It had been but a week or two since his Granduncle's place was burned to the ground and ransacked by masked men. The ANBU were on the case, but as far as anyone knew no leads were popping up anywhere. The old man was staying in a spare room within Tensai's home, but there wasn't much interaction between the ornery old man and anyone else...Save for Tensai, and the occasional conversation with the boy's mother. He was nice enough to Tensai's siblings, but it was clear the main focus was on preparing the boy for a perilous future. Day and night they would either be working the boy's mind or training his combat skills atop the roof.
The sun had set hours ago, but the sound of metal clashing together assaulted the ears while sparks flashed about in response for brief moments at a time. The illuminating bursts would light up the rooftop and reveal the two figures for a fraction of a second before all that could be seen were shadows flitting about. The thick clouds that blanketed the the vicinity in darkness rolled away slowly, finally allowing the full moon's bright light to shine down on the events taking place below. Tensai was on the defensive as the old man hobbled to and fro quickly with the help of his walking staff, which doubled as a weapon aimed at the young descendant.
Tensai himself was dressed entirely different from usual, having been told that for these training sessions he should leave formalities and tradition behind. It made little sense for the boy to risk shredding his cultural garbs during these brutal sessions, which also required him to protect his face. Bandages abound his forehead and lower-half of his face were more than enough, considering the old man didn't want to give the boy too much of an unrealistic aid. Helmets or things of that nature were useless considering that in real world situations he wouldn't have access to those immediately. Tensai's body was covered in more raggedy looking robes with a few small rips here and there, but overall he seemed perhaps even more like a Shinobi now than ever.
With every swing of his elder's staff, Tensai would respond be quickly moving away while whipping his blade-tipped wires in a manner that would knock the speedy staff off its intended path. "Good..." The old man said almost effortlessly, while Tensai himself had become visibly sweaty. "You're doing well, but now you need to do less countering. Focus on being entirely defensive, that way you can give it your full attention...So you can see clearly your situation and how to avoid your opponent's strikes." As his Granduncle began his miniature lecture Tensai reacted by instinctively sliding back into a defensive crouch while breathing heavily but listening intently.
"This will allow you to observe your opponent. You can get a feel for their habits, style, and witness every mistake they make in order to capitalize on those flaws. The more energy someone wastes trying their hardest to inflict harm on you, while you're taking your time and thinking with a clear mind, eventually wears down on that individual. People only have a certain amount of stamina and energy, while you won't be able to know just how much instantly, the fact remains that the aggressor will usually burn themselves out rather quickly. This is especially true if they see you as no threat, and they'll try to put their all into putting you down for the count. You can flip this on them once you've set things up in your favor and then unleash your own burst of violence and aggression in a tactical manner while they've weakened themselves with hubris and arrogance."
Tensai would carefully stand, and flick both his wrists toward's their corresponding sides and cause the wires to wrap firmly around his forearms. "I think I'm understanding what you mean." He'd begin. "A good defense is ultimately the best offense in a manner of speaking. If someone can't take you out, eventually they'll screw up and that's when we crush them. However; purely defending isn't how it's going to work, and you made that clear...While dodging and playing the defensive side, I should always be doing everything I can to tip things in my favor. Strategic use of everything at my disposal to make sure that even my environment plays to my advantage." The old man would laugh a bit after Tensai's rehashing of the information. "Exactly! Now then-"
The old man was cut off as he prepared to move forward and continue the battle. The oddly loose tiles beneath his feet shifted and broke apart into gravel and stole the old man's firm footing away. Capitalizing, Tensai quickly unfurled a wire and swung it around in a curving shot that bound itself around his elder's torso. "While we were battling, I tried to keep cross the same location...Stomping whenever I'd land to loosen up the tiles in that spot, so that I could set up for a Gravel Shift technique. While you were off balance...Well, you know the rest." Tensai was smiling quite broadly now, and the old man could only sigh. "This boy...Already thinking like that mid-combat while exhausted. He'll do alright..." Were the elder's thoughts before they continued their training for the night. Tensai's future was looking bright.
[WC: 996]
[Marked for Dojo Training, using 100 words out of this for Defensive Technique.]