Ougi Boogie

[ThatGuy]

Abari stood outside the dojo, building up the confidence to enter. He'd made his way to waterfall country in order to reach the pinnacle of Yoshin style. The red-haired swordsman had always struggled with believing in himself and his abilities, but something had changed recently. As a boy, he had taught himself the foundations of the Yoshin style. With nothing but a book covering the basic techniques, Abari practiced every single day. When he had reached a wall, he was forced to seek out an instructor, and upon doing so, was praised for his skill with the blade. Not only could they not believe that he had learned everything from a book, but they were surprised at the speed in which he picked up the techniques that were taught to him. As much as he felt like he was weak, Abari had been repeatedly told by his mentors that he was a prodigy when it came to the Yoshin. The only thing that held him back was himself. So the red-haired swordsman forced himself to move forward, he would not leave until he learned the Ougi.

After a few deep breaths, Abari walked into the dojo and was met by judging glares. He had dared to enter the dojo as a shinobi, proudly displaying his forehead protector around his right arm. Keeping calm, he stepped forward and addressed the master directly.

“I have come to learn the Yoshin Ougi.”

“You think you can just walk in and demand things of me, whelp? You're lucky we don't cut you down where you stand. We don't take kindly to shinobi, especially scum from the mists.”

“Whether I'm a shinobi or not, my skill with the blade is all that should matter. I have spent my life training Yoshin style, and I wish to reach the next level.”

The master of the dojo scoffed at Abari's arrogance. The red-haired swordsman was surprised at his own words. Was this really how he felt without the part of him that constantly undermined his own abilities? Fighting back the urge to apologize, Abari stood tall and waited for a response.

“Someone so young dares to make such a bold statement? There are people here that have been training since before you were born.”

“Then let me challenge them and I can prove my skill. I'm not even asking you to fully train me, just a demonstration of the Ougi will be enough.”

The master of the dojo's face contorted as he stood up and threatened to lash out in anger. Abari wanted to apologize, when had he become so arrogant? To tell a master swordsman to their face that he could master their pinnacle technique after just seeing it once… It was likely the most disrespectful thing anyone could have said to them.

“Since you're such a talented swordsman, a single challenger simply won't be enough. Everyone, take up your blades and show this youngster just how deluded he is.”

Without skipping a beat, the students stood up and drew their blades. Abari raised an eyebrow as he realized they weren't training blades. They meant to gang up and kill him. The red-haired swordsman's nervousness melted away as he locked eyes with the master of the dojo. This was now a matter of life or death.

“Surely you have some training blades we could use. Otherwise, you'd just be sending them to their deaths. If they come at me with real weapons, they will lose their lives or at least their careers as swordsmen. Please rethink if you value your students.”

“Kill him”

[ThatGuy]

As soon as the order was given, the students began to approach Abari. Drawing his own blade, the red-haired swordsman quickly evaluated the position he was in. There were upwards of sixty students in the dojo, all of varying degrees of skill. It was unlikely that any of them were beginners given the reputation of the master. Waiting for the first move to be made, Abari entered the Yoshin stance and cleared his mind of outside thoughts. He was going to take them down using nothing but the Yoshin style. It was not that he underestimated his opponents, or that he wanted to make some kind of statement, it was more that he did not think he would be worthy to learn the Ougi otherwise. If he came in using ninjutsu or Iaido, could he really consider himself to have mastered Yoshin?

Four of the students charged him at the same time, each making cuts aimed at a vital spot. A simultaneous assault of this manner would be a death sentence for a regular man, but thankfully Abari was a shinobi, and as such, had speed and strength that far surpassed his attackers. In one sweeping motion, he parried three of the attacks and twisted his body to dodge the fourth. He brought his sword up for a counterattack but was once again attacked from four different directions. Parrying two more attacks, he slammed into one of the students, cutting off their attack and escaped the corner they were backing him into. Once free, he cut the femoral artery of the closest enemy before turning to deliver a low-feint and redirecting to slice the throat of another student. Two more wasted no time in trying to fill the ranks but Abari jumped to the side to reposition himself so that they were all in front of him. They moved forward to attack but the red-haired swordsman made the first move to cut them off. He delivered an arcing slash, forcing two of the students to block before dropping low and stabbing his blade into the third student’s patellar tendon. The fourth stabbed at him but Abari was fast enough to duck under the attack and slash across their stomach. He couldn’t afford any wasted energy, so if he wanted to survive this fight, he needed to be surgical with his strikes.

As the two attempted to retaliate, Abari parried their attacks before kicking one in the stomach and using the opening created to shred the nerves in the dominant arm of both of them. Having either killed or given career-ending injuries for six people in the span of a few seconds, the remaining students grew more hesitant to rush towards him. Perfect, that allowed Abari to now set the pace. Slowly closing in, the red-haired swordsman watched each of the students closely. If he was lucky, he could take out the weakest links and force his opponents to surrender in order to prevent further losses. Finding his target, he dashed forwards, jumping over a student that moved to intercept and cut the jugular of his original target before cutting the eyes of the one who he had jumped over. Deflecting the attacks of a few that closed in, Abari noticed the master finally made a move.

The man moved through his students like a man possessed, not caring for the risk of injury. Abari dodged out of the way and moved to stab the master in the stomach, but to his surprise, it didn’t even faze them. Barely able to react to the man’s continued attack, Abari took a slash across the arm as he retreated. Thankfully the cut was not deep enough to hinder his abilities, but the master did not let up, sending several more slashes aimed at Abari’s vital points. Abari was able to match his speed, but only barely, leaving his body covered in small cuts, but avoiding anything seriously damaging. With his life in danger, Abari had no other choice but to go for a killing blow. Dropping low, the red-haired swordsman stabbed his sword through the ribcage of the master of the dojo, aiming for his left lung. The man yet again was completely unfazed by the wound and continued to attack. Gritting his teeth, Abari took a deep slash across the chest that was originally intended for his throat.

If lethal wounds were not going to stop his opponent, then perhaps it was time to try something different. Allowing his opponent to stab him in the shoulder, Abari slammed the hilt of his sword into the master's temple, sending him stumbling backwards. Not letting up, Abari threw a roundhouse kick and after it connected, the master retreated back behind his students. Adrenaline did wonders for blocking out pain, but it had reached its limits. Doing his best to block out the pain that was quickly piling up within him, Abari flipped a switch in his brain. It was not that he had been holding back, but he was fighting as the eager student of Kirigakure. Now it was the Bloody Demon of the Mist's turn. Abari leapt at the students daring enough to try and surround him. The red-haired swordsman fought completely differently than before. He was still using Yoshin style but he tossed aside the idea of conserving his energy and began slashing wildly. The attacks maintained every bit of accuracy but carried far more ferocity than before. The calculated movements from before were nowhere to be seen, instead Abari operated almost entirely on instinct.

By the time that Abari had turned the switch in his mind back off, he had killed over twenty more students. Exhausted and covered in blood, both his and others, he looked around at the remaining opponents. They had moved back and formed a wall between him and the master of the dojo. Taking another look at the master who had by now wrapped up his wounds from earlier, it clicked to him. Abari started to laugh as he realized that he had already been shown the Ougi. He had been expecting some sort of flashy move, but what had happened earlier lined up with the few stories he had heard. After a quick bow, he made eye contact with the master once more.

“Thank you for the demonstration.”

(500/500 Words Endurance Training)
(551/500 Words Endurance Training)
[-500 Words Training Pack Discount]

[ThatGuy]

Jutsu TrainedShow

*[Yoshin Ougi • The Hunt is On]
S-Rank Taijutsu Stance
Prerequisite(s): 39 Speed, must be trained in the Waterfall Country Dojo or from someone who has trained there, 10 *Yoshin Kenjutsu techniques.
Closing their eyes for half a second, the practitioner clears their thoughts of all distractions and focuses on a single goal or task, usually combat and the opponent. While in this state, the practitioner can unnaturally twist, bend, and shift their body around the opponent's attacks, seeming to move like an animal as they painlessly and seamlessly contort their bodies, even to the point of freely dislocating and relocating joints on command. The practitioner also gains the ability to reflexively shift all internal organs, blood vessels, and nerve points and nerve clusters on their body to avoid serious damage and minimize pain they receive upon taking an enemy attack or upon quickly shifting any part of their personal anatomy. Additionally, the practitioner gains the ability to immediately start healing wounds they receive, cutting the blood loss in half and healing at an enhanced rate while in this Stance. This Stance can be maintained for an indefinite period of time.

“You arrogant cur!”

Abari had heard stories of the most skilled Yoshin practitioners being able to focus the entirety of their mental faculties towards defeating their opponent. All skilled fighters could do this to a degree, but the stories spoke of a superhuman focus. The master of the dojo had used this earlier when dashing straight through his students and going straight for the kill on Abari. The man’s movements matched what he would have expected from such inhuman dedication. He had contorted his body in ways, even going so far as to dislocate and relocate his joints on command in order to avoid both his student’s stray attacks, and Abari’s own deliberate ones. If Abari wasn’t as skilled with the blade as he was, he would never have been able to land an attack on this man. Even the attacks that hit their mark didn’t stop the master at all. Not only were they able to block out the pain, but despite Abari hitting vital spots, the man was relatively unharmed. It was only when Abari was able to concuss his opponent that they finally retreated, and now after just a few moments, they seemed to have already healed from their wounds.

This is what made it click for Abari. The stories spoke of the unkillable Yoshin practitioners being stabbed through the heart and walking away victorious. Abari’s in-depth knowledge of the body’s inner workings led him to the conclusion that these warriors were able to shift their organs around to avoid taking lethal damage. The very little amount of blood that spilled from the master of the dojo’s wounds also suggested that they were able to go as far as to use their bodies to slow their blood loss and heal from their wounds at an accelerated rate. The Yoshin Ougi wasn’t some sort of fancy technique, it was a mental switch not unlike Abari’s ‘Bloody Demon of the Mist’. Taking a deep breath, Abari closed his eyes for a brief second and flipped that mental switch. Dashing forward at full speed, Abari ignored the students in the way, only focusing on reaching the master of the dojo. His animalistic movements allowed him to dodge most of the incoming attacks as he pushed through. A few hit their mark but Abari moved the very nerves in his body to minimize the pain. Despite their best efforts, none of the students were able to slow Abari down, let alone stop him. When he reached the master of the dojo, the man brought his blade up in a show of expert swordsmanship and stabbed Abari right through the heart, or at least, where his heart should have been. With a bloody smile, Abari slit the throat of his target.

S-Rank:[3000 Words Base - 1910 Words Discount (191 Statsx10) - 350 Words Discount (Scaled Professor) -500 Words (Training Pack) = 400 Words]
(459/400 Words)

[ThatGuy]

“Worry not, even if your students throw their lives away to avenge your death. Your kenjutsu will live on… In the Mist”

The last words were said with a degree of malice in them. Abari had not intended it, but he was still offended that the man not only refused to teach him but tried to have him killed. Not allowing the man to take advantage of his accelerated healing, the red-haired swordsman removed the master’s head completely from his shoulders. The students cried out, cursing Abari and calling him a monster. What did they expect? That he was just going to overlook the fact that the man had come close to killing him?

“You should all know by now that when you raise a sword against someone, it becomes a life-or-death situation. I suggested training blades, but your master denied it. You all, including your master, attacked at once, intending to kill me. Despite your lack of honor, I stuck to the blade. I could have easily killed you all with ninjutsu or switched from Yoshin style, but I didn’t. If you ask me, I’ve already been far too merciful. I’ll give you all one final chance, however. Lay down your swords, and I’ll spare you, if not, then be prepared to join the rest of your dojo in the afterlife.”

He could see in their eyes that they were still afraid of him. But a combination of Abari clearly still being injured and exhausted, as well as their need to avenge their master, caused them to step forward. They knew that they stood no chance, but they hoped that even if they all died, maybe they could leave him with a wound that he’d eventually succumb to. Unfortunately for them, Abari was far more resilient than they realized, and even in the worst-case scenario, he was an Iijutsu practitioner. After letting out a sigh, Abari once again used the Yoshin Ougi and dashed towards his opponents.

By the time the slaughter was over, Abari was covered head to toe in blood. It was a shame that he had to kill everyone, but he had gotten what he came for. With the pinnacle technique in his arsenal, Abari could finally say that he had mastered the Yoshin style. This was by no means the end of his journey, however. He still needed to practice every day to maintain his skill with the blade, and just because he had learned the supposed final technique, that did not mean that the style couldn’t be improved upon. There would always be a greater height to reach. As he left the dojo, Abari could feel the pride welling up in his chest. Upon returning to the village, he would happily train others in the style. Deep down, Abari wanted to prove himself, but his ultimate goal was far more important. Abari would be bringing the Ougi to his village, ensuring that the next generation of swordsmen in the village would reach greater heights than he ever could.