Solstice was looking over the barren wastelands that Was sunagakure with an amount of boredom, though she at this point had watched over her friend Tenmei simply crush her first opponent under her burning feet as everything seemed to be going down. She was doing well, and was more than deserving of the new title which would await her when they managed to reach their home, as well as the increased training regime which they would have to undertake. Which that being said, Solstice had looked over some of the guards in this city and noticed the unusual use of the Yari spear as opposed to the sword. The Yari was a weapon Solstice didn't see much in her own village, but over the last few weeks she had been thinking of branching out the training of their own Village, if she could pick up any skills here she would be able to convey them back and train people who would be able to convey these skills to the other jounin, and then them to the special jounin and them to the chuunin and so on.

Solstice approached a group of them who were training in a pit, looking over them in her full kit, and folding her arms as she watched them practise. As opposed to bo-jutsu which seemed to use a lot of trickery, Yarijutsu seemed to be many times more direct, and brutal, always moving on the offensive, the head of the lethal Japanese style lance always looking to thrust deeply into the opponent. Solstice walked around the pit, eyeing up the stance before moving to one of the training Yari, picking it up it was litterally nothing more but a spike attached to the end of a bo staff. Spinning it around herself and rotating the pole around her body, behind her and over her shoulder, the wood flexing over her back and meeting her other hand as she span it over, she bought it back to look at the tip, taking a stance, she thrusted with the weapon, but it was awkward, and she could almost see how she was leaving herself open to attackers, which made her question the style again.

One of the jounin approached her, and smiled, asking if she was looking to learn the ways of the Yari, she looked at him for a moment and scouted him up and down, nodding. The Yari I always thought of as little more than a farmer's weapon, a sharp stick that they would use to fend off bandits and other such things which threatened their crops by breaking off the head of one of their implements. To be honest, i dont think i every gave the weapon the proper respect i ever should have. She said looking at the weapon, and up close, it didn't seem like much, it was a simple flexible pole with a sturdy grip which came to a twisted on boffo head so that they couild not injure each other, the real heads of the spears in a case nearby in case any of them needed to rush to defend the gates or something of the like.

The man reacted in a rather harsh manner, scoffing at Solstice and her assumptions as if she had offended him in the gravest of matters. But the strong reaction was one which solstice took an interest in. The man challenged her to a no jutsu spar, Whatever weapon she wished to use against his Yari. She unscrewed the head of the Yari and looked at the simple poke, spinning it from side to side of herself in helicopter like patterns before taking a firm grip largely in the middle of the weapon and a side on stance, simple and iconic of the bo-staff. The man laughed with his group of friends and lowered his own weapon with the point facing solstice, his weapon definitely had some length on it. But the bo staff was also a weapon which was largely underestimated.

The man rushed solstice with a passado of spear strikes, taking her off guard, spinning her weapon in a figure of eight before her, she managed to knock down the attacks before they forced through to connect with her soft skin. The man then span taking a step back, and with the massive bending force of the weapon moved to sweep the damn thing for solstice. The Mizukage's eyes widened, barely having time to think before she thrusted the head of her bo-staff into the ground and vaulted herself upward, his strike knocked out the weapon which caused solstice to rotate in middair, giving her the momentum and strength of the jounin's massive strike and coming down for him, but it was in that crucial second with the jounin's back to the Kage the butt of the yari struck backward and hit Solstice square in the gut forcing her backward to land on her ass.

Ow...

She spoke looking around at the others who were laughing. The man complimented her on the vault, and went on to say that the striking nature of the Yari was made to fight against some of the other more brutal styles and take advantage of large powerful openings with targeted stabs and thrusts. Much like the rapier which came under the foreign swordsmanship, or the striking sword. Solstice thought about this for some time before screwing the head back on the Yari, and asking for a lesson, the Jounin smiled and they began to train, The process of learning was long and hard, she had to learn the spiritual nature of the Yari spear as well as the kata of how to move with it.

Liuke learning Bo-jutsu she learnt not the specifics, but took the time to learn and almost master the foundations of the art which lead to the mastery of the art itself. Learning the ideals was far more valuable to someone who was already an accomplished warrior who already knew how to apply and learn skills and techniques almost on impulse, but it was the foundations of each art and the meanings behind them which made weapons and the learning of them so different and individual, thus making them the more important parts to master. Solstice met his eyes and took her stance one last time, the boffo head of the spear had been attached to both of their weapons as the sun was setting in the east.

Time past and the two of them exploded into action, but it was clear from the beginning who the winner of the two was going to be Solstice was already on the offensive and had no intention of slowing down, her thrusts for his chest came swiftly and without remorse, knocking away his strikes from side to side if they seemed to be coming close. The speed of the flurries were amazing, the weapons a blur as they clashed until the jounin with an insane sum of skill ducked under one of solstice's blows, slinging a strike out for her gut with out missing a beat. Solstice countered, apinning to a side and slamming the spear into the ground, sliding the pole up the length of his to collide with his head.

He bought up the pole vertically to defend himself, Solstice's momentum ground to a halt before she pulled the spear back for a moment and slammed it into his guard forcing him to grind back on the ground. Traversing the weapon rapidly around her own body, solstice crouched low to the ground, bringing the spear up in a lethal uppercut for the man's crotch area, but standing on the pole of her weapon he used the force of her lift to vault high into the air. Hurling down the tip of the spear for solstice who only just managed to rotate out of the way as the length of the shaft connected with the ground. One of the jounin's friends throwing him back his spear.

The Mizukage could not help but smile broadly, looking up and down the man's body. He was an accomplished warrior, his speed and skill high above that of his own rank, which was one of the many things that surprised Solstice, he would almost be akin to a Sannin with the rate at which he fought, Agile, and dexterous. But Solstice had not relied on her greatest strength yet, her dexterity was more than astounding, and she had been trying to think of ways to incorporate it into the use of the spear, it was difficult for sure, but not impossible, charging toward her opponent once again she slid her hand further up the shaft of the pole for maxumum control, and as he counterlunged in an attempt to knock her weapon away she kicked off the ground with the leg she was running with, sommersaulting over the strike and landing to the ninjas side, letting out a swing for the back of the ninjas knee.

The strike connected and the jounin was flung from his feet, solstice followed through with the strike, posing the spearhead toward her opponent and thrusting it to his neck as he hit the ground, marking her succeeding this spear user in his art-form. Solstice exhaled loudly... The Mizukage was now the first true master of weapons.

Trained Sojutsu: 1578/ 1500