[Sora Minami]

"Not the point, Enyo.” Sora said, her tone unchanging despite the darkened expression on her student’s face. Honestly, the boy could be so smart sometimes, and then trip over the simplest of things. "You have to practice things under more than just a static playing field. As it stands, you’ve made progress- good progress. But you’re slow to gather your chakra, and in a battle you don’t have time to be slow." That was the thing about techniques like water or tree-walking; you couldn’t just do them, you had to be able to do them on the fly, half-awake with ten shinobi trying their level best to kill you. Because if you couldn’t, what was the point?

"But if youinsist on being a stubborn brat like usual…" The Jounin began, shaking her head as she raised one hand up, as if to draw her blade- only to move, chakra flowing through her limbs as she utilized the Kasoku Soru and Gensoku Soru techniques in rapid succession, first to accelerate towards her student at maximum speed, then to stop right in his face, her hand shoving forwards into his chest hard enough to knock him over. If he wasn’t set, that was.

"...Then you can get wet."

Kuronmeru Enyo

[Kuronmeru Enyo]

blood as black as the ocean

Enyo was at least a stubborn brat with some ability to back up the fact that he was a stubborn brat. Was he a jounin? No. Could he still hold his own, in his own bracket? Absolutely. Even with the limited skillset he did have, he seemed to pick things up quickly and understand people's behavioral patterns. He understood people, if only for the fact that he enjoyed the art of manipulation. So when Sora said what she did, Enyo had a feeling it was in his gut, he knew what was about to happen. At least, to some extent.

He expected another blade thrown towards him, some kind of attack.

It came, not in the way he had initially anticipated, but that didn't stop him from reacting.

No, he could not dodge out of the way of the fast woman, but his body surged with chakra, adjusting carefully as he fell down into the water. He didn't sink though, he was just sitting there on his bum a top the liquid, staring up at Sora. It was an incremental adjustment, but it allowed him to stay on top instead of getting wet or sinking.

He stood again, unfazed and just staring.

"Well, that didn't work." He taunted.

Sora Minami

aeron at thq

[Sora Minami]

"Didn’t it?" Sora asked, smiling as the boy sat there on the water, having instinctually reacted to her push. It was a small adjustment, but one that would make a big difference in the long run once the boy managed to master the technique well enough to use it on the fly. That he’d instinctively managed to repurpose the original idea by coating a different portion of his body in chakra to remain aloft was a good sign he was getting close to that level of mastery- close, but not quite there yet. The Jounin stepped back, still smiling as she gave Enyo a moment to stand up, a small laugh spilling from her lips at the look of arrogant bravado spread across his face.

"The point, Enyo," She began, gesturing towards her student as she put one hand on her hip, "-was to make you react. To use the technique faster by putting you in a situation where your brain couldn’t get in the way and your instincts took over." Sora let the information sink in for a moment before she went on, her smile taking on just a hair of the smugness that Enyo so often employed.

"So I’d said it worked exactly as intended, wouldn’t you?"

Kuronmeru Enyo

[Kuronmeru Enyo]

blood as black as the ocean

Enyo got it, once she said it. But he did not like it. He had thought it was a stupid exercise. He would have preferred a spar or a simulation of some kind. Not to be thrown off balance with a push to make him react so that he did not sink into the water.

The genin stood, clearly having not liked the woman's method as he balanced on the water's surface now more easily than before. Ultimately though he moved towards the shore and onto land where he could drop the focus of chakra and be just a little more comfortable. It would take a little while longer to really perfect the water walking technique in a way where he did not feel a mental or physical strain. But it seemed enough for today's practice.

At least, it seemed enough to Enyo. Who had fully ignored the woman's question, even if it was partially rhetorical in some manner - and he seemed to take it as fully rhetorical as he stepped off onto shore.

"Are we done then? You can go back to the team and I will perfect this for the rest of the day." He suggested, though the suggestion seemed more like a statement of the next course of action.

Sora Minami

aeron at thq

[Sora Minami]

"We can be." Sora replied, her smile fading into something more serious as she watched the boy walk back to the shore. He clearly didn’t enjoy her teaching methods- but he also couldn’t deny that they were effective, given how quickly he’d picked up water-walking once he’d bothered to follow her instructions. "You’ve still got a ways to go with water-walking, but you have enough of a grasp that you can train on your own. However…"The Jounin paused, reaching across her body to draw Samidare, her motions slow and careful, so as not to make the boy think she was going to attack him.

"You need to work on your Kenjutsu as well." She gave her student a moment to think on that, sword held loosely at her side as she stepped back out onto the water. "If you’re serious about being a better swordsman in addition to your medical training, this is a good way to practice your control and your kenjutsu at the same time." She didn’t mention that her sensei had pulled the same trick on her, of course, or that the training she’d undergone in the Hunter Corps was far worse than getting wet, but perhaps one tidbit would help egg the boy along.

"Inei likely does this quite often."

Kuronmeru Enyo

[Kuronmeru Enyo]

blood as black as the ocean

"I don't care about what Inei does, I will be stronger than him soon enough and it will not be through the methods he utilizes." It was not as if Enyo knew what Inei did. From what he understood Inei was just part of some operations team - a normal thing for him to think, considering he was not privy to information about the Hunter-Nin... And no one really was aside those that were in fact, in the Hunter-Nin corps. And even those people were sworn to extreme secrecy, even among their own ranks.

The boy was pulling on his sandals already, ready to leave.

"I'll work on my kenjutsu later." He did not like to bite off more than he could chew, Enyo was delusional but not when it came to his own skill. He did not think he was capable of performing well on water whilst also practicing kenjutsu katas. It seemed entirely impossible at this junction so he would - in his mind - forego what Sora was suggestion.

"Now, didn't you say you have the rest of the team to attend to? I can take care of the rest of all of this myself, so don't worry yourself about it." He waved his hand dismissively.

Sora Minami

aeron at thq

[Sora Minami]

Sora let loose a soft, slow sigh at Enyo’s dismissiveness, shaking her head as the boy put his shoes back on. At least she had tried to get him involved, even if he had flatly refused. The Jounin could have ordered him to do what she wanted but… well. There was no point. You couldn’t teach someone who wasn’t willing to learn, no matter how much authority you had over them.

"Fine." She said, bending her knees and leaping back into the trees. She had other students to teach, after all.

fin

Kuronmeru Enyo

[Kuronmeru Enyo]

blood as black as the ocean

With the woman's departure Enyo felt a part of himself relax, as if something in him did not feel the need to keep acting a certain way. It was only the slightest weight being released off of him, but there was still that lingering sense of paranoia - that he was being watched. So he decided to do something that would definitely give him good brownie points if he were to be caught. He sat down near the water's edge, his legs crossed and started to meditate.

Maybe he could clear his mind, it was unlikely, but if he was just a little more attuned to the world around him that would be good. Just a little more. If not then he might figure out some positive that came from meditation, he was not the best at it but it was something that every good warrior knew how to do. At least anyone who dealt with the physical - in his experience - and swordsmanship was pretty physical...

Later he might do some katas on his own, but for now he would just linger in his mind and in his heart and focus on the waves coming and out of shore all in his head, until his breathing released to something more serendipitous.

[end]

aeron at thq