Clad in his training gear, Oki walked down the roads of Iwagakure, heavy boots crunching against the soil. Next to him walked Debu, plodding along happily, and like Oki, the two of them both had their Iwagakure forehead protector’s around their neck. A large, furry hand stroked at the stark, sharp black goatee of the chuunin, and he simply chuckled as his brown eyes gazed around. Before him, not a long distance ahead, stood the proud, tall structure that was known in Iwagakure for being a great stadium. Today, Oki had a mission to accomplish here, and well, he was excited – teach the genin of Iwagakure the lesson of defeat, by sparring with a group of them. He looked forward to it, the chance to not only test his strength, but also learn just how much those he was fighting would grow – in advance Oki had signed himself up twice for this task, hoping to take on the same group multiple times. To Oki, the ability to be a proud warrior was one of importance to the village – he held firm to the beliefs of his clan. So, with weight behind his steps, the man and his bear walked down the stairs and into the coliseum of which they were to fight, descending into the dimly lit depths.

The stadium was vast, many empty rows of seats and benches surrounding the podium-like area that was designated for the battles held regularly here. Much to his delight, before him, in a group of cluster, stood a group of, upon counting, twenty shinobi of varying heights and genders. The sound of chatter echoed in the vast arena, which had been closed prior for the purpose entirely of training. The brown and grey of the walls and floor were highlighted with green from crystals jutting from the roof works and upper echelons of the underground building. His footsteps were heavy against the stone floor, but not louder than the gossip of genin. Still, these genin… They needed inspiring before they began the fight – proper inspiration truly helped one to achieve their full potential, and Oki believed in positive reinforcement. So, what better way than a grand entrance? He tapped Debu, petting the bear on the head and transferring some of his chakra onto the pet. Then, he shooed Debu to sneak around to the opposite side of the room, as he went up to the seating area of the building. He got to the front most seat of the area, taking a comfortable seat while Debu snuck up on the group. As Debu got dangerously close to getting spotted, Oki began clapping his hands together, loud enough to echo through the arena. This quite effectively caught their attention, as the group all turned to face the sudden loud noise. Oki grinned, standing up as he spoke with a shout. “Welcome, genin of Iwagakure no Sato – the village hidden in the stone! My name is Oki, I am from the Kuma clan, and today, I have come to introduce you to the shinobi world! Of course, there are many ways we could do this! I could take you on a mission! I could train you! But no! Today, I want to see how you fight! When faced against an immovable object, a wall that you cannot pass, what will you do? Will you surrender?!” He sighed, grinning wildly as he raised his arms to the side, speaking almost prophetically. “So! Today!”

In an instant, the bear man swapped with his bear companion, who was now leaning against the railing of the sitting area. Now but a little bit away from the genin, Oki walked onto the stage while they were still transfixed on the loud man suddenly being replaced with the bear. Then, from behind, he declared proudly and loudly. “I will be your opponent!”

The genin turned around to face the suddenly appearing man with a surprised look on their face, whispers and mutters starting up as he stepped forward, the genin parting to allow him to take a place on the stage. Then, the man gestured to each genin individually, then to a place to stand. After a couple minutes of repositioning, it seemed Oki was content with their locations, nodding to himself and stroking his goatee. Finally, he spoke again, not shouting this time, voice clear but moderate. “Please, in a counter-clockwise order starting with you, state your name, and your goal!” Thus, for a few minutes, Oki listened to the introductions of each individual ninja. Every single one of them was a unique shinobi, yet to be honed, yet to be introduced to the grim but exciting world of the shinobi. That was perfect, and with a nod, he crouched. “To be fair, my companion up there will just watch. Now come! Try to defeat me, all of you!” he shouted, looking around with a grin.

Hesitation occurred in each of them, but one of them took out a kunai and instantly rushed at the front of the bear man. He got close, swiping to hit Oki on the chest, but not close enough, as in an instant Oki’s fist shot out, connecting to the genin’s chest and throwing him back a meter to land flat on his back, groaning somewhat. Still, the existence of action starting gave a spur to the others, who each also got out a kunai and began running around Oki. Three at once ran behind him with intention of backstabbing him while another two ran at him from the front. As a reaction to this, Oki dropped down to all fours and began running forwards to those in front of him, shoulder barging them as they stopped in fear and hesitation, getting knocked down like the first genin, their kunai clattering on the ground. Two of those behind him stopped, while the third ran forward, her grip on the weapon still tight. Still, another six were in front of him and trying to stab him, so the girls attack connected to the back of his arm, the kunai lodged into his hairy arm which caused Oki to somewhat grit his teeth, swiping the stabbed arm in front of him to knock all six of those ahead of him back and down, groaning in pain and somewhat winded, before he took the kunai out of his arm, throwing it behind him to clatter on the ground right in front of the genin that took advantage of his distracted state – scaring her enough to step backwards.

The fighting didn’t last much longer than this, the remaining genin that hadn’t been beaten soon getting downed with a single hit to the chest – Oki purposefully avoiding hitting any of their faces and aiming to strike those that got too close, or eventually, those that opted to stand back and not act. Finally, when all twenty of the new genin were laid down on the ground, or just getting up, Oki clapped his hands, nodding. He hadn’t expected it to go the way it did, so, to him, it was more than just an exercise for them – but a lesson to Oki as well. He waited for the genin to get up, looking each one of them over and gesturing for his bear, Debu, to come to him. After Debu showed up, he spoke up, grinning with pride. “Well done, to all of you! Today, I did not come to lose, nor to win – but to teach! When faced with an enemy that is stronger than you, when faced with a wall you cannot climb, you don’t surrender! You don’t give in and just say there was nothing you can do! And while many of you hesitated, I am proud that none of you surrendered! You all tried! You all came at me with the intent to win, the intent to surpass those that would stand opposed to your individual goals! You are shinobi of Iwagakure no Sato, and I can see today that within you all, lies the will of stone! To be immovable! To be stronger than not your peers, but your past self! To strive and aim to be the best you could possibly be! We are shinobi!”

He raised his hand to the sky, followed by similar gestures of pride from the genin, several of whom starting cheering and smiling. Then, Oki resumed. “As for advice… To some of you, you must not act too hastily. If you run at an enemy without a plan, no matter who they are, you will lose. However, with that in mind… To some of you, the worst thing you can do, is not act until it is too late. If you only fight when your comrades are down, then you may as well have no comrades to begin. That is not wise, nor brave. That is foolish, to the highest degree.”

Sighing, Oki got up, walking off stage and towards the exit with Debu, before looking back. “Same time next week.”

1502 WC DONE

[EXIT]