Battle of Wills and Maybe More

[TyDie]

The sun was shining brightly in the pale blue sky as it's rays warmed the sands of Aroma Country's many beaches. The festivities were in full swing, but Emi never slacked on her training, not even in foreign nations or during "relaxation" times. Yes, even here, clad in a simple dark blue sukumizu, the girl was battle ready, standing on a sandy beach with various other people in the process of doing their own warm ups. Some where training with fellow countrymen, and some were "sparring" with shinobi from rival nationsm under the ever watchful eye of the local samurai constabularies. However, Some of those same samurai were training as well, and it was one such individual that Emi was in a current battle with. A young boy, not much older than her, who was still a novice learning the ways of his blade. His mentor, one of the festivals true bodyguards, was watching as he went up against Emi.

In terms of swordsmanship, the boy's skills rivaled her own - While they practiced different styles entirely, the young samurai's skills were as sharp as his blade, and his speed would've been too much for the average genin. Emi, however, was not average, and her own unique skills revolving around her blade of golden light were equally skilled, the flourishes and flair of her blade's rotations and her acrobatic movements were enough to keep the boy at bay, their blades clashing off each other while Emi's hummed with vibrant power. But Emi was only using her Taijutsu right now, only using her sword - She planned on developing many more new skills whilst here, amongst shinobi and warriors of the lands beyond her own little desert.

Pushing back against the young samurai for a moment, Emi got the kid off his balance before kicking a pile of sand up into his face to blind him, forcing him to back off and rub at his face in pain. Emi obviously didn't want to hurt the kid too seriously though, backing away as she assumed a readied posture and began to gather chakra around herself, a blue vignette of power welling up around her. Once the boy got the sand out of his eyes, he'd stare at the Henrin with annoyance and spite - He clearly thought her move was dirty or dishonorable. "All's fair, don't let honor get you killed." She said with a slight smirk, funneling her chakra into her left hand as she waved it towards the boy, her thumb, index and middle fingers outstretched and straight while her ring finger and pinky were curled. It was part of the flowing nature of her swordsmanship, these poses and stances all served a purpose - To misdirect and dazzle. However, in this case, the movement of her left hand was also a gateway to the boy's defeat, as his eyes focused in on her hand and watched a single crackle of electricity travel up the girl's two straightened fingers.

It wasn't real lightning, though she could use Raiton as well - It was a ruse, a trick to get him to question himself. However, as he saw no immediate threat related to the lightning, he composed himself and rushed her again. As he neared, his sword raised and ready to strike, the second he got close to her - a shock. In his hands, the sudden feeling of lightning crackling through his nerves stunned him. And, worse, it caused his hands to open, releasing his sword from his grasps. The Genjutsu had worked - Emi had tricked the boy's senses into releasing his weapon, and with a swift swing of her blade she'd bat the weapon away into the sands to her right. The boy, disarmed and defeated, looked at her with malice.

"You cheat! Damn ninjas, using magical powers in a fight, that isn't fair!" With a huff, the clearly stubborn child moved to retrieve his sword, not glancing at Emi again as he left the beach. His mentor, shaking his head, simply silently followed behind him... This left Emi in a bit of a pickle though.

Now who would she use her illusions on?

Jutsu Trained 689/500 wordsShow

[Genjutsu • Shock]
D-Ranked Illusion Genjutsu
Emi will perform a series of hand seals, then hold her hand out in a gesturing fashion. Anyone who sees her do so will see a spark of electricity jump between her fingers. If they get within 2m of Emi in the next three posts they will feel a sudden shocking sensation in their hands, typically enough to interrupt hand seals or make them drop whatever they’re holding.

[Tsedas]

Jubei marveled at the expanse of sea and sand before him. He'd never been to the beach before and his parents had bugged the hell out of him before he departed for this trip. Making sure he packed his wooden practice sword along with his real one, making sure he had brought a swimsuit, oil that protects his skin, and all manner of thing for his time here. As he stood in simple straw sandals, white swim trunks, and a sky blue over shirt that hung open on his thin yet pale frame, he raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sun and took in the sights. People having mock battles, others training together, some just doing simple activities and things like swimming or sunbathing. The sight was a first for Takamori Jubei, to say the least.

As he started walking the sands, he heard the outburst of someone nearby and turned to look. His green eyes shifting as their slight glow made them stand out amidst his rather pale features. Scanning the area, he saw a younger lad followed by someone else who was perhaps a samurai. The individual they were walking away from was a girl who had on a blue swimsuit and was holding.... a blade of light? Was that not dangerous to use for this kind of thing? Sure, training with practical weapons was way different than wooden ones, but one figured it would be best to just remove the potential risks entirely. Jubei stared at the weapon and eventually shook his head at it. He couldn't fathom something like that for his swordsmanship. It didn't have form or weight probably, so it might make it light but the balance would be completely out of synch with what he was used to. He preferred the traditional feel of a real sword in his hands.

Of course he didn't bother realizing that his train of thought let him staring at the girl like an idiot for some time. Most other people might have thought he was either debating talking to her or debating if he had to poop.... his face was a little hard to read when it was in a state of thought sometimes.

[TyDie]

Seeing as the boy was probably not going to come back and continue their spar, Emi let out a small sigh as she allowed the golden blade of her sword to dissipate, returning it to it's dormant state as nothing more than a hilt. As she was about to clip it to the side of her swimsuit though, she turned her head and saw a white haired boy staring her way. She wasn't sure how long he had been there, but the way he was just checking her out left her feeling a little skeevy. A slight blush crossed her face as she crossed her arms over her chest and turned herself away from the boy, as if trying to cover up her skin

"W-What? Why are you checking me out like that, perv?" The girl wasn't sure what exactly was in this kid's head, but his bright green eyes definitely caught her attention. They seemed unnatural... maybe he was also a shinobi? It would make sense with this festival going on. But either way, he had a little explaining to do before she thought about who he was, or else any sparring between them might end up as more than a simple spar.

[Tsedas]

Jubei was staring, but when the blade of that shimmering light sword retracted he furrowed his brow. 'Definitely not for me, that seems like self inflicted sword wound just begging to happen. Lack of proper balance without the blade just can't be the way to go. You need the blade, the feedback of a physical blade hitting something can relay so much information! Like when you-perv? Wait, what?' Jubei blinked as he shifted his gaze up and saw the blushing and turning away while trying, and honestly failing, to cover herself. "Perv? Excuse me, but that's a bit rude. Can't a guy zone out pondering the logistical failings of a sword with no real blade without being called a perv?"

His counter to her accusation was... blunt? It certainly explained what he was doing but it also seemed like his comment about a certain sword could be taken the wrong way. Jubei shifted the hand not holding the wooden training sword up and pointed at the girl. "And why are you even trying to cover yourself anyway?! You wearing a skin tight swimsuit and making a weird pose! Why didn't you just bring an over shirt?" He asked, pinching the collar of his own shirt with his free hand and tugging on it. "Bit presumptuous to assume I'm a perv when you're technically wearing less articles of clothing than me!"

[TyDie]

A small vein began to bulge out of the side of Emi's head as her blood pressure raised alongside her growing anger. First he had made fun of the way her sword worked, next he had called her into question because of her swimsuit? She grit her teeth for a moment as squeezed her hand tightly around the hilt in her hands before eventually barking back at the white haired boy. "The nerve! For your information I was just in the water a few minutes ago jackass! Nice job blaming me for not being able to control your own damn eyes!" She crossed her arms in a huff and glared the boy down, a hip cocked to one side as she pouted at the boy.

"What are you even doing here anyway huh? I was in the middle of training before your wandering eyes found their way over here, and now my sparring partner ran off in a huff. Don't you have better things to do than eyeballing 12 year olds?" Suddenly an idea crossed the girl's mind as she realized that the boy had the makings of a fighter - Perhaps another shinobi? "As for the sword you so rudely insulted, it functions just fine. I'm happy to give you a taste if you're adamant on interrupting my training." As she spoke, she let her right arm drop to her side and allowed some of her chakra to flow into the weapon, causing the golden blade of light to emerge forth once more from the hilt. It was an open challenge, but she wouldn't fault him for turning it down. It was okay to admit he was scared.

[Tsedas]

Jubei let his eyes narrow as she kept hurling insults and deflecting his logical approach to her flailing tantrum of words. "Do you take your sword swimming in the ocean all the time? Seems like a good way to lose it. And I didn't cast blame on you, I merely refuted your accusation with accurate assessment!" Jubei stated with as much vigor as she was shouting. If he bothered to be aware of his surroundings, they'd realize they look like a couple of idiots and were causing a scene. But this was a battle of wills! He wouldn't back down from such a challenge now! Not when he could easily counter her arguments with the plain and honest truth!

"I've every right to be here like anyone else. It's a beach! Look around! There are people training everywhere!" He exclaimed before shaking his head. "Eyeballing 12 year olds? No one would think twice about it if I was, I'm 13 you idiot. Aren't you a little young to be this self conscious about perverts having eyes for you on the beach? There are tons of more mature women who won't label you a pervert and actually have conversations all over the place." The boy went for the kill, might have been a bit harsh. He was out of line, but was he wrong? "Sure, I'll replace the partner who couldn't deal with your bratty behavior. I'm more than ready to contend with you and your featherweight weapon."

Jubei steeled himself and shifted his legs, digging his feet into the sand as he held himself ready for her to either lose her cool and charge him or make his move. Either way, he was going to need to exercise his speed and accuracy properly. Luckily he was using a Bokken instead of Juzumaru. Still, wood could hurt just as much as steel but he knew she wouldn't die out here. Her ego might take a beating though! Shifting his grip, he pulled the wooden weapon to his waist and held a stance, ready to battle this bratty girl and show he was not scared of her or her flimsy light show sword.

[TyDie]

Emi rolled her eyes and scoffed as the boy reprimanded her for bringing her sword with her into the ocean. It had been clipped on to her swimsuit, it wasn't going anywhere! Plus it was so ornate she was afraid of it being stolen if she left it somewhere, the gaudy hilt would probably fetch a decent price if someone had a mind to take it from her, even if they didn't know what it could do. Not that that was any of this kid's business of course. And the pompous talk! "Refuted your accusation with Accurate Assessment? What kind of smart ass did he think he was, using a bunch of big words to sound so much more mature than her!? "Tch, Arrogant ass... I literally saw you. You were staring right at me, your mouth was half open, you may as well have been drooling!" She pointed to her eyes with her unarmed hand, glaring at the boy as she spoke.

"See these eyes? I'm a Henrin, a Suna shinobi family that all have perfect memories. That means your ugly mug is gonna be stuck in my head forever, with your dumbfounded stare. I might've overlooked it if you had just admitted that you couldn't take your eyes off me, but nooooo, too prideful to admit when you've been caught!" The young girl knew she was causing a scene - Several people were watching, even some of the samurai guards, though most realized it was two kids bickering over nothing - They weren't likely to injure each other too seriously.

"And then you go and compare me to 'more mature women'... Where do you get off saying I'm not mature, huh!? You don't know me!" The girl's eyes flickered for a brief moment as a thought crossed her mind - Why did she even care about this kid? Why did she care that he was staring, that he put other women above her, that he was continuing a fight with her? The thoughts crossed her mind, but before the answers could follow, she snapped right back out of it and twirled her sword effortlessly in her hand, performing small circles around her arm and body with the weapon as it hummed through the air.

The two had readied themselves, and clearly she was the angrier of the two - Without another thought she rushed the boy, letting out a yell as she approached. "Let's see if your sword arm is as strong as your mouth, you bastard!" Her sword was flourishing with grace in her hands, the speed and beauty of the weapon's movements making it difficult to discern what was a feint and what was an actual attack. When she was close enough, she'd plant a foot before lunging forward with her blade, extending the tip of the weapon towards Jubei's shoulder. As she did so, her torso turned in line with the attack and her wrist shifted suddenly, causing the weapon to jut forward an extra few inches farther than it might've otherwise, and with shocking speed at that. Should the weapon hit Jubei at all, he'd find the weapon was actually dull, and only warm enough to leave a light singe if anything at all...

She was angry, but not murderous. Her blade of light was toned down for the sake of only beating his ass, not killing him.

Jutsu UsedShow

[Hikari Shiru • Flower]
D-Ranked Taijutsu Stance
Emi will effortlessly twirl her sword in her hands by maneuvering her wrist in flourishing circular patterns, causing the weapon to spiral around her arm and body while she pivots and twirls on her feet. This is a standard stance for her style with two main benefits - The ability to deflect and bat away attacks and projectiles of weaker strength than her own, and making her movements and attacks far trickier to predict, as she can lash out with slashes and stabs from nearly any point during this stance's movements.

[Hikari Shiru • Sting]
D-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
While thrusting her sword forward to stab at an opponent, just as she reaches the edge of her effective range, Emi will shift her upper body forward slightly while rotating her torso and twisting her wrist. This simple action pushes her sword arm further than normal, granting slightly longer range on her stab than she might otherwise have.

[Tsedas]

Jubei sized the girl up as he shifted his left foot back and bent his knees, dropping his center of gravity while twisting his body. He felt the muscles tightening as his eyes focused on hers. Steely green eyes aglow with determination and rightous justice clashing with the black eyes like a void of rage and anger at his truthful words. As she blathered on about him drooling at her, the young Takamori boy scoffed as he continued coiling himself tight like a spring. The girl could take, but all she was doing was giving him a chance to adjust his footing, shifting himself to try and find that sweet spot for deployment.

The name she shouted and her eye's abilities made him recall words his father said about them and a woman named Kiyori. He stowed that bit of information but kept the perfect memory part in the front of his mind. Their abilities might be fairly close if he had to bet, at least given their ages. But that means he would need to give himself an advantage. Something that would give him the ability to come out on top. He'd also need to employ something he was supposed to specialize in. Speed!

Originally he'd been getting himself tight in the upper body to deliver his Iaido techniques but now he started pushing his feet into the sand. Speed was the name of the game, the key to victory. Iaido was all about the need for speed and accuracy. But accuracy could come later, for now he had to put himself ahead in this match. Pulling himself back he returned his full focus to the Henrin girl and she was twirling her sword.

'Here it comes, watch for an opening and then strike. Either nail her or deflect that blade.' He thought to himself as she rushed in. As his opponent approached, they flourished their blade and shifted it in ways that had his eyes dancing in his head to keep track of all the movements before his legs tensed the minute a foot was planted solidly into the sand. As the foot was planted, she performed a lunge and he spring into action. His body hunched and pushed off to his left, her right. The blade of light shifted forward, pressing forward but instead of catching a shoulder it left a burn mark across the fluttering shirt Jubei wore, the garment fluttering behind him from his movements as he leapt to the side. A nasty singe mark marred the fabric of the cloth as Jubei landed his brief stint in the air on the ball of his left foot.

Spinning on the foot, he aimed himself back at the girl and snapped his body twisting it rapidly as he drew the training sword out of the hand that held it at his waist. As he launched himself at the Henrin girl, his arm swing and his upper body untwisted, adding force and speed to the swing as he attempted to smack her in the shoulder like she had just tried on him.

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519/500 words for Speed Training

Technique usedShow

*[Iaido • Weapon Mastery]
D-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Since Iaido is a style that prioritizes speed over brute strength, wise usage of the blade is paramount to the practitioner's success in the style. This Discipline represents the practitioner's knowledge of their weapon's strengths and weaknesses in combat, allowing them to use the weapon more efficiently both inside and outside of its use in Iaido techniques and avoid unnecessarily presenting their weapon's blind spots to the opponent.

*[Iaido • Last Breath]
D-Rank Taijutsu Maneuver
The most iconic (and most basic) strike of Iaido, the practitioner quickly draws and cuts with their blade in a wide arc in one fluid motion. This simultaneous draw and attack straight from the scabbard makes Iaido well-suited for an initial surprise attack and for taking advantage of openings presented by the opponent.

[TyDie]

As Emi's blade passed just by the boy's clothing, missing by just a hair, the girl was actually left stunned for a moment. The poor young Henrin hadn't inherited her mother's intelligence completely, it seemed. Or rather, her father's anger issues overpowered any family smarts she may have been blessed with. She was woken from this sudden trance by the pain radiating through her shoulder as the boy's sword hit him, the impact sending her staggering forward for a few steps as she yelped. Once she stopped, she froze for a moment and just... looked at her shoulder. The area the blunt bokken had impacted was already turning red and swelling, but she wasn't blind to the fact that his sword was a training weapon. And the samurai she had been fighting earlier was not. Had she been in this situation against another opponent, training or not, the injury would've proved crippling or worse.

And all because she couldn't keep her damn mouth shut.

What the hell's wrong with me? I could've lost my arm... All over a stupid argument. Emi's gaze flitted from her shoulder to the boy, back and forth in a state of shock as her mind reeled. I can't keep letting my anger get the better of me like this... It won't be training forever. The war is getting closer to home every day, and if I'm not ready I... The young Henrin's hand tightened around the glowing weapon in her hand, her anger swelling within her again, but this time being directed at herself. She had to be better. She had to think first for once, instead of acting on every stupid impulse she got over some sense of ego preservation, or loyalty.

She still wasn't admitting to any fault - As far as she saw it, the kid was staring her down, clear as day. She was steadfast in that resolve, but she wasn't going to let her anger cloud her judgements any longer. It would instead serve as a fuel for the fire, a contained burn instead of an explosive blaze. A moment later, as the girl finally turned to face the young boy, her face was stalwart. She wasn't backing out of this without an apology - And after all, she had needed a sparring partner. Clearly the boy was better than she thought. But how did he fair against shinobi tactics?

As she readied herself, flourishing her blade once again, the chakra radiating around her would suddenly dissipate. However, had the boy been paying as close attention to her weapon as he had before, he'd be falling prey to her ploy. As she once again rushed the white haired kid, a glint of fury in her eyes fanned by retraint and control, He'd watch as the girl jumped high into air, aiming to slam down her weapon on the boy's left shoulder. In reality, this was an illusion - The real Emi ducked behind her illusion to the boy's right as the clone, hopefully, drew his attention to the left. As the clone's attack finished, revealing itself to be fake, Emi would lash out with her sword against Jubei's side in a powerful horizontal swing. Let's see how he likes it!

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537/500 words for 1 Willpower

Jutsu UsedShow

[Genjutsu • Phantom Slash]
D=Ranked Illusion Genjutsu
Emi will gather her chakra before waving her sword at her enemy. Those who see this motion will be captured by the Genjutsu, which triggers whenever Emi gets within 1 meter of a target. Once within this range, the target will suddenly see Emi leap up into the air, aiming a slash for the target's upper body. In reality, this is an illusion meant to draw their attention to a false attack, leaving their defenses weak elsewhere. If the genjutsu has not been activated within 3 posts, It will deactivate harmlessly and the chakra will be wasted.

[Tsedas]

As his armed finished it's swing, he quickly drew it back in, slipping the bokken back into his left hand and repositioning it upon his waist. As he hopped back another step, he planted his feet firmly into the ground and kept a loose but ready stance to shift back into utilizing his Iaido upon her again. He'd managed to side step her attack and he felt the hit connect against her shoulder but he wasn't about to let all that excitement get to his head. Taking a deep breath in through his nose, Jubei's lips parted and he exhaled and felt his body unwind and his excitement quell for that moment.

Watching her, he could see she was giving pause to something and he watched her like a hawk and almost felt like he should say something while noticing that this Henrin girl was looking back and forth from her shoulder and him as if she couldn't believe the attack had managed to hit or that he'd managed to dodge, but then the turn came. She seemed to steel herself and her boisterous nature was going into a box. 'She's taking this seriously now, just my luck. One decent hit and the gloves are probably coming off. Time to bring the A game then.'

Jubei hunkered himself in, digging his feet into the sand as his eyes gave a brief glow as if signalling his determination. He was ready to spring forward when she made a second charge at him. As she was moving this aura of chakra that had been around he dissipated and his brow furrowed. Was that the start of a technique? Did she already finish preparing it? What was that? Green eyes followed her movements, keenly watching the shifting of that blade with her every approaching step. occasionally they shifted away from her for brief stints to scan for signs of a ninjutsu technique but he saw none.

As she approached, their eyes met and she leaped into the air. He followed as the trick intended him to but as he saw her starting to come down, his arms shifted. Raising the weapon up, his left hand unfurled as he tried to keep his wits about him. Sliding along the blade, Jubei's left palm ran along the back of the wooden blade while his right pulled to the side, giving a wide but serviceable block to the hit as his eyes shifted to see where her other technique was coming from. That's when he saw her, or rather a second her. 'Shit! Clone?! Genjutsu? I'll know in a moment!'

His eyes flared with ethereal green light as his doujutsu body modification tightened it's hold on the errant jutsu that floated around him. Coalescing it almost instantly, the ever active chakra around him formed into a skeletal ribcage as he flitted his eyes between both forms of the girl. As her first form came down, he thrust his arms up to catch the over head attack while the ribs formed in the pathway of her side swing. As the blade phased harmlessly through his bokken and the illusion dispersed, his planted feet shifted and pushed off, launching him away from the second Henrin girl swinging from the side.

As he pushed away, his head turned to look at her, that blade of grossly incandescent light slamming into the ribs and cracking them upon impact before the chakra untethered and the technique dispersed as the ribs bought him just enough time to left him get away from the brunt of the attack as the tip of that blade met his side as his arms were still extended overhead. 'That was a close one, if it were a real sword it would have left a fine but shallow cut. Still, it does burn a little.'

Jubei shifted back into his stance as he landed away from the Henrin. His eyes still aglow as he watched this pitch black voids and the red rings within them. "Genjutsu, huh? Might need to do a little better than that." Jubei stated plainly as he had just managed to keep his wits about him. Had it not been for his paranoia of some hidden ninjutsu technique coming out of nowhere, he would have definitely been given a harsh blow to the ribs. Still, he could see it was genjutsu only at the end of it all. He couldn't identify the trigger and by the time he noticed what it was, she was already in position to deliver her blow. Still, he was thankful for the Abara technique. He can reflexively bring it out in a pinch to deaden the brunt of attacks or block others.

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783/500 words for Willpower training

Jutsu usedShow

[Ninjutsu • Abara]
D-Rank Ninjutsu
Utilizing his body mod, Jubei will focus on his ambient chakra before activating his chakra anchors. This will force his chakra to manifest around him, creating a skeletal ribcage that has a maximum size of 15 meters that he simply calls Abara(Rib), the size can be increased upon creation depending on his [Control] accordingly. These ribs are centered upon his person and follows his movements. The strength of this ribcage shield equal to [Control] and lasts as long as 5 posts as a base timeline. Should Jubei require the ribcage beyond the base 5 posts, he can dump more chakra into the technique to extend its existence. This insta-dump of chakra will be worth the same amount of chakra to cast the technique originally and add on another base time frame to it's post count(Meaning another 5 posts).