*[Yoshin • Great Serpent's Gaze]
A-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Prerequisite(s): *[Yoshin • Field Dressing].
The practitioner of Yoshin has attained a knowledge of the human body that rivals even the world's finest doctors. This Discipline represents the practitioner's knowledge of the human anatomy in its entirety, including every single point of vulnerability, and they are able to instantly locate and target those areas both on their bodies and their opponents' bodies whenever they so wish. This allows the practitioner to accurately strike even the most minute of target areas in the heat of combat.
Abari felt like he rarely ever got the chance to go on missions anymore. While he would never refuse a mission given to him, he made it clear that he’d prefer something with combat. Thankfully the council seemed to understand but there wasn’t often a combat oriented mission for one of his rank. So he was pleased to find that they found him a mission that was as simple as taking down some revolutionaries in Water Country. It was a perfect opportunity to test his Yoshin. There is no better practice than live combat, after all.
He would probably have received a lecture about efficiency if there were any superiors accompanying him on this mission. But the boy wanted to see if he could get them to all attack him at once. So he simply walked right into the building the revolutionaries were using as a base. Upon seeing the village headband he kept on his arm, the group immediately drew their weapons. They yelled for the others in the building as Abari unsheathed his blade. He studied the group as the remaining stragglers entered the room.
From the looks of it there were just under two dozen of them. A walk in the park for a shinobi of Kirigakure. Taking a deep breath, the shy boy that everyone in the village knew was pushed aside and the Bloody Demon of the Mist took center stage. Quickly picking his first victim, Abari charged forward. The man blocked Abari’s first attack but the boy redirected his second and severed a tendon in his opponent’s forearm. Before he could finish them off, he was interrupted by an attack from behind. Easily dodging the strike, the boy dropped low and cut the attacker’s femoral artery.
As the boy reset, he found himself surrounded by the enemy, all with their weapons drawn and ready. They were smart enough to not attack him one at a time, but unfortunately for them, nothing could prepare them for a shinobi of Kirigakure. Jumping over one of his attackers, he sent a downward slash as he landed, carving directly into their spine. One of the revolutionaries quickly spun around but Abari didn’t give him a chance to retaliate. Aiming a stab between the ribcage, the blade found its way into the man’s heart. The boy manipulated the impaled body to block an incoming slash. Pushing the limp body onto his attacker, he removed his sword and cut the eyes of an unsuspecting revolutionary.
Noticing their numbers dwindling in such a short amount of time, his opponents were finally starting to realize the position they were in. The boy quickly identified the weakest link in the group and made his way towards them. The fear had paralyzed them, making it all too easy to slip past their guard and cut deeply into their neck, severing their carotid artery. Much like a cornered animal, the others were sent into a panicked rage and once again attacked the boy. Abari parried two strikes aimed at him and severed the axillary artery of one attacker before slashing at the median nerve of the other. The pain caused them to drop their sword and Abari used that opening for a quick slash to the stomach.
Beckoning the rest of his opponents to charge, Abari dodged their strikes, one by one until he found an opening. One poor soul found Abari’s blade buried in their tibiofemoral joint. As they fell to the ground, screaming in pain, the boy rolled behind another enemy and delivered a wide slash that severed both of their achilles tendons. The revolutionaries would find half of their fighting force already either incapacitated or dead. Abari would not give them much of a chance to process it however, charging back in to begin another offensive.
Abari found his next target and delivered a feint and when the man brought his sword up to block, the boy dug his blade into their elbow joint. After removing his sword, he quickly changed targets, delivering a few quick strikes which, to his surprise, were blocked. It seemed that not all of them were worthless. He could not continue to fight this particular opponent for the moment however, as another revolutionary tried to ambush Abari from behind. Dodging at the last second, the boy used the opening made by the missed attack to use his sword to damage their brachial plexus directly. The boy followed this up with a slash across the neck before quickly resetting.
Leaving the skilled swordsman for later, Abari threw one of his enemies directly into them. As the two tried to catch their balance, the boy delivered a barrage to two of the remaining revolutionaries. Cowering, they tried their best to block the shinobi’s attacks but instead found their defenses overwhelmed. Abari cut at their interphalangeal joints, destroying their fingers before giving them a relatively quick death. One of the revolutionaries attempted to flee the building but Abari chased them down and stabbed at the back of their spine, severing two of their thoracic vertebrae.
With just five combat capable enemies left, Abari stood between them and the only exit. They all attacked at once, leaving Abari no chance but to dodge. The skilled swordsman made it difficult however so he again put another revolutionary between him and them. Eager to get the weaklings out of the way, Abari delivered another barrage of slashes, carving into major arteries. After three more bodies hit the floor, he impaled the remaining weakling in the stomach, twisting his blade before kicking the body off.
Now that it was just Abari and the skilled swordsman left, he could finally enjoy himself. With a devilish grin, he sent a few slashes towards his enemy. Again, they were parried but the boy would not let up. Pushing his opponent back with each attack, Abari backed the man into a corner. Their arms were shaking from the effort, it was not easy trying to keep up with a shinobi. With surgical precision, the boy redirected his attacks. The man’s weakened arms could not stop the boy’s blade in time as it carved into his arms. Each strike cut nerves and joints until both of the man’s arms were completely useless. After the deed was done, Abari let out a sigh. His skills with the blade were even sharper than he had hoped, not that his prey were particularly strong in the first place.
The Bloody Demon of the Mist made sure to finish off all the incapacitated enemies before continuing his mission. It was unlikely that all of the revolutionaries were in this building, but it had been a hell of a training session.
[2600 Words Base - 1580 Words Discount (158 Statsx10) = 1020 Words]
(1117/1020 Words)
