Dameon woke up in his living quarters where Gin had put him up until he could recover his strength. Having only just recently having the rest of his wounds seal up now all he had to deal with was his soreness. Overall he still felt weak despite getting his strength back from his starvation. He was working out again as well but he didn’t feel nearly as strong as he used to. It made sense it had been almost a year since he had even walked or moved let alone did strenuous activity. None the less he could feel himself improving each and every day. He was also trying to readjust to his new body of sorts. His body had ages a good seven years or so and he had not only grown taller much more muscular as well. It wasn’t something he was used too and was awkward when you didn’t have the time to adjust to get used to a slowly growing body. Dameon sighed feeling sore as he slid himself out of the bed and immediately went to the floor to do some pushups. As odd as it all was and even though his body was sore and weak and he also felt stronger and much more durable than he had before. He was surprised that the Shikyo Four had basically let him recover instead of attempting to recapture him while he was still weak.

After a while he started to build a pool of sweat on the floor from his pushups. The sweat glistening over his body that was clothed only in a pair of boxers. There was still only so much he could do from his place inside the house to work on his other skills. He knew though that he had to get back to speed as quickly as possible to assist the Mizukage. Since he had been brought here by Lin he had also gotten himself cleanly shaved and his hair cut professionally rather than his quick cut with his kunai. The only thing motivating him at this point and pushing himself possibly beyond his current capabilities was the thought of revenge. He wanted to kill the Shikyo Four now more than ever and he would do it by himself if he had too. He sighed as he rolled over onto his back to work on sit ups. His weight had at least returned to him from being starved and his muscles were starting to form back once again, his ribs no longer visible. After a few more minutes he stood up and went to the bathroom to clean himself up and get changed.

[441]

Gin was quiet when she wanted to be. Albeit, those moments were quite rare. Most were under the impression that she was entirely incapable of stealth in any way, shape or form. Honestly, she liked it that way. It was easier to sneak around when people thought you couldn't do so at all. That was what she had done in the morning - moving quietly along the outside walls to get to Dameon's window. The morning was cool and misty, with grey clouds covering the sun overhead and mingling atop the peaks of Kumogakure's mountains. Really, it was similar to Kirigakure's own weather, except it had a tendency to be warmer and muggier in the Water Country. Gin took a deep breath, letting her lungs fill with the clean air instead of cigarette smoke for once. When she arrived at Dameon's window, she found it open.

She climbed up, barely producing a sound. She sat on the window pane, one leg dangling in Dameon's temporary room and her back against the would-be wall. In short, she made herself comfortable, her posture careless and blase as ever. "You do know you're allowed outside, right?" Gin pointed out, looking at her fingernails with relative disinterest. She didn't know whether or not Dameon had noticed her presence and honestly didn't care all that much. She was just there to be a thorn in his side, as usual. Oh, and also to check up on him. His injuries and mental state had been nothing to laugh at.

Seeing Dameon in boxers, Gin was reminded of the penchant for nudity she had when she was around his age. More than once she had left her office in underwear while reading erotic novels. She remembered one specific moment where she burst like that through a window, sword in hand, to chase down the man she had been in love with at the time. He had died several years ago. She smiled to herself at the memory, but let go of it quickly. She knew that reminiscing could be dangerous territory. She could spend hours imagining what her life would have been like had she done a few things differently. It usually made her resent both herself and those around her. It was best to live in the present for that and several more reasons. "You know, I could swear you have love handles," she teased Dameon. If anything, he had lost most of the fat in his body, not to mention muscle mass - all in spite of the height he had gained. He needed to start eating and training if he ever wanted to get back to where he had been.

"Come on, I'll help you with your training," she said. It was practically an order. Before he protested or anything, she would drop gracefully onto the ground, four stories below them.

[Training: Inferno Sword Style - Wrath: 501/2000]

”Somehow I figured spying on half naked men wasn’t beneath you. Seems I was right,” Dameon said with a bit of a chuckle under his breath as he cleaned himself up quickly and brushed his teeth knowing that if he was going to be training there was no point in showering. Dameon didn’t care about attention or what other people thought about him as he tossed his boxers into the hamper and made his way back out of the bathroom in full sight of Gin and started to get dressed. To be fair they were both adults and it wasn’t the first time they had seen someone naked of the opposite sex. ”I have been staying inside to try and not cause any confrontation or make my location known if the Shikyo Four have eyes in the city. I don’t want this city to have any more trouble than it already does,” He said with a bit of a sigh as he strapped his weapon pouch on and walked toward Gin now completely closed. ”Come to think of it. I have trained with Sano, Lord Mizukage, and many others but I don’t believe we have ever trained together. I recall you offering when I was a genin but you blew me off,” Dameon said with a grin as he approached her and jumped down off of the balcony right behind her.

”So, where are we going? Just out back here or do you have a more secluded place in mind?” He asked as he followed behind her. Quietly poking his skin above his hip and feeling for love handles and not finding much of anything. He had always had the figure close to a stick but it felt even worse now that he was taller. He definitely needed to put on some weight but he wasn’t entirely sure how. Perhaps he either needed to build more muscle considering he was so far behind in his training. That or he needed to eat a lot more which was not something he was used to. He had always seemed to eat more or less like a bird and only eating enough to make him not feel hungry, often this was only once or twice a day. ”I feel so…lanky. What is the best way to get to an average size and not that of a pole? Perhaps I need to change my eating habits,” He asked Gin wondering what her knowledge would provide.

[411]
[852 total]

Gin had never been one to get uncomfortable when faced with nudity. She had seen enough naked bodies to be desensitized. Her eyes glanced Dameon while he changed, but there was rally nothing sexually charged about her gaze. It was more of a mild interest. After about a second, she headed towards their makeshift training ground. As soon as she left the building, she could feel the eyes of the Kumogakure guard detail burning through the back of her skull. It was nothing new, but it never stopped being annoying. As she waited for Dameon, she did her best to ignore them. If they decided to intervene, it wouldn't be her fault if they were caught in the crossfire. Accidents happened.

Once Dameon finally joined her, she pulled out a scroll from her pocket and spread it out in the air in front of her. In one swift motion, she undid two seals on it. From a puff of white smoke came two swords - unremarkable katanas, used mainly for practice. The scroll seemed to roll itself back tidily while Gin tossed Dameon one of the two swords. She tucked the rolled up parchment into her items' pouch once again and twirled the sword in her other hand. She wanted to get a feel of its weight before they started their training session. Her hands were nimble, wielding the weapon as if it were another part of her body, an extension of her very being. It was only natural, after so many years dealing with swords. Besides, she was a Kuroka - one could say it was in her blood.

While she repeated the motions, stretching her wrist and warming up, she answered Dameon's questions. "This is about as far away from the house as they let me go," she stated. She knew that if she strayed any farther, the guards would tense even more. "The way they see it, I'm simultaneously their biggest threat and best bargaining chip at the same time," she elaborated. She now raised her voice on purpose to make sure that the guards were listening. "Joke's on them, though! Ayakashi doesn't do trades and I'm not gonna go on a rampage any time soon," she said, more for the guards than anyone else. She then moved on to his other question before bringing up her own. "It's pretty simple, really. Eat tons of protein every day and train until you collapse," she instructed.

"So! How do you want to do this?" she asked. "I'll let you set the parameters, since I'm nice like that," she teased. In reality, she didn't want to push him beyond what his limits were right now. He needed a distraction and a way to get back in shape, not something that would end up being the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. He wasn't like the genin she usually trained anyways, scared to push themselves to find the strength they could reach. No, Dameon was an experience shinobi who knew perfectly well what he could and couldn't do.

[Training: Inferno Sword Style - Wrath: 1023/2000]

Dameon caught the katana with ease as he inspected it and realizing that they couldn’t use their normal swords especially not with guards watching their every movement. Hell he was an ANBU Captain and if he knew anything about the ANBU or guards in general then they would likely be watching and placing small bets. Dameon couldn’t help but laugh as he listened to Gin mock the guards and she very right, here was no way Ayakashi would make a trade. Besides she would also know Gin’s status with Sanosuke so Gin was hardly a prisoner. It was also very likely that Ayakashi had ruled Dameon as a KIA by now. This would lead people in Kumo to not knowing who he was in addition to his changed appearance. Dameon would slice at the air a few times with a katana to get used to the weight. With his own sword weight was not something he every needed to worry about as The Midnight Child’s Blade was near weightless. The blade was so effortless to wield that it usually just felt like he was waving his hand around as he cut through just about anything. ”I am not a big eater. I feel like gaining weight might be difficult for me. Truth be told, I can’t stand fish either and that is like seventy five percent of the food in Kiri. I am going to need to slaughter a few cows before I head back.”

”Parameters? It doesn’t really matter to me. However we should probably not give the guards a reason to step in or call for backup. So perhaps we just stick to non-ranged jutsu and only those focused around bukijutsu and we do a few rounds of first blood? Obviously no kill shots but drawing blood on torso to the head with a blade counts as a win for the round. We do best three out of five? Perhaps more if we feel up for it. What do you think?” Dameon said proposing the method to spar. They were both extremely skilled with a sword that they could land superficial shots without causing actual damage. Gin had a huge advantage though as he was not using his typical blade so he would need to deflect rather than block. After all she was much stronger than him and this blade would easily shatter against her own strength. However what he did know for certain was that he could easily out maneuver her with his speed. He just couldn’t allow her the opportunity to catch him off guard. Dameon looked behind him as he waited for Gin to respond and he could see the guards starting to group up. ”Great. Just what we needed,”

[455]
[866 total]

"Alright, sounds fair. It's worth mentioning that I'm gonna test a few jutsu while we're at it. I'll make sure to keep it restricted to Bukijutsu, though," she made a dismissive waving motion with her free hand. "No Fuuinjutsu or Taijutsu or Ninjutsu. I'll behave and keep it simple," she said. She meant it, of course. She liked the versatility of being able to use all of her specialties in any given fight, but she was a very capable swordsman. She could do exceptionally well in a fight with only her Bukijutsu. Hell, it was the basis of her entire Kekkei Genkai and what she used to heavily rely on before learning her other specialties. It made her feel like she had the advantage. Nevertheless, she wasn't going to underestimate Dameon. She knew better than to do that. Even deteriorated as he now was, he was still a force to be reckoned with.

Gin settled into a basic stance, her feet set wide apart and her sword pointed straight at Dameon, at the level of her face. "How about we make this interesting?" she asked. He likely knew where she was going with the question. Gin had a penchant for gambling. It was only second to drinking when it came to her vices. "I win, you buy all my drinks when we go out tonight," she purposely said when and not if. She woudl drag Dameon out if he wanted it or not. "You win, you can set your own condition, yeah?" she proposed. There was a mischievous glint in her eyes.

To fight against Dameon, she knew it was better to focus on counter-attacks and defense rather than full on offense. He was fast- much faster than her - which meant that landing a blow without prior preparation could be damn near impossible. She had to focus on what she was good at instead. Her reaction time and perception were good enough that she could see and avoid his attacks. "Scared of an audience?" Gin taunted him, still holding her position and making sure to notice every detail of her surroundings, particularly the movements of Dameon's body. Even a small twitch of his muscles would be enough of a signal for her to react to.

Silently, she activated a jutsu. It tensed her muscles as chakra rapidly coursed through her body. It was always a rush, filling her with adrenaline and added strength. It was an almost imperceptible change that could simply be attributed as a sign of her bracing herself. Unless Dameon had a way to see her chakra flow, it was unlikely that he would know what it was for certain. In any case, this would serve as an added boost to her already enormous strength. There was no kill like overkill.

Chakra:

[Training: Inferno Sword Style - Wrath: 1495/2000]

”You know I think that you might have a drinking problem but I suppose it is only a problem if you let it be. That is fine by me. Though to be honest I have no idea what I would want from you if I managed to win,” Dameon said as he slid the katana back into its sheath. He didn’t bother tying it up to his belt he figured it would be easier to hold it in his left hand and possibly use it defensively if he needed to. Plus the added benefit of having a sheath worked with a lot with his particular style of kenjutsu. He knew that Gin was much stronger and her sword style was typically more about pushing and over powering the opponent which she did well. Dameon focused on finesse and speed and often utilized the opponent’s movements against them; he used a more traditional style called Aikido. Ultimately though he was not supposed to make the first initiation with this style of sword fighting. He actually found it surprising that Gin would take such a defensive posture and from what he could perceive use some kind of technique that no doubt increased some physical attribute, as he could see he muscles tighten and clench. ”It seems that we are going to need to flip a coin to see who is to initiate,” Dameon said as he pulled a coin out of his pocket and showed it to her. ”I will take heads,” Dameon stated as he flipped the coin between them and the coin showed tails side up. ”You win. So I suppose I will initiate since it is obvious you are waiting on the defense,” Dameon said as he took a couple steps back and went into his own stance. As he did so he activated one of his clan’s abilities, a powerful aura that activated as he powered himself up, after all he hadn’t used any chakra in a while he needed to make sure he wasn’t going to have complications with it.

As he powered himself up crackles of electricity shot out of his skin and causing his hair to stand up and immediately settle almost like wind blowing. While this happened his aura would spread to Gin causing a decrease in her reaction time although he doubt she would notice this right away. What was noticeable was the aura that almost felt like a weight in the general area and it made the area heavy and ominous. Dameon’s playful and care free demeanor changed to a serious tone. Sure this was only a spar between friends but he knew she could handle his best much like when he trained with Ayakashi. He needed to try and push himself to his known limits otherwise he wouldn’t know how much further he had to go until he was completely recovered. Dameon waited as he kept his focus on Gin he didn’t want to do anything extra ordinary or intense off the bat as this was a best of three. He usually filled the role of an assassin or someone who rushed all in head first but that was only to go for kills. He couldn’t actually push himself that far because of the guards watching and the possibility of collateral damage. Dameon would take a final breath after their pause and he would push off hitting his burst movement speed as he ran toward her but as soon as he did ran sideways to her weaker stance side and attacked from there. This meant a longer more awkward movement to adjust to the attack on defense. Every skilled sword user knew this tactic and he hardly expected to surprise her as he attacked with the katana and performing one of his few bukijutsu known to him as V strike. He slashed at her with a diagonal strike from the top left down to the bottom right, followed up immediately by a slash from the bottom of the”V” to the top right. What made his bukijutsu strong was the speed at which it was done. The attack of two strikes being performed in the same window as a single strike for him and with his already much faster attacks vs her slower yet more powerful ones.

[715]
[1581 total]

Jutsu used:

Gin snickered at the idea that Dameon didn't want anything from her. She shook her head. "Really? You know, your creativity has really gone to shit," she pointed out. She ignored the accusation that she had a drinking problem. Her liver was fine. She had been drinking since age fourteen. She knew her limits - they were just very hard to get to. Nowadays, it took something along the lines of two bottles of hard liquor to get her drunk. She needed half of that to produce a decent buzz. For that reason, drinking was usually an expensive affair, especially at bars and clubs. Drinks in Kumogakure were ridiculously overpriced. All she needed to do now was win this little fight and she would have a good time tonight. For now, she would have to wait patiently for Dameon to decide who would attack first. Fortunately, that duty fell to him. She could maintain her strategy as she had planned.

Against people like Dameon, it was best to keep her movements minimal, to focus on counterattacks instead of a head on charge. She had gotten faster over the years - probably more than Dameon expected - but she was still slower than he was. He could easily dodge her at their current distance, move behind her and counter, even. She needed to avoid situations where she could be placed at a disadvantage. She kept a close eye on Dameon as he readied himself to begin their spar. His first technique was a curious thing, one that seemed to charge the air around him with lightning. It made her body feel strange, as if part of that energy were coursing through her as well. She didn't know the exact extent of its effects, but she would have to operate under the knowledge that her body wouldn't respond as it usually did.

He began his charge. Gin could see his movements in detail. For less than a second, she debated moving in order to prepare her own attack. She decided against it, however, judging that her current strategy would work better this time around. She held perfectly still until he began his technique, side-stepping to attack the weaker side of her stance. As soon as he did so, she would activate a seal underneath his feet as she pivoted so that they stood face to face. As soon as his foot would reach the ground, however, the seal would launch him in the opposite direction, reaching a speed of 80 m/s almost instantly.

The way she saw it, she had about half a second or less to activate her own attack. Concentration was key. She wanted to win, but maiming Dameon wasn't part of her plan. This was a friendly spar, after all. She needed to control the extent of her technique, how much it expanded and retracted, how quickly it did so and how much her chakra could burn.

It was worth noting, however, that her chakra control had never been all that great.

In an instant, her blade burned red. From its tip would spring a visible aura of heat and fire, following Dameon and catching up to him. The speed of its expansion was slightly faster than that of her own seal. If Dameon didn't manage to regain his footing in time, he would suffer third degree burns across his chest, where the aura was currently headed. If he did manage to move, he would still likely be caught in its surroundings, thus resulting in second degree burns. Whether or not he suffered injuries from her newest jutsu was still up to him. His speed was remarkable. If anyone could pull it off, it was Dameon.

Chakra: 275/335:

Jutsu Used:

[Training: Inferno Sword Style - Wrath: 2000/2000]

[Training: Heaven Style: Twin Seals: 116/2000]