[Sora Minami]

The moment Masshiro threw his weapon away, Sora frowned, her gaze narrowing as her leapt up, forming seals for some kind of jutsu… and in the half a second before he took in a breath, she moved, instincts telling her to retreat back into the mist with a Wind Walk enhanced leap, her legs churning through the Accelerate technique, allowing her to put some distance between the Yamaguchi boy and herself. A second later and her instincts were proven right as a massive ball of fire splashed down into her wind blade, engulfing the technique in raw Katon that only made it grow stronger, the heat and expansive force of the jutsu blowing back a large portion of the mist.

And then it began to rain oil.

Tch. The Jounin thought as she circled around to where the boy was most likely to land based on his trajectory from before; it wasn’t a perfect guess, but with the mist still swirling and that blasted oil rain beginning to fall, she didn’t have many options, not if she wanted to keep alive at the end of all this. Flushing yet more chakra into Samidare, the pink-haired woman kept moving, transforming the energy in her blade into Raiton chakra before she let it loose in a series of three wide horizontal swipes that covered every angle in front and beside her, unleashing a trio of crackling projectile that would, if they hit, shock and injure the boy, hopefully breaking his concentration without killing or seriously maiming him.

If it didn’t, however, she would let loose a long, low sigh and say, with a loud voice, "Oi! That’s enough kid! Time to take a break."

masshiro

Jutsu/SA's/Equipment Used

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu:
NAME: Kasoku Suru [Accelerate]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Taijutsu
ELEMENT: -
HANDSEALS: 0
DESCRIPTION: A very simple technique, by using chakra the user is able to instantly accelerate their selves to their max speed. This can be done in just about any condition, but any techniques that slow the user's movement (such as armor from jutsu or most jutsu that might slow an individual) will still affect them.

NAME: Kazesanpo [Wind walk]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Wind
DESCRIPTION: The blade is only as deadly as its reach, so maneuvering around the battlefield is important to a swordsman, in order to get close to the target, or avoid attacks. By channeling wind chakra into their feet, the user is able to swiftly run, so quickly that to the naked eye it seems like a blur.

NAME: Raiton: Zangeki [Lightning Release: Slash]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low x3
CLASSIFICATION: Bukijutsu
ELEMENT: Raiton
HANDSEALS: 0
DESCRIPTION: Requires a bladed weapon that can conduct nature chakra. Once Lightning chakra has been molded into the blade, the user can make a 'slash' through the air with their weapon, creating and releasing a speeding, sharp arc, or 'blade' of electrical energy towards the user's target. This works by using the coating of chakra already on the blade to form a projectile blade of energy. The range depends on how much chakra is used, and as it travels it looses energy.

At Short Range (0-5 meters) it has the power to create a deep torso wound or dismember a focused limb. At Medium Range (6-15 meters) the attack could cause a decent sized and painful gash, but not severe limbs.

At Long Range (16-30 meters) the attack can cut through clothing, thinner armor, and the human skin, resulting in a superficial shallow cut. An electrical shock effect is given at any range, from a powerful shock at close range, too an annoying stinging and lingering burning feeling at long range. Due to being used with another jutsu, and a weapon, there is no need for a handseal to use--the chakra already molded throughout the weapon.
Special Abilities:
The Kunoichi That Goes On And On And On… [Endurance SA]
Perhaps part of her genetics or simply a random quirk of fate, Sora is unnaturally resilient, be it to physical pain or the toils of extended combat. While most Shinobi would collapse in exhaustion at having used all but the smallest sliver of their chakra reserves, she pushes on; while most Shinobi would wilt beneath the weight of sleepless night after sleepless night, she keeps going. This does not mean she does not feel pain/the strain of extended combat, but rather that her threshold for shutting down because of it is far higher than others. To give an example, if she were to be stabbed through her abdomen, she would still feel the pain of the injury, and it would hinder her ability to move/act, but it wouldn’t stop her, whereas a normal ninja might freeze up or shut down from the pain.

Bet You Didn’t See That Coming [Speed SA]
A byproduct of her enhanced endurance, Sora (despite what many would think) dislikes being injured- and with that dislike comes the intense desire to avoid getting hurt, a desire that has pushed her to hone her body until it could move faster than most others of her rank. In short, Sora is fast- very, very fast.

POWAH! UNLIMITED POWAH!! [Chakra Reserves SA]
After a lifetime of utilizing nearly every ounce of chakra in her body just to survive, Sora’s chakra reserves have expanded a considerable amount to compensate- while she’s no Jinchuuriki, her ability to toss out jutsu after jutsu and still have enough chakra to keep going is quite remarkable, a testament to just how much of the stuff she actually has.

I Am Not Left-Handed [Kenjutsu Mastery SA]
Sora is not merely a Kenjutsu specialist- she is a master when it comes to the art of the sword; after over two decades of training, her skills are unrivaled within Kirigakure, falling short only to the Seven Swordsman themselves… some of them, anyway. This mastery allows her a distinct advantage when fighting other Bukijutsu specialists of similar or lesser rank.

If You Try For Speed, You Do Not Achieve Speed [Bukijutsu Speed SA]
Beyond being a master of Kenjutsu, Sora has practiced for decades to become the faster swordswoman she can be. As such, her Kenjutsu techniques come out faster and move quicker than those performed by others of her rank.

Equipment: Samidare | Spring Rain Blade (Drawn)
SA’s
Unbreakable
Whatever metal and forging process was used in the creation of Samidare, it worked; Samidare is utterly unbreakable by most any means, capable of being engulfed in an S-Rank Jutsu and remaining unscathed. Though it is possible that the blade could potentially be broken by a sufficiently powerful attack (such as, say, a Bijuu-dama), this has never been tested, so it is not known if it would survive.

Sharper Than Your Average Blade
Due to its nature as an unbreakable blade, Samidare bears a cutting edge that is of particular note, which allows it to slice through even steel with little in the way of resistance, so long as the proper force is applied. Additionally, this edge never needs to be resharpened, as it never grows dull or rolls, thus making it perfect for frontline combat.

Light as Spring Rain
Perhaps a quirk of its forging (or perhaps an intentional feature), Samidare is considerably lighter than a blade its size and length ought to be; while this would normally result in a less effective weapon, Samidare loses none of its integrity or cutting power, as it is somehow able to leverage the same amount of force through less mass. This lightness allows the user to swing the weapon about with much greater speed for the same amount of physical exertion.

Chakra Conduction
Being Chakra Conductive, Samidare is capable of channeling all types of Chakra for use in Bukijustu, and, more particularly, it has a slight affinity for Raiton chakra thanks to Sora’s constant use of the blade for that purpose. This affinity does not do anything of real note, but it does feel as if the blade were more eager to drink in Raiton Chakra than other types.

[masshiro]

    The longer the fight went the more he realized just how strong Sora was, and he didn't need his Jaakugan to see that she was pulling her punches. Sure it was a spar, but she still had more than enough strength to end this if she really wanted to, and in truth that fact frustrated him more than anything else. To think he was in a position to soon gain a new shinobi rank, to an official Jounin, but was he really anywhere near that of other Jounin? He needed to get stronger, no he wanted to get stronger, stronger, and if he had to cover his body in scars to do it, then he'd do it.

    As his feet touched the ground, he looked back as the mist had momentarily cleared to see where Uemori had safely landed away from the fire, then right back to Sora. The muscles in his jaw clenched and unclenched as he watched her, having moved far enough back that a melee attack simply wouldn't be feasible, but once more he watched the chakra building up, another Bukijutsu by the way it was building up in her weapon. He had enough time to respond, but not enough time to pull out his other weapons or to move and grab Uemori, so to keep from wasting time he simply raised his hand and created a single seal, and the water vapor from the mist started to form a second Masshiro to his left side. As Sora planted her foot to swing, he turned and the clone grabbed his arm and his belt, tossing him with all its strength in conjunction with a quick dash to throw him to the side and give him a speed boost. He would have just about dodged the direct hit if this was another wind attack, but the combination of the mist in the air and the water clone had some unfortunate effect. As the clone was struck and immediately destroyed, some of the lightning arced off the water and through the air as Masshiro wasn't that far away from it still, and struck him in his legs, making them immediately go numb as he felt right to the ground. 

    It wasn't the most painful thing he had felt, but the fall most than anything hurt as he braced himself with this right arm, and then fall right on his chest. The mist started to dissipate as he lay there sighing, feeling a sense of deja vu. This had happened before, going up against someone using lightning in his mist. So worried about reacting like before that he didn't put his fully attention into the element of the attack. At least this time it wasn't someone trying to kill him that did it, but it was far more embarrassing this way.

"Yeah..."

[Sora Minami]

Sora knew the instant she laid eyes on the boy, he was cooked. He’d done well to hold her off thus far, but his instincts and the general panic of the moment made him act without utilizing the best available information; with a single hand seal, Masshiro formed a water clone from the mist around him, utilizing it to throw him out of the way of the incoming projectile, which would have worked… had it had been made of Wind. The Raiton in her slash impacted his water clone, instantly dispersing it into its component parts, the electricity arcing into the boy’s legs and sending him sprawling into the dirt. Not the most graceful ending to a spar, particularly when he was the fourth ranked Swordsman in the village. Tch. And they wonder why I keep turning a seat down.

Still, there was a fair bit for the pink-haired woman to go over; she had a solid grasp of what he was good at, as well as what and how he needed to improve. All that was left was to help the poor sop up and start the truly difficult part of being a teacher- actually teaching.

"You did well, Yamaguchi-san." Sora said as she walked over to the boy, her voice calm but firm, sky-blue gaze no longer quite as sharp and focused as before; she still felt the pull of the fight, the quiet storm in her chest that screamed for her to strike, to push and claw and cut until one of them was dead or dying… but it was buried, as always, behind her iron will, and the knowledge that there was more good to do in helping the boy than cutting him down. "There are things you could improve, but you kept up with me far better than most would. Far better than some of your colleagues have, as a matter of fact."

The statement put a slight smirk across the pink-haired woman’s lips, her mind casting back to the day she’d challenged (and beaten) the holder of the Kiba, Inei Kuronmeru, in single combat. He’d been the fourth ranked Swordsman before Masshiro, but his loss to her, as well as her refusal to take up his swords, had knocked him down several pegs- enough that he had gone eerily quiet, rarely leaving the Kuronmeru compound.

"The first thing I noticed in our spar was how stiff you are; you probably haven’t had much time to work with Uemori, but if you’re going to be fighting at a high level like this you have to be fluid. I could’ve killed you three times in that first exchange alone, and that isn’t because I’m faster." Sora paused, giving the boy a chance to churn over what she had said, her voice flat but not harsh, tone much the same as it would have been back at the Academy, minus the slight uptick in pitch that came when dealing with children.

"That stiffness carries over into your reaction time as well. There were several moments there where I caught you off guard and, while you managed to muddle through with your reactions, it was pretty clear you were a half a step behind, mentally. I don’t know how your last Sensei trained you to fight, but I am telling you right now that if you go into a fight against an enemy Jounin like that, you’ll end up dead." Again she paused, this time more to let the severity of her words sink in before she spoke again, crossing her arms beneath her chest as she looked at Masshiro, sparing nothing but not being needlessly harsh in her critique.

"You were improving throughout the fight, but at this level it isn’t a game of seconds, but microseconds. Even half a thought of wasted time is too long. You can’t think your way out of a disadvantage, no matter how smart you are." The Jounin took in a long, slow breath then, lips parting in a soft, knowing smile as she laid out her final points, giving the boy the floor at long last, knowing he’d likely have questions. "I know a few exercises that can help you focus on the moment, but ultimately it's a skill you have to develop over time."

masshiro

[masshiro]

    The stubborn side of his personality was leaking out, being held back by a leaking damn inside his mind as she praised him to some degree at least. It didn't feel much like a compliment however, but that was mostly his own frustrations with how poorly he felt he did compared to how well she was saying to the contrary. His eye twitched as he laid there for a moment longer, finally getting the feeling back in his legs and he sighed and got to his feet, walking over and grabbing Uemori.

"I did anything but well."

    Throwing his weapon onto his shoulder as was a habit at this point, he scrunched his face in pain, sighing heavily.

"I could have used my Genjutsu to get an advantage but was too stubborn. I didn't use my axes to attack faster. I misread your movements several times. I was in a hurry and misread your last attack and assumed you would use wind again."

    Another deep breath, and a long exhale as the glow to his eyes faded, going back to normal. They were still a deep red, but his Jaakugan was no longer activated. If he couldn't beat her then he certainly wouldn't be able to beat him, and that was enough to frustrate him, but more than enough motivation to keep getting stronger, which was at least something to be said for his flaws. Her words at least amused him in regards to the other swordsmen, but in truth, as much as he respected the group, he didn't truly respect most of the others as swordsmen except for one.

"That's really sad, given how little of my arsenal I used. Though even I know how much the majority of them are lacking. I doubt more than one maybe two of them could handle me if I was being serious."

    His words weren't said out of some form of ego, but he had watched them enough to keep track of what they also lacked, what they were weak to, and almost all of is specific strengths could counter theirs. His genjutsu alone could put a stop to the fight immediately with all but one of them. His attention shifted back to her, somewhat lightly, until she mentioned his weapon, and he hated how true her statement was. His persistent use of only Uemori lately had made his entire style worse than it was before he picked it up. He was always a fast, or faster at least without it, using two axes to get in and deal with opponents much quicker, but he was essentially learning an entire new style in order to show this was in fact his weapon now.

"My last Sensei didn't train me at all, not traditionally at least. Her and Uemori gave me this scar across my face, because that's how she trained. Then she tossed Uemori aside and vanished. She didn't deserve this weapon."

    It was odd, but the more severe she thought she was being, the more he took in her feedback, finding more frustration in the kind words than she blunt ones. He wasn't ignorant to his shortcomings, so she wasn't saying a lot yet he wasn't aware of, but nothing she had said was necessarily wrong either.

"If this were a life or death fight, I can assure you I would fight differently. It's hard to show my full fighting style in a spar, if not impossible. I admittedly rely heavily on locking down opponents with Genjutsu then taking them out with Uemori quickly. I also rarely walk up and face off like this, I prefer to plan, watch, then strike. I'm not like the other Seven swordsmen, the cocky lot of them."

    The heavy exhale through his nose was more like an annoyed bull, and the look on his face certainly matched.

"They are all so full of themselves. Half of them are barely even swordsmen aside from my cousin."

    Uemori was spiked into the ground to make a point of his comment, leaning against the handle.

"You would make a much better part of the group. You've already knocked some of them down a peg, so by all rights you could already be considered the seventh member we are still missing. Which is part of why I appreciate you taking the time to help."

[Sora Minami]

Sora took in a long, low breath as Masshiro responded to her comments, his tone and attitude leaving a lot to be desired. Still, she gave the boy his time, even if he did ignore her offered hand up in favor of rising to his feet himself. It wasn’t until he had finished his diatribe, running through the laundry list of issue he seemed to have with himself, his former master, and the Seven, that she chose to speak again- and when she did, it was with the stern, forceful tone not of a teacher addressing a student but of a master correcting her pupil.

"Are you done, then?" She asked, crossing her arms beneath her chest as she looked the boy in his eyes, that subtle glow now gone, signaling he was no longer using whatever Doujutsu abilities his clan had. The Yamaguchi were rather protective of that particular secret, and no amount of prodding or spying had been able to uncover just what, exactly, it was they wanted to hide.

"Because I can wait a little longer if you want to feed your self-deprecation a bit more."The pink-haired woman stepped in close while she spoke, not able to loom over the Yamaguchi boy in height, but managing a fair good imitation of it by presence alone as she narrowed her gaze, glaring slightly at the boy to let her displeasure be known. "If I say you did well, you did well. No ifs, no ands, no buts about it. So say it with me. ‘I did well.’"

"Now." She began, uncrossing her arms as she leaned back, expression only slightly less severe as she went down the mental checklist of what he had said. She left his comments about the Seven alone for the time being; she had a… tumultuous relationship with that particular organization, and little reason to dig up those old bones. For now. "There are things you can do to get better with Uemori. They won’t be fun, but they’ll work, if you’re willing to put in the time and effort to learn."

She held out a hand then, motioning for the boy to hand her the wooden weapon before she spoke again, waiting for his compliance.

masshiro

[masshiro]

    Contorting his face a bit as his nose scrunched, he turned away from her with a nod, telling immediately from her tone he was about to get the verbal version of what he had gotten physically not but a few minutes earlier. To be blunt he wasn't used to being talked to like she was now, but it didn't bother him, didn't turn his mood sour in the least, and if anything it was strangely comforting. He was in that period as a shinobi where those in ranks below looked up to him and those above had expectations enough to simply want him to figure things out unless asked specifically. It might not have seemed it initially, but he was listening intently, but he didn't as much as verbally confirm anything, looking towards her as she told him to say he did well, but he didn't, he couldn't. He gave her a bit of a smirk and a shrug with a heavy nod as if agreeing all the same, hoping she wouldn't force the issue.

    

    Instead of responding he started to pace in front of her, bouncing Uemori on his shoulder like a nervous tick, more so when she wasn't talking than when she was. Perhaps he was being self-deprecating, but to him it was honest self-evaluation, as he didn't see him self doing well here, and could only see all the flaws in how he fought. It was obvious she knew better and had a different view than he did of himself, but it wasn't going to change, at least not suddenly, how he felt in that exact moment.

    Once he was in front of her again he stopped and faced her, sighing slowly and nodding in response.

"I'm willing."

    What he wasn't so quickly willing to do however was what he realized she was asking for; hand over Uemori. He would strip and run through the village nude singing a sea shanty before he would feel as comfortable letting someone else touch the weapon he had on his shoulder right now. Reflexively his grip on it tightened as he looked down at it, then back to her, his eyes narrowing, not in a suspicious way, but confused what she wanted with it.

"I'm not comfortable letting anyone touch Uemori. What do you need it for?"

[Sora Minami]

Aw. He’s already protective of it. Sora thought, her lips parting in a slight, knowing smile as the boy asked his question. She had intended to give him a demonstration on half-swording, a technique she’d picked up by watching a mercenary who had claimed to be some kind of Samurai from Ranmataru; he’d wielded a two-handed blade nearly as long as she was tall, and had utilized the technique to gain leverage when someone thought to try and use it’s size against him. It hadn’t helped him when she’d lopped his head off on the battlefield a few weeks later, but it had been an interesting enough technique that she’d spent time learning the ins and outs, just in case.

"A demonstration. But if you insist on holding onto it…" She said after a moment, sighing slightly as she lowered her arm slightly, cupping her hand in order to allow the Yamaguchi boy to see what she was doing. Chakra pulsed from her tenketsu, coating the outside of her palm in a thin but visible layer of energy that, if she were to touch an object, would allow her to stick to it with relative ease. "There is a technique practiced in other lands known as ‘half-swording.’ You utilize the Tree Walking jutsu in your palm, then grip your weapon about halfway up the length of the blade."

She paused, lifting Samidare up to demonstrate the basic mechanics of the idea, if not its exact nature; her blade was too small for it to be a useful practice, but with Uemori… Well. If Masshiro couldn’t see the advantage in being able to leverage that giant hunk of wood around more efficiently, then perhaps he really was as incapable as he claimed. She doubted that, though. "Go ahead and try it out yourself."

masshiro

[masshiro]

    The idea she described made sense, to a degree, but he looked at his weapon, then looked at Sora, and his brow raised about as high as his facial muscles would allow. Very slowly he raised it off his shoulder so that it was vertical and pointing towards the sky, then he equally slowly pointed at it.

"I'm not sure if you've seen Uemori or not but..."

    He kept pointing at it as he looked at her, a bit confused.

"There is no half way up the weapon to grip it. Unless you want me to grip these very sharp and very deadly teeth and cause me to bleed near unending."

    He began to spin it around in his hand slowly, mostly because of the weight, but trying to show it was the same on both sides of what would qualify as a blade, and only the flat parts were safe to touch. With a very soft laugh, he stepped forward as he gripped the handle with both hands and pointed it at the ground, then held it out towards her.

"Even if I could safely grip the teeth, they would break off as they are designed to, then regrow, and cause a whole other list of problems."

    Before she could reach for it, he pulled it back and spun it, gripping it with both hands, and slashing it at the ground more like an axe than a sword. To demonstrate what he was saying, he pulled it out, and some of the sharp teeth immediately pulled out and stuck into the ground. By the time he had pulled it back up and spun it back around to hand it towards her, the teeth were already starting to regrow.

"I'm not sure if you are aware of Uemori, but it's made of a wood that causes a sort of anticoagulant effect, meaning even a simple slice could prove dangerous. If you think you can demonstrate, please be careful. And remind me to retrieve those before we leave."

    Pointing down at the teeth still stuck into the ground, not wanting to leave them for some student to walk along and try messing with curiously.

[Sora Minami]

Sora watched Masshiro take her suggestion into consideration and, with almost perfunctory obliviousness, dismissed it as misguided advice. The Jounin frowned, slipping Samidare into its sheath as the boy demonstrated his weapon’s unique ability, slamming Uemonri into the ground as if that, somehow, proved his point about her advice; three of the sharp wooden teeth stuck into the dirt, breaking off the instant the Yamaguichi boy pulled the weapon up, the broken pieces already regrowing while he pontificated about how dangerous a tool it was.

"...Are you stupid?" She asked, extending her left hand out to grab Uemori, not from the proffered hilt, but from the side, chakra still pulsing from her palm as she planted it against the flat end of the weapon, where no teeth sat, and yanked backwards with enough force to rip the "sword” free of his grip. She hoisted the thing up over her head with a grunt, its size making the action only slightly less clunky than it looked, the weapon staying perfectly still in her palm thanks to the Tree Walking technique.

"Use the Tree Walking technique on flat end. Make point of leverage. Swing big stick easier." Sora spat, her annoyance shining through as she emphasized each point by lowering Uemori and jabbing the hill towards Masshiro’s chest. "It’ll be awkward at first, and you won’t have the same kind of power you would from a proper two-handed grip, but it’ll make up for some of your issues when someone gets close. Some."

The Jounin dropped her Tree Walking technique then, uncaring if Masshiro actually had a grip on his weapon or not; she was annoyed now, the storm in her chest roiling at the cage she’d erected, and it took a several long, slow breaths for her to push it back down. Once she had, the pink-haired woman leveled her full attention at the Yamaguchi boy, her sky-blue gaze focused and sharp as she continued listing off things he could do to improve his swordsmanship.

"As for the other things… Well. I’ve an exercise to help center your mind if you want to learn it, but the biggest problem you’re facing isn’t a lack of reaction time." She paused for a moment, thrusting her right index finger up towards his head as she stepped up to him, if only to make absolutely sure he understood what she meant. "This is your biggest problem. You think too much. And in the middle of a fight, thoughts aren’t going to keep your head attached to your neck."

masshiro

[masshiro]

    He immediately wanted to respond at her comment, but he visibly swallowed back what he was going to say any watched. It wasn't something he hadn't thought of, but the way she had displayed it with her weapon and how she had described it didn't feel relevant to how she was now showing him. Holding onto the flat part of Uemori like she was doing, in his mind at least, made it near useless for its intended purpose and felt like it would turn it into more of a shield than the weapon it was intended to be.

"I'm not near strong enough to swing it with any power using that technique to achieve any real damage with Uemoir. I see what you are getting at, but while I think that could work with a proper edged sword like yours, I don't see that working in a fight with Uemori, except turning it into a poor shield. I'm not strong, I'm not fast, Uemori does most of the heavy lifting... "

    It stung to even say that out loud, but it wasn't as if she was so stupid that she wasn't aware. As she let go of his weapon it fell to the ground, the heaviest part making it spin as it landed. Sighing he bent down and picked it back up, inspecting where the teeth were regrowing, before twisting it to lay the flat end back on his shoulder. He could feel a bit more bite to her words, but if anything it made him listen more intently, and while the way she started her explanation earlier annoyed him, this just annoyed him at himself instead, because she was right and he knew it.

"I-"

    Leaning forward he raised his free hand as if he was going to make some counter point or in general argue, his eyes narrowing, then it was as if someone had let all of the air out of him. The mouthy know it all was for the first time in his life at a loss for words. Dropping his arm, he dropped down into a squatting position and let out an exasperated sigh, staring at the ground.

"You're right."

[Sora Minami]

Sora let Masshiro, her sky-blue gaze boring into his as the Yamaguchi boy built up steam, his expression slowly shifting from annoyed to attentive to frustrated to, finally, defeat. She saw the moment he surrendered, his shoulder slumping over as he crouched down and sigh, his gaze sinking with the motion. Part of her wanted to leave him there, to let him stew in his own misery and reflect on just how much he needed to improve, both in attitude and skill, before he came back for another round of training… but it was a quiet part, and its voice was drowned out by the teacher in her that refused to leave even the dullest of students behind, not when she could help it.

"Stand up." She said, lips tugging down in a slight frown as she (gently) kicked at the Tokubetsu Jounin’s knee, tone brooking no argument. There was a time and place for deep self-reflection, but this was neither, and for all the boy seemed to realize just how much room he had left to grow, he didn’t seem to comprehend that this was good thing. "Close your eyes, and do as I say."

The woman paused then, giving the white-haired Yamaguchi enough time to comply with her orders while she chewed on how to approach this; teaching in the Academy had given her a modicum of experience in how to deal with difficult students, but few of her pupils had been so willing to submit to the stick while rejecting the carrot as Masshiro was. It made for a difficult situation, one where she had to be harsher than she would have liked… but not as harsh as she could have been.

"I want you to imagine a candle in a dark room. Don’t worry about the details- just focus on the flame at the top of the candle." She said, slowly drawing Samidare from its sheath as she stepped back, staying just outside of the boy’s striking range. "Now take your emotions, everything you feel, and feed it into the flame. Visualize them feeding the fire and draining from your mind until you are perfectly neutral. Neither happy or sad, neither worried or uncaring, an empty void."

Sora waited, taking a deep breath as she too performed the exercise, clearing her mind while the storm in her chest raged, her gaze going cold, voice flat and emotionless. There were no extraneous thoughts, no emotions to get in the way of action- only this moment, this place, this opponent. Only the now, in all that it entailed.

"Whenever you’re ready."

masshiro

[masshiro]

    This felt a bit similar to that stuff Toru was going on about with his breathing techniques. No one ever seemed to just say take a deep breath and clear your mind, or stop being an idiot and focus. Maybe a bit too much of Kyōka was still stuck in his brain somewhere.

"You've spent far too much time around your Genin squad. Probably a bit too much time trying to wrangle those pain in the ass twins as well if I had to guess. You can just tell me to cut the crap and focus."

    The way he said that likely came off a bit more harsh than it was intended, but he was a bit more blunt usually, so he preferred the feedback to be similar.

    Grumbling a bit, he closed his eyes after a moment and stood up, feeling more ridiculous than clear-minded, going through the motions more than anything for a while. Asking him to shut off his brain was like asking someone to pull off their arms, it just wasn't how his mind worked. He was terrible at thinking in the moment as it was, but he was constantly being analytical, and after multiple decades it was a hard thing to ask him to suddenly stop doing after half an hour. For all his mental whining however, his mind was more focused, just not in the way Sora likely had intended, and when he opened his eyes up again, he dropped Uemori off his shoulder and turned around, walking a few feet away and spiking it into the ground.

    Pulling off the belt strap holding his coat closed, he pulled the coat open, then off completely, laying it over the hilt of his weapon, and laying the outer belt over it. With the coat removed, most of Masshiro's gear was now on display, with the few pouches he had, the short blade strapped to his back previously concealed, and the two hand axes sheathed on either hip. Slowly he pulled the axes out, looking down at them as if he was seeing them for the first time in a long time, he rolled his neck and turned back to Sora.

"These were my primary weapons before I was given Uemori. This is why it's so difficult to wield for me still."

    Both axes began glowing a bright red as chakra was being poured into them, overheating to such a degree that was little mist and vapor was left from the mist technique earlier was visually evaporating. Leaning down he suddenly charged forward, not any faster than before, but he obviously looked more comfortable. Getting just about into the range he assumed Sora could swing her weapon, he stopped with a heavily planted stomp and swung his axes diagonally in a slight arc. Normally he would have been in range with Uemori, but with these shorter ranged weapons he was just out of melee range, however his swing seemed to produce an intense heat right in front of him, as a wall of flame shot up aimed at Sora.

    One of his favorite techniques in so many situations, but unfortunately one he simply couldn't use properly with Uemori.

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Kumo-Ryu Kaengiri - [Cloud-Style Flame Beheading]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Bukijutsu
ELEMENT: Katon

The user imbues their blade with fire before slashing in the direction of the desired enemy, resulting in the creation of large arcs of intense flame that follow the trajectory of the previous swing. A skilled user is capable of surrounding their immediate area with a circular wall of flame, incinerating multiple targets even if they approach from numerous angles simultaneously.

[Sora Minami]

Sora frowned, a thread of irritation flickering across the void as she stared at Masshiro, the timbre of his voice and the cast of his lips telling her all she needed to know about what he thought of her instructions. She didn’t speak, waiting for the boy to as he was told. It took a minute, but eventually the Yamaguchi managed to clear the cobwebs from behind his eyes, his posture and stance shifting slightly as he divested himself of his coat and spiked Uemori into the ground, revealing a lean, muscular frame covered from the ankles up in weapons. He drew a pair of axes from his belt after a moment, hefting them in his hands with far more comfort and familiarity than he had with his legendary blade, his voice filled with the kind of quiet longing one might expect from two friends who had met again after a long parting.

"Show me." She said, voice flat and almost cold as she shifted herself into a ready stance, blade held in a firm, one-handed grip at her side, feet spread shoulder-length apart, her back foot a quarter-turn out. She breathed in slowly, her sky-blue gaze focused, not on her student’s arms, but his torso, on the subtle shift in musculature that told her everything she needed to know. Chakra pulsed through Samidare, the weapon glowing with energy as the Yamaguchi boy charged forwards, his axes glowing with red heat as he charged in, his intentions clear, not by what she saw, but what she felt.

She had sparred with the boy enough now to get a feel for his tactics, to understand who he was as a fighter, and that same understanding had the Jounin moving back, blade arcing up to bisect the wall of flames his technique shot towards her, the chakra edge she had formed around the weapon slicing the intangible flames as if they were a solid object. The fire passed by her on either side, the heat making her sweat but causing her no harm, Samidare now raised in a singular grip that presented an equally singular response; flooding her blade with chakra, the pink-haired woman swung her weapon down, launching a thin but powerful cut of her own that arced from her sword towards Masshiro in a blue line aimed right down the middle of his frame.

If her blow hit, it would cut him fairly badly- but she had held back enough that it wouldn’t kill, and even at this distance she had a feeling the boy would have an answer to her attack, even if dodging was less of an option than before. Show me what you’ve got, kid.

masshiro

Jutsu/SA's/Equipment Used

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu:
NAME: Ittoryu: Kiretsu [One Sword Style: Crack]
RANK: A
CHAKRA USAGE: High
CLASSIFICATION: Bukijutsu
ELEMENT: -
HANDSEALS: 0
DESCRIPTION: A unique variant of the Saaberu no Jutsu, Kiretsu is a Jutsu based around a singular idea- to cut through even the most ethereal of Jutsu, splitting it in half and therefore keeping it away from the user. This is achieved by coating their blade in chakra, which is then honed into a razor point, capable of slicing through Jutsu such as Katon: Endan or Raiton: Gian without bringing the user to any harm.

As a rule, this Jutsu costs an amount of Chakra equal to one level higher than the Jutsu that is being cut/split (so a Jutsu that uses a Medium amount would take a High amount to split, while one that costs High would cost Very High to split), and cannot be used at range. Additionally, Jutsu designed to be explicitly defensive in nature (such as the various elemental armors) are significantly more resilient to being split, making this Jutsu ineffective at piercing their defenses.

NAME: Saaberu no Jutsu - [Sabre Technique]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Bukijutsu
ELEMENT: N/a
DESCRIPTION:
Employing the use of chakra flow, the user runs chakra through their swords, extending both the reach and cutting ability of the blade while allowing the user to fire crescents of chakra whenever the blade is swung on command. This released chakra is capable of great destruction as these projectiles are capable of completely penetrating large stone pillars and still travel in their intended direction.

Special Abilities:
The Kunoichi That Goes On And On And On… [Endurance SA]
Perhaps part of her genetics or simply a random quirk of fate, Sora is unnaturally resilient, be it to physical pain or the toils of extended combat. While most Shinobi would collapse in exhaustion at having used all but the smallest sliver of their chakra reserves, she pushes on; while most Shinobi would wilt beneath the weight of sleepless night after sleepless night, she keeps going. This does not mean she does not feel pain/the strain of extended combat, but rather that her threshold for shutting down because of it is far higher than others. To give an example, if she were to be stabbed through her abdomen, she would still feel the pain of the injury, and it would hinder her ability to move/act, but it wouldn’t stop her, whereas a normal ninja might freeze up or shut down from the pain.

Bet You Didn’t See That Coming [Speed SA]
A byproduct of her enhanced endurance, Sora (despite what many would think) dislikes being injured- and with that dislike comes the intense desire to avoid getting hurt, a desire that has pushed her to hone her body until it could move faster than most others of her rank. In short, Sora is fast- very, very fast.

POWAH! UNLIMITED POWAH!! [Chakra Reserves SA]
After a lifetime of utilizing nearly every ounce of chakra in her body just to survive, Sora’s chakra reserves have expanded a considerable amount to compensate- while she’s no Jinchuuriki, her ability to toss out jutsu after jutsu and still have enough chakra to keep going is quite remarkable, a testament to just how much of the stuff she actually has.

I Am Not Left-Handed [Kenjutsu Mastery SA]
Sora is not merely a Kenjutsu specialist- she is a master when it comes to the art of the sword; after over two decades of training, her skills are unrivaled within Kirigakure, falling short only to the Seven Swordsman themselves… some of them, anyway. This mastery allows her a distinct advantage when fighting other Bukijutsu specialists of similar or lesser rank.

If You Try For Speed, You Do Not Achieve Speed [Bukijutsu Speed SA]
Beyond being a master of Kenjutsu, Sora has practiced for decades to become the faster swordswoman she can be. As such, her Kenjutsu techniques come out faster and move quicker than those performed by others of her rank.

Equipment: Samidare | Spring Rain Blade (Drawn)
SA’s
Unbreakable
Whatever metal and forging process was used in the creation of Samidare, it worked; Samidare is utterly unbreakable by most any means, capable of being engulfed in an S-Rank Jutsu and remaining unscathed. Though it is possible that the blade could potentially be broken by a sufficiently powerful attack (such as, say, a Bijuu-dama), this has never been tested, so it is not known if it would survive.

Sharper Than Your Average Blade
Due to its nature as an unbreakable blade, Samidare bears a cutting edge that is of particular note, which allows it to slice through even steel with little in the way of resistance, so long as the proper force is applied. Additionally, this edge never needs to be resharpened, as it never grows dull or rolls, thus making it perfect for frontline combat.

Light as Spring Rain
Perhaps a quirk of its forging (or perhaps an intentional feature), Samidare is considerably lighter than a blade its size and length ought to be; while this would normally result in a less effective weapon, Samidare loses none of its integrity or cutting power, as it is somehow able to leverage the same amount of force through less mass. This lightness allows the user to swing the weapon about with much greater speed for the same amount of physical exertion.

Chakra Conduction
Being Chakra Conductive, Samidare is capable of channeling all types of Chakra for use in Bukijustu, and, more particularly, it has a slight affinity for Raiton chakra thanks to Sora’s constant use of the blade for that purpose. This affinity does not do anything of real note, but it does feel as if the blade were more eager to drink in Raiton Chakra than other types.

[masshiro]

    There was momentary frustration filling his eyes, but something different that was seeping into his face. His Jaakugan was no longer active, but he could feel the swell of energy, especially from this distance. Despite the attack, he didn't for a moment look like he intended to dodge, or even more out of the way, ducking low as his legs looked to coil as he shot forward right towards her. Some of Masshiro might have seemed familiar still, it wasn't as if he was a different person, but the way he was now starting to fight was not the same. This change in demeanor was in large part where his moniker of the Two-Faced Tactician came from, and in short order he'd show the difference.

    There was no deliberate swings or wide-arcing attacks, but a change in coloration of his axes seemed to single the full change in his fighting style. As her swing came down to fire off her beam, both axes were now steaming as they cooled down drastically and suddenly, and Masshiro barred his teeth and began to swing. Each swing was fast enough, aiming at the incoming energy, the next swing faster, the next even faster, as the pace and swing speed grew multiplicity as he sliced his way through her attack. It wasn't perfect and it wasn't graceful, but he managed to avoid the majority of the attack by trying to destroy it, though still taking the end of the projectile to his shoulder, slicing it open.

    His swinging at this point were wild but were still quick, as he was swinging not at any places that could severely hurt Sora, but very clearly aiming near the handle of her weapon and her right arm, as if he was trying to knock the blade out of her hand. there were no less than one-hundred quick strikes from start to finish, as he kept pushing forward, trying to end his strikes with his body as close to Sora as he could manage and trying to step on her foot closest to him in hopes she's have to stay in this close range to retaliate. Not to mention, that attack took quite a lot out of him with the exertion of energy and the amount of chakra pushed into his muscles to keep that up even in that short span of time, that quickly.

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Jōzan Surasuto [Multiplying Thrust]
RANK: A
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Bukijutsu
ELEMENT: -
HANDSEALS: 0
DESCRIPTION:

A fairly simple, yet deadly technique. By flowing chakra to the muscles in their arms the user is temporarily capable of stabbing their weapons with incredible speed, capable of performing roughly a hundred thrusts in just a few seconds. While this can prove deadly to anyone caught within the range of their weapon, it is also limited by that range. Additionally while the user's striking speed is increased, that is the only speed increased. Lastly this technique can only be utilized four times per engagement before the user begins to destroy the muscles in their arm(s).