An old man stood outside on the premises of the Academy. He was to meet with a greenhorn shinobi of the Main Branch, Kanizawa Yojimbo (the old man) was a rugged Jonin with rougher methods but a suitable teacher for Enatsu. The man was expressively requested to train the boy's combat techniques, polishing what he had learned from his mother. Yojimbo scoffed at the idea of having to train a mommy's boy, but the request was coming from the boy's clan, and it was a formal request to the academy that they didn't wish to turn down. He'd already did a little reading on the boy and was surprised when he read the report of the childs Genin exam. He exhibited a particular talent for expanding his jutsu and exhibited a massive amount of chakra. He had potential but if he goofed off in his training he would never bloom into his full potential. Since the boy had a handle of the basics, he needed to learn how to actually apply them.
Enatsu approached the grounds at his designated time, 6:00 AM. There was little light out, the air was brisk and the only sign of life was a short, stocky, and hairy man who was standing about 30 steps from the Academy leaned against a tree. Enatsu figured this was his instructor, Yojimbo, so he would approach the man and give him a slight bow. "Good morning, Yojimbo-sensei I am Chigokai Enatsu I ca-", a hard slap came across the top of his head. He grasped the back of his skull, and instantly shot a glare at the grizzled Jonin.
"You weren't ready, next time dodge or block it if you can... and don't glare at me like that it's your own fault you got hit." Without much of a word he'd continue forward with Enatsu sucking up the slap, and his small anger. At the end of the day Yojimbo was right, the boy was a soldier now and if he planned on becoming useful to this village he'd have to sharpen his skills.
"Still didn't have to hit me jerk.", he'd say triumphantly in his head.
Yojimbo made Enatsu follow him, and the entire first five minutes there wasn't any speaking. Through the total silence Enatsu would look around periodically trying to get a grasp of what they would be working on and where. They came up to a clearing where Yojimbo would begin making gestures for the first time. His shoulders relaxed, as if he was at the ready and he started to point out at the clearing.
"Get moving kid, we start our journey over there." His tone was monotonous, like he was bored of this before it even began. Enatsu puzzled by his way of speaking started complying with the tutor and walked out to the clearing. As he walked there was this strange sense of uneasiness, almost as if there was something that he was missing. Suddenly a chill ran down his spine, and on instinct he jumped forward tumbling away from his current location. In that split second decision, a large crack in the ground could be heard. The veteran shinobi behind him had crunched his foot into the ground, and a rock spire erupted from underneath Enatsu.
"You're a quick study huh. Good reaction, maybe your[Combat Instinct] is better than I gave you credit for." Enatsu panted as his heart was racing, the sudden attack causing his adrenaline to shoot up. Before he had a chance to really catch his breath or make a rebuttal, Yojimbo disappeared from view.
He used a Shadow Step, a high speed dash to close the distance on a target. Enatsu had no time to react as a swift axe kick came from above connecting on his left shoulder. His left arm crumpled under the pressure, he rolled his shoulder with the kick following the torque from the blow and at the same time rotating to shift the kick off him. It was too late to do anything about the attack but he could at least mitigate the damage. Another kick came from the side and this one was a bit slower, Enatsu raised his arm to catch it but then was met with a punch square in the face sending him flying backwards, however he swung his head back in the nick of time avoiding most of the damage. He could tell that just using
[Deflection] on the blows wouldn't actually keep him safe. No if he wasn't careful this man could break him, and if his mother hired him he probably would without hesitation. With each attack he would adjust his body to the trajectory of the attack, following its path and glancing off at the last moment. Following the blow was akin to a rock flowing in a stream.
Each of these man's attacks were potent, and meant to cover the place that Enatsu could move. He starting kicking up the intensity and the young shinobi could feel the pressure. He needed to make space in order to actually get breathing room from the grizzled veteran. Yojimbo disappeared from view. He made no comment, there was no snide remarks. It felt like this man was everywhere and nowhere at once, his blood-lust permeating the area. Enatsu knew that the next strike was going to be viscous and he was starting to get a hang of feeling out some attacks but he couldn't keep taking the damage forever and hoping to redirect every blow. He would need to focus on the aura Yojimbo was emitting here. He would make this man his one and only target, any attack to and from him would be met with Enatsu's unshaken resolve. He would press forward no matter what was thrown at him, it was the spirit of a true
[Duelist] awakening, figuratively of course. He would lie in wait, an aura of water surrounding him while he charged his chakra and prepared a counter-attack to the impending impact from his instructor.
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