Spoiler:

Aiden would be making his way to where he would be told that the Taijutsu Master would be waiting. It was early in the morning, and the blue-haired Genin would be both excited and dreading this experience. On one hand, he knew he was almost thrice as strong as he was when he escaped, and that being one that isn't the type to back down, he wouldn't shy away from this challenge, but then again, he also didn't want to spend the rest of the day in a hospital just because he was cocky enough to think that out of the Genin in the village he figured he would be tough enough to fight this man. All in all he would rather lounge around all day today and feel the warm, dry wind on his face rather than the rock hard punch of a Taijutsu master.

The location in which this battle would go down would be at a place called "The Grand Coliseum", which from what he heard from Zaiaku would be a large coliseum consisting of four separate sections, each which could be customized for the battle. This is a good thing as, since he wasn't going to fight the man in the street or anywhere else of the sort, he can arrive barefoot and not have to worry about dealing with broken glass. He also received a description of the master as well; A tall, broad-shouldered man with an intimidating glare and spiked blonde hair on top of his head. From what the Genin learned, the man stood at slightly over six feet tall and wore a black and gray fur coat like a cloak over his purple collared shirt and even darker blue pants, with leather straps on his thighs. Just by looking at the imposing man one could see the years of training it took him to master the physical art, or at least from what Aiden had heard, and it was enough for him to get second thoughts for part of the trip.

Reaching a street corner, Aiden would look at the map that was drawn out for him. Despite it being rather crude, as Zaiaku didn't really seem like the greatest drawer around, he still could just make out that he was on the right path to the coliseum, and it should only be a few more turns and blocks until he can see it for himself. While he observed the map, however, he would immediately jump in surprise as he felt something hard lightly tap the back of his neck. Turning around, he would come face-to-face with a friendly, wrinkled face. That of an elderly man. "Hello there, son." The elderly male would say as Aiden would look at him, examining him and wondering who the heck he was. The man seemed to have his eyes closed and would offer a friendly smile, one that seemingly would be comforting at face value, but would make one slightly uneasy, just enough for it to leave a weird feeling on the back of Aiden's neck.

He would wear a black open-collared cloak that would cover his upper body and most of his thighs. This cloak would have an red trim whose design consisted of a vertical line with multiple circular shapes lined vertically along it, an odd design indeed. His hands would creep out the middle of the cloak, resting on an odd looking dark grey cane, one that had multiple, seemingly useless screws driven into the head of it. From the part of his cloak that would be parted Aiden could only make note that he would be wearing a long-sleeved shirt, one that would have the same grey-base and black trim design of his pants, almost as if it was a uniform of some sort. He would be wearing a pair of dark-purple shoes with a white trim running down the middle of them.

"I was hoping you would know where the coliseum is, boy. I'm hoping to see what the Genin of this generation can do against Akihiro." The man would say in a friendly tone of voice. Aiden, still taken off guard by how the man looked and the in general oddity in which he had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Surely the Genin was perceptive enough to know if someone is around him at this moment. Still giving the man a suspicious look, especially at the fact that, as far as he knew, civilians shouldn't really know that a Taijutsu Master is waiting in the coliseum to test out some mere Genin. Either way, however, he would shrug off his suspicion for now, instead exhaling deeply before giving his tired look from before, looking directly into the closed eyes of the old man. "I just so happen to be heading there. You can come with me if you want." He would say in response as he would begin to turn around, walking back on the path to the coliseum.

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The gigantic structure would soon enough be in sight as the two walked in silence. Aiden would spend this time looking behind him as he heard the light tapping of the cane along the hard ground, lightly tapping around in front of the old man, as if trying to make out if there are any obstacles in front of him. This would make the Genin assume the man must be blind, or really uncoordinated, which prompted him to every once in a while call out with a "over here" or a "hey" whenever they made a turn or a shortcut as a means to make sure the old man didn't end up walking away from him. It still made the Genin uneasy, though, as the old man seemingly came out of nowhere and, despite being blind and clearly making noise now, he was able to silently sneak up on Aiden before. There is also the question on how the old man knew what the master's name is, which is information even he didn't receive. The Genin felt that if he would suddenly break the ice and ask the old man anything as they were reaching their destination, it would be this.

"Who is Akihiro anyways, old man?" Aiden would ask the blind man, whom of which seemingly chuckled lightly in response. "I'm surprised you never heard of him. He is one of the Taijutsu Masters that comes by every once in a while to see the progress of the village's Genin and get a feel for how strong they are becoming. Akihiro just so happened to be a Taijutsu Specialist that came from Sunagakure, but received special permission to travel around and be independent from the village itself." Receiving his answer, Aiden would think back to his own exit from Sunagakure. During the entirety of his time here the village seemed to be more ruled by gangs and drug cartels rather than an actual Kage. That's not to say there aren't any Shinobi around, it's just that generally the job starts and ends with a mission board or some guard duty these days, and a lot of these missions involves only watching and reporting a crime, rather than stopping it.

Reaching the entryway into the third smaller area of the coliseum, Aiden would look back to the old man. "I reached my stop. The audience seats shouldn't be too far from here if you want to watc- I mean, listen to the fight, old man." Aiden would almost wince as he nearly told a blind person that they can watch the fight. Luckily for himself, he was trying to act less idiotic than usual, and was able to actually stop himself before he said something that could have offended his temporary companion. He would keep the uneasy feeling this man gave him when he would receive a silent smile and nod in response as the old man would turn around, walking away to seemingly find out where the audience sits. "Knock em dead, boy." The blind man would tell Aiden as the Genin would look away from him, looking towards the entryway, where he would take a step forward, open the door, and enter.

Entering a partially unlit room, Aiden could only assume the coliseum isn't actually open to the public yet, meaning the blind man from before most likely will not be allowed in, which is good for Aiden, whom of which would be seemingly creeped out by the elderly man. Taking a few deep breaths, he reviewed the appearance of the master he was given, trying to think of a good way to approach his attack. He could only assume he would get crushed if he tried for a head-on attack, but perhaps he could instead Begin the substitution technique, luring the man into close quarters only for him to get caught mid-attack, where the Genin would be able to use his Gunshot on the back of the man's head. It shouldn't kill a Taijutsu master like him, but it should make him have a big enough headache for the Genin to go for the win, or at least not get beaten to a pulp. Nodding to himself while making a small "Mph" sound, he would go for the entrance into the arena itself, walking through the doors and back into the sunlight, only to be surprised.

The arena would be completely empty, with no environment in sight. Instead it would just be sand underneath the Genin's feet and a lone cactus or two, obviously imitating a desert setting, though that wouldn't be what surprised Aiden. Instead it would be the what was supposed to be buff monstrosity standing in the middle of the arena, only instead of the blonde man with spikey hair it would be an all too familiar blind man. Looking around at first, Aiden had to see if this would be some kind of joke that's being played on him. He would nearly say something along the lines of "All right Zai, nice joke but come on out already." though before he could even consider that he would be looking right back at the blind man, whom of which would already be seemingly closer to the Genin, only standing around four meters away. "Boy, my name is Akihiro, and I will be testing your prowess." He would hear the friendly-looking man announce as he would toss away his cane, the object landing in the sand, becoming partially covered.

"Wait, what? I thought you were blind? Also, what kind of joke is thi-" Before he could finish asking what came to his mind, however, Aiden would immediately bring both of his hands forward, pushing against the fist that would be attempting to drive itself directly into his gut, making the Genin get knocked into the air and backwards around a meter away from the old man, whom of which changed his smile from a friendly smile to a smug smirk, his eyes partially open, revealing two grey piercing eyes. "Good reflexes, boy, though you shouldn't take appearances for granted." Aiden would hear as he saw the old man lung forwards again, this time spinning around, his leg acting as a hammer as it attempted to crash into the side of the Genin's head. Aiden would roll forwards, lowering himself to go underneath the old man, though when he turned around to react he would see that Akihiro quickly recovered, bringing his other foot directly into the Genin's chest, knocking the wind out of him as he sent him backwards again, where he would fall backwards, landing on his back another meter away.

"How disappointing, and here I thought the Sand had talented Shinobi." The old man would taunt as he slowly moved towards where the Genin laid. "Don't tell me you're already finishe-" Just like what he had done to the younger male just before, he would receive an interruption of his own in return as the Genin would sit up, forming a Tiger hand-sign and firing two water balls, one that went directly towards the old man and another that would fly past his left arm, hitting a cactus behind him. The old man would merely step to the side, allowing the water bullet to just fly past him, lunging directly at Aiden right as it had passed. Aiden himself would just finished performing the Boar, Ox, Dog, and Snake hand-signs, creating a puff of smoke where the old man attempted to bring his fist towards the boy's cheek, and when it had cleared, the sharp needles of a cactus along with the torn green body of it would be in the Genin's place, injuring the old man's hand slightly as he would rip the cactus off with ease, plucking out the thick needles as he turned around, seeing the Genin, whom of which would be breathing slightly heavier than before as he stared at Akihiro, his right hand lightly bleeding from when he replaced himself with the cactus, whose attachment with the rest of itself was weakened by the water bullet.

"Hmm." The old man would say as his smug smirk remained, though would show a faint hint of interest as he remained in that two meter distance between the two of them. Immediately the Taijutsu Master would once more charge towards Aiden, whom of which would in response form the Dragon, Rat, Horse, and Tiger hand-signs. Suspicious of what would come next, Akihiro would rip off his black cloak, stopping a few feet away from the Genin as he would toss it up in the position he would be in the moment, instead leaning behind it just in time to avoid the sharpened end of his can from striking him where his shoulder would've been. As the cloak flew away with the tossed cane, Akihiro would then use his right palm to parry the pair of claws that was attached to Aiden's right hand, knocking it away and, as a counter, would grab his wrist, using his strength to pull Aiden off guard, bringing him onto the his back, laying on the ground, with Akihiro himself still holding onto his right wrist with his left hand. As he kept a hold onto it, Akihiro would place his right foot just on top of the boy's tail, his right fist poised to strike the Genin in the face should he resist.

Aiden would lay there, breathing heavily from the adrenaline that rushed from the sudden altercation. He still had his left hand, he could still do this! He looked at his right hand, though just from seeing his shoulder's begin to move he would feel a bony fist strike him in the left cheek. "I win." The master would merely say as Aiden would continue glaring at him, breathing heavily, though after a few long, agonizing moments, he would let out a heavy sigh, closing his eyes and nodding. Getting off of the downed Genin, Akihiro would begin to turn away from him. "You still have a far way to go, but you weren't as bad as I thought you were going to be. Now leave, you completed your mission." He would say rather sternly. Aiden would be angry at this moment. Angry at himself, at the Taijutsu Master, and at the mission as a whole, though because he knew he wouldn't be able to take it out on this man, he begrudgingly obeyed, getting up off of the ground and making his way towards the entrance into the area, leaving it.

[Mission Complete]

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