The Woes of a New Teacher <Open>

[Toraono Michino]

A building, roughly the size of a small school gym, had been built on orders of the Toraono. It was stationed nearly a mile away from Suna, was made of clay with only one entrance, and only slits were put in at the top for ventilation. It was specifically built on the command of a one Michino Toraono, who was currently heading a class inside of the building.
Sitting only two feet apart were seven new students, and two older, that were his ‘third batch’ of trainees. He, up until recently, helped with some of the student’s training but never went as far as to instruct. For the longest time the young man didn’t think he had much to offer, but since the erection of the wall and the changing of areas, his families Dojo became the center of the new military training. He could no longer simply just offer advice, and joined the new group of teachers that was a mix of both the older Sunan staff and specialists from the Toraono.
Of those specialists, Michino was sorted into Endurance and Survival training, based on his martial past. Few had seen the parts of the desert he had and survived, and before he even had a chance to defend himself, Michino had turned into one of the New Legends. Half-Brother to the infamous mad scientist Ryuu Tama, and survivor of both the Godsend and the Inferno. Rumors on how he had lost his leg even started to circulate, despite it being common knowledge that his own father had removed it. His current favorite was he had lost it to a fight with a Desert Dire; wolves the size of a bull.

Since he could no longer deny the rumors, as they were mostly based in truth, the young Chuunin decided to roll with them and use what he went through as a method for teaching. Originally it started with high heat desert hikes that were short bursts of speed between a marker in the desert and then back again during the highest heat. From there he began using the desert to temper the endurance of the youth as it had done to him. In this essence a building was erected, made to draw in heat while a group of students and himself went through meditation and light combat exercises. Before even a few months had passed, Toraono Michino’s class was considered the hardest in the new school. Yet not a single student held their new instructor with disdain as he hobbled through the new young and helped the weakest to rise.
Today was no different than the ones before. He had an unusually large class, with only two students that he recognized. Due to this, the lesson today would be rudimentary; enduring the desert heat. The inside of the building would rise to temperature far greater than those outside, forcing the students inside to look for ways to survive. Usually within the first hour of the three hour class, at least one student would be on the verge of a heat stroke. On this day, his class endured bravely with no signs of giving in just yet. His hand stroked his chin, wearing thick robes and remaining impossibly clean, as he regarded his newest bunch with pride. Manipulating chakra inside of his body to cool his flesh while also relaxing his mind to endure the heat kept him comfortable in spite of his clothing. It would be the final technique he would impart upon those who were ready, as well as the final test of endurance to earn the class mark needed to become a Genin.
One of the two veteran students suddenly stood up, breaking the formation of the class and causing the heat in the air to stir uncomfortably. Michino glared up at the youth interrupting the flow of chi, but quickly changed to one of concern as he saw the look of fear in the kid’s eyes.
His name was Yuu Hisiano, and his greatest talent was his ability to sense changes in the land around him. The look the youth was expressing was one of sheer terror.
As the young instructor stood up to move towards his student, he just barely caught what was terrifying Hisiano.
OWARI!<i></i> The Toraono would call out to his twin soul. From the stump of his left leg purple fire exploded outwards before quickly shaping into the missing part of his leg. Following it his right arm became sheathed in the same fire, as part of their new contract, then the duo moved; fast.

Michino’s image flickered, then reappeared next to the Earthborne, and wrapped his left arm around the boy’s waist before lifting him up. In the same motion he removed the roof of the gym with a single punch of his demonic strength and stomped. The building ripped apart into three parts - a roof in the sky, Michino and one student on half, and the rest of his class on the next. In a split second after his actions the Sunan’s world shook as a large crag suddenly formed between the two halves, unnaturally deep and easily 600ft across. The jolt was so sudden that of his remaining class of 8, three were already clinging to the edge of the new desert canyon. In a panic the Toraono set down the child he personally saved and dead leaped towards his students. The mix of demonic and trained strength gave him nearly four-hundred of the six he needed to clear. His body landed against the inside of the canyon wall, hard, but his clawed hands clung to it. Without any hesitation, Michino began to use all his might to scurry horizontally across the canyon wall towards his endangered students, hoping he could make it before any of them were hurt further.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Boop. Bee-bee-boop. A whistling came from a foreign metallic object. It was an orb like entity. At its core was a chakra orb and around it were several golden limbs that shifted about. The entity moved about like a spider as it beeped and booped. It clicked and crawled about. It saw that a number of children were in danger. The little mechanical object unfolded itself and poked and poked about. Then it began to offer a hand, or many hands as it moved about. Several golden limbs would be grabbed and the little machine would pull back those limbs pulling the children towards its core body. The entity in question could be considered cute by some. It was round and not shaped to harm. It let out a few more whistles. Once done its task of saving the many the golden limbs withdrew into itself and formed a ball like form. It rolled around and the children followed the gold and blue ball.

This little miracle worker belonged to an individual. The individual stood tall and at his side stood a canine who had puffed her chest out. The dog was well known as ... Husky dogs were rare in the desert. One particular man owned a husky, and had taken care of her quite well. The individual stood in grey armour with a black shroud that covered some of his features. The shroud did not cover his face however. The face was rigid and still. There was an expression beneath that metallic visage that seemed to bore itself to the forefront. "Salutations."<i></i> The individual said in a voice that many knew. The voice belonged to the Lord Steward. More beeps and boops followed after coming from the machine, then a string of barks came from the canine. "Sparker and Kitchy also want to say hi as well. I trust you've all been behaving in this ... excitement?"<i></i> There was a genuine sense of curiosity. Yes an accident had occurred, but no lives were lost. That was the first and most important thing in all of this.

 

[Toraono Michino]

Michino called out a battle cry as he pulled on reserves to scurry across the new canyon wall towards the falling students. Yet, as the first began to fell and the young Toraono saw his defeat, a golden hand reached out and grasped a hold of the young, then another, and another, until all of them had been brought back up. A grin exploded on the young man’s face as he knew only a rare handful of people who had the ability to have such contraptions; and of the two he could think of, only one would use them to help.
Digging his feet into the wall and then pushing up with the reserves he had drawn out to rescue his endangered students, Michino practically flew out of the canyon and landed back on the shifting sands a good six feet away from the edge. Slowly the Toraono stood to face a mentor and his self-proclaimed uncle; as were most older male figures to him that he had high respect for. It had taken some time but the idea of considering anyone a father or mother no longer held sway over the man. His real parents were both mysterious and assholes from what little info he had on either. The real people who taught him how to live, how to talk, and how to show respect were the brothers and sisters of his birth mother, and the rare few shinobi of the village who had taken a liking to him; Aunts and Uncles, as he saw them.

Standing before his Uncle Sousuke, Michino would likely be showing a change he had not been able to present to the Steward just yet. Dark purple fire gently burned in the shape of both his right arm and left leg, but neither seem to hold any actual heat to them. Despite that, the trained senses from the Takahashi would no doubt recognize the powerful cursing power of the Youkai. How the new young teacher had managed to mold that power to his will, let alone form it into his limbs, was impressive; if not outright dangerous. Yet Michino crossed his arms and stood on his right leg, casually, as he thanked the Robo Kage for being in the right place at the right time.
As he strolled across the small hills towards his mentor, another earth shaking blow tossed the students onto the sands left and right, except for the one Michino had saved across the canyon as the shaking had remained to only a single side this time. Following the second earthquake a plume of dirt and debris flew into the air around them and shortly after the cry of something from nightmares; a lot of something.

Almost casually, Michino jogged up to what remained of his dojo before focusing a large amount of his chakra into the cursed flames of his left leg, then spun kick a corner of the cement gym. The force was nearly unheard as the giant mass of stone lifted off the ground as if he had kicked a football. What was heard was the building breaking the sound barrier before dislodging a part of the canyon so that it began to fall in on itself. It was an attempt to cave in whatever was just now trying to break out of the new canyon. With a couple of steps back, Michino landed next to Sousuke with his purple irises intent on the canyon.
“So, what do you think we should do about the kid-”

The rocks caving in the beasts below exploded upwards along with a sickeningly strong wave of killing intent. Three of the students fainted on the spot, while the rest could only cower in fear. A claw, a hand, a wing, all scaly and monstrous followed into a group of terrible humanoids that began to crawl out of the canyon. Another wave of intent soared past them once more as the Swarm began to slowly stand up on their legs; this one, hunger.
Reaching to his side, Michino quickly manifested and unsheathed his weapon, a red katana that seemed to make the air near it visible. He held it before him with both hands in the traditional stance for now as he began to gauge his foe.

“Question still stands Uncle, pretty sure things are about to get really messy, and I doubt my students can do much to defend themselves after nearly a whole day of endurance training.”

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke took in note of the changes Michino head. He had in fact manifested his missing pieces. The Steward had collected the concept that Michino had figured out something. There seemed to be a sense of amusement in the metallic visage of the Steward. While his face was rigid and expressionless there were moments when an expression or sensation would bleed through the metallic face plate. Sousuke had expected Michino to approach him for assistance and to build a replacement limb. Instead of that, somehow the young man had figured out something entirely different. Sousuke had met Michino's other self a long time ago, and he was able to gather that the energy being drawn upon came from that other self. Was it dangerous? Most definitely. Giving Michino a strong talking to in front of his students was not a wise thing to do. It could damage the young man's ego to irreparable states. The Steward was very much not the young man he used to be. He carried with him an axe which was pointed to the ground. The great axe was completely black in colour. It seemed like it was a walking stick of sorts. The Steward stood proud and tall.

Michino had stated that things were about to get messy. Endurance training was taxing. Indeed. Michino had adopted a fighting stance, and Sousuke would lift the axe with a single hand. Several clicks were heard as the ebony weapon was picked up. The blades of the axe would grow bright red as the ground was scorched as he lifted it. The weapon was giving off tremendous heat. "Sparker kindly collect the children, and keep them safe. I may have to conjure Maya to keep an eye on them, but I don't think the children would be able to tell the difference between our enemy and a Toad Crone."<i></i> The mechanical assistant would indeed collect the children and it would begin to usher them behind himself for a fleeting moment.

The Steward would vanish and reappear putting the weapon in the skull of a member of the swarm. The skull burned up and the axe was quickly pulled back as the Steward again proceed to dismember another member of the swarm. Each axe stroke revealed a telling feature of this new weapon of the Steward. The weapon cut clean through the targets and the blood and wound was immediately cauterized. It was a clean method of dispatching the foe, but there was the possibility that little would remain.

 

[Toraono Michino]

The Toraono watched proudly as the Stewart didn’t waste even a moment of time issuing orders to the comrades he had brought with him to keep the children safe. As Sousuke vanished and reappeared in the fray, his axe cleaving the Unbent, Michino turned towards the students before forming a few hand seals and placing them against the hard sands. Infernal Runes would burn into the ground around them and Kitchey, creating a barrier with the intent on causing anything that stepped towards them would explode into a pillar of flame.Hopefully they wouldn’t need to, but if the students needed, they could leave the circle without harm. Pleased with himself, the seven-foot tall man turned on his fiery heel and swung Valmanway in front of him a few times to warm up his sword arm. As he did, echoes of the swing caused the air to vacuum into long thin blades of wind that were propelled at the pact of Unbent. The waves carved into the ranks to whittle out the numbers a little as Michino went through his dangerous warming exercises. Blades of wind soared up and near the pacts of evil swarming their way, and at the end of his practice the blade slid soundlessly back into his sheath and became invisible once more. The swordsman slowly crouched his body down, his palm hovering above the wrapped handle by only an inch, and slowly began to draw air into his lungs.
The wind that was blowing around suddenly seem to die, moving only the grains around his feet ever so slightly in a circle. The Toraono pushed his bare feet into the desert, and in a snap, he too was into the fray. His image reappeared next to Sousuke, immediately after he swung, and left only a hair’s breadth of an opening. Though he had more than enough faith that his mentor could close the gap an Unbent was trying to exploit, the creature would never get the chance. The sound of a blade tearing through leather vibrated in the air as Michino’s suddenly still form slowly drew up his attack into an over head stance. Before he stuck again, the original fiend he struck became suddenly bisected, and then cut into quarters as Michino slammed down a vertical strike that removed the creature; following it were three of its companions in a line behind.
The duo continued to tear through the small force that had the misfortune to stumbled upon them. With Sousuke’s tactics, advanced weaponry, and Michino’s swordsmanship, the two never suffered so much as a single wound. The seven-foot beast of a warrior moved with attacks that appeared slow but struck with such speeds that it was impossible to know exactly where, and how hard, his attacks would follow through. His blade would sing through the space between himself and an opponent, and then open up its chest contents only after he turned to strike another. The students behind the duo’s protection did little more than stand there, fascinated by the strength of their peers.
Despite this, at least Michino would admit to it anyways, the opponents they faced still required a careful approach. On the sidelines it most certifiably seemed that the Takehashi and Toraono steamrolled the group of fifteen to twenty Unbent, but in reality, every single attack had been carefully calculated before execution. In this small fight, the swordsman got a slight taste for his new enemy, and found them to be far more dangerous than the average desert bandit.

“What are these things, I wonder?”

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke cut down their enemy which an extreme amount of violence. Their biology was still a foreign thing and so sometimes the most drastic measures had to be taken. The enemy was cleave in twain. The enemy was beheaded. In some instances contact with the black axe that Sousuke was using resorted in nothing less than the enemy catching fire and burning to cinders. The tip of the axe blade glowed a bright red. There was a heat that Michino could sense rising from the axe as it was cutting through the enemy. At one point there was a sickening crunch as the head of the axe was used to shatter the skull of the enemy as the flat end of the axe head was used to bludgeon the head and then excessive force was used. Sousuke would at one point leave his axe in the back of one of their foes. He would then pull out Thunder Talon Legacy from his hidden leg holster and open fire. The air was cracked by the sound of the pistol shot as Sousuke proceeded to take aimed shots eliminating targets in one to two shots. Once the clip was emptied he would reload and again open fire. The pistol had three barrels to it, when one shot was done, the next barrel would then rotate.

Michino's question came after their enemy was dispatched. The Steward would hostler the firearm. He would then pull the axe from his enemy's now burning remains. He would look at the body. He did not answer the question right away. The Lord Steward instead was mildly puzzled. "You missed my broadcast to Suna. I'm wounded."<i></i> He would answer at first. He would shake his head as he kicked over the body. "These are the new devilry that overwhelmed the Daimyo and his students of the Sovereign academy. These of course were lesser ones. Had they been ... higher up this battle would have been ... far more challenging. I assure you there is a challenge to be had. We were lucky it did not come at this present time."<i></i> Sousuke knew he was in no position to combat Dominus let alone survive the battle to tell the tale. The axe that the Steward collected returned to its original black colour. There was no evidence of the heat. He would again return to using it like a walking stick of sorts. He would make his way over to Michino. He would quietly look to the students and then back to Michino. In a lower voice he would speak. "Your new limbs. Interesting things those are. Should I be concerned now or later about them, and the feeling I get from them?"<i></i> He would inquire casually. It wasn't a disappointed voice. It wasn't an angry voice. It was in fact a curious one. The Lord Steward was indeed very curious about what Michino had picked up recently in terms of his power sets. He approached the youth. His eyes glowed a low white. "I do worry a lot these days. Must be old age... or maybe I've finally grown to be even more paternal. Which is it I wonder?"<i></i>

 

[Toraono Michino]

The Toraono stood back with his arms crossed, keeping a stern eye as his mentor felled the last of the evil. Carefully the swordsman swung the blade skyward to remove any blood as the fluids were sent sailing via another blade of wind. Twisting the weapon back into a reverse edge, he returned the ancient metal to its resting place, causing the weapon to explode back into the plane it rested on. Sousuke answered his question.
“I didn’t miss it…I just…didn’t imagine this. They were coordinated through sheer chaos, and it was really difficult to pin down which one was going to attack. I also get the feeling these are lesser soldiers, we should probably start heading back home.”

For his mentor’s next question, Michino explained his limbs as they moved towards the students. The demonic entity inside of him, his contract with the Youkai, the couple of years he spent in a realm of death training under a death god…the list was long. He didn’t have chance to go more into detail, like he usually did with his inquisitive uncle, but he was able to summarize most of what he had been through. The limbs were just but another step towards his path for power. He held up the right hand of purple clawed flame with a big grin,
“This is Owari’s arm, the demon that used to mess with me as a kid. So is this leg. I control the leg, and she tries really hard to control this arm. Most of the time, I let her, because her combat sense is higher than mine, but today I resisted…” his head tilted up at the children with mix looks of awe and concern, “I couldn’t risk them. She is still an imp, and doesn’t care for anyone else but me. You have nothing to be concerned about though, Uncle. The seal Toraono Kuro placed on my chest still acts as a means to stop her will. Worst case scenario, I lose consciousness and she possess my body. Even in that regards she can only do so for an hour. Eventually the Youkai Realm will pull her soul back as per the terms of our contract. Still, I doubt she’d hurt anyone I love or take care of.”
Not that his twin sister wasn’t a bitch. Owari would no doubt only offer swears and insults to whomever tried to talk to her but, Michino was more than confidant she’d respect his will. They didn’t get along as well as most twins, but they didn’t hate each other anymore either. Long before the contract was signed the two had managed to become a team, of sorts, and this was just another sign of that.

The Toraono lifted his large hand and placed it against the barrier before closing his eyes. It shook once and released, the desert air once again blowing through the clothes of the children. He breathed in deeply and looked back at the lone child across the canyon, looking just as awed as the rest.
“Shall we head home?”

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"Even I would be ... bested if their higher ups showed up." A horrorifying truth that was spoke in low words by the Lord Steward. He would drop the axe and he would hold it in a different way. He would hold the flat end of the top of the axe blade. He would walk with it, using it like a cane. He would move like an older man would. Did he have to walk like this? No. It built character and was in a way befitting of his age. He would rest for a moment, or at least it would seem like he was resting. He was in fact listening to the young Toraono speak. He knew of what he spoke of. This demon he had met on ocassion. It took over Michino. The Lord Steward's eyes glowed bright white when it was revealed something he did not know. He learned on this day of all days, that this demon was infact a demoness. All this time he thought it was a male. Demons had genders too and other methods of identification to their being. Learning that it was a female? That was something else. Michino could not see it, but it was as if the Steward had raised an eyebrow at him. "I did not know this. That your ... other half was of the feminine persuassion. How ... awkward that must be given that the female gender is ... most perplexing. Even I in my limited wisdom am uncertain when dealing with them." He would admit. Women were tricksters, scornful, brave, angry, sad, lustful, and other various random characteristics. The same could be said about men, but that was said from a female perspective. "I'm curious though if I still hold her respect from that time when I used my words in the Grand Palasis to ... persuade people to leave their post." A legitimate question. Women had opinions that could change on a whim given the slightest show of weakness. That was years ago of course.

Michino then asked a very simple question. One that had a very simple answer. "Yes. I believe that would be for the best." As the two walked Sousuke had more questions in his mind. He continued to walk with the axe. "Does Tama know about Owari? Given his history with women... he would be nothing short of being terrified by this situation. Secondly there is your paramour. Is she aware?" He would inquire. He was most curious about the relationship Owari had with her ... other brother? Was Tama considered a brother to her even? Chiyo was another matter too. Her father would perhaps have reservations about this development. That being said the old assassin would perhaps have a different opinion of his daughter given that she was now a chuunin and that she had survived the hell that was Inferno. Sousuke had yet to come to fists or words with the that old wolf. It was something that was in the background, brewing. Sousuke had left him to his own devices in the criminal underworld, and the old wolf knew it. Sousuke had him on an equal level threat in comparison to the Miroku clan. "Tell me, what does Owari call me, if you refer to me as uncle?"

 

[Toraono Michino]

Questions came storming out of Sousuke, but, that was pretty much exactly what Michino expected. He smirked lightly as his eyes watched the students run past the two soldiers and towards the edge of the new canyon. The old man was always one seeking information to the perplexing, usually out of sheer curiosity, but mostly to categorize with the rest of his infinite knowledge. This Toraono was an odd case, even in his own clan, and he had no doubt that was due to his own birth and the depravity of his father’s grand schemes.
“Whaaaaaat? No! You could never be bested by anyone, Steward!” he said loudly as the kids ran pass, some with looks of concern, “…but yeah, not a lot of people know about Owari. Chiyo, Tama, Uzu, dear lord especially Toushin. Last thing I need is another, ‘He’s a demon, you can’t trust them’ fight between Chiyo and her dad again. Last one I had to break up before they killed each other. Assassin, am I right? But the gender she chose came with the form she supposedly handpicked herself. I never imagined she saw her self like she does, but, regardless I still can’t pull it into our realm. She’s always watching over my shoulder, however, especially now. I can feel her. Owari loves violence. I can’t say I know her opinions though. You’d have to ask her yourself one day.”
Michino stopped at the edge with the rest of the students before preforming a few dozen seals to amass enough chakra that when he pushed it into the earth, the ground obeyed and stretched a bridge out to connect the two split halves.
“When I can manifest our bond into the physical realm, I promise you can ask her any question you want, and we can prank the ol’ Hybrid together.”
Once he had the entire class reunited, the Chunnin focused a bit of chakra into his eyes to get a slight better lay of the land before catching a few scents in the wind. Blood was coming in from everywhere North of their position. He had no idea if it was from the earthquake, the creatures they had put down, or something else all together. However, before he could find out, the two shinobi needed to get the young back home.

[Topic Left]
[Lets pick this up again after the war!]