Ring of Steel! [Class]

[Tsuyoshi Aiko]

Aiko was reluctant when it came to picking his weapon of choice. There were just so many options and everyone seemed to already know what they wanted to pick. Before he could make a decision, the sensei began addressing the other students. He stood facing the other weapons. A brief flash of embarrassment struck him. What to choose!? Part of him just wanted to pick a pole type weapon because everyone else had picked one. He didn't want to be the odd one out but.. none of the pole weapons seemed to suit his small physique. His eyes continued surveying the weapon racks until they found something that caught Aiko's interest. It was a standard training katana with a red and black laced hilt. He took the weapon off the rack before accurately judging its weight and ended up dropping it on the floor. He stared down for a moment and briskly picked it up, pretending as if his clumsy incident had never occurred.

It was a lot heavier than he had first imagined but the weight seemed perfectly fine to him. It wasn't too heavy for him to handle. The problem was, he was supposed to now practice with said weapon on a training dummy.. Aiko had no experience with handling a sword before. He took off the black sheath and set it to the side. He took a deep breath. Hopefully nobody was laying eyes upon him. Aiko took a quick glance at the teacher and nodded to show he was ready and a training dummy poofed seemingly out of mid-air in front of the young boy. He prayed that he didn't end up hurting someone because of his poor knowledge on the weapon. Hesitantly, Aiko rose the sword above his head, preparing to strike. He brought the sharp edge of the blade down for a clean cut, severing the right arm of the training dummy. That wasn't exactly his target.. but it would do. Aiko smiled confidently to himself and swung the blade once more at the wooden dummy. He swung horizontally aiming for the chest and sure enough he hit his target. There was only one problem though.. His sword was lodged into the torso of the training dummy and refused to budge.

Aiko's heart shrank and that small amount of confidence he had just a minute ago was gone. It had been replaced by panic and desperation. No matter how hard he tried, the blade refused to dislodge itself from the one-armed victim. Aiko struggled frantically to pull it out when he realized that it wasn't working. Then something horrifying happened. Aiko had been pulling at the training katana with so much force that, when it suddenly broke free from its wooden prison, the momentum caused him to lose his grip on the sword and it went flying to the other side of the room. He winced when he heard it crash against one of the other weapon racks. At least he didn't hurt anybody. His face was flushed with embarrassment. "Uh- oops.."

 

[Nakahara Kasumi]

Kasumi had only partially raised her hand before a wood dummy 'poofed' in front of her. Taking her combat stance, Kasumi pointed her weapon at the target and quickly jabbed forward. The blade left it's mark on the target and was pulled away easily enough. Confident in her handling of the weapon, Kasumi started to circle the dummy while stabbing or slashing at it every few steps. Finally, she made a powerful horizontal slash which lopped the head of the dummy right off. She grinned in satisfaction over her kill.

She was about to ask for another target when a sword whizzed by her head and crashed into a nearby wall, knocking her sunglasses off on the way by. Kasumi dropped her weapon and shielded her eyes, once she had gotten over the initial glare she dropped down and picked the glasses up. Once her sunglasses were safely back on her face (for now) she looked to see what had just happened. As she traced the errant blade back to it's source she couldn't help but giggle a bit.

After a short pause she walked over to where the sword had landed, picked it up, and walked over to where Aiko was standing. "Uh... I think ya dropped this." she said (quiet enough that even Aiko would miss it if he wasn't paying attention), handing the hilt of the blade back to him. Once he had taken the sword she would quickly move back to her own corner and go back to training with her naginata.

 

[Tsukino Dante]

'Freakin' adorable...' Ren thought with a slight chuckle as he observed the little scene that took place between Aiko and Kasumi; and hell, the girl even talked! Considering her participation before consisted entirely of nodding and waving, that was significant (at least in Ren's warped mind).

'Hell, I'd ship that.'

Ren would continue to summon new targets as requested, the dummy slaughter would continue for a little over a half hour- as the student's trained Ren would go to each one to examine their technique.

First was Bunkei, she had picked the most unorthodox weapon of the bunch (Ren really wanted to know where he got that one from, he couldn't even remember) so she'd probably be the one most in need of one-on-one attention. "Normally you'd try throwing those, but I'll have to come back to that later- maybe after class. When using them up close, use either a punching attack or a slicing motion." Ren said, mimicking the proper movements with his hands "Try slashing with one hand, then punching with the other. If you can get your opponent to block the first attack, hit them wherever they're open with the second. Also, be careful about fighting your opponent head on, it's a lot trickier to parry an attack with those than it would be with a sword or a dagger. Not impossible, just a bit harder to get used to."

Next was Aiko, he had been the slowest in choosing a weapon... and his initial attempts at using it were a bit awkward. "Cut, then pull away- the blade doesn't fight back as much when you do that. Footwork is important, too: keep your feet out of the way of each other so you can pull your front foot back if your opponent swings there- they make an ass out of themselves and you get a free shot at them." Ren explained. "And learn to love that high guard, it's your best friend. Anything come at you from high you can swing into it, parry the attack, and step in to impale the poor bastard while his guard's down."

Next... hmm....

"Think fast" Ren said, summoning a small rubber ball and throwing it at Katsu; after he either blocked or got floored by the ball Ren would walk over and begin his instruction. "Don't get focused on one thing too much, you'll just let yourself be caught off guard." seriously, how much instruction would a native Tenouzan need on fighting? Last he checked they were practically born with a sword in hand.

Almost done; Ren decided to visit Ai next, he grabbed a staff of his own on the way there. "If your opponent gets in close, you should change guards." Ren explained, holding his staff closer to the middle than the guard he had demonstrated earlier "Half-staff, not as much range, not as much damage. But if you need to fight at that range- it might be useful. Still, try to make distance between yourself and the opponent ASAP."

Last (but certainly not least) was Kasumi. "You saw what I did with Ai-kun? It works for bladed weapons too- just keep in mind where the pointy end is." Ren said, demonstrating the difference between the guards. "Don't be afraid to whack someone with the blunt end, either- if they aren't expecting it, it's a good way to knock someone off balance. Good for if you get caught in-fighting, too."

Once the training and dummy slaughter session was over, Ren gathered everyone in the middle of the classroom.

"You've had some time to practice with your weapons... now it's time for some live training. The final part of this lesson will involve a bout between all of you, last student standing wins. Feel free to improvise a bit, but don't use ninjutsu or genjutsu to directly attack your opponents- we'll save that sort of combined assault for more advanced classes. Are there any questions before we begin?"

I swear... if I ever post on time the world will end. No joke.

- Katsu informed me that he was unable to post this round, he will hopefully be able to post for the last round.

- Next round will involve a psudo-modded fight; no stats, just me evaluating your character's tactics from an In-Character standpoint. Inform me of your character's combat strategy either In Post or via PM.

- Class is Dismissed Tuesday, October 1st.

 

[Tsuyoshi Aiko]

Aiko looked back at the girl with jet-black hair, hesitating for a moment. He felt horrible for almost taking off her head with a katana. It wasn't anything but a mere training blade and it probably wouldn't hurt her all that much but nevertheless, he was concerned about the safety of his fellow classmates. He took the hilt gingerly and with a frown murmured awkwardly, "I- uh- thank-you.. Sorry about that." Perspiration ran down the length of his cheek and he let out an exaggerated sigh when the girl finally turned away, just now realizing he was holding his breath the entire time. I'm just glad she was nice about it and not angry..

Aiko resumed his training with the dummy and looked up once Ren approached him. He simply nodded to show that he understood what he had been told and paused to process the information carefully. Any advice was valuable to him right now since he felt like he had no idea what he was doing. Aiko continued practicing, experimenting with a couple of techniques that he had made up himself based off of the information Ren gave him. In his mind, he was coming up with all sorts of combat scenarios and coming up with ways to neutralize his foe or defend himself in the most effective ways he thought were possible. He practiced endlessly, not stopping once to take a break or pause.

Then suddenly Ren made an announcement. He went to the center of the room where everybody else was gathered. They were supposed to fight each other!? Aiko's heart wavered fearfully. He had come up with a lot of effective strategies in the past thirty minutes and he was a lot better than when he started, but he was nowhere near ready to fight any of the other students. He was fairly confident that they would all wipe the floor with him. His knees quaked fearfully but he told himself that he would be alright.

Aiko slowly and stealthily backed away from the group, retreating to the corner of the room and hoping not to be seen easing away from everyone else. He didn't want to fight although he knew that combat was inevitable and that he would have to fight one of them eventually. He just didn't want to have to jump straight into combat. He planned on staying out of the fight for as long as possible until someone chose to fight him.. He didn't want to hurt anybody.. but he would try his best to defend himself if he could. He knew he wasn't going to come out on top of this but he didn't want to be the first person down. He wanted to stand back and evaluate everyone else's fighting style since he hadn't got a chance to earlier. If he could do that, then maybe he could find some kind of hole in their strategy and exploit it for himself. Tactics and intelligence were Aiko's advantage, not brute strength and dumb power.

Aiko looked over at the girl hiding behind a pair of sunglasses. Maybe.. just maybe he'd be able to convince her to work together with him to fight off everyone else. Everyone else was most likely going to just fight each other one on one. If he could establish a team with the other girl though, it'd be a heck of a lot easier to do this. He wanted it to be her too because she seemed nice and quiet like himself. That was something he could relate to. He stared back at the group, hoping that when it dispersed that she would come over in his direction by chance so he could convince her to work with him.

 

[Tanaka Ai]

The training continued for a while, the students all testing their weapons and honing their killing abilities. There were only a few incidents, the most notable of course being the little bashful boy almost cracking the eyegear girl’s skull. Ai had tried to catch a glimpse of the strange girl’s eyes, but from his position in class he just didn’t have the perspective for it. ‘Does she need them? Is she hiding something?’ Perhaps the girl was just a slave to fashion, though the bald student was hesitant to believe something so simple in this crazy world he lived in. ‘So what’s up with her?’
As the practice continued, the boy couldn’t help but study the others as they tested out different techniques with their respective weapons, weighing each one as a potential threat. Ai had sat in on his fair share of Taijutsu lessons, and it wasn’t rare for them to end in combat. With that in mind, he set about finding the biggest threat, all the while smashing away at the seemingly endless pool of dummies. Before too long however, his observations were interrupted by the armor clad Jounin, who gathered them all together to tell them that there would be a battle royale.
“So that’s why he’s wearing the armor.” The bald student muttered, keeping a close eye on the other combatants as the Sensai went over the rules, which were simple enough. No Genjutsu or Ninjutsu, which brought Ai’s index of available jutsu down to a single technique, block. ‘If I could just use my true power, I wouldn’t have to worry about defensive…. They would do it for me.’ Shaking his head of the temptation, the tall boy waited for the teacher to finish before sidestepping away from the group, stopping well out of reach of even the longest weapon in the among them.
‘The katana boy would be the easiest, but I’m can’t be like Tama and the rest. I’ll pick a fair fight. Besides, he is already backing into a corner, terrified. No threat there. The girl with the weird circle disks, her range is severely limited compared to the rest of us. If she comes at me, I’ll just do as the Jounin instructed and just switch to half-staff, get my distance back and jab her a few times. The religious guy, he’s got about my range and he’s bigger than me, but he didn’t even seem to warm up. The eyegear girl has the best range, and I really don’t want to get hit by that blade, dull or not. She’s probably the biggest threat, and should be dealt with quickly.’
Nodding to himself, Ai prepared for action, crouching into a ready position and waiting for the sensai’s mark.​

[Not sure if I was supposed to actually go at it this round, so I’ll PM my strategy just in case.]
[MFT: 476]

 

[Katsu]

Of course Katsu got hit by the ball, Katsu always gets hit by random thrown projectiles.

Spontaneous face-pelting aside, Katsu's training with the staff went fairly well- he managed to break several targets over the course of the free lesson, and his stance had come along decently. Still, he was fairly sure in a straight up fight he'd get clobbered. And lo and behold, what was next on the lesson plan? A straight up fight.

... Ren probably wasn't doing this on purpose, but Katsu suspected that he was getting a kick out of it regardless. He wouldn't voice any of those opinions though; Ren was a bit of a troll, but he was a nice guy- usually. Sometimes. When he was in a good mood.

Katsu took some time to examine the other students: Ai seemed the biggest threat, he had a weapon with similar reach and the aggressiveness to actually use it... although Kasumi might pull a surprising move; the quiet ones are usually the ones with the plan. Aiko had picked a decent weapon, but he didn't seem too prone to using it 'He reminds me of me, a little bit'. Bunkei was a bit of a wild card, she certainly seemed willing to fight, but she had picked one of the most unorthodox weapons on the field- but if she knew what she was doing maybe that would be an advantage.

'Well, here goes nothing...' Katsu thought as he took his guard. "Good luck, everyone!"

 

[Tsukino Dante]

Ai, Aiko, and Katsu posted and provided combat information.

Kasumi provided combat information but failed to post.

Bunkei did not provide combat information and did not post.

Ren could tell quite a bit about his students from their stances:

Ai and Bunkei were the most excited, either of them would be likely to make the first move.

Katsu and Kasumi were both more balanced, they probably wouldn't strike first- but they could easily jump into the fight if they had reason to believe they would come out on top.

Aiko... ohhh boy, he didn't seem to be taking the lesson well at all; he was looking for a way out before the fight even started. Ren simply shook his head, 'You can't win if you don't play, kid'.

There was a moment of tension as the class waited for the fight to begin:

"Ready... and... BEGIN!"
[spoilername="Match 1"]Things started out pretty much as expected: Bunkei and Ai both took the initiative and charged into the fight. Ai in particular seemed to intend to knock Katsu out of the fight before he had a chance to do anything. Ai was fast, but Katsu still managed to get his guard up in time. Before either student could make their next move Bunkei entered the melee and things went downhill from there...

The ensuing ball of violence was too hectic for most of the class to follow; after a few seconds of relentless assaults from each party, Bunkei and Katsu both got knocked backwards- leaving Ai the sole survivor of the three way clash. Ren motioned for the eliminated students to sit down in the back of the classroom.

*Bunkei and Katsu eliminated.*[/spoilername]

[spoilername="Match 2"]Ai didn't waste any time in choosing his next target, honing his gaze on Kasumi and bringing his staff around for a heavy swing at the girl- Ai was making a point of targeting the pole-wielders specifically; that was probably a smart move, but Kasumi wasn't going to go down without a fight! Ai's first strike was met by the blade of Kasumi's naginata, the girl wasted no time in catching the bald student's staff and pulling it aside, almost pulling him off balance in the process. A flurry of blows from Kasumi ensued, each lunge being skillfully parried by Ai's staff. This fight was a lot more even than the utter curb stomp that had ensued before, Ren was impressed.

Both combatants took turns taking the offense against each other until eventually the deciding exchange was dealt; Ai brought his staff down on Kasumi's head, but the girl quickly dodged to the side and extended her blade- the point of the blade honed in on Ai's chest before harmlessly bouncing off the barrier that Ren had cast earlier.

"Now THAT'S what I've been waiting to see! Good job, both of you!" Ren said, clapping enthusiastically.

*Ai Eliminated.*[/spoilername]

[spoilername="Match 3"]And now, things got awkward.

Kasumi and Aiko both stood off for a minute, neither one really wanting to attack the other. Eventually, Kasumi made the first move- a rising slash from a low guard- Aiko quickly changed guards and slashed into the strike, deflecting it away. Undeterred, Kasumi quickly withdrew her blade before sending a quick jab at Aiko. The boy managed to block the sword, and quickly tried to flick Kasumi's weapon away from her- it worked! Kasumi's weapon was ripped from her hands and fell to the side. Now deprived of her weapon, Kasumi quickly dodged to the side. In a bit of improvised thinking, Kasumi made a sweeping kick at Aiko, pulling his legs out from under him and bringing him to the floor. Kasumi started to go for her weapon when Ren stopped her.

"Nah, that's enough for now. Good job." Ren said.

*Aiko Eliminated. Kasumi Wins!*[/spoilername]

Once the fighting was over, Ren called the class back into the middle of the room. "You all seem to have learned quite a bit, even if you're a bit shy to show it." Ren said, he looked at Aiko for a second before giving off a small laugh. "You've all done well enough, and I'd say you've all passed. Now, this has been a very rough primer class- maybe enough to do some useful improv in the field- but I'd suggest you keep learning about your weapons of choice, and perhaps do some supplemental research into different weapon types. I'm more than willing to help, and if you leave a message in the academy offices I'll usually see it fairly quickly. You've all been a good class, now I'm sure some of you will be needing some rest- just leave your weapons by the door on the way out. Class dismissed."

Ren would move back to the back of the classroom, if any students still had questions he would be more than happy to answer. Otherwise he would simply allow them to leave whenever they felt like it (unless, of course, they tried to smuggle the weapons out of the room- Ren had to pay for those!).

Good job everyone. You all pass. Feel free to leave the topic whenever- or just hang out and talk with Ren or your fellow students.

... seriously, don't steal Ren's training arsenal. It's not cool. >_>

I'll sort out payment and stats soon, so keep an eye out for that.

Update: http://www.ninpocho.com/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=9541 <- Post here for payment!

 

[Tanaka Ai]

Feeling satisfied, Ai listened to the teacher wrap up the class as he replayed the combat in his mind. He had surprised himself, aggression being a new feeling to the normally peaceful boy. It seemed as though as the years of being tormented by his brother’s had finally taken their toll.
‘I’m still not going to go looking for a fight. But at least now I know I can handle myself in one.’
Smiling, ACTUALLY smiling for the first time in years, Ai nodded his head to the class before making his exit, leaning the staff wall as he exited.
‘Not bad.’​

[Freakin’ awesome Sage!]​

 

[Takaki Saeko]

[Topic Invaded, Ai stopped temporarily]​

Right as class was dismissed and the assembled, exhausted students were about to leave, the door to the classroom suddenly burst open (or rather, was ripped off its hinges), revealing a most peculiar-looking woman dressed as if she’d literally fallen through the village laundry pile.

[Who the hell...]​

"HEY BISHOP-CHAN!” she growled, leaping over to Katsu and grabbing him by the scruff of his holy collar. With a blur of motion she had him on his back looking up at an unobstructed view of whatever girls hid under their miniskirts.

“Neh - even a low-level scrub like you can do a transformation jutsu, right?! So do you ever like transform into a hot chick and touch yourself for hours on end?! I know I do! Whoops! I said too much!” she giggled unashamedly. Knowing Katsu of course, only mortified silence would probably issue from that one’s mouth. “What, you don't even know that jutsu?! POST MOAR! You probably think titties feel like bags of sand! Newsflash, they don't! Feel these!" she said, grasping one of the hapless holy man’s hands and pressing it right into her décolletage.

“Ren-samaaaa! These assholes need to train harder and get to their genin exams! Especially you, Tanaka Ai! I’m gonna make you my bitch forever! HAHAHAHAHAHA! …or not, because your sensei is getting pissed! Heehee!”

With a poof of smoke, the new arrival flashed out of existence, leaving only a handwritten note floating down to the ground.

Don’t forget to sign up for exams soon. Go Main Branch! Best fuckin' Branch.
Disclaimer: Trolling approved by Yasu Ren, Jounin.

 

[Tanaka Ai]

‘Not bad.’
Nothing catastrophic had happened, and the Ai felt as though he had handled himself well in the face of his old adversary. Open combat had never been the boy’s forte, but it seemed that he was excelling in just about everything he put his mind to lately. Hiding his confident smirk, the boy had all but made it to the door when suddenly…
BAM!
The tired boy was forced to slam himself against the wall, barely avoiding the devastated slab of wood as it crashed to the floor, revealing the wildest woman he had ever laid eyes on. Before Ai could react, the stranger was across the room, grabbing the religious student up and promptly subjecting him to fierce molestation. “Neh - even a low-level scrub like you can do a transformation jutsu, right?! So do you ever like transform into a hot chick and touch yourself for hours on end?! I know I do! Whoops! I said too much!”
It took only a few seconds for clarification to smack Ai in the face, blasting away any envy he had for the priestly-student while instantly confusing the boy even more than he already was. His jumbled thoughts were quickly interrupted however, the mention of his name instantly rendering the boy motionless, frozen in shock as he watched the psychotic sheman.
“Ren-samaaaa! These assholes need to train harder and get to their Genin exams! Especially you, Tanaka Ai! I’m gonna make you my bitch forever! HAHAHAHAHAHA! …or not, because your sensei is getting pissed! Heehee!”
And then he/she/it was gone, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Ai was still struck dumb, his uncomprehending eyes watching the piece of paper float to the ground where the strange molester had just been. Was somebody keeping tabs on him? Just what in the hell way going on? “They’re gone.” He muttered to himself, his voice barely a whisper. Shaking his head, he pushed himself off the wall and moved toward the note, avoiding the eyes of the other students as he crossed the room. He felt almost robotic as he crouched down to pick up the note, quickly scanning it before setting it back down and straightening back up.

Don’t forget to sign up for exams soon. Go Main Branch! Best fuckin' Branch.
Disclaimer: Trolling approved by Yasu Ren, Jounin.

‘How could I forget? I’ve been waiting for this all year.' A rare grin lighting up his face, the revived student spun on his heel and strode back to the exit, hopping over the dilapidated ‘door’ on his way out. The main branch certainly knew how to make an impression, that much was certain. Perhaps the boy would be reevaluating his career goals after all.
‘Though I could live without the possibility of groping a man.’
​

[Marked for Training/Topic Left]

 

[Tsukino Dante]

"Damnit man, we just fixed that wall... AND THE DOOR!!!!" Ren snapped back in the face of the insane display that had just taken place. Although admittedly it was quite amusing. Still... his 'glorious leader' might had gone just a tad bit too far.

"I think he's broken." Ren said, pointing to Katsu- who would no doubt need to be rushed to the hospital now. That poor kid....

 

[Katsu]

Broken... might have been a bit of an understatement.

The random assault of insanity which had just taken place was far more than the poor teenager could possibly brace himself for; as soon as he was on the floor, Katsu was almost instantly knocked unconscious. Of course, the madness was far from over, and what would ensue next would have had Katsu screaming something similar to 'I need an adult' had he been conscious for any of it.

When the mysterious assailant left, it would become rather obvious that Katsu was not getting up any time soon. Yup, he was going to have to be dragged out of the classroom today. Huzzah....

[KO'd]

 

[Tsuyoshi Aiko]

Aiko ignored the other students and their mishaps and left the classroom. [Topic Left]