Exhale
Ryoku opened his eyes, ready for the match that was scheduled with his fellow Clan mate, Shinji. He stood up from the floor, where he was meditating in preparation, and he began to walk to the sparring area. He had asked Shinji to spar with him because his Chuunin exam was fast approaching, and he wanted to be sure that he was properly prepared for them. He had been training in Unarmed Taijutsu with Kenshin-sama, so he wanted to try out everything he had learned in context.
As he approached the arena, he noticed Shinji waiting for him, and he was already stretching. He had short, blond hair; simple, blue eyes; and was far taller and more muscular than Ryoku, but that didn’t deter him at all. He was excited more than anything for this spar with an older clan disciple. He noticed Ryoku approaching and gave him a smile. “I hope you’re ready,” he said.
“No doubt,” Ryoku said, returning a smile and beginning his own stretches. Ryoku knew what to expect from this fight for the most part. Shinji was also an Unarmed Taijutsu disciple, and he was much faster than one would expect, given his size. He also dabbled in genjutsu. He was what was referred to as a Shadow boxer by some. Someone who was equally as skilled with their mind as they were with their fists. Just like Kenshin-sama.
“Well what do you say we get this started?” Shinji said, standing up from his stretches.
“I’d love nothing more,” Ryoku responded. They were already at a decent distance from one another, so they gave each other a bow and then took a battle stance.
Shinji gained nearly all of Ryoku’s focus. He had almost completely achieved tunnel vision. Nothing else mattered except for these two combatants on their own isolated battlefield. Every move he would make, every step he would take, Ryoku would notice it. He felt as though he would be able to anticipate even the most minute of muscle movements. This is the amount of focus he had achieved through meditating with Kenshin-sama.
Without wasting anymore time, Ryoku leapt forward towards his clan mate at his top speed, zigzagging in an attempt to keep his movements unpredictable. When he got close enough to Shinji, he attempted to position himself in one of his blind spots and deliver a quick roundhouse kick, but Shinji reacted too quickly and quickly brought up his forearm to block the blow. Ryoku followed up with a quick dash to the side and placed himself in a new position, delivering a quick jab in an attempt to catch him off guard, but he caught Ryoku’s fist, who responded by bringing his back foot up and around in an attempt to connect the back of his foot with the side of Shinji’s head. Shinji saw it coming and ducked under it, but now Ryoku was in a position that allowed him to kick Shinji square in the face. Shinji must have realized this and threw Ryoku’s fist that he had caught to the side, throwing Ryoku off balance. Shinji took this opportunity to land a devastating blow on Ryoku, knocking him back several feet.
Ryoku quickly stood up and realized something was wrong. All of a sudden, it started getting really hot, but not a stuffy kind of heat where he should take off his shirt, but a searing heat like he was in an oven that was heating up. Then Shinji went on the offensive. He threw a quick punch at Ryoku, which he managed to dodge relatively easily, but he followed up with another punch that Ryoku couldn’t sidestep fast enough, so he brought up his arms to dodge, and the heat at the point on his arms where Shinji made contact felt like a fireball was thrown at him. Ryoku winced in pain and quickly put some distance between the two of them. Shadow boxers are able to cast genjutsu through their fists, so when he landed that first punch, he must have also cast a genjutsu. Luckily, this was another skill Kenshin-sama taught Ryoku. Through the meditation that he had practiced, he learned how to dispel genjutsu through the power of sheer will.
Exhale
The temperatures were normal again. Ryoku realized that he had to be more careful of Shinji getting that close to him, so when he noticed Shinji coming at him again, he got into a defensive stance that he had been refining to allow him to not only reduce oncoming damage, but also react better to enemy movements in general to allow him to avoid their attacks better. The stance would even allow him to counterattack if necessary, but he mostly only used it for defense.
As Shinji began his assault on Ryoku, every blow was avoided completely. Ryoku moved quickly and smoothly, reading every one of Shinji’s movements and dodging them. He was proud that his stance worked as well as he had hoped. Not only that, but it exposed an opening. On one of Shinji’s punches, he overextended. A smile showed itself on Ryoku’s face, who couldn’t resist but exploiting this opening. He clenched his fist tightly and channeled chakra into it, causing it to glow red, and he launched it into Shinji’s gut, knocking the wind out of him.
Ryoku wasn’t done, with this opening Shinji had given him, it was time to pull out the big guns. He had been reading about a technique called “Blitz Brawl” which was used by unarmed specialists to chain together multiple techniques. It was also a technique that Kenshin-sama was very well practiced in, so naturally Ryoku had to learn it. With his first fist connected firmly in Shinji’s gut, Ryoku clenched his other fist, but this one took on a darker hue. Its glow was nearly black and it seemed to begin to affect the look in Ryoku’s eyes as well. He brought this fist and slammed it against the side of Shinji’s face, knocking him off footing.
Naturally, as a student of the great Yuu Kenshin, this was not the end of Ryoku’s combo. He had been studying under Kenshin-sama to figure out the most efficient and devastating ways to string together his Taijutsu techniques, and he had practiced to make sure they worked well together and could be used to great effect in combat. He was practicing to become a Combo Master, just like Kenshin-sama. At the end of his swing with the Fist of Sin, Ryoku refueled his first fist with chakra, but this time it took on a white glow, in stark contrast to his other fist, and it washed the demonic look that he had in his eyes out. Without breaking the flow of his attacks, he launched his fist into Shinji’s forehead, knocking him backward off of his feet and backwards several meters.
Exhale
The glow of Ryoku’s fists subsided and he relaxed his stance. He looked over at Shinji and saw him lying on the ground. After a few seconds, he stood up and looked somewhat unharmed. “Wow,” he said. “You pack quite the punch. But did you heal me with that last punch?” He asked with a perplexed look on his face. “The first two punches hurt, but the last one almost felt relieving. I almost thought you killed me.” Shinji started laughing slightly.
“Yeah, that was the Fist of Virtue,” Ryoku responded, a somewhat serious look on his face. “It can be used to heal teammates, but normally when I use that combo, I won’t be so forgiving. But that was fun, thanks for the spar!” Ryoku quickly replaced the serious look on his face with a jovial one, a large grin spread across his face.
“Any time, Ryoku. You’ve improved a lot over the last few years.” Shinji said dusting off his clothes. “You’ll do great on your exam! I know it!” He gave Ryoku a thumbs up and left. Ryoku smiled and waved back at him, but he was somewhat bothered. When he used the Fist of Sin, he nearly forgot where he was. He didn’t like that feeling that took over him. If it wasn’t for the Fist of Virtue setting his mind right the instant before landing that punch, he could have seriously hurt Shinji. Luckily, there were several combos that he had practiced. He might be more careful about when he used that one. With more confidence in his training, Ryoku turned and head toward the dining area. Training tended to work up an appetite.
WC: 1428
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