[Hōzuki Keneō]

Taking the hit against the bokken in the way that he did had left a rather significant crack in the blade, one which might lead it to shattering if it were to take another blow or two like the one he had taken just now. Within the confines of his mind, he had in fact considered potentially taking the hit head on while striking with his own blade, though it wouldn't have changed much. Sure he might have been able to get a hit in at the expense of taking a much more severe hit to his own gut, which normally was something he would have considered doing if it were a fight to the death. Through his hydrification technique, liquifying the point of impact while stabbing someone in the throat was as good a tactic as any.

But this was a training routine, a sparring session, and one that utilized wooden swords at that. Provided that neither of the two were enemies and that Ken had come here to learn, and he had already outlawed liquifying for the duration of this session. What had started out as him wanting to do the best he could while learning as much as he could in the process had slowly changed, though he wasn't sure whether to call it evolution or to consider it devolving. He hadn't intended on trying to make himself look as good as possible in the eyes of the Mizukage, though something actually getting to fight him in this way made him want to do better than usual. He never hid the fact that he wanted to be better than he was, though he wanted for the Mizukage to see and acknowledge it too.

"I'm honestly not sure, it seems like it'll break in another hit in two."

Even as he spoke those words, Ken would not make it seem like he was ready or willing to quit. If the blade could still handle two hits, it was more than likely more durable than he was, as he was honestly not entirely sure whether or not his limbs would be able to handle more of the hits he had just taken before utterly spraining them. While such a thing would put a serious dent into his training regiment, he knew that the kind of stuff he was learning right here in the moment were a lot more valuable than going back and sparring against a training dummy and just practicing his strikes. At this point, if he could still get two hits or blocks in before the blade broke, that would be good enough for him.

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Hōzuki Keneō

Toru acknowledged that the bokken would break in two more hits, he trusted the genin's judgment to feel and know that much about the weapon he held. Instead of allowing the practice to end so swiftly, however, Toru approached Ken, and slowly offered a hand - literally.

If allowed, Toru's fingers would wrap around the almost broken bokken slowly, shifting slightly to feel where the crack was along the smooth weapon. Smoothed out to simulate a piece of metal of the highest quality. It did not seem like much would happen, Toru seemed to just gently hold onto the bokken for a few moments, looking only at it and not at all at Ken.

Some moments later, the Mizukage stepped away entirely. He was used to close proximity in battle, but there was a sense of discomfort - being so close to someone. In all of these years, Toru was still uncomfortable being close to someone, being vulnerable - it was true for both the physical and emotional aspects. He had been wounded too many times coming close to people. His youth broken by having been too trusting in the past. And as a highly trained shinobi, being close to anyone made him nervous. It was made worse and perpetuated by the fact that he was an important leader in the nation, and more so a weapon too.

Daichi's constant worries... He had been the only one Toru had felt okay getting close to, and even then...

If Ken looked down at his sword now, where the crack had been there was a vein of peach color running through it now, sealing it shut carefully.

"Now, it won't break."

OWL

[Hōzuki Keneō]

For what it was worth, Ken had never been the most trusting person on the planet, nor was he one to outright distrust people. For him, it all came down to a case by case basis, which was quite frankly why he had allowed the Mizukage to get as closed as he did. Seemingly being more interested in his bokken than in him, he did not mind it when the slightly older teen moved in and began touching it up. Not quite sure as to what he was trying to do, as he did not believe him to be capable of any type of advanced elements that involved wood or vegetation, by the time he removed his hand from the blade, the crack had still been fixed. It made him wonder just what had happened, and what this substance was that had closed up the break.

When the Mizukage stepped back, the first thing he did was take the blade closer to himself, running his finger along the former breakpoint in order to feel it with his skin. Even as he touched it, he could not tell what kind of material had been used to fix up his sword and allow him to continue fighting like this. But as inquisitive as he was, it was simply something he needed to know before he could get back into the fight properly. He knew better than to believe that stalling for time would allow his limbs and joints to recuperate, as he was not the kind of person that was blessed with a healing factor. As such, there was nothing to gain for him aside from what knowledge Toru might be willing to part with. If it was something he wished to keep to himself, that too was fine.

"What kind of stuff is this? It doesn't feel like wood or resin."

Having asked the question, he returned the bokken to his side after doing a few quick cuts and jabs through the sky as if getting a feel for whether or not it was heavier or somehow out of balance. Quickly establishing this to not be the case, Ken was quite frankly as ready now as he would ever be for the foreseeable future. Set on continuing for as long as his body would allow it, he returned to a ready stance, holding the sword in front of him with both hands on the handle. Ready to either strike or defend, he had at the very least managed to regain his composure and stabilize his breathing, which was the very least he could do in this particular situation. And those two factors would surely help increase his odds of not having to tap out immediately after the next attack.

"I'm ready to continue."

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Hōzuki Keneō

Toru took a long pause, it was not as if he was at liberty to discuss exactly what gave him this ability. How could he word it, as to not appear suspicious, but similarly give the genin a satisfying answer.

"A blessing that I was given. The same way that some receive their blessings from their clans. I am able to manipulate coral."

Coral could pass as a unique elemental and environmental manipulation. The same way mokuton was known to exist, though Toru realized that he did not know of any clans that manipulated coral, he knew that it was possible for him to be the only one to do so. Unique things popped up all over the world, and so he could be one of them too.

It was the source that needed protection, to be hidden from public eye to avoid anger, dissent, or worse - for Toru to have a triple target on his back when he already had two targets as Mizukage and Daimyo.

But that was a contemplation for another day, the boy was ready to go again, and Toru would not keep him waiting. They both seemed to feel refreshed to some degree, and Toru was quite content with that as he seemed to dash towards Ken and begin another slew of attacks.

This time a more complicated and slightly quicker pattern for Ken to try and defend against, to perhaps even learn for his own future battles and endeavors.

OWL

[Hōzuki Keneō]

"Hmm... can't say i've ever heard of that before, but it seems plausible enough."

All things considered, Ken was nowhere near a scholar or an academic when it came to the knowledge of hidden techniques, clan biology and kekkei genkai blood limits. He did however know that not all people were born the same, some were quite frankly built different from others. He himself could only be considered as someone ordinary trying to do the extraordinary, and not really managing at doing what he set out to die. He knew of some of the things people were born with throughout Kirigakure. Some had additional arms and could utilize spider-like abilities while some others could manipulate their bone structure.

All of them were realistically speaking to be considered as 'gifted', though that went for every person within their clan that was blessed with that particular ability. In his case, his clan dabbled in a Hijutsu, which was to be considered different from a bloodline limit. In all honesty, he didn't even care about the difference between the two. To Ken, all that mattered was how he could utilize it himself and how he could expand upon it to truly make it his own. And the way he saw it, gaining a level of mastery over the sword and thus having a chance to push his body to its limits would also grant him further insights as to when and where those limits could be found. Because at that limit was where his supplementation of the hydrification technique would begin.

But as they finished their short conversation, it was time for them to get back into it, for however long as that might yet last from this point forward. Because while his fatigue had significantly dropped, the strain on his muscles and bones had not. So rather than trying anything of significance or aiming to play the offensive game, he would stick to defense only, all the while trying to soak up as much information as he possibly could. Holding on to the handle of his blade with both hands, he would do his best to try and parry as many of the blows coming in from a faster and more difficult to perceive pattern of assault. Hoping that the two-handed pushback he could give with short shoving movements would be able to keep him from getting hit over the head or in the gut was currently his best bet.

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Hōzuki Keneō

To Toru it did not matter if the other had heard of his abilities or not. There were many known abilities in the world, some of them very much taught in the Kirigakure no Sato academy, including a very detailed look at world history and world diplomacy. But there were things that went unaccounted for, like, in this case Toru's coral. It was not in any books or scrolls that could be learned. It was a secret as old as Kirigakure no Sato itself - which in truth Toru did not feel was all that old at all in comparison to the world, but it was old enough.

They went back to fighting, Toru following the pattern that he had set out to follow. Even if Ken managed to dodge or block, Toru's strikes were ephemerally light this time. A great deal of lightness to the way he cast the bokken. This meant that while Ken could get hit, it would be more little more than taps where he was made contact with. These taps would grow as reminders of where his weaknesses were and if he wanted to not feel a sense of vulnerability that he would need to pick up the pace and pick up the pattern that Toru was presenting to him.

As a result of how controlled Toru's pressure was, Ken's own rebounds would not be as effective, with a lack of pressure him attempting to push the Mizukage away would not work as well as he likely hoped.

"Pick up the pattern." Toru uttered plainly. He knew that it would take many more repeated smacks for him to figure it out but he would figure it out, Toru would be certain of it.

OWL

[Hōzuki Keneō]

Doing the best he could to block the attacks, perhaps the biggest mistake he had been making this time around was not properly factoring in the fact that Toru could switch up his style of attack. It was something he himself had been working on a lot, to create a plethora of techniques that might compliment other techniques he had been taught, all in an attempt at being a universally sound combatant. To find that he was this slow to adjust to attacks that had increased speed but greatly decreased striking power was somewhat of a downer. Trying too hard to block attacks he had assumed would pack more strength behind them, Ken's blocks were hard, but very slow.

At the cost of blocking one attack, another that followed up soon after the other would end up slipping right through his defenses. Taking a tap against the shoulder before blocking an attack to the head, only to receive another tap against the side of his waist before blocking yet another that came for the other side of his head, receiving a strike to his leg right after. As he started to get up in his own head about this whole thing, he imagined that if this had been some kind of point driven contest, he would have already been behind by at least five points. Subconsciously, there were some strikes he had managed to block because they went for a certain area of his body, though that just put him down to be struck in other areas.

When Toru told him to pick up the pattern however, the pieces quickly fell into place. The attacks formed a sequence, which explained why the same spots were targeted from time to time whenever he failed to block one, or managed to block another. At first, he hadn't even really picked up on it, believing these spots were being targeted only because his block was somewhere else and it exposed the gap in his defenses being exploited. Though sluggish at first, Ken began to parry a few attacks in a row, finding himself to be too slow to parry the one that followed after, though he began to figure out where they would land. In time, and with added effort and increased insight, blocking the swift pattern of attacks became more and more easy on him.

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Hōzuki Keneō

The Mizukage was relentless in his barrage and perhaps a touch demanding. He was insistent on seeing the genin through to success, which meant that he would not cease his attack almost tirelessly, until Ken picked up on the pattern and was able to soundly block every single one of his slight strikes. It would be vital for the future master swordsman to learn how to pick up patterns, because it was not something that only swordsman performed. This was only an example. Most all shinobi fell into ruts, techniques that they favored, things that they performed best. Many would find a pattern that worked, that attacked quickly and consistently. A pattern that would land, just the way that Toru's pattern now was making landfall against the Hozuki's body.

Toru was teaching a much wider lesson than what was perfectly clear on the surface. Strike for strike he hoped that not only would the genin pick up on what was happening, but he would be able to take this lesson with him into the future when the opponent was less friendly and less willing to hit him kindly.

"Good," He could tell he was improving so he complimented that he was, but it was not good enough, so the pace picked up. "Do not forget about your form, it will help your speed." Indeed if Ken continued to allow himself to be pushed back into a stumbling retreat his speed would falter and if he focused too hard on where the bokken was aiming as opposed to the bigger picture he would lose himself entirely in the battle.

OWL

[Hōzuki Keneō]

Difficult as it was, the fact that his mind was perhaps slightly quicker than his body meant that he was having to really step it up just to have his limbs do what his head had already conjured up. But that was one of many reasons as to why he had requested this kind of thing. He had originally wanted to just see how it was done from someone like the Mizukage, which was perhaps more than he could have asked for, given his station as a mere Genin. So to be taken into this sort of a training session was more valuable than he could put into words. All that he could show was that he was appreciative of it as he did his best to show that he was in fact learning.

Because with every round of strikes that came around in the sequence, Ken became quicker to adapt his defenses to it and increase the pace at which his strikes would intercept the attacks sent at him. After all, the attacks were fast but were lacking in the amount of damage they might do. Within minutes of finding out there was a sequence to be followed, the amount of hits he took gradually reduced as the hits that made it through were still slightly faster than his mind could force his body to respond to, which was to be expected. Because, as a smarter shinobi than himself had once said: Just because you could perceive something did not mean you would be quick enough to act on it. But he was getting there.

A good few minutes later, Ken could honestly say that he had adapted and adjusted himself from having to put in hard counters just to make up for the barrage of strong hit after strong hit he had taken, allowing him to crawl out of his more defensive mindset into one that flowed a lot more freely. Blocking the attacks with swift taps that were really only strong enough to lightly push against them before having to move the weapon again in order to block the next attack and so on and so forth, Ken honestly believed that he had made a lot of strides today and had learned a lot. Now, he just needed to take what he had learned and translate that into further training sessions and regiments that implemented today's teachings.

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Hōzuki Keneō

Toru, in spite of his station, had never been the type to lord that station over other's. He had seen it as an opportunity to help and guide others on their own paths, in a way that he had not always been guided throughout his smaller years. Those that knew him well knew that he was not a young man who possessed much gusto for pomp and circumstance, and those that did not know him feared him.

The whispers always hung around Kaguya Toru like a thick suffocating fog - one did not simply get the position of Mizukage and Daimyo at such a young age. There had to be something else about him that unnerved people. Something else that nobody could quite put a finger on.

Toru did not help with the finger pointing, and worried solely for the improvement of his village and himself as an extension of the village. Along with this he worried about the nation at large, as Daimyo the nation's wellbeing was never far from his overall periphery - thus he worked tirelessly in this sector as well.

As Ken adapted and listened to what Toru was telling him, their practice became like a dance and this was perhaps the most beautiful part of kenjutsu. When both practitioners were flowing with battle impact by impact it was mesmerizing to look at from the outside and the slight impact of wood against wood was a song, satisfying to the ears.

Toru allowed this to go for a little longer, feeling himself particularly invigorated, like he was in a trance. He could go on like this for a long time, forever perhaps? It was like he had endless energy for this sort of thing. But he knew that he shouldn't push Ken for much longer so the moment there was a sign of fatigue the Mizukage would back away, pulling himself out of the choreography.

He was without words at first, simply standing there his bokken slowly lowering to the ground for the tip to brush against grass. In fact, he was mostly waiting for Ken to break the silence to see if the genin had anything to say at all.

OWL

[Hōzuki Keneō]

Time went on, and there came a point where Ken no longer registered when the strikes seemed to flow entirely naturally. As if there was no longer any sort of thought to it, just the sound of wooden swords clashing against one another in an almost rythmic beat. For a while, he did not feel any fatigue as everything seemed to just happen by itself exactly how it should. It played out almost like if it had all been predetermined. But just like that, Toru stepped back, putting an end to the pattern of attacks and the session as a whole. As if snapping back to reality out of some peculiar dream, Ken felt the fatigue he hadn't been experiencing setting in all at once. Almost falling prone on his ass, he placed his feet slightly further apart to redistribute his weight.

"That was quite the undertaking. To be entirely honest... i'm quite pooped."

And so he was. Having to take a moment before he had begun to speak to make sure he had enough air in his lungs by the time his breathing went from auto pilot to manual, there had been something about the sparring session that pushed him beyond his limits and now left him in an extremely fatigued state. But he would keep standing, and he would make his way back home on his own. He refused to degrade himself down to some helpless pup after such a truly worthwhile training regiment. Even when he was on the island having to practically fight for his life during the academy graduation exam, he hadn't ever been pushed this hard before, and this was not even a life or death situation. Still, it felt like it due to how important it was to Ken to succeed and show that he was worth something as an aspiring shinobi.

"I should probably be heading home so I can take a long nap in the Onsen and recuperate. Though I very much appreciate that you've taken the time for this sparring session. I won't soon be forgetting it."

He would linger around to make sure the Mizukage had a chance to say what it was that he was going to say, as he had clearly earned that much for sticking around as long as he did to teach Ken as much as he could in the time they had spent out here today. After all, it had more or less come at the expense of him having to waste his own free time just to teach a Genin he more than likely did not know before they started. It made him wonder whether or not he had made a good enough impression to be considered for something as grand as the Chuunin exams, even though he had no idea when these would be. Taking a bow as was traditionally how one would bid someone of a higher station a good day, Ken would start making his way back home to do exactly as he said he would. Soak his bones into a broth in the Onsen and have a long, long rest.



[Exit]

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Hōzuki Keneō

Toru straightened his back a little the bokken he would gently shift from pointing forward to being in a more sheathed position as Ken spoke and expressed his weariness. It was interesting the way Toru and him had danced and neither one had expressed any exhaustion, but now Ken was clearly showing it on his body. An effect an influence from Toru's own presence perhaps, the forceful push of a wave against the tiny granules of sand on a gentle shore. But the wave too felt exhilarated when it touched shore when it gently touched against the waves, becoming smaller and familiar with the world that was not just the darkest depths of itself.

"Rest well." The Mizukage responded providing a nod as his own version of a bow towards the boy he had just pushed to his limits. Toru took a few more beats, standing there in silence with himself as Ken departed. There was the slightest shift in the wind, the air warmer than before with his own heavier breath from the hint of exertion that he had just experienced.

But, Toru had not come out here to practice for so little, so once the younger of the two left Toru approached a training dummy and would begin his waltz anew.

[end]

OWL