Sharpening the Daggers [Closed]

[Willoria]

Karugata Asami had sent out two early morning messengers with scrolls to summon both of her daggers. Both had been recruited separately and both she had worked with periodically, but separately. Today that was going to change. She was in the middle of the training arena of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, the doors were unlocked so both Ryu and Asuna could get in easily. The woman was just sitting on a crate in the middle of it, waiting quietly.

Tora wasn't far from the door, leaning against the wall with his sword on his hip as instructed. He also was relatively quiet, not entirely sure why he was even there. He wasn't Asami's Dagger, he had no affiliation to the Seven. He simply was Asami's student and ward, she had practically adopted him. She had insisted he needed to be there to observe and maybe even train, though she hadn't put it that nicely.

Eventually when the two would finally start to arrive, Asami would stand. "About damn time."

[Kabu]

Asuna had gotten up bright and early that morning, just in time for a messenger to arrive bearing a notice. Of course she recognized the seal on the scroll almost immediately. She was being summoned by Asami, her mentor within the Seven Swordsmen. She had been preparing to do some training that day anyways so this was absolutely perfect.

She had eaten breakfast and was already dressed so she simply grabbed her recently obtained sword, Komodo no Kiba, and fastened it to her hip at which point she was ready to go.

As she ran through the village towards her destination she couldn't help but wonder what today's training would entail. As always she was determined to give it her all no matter what but still... It occurred to her that she hadn't yet had an opportunity to work with her fellow Dagger, Kazuki Ryu. She of course did recognize the name as being that of her mother's master, Kazuki Ryoga, and his wife Ren. Of course that meant the boy was their son, the thought of which brought a good deal of excitement. She could only hope he was as good as her own mother had insisted that his father and mother were.

Lost in thought as she was it took a bit longer to reach at the training arena than she would have liked but soon enough she arrived. She just hoped Asami wouldn't be too mad at her for running late. She couldn't help but shudder at the thought of the consequences for making her master angry. It surely wouldn't be too pleasant.

Anyways, she took a deep breath to calm herself and entered the building to find Asami and Tora already present. She was admittedly a bit confused about why the latter was there but his presence was always welcome. They were friends after all.

"Sorry if I'm late. I got a bit lost in my thoughts on the way." she admitted, bowing deeply as she apologized. Though once done speaking she stood up and looked around, noting that it was only the three of them so far. It was a bit disappointing really... "By the way... one of the reasons I got lost in thought... When am I going to actually get to work alongside Ryu for once?"

[TyDie]

As Asuna's question echoed through the arena, the sudden sound of a door being kicked open resounded through the arena. And standing in the threshold was not Ryu - Or, well, it was Ryu, but it wasn't. Instead, the grisly visage of Hisan, fully manifested, waltzed into the arena. "Heh... Hey there, how's it goin?" Hisan took a few steps over towards Asami and Asuna, giggling a little to himself as he did so. "I hope your messenger wasn't too important to you... He might've shit his pants when I answered the door, ha!" Hisan proceeded to laugh aloud, holding up a hand to Asami as she no doubt was about to strike at him.

"Hold on, before you go off on me, lemme explain." The creature started, crossing his arms as he started. "Little dude inside is a slacker today, he was up all night chasing leads on his sister... Poor kid can't admit she's dead. So when the messenger arrived so early, he was as dead as a doornail. Enter: Hisan, to the rescue. Make sure you give him a hard time today... He needs it from all sides, hehehehehe...."

As Hisan spoke, his eyes closed and a moment later the red material began to recede. Hisan's mouth closed, the image of it's head disappeared, and before long all of the material had disappeared into Ryu's body, leaving the chuunin standing... still asleep and lightly snoring. Though, mercifully, Hisan had taken the liberty of dressing and arming the kid once he knew what the message entailed - His sword was strapped to his hip, just as always.

[Willoria]

Asami was about to answer Asuna when Ryu came through the door, or rather, when Hisan did. To say the woman was angry was a severe understatement. There was so much playing into her rage in that moment in time. When she had gone behind Shinjiro's back to recruit Ryu she had made clear to the boy that he had to get Hisan under control, he was to be a tool and nothing more. The boy needed to prove himself as a swordsman, and yet here he was, with Hisan driving his body entirely. If Hisan hadn't stepped in, he couldn't achieve something today as simple as accepting a summons to train. In addition to that, there was the matter of his missing sister. No one knew, but Asami had been assisting Ryu in the search. She believed the girl to be dead as well, but had agreed to help him so long as it didn't interfere with his duties, and so yet again she had been going behind Shinjiro's back to do so. Yet here he was, the search clearly having interfered with his duties.

The woman audibly snarled under her breath like a feral animal, a sound clearly the making of Shinjiro's influence in her life. "Asuna, Tora, step back. Stay out of the red." she said simply, her voice a strange level of calm, a scary sort of calm some might say.

Even as she spoke, the red chakra started to seep off of her as she grinned wickedly, showing off her sharpened teeth. "Sorry, Hisan." she said in a strange-singsong voice, suggesting she wasn't sorry at all. A swirl of red chakra later and Karugata Asami had been replaced by the form of a large wolf. She stood four feet on all fours, a skull instead of a normal wolf's head and burning blue flames in place of the eyes. With a wild snarl she lunged forward as her red chakra pooled outward, aiming for Ryu's throat to take the poor boy to the ground in his asleep/half asleep state and pin him to the ground. She wouldn't puncture him, but she planned to give him a hell of a scare and shake him as if she intended to kill him in recompense for his poor impression.

Punishment would be served after all.

Abilities UsedShow

The Dread Wolf In all the time she has spent alone, Asami has studied animals extensively along with theories an darker arts. In her search for strength and power this led to her attaining the ability to transform into what she refers to as ‘The Dread Wolf’. Visually, this is the form of a black wolf that stands about four feet high on all fours, its face replaced with a full skull and what seem to be glowing blue embers for eyes. Speaking in this form means her voice sounds layered, making it incredibly difficult to recognize by those not intimately familiar with her. Physically she maintains her current stats.

Fear of Death: So long as she is in this form, this fear/dread effect is active. Seeing the Dread Wolf creates a feeling as if they are staring at an Omen of Death, as if their own end is prophesied by the creature before them. This feeling of Dread will affect anyone within a 20 meter radius and as it is an ability, not a genjutsu, it cannot be kai'd, however its effect is not above C Rank in affect and may be easily ignored if the other individual(s) have a Willpower Stat equal to or greater than Asami's.

---

Call of the Void Having spent time in training with the notorious Genma host Karagata Shinjiro, who has a reputation of brutality and torture both in how he trains and how he has been trained, Karugata Asami has developed new skills in affecting those around her. Through her studies in Genjutsu theory, and tortures endured at the hands of Shinjiro and his variety of poisons and venoms, Asami's very presence has become toxic to those around her. Her chakra may seep out and seek those around her, worming its way their minds to break down mental barriers and mental resistances, opening them up to her influence. Her chakra as a result has now turned a deep red.

When this ability is activated at her will (costing chakra equal to an A rank Jutsu), her presence affects those nearby up to a maximum range equal to her control stat, but she can reduce this range as desired. It feels as if her presence begins to simply wear and bear down on them, pulling at them and draining them by pulling away their willpower. This manifests by draining their willpower stat at a steady rate of -2 per post for a duration of 5 posts (-10 max overall). If the target steps out of the ability's range, then upon returning to the area of effect the drain would resume from its current state. If the target has been out of range for one post, then they will regain the lost stats at a rate of +2 per post for as long as they remain out of the ability's range.

[Kabu]

To say Asuna was disappointed at her and Ryu’s first meeting would be a bit of an understatement. The girl couldn’t help but frown, furrowing her brow at the sight of the boy just standing there fast asleep while having let some… thing take control of his body. It was frankly unbelievable. How could a boy like this be the son of such great people? She had heard of course that the Kazuki's had a daughter as well and she couldn’t blame him for trying to look for his sister but still, he could at least take some responsibility.

She was broken out of her thoughts by an enraged Asami, the girl stepping back as ordered. She couldn’t look away, her eyes growing wide at the sight of her master leaking red chakra and then even transforming into a large black wolf with a skull for a face. She had never seen anything quite like it and even outside of the affected range she could practically feel herself shaking in her boots, or at least she would have been had she not been taking repeated breaths to keep herself calm. No, this wasn’t induced fear… this was very genuine fear… she was seeing her master in a truly angered state for the very first time. Asami seemed calm but Asuna knew better, she knew much much better. That unnatural sounding calm… the sing song nature of her tone could mean one thing and one thing only. The woman was beyond angry, she was straight up pissed… enraged even. ”Well, this is good motivation to make sure I’m always on my best behavior.” she spoke under her breath, hoping nobody could really hear her.

Still though, while she wasn’t about to even attempt to go near the two she couldn’t help but feel just a little bad about what the beating Ryu was currently receiving at the hands of their angered master. She could also only hope that it wouldn’t really affect their training too much.

[TyDie]

Ryu was only just coming to when the sense of fear gripped him, his eyes darting open as he gasped with fright while the Dread Wolf pounced on him, bringing him down on his back. A cry of fear, uncontrollable, escaped from him as he tried to understand what was happening here, but after a few moments the truth set in. Even through the woman's horrific aura, he knew who was pounced on top of him. "Asami! What the!?" He spoke in rushed panic, his eyes darting around to take in his surroundings as he realized he wasn't at home in bed... he was in the Seven's arena.

Were they... training?

The boy would try to shuffle away from underneath Asami to try and get to his feet, his chest heaving rapidly as the shock slowly wore off. "What... the hell... is happening?" The boy struggled to get the words out, but he was beginning to realize what happened without being told. After all, the cackling of Hisan in his head was enough of a sign. "...It was Hisan wasn't it? Fuckin bastard..." Ryu rolled his eyes as he ran a hand through his hair, preening it out a bit to work out some knots before tying it back into a ponytail. He looked around and noticed the other person, a Kaguya from the looks of things, though he wasn't sure who she was at first...

Oh wait. Asami had another Dagger. A Kaguya.

"You must be the other Dagger then... Asuna, right?"

[Willoria]

Asami wasn't about to just let the boy up. She might not have wanted to puncture anything vital, but he wasn't getting off that easily either. Gripping him with her bony teeth that would leave deep gashes and gouges, while careful to avoid cutting into anything vital, the wolf tossed the boy bodily towards the middle of the arena with a snarl. As he would surely roll across the ground the wolf would shift back into the woman with her arms crossed as she glared at him. Her red chakra would very slowly recede as she gave them the space for their meager introductions. "Ryu, if you are ever late for a training again, if Hisan ever has to drag your ass in here like that again, I will personally put you in the hospital." she said coldly, turning her blue eyes on the Chunin. "I went against the Overseer's own orders to recruit you... and next time you're the one paying the price I paid... the same way I paid when he first recruited me. Do you understand? she snarled at him as she turned towards the center of the arena.

"Change of plans!" she suddenly announced to the two as she moved towards where her crate still sat, picking it up and chucking it across the arena with enough force to shatter on the wall. First her eyes turned to Tora and the boy seemed to freeze. "Ryu, you are going to train your Iaido with Tora, while also helping him learn his own. Perhaps thats the best way for you to learn and fine tune your own swordsmanship... I hear your father developed some of his best techniques while teaching others..." She stared at Tora in silence until the boy got the hint and moved away from Asuna's side to walk over and stand by Ryu awkwardly.

Then Asami looked over to Asuna. "Asuna, you're going to try and hit this wall, got it?" She simply smirked for a moment. "Simple enough to start? We'll change things up when I'm satisfied."

(Training Start)

Asami’s hands quickly moved into hand seals for the appropriate jutsu. She had never actually performed the jutsu before but as confident in her knowledge as she pictured the necessary wall in her mind before willing it to come up before her. She hardly noticed the slight twinge of yellow chakra that flashed briefly about her abdomen and vanished within her red chakra as she worked. It wasn’t a difficult jutsu, it was just new to her. Truth be told for a moment she actually thought the barrier might falter and fail, her chakra control felt slightly off and she could only assume that had something to do with the strange and extra source she was dealing with in that moment. The little one was hardly even that, it was hard for her to believe it could be an issue in her control and yet here she was, mentally wondering if she was struggling.

And yet even as her mind wandered over the thought she found herself forming the barrier in front of her, her first time trying. It wasn’t forming as quickly as she knew she could, but the first time with a new jutsu always took an extra moment, no matter how good someone was when it came to jutsu. She simply was impatient with how angry Ryu had made her in that moment. Fact was, she wanted to wring the boy’s neck, and was also silently grateful that Shinjiro wasn’t around to see what had happened. She could only imagine how much he’d be gloating in that moment about Hisan being the only reason he even showed up. Growling under her breath she pushed herself to finish the barrier and put it up between her and Asuna. She had to make sure the girl thought it was just so she had a target to aim at, but in truth, it was to add just a small extra protection for Asami, and her womb.

326/300 (300 word minimum for event, 1880 discount for stat total)

Jutsu TrainedShow

*[Ninjutsu • Wall]
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
After performing the correct hand seals the user causes a thin 3x3x1 meter flat barrier to form within 10 meters of them at [Control] Speed and has [Control] Strength. It lasts for 3 posts.

[Kabu]

Asuna silently blinked as Ryu spoke to her, for a moment still trying to process the spectacle she had just witnessed. "It's nice to meet you finally, Ryu." she spoke, opting to simply smile and wave. She didn't really dare get closer for the moment.

Soon enough things seemed to calm down only for Asami to chuck a crate across the arena and announce a sudden change of plans, Asuna briefly grimacing at the sound of the crate shattering against the far wall. She had to wonder what the original plan had been, but oh well... for the moment she was concerned about Tora, looking at the boy out of the corner of her eyes. Would he really be okay like this? Well, there wasn't really much she could do to help him out, she needed to be more focused on herself.. She herself was to be going for some target practice it seemed.

She couldn't help but smile at the thought. It was perfect by her, she had come up with a few new jutsu ideas that she had been wanting to try out.

---

”Alright here I come!” Asuna spoke, taking a ready stance across from Asami, beginning to channel chakra as she did. She did notice the brief glimpse of yellow chakra but before she could even really think about it it was gone. Very strange… she was honestly a little worried between that and how Asami seemed to be struggling but there would be time to worry later. Right now it was work time.

Right then... She took a deep breath and resumed her stance, visualizing the jutsu in her mind. It was a bullet, intended to be used in combination with her other attacks. With her sword still sheated she channeled chakra into her blade, the sword soon having a light blue glow surrounded it. Knowing that was the cue, she drew her sword… only for nothing to happen. Dammit, something happened and the chakra faded way too early! she thought to herself, gritting her teeth. This sometimes happened but it was always so very frustrating to be so close and yet still so far. And yet she couldn’t give up.

Shaking her head, she sheathed her sword and focused as she began channeling again. She made sure to direct the flow of chakra towards a very specific point, focusing on her sword.. the point of contact for the flow. Her sword once more began glowing a light blue but this time she held onto it a bit longer, taking a moment to envision the intended effect. Once she drew a bullet formed of chakra would be released, providing both an attack and an effective cover for any followups, rather that was the idea at least.

After a moment she drew her sword, a blast of chakra about two meters wide and tall emerging in that very moment, flying true and strong as it smashed against the barrier Asami had put up. She had done it, but she couldn’t celebrate just yet. Just because it worked once didn’t mean it would work again and she needed to be certain she could perform it with some consistency.

So she sheathed her sword again, this time taking several steps back and dashing forward at full speed with her hand on the hilt as she channeled, this time releasing the bullet and while trailing behind it torquing the muscles in her body and executing a very quick slash in a wide arc, her sword striking the barrier very soon after the bullet had made its own impact.

”Seems that I actually did it. I do wonder for how long it can truly be held though. I'll have to test it more at a later point.” she muttered, though she did take note of how even her combined strikes didn’t really make much of a dent against the barrier. It seemed to be that she still had quite a bit of work to do in all areas if she were to truly succeed.

Jutsu Trained - 488/400Show

Ninjutsu • Gotcha
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
While their sword is sheathed the user channels chakra, when they next draw their blade a blast of chakra approximately two meters wide and two meters high flies in a single direction at a speed and strength equal to the user's [Control]. This chakra can be held for a total of five posts, fading at that point if not released.

Jutsu UsedShow

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

[TyDie]

Ryu's throat bled from the wounds left by Asami, though the wounds were quickly mended by the entity within his body. He hissed as the woman transformed back, fighting the urge to roll his eyes as she laid into him for allowing Hisan to puppet him here. He wouldn't vocalize his opposition to her words - She had given him free reign to search for his sister, sure, but some part of him knew that she didn't truly believe her to be alive. It was an act of appeasement, nothing more... He wasn't sure what price she paid for getting him into the Daggers, but something told him that based on her relationship with the Overseer, it wasn't as torturous as she made it sound.

"Right... got it..." the red haired boy said with a grunt, crossing his arms and shaking his head. He didn't even flinch as the woman tossed the box across the room in anger, changing up their 'lesson plan' for the day so that Ryu was now training Tora. Great, how the hell was he supposed to learn when he himself was a teacher? If that's all Asami needed him for, she could've just left the boy at his place... Asuna did greet him, but Ryu's response for the moment was a simple nod of the head. He clearly wasn't in the mood to make friends, or be here at all truth be told.

But order were orders.

"Alright Tora, come over here, away from those two. It'd be best to stick to the side and avoid getting caught in the crossfire. Who knows what they're planning on doing." The boy did as he was asked, following Ryu to a small stretch of open space in one of the corners of the large training facility, where they could be reasonably sure they were safe from any haywire jutsu attempts. "Now, you've been practicing your basic katas I would imagine. You know how to swing a sword, that's great." As Ryu spoke, his arms crossed behind his back and he paced back and forth in thought, wondering how best to prepare the boy for what he was about to show him.

"You understand your blade - At least, the basics of it. But what you probably don't yet understand is what the most important part of your sword is. It's not the hilt, not the tsuba, and not the blade either..." As Ryu spoke, he drew his own sword, the polished steel twinkling slightly in the light of the overhead bulbs. As he held the tip up to the sky, likely catching Tora's attention, his left hand would grip his saya, yank it out quickly, and catch the boy in the stomach - lightly, so as not to cripple him, but enough to show that his attentions were purposely redirected to the wrong place.

"It is the saya - your scabbard. For Iaido, this is everything. I have taught you that you have to resheath your blade after every strike, and this is because of the momentary 'jolt' of speed that can be generated when drawing your sword from it's saya. Obviously, with no saya, you have no Iaido. You're little more than a child holding a pointy piece of metal." As Ryu spoke, he held both the sheath and sword out in front of Tora, to show him both parts of the whole weapon individually. "You have to think of these as halves of a whole, Tora. As an Iaido swordsman, one is useless without the other. And while mastery of your katana is important, mastery of your saya is even more so. Let me demonstrate what I mean."

As Ryu spoke, he slipped his sheath back into it's place at his hip before sliding his katana back into it's home. He'd turn to look at a nearby training dummy, momentarily picturing Asami's face on the dummy to rile himself up. Then, with a growl of frustration, the boy quickly stepped forward and pulled hard on his sword, letting the sheath come with the pull about half way before swiftly pulling back on the sheath, allowing the tip of his sword to fire out with incredible speed and pass through the strawman with ease. "My sword is now unsheathed, and to keep the offensive, I have to resheath the blade to return to a starting stance. For a novice, this would take time and effort to do. For one of the seven, it is as natural as breathing.

Without looking down, without holding the sheath, without even thinking about it, Ryu effortlessly slammed his sword back into it's sheath before repeating the same slash once more. He'd sheath the blade again, as if the movement was something he had practiced since he was but a child, then rip the sword out of it's place at his side again. Each time his blade passed through the straw, sending the stuff everywhere. "You can't waste... any time... with something as simple... as sheathing your weapon." He slashed between his words, leaving the dummy in pieces before his explanation was done, and each time the sword found it's way home just as quickly as it shot out from it's sheath. He was an expert in this simple but necessary component of basic Iaido principles.

"Think about how fast Shinjiro was that day, in the alley. How merciless he was. If you were to face him with Iaido, a style he himself is a master of, you need to at least match his skill. You can't afford to waste even a millisecond with the trivial sheathing of a sword, it has to come to you so naturally that you could do so without a second thought." To punctuate his words, Ryu would take a step over to Tora and act as if he was about to slash the boy, taking a stance to draw his sword. But instead, as he drew it, he tossed his weapon straight up into the air, flipping wildly.

"You will practice not only the art of a simple draw strike, but the reflex of always ensuring your sword finds it's way back to your saya. No matter where that blade is, remember." As Ryu paused, his left hand grabbed for his saya quickly and pulled it from his hip, holding the saya out in front of him. Without missing a beat, the sudden "CLINK" of steel on steel rang out as the boy's thrown weapon found it's way back into it's sheath.

"It is always an extension of yourself."

---

1,090/1,050 words

Jutsu LearnedShow

B-Rank Techniques
*[Iaido • One with the Spirit]
B-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Prerequisite(s): *[Iaido • One with the Sheath], *[Iaido • One with the Sword].
Through incredible amounts of practice, the practitioner of Iaido has learned his weapon and its housing inside and out. The user of this weapon can now reflexively sheath their sword in its scabbard almost instantaneously by instinct with either one hand or both hands without even looking. This facilitates further use of other Iaido techniques.

[Willoria]

Asami grinned as she watched Asuna work on her jutsu, and even as she saw Ryu training Tora out of the corner of her eye. Though the day had started rocky and she knew Ryu still questioned her method, she could already see the benefits of it even if he didn’t. The boy focused on his own sword training far more when teaching another, than when he was trying to simply do something for himself. She kept up the wall of chakra in front of her as Asuna practiced her own jutsu, watching her dagger carefully as she formed the chakra and Asami herself appeared to be in thought. She almost looked like she was chewing on something, though in reality just as her two daggers and her ward were training, so was she. Just hers didn’t look nearly as obvious. She was gathering chakra in her mouth carefully and quietly as she watched those around her.

Listening to Ryu speak the way he did about a blade, about Iaido, as she gathered her chakra almost made her chuckle. She was a Toryu user herself, though she had seen Iaido used plenty of times and not just by Ryu it simply was a style she didn’t quite understand well. She much preferred up close and personal work. Likewise as she watched Asuna she knew instantly she was using Iaido as well, realizing suddenly she was surrounded by Iaido users. Odd considering she didn’t use it herself. She looked to watch Tora a moment and knew she’d have to teach him Toryu as well if she didn’t want him to have nothing to learn from her.

When she was certain she had gathered enough chakra in her mouth she formed the shape and took a deep breath, before turning her head and spitting in the direction of Ryu and Tora, specifically aiming for Ryu’s ankle with a grin on her face.

320/300 Jutsu Training (Asami)

Jutsu TrainedShow

*[Ninjutsu • Hidden Needles]
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
After performing the correct hand seals the user will focus chakra into their mouths and into up to five senbon within 10 meters of their position. The senbon will be summoned from their persons or nearby into the user's mouth, where they will be spit out aided by chakra at [Control] Strength and Speed. The senbon can be shot up to 10 meters away.

Tora was hesitant to follow Ryu. Watching the way Asami treated him made him wonder if Ryu was just going to visit the same on him. He’d already noticed that when Shinjiro was especially spiteful towards her, sometimes she would act similarly towards him. It seemed to be a pattern. For a moment he thought he was right too, as it wasn’t long into his instruction with the other boy before he’d been nailed in the gut with the sheath of Ryu’s katana. The boy grunted and dropped to a knee, clutching his stomach for several moments though he did eventually force himself to his feet to try and pay closer attention. Tora didn’t have much of a pain tolerance, making it difficult for him to focus. All the more, as he watched Ryu demonstrate his own use of weapon and sheath together, he couldn’t help but feel like that was something he just wasn’t capable of. He knew Asami and Shinjiro were capable of things beyond his skill of course, but Ryu was at least closer to his age. Seeing that there was such a huge difference in skill between them as well almost made the boy despair.

Still he did everything he could to watch and to observe, before trying it for himself. He hadn’t trained in much yet with his sword, or more accurately Ryu’s sword that Asami had taken and given to him. But as he reached for it, feeling that despair sinking in, he paused as he noticed the bracelet on his wrist with its vibrant aquamarine stone. The boy sighed and took a deep breath, nodding to himself before he started trying to work on his draws. It wasn’t the first time he had worked on it, but it would certainly look like it. The first time he tried he completely lost his grip on the weapon, practically throwing it so that it embedded itself in the dirt near Asami’s feet. He tried desperately to ignore the glare she leveled at him when he ran over to get it back.

Regardless of the embarrassment that he could hardly handle his own weapon, Tora was determined to get some kind of speed down when drawing his weapon and he’d try again and again until he could get it right. It wouldn’t be long though before looking at his bracelet hadn’t been enough, he felt like a complete idiot. Trying to draw his sword resulted in dropping it, or flinging it again. Though he did manage to keep from throwing it at Asami again which he was certain was going to end in extreme pain if he did it again.

He paused to watch Ryu again, turning a deep shade of scarlet as Ryu mentioned that day in the alley with Shinjiro. He suddenly felt like he might throw up, remembering that day. After all it wasn’t just a day he had seen Shinjiro fight, it was the day his mother had been slain before his very eyes. The urge to get again smart off to Ryu about it came up but this time he held back the remarks. Nothing good would come from it and he knew that, even if he did still feel extraordinarily bitter about the entire situation to this day.

He chose to focus on watching Ryu’s technique instead, the way he seemed to expertly draw his weapon and slice straight through the straw dummies. He tried his best to emulate it, managing to speed up his draw but also speed up how quickly he managed to drop his weapon in the process. It wasn’t exactly what one might call an improvement. “I’ll never get this right!” the boy suddenly yelled, angry at everything in a rare outburst. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Asami give him a look, if he didn’t know any better he’d almost call it pride. He knew the only emotion she’d really seen from him had been his own depression, if he hadn’t been so mad he might’ve wondered if she saw anger as an improvement.

Snarling under his breath and kicking at the dirt of the arena the boy brought both hands up and into his hair for a moment of frustration as he tried to figure out what he was doing wrong. Some part of him wanted to simply take the sword and sheath both and throw them across the room as Asami had done with the crate but he had a feeling even Ryu would finally cut him if he did something like that. He pushed himself to instead return to a simple stance he had been taught to try and unsheath and resheath his sword in one simple motion. He still wasn’t successful in fully completing the motion, but his speed was slowly improving at it. To him that was a win so far. Though he hadn’t yet noticed that in his own attempts he had left a shallow cut across his own forearm.

834/800 Speed training (Tora)

[Kabu]

With that last technique having been to a success Asuna began thinking of some other jutsu she had been developing, her gaze briefly wandering over towards Ryu and Tora as the two worked. She couldn’t help but smile at the sight… she was beginning to think maybe she had misjudged Ryu. Despite having initially come across as a grumpy goofball, he seemed to really be a hard worker when he put his mind to it. He even seemed to be taking well as a teacher to Tora… It was all really quite nice to see.

---

Still smiling, she turned her attention back towards her own training, a new technique clear in her mind. It was similar to the previous technique but rather than working at a range and acting as a distraction, this was a technique specifically meant to add some extra oomph to strikes upon making impact.

It would start however much the same way, by channeling chakra into a weapon, though unlike the previous technique she would need to channel chakra into the weapon itself rather than the sheath. Then she would attack and if done properly upon making contact with its target the weapon should release an explosive burst of chakra.

With the concept firmly in mind she drew a kunai from her holster, taking a deep breath and channeling chakra into it. ”Alright, hold it steady for a moment...” she muttered to herself, focusing entirely on flowing chakra into the weapon she held until it began letting off a faint glow. Alright, now’s the time.

With the kunai glowing with the telltale signs of chakra, she threw it as hard as she could towards the still standing barrier. The kunai flew true and soon made contact with its intended target only for the chakra to fade before it could make contact and thus for the kunai to plink uselessly off of the wall.

She couldn’t help but grit her teeth, frustrated at her failure. She was a Chuunin.. it shouldn’t be this hard to learn basic techniques. ”Clearly I did something wrong. Must not have held onto it for long enough. Alright, one more go.”She took another deep breath to calm herself and pulled out another kunai, once more focusing chakra into it. Once done she once more released it, watching with bated breath as it zoomed through the air, once again plinking off its target but this time also letting loose a burst, the girl unable to help a wide grin at her success. Now that was more like it…

Jutsu Trained 330/320Show

Ninjutsu • Impact Burst
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
After channeling chakra into a weapon the user then makes their attack, upon impact releasing concussive force in the form of an outward explosion with a strength equal to the user's [Control]. The user has five posts to strike a target before the chakra dissipates.