[Suzuki Taru]

Their team had gotten a new sensei! That was good. It had been a little while. After her previous team had moved on to Chuunin without her, Taru had been floating from instructor to instructor for a while without much solid guidance. She was not the type who minded that, as she went with the flow more than anything else, allowing the threads of fate to guide her where she needed to be, but it was still nice to know that reality had finally aligned to deliver a new chosen teacher. Hopefully this one would stick and would help the team forward on their destined paths. 

She had been called to meet with him today. The meeting was arranged at the training grounds just south of the Kaguya clan compound. Taru rose bright and early to head there, passing through the upper class residential district. It was a chilly morning, the winds of winter settling firmly in the land and causing both a frosty morning and a thick fog. She wore a heavy, loose jacket to stave off the cold until exercise could get her blood moving. 

At the training grounds, she stopped to make sure her training weights were properly affixed and then set about her usual routine. For her, that primarily consisted of stretching and then practicing her taijutsu. Her style was a bounding one, fixed with many hops and plenty of twisting movements. Watching her was almost like watching the bounding of a ferret's war dance. She stopped her catch her breath, visible in the cold air. 

[Koketsu Yoshiki]

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A MAN AND HIS BRAVADO ARE EASILY PARTED

Things happening left and right had made Yoshiki wonder if he's doing a good job with his new role. With a meeting one after the other he felt like he was on a roll with this whole leading business. He was curious to know how this one was like, of course he had a bit of an idea but that didn't stop his mind from continuing it's imaginative state. He suited up with his Jounin uniform heading out to the respective training grounds he had been invited to go. He had to make a proper introduction of course that was the most important step in his head he had thought about it and wanted to try out one of his ideas to catch the eyes of those younger shinobis out in the village in hopes to admired by those he will be leading in this period of his life. He had just the right one he had observed once or twice when he was younger, a party tricks of sorts used by entertainers "Kids like this sort of thing right?" he whispered to himself.

He had arrived and could see a smaller figure in the distance, he had deduced it to be the member of his squad he was supposed to be meeting with although they looked as if they were already up and at 'em doing some training of their own. He it to be a perfect opportunity announce himself and make his introduction. Yoshki had set himself up and began making a very poor use of chakra to make misty droplets of water seemingly doing a very inferior and ineffective use of his water release only for the aesthetic look of light reflecting off of it giving it minors sparkles, it seemed like it would have no practical use in an actual fight and one would be right as it would have absolutely no use in one. "I, Koketsu Yoshiki have arrive to the scene! Allow me to be of service." he proclaimed standing tall and proud hoping to have been able to catch the attention of the Genin with this stunt.

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[Suzuki Taru]

While she was at work, she noticed a shimmer beginning to be created, one not unlike that of a normal morning dew but with more glitz. At the sound of the shine and the announcement of the jounin's presence, Taru turned around to look at him with wide and curious eyes. The stunt certainly drew her attention, compelling her in, though she maybe didn't look as excited as he was hoping - more fascinated than anything else. He had really set the training grounds in a glittering and beautiful light. It reminded her of the spirit lights in the forest near her family home! 

"Good morning," Taru responded to him, cheerful. "I'm Suzuki Taru. It's a pleasure to meet you. You're my new sensei, right? Are you a kitsune? I thought they mostly lured people into the woods with lanterns, but water droplets is an interesting way of catching light. I don't know if it'd be very effective at night, though." She came closer to observe one of the glistening droplets, crouching down to get near to it. It didn't seem to have any particular special qualities beyond probably being controlled by chakra. 

"I don't know how to do anything like this. I can only make large formations with water," she told him, finally standing up straight to look at him directly, seemingly forgetting she should probably bow to her superiors at first greeting. 

[Koketsu Yoshiki]

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A MAN AND HIS BRAVADO ARE EASILY PARTED

It was minor but he wholeheartedly took the win of his introduction for this encounter regardless of the reasonings behind it. He heard the smaller girl introduce herself alongside saying some more stuff that left Yoshiki more than confused. But it was his cue "Indeed, from here on I will be filling in as the leader of Team 1 unless stated otherwise by the village's higher ups." he didn't know how to properly address the other question as it wasn't something he was prepared for. "I may not be a kitsune but we have something in common, our exotic and unique status as they just as I are one of a kind." he exclaimed trying to be impressive. He then paid attention to what she was saying while inspecting the droplets. Perhaps she needed some way to refine her Ninjutsu he thought to himself but the topic would still catch his eye regardless as it was one he's easily invested in.

Yoshiki was curious as to what really was she capable of producing with it. "Oh do tell me more! Smaller formations may not be apt for most situations but if you're able to do larger formations you should be able to handle yourself well correct?" He wanted to know more about the fighting style behind it, water techniques as he knew were rather complex due to needing the actual element nearby in some way shape or form to be used at it's best. He placed his hands on hips and started to wonder "As we are meeting here today I must ponder on my use. Do you perhaps need help with your Ninjutsu? Help overcoming some struggles as a ninja? Advice on a problem you can solve? Or even help with style in order to be the talk of the town with an attire to back it up!" he said as he wore battered tabis and an average Jounin uniform. He was up for anything after all her alongside the other 2 Genin were supposed to be his main focus for who knows how long. 

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[Suzuki Taru]

An exotic and unique status? She wouldn't describe those as the essential and defining characteristics of a kitsune. This man didn't seem like he knew all that much about mythical figures and their natures. That was fine - most people did not keep track of that sort of information or internalize it in any way. She would just have to give him lessons on the subject in the future. It was often the case that student and teacher taught each other in equal amounts. That was how information worked. It was a knowledge stream that flowed both ways, allowing a mutual compounding of thought and action. Yes, they would learn a lot together! 

For example, Yoshiki began offering guidance on... many subjects. He seemed really interested to know what she was struggling with, or what he could help with. He ended on the offer of fashion, which made her tilt her head. So many people seemed to care about that. 

"I don't particularly care about style or being the talk of the town," she dismissed. People already talked about her enough, she was pretty sure. They liked gossiping about her weird behavior! 

She walked over to the small lake that bordered the edge of the training grounds and used her water release to pull the water up, forming a large, claw-like formation around her hand. 

"This is my favorite one to do. I don't really have a particular specialization... I enjoy spreading my focus to all kinds of jutsu. I think that's what other people say is my problem. I struggle to focus on anything!" 

[Koketsu Yoshiki]

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A MAN AND HIS BRAVADO ARE EASILY PARTED

A tad bummed she had refused the offer for a style upgrade as he very much was interested in working on the attire to be more flashy for others to admire. He had to shove it away as ultimately it wasn't his choice to make. He shook his head and went onto giving her his attention once she began making her way to the tiny lake. Seeing her form claws from the water nearby had sucked in his interest even more and gave some soft claps as he was very impressed by it. Specializing on multiple things at once didn't seem favorable as it could end up leading someone in a predicament as a knower of all yet master of none. He would admit the variety would at least be useful as backup or even as support for other shinobi if practiced well. A ninja that could know all sorts of jutsu sounded interesting and if he was in her shoes he would certainly be able to come up with a way to make use of all those types of jutsu with some much needed time and effort of course.

"Sure it may sound absolutely terrible on paper but doesn't most things?" Yoshiki laughed. "We all have our own ways of dealing with our own trials and tribulations and that's what makes us all great as people!" he didn't think that aspect needed to change but he also did see potential behind it. There were certainly ways a trait like that could prove to be beneficial to have in a lot of situations. It would require some outside the box thinking for some of them and even some creativity on others but still he knew there was something. He stood firmly trying to give off a more serious tone but not doing to well at it. "Ahem, of course there are some clear setbacks to choosing way of managing things but it doing so also opens a gateway of possibilities!" Yoshiki was more than happy to witness it, he thought of it not like a star shinning the brightest but more along the lines of a star being able to shine using many colors.

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[Suzuki Taru]

This man had a very positive attitude, which was good. She thought that it reflected her own well - she was someone who was not necessarily optimistic, but certainly had a good outlook on life and the world around her. She did not allow herself to get weighed down by negative feelings or other people's opinions because it was her belief that the natural world would steer her where she was needed. If she was interested in a wide variety of subjects, that meant that fate needed her to be multitalented and capable of applying her skills somewhat universally to act as backup to her allies. It was as simple as that to her. 

She let the water claw around her hand fall away, the water returning to the lake, and she stretched her arms over her head. 

"That's how I feel, too," she said. "I like having a wide variety of options available! I want to learn what I can about everything. But it does make it hard to decide what to train," she admitted, starting to pace around him slightly. Having too many interests could often lead one to not have any direction. "I start working on one thing and then get distracted by another... What do you think I should work on?" It was important to listen to her sensei's guidance - maybe he would be able to give her a good idea! 

[Koketsu Yoshiki]

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A MAN AND HIS BRAVADO ARE EASILY PARTED

Yoshiki was at least at ease that she seemed both willing and able to work on her troubles at least when it comes to her jutsus, he wanted to be able to lend a hand with this and he thought he had some ideas that could prove to work for this though somewhat influence by his own on and off fighting style. He didn't think some would be able to work right off the gate but there was no harm in suggesting some tactics that would fit her own existing arsenal. Being still a Genin he couldn't imagine she had another element for her to be able incorporate other than water so that would probably the main thing he should be paying attention to. She seemed competent with the technique shown to him however minor or not and with it being a favored technique of hers it would only make sense for her to use it at her best. 

He thought he had it figured out and spoke his mind. "You already seem to have great control of that outstanding technique however if I were to suggest something to work on it'd be very simple and would involve something very important!" he wanted to make it sound as dramatic as he could make it sound and took a pause for effect "Your wits! Something like that would require to be worked around and with such diversity begs the question we shall be using as an example. How can you make your own claw technique be even more efficient?" Yoshiki wanted her to think of her technique and to see every angle of it he wanted for her to know it's uses, it's pros and it's cons to know what she is capable of. "You may be able to enhance it's uses perhaps by disorienting others for yourself to go in on the attack with lesser chance of getting yourself injured or even use it with coordination of another one of your own techniques to increase it's own damage or even to catch someone by surprise!" he suggested.

Without a proper grasp of all she could do it was a bit hard to come up with something more direct to properly help pick a specific area that she could work on. He could only wonder with basic techniques that were taught in the village alongside some water techniques that perhaps could more directly help her case. Getting to know what she has to bring would certainly limit some of his options and round up some more ideas if the ones he gave prior to that would not contribute much. "Ahem, with all this being said do enlighten me more on other techniques you are capable of, perhaps even ones you think could work well keeping the earlier question in mind. You might be surprised if one of them ends up working spectacularly with some practice to master it!" he was sure that if she focused on making sure her jutsus had proper synergy with one another with some creative uses that they would be able to not only enhance their uses but make them a force to be reckoned with.

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[Suzuki Taru]

Wits! He said everything in such a delightful way. Talking to him was like theater. At least, Taru imagined it. She had never seen much theater for herself, at least not outside the ritual performances put on yearly by her parents back home. Still, the dramatic nature of it all was very fun and entertaining. It helped cultivate a very ecstatic energy that was hard to diminish. Even though she had been training, she felt reinvigorated by his conversation. He was right - the best thing for her to focus on for right now was honing her current abilities and figuring out how to make them mesh well together. 

When he requested to see or know about her other techniques, she was not surprised. He could give good advice if she was able to demonstrate what she was capable of. An ability showcase seemed like a fun time, too. 

"Let me show you some of what I've mastered," she said. She stepped back from him and rolled her shoulders, cracking her neck. Forming three hand seals, she manipulated the water from the lake again, creating a long whip of water that she lashed at the air, then let drop back into the water to move on. From there, she turned to one of the training dummies.

She leapt into the air (and had a surprisingly high jump), bonking the dummy on the head, before grabbing it and falling backwards onto her back, planting her feet on its stomach and tossing the dummy into the air. From there, she bounded back to her feet. 

Forming a few hand seals again, she performed the hidden mist technique, letting a fog rise around them. She grabbed from her back her bow and an arrow, then launched the arrow into the distance. As it went, the arrow screamed like a banshee, leaving the both of them with ringing ears. 

After that display, she seemed thoroughly out of breath. Her chakra reserves were pretty good, but it was a lot of jutsu in short order! 

[Koketsu Yoshiki]

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A MAN AND HIS BRAVADO ARE EASILY PARTED

Yoshiki was now able to witness what she would be capable of and at least some of the jutsus that she had accumulated throughout her time so far as a shinobi. As far as he could tell she seemed quite agile and flexible with the display of skills being shown to him even more so with the knowledge of some taijutsu which seemed like positive part of her that could be used to her own advantage against actual opponents. She was able to use another water technique and their village's own mist technique which he actually knew for himself so perhaps there would be some proper ways of demonstration if he needed to involve either one of those techniques as examples on how to correctly use them with some of her others moves. Then came one which he didn't think he would see to often, a move that enhanced a projectile. He would have some knowledge about it as he would use kunais and shurikens as conductors for his lightning attacks at occasions but this felt quite different that those.

The arrow emitted a loud shrieking like noise which did manage to catch him by surprise but it was all very impressive. He clapped excitedly at all of those moves being demonstrated "Fascinating, an beautiful display of moves and quite varied! They all certainly have many ways to use in tandem with one another!" with all this being shown to him he was able to narrow the options that would be realistic for someone with all of those techniques. "Let's begin shall we? For starters our very own Hidden Mist Technique on it's on makes for a great technique to use alongside most such as your claw technique." he said trying to go somewhat slow so she'd be able to understand where he was going with the things he'd be explaining. "With some work directed towards anything that could make it easier to pinpoint someone inside of such attack it would prove to be very devastating as it would be very hard to keep track of your if you're able to move quick enough."

More tactics would fill his head, he was more than used to it as it would be something he did a lot in his youth and still even now he would like to think about jutsus a lot. "Your arrow, a very handy technique that you could use to prompt an engage as it's use could not only leave someone disoriented by the noise alone but if you land the shot you'd be able to have a clear upper hand in the ensuing fight. A great move to use for you to be able to set up a more offensive attack with either your water whip or even that exceptional taijutsu attack depending on the distance being held between you and whoever you might be facing." he suggested, of course this was all based on his knowledge of his own techniques and tried to properly correlate somewhat similar uses to something he would do himself. He was sure either one of those two examples would work very well and there were more ideas roaming on his head but couldn't quite refine due to lacking experience with taijutsu. 

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[Suzuki Taru]

He seemed rather impressed with her abilities. Taru wasn't usually one who cared much for praise or other people's opinions, but some part of her was a little cheered by the clapping. The man had a very harmonious soul, that must have been it. When he was enthused about something, it was easy to echo that feeling and become enthused as well. It was for that reason that it was very easy for her to tune in and listen to him, eager to learn what he thought about her abilities and how best to utilize them in combination with one another. 

Yoshiki's first emphasis was on the hidden mist technique. That was fair - it was a good defensive technique to begin from. Create a fog to throw the enemy off and allow for stealth attacks. He thought it would work well with her water claw, which also made sense. If she formed it after the enemy's vision had been obscured by the mist, she could really surprise them with that kind of blow. She nodded along with his continued explanations. 

When he brought things around to her banshee arrow, she hummed thoughtfully, wondering if she could provide some input. 

"The banshee arrow might be good to use with the mist technique," she offered. "It can damage hearing if the enemy is around it too long, so either they have to run away from it into a worse position or risk losing their hearing. That means I could use it to force them out into an area where they can't see us with the hidden mist technique. Does that sound like it would work? I could also learn some genjutsu to go with it..."

[Koketsu Yoshiki]

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A MAN AND HIS BRAVADO ARE EASILY PARTED

Yoshiki was impressed this was the type of wits he had in mind, to be able to come up with proper and useful ways to combine one's jutsu was a sure way of improvement for a shinobi. He would definitely try and come up with some ideas that could work in the future if she were to come up with different variety of jutsu for her to use in the middle of a fight but for now this was enough as she was still a genin over anything else and the last thing he'd want to do is put too much responsibility on someone who's still likely learning the ropes. "I see, magnificent! That's the type of ingenuity I like to see in up and growing shinobis like yourself as it would more than work!" he commended with a sort of proud expression on his face. "It would indeed be very useful to use alongside your Hidden Mist Technique. Genjutsu might be a little tricky to learn, it's no walk in the park but with enough work and dedication you're completely within your power to learn such techniques."

He thought about it for a second as those do have some great usability specially when catching people off guard as it's one of the last things one expects to be attacked with right off the start. "I lack any Genjutsu myself but if you were to learn it someday I'd say it's very formidable and can easily change the tide of a fight if used well." his attention shifted back to training. It would be for the best to at the very least try practicing one of the technique combinations to more or less get the hang of it or for her to be able to get a sort of feel to how the combination would work in an actual scenario. "You may test out whatever combination you'd like. If required you can either use one of the targets already placed here, I can conjure up one of my own water clones to act as a moving target or even I may act as a proper training partner if it's necessary!" Yoshiki exclaimed as he stood firm offering up options for her to use though open to other options if they were suggested to him.

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[Suzuki Taru]

He did recommend the idea of her learning genjutsu in the future. That was good - she would keep it in mind! She had been researching one, the demonic viewing technique. It dug into the soul of the person and trudged up what they feared the most. That idea was really intriguing to her since it was something that interacted with the spirit and the mind, relying only on one's own fears and nightmares to limit and restrain them. That kind of ability was really useful on the field. Maybe it would be something she could work on in the future now that she knew her sensei approved of that idea and thought it would be helpful. 

For now, he wanted her to work on her ideas for combinations. Getting them ready for battle situations! She could definitely do that. 

"A water clone might be a good idea. I want to see how you'd actually react to a situation like this!" She said, enthused by the idea. To give him his own time to set up, she would step back and get her own jutsu ready. 

Forming the hand seals, she created her mist technique again, the humidity rising into the air and blocking visibility significantly. With that set up, she would grab her bow and arrow and point in the vague direction of him, waiting for him to tell her the clone was ready. 

[Koketsu Yoshiki]

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A MAN AND HIS BRAVADO ARE EASILY PARTED

Yoshiki understood the decision for the Water Clone which indeed was a proper choice with some skill required to hit it although just because it was all in the name of training didn't mean he wouldn't give it his all although he wasn't sure if a clone could do exactly what he wanted due to the trains of thoughts they have within them being considerably more flexible and like a river having many paths for the water to flow so would a clone be able to vary the options it would have to respond with. Nevertheless he performed the seals required to do the Water Clone technique and with the clone cast out he admired it's looks and sent it out to take it's place in the training session.

Seeing her use the Hidden Mist Technique he didn't have a real opinion about it as it was a very proper display of the technique and as most shinobis there she was able to perform it exceptionally. Yoshiki put his attention onto her and his clone and focused on them making sure all would go well but the mist would still make it quite hard to properly inspect what exactly would be happening. "You may proceed with your demonstration of your ninjutsu combination!" he shouted. His clone scurried around in the mist trying to find Taru before she could find him all the while trying to keep a low profile but wary of his surroundings so his physical body wouldn't break from a sudden attack.   

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[Suzuki Taru]

Yoshiki called for her to proceed with her demonstration. That was good, as it meant that he was going to be out of danger and she wouldn't be at risk of accidentally firing at him. Unfortunately, him talking slightly threw off her senses and she wasn't exactly, 100% sure where the water clone was. Though he must have come from the point of Yoshiki's speech and started towards her in the mist, meaning he would have to be somewhere in a pretty narrow cone in front of her. 

Anyways, it mattered less if she hit him than if she was able to hurt his ears and disorient him with her bow attack. That was the real goal of this whole thing. She wondered how the sound would affect a water clone? It'd probably make the water that made him up rattle, but probably wouldn't disrupt him. That was an idea to consider for later, though.

With the arrow drawn back, she would let it loose into the mist. It sailed through the air with a wailing. When it hit the ground, next to the clone though not actually striking him, it began to let out a piercing shriek, loud enough to make the ears ring, a painfully loud noise. 

She put her bow away so she could cover her own ears and begin to creep out of the mist. How would the clone react to that attack?