[Shirai Tetsumaki]

Tetsumaki Shirai was one of the greatest Raiton jutsu users in all of Kumogakure. Based on the fact she was the strongest of the Tetsumaki clan only solidified this further. And it wasn't every day that she fully dedicated herself to teaching her craft to others. The Tetsumaki's affinity and devotion to Raiton jutsu were second to none, so much so that they could embody the element itself, and treated it as divinity. Resting out before the training field, a bright but partially cloudy day before a training ground with a lake, as well as stony outcropping with a field of gravel.

Mitsumi was to meet her at some point, yeah, but also a Chuunin? Rui if she remembered the name. From the Murahira clan. Crafty and cunning guys they were. Cute to look at, but never the kind she found much interest in taking to bed, though she'd had one or two hit on her in times past. Standing along the field, she was here in part she imagined to show her student a real conflict between ninja, to show what a proper fight might look like, but also to give Rui an experience of what it was like to face a vast myriad of Raiton techniques. Perhaps learn some of them for himself. Now then. Once they showed up? They could get started.

"What a day it's going to be Raiga girl." 

[Itagaki Mitsumi]

An offer to receive continued mentorship and training from the leader of the Tetsumaki clan wasn't something Mitsumi had any intention of refusing. Her legs might have disagreed, still adjusting to the sheer amount of running that had been added to her regimen, however. But... as much as running was still a chore for her, she could feel her stamina improving. Every run was a bit easier than the last.

Still, she had come expecting the gauntlet. Mitsumi had stretched and warmed up before arriving, and had ensured that she was well-hydrated and fed. What would it be, this time? Two hundred laps? Some dread bubbled up within her, even though Mitsumi knew that this was going to be a bit different.

She wasn't permitted to carry real weapons, yet, but the blunted blades and weapons sat securely in their pouches. She was here to observe, supposedly, but... Mitsumi knew she needed more practical training. Not that she would have a chance against a chuunin - let alone Shirai! - but if she was really going to try to pass the exams and achieve what her mother couldn't, she wasn't going to get there by playing it safe.

"Good afternoon, Testumaki-sensei," Mitsumi said with a polite bow. She had come dressed to train, to fight. She still wasn't sure exactly what was going to be expected of her, but it was clear that she had no intention of being a mere spectator. Even if she was barred from participating, there were things she could do. Mitsumi straightened, then smoothed out the fringe covering half of her face. "What day do you have planned for us...?"

[Shirai Tetsumaki]

When looking the girl over, it seemed as if her other pupil wasn't going to be showing up today. In which case, it just meant more bonding time for the two of them. "Well...I was going to show you a demonstration of real ninja combat. To see if you really want to stick in this kind of life. But, I guess Kami would so have it that we'll be doing something a little different." She says, slowly rubbing the back of her head with a sweatdrop. "Today, I'll be going over your combat skills." She says it rather nonchalantly, as she stands firmly.

"Every ninja needs a basis of martial arts, swordsmanship. Any of those supplementary skills when jutsu aren't an option and when chakra needs to be preserved. To be able to react and fight appropriately." Taking the liberty to shrug her shoulders, she looks upon Mitsumi with no small level of analytical breakdown. "You've stopped training for years, and so you haven't have as much time to build muscle memory. And what you do know, it might be wrong. So. I'm going to correct you and get you accustomed through the best teacher." Experience.

"So...Feel free to come at me with everything you got. Training weapons. Taijutsu." She says it rather relaxed, and with it, she finds herself stepping about a dozen feet back. "Strike first. Strike fast. That's my motto kiddo."

[Itagaki Mitsumi]

Mitsumi listened carefully, feeling her body tense up as what was going to be an observational lesson was becoming a practical one. Tetsumaki had a point - the pause in her training had meant that her martial arts skills were far from fully developed. She had been trying to make up for it with training, both formal and self-directed, but she still had a long way to go.

What Mitsumi lacked, more than anything, was direction. She was still just following the Academy curriculum, not dedicating herself to any particular field of study. Graduation was approaching, but she would need to find something that resembled her niche before then. She was going to do this. Excel. No matter what anyone else told her. No matter what she told herself.

"Strike first, strike fast..." Mitsumi repeated, then nodded. There were worse mottos to go by. FOrtune favored the bold, and all that. "Okay. I'll do my best!"

There was no real chance of victory. Mitsumi was a barely-trained novice, not even a ninja yet, and Testumaki was an established master of her craft. But that wasn't the point, was it?

Moving as fast as she could, Mitsumi's hands went to the pouches strapped to her thighs. Her right produced a blunt kunai, and her left a similarly blunted shuriken. She still wasn't permitted to carry around the actual weapons, after all.

The shuriken was sent with a flick of the wrist at Tetsumaki's face, and she followed up after it with a probing slash with the kunai. A pretty orthodox series of attacks, though the slash with the kunai was fairly cautious, Mitsumi clearly worried about over-extending and leaving herself open.

[Shirai Tetsumaki]

Mitsumi opened her assault with a Shuriken. Oddly enough. Shirai felt little need to show off to a level of extravagance. Instead, she would show what might very realistically happen in a fight. Her instincts were keen and sharp, and in those next moments, she tilts her head to the side, the throwing star whirring past her head before the knife comes lunging towards her. Really, more of a trowel, a kunai was. A potent weapon considering it was a triangular shaped weapon, meaning the wound couldn't be stitched if one was stabbed properly. Only slashes could be attended so.

With the probing slash of the kunai? She would find Shirai's arm lashes out, attempting to grasp her wrist. And where if she was successful, would use the downward motion of her blow to plunge the knife down towards her own center of body. Stopping short of hitting her stomach. "Tch...Shoddy knifework like that is going to get you killed kiddo." She says, before shoving her backwards. "Footwork. Posture. All very important for a knife!" She says rather matter of factly. Where if she were attacked? She'd begin to flick and lash out with a single arm, batting and swatting her arm aside as if a fly were attacking her. Shirai's eyes looking upon her with a practiced gaze. Mitsumi was a Shinobi that was still getting started.

Still developing her craft. "Your attacks need to be decisive. If they're half baked. If they're not dedicated, you're not going to connect." Cowardice and fear were not things needed on the battlefield. One moment's hesitation could spill the difference between life and death.

[Itagaki Mitsumi]

Mitsumi wished she was more surprised by her knife being turned against her like that. Even though they had barely begun, this was already feeling impossible. She staggered a bit as she was shoved back, but grit herteeth, darting in again. All she had was grit, so she couldn't back down.

Her arm was slapped aside even as she tried to stab, and Mitsumi tried to move with the deflection. She wasn't exactly practiced with such things, however, and she staggered. A wince - if this had been a real fight, she was likely dead twice over by now. She needed to be faster, stronger, more decisive.

She just had to be better. Tetsumaki wanted her to more decisive, more aggressive. She could certainly try.

Mitsumi turned the stumble into a spin, lashing out with a simple but practiced roundhouse kick, aimed at Tetsumaki's side. It would likely be avoided or blocked with ease, but it was a way to keep the pressure up. Mitsumi resisted the urge to pull back, to adopt a defensive stance, and instead lashed out with a stab. Her desperation to prove that she could be decisive and committed to an attack leaving her defenses exposed, and her balance off.

They were the kinds of attacks one would expect from someone who had mostly trained against dummies and shadows, as opposed to live opponents.

[Shirai Tetsumaki]

Mitsumi really shouldn't be all that surprised or discouraged. After all. Shirai breathed and lived this lifestyle for thirty years. She'd been a veteran of the third great ninja war and the conflicts inbetween. They said something before. What was it? That discouragement of the death of dreams or something like that. When Mitsumi began to speed up, began getting more aggressive, it was better. Though Shirai came to realize. Mitsumi seemed to lack an edge. Seemed to lack much inherent natural talent in most of the things she acted in so far? At least.

As far as Shirai could see when viewing her at the academy. Assuming Mitsumi tried to enter into a tornado roundhouse kick, presuming with the twist, Shirai would interrupt her motions. Utilizing swift and minimalistic movements, she'd intercept her opponent's ankle, and with a swift and fluid motion would lift her leg high into the air, interrupting any motion for a stab, and would then utilize her entire body weight and fluid motion to push her, in attempts at making her fall straight backwards onto her back. If Mitsumi wanted to be prepared for combat, and the life of a Genin, she was going to need some heavy investment. And experience.

As Mitsumi is laid flat on her back, assuming she is, if she looked upwards, she might see a shadow. Shirai Tetsumaki high in the air as she begins to descend towards the earth, performing a somersault as her right leg extends outward and down in the motion of an axe kick. A premeditated move that would give her student enough time to dodge so she hoped. Purposefully slowing herself down on the execution. "Guillotine Drop!" She calls out, looking to drop it on Mitsumi's center of body. Assuming she dodged it appropriately, she'd hear the sound of thudding and hardened stone as Shirai looks her way.

Mitsumi definitely had her work cut out for her. Though. She was lucky.

"I think I've decided on something. An opportunity for you Mitsumi."

[Itagaki Mitsumi]

Again pushed back, and now on her back, Mitsumi wished she was surprised at the turn of events. She was just too slow, too inexperienced when compared to someone like Tetsumaki. But this was just like the marathon she was subjected to - the only way to lose was to give up.

Or get hit with an axe kick.

Mitsumi's eyes widened in alarm, and she threw herself to the side in a hasty roll, narrowly avoiding the telegraphed kick. Now she was dead three times over. Even she could tell that Tetsumaki was pulling her punches.

The student scrambled back up to her feet, holding her kunai out in a defensive stance. Her mind scrambled for anything that would give her an even remote chance of landing a hit. Even a grazing one, even if only because Tetsumaki was taking it easy on her. She had little in the way of jutsu or techniques. The replacement jutsu would be seen coming from a mile off, and the clones would probably buy her a fraction of a fraction of a second. Maybe that would be worh it.

As she considered throwing the kunai to free up her hands for the required seals, something was said that actually surprised her.

"An... opportunity, Tetsumaki-sensei?" It might have been a ploy, so Mitsumi did not drop her guard, slowly circling Tetsumaki as she continued to think. "What kind?" If she was planning on leaving an opening, Mitsumi guessed she would have just done that, rather than talk about it.

[Shirai Tetsumaki]

Of course she was. What kind of a person used their full strength when stepping on an ant? Or fighting against children? As Mitsumi rolled out of the way, avoiding the axe kick, she'd find herself scrambling onto her feet. Panic. Panic too was the death of many. Shirai stood upright and gazed over at the student, but when she began to circle around Shirai? She crossed her arms over her chest, her right hand smoothing up her arm as she gestures out, making it flat. How was she going to word it really? It was a lot to take in overall.

"You're a student that doesn't have a lot going for you. Someone who's going against the odds to become a ninja for this village and country. For one reason or another. I admire that." She says, before giving her a thumbs up. "I've been working on a education reform. To help students across backgrounds like yours to grow strong and fast. To become great ninja. So that when they become Genin they're high standard. And can continue to grow under tutelage." Never once did she look Mitsumi in the eye, as she stood behind the purple haired liger. Instead, she slowly came to shrug her shoulders.

"I'd like to offer you a chance to be my apprentice. To learn from me personally. And if you're willing to put in the work and effort? To be adopted into the Tetsumaki Clan." She didn't mention what that would entail, because she wanted to let the poor kid digest that information in full. Show her reaction.

[Itagaki Mitsumi]

The abrupt change in topic to educational reform caused Mitsumi's brow to furrow in confusion. She wondered if the 'opportunity' was to strike at an opponent while they spoke. She had heard rumors that there were a lot of surprisingly chatty shinobi out there in the world.

But that didn't seem right, so Mitsumi maintained her defensive posture, and listened.

Whatever plans she was concocting were scattered to the wind.
"Apprentice? Adopted?" Mitsumi sputtered, her eyes boggling. Her stance became more rigid, eyes wandering as her mind raced. Was it a joke? A taunt? A lesson in keeping focused, no matter what your opponent said?

"Th-that's... I-I..." Mitsumi's voice wavered, and she cursed her stammer. She took a breath, and tried to loosen up her suddenly tense frame. She wasn't have much success. The kunai in her hand felt heavy and strange, and her body itched. Unwanted images flashed in the corner of her eyes. "Why me...? I... I w-work hard, but... b-but... I'm not... high standard..." Her chest felt tight. It was a great opportunity, if true. So why was she sabotaging herself?

Her head buzzed with intrusive thoughts. Before she gave any answer, that shameful part of her needed to know. Another breath, and her voice regained some strength, and her body fell into a more natural stance. "Tetsumaki-sensei, please: why me?"

[Shirai Tetsumaki]

"It's exactly because you're not high standard. That I want you." She says, and with it, she finally turns to face her. "You're absolutely average in every way. Heck. Even less than average." If there was someone who wanted to destroy Mitsumi's self esteem out there? Shirai was doing a pretty damn good job of doing it. "And yet, here you are. Training. Working hard against those odds. Because you've got something to prove. You want to be better and pull yourselves each and every morning by the bootstraps. Look at yourself in the mirror and say. I'm gonna do this."

Taking the liberty to gaze her over. "That's a brilliant flash right there. That moment of inspiration. Now that. That's the will of lightning!" It sounded a bit cheesy maybe, but in those next moments, she finds herself stepping forward and reaching her hand out and placing it along Mitsumi's shoulder. "I know that you don't see much in yourself. But I see potential. To give you the tools and guidance to make yourself great. Because nobody gets there alone." Taking the liberty to throw the offer out there, and with her inspirations out there? Wouldn't that be great? To take the fledgling bird that's fallen out of the nest and to nurse it to become an eagle?

"No need to choose now...But you're walking a dangerous line. Wouldn't you want someone. Someone to care for you on that journey and give you the means of success?" Acting as both the devil and angel on Mitsumi's shoulder, and seeing her lack of confidence? This was a great way to get a Kumogakure girl to blossom, into an agent most willing, but also loyal. Loyal to the Tetsumaki clan. Loyal to the village. Loyal to her. Like a daughter might love a mother. So she imagined.

[Itagaki Mitsumi]

The words aggravated and confused in equal measure. She knew she was below average - she had no clan, and her only immediate legacy was a mother who was, by most metrics, a failure of of kunoichi. And that was without being worse than a late bloomer, even within Kaminari no Kuni, where many had their education interrupted. Even without her baggage, filled with traumas, nervous tics, and other, worse things, she was subpar. With it, she felt like an imposter. One slip, and the mask would fall, revealing the pathetic girl behind it.

But that's not all she was. She worked hard. Mitsumi had run that marathon. She had decided to learn how to use her chakra to detect the world around her, and made great strides towards it. She could do this. She could.

Mitsumi would just have to repeat that lie until she believed it.

Mitsumi flinched and squirmed at the hand on her shoulder, but resolved not to pull away. If she took this offer, Tetsumaki would see a lot more weakness. That was inevitable. But this... Mitsumi would try to be strong. For this.

The kunai fell to her side as she relaxed her arms. It seemed the sparring was over, at least for now.
"I'll do it," Mitsumi whispered, then shook her head. Mitsumi forced herself to look Tetsumaki in the eye. "I'll do it," She repeated, more firmly. It was hasty. She should have thought about it. But... she couldn't afford to second-guess herself. "I know I can't do this on my own. But I have to- I will do this. Become strong." She wasn't ready to go into the real reasons why. Not just yet. Her gaze slid off of Tetsumaki's eye, and she finally took a step back to break the physical contact. "I-If you'll help me... I'll do it." Whatever 'it' was. Even Mitsumi wasn't sure

[Shirai Tetsumaki]

"Like I said. Think on it. You can find me at the Tetsumaki clan compound." She'd take the liberty to let Mitsumi go, and with it, she rubs the back of her head before taking the liberty to let the purple haired girl consider her life choices. Shirai lived a fast pace life, but she didn't want people to rush into decisions. Especially ones they might regret. Because to be a Tetsumaki? That was a lifetime commitment. Taking the liberty to turn on her heel, she'd look up to the sky before neatly nodding her head. Before she'd begin to glow. Turn into a brilliant flash of blue before she'd quite literally vanish in a flash of lightning. Probably the flashiest jutsu Mitsumi's ever seen.

Shirai had to prepare herself and her pupils for a new future and inevitability. As she lead the Tetsumaki clan to a new age of prosperity and renewal. Mitsumi needed to ask herself where her priorities lay, and for what reasons she was getting stronger. And Shirai had to ask herself what devotion Mitsumi herself had. Because in order to be a Tetsumaki. To truly be a Tetsumaki, she would need to immerse herself in the clan's doctrines, and history, and religion. Only when she showed a level of devotion to the clan and its ideals could she truly become one of them. A relationship needed to be deeper fostered. One that would hopefully blossom and flourish.

[Exit]

[Itagaki Mitsumi]

Mitsumi didn't want to think about it. It was brash, it was foolish, and it was exactly the kind of decision she shouldn't make hastily. She knew next to nothing of the details of what was being offered. What she stood to gain. What she stood to lose. What was to be expected of her. She knew all of that, but was still disappointed to have her decision rebuffed.

Because having enough time to think would give her enough time to doubt. And she had time enough for that already.

Mitsumi watched with mixed feelings as Tetsumaki disappeared in a literal flash. Her eyes burned from the burst of light, and dots still danced in her vision as she considered what was said. What was done.

To think that she might be capable of such things seemed so... distant. So impossible. But she was receiving an offer to do exactly that, but was now being rebuffed, to think on it. Frustration bubbled up within her, as she was forced to accept the terms. She couldn't exactly stop herself from thinking.
"I've spent enough time thinking, Tetsumaki-sensei," Mitsumi spoke to the now-still air, placing her kunai back into its pouch, then walked off to find her missed shuriken. "You said it yourself: I need to be decisive."