and now that she had an inkling of what she was facing in her personal life, with her own personal vendetta, she knew she was going to need to be a lot stronger. She was strong, but no stronger than most other adults in the Heart Empire and that had to change.

You will not give up,” Misaki hissed to herself as she balanced her elbows on the branch for a moment before switching the water skin and doing one armed pull ups with her other arm. This seemed like it would be better but as she counted out her pull ups, a slow one, two, three her first arm was not ready for more yet. The option to stop for the day was always there but she could not be a quitter. So instead she tossed the water skin back to Yutaka and went back to the normally scheduled activities.

Refocusing herself, Misaki closed her eyes and took several large, calming breaths. She let herself feel the burn of her muscles and the exhaustion that pulled at her. She acknowledged the pain and acknowledged the feeling of wanting to give up but then she pushed on any ways. She treated her body like an unruly child, giving no room for argument as she pulled herself up again and again. A firm, full breath before she forced the trembling to stop so that she could jump steadily to the next tree branch. The weight of her body hung on the branch a little heavier but she only gave herself two seconds to catch her breath before starting the next pull up.

Now, she was no longer focused on beating her old record. Now, she was just dedicated to reaching three hundred. Round numbers were always so much easier to focus on for some reason. Three hundred was her favorite so far. The first day she hit three hundred she had never felt so satisfied with herself. And now, she needed that feeling again. An invisible force told her she needed to get to three hundred. Anything less would be absolute failure.

If you didn’t wrap your hands,” Misaki said breathlessly, every syllable straining to sound like it wasn’t. She would never forgive Yutaka if he was doing better than she was doing. It was hard to tell, with chakra, how strong someone was just by looking at them. Without chakra, he would clearly be the stronger one. But, he had been nothing but a drunk the past years and was only just starting to realize maybe there was more to life than that. Plus, he also had a lot more weight to hold up and pull up. It was one advantage she had over men most of the time, her smaller frame.

Picking a spot in the distance for her next break, Miski focused on nothing but that, not yet realizing that she hadn’t finished her advice to Yutaka. Not when that tree came closer and closer, calling to her, promising relief from the burn. It wouldn’t last but a brief relief would be perfect. Loud grunts came from Misaki as she threw her body forward, almost missing this last branch, her fingers of her right hand slipping just slightly before she reached back up and caught back on.

Panting heavily, she shouted to Yutaka who was still a bit of a ways off, “Sorry, I was trying to say if you didn’t wrap your hands you may way to quit before you shred them too much!

Strength Training WC: 1048, total 2056
Last edited by Amy on Sun Jul 09, 2023 1:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Hungry Like The Wolf

Post by ThatGuy » Sat Jul 15, 2023 5:40 am

Yutaka groaned as the girl continued her hellish training. Why the hell was he even trying? Misaki was fueled by the determination to get strong enough to defeat a powerful organization and save her sister. Yutaka was fueled by... the unwillingness to be shown up by a girl half his size? Well, that would be good enough for now, at least. Leaping back up to the tree, he continued the same regimen as before. His arms were screaming at him, but that just meant the exercise was working. Yutaka rarely ever pushed himself this hard. But he wasn't all just pretty looks and card tricks!

The man kept up the best he could but found himself falling behind Misaki. Honestly, he probably should have collapsed already, given his difficulties earlier. But it was hard to tell when Yutaka was just being lazy or actually hitting his limit. Still coated in sweat, he found it getting more difficult to maintain his grip on the branches. As he finished his next pull up, he decided to focus on his breathing. He unconsciously went through the motions, trying not to put any more thought into it than was required. The only things that existed as he continued to do his pull ups were his breath, the cart, and the next branch to swing to.

Yutaka had lost count a long time ago, he was just worried about not falling. He'd be physically fine if he did fall, but it wasn't a good look when your bodyguard's muscles gave out midway through the job. Which made him think, what would they do if someone had attacked just now? Noticing his mind wandering again, he brought it back to his breaths.  In and out. Ignore the pain. Slowly but surely, he started to pick up speed. While he was still a ways behind Misaki, he was no longer lagging behind the cart. While he had done well in pushing through the pain of his muscles, his palms were starting to bleed. No doubt he had blisters as well. 

Thankfully, MIsaki had passed him some water, and when the man took a drink, he suddenly found himself loving something more than alcohol. But only for a brief moment. After tossing the waterskin back to the merchants, he returned to his workout. While the water made him feel revitalized, it only lasted a short while. Not only were his arms beginning to give out, but he realized that going any further with this exercise was going to do some serious damage to his hands.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Way ahead of ya. No sense in goin’ any further than that. What if bad guys attacked? One of us has to be nice and rested."

Despite playing the role of the lazy good-for-nothing, Yutaka was actually proud of himself for making it as far as he did. It had been quite a while since he had put that much effort into working out. Not since his sumo days. After congratulating Misaki on her hard work, he laid back on the cart. Before he knew it, it was night. The half moon provided them with a decent amount of light, but thankfully, the merchants had plenty of torches to light the way. The plan was to push through the night, apparently. They wanted to get these goods to Xincha as soon as possible. It was risky business, but they had two very formidable samurai escorting them. As if on cue, they heard howling that was far too close to ignore.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eyes peered out through the darkness. There were far more wolves than Yutaka had been expecting. By his count, there were at least a dozen. It wasn’t conventional, but he supposed this was another training opportunity. Yutaka wasn’t scared of wolves. No, he was far too stupid for that. Grabbing the tanto that he kept on his person, he unsheathed the blade and took a few steps forward off of the cart.

"Keep movin’. Me and Misaki got this, right? You’re not scared of a couple o’ strays are ya? Let’s do some trainin’ my way this time."

With that, he braced himself for combat. Misaki would be pissed that her most valuable source of information was putting himself in danger, but what better way to encourage training than a life-or-death situation? Noticing a wolf charging at him, he intercepted it with his blade, burying it deep into the wolf’s chest. Another tackled him to the ground, separating him from his weapon. He stopped the wolf from biting down on him with his bare hands, straining as he slowly opened the jaw even further. After prying the jaw fully open, he twisted the wolf’s head and caused it to get off of him. Seizing the moment, he grabbed the wolf by the neck and swung it around him. Another two wolves took a few steps back to avoid being hit by their fellow wolf. After letting go and throwing the wolf a short distance, he dived over to the dead one and retrieved his blade. 

The adrenaline pumping through his veins melted away the exhaustion from his exercises earlier. Right now, he needed every ounce of strength he could get to survive. As another wolf moved in to bite him, he simply brought the hilt of his blade down to the top of its skull. It stunned the creature long enough for him to dig his blade into its throat and drag it from one end to the other. His blood was finally pumping now. Now this was a much more entertaining workout.

(770/750 words Strength Training)
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Itotsuki, Abari Kirigakure Chuunin [color=#80a0ff]
Akio B-rank Other Countries [color=#ee4a2d]
Nara, Daisuke D-Rank Missing nin [color=#E4EC32]
Kisama, Yutaka Heart Empire Akibushi [color=#BF0000]
Akari, Touji Iwagakure Genin [color=#C0C0C0]

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Amy
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Hungry Like The Wolf

Post by Amy » Wed Jul 19, 2023 12:11 am

Misaki shook her head as Yutaka charged towards the wolves. It was incredibly stupid that he would so recklessly charge into a fight against a large pack of wolves but if he lost to some animals he couldn’t be all that valuable. Giving herself a quick moment to stretch she let Yutaka start the fight, watching his form, hearing his silly taunt.

“I’m more scared of you hurling one of them on top of me,” she called out before joining him. Yutaka had a definite size advantage in this kind of fight both with his height and with his weight. Some of these wolves were almost the same size as Misaki was, which for some would be a cause for concern. But not for Misaki who dove right into the fray, catching the first wolf with an elbow to its chest and using her weight to lift it up and over her body. It flew over her head and crashed into another wolf slowing them both down. These were definitely not normal wolves, Misaki was quickly convinced because that first one was fucking heavy. She was already starting to regret all of the training that she had completed earlier in the day. But, it was what it was and the past didn’t change the present and in the present she was being charged by another wolf.

Planting her feet, Misaki caught the next one around his neck and pulled him down to the ground using not only her strength but also her body weight. He clawed at her with his feet and she struggled to get purchase through his thick, matted fur. But finally she was able to get a tight enough grip and with one quick movement broke his neck. Not playing games anymore, Misaki withdrew her blade from her him and wielded it as the next wolf came at her. This was not going to be a show of expert swordsmanship she thought to herself as she planted her feet. This was about how much strength she had to keep going because her arms were screaming at her. But what was she going to do, she thought to herself as she drove her blade into a wolf’s chest. She couldn’t fail because if word got out that she was unreliable it would significantly cut into her information gathering missions.

With a huge heaving sigh she tightened her arms and tore the blade from the wolves chest just in time to catch another one in the neck on her back swing. She grunted as the blade embedded itself into the wolf’s neck but did not break all the way through. It didn’t even go through enough to kill the wolf. The wolf did collapse to the ground, likely from shock, but only for a moment. With her sword still locked in his neck, the wolf couldn’t move but neither could Misaki. She planted her feet into the ground and changed her grip slightly so that she had more leverage. With a great big yell she pushed against the blade with all of her strength while also pulling it towards her. With one big movement she finally sliced through the wolf’s neck beheading it cleanly.

This is terrible!” She shouted to Yutaka as a wolf caught her from behind, his teeth snapping right next to her ear. Elbowing it swiftly in the side of its head, practically giving it whiplash, Misaki hefted it all the way up onto her shoulder and started spinning. After building up some momentum she got her hand under the wolf’s ribcage and hurled him into a tree. She didn’t even have time to enjoy the delicious crack of the tree before the next wolf was trying to go for her throat. This one she caught right underneath the chin and tried to hold it back but the weight of it was too great and they crashed to the ground.

Luckily, this was one of the smaller ones and its teeth could not, in fact, reach her face while she held it at an arms length. But she did not know how long she could do this for. It was much heavier than she was and it had the advantage of being able to bear its weight down on top of her while all Misaki could do was try her best to keep it from biting her face off.

Drool dripped onto her face as the wolf snapped at her over and over but because it was so focused on trying to eat her it did not notice as Misaki got her feet against its under belly. Her arms were losing strength and she had to turn her head to the side to avoid getting her nose bitten off rather unceremoniously. “Not, fucking, today,” she whispered to the wolf before she gave one large heave with her arms and legs at the exact same time and launched it completely clear of her. She heard it thud to the ground several feet away and knew she had to finish it. Legs burning, arms practically numb, she limped over to where the stunned wolf laid, desperately gasping for breath.

I hope you burn in hell you stupid fuck,” Misaki growled at the wolf before stabbing it through the chest not just once, but twice, and then a final third time. Until the wolf stopped moving completely.

Looking up, she realized that that was the end of it. Now, they just had to burn the bodies. Groaning to herself, Misaki cleaned her blade off and rolled up her sleeves and grabbed the nearest wolf by its hind legs. These things were even heavier when they were dead, she cried to herself as her arms threatened to fall off. But she just focused on one foot in front of the other, one wolf at a time. Until her hands were slick with blood and her face was smeared with it and it took her ten minutes to realize she had collapsed on the ground from exhaustion. She looked around for Yutaka and gave him a tired grin.

Maybe no more training on missions.

Strength training: 1027; Final Total 3083 @ 750 words per training = 4 strength stats
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Hungry Like The Wolf

Post by ThatGuy » Wed Jul 19, 2023 10:43 pm

A wolf pounced onto Yutaka’s back, knocking him over. The claws dug into his back and tore his kimono. It was getting annoying how often he had to fix the damn thing. Spinning around, he elbowed the wolf attempting to bite down on his neck. This only served to temporarily get the wolf off of him however, as it immediately pounced again. With his free hand, the large man pushed the wolf by the neck. The wolf snarled and clacked its teeth together as it tried to bite Yutaka. These beasts were a lot heavier than they looked. With considerable effort, the large man pushed as hard as he could, tossing the wolf a short distance. He barely had time to stand up before another lunged at him. Not wanting to be put in the same situation as earlier, Yutaka caught the wolf, lifting it over his head before slamming it into the ground. He then grabbed his blade and stabbed the wolf repeatedly. Once it was dead he took a few steps back, already starting to run out of breath.

The wolf he had thrown off earlier started to stalk towards him once again. Having caught his breath for the moment, Yutaka decided to take the offensive. He simply threw a punch at the wolf and made contact despite its attempt at dodging. It let out a yelp as Yutaka continued his attack, kicking the wolf multiple times until it was on its side. He then dropped down and stabbed his blade into its neck. It continued to fight for a few moments but eventually dropped limp. He had been so lost in the battle that Yutaka had nearly forgotten about Misaki. Looking over, he saw her throwing a wolf directly into a tree. Why had he bothered worrying in the first place? He barely noticed the growl from behind him as two wolves stalked towards him. One lunged but Yutaka was able to dodge just barely in time. Bringing his blade up, he readied himself for the second wolf’s attack. One jumped towards the large man and he caught it mid-lunge with his tanto, driving the blade deep into the wolf’s chest. Before he could even pull the blade out, he was bit in the leg by the one he dodged earlier.

With a grunt of pain, Yutaka hit the wolf square in the nose and attempted to pry its jaw open. The wolf had nearly reached the bone before the man was able to stop it. Gritting his teeth, Yutaka tried to use every ounce of strength he had left to open the wolf’s mouth. Its jaw strength was incredible, it was a miracle that his calf bone hadn’t broken. Yutaka’s fingers bled as he gripped onto the beast’s teeth and slowly pried its jaw open. He could barely believe that he was actually managing to do it. Feeling his strength start to waver, Yutaka let out a scream of effort to try and draw out the last bit of his strength. Once the wolf’s teeth were finally out of his leg, he quickly moved it out of his mouth. Not wanting to risk losing a finger, he readjusted his stance and continued to pull the beast’s jaws apart. With one last burst of strength, he pulled both of his hands in the opposite direction, breaking the wolf’’s jaw with a sickening crunch. Not giving it a chance to run away, because he was frankly pissed off, he pinned it down with one arm and reached for the blade still in the other wolf’s chest.

Once he had retrieved the blade, he stabbed the wolf repeatedly, grunting from the effort it took. Completely out of breath, he stood up and looked around. Misaki made a comment about no more training on missions but Yutaka didn’t have the strength to reply. Instead he simply nodded as he tried to catch his breath. After she gathered the bodies and prepared to burn them, Yutaka put up a hand to stop her and spoke between gasps for air.

“Pelts… Worth money…”

Dropping to his knees, he set out carving the wolves. Peeling the skin was hard enough work, but he’d already done more exercise today than he could ever remember doing before. His muscles begged him to stop, but he’d be damned if he was going to let this opportunity go to waste. If they could get a decent price for these, he’d be set on booze for at least a week! After collecting the last of the pelts, he slowly started returning to the cart. The bodies burned behind him as the large man crawled back onto the cart and almost immediately fell asleep.

(785/750 words Strength Training)
CharactersShow
Itotsuki, Abari Kirigakure Chuunin [color=#80a0ff]
Akio B-rank Other Countries [color=#ee4a2d]
Nara, Daisuke D-Rank Missing nin [color=#E4EC32]
Kisama, Yutaka Heart Empire Akibushi [color=#BF0000]
Akari, Touji Iwagakure Genin [color=#C0C0C0]

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