The First Rains [Tutor| Shizuka&Momotaro]

[Senju Shizuka]

The gate had something of a traditional entrance to a Shinto shrine. While not a torii its top arched gracefully. Below ran a thick beam connecting the two pillars that kept the arc raised up to the heavens. Smaller pillars made of stone formed a ghost of fence as they stood on the gate’s sides. Three on the left and seven on the right. Remnants of times long passed. Shizuka sat on the third one - right side. Her eyes scanned the area ahead while she tightened their village’s symbol around her upper left arm. At times she wore in on her forehead, but mostly it clung to her arm or waist. Due to some reason she found it more comfortable that way. Even if it moved a bit together with the black sleeve when a fight got too intense. At least it wouldn’t end up sliding in front of her eyes and killing her in the process.

Checking the pockets of her flack jacket she made sure that both the shuriken as her favorite pair of brass knuckles she called ‘Classics’ were with her. The hammer, a slim warhammer with flat sides and a long handle, named Don stood against the pillar she was sitting on. These were the weapons she planned to use today. However, ninjutsu wasn’t out of the question. Of course, he wanted to test his sword skills, but whenever one stepped outside of classes odds were rarely fair.

“Good morning,” she called out when the dark haired guy made his appearance. Hopefully he’s had some sleep. Then again, with him heading home with the intention to get to the bottom of things which included his ancestral ghost.. she had her doubts. In any case, they were here now and the sun was steadily climbing the sky.

With a quick push of her right foot she was on her way to land in the grass surrounding the pillars. Considering her sitting spot hadn’t been all that height up in the air, she landed lightly and without the need to roll.

Motioning toward the warhammer in the back, the young Chunin smiled. “Don’s my favorite when it comes down to short distance..” The other toys he would have to discover on his own.

“Let’s get started,” she suggested while picking up Don by the handle. “unless you want to share something on that sword of yours.”

Had his mother let him go with it or had he taken it without her permission, again?

* * *​

1|5 Posts
416|1,500 Words

 

[Azai Momotaro]

The next day came, it was fast, the boy was so unclear how many hours of sleep he got. Digging deep into the details of his mother’s past and his family, and in his quest for knowledge the boy sacrificed a lot of sleep. But it was worth it, at least that what Momotaro thought.

In order to not be too late on Shizuka the boy jogged to the destination, before reaching the specified location near the shrine. Looking around the boy enjoyed the look of the place, it had this air of traditional beauty the boy admired so much. But he quickly spotted Shizuka, he waved at her as she greeted him. “Oy Senju-san, hope I am not too late, am I ?” Momotaro said as he watched her go around and grab a war hammer, it was at that moment the boy yawned a little bit, but his eyes still followed the girl.

“you fight using a hammer ? that’s a strange weapon, I saw spears and of course swords, but I never thought of hammers as a legit weapon, I think of them more as blacksmith’s tools. But I am excited to see what you can do with it.” The boy said with a smile on his face, the boy then grabbed the sword on his hip, the same blade he had yesterday, today the blade was fashioned with a fancy looking black sheath accented by a purple string wrapped in the middle. The boy then stopped reaching for the blade, as he widened his eyes, then he lightly tapped his head with his hand.

“oh right, after we separated yesterday I went straight back home. However I could not find my mother, my parents left me a letter, telling me they are gone for a mission and they wont be on for a while. I am honestly surprised that she did not notice that her blade was gone, I am guessing she assumed that it was far from my reach.” He said with a nervous chuckle. “but that does not mean that I did not learn anything, I managed to re-summon Hyakkimaru and talked with him all night about who I am, and if his words are to be taken as truth, then I am part of a prestigious family, once great but no more. Hyakkimaru even told me that my mother had potential to put the clan back on the map, but she stopped using her powers, makes you wonder why she gave up and hid the sword. According to him, unlocking the true powers of this sword is a very convoluted process involving the collection of 5 different swords. But that’s what about it, he then stopped, telling me I need to make a decision and create a contract with him and gain power, or try to find my own power. Giving me a week as my deadline.” The boy said as he rubbed his chin. “oh would you look at that, I have gone on and on, sorry about that. Where were we ? are we starting with a spar Senju san ?” the boy asked as he placed his index finger on his chin.

1/5

531/1500

 

[Senju Shizuka]

She waved away his worry regarding the time. Or had it been politeness? It mattered not, he was not late. Should he have shown up when the sun had been clearly shining through the leaves then she might have welcomed him with a trap. Fortunately there was no need for that.

“Mostly I try not to, but when it does come to picking a weapon, I do.” She was fond of Don and it showed when she carefully polished the leather clothed handle. There was strength behind her swing and while the hammer didn’t slice through enemies the way a sword did it could easily shatter armor and bones alike. Less aiming for vital parts to pierce through, more maiming her opponent - she couldn’t say that she enjoyed the process, but it was quite efficient.

With the hammer waiting to be used she listened to his story. Hopefully his parents would return from their trip. She remembered receiving the good news about her chuunin exam - an achievement she had been unable to share with her mother and father. It still stung a bit, it probably would for a long time if not forever. Perhaps a bit less with every year that would pass, but the tiny piece of anger about someone taking that moment away from her would remain. That’s where the violent part of her soul hid. She tried not to show it to anyone.

“It’s fine, I’m glad that you’ve managed to unveil some of the mystery behind the spirit. Be careful, however, a contract can be a double-edged sword.” Witnessing some things first hand, she chose to remain silent regardless. It was up to him to figure things out. Aside from that, this might be different considering it had to do with his bloodline. With some luck his mother would see the benefits of this situation and help him out or smother the danger before it consumed him.

In any case, Shizuka’s only worry was their little training session.

“Sure,” turning the hammer she let the middle of the rod land in the palm of her free hand. “come at me and we’ll see where it goes.” The young Senju announced with a nod.

A part of her was prepared for him using ninjutsu at some point, but her guess went to him starting out with the blade. Surely he wanted to test both his speed and strength with his newfound weapon. She had been the same when she had gotten Don. To become better one had to make sure that their weapon become an extension of themselves. For that you had to come to know its shape, its weight, and the way it turned before a hit or sang when colliding with its target.

She was curious to see if his blood made him a natural.

* * *​

Ooc: I suggest we link the moves we use just to get an idea of how "strong" a swing or blow is or if there's anything special behind it (in case we progress to ninjutsu later on).
2/5
888/1500

 

[Azai Momotaro]

Momotaro listened to Shizuka, figuring out from her words that usually she is not a weapon fighter, that made him wonder how well she will hold up in weapon duels against him, guess he will figure that out soon. Maybe then they will transition to trying to advance his ninjutsu knowledge, but for now a taijutsu show off will be a good start.

“Oh yeah, that I understand. Its why I have not formed any contract with him yet. I will need to get more information first. I actually think I know some one who can give me that information, but we should talk about that later, today is not about that, don’t you agree Senju-chan ? now lets start honorably, good luck.” The boy said with a smile on his face, as he looked at her taking her stance, it looked strange and unrefined to him but that’s probably cause he does not know how a hammer is held and used as a weapon. So instead of taking any chance the boy took what he thinks will be the safest stance.

Unsheathing his Hachiman, the boy held firmly with his right hand and raised it to be near his head, pointing it at Shizuka, his left palm rested behind the hilt open. The boy’s feet shifted a little bit indicating upcoming movement. And then suddenly the boy lunged forward using chakra to enhance his movement and aimed to thrust his sword at Shizuka, obviously the boy did not aim to actually stab her, but just stop the blade and his movements should he break through all of her defenses that way, that is assuming things go his way.

Jutsu used : https://www.ninpocho.com/viewtopic.php?p=14891#p14891

wc : 812/1500
2/5

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Preparing for the incoming attack she directed the head of the hammer toward Momotaro. As he hurried forward she mimicked his moves. Rushing toward her opponent she aimed to slam the top of the hammer into the side of his sword by moving slightly to the side when their weapons were about to meet. This way she planned to deflect the sword to the side. It would give her time to spin. With some chakra helping her muscles to move, she spun around following the motion of her hammer’s thrust before crouching with Don close to her body. She stayed that way only a split of a second. Don was already slipping toward the ground when she jumped up and pulled back the handle while holding the middle - like the other side of a seesaw Don’s top rushed up toward the sky. Its target being Momotaro’s chest.

Of course the blow, should it hit, would not be earth-shattering. Shizuka had no intention of really hurting her opponent. Afterall this was a training session of sorts. A way to give him a better feeling for his motions and the usage of his blade.

Now that she thought about it, this little spar gave her some time to think about other ways of using Don against someone who was wielding a sword. In a real fight there was barely time to analyse one way of handling things let alone think through various scenarios on how to deal with the opponent. Here she didn’t have that pressure. Aside from that he might have a fresh look on swordsmanship considering he was still growing accustomed to it from what she had gathered. Creativity was always a part of one’s fighting when they were relying less on experience and more on boldness.

When she landed and dashed back a little, eyes on Momotaro and his blade, she found herself really looking forward to seeing what he had in mind.



* * *

Used Dynamic Bash + special action to follow up
3/5
1,213/1,500

 

[Azai Momotaro]

The black haired boy’s eyesight focused on the girl’s body, trying to accurately read her movement in order to come with a way to react to her response to his simple charge. What he did not expect was her copying his move, he anticipated a defensive stance but she caught him off guard with her decision making. *CLANG* the sound of his sword and her hammer clashing echoed into the distance, it was strong and almost sent the blade flying away from his hands, luckily the boy was stronger than letting that break his grip. Still keeping the girl in his eyes, the boy was ready to act quickly in order to counter her next move.

Seeing her excellent form, the spin indicated how strong the next attack will be. Choosing to spend more chakra than he should in order to keep up with her speed the boy managed to move fast enough to put the blade in front of his chest in order to absorb the following attack. The second clash was strong enough to push Momo’s backwards sliding a bit backwards, the boy felt his arm twitch, the attack was stronger than he anticipated. Making him smirk, the boy then immediately changed his stance to a lower one in order to swipe his sword faster, it made him wide open but his swings will be considerably faster.

The boy decided to approach the girl, his sword and hand behind his back to in order to hide his actions, hoping to catch her off guard. Once he was in the right distance the boy aimed to swiftly swipe her legs with the blunt part of his sword, the goal is to restrict her movement and leave her wide open for a follow up.

jutsu used :
Heavy Tow : https://www.ninpocho.com/viewtopic.php?p=14893#p14893
3/5
WC : 1116

 

[Senju Shizuka]

He lost ground just like she had and recovered immediately. It pleased her to see that their little dance was something he enjoyed. The clang still echoed in her mind when he came toward her with no rush and the blade behind his back. The sight caused a smile to form on her lips. She waited for him to make a move. Soon enough the silver of his blade was following the blunt part of his sword. A curious move if you asked her. One aimed at her legs. She didn’t mind it. With the head down she dropped the hammer on the ground. Holding the handle firmly the staff formed a barrier for the incoming blade. When it hit, she felt the handle shake while its head and her feet slid across the grass.

“Nice one.”

She said while turning the hammer and aiming its blunt part on the side of the blade. The idea was for him to -perhaps- lose grip. Though, from what she’s seen so far, she doubted he would. The blow wasn’t hard enough for that. Still, she was curious to see how he would follow up. Turning the hammer to its blunt side wasn’t on the blade’s side anymore, she continued. Another blow came in when she finished sliding the staff up the side of the blade for it to touch his chest.

There was the danger of being cut should he decide to do just that and take the hit. Otherwise, she expected him to defend. And perhaps counter should he get up to his feet fast enough in case of falling down. In either case, she had the idea of leaving Don behind soon and add a different element to their game.

* * *​

4/5
1,503/1,500
Used:
I Concrete blast
II Double Slam

 

[Azai Momotaro]

Momotaro bizarre move that he thought was way too out of the box for Shizuka to counter was stopped beautifully, him being impressed by her beautiful reaction was more than the disappointment he felt for missing. Momotaro smiled at her, thinking about what she would do next feeling that at this point Shizuka held full control over the pace. And her next move was a great one, trying to disarm Momo who at this point in his career as a ninja was weal without his sword. Luckily he was strong enough to hold his sword and maintain his grip. But sadly he was unable to stop whatever Shizuka was going to do.

The hammer connected to his chest, sending him a bit backwards. Momo’s face scrunched as he decides to do a small jump backwards, then chuckling a bit to himself as he covered his chest with his right hand. He then looked at Shizuka’s eyes, his deep blue eyes were sharp and focused despite how relaxed his voice sounded, it felt like he starring deep into his enemy his eyes should tell her that he plans on taking this seriously.

“haha that’s actually hurt Shizuka, I never knew you were that good. This gave me something to think about, that hammers of yours is ridiculously annoying to deal with via my sword. I guess I have to change the pace a little bit, time to show you what I learnt by myself.”

Momo then sheathed his sword and began to use hand seals, it was not very fast so if Shizuka paid attention she should have figured out what Momo was planning to do. After he was done with his hand seals, the boy had manifested a whip made out of water the boy then held it with his right hand and begun to swing it around to create momentum, his plan was for her to block with her hammer and potentially disarm her that way, unfortunately a critical error was made, the boy was wide open. But he swung the whip at her anyways.

4/5
WC : 1462