The sun didn't shine brightly here, not like it did in the other corners of the world. It was always hidden behind the clouds or covered by a thick curtain of grey mist. It was no shock that the people in this country - Mizu no Kuni - were mostly pale folk. Even her formerly deeply tanned skin had cleared up a couple of shades in the past few months. It made Gin seem... dainty. At least when seen from afar, she supposed. Upon closer inspection, one could see the multiple scars that adorned her skin, like the uncolored lines of a sketch's outline. Kuroka Gin was a fierce fighter. She had honed herself to become one throughout her lifetime and had faced more than several obstacles to get to where she was now.

Gone were the days of drinking and gambling and careless sex. Well, sort of. She hadn't really stopped drinking. And she still gambled every so often. And she was in a sort of quasi relationship. So, she supposed that she had become at least a little more responsible over the years. She had a team now, whose members she trained rigorously. Her children, despite being scattered around the continent, received her care and support as often as she could give it. She was a faithful citizen of the Hidden Mist - one of the great and legendary Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, even. All in all, she had carved a very notorious reputation for herself. Well, more like drilled it in with a jackhammer than carved, but the point was still the same.

If she was to keep up what she had built and keep it from falling, if she wanted to protect her family and loved ones, she couldn't start to slack off now. Not only that, but she had always enjoyed training. There was something in fighting, in pushing herself to her limits that she herself didn't know yet. Screw meditation and all that bullshit, fighting and the most brutal of physical exercises were the only ways to actually achieve self discovery. That was why Gin now found herself in Kirigakure's training grounds. She had called on the help of a group of Jounin to help her hone her skills and develop a few new jutsu. They weren't there just yet. Gin wondered what kind of people would be sent her way. She hoped they posed a little bit of a challenge, at least.

The former Kazekage didn't really want to have to turn this into a lesson for them. This was meant to be training - of the grueling kind, the kind that made you want to at least cry your eyeballs out in the first half hour. For that very reason, Gin was wearing weights on both her wrists and ankles. She would keep them on at least while she warmed up. Besides, it would level the playing field between her and the others. She guessed the time while glancing at the sun and considering its position in the sky. It seemed that she was about twenty minutes early. She shrugged. It was unusual for her to be anything but late. Nevertheless, she wouldn't waste any more time. The thought of picking up her most recent erotic novel - three cheers for smut - and reading it while she waited crossed her mind for a few seconds. She just as quickly discarded it, though, settling for stretches instead.

[Training Reaction Time from B-3 to A: 579/1000]

Gin didn't know exactly how much each of the four colossal pieces of metal that were strapped to her arms weighed, exactly. She had simply picked up the ones that felt and looked the most dense and heavy. These did the trick, making it difficult enough for her to move and react without crippling her entirely. After all, these were Jounin that were coming to help her train, not Chuunin or Genin. Almost as if on queue, a young woman with light blue - some kind of shade of teal - dressed in Kirigakure's standard Jounin uniform approached the area. She was fairly good looking, with deep blue eyes several shades darker than her hair and pale skin. Her face was dotted with freckles, making her look young and even somewhat childish. Nevertheless, her body was that of a grown woman. The former Kazekage guessed that she was likely around her early twenties - maybe twenty-two to twenty-four. She yawned and stretched her arms before finally resting her eyes on Gin. She smiled kindly.

Had Gin not been kind of, sort of involved with Sanosuke at the time, she would have likely tried to get into this girl's pants. Well, some flirting never hurt anyone. Gin shot the girl a sly look. "Never thought the higher-ups would send someone this cute to train with me," Gin said casually, standing up and brushing the dust from her clothes.

The girl blushed, not expecting that to be Gin's greeting at all. "I.. um, they told me this was an S rank mission... no one said anything about a training session," said the girl. Gin quirked an eyebrow. An... S rank mission? Well, that was definitely a creative way to put her request, no doubt. Gin wondered if someone would be charging her like they did outsiders for requesting missions and tasks. That was just one more bill she would be sending her dear Raikage.

"I had no idea they'd be making this a mission. I just needed a few training partners for a few hours. They didn't really think there was that much of a death risk to this isn't that high." Gin mumbled out loud, mostly thinking to herself. The young woman with the teal colored hair simply stood by and waited for Gin to finish her musings. She seemed like the polite type, shy and quiet and submissive. She was just too adorable. Gin wanted to hug her and cradle her in her bosom.

"Um... ma'am, is there a problem?" she asked, her voice soft and quiet as if trying not to intrude. Gin looked up at the girl.

"Oh! Not at all, love. Though I'd hardly call this a mission - it's just helping me train for the day, nothing that terrible. Where are the other two?" Gin asked. She was surprised that they had sent this girl ahead on her own.

"Oh, Hide and Ken are usually late. I'm sure they're on their way, though!" she added the last bit hastily, as if not wanting to get them in trouble. Gin simply chuckled and nodded. She sank into a stance, deciding to use taijutsu at least for the first few hours of this sparring match. Her swords could come later. Right now, she needed to focus on honing her body more than anything else. The girl mimicked her, settling into her own stance.

"Might as well get started while they get here, no? More time for just the two of us. What's your name, by the way?" Gin asked, resuming her flirty behavior. The girl's blush deepened, but her expression hardly changed otherwise.

"I'm Sayo, ma'am," she introduced herself, trying her best apparently to seem professional despite Gin's teasing.

"Gin," the former Kazekage simply replied, smiling deviously. It was time to get this little training session going.

[Training Reaction Time from B-3 to A: 1000/1000]
[Training Reaction Time from B to B-1: 233/700]

Gin felt the impact of the weights almost instantly. Sayo moved much faster than she did - not that Gin's speed had ever been anything to brag about to begin with. These things just made it that much worse. Sayo charged at her only a few seconds after they had introduced themselves to each other. She moved quickly, her steps light and almost silent as they hit the ground below her feet. The girl had begun by using an academy technique that made Gin raise her eyebrow. A series of regular clones? What good would that do? Unless there was a hand sign in there that Gin hadn't seen, she really couldn't figure out how much good such a basic technique could do. Picking out the real one wouldn't be difficult. There were three clones in total, all of them heading towards her in different directions. A cloud of smoke from a pellet thrown to the ground served as additional cover. So this is what she was trying to do - laying out a basic series of distractions to gauge what it was that Gin could do. The silver haired woman wondered just how much information this girl had been given about this "assignment" and about Gin herself.

Gin's sense of smell would be enough to tell apart the real Sayo from the clones in the area, smoke or not. Gin closed her eyes for a moment. Her body seemed to move on its own, following the scent and ignoring everything else. She was right outside of the cloud of smoke, waiting, her stance both steady and braced for any kind of attack from Gin. The older woman smiled fiercely, landing a blow aimed straight at Sayo's left temple. her figure exploded into a puff of white smoke, leaving only a small log behind. Substitution jutsu. It was the bane of Gin's existence sometimes. It could completely nullify a wonderfully awesome and perfectly coordinated set of moves. Well, not that much effort had actually gone into what Gin had just done. It was simply a little frustrating - a coward's tactic, though Gin herself used it every once in a while.

A sudden flash of sound and a change in the wind currents around her let Gin know that Sayo had appeared behind her. The girls arms shot towards Gin, as if she had wanted to cling to Gin's back. What an odd thing to do. Unless... Ah, of course. The train of thought only took a couple of milliseconds for Gin to process. The rest she used to place a seal on the ground - Heaven Style: Vector Plate - which rapidly blasted her out of the way of the explosion caused by Sayo's clone. Gin was smiling. it had been a while since someone had tried to challenge her like this. It was nice to be able to fight someone seriously. That, and the added fact that there were two more people like her on the way made Gin very very happy.

For now, she had to focus on finding the real Sayo, who was probably hiding nearby. Maybe a bird's eye view of her surroundings would be better suited for this. keeping that in mind, Gin jumped into the air. A steady stream of chakra was concentrated on the soles of her feet, gathering the air underneath them to form a solid surface on which she could stand. Now it was time to use her lovely prosthetic eve as a scope for this. She infused it with a small amount of chakra in it, letting her zoom in to her surroundings and survey them quickly. She smirked as soon as she was able to see where the young Jounin was hiding - several meters below and hiding deep in the canopies of the lush green trees that surrounded the training area. Now there were two things that Gin could do: She could subtly target the young girl with a small and specialized attack or she could just blow up the area. Three guesses as to which one sounded more appealing to the woman dubbed "The Angel of Death."

[Training Speed from B to B-1: 700/700]
[Training Speed from B-1 to B-2: 229/800]