Classes are for babies, this is Training! [class]

[Hanone]

[ooc: yo, please try to post once every 48 hours for your class since there should be at least 4 of us in here. Also, posting order is in the order of who enters first to last. Pretty straight forward.]


It was common practice for the academy students to be brought to the Grand Halls of Learning, to sit down in some stuffy classroom and get lectured on this type of jutsu, how to go into stealth, how to make a clone of yourself. This was very boring to the 28 year old jounin.

Usually Saemon was given regular jobs or missions. Just last week he was out in the desert hunting down a known poacher. But this morning he woke up with a notice under his door that he'd been called in as a substitute teacher. The regular one was going into labor for the 10th baby or something and since he wasn't busy, was hardly ever commissioned work with the ANBU anymore, they'd called him in. Well that screwed up his plans.

He was more surprised to find, upon entering the building around 6:15 in the morning, that he was only going to be taking on some potential-genin. The rest of their regular class was going to be handled by another shinobi. They felt these three were promising youth and wanted to finish up their work in the academy quickly. So they needed him?

Sighing darkly, the 6'8", mountain of a man pulled down a flier from the main board, turned it over and tacked it back up. After scrounging a bit for pen, and only finding a pink crayon, he scribbled down the three names boldly with some directions, then headed back outside to light up a cigarette. Once he was 'outside' washed in the bright yellow and silvery light of the overhead chakra crystals, Saemon sucked down a large portion of hot smoke and made his way to the farthest end of the training field and took a seat in the mossy-cave grass. He leaned back on one arm, using the other to hold his deathstick and waited.

Motomori, Rin and Hitoshi.
Bring your asses outside. I'm the smoking one.
Cheers.

 

[Sazawari]

Despite the fact that he suspected he was late, he didn’t hurry. He didn’t even make any attempts to conceal the very sleepy, very reluctant expression as he dragged his feet through the damp light of the underground village. Sazawari couldn’t believe he had been instructed to meet up this early. The last words before he had left the academy after yesterdays’ class had been to show up ready and fit for a “special class session”, whatever that might be. Words like “ungodly”, “inhumane” and “cruel” swam through the fog of the drowsy mind as he pushed through the door with a yawn.

Motomori, Rin and Hitoshi.
Bring your asses outside. I'm the smoking one.
Cheers.

Letting a sigh of exasperation through the slightly curled smirk of his usual expression at the message on flier, he turned around and headed down the hall way and headed towards the direction appointed by the piece of paper on the board. *The smokin’ one, huh? Woulda been hard to figure that…* He nearly let the comment slip as he exited the building and spotted the colossus of a man waiting on the field. He had learned the hard way not to piss off the instructors and teachers, but a man’s thoughts are his own, and he had decided to keep the amusement to himself. At least until the seniors were out of sounds reach.

As he approached the elder, he found himself nearly at a halt, feeling an odd sensation in the back of his neck growing stronger the more distance he closed. Could this be intimidation he felt? He had experienced stronger yet similiar sensations in the past, but this was something different, somehow lacking in the menacing nature he had gotten to associate with the strange prickling in his neck. He decided not to dwell on the thought but rather get this done. After all, when he got home, there’d probably be spiced desert hare waiting on the table. If his mother was to be trusted, that was. A strange dish for breakfast, but one of his favourites, which his mother had promised him as a sort of reward for doing this class thing.

Sazawari approached the titan, scratched his temple and brushed the long strands of blond hair from his face before he sat down next to him and stretched his arms accompanied by a long yawn. “Man, you sure have an issue with healthy, natural sleep, eh? At least the others seem to have some sort of understanding of the need to get some shut-eye...”

 

[Rin Setsuko]

She was not pleased, not pleased at all! For the first time in her life she was late. She had scolded herself ever since she had left her house after having received a scolding from her mother for sleeping in on her first day at the academy. She didn’t mind rising early, but in her eagerness to be as prepared as she could be she had spent most of the night making sure her clothing was pristine condition. She had also taken the opportunity to read up on how the shinobi system worked and its history and that is when it had begun. She had lost track of time and now she suffered the consequences of her own foolishness for staying up late. She had left the house in a hurry, still chewing on the last piece of toast her mother had prepared for her as she ran off towards the academy, skirting around those few that filled the streets and hallways. She hated being late, not only because it meant she was late, but because of the embarrassment it would be to have to go through a door into a room filled with other kids, who had undoubtedly been dragged there by their parents still half asleep. Reaching the academy block, she slowed to a quick walking pace as she scanned the numbers on the door until she found the right one. Stopping outside she took three quick breaths to calm herself down before gently raising her hand, knocking on the door three times like she had always been instructed by her mother to do.

Standing there in stiff anticipation for some sound or movement from within, Setsuko became puzzled as to why nobody had yet to answer her knocks. Cocking her head to the side she carefully grabbed the handle of the door, slowly inching it downwards until the door opened with a groan from the dry hinges. *The room is empty!* she thought to herself as she now flung the door opened and almost ran into the room, not quite understand why the room, which was supposed to be filled with students was empty. “Where is everyone?” she said out loud as she turned around, still confused. Her eyes instantly picked up the pink writing on the board. *Why is there only three names?* she thought to herself as she recalled her reading from the night before on. *Asses? Hope this was one of the students doing, a teacher wouldnt use such language* she thought to herself as she read on, memorizing the directions.

Following the directions, she found herself at the training fields and on the far end was two figures, one of them looking like a giant and the other looking more normal in size. As she made her approach she looked around, still not sure why there weren’t any more students around and still puzzled as to why there had only been three names on the board. Coming with earshot she could hear one of the two speak, but she couldn’t distinguish who, but as she got closer she figured it had to be the smaller one of the two, most likely one of the other two that had, had their name on the board. Standing in front of the imposing man, she bowed “I am sorry for being late” and with that she would move to the man’s side and sit down next to the boy. As she sat down, she gave the boy a quick glance and a smile with a chirping “Hi.”

 

[Motomori Mouko]

Mouko moved down the street, watching the busy people of the village moving around in the early morning. His walk was not one of haste or over abundant speed, for the journey was all that he cared about. The sight of a young man dashing towards the direction of the village gates. The people moving into a nearby shop as it's doors first opened. Even the few animals that would occasionally run along in search of food, or maybe just some reprieve from the noisy streets. Mouko's day had already been started off late, even though he arose much earlier than the average twelve year old boy. He had spent too much time in his garden this morning, enjoying the sand beneath his feet and flow of the vibrant forest of emotion. The nerves he would normally feel on his first day had been washed away by the deep meditation, but alas, he had inadvertently become late. The time had passed already, so rushing in order to shorten the frame was pointless at this point.

As Mouko rounded the corner of a rather busy street, he spotted the large Ninja Academy, a staple of the country and most likely the second most important building in the entire village. He stopped his movement for a second, staring at the imposing building that filled so many children with dread, but created creatures of dread itself. The young boy's hair billowed in the stifled air, most likely from a crack in the village's walls allowing a part of the brutal storm that raged outside through. Mouko just wished for a moment that he could step outside and view a great and powerful mountain range, shrouded in the mist of trees. If only he had been born elsewhere, or even allowed to move around the world freely. Mouko continued his thought process as he spotted a, rather imposing, young lady running down the street and dash into the building. His thoughts returned to the fact that he did have a class to attend, and he was forced once again to move along towards his next instructor.

Mouko moved along the hallways of the academy, until he arrived at the sign thrown on his classrooms door, noticing his name sticking out in the pink color of the crayon. A smile erupted on the young boy's face as he broke out in uncontrollable laughter. He moved along, his feet shuffling at a brisk but smooth pace towards the training grounds. He arrived just in time to hear the girl from early spout out a word of greeting. He gave his instructor a nice smile, his eyes lifting up a bit at the motion. Mouko spoke in a smooth clear cut voice filled with the harmony that he felt at the time. "Hello"

[MFT: 466 Words]

 

[Hanone]

It wasn't clear to the jounin whether the students actually finding him before, let's say, 9 o'clock was really a good thing or not. He wasn't real eager to run a class and frankly he couldn't really imagine himself explaining how chakra works or some other lame shit. And anyway, he figured they knew all of that by now.

The first boy approached him, obviously having found the note (to some dismay) and ended up standing to his left side. His first remark amused Saemon, enough to produce a rare half-smile. He took a last drag from his cigarette as the vision of another student came hurrying from the building toward them both. "Fuck, wasn't my choice either." he said in a gravelly, baritone voice, smoke unfurling from his nose and lips. A moment later the now apparently female student was at their side and seating herself and right after her, the second male and last for the day.

Seemingly tired, Saemon dug his cigarette butt into the mossy ground and left it there as he stood up. At his full height he towered over all three. He was also physically intimidating. His arms were huge and his chest was the size of a barrel. His expression alone was tame and dull.

Saemon had, had plenty of time to contemplate what to teach these kids today while waiting for them to show up. His mind went around tactics or branches or where was the best place to cut a man to kill him fast or slow. But he didn't like talking. A single idea had popped into his head when reaching exasperation on the subject and turned out to be the best option...

"Right. I'm Saemon. You're here today for 3 hours at least. I assume you all have had some basic training and knowledge. You're all.. like what, 10?" he asked, possibly insulting all of them. "Whatever. So today you're going to get a real workout. I'll assess your strengths and weaknesses and stick them in your files for graduation and genin exams." At that point the brute grasped the edge of his black shirt and pulled it overhead then tossed it on the ground. It was nearly 85 degrees that day and he was planning on working up a sweat. Or he hoped he might.

He was riddled with scars and old injuries. In addition to his heavily tattooed arms, there was also a massive, black chimera inked over his right pectoral and curved down around his side and took up the majority of his back. The last marking was over his heart, Kanji that read "Red Queen". Without an explanation it could get the wrong impression, but anyone with half a brain might realize it's placing and that it was for some woman. After cracking his neck a little, he addressed them once more, this time his face looked stern and serious. "Remove anything extra you don't need on. I want to see your movements unencumbered by excess clothing. You're all to fight me, as best as you can, as strong as you can. Together or apart is your choice. Use any tricks you know, any weapons you may have. And if this battle moves from the yard to the streets, so be it. I want you to try to kill me." He seemed dead serious and added, "If you don't give this your all, I will end up killing you."

Whether the last part was true or not, he didn't think they would like to push the limits of his words and see if he was bluffing. He stood ready. The yard was very large, giving them plenty of space. The most of it was flat and covered with moss. Nearer to the building were several fake wooden bodies for practice and farther away were some slim, decorative trees. Outside of those laid the city. How this happened would be up to them.

Spoiler

[OOC: I would like you all to understand the power in this site. Your characters are new, E-rank. They will have some abilities and you can hint at the CAs or BLs you will unlock later (useful for applications) but Saemon is S-rank and capped, i.e. the very top tier of killers. So you cannot auto-hit anywhere, but expect to be hit a lot. If you have any questions, PM/IM me]

 

[Sazawari]

So he wasn’t here by choice either, eh? Well, that made two of them. Sazawari made a minor mental note about this before his attention got caught by his fellow students trickling onto the training field. The chick appeared to be flustered, bordering to stressed. Had she hurried? *Great… Another goodie-good sucking up, eh? Oh well, perhaps she will prove to be different during the class…*

He had a hard time believing he was the first one out, considering how he suspected he had overslept. To think –he- would appear the punctual one, now that was the joke of the day! Greeting the others by a slight nod of his head, barely a twitch stemming from the root of his neck, and a drawling “’Ey…”, he turned towards the big man introducing himself. *Three hours? The hare will probably be cold by then… Damnit!* As the other undressed, Sazawari could not help but to let slip a reply at the pause of the voice of the other. “Sure you can cover it all in your reports? I mean, being too old to properly assess age can't be an advantage if you're gonna write and evaluate stuff.” The moment the words left his lips, he regretted it, wondering what repercussions this might invoke.

However, the fear quickly fled from his mind as he witnessed the jigsaw that was the skin of the torso of the massive wall of flesh before him. He didn’t have to make any long shots or guesses in order to understand that this guy had seen his share of blood. He was so enthralled by the scars and tattoos that he nearly missed what Saemon said, but was quickly snapped back to the moment by the order they were given. The notion of death was one that Sazawari strongly disapproved of, especially if it was regarding his own, and the now impending threat of possibly being killed by a high-ranking shinobi sent a jolt down his spine. *Is this guy for real?...*
The thought of having to tumble around, trying to avoid being struck by a jounin didn’t really appeal to the youngling, but the expression on the face of the teacher made it pretty clear that there were no room for negotiation, no leniency. As he began to remove the soldering goggles around his forehead and the leathery long-coat, he realized that he didn’t carry any weapons, any equipment, nothing he could utilize in order to try to kill Saemon. *Crap… The best of days to screw up, eh?* Padding his pockets, desperately fondling for something he knew wasn’t there, he looked towards the other two with an expression of mild amusement and an ineffable look that combined with his gestures around himself could only mean “Does any of you got a weapon for me?”

 

[Rin Setsuko]

Setsuko had what can only be considered a shocked facial expression as she saw the chest of her now to be sensei. She had come prepared for a hard days’ worth of exercise but the words that escaped his lips after having removed his shirt almost seemed to paralyze her. Two thoughts struck her as she got up onto her feet. Firstly *we are not even genins and he is at least jounin, how on earth are we supposed to even land a single hit on him* and secondly *His scars are surely evidence that he has seen combat… a lot of combat.* Taking in his words, she quickly removed her hooded short, leaving her standing there in a thin workout top that revealed her flat stomach, stopping half an inch above her naval. Setsuko had never been very conscious about her body, other than it should be properly maintained through training and diet, but today was different, and today she actually felt vulnerable. Was it because she was going to have to fight a giant of a man or was it because she knew that this was an obstacle that would none of the three students would be able to move.

She moved herself a couple of feet away from the tall man as her eyes darted between the other two. How prepared where they, though one of them, the first one that had arrived didn’t seem very well prepared as he asked if anyone had a weapon he could borrow. Sadly, she hadn’t brought the lone kunai she had been given as a gift from her mother. *Why didn’t I bring it?* she thought to herself as she tried to take stock of this giant. He was well trained and had scars that would testify to him seeing battle, and that he was as massive as he was, was also a testimonial to his strength. *Kill… or get killed* she thought to herself as she now switched her focus from him and the other two to her surroundings. *When fighting an overwhelming force you don’t attack head on, that will only get you killed. First you assess their strengths and try to find a weakness you can exploit… haha, what weakness?* she thought as her eyes scanned the ground and nearby field. *I… no, we can’t win on this open space! Sh… We need to get into the town!* the thought struck her as lighting as she quickly looked up at the other two boys, trying to gauge if they were ready or not.

 

[Motomori Mouko]

Mouko had not expected that his brand new sensei would want to partake in battle so soon. The truth was, the young boy disliked fighting in general, but he could easily see that his new trainer would have no problem dodging or preventing any tactic that a lowly academy student could throw at him. The man was built as a monster from head to toe, and after removing his shirt, the path of life was obvious among his burly skin. It would be suicide to try to get in close and attack from the front. The terrain here was the best they would get without moving into the streets. There was ample noise around to mask all but the loudest of movements, and plenty of places to duck and hide from their opponents attacks. Mouko just hoped that the other two next to him could do their part in the fight to actually land the blows on their sensei, if it was even possible. He stepped forward so that he was even to the other two shinobi-in-training on the battle field and faced the mountain of a man standing in front of him. Sitting around would only get him killed before he had a chance to bring about the lush greens of the southern lands to the dying sands.

Without looking at either of his colleagues, Mouko flexed his arms a bit, tightening the muscles in his legs to ready for a charge at his fullest speed toward the man in front of him. He nodded to the other two in the field, before he smiled and left them with a few words of his own. "Try to stay out of his reach as much as possible, just make a break for the streets and use them to dodge him until you spot an opening. Let's open one of those scars up shall we?" Mouko knew that beating the older gentleman was completely impossible without the intervention of some higher power, but that did not mean that the group had to just lay over and die. In a straight up fight, Mouko would be almost useless as is, having skipped almost all of his Taijutsu classes whenever possible, but his skills certainly lie in other aspects of a fight.

After those few spoken words, and a deep breath, Mouko kicked off with his right foot as hard as possible towards their sensei, acting as if he were going to straight for the man, but instead moving the left, towards the main building, letting his knee bend a bit through his run, and his fingers run through the sand. A trail of thin dust followed behind him as he neared the edge of the building, but at the last second he closed his fingers, scooping a large pile of sand into his hand, planted his foot on the ground, kicking himself as hard as possible toward the academy. Mouko made sure to twist his ankle slightly, giving himself a spin as he hit the side of the academy building, planting the opposite foot in much the same way that he had early, and kicking off as strongly as he could in front of sensei. The boy used the momentum from his run to carry him well past the sensei, shifting his center of balance when he was in front of the imposing man to carry him a little further. His hand leapt outwards, spraying the handful of sand he kept, while he body obscured the man's vision from the other students in the yard.

 

[Hanone]

The jounin ranked shinobi watched the surprise and disbelief cross the faces of the youth before him at his instructions for the 'lesson'. It wasn't a shock to him though. That wasn't exactly what one expects when they come to class in the morning. But that was like life, real life, as a shinobi. You met with an adversary and usually they didn't wait for your readiness and they didn't go easy on you. Saemon didn't plan to actually kill any of the children that day but the level of seriousness he expected from them was as if it were the case. They couldn't best him and if he wanted them dead they would be.

He was pleased to see, though, that all of them managed to follow his directions regarding the former part of his words. Extra clothing was dropped away, young limbs and forms were free to move with ease and without being harbored by casual, daily-wear clothing. He wondered, looking face to face, which would move first to take the first step and start the fight.

It was the last boy to show to come at him the first. He offered up words of relative smart direction before hurrying into his assault. Saemon watched the boy run along, collect the sand and push off the outside wall of the academy. It was a wide, open maneuver with several open points. He left his body exposed to an attack just so he could attempt to blind the hulking man. So he closed his eyes as the boy passed and stood passively. The sand hit his face then fell to the ground. Several pieces clung to the short hair above his forehead and some on his brows and beard. The idea was good, the action; not so good.

Mouko had started and he had told them he was going to try to kill them too, so he wasn't all about defense, but he too would attack. The boy had to land, whether he was graceful about it or could bounce off and carry on with the movement mattered not. He aimed for the boy's trajectory with his first attack. His hands went through a quick flurry of handseals, fast enough to border on a blur, then he threw both palms outward, one toward the spot Mouko would land and the other at Setsuko. Two fairly large spires of water seemed to form at his palms and rocketed out at their bodies. Either of the other students would have had the chance to begin an attack of their own, but nothing direct or they would be face on by the water spirals and probably get torn up some.

[jutsu used: Aqua Twin Fang at Setsu and Mouko.]

 

[Sazawari]

The fellow male seemed a tad too optimistic in Sazawaris opinion. Open up old scars? He wasn’t even sure if they could manage land a blow on the senior, much less actually draw blood. “Yea, let’s go scratch him till we draw blood with our nails! That’ll be the end of him for sure!” He followed suit, however, and took a more tense stance, letting his knees bend ever so slightly, lifting his heels and letting the majority of his weight rest on the balls of the toes, the metatarsus. Leaning forward, lowering his chin and raising his shoulders and arms as he had been taught, he awaited the moment for action.

And then everything exploded in an instant of motions. The other boy had made a dash for it, attempting to blind the opponent with a fistful of sand. A valid strategy, but futile, as Saemon nullified the attempt simply by closing his eyes. A blur of hand movements caught Sazawaris eyes, and he immediately recognized them as seals, preparing a technique. *He’s even using advanced ninjutsu against us? The fuck…* The aquatic spirals shot towards his team mates, and Sazawari believed he saw an opening. Probably it would all end in disaster, but it was worth more than not making any attempt at all.

Maintaining the semi-crouched posture, he made for it towards the huge man, attempting to stay between the two jets of water aimed for his companions. Sazawari held no illusions of combat. There were no rules, no code of ethics, no mercy. Combat was a business of death, and in order to win, one would do anything. And so, finding himself without a means of cutting and without the necessary power to land an efficient blow on the rock hard flesh of the target, he decided to go for the cheapest blow at the weakest spot; He aimed a kick for the groin.

 

[Rin Setsuko]

The attempt to blind their adversary had failed and resulted in her and the boy that had attempted to rob him of his vision had now become targets of a ninjutsu. The spirals shot out of his palms after he had done the seals in a speed that Setsuko didn’t think was possible. Her mind raced. She could try do dodge, but what if he was able to manipulate the water and make it change trajectory? It would mean that no matter which direction she took, he would cut her off. Her eyes shifted momentarily from the spinning water spiral coming towards her to the sweater she had just removed. “Mom is going to kill me” she said as she dashed towards her sweater. Returning her gaze to the oncoming spiral she grabbed the sweater by the hood and threw it towards the spiral, hoping that it would at least offset the spiral enough for her to get clear of it. With the sweater flying to their air the few feet that now remained between her and the water, she decided that leaving anything to chance was foolish. Taking the opportunity given to her by the other boy that had now leaped into action she did a leaping barrel roll to the side of where she had seen the spiral before her line of sight with it had been broken by her throwing her sweater at it.

As her roll had finished and she was crouched low, her eyes quickly scanned her vicinity for anything that can be used as either a projectile or as a weapon. *Nothing…* she thought to herself as she took example of the second boy that was now running towards the giant. Think of something similar she dashed out to the side, going for his flanks and if she was allowed to continue in her trajectory end up at his back.

 

[Motomori Mouko]

Mouko looked on with disbelief as he watched the man blur through his handshake so quickly. It was a speed of which the boy had no hope of deciphering in time to save him, but he knew that whatever it was the effects were not going to be pretty. While in midair there was little the boy could do to move out of the way of an oncoming technique. There was even less he could do to stop something from a sensei. This blow could very well be the end of the academy student, but he very seriously doubted it. The village needed its instruments of war much more than to just let them die on the training grounds. Also, there were two other shinobi around him. One of those ninja had to be able to provide a distraction long enough to allow Mouko to escape. In the meantime the warriors only concern would be to take as little damage as possible as he was hit by the technique. He made a quick movement before hitting the ground, allowing his legs to tuck close to his chest and his arms to wrap around his head. In this position the rest of his body could protect his vital organs to the best of his abilities. It would also allow him to hit the ground at a roll, in the event that the technique managed to miss him.

Mouko made sure to close his eyes before impact as well. His voice flowed forth quickly reciting his family prayers of protection, as well as trying to calm his soul enough for the eventuality of destruction by his teachers jutsu. "May the wind guide us and the earth protect us from the harm of our adversaries..." They were the only words that would be able to leave his mouth before the ground and his own body impacted with the full force of the boys jump.

Spoiler

[not entirely sure on how I should calculate this.]

 

[Hanone]

The attack Saemon had used was probably strong enough to knock a student of their caliber out of commission for the next whole day, if not worse. It was prudent for Setsuko to attempt to avoid the assault, even throwing an object in the way in an attempt to redirect some of the stream. But it was Sazawari's attack that faulted Saemon's attack. See he had left the one boy alone because he didn't mean to dodge anything the boy sent at him.. but he wasn't expecting what was coming directly for the most tender part of his anatomy.

He was forced to move from that one. He leaned his weight to his right leg and lifted up his left so the boy's foot would connect with the bottom part of his thigh rather than his boys. It caused his trajectory to be thrown off in either direction. The first water spiral connected with the dirt just behind Mouko's body. It managed to catch the edge of his one heel and would probably end up knocking the boy sprawling to the ground, but otherwise unharmed. Setsuko would also be missed as water flew over her head. Only droplets would dampen her clothes and hair.

But Sazawari was in for it. Saemon released the jutsu, ending the water streams, the moment after the boy's foot would connect with his log sized limb. What the boy would find first is how badly that would hurt him. It was something akin to kicking a tree. His momentum would be instantly halted and his body even jarred from the connection. Saemon was not happy about the boy's tactics either and dropped the same leg back to the ground, pushing Saza's back to the ground as well, shifted his weight back to that leg and kicked directly across the front of his body where the boy was standing. There would be no dodging for the youth. The best he could do would be to throw up a guard and accept it.

Sazawari's body would be catapulted sideways and a large bruise would begin to form wherever his skin had connected. He would be feeling that one for a week... But he had restrained himself. A full blown kick from a man his size and skill could shatter bones. He had held back enough to damage severely, but not break anything.

Once his legs were posted again, he decided to speak to them all. Just a word of warning and guidance. "Gauge your opponent's strengths and weaknesses. In what world does attacking me head on seem like a good idea?"

 

[Sazawari]

Nothing Sazawari had imagined could prepare him for what was to come. The failed attempt of an assault, the counter attack from Saemon and the result of the blurry moment. His body acted more of instinct than of acquired skill, and he was sure he felt something go awry in his arms and right shoulder. He tumbled across the field before coughing dust and rubbing the bruises that was blooming on his body while slowly raising himself back up on his feet. *Ugh… Such strength…*
“Every action has a reaction, eh? Seemed like a good way to see if your reflexes stands equal to your eyesight.” A foolish, pointless ruse, more intended as a relief of tension and frustration and to lighten the seriousness that had overtaken the moment.

The young boy kept rubbing his shoulder and neck as he shot quick glances around to see how the others had fared. Amusingly, the only one the advanced tech hadn’t been aimed at had taken the hardest beating. Perhaps the living mound of granite had a point after all…
Sazawari took on his stance once more, wincing as he felt the battered muscle and flesh protest beneath the bruised skin.

 

[Rin Setsuko]

She felt the droplets hit her as the water shot overhead. “Mom will kill me and I will kill you” she murmured as she felt how much water had actually rained down on her. Having spent more time fixing her hair than anything else this morning was just undone by the manmade rain. Still on the move in an attempt to flank him, she noticed the boy that had rushed ahead towards Saemon tumble to the side. Her eyes widened as she slowly grinded to a halt as Saemon uttered his words. *In a fools mind* she thought to herself as she quickly change her focus from Saemon to the boy that had taken a direct hit. This was like fighting a battleship, using only small pedal boats. In almost 100% of the cases the pedal boat would be crushed by the waves created by the battleship and if that didn’t destroy it, cannons and guns surely would however. If one pedal boat got close enough, through all the obstacles it would be able to damage or maybe even destroy the battleship… given that it was loaded with enough explosives to punch through. Saemon was built like a battleship; he was huge and strong and just getting close would be a real challenge in its own right but if one of them could get close enough with enough ‘explosives’ they could maybe, if they were lucky make a scratch on him.

“Listen up, we can’t touch him if we go at it alone. We need to work as a team if we want to get close!” she spoke the truth and the two others knew it as well. The question that remained was; how were they going to do it? “You, you still able to move around?” she asked pointing at the one that had just taken a direct hit. Without waiting for his answer she moved her index finger over to the one that had attempted to blind Saemon. “Next time, want to share your ideas… before you set them into motion?” She had started to think outside the box now. Saemon couldn’t be approached through normal means; they had to get him to come to them, on their terms. She had passed the point in caring if Saemon knew their game now. He was too powerful to be beaten straight up anyway. “We can’t beat him at his game. Here he is the master, he knows the ground; most likely every nook and cranny of this place. We need to rob him of those advantages. It won’t really even out the playfield but it will give us a better chance of at least landing a hit”

 

[Motomori Mouko]

The ground exploded all around him in a shower of pelting stones and ripping flesh. Most of his wounds were only on the surface, barely anything to worry about. They would heal given a few days. It was the sheer force of the impact on the ground that had shocked him to his core, and made him realize how little he had going for him when it came to fighting a monster such as this. Blinding the man had not worked in the least. Even staying out of arms reach during his motions had not been enough. But no man was invincible, no matter how strong. He would certainly win in the long run, but there was no need to hurry that fact along anytime soon. Instead, Mouko rose from his fetal position on the ground, feeling the raw flesh that had grated along the ground come free, hitting fresh air for the first time. The stinging was not that bad, it was the aching muscles that had been the result of hitting the ground at such an odd angle that bothered him the most. He could still fight to almost tip top shape, but he had learned his lesson about trying to use mundane tactics against an enemy that had been around for awhile. He dusted himself off, taking notice for the first time since his landing of the battlefield before him. The girl was the first one within his sight, so he noticed that she was woefully unharmed for the most part, and screaming at him about something or another. Truth be told, the young warrior's ears were still ringing with the vibrant sound of shattering earth grinding against rampaging water. It was not the most pleasant of situations, but he figured if she was spouting off some type of plan he could wing the events for the most part by following the lead of the other two. That was when his eyes landed on the other boy, the one splayed across the ground and looking to be in much worse shape than Mouko. Hm... I wonder what happened there.. The shinobi squared up his shoulders, letting the muscles tighten then relax, resulting in several audible pops and cracks, before facing their sensei once again. Fighting a man like this could only be a pointless exercise, especially when they were supposed to be brothers in arms among the village.

"So what's the plan crazy lady? Just so you know, I don't do the whole fist pounding thing, it's not really my style."

 

[Hanone]

Saemon stood almost passively, his body in a slight crouch but otherwise he made no move to attack anyone. With the last assault, he found the group of students were unwilling to attack him head on right away, which was a good idea. Saemon had some weaknesses, of course, but the tactic they had been using before was not it. He was a battle tank, used to charging into battle and in close combat situations. But he was also smart, not a dumb brute who could be easily out-witted.

His eyes scanned from child to child. The one he'd sent crashing was in a fair bit of pain, but seemed to be alright. The other boy got tumbled about some and somewhat injured as well, but he was fine too. Setsuko was contemplating attacking him, but she stalled herself at his words. That was a good choice. He didn't care if it was a boy or a girl he brutalized. In fact it was a tactic of his throughout his time as a shinobi to target the female first. It wasn't that she was the weakest or the least talented, certainly not. However, she was the female... and males generally rallied to protect the females on the field and they usually fought with passion, not brains to save her. It was almost second nature to a man.

Once in his life he had thought the tactic foul and below him, but no longer. He remembered on a mission, maybe three years ago, when he was forced to infiltrate an enemy camp outside of the country. The three there had been tipped off and ready for him. He found them all difficult opponents, but at the time the woman had been the easiest target due to location and access. When his axe came down and cleaved of her hand at the wrist, the two males went crazy. Neither had responded that way when he had hit or seriously damaged one or the other. Just her. It became their issue and he was able to defeat them all..

Since then he usually targetted the girl. Sometimes it worked just to hurt her.. other times he had to threaten her different ways. In the end, it rarely failed.

He contemplated giving the tactic a try here, seeing how far along these boys were in the hormonal trail. Since none of them seemed to be moving forward, and they were talking tactics, he pulled a scroll from his side pouch and opened it up. Two handseals later, a poof of smoke appeared over the paper, along with a massive weapon. Aquick movement with his hand and the scroll was rerolled and tucked back in his pouch. He gripped the instrument with both hands then and gave it a spin.

They better think fast...

The monster of a man had given the trio at least a minute to speak and create tactics before lurching forward. He covered ground quickly with such long legs and he swung down in an arch directly at Setsuko's shoulder. The move was open and blunt with room to dodge, but only if she acted quickly. Otherwise he would cleave her from shoulder to groin... it was a killing blow, showing he was serious.


ooc

Spoiler

 

[Sazawari]

Sazawari shot the arguably bossy girl a quick glance, the usual smirk curled up around the corner of his lips. "Pft... Like I'd go home crying over a little dust-up like that..." He shrunk himself, however, ever so slightly at the effort of moving his limbs, especially his arms. Oh well, it would have to bear over. At least for now. Noticing that the man across the field appeared to make no move, Sazawari eased up on his own stance a little, just enough for the bruised shoulder to not hurt as much when he tensed it, but not so much that he wouldn't be able to react. Or so he figured. Considering the level of ability of their opponent, he hardly imagined himself being able to dodge at all should he truly wish them dead. For some reason, his mind began to wander, conjuring images and phantom smells of roasted spiced hare. Probably due to the lack of breakfast before heading to the academy.

The handseals, the poof of smoke, and the ridiculously brutal looking axe brought him back to the moment at hand, and what followed was something he had not prepared for. Sure, he had said he would make attempts on their life, but Sazawari had never contemplated the words being spoken in all seriousness. At least not with a following execution of them in such a fashion. The arch of the axe head was driving down with a deadly angle, aimed for the fair sex of the group. *Hah... Fair... That's a funny spin to it.* Having learned his lesson from the encounter a few moments ago, he knew that getting close to the man was equal to certain death. However, as a part of a team, one was somewhat responsible for the common goal. *Ugh... To think my mother convinced me this would be a good idea...* Adopting the idea of his third team mate, Sazawari let the bend in his right knee take a sharper angle, letting him grasp a handfull of sand which he tossed towards the face of the assailant, hoping to cloud his vision, if not but for a split second, buying the would-be fire log a moment extra to dodge. In the same fluid motion, Sazawari kicked off with his legs, letting the angle of his body direct him, away from the personification of death that was coming towards them, attempting to grant himself some distance from the situation.

 

[Rin Setsuko]

Setsukos eyes widened as she saw the cloud of smoke reveal a beastlike two headed axe. *He’s already a monster and now he has an axe?* she thought to herself. His sudden move towards her came as a surprise, but seeing how his axe was swinging in an arch towards her neck shocked her even more. Her mind screamed for her to move, move anywhere but where she was currently standing. It was life or death and she wanted rather to be alive than dead, especially now! With a quick inhale of air she crouched and leaned to the left, letting herself fall and roll away from the incoming axe and what would have been an immediate death. Having at least made it some feet away from where the axe would crash into the ground Setsuko got up into a low crouch, her eyes flaring as she look up at Saemon.

Oh how she wished she could have had the strength and ability to kick his ass. She tightened her yaw as she lurched forwards towards the man’s side, moving inside the range of the axe and aiming for his side. Hopefully it would work as he would have to deal with the momentum of the axe as well as his own movement and if she was lucky she might be able to get him off balance. Already in motion Setsuko came to remember that she hadn’t said anything from the time she moved and what she was currently doing was exactly what both herself and their sensei had said would not work. But the circumstances had changed or at least she thought so, as the man now had to also move around with an axe and after such a charge and move, the momentum of his own bodyweight and the weight of the axe would surely make it harder for him to simply just change his direction, but then again; he was a monster!
If everything went as she had hoped, she would connect with Saemon side, just above the hip bone and maybe, maybe be able to shift his center of gravity enough for the others to come at him and then everything would be possible, would only, because he would still be a monster!

 

[Motomori Mouko]

Mouko was barely done situating himself before the monster of a man charged forward, bringing a rather beefy impossibly large axe to bear. It was a sight that he had not seen before, and the weapon was just too big for anyone to really block in time without being cleaved in half by the process. Would this be the first person Mouko witness die in the name of the Village? He could not imagine something like that happening so easily. He wanted to move in front of the blow, and save the girl, but his legs were locked in place. Was this what fear felt like? He had never truly felt the emotion, having been sheltered most of his life in the village and around his family. This type of battle seemed to be getting out of control, but he could not let those around him suffer for his earlier actions alone. It was too late to take the peaceful route that the world had placed for him, it was time for action.

Trusting Setsuko to dodge the attack, considering she was small and wiry, she could easily dive in two of the directions on the side of the axe to avoid any real harm. She could also take the path to go forward, into the reach of their opponent, effectively dodging the blades, but putting her in the way of his legs. Going backwards would mostly likely result in either a near miss or a bare hit depending on how fast the girl actually was, but such an action would befall her should she choose it so. Mouko's worry was making sure that the man had as many targets as possible to prevent him from swinging the axe at a single spot without opening himself up to some sort of counter measure. What was the weakest spot on a man so large? His sides were just for flanking options, his reach could easily grab them there. A frontal assault was insane at this point, and his counter measures had already proven successful. Coming from above would only put Mouko back in his original position, but it would probably leave him even more banged up than before. The only option from below was either a dirty move, or trying to make some trip up. A man like this probably had a solid hold on his position, not really needing to be quick enough to move around. That only left one option to Mouko, going behind his opponent. His reach would be limited enough that maybe Mouko could get a few good attacks in without being caught so easily. If his opponent went for him, he would also have to worry about the other two Ninja attacking him from the other angles. Without any sort of ranged utility, this kind of hit and run fighting would certainly be necessary to overcome the sheer level difference, if even for a moment.

Mouko waited until the sand had left Sazawari's hand before he took his leap behind Saemon. Mouko did not come from the side, as many would in such a situation, but instead he tumbled to the side as quickly as possible, and dashed directly for the large man, only a half step behind the young, very angry, female. Mouko was not completely done growing yet, and thus his arms tended to be longer than the average boys, having grown faster than the rest of him. As he neared the old man, his right arm reared back, using the momentum from the run for his power rather than needlessly throwing his entire body into the mix, he flung his arm outwards. His aim was for the mentor's left kidney, hoping to hit something that would actually strike a nerve in the man.

Whether or not the hit landed did not matter, because Mouko was ready to dash backwards as soon as he got the chance. He would use his right leg to move, leaving his left leg to react to the movements of his opponent. If the academy teacher decided to turn on Mouko, then the boy would head the opposite direction staying behind Saemon as much as possible. If the mountain did not go for the boy, but rather one of his classmates, then Mouko would be open to running in and repeatedly preforming the tactic until either his hand gave out of the man did.