Fighting Dead Men (Training/Open)

[Zao]

What a day it was, the sun was already high in the sky but where the young Tsukino was headed there would be no sun. Three jet black hue tails swayed slightly from side-to-side as the swordsman walked with hardly any sound produced from his feet down a narrow path that lead through the dim, mist covered forest. Though it looked like he was walking into a misty abyss with no end the chuunin was well aware of exactly he was and where it was that he was heading today as the narrow pathway began to widen out and the tree line dispersed enough to show that he was about to step into a clearing. Just from the looks of how the trees were, one could tell that the area had been cleared by human hands as a number of stone statues with carving of various looking warriors from the long, illustrious history of Kiri began to come into view as the mist seemed to naturally thin to be only about two or three feet off the deck.

This also exposed a rather large stone entrance that appeared to head down into the earth after one passed through the stone archway of an entrance that gave way to a set of marble looking stairs with fuuin inscriptions placed along the entrance way and along the walls within that glowed producing enough light for one to see a short distance ahead of them. But he hadn't entered yet as standing off to either side of this massive five-meter-tall passageway were a set of shinobi guards, the typical larger bodied looking crew who wore the insignia of the jounin rank. Seeing the tailed shinobi approaching they didn't bother to speak or offer a warning and instead the one on the left reached behind him into a pouch and withdrew a single large throwing knife that was about fifty percent larger than the typical kunai but seemed to fit perfectly in the large paw of the brute looking dude. Then without a care the large throwing knife was launched with truly incredible speed as it zipped through the air, the sound of its cutting through the air caused the fox shinobi's ears to twitch, what a unique and dangerous sound for those able to hear what a weapon slicing through the air sounded like. Smirking he pushed forward and then suddenly pivoted on his front leg spinning to the left side and out of the path of the blade, no in a full rush forward towards the pair.

425/400

- Trained

[Spin Move]
C-rank Taijutsu Maneuver
Aware a projectile or attack flying along their projected path of movement, the user will pivot on their lead foot, circling their body around the projectile or attack. This will allow them to continue along their intended path without losing any speed, as long as the user's [Speed] is equal or greater than the attack and can perceive the attack. This maneuver does not allow the user to bypass their stats, but simply allows the user to maintain speeds when making movements.

---

---

'Swish!' The weapon cut through an afterimage of the youth as he continued to advance, the only change now was that he was moving closer to his top speed at this point which elicited for the one who through the kunai to also charge in order to block off the man from reaching the entryway he was guarding as the remaining man simply crossed his thick arms upon his chest and watched for the moment. 'Not even worth my sword.' The crystalline sword sheathed over his left shoulder was left inside its sheath for the time being, instead the boy brought up his clawed fingers in a half boxer style hand movements except for the clawed fingers were left open instead of closed in fist. It took only a second for both men to cross several meters and collide as fists and elbows collided with the open palms of Hisato in that moment, only to the surprise of the other shinobi that they appeared to be almost at an even deadlock in terms of sheer strength, despite the rather slender looking figure of the Tsukino that hide his tightly woven muscle fibers.

But that wasn't the only thing dangerous about the three tailed youth, as his right most tail whipped around an impacted the man right on the outside of his lead leg, the strength no less than that of the boy's hand and arms causing for the fellow Kiri-nin to be swept off his feet and momentarily find himself horizontal in the air when looking at the ground below as his vision twisted in a half circle. A strong, fast knee strike came up meeting the now sideways man directly in his stomach with enough force to actually lift the larger figure higher into the air, about head high at this point before gravity regained its grasp upon the fighter and started to drag him back to the earth below. Twisting around now allowing for his body to build up both speed and power, the middle tail of the Tsukino curled up tightly and as the body spun around the tail was cracked out like one might use a whip, the end of the tail even cracking the air as it reached the end of its length striking directly against the midair ninja. The impact sent the man rocketing back towards the entrance before he impacted with a powerful thud that shook the entrance but didn't even manage to leave a mark on the fuuin inscribed rockface.


418/400 words

-Trained

[One Body, Multiple Weapons]
S-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Hisato has become extremely adapt in using all nine striking surfaces of the body (knees, feet, elbows, hands, and head) to combat foes in close combat. But the Tsukino has pushed that boundary further, through intense physical and mental training he has also trained himself to utilize all of his 'fox tails' having them become an extension of the body much like his arms or legs are. Allowing the user to utilize all of their tails to their fullest extent, like they would for any of their other limbs. Making use of even the shortest of distances capable of releasing a full-strength blow in as little as six inches of workspace against a target.

---

---

"Boom!" The rock structure shook slightly, but even to Hisato's surprise there wasn't a single mark or crack in the hardened stone that made up the archway, just what was that stuff made out of or was there some unseen fuuin reinforcement that helped it to withstand his personal wrecking ball? His little wreaking ball slumped unconscious against the rock face, blood trickling from his nose, ears, and mouth at this point before the body fell completely over and a gentle thud on the damp earth, disappear underneath the meter tall layer of mist that blanketed the area. "Hmp." The action however didn't even bring forth a single word but instead a simple grunting sound from the other guard who shook his head as he looked to the side where his former post standing mate was now bleeding on the ground. "Not to bad." Finally, a few simple words came from his lips as he reached back to the side of the archway retrieving a massive claymore like weapon that had a blade nearly two meters in length itself, seeming to easily wield the blade with a single hand as he rolled his shoulders and neck to loosen up a bit. Not seeming intimidated or scared in the least at the most recent events that had unfolded as he brought the weapon up and around until the flat of the nearly foot wide blade came to rest across the wide shoulders of the fellow swordsman.

"Perhaps you shoulder draw your blade for this test, my little friend." Now he spoke, an authoritative tone in his words as he pointed with his free hand towards Hisato, almost demanding for him to draw his sword, speaking as though without it the youth before him wouldn't even stand a chance against him. This caused the dagger to smile from ear to ear, his dull grey eyes growing sharper by the step until he was about five meters away from the older man with the huge ass sword that could almost reach him even with the distance still between them. "If I draw this sword the fight will end to quickly, I think." A slight mocking tone came from the chuunin as he took another step forward, almost now in range of the other's blade. "Bold assumption there, kiddo." It was in that moment, Hisato attacked, but until he was already in motion there hadn't even been the slightest of telegraphing signs. Leaving no time to react as the old man barely was able to lift the weapon off his shoulder.


427/400 words

-Trained

[Zantou • Hidden Dragon's Intent]
S-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
The practitioner has learned to strike and defend with movements that shift suddenly and ferociously. This Discipline represents the practitioner's knowledge and mastery of movement and muscle control, to the point that their movements, attacks, and techniques have no telegraphing signs until they are already in motion. This makes it much more difficult for opponents to properly react to the practitioner's actions in combat. Opponents must have a sight-based or sound-based Perception technique of equal or higher rank than this technique to adequately read the practitioner's movements, attacks, and techniques.

---

---

But what he thought was going to be a quick end to this man's defense didn't happen, thought his frame was giant his speed was like that of a feather weight, even with the giant weapon which he managed to drop directly into the path of the stabbing sword. The old man had to admit that he was impressed with the subtle nature of the kid's movements, even able to fool him slightly as he used the large with of the sword to block the sword which even he had some trouble tracking completely leaving him to wonder just what kind of sword the foe was using. Luckily, he only had to be close as the one-foot-wide claymore was able to intercept the stab, but it was only pushed back barely an inch even with all of Hisato's strength behind the blade. "Heh, you're a special one." The old man laughed a little and with a swing of his arm Hisato found himself overpowered by the one-armed slash from his latest target, he had always felt that there was room for increasing his strength, but he also found himself at a plateau, unable to progress any further, this only stood to confirm that there was another peak for him to ascend to.

The strength from the swing lifted the slender youth off his feet, flinging him back over fifteen meters before he twisted his body in the air and recovered, both of his toes touching the ground as he slid back another few meters before stopping. "Is that so, lets see if you can take this attack..." Normally Hisato wasn't the mouthy type but this guy's attitude had already started to irritate the swordsman as he drew the blade back in front of him and shifted back into the aggressive stance he had been in before. Exhaling slowly the dull eyes of the young man flashed sharp and he was off once more, easily reaching his top speed in only a few steps, only needing a few more in order to return back to almost the exact spot he stood a few moments earlier before being batted away like some child by the claymore and its owner. This time a powerful slash that from from the upper left to the lower right rained down on the man who instantly moved to block, seemingly unimpressed with the technique itself but he quickly realized his mistake.

Hisato's slash was somehow converted in the seemingly last second into a powerful thrust that slipped right under the edge of the giant weapon and pierced directly into the shoulder of the massive man, in the front and out the back in a split second as the sword tip hit the stone wall behind him causing the crystalline sword to tremble and vibrate in the swordsman's hand.


471/400 words

-Trained

*[Zantou • Frost Dragon's Fangs]
A-Rank Taijutsu Maneuver
Prerequisite(s): *[Zantou • Winter Maelstrom].
Torquing the muscles in their arms, the practitioner unleashed a relentless flurry of twisting slashes and thrusts. With controlled twisting of the wrists and arms, the practitioner can immediately change the direction of any of these attacks, even to the point of converting a slash into a thrust and vice-versa. The unpredictability of this technique, complemented by the practitioner’s already muted movements, makes this one of the deadliest techniques in all of Zantou.

---

---

Most people when they are stabbed are in shock, that a weapon had been pierced into their body in some shape or form, but the old man didn't even flinch and instead only smiled at him as though he was proud before he leaned forward and headbutted Hisato. The force caused for the boy's body to nearly go limb as the force knocked him stumbling back several meters as his free hand reached up to hold his forehead. Part of him being forced back was that the blade was ripped out of the man's shoulder and blood begin to almost pour from the wound thanks to the serrated glass edging on his weapon, even so the old man still didn't seem to be worried as he lost grip on the massive weapon as the right arm went limp. He proceeded to reach across his body with the left hand catching the blade's hilt and stopping it from falling to the ground as he then shifted it to point at the still recovering Tsukino boy.

Hisato retracted his own right hand from his forehead to find it coated in his own crimson life essence from a long cut just above his right eye, blood was slowly trickling down and turning his vision red in that eye, which would eventually restrict his vision to a single eye if he couldn't stop the bleeding. One of his three tails came around, wiping away the blood as he recovered his posture. "Like I said, not bad kid. Got any other tricks before we finish this up?" Despite being wounded and only able to use a single arm the muscular, giant man seemed unphased and instead even still had the mind to trash talk the younger swordsman as he held the massive sword in his left hand like he was holding a kunai or something of similar weight. "So, you're slightly tougher than your friend, not much to brag about one armed dude." As the tail held itself in place over right eye, temporarily stopping the blood from continuously flowing into his eye the boy spout back off at the old man which only caused him to laugh in return. 'Got to slow him down a little.' Readjusting himself back into the Winter Maelstrom stance he drew in a long breath, circulating it through his lung before exhaling with a powerful "Kiai!" The violently vibrating air assaulted the man, but it was his ears which felt the most effect as it was difficult to train one's ears to resist sound and it caused the man to flinch...next it was time to pounce.


437/400 words

-Trained

[Zantou • Frost Dragon's Roar]
A-Rank Taijutsu Maneuver
Prerequisite(s): 30 Will Power,, *[Zantou • Polar Bear Claw].
Zantou harnesses the inner strength of its warrior to cause the opponent to lose hold of their senses. A more advanced version of its parent technique, the practitioner unleashes a mighty kiai, which bombards the opponent with violently vibrating air currents entering their ear canals. Opponents within a number of meters equal to the practitioner's Strength must have a Will Power equal to or higher than the practitioner's Will Power to resist the effect of this technique. Otherwise, any opponents in range of the technique will lose all sense of orientation, balance, and proprioception, resulting in a -9 penalty to Speed for the next three posts in the form of disorientation and extreme nausea to the point of uncontrolled vomiting. This technique can be used in conjunction with other techniques. The disorientation effect from this technique can be stacked with other disorientation effects and refreshes the post limit for any disorientation effect currently imposed on the opponents.

---

The air pressure nearly crushed the man's ear drums and caused his vision to become distorted, the firmly standing Hisato appeared to move back and forth as he began to see a pair of the black fox eared shinobi instead of the single real one. "You're still standing, not to bad big guy." The sword slashed across his chest at the air as the point ended up just above the ground now as he started to slowly step forward. Each step done very slowly and deliberately as the old man staggered a bit taking a step forward himself, the wound in his shoulder showing no signs of slowly as blood itself continued to pour from the wound as the man found himself unsure of the reasoning. "Seems you bleed alot, how much longer can you even fight light that?" This wasn't the boy's first time here, he knew about the old man's regenerative abilities and thus when he forged his sword, he ensured that it would be stronger against such things, leaving the old man at a loss.

"Swish!" Hisato finally moved at full speed this time, the old man was barely able to bring the large blade up between them as his strength was slipping away as the crimson life essence continue to seep out of the large wound on his shoulder. But to his surprise the boy was gone, having already slipped by and down into the tunnel that led to their leader's training area. "Don't get to cocky kid..." The large man muttered as he dropped the sword and tried to stop the bleeding with medical supplies from his back pouch now. The tunnel went on for a few hundred meters before opening up into an arena of sorts where a slender figure was finishing his bout with three other fighters, his sword was only a wooden stick but that didn't stop him from being able to easily dispatch the others who used iron weapons.

"Found you."

"Did you now? Heh, about time you made it here, my little pupil." This older man with a thin grey beard smiled and turned around, this was the original man who had taught Hisato about Zantou. "Let me see what you've learned then." The man reached back pulling out a real sword from one of the three sheaths on his back as he moved into a balanced stance and then Hisato drew in a breath and took out the second black sword from over his right shoulder now. Crossing the blades he let out a loud 'kiai' that echoed in the underground fighting pit as even the older man was shook for a second, this wasn't the 'Frost Dragon's Roar'. It was a much lower tone that directly assaulted the muscles of the old man causing him to feel slightly week in the legs and arm. But he still managed to straighten himself up, "That's new, let's get started so I can show you the true power of Zantou."


499/400


[Zantou • Fire Dragon's Roar]
A-Rank Taijutsu Maneuver
Prerequisite(s): 30 Will Power,
Zantou harnesses the inner strength of its warrior to cause the opponent to lose hold of their senses. A more advanced version of its parent technique, the practitioner unleashes a mighty kiai, which bombards the opponent's entire body with violently vibrating sound wave currents. Opponents within a number of meters equal to the practitioners [Strength] must have a Will Power equal to or higher than the practitioner's Will Power and an equal rank Rigid Body technique to fully resist the effect of this technique. Otherwise, any opponents in range of the technique will experience a sense of muscle weakness, resulting in a -9 penalty to Strength for the next five posts in the form of disorientation and extreme nausea to the point of uncontrolled vomiting. This technique can be used in conjunction with other techniques. The disorientation effect from this technique can be stacked with other disorientation effects and refreshes the post limit for any disorientation effect currently imposed on the opponents.

---

Hisato saw that he had caught the man off guard but didn't attack yet, shifting into his currently most powerful form of fighting stances, putting his sole focus on the man across the arena in front of him now his visible muscular arms seemed to gain some bulk to them and underneath the loose fitting robs his legs did the same as he not only focused his mind on the man but his body on fighting in this one moment in time. His older sensei moved into a similar stance as he closed his eyes and the man's body seemed to grow slightly as the muscles on his exposed upper body grew slightly causing him to be even more powerful looking while his eyes turned into daggers. Onces that seemed to be dissecting even the smallest of muscle contractions or bodily movements to alert him to any intention to move or attack.

The chuunin saw this, unable to feel that he was still not on the same level as the man's unescapable perception in that moment, with a flash both fighting moved at the same time, utilizing both of his weapons in a double slash, one after the other were the second blade swung down on the back of the first blade, the second blade flipping over so both weapons spines impacted each other while the older man blocked with two hands on his sword. As the swords collided the exhaled a powerful 'kiai', this one aimed to attack at the equilibrium of his mentor, but it seemed to have no effect as the man pushed back against the double sword slash with strength just slightly higher than the fox tailed shinobi forcing him to retreat. But Hisato's body already glowed with dark chakra as his hands, despite being on the hilt of each sword formed one hands seals. This caught the eye of the man who suddenly looked down at his own feet as a fire formed and started to rapidly burn him, though he wasn't a shinobi the man knew that these flames couldn't be real but was not skilled to the methods of removing illusions.

But he wasn't beaten by any means as the man's body locked up in place with his sword out in front of him, seeming to ignore the pain as he released a powerful 'kiai' himself now, but it was not aimed at his foe but instead against himself as his eyes closed and his body became completely still. This caught the younger shinobi off guard for a moment, that moment as all that it took for the man to reawaken having forcibly reset his mind through a temporary moment of completely unconsciousness. "Impressive for an old swordsman..." In that moment the dagger gained the insight he had been missing to completing the final upgrade to his own stance and focus. 'So that is what I was missing...'


485/400 words


*[Zantou Ougi • Eternal Winter]
S-Rank Taijutsu Stance
Prerequisite(s): 39 Will Power, must be learned in the Frost Country Dojo or taught by someone who trained there, 10 Zantou Kenjutsu techniques.
Building upon its parent technique, this Stance sharpens and refines the practitioner's already considerable capacity to focus on the opponent and the task at hand to the finest point. The level of skill the practitioner has attained allows the practitioner to effectively attack and block from a neutral stance without any detriment. Drawing in a deep breath, the practitioner also gathers up their energy and releases a kiai. While in this Stance, the practitioner can effortlessly ignore non-critical distractions, focusing solely on the opponent(s). They also are able to ignore all environmental conditions, all forms of fatigue, all forms of pain, and operate within a vacuum or oxygen-void environments up to a number of posts equal to their Endurance stat. They can read the opponents' muscle contractions and body positioning with pinpoint accuracy in this Stance, and they are able to read the direction, the type, the timing, the speed, and the strength of an attack that is imminent. They are also able to read sudden shifts in muscle contractions very easily, able to perceive almost any feint. The opponent can still effectively mask their movements if they have a movement-concealing Stealth technique of equal or higher rank than this technique. While in this stance, the practitioner is conferred with a +5 increase to Strength and Willpower but suffers a -5 penalty to Chakra Pool and Control. The practitioner may end this Stance whenever they so wish. Most important, however, is this Stance’s ability to break illusions that plague the practitioner’s mind. By channeling and releasing a powerful kiai targeting themselves, the practitioner momentarily forces their brain into unconsciousness while locking their muscles to prevent themselves from falling during this function, breaking any genjutsu they may currently be under but leaving a short opening that can be exploited right before they wake up. Doing this immediately ends the Stance and abruptly awakens the practitioner. Using this function of the stance immediately ends the stance and imposes a -10 Endurance penalty on the practitioner for the remainder of the thread

---

With a moment of enlightenment, some might say, the youth was able to completely understand the true fundamentals of the Zantou style as he refocused himself as he landed from being pushed back, stepping the right foot slightly forward as he moved into a stance of pure stance of balance and focus. Thoughts of anything else going on in the world outside of this single room where two men were putting their lives on the line in a true sword battle, all of them disappeared and the only thing within the dagger's mind and vision was the older master swordsman before him now. His own muscle mass increased slightly more than before as his entire body became focused on the elimination of a single threat. The thoughts of his tired muscles faded, the pain he experienced from his body and injuries stopped, even the dripping of the blood from his right eyebrow seemed to abruptly stop. For the briefly of moments everything seemed so still, his vision the clearest and sharpest that it had every been in his entire life as a swordsman. 'So this is what it feels like...'

Hisato mused to himself in thought while the old man couldn't help but widen his own eyes a bit, this stance, it was like looking directly into a mirror of his younger self when he had also first achieved the Eternal Winter stance. But instead of being worried, instead he became excited at the fact that his long line of Zantou swordsmanship that went back several generations had found one more successor in this lifetime. A gentle smile appear on his lips as he turned his sole focus back to battle. Another flash happened as the pair of men began to exchange blows at a rapid speed, each of them clashing with various techniques of the style, but time after time the two came out at a draw. It was in that moment that the boy took a note from the Eternal Winter stance, that the user's kiai could be used not only against an opponent, but even against themselves.

'Kiai!' A powerful kiai erupted forth from the slender youth's toned body, but this shout was not aimed toward his opponent but instead toward his own muscles. The kiai used to invigorate the drive to fight inside his body and muscles, increasing the speed at which they were capable of moving and firing off at to elevate his own movement and reaction time speeds. It was a technique the old man didn't know which baffled him slightly but he continued to fight but found himself being overwhelmed not by pure strength, but through some means the boy's speed had outstripped his own. With a final clash the pair separated as the two weapons of Hisato's crossed in front of him like an 'X' as the other man knelt on the ground with a large gash oozing blood from his chest. "Seems you are no longer my teacher, old man..."


499/400

[Zantou • Snow Dragons's Claw]
A-Rank Taijutsu Maneuver
Prerequisite(s): 30 Will Power,
Zantou harnesses the inner strength of its warrior, the practitioner unleashes a mighty kiai, which is directed at their own muscles and nerve endings, boosting their efficiency over the course of the next five posts. This results in an increase of speed and reaction time (+5 Speed) for the user's body but as a drawback, a loss in fine control over the chakra in their body (-5 Control) until the 'kiai' effect fades.