“And now we wait,” Bokuden said allowed as he dropped his rucksack on the ground and leaned his back up against a nearby tree, “Him and his infatuation with early morning training sessions.” Bokuden rolled his eyes and proceeded to take a sip of coffee from his thermos before continuing, “Morning people…” His eyes shifted back and forth once as he performed a quick visual scan of the area around him. A smirk grew on his face as he stared out over the empty baseball fields before him, the rising sun peering out over the horizon providing just enough light to bathe the freshly cut grass in an orange glow. It was an interesting choice for a training ground for sure, the baseball fields. This was where Bokuden had first met Nagare and Horui, well before he was ever assigned into a squad with him, back when he was just a genin. “God, after what we pulled with Jishin here I couldn’t come play on these fields for months,” Bokuden thought to himself before casually taking another sip of his coffee.

Satomi strolled up right beside Bokuden slowly before throwing herself to the ground beneath the tree. Clearly she was not enthused by the idea of getting up to train at the crack of dawn either. “Why exactly are we here again?” Satomi grumbled as she closed her eyes while laying her head against the cool grass, “And why couldn’t it wait until after sunrise?” Satomi raised her long tail straight into the air before demonstratively slamming it down against the ground and letting out a displeasured grunt. She opened her eyes once again and shifted her gaze up to Bokuden, staring up at him from the corner of her eye. The look in her eye sent a clear message. She didn’t like the fact that Bokuden insisted on waking her up to tag along on this little trip which clearly didn’t require her presence. She could still have been sleeping and it was unlikely that she was going to let him forget about it for the rest of the day.

After Bokuden peered down to meet Satomi’s irritated gaze he brought his left hand up to his face and wiped his eyes, passing his fingers across his eyes and up the bridge of his nose.  “She is going to get back at me for this eventually,” Bokuden thought to himself as he pondered the possibilities of the vengeance Satomi could seek against him for his transgression, “In retrospect it probably would have been wiser just to let her sleep.” Bokuden let out a slight chuckle before speaking aloud, “Oh well, guess it’s too late for that now.”

Satomi’s ears perked up upon hearing Bokuden’s voice. “You say something?” Satomi inquired suspiciously, once again returning her gaze to Bokuden.

“Oh no, nothing at all,” Bokuden said in a snarky tone, not making any attempt to actually hide his intent, “Don’t be too mad at me Satomi. If you stick around you might get to see something interesting. And if you don’t hit me I’ll take you to your favorite restaurant for lunch.” Bokuden smiled down at Satomi hoping to lighten up the mood a bit with his proposition only to see the unenthused look in her eye persist. “I guess not,” Bokuden mused to himself as he continued to grin, “This is going to come back and bite me in the end.” He shook the thought from his head as he turned his attention back to the task at hand. It was about time for Nagare and Horui to arrive. All that was left to do was wait.

---

Learning Kuchiyose: 619/4500

Nagare had a bit of a cold for the last week or so, so with groggy vision and clogged sinuses, he slumped to a patch of grass near a cluster of buildings, and found Bokuden waiting there, with his wolf. He hadn't expected his former student to get there first, but maybe he was just slow because of the cold. Nonetheless, he greeted Bokuden with a smile and yawned. "So, since your recent promotion to Jounin, I've got a specific plan in mind for today's training." he started, as he planted his rear down in the grass, kicking up a bit of dirt in the process. His eyes were fluttering shut, but he forced himself to stay awake. He needed to learn today, and it was going to be a long process, as well....

"As you know, I'm terrible at close-quarters combat. So, I've got a proposition. I teach you Kuchiyose, and you teach me Kenjutsu. Sound like a plan?" Naga already knew that Bokuden would say yes, even if only for the benefit of himself. Kuchiyose would be an asset to his arsenal of techniques. The only problem in front of them was how exactly to go about teaching someone without any contracts how to summon. Difficult process, indeed. Nagare began to think over how he learned to summon in his mind as he awaited a reply, and looked back to the very basics of the summoning technique itself. That was perfect! The basic summoning jutsu, needed even with a scroll. He'd start with that.

Back in the days when he was only 10 or so, Nagare remembered training with Horui under his uncle, a master of Kuchiyose, the very same man who gave them Yami no Ikimono, the scroll they used so often. It was a simple start, just summoning baby bats and vampire bats. He could now pass his own knowledge onto Bokuden, his powerful and well-developed student.

---

Learning Bukijutsu [Kenjutsu]
Word Count: 329/3,000

Before long Nagare arrived at the fields, his dragging feet and sniffling alerting Satomi to his presence before he arrived. “Someone’s not doing too well,” Bokuden thought to himself, noting Nagare’s ill appearance and exhausted demeanor. It had been a while since he had seen Nagare, at least a week now. He hadn’t really had any communication with him since Bokuden’s promotion other than the message he had received to meet him here at the fields. Bokuden assumed that the at least Nagare, if not the entire squad had been notified of his promotion to Jounin rank, being the squad leader and all. Honestly this promotion didn’t change much regarding squad Samsara. In light of the emergence of the Shichouza as an international threat to every shinobi village, the raikage had assigned Kumogakure shinobi into special wartime squads according to their skillsets. That was what squad Samsara was, a specialized military squad, this was no longer a mere match of students to a sensei. Still, there were nothing but benefits to having a second jounin in the ranks of squad Samsara, lord knows that the village could use all of the military might it could get.

Bokuden remained silent as Nagare approached, raising an eyebrow at his sickly mannerisms. He looked absolutely drained, struggling to keep himself awake with each passing moment. He let out a yawn as he greeted Bokuden and proceeded to tell Bokuden about some specific training that the two would be participating in this morning. Nagare didn’t seem to be in the condition for any kind of training, but Bokuden would at least hear him out. He had come all the way out here this early in the morning after all, he might as well get something out of it. Nagare plopped himself down in the grass below him before informing Bokuden of his proposition. "As you know, I'm terrible at close-quarters combat. So, I've got a proposition. I teach you Kuchiyose, and you teach me Kenjutsu. Sound like a plan?" The offer surprised Bokuden at first. He did covet the power and utility granted by the kuchiyose discipline and knew Nagare was proficient enough in it to teach him. He also knew that he himself was a master swordsman who could if nothing else set Nagare down the right path towards learning kenjutsu. It seemed like a mutually beneficial arrangement, but Bokuden was still a bit skeptical. He had spent a lifetime perfecting his swordsmanship, but never once had he ever been asked to instruct another on how to utilize kenjutsu. To be honest he wasn’t sure if he would be any good as a teacher.

“Wow, you look awful,” Bokuden proclaimed to Nagare in order to buy himself some time before he had to answer, “You sure you are capable of participating in ANY kind of training today? Let alone kenjutsu. It might be unwise to force yourself further past the point of physical exhaustion than you already are.” Bokuden pushed himself off of the tree and took a step towards the seated Nagare. “But let’s say that you were capable of going through with this training session without killing yourself. I know how I could teach you to use a sword. How would you go about teaching me the summoning discipline?”

---

Learning Kuchiyose: 1178/4500

“Wow, you look awful. You sure you are capable of participating in ANY kind of training today? Let alone kenjutsu. It might be unwise to force yourself further past the point of physical exhaustion than you already are. But let’s say that you were capable of going through with this training session without killing yourself. I know how I could teach you to use a sword. How would you go about teaching me the summoning discipline?” Nagare mulled over Bokuden's concerns for a moment. "Well, I do have a cold, but I can't let that stop me from getting stronger. I'm trying to get a spot as a Kage Guard for Reika. Kenjutsu would help with that greatly." he said, and suddenly he threw his head back and sneezed. After a few more coughs, he pulled out a handkerchief and blew his nose.

"As for summoning, everyone starts somewhere. I have connections that could get you a summoning contract set up, but that's not where the power of summoning lies. It's in the most basic discipline that is needed to even use contracts: the basic Summoning Jutsu. Intricate blood seal, chakra control, and focus, and you'll have small animals appearing without a contract. Befriend a specific species of animal, and they may forge a contract with you, and grant you a scroll, and you'll have access to more powerful summons. I could teach you the Summoning Jutsu." Nagare said this with confidence in his tone, although he was a bit blurry as to the details of teaching another how to use the Summoning Technique. He had learned it so long ago, it was like second nature to him, but it wasn't so easy giving someone else that benefit. His tired eyes looked into the sheer blue of Bokuden's as he waited for a response. He itched to begin swinging swords around....

---

Training Bukijutsu [Kenjutsu]
Word Count: 650/3,000

Nagare paused for a moment, probably thinking about Bokuden’s warning and considering changing his mind, but ultimately decided against it as the silence was short lived. Nagare composed himself once again and answered Bokuden’s question. "Well, I do have a cold, but I can't let that stop me from getting stronger. I'm trying to get a spot as a Kage Guard for Reika. Kenjutsu would help with that greatly." Bokuden raised an eyebrow at that comment, surprised by Nagare’s reasoning behind wanting to learn Kenjutsu. He already knew that Nagare was stubborn, it didn’t surprise him that he would insist on training even if it meant putting unnecessary strain on his body. But a member of the Raikage’s guard? He had never mentioned a goal like that in any of their missions or training sessions. Had this always been a goal of his? If not, what was the sudden reasoning behind that kind of a career path? Bokuden snapped himself out of it as he realized he was letting his mind wander and turned his attention back to Nagare.

Luckily, is hadn’t seemed as if he missed anything during his brief moment of distraction as Nagare was preoccupied with sneezing and coughing. As Nagare pulled out a handkerchief and blew his nose Bokuden couldn’t help but feel that this particular training session could wait until Nagare didn’t look like he was going to collapse at any moment. Before he could say anything however, Nagare continued with his explanation. "As for summoning, everyone starts somewhere. I have connections that could get you a summoning contract set up, but that's not where the power of summoning lies. It's in the most basic discipline that is needed to even use contracts: the basic Summoning Jutsu. Intricate blood seal, chakra control, and focus, and you'll have small animals appearing without a contract. Befriend a specific species of animal, and they may forge a contract with you, and grant you a scroll, and you'll have access to more powerful summons. I could teach you the Summoning Jutsu." ‘Fair enough,’ Bokuden thought to himself after he heard Nagare’s appeal. Despite his reservations about Nagare’s condition and his skepticism about his teaching abilities in general Bokuden decided that waiting would just be a waste of time. Both of them clearly wanted to get started on learning their new skill now.

“Alright then,” Bokuden said, nodding his head in agreement, “An even exchange then, my Kenjutsu for your Summoning.” He looked down at Satomi and gently nudged her with his foot before speaking, “You want to train with us?” Satomi grunted and waved her paw around before turning over to face away from them. “Guess that’s a no,” Bokuden noted before turning back to face Nagare, “You surprise me though, Nagare. To think that you had that kind of goal and you’ve never mentioned it. I would have never guessed.” Bokuden paused for a second and thought about how this whole process was going to work. “Hmmmmmm,” he hummed as he folded his arms, “Trying to teach and learn at the same time is going to be near impossible. How do you want to do this? Break up our training session into two parts, teach the basics, then have a little review at the end to clear up any hazy details?"

---

Learning Kuchiyose: 1749/4500

Bokuden's eyes tracked Nagare as he responded, "An even exchange then, my Kenjutsu for your Summoning. You surprise me though, Nagare. To think that you had that kind of goal and you’ve never mentioned it. I would have never guessed. Trying to teach and learn at the same time is going to be near impossible. How do you want to do this? Break up our training session into two parts, teach the basics, then have a little review at the end to clear up any hazy details?" Nagare thought about it for a moment, mostly in regards to his newfound goal. He had made it his end goal after his talk with Reika, years ago, back when he was 18. He saw the work she put in to be Raikage, and her dedication to the village, and he wanted to be a part of that. Not that she needed guarding, she was quite a powerful ninja, but it wouldn't hurt.

"It's complicated, as for my goal. We could discuss it another time...for now, we'll start with Kuchiyose. Kenjutsu can be next. Now, let's see..how should I go about doing this...?" Nagare said as he took a moment to cough and think about it. He held out his hand, charging it with chakra and displaying it for Bokuden. "Let's begin, you'll have it mastered within 30 minutes. You start with hand seals; Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, and Ram. Then you place your hand on the ground, and sign the seal with your blood." He followed through with  the demonstration; he pulled out a Tachiba dagger and nicked his finger, before making the hand seals and pressing his hand to the ground. The seal expanded from his palm, and with a puff of smoke, a bat appeared, flying up and landing on Nagare's shoulder.

"Since I have two contracts sealed, I tend to summon bats and red pandas by default. But, since you don't have any contracts at the moment, the results can be erratic, so I'll give you some options. First, I could let you use one of my contracts, but you'd have to use my blood, so it would kind of defeat the purpose. So, the more advised option here is to summon something, and try to start a contract with it, whatever it is. What would you like to do?" Nagare said, wiping the blood from his hand and making the bird hand seal, which dispelled the bat from his shoulder. He pushed the hair out of his eyes with a sniff.

---

Learning Bukijutsu [Kenjutsu]
Word Count: 1,087/3,000

Nagare avoided elaborating on the goal he had previously mentioned any further and instead insisted on directing their attention towards the training that they would be participating in. “Another time then,” Bokuden thought to himself regarding Nagare’s goal, “Sounds like an interesting story to tell.” Nagare suggested beginning with Kuchiyose and focused chakra into his outstretched hand, showing it to Bokuden.  "Let's begin, you'll have it mastered within 30 minutes. You start with hand seals; Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, and Ram. Then you place your hand on the ground, and sign the seal with your blood," Nagare explained before going on with his demonstration. He drew a dagger and cut the tip of his finger, creating the blood necessary to sign the contract. Nagare then performed the aforementioned sequence of hand signs and placed his hands against the ground below. The contract became visible, followed by a puff of smoke and a small bat emerging from it, perching itself on Nagare’s shoulder.

With the demonstration now completed Nagare proceeded to further explain how the training would go from there. "Since I have two contracts sealed, I tend to summon bats and red pandas by default. But, since you don't have any contracts at the moment, the results can be erratic, so I'll give you some options. First, I could let you use one of my contracts, but you'd have to use my blood, so it would kind of defeat the purpose. So, the more advised option here is to summon something, and try to start a contract with it, whatever it is. What would you like to do?" Bokuden was unsure of exactly which option to choose at first, but agreed with Nagare about using his contracts instead of attempting to attain a contract of his being a bit of a waste of time. The decision more or less made itself, all that was left to do now was put Nagare’s theory to the test and get to work.

Bokuden focused chakra into the palm of his hand just as Nagare had done earlier. “Chakra control, simple enough at my level. Lord knows that by the time someone gets to jounin rank they have done something like this a million times before,” Bokuden  said as he held it out to Nagare, showing it in the same way he had done earlier. He then cut the tip of his thumb against one of his pronounced canine teeth, drawing the blood necessary for the summoning and performed the hand sings in the order they had been given to him; Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram. Bokuden then slammed his hand down onto the ground below, expanding the seal and producing a puff of smoke. He narrowed his eyes as he anxiously awaited a creature to emerge from the smoke, curious as to what it would be. “Nothing flying out of the smoke just yet. I guess I’m not a bat kind of guy,” Bokuden thought to himself.

Bokuden felt a sudden pain as whatever he had summoned had bitten his hand from inside the cloud of smoke. He immediately yanked his hand out of the smoke, revealing a small artic wolf with its jaws closed tightly around Bokuden’s finger, hanging from Bokuden’s raised hand. Bokuden brought the hand up to face level and inspected his new guest. “She’s just a puppy,” Bokuden noted before poking the little wolf, “Hey you, mind letting go of my hand?” Bokuden lowered his hand back to the ground and shook his arm until the wolf pup let go.

“Oh, sorry about that,” the summoned animal said in an upbeat tone, wagging her tail hurriedly, “I was just at the den and I was about to have a snack, and then I poofed, and then I was here and there was smoke EVERYWHERE, and I saw your paw and thought it was food so I chomped, and then you pulled me up, and now I’m here. I’m Ruriko by the way, but my friends call me Ruri. What’s your name?”

Bokuden’s eyes widened as his summon unleashed a torrent of words going a mile a minute. “Oh god, she’s high energy,” Bokuden thought to himself before looking up at Nagare and then back down. “My name is Bokuden, nice to meet you,” Bokuden said with a smile, holding out his hand to Ruriko.

She sniffed his outstretched hand before looking up at Bokuden and tilting her head to the right. “Do I… Do I eat it?” she asked, unsure of what Bokuden was doing.

“No no, it is a way of greeting people. I offer you my hand and you give me yours, then we shake,” Bokuden explained as her reached with his other hand for one of her paws to place it in his.

Ruriko raised the leg he reached for, avoiding his swipe each time he reached again. “This is fun!” she exclaimed as she proceeded to run around in circles, chasing her tail.

Bokuden stood up from his kneeling position and ran his fingers through his hair as he let out a sigh. “I dislike children,” Bokuden thought to himself before turning his attention to Nagare. “So what do we do now?”

---

Learning Kuchiyose: 2633/4500

A wolf was what appeared when Bokuden used the jutsu. Nagare should've expected as much, Bokuden's affinity towards canines was evident in the fact that he took Satomi with him everywhere he went. The little wolf, Ruriko as she referred to herself, proceeded to talk with Bokuden. She seemed quite hyperactive, probably very young. Not used to summoning....Nagare took a moment to think back on his first contract. He had summoned Amaya, who had fetched Mohan, who had made the contract with him. So, the most obvious option was to ask Ruriko to bring one of her superiors or something. Bokuden turned to Nagare with a slightly annoyed expression, most likely due to the wolf's attitude, and said, “So what do we do now?” Nagare coughed a bit before responding.

"I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, but ask Ruriko to get one of her superiors, and de-summon her. When you perform the summoning jutsu again, one of the more powerful creatures of her species should appear. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but that's what I did when I got Yami no Ikimono." he looked at Ruriko, whose tail was wagging wildly. She was really excited, but she was so small, he felt it would be sad to fight alongside her. Putting her in danger of getting hurt, and all. Of course, Bokuden did the same to Satomi, but Satomi was different due to her ability to increase in size. He shook his head to clear his mind, and looked back at Bokuden, waiting for him to make a move.

---

Learning Bukijutsu [Kenjutsu]
Word Count: 1,357/3,000

Nagare coughed a bit and recomposed himself before looking back to Bokuden to respond. "I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, but ask Ruriko to get one of her superiors, and de-summon her. When you perform the summoning jutsu again, one of the more powerful creatures of her species should appear. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but that's what I did when I got Yami no Ikimono." The plan was solid enough. Bokuden was hoping that Nagare could give him a more definitive answer than ‘not exactly sure how it works’ but seeing as how he was the summoner here Bokuden didn’t have a ton of alternative suggestions to go with. Besides, if Nagare had done it in this way once before they should have every reason to believe that it would be possible to do it again, first hand experience and all. Since this plan seemed like the only real option they had at that moment there was nothing left to do but get Ruiriko in on it as well.

Bokuden looked back down to where Ruriko had been sitting only to realize that she had disappeared. Confused, Bokuden turned his head back and forth once in order to scan the immediate area for her location, suspecting that she couldn’t have gotten far. She was definitely still around, which Bokuden could tell because the link between he and his summon was still active. It was a faint link, one taking barely any effort to maintain because of how small Ruriko was he assumed, but it was definitely still there. Bokuden then slapped his palm against his forehead, knowing exactly where Ruriko had been the whole time. Sensing her presence right behind him, Bokuden turned to see Satomi playing with the wolf puppy. Ruriko was running in circles around Satomi before Satomi wrapped her tail around Ruriko and began tossing her up into the air, cradling her in her tail to catch her before throwing her back up again.

Bokuden knew he would have to break up their fun eventually, but didn’t want to do it right now. Ruriko looked so much like Satomi did when she was just a puppy that part of him really didn’t want to de-summon her so soon. There would be plenty of time to try and make a contract with her species later, for now he figured they could just move on to the next phase of their training. “You know what, Nagare?” Bokuden said with a smirk, “I think I’ll wait on having her fetch one of her superiors until later. Something tells me it is something I will need to be prepared to do without you anyway. No need to break up their fun right now. “ Bokuden then reached onto his side with his left hand and grabbed his katana, pulling it by the sheathe and tossing it over to Nagare. “I don’t know how much prior experience you actually have with kenjutsu, but that sword should be simple enough for you to use without hurting yourself,” Bokuden said drawing a kunai into his left hand and assuming a defensive stance, “Before I can teach you anything I need to gauge your current skill level and aptitude. Attack me.”

---

Learning Kuchiyose: 3183/4500

Bokuden watched the two wolves play for a bit before saying, "You know what, Nagare? I think I’ll wait on having her fetch one of her superiors until later. Something tells me it is something I will need to be prepared to do without you anyway. No need to break up their fun right now." It didn't make much of a difference to Naga, so he nodded in approval. A sword was  tossed in his direction, which he caught a bit haphazardly. “I don’t know how much prior experience you actually have with kenjutsu, but that sword should be simple enough for you to use without hurting yourself. Before I can teach you anything I need to gauge your current skill level and aptitude. Attack me." Nagare had very little experience with swords; he'd maybe held Shougeki once or twice, and he had killed Gakuto with it, but aside from that, he didn't know much at all.

He had tried to learn a bit of swordplay from Ondan when he first got the Shinrin Hogo-Sha scroll, but it was a terrible attempt. Red Pandas aren't the best teachers, and his thin patience made him an even worse student. Ondan had basically handed him a sword and told him to swing it around a lot; it ended with him accidentally killing Horui, and since then he hadn't tried to learn again. This attempt would hopefully play out better than the last, considering Bokuden was a human and he knew his way around a sword quite expertly.

The Jounin held the katana out in front of him, and spoke. "You'll most likely beat me in this situation, I don't know anything about swords. But, I'm here to learn, right...?" He then stepped forward and pivoted his right foot, swinging horizontally across Bokuden's chest and sidestepping. He didn't even look to see if the first hit hand landed before following with a vertical slash and jumped back, all without much grace and lots of trips.

---

Learning Bukijutsu [Kenjutsu]
Word Count: 1,702/3,000

Nagare spoke after catching the sword thrown to him. "You'll most likely beat me in this situation, I don't know anything about swords. But, I'm here to learn, right...?" Bokuden had nothing to say in regards to this comment. Ideas and theories could be taught, but they can only be mastered through use. If Nagare truly wanted to learn kenjutsu then fighting would be the only way to do it. Nagare then stepped forward, drawing the sword and proceeding with his first attack, a horizontal slash which Bokuden easily stepped back from. Without hesitation Nagare then followed his first swing with a vertical slash which Bokuden merely sidestepped, Nagare retreating a bit after his second attempt. Nagare wasn’t exaggerating when he said he knew nothing about swords apparently, his movements were sloppy and his slashes lacked precision and strength. They were common problems found with novice swordsmen. Most people merely mimicked the kinds of attacks that they have seen others perform, not taking into account that much of the kenjutsu that is used in entertainment or for demonstrations is made to be just that entertainment. Real sword fights were rarely so flashy and very often lasted only seconds at most. Regardless, the issues with Nagare’s swings were mechanical and because he has no kenjutsu training, should be relatively easy to work out with practice.

Bokuden lowered his hands from their combat ready position and began twirling the kunai around his index finger before proceeding to begin his lesson. “You need to work on your footwork, it’s pretty bad. There are too many unnecessary movements in your attacks, all it is accomplishing is wasting energy and making your moves easier to read. You’re attacks should be swift and sudden, not clumsily telegraphed so that your opponent can get out of the way before you even start your swing. Also stop looking at the spot that you are striking, your eyes give away more than your body does. And stop swinging the sword so violently, you looked like you were about to swing yourself out of your shoes. It is a sword not a club, handle it with more care.” Bokuden threw a glance over to the baseball fields in the distance and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand while thinking of a way to explain things in a way that someone who isn’t experienced with kenjutsu would understand. His words made perfect sense to him, but he had been doing this his whole life. These weren’t things that he had to think about anymore, he just knew them instinctually. Bokuden’s eyes widened a bit as a group of boys walked onto the fields and started practicing their swings, he had an idea. “Alright, you play baseball, right? That is how we first met,” Bokuden began as he turned back to face Nagare, “So you should be familiar with the mechanics of swinging a baseball bat, correct? It’s a similar concept. If you try to muscle up on your swing you likely to throw your timing off, decreasing the effectiveness of your swing, and increasing your chances of missing altogether. The power of your swing doesn’t come from brute force, it comes from efficient energy transfer. If you want a powerful swing you lead with your hips, not your sword. That horizontal swing you performed would have been much more powerful if you had created torque by twisting your hips and core first and allowing your sword to be carried by that momentum. Much in the same way that your vertical slash would have had significantly more force behind it if you had “dropped” your hips and allowed the sword to follow. Your arms are merely the vehicle through which force is transferred from your body to your sword.”

Bokuden stopped twirling the kunai around his finger and instead clasped down on the handle holding it in a combat ready position just as he had held it originally before continuing, “At your current level of skill trying to chain combos is only going to slow your progress. Focus on making your cuts strong and concise. A master swordsman aims to end a fight in a single strike, not to get locked into a prolonged clashing of blades. Long sword fights are the result of only one of two things, amateurs playing swordsmen or out of necessity due to engaging an opponent whose skill demands it. You’ll come to understand when those situations arise in time, but for now as a general rule, every swing of your sword should be made with the intent to end the conflict in one strike. I’m including out training session in that rule. Now, attack me again.”

---

Learning Kuchiyose: 3981/4500

Bokuden dodged both swings, before explaining to Nagare the error of his ways. Footwork, energy wasting, swinging in an overplayed manner, and staring at target points, among other issues. Nagare listened with half-clarity, as his mind was in a fog due to his illness. He somewhat understood what Bokuden was trying to say, and soon enough the lecture stopped, and Bokuden equipped himself with a kunai. "You’ll come to understand when those situations arise in time, but for now as a general rule, every swing of your sword should be made with the intent to end the conflict in one strike. I’m including out training session in that rule. Now, attack me again.” Nagare thought about it for a moment, holding the katana in his hand carefully by the hilt as he meditated on what Bokuden had said. swift and sudden....not brute force, energy transfer...swing via momentum...don't give your attack away--

The sound of Satomi and Ruriko laughing as they played was the only sound as Nagare focused....without further hesitation, Nagare stepped forward, planting his right foot forward while twisting to the right and swinging his arm, and in turn, the sword. The blade was continuing forward aimed at Bokuden's torso in a diagonal slash, just under the kunai he was holding. It wouldn't be difficult to dodge or block with the kunai, but the purpose was to practice swift movements with the sword. The entire swing, Nagare's crimson eyes never met his target, but rather they focused on his own hand as it navigated the katana through its course.

---

Learning Kenjutsu
Word Count: 1,973/3,000

Bokuden was unsure of whether or not his words actually got through to Nagare as he looked over to see his sickly and dazed expression. Bokuden’s eyes narrowed as he watched for even the slightest hint of awareness on Nagare’s face. Appearing to have finally awakened from his daze Nagare took a step forward, using his right foot as a base while pivoting his body and performing a diagonal swing. “So he was listening to me after all, huh?” Bokuden thought to himself watching Nagare’s attack as his swing glided towards Bokuden’s torso. “His eyes aren’t telegraphing his attack anymore, but I still don’t feel the intent to kill in his swing,” Bokuden thought to himself as with a quick flick of his wrist he used his kunai to redirect Nagare’s slash down and away from him.

Taking advantage of Nagare’s sickly condition, immediately after redirecting the slash Bokuden grabbed hold of Nagare’s shoulder, as he was pulled down by the momentum of his own slash, and pulled Nagare towards him. Once he had Nagare off balance Bokuden gripped his collar tightly and lifted him off of his feet as heraised his hand that was holding the kunai up to Nagare’s throat. “You committed to your swing too early, that’s why you couldn’t stop my counterattack,” Bokuden said with a smirk, “Also, I thought I told you to swing to end this in one hit. It didn’t feel like you were trying to kill me just now.” Bokuden let Nagare back down and released him before walking backwards a few paces. “It takes time, but you’ll get it. Now again!”

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Learning Kuchiyose: 4265/4500

Nagare's swing didn't connect, and Bokuden used his weight shift to grab him from behind and lift him up, pressing the kunai to his neck with a serious expression. “You committed to your swing too early, that’s why you couldn’t stop my counterattack. Also, I thought I told you to swing to end this in one hit. It didn’t feel like you were trying to kill me just now. It takes time, but you’ll get it. Now again!” Nagare had forgotten that part. He didn't really think it did too much to try and kill Bokuden, as it A.) wouldn't work, Bokuden was better at close combat that Nagare ever would be, and B.) he'd probably just try to hard and mess up. Nonetheless, he still heeded Bokuden's advice, and as Bokuden took a few steps back and held the kunai in front of him, Nagare pointed the katana once more.

Nagare didn't mind Bokuden's teaching style. Such a stern teacher was actually refreshing, after learning Suiton with Strafe, who was just extremely nice. Not that Nagare didn't learn as much from Strafe, just that he wasn't the type to like overly-cheery people. Hell, he was dating Jishin, the most cynical, rude, and sarcastic woman he'd ever met because she appealed to him more than any other girl ever had. So, point in case, this training was going well, by his standards, at the very least. He'd be slinging Shougeki around in no time, at this rate.

The Jounin realized that he was meditating on everything too much, and had been sitting there silently holding the katana for about a full minute. He struck suddenly, sidestepping to the right and following through with a horizontal swing aimed at the neck. Once again, his eyes were focused only on his hand and its movements as the blade sliced through the air.

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Learning Kenjutsu
Word Count: 2,300/3,000

The two stood in complete silence for a short while as Bokuden awaited Nagare to make his next move. Nagare performed a quick sidestep to the right before proceeding to launch a horizontal swing with a flight pattern that suggested it was aimed at Bokuden’s neck. It was going to be easy to evade, Nagare still getting used to wielding a sword and all, but still Bokuden was happy with the progress he was seeing so quickly. Nagare’s moves were still amateurish at best, but it was clear to see that he was following Bokuden’s instructions and was laying a strong foundation for his future training. “His strikes are a bit faster than when we first started,” Bokuden thought to himself as he used his kunai to parry the blow, “He was aiming for a vital point too. At least my words aren’t falling on deaf ears.”

“From this point on things will be a bit different,” Bokuden said before weaving a sequence of hand sings and creating six clones from water, having them surround Nagare, “This time they will fight back.” Each of his six clones then created six clones of their own spreading their chakra very thinly, but since jutsu wouldn’t be necessary in kenjutsu training he didn’t see it as an issue. The original Bokuden jumped back putting distance between himself and the forty two water clones he had surrounded Nagare with. With a sinister grin he spoke up in a snarky manner, “They are all unarmed so you should be fine right?”

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Learning Kuchiyose: 4527/4500

Bokuden dodged the swing, and suddenly spiced things up a bit with a sly grin and a clone jutsu. He created dozens of clones, all unarmed but still all facing Nagare with intent to kill in their eyes. The original him backed out of the scene, and from behind the multitudes of him, his voice could be heard, saying, “This time, they will fight back. They are all unarmed, so you should be fine, right?” Bokuden and himself both knew that this wasn't true. Even if they were all unarmed, more than forty clones was definitely enough to overwhelm Nagare with his current novice skills. Nonetheless, it didn't mean that he wouldn't try. He waited patiently for the doppelgangers to close in, until the tension in the air was thick. He broke out in a verticle uppercut swing, slashing through the first clone to his northeast, before following through with a spinning slash that tore through the clone to his direct east. 2 down, much more to go.

Another Bokuden ran at him from the blue, with right hook that managed to hit Nagare directly in the face. The Jounin recoiled, cracked his neck, and did a leg sweep in combo with a verticle slash to kill that clone. His jaw now hurt a lot, but he didn't have the time to focus on that. He needed to get rid of the rest of these clones. One Bokuden kicked him from behind, into the arms of one in front of him, who grabbed him in a chokehold. A small group of five Bokuden sprinted forward and rapidly punched his torso many times, until he fell to his knees, coughing blood. While on the floor, the perspective gave him a good idea, so he did a 360 degree spin to cleave through all of the surrounding clones' legs, causing them to fall to the ground and be reduced to smoke, one by one. That was....11 done, already? This wasn't as hard as he'd expected. Still, it would've been easier with jutsu and summons, but he needed to learn to fight on his own without chakra.

2 more Bokudens ran circles around Nagare, in an attempt to distract him, but the black-haired shinobi simply slashed horizontally and managed to take out both of them in one fell swoop. The crowd of Bokudens behind him were now looking determined, with stark blue eyes full of intensity and excitement. He wondered where the real Bokuden had gone off to when one of the clones tackled him to the ground. Using the katana, he carefully shoved the katana into the clone's back, and it dissipated within seconds. He somersaulted forward, slashed horizontally, followed by two diagonal slashes and a stab. Each one of the strikes managed to hit a target, and more clones disappeared, one at a time. Their numbers were thinning significantly, with now no more than 15 of them staring back at him. He cleaved through the three to his right with a few slashes, and felt a grab from behind. He stabbed the assailant and hit the clone in front of him in the face with the hilt, slashed again to the south, then west. 5 left.

The first two of the five charged at him, and he simply held the blade out flat in front of him. They both ran into it, impaling themselves. The next was within plain reach, and a slash to the neck took care of him. The second to last jumped into the air, and Nagare threw the sword after him. It stabbed through, killing the clone instantly. Finally, Nagare caught the blade and used the momentum from the fall to power a slash that ripped through the final clone, and there. He was done. He turned back to Bokuden, who was behind him again, and handed the katana back. "That was great. Thank you, Bokuden. I think I've got Kenjutsu down, at least the basics." the sun was setting in the sky overhead, and the stars could be seen, each shining a bright light upon Earth from the cosmos. Now that they held the stage of the night sky, Nagare watched as the stars brightened until the sun was all the way down, and the moon was alongside them.

"I really must get going, Bokuden. It's getting a bit late...but once again, thank you a lot. Tell me how your Kuchiyose contract went the next time I see you." and with that, Nagare walked off, taking slow steps as he enjoyed the stars above. He still needed a training sword of his own (since at his current level, using a sword like Shougeki wouldn't be easy)...but as far as training, he had gotten the basics.

{Exit Thread}

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Training Bukijutsu [Kenjutsu]
Word Count: 3,104/3,000
Training Complete

Bokuden said that the clones would fight back, but Nagare probably knew he didn't really mean it. Even without weapons of jutsu 42 enemies is a bit overkill. Really Bokuden was more interested in getting Nagare used to the feeling of cutting an opponent down. Surely, considering their line of work, Nagare had taken lives before, but killing an enemy with kenjutsu was different. It was so much more personal, almost intimate in the way that you cleaved through an enemy, close enough to almost feel the last breath they drew on earth. Bokuden sent his clones to attack Nagare in waves, giving him a fair shot at being able to take them, even if they were only coming at him with a fraction of the power they should have had.

A good amount of time passed as Bokuden watched Nagare cut down his water clones one after one. A grin sat on Bokuden's face as he watched Nagare clumsily deal with each of the clones that he sent his way. Eventually, Nagare dealt with the last of the water clones before sheathing and returning Bokuden's katana to him. Almost as suddenly as he had returned the katana did Nagare take his leave, citing lateness as his reason. Bokuden still had more things to show him, but figured he would be fine with just that lesson for now. Taking one last look over the baseball fields, Bokuden let out a sigh before departing as well.

[Exit Thread]