Satoshi’s small form moved along the water. The port was only minutes away, but he was far enough away that he wouldn’t be seen by the other merchant ships and any travelers on their way to the port. When he trained, he didn’t enjoy being watched, unless it was by his opponent then for necessity it was obviously a given. Other than that, the solitary Genin was pretty self-conscious.

He had a mission in mind, and if he didn’t perform to the best of his ability, he felt as if he’d be letting down the whole of his clan, the few members that still lived in the world. It never occurred to him that he was still a child who had placed all of this responsibility on himself, but that didn’t matter. “It’s my purpose in life…” He whispered quietly as he slowly came to a halt. “I can’t disappoint my ancestors, now can I?” Again, he whispered to himself as if there were some other entity he was talking to.

It wasn’t that he was crazy or anything, it just felt better to voice his thoughts aloud rather than within his head. Out loud felt as if you were talking to another person, and although he knew what was going to be said already, it ultimately felt better to say things aloud.

Bringing his hands up, he loosened the sash that was around his body that held his scrolls and his water gourd, and he threw his hand back with enough speed and force to slap the stopper out of it. Although it was pointed horizontally on his back so that there would be rooms for the scrolls as well in the sash, he always tilted forwards and stretched a single leg behind him so that he could reach it without having to bend his arm too far back it had become something that he was used to doing.

His hands came up forming the handsign for Water Release, and the previously imprisoned water came outwards slowly. There were few times when it burst out of the gourd furiously, but that only happened when he was truly mad or desperate. Things that rarely ever happened to the blank faced Uzumaki. There were only so many things in the world that were able to get a reaction out of the boy.

The water swirled around him as he stared in the direction that he had come from. Usually there was never anyone in this location, which was why the grass always seemed so fresh and never downtrodden like the grass beside the roads, but he felt another presence nearby. He was unable to distinguish it between an animal or a human, but he ignored it nevertheless. Why would anyone even come this far off of the road when the port was only minutes away?

The water continued to move around him in spirals, but this time he did something different. He threw his hand outwards and the water followed. It lashed outwards wildly. There was no shape to it, it was simply watering… Moving, and he continued to manipulate the liquid with determination. He had to become a Chunnin as soon as possible, the Exams were soon, and he sought to be respected…

---

543 words.

Maigo crawled out of bed slowly, all his training with his new sensei was really starting to take it's toll, the early mornings, long days, and it never seemed to end. Just one task after another in some effort to make him stronger than he could imagine, so he could defend himself or something like that, but either way it was a long struggle upwards to the peak of perfection. As he sat there enjoying his breakfast after going through his morning routine he decided that he would do some light training, he needed to keep his physique and stamina up, taking an entire day off would be tragic for him and his routine. But also making a list of things he needed to pick up around the village, he took his backpack and his pouch and sword and set off, mainly because of the weight those things would add while he ran. Heading off for the day he would first head into town and pick up some new books to read, among them being the Gentleman's Bingo Book, among some other series he was reading, lately he had taken up quite the interesting in reading and writing and the tab for buying all of this stuff was beginning to pile up but the stories were letting him escape his won reality, all the training and revelations recently in his life took their toll, his parents still refusing to tell him everything about his past, he had gone so far as to even referring to them as mother and father. All this energy being taken out in his training and everyday life, he sprinted through the roads in the village jumping from branch to branch and rooftop to rooftop he eventually landed in the market and got his stuff.

Still not wanting to return home he headed out towards the shoreline and the port, looking for somewhere he could hang out for a while, running down the road, leaping from branch to branch trying to get there, but before he could get there he saw a boy along the roadside, standing in the grass and manipulating the water around him. Maigo stood from a tree branch over looking the road and watched for a second, he seemed incredibly focused on his task at hand before lashing out from himself violently, Maigo stood there and debated going up to him. Just wondering what he was doing, but then that meant side-tracking him from reading his new books and magazine and he wasn't sure he was ready for that. But in all honesty, Maigo wasn't sure what he was doing here either, claiming he chose the port for the smell of the ocean and the sound of the seagulls to block everything away. He in all honesty wasn't sure of his own being there, he could have chosen anywhere, maybe a hot spring where all of the pretty women hang out or a secluded part of the forest to clear his mind.

I guess you could say that he most enjoyed just being around water, finding it more relaxing than most other areas as he slide one arm out of his backpack and jumped down to the road to see what the man was doing. He was already back to manipulating the water again, he wondered if it was his own form of training himself, meaning he was another ninja in the village and it would probably be a good idea to find out who he was. And so Maigo stood at the edge of the road, debating whether he should call out to him or wait for him to take notice of Maigo standing there, holding his bag in his hand next to the handle of the sword, a minor existential crisis of whether or not to say something to this stranger happened on. And then the crisis of why he was even there in the first place would come back soon after.

[668 words]

While he worked Satoshi thought back to when he had first received his gourd and all the attention that his father had been giving to him to make sure he knew how to handle his new item and ninja gear. It had been refreshing to know that his father wanted him to become the best ninja that he could be, to even surpass him as a member of the ANBU Black Ops.

But then the day had come when his father had pushed him too far in his want for Satoshi to practice his Fuinjutsu. Sealing wasn't something that he particularly enjoyed, it was only something that he had learned because it was a necessity...

Without realizing it, his water had begun being controlled by his emotions as he moved, it's movements seeming more sporadic and violent that they had before. Satoshi's own will wasn't as strong as he let on to those who knew him, but since no one really knew him, it wouldn't prove as a weakness too soon.

...Right?

It took him a moment, but then he realized there was someone who was there. Not a passerby, but someone who was actually taking the time out of there day to watch him. With his back to them, he released the fists that his hands had unconsciously transformed into, and his eyes widen in irritation.

As Maigo got closer it'd become evident that the 'man' that was supposedly training was in fact only a boy, a handful of years younger than him. Slowly, Satoshi turned around and in that moment of twisting he manipulated the water back into the gourd and wiped away all signs of emotion on his face. He was used to doing this, it was better to not let anyone knew how he felt.

Slowly sliding his hands into his pockets, unimpressed eyes settled on the newcomer. Although he didn't speak much, there was the non-verbal sign of a challenge in his apathetic gaze and stance.

"It's impolite to stare."

The words were said with almost no emotion. It could be described as if his own voice and tone was dead.

WC: 371

Upon closer examination the boy looked significantly younger than him and nearly two feet shorter than him as well. He must have been extremely young and yet, could control the water with what he assumed was chakra or some other medium. Still, it would be impressive for someone so young, and as Maigo thought this out the boy turned to him in a very angst-y and frustrated manner, almost immediately shoving his hands in his pockets and giving Maigo a cold stare. He spoke with an emotionlessness that suggested was on his mind or something was bothering him, more so than a stranger walking up to him, "It's impolite to stare." he called out in his neutral tone. It amused Maigo, he seemed so tempermental and at such a young age, if he kept that tone and attitude up, one day he might be fairly scary but for now, he only seemed like he was pouting. But it was a different type of pouting, Maigo being only a few years his superior at best would pout all the time when people are mean to him or something doesn't go his way, but this just seemed to have a negativity about it inherently and that was something that would annoy Maigo on a regular basis. His own sensei was already bordering on that enough as it is and now another depressing Kirigakure ninja, hopefully this one would have a change in outlook as he grew up.

Maigo finally let the pause that was his thinking time come to rest as he turned back towards the boy, Suppose it is, but there are worse things to do. Maybe I could start gawking at you or talking baby-speak at you? he was kinda enticing him at this point, seeing how short his fuse was on such a drole person. Continuing on before he could respond to Maigo's comments he turned his tone around while staying at the edge of the road, No, why I was really watching is that I was impressed that someone so young could be learning such advanced techniques, like controlling the water with what I assume is chakra, no? That's something most genin and even some chuunin struggle with, it's just impressive to say the least. he said with more of an upbeat tone to himself. He didn't want to insult someone he didn't even know and he especially didn't want to make any enemies out of someone who could easily be his ally, and with such promise at a young age, he certainly could become a great ally one of these days.

Now waiting for him to respond to his comments about himself, he really hoped he wouldn't take it the wrong way, his bag weighing more heavily in his hands as he was dying to go look through it's contents and read the stories that awaited him, and possibly a lunch that would accompany it. He pictured it in his head, a great afternoon with a delicious meal, but for the time being, he had other matters to tend to and possibly self-created problems to fix.

[532 words, 1200 words total]

Maigo watched as he flushed out his thoughts, his meandering through words and the stutter, despite his tone not fully changing the stutter gave rise to indecision in his choice of words, so maybe he wasn't so negative after all, maybe he had just been conditioned that way from his up bringing or even recent events. But that would be none of Maigo's concern, maybe not ever, even if they were to become good friends, walking over to a near-by tree he sat his bag down up against while he pondered on his words, after he sat his bag down he began to stretch out his back and arms, alternating between swinging wildly and pushing up against his lower back while he spoke, Well, if that measly training is all you do during the day then that's not a very good way of getting stronger. By your age and the way you control the chakra I figured you are either a genin or a very skilled Academy student in which case we're on equal ground in terms of skill. he deduced that from how instead of practicing a specific jutsu he was working on chakra control, but only a small amount, meaning that controlling large amounts of water might be a bit above his skill level, might be being the key words.

Taking a few more steps towards him now he called out, Well, unless you're gonna splash someone into submission then controlling water like that isn't extremely helpful, you need to learn to apply it to jutsu and use it against someone. he chose his words carefully, choosing 'into submission' rather than 'to death' to highlight the fact that Maigo wasn't very comfortable with killing, not that it shouldn't be done at all, but only the most heinous of criminals committing the most heinous of crimes and without remorse are the only ones who are truly deserving of death. Them and people who bully the weak for their own bidding, although there are exceptions to the second rule, but the ideological argument that rages on in Maigo's mind is never ending and constantly changing. Maigo continued on to the boy, If you want to do some real training, then put what you know to the test and spar with me for a little bit. It will be good for both you and I, and I cann get to know a fellow Kirigakure ninja as well. setting his hand on the hilt of his sword as he spoke he readied himself, this would certainly be a distraction from his reading but there's no use crying over it now, as he would wait for the boy to accept or reject his challenge, or offer, to spar and train with him a bit.

Before beginning he would ready himself by partially drawing his sword from it's sheathe and stare towards the boy waiting to see what he would do, if he would be the one to charge into the fight or wait for Maigo to make his move first. Maigo would call out again before they took their first steps, this time barely speaking above a normal tone of voice, And feel free to use any jutsu you know against me, it wouldn't be training if we didn't push ourselves to the absolute limit. pausing for a second he remembered his manners, And sorry for not introducing myself, you can call me Maigo. Now, whenever you're ready. He sat waiting intently for the boy to move, he decided now would be a good time to go ahead and activate his special move, his yellow eyes turned red with a singular tomoe about them, he wondered if this boy had seen anything like that before, truth be told, Maigo had only used it a few times so far in his life, but you can never be too careful when facing a new opponent.

[665 words, 1865 words total]

Stat increases:

Chakra 145/150:

Definitely obnoxious. Satoshi thought to himself as the other shinobi decided to keep on talking about his training. If he truly thought that he would only use such small amounts whilst in an actual combat, he certainly had another thing coming. In the event that he was being watched, the young Uzumaki had learned to use smaller amounts for longer amounts of time instead of using large amounts for short amounts of time. The former increased his stamina greater due to setting an actual pace instead of forcing himself to his peak in the first few moments of training. I could explain what I'm doing. And yet, he didn't bother.  

But then he said that they were on an equal playing field, and Satoshi had no actual response to that. Were they now? One was older by a little more than half a decade, their only equality was in their rank, but Satoshi shrugged in response.

"I hope you learn to grow out of slandering what you don't understand." He said with the same tone that had lacked any sort of animation from before. Ninjutsu that utilized the water element were actually quite taxing when hit repeatedly by the attacks. It was the same with the water that was infused with his chakra, it hit with enough force to actually produce a reaction. A necessary one at that too. In that moment, Satoshi was certain that Maigo hadn't had a lot of interaction with Suiton users, well if Satoshi was truly as skilled as he thought, he may actually strike him to teach him a lesson. If anything, it only erased the calmness that the Uzumaki had sunk into.

His arrogance is disgusting... It surpasses even my own. He said in some form of twisted disappointment. In some ways they were similar, they were both arrogant, Satoshi could see that, but Maigo differed in the way that he was probably surrounded by friends. Things that he never saw a point in having, it wasn't a problem though.

Then there was the challenge. For a moment, Satoshi said nothing. He was uncertain as to if that was a good idea. Even if it was a challenge, he knew that most people didn't challenge you unless they had the confidence that only victory could give you... But he couldn't deny a challenge.

"As you wish," was his reply. He knew it had been a good idea to leave the cork off of the gourd. When Maigo had partially exposed his sword, Satoshi slowly took a few steps back. He hadn't noticed it right away, but he knew that it was going to be a problem.

"Satoshi." He said in a reply to Maigo's long winded introduction. As he started to turn his head to the side to take note of their environment, the water was at least ten metres behind him, and to either side were trees.

As he turned his head though, he took note of the crimson eye taken form and he felt a shiver throughout his entire body, but he stopped himself from freezing up and leapt to the right side towards the base of the nearest tree. Throwing his hand behind his back, he drew one of his scrolls, and threw it directly in front of him, allowing it to unravel completely and to conceal his form for only a second with it's slow movements.

It was all he needed.

He had applied his chakra to the tree. It was in the event of whether he'd have to make a quick escape with a substitution jutsu... His window of opportunity was closing.

His hands were revealed at that point, but he already made the hand signs -- too slow. "Unsealing: Rising Slice." He said as he brought his hand collapsing downwards from his chest area towards the ground and released the Rising Slice from the through the use of the Unsealing Technique portion of the Generic Sealing Jutsu.

WC: 676


 

Chakra: 130 / 150:

The man called out what Maigo took as his name, Satoshi said with a harsh tone, he had re-affirmed his affinity towards negativity, no matter, no one can be convinced to change their mood or stance on life with less than one conversation but for now he would have to face off against this guy. Satoshi began to look around their enviroment, Maigo would probably be smart to do the same but he already have a rough idea of his surroundings, Maigo was far more interested in what he was gonna do. It seemed he had made his plans though as he jumped back several feet towards the base of a group of trees and pull out a scroll. Maigo watched intently and commented as he jumped back, The man of many words is so quickly to jump into battle, fine with me then. and Maigo watched as he touched the tree, most likely for a substitution or maybe to set a trap, either way Maigo would have to keep note of that area or the fact that it would take two hits for Maigo to land a real blow on him. Suddenly he slammed his hands downward and water began to rush from the ground towards Maigo, his eyes followed the water heading straight towards him and moving quickly enough at that.

Maigo watched observing the water cut through the ground at any incredibly high speed, heading right for him as well. He let go of his sword and let it slide back into it's sheathe as he ran back away from it, the water still gaining on him. Keeping an eye on it from the corner of his eye he jumped up towards a tree branch and watched the water, he wondered if it would leave the ground and chase after him. Maigo did find it interesting that his first jutsu would be a jutsu that let him attack at a distance, he wondered if that's merely because he wanted to separate the two and fight a long distance battle or if he was just testing Maigo. Without any visible weapons like a sword or scythe on him, he didn't imagine that he was a weapon user unless he had one sealed away, and unless he was taijutsu proficient he imagined that he could take a close quarters battle. But how to distract him long enough to keep him from drawing a kunai or anything, well the perfect time to test out some new jutsu that would be perfect for this very thing. Maigo placed his hand on the tree and placed some chakra into it for a substitution before starting his plan into action.

Maigo started by hoping from the tree branch and leaping away from the jet of water, which would probably be crashing into and destroying the tree by this time at the very least. Forming the rat seal as he ran towards Satoshi, he began to cast his own jutsu while watching him and his movements carefully, Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique he said as he ran towards him, if he gets caught it in a swirl of leaves, grass, and dirt will surround him and his worst nightmares will come to life right before his eyes, giving Maigo the perfect chance to close the gap between them. Leaping now to the trees trying to stay away from the water he headed towards Satoshi, sword being drawn and leaping from tree to tree with the water closing in, if he wasn't careful then his attack on Satoshi might end up costing him his own detriment. Now Maigo closed the gap prepared to strike down the center of Satoshi he wondered what he would see, ready to strike him diagonally across the chest with his sword, should the water jet not reach him and should he also be able to put Satoshi under the genjutsu. There was a lot hanging on the line in his plan of attack, and now he just needed each one of his pieces to fall into line as he wondered if Sato would have anything else up his sleeve for their fight.

[697 words, 2562 words total]

Stat increases:

Chakra=125/150:

Maigo talked a lot. Too much for someone who was about to get into a battle. I mean, where did someone find all of these words to keep on going? Maybe Maigo could learn some restraint soon, it wasn't good to be as annoying as he already was, Satoshi was certain.

Satoshi watched as his first attack chased Maigo up a tree and from there, he leapt further away from the tree that he had been at. It wouldn't do to have to utilize a substitution jutsu right beside his opponent, now would it? It kind of defeated purpose he was certain, but now he was in the open, or at least, had every direction open to him instead of a tree at his back.

The young Uzumaki was a medium to long range fighter, he couldn't allow himself to be brought down so fast in the fight. But he knew his opponent was more experienced than him, it just simply came with age, because of that, he knew he was going to have to use intelligence to win here...

They were both watching each other. Except in this sense, Satoshi watched him apply his jutsu. The rat seal? Nothing happened that the young boy could see, but then it occurred to him in the back of his mind that genjutsu could always be applied here. In that moment, his hands rose upwards to his mouth, as if he were playing the trumpet, and water spewed forth coating the area in 180 degrees of water up to two meters away. When he was done, he took multiple steps backwards as the dirt and grass around him started to swirl into a vortex. His steps stopped after five, six, seven, his vision was completely taken. At that point he didn't take note of where Maigo was anymore, he didn't see him, but in that moment he was jumping into his first tree after jumping out of the first one to get away from the Rising Slice.

Leaping was probably the easiest way to keep out of range of the Rising Slice technique. If it hadn't been his opener, who knows what state he'd be in already?

The vortex was gone, but now, Satoshi's metaphysical form was back in his bedroom. Turning around in confusion he knew he had been near the Port about to fight with someone with the famed sharingan. ]i]What is this!?[/i] He exclaimed mentally as he turned towards his full-body mirror to come face to face with himself seemingly strapped down to a bed, his limbs pinned and blades slowly approaching his face...

Second tree...

He panicked, most definitely. It had even surpassed the genjutsu's mental target and was plastered on his physical face. He couldn't move, he knew he was going to die, but he also knew it wasn't happening. I can't die here. He thought to himself in shock, I have a mission. He reaffirmed to himself as the sharpest of the blades started to cut into his flesh all over his body. As he struggled the straps started to loosen, but he was still stuck fast.

I'M AN UZUMAKI! He screamed mentally, as he struggled against the metaphysical bonds and finally pulled loose.

Third tree...

His hands crashed together, he heard the sloshing of Maigo's feet on the muddy grass as he came towards him in the back of his mind. "Kai!" He cried outwards just as he began to form the ox handseal, and his kunai appeared out of the void in front of him. He wasted no time in letting himself fall backwards putting his finger in the loop at the end of the kunai and pulling it towards him as he brought it into his grasp and brought it upwards to dance off the edge of the swordman's blade, and to head straight towards his hands.

He knew the blade had cut into him, it was painful, he couldn't measure how deep, he was too slow evidently, but he knew it wouldn't have been as deep as it would've been if it hadn't been for his falling backwards and the slight deflection his kunai had performed.

WC: 726

Chakra: 95 / 150:

[/spoiler]

Maigo watched as the boy created a pseudo-water wall to prevent him from clonsing the gap, it was smart but would also be the perfect diversion for stopping or at least slowing down the wall behind him, and all he would have to do is jump over it and let the attacks run through each other. And he would still be able to deliver a blow to the boy and force out his substitution, as he jumped from the tree after casting his genjutsu, he cleared over the water now giving himself a moment to ignore the jet giving chase. Clearing it, he saw the face of the boy, the startled look and panic about him, he knew his genjutsu had been cast but he also wondered what the other person would see in his nightmare. He watched as Satoshi would use willpower and all his strength to snap out of it and try to will his way through it. The genjutsu itself would be easy to see, but it was somewhat impressive to see someone with such high will, and yet, the boy was still seemed so negative, not a great combination after all. Still heading near him, he brought his sword down trying quickly to beat Sato's timing, making contact and cutting through as he brought his kunai to end his blow short.

The point of his attack wouldn't be to seriously hurt Satoshi but to force him to play out his substitution or end their bout rather quickly. Pulling his sword back and jumping a few feet away he would wait and see if he would substitute out of it or have some other trick up his sleeve to put Maigo on the edge, otherwise this may end up being a very quick battle. Scenarios running through Maigo's mind, he debated going to try and cast another jutsu but decided to instead run back up to another tree, he had lost track of the water jet in the instance of his attack, but now he had to find it and stay away from it as well as keep Satoshi in his view as well. Maigo may have been able to get one blow in on him, but now he was on the defensive against what seemed to be a mainly long range ninjutsu specialist.

Now as he hoped from tree to tree trying to stay moving and reassess his surroundings, Maigo would wait on Satoshi to make the next move in their spar, hopefully though, Satoshi had a substitution ready and his cut wouldn't be too damaging a blow.

[437 words, 2999 words total]

[OOC: Sorry about short post, didn't want to push what I'd be able to do in one post amount of time]

Stat increases:

Chakra 120/150:

The kunai hadn't particularly been used to block the sword. It was primarily used as a deflection for himself, Satoshi to deal his own damage to Maigo in the form of cutting into his hand and probably rendering that hand useful when it came to holding the sword. It certainly shouldn't have dealt enough damage to prevent him from holding the blade, but the cut that had been formed and it's pain should be constant and annoying enough to force him to change hands. If he did, hopefully his other hand wasn't as practiced in using the weapon which could give Satoshi another small advantage in this situation.

It wasn't a big one, but anything helped in these situations...

The Rising Slice continued towards Maigo until he jumped into another tree and it stopped at his last position when he had been touching the ground. It had travelled it's full distance and served it's purpose to some small degree which Satoshi was happy with. If it wasn't for the Genjutsu...

Satoshi's teeth rubbed on each other.

From his laying down position he didn't move for a few moments, but he slowly started to raise upwards. Maigo's blade certainly hadn't cut to a point of danger. It had only gone 1/4 of an inch into his body thanks to his own reactions with his bodily movement of throwing himself backwards and deflecting the sword to some small degree. It had almost been perfect, and Satoshi pushed himself up to his feet at that point, his eyes scanning the area until they settled onto the apparent Uchiha in the tree.

His blood started to stain his shirt, but his adrenaline was pushing him past the point of immediately feeling it. He simply felt it throbbing as it pushed out small amounts of the crimson liquid. Not even close enough to be dangerous, little more than a scrape in truth, but he didn't move. He didn't want to. He had started the entire engagement with his Rising Slice, and only moments ago he had used so much chakra to simply prevent himself from giving away the position of his substitution. A necessary sacrifice to prove his superiority.

He knew what the Uchiha were to his Clan. What the other villages in the Land of Fire had done to his Clan's village. He couldn't forgive it, wouldn't forgive it. Sliding his hand into the pouch on his back, he had three shuriken in total, they'd have to do, and he pulled one out of the pouch, into his right hand whilst the kunai stayed in his left, and released the former in a sudden throw. It wasn't directly towards Maigo, it was slightly to the side of him so that if it did hit him it'd only be a small cut, more of a distraction if anything.

I need to bait him into attacking me. Besides, he doesn't even know if I actually have a substitution ready or not.

WC: 530

Jutsu Used: None, Chakra: 95/150

Maigo stood on the branch now, fully regathered his surroundings and stamina before noticing that the water jet had finally stopped chasing him around the area. Well, now he knew the limit of that jutsu should it be used against him again, now it would be to see what he did next. He guessed from his cut that he didn't actually have a substitution ready, which would lead Maigo to believe that he did have some jutsu prepared there, maybe a trap, regardless it would be important to stay away from that area that he was in, and that led to his next problem. Satoshi wasn't moving very far away from that general area, which would be smart for a long range ninja, but he was just there to deliver the strike which means that in a short range battle he should have moved. It wasn't adding up in Maigo's mind as he thought about the light blow he delivered, which in the event it was a trap would meant he had set it off so maybe he just needed to be even closer.

Tightening the grip on his sword rushed a great pain into his hand, turning down briefly he saw the cut on it, he thought he avoided the kunai but in the rush of it, it seems Satoshi was able to hit him anyways. Switching his sword into his left hand he needed to start devising a plan quickly, he was starting to learn the intellect of Satoshi might outweigh his own and that would not bode well for him no matter how much better he was in any physical sense. Blood rushed from his hand as he thought about what was going on and what he should do, when Satoshi reached in his pouch and drew several shuriken. Well, it made sense that he would stick to his long distance tactics, but he wondered what would be next after the shuriken. Watching as the projectiles headed towards him he decided the best thing to do would be to avoid them and attack from a distance, waiting for them and jumping off the branch and to the side. As he touched the ground he weighted his sword in his hand, it was a bit weird off handed but it wouldn't matter, his next attack would be enough to at least dislodge him from his spot.

Funneling chakra into the tip of his sword he let it out in two bursts of chakra in the shape of a crescent, sharing the shape of an X and aimed directly for Satoshi, it would either force him to move and destroy the trap in the tree or further push his abilities to deflect or block the attack. The crescents would head straight towards him with only a few feet seperating them, at their speed, he would be forced to dodge them or to deal with them both together. Standing back where he let the crescents go, he would stay there and wait for the boy to respond to the attacks before he would take off and attack again, or cast anymore jutsu without seeing what he was really up to.

[535 words, 3534 words total]

Stat increases:

Chakra 100/150:

It seemed that for a moment neither were going to move, they were both testing each other, to see who was going to move first, to wait out the other's next attack. It was sort of like a mexican standoff without the mexicans or the firearms, but Satoshi didn't take that into account, he didn't have a chance too because Maigo was already moving.

He's still fast. He thought to himself, already taking note of how he had swapped hands for his sword. Good. That's good. He thought to himself, but there was no time for thought anymore. He knew Maigo wouldn't throw his sword, so it had to be a wind attack, right? It was a well known fact that Uchiha were primarily Katon users, but he knew his Suiton would be able to douse that fire easily, but his mind was working in overdrive at this point.

He had already determined the wind was lethal when they had been released from the tips of the swords, so he took a single step forwards towards them.

I can't tell if he's in it!

He willed himself to activate the substitution jutsu just as the first wind slash hit him, and then his torso disappeared in an explosion of smoke but a log appeared and dropped to the floor in his spot with a gouge through it, but the second one was still coming and it was heading straight for him at the foot of the tree...

He leapt upwards, and once he hit the peak of his jump, he pushed off the tree and went through multiple handseals. He went through the air above Maigo as soon as the blue-white ropes were released from either of his hands above Maigo. But, instead of utilizing both to wrap around Maigo, he released the lone tendril to the ground that he was standing on. The ground that was soaked from his water trumpet. The lightning would no doubt spread to him rather quickly, and the fact that he had returned to the ground proved that he had forgotten about the damp ground. Would his reaction be slow to the missed rope? It had also been apart of his plan, the rope was far enough away for it to not even be relevant, and the fact that the other one was actually heading towards him was going to prove as a problem...

He could only hope his plan worked in this situation.

WC: 432

Chakra: 75/150:

A substitution? Maigo thought to himself, I should've seen that coming, it was never a trap. He watched briefly as Satoshi weaved hand signs through the air for whatever his next jutsu was. As he flew through the air watching intently towards Maigo, he knew he only had seconds to react, he readied his sword intent on countering, in some way, whatever Satoshi threw out next. Maigo watched as ropes of blue and white would shoot out towards him, A lightning technique too, on top of the water jutsu as well? and that is when it struck Maigo, all the water on the ground and the technique headed for him, Satoshi was smart in that he was about to fry Maigo right out of his own shoes. He would watch the ropes fly towards him, even if he jumped he would still get caught and dragged to the ground where a very painful experience would await him, his strategy would have to come from outside of his person. It clicked thereafter, and he tightened his grip on his sword in his offhand and watched as one rope hit the ground in front of him, sending bolts of blue white all throughout the ground, and another rope grabbed onto his leg and kept him from running too far off.

His plan was to take it and instead, find a place where he could maneuver away from out of the water and away from the lightning. He figured his best bet would be, again, up in the branches of a tree since the amount of water soaked into the ground was tough to decipher thanks to him running around with the water jet chasing him all over their battle ground. It would be dangerous now for him to step onto ground that he wasn't sure of, and something he would keep in mind as the rope grabbed him and bolts of electricity would begin to attack from his feet and his body. In a puff of smoke and a poof, he used his substitution to escape the technique, it appears they both thought that the jutsu would come in handy, and they both pushed their strategies out of each other before using it. Now standing above in the tree where he placed his substitution, a hole for a logged carved out of the bottom, the smoke would clear to reveal a log the size of his torso and Maigo carefully watching to see what the boy would do from there.

Before waiting for the boy to make his next move, it became apparently clear that Maigo needed to cast another jutsu and start taking the tactical advantage of their situation, beginning to weave signs for another jutsu. Weaving the signs, Rat-> Snake-> Bird-> Monkey as quickly as his injured hand would let him, as an illusory clone would take over Maigo's real presence on the battlefield, Satoshi would be able to tell no different and have to snope the real Maigo out. Maigo would stay standing on the tree until otherwise force to move and let his fake clone put Satoshi on the defensive as soon as his Raiton juts had ended. He would send the illusion Maigo from branch to branch, trying to entice Satoshi to take their fight away from the soaked areas and then, with a barrage of physical attacks, keep him on the defensive. Now, Maigo would just have to wait for his genjutsu to take hold and wait for Satoshi to begin to engage the illusion.

[592 words, 4126 words total]

Stat Increases:

Chakra 75/150:

Maigo watched as his log was sent towards him, his real presence jumped back from the tree to the ground to avoid the log, landing on the ground behind it, he would manifest the image of himself jumping to other branches entirely though into Satoshi's mind. He wondered if he would follow after the clone or if he would notice something off quickly before he could really change the momentum of the battle. But it mattered not as Satoshi's attention appeared to follow after the manifestation of Maigo on his mind. Releasing his lightning restraint jutsu but refusing to follow Maigo away from the battlefield, but instead jumping back and creating even more distance between them. It was interesting to say the least, as Maigo had his illusion jump over the damp ground, keep the ruse going for the sake of making things appear normal, while Maigo himself maneuvered around to keep his eye on the fight and wait for an opening. Satoshi tossing some shuriken through his clone and then entering into a flurry of close combat with the mental manifestation. It appeared that he hadn't noticed the shuriken pass by with no affect, or payed no attention as his image began to berate him with a combination of strikes.

It was after he became seemingly desperate that he formed two clones along side him, it was a nice tactic but he had seen it used before in this exact scenario in his fight with Ryota, he knew that taking the clones on would give him away and reveal that something was truly amiss. The next thing would be to decide what type of clones these were, he had already shown great promise and skill in using his ninjutsu, so it wouldn't be too far off to say they were shadow clones or some element clone, it would be best to keep under the guise of the genjutsu and strike from the shadows. Then three clones shot out from the tree behind them and began to search out the nearby trees, most likely searching for a disturbance or change in the environment to pick out Maigo, or force him to eliminate one of the clones and reveal his general location. Something he wouldn't fall for so easily. The last two clones that were already known jumped towards Maigo's illusion, he decided to take advantage of the opportunity and re-commence his barrage on Satoshi, completely ignoring the clones, he knew when the attacked the fake Maigo he would be given away, so up to his best ability he would draw his sword and begin to pressure Satoshi while he waited for the clones to make another move. In the meantime, Maigo would escape the search of the other clones by staying on the ground and moving slowly and quietly towards the back of Satoshi, soon he would begin a real barrage and push him even further into the defensive.

Once Maigo would get into postition he would time his real attacks opposite that of his clones, should the clone make a stab with his sword, Maigo would make a real slash from his rear, or just in generally attack in the gaps of the illusion he projected onto Satoshi's mind. Fatigue was beginning to set in quickly the longer he kept expending his chakra and keeping this battle going, now he would press on his opponent and hopefully put this battle to an end soon.

[583 words, 4709 words total]

Stat increases:

70/150 Chakra:

Satoshi was beginning to become aware of his depleting chakra source. As the fight dragged on longer, so did it's toll on Satoshi's physical and mental state. In truth, he hadn't expected it to be going on for as long as this, but deep down, he was kind of enjoying it.

While he soared through the air, he took note of his two shuriken on the ground and he frowned before he momentarily recalled how his shuriken hadn't in fact pierced Maigo, but had simply passed through him.

This genjutsu is persistent. He thought to himself, as the trio landed, but instead of engaging the 'Maigo Clone,' he allowed his own clones to engage with it, which soon turned into a fight of fists and kicks passing through each other.

When it began, Satoshi grunted in his own disappointment and angered directed at himself for actually having fallen for a genjutsu... Again. So he employs long range to get into close range. Maigo was most probably one of the strongest counters to the Uzumaki's own power, but he knew he couldn't let the Uchiha win. He simply wasn't going to give up.

After regathering his shuriken, he remained in a crouched position, as he began to disrupt his own chakra flow. In the distance his three clones continued to search, and he willed them away. His two remaining clones however he wanted them to keep the 'Maigo Clone' preoccupied, if that was even possible as he gathered his chakra. He couldn't be distracted by the genjutsu, so he had employed his own trick to distract Maigo.

The clones.

"Kai." He muttered and dispelled his clones in the same moment that the genjutsu dissipated. What Satoshi hadn't noticed was how close the clones had got to him, and when the 'Maigo Clone' had begun stabbed towards his forehead, he disappeared.

But then it was too late!

His hand slid around his body to his own ninja pouch and grasping the kunai, he not only heard, but he was starting to be pushed downwards as the real Maigo's sword started to cut through his gourd, and with wide eyes he twisted around, in hopes of pulling Maigo with the sword and thrusted forwards at his hopefully passing body with the kunai into his centre mass.

So many thoughts passed through his mind as he moved. He wasn't going to allow some Uchiha to damage his gourd gifted to him by his father. As much as he resented both the Uchiha and his father, it was still a gift, and gifts became your possessions. The gourd was practically apart of him, and he knew it was damaged when the water had already began to spill forth from the gourd.

WC: 476

Chakra: 25/150:

Approaching the boy closely he watched him carefully considering all that was happening around him, his clones headed towards where Maigo's implementation would be. He watched him carefully as Maigo had his own illusion take his sword and pierce through his shoulder, the grimace of pain as he brought his hands together to weave a sign and yell Kai as he broke through it. He imagined there would be a sweet sigh of relief as the pain from earlier blows and the imaginary sword hitting him would be gone from his mind, now only fatigue would be taking him, and he imagined it would be hitting him hard soon. After all, it was taking a huge toll on Maigo, and with the boy having cast several ninjutsu techniques and using Kai twice now, he had to be near his absolute limit.

As Maigo closed the gap, he saw the boy fumble around in his pouch, probably reaching for another weapon, Maigo had his weaker hand on his sword, doing his best to draw it forth as the boy also did. His sharingan would give him a huge advantage as he watched things unfold in front of him, his sword made contact with his gourd and began to cut into it, he wildly twisted around as the sword would slide from the gourd and he brought his good hand up. The boy had twisted and was flashing a kunai aimed directly at Maigo's core, he watched as it came towards him, he knew that it would cause some serious damage if he were hit by that. Watching the scenario carefully, he brought his good hand and arm forward to intercept the kunai, thrusting it downwards with all his speed to keep it away from him.

At the same time, Maigo would bring his sword around in a wide arc, the pain from the cut on his hand prevented him from moving it as quickly as he wanted it to, and slightly slower than his hand trying to thrust down the kunai. Should he defend and grab hold of Satoshi, he would bring his blade to rest on his shoulder, the bladed end pointed up. Out of breathe and panting like no one could imagine he would try to draw a close to their fight, his body had had enough and he was sure his opponent had as well. Well, I think this has gone on long enough, for a simple spar it got pretty intense back there. If you're done I think I am to, we can call it a draw! he would say smiling, waiting for the boy's response. Assuming he got to there he imagined that the boy would take him up on his offer, otherwise Maigo might end up passed out from fatigue and him along with him.

[474 words, 5183 words total]

Stat Increases:

Chakra 65/150:

Yasutake remained where he was on the ground. He had never been pushed this far in a duel, and he was certain the same could be said for Maigo. Although he knew that Maigo wasn't as far pushed as he was. When it came to hiding emotions and concealing how he really felt, Yasu was one of the best around, but when you were pushed this far and still conscious, well, you just had to give credit.

When his hand that had been holding the kunai was pushed down, it had been planted into the ground and he couldn't find the energy to redirect it, so he simply let it almost go hilt deep in, with his hand still around the hilt just holding onto it tightly. He knew that if he let go of the kunai, it'd be a long time until he woke up again. In his state? He needed a hospital, preferably soon he figured when he reached up and touched the wound on his chest from the beginning of the fight.

Looking out of his peripherals he watched the sword on his shoulder and after he had replaced the kunai into his ninja pouch, he pushed the sword off of his shoulder as he slowly rose to his feet, trembling ever so slightly as he regained his balance.

The gourd was destroyed, but he figured that he wasn't going to have much use for it. It was mostly used for water anyway. He pulled the gourd off of his back, and he noticed that it was near the top that had been cut into, so he shoved his hand in between both folds and tore off the top whee the fresh water was.

He put his hands into the gourd and when he gathered the handful of water he splashed his face and rose up to his feet again.

...

He stared at Maigo as he slipped his hands into his pockets as his eyelids drooped and seemed only half-lidded, the perfect apathetic gaze, and he nodded his head to Maigo.

"A draw then."

--EXIT THREAD--

WC: 352
TWC: 5397

Training Speed from D2 to D3.

Training Speed D2 > D3 | 5387 Words - 450 Words = 4947 Words Left

Training Reaction Time E3 > D3 | 4947 Words - 1475 Words = 3472 Words Left

Training Strength E3 > D2 | 3472 Words - 1025 Words = 2447 Words Left

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Additional Word Count shall be used for two C-Rank jutsu training.

The boy pushed the sword away and off his shoulder, not saying a word as he gather himself. Maigo let go of his wrist and sheathed the sword as well, he watched as the boy ripped the top off his gourd and stuck his hands in it to gather some water and splash his face, probably to clean it off or help him re-gather himself. As he stood back up and stuffed his hands into his pocket, doing his damnedest to hide his sense of fatigue, it seemed like it was more for his pride than to not show weakness or some weird profound irrationality like that. Giving Maigo an apathetic gaze, he nodded and spoke rather quietly when he did so, "A draw then." It seemed he was done with their little spar, Maigo barely able to stand, he had never had his chakra pushed this far down, he felt nearly empty, he wondered how the boy felt even though he kept his composure so well.

A draw it is, but you're not bad yourself. I hope we get another chance to go at it, at least one of these days. he waved towards the boy as he walked to grab his bag again from the tree beyond their battlefield. His fatigue kept him from running to his reading spot though, this time he would just shuffle his feet back home, dragging each painful and lingering step. A bloody hand to go along with it, he probably should have taken care of that before now, but the blood had mostly dried up and the would wasn't bleeding seriously anymore. The sun high in the sky now after a very tough morning, he hadn't expected to have been worked so hard on his day off. But he was glad he met the boy, he now had some more experience against others in battle, and he might even see him in the upcoming Chuunin exams. Reminding Maigo he needed to hurry up and get everything ready so that he could leave for those, now hurrying home to get himself cleaned up and finished packing.

[357 words, 5540 words total]

[Exit Thread]

Training: