Knowledge over power. Satoru believes that overwhelming knowledge of the shinobi arts can make a break anyone who dare refer to themself as ninja. Today, Satoru was heading out into the small forest to the south of konoha to a usual spot where he meditates, studies and sometimes train. He was leaving the house to work on a jutsu he had been brainstorming for the past few days. His studies in the arts of Fuuinjutsu have him obsessed with finding ways to close a gap between him and an opponent. This ultimately inspired him to design a finisher type jutsu, one to quickly eliminate any foe unlucky enough to be within his close proximity. Satoru's natural affinity to wind played a major factor in him deciding to make this jutsu out a wind realease technique because Futon jutsus have the sharp, precise cutting edge that he was going for.

It was a warm day out. He left the village and had already gotten to the small area surrounded by trees that had badly damaged practce targets hanging off of them. These targets were all set up by Satoru in his earlier years of shinobi training. He hardly ever uses the targets as much due to his mastery of shinobi basics, but that doesn't mean he can't get rusty, whenever he is here he practices using a collection of wooden kunai that he stashes away in a sac thats hung up in a nearby tree. As he got to his little makeshieft dojo he removed all the clothing off of his torso,placed them neatly behind a nearby bush and got down onto the ground with crossed legs. As he bathed in sun rays that beamed on him through the leaves of the trees, he closed his eyes and within three minutes, his hair began to lightly dance. He was channeling his wind release in an area around him, the wind around him was blowing wildly, the exact opposite of what he wanted. He was trying to control the currents of wind that he was manipulating around him, trying to get the breeze to move more precisely and not like wild gusts. The currents reacted more ferociously, and got even wilder, his hair was now dancing at some fast speeds and his eyes were closed tighter as he was giving resistance to the dirt he was raising attempting to command the wind. The strain of training to force the surrounding wind to obey his command was rough on his chakra pool, exhausting him at an alarmingly fast rate due to the instability in his connection to the wind. It was too much for young Satoru, the wind calmed back down to their natural currents, Satoru's hair calmed down but didn't go back to its natural state, it was sticking up a lot more than usual. He barely opened his eyes for a brief moment as his legs unfolded and he fell back, immediately passing out on the spot.

WC: 502

Good morning, sunshine. At least you are warm and kind and no stick-in-the-mud like Alexa's father, shouting orders with flaring nostrils and red-hot face. Finger, dangerously honed in the martial art of Juken possibly striking one of the many tenketsu points just to make sure you're awake and jumping up to go train on the double. Yes, you, o glorious ball of light and hope, would not take away a sailor's solid breakfast made of corn flakes and milk (with a swig of rum to flavour it) and send of a young girl such as Alexa to defy the day heat in relentless practise.

Yawning big and with a mood dark enough to conjure a thunderous cloud above the kunoichi's head, the Hyuga was walking down the path that lead to a remote training area of the Leaf. Tricorne on her head, long coat partially hiding the black and red sailor's costume she wore and the stomping boots under her feet gave the genin the impression of being the captain of a proud ship. And actually, such was the case. Unfortunately for the captain, she had two tyrants for parents who still held command over most of her actions and had the rights to send her away for training and missions, or other less adventurous practises.

The road would lead through the forest, the shadows thrown by the green giants bringing a cool factor into the day until the open clearing with the variety of practise dummies revealed itself to her. Still grumpy despite the good walk, Alexa walked up to one of them and used it as a coat rack. Hat and long coat would be draped over the practise dummy, adding a full 200% fashion factor to the otherwise dull yet solid piece of wood. And if that didn't suffice, the foul parrot on her shoulder which hopped over to Captain Dummy, would add the colour he once lacked.

"Man o'erboard", it would caw as it spotted the knocked out guy a little further, bobbing its head vigorously in the process as if he was mocking the land lubber lying uncomfortably in the earth. Alexa would strut over and halt next to him, red eyes observing the knocked out boy. Trying to figure out if he was sleeping, lazing about or actually exhausted, she took a sip of her rum bottle and crouched down to look at him more closely. Yep, knocked out alright, and no surgeon in the area to fix him right up. Of course. Being no medic, she applied the most basic of principles of how-to-un-unconscious someone, tapping his cheeks a bit on the left and a bit on the right as she loudly shouted, "Oi!". If that didn't work, she had one stronger trick up her sleeve - a rum shower in the mornin'.

---

499

[x] Parrot

His mind did not generate a lot of vivid imagery like you'd expect a ninja, as creative as himself to. It was all dark but Satoru felt a presence. He wasnt alone in the darkness "Who's there?" his words echoed deeply through the dark abyss that he was apparently floating through. "Hmm, you have killed before havent you?" a familiar voice spoke to him though this voice did not echo the way Satoru's did. "Who are you?!" the young genin exclaimed, "I hope you're not scared, if you are, don't be. I told you i'll always be there for you and i always stuck to my word. You know who i am." It all came rushing back to him. Satoru couldnt believe it the first time he heard his voice but he was now convinced that the man in his head was Yurnero Namikaze, his father. Yurnero's head and torso come from within the shadows and are now revealed to Satoru. Though the young genin doesn't understand how this is happening, he is very happy to hear from his father again.

"Your mother and I are proud of you Satoru. You don't seem to have any trouble doing what needs to be done for the sake of the mission" Yurnero spoke to him in his head through the dark abyss he was seeing, obviously reffering to his son's killing. Through the darkness, he could only see Yurnero from the waist up, his father was dressed in the jonin uniform of Konoha, though this wasn't his usual wardrobe, this is what Satoru's mind decided to dress him in. "Dont bother talking to me, i'm not really here. This is an automated message i sealed in your head for a time like this when you have reached your limit. This is the only time you're hear me this way. I remember that i forbid you from going into the basement because of the things i was afraid you'd interfere with. But the fear is gone now that you're a mature young man. I want you to go down there, take my old tools and scrolls and make them your own. Let the 'Namikaze' name strike fear into the heart of criminals around the Land." His father left his little dream, leaving Satoru alone with the darkness of his closed eyelids.

His eyes still closed, he felt something hitting his face lightly. In his mind, he thought an animal must've bumped into him. His torso sprung and he looked back in one very fast motion, acknowledging the red eyed girl that stumbled upon him. "Oh hey, sorry if i scared you. I just over did it a little bit." Satoru said while getting back up to his feet. Once in his standing position, he quickly dusted his clothes and offered his right hand to the girl, gesturing her to let him help her up. "My name is Satoru. Who are you? and who's your friend here?" he was referring to the parrot in a light hearted and warm tone. Though he didn't initially express it, Satoru was very baffled to see a parrot in in this forest, it was probably the most exotic animal he has ever laid eyes on within the greens of the leaf. There was an orange glow seeping through the leaves of the trees around them and casting a beautiful shine in the grove. Satoru thought to himself "Man, how long was i out? its gonna get dark soon. I came here in the morning!"

---

WC: 605 | 1107

"My name is Satoru. Who are you? And who's your friend here?

The boy had not needed a rum shower to wake up. Good. That meant there was more for her and less gone to waste. Rising to her feet as he did the same, she'd take another swig of the bottle before she put the cork back on it and clipped it to her belt before eyeing the boy. He looked about her age, casually dressed in white, brown and black colours. Despite the fatigue he had suffered he was rather quick on his feet, hinting at martial art training by doing so, yet looked baffled when he laid eyes on the parrot sitting on top of the training dummy.

"'lexa Hyuga 's the name, and th' wee bird is me pet Arrchiburd.", she would point her thumb at the bird, who cocked its head to give them the stinkeye like he didn't want to deal with lowly land lubbers. "You practisin' a new form o' trainin', mate? Cannae say it be very efficient to train that way, aye?"
"Arr, sleepin' on the job! Scrub the deck. Scrub the deck!"

He looked otherwise fine. No bleeding wounds, no signs of a tough fight. Everything looked like he had either been dozing off during training or exhausted himself by overdoing it. Alexa couldn't say if he was lying or not and frankly, she didn't care either way. She was in an annoyed mood herself, still having to start the training her father had commanded her to do. Sighing softly, she'd take out her set of shuriken and listlessly started to throw them at the training dummy next to the one her clothes and parrot were hanging out. Each one would hit the dummy but not exactly at the most lethal of areas before she shuffled her way to the dummy and plucked them loose again.

"Put yer back under it, sack-o'-salt!"
"Shut it or ye be me next target."
"Murder! Murder!

The parrot would caw before it ruffled its wings and took flight to find a safer spot where her shuriken wouldn't be able to hit him at first sight. Alexa started a second round of shuriken practise with the same listless attitude, still hitting the dummy with debatable killing intent.

"Ye done trainin'?", she'd ask Satoru in between her throws.

---

401
Total: 900

"'lexa Hyuga 's the name, and th' wee bird is me pet Arrchiburd.", she would point her thumb at the bird, who cocked its head in a very snoody way. "You practisin' a new form o' trainin', mate? Cannae say it be very efficient to train that way, aye?" Alexa said to Satoru, "Quite the expressive bird, parrots, i've never seen one in person" he replied while walking towards her slowly.

The girl started training by throwing shuriken at a nearby dummy, not hitting any lethal areas. Satoru smelled a hint if alcohol on her when he just woke up so he couldnt tell if she had been slightly tipsy or not. In the spirit of training, he decided to test her prowess as a shinobi. "Ye done trainin'?", she'd ask Satoru in between her throws. He reflected on the question briefly while approaching her,  he felt like he hadn't really gotten much training done as he passed out pretty easily earlier on.  He made smirk and replied with a friendly tone, "Nope" and as he got closer to her he revealed sinister intent behind his warm smilequickly made a hand seal with his left hand and had already reached for his ninja tool pouch for his trusty kunai. As a shinobi, Satoru makes it his duty to spar with intent to kill. Before launching this attack he had prepared a substitution for a counter-attack she might make as she is also a shinobi and should not be underestimated despite her girly charm.

This basic form of genjutsu is known by all shinobi that don't even specialize in it, The Substitution Technique. The reality of the situation was,  Satoru was already atop a tree directly behind Alexa with 2 shurikem between the fingers of his right arm ready to catch her by surprise the minute she realizes he's not actually infront of her. "Lets see how you handle an ambush." he thought to himself. Right when Alexa goes to dispose of the illusion, he will launch the two shuriken directly at her, giving her little time to respond.

---

WC: 354 | 1461

Chakra 250 | 245:

Dully continuing her shuriken practise, the boy would deny his intent to cease training. In fact, the rogue was dastardly enough to take out his kunai as he formed a hand seals, the motion of his hands registered in the corner of her eyes. Too late, as her arm was still mid-air to throw a shuriken at the dummy when he moved in to strike her. In trained reflex, she'd pull herself away out of harm's way too late to his superior speed, feeling his kunai rake across her cheek and draw blood. Like in a drunken stupor, the girl would fumble backward for a moment, blinking at the sudden strike and lack of invite to spar. An ambush? What a bastard...

Irritated already, Alexa would lash out in her drunken fumble with vehemence, her fist hitting his cheek with sufficient fury she could see a little tear form in the corner of his eye, face wrinkled in discomforting pain before he'd be send flying a full meter away. Or at least, it pretty much looked like that in her mind's eye, since in reality she didn't send him flying a full meter. She actually sent a solid piece of wood flying through the air, the unfortunate piece of environment now the victim of her grief. Vein on her head pulsating in anger as she got tricked, the kunoichi formed the bird, tiger, boar hand seals and summoned a wind barrier into existence as she expected another attack after the use of Substitution Technique. Considering herself superior in a melee fight, negating the risks of suffering a ranged attack was the next best thing to do.

Two shuriken would pierce the barrier, their speed reduced to a laughable joke and allowing Alexa to fall over forward to pass under them. Dust would fly up as she hit the ground, hands preventing an actual fall and allowing her to roll over right away and stand up again. Her eyes would scan for his presence in the direction the shuriken came from but considering the distance and his camouflage she wasn't able to spot him right away. She'd swear under her breath, wishing she had the byakugan at her disposal now. Finding herself at a disadvantage, Alexa could think of only one tactic now: attack the boy's 'manliness'.

"Oi, you! Get over 'ere an' fight like a real man!"

She was ready for him. Guns for range, mad combo for close quarters. The question was if he'd show his face.

---

428
Total: 1328

235/250:

The thrown shuriken were on point and had been stopped short of vital areas on her body. He we shocked to see what she devised out of quick thinking in the situation. A wind barrier, virtually stopping projectiles that come to close. Satoru's other jutsu and items could do nothing to dispose of her anymore, they could only dispose of her jutsu. Long range combat was no longer an option. He started smiling and acknowledging her skill because whether she meant to or not, she had forced Sato to come out of hiding this way.

"Wind jutsu huh?" Satoru thought to himself, acknowledging her ninpo prowess. "I still have the upper hand, she hasn't seen me yet. Lets stop hiding". He observed how the wind jutsu she used had briefly suspended the shuriken in the air. He smirked as he devised a small tactical advance.  Realising that the barrier was strong enough to deflect his projectile but not strong enough to drop it to the ground immediately, he would throw his only kunai at her, making believe that the kunai was the attack when in reality, he would have already hit the ground when the knife was halfway to her and reached within close vicinity to her by the time the kunai was suspended in the air so he could grab it back and attack.

"Oi, you! Get over 'ere an' fight like a real man!"

Her loud call interrupted his critical thinking. This made him spring into action,  he drew his kunai once more and exclaimed "Here i come!" giving away his position to Alexa. He immediately jumped off the brand in an upward direction towards her and threw the weapon at her, mid-air. He landed roughly 6m infront of her and wasted no time running in her direction to form his assault. Reaching a bit closer to her, he would briefly leap off his feet, do a quick spin in the air and raise his left leg to kick alexa, all while using his right hand to grab the kunai and prepare to counter any potential attack from her, or redirect his own attack if she blocked his kick, he didnt even factor in how the wind barrier would affect the force of his leg but he had no time to experiment. It was now or never. His speed and strength wasnt far superior to hers but he was noticably a more profficient ninja, physically. Her only chance at surviving an onslaught of attacks right now would be to use a jutsu on him before he could get up close and personal. He was really testing her abilities and if she were to be beaten by his next attack, it would be clear that she needed more training as Satoru isnt really as seasoned as he'd like to be either.

---

WC: 476 | 1937

Alexa smiled when Satoru decided to give in to her taunt and come to confront her up and personal. A man with guts. Lovely. He'd throw a kunai at her from his hiding place, allowing her the time to dodge it due to the fuuton barrier slowing it's pace as it travelled through the air. In fact, so self-assured she was that she chugged down the bottle of rum she had and slightly leaned to the side to let the kunai pass. Her calculations weren't off. What was off was the unexpected strategy Satoru had used.

Rather than to allow the projectile its slow advance he would suddenly appear from his place and run up to her. Picking up the kunai halfway its trajectory, a feasible act due to its slowed advance and actually an interesting counter-use of her own technique she had not expected. As he plucked the kunai out of the air, her hands would form the Dragon hand seal and follow it up with the Tiger hand seal the moment he started his axe kick. Her ninjutsu would take effect by the time his foot would strike her plain and clear, his power insufficient to break a barrier technique and thus he would not damage her but the superiority of his strength was far higher than she had expected. The impact forced her to kneel, one knee hitting the earth below her, before Satoru's momentum would be fully broken. Alexa retaliated only like a pirate could, swinging the now empty rum bottle in his direction. Her strength would be backed by determination and inebriated lack of control, the aura of her jutsu flickering as a flame around her.

If the bottle would hit while he was finding his own equilibrium, the bottle would shatter as it smashed against his body. The hit would most likely not do much on terms of damage considering his physical superiority but the shame of getting bottle-smashed by a girl would be a fact. If her attack missed, her body would follow up the swing, seemingly tumbling into the earth in a drunken fumble before her feet would follow with an unexpected swing to kick him into the air, leaving him open for the continuation of her taijutsu combo.

---

384
Total: 1712

310/250:

Alexa’s timing seemed perfect. As soon as Satoru was preparing to hit her, she readied a barrier jutsu just before his attack made contact, stopping Sato’s momentum right then and there. After catching his kunai mid-air with his left hand, he swung it at her to swipe across her face but he was too late, while safeguarded by the protection of her barrier, she had already launched an attack at him with her empty rum bottle. Satoru was obviously faster than her but came to a conclusion that he was gonna wrap this up pretty quickly. It had become afternoon going into night and he didnt wanna stay here all day training.

To him, a shinobi a most defenseless when they are focused on their offense. He simply side stepped to the left of her to dodge the rum bottle but in dodging he noticed that wasn’t the only thing she had in mind. It seems like she had distributed chakra into her legs to do a perform a kick, obviously of Taijutsu nature. Taijutsu is hazardous to the Namikaze as they are born with naturally frail bodies. Luckily, Satoru is faster than her, he quickly ducked down and with his right hand touched the ground, leaving a fuinjutsu inscription to strip away her barrier (Aura of Determination). He then used this position and catapulted right over her head, landing behind saying “I’m impressed honestly” before he grabbed Alex’s right arm with his left arm to throw her against a tree that was about 5m behind her. If she was to hit the tree as planned, Satoru would run to her with his kunai, pin her against the tree and attempt make her surrender by force.

---

WC: 292 | 2229

Chakra 230/250:

Her empty bottle of rum missed her sparring partner as he quickly stepped away. She'd tumble forward in a drunken haze, swing her foot up to kick him into the air but even that one missed as he ducked down and placed a Fuinjutsu seal under her. In a flicker, her aura would be shut down as she finished her roll and ended flat on the ground with what should have been an uncomfortable smack to those not using the Drunken Style. As her body rested on the ground, she'd see him flip over her to take position to what would have been behind her. Grabbing her arm, not only would he find the 54 Kg dead weight of the girl refusing to cooperate to be too heavy to grab and throw away with a single hand, but he'd also be met with the counter-force of her Stream technique that shot her across the ground at 5m/s, pushing herself under his open legs since he'd be bend over to grab her arm (or bluntly knock him over if he was properly crouched). Considering the less than 1 meters distance between the two, he'd have less than a 0.2 second time frame to react.

If he didn't let go of her in time, he'd be pulled into the ground by the effect in a clumsy and discomforting way, leaving him vulnerable in turn for a counter offensive of her own. Forming hand seals as she slid over the ground, she would pelt him with four air bullets as her stream ended, unloading the finger guns without regrets. It wasn't like she'd kill him or something, just tear up his clothes and perhaps his flesh. Nothing he wouldn't live through, right? Then, with a swift jump she'd hop onto her feet and drunkenly sway about to check upon the aftermath of her roguish approach.

---

326
Total: 2038

280/350:

This is it, if he could just pin her at this point then she would’ve lost this sparring match. He landed behind her and grabbed her bicep “It's ove-, huh?” He was interrupted by the strong sudden resistance on her small frame, almost throwing him off balance as he attempted to throw her with one arm, he'd also be met with the counterforce of her Stream technique that shot her across the ground at 5m/s, ultimately throwing him to the ground as she slipped past him.

“OOF!” Satoru landed on his belly as Alexa slid across the ground weaving familiar hand seals. “Air bullets!” he recognized the seals too late after flipping over onto his back and sitting up a bit. “NNGH!” he explained in painful discomfort as for compressed balls of air, tore into his torso, making him lay back on the ground in a brief agony.

Satoru slowly got up on his feet while clutching his chest through his torn up vest and said with a smile “That's enough, well done. It seems i have underestimated you. I honestly didn’t think you’d be able to even land a jutsu on me. Quite irresponsible if me if i do say so myself” he started walking in her direction. It all happened so fast that he didn’t have time to offer a jutsu in response to her air bullets, he knows the same exact jutsu and could have easily countered but time just wasn't on his side at that point in time.

Night time had met them at the training spot and Satoru was ready to leave when he told Alexa “It's been nice meeting you and training with you a bit. I’ll see you around, hopefully we cross paths again” he gave her a warm smile as he was walking away back to the village. On his way back through the trees he looked up at the lunar god that pierced the trees’ leaves with moonlight beams that occasionally met his eyes unintentionally. It dawned on him how late it had gotten, nineteen hundred hours of the day had passed already and his energy was depleted from his earlier training on top of the sparring he just participated in. He intended on going home and throwing himself into bed. Alexa was the only other genin he had sparred with and lost, he swore to himself that he let this happen again, especially if he wants to follow through with his goals as a shinobi.

---

[Exit Thread]
[Total WC: 2655]

WC USAGE:

Alright, a hit! Unorthodox combat was the best sort of combat. Alexa rolled over the floor after she had shot her air bullets and jumped up to land on her feet, ready to anticipate another attack but her sparring partner seemed to suffer some trouble with the bullet in his back. Had she overdone it? She halted her fervent actions, listening how her companion decided that this would be the end of the training. Bummer. Just when she was having such fun. Well, if he wanted to chicken out she couldn't stop him. She'd get scolded by her parents for overdoing it or something. Like usual. Since she was not the elegant, graceful Hyuga her parents wanted her to be.

"Aye, we should fight 'nother day. Get yerself a revenge match, ey?"

She'd grab the rum bottle from the ground and offer it to him, only remembering too late she had just recently drank it all. A bit dumb-folded she looked at the bottle and lowered her arm. What a pity. Not only couldn't she give him a drink as a sign of good sport but there was simply no rum at all left. It felt like the worst of wins now. What was the point of winning if they couldn't even party afterwards?

"'t was a fun spar. Next time we be drinkin' a good one 'fter da fight, aye?"

She couldn't say if he was mad or disheartened or what it was exactly but he left without so much as another word. At least he felt like meeting up again, which sounded like he'd appreciate another spar some time. Good, she liked a reliable partner in crime. As he walked off by his own, she returned to the training dummy to get her coat and hat. The parrot would hop onto her shoulder and bite her ear as punishment for something or another, earning himself a knock on the head in turn. With night having fallen and her feeling exhausted, Alexa returned home as well. For once, she wasn't mad at having to be send on training by her father.

---

[EXIT]

361
Total: 2399
-2025 All stats: E-0 -> E-3 [2250 -10% combat incentive]
Discarding rest