Sharp Rocks ;; Iwagakure no Sato ;; Wan

[KANE]

October 15th
Training Fissure
10:00 AM

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Wan jumped from one boulder to another, pausing to scan a three hundred and sixty degree circle around himself before moving on. He just made it to the Training Fissure and was looking for someone. That someone happened to be a highly skilled jonin with unique swordsmanship abilities from a village that is known for producing sword-weilding shinobi. Darui from Kumogakure had agreed to train Wan and over the weeks they managed to find a time and date where they could both manage it.

He was excited to start training today. Seiji had been teaching him how to use his water chakras and he was going to be getting cloning lessons from the chickens once his egg hatched and to make his life seem even more complete
the village was giving him D-ranked missions to do on his own now. He was still confined to staying within the village, but that was expected since he was still a Genin.

I'm going to be ready for the Chunin Exams he thought as he landed on another boulder and scanned the area. He was actually rather giddy at the idea of getting real training from a real swordsman. There weren't any that Wan could find in Iwagakure who weren't working themselves to death with the other jonin going out on missions.

Thinking about the chicken egg in his pocket he stopped jumping around and looked down at his leg. He slipped his hand into the fabric and pulled out the white shell and held it in his palm. He wondered if it might be a good idea to take it out of his pocket for the training, just to be safe. A sound made him cringe- it sounded suspiciouly like a cluck- and he put the egg back in his pocket. He'd just have to be very careful. Simple, no?

At long last he saw him. Dark skin, bright blonde hair that verged on becoming a silvery-white color and a sword that was almost as wide as Wan's shoulders strapped to his back. Wan called out "I'm here Darui-san!" as he leaped back off of the boulder he had landed on before spotting the Kumogakure jonin. He jogged across the ground to get to Darui.

[KANE]

Darui had practically dragged himself out of bed that morning. It wasn’t that he hadn’t wanted to get up, but he was tired. The days of traveling around Iwagakure had caught up with him. Through practically the whole travel time to the Village of Stone, he had been energetic enough and determined on the set goal before them – get to Iwagakure and start their mission of the Jounin exchange program, once he got back to his 'normal' duties - which wore him down. Upon arrival weeks ago, they had been greeted by a familiar face - at least to Darui. Wan’s own mission within his own village was to escort the Jounin around, and give them a small tour of the place they’d be staying for the next month.

The dark-skinned, well-muscled man was moving through the village swiftly, or else he would be late for the thing that their guide was looking forward to most about this visit from foreign Jounin. The Genin had asked Darui to train him in the way of the sword. Although Darui believed that he was no sort of teacher by a longshot, and that the young Iwagakure shinobi would be so much better off learning from someone who studied the art of the blade and nothing else - like Shigure.

Although... he thought. If she did teach him I cant promise that he’d still have his arm when she was done with him... The thought made him chuckle, almost, as he headed up to the Training Fissure quickly. She almost lopped my arm off... he thought, moving his hand over a portion of the large scar that tore up his side and chest from the merciless assault from the kunoichi. I was a Jounin, too... he recalled, glancing over the top of the rocks that would open onto the plateau. He’s only a Genin...

Darui leapt over the edge of the fissure easily and walked forward. Sweat beaded his forehead and neck already. The day was hot, even this early in the morning. It’s going to be a hot day... Darui told himself, shaking his head slightly. If necessary, he would remove the chain-mail armor protecting his torso in addition to the vest over it. But until then, he would remain as he was.

His attention was drawn by the voice of Wan. ”I’m here, Darui-san!” Darui grinned a bit and waved slightly, walking over to the younger shinobi. ”Hey Wan...” he said, his voice rumbling from his throat slightly. ”...how are you this morning?”

Best to have a friendly introduction before training, right?

[KANE]

Wan was glad when Darui appeared. He had started to suspect that he had gotten to the Training Fissure before the jonin, but, of course, the last place he looked ended up being where Darui was walking around. He noticed Darui was still wearing all of his usual gear and his voice rumbled a bit. He just woke up Wan thought with a bit of dissappointment. Nothing to be done about that though. He probably got back from a job late he decided.

"I'm doing good" Wan said when Darui asked how he was doing, "I'm ready to go!" he added excitedly as he drew both of his swords from the crossed scabbards strapped to his back. "Whats first? Slashing? Stabbing? Some kind of form?" Since he had never recieved swordsmanship instruction of any kind he was defaulting to assume it was similar in some ways to Taijutsu training, where you learned the basic moves and then a form so that you understood how to flow from one move to another.

Naturally there would be some differences, since a sword had significantly more reach than one's own arm or leg, and the blade could do far more harm with far simpler actions. When taijutsu training, one could only only hit a partner accidentally, perhaps break a bone if you weren't careful. With sword training, a simple misstep could result in someone's arm being chopped off, an eye being gouged out, or just as easily death.

With that in mind, Wan was well aware of his need to be very careful while training. He wasn't overly worried though; he'd been practicing himself for over a year now, training against his own clones. He had a very good idea as to his own current limits and wasn't a bare amateur, but he didn't know exactly what Darui was expecting or what he planned to teach, so Wan kept an open mind.

[KANE]

Darui couldn’t help but smile a bit in amusement at the Wan’s enthusiasm in the response to his common greeting question. ”I’m doing good. I’m ready to go!” He drew the two swords from his back and held them in a way that showed the younger shinobi’s minimal amount of training…if any at all…in the art of the sword. Darui still felt a bit as though he wasn’t exactly an ideal teacher when it came to swordsmanship for a younger shinobi, but he knew enough for Shigure – of all people – to declare him proficient in the use of a cleaving blade.

”What’s first? Slashing? Stabbing? Some kind of form?” the Genin inquired.

Well…at least his head is in the right place and he’s not completely clueless… Darui thought. He knew that a good number of people that wanted to learn some sort of technique with a blade wanted to learn it simply because they thought it would add to their arsenal – which, in essence, it did – however, they had no reason beyond that. They lacked something Shigure had called ‘respect for the art’. Darui didn’t have the faintest idea of how to determine if someone had that or not. I don’t have the eyes she does… he thought, gazing at Wan intently for a moment. However…I don’t doubt his intentions…

Clearing his throat, Darui spoke. ”Before we do anything, if you’re carrying anything breakable I highly recommend you discard it.” He looked around for a moment before nodding to a rock fixture not far off, that was softened and curved slightly as though people used it to sit or place things on. ”Take off the layers of your clothing on your torso as well.” he told Wan, placing his hands in his pockets.

It was the same thing Shigure had instructed him to do. She had told him that for the body to move freely with the blade it needed to be unrestricted. Of course, at that age, he would have argued with her as to why she wasn’t doing the same, but then again she wore very few articles of clothing anyway…at least then.

In his head, Darui was trying to decide what to do first…attack Wan in a ‘toying’ manner and assess the Genin’s skills, or have the Genin attack him and do the same. Or both?

[KANE]

As Wan waited for the instruction to begin he wondered how many differences there would be between Wan's two sword and Darui's single sword styles and the difference between the katanas Wan would be using and the cleaver blade that Darui specialized in. Now that he was here and they were about to begin he began to think that asking Darui to give him a sword lesson wasn't as great an idea as he had thought. When he asked it seemed like an awesome idea. Real sword lessons from a real swordsman! Now, looking back, it seemed like a halfbaked childish thought.

As he was about to voice these thoughts of his Darui gave him his first set of instructions. He was to put anything fragile somewhere safe. He also hinted at a nearby rock that had been smoothed with the passage of time and many many butts. Wan thought about it and decided that the only thing fragile he kept on his person was the egg. He pulled it out of his pocket and walked over to the rock, hoping that the time away from him wouldn't hinder its development or piss off the rather scary chickens. He thought about trying to 'inject' chakra into the egg before setting it down...sort of filling it up so it would be good for an hour or two without him. As he thought about it, the image of a balloon popping entered his mind and he decided against it.

He set the egg down on the stone and then glanced back at Darui when he was told to take off the cloths from his upper body. Shrugging at the idea he first removed the crossed scabbards on his back and leaned them against the smooth-ish boulder and then took off his jacket. He lifted the egg and set the jacket on the rock, putting his egg on top of the jacket. Then he took his shirt off and balled it up, lifted the egg, put the shirt down then nestled the egg into the small 'nest' of his shirt. He looked at it then lifted the egg and shirt again and gently began to wrap the egg inside of the shirt. Now if somehow the rock shook the egg would be inside the shirt so if it fell it would be safe. Or so he hoped.

He picked up his two sword sheathes and put them back on his back, remaking the cross. He kept the sword sheathed this time so he didn't seem too over-eager for the lesson. He wanted to put on some semblance of proffesionalism to the foreign shinobi despite Wan considering Darui more of a friend and less of a foreigner.

"Alright" he said, "Ready."

[KANE]

Darui watched as the Genin waited before following his orders. What had he pulled out of his pocket? Was it an egg? Darui turned his head slightly to peer closer. Sure enough, it looked like one. What on earth did Wan have an egg for? The Kumogakure shinobi shook his head slightly and ran a hand through his nearly-white hair. What a shinobi would be doing with an egg in their pocket was beyond him. However, thinking about it for a moment he supposed it could be something significant as far as training went. Perhaps a summon of sorts? But…what sort of summon would that be…? A chicken? Darui blinked as he tried to imagine a chicken being summoned to the battlefield. Truly, the thought was amusing, but he didn’t let any part of the emotion show in his eyes or on his lips.

The dark-skinned man waited until the young shinobi had taken off his top layers and replaced the crossed sword sheathes on his back, leaving the blades crossed this time against his back. The Genin spoke, his voice breaking through the air that had been quiet save for the rustling of clothes after Darui gave Wan his first set of instructions. Nodding slightly, he lifted his hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it, smearing the first beads of sweat across his dark skin while he thought. Time to make the real decision – how to go about the actual training.

Maybe it’s time for me to take a leaf out of Sandaime’s book… the Jounin considered, bringing his hand to his chin and placing the other hand across his ribcage from his pocket. An assessment of skill is definitely required…forget what I was thinking earlier about skipping over it… he thought But what should I test him on first? Defense? Offense? Supplementary? Just two? All three? He shook his head slightly, ruffling his hair even more. Bah! he half-spat mentally I’m one of the Raikage’s guards, I don’t train Genin for this reason! The process of thinking precisely how to train them is so dull!

Looking up after making a decision after what seemed like ages, his dark eyes met Wan’s lighter colored one. ”Alright Wan…” he said, dropping his hands to his pockets. ”Use one sword for now.” he instructed gesturing with his head towards the rock where the Genin had just laid part of his attire. ”You can set the other one there. Today, we’re going to start by running through a series of exercises.”

He figured it best to call them exercises rather than assessments, as not to give the impression that there was any sort of possibility for failure. ”The first thing I want you to do…” he said, considering a final time that this was the way to work. ”I want you to try to hit me. With the sword. To start, focus on jabs and slashes, because for now using the sharp edges of your weapon will be your greatest tool.”

Glancing over his shoulder slightly at the handle of his cleaving blade, Darui shrugged a little as he reached his hand up to it, pulling the heavy weapon straight from its protective hold on his back. He spun it once before planting it in the ground with an audible whump. The hard rock that had once sat stone-strong beneath his feet piled in small pieces around the blade. The noise it had made was generated by the fact that it had no sharp tip that could drive into the ground easily, so the only way it got there was by force alone.

”Ready?” Darui asked, barely looking up at the Genin. Without waiting for a response, he gave the signal. ”Come at me.”

[KANE]

Wan shrugged one shoulder, then the other as he worked out his muscles a bit, getting himself limber and loose. He tried to crack a kink out of his neck but it just wouldn't budge so he gave it up. He glanced back over his shoulder when Darui told him to only use one sword and shrugged inwardly, not letting the gesture surface as physical movement. He removed both swords from his back and looked at them both before deciding to use the solid black sword he had taken from one of the samurai invaders more than half a year ago.

Setting his original sword against the rock he drew the black blade and placed the scabbard back on the ground with his other things then went back to Darui, stopping a few paces away and eager to begin the exercises. He held the sword in one hand at the moment, the blade pointed to the left and down at about a fourty-five degree angle. Not anywhere near a combat-ready position, it was more of a 'safety'; just in case he were to trip or stumble he didn't want to cut himself or Darui nor did he wish to break the sword.

When he was instructed to attack Darui Wan considered turning his sword around in his hand so that the dull back side would be the striking end, but then he reconsidered it and figured that Darui would be able to block whatever Wan did. With that in mind Wan decided also to not bother holding back. A genin couldn't likely hold a candle to a jonin on the best of days, and Wan considered himself average at best where as Darui was the right arm of the Raikage and was known throughout the shinobi world.

The action of Darui dropping his blade to the ground, causing it to shake a bit only served to reinfroce Wan's feeling that he could go all out against Darui and thats what he did. When he was told to come at him, Wan sprinted full speed at the Kumo jonin and thrusted his blade towards the center of Darui's chest. His blade met nothing but air as Darui sidestepped it. Following it up with a slash aimed at Darui's wrist, Wan once again missed.

Thus it went for quite some time: Wan attacked and Darui evaded. The jonin's hands never seemed to leave his pockets eitehr as he sidestepped each of Wan's stabs, leaped over his horizontal slashes and backstepped away from each virticle strike, dodging every attack made by the genin by inches or less. It didn't take long for the exertion to begin catching up to Wan; the amount of energy it too to swing and miss was great compared to how much energy he used whent raining with his clones and each strike hitting something.

[KANE]

Darui pocketed his hands only a second after he lodged the wide blade in the earth. He stepped to the side slightly as Wan drew his blade and set the other one aside; following the instructions the older Shinobi had given a short time before. The blade was held in a more defensive position than an offensive one. Darui didn’t let it show on his face, but inwardly he sighed slightly. As much as he appreciated the Genin’s method of thinking as far as not wanting to accidentally harm himself or his opponent-teacher for the time, he would get nowhere if he didn’t come at Darui as though he was going to kill him. Playing it safe would be all too easy in a more realistic situation than a simple training session.

I need to mention that... he told himself. However, he would hold off for the time being. He would see how Wan reacted to whatever he was given as far as a situation went.

As soon as the Genin moved, Darui moved as well. Each sword thrust or slash was easily avoided. Darui moved steadily in a circle as he evaded the attacks easily, his hands never once leaving his pockets. He moved to the right, left, leaned back slightly, ducked a bit, and spun around once or twice to fully avoid the width of the blade before stepping to the side of it. He knew that starting out on something basic like this was all too easy for him to protect himself from Wan’s attacks. He let it go on for a short while. It was what Darui needed to assess how the younger Shinobi simply attacked with one sword. He felt as though he could give further instructions.

”So far you’re doing better than I expected.” Darui stated bluntly. It wan’t meant to be an insult in the slightest to Wan, but rather a statement of how Darui viewed most things he didn’t have much knowledge about. He tended to set standards rather low with things he was unsure about, so that there was minimal room for him to be disappointed. He would be disappointed if the ‘bar’ he set was met, but not soared over.

”But it’s not enough. Your movements are dull. Using the blade like that makes your blows dull as well.”

A final thrust towards his chest met empty air as Darui had jumped into the air, after sending a small burst of chakra to his feet. He did a quick flip over the Genin’s head and landed behind him, with a flattened hand just beneath the Genin’s bandaged chin, and almost against his throat. A clear indicator that if Darui had been an enemy, Wan would be dead. Easily, he could have coated his hand with Raiton-natured chakra or held a kunai.

”But how youre attacking...” he said, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again, a slight darkness entering the black irises. ”...you’ll never even touch me, let alone an opponent!” He took a step back from the Genin, bringing his fist back before punching the Genin powerfully, straight between the shoulder blades. Though he didn’t load his fist with chakra, the strength from Darui’s arm alone was more than enoguh to take someone by surprise – not in a good way.

”If you want to do some damage you’re going to have to come at me like you want to kill me!” Darui said, raising his voice with the intensitiy he’d felt when angered by his sensei all those years ago, but this time channeling it to be more of how Sandaime's position must have been with Darui as a Genin. Just seconds after his fist met Wan’s back, he flashed in front of Wan before bringing his leg up and connecting the front bend of his foot with the Genin's face. He followed the motion of the roundhouse kick easily, bringing his leg back down to the ground. His eyes were closed, and he hadnt seen what became of the Genin after kicking him.

Darui’s taijutsu style was based mainly on Muay-Thai practiced ages ago by earlier Taijutsu practitioners, but had still been carried through the years.

If this is what Jounin that train Genin put up with every day, their schedules must be dull. I couldn’t do this day after day...I’d be repeating myself. Repitition is dull...

[KANE]

The constant evasion by Darui produced an odd feeling within him. He wasn't exactly 'surprised' that the jonin was able to dodge every attack Wan made, but he was susprised that he could do so so very easily. Not only did it seem that Darui wasn't exerting any effort, he wasn't even removing his hands from his pockets. He danced around like an Irish Step dancer, not that Wan knew what that was, with an athletic grace that demonstrated just how much training and field experience.

Just as Darui told Wan he was doing better than expected he also told Wan that he wasn't using his weapon effectively. Wan was about to comment that he was just doing what he was told when Darui gave him a dark look and a sudden pang of fear reverberated through Wan. In an instant Darui was behind him and he was struck in the back, sending him sprawling forward and only his most recent training was what kept Wan from falling on his face. Another comment about trying to attack with intent to kill came from Darui before another series of blows.

Wan was utterly stunned by the speed and power from Darui's punch. Wow he thought A punch like that would make the speed of light wish it was faster when suddenly his thoughts were smashed by a roundhouse kick. No, not his thoughts, his face.

Wan rolled backwards across the stones and almost landed on his heap of clothing, spare gear and chicken egg. Fortunately the momentum from Darui's kick didn't carry him quite that far and he came to a stop. There was blood coming out of his nose courtesy of the recent roundhouse kick but it didn't concern Wan; it would clot quick enough and he'd been hurt worse.

While he tried to shake the dazed feeling from his head he said "Ow" then lifted his sword- which was still gripped firmly in his hand despite being tossed about like a ragdoll- and blinked his eyes a couple of times. Once he could see straight he said "Alright." And charged at the jonin again, this time not going for a simple slash-and-jab but instead bringing his hands together and forming the simple handseals he had practiced while holding a sword. A second Wan and a third appeared on his left and right and the trio dashed at the jonin, one of them jumping to attack Darui's head, one dropping down to attack low while the final Wan struck for Darui's stomach.

[KANE]

Darui straightened from his ‘landing’ of sorts as Wan was tossed backwards by the kick. Opening his eyes, he looked up. The kick – not full-power definitely – had sent the Genin spinning towards his heap of clothing and the egg-like object he’d pulled out of his pocket. Concentrating on the younger shinobi’s face – which had just effectively been smashed by a his shin – Darui noticed a red spot forming on the bandages that covered his face. If his nose hadn’t started bleeding from a blow like that, Darui would have been a bit concerned. Glancing up at the sun, which was still rising, the dark-skinned Jounin sighed. The temperature of the day had shown no signs of cooling off, even in the brief time they spent in the training fissure.

The ample breezes that whipped through the clouds and mountains in Kumogakure prevented it from getting too hot too often, so the almost breezeless fissure would prove to be a new element of training. The tactical vest Darui wore wasn’t exactly what he’d consider light, and the link-chain-mail beneath his shirt was hardly that, either. If it gets much hotter I’m going to wind up shedding layers… Darui thought, grimacing slightly. How dull…

He narrowed his eyes as the Genin stood straighter before charging. The Kumogakure shinobi could see determination in the younger boy’s eyes, and there was a difference in his step that Darui was happy to see. Looks like he takes words to heart… He thought with a smirk. ”Good.” Darui said, unsure if Wan heard. Holding the sword, the Iwa Genin formed hand-seals as he rushed, two clones appeared. Impressive… thought Darui, that the Genin had managed to work out how to make hand seals while holding a sword.

The Jounin crouched, raising his hands defensively as the clones and original Wan rushed him. He narrowed his eyes as he took in the situation. This would be interesting. An attack from above, below, and straight forward, huh? As the clones got within range and aimed for an attack at their respective positions, Darui shifted almost all of his weight to his left side to prepare for a kick. Turning back and to the side, he knew he’d be calling it relatively close with this position. He stayed watching until almost the last second, before sweeping his heel out from below, causing it to collide with the lowest clone and forcing it up into the topmost one. Using the momentum, he spun into a jump-kick that wasn’t as powerful as the first one, but would still do some damage, sweeping his leg in for the side of Wan’s head.

So, my timing has slacked a bit.. Darui thought as he felt the blade of the sword lightly scrape over his knee. I moved quite literally two seconds too late…how dull

[KANE]

The Wan's made their move and Wan watched Darui's movements. The jonin shifted to one side and was crouching down. He's gonna kick? Wan thought, surprised that the tactical decision of evade the three pronged attack and try to isolate the various Wans was not Darui's choice of what to do. It certainly would have been Wan's plan...that or at least make enough clones to even the numbers.

Just as all three of the bandaged genin were about to strike the Jonin made his move. Wan watched as his lower clone was kicked into the upper clone and both vanished in puffs of smoke just as a part of Darui's leg swung around for his head. Wan did not freak out, however, and instead ducked down. He felt Darui's pant fabric graze over the top of his head as he narrowly avoided the kick.

Not pausing to congradulate himself on a narrow avoidance Wan waited for the leg to pass over him completely before pouncing up onto Darui. He would have brought his sword around but it was not in a useful angle at the moment and it would hav ebeen a waste of time to maneuver it. That time would likely have let Darui escape Wan's attack. By puncing now, while Darui was spinning away from him, exposing his back and balancing only on one leg, Wan felt he had an edge over the man and if he could hit him right he would be able to bring his sword around for an immediate followup attack.

Wan's head collided with Darui's exposed back and his full weight went behind the headbutt. He bouncind a bit off of the iron body of the Kumogakure jonin but Darui moved more than he did. With space now Wan was able to twist his arm and sword and bring the blade up between himself and his sparring partner. With a huff he leaped at Darui again, hoping to give him at least a minor cut before the jonin outclassed him again.