What Makes a Shinobi a Shinobi, Anyway? [Class]

[Zentaru Tatsuya]

As a means to further immerse himself in village life as a Shinobi, Sendatsu had suggested that Shikyu head a class of his own. Perhaps interacting with academy students and their thoughts and actions as young Shinobi would trigger Shikyu's memories of his past. Often it was something of familiarity that revitalizes the neurons, pushing memories previously hidden to the forefront. However, both Sendatsu and Shikyu know that Shikyu's case, like the other patients that Sendatsu treated of the same disease, was very unique compared to normal cases of amnesia. Thus, Shikyu was not surprised if it did not work out. He would not be disappointed either, as to him, that was only a secondary goal. He enjoyed dealing with others, especially the next generation of Shinobi. He felt that there was as much to learn from them, as they had to learn from him... albeit in a different fashion.

Well anyways.

Shikyu was dressed in his normal attire. A Chuunin vest, a decorative armlet and necklace, and finally, a Kumo Forehead Protector worn proudly on his head. Those who approach him would also immediately notice that he has a small scar on his right cheek, a remnant of surgeries performed on him by Sendatsu.

Shikyu had chosen a pretty open space of the obstacle course, one that afforded him the privacy that would allow him to teach his students without being disturbed by others trying to work out. The area consists of a dirt ground for the most part, with a line of trees to one side, and patches of bushes here and there. There were a few wooden totems shoved into the ground, collected within a small area.

Next to Shikyu stands a whiteboard, where Shikyu had written down his name in large letters. Monzaemon Marushijūkyū. Waiting for his students to arrive, Shikyu just chilled as he leaned on his massive sword, pondering exactly what he will get the students do.

OOC:
[EDIT: Whoops, forgot to include pertinent info.]

Post: 1/5
Word Count: 323
Total Word Count: 323/1,500

 

[Takahashi Kiyoshi]

Takahashi Kiyoshi was nervous. He had been at the Academy for well over a month now, had been attending and excelling at all of the standardized classes, and had even begun some advanced marksmanship training after school with the Academy’s armorer. However, he had never been in one of the specialized, small-group or one-on-one classes like the one he was attending today. Whispers from the other students had informed him that one never could know what exactly to expect from classes like this. It could be open combat, an obstacle course, a test of the skills he was supposed to be learning, or even a simple lecture. Anything was on the table.

So, as he was unsure what exactly he should be prepared for, he stopped by the armory to gear up beforehand. He had been focusing his skillset on ranged combat, but his selection of weaponry was quite different from most students (or even most full-fledged shinobi, for that matter). Firearms were sometimes used by shinobi to accomplish a mission, but most looked down their noses at them. Why use a gun when you can shoot a fireball out of your mouth? For Kiyoshi, it made the most sense. There were projectile jutsu that most shinobi used on arrows or crossbow bolts, but he had been training to use the same ones on bullets. He could do the same job as a bow, but use less physical effort and gain range superiority when executing long-range target elimination (although, in one-on one combat with another shinobi, it would be about on par with a crossbow).

Spoiler

The bolt-action carbine slung over Kiyoshi’s right shoulder had been designed for sentry elimination by the special forces soldiers who used it. The stealth properties of the carbine had drawn Kiyoshi to it immediately. The report of a firearm is loud, and gives away the position of it’s firer; but this one had a silencer integrated into the weapon itself, resulting in the monolithic shroud that made the barrel look much thicker than it actually was. The other consideration when utilizing a firearm for stealth is the supersonic boom most bullets give off, as they usually travel faster than the speed of sound. This carbine, however, fired a .45 caliber round that traveled just under the sound barrier; resulting in one of the quietest firearms in the world. The sounds of the firing pin striking the primer and the bullet striking the target were much louder than the weapons’ report. These combined factors settled Kiyoshi’s mind on this weapon that valued stealth and accuracy over firepower and volume thereof.

He was dressed for the part of sniper, wearing black combat boots, dark grey cargo pants, and a black hoodie. Around his waist was a belt full of holsters for the plethora of 7-round magazines he would need to feed his chosen weapon. The gravel crunched underfoot as he made his way to the obstacle courses for class.

*******​

The gravel walkway soon gave way to a dirt path as Kiyoshi approached the secluded area that had been chosen for today’s class. Rounding a corner, the path opened up into a clearing consisting of mostly dirt and a few small bushes, as well as some totems in the back. What caught Kiyoshi’s attention, though, was the person who must have been their instructor. He looked normal enough; standard chuunin vest, forehead protector, a few pieces of jewelry and a scar or two. What stood out the most was the giant glowing sword he was leaning on. Kiyoshi didn’t know if he was looking to protect himself, or do some damage, but that blade would probably be able to do either job most effectively.

“G’mornin’,” He said as he approached, raising his right hand in greeting. “Takahashi Kiyoshi reporting for class, Mr. –” He took a moment to read the whiteboard. Shit, he was never going to be able to pronounce that. “What do you prefer to be called, sir?”

[MFT: 665]

 

[Kujo Kazuya]

It was the time of morning Yuuna woke up by the bird's voice, as she doesn't need an alarm clock. Today, there's going to be a class, which Yuuna was thinking of attending because of her promotion exam was coming soon, as she knew that she has already surpassed the levels of those of Academy students and she might be the strongest out of all of them, but there is still a requirement for promotion into a genin or AiT or MiT. Well, Yuuna has already made plans for her future. As Yuuna reaches near the academy, she thought about what her new class will be about if it would be a combat class, then Yuuna might be at a disadvantage cause she never chosen a weapon for her, but she does know many Jutsu and combat arts.

Yuuna reached the academy, as she was heading towards the classroom she read a notice saying that classes will take place in training ground with the topic of combat arts. Yuuna thought that she had bad luck today because she might get late for her class. well, she started running towards the training ground while lagging between some distance using her abilities to do short teleportations, as she reached the class she saw a shinobi of at least chunnin rank and another academy student who she never saw. As she reaches there and starts breathing heavily saying, "I'm sorry sensei, forgot today's schedule for the class." Luckily Yuuna was in her combat dress so she might be able to perform a little bit well in combat class. As she was waited for other students to get to class or class getting started.

[1/5 Post]
[280/1500 WC]

 

[Zentaru Tatsuya]

OOC: Well, it's been five days since I made the topic anyways. I was gonna wait, but eh. XD So I'll get this topic started, any other Academy Student who wants to join, they can feel free to - but if you are joining after this point, you will need to catch up on posts/word count.

IC:
Ah, his two students have arrived! Sendatsu did mention that it was best that Shikyu began with a smaller class, although he did also mention that if he felt like it, he might send a few more students Shikyu's way. The more the merrier, I suppose... That was true, but then again, the smaller the group, the more attention he can pay to his students. Either way, it was time to start the lesson.

"Good morning, Yuuna." Shikyu greeted, nodding in her direction as she arrived. He then turned towards Kiyoshi and offered the same nod. "Good morning to you too, Kiyoshi."

Yes, Shikyu had put in effort to memorize his students' names prior to the lesson. Given that there were only two students, it was not exactly a huge problem. Shikyu turned back to Yuuna and offered her a smile. "Don't worry about being late, we have not quite gotten started yet. Though for future reference, you might want to make sure you arrive on time. I believe some of the other teachers are a lot stricter than I am."

With that, Shikyu shifted his location, moving slightly to the side to ensure he could face both of his students at once. "Alright, so my name is Monzaemon Marushijūkyū - as per the board. However, please just call me Shikyu. Or Shikyu-san if you prefer. I am fine with either." Shikyu began, making sure to shift his focus back and forth between his two students as he introduced himself. He wondered how many would find his name odd. After all, "Shikyu" was literally "Four-Nine", which was more of a designation than a proper name. "I am a Chuunin of Kumogakure, and this is the first class I have ever taught. I've been given free rein over what I actually want to teach, so... rather than a typical class that you guys might have previously attended, my idea is..."

As Shikyu trailed off, he moved closer towards the whiteboard. It was one of those portable ones that one could flip 180 degrees vertically to reveal the other side. That was exactly what he did, and revealed on the other side a single word - "ADAPTABILITY". "You are taught a lot of things in the academy. Heaps of Jutsu. Tactical knowledge. The rules and guidelines of a Shinobi. And so on. But what I want to do today is... have a bit of fun, in a sense. Let's put some of what we have been taught to practice, and see if when push comes to shove, it is as expected, eh?"

Shikyu abandoned the whiteboard, moving closer towards his two students.

"So, what we are gonna do is... start by testing your reflex. In ten seconds, dodge my attack. Yes, that is right, get ready." Shikyu did a series of handseals, as he moved even closer to his students. "Five. Four. Three. Two. One."

With that, he fired a Storm Bolt at each of his two students.

OOC:
No need for a BMod or anything serious, this is strictly RP. Feel free to have your character dodge or get hit by the Storm Bolt and RP out the effects. You guys can presume where your characters are standing in relation to the map I posted. For reference, Shikyu most likely have moved halfway closer to the bush in the middle of the map by now.

Posts: 2/5
Word Count: 495
Total Word Count" 818/1,500

 

[Takahashi Kiyoshi]

Another student arrived just after class was supposed to start. Clad in a tight-fitting black dress that appeared to be designed for combat, she ran up to the clearing and panted her apologies for her tardiness. Their instructor gently chided her before introducing himself as Shikyu. ‘Oh, thank God! That’ll be much easier to remember.’ Kiyoshi thought as their instructor continued his introduction. The knowledge that it was his first class made Kiyoshi even more apprehensive. That and the announcement that this wasn’t going to be a typical class had him on edge, as was evidenced by Kiyoshi cracking his knuckles and flexing his fingers in case he had to use any jutsu.

Then he flipped the board around. “Adaptability”. What the hell did that mean? Shikyu wasted no time in explaining, and began counting down to his attack. Flying through handseals, Kiyoshi summoned up a Mud Clone, which stood right next to him. When Shikyu finally got to “one” and cast the Storm Bolt at them, Kiyoshi reflexively used Sinkhole Fist to create a Sinkhole Wall in front of him. The wall of earth worked as expected, blocking Shikyu’s lightning jutsu. The Storm Bolt struck the earthen barrier with a thunderous crack, rending a deep, smoking divot in the wall.

Now was the time to put his actual plan in action. Kiyoshi hoped that the wall would obstruct Shikyu’s view of him enough to pull the old switcheroo with his Mud Clone. Both Kiyoshi and his clone leapt out from behind either side of the wall as it crumbled, each one shouldering their carbines and sighting in on Shikyu. Kiyoshi (and also his clone) was panting hard too, now, but his weapon did not waiver from center-mass. He had only recently began working on elemental ninjutsu, and he honestly wasn’t that big of a fan. He preferred to pick off enemies with his rifle from a safe distance. But this was an adaptability class, after all. Wasn’t the point to be able to use the skills he’d learned to adapt to the situation at hand?

Post: 2 of 5
Word Count: 347
Total Word Count: 1,012 of 1,500

 

[Kujo Kazuya]

As the instructor politely introduced himself to those two students, Yuuna thought that this time she might get a decent instructor. Then he got to the whiteboard and showed the word 'ADAPTABILITY' and then he gave a small explanation on the word and then said that he will test our reflexes in today's class. Then a countdown started to begin, and Shikyu started doing hand seals, as the other student made a mud clone. Yuuna was still waiting for the hand seals of her teacher to be completed. As soon as Shikyu shoots his Jutsu towards his two students, Yuuna starts making a hand seal, as the seal completes it cancels the Jutsu of her teacher. It was one of her unique special ability of a VOID WALKER. named "SPELL CANCEL".

As soon as she cancels the Jutsu, then she once again starts making a hand seal and this time she uses "VOID MIRAGE" to erase her presence and then she starts moving freely around the ground because now no one can see her, she goes behind the other student and whispers to him, "Try using a Jutsu with can trap sensei in one place." Then Yuuna once again starts moving and goes behind Shikyu and does a series of hand seals and uses Electrocution on him.

Yuuna wanted to use shadow jutsu's on Shikyu but before that she wanted to check the abilities her teacher has, even if she might even use her shadow element on him or not will be decided if he can save himself. As she waited for the other student to use his jutsu on Shikyu.

[2/5 Post]
[274 WC]
[554/1500 WC]

 

[Zentaru Tatsuya]

Haha, it seems like Shikyu might end up being the one who needs to learn about adaptability in this class. He was already disadvantaged, when he really should not be. After all, he had Jutsu in his disposal to have prevented his students confuzzling him. It was pretty impressive though, to see that each of the students had their own methods. One decided to go with numbers, creating a clone to reduce the probability of being hit. The other student literally disappeared before his very eyes.

Alright, well one at a time. There were two now of Kiyoshi, both of whom wielded some sort of strange weaponry that Shikyu had never seen before. A mechanist? Reliant on their craft, and if their craft is taken away - that's it. However, it was a whole significant issue trying to take away their weapon. Judging from how it is wielded and the lack of movement, the weapons seemed to be long range. Hm… What if neither of these two Kiyoshis that he was seeing was the real Kiyoshi? Could Academy Students produce multiple clones? Shikyu wouldn’t be able to know.

And, that was when Shikyu felt a massive amount of electricity surge through him from behind. Argh.

Turning around, Shikyu saw... no one. Crap.

Shikyu grabbed a smoke bomb out of his pouch and threw it at the ground, covering him and the entire area surrounding him with smoke. That, should at least help somewhat with avoiding being targeted.

Shikyu did a series of handseals, activating Active Camo to completely diminish all sounds he would make, ensuring that he would at least not be heard. Now what?

Let’s just play by ear, for now.

Shikyu did another series of handseals, but as he did so, his hands suddenly spazzed and prevented him from even completing his movements. Dang it! Just because he had an affinity for Lightning did not seem like he had any sort of resistance or immunity to it. Shikyu redid the handseals, and this time managed to fire off his twinned Storm bolt successfully, aiming one each at the position Kiyoshi and his clone was last seen at.

As for Yuuna… well, he'll have to figure out something else. Assuming Yuuna has gone invisible and know what she is doing, she would probably know not to haphazardly jump into the smoke. Just because she went invisible (assuming she indeed did so, rather than disappearing through a different method) does not mean that she is immune to not interacting with the environment… and surely any large body moving through the smoke would cause enough displacement that Shikyu might be able to tell… hopefully.

Shikyu had also silently, grabbed his sword and secretly moved a few feet to his left, standing approximately where his white board is. If anyone was to target his original position… well, they would not hit anything.

Let’s see what the students would do now… if they fired something long range at his old position, it would most likely just went straight through the smoke and the other side. If they decided to clear the smoke somehow… well, Shikyu will deal with that when that happens.

OOC:

Posts: 3/5
Word Count: 529
Total Word Count: 1,347/1,500

 

[Takahashi Kiyoshi]

Kiyoshi was impressed. With only a few hand seals, his classmate had somehow made their instructor’s jutsu disappear as if it had never happened. Then, as if by magic, she completely vanished. ‘Jutsu, not magic.’ Kiyoshi forcefully reminded himself. It had taken the small-town farm boy more than a couple of weeks to get over the supernatural nature of the abilities he and his classmates were being taught.

“Try using a Jutsu which can trap sensei in one place.” Yuuna’s voice whispered softly into the ear of Kiyoshi’s clone, the sound transferring to him via the chakra linking the mass of mud to him. Before he could respond (and to where, I might add?) Shikyu was hit by an electric shock of some kind.

“What the – we were only instructed to dodge, not counter attack!” Kiyoshi shouted as Shikyu disappeared in a cloud of smoke. It was as if he’d vanished without a trace. Kiyoshi couldn’t even hear his footsteps on the gravel below. Then, two more bolts of lightning shot out of the cloud at him and his clone. Kiyoshi reflexively Body Switched, the bolts of lightning striking the wood of his Kawarimi Target instead of him. His clone, on the other hand, was not so lucky; taking the jutsu square in the chest, the mass of mud de-solidified and slumped to the ground in a messy lump.

Kiyoshi landed a few feet farther away from the cloud of smoke that now ensconced the whiteboard and their instructor. Now he was in a predicament. On one hand, Kiyoshi was not instructed to fight back, only dodge. On the other, it went against his every instinct to be attacked and not fight back. The surge of adrenaline in his veins overrode his common sense, and he shouldered his carbine. The smoke would take a few seconds to clear, and firing blindly into the smoke was not a safe or useful choice. However…

‘Dollars to doughnuts, he’s no longer where he used to be.’ Kiyoshi thought, his Insightfulness leading him to believe that, if anything, the man had probably moved towards the cover and concealment of his whiteboard. ‘He’s probably drawing that big sword of his, too.’ The problem was, Kiyoshi couldn’t be sure; and he didn’t want to risk winging rounds into the smoke and possibly hitting Yuuna. Kiyoshi’s skills as a Hawkeyed sniper meant his Keen Sight (x3) should have enabled him to see at least some movement through the smoke, and he thought he did. If only he could outwait it!

That was it! Yuuna might have Space under her control, but Kiyoshi could manipulate the timing of his attacks. Shouldering his carbine, Kiyoshi flicked the selector switch from “Safe” to “Fire”, lined up his sights to where Shikyu probably was standing, and squeezed the trigger. Click-thunk. The sound of the firing pin striking the primer was louder than the report of the bullet as the integrally suppressed carbine sent it’s .45 caliber payload downrange. Without skipping a beat, Kiyoshi racked the bolt, and fired a second time in the same direction. Click.

What could not be seen, except by those who could visibly perceive chakra, was that Kiyoshi had infused the two rounds with his own chakra; a play on the projectile jutsu of old, where shinobi would sometimes charge their bowstrings or their arrows with power. He usually wasn’t a fan of trick shots, but the way these were designed might circumvent the timing issues of the clearing smoke.

The trick was that, while most shinobi used smoke to force people to miss, Kiyoshi’s shot’s were designed to miss from the beginning. The first Unforseen Strike was not aimed at Shikyu at all, but at the dirt near where he probably was. The second Disillusioning Shot was designed to appear to miss, but was actually delayed until the first shot activated it’s effect. The intent was to have both shots initially “miss”; then, once the smoke cleared, activate their hidden properties. The first round, upon contact with the ground, would explode backwards, releasing a handful of shrapnel at it’s target. That would trigger the second round to strike as if from nowhere. Thunk.

It wasn’t guaranteed to work, but Kiyoshi hoped his quick thinking would pay off. If it did, Shikyu would be in a world of pain. Both shots were far more accurate than normal. That, combined with Kiyoshi’s Keen Sight (x3), made them almost a sure hit if he could outlast the smoke. Not to mention that, once they struck, the hollow points his carbine was firing caused an exorbitant amount of bleeding, and Kiyoshi was usually pretty good at getting his targets to bleed profusely (Weapon Attunement, Bloody Mess). Not to mention the fact that his shots just seemed to straight up hit harder than most (Weapon Attunement, Composit x1).

Now the only question was, how would Yuuna deal with the smoke?

Post: 3 of 5
Word Count: 825
Total Word Count: 1,837 of 1,500
[MFT]

 

[Kujo Kazuya]

As Yuuna gave a shock to her teacher Shikyu, she started going on the treetop as fast as she can, as she looks down Shikyu was using a smoke bomb to cover himself in the fog, then he removes his presence from the place and then he shots a jutsu on the other student. As Yuuna was still thinking about how she can bring him down without removing the smoke from that place, she was quite stressed when she was thinking of a way, then finally she decides to remove the smoke from that place with wind Jutsu, as she was waiting for the other half of her plan to getting complete with was to trap sensei in one place using the other student, know that his specialty was earth Jutsu.

As the other student starts using a different kind of combo's so that he can dodge Shikyu's attacks, to do a counter-attack, though he was quite confused from the battle going on cause Shikyu said to dodge and Yuuna started a counter-attack instead, but still he started following Yuuna slowly in the battle, but he was still far away from trapping sensei in one place. As Kiyoshi was reloading his weapon, Yuuna whispered to herself slowly, "Well well, that's quite a weapon he has with himself." Yuuna was thinking if she could use that weapon in her favor but that shots are infused with chakra so then might not be easily seen, as Yuuna thought what if they were infused with space and time instead of chakra. What kind of deadly weapon it might become as Yuuna was thinking about that Kiyoshi launched his attack sequence on Shikyu. Well the attack sequence Kiyoshi launched were all miss but they somehow damaged the target a little bit and removed some smoke from one side, then Yuuna whispers, the voice spread in the whole arena, "Now is my turn!" said Yuuna.

Yuuna jumped from the tree as she was in the air she does a sequence of hand signs and uses Whirlwind Spin to remove the smoke from that place and then when she lands on the on-ground, the smoke was gone, Shikyu can be seen, and now Yuuna starts doing a sequence of hand seals and uses Black Eruption on Shikyu, as it might damage him, and then Yuuna was thinking of doing a combo attack as Kyoshi did, this time Yuuna goes near Shikyu and whispers to him, "Shikyu Sensei, if you want me to show myself, then you somehow gotta pull me out of my space which is filled with nothingness." Then Yuuna jumps back and the starts using a sequence of hand seals one after another and then uses Lightning Torrent and then afterward she uses Zeus Flash. As Yuuna was done with her turn she once again shows herself insight and then does a hand seal once again and uses Dark Displacement and hides herself in the shadows so that she doesn't get hit by any of Shikyu's attacks.

[OCC: Sorry about this late post, I got stuck with my college and Stuff.]
[3/5 Post]
[518 WC]
[1072/1500 TWC]

 

[Zentaru Tatsuya]

OOC: No worries. It happens.

IC:
Everything. Was quiet. Shikyu focused on any sound coming in from the direction of Kiyoshi, while he looked around to see if Yuuna might have crashed into the smokescreen he was in. Then, breaking the absolute silence, he could just hear what seemed to be some sort of mechanism going off - not too clear, but enough for him to associate with two thuds against the ground near him. Did Kiyoshi just miss me with an attack of some sort? Or was it Yuuna's? Probably Kiyoshi...

Then, all of sudden, it appeared. A whirlwind rushed into the smoke, blowing his cover away. The wind dissipated as a loud thud came from where the whirlwind disappeared, and from around him shadows emerged from the ground, attempting to ruthlessly impale him. Not this time! Shikyu swung his massive sword around in the direction of the shadows, blocking most from coming even close to hitting him - although due to their sheer numbers, one still managed to impale him right in his left arm. Shikyu was able to dislodge himself relatively quickly, but not before the shadow had caused a large enough wound that it was now bleeding.

That, was followed by some goading from Yuuna which... caused Shikyu to smile. "Yuuna, never reveal yourself in battle, no matter how confident you are!" Shikyu shouted, as two lightning attacks came from slightly different directions - showing Shikyu what path Yuuna was taking back into the shadows, and allowing him to quite easily dodge the two attacks. As he did so, Shikyu had made a series of handseals, performing Coagulation on himself to close the wounds he received from the impaling shadow earlier. As he prepared to send an attack Yuuna's way, out of the corner of his eyes he saw whatever had hit the ground earlier (definitely by Kiyoshi, now that he looked at it) exploded, sending three pieces of shrapnel flying towards Shikyu - along with one very angry bullet.

Damn it! With almost no time to respond, Shikyu held up his sword and felt a massive clanging sound against his sword when the bullet hit. However, he was only able to catch one of three shrapnel, allowing the other two to hit him easily. He was in a lot of pain now, and not too happy about the situation he had gotten himself into. Strangely, although he had never had to feel such pain until now, he seemed... accustomed to it, for some reason. It was not that he felt no pain, just... it was not all that bad of an experience.

But still, time for a change of plans. Turning towards the direction of Kiyoshi, he noticed that there was only one of the student, and a distance away was a Kawarimi target. That means... he had shot his two bolts of lightning at the right direction, likely destroying one clone and forcing the real Kiyoshi to swap positions with the target. That also suggests that the current Kiyoshi on the field might also be the real one. So...

Another series of handseals, this time catching Kiyoshi in his Chakra Sense Jutsu. Then immediately, Shikyu did a series of handseals and launched a Storm Bolt at Kiyoshi, watching if the boy would dodge or try to defend it. If he did... that was all the more proof that that Kiyoshi was the real one.

Right after, he would turn towards the section of forest Yuuna had headed in, and one by one, sent off a series of five Storm Bolts at Yuuna consecutively, at slightly different targets where she was - in the hopes of smoking her out of her hiding spot. Had Shikyu gone off the deep end? Hopefully not.

OOC:
Post: 4/5
Word count: 616
Total Word Count: 1,963/1,500

 

[Takahashi Kiyoshi]

Yuuna’s wind jutsu cleared the smoke while her taunts and lightning, and shadow jutsu filled the air. She seemed overly confident, and Shikyu let her know with some chiding of his own even as he stopped the bleeding from her successful strike. Then, Kiyoshi’s plan went into action as the first round hit the ground and detonated, sending shrapnel flying backwards at his instructor. Simultaneously, the second round rematerialized, as if out of nowhere, and careened towards it’s target. The loud ringing of copper on steel at 900 feet per second was like off-key music as Shikyu blocked the second round and one of the pieces of shrapnel, but the other two found their mark.

Kiyoshi’s victory was short-lived, though. The jig was up. This time, he had no clones to confuse the enemy, and he was still on uneven footing from the Body Switch he’d performed earlier. As Shikyu’s Storm bolt flew at Kiyoshi, he took a step back and kneeled, reflexively calling up another Sinkhole Wall to block the strike. Much as had happened before, the lightning crashed into it and left a smoking divot.

Then the wall crumbled, revealing the still kneeling form of Kiyoshi. Although he didn’t know it, Shikyu’s Chakra Sense would enable him to see it was the real him. This time there would be no tricks, no gimmicks; just a withering amount of suppressing fire. Working the bolt with his index finger and thumb, and squeezing the trigger with his middle finger, he let off four fast, consecutive shots, emptying his magazine (Quick Shot x2). The rapid-fire jutsu wasn’t known for increasing a shinobi’s accuracy, but Kiyoshi was accurate enough to make up for it.

‘Come on, Yuuna! Take him down!’ He thought as he depressed the latch on the inside of the trigger well, allowing the magazine to drop free while he fished out a fresh one and locked it into place. He didn’t have any jutsu that could trap Shikyu in one place, like she’d suggested. The best he could do was lay down suppressing fire to keep him busy, and expose himself to Shikyu’s next attack. He was wide open, and his chakra was running low. There would be no dodging the next one.

Post: 4 of 5
Word Count: 387
Total Word Count: 2,224 of 1,500
[OOC: Sorry about the short post, some work stuff came up]

 

[Zentaru Tatsuya]

OOC: Apologies to Yuuna, unfortunately we do need to move on.

IC:
The barrage from Kiyoshi came at an alarming speed, much faster than something Shikyu would anticipate from an academy student. However, with Yuuna having to seem to have gone silent and disappeared in the forest, hiding herself, Shikyu could focus solely on defending against Kiyoshi's attack.

Shikyu himself was learning how to adapt, realizing that his blade was a surprisingly good shield, he swung it around and planted it into the ground, hiding behind it so that it would take the brunt of Kiyoshi's barrage. One after the other, the bullets shot at him either missed, or were received by his blade. He kind of felt sorry for his weapon, wondering just how it was looking right about now. The blade was the first thing he had received, his true first possession, and so he was sure he would feel bad if it would break. Perhaps he would try to keep the weapon for as long as possible, then.

The barrage soon ended, and then... silence. Kiyoshi was done for now, and Yuuna was nowhere to be seen. Well then...

"Alright, we are done!" Shikyu exclaimed, making sure it was loud enough that both Yuuna and Kiyoshi could hear him. Removing his hand from his blade, which was still standing upright from being stuck in the ground, Shikyu began to tend to his wounds, removing shrapnel where necessary, and healing himself up. The attacks have torn up his Chuunin vest quite badly, which meant he would need to get a replacement soon. But that was fine. He was just glad the lesson went well. "Kiyoshi. Yuuna. The lesson is now ended. Congratulations to the both you, you had taken it no well. As you noticed, no instructions were given. That, is part of the class - how you respond to an unknown situation, when you have to make your own call as to how to proceed, and then adapt to the situation when dealing with unknowns - both in terms of opponents and allies. You two were both quick to adapt to each other. So well done."

Shikyu dismissed the class, and once he had secured his sword back onto his back, bid Kiyoshi adieu. "Tell Yuuna when she re-appears what I said, if she had not heard it. Or if she does not reappear... that's probably okay too, just head off on your own. I assume you have plenty of things you need to pack up, and/or might want to stay back to examine the battlefield a bit more or something. Either way, see you around."

With that, Shikyu left.

OOC:
[MFT, WC: 436]
[Thread left with Shikyu, unless stopped]
Post: 5/5
Word count: 436
Total Word Count: 2,399/1,500

Yuuna, if you want to continue this lesson, make a thread in the academy RPing that Yuuna is trying to find Shikyu. I feel like it would be a waste if you've done three posts here, and then it ends.

Otherwise, class is over.

 

[Takahashi Kiyoshi]

‘Damnit, where is she?!’ Kiyoshi thought as Shikyu blocked the hail of bullets with the flat of his blade. The PING-PANG-PONG-PUNG of the solid copper hollow points striking the surface was like hitting a gong with a blacksmith’s hammer; but whatever the blade was made with was far harder than the bullets. The only damage to the surface was four round pockmarks of copper debris that could probably be buffed out with a rag.

“Alright, we are done!” The instructor called out. Kiyoshi paused for a moment, his mind and body still engaged in “fight” mode. It took him a second to disengage mentally but, once he did, he let out a huge sigh of relief. He put hi weapon on safe and slung it over his shoulder as he stood and approached Shikyu.

“Kiyoshi. Yuuna. The lesson is now ended. Congratulations to the both you, you had taken it no well.” He said, picking out the shrapnel and healing himself with Jutsu. Kiyoshi felt bad about hitting him, but Shikyu seemed to barely register the blows. “As you noticed, no instructions were given. That, is part of the class - how you respond to an unknown situation, when you have to make your own call as to how to proceed, and then adapt to the situation when dealing with unknowns - both in terms of opponents and allies. You two were both quick to adapt to each other. So well done.”

Yuuna still hadn’t shown back up. Kiyoshi didn’t know whether whatever jutsu she was using to hide herself had somehow gone wrong, if she didn’t trust the instructor and was still hiding, or if she had simply fled the area. He didn’t know if he was more annoyed or worried for her but, either way, she’d left him hanging in a fight. Kiyoshi didn’t appreciate that one bit.

“Tell Yuuna when she re-appears what I said, if she had not heard it. Or if she does not reappear... that's probably okay too, just head off on your own.” Shikyu said as he strapped his sword across his back. “I assume you have plenty of things you need to pack up, and/or might want to stay back to examine the battlefield a bit more or something. Either way, see you around.”

Then he was gone. For a moment, Kiyoshi stood alone on the battlefield, his heartrate finally lowering itself back to normal as the adrenaline worked its way out of his veins. He waited a couple of minutes before leaving, gathering up the expended brass casings from the shots he’d fired. He could reload them later; and besides, it was rude to leave a mess. With still no sign of Yuuna returning, Kiyoshi shrugged and headed back home. He had to clean the carbine before turning it in, and that could take hours.

[Topic Left]
[MFT]
Post: 5 of 5
Word Count: 482
Total Word Count: 2,706 of 1,500