Oberon awoke with the rising sun, today was the day he had been waiting for. Five days ago he met a girl by the name of Nozomi who helped him in the training of ranged attacks, and she said she would teach him some more skills. He had been waiting continuing his training as well as making sure his body was well rested as she instructed, he knew that she was going to push him far beyond his limits as she had done the last time so he was not going to take any chances and followed her instructions in full. Oberon looked at the clock after getting out of the shower, "Damn" he said as he saw that it was only seven thirty in the morning. They were not suppose to meet up until noon, but he was too excited for his training to just sit there and wait for noon to arrive so he decided he would head there early and get some practice in as he waited for his sensei. If he had never met Nozomi he would have never even considered calling someone around his age a sensei, but if it was not for her he would not have been able to grasp ranged fighting as quickly as he had. He was both honored and grateful to the girl for teaching him, and so he would gladly call her a sensei.

After he made sure he had all of his gear, Oberon tied his headband to his left arm and headed out the door heading for the training grounds. As he walked down the streets his mind raced with the possibilities of what was in store for him in his training with Nozomi, she said she was going to teach him more but she did not specify exactly what she had planned for him. The unknown possibilities probably excited the young man more than the training itself, but the fact remained that he was going to be learning from someone he had a high respect for despite having only met her the one time five days ago. He stopped and grabbed a bite to eat along the way, knowing that he was going to need all the strength he could get for his training today. When he arrived at the training grounds he knew it was not noon yet so he took out his Dao and began practicing as he waited for his sensei to arrive. This was a much better way of waiting for noon than just sitting at his house he thought as he continued practicing, he made sure not to move too strenuously so he did not get worn out before Nozomi even arrived. He hoped his sensei would be happy with his improvement over the past five days since they had seen each other, he had been working hard on improving his skills so that he could perform better and even last longer in their training. As he continued his sword movement he grabbed a shuriken from his pouch and threw it at the target across from him, hitting the target right next to the bulls-eye. "Damn, got to do better than that" he said as he grabbed another shuriken and threw it as he continued practicing with his Dao. This time the shuriken hit right in the bulls-eye, that's better he thought with a smile forming on his face.

Oberon would continue practicing with his Dao and would occasionally throw a shuriken at one of the three targets over a set period of time as he waited for Nozomi to arrive at noon.

---

605

Nozomi had arrived rather early to the scheduled training session, having wondered whether or not Oberon would show up early. The thing was, with her Camelio suit's ability, she was easily able to avoid any sort of detection that this young shinobi would be able to accomplish with his current level of skill. The Camelio suit was a rather interesting device, one that Nozomi had taken from Syn after a particularly destructive match between the two of them, and in honesty, would have been able to best her had she not already gotten off an attack on him. The blood drops and the smell of burnt flesh was plenty to allow her to know his location. But Oberon was not a top tier Hunter-nin shinobi, and couldn't be expected to tell she was around at all in any regards.

She walked around, observing his training which was obviously some sort of warm up regimen before she 'arrived'. In honesty, the entire purpose of this was to gauge a few different things from him: His level of skill and comfortability in combat, his gains in physical potential, and his movement and fighting style. Watching him practice early gave her a more intimate knowledge into how he did things, and would allow her to better tailor her mentoring to suit him the best. She'd gathered up a few loaner weapons, and wanted to know what the best choices to compliment his current style would be. The way he moved the Dao around suggested that a more fluid range of attacks would be the best. Since it was a top heavy weapon that wanted to continue moving even after swung, Nozomi came to the conclusion that a longer weapon such as a quarterstaff or spear would be the best to teach first.

Of the two, the Yari would be the better choice, as most of the moves that could be done with a Yari could be replicated with a quarterstaff, but a Yari had more stopping power with the blade. It was much more versatile, considering it had an end that could deal bladed damage as well as a blunted end, but even the bladed edge could be utilized in such a way that it would still be blunted.

Other than that, Nozomi was a hard believer in using weapons that were a bit on the unorthodox side. It was a common sense thing to be able to utilize unpredictable weapons in order to get an edge up in combat. She would also teach him in the art of Onojutsu, as it was unpredictable, and many people weren't used to it. She herself was well versed in it, but didn't often utilize it, preferring her short Tanto blades or taijutsu when engaging an opponent, as it kept her closer and more able to manipulate the fight to her whim.

And finally, she would also select Kyujutsu for him to learn. This extended from their previous conversation, as she wanted to get him more practice in ranged combat. It was a good skill to have in any circumstance, but for today, her training would be relegated to close ranged combat. She would have to focus the most on Sojutsu. It was something that she'd been taught by Sero, and her reasons for learning it still applied. She'd chosen it for herself since it gave so much potential variety in a fight that it was almost like a different specialization in and of itself. Holding in the middle gave two attacking sides for quick strikes. It could be held farther away to keep someone at range. There's a lot that it allowed, but that was something she'd actually let Oberon figure out on his own.

After a while, she ended the camouflage ability of the Camelio suit and popped into vision. Two spears were in her hands, easily identified as little more than training tools, and had blunted edges on the blades of the spear. They would still hurt if hit by them, but the likelihood of being able to slice someone to ribbons was completely removed. "Hey Oberon. Heads up!" she said, tossing one of the spears to him in the middle of one of his sword sequences. Situational awareness was a must. Even she struggled with tunnel vision at times, but that was one of her major flaws, and she'd been working on it. If he lost himself in practice now, that was fine, but she'd train that habit out of him even as she worked on it herself. Either that, or he was prepared for it, which would be a pleasant surprise. If he already had the skill, it would be a good thing to train and keep keen.

Decked out in a standard Jounin outfit, Nozomi wasn't really wearing anything special, having left most of her gear at home other than a single Tanto and her senbon. She was out for a specific reason today, and didn't want to be bothered with gearing up. Her jutsu would be enough if any horrific situation came up. Without the weights on her though, she felt much lighter, and she'd been debating getting rid of them. They were a good thing to have on occasion, but with her speed as it was now, she didn't think they were necessary anymore to help her deal with more dangerous threats. She was already reaching the limits of her speed, and the weights were going to be more restrictive than they were a boon in the near future.

Gripping the other training Yari in her left hand, Nozomi would simply smile at Oberon. "I know you're good with basic Bukijutsu. There's little application I can teach you in this manner, you already know basic forms and stances, and they translate well. Remember to keep your footing, it's the most important part of learning any new weapon." Motioning to a man who had been practicing not too far away, she handed him the Yari. "I arranged a match for you, you're going to learn how to wield it through experience. This is Rintaka, a recently promoted Chuunin. He's got some moderate skills and should make for a good training partner for you. I'll observe from the sidelines and throw in my commentary, but to be honest, with Sojutsu, there's little I'm going to need to do. I think it'll suit the style you've already got from your Dao."

Rintaka would take the yari and spin it around, testing the weight and feeling the weapon's arc. It was weighted just as an actual one would be, and felt fine to him. Coming to rest in a defensive stance, he would hold the weapon with its point downward, and the butt end up above his head, hands positioned near the middle and at the end respectively.

WC: 1139
TWC: 1139

Rintaka's stats:
Strength : E-3
Speed : D-1
Endurance : D-2
Perception : C Rank
Reaction Time : C Rank

Oberon was taken a little off guard by the sudden appearance of Nozomi, followed quickly by the tossing of the spear however he still managed to catch it in his off hand. Just barely. He was not sure how long she had been standing there, though it seemed as if she just appeared out of thin air. One second he had been alone and the next she was standing there watching him, had he been so distracted by his pre training that he did not notice she had arrived? It was doubtful but yet possible, he could of sworn he had kept his surroundings in his mind and had constantly been checking the entry way for the training ground and yet she appeared without him seeing her approach. "I did not hear you approach" Oberon said as he quickly put his dao away and then listened as Nozomi explained what was going to happen, she had set up a spar with someone who would be considered closer to his level that she was. "I understand" he said after Nozomi had finished talking, although he was not sure on the spear considering how small the blade was and how long the handle was compared to the swords that he was use to. He had been expecting to learn a different technique or two or some kind of new move, but learning to use an entirely new weapon was definitely not on his list of how he thought today was going to go. Of course he assumed this was for two reasons one was so that she could actually observe him for an outside point of view, and two was to actually test his skills against someone of almost equal footing. The other boy who she had introduced as Rintaka had just recently been promoted to chuunin, Oberon remembered the conversation they had in their last training session about the possibility of a genin being able to out match a chuunin and he figured this was more than just a spar or training in a new weapon it was also a test to see how well his skills have improved since last they met.

Oberon was not sure exactly what to do, however he watched as Rintaka spun and tested it before coming to rest in a stance that reminded Oberon of the general defensive stance that he learned from his father, with the only difference being the fact that he was holding the weapon with two hands and his stance was slightly lower than the standard for sword fighting. It was clear to Oberon that this man knew how to use the spear much more than he himself did, however if what Nozomi had said was true he should be able to pick it up easily. Oberon mimicked the man spinning the spear in his hands trying to get a feel for it, however he ended up embarrassing himself when it fell to the ground. He quickly bent down to pick it up before trying to loosen himself up and readying himself for the spar with his training partner, he was unsure how this was going to go but he was slightly relieved by the fact that the spears did not look sharp though he could imagine that it would hurt if he got hit by it. "I am ready when you are" Oberon said to both the man and Nozomi as he gripped the spear with one hand towards the center and the other at the end as the man was, with the point of the spear facing the man and waited for Nozomi to give the go for the fight to start.

When Nozomi gives the go ahead Oberon would lunge forward at the man jabbing towards the man, if the man were to knock the jab attack away, which he assumed he would given the experience level of the man, then he would follow the direction of the way the man deflects the spear spinning and then bringing the spear back down in a downward slice diagonal across the man. Oberon's plan was to keep the man on the defense for the simple fact he was unsure of the good it would do to block something with a stick, even if it was made for combat, wood breaks to easily for him to trust it against the tip of his opponents spear even if it was dulled.

---

1345

She offered a small smile and a wink as Oberon expressed his inability to hear her approach. Of course, he had no way of knowing that she was a Hunter-nin Captain, and specialized in this sort of thing. Not only that, but most Jounin could appear in a flash without a genin knowing. Still, it was a small thing for her to do, especially with the Camelio suit. She would have otherwise just observed from a distance or stayed in his blind spots the entire time she was around. Still, the point wasn't to test him on being able to see her or find her, so it didn't really matter all that much. She wouldn't expect many people were able to do that, let alone a genin.

As they both took their stance, Nozomi watched the two's forms. They weren't anything particularly special, and she saw a few flaw points in Rintaka's form, but that didn't matter. He wasn't perfect, and that's why she'd chosen him in this instance. It was too hard for her to leave flaws in her form, as she had it ingrained to not leave openings if she could avoid it. Even lowering herself to his level, she was simply far too skilled to fight on even footing in a spar. Rintaka though, was still learning, but had a basic understanding of Sojutsu already, and would make an excellent partner. Even if he ended up winning against Oberon, the genin would still end up learning, and so would Rintaka. It was a win win situation.

Still, it was a funny thing, watching Oberon try and emulate Rintaka's form. He was obviously trying to learn by copying, but the two's fighting style was more than likely a different one. Since he wasn't familiar with the weapon, it went clattering to the ground as he tested a spin in order to gauge weight, and Nozomi stifled a laugh. It wouldn't do to embarrass him before the fighting even began, he's go on tilt and set himself up for defeat. Still, it was a funny thing to see. She remembered when she was a genin, and in honesty, she'd have tore him apart if she was fighting him where he was now. She came from a clan that specialized in close quarters combat, and her tutoring had put her well above most genin. She'd demolished the Chuunin Exams fights she'd had until Kaekio, and couldn't bring herself to fight her girlfriend, but she'd have done well in that fight, she was sure of it.

"Alright, begin." Nozomi said, stepping back to watch the situation and gauge their individual levels. Oberon took the first strike, something to try and catch Rintaka off guard, but he seemed to be expecting it. He was a defensive fighter, tended to go more for counters than take the offensive himself, but Oberon seemed to be the contrast. He took offensively and was looking to overwhelm his opponent with an excellent offense. It was a good matchup. Smiling to herself, Nozomi watched the two's spar with vague interest. Both of them would be good shinobi one day.

Rintaka saw the jab coming in, and moved his spear to the left, pushing the incoming weapon to the side. His shove successful, Rintaka began his counter, but had to bring his weapon back in to block before he could strike, as Oberon had used the momentum of the push to fuel a spin and bring the weapon back around for another strike. Catching the strike with the shaft of his weapon perpendicular to Oberon's, Rintaka crossed his hands without letting go, twisting his spear so the butt end of it would knock into Oberon's side if he didn't disengage. His ability came in his reaction time being faster than most, but he didn't have a lot of power behind his strikes. The spear was a good tool for him, since it allowed him to batter in fast attacks from a distance, and deal a quantity of blows, adding up to strikes that a stronger person would be able to do in one hit.

The main issue he was facing was that Oberon was only a little bit slower than he was, but quite a bit stronger. Even blocking the diagonal strike, Rintaka was barely able to stop it, and it was taking momentum out of his own return strikes, as he had to put most of his force into a returning shove to counter the attack, weakening the coming counter. He'd have to rely on his knowledge of Sojutsu and his slightly superior reflexes to counter Oberon. Following the return strike of his butt end to Oberon's side, Rintaka would follow with a downward swipe, trying to catch Oberon in the back of the knee with the same end, and use the follow up with the other end to bring his spear down into Oberon's chest with a quick spin of the weapon.

It wasn't all that flashy, and was quite a fluid movement, but it relied too much on Oberon's unfamiliarity with the weapon. If he was able to block the leg sweep, it wouldn't work quite as well. If he failed that and rolled out of the way of the final strike, it would also fail, but then he'd be on the defensive. It was good, but it was obvious he was no master of the weapon just yet. That would come with time.

WC: 910
TWC: 2049

Oberon smiled as Rintaka slapped away the jab as he had predicted the man would, allowing Oberon to use that momentum to come back with his second attack. However the man was still able to block the attack, it seemed as if they were on equal footing however Oberon did notice Rintaka give a slight cringe from blocking the second attack. This slight cringe from the man told Oberon all that he needed to know, as long as he could keep the man on the defensive he might actually end up being able to over power the man into defeat but he had to play it smart. There were a couple of disadvantages to Oberon's plan, one being the fact that the man knew how to wield the Yari were as Oberon did not giving the man a slight advantage as far as knowing how to fight with the spear where as Oberon was simply translating his fighting with a Dao to fighting with a spear. There were some major differences in the two weapons that Oberon had noticed from his attacks aside from the obvious. The spear allowed for faster jabs than that of a dao, but because of the pure size of the shaft of the spear it was slower on the sweep. This threw off Oberon's plan slightly but not enough for him to change it, he would just have to make it work to his advantage if he was going to win the spar.

The man was fast with his next move as he twisted and moved the spear to strike Oberon's side causing Oberon to move back before the man struck at the back of Oberon's knee knocking him to the ground. Oberon hit the ground hard knocking the wind out of his lungs, but he was not out of the fight he saw the man coming down for a strike on his chest with his spear. Oberon gripped his own spear in his left hand and quickly spun his legs in a scissor sweep as well as using the spear to sweep in a more extended way that would not only either knock his opponent down if he did not move away but also help him to quickly return to his feet and assert his footing for his next attack on the man. With him now back on his feet Oberon wasted little time trying his best to give the man as little breathing time as possible, gripping the spear with both hands towards the blunt end of his spear he moved it in a downward swing like he would his dao. He was not sure if it was a good move on his part however he gave it little thought as he was trying to move fast and simply went off what he knew.

If the man blocked his downward attack, Oberon would slide his grip up the shaft slightly putting it more towards the middle before bringing the blunt end of the weapon upward towards the man to try and strike the man in the midsection before following up with another spin swipe in the midsection as well whether the man took the hit or dodged of blocked the attack to the midsection. If the man dodged his first attack he would move straight into the spin attack. If the man blocked the spin attack with the spear end then Oberon would quickly change direction and spin the opposite direction to strike him on the other side with the blunt end of the Yari. Of course if the man was unable to block the strike of either spin attack it was quite likely that the force of the attack would cause the man to be knocked down. Upon which Oberon would capitalize by bringing the spear end of the Yari to rest against Rintaka's chest. His attacks were not fluid like Rintaka's and had far more flaws in them, however they would be effective if the man did not react fast enough for the shear amount of attacks. Oberon was placing his whole attack in the hands of luck with the hope that he would be able to over power his opponent by strength rather than skill.

---

2056

Oberon wasn't half bad, at least in Nozomi's eyes. She had chosen correctly, he was a novice with the spear and was already beating out experience with his own knowledge and planning. It was that sort of combat knowledge that would help him learn the weapon. Besides, watching his opponent, he was able to figure out how to utilize the weapon more effectively. Of course, Rintaka wasn't anything to laugh at either. He was, simply put, a Chuunin for a reason. Physically, he might not have been the best, but his mind was a sharp one, and he was an excellent teacher. Unfortunately, he wasn't suited for the combat role, and Nozomi knew that much going into it. He was run of the mill as far as a Chuunin went, and most Genin would be able to beat him a good majority of the time.

Recovering from his fall quite nicely, Oberon managed to get Rintaka to retreat a little bit, his reactions good enough to avoid the sweep, but not allowing him to capitalize on the poor positioning. This meant they were back on even terms, Oberon having regained his footing, and now taking the offensive. He'd already seen Rintaka's weakness was in his strength, something he didn't have anywhere close to Oberon's. The downward swing was side stepped easily, Rintaka having stayed near the edge of his range, and as it connected to the ground, the Chuunin dashed forward with a jab from his spear. Oberon's recovery was quite unexpected for him though, as the man had choked up to the middle of his practice spear and was now able to take him on close quarters.

Nozomi couldn't help but smile. Oberon learned fast, that much was true. The versatility those weapons offered was fantastic, and a master spearman or master staff user would beat out a swordsman of equal skill any day. There was just too much they could do in any situation. Almost every single attack Rintaka was able to block, able to react quite well, but that's about where it ended. The flurry started to overwhelm him, as he was putting too much of his strength into blocking, and he was tiring fast. Near the end of the chain, his spear went flying as he was knocked back, and when he next looked up, Oberon's spear was pointed at his chest. "I give up." he said, admitting defeat. Becoming disarmed had lost him the match.

Nozomi clapped at the conclusion of the short match. "Well done, both of you. Rin, you need to work a bit on your strength, that's your biggest fault. Your technique is fantastic, but you also stay on the defensive too much. I know you like counter attacking, but if you defend all day and get overwhelmed, it's over in an instant. Oberon, as for you, well done! Your technique isn't pretty, but I didn't expect a first timer to do flawlessly. Like ranged fighting, it takes practice. Luckily, it seems you have it down pretty good, so we'll take a short rest while I go and collect the other training weapons. Next up is Onojutsu, and that's a fun one."

Collecting the weapons from the two, Nozomi went off briefly, as she needed to go back and get new weapons. Rintaka took his leave, as he had only been requested for Sojutsu training. He wasn't trained in anything else, and didn't really want to be. It didn't take long for Nozomi to return. She came back with a box which had a few different weapons, all from the Onojutsu branch of things. She placed it down, and opened it up in front of Oberon, who had some time to rest up and recover his breathe a bit. "I want you to look at these and choose the best one here to learn. There is no wrong answer, but there is a right one. One of these weapons will translate the style across all of them."

WC: 668
TWC: 2717

The final blow knocked the man to the ground and the Yari from his hand allowing Oberon to capitalize before the dust had a chance to settle. As soon as Rintaka surrendered Oberon moved the spear from above the man's chest holding it off to the side in his right hand while offering Rintaka his left hand to help the man stand. Oberon could not help smiling when Nozomi spoke about his preformance, he was pleased that he did as well as he had. He did not expect for it to go so well, he just got lucky when he saw the weakness in his opponent and was able to exploit it.

Nozomi said that they would take a rest and spoke of the next training would be in Onojutsu, before gathering the two spears and leaving to get the other weapons. Oberon had not been expecting that, learning two different weaponry in the same day was something that was going to be difficult for him to retain but he was not going to question his sensei. She had pushed him with learning ranged fighting and it was a success, then the impromptu spar with Rintaka forced him to push himself in fighting with a new weapon. He was sure that whatever Nozomi had plan as far as Onojutsu would be equally strenuous, and so too her advice in resting grabbing his water container he took some swings from it before sitting down. Him and Rintaka spoke briefly where Rintaka gave Oberon a couple of pointers on his continued sojutsu practice, before he too left leaving Oberon alone to his thoughts.

Oberon watched the others that were at the training grounds as he slowed his breathing down and relaxed his muscles from the spar. The back of his knee still stung from where Rintaka had struck him, not to mention his actually back from slamming into the ground. The damage was minor and he had endured worst pain over the years so it was nothing that he could not handle nor was it anything that would not heal in a day or two at the most. Oberon looked out into the faces of the different people that were training, he wondered if one of them were going to be his opponent in the next set of training. Onojutsu, he did not know much about it other than what his father spoke of and what he had read about. His father spoke of the style as both efficient in battle as well as unorthodox, but it required a certain skill to fully master for the simple unusual type of weapons that were used. He had read a book a few months back while he was still in the academy about different weaponry that spoke of the large variety of the Onojutsu weaponry, and how most of what is viewed as unconventional weapons were placed into this category. Oberon spent most of his time, waiting on Nozomi, meditating, mentally preparing himself for what he might face with the next set as well as trying to figure out what kind of weapon Nozomi would choose for the training considering the large variety.

Nozomi was not gone long but she was gone long enough for him to have rested long enough before continuing with more training. Oberon stood when Nozomi returned carrying a box, she open the box revealing an assortment of different weapons that are classified as unconventional and gave him the choice of the litter. Oberon stared at the case of weapons for quite a while looking over each weapon inside the case as he tried to figure out which would be the best choice. He saw a scimitar, which he had seen in the book he had read and it was by far the closest to his Dao so he figured it would probably be the easiest for him to wield, but he was not here for easy training he was here to become a better fighter and that required pushing beyond his comfort zone. It was at that point that he saw what looked like a short sword except it had notches all along the blade, Oberon instantly recognized it from his book as being a whip sword. It functioned as both a blade as well as a whip and from what the book had said it could be unruly if the wielder did not know what they were doing. It was probably pushing the envelope but he figured he might as well go all or nothing and looked up at Nozomi. "I think I will use the Whip Sword" he said with as much confidence as he could muster, trying his best not to doubt himself but have confidence in his ability as a fighter as well as his confidence to wield the weapon like the whip sword. He was not sure if this was the right one of which Nozomi spoke or not but to Oberon it looked to be the most difficult for him to use which is why he picked it.

---

2902

The whip sword? Well, it wasn't exactly the correct one that she had been referring to, but it was still a good choice. Really, the only wrong choice would have been the scimitar, considering it was far too similar to his usual style, and he wouldn't learn much about the unorthodox weapon sets that she was trying to teach. The Whip sword was a pretty decent choice, but wouldn't really let him learn much about the scythe weapons. The sickle and chain would have been the best choice to make, as it had the ability to function and teach the nuance of the scythe, and had the benefits of a whip sword and whip. It didn't matter all that much, it was still a good choice, and her personal favorite is she was being honest. In reality, she was probably going to become a Seven Swordsman with the weapon Serpent's Tongue.

She wasn't going to tell him what her choice would have been for him though, or whether it was the correct one. He'd made his choice, so he'd learn the weapon. He could still translate it into other weapon styles well enough, and would have to figure out how to use scythe types by watching his next opponent. "Good choice, it is a fantastic weapon. The Whip Sword comes with the versatility of being able to be used as a sword and a whip, but it's one of the harder ones to learn." She picked up the other whip sword in the box and examined it, locked in the sword position. The usual way they unlocked and locked was a tiny amount of chakra application, almost negligibly so. Unlike the Serpent's Tongue though, these weapons weren't controlled by the mind, and so usually needed a reset into the locked position before other strikes could be made, until continual strikes were learned and the weapon was further mastered.

At a beginner level, a chain of attacks greater than 3 wasn't really possible, and that was at maximum. She didn't expect more than two, and that was if time was given to attack before having to reset. Otherwise, power was lost way too quickly on subsequent strikes, and they became too predictable. If having to chain attacks into an offensive opponent, only one would usually get out before the reset was forced to block an attack. She then gave a quick demonstration of the basics of the weapon. It didn't last long, and was mostly to show him how to unlock the weapon by channeling the smallest bit of chakra into the hilt so it would register the unlock.

After that, she showed him the basic strikes that it had while in whip mode, and that they weren't very different in regards to each other. The most common way people utilized the weapon was by attacking and extending their range mid swing. That was what she was showing him right now, as he was far too new to the weapon for her to show the advanced moves that she knew. The whip sword was a danger to the user as well as the opponent, and it was usually something that was only used in combat after extensive practice, or utilized using on the very basic extension and reset for that very reason. Serpent's Tongue was different in that it never needed to be reset, and would move at the user's command, but there wasn't any other whip blade like that. Advanced practitioners of the whip blade like Nozomi and Sero were able to make it seem almost like the whip was moving in whatever way they wanted due to their understanding on the physics of the weapon, and larger skill gaps, but it didn't come close to the level of control she'd have with Serpent's Tongue.

WC: 636
TWC: 3353

Nozomi took the whip sword from the box and began examining it before showing the young genin how to operate the blade to whip ability. Oberon watched Nozomi closely as she displayed the functions of the whip sword, the fact that she made it appear so easy was of little surprise to him as it had been obvious since he had met her that she was a weapon expert. Adding to the fact that she was merely showing the basic functionality of the whip sword so that Oberon could start from the beginning, Oberon knew she had more skills with the blade than what she showed but there was no way that he would be able to do half the stuff she was probably capable of having never used a whip sword before. Once she had finished showing him how to unlock the whip form of the sword and the basic strikes such as opening the whip in mid attack to increase their range of attack she passed it over to Oberon to see how he did with what he had just seen.

Oberon spun the sword in his hand before swinging it a few times to get a feel for the balance of the blade, before he attempted to try and turn it into the whip form. After he got comfortable with the blade form he channeled a little chakra into the blade to release it into whip form and watched as it extended out before retracting the whip to reset it to blade form. He readied himself to perform the first strike that Nozomi had shown him, he channeled the chakra releasing the locks on the blade mid swing just as Nozomi had shown however his timing was a little off causing the blade to come back around and strike him in the back. Luckily for him the blade was dull and so no real damage was done just a mild stinging pain from the blunt edged blade walking him in the back. The blade reset and Oberon attempted again however this time he did not swing hard enough and when he released the blade it dropped and hit the ground instead of hitting the air like it was suppose to. Oberon chuckled a little to himself though not because of the training, he had known the use of the blade was going to be difficult for him but he had not expected him to be this bad at it. Still he persisted through the embarrassment and continued to practice the strikes, he was determined to get it down no matter how long it took. He continued running through the different strikes that he had seen Nozomi demonstrate, though none hit the mark he was aiming for or move as fluidly as he had read about nor seen from Nozomi's demonstration. Oberon paused letting the sword reset and taking in a deep breath as he cleared his mind, it was obvious to him that he was over thinking this too much and he just needed to relax and let the weapon flow as he had to learn to do with the kunai and shuriken. As he exhaled his breath he began picturing the whip sword striking a specific point in the air in front of him, before he went for the strike releasing the small amount of chakra into the blade to release the whip form and watching as the strike did improve from before however it did not hit as high as he was picturing it hitting. He did not stop, time had passed however he was unaware of how much, he had been focusing on his strikes with the blade however he was aware of the improvement he was making with his practice. He began feeling the whip sword more of an extension of himself, much like he had always done with any other blades. At first it was hard for him to do it for the simple fact of the difference with the way the whip sword moved when it was released from the locks of the sword, but the more Oberon practiced the different strikes the more it began to feel natural to him. He was hitting his mark and in his eyes the strikes began looking more fluid as it should be, he smiled to himself for his accomplishment he knew it was a minor one considering all he was doing was basic one strike reset attacks but the improvement he saw in himself gave him confidence to continue to use the blade and improve his skill with it even further.

---

3671

Again, her eyes watched as Oberon tried to get used to the whip sword. He got the hang of unlocking it pretty quickly, but that was beginners stuff, she figured anyone with any amount of training would be able to do that fairly quickly. It was what he could do with it that would really show his skill off. She was less than impressed with his skills, to say the least. It was a failure for a while, with him hitting himself upon his first release, and her mouth moved into a small smile as she stifled a laugh. This was going to take a while, for certain.

And so her watch took place, time passing them by as he learned through practice. She said little, occasionally commenting on his form, but mostly letting him be. He was a trainer by doing and watching, not by being told. Her explanations would have already sufficed, and he'd need to figure it out, as he proved to be capable of doing. By the end of his session, he had picked up the hang of it, and was capable of doing a strike and reset, which was getting somewhere. Still, he hadn't exceeded her expectations, and was really only capable of 1 strike, something that she was a bit miffed about, but it wasn't too bad. Plenty of people couldn't even do that. 2 or 3 would have been more than she had expected, but with how much he improved in a short period of time on other skills, she could have seen it. Still, his improvement was a good thing, and she didn't doubt with practice he'd be able to chain up a couple of combinations.

Once he seemed to have it down well enough, Nozomi held up her hand and cleared her throat. "I think that's enough for now Oberon. You've done pretty well, but I think that learning two styles in one day has taken up a lot of time. You need some time to rest and reflect on what you've learned. Also, a tip for the whip sword. It's fantastic when paired with another weapon, just saying. Onojutsu is great, and usually is very complimentary of having two weapons rather than a single one. I'll give you a couple days, but I'd like to train you some more. I think you should learn Kyujutsu as well, because having a handle on ranged weaponry will help you overcome your lack of training in them and help bridge the gap. My clan, the Himitsu clan, is a Taijutsu based clan, but because of that, we have a general disdain for weapons. I fixed that issue and am a forefront Ninjutsu and Bukijutsu expert with a Taijutsu specialization as well. It's good to recognize your weaknesses and to rid yourself of them as well."

WC: 473
TWC: 3826

The whip sword was indeed one of the harder weapons for him to learn, Oberon let out a sigh of relief when Nozomi called out for him to stop. He knew his performance was far under par compared to his kunai throwing or how quickly he had been able to pick up Sojutsu, however the fact remained that he did not give up and did show some improvement with his wielding of the strange sword at least in his mind. Oberon stood quietly and listened as Nozomi spoke about the training he had gone through today as well as the tips for the whip sword, if ever he needed tips on training it was with the whip sword he had to get better than just the one strike reset. Nozomi continued about how they would return for further training in a couple of days as well as talking briefly about figuring out and then over coming weaknesses, which gave Oberon some food for thought. "Thank you for everything Nozomi-Sensei, I have learned a lot and I look forward to learning more" Oberon stated with a quick bow before putting the whip sword back into the box for Nozomi to take back where she had gotten it. He bid his Sensei good bye and then began his walk home, he had a long day of training and was looking forward to getting home to shower and rest. As he walked down the road towards his home he thought about what Nozomi had said about over coming weakness like how she had over came her clans weakness by becoming a practitioner of Bukijutsu, he thought for a long while about what his biggest weakness might be. He could not think of anything, whether he had them or not he was too prideful to admit even to himself that he had a weakness. Maybe pride is my biggest weakness he thought to himself with a chuckle as he reached his home and headed inside.

Exit Thread

---

4003

Sojutsu Subspec Learned: -1500
Onojutsu Subspec Learned: -1500
Shuriken Storm Jutsu Trained: -1000

Another successful day of training people out of the way, Nozomi collected the whip sword and put it back into the box that she'd taken out and cracked her neck. Today had been a rather lax day for her, as her stamina was pretty low, recovering slightly from a bout with her chakra illness. It wasn't all that bad, but she had decided it better to just lay low for a while, hence why she'd arranged the training partner for him. Plus, she was way too advanced to be sparring him without outright throwing a match, and she wasn't one to do that.

Picking up the box, she was surprised to see a couple students approach her and take the box away. "Nozomi Sensei, we'll take it back for you, you do so much for us. I know where it goes, so don't worry about it. Go out and have a nice meal or something." one of the boys said. He was greeted with a kind smile from the Jounin and she bowed. It was certainly a load off not having to haul it back into the training bay, and she appreciated the small gesture from the young students.

Walking away, she began to think to herself, back on her old training with Gin. By now, she'd be able to stand toe to toe with her former sensei, and might even be able to beat her if she really applied herself. A thought crossed her mind that maybe some of the students looked up to her the same way she looked up to Gin, and that thought alone was a good one to have. If so, then some of them would end up just like she had, able to surpass their sensei at some point. Gin was rather stagnant in power, but Nozomi wasn't so keen on just letting up her training, and maintaining a status quo. She needed to continue and strive for ever greater heights. She wouldn't be happy until she could beat Ayakashi, because that was the current pinnacle of strength.

But it would take people like Oberon to help push her there. That's why she trained them. People like him would get much better, and then be able to help her hone her skills. It was something that was needed in order to advance. Students were just as good at furthering a teacher as a teacher was at furthering a student.

WC: 406
TWC: 4232

Training:
Sword's Dance [3000/3000]
Cascading Defense: Petal Absorption [1000/1000]

EXIT THREAD