Unsheathe the Blade and Become Animalistic

[Drak]

The manor was huge. At least, it was huge for a single person. The Kaguya compound dwarfed it, but dozens, if not hundreds, of people lived there. If Shinji and the rumors were to be believed this place was home to a handful of servants, fewer family members, and the man himself: Abari, the Crimson Bannin.

Despite never having met him, Abari felt like an odd sort of parasocial fixture in Makoto’s life. Even before she had succeeded him as Shinji’s dagger she had heard plenty about him. His actions during the war with Suna were practically legendary. His presence in the Seven Swordsmen only served to further his reputation. Beyond that he had achieved – through no fault of his own – somewhat of an idol status among girls of Makoto’s generation, to the point that cheaply-made posters reproducing his likeness were a common decoration among many of her peers, even within the Kaguya clan.

Makoto was here to train. When she had expressed interest in learning the Yoshin style, Shinji had told her that he could teach her something, but that if she sought to master the style she should consult a master. There was only one of them within the village: his former student Abari.

When Mako reached the gate of the property, a servant came out and greeted her with a deep bow before guiding her into one of the buildings, clearly a training space. The servant ushered her inside. Oddly for such an occasion, she was apparently unarmed.
“Kaguya Makoto,” she announced as she entered the room, bowing. “I am to learn Yoshin from you.”

[ThatGuy]

On the rare occasion that Abari had any visitors, they would normally meet in either the main room or in the courtyard. Sometimes they were permitted to wander his estate, but the servants often redirected them away from the training annex. This was both because their lord did not like to be interrupted during his training as well as it rarely being in a presentable state. In its default state, it was not much to look at. Despite its large size, the design of the room was quite minimalist. One would typically expect someone with as much money and influence as the Crimson Bannin to build something more lavish, but Abari cared little for such things. The only reason he wasted time and money on decorating his house in the ostentatious way that was used to signal wealth and power was because he had the displeasure of being somewhat involved in the politics of the village.

As Makoto entered, she might be surprised at the state of the building. Save for the lack of blood or corpses, it looked like a small war had been fought inside of it. Abari himself knelt in the center of the room, facing away from the entrance. Multiple slabs of steel cleaved straight through by the Executioner’s Blade still in front of him. His surroundings made it look more like he had recently survived an attempt on his life rather than finished his daily training. It was not that the room was messy or cluttered; there were only a few objects scattered across the ground. Pieces of Kabuki armor, either sliced neatly through or reduced to scraps, could be seen in small amounts spread throughout the place along with multiple bent or broken swords. The amount was small relative to the size of the room and did very little in the way of taking up space. The real thing that made the place look so bad was the various and deep sword marks that coated the inside of the building. Very little of the room was spared of these marks; even the ceiling was covered in them.

Hearing Makoto speak, Abari waited a brief moment before standing up and turning to face her. His featureless white eyes gave the impression that they no longer functioned, but even without pupils, one could tell when he made eye contact. Everything added to the mysterious aura surrounding the Crimson Bannin. All of Kiri’s elite soldiers were prone to having wild stories made up about them, especially those that were considered war heroes, but Abari was a very unique case. The rumors around him only got more ridiculous and outlandish as time went on to the point where some of the commoners thought him a literal evil spirit bound to serve the village akin to the genma themselves. Even Makoto, an active shinobi and a member of the very same organization, had likely been told things about him that, while much more believable, were entirely false.

“Welcome. It is a pleasure to meet you, Makoto. I am Abari. Shinjiro told me that you would be stopping by today. I apologize for the sorry state of this place. Normally I would have held this lesson at another location, but I figured a Dagger, especially the Overseer’s, has much bigger things to worry about.” He gave the girl a polite smile, an eerie sight when accompanied by the pale white eyes. “I would be glad to teach you Yoshin. But I do have a couple of questions to help me figure out where to start and how to proceed. To my knowledge, you are a Shinden practitioner with no prior history of using Yoshin. Would I be correct in saying that you are taking your first steps on that journey today?”

The captain of the Research Division knew the answers already; it would be an embarrassment for someone in his position to not know the details of those he shared an organization with. In reality, he wished to gauge how she answered the question. No matter how plain or basic the response might be, there was always information to be gathered.

“Secondly, do you have any prior knowledge of anatomy? It is crucial for a Yoshin practitioner to have memorized the location and function of each and every part of the body, from something as large as the heart to something as small as the individual nerves that facilitate that heart’s function. Finally, is this a path that you are seeking to follow to completion, or are you seeking to add the major techniques to supplement your overall fighting style? This is not a test or a trick question. I will teach you regardless of whether or not you wish to master the style. Your answer will simply help me guide your training in the right direction.”

Abari’s face remained neutral as he awaited Makoto’s answer to his questions. His polite demeanor paired with his unreadable expression and body language made it easy to understand how people felt compelled to make up such intricate stories about him. Whatever a person thought about him was reflected back at them in a way that seemingly confirmed those suspicions. Two people could have the same conversation with him and walk away having seemingly had two entirely different experiences. One who was afraid of him might insist that he was a malicious psychopath that kept threatening to kill him, while the other who believed him to be another sycophantic noble, would insist that his fake pleasantries were an attempt to flatter and curry favor from his guests. It was a deliberately cultivated technique for socializing that Abari had spent years mastering. He wondered what conclusions the Dagger might have been making. Just what did Mako see now that she had met him?

[Drak]

“You look different,” the Dagger blurted out quietly, almost as if talking about Abari rather than to him as her eyes went back and forth between his and the chaos of the room around them. She watched Abari warily, her eyes narrowed slightly, as he spoke. Mako opened her mouth to speak, but instead inhaled sharply as her hand shot to her brow. She closed her eyes, and for a moment saw a young, anxious, red-haired swordsman taking his first steps into an unfamiliar dojo.

Makoto’s eyes shot open and the same man – older now – was standing before her awaiting an answer.

“Not quite,” she said, sounding almost dazed. “Shinji-sensei taught me some of the fundamentals of Yoshin, and he has insisted that I study anatomy besides. I’ve practiced both, but not had the chance to really apply them.”

Mako fell silent for a moment, seemingly contemplating the final question. As she did, she looked Abari up and down. Makoto put more stock in Shinji’s stories about Abari than she did rumors of war or the enamored mutterings of her peers. Meeting him in person, she couldn’t understand why anyone would want him the way that would drive them to hang a poster in their room to see every night before sleeping and every morning upon waking. It’s not that he was unattractive – although his implanted eyes failed to do him any favors – but there was something uneasy about him. It was totally different from Shinji, who always seemed to be a bad moment or two away from killing or maiming. From what she had heard, and what she could see of the room they stood in, Abari was no less capable of such carnage. His capability was more masked though under a haze of unease either feigned or genuine.

“For whether or not I want to follow this path to completion,” Mako borrowed his words exactly, her tone ambiguous. “I’ll need to see. Shinden felt right for a long time, but the spirit doesn’t agree. Wielding Lady Ayago that way feels… off.” There was venom in her voice the way she gave her spirit weapon a title. “I think she may like Yoshin more, but I can’t be sure yet.”

She didn’t bother explaining that frankly puzzling statement. When she told Shinji as much, he understood immediately. No one else did, no matter how much she tried. Eventually, she tired of explaining herself. Abari could be confused about the nature of Ayago; that would make two of them. It didn’t matter, as long as he could teach her.

[ThatGuy]

Abari chuckled at the girl’s comment about his changed appearance. It was not often that he went out of his way to meet with someone new, but when he did, there was always a comment on his eyes in some form or another. Like many others, it was likely that Makoto had been expecting the calm blue eyes depicted in merchandise by those looking to capitalize on his name. Apparently his new eyes were not appealing to the demographic buying the most products of his likeness. His habit of ignoring the merchants and letting them do what they want had paid off in this case, as the discrepancy with his eyes further added to the confusion around him.

He made no indication that he had noticed whatever had happened as she went to answer. Had Abari not already known that the girl was host to the foreign spirit claimed by Heart, he would have thought nothing of it. But he did not have nearly enough information about it to even begin to guess at the significance. It would simply be something he could tuck away until later. As she mentioned her reasons for wanting to learn Yoshin, Abari couldn’t help but let a flash of disapproval show on his face. In some ways, he could understand what it was like to have another presence influencing your actions, but he had to acknowledge that being a jinchuuriki was something else entirely. That acknowledgment did little to change his feelings on the matter, however. This ‘Lady’ Ayago would need to learn her place. She was a tool of Kirigakure no Sato now, and as it stood, Makoto was the only person who could remind it of that.

“Well, I am always happy to help people along their path to becoming a swordsman, especially when it comes to Yoshin. It is not often that I am given the opportunity to teach someone with as much potential as a Dagger. Let us get started.” Abari wandered over to the small storage room within the annex and produced two wooden training swords before tossing one to Makoto. “Having trained under Shinjiro, I am sure you are no stranger to the sink-or-swim approach to training. A sparring match will help me identify your strengths and weaknesses, and then I’ll know what we need to focus on. Go ahead and come at me with everything you got, be it Yoshin or Shinden.”

The red-haired swordsman took a traditional Yoshin stance and gave the young Kaguya a nod of encouragement. He would start their spar by being entirely on the defensive, parrying and dodging as needed while taking note of her strength and speed. The environment of the training room provided an additional challenge as the damage to the floor made it easy for one to accidentally catch their foot and trip. The need to adjust one’s balance on the fly was something well within the capabilities of a shinobi, but as the fight increased in intensity, it would reveal the flaws in one’s form and footwork. As long as Abari allowed Makoto to set the pace of the match, it would be a minor inconvenience at best, but once he started to put the pressure on, she would likely realize exactly why he had chosen this location to train. With a smile on his face, Abari waited for Makoto to attack him.

[Drak]

Mako caught the wooden sword from the air and took a moment to regard it. She held it like some strange, alien object. It had been some time since she had held a sword that was not literally an extension of her body. The subtlest of shivers went through her body as she took the sword in her hands like someone returning to kenjutsu after years of inactivity. Then, she took a stance – an unconventional one somewhere between the flexibility of Yoshin, the precision of Iaido, and the power of Shinden – and the prior trace of discomfort faded away as a grin spread across Makoto’s lips.

Suddenly, Mako’s knees bent slightly and her sword went to her hip, as if sheathed. Her fingers flexed, squeezing the hilt of the boken. Then she charged. Moving at 20 Speed, she wove her way through the debris strewn about the room. Her eyes appeared unfocused, almost glazed over as she moved in on Abari’s position. Within her mind, different paths through the room exploded through her mind, filled with all manner of ways she might trip or stumble, and helped guide her to Abari. Once within striking distance, she cast her sword out in the traditional style of Iaido, but targeted it like a Yoshin strike at Abari’s lower ribs and side. Drawing the blade across Abari’s body, Mako would immediately transition it into one of the spins characteristic of Shinden to better defend herself from a counterattack.

SpoilerShow

*[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.

*[Yoshin • Hidden Trap]
D-Rank Taijutsu Maneuver
After taking the opponent's side either offensively or after evading an attack, the practitioner draws a quick, firm slash across the opponent's side, such as their oblique, rib cage, or arm. The attack is intended to both injure and startle the opponent, often used to disrupt an opponent's attack or sequence of attacks with the severity of the damage. A unique attack within Yoshin, this particular technique is meant to dig as deeply into the opponent and create cuts as wide as possible, many times slashing into bones to cause as much long term damage as possible. The depth and width of the cut can also cause serious blood loss over time. Opponents with an Rigid Structure technique of equal or higher rank can limit the amount of damage this technique causes.

*[Shinden • Stream Splitting]
D-Rank Taijutsu Maneuver
A simple setup technique, the practitioner quickly and continuously spins their weapon in their hands, capable of switching their weapon between each hand if they wish. This technique can serve as a defense against projectiles and attacks, but its primary purpose is to set up the practitioner for their next attack or technique. Any attack or technique used after the practitioner uses this technique will be instantly launched at the practitioner's maximum Strength and Speed.

[ThatGuy]

Abari watched carefully as the Kaguya charged towards him. She had good situational awareness, it seemed, not needing any additional time to assess her surroundings. As he had expected, she had no issue navigating the uneven terrain while on the offensive. What did surprise him was the unexpected use of an Iai strike. It seemed he did not know as much about his fellow organization members as he had originally thought. He deflected the incoming attack with an Iai strike of his own before spinning his body alongside the follow-up attack to ensure it missed by just a hair.

He couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow as Makoto immediately transitioned into using a Shinden technique defensively. One should have expected this level of skill from someone trained by the overseer himself, but he found himself surprised nonetheless. The way she seamlessly moved from one style to another made him wonder if she might be a good fit for his cross-discipline kenjutsu techniques. Perhaps another time, it was not his place to teach her anything more than what Shinjiro had requested.

“You have good instincts. It leaves very little opening for your opponent to retaliate, forcing them to approach with caution.”

As soon as the words left his lips, he unleashed a powerful Iai strike at 40 speed aimed at the young Jinchuriki’s sword. The goal was not to break through her guard but rather to force them into a clash of blades. Assuming the girl did not immediately drop her guard or accidentally let the sword free from her grasp, he would push forward at 25 strength with the intention of forcing her backwards. Abari knew that the overseer’s dagger would not simply allow themself to stay at such a disadvantage, he simply wished to see what her solution would be to this particular situation.

[Drak]

Clicking her tongue as Abari smoothly spun out of the way, Mako transitioned into a spin with her wooden sword. Before she could move into a second attack – really in the time it took for her to blink Abari had shot his sword out and caught hers. Their blades biting, Makoto knew she would lose a contest of strength between them.

The one advantageous aspect here was that if her sword was busy with his, then his sword was also busy with hers. Abari had given her a wooden sword, but he had never told her she was limited to it. In fact, he had told her to come with everything she had.

From Mako’s knee, a sharp spine of bone came shooting out at 20 Speed. It was aimed up from her knee at Abari’s, angled to pierce him between the three bones of the joint. He would either need to move away and momentarily give up on pressing her sword, or he would push her back and give up his knee. Or so she hoped. As insurance, Mako tensed her muscles, ready to drop her bokken and dive out of the way should Abari manage to force her sword from her hands.

SpoilerShow

*[Yoshin • Prey's Anatomy]
D-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Detailed knowledge of the human body's vulnerabilities and weaknesses are fundamental to learning Yoshin. This Discipline represents the practitioner's knowledge of the precise location of all major organs, tendons, blood vessels, and nerve clusters on both their body and the opponent's body. This allows the practitioner to accurately target those areas even in the heat of combat.

Death Bone Pulse • Ossified Spike
D-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
The user will ossify any bony surface on their body (usually a hand, knee, or elbow) and cause a roughly meter-long spike to emerge at the user's Strength and Speed.

[ThatGuy]

A blatant attempt at using jutsu to cripple her superior during a sparring match… It showed an insane lack of self-preservation and a level of arrogance beyond the typical shinobi. An idiotic action that put her very life on the line just to try and gain the advantage in a friendly spar.

Shinjiro chose his disciple well, she would make for a great Swordsman of the Mist.

Were it not for the large gap in experience, Abari might not have been able to react in time. Makoto’s use of her Kaguya abilities in combat provided her an advantage over your typical taijutsu user. But he had fought Kaguya in the past and, to be honest, had already expected Shinjiro’s Dagger to use all the tools in her arsenal. It was the exact behavior one wished to see in a shinobi of Kirigakure no Sato. But that did not mean he would go any easier on her.

The red-haired swordsman’s pale eyes quickly identified the incoming attack. In one motion, Abari brought the hilt of his sword upwards as he angled the training blade in order to shift his opponent’s force to glide their sword along his. With a sidestep, he avoided damage to his joints but lost some flesh as the bone tore through the surface of his knee. As he stepped to the side, he slammed the hilt of his blade into the side of the young Kaguya’s head before retreating a short distance. He didn’t want to knock her out, the goal was not to win the fight after all. Instead, he was intending to daze her. Did she have any experience fighting with a concussion? If so, could she do so with terrain such as this? Or perhaps, like many in his field of work, it would take a hell of a lot more than that to break through their thick skull.

“That was a good trick. But such violent actions in a spar should be met with equal force, no?”

Abari gave a wry smile as he activated the Yoshin ougi. The shift in mentality required to perform it caused the faux personality that he spent so much time mastering to evaporate. Still without any killing intent, the swordsman’s eyes pierced through his opponent as he waited for them to make their next move.

Jutsu UsedShow

*[Iaido • Spectral Flight]
B-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Prerequisite(s): 15 Strength, 25 Speed, *[Iaido • Ancestral Visage].
In order for Iaido to stand toe to toe with a variety of high-level opponents, refining fundamentals to a new height is necessary. This Discipline represents the practitioner's ability to more quickly accelerate to max movement speed and decelerate to a full stop at a moment's notice. This does not offer protection against attacks that the practitioner does not know is coming.

*[Yoshin • Mercy Kill]
B-Rank Taijutsu Maneuver
A unique attack in Yoshin, the practitioner strikes the opponent’s temple with their fist, elbow, or the pommel of their sword’s hilt. The nerve cluster in the temple being struck sends a jolt of intense pain through the opponent’s brain and body, causing severe disorientation, uncontrollable shaking, and severe blurring and distortion of the opponent’s vision. The opponent suffers a -3 penalty to their Endurance and a -3 penalty to their Speed for four posts as the brain must recover from the shock unless the opponent has a Rigid Structure technique of equal or higher rank than this technique.

*[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.

[Drak]

A proud, cruel smile tore through the young Kaguya’s face as she nicked Abari’s knee. She had never so much as managed to touch Shinji, so this was a momentous occasion. Her brief, personal moment of triumph was interrupted by a warning. A lightning quick vision which played across her mind like images on a screen. Abari slid his blade against hers, took a step to the side, and sent the pommel into her temple. Mako’s smile drooped and her eyes glazed as the vision took hold of her for a moment. Again and again within the time of a single inhale the scene flashed before her as Makoto felt the Weaver’s power fill her.

She snapped out of her vision as reality began to catch up. Abari’s wooden blade glided along hers. In mere moments, Abari would step to the side. With a deep breath, Mako synchronized her mind’s eye and let the vision guide her. The spine of bone retreated back into her leg as she stepped to the side a split second after Abari, her movement feeling almost like a puppet pulled along by unseen strings. Her step was timed uncannily to leave Abari swinging at air. The timing would not feel at all out of place from a combatant of Shinji or Abari’s caliber, but seemed almost alien in Mako.

Moving decisively, Mako slammed her shoulder into Abari’s side, trying to push him off balance after his missed strike, then followed up by striking at his face with the pommel of her own blade. Something was different about her movements. Within the space of a moment they had become not just faster, but somehow smoother. Almost less human.

“This is nothing,” the Kaguya panted, the faintest twinge of another voice in hers. “Shinji-sensei starts our training by ordering me to kill him.”

SpoilerShow

Entered Ayago Stage 1: +2 Speed

[Unmeijutsu • Lesser Precognative Echoes]
D-Ranked Unmeijutsu Stance
By seeing glimpses of the future the user is granted preternatural ability to evade attacks. The focus on these visions precludes the use of other physical stances. Still an opponent with 5 or more Speed than the user can move faster than the visions can be interpreted, nullifying this ability.

[Kettou: Balance]
D-rank Taijutsu Maneuver
In a close quarters duel, balance is everything. When the user is able to dodge a swing or kick, they will then strike at the back of the strike with their full force, accelerating the opponent’s momentum and often sending them off balance.

[ThatGuy]

While he did not let it affect his movements, to say that Abari was confused would be an understatement. She had exhibited great reflexes and intuition, but this was something else entirely. Had she been holding back? The red-haired swordsman’s neck moved at an unnatural angle as he dodged the counterattack without moving the rest of his body. As she spoke, the subtle change in her voice made everything clear. This was the power of the foreign spirit she housed within her.

“Is this the extent of your power, Ayago? Do you think you can protect your host?” A wave of bloodlust shot from Abari as he locked eyes with Makoto. “I think I’ll tear you from the Kaguya and wield you to slaughter the rest of the wretches in Heart.”

As Abari’s demeanor began to change, he seemed to transform into a different person entirely. The mysterious aura from before was gone and was replaced with that of a feral beast that had just broken its chains. No longer holding back, the Crimson Bannin kicked pieces of a nearby kabuto helmet at the Kaguya before launching forward and unleashing a barrage of attacks. Three consecutive uses of a technique designed to destroy muscles and tendons. The first was aimed at her right shoulder with the intention of tearing through the muscle and dislocating the joint. He twisted his body unnaturally as he dropped low and stepped behind his opponent to deliver the next strike to the back of her left knee. As he dropped into a roll, continuing to circle his opponent, he aimed the third attack upwards towards the armpit on her left side, dislocating and setting his elbow joint as he delivered the attack. Regardless of if she somehow managed to dodge or not, he would launch one final strike. Launching back to his feet, he would deliver a kick aimed at the Kaguya’s solar plexus.

Contrary to his words and demeanor, Abari still did not have any intention of killing the Dagger. This was just one final test for Makoto that doubled as an opportunity to teach a lesson to the foreign spirit. He might have gone a bit overboard by crippling his opponent in a sparring match, but he needed to sell his murderous intent. It was nothing that he couldn’t heal with Iijutsu after the fact. It was all in the name of answering one final question he had concerning the young Kaguya. When met with overwhelming odds and the shadow of death looming over her, how would she react?

Jutsu UsedShow

*[Yoshin Ougi • The Hunt is On] (Still Active)
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.

*[Yoshin • Rending the Joint]
B-Rank Taijutsu Maneuver
Useful both as a counterattack and as a technique on its own, the practitioner targets the weak point of a joint on their opponent’s body, such as under the shoulders through the armpit, into the elbow from the crook inside the arms, or behind the knees, and violently thrusts their sword through it, destroying the functioning tendons, muscles, and cartilage of the joint, potentially even ripping the affected bones from their sockets unless the opponent has a Rigid Structure technique of equal or higher rank than this technique. The damage caused by this technique is often permanent if the opponent does not seek highly skilled medical treatment.
[/color]

[Drak]

Mako gently swayed out of the way of the helmet, again, displaying a certain grace and nonchalance of movement uncharacteristic of the match so far. Still, her sway brought her straight into the path of Abari’s strike. A shrill cry of pain escaped her lips as her shoulder was wrenched from its socket taking the tendons with it.

As he ducked to unleash a strike to her knee, Mako let another spine of bone loose from her knee at 20 Strength and Speed, trying to disrupt his blow. Another spine from her ribs tried to spare herself the blow to the armpit as her sword disappeared from one hand and appeared in the other.

When Abari came up to deliver a kick, she slipped to the side and lashed out at him with the pommel of Ayago, trying to at least hammer him in the abdomen as she sustained his flurry of blows.

JutsuShow

Death Bone Pulse • Ossified Spike
D-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
The user will ossify any bony surface on their body (usually a hand, knee, or elbow) and cause a roughly meter-long spike to emerge at the user's Strength and Speed.

[ThatGuy]

Mako put on an incredible show of defense against Abari’s strikes. Taking full advantage of her Kaguya blood, she had attempted to intercept his second and third strikes. Using the Yoshin ougi, Abari bent and dislocated the joints in his arm unnaturally to deliver the strike to her knee, redirecting his attack to avoid the bone spike before resetting the joints. She did succeed in blocking the third strike, however, as striking the bone spike was enough to break his training sword.

As Abari stood to his feet and delivered a kick, he watched as Mako slipped the blow and delivered a counterattack with the pommel of Ayago. Contrary to his reputation as a cautious and technical fighter, Abari stepped into the attack. Grabbing Mako’s arm with his free hand, he took the full force of the attack and used the opportunity to aim the now splintered end of his training blade at the throat of his opponent. Just before striking her vitals, he stopped.

“Let’s end it there. I apologize for things getting a bit out of hand there, but I wanted to see how much more you could draw out thinking that your life was on the line. Please, allow me.” An aura of chakra coated Abari’s hands as he used Iijutsu to heal the Kaguya’s wounds. “I’ll be honest, there’s not much for me to teach. Well, perhaps that’s not entirely true… Your Yoshin is very sloppy, as is your Iaido. It’s to be expected of a beginner. Your Shinden skills are better, but not by a whole lot. Overall, your skill with the blade is nothing special.”

He let his words linger for the briefest of moments. While he did not necessarily enjoy needling the pride of his students, their reaction to such things often spoke volumes about their potential. Even with them remaining completely silent, body language as well as the subtle shift in the size of their pupils were more than enough to paint a picture.

“Where you really excel is in combat sense and reflexes. While you might not be exceptionally skilled in any of the sword styles, the way you use them together to make up for their weaknesses is incredible. You know when to shift and adapt for each situation, which you do remarkably quickly. You dodged a couple of my attacks earlier that by all means you should not have been able to. I don’t know if that is because I had telegraphed my strikes too much, or you are simply that skilled at thinking ahead. But regardless, the best advice I can give you for now is to keep training your body. If you had comparable speed and strength to me, then your skill set would have been very difficult to deal with.”

Abari had trained more than a few members of the next generation by this point, but Shinjiro’s Dagger shined brighter than nearly any he had seen. Being a jinchuuriki gave her a leg up on the competition, but was that truly all that set her apart? He was looking forward to seeing how powerful of a tool for the village she would become. Abari’s only concern was the foreign spirit’s influence. Would Mako’s will be enough to keep Ayago’s poisoned whispers at bay?

“I will gladly help you with Yoshin. Iaido and Shinden as well, though admittedly I have not yet mastered Shinden. You will no doubt improve by honing your skills in each of these styles further, but I believe the most important thing to foster for your success is that battle intuition of yours. That is something that unfortunately cannot be taught and must be polished through actual combat. You did not come here for an evaluation, though. My apologies.” As Mako’s wounds finished healing, Abari took a few steps back. “Enter Yoshin stance. I have a few things to point out that should help you before you start trying more advanced techniques.”

Jutsu UsedShow

*[Yoshin Ougi • The Hunt is On] (Still Active)
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.

*[Iaido • Spectral Flight]
B-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Prerequisite(s): 15 Strength, 25 Speed, *[Iaido • Ancestral Visage].
In order for Iaido to stand toe to toe with a variety of high-level opponents, refining fundamentals to a new height is necessary. This Discipline represents the practitioner's ability to more quickly accelerate to max movement speed and decelerate to a full stop at a moment's notice. This does not offer protection against attacks that the practitioner does not know is coming.

*[Shinden • Alligator Scales]
B-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
A Shinden practitioner learns to endure and deaden pain and resist shock. This Discipline represents the practitioner’s ability to not flinch or be staggered by attacks they receive of equal or lower Strength than their Strength stat. It also represents the toughened skin and bones the practitioner has developed throughout their training, lessening pain and preventing minor injuries that the practitioner would otherwise suffer during the course of combat or inflict on themselves using Shinden techniques.

[Drak]

Panting hard at the exertion, Mako kept pushing fruitlessly against Abari’s grip, as if a moment’s more force might overcome the Crimson Bannin’s strength. Even as Abari aimed the splintered boken at Mako’s throat, she did not truely flinch, instead simply gritting her teeth as if ready to accept her fate: struck down in a tragic training accident.

When no blow came, Mako’s pressure against Abari’s hand eased up only slightly. It was only when he began to speak calmly again, and released his grip, that Mako reversed and wrenched her arm from Abari’s grasp. For a moment, the movement looked like she was winding up for a cheap and final blow against Abari, but as her hand reached the zenith of its arc away the spirit weapon dissipated into a cloud of smoke smelling faintly of ozone.

“Tsk,” Mako clicked her tongue as her hand shot to her shoulder. Resentment about being called a sloppy beginner was clear, but so was her frustration at her inability to offer any sort of rebuttal in the face of criticism from one of the Seven. She cradled her tender, dislocated joint and turned her head to the side, casting her eyes to one of the pieces of debris littering the floor around them.

When the rest of Abari’s feedback hit her, Mako glanced back up at Abari, first with her eyes before her head followed. Her brows furrowed slightly as she took in his comments about her “combat sense.” It was familiar feedback, something she had heard many a time from teachers and trainers, but this time she could point to exactly why.

“I-” the single word left her mouth, then her vision swam for a moment. Her pupils constricted to dots for just a moment as a rumbling voice filled her consciousness.

“Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”

Another vision flashed before her eyes: Abari, younger than he was now, but older than she had seen in her last vision. She felt his blade slide effortlessly into the flesh of the sword master. Watched as his flesh whitened and the scent of his blood pouring onto the hardwood below filled her nose.

She shook her head, trying to clear it of the spirit’s voice which she so rarely heard. While she was still sore, Abari’s healing had evidently brought her well within acceptable fighting shape. She blinked a few times as he ordered her into proper stance. The spirit blade reappeared in her hand and she grasped it firmly with both hands as she took a squared stance.

"Yes, Abari-sensei."

[ThatGuy]

Abari took note of the girl’s reaction to his insults. Pride was not a problem in and of itself, but if left unchecked, it might lead to an early grave. She may be able to hold her tongue for now, but would she remain so as she grew stronger? He supposed that training with Shinjiro would provide the Kaguya girl with more than enough humbling moments in the future should the need arise. As it stood, however, she had been rather polite until Abari’s needling remarks.

As Mako seemed to enter another one of her episodes, Abari wondered just what was happening in her mind. It certainly had to be related to this ‘Ayago’ spirit. Perhaps in the future he would ask her about it, but for now he decided to focus on the lesson. He’d already wasted enough of their time today. As Mako entered the Yoshin stance, the red-haired swordsman quickly brought up his piece of advice.

“Your stance is fine and would be more than acceptable at any conventional dojo, but at the higher levels you are going to need to refine it. It’s better to work on that now rather than later. Someone of your skill already knows that wasted energy is the biggest obstacle to overcome, but it cannot be reiterated enough. You might not realize it, but you are carrying tension in the joints of your arms when you hold the stance. It’s barely noticeable, but something like that is going to slow you down, even if by fractions of a second. Additionally, my attacks on those joints would have done some serious lasting damage had you not been healed with medical jutsu. It’s a minor nitpick, but it’s the small things that set the masters apart from the rest. Take some extra time to practice some Yoshin kata alone, but put extreme emphasis on keeping your muscles relaxed throughout. Muscle memory can be a double-edged blade; it’s why I am making a big deal of it now. If your teachers deal in ‘good enough,' then it will only make it harder for you to make those refinements in the future.”

The man from earlier seemed to have vanished entirely as Abari flew headfirst into teaching mode. It was clear that he had abandoned his measured speech from before as a faint glimmer of excitement crept into his voice. The way of the blade was his passion, and Yoshin was his first and most beloved style. To help someone with so much raw talent learn that very same style evoked a strange mixture of emotions from the Crimson Bannin. As usual, he did everything he could to ignore and hide such things in order to maintain the demeanor expected of a shinobi of his rank. Picking up Kubikiribōchō, Abari entered Yoshin stance to continue his lesson.

“Yoshin was originally designed to be used with short blades like a wakizashi, but many, such as myself, use a katana. The stance that serves as the core foundation of Yoshin style, the one they teach you and strictly enforce in the beginning stages, must be altered to fit your weaponry. Many of the most prestigious dojos preach the opposite; it’s something of a taboo, but that closed-mindedness is why they have yet to produce a worthy challenge. Their best and brightest reach the pinnacle and learn the Ougi and just… stop. They assume that they’ve learned all there is to learn and that the only thing left to do is to pass down their knowledge. You can refine the traditional techniques as much as you like, but it’s pointless if you are incapable of adapting.”

As Abari spoke, he performed a series of Yoshin techniques with no particular target, demonstrating the complete departure from the original stance required to use such a large weapon. Kubikiribōchō was taller than he was and weighed nearly a third of his own weight, but, somehow, the red-haired swordsman was able to wield the blade with the speed and precision required for Yoshin. It was an almost comical sight as it required a very wide stance, but the results could not be questioned. Despite the drastic change in stance, he was undoubtedly using the style to the same degree as he would if a katana were in his hands.

“This advice extends beyond Yoshin, as you might have already gathered. I encourage you to do the same with Shinden and even Iaido. You absolutely must respect and refine the core techniques, but that is not where it ends. The way you wove the styles together in our spar is a great sign that you are on the right path. Keep it in mind as you continue to advance in each individual style. If my information is correct, Ayago is capable of taking the form of any weapon of your choosing. Use that to your advantage in training by experimenting with various different types of blades to learn the nuances of each technique. Using a weapon so ridiculously incompatible with my fighting style required me to get rather creative, and that helped me improve in every aspect of my swordsmanship. Things that seemed impossible, such as using Kubikiribōchō to effectively target pressure points, are now part of my daily training. Discipline does not mean the opposite of adaptability. It is that exact combination of attributes that leads to innovation.”

To drive his point in, he dropped his blade to the ground as if he were going to start dragging it behind him. After Abari switched to an unorthodox grip on the hilt, there was a brief delay before, suddenly, the blade seemed to have disappeared. A gust of wind blew throughout the dojo as the massive blade returned to sight, carving a small gash into the ceiling as it continued its arc downwards. Kubikiribōchō slammed into the floor of the dojo as the red-haired swordsman let out a deep sigh. He’d been practicing that technique for months but still could not seem to get it down. Abari hesitated too much before unleashing the attack, and he was not dropping low enough to avoid the ceiling.

Though hard to see, Mako would be able to catch what Abari was trying to show her. It was an upwards Iai strike utilizing the size and weight of the blade to carry the momentum with a full rotation of the body and change of grip, that was utilized in many Shinden techniques, to bring the blade back down with devastating force. A perfect example of the type of hybrid kenjutsu he had hoped to see the next generation create and improve upon. Abari had no intentions of showing off but rather hoped to spark some creativity within the Kaguya girl. With a smile, Abari grabbed a fresh training blade from a pile that had spilled out from the barrel holding them and apologized.

“I am truly sorry that I cannot seem to shut my mouth. I’m still too young to be blabbering on like a senile man. Do me a favor and don’t tell Shinjiro-sensei that I talked your ear off, yeah? I’ll quit wasting your time now. We’ll work on your Yoshin stance for a minute so you have a good idea of what to practice on your own. Then you’ll be free of my ramblings.”