I watched two of my arrows hit Kaguza's war hammer.  It was interesting that he chose not to dodge them.  His counter, however, surprised me even more as he made a second hammer out of earth.  It was as if he simply pulled it out of the ground.  My eyes widened as he charged it with lightning chakra before hurtling it towards me.  Then, out of the woods popped out Iyata and her clone.  Working seamlessly, she moved to redirect the electrified, earthen hammer from it's path towards me while also creating a thick mist to hinder Kaguza's sight.  Iyata yelled out to me and I sprang into action.

Immediately upon Iyata's words I restrung my bow, shooting arrow after arrow into the mist.  I had to rely on memory where Kaguza was, sending an arrow to where I had last seen him, then an arrow to his left and right, one above, and then a fifth and final arrow straight to follow after the first.  I took a leap backwards to give me room in case something shot back out of the mist.  There was no telling how fast Kaguza could throw things or possibly make with his crafty ninjutsu.  This was obviously something I would need to account for when fighting other ninja.  The power of ninjutsu was incredible and terrifying.  I had no idea what other kinds of use it might have, but I needed to prepare for anything.

Chakra:

Only a moment after throwing his charged earth hammer Iyata and her clone made their appearance from the treeline. While both were weaving hand signs, they both had different goals. The one in front of Kaguza shot a stream of water aimed for his thrown hammer. On contact, the stream of water forced it into the ground as it crumbled to rubble. The discharge of the raiton portion of his hammer though would not make it's way into the ground, but up the water stream and into the Iyata who cast the jutsu. The raiton chakra electrocuted the clone causing it to disperse into the water it was made of.

The real Iyata landed behind the Sannin and performed her jutsu creating a thick mist around Kaguza. Utilizing the puddle of water from Tenka's own water clone, she didn't risk moving any closer then she had to to ensnare him within her technique. It didn't take long, once the mist had been created, Iyata yelled out to Naoko to fire upon him. To reduce his vision it would prove difficult for him to dodge Naoko's airrow shots. The same could be said in reverse though. If Kaguza moved at all within the mist, Naoko's shots would miss. Neither Naoko or Kaguza would be able to track any kind of movement through vision alone. The noise of a bow releasing sounded, Naoko had launched another set of airrows. Judging she's use the same attack pattern with this set of arrows as her last, Kaguza quickly fell to the ground. The wind arrows shot by, in the same pattern they had previously, as well as missing Kaguza completely.

Iyata on the other hand was behind Kaguza, and had the potential to be struck by her own teammates technique. Upon any serious injury, he'd call the training, but it would be a good judge of seeing how she'd react to friendly fire. The mist though was still a problem that he'd have to correct. Though without a process to blow the mist away, he couldn't improve his situation. Quickly getting back to his feet, he ran to edge of the circle behind him. Iyata had landed fairly close to him when she performed the mist technique. Swinging the chain in a swift arc in the general area she was, he hoped to snare her. If the chain wrapped around her at all, she'd be caught. His chain anchor technique would ensure that she could not escape.

Hoping for success, Kaguza would pull on the chain swinging Iyata around and releasing her the same way he had done with the boulders previously. Launching Iyata straight for where Naoko had fired her second set of wind arrows. Kaguza wouldn't wait long after throwing Iyata, making sure she had hit the ground before launching his next attack. "You've seen my Raiton and Doton. Now for Suiton." Holding up his free hand he generated a small electrical flame on the tip of his index finger and moved to the opposite edge of the circle towards where he had thrown Iyata. "Myugan art: Stream."  Kaguza released a strong spray of what appeared to be water. Though with the mist obscuring their vision the two wouldn't see the beginning stage of his jutsu. The spray met the small spark on his finger and ignited. The center of the mist would glow a bright red and orange as a stream of fire erupted from within the mist towards Naoko and Iyata. His jutsu was indeed Suiton despite it's appearance. It became essentially a flamethrower when combined with a source of ignition. The air, once his jutsu was finished, would have a lingering smell of alcohol. Even if his chain failed to connect with Iyata, he'd still perform his stream technique though in a sweeping arc aimed for Iyata behind him.

Post's Word Count 640
Training Scroll Sourced Summon 750/750 Words
Training Temper's Moving Dragon 2250/2500 Words (festival mission 10% word count reduction)
Training Myugan Stream 640/1500 Words

Chakra Remaining: 250/390 :

Iyata was quick to keep her attention on Kaguza as she dropped down behind him. Her eyes were not able to pierce much of the mist which relied herself heavily on her sense of hearing to try and pinpoint the Sannin’s location. She did however see the swirl within the mist as a black streak shot out of the mist and directly at her, instinctively she flipped backwards placing her hands on the ground spring boarding backward. However Kaguza had anticipated her attempt at dodging the attack from her ally, suddenly she felt her weight shift and fall out of alignment. She saw the chain had wrapped around her ankle and threw her down to the ground she hit the ground hard with a thud She winced slightly. That was but short lived however as she was suddenly picked up off the ground by the chain and thrown through the mist exiting out the otherside.

She opened her eyes to see her trajectory was intended to make contact with Naoko and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. As the two girls collided together Iyata Wrapped her arms around Naoko and proceeded to roll with her on the ground to keep them both from getting too mashed up. “Oh…that son of….”She winced and leaned up on her elbows. She looked up to see a sudden stream of fire, she knew at this distance there was a little else she could do but to make the effort to dodge it. Iyata looked at Naoko and instinctively grabbed ahold of her and threw all her strength into her legs and jumped upward evading the stream of fire but only by a small margin, the skin of her shin was met with flame burning it in transition. She gasped in pain and bit her bottom lip to keep herself from crying out and dropped down onto the ground opposite the stream letting go of Naoko and kneeling down between the pain of her shin and the fatigue she was experiencing.

She frowned softly and stood up standing ever so gingerly on the injured ankle she looked at Naoko “Any, idea’s I am completely out….”She said with a rather bitter taste in her mouth. Typically she could think of something for everything but this was proving to be a lot more troublesome then she had initially believed, however she was learning a lot and that was the key of this entire endeavor.

WC: 415
Training Jutsu: Water Release: Wild Water Wave WC: 900/900-Completed
Training Jutsu: Wind Release: Spiralling Wind Ball WC: 900/900-Completed
Training Jutsu: Water Release: Waterfall Basin Technique WC: 779/1350

After watching my arrows of wind chakra disappear into the mist, I waited and listened for any sign that my attack hit.  Instead, I only heard a few sounds coming from the mist.  My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when through the mist appeared Iyata, being thrown by chains wrapped around her, hurtling towards me.  She hit me with a tremendous force that sent us both tumbling away from the third circle's edge.  Finishing are tumble, Iyata started to get off me when we heard Kaguza call out to us from the mist, "You've seen my Raiton and Doton. Now for Suiton. Myugan art: Stream."

The mist began to glow orange and soon a wave of fire came rushing towards us.  Iyata sprang up, clutching me in her arms to jump out of the way. Her calves and feet got burned in the leap, making her drop me as we landed.  I rolled over and picked myself back up from the ground, dusting my clothes off from the tumbling act.  Iyata looked over to me, asking if I had any ideas for this.  Looking back to the mist where the flames slowly faded away, I could only shake my head.  I wasn't one for coming up with elaborate plans or even moderate ones.  Pulling back on my bow, I began to aim back into the mist once more as I spoke to Iyata, "The only thing we can do is keep pressing the attack."  I unleashed another set of five arrows.  The mist still was making it impossible for me to know where Kaguza was but his chains had to connect to him, so I focused to where the chains that had held Iyata had come from within the mist.  I sent my first arrow 2 meters to the left of where I had deemed Kaguza was in the mist, his chains giving away his position, and my second 2 meters to his right.  The third and fourth were 1 meter to his left and right, followed by the fifth arrow that went straight towards him.

Once my last arrow had left the bow, I took off in a sprint straight after my last arrow.  I flipped my bow around and hung it over my shoulder with my right hand while unsheathing my katana with my left hand.  Kaguza was faster than me, stronger than me, and more experienced than me.  My charge was very ill-advised but I didn't care.  I wasn't completely intending to try and take him on.  If there was one thing I had learned through this training session it was that ninjas lived through deceit and trickery.  This charge would be my first attempt at both, and I prayed it would be successful.  Charging through the mist to Kaguza, I raised my blade to pierce anything that was ahead of me.  In order for my little trick to work I needed to keep my wits about me and pay attention to my surroundings.  As I ran, I noticed that this was probably one of those ideas that Iyata was asking about.  I bit my lip, it was too late to tell her now, and I was quite surprised myself for coming up with this on the spot, but it would only be a few more seconds until someone could say if it was a good or bad idea.

Chakra:

From within the mist he heard Iyata in pain. That could only mean his jutsu had made contact, which also meant he had basically set his student on fire. It seemed she was still willing to fight though now injured and no longer having a plan. It was admirable to want to fight a battle even without a plan, but against an opponent such as himself, retreat would be more reasonable. The training session was drawing on in length and the two didn't have the endurance or reserves that Kaguza had spent years training up. It was time to end the match and get any wounds looked at.

The girls on the other hand continued their assault. Naoko unleashed another set of wind arrows into the mist. If he was going to get a moment to talk, he'd have to avoid the attack first. The first arrow passed to his left, so that was the direction he'd move. The second was to his right, the third arrow however was now aimed directly at Kaguza. Having changed her attack pattern, it was difficult to see the arrow coming. Naoko's third arrow struck Kaguza's right arm. Though not a direct hit, it grazed just to the side of the bone in his arm. The power in the attack though sailed straight through the muscle of his arm.

Kaguza covered the wound with his left hand, he had to avoid bleeding all over the place. Due to the alcoholic nature of his clan. The Myugans had thinner blood, causing them to bleed more from flesh wounds. Though it help to impede the flow, blood was still managing to come out from under his hand. The final two arrows sailed by missing Kaguza, though footsteps quickly followed. Naoko had entered the mist cloud aiming to attack him in close range. He still had Temper tightly in his grasp and his arm did still work. As Naoko appeared within the mist, she went for a straight stab. Kaguza had bled enough to create a trail all the way down his arm and weapon, and even dripped onto the ground. Raising his hammer, Kaguza knocked aside Naoko's blade before rotating and launching a swift kick to the chest strong enough to launch her back out of the mist in the direction she came from.

"That's enough." Kaguze declared very plainly. Naoko probably didn't feel too good after the kick, and both Iyata and himself were injured now. "Our little test is over. I know Iyata got hurt with my last jutsu and Naoko you hit me with your last one as well." Kaguza walked out of the mist, still holding his right arm. Though it hurt it wasn't enough to show in his behavior. Blood periodically dripped off of the war hammer still in his hand, as he set it on the ground. "I'm quite impressed with both of your abilities. Naoko, seems your skill comes from both natural talent and dedicated training. To have long range capabilities for a close quarters fighter is quite a combination, and you alternate between them flawlessly." Naoko was very similar to Kaguza in being able to fight at more then just close range. "Iyata, as the higher ranking of the group. You showed leadership and even countered my Lightning Raid. You guys managed to move me from the smallest circle in about the same amount of time that it took Strafe in my last bout with him." Though in his sparring match with Strafe, Kaguza simply wanted to see how long he could stay in the same area before having to move. "I have one last thing I'd like to see before we check into the hospital. There were three circles in total. Each having a meaning. Can you tell me what each circle meant?"

Post's Word Count 636
Training Scroll Sourced Summon 750/750 Words
Training Temper's Moving Dragon 2250/2500 Words (festival mission 10% word count reduction)
Training Myugan Stream 1274/1500 Words

Iyata saw Naoko press the attack further she went to stand up her ankle betraying her. She frowned softly and knelt back down. She looked up allowing enough time to see Naoko fly back out of the mist and land on the ground. She quickly heard Kaguza say "That's enough." Kaguze declared very plainly. Naoko probably didn't feel too good after the kick, and both Iyata and himself were injured now. "Our little test is over. I know Iyata got hurt with my last jutsu and Naoko you hit me with your last one as well." Iyata took a breath in and let it out quickly as she sat on the ground resting her backside on the cool earth below her. She was happy that the training was over, she had expected to get bumped and bruised around a bit so she was not really surprised at the amount of training she had just experienced. However she would walk away definitely better prepared, she had found herself already thinking of different trainings she had wanted to do to make sure she was better prepared for a potential fight in the future.

“Iyata, as the higher ranking of the group. You showed leadership and even countered my Lightning Raid. You guys managed to move me from the smallest circle in about the same amount of time that it took Strafe in my last bout with him." Iyata smiled and took pride in the words that she was able to counter one of his attacks. She felt sore all over, but it was one of those aches in her body that did not necessarily bother her much at all. But more like wearing a scar with pride and conviction that something at the end was accomplished. She turned her immediate attention from Naoko back to Kaguza as he spoke, "I have one last thing I'd like to see before we check into the hospital. There were three circles in total. Each having a meaning. Can you tell me what each circle meant?" Iyata placed a hand on her chin gently and began to contemplate the meaning behind it all. They were circles to that provided a restriction to Kaguza, however that was not it. She glanced up at Kaguza in deep speculation as he wondered what the underlying meaning meant.

“If I had to say what they meant, I would say that it was a progression of teamwork. Each circle representing a feat of teamwork that we had to accomplish and obstacle that we had to overcome to be able to grow as Ninja. Much like a mountain, water will erode it away eventually to continue progression.” She stated. Looking back at her comment she saw how stupid it kind of sounded, but ultimately she could not of come up with a better answer, but at least that was how she viewed this training exercise.

WC: 486
Training Jutsu: Water Release: Wild Water Wave WC: 900/900-Completed
Training Jutsu: Wind Release: Spiralling Wind Ball WC: 900/900-Completed
Training Jutsu: Water Release: Waterfall Basin Technique WC: 1265/1350

My plan failed harshly as Kaguza's speed overwhelmed me. I had thought the hammer would be enough to slow him down to allow an opening for me to slide underneath, grabbing his leg to pull him into the third and last circle, but instead he knocked my blade aside with the hammer and delivered a hard kick to my chest. Kaguza booted me clear out of the mist, throwing me back to where I started. My body tumbled, landing first on my butt and then my body rolled backwards and over my head in a long tumble. Once I had skidded to a stop, I gasped for breath. The kick had knocked the wind right out of me as well as some broken ribs. Wincing as I got up, I only caught a few bits of what Kaguza said. Feeling my pain and seeing Iyata's injuries, not to mention the total disappearance of Tenka, I could tell the training was over. I shook my head at Kaguza's question. Not once had I thought about a meaning to each circle nor did I really care. The goal was to get him out of all three and I failed. We failed.

Only Iyata seemed to have any kind of answer towards his question. Thinking on her answer it did hold truth in his little test, each circle did prove to increase the difficulty requiring more teamwork between them. The true meaning of the circles though, least what he would have liked to get across, did evade them. "There is truth to your meaning Iyata. The difficulty did increase as I had more room to maneuver. As a melee fighter though, they held different meanings. Each circle depicted areas of control or threat. The smallest circle was my striking range for standard Taijutsu, roughly a meter radius, or the length of my arms or legs." Kaguza held up his arm parallel to the ground. "The second circle was my striking range for my meteor hammers, which I used to their full length from the beginning." Reaching down, Kaguza picked up his War hammer and stood it up on it's head. "The final circle, though it would be difficult to see, was the distance I could reach with my war hammer." Areas of control were an important fact to him during any battle. "In any battle, each fighter has areas of control. These areas determine their striking distance and threat. If you can enter an opponent's area and take control, you'll likely win. Therefore if you could control my area of threat, then it would be possible to move me from the circle. Keep in mind though, the displayed circles depicted my area of control only when I was standing in the center. An area of control can and will move and change shape during battle. Every time you two entered the circles it proved difficult to attack or defend, that's because this is how I fight. Now I need to go check into the hospital before I pass out from blood loss. I want you two to continue training as you always and once we've recovered we'll begin some real training." With smile Kaguza grabbed his coat and hammer then made his way to the hospital for a routine visit.

Post's Word Count 348
Training Scroll Sourced Summon 750/750 Words
Training Temper's Moving Dragon 2250/2500 Words (festival mission 10% word count reduction)
Training Myugan Stream 1500/1500 Words

(Exit Thread)

Iyata took a moment to reflect on his words, for he was correct. She had noticed that he was limited by those circles, but she had never connected the dots up until now and that caused her to frown some. She was very much a intelligent woman an the fact that the particular answer he just gave them frustrated her so much was that it was so simple. She had to smile to herself just slightly because she had not thought of the most applicable answer, she thought too broad and it caused her to miss the most practical application of this excerise. “That definitely Makes sense Kaguza Sensei…thank you.”She said softly and stood up her ankle and shin feeling a bit better. She looked to Naoko and smiled to her, “Hey Naoko after I get checked out at the infirmary we should go get some food…”She said with a smile. She knew Naoko was a bit upset by the fact that they had failed to meet the objective however, no matter how upset she was at herself she would always find time to eat good food.

She limped behind Kaguza heading towards the infirmary and looked up to Kaguza a moment before turning her attention to Naoko to make sure she was following behind knowing she took a few bumps and bruises her ownself. In contemplation she began to visualize her own circles and what she could achieve and found that she was lacking heavily in close quarter combat. She would have to remedy that quickly.

wc 260

Training Jutsu: Water Release: Wild Water Wave WC: 900/900-Completed
Training Jutsu: Wind Release: Spiralling Wind Ball WC: 900/900-Completed
Training Jutsu: Water Release: Waterfall Basin Technique WC: 1350/1350-Completed

[Exit Thread]

I listened carefully to what Kaguza had to say.  His points about the circles and their meanings seemed to strike hard within my mind.  They all made sense and started to click together in my head.  His way of thinking about battles and ranges of attack and defense were well above my own thinking.  His lesson taught here with this training session showed me that I needed to train my mind to always be evaluating my opponents and making sure I was in control of the battle by focusing on these 'areas of control'.  There seemed to be a lot to learn from Kaguza, but of course he was a Sannin of the village.

We all needed hospital care, so when Kaguza and Iyata began heading towards the hospital, I gingerly took steps to follow suit.  The broken ribs from Kaguza's kick hurt like hell with each step.  I had to slow my pace down to what felt like a crawl as I made sure that my upper body didn't move an inch.  My arms held my sides tenderly as I tried my best to keep up with the other two while trying to manage through the pain.  I could only nod at Iyata's suggestion for food, though I didn't really know if food traveling down to my stomach would help with the pain coming from my ribs.  Hopefully the hspital could heal me up quickly.

[Exit Thread]