"There's a beast in every man and it stirs when you put a sword in his hand."

The dojo smelled of blood and sweat, of discipline and training, of years of honorable men who have trained under the roof of the dojo. Zeref stood slightly out of the middle of the center of the dojo, his feet bare upon the mats feeling the slight cushion but still firm enough to get good footing. In his right hand he held the bokken, the tip pointed down. It felt light compared to his normal blade, as it should since it was wood, he kept this in mind since it would change how he would need to wield it. His grip was tight, the Koton Gauntlets he wore helping keep the wooden training sword in his grasp.

He started to move to the right, the tip of the bokken dragging on the mat, his eyes locked to Tomohiro who will be his opponent for this training spar. Zeref thought about his plan of action, on one hand he could rush him and overwhelm and end the match quickly, on the other hand, he could play it defensively and get Tomohiro to wear himself out. Both had their pros and cons, Tomohiro was at a huge advantage, with both of them using wooden sword, and with Tomohiro being a Katon user, it stacked the favor against Zeref.

With his left hand Zeref pulled out his Katana and stuck it into the mat of training area before continuing to circle moving away from the blade. He didn't wanna be unbalanced more then he needed to be. When Zeref (if Tomohiro followed the circling) moved in a circle he stopped so he was on the opposite side from where he started, putting his katana at Tomohiros back.

"Shall we begin?" Zeref lifted the bokken moving his body and the Bokken into the chūdan-no-kamae stance. His left foot was now slightly behind his right with the left heel slightly raised, both feet were parallel, his hips straight forward, shoulders relaxed, spine is perpendicular to the floor at all times. This stance put his center of gravity centered between both feet. The bokken was raised and held with both hands in front his waist, with the tip of the weapon pointed at the Tomohiros throat.

Post w.c- 395
Total w.c- 395

For Stance reference :

Tomohiro placed his left foot back as he held his bokken in his right hand in a reverse grip. The wooden sword had been held at waist level. He circled around to the right as Zeref did trying to remain suitable distance. Tomohiro felt a bit of disdain that Zeref instantly removed his real blade and stuck it into the map, but he didn’t change his facial expression. He attempted to remain calm and collective. In response to Zeref’s question, he simply hummed in agreement. Tomohiro had mostly gathered his thoughts and figured he would need to try something out. The next few blows were definitely were testing each others might, but he figured that he needed to get serious from the start. He stopped moving as Zeref did. Tomohiro slightly bowed before he would begin his assault.

Tomohiro focused fire elemental chakra into the bokken and lunged toward his opponent as he changed to a forward grip. He slashed his sword downward toward Zeref’s left shoulder before using gripping the wooden sword with both hands and slashing upward toward the right side of his opponent’s body. The young Nakir then jumps back a couple of meters as he forms the tiger seal. Chakra began forming in his lungs and throat as he released into a flamethrower or grey flames toward his opponent. The flames were overkill, but he cared not. The dojo may not survive, but his pride would have to live on.

Tomohiro was given the go ahead to use jutsu up to a C-Rank and he was going to take advantage of it. The drive to win was something that was a part of him. He hated losing to anyone. Losing killed his spirit and drove him to overcome his opponents with every. Taking losses by his clansmen was one thing, but taking a loss to a stranger was a negative in his book. He even took the wager with Julius Midas too far. Tomohiro only seldom knew when to accept defeat and this wasn’t one time he would. Real swords or not, they were shinobi. He was going to use any technique that was available to them. He refused to be bested by any opponent. Zeref may have been his squadmate, but he knew that neither one of them could go easy on each other. There was no point in holding back when you needed to get stronger.

408

Chakra: 125/150:

Zeref heard Tomohiro response to his own question, the match had started and Tomohiro was taking the first step into starting it, or at least that is what Zeref wanted him to think. Tomohiros first attack was pretty straight forward, two strikes that were infused with chakra, using his own Bokken Zeref blocked both, the heat of the Tomohiro attack could be felt on Zerefs exposed skin, but not hot enough to do anything but minor announce. Tomohiro jumped backwards putting distance between the two, Zeref wasn't just a skilled fighter, he was also skilled at tactics, everything he did he did with reason.

As Tomohiro jumped backwards it landed him near Zerefs blade, since Zeref had circled around at the start of the spar to make it so. As Tomohiro released his fireball towards Zeref, five steel canon balls exploded behind Tomohiro sending shrapnel and fire at Tomohiros back. Zeref jumped using the fireball to block hopefully block Tomohiros View, he created a single clone, who used the real Zeref as a spring board to jump over the fireball, and at the same time pushed Zeref downwards forming an Ox handseal and entering the ground with only taking a few minor burns from the fire. The clone would attempt to come down ontop of Tomohiro with a strike to his left shoulder,while the real Zeref would attempt to grab Tomohiro from under the ground to pull him down with the Double Suicide jutsu.

Post w.c 246
Total w.c 641

Chakra- 110/150:

Something Tomohiro didn’t expect was to get attacked from behind. He felt a basketball sized mass hit him in the back, but he barely adjusted himself out the way before taking on the brunt of the full attack of all three balls. Tomohiro didn’t have time to access the damage, but he knew that he did take some damage. There were cuts and burns on his back. It was nothing he didn’t have to deal with before. His clan were members of a bunch of Katon users, but he wasn’t going to stand there looking lost. Tomohiro jumped up and backwards as he focused chakra into his feet. A fire clone had barely missed him as he stood sideways about 4 meters high on a column.

He focused chakra into his eyes and activated his En Netsugan. The pain in his body was only temporary at least. He probably would feel it in the morning. Well, more like he was feeling it now. He would need to push forward regardless. Tomohiro moved upward on the column trying to gain height as he formed a half tiger seal. He kept his eye constantly moving across the dojo. Tomohiro swung his sword beneath him while releasing a slash of katon chakra mid-swing toward the version of Zeref that he tried to attack him from the air. Tomohiro jumped to another column, but remained vigilant in his efforts. He was quite impressed with his eyes. He couldn’t imagine that his clan held such a unique kekkai genkai. Though the road to improve it would be a long and harsh one. There was always some sacrifice in gaining power.

The En Netsugan was the very intro level to his clan’s doujutsu. It would take someone with specific doujutsu to even tell if he was using it. It wasn’t until the next stage where there was physical change to his eyes. He took a sort of pride in his eyes. Tomohiro had always held a family first mentality. They were there for him when it seemed others were not. A big reason why he wanted to become stronger was to protect them. There were plenty of strong shinobi in the clan, but he didn’t want to be looked down upon as someone who didn’t make it to great heights. Not many knew of the clan’s perception abilities. It was a mostly well kept secret that not many were keen to know or understand. He himself wasn’t sure of the perceptions full capabilities for hadn’t been yet revealed to him.

Tomohiro’s lips contorted into a wicked smile. This had been a bit more than he expected. The fight had just started, but it excited him. Unexpected results in a fight seemed to be the best kind of fights. It was the first time he fought a against a koton user. He became increasingly interested in the their techniques. It was the first time he experienced a jutsu like that. His back twitched a bit, but it was a good pain. It was a pain that was enjoyable. The pain reminded him that he was alive. He wasn’t in a losing situation and that alone made him feel good about the fight.

550/958

Chakra: 105/150:

Two katon users in a dojo. Kiyoshi wasn't used to this. While the dojo was solid enough to withstand all but the most powerful jutsu, the explosive combat with which the two went at each other forced the sensei to keep an eye out nonetheless. Still standing in front of the kamidana that was surrounded by the three scrolls bearing the dojo's virtues, his navy blue eyes followed the moves and tactics of both his students.

Zeref seemed to have a clear advantage when it came to the use of jutsu, weaving katon, doton and koton with each other with such grace the jounin was thoroughly impressed. The boy was a natural combatant, once more crediting the perseverance with which Kiyoshi had assessed him. The combat pragmatism with which he used his bokken as a vulgar shield against chakra infused strikes and his clone as a spring board quickly became apparent. Perhaps more so than other shinobi he considered his equipment to be nothing more but mere tools for him to use. On that point he had to admit that Zeref was perhaps more of a shinobi than himself who valued a katana as if it were his very own soul - a principle he had taught his daughter just as much. He'd have to be sure not to enforce those points of view too much upon Zeref as it would possibly limit him in his potential, but he couldn't let it go just like this either. If Zeref would end up treating everything in such way, the young man would have to be taught proper respect for others' material.

Tomohiro as well showed his best side, but relying solely on katon so far meant the shinobi would have to train much harder in other aspects. He was quickly caught off-guard by the koton of his opponent and seemingly was forced more often into the defence than Zeref -  a dangerous yet potentially great position for him to lure the overly eager Zeref who kept on a strong offensive into a difficult position. That said, seeing as how his katon did little to impress Zeref, he activated a doujutsu instead. It had been a long time since Kiyoshi had seen an active doujutsu within Kumogakure, and from the looks of it, Tomohiro was still at the early phase of mastering it. From what Kiyoshi knew on doujutsu though, even that was an impressive feat and an advantage not easily taken away or overcome by others. He felt a little envious, in fact.

The two students had reached a brief pause in their combat, both of them assessing the other while searching for openings. Kiyoshi rested his hands on his hands, not bothering to step in just yet. Even if Tomohiro had been fully hit in the back, it looked very much from the grin on his face that he was not yet about to surrender, having found a possible new strategy with the activation of his eyes. The spar was about to get interesting, it seemed.

---

OOC:
- Keep track of cooldowns, people. It makes things easier for everyone in a combat situation now and in future threads.
- Tomohiro, the use of En Netsugan is considered a jutsu and should also be readable in your chakra spoiler box.
- Don't worry about skipping Kiyoshi's turn during the thread. I'll post either to stop the spar, or once you let me know you've done sparring to finish the thread.

The clone was struck by Tomohiros strike and burst into flames, not ideal but Zeref didn't mind since it meant he didn't need to use chakra to maintain the clone. A few moments past and the real Zeref emerged from the ground from his failed attempt at grabbing Tomohiro. Leaning the bokken on his left shoulder Zeref looked up at Tomohiro who was standing on a pillar giving him the slight height advantage. Zeref looked around and noted there were eight pillars around the fighting stage, wanting to bring the fight back to the floor Zeref flung his eight kunai at the pillars, including the one Tomohiro was standing on, he wasn't aiming to hit him but simple embed his kunai into the pillars themselves. Tomohiro had already experienced what had happened with the sword, Zeref was assuming he didn't want a repeat of that with the kunia. 

Zeref walked around the mat slowly again, he wasn't in a rush to finish the spar, in his mind he held the advantage even if Tomohiro thought other wise. Each second that past Zeref was forming a plan in his mind, each step having branching steps depending on what Zeref believed Tomohiro would most likely do. Zeref stopped walking and held the bokken out in front of him with his left hand, with his right he taunted Tomohiro with a 'come on' gesture. 

W.C 236/877

Chakra- 110/150:

Tomohiro watched as the clone dispersed from his attack. There was no chance that Tomohiro was going to stand there and allow Zeref to take advantage of him. As Zeref threw the kunai at the pillars, Tomohiro had already started forming hand seals. He opened his mouth to release a flammable gas into the dojo. The young genin then jumped up another meter as he withdrew a shuriken from his pouch and launched it at the kunai below him. The clash between the shuriken and kunai caused a spark that ignited the flammable gas.

He wasn’t going to waste an opportunity to trying to blast his opponent and take out the kunai beneath him in an explosion. Tomohiro would watch to see what his opponent would do next. He was still excited about the match. Though, he didn’t like his matches too drawn out. Not using a real sword didn’t help him much either. The bokken was a great training tool, but once you got used to the real thing it became a bit bothersome. It wasn’t like his own blade. He spent many years training with a bokken, but it still didn’t match up with he had started to adjust to. Tomohiro knew that his techniques were lacking, but he would try to stay vigilant as he tried to press to win.

Tomohiro made a note to himself that he would have to definitely watch his opponent carefully. He was caught off guard once and he didn’t plan on getting himself into the same predicament. He noticed that his opponent was trying to continue to hurt him with metal objects. Tomohiro would have to process what he would have to do next. He was normally able to adjust himself accordingly, but his opponent’s koton in the close quarter area of the dojo made it a trial of it’s own. It would have been easy enough to conserve his chakra, but he needed to try and keep an advantage he thought he had.

341/1299

Chakra: 85/150:

Zeref was growing a bit bored, Tomohiro seemed to scared to come down to level ground, and jumping at him left to much of an opening. Zeref watched as Tomohiro did a few hand signs before breathing something out, Zeref could smell it before it was ever ignited. He jumped back crossing his arms over his chest just as the gas was ignited, his arms becoming a bit red and stinging slightly, but nothing he hadn't felt before. Zeref landed on the ground, Tomohiro was still on the pillar looking down at him. Zeref had a few options in his mind, he could bust down the pillar Tomohiro was on, or he could use a jutsu and force Tomohiro down, both seemed a bit annoying to do at this point, there wasn't a need to get Tomohiro down on the ground, not yet anyways. Zeref took off his burning waist coat and tossed it as to block tomohiros veiw, at the same time he reached behind him and drew out three Shuriken, launching all three towards Tomohiro.

Zeref knew the longer the fight went on, the bigger advantage he would have. Zeref had Koton all over the dojo, kunai in the pillars, shrapnel littering the mats all around, he had many angles of attack he could pick from when ever he wished. There were three ways to attack, blitz and prolonged, both had pros and cons. A blitz can overwhelm some foes, but fail against another, prolonged was the same way. The third, and really some Zeref preferred is something he called prolonged blitz, where he could do both at the same time, blitz and ambush a target, and then retreat into the shadows and repeat the actions until the target was killed. The Shuriken ripped through his waist coat as they spun towards Tomohiro, hopefully giving him less time to react.


314/1191
Steel cannon ball- 2/4
Clone- 2/4
Double suicide- 2/4

Tomohiro watched like a hawk stalking its prey as he knelt on the pillar. He was glad that his technique was able to hit. He wouldn’t get excited over it because his target was still capable of doing harm to him. The match was yet to be decided. The match seemed pretty even to him. He didn’t see a reason that come down off the pillar just yet. He would have to continue to be vigilant and patient. He came to a realization that his target wouldn’t get taken down easy. With his current limit of techniques, he wouldn’t be able to do a lot of damage using his current arsenal. Tomohiro usually used the blade of his sword to increase his damage output. The handicap revealed how inefficient his sword techniques actually were. That was something he did not like.

Once Zeref removed his burning waistcoat and tossed it. The young Nakir raised an eyebrow and slightly lifted his blade at first thinking to lunge toward his opponent. That plan had been completely negated as he barely noticed three shuriken emerged through his opponent’s article of clothing. Tomohiro used his bokken in its current reverse grip state to take guard against the shuriken. He flipped his wrist to redirect them away from him. It was a nice try, but with the power of his eyes he prevailed. He had to give Zeref some mental kudos for using his burning waistcoat as a distraction. If he didn’t have his En Netsugan active, that may have gone a different way.

Tomohiro was getting slightly bored, but he waited to see what his opponent was going to do next. It wasn’t the first time he decided not to purely be an aggressor during a fight. He hated waiting around, but he finally started to see what his brother was trying to teach him. Tomohiro was mostly always vigilant, but his brother had also tried to teach him perseverance as well. It wasn’t that Tomohiro didn’t persevere at all. His brother wanted to show him perseverance through being patient. A shinobi had to be patient. The Raiu Dojo was an exceptional place. He was able to learn something on his first day here. It wasn’t every day that he picked up on a lesson without trying. He was a pretty average student in the academy, but those days were long past.

408/1707

Chakra: 80/150:

Zeref watched as his shuriken fly off in different directions after they got knocked away by Tomohiros bokken, it was a lack luster attack so Zeref wasn't to bothered by it. Zeref twirled his own Bokken around slightly as he knelt on the ground. Placing his right knee, and his right hand on the surface of the mat he started to draw up more Kōton, after a moment Zeref was standing in a pool of Kōton. Zeref stood up in the middle of the pool of Kōton before the Kōton receded between the floorboards so it was harder to figure out where and when Zerefs attacks would come from.

Zeref leaned his Bokken back against his shoulder looking at Tomohiro. "The longer you stay up there, the stronger I become." It wasn't a bluff, Zeref was turning the dojo into his domain. Tomohiro was skilled, just as strong, and fast as Zeref, but Zeref was born and breed for battle. Zeref was already five steps ahead of Tomohoro, and each step had another three depending on Tomohiros actions. With the current level of Kōton in the area it wouldn't be long until there was no way for Tomohiro to defend against an all out assault. Zeref twirled his Bokken once more and leaning it on his other shoulder. "You can stay up there, or come down and fight, or give up, the results will be the same no matter the choice." Zeref wasn't being arrogant, or bluffing, the gap of knowledge and tactics was just to large. Tomohiro, with his given skill set, elemental nature and tools at hand, should of had the advantage, with him keeping a distant, and retreating, showed it was the opposite.


295/1486

Chakra: 100/150:

It seemed like Zeref wasn’t lying about him becoming stronger. Plus, Tomohiro needed to finish this fight. There were other things he needed to do than spend half the day at the dojo. The young genin slid down the column while forming hand seals as Raiu sensei stopped the match. He hated losing no matter what the cost was and was going to go out in a blaze of glory. Tomohiro had released a big gasp of air from his lungs from the preparation of his last technique. He stood straight up used his free hand to dust himself off while releasing his doujutsu. There was slight pain in his back, but he would have to struggle through it.

He didn’t like the idea of cleaning up shrapnel and metal from his adversary’s attacks. Though, he wouldn’t go against sensei’s ruling. Tomohiro figured that Raiu-sensei saved him from a lot of anguish. He respectfully bowed as Raiu sensei directed them to clean up the mess that was made in his dojo. The young Nakir put his loaned bokken away and placed in its proper place. It would only be right to clean up after Kiyoshi allowed them to use his facilities. He was eternally grateful that he was able to learn something new today. Tomohiro took in what his sensei had spoken as he started to remove from the mats and place them in the bucket that was provided.

Tomohiro hadn’t thought about using the voice as a weapon. It was something that he would need to do research on. Once he left the dojo, he would plan to make his way to the library to see what he could concerning kiaijutsu. As for iaijutsu, many of his clansmen had used it, but he was so concerned with offense techniques that he let his defense slack heavily. He figured that he could ask Mizuki about her techniques to see if he could get any ideas from her. He was glad that he was able to take away multiple lessons away from today's events.

351/2058

Raiu called out 'enough', putting an end to the match between Zeref and Tomohiro, it was a shame, but as Zeref told Tomohiro, the results would be the same, the match was his. Raiu spoke that since they made the mess, they both would have to clean it up, which, didn't surprise Zeref really. Zeref kneelt down placing his hands on the ground, after a few moments his kunia, and sword reformed from the shrapnel. Zeref moved over to his tools replacing them back into their respective places on his body. As they were cleaning Raiu started to speak.

"For a genin, Zeref, your battle prowess is far beyond the average. By that alone, you'd make a fine chuunin already, but your techniques are crude and unrefined as of yet. You hold little regard for your surroundings and as such would do poorly when dealing with hostages. I expect you to improve upon this, as not every mission will be in the open nor involve the destruction of others' property."

Zeref nodded with understanding, but truthful it was moot. Yes, Zeref tactics in this fight wouldn't work for a hostage mission, but this wasn't a hostage mission was there was zero reason to treat it as such. The dojo was a spar against one person, Zeref was able to move Tomohiro into a spot where no matter what he did, he would be hit. Zeref wasn't one to make a mountain out of a mole hill so he kept quite as he continued to clean up the dojo.

After he finished speaking about Zeref, he moved to Tomohiro and what he should improve on. He stated that Tomohiro lacked elemental power, and gave him ideas of what to study to help even that disadvantage out. All in all it was a good spar, Zeref learned a few things about Tomohiro that could help in future missions, and he also learned his place with in the group which was another good thing to know. Even Raui felt Zeref was stronger then most genin, something Zeref was aware of. He had been scouting other genin out since he's been here, Zeref was far more active, and battle trained then the others he has seen. Tomohiro was one of the few that didn't seem as soft as the others with in the village, Zeref rather have someone like Tomohiro on his team then someone who was soft and scared.

It took the duo about an hour to clean up the dojo, luckily most of the damage was minimal and Zeref had control over his Koton so picking up and collecting it was fairly easy for him to do. With the dojo cleaned and the spar over it was time to head out, the day was already half over and if Zeref hurried he could complete at least one mission before the day was completely over. Zeref bowed to Tomohiro. "It was a good fight, I look forward to having another when we both become stronger." Zeref righted his body and looked at his senei bowing once more. It was a pleasure meeting you, but I must be going, I have a mission I must complete tonight."

Zeref slipped his boots back on and headed out the door the same way he had come heading back to his home. As he walked towards his home he thought back to the training of him and his father, and how different it was.
"Damn it boy, again, this time do it as I ordered!" The words came from a harsh older man, Zerefs father Noc. Zeref a mere boy of ten, his upper body bare, dripping with blood, sweat and rain, stood up picking up a steel blade. After a moment Zeref lunged at his father aiming to pierce him through the stomach. In response Noc side stepped, bring the hilt of his own sword on the back of Zerefs skull knocking him down. Zeref laid face down in the mud, blood dripping from the back of his skull. "Pathetic, useless, and weak. You should of died instead of that woman, at least i had use of her."  The woman he spoke of was Zerefs mother, just another tool in Nocs eyes. Noc started to walk back towards the house leaving his son in the mud. Hearing him speak of his mother always pissed off Zeref. At the mention of her Zeref rose to a single knee breathing heavy, he drove the blade into the dirt and a split second later a steel spike erupted just in front of Noc slicing his cheek. "Tsk, can't even kill me while my back is turned?." Noc twisted and flung his blade at Zeref catching him in the collar piercing through his back.

Zeref snapped out of his small trance just as he reached his home, he wondered why his mind kept returning to the teachings of his fathers, perhaps it was because he felt something was off with in the village. He couldn't place his finger on it, but sooner or later he would figure it out, one way or another. Zeref entered his home he needed to shower off the sweat from the spar, resharpen his tools, and get ready for he nights mission. He was hired as a bounce, and was tasked to help the owner of the sky bar in the center of town.

916/2400
Thread exit/end

Training perception
D0->D3 (1175 w.c) (150 ryo)
1125 w.c for jutsu

“It was good fighting you as well,” he responded to Zeref, "Hopefully, our next match will be more exciting than this.”

Zeref was definitely a worthy opponent. Tomohiro knew that he would need to improve himself greatly. If he kept up an ongoing attack, things may have gone differently. He made decisions that should have required more thought. Tomohiro needed to learn to think faster than is body could move. More training was definitely needed. Though, that wouldn’t happen today. As of today, he would need to do some research in the library. There was more of to that of iaijutsu and kiaijutsu that he didn’t understand. There were probably academy instructors that could also help.

The road to become stronger had many obstacles. He had been a genin for a number of years and didn’t wish to be labeled the infamous title of “Eternal Genin.” Tomohiro had already met a number of people that would help him increase in his strength. There were those who were willing to help and those who were using him. He didn’t care much at the moment, but he could feel change was coming. Each time he fought there seemed to be something growing within him. He started to show emotion than he ever did. It was only through fighting he truly showed how he truly felt. He didn’t want to become like his father and let fighting overtake him to the point where he had to retire. There was a long journey ahead that he needed to travel.

He moved toward his master and bowed respectfully before making his exit
“Thanks Kiyoshi-sensei for your teachings. They were very helpful and endearing. See you soon, master.”

[Exit Thread]
288/2348

Training:

2250/2250 for Kojin's Wrath

98 words remaining

Seeing how the dojo was cleaned, Kiyoshi nodded in approval. Perhaps to these youngsters, a building was just a place like any other when it came to fighting, but to a sensei it equalled his home. While yes, the purpose of this dojo was combat and certain destruction was to be expected, it required some reparations and cleaning nonetheless if the building wanted to remain standing. Kiyoshi wondered if they would come to understand that. Perhaps they would, in due time, when they had passed many hours training under its roof.

As his students prepared to leave, Kiyoshi returned the bow to the both of them. The first spar had been interesting to watch. He now knew their capacities and where they could grow still. Much like they'd return home to meditate upon their strengths and weakness, he too would meditate upon the road that would be taken next. He could not offer them the same training as he did with Mizuki. No, his own daughter had a lot more to learn and a heavier burden to carry than these two. But Zeref and Tomohiro would have to be taught something, at least. Both being bukijutsu practitioners, he considered teaching the two his own techniques but he feared Zeref had already grown too much in his own ways. His weapons were mere tools rather than the extension of his body and soul, unlike Tomohiro who still held a crude but workable purity on that matter.

Kiyoshi shook his head. It was too early to decide just yet.

---

[EXIT]