Private [Tutor] Getting The Job Done

[Nanjirou Soku]

The practical was set within the Academy grounds but for what Soku had in mind, they would be based outside. A straw mat lay flat on the ground and it held a variety of shinobi weaponry at their dispoal. It included things like blades, kunais, shuriken, even a bow and arrow and Soku's own blade was set down as the sun shined down glinting off the shine of the metal. These were all tools that could be used by shinobi who perhaps preferred a more personal approach to their objectives but the way Soku saw it, every ninja needed to carry one.

Sure, even Soku herself was extremely adept in ninjutsu but there was always a time that perhaps, you would need to resort to more practical methods and that was why it was essential that every shinobi keep a good handle on the retinue of taijutsu, familarizing themselves with fighting stances, moves, strikes and she could go on and on but she would save that ramble for later before she relived the entire lesson in her head before her prospective peer had even gotten here. Truth be told, this was a common routine of hers.

Soku and the headmaster had this tradition going for a while back before she had even risen through the ranks. He referred her students who were desperatly in need of some fine-tuning in a manner of speaking and Soku took that upon themsevles to see that they were properly equipped.

The Jounin had no idea, no idea at all who it was that was supposed to be showing up but she had put good faith in her messenger. The message delivered however had been a tricky one to the student as it came in the form of a riddle. A riddle that would lead them to the precise location and as for it's words, Soku peeled out her copy of it smiling down at the words that almost jumped out at her from how carefully selected they were designed to cause confusion if no one bothered to look beyond what the word's true meaning was.

I am the only place in the world where the future comes before the present.


That was all they had to go on as she folded the parchment again and sank down to sit beneath a tree, the branches providing for some shade so that to any passerby, it would look like she was napping but in truth, she was watching. It could be a while before anyone showed up so might as well get comfortable, Soku thought to herself humming lightly as she folded her hands gently across her lap keen to see what the day held in store for her.

PC: 1/5
WC: 449/1500

 

[Yume Izanami]

Today was her day off from her normal training and academy shenanigans. But even on her day off, her parents want her to learn to play the piano. She doesn't even want know how to play the piano! But it was her butler that had saved her from a torturous and boring piano lesson. He had talked about how there was a letter addressed to her and he had examined the letter to make sure that there were no assassination type effects in the note itself to cause death. Being given the note, Mitsuha read it. Raising an eyebrow, she reread it again. "Place where future is before present?" She didn't know what this was all about, but she figures that it's some sort of test. Her parents had told their butler to watch over her as she explores to find the location.

It seemed like a nice enough day outside. Sunny with only the slightest ever breeze. Today she had worn a plain green shirt along with blue jeans as she walked around. Her butler was nowhere in sight, but she knows that he's following her at a distance to get the jump on any thugs that decide to mess with her. She wandered around with the note trying to figure out where such a place would even exist. She's read books about the future, maybe someone really made a time travelling device! But why would they contact her about it??

Eventually after about an hour of receiving the note, she decided to give the Academy a visit and rest there. Sitting in the shade of a tree, she noticed a woman with a large assortment of weapons laid out. Her inner introvert was telling her to not even approach the woman that Mitsuha was good living in her own bubble, but this note was kind of bugging her that she still didn't know what it meant. She took a deep breath, psyching herself up before approaching the woman. "Excuse me Miss. But do you know anything about a place where the future is before the present? It's kind of weird and cryptic..."

Post: 1/5
wc: 352/1500

 

[Nanjirou Soku]

It took a moment before Soku replied. Maybe she was wanting to give off the presumption that she was asleep and finally after a few seconds of dauting silence, her eyes lifted to meet her prospective peer, slightly impressed that their prusuit had led them there and judging from how she reworded the mystery message, Soku could only deduce she hadn't solved the riddle yet despite being in the right place, that in itself brought an amused smile to the former Sennin's expression.

"Oh, there's a lot of those places, but that sounds awfully familiar to me. I'm trying to recall where I've heard that cryptic saying before." Soku assumed an expression of though, as if trying to gauge where she'd heard it before in one smooth motion, she stood nodding in approval. Sure, they might have not cracked the riddle totally but they had deduced it to lead them here and for Soku, that was good enough as she extended her hand as if silently asking to examine the piece of parchment.

"As it stands, I wrote that. Oh, and you can tell that butler of your's to do a better job of trailing you." Soku said raising her voice a few decibels glancing in the direction where she thought she had heard movement, there were very ew shinobi who could get the drop on a former ANBU captain and Sennin and it certainly showed now as she thought introductions were certainly in proper order. "My name is Nanjirou Soku, one of the senior Jounin here in Konohagkure, your headmaster referred you to me for some training excercises so safe to say, we'lll be having ourselves a little lesson."

Not to mention, weaponry was Soku's favorite area to attack. She had picked up so many tips and tricks over the year but she had to keep reminding herself that the girl was still fresh, young even and probably didn't even know one end of a pointy thing to the other but one could hope, right?

"Right, have they taught you any weaponry skills in the Academy? Are you familiar with any of these, whaat's your preferred type?" She gestured at the straw mat which held the variety of weapons all waiting for a silent invitation to be picked up, examined and put through the trials which was exactly what they were going to do here today.

"Pick one up off the mat, show me a stance and how'd you would grip it."

She paused before adding on pointing a finger at her own blade which was cast off to the side. "Except that sword, a Nanjirou's blade is never held by anyone but them or the consequences can be...unique." She said deciding not to add on how the blade could be living, that would be a complication that she did not want to explain instead waiting to see what the girl went with.

"While you're deciding, your name and a personal goal of your's. Somethign that matters to you deep down."

PC: 2/5
WC: 944/1500

 

[Yume Izanami]

The girl listened as the woman spoke. It seemed like a lot to take in as she tried to catch every word that was said. Ideally, the young Kaguya would rather roll up in her bed and read some manga and never be around people. But... She also made it her goal to become a full-fledged ninja after one had saved her family. On the talk of her butler trailing her, Mitsuha gave a soft laugh, "Me and my family usually only have to worry about the small fry thugs. That and my butler was an ex-shinobi a long time ago." She shrugged her shoulders, "Between you and me, old man is rusty, but sweet and caring. He's about the same age as my grandpa." Yes, it was a surprise for her that the woman before her was the one that had written that note and she goes into detail about why. Nanjirou Soku, senior jounin, training exercises.

Soku then started barraging Mitsuha with questions and the girl was taken aback. It almost felt like she was being interrogated rather than just being asked what she knows. "Um... Well... They did teach me just some of the basics. And I'm only familiar with the basic type of shinobi weapons, kunai's, shuriken's, swords. And I guess I like to fight up close and personal."

When directed to grab a weapon off the mat, the young girl's eyes drifted to a sword that lay beautifully off to the side. She reached out but before she could touch it, Soku had warned her about the weapon. Not keen of having any consequences, her hand retreated from it hand as she looked over the other weapons. She herself said that she'd want the up close and personal types of weapons, but nothing really comes to mind. That is, until she found a peculiar type of weapon, something that was a mix between brass knuckles and a curved knife. Her butler had talked about these types of weapons before. Chakra blades. Picking the weapons up carefully, she slipped her fingers into the holes so that she has a good grip of the weapon and then took a stance. She favored her right side so both her left foot and left hand were in front of the right foot and right hand. Both hands were closed tight, but not tight to where her skin is digging into the metal weapon.

She then just remembered that Soku wants her to introduce herself along with a personal goal. "My name... It's... Kaguya Mitsuha. And my personal goal, other than becoming a ninja is to be more famous than both of my parents. My father a business guru, and my mother is a professional dancer. She uses the Kaguya bloodline to dance."

Posts:2/5
wc: 812/1500

 

[Nanjirou Soku]

Soku stifled a laugh at Mitsuha's confession. It was charming really that her family was watching over her and it was understandable. Soku couldn't even give the excuse that she was in safe hands, all of them had bore witness to the attack on the village gates that still left wounds that weere crying for resolution as unpleasant thoughts of that evening bubbled back up to her head before Soku mustered her courage to push those unwanted voiced back to where they had come from.

She nodded her understanding. "I expected as much, they won't take you through anything too complicated." She said watching as the girl made her selection opting for a chakra blade. It was a common favorite among village shinobi and for good reason too. It was quick and swift, you could deiliver a flurry of jabs and it's curved styles made it very flexible in a variety of situations and that wasn't to mention the thrum of chakra that ran through the blade enhancing it in more ways than one.

"Solid choice."

Soku mirrored the action stooping to draw a chakra blade as well, her stance remained spread, easily balanced distributing her weight equally across both sides of her body so it didn't give off too easily which one was her dominant side and which one was her weak one. That was a fatal flaw most shinobi made, such a minor detail that led to their undoing but being raised in a life of swordfighting and combat, she had learned to pick up on those signs and clues and that was something she was willing to pass onto this prosepctive kunoichi.

"In a hand to hand fight, even the smallest thing matters. The way you swing your weapon, the way you grip it, even how you're standing and for the love of Raiden, do not ever take your eyes off your target. Consider your weapon your set of eyes, your vision follows where it goes and you'll be able to predict the attack. If you're distracted, you might not end up being so lucky."

She said and it had barely been a second since she'd stopped speaking that suddenly, Soku's hand came up in a lightning-quick strike, the blade darting to nick Mitsuha's cheek if she wasn't careful as Soku watched to see what the reaction would be in response, a test to see if the kunoichi was truly as familiar as she claimed to me.

It didn't matter if she wasn't, by the end of today, she would know the ins and outs of weaponry like never before.

"You also have to take into account another critical flaw which is not to depend on one weapon too much. Get yourselves comfortable with a variety, a situation might arise where you might not have access to your preferred tools and now you find yourself in a world of trouble because you haven't trained for the unexpected. Cover all of your bases."

PC: 3/5
WC: 1432/1500

 

[Yume Izanami]

Mitsuha watched as her tutor chose a stance that the girl can only guess be an advanced form and listened as she spoke. Learning to be part of the weapon learning to have every detail perfected and to not be distracted. She had also talked about a Raiden? "Excuse me but what is a Rai-" Her eyes widened as Soku's weapon neared her face. She tried to take a step back, but she almost seemed amazed by the woman's speed. Bringing up her own set of chakra blades, she thought to deflect it, but deep down, she would know that it would be too late for that.

But in that moment, she felt her own bones come out of her own cheeks, almost as if she felt the need to. In that split second, she had an idea. She is slower than Soku, no doubt about it, but she is about to hopefully surprise her tutor by moving in and slicing up with her own chakra blade, fully expecting it to be deflected.

Nevertheless of the result, she would back off, hopefully fast enough to dodge out of the way if another attack were to happen. She would listen as Soku would speak some more. To not depend on one weapon too much and to always have a variety. This could very well be her hinting to the girl to try and get a different weapon. She has an idea. another stupid idea that just might work. "Okay... I guess I get it. By the way, what's a raiden? And-" She would break off her sentence suddenly and shoot some bone fingers at the ground before the woman's feet. The young Kaguya would then make a mad dash to the weapon mat and discard the chakra blades in favor for a rapier, a weapon made like a sword but more for poking rather than slashing. She would then turn around, and hopefully not be face to face with the far more experienced woman.

pc: 3/5
wc: 1145/1500

 

[Nanjirou Soku]

It never failed. Distraction, followed by a strike and in that moment, she had passed down a very important lesson to her student, Soku had hoped, that being that no matter the circumstances, they should always be prepared for a threat regardless of where they were or who they were with, the moment they got comfortable was the moment that everything went to flames which is exactly what had happened with Konohgakure just a couple of months ago. They had been enjoying an era of peace and unison when the village had been subjected to a rude awakening to say the least.

She nodded in approval as her own blade whistled through the air and if it had been some unforunate soul, they would have been split open from flesh to bone as their blades met for a brief second before disenaging. "It appers you possess some rudiementary skills after all, Not bad." She said althouhg if she was impressed, it defintly did not show on her face. It had been a basic parry, nothing worthwhile about that until she introduced stressors and influences to see how the girl would react under pressure.

"It's a deity, we typically refer to it whe-." Her sentence broke off as she saw the fingers flick upwards and rolled backwards just as the bones came smashing towards her. She shook her head, it had been a good attempt. "Good one but I've used that trick more times than I can count, here's another pointer. Don't give off what you're about to do. A veteran swordsman will be able to tell what type of attack is coming and when" A seasoned warrior, like her and to prove her point, Soku would demonstrate.

She raised an eyebrow as the girl opted for a rapier, thinner but still acted as the same function as a sword. "Your weight distribution, where you keep looking, which limb you fidget with, these are all indicators of your preferred weapon hand and whether you're about to do something, you have to learn to remove that or make it very subtle."

"Or on the alternative, keep your hands moving constantly. Distract your foe, don't let them get a read on where a potential attack might be coming from." She said as Soku closed the distance between them, her right hand coming for a jab at Mitsuha before suddenly at the last second, Soku reversed her wrist throwing her blade to her opposite hand to slash at Mitsuha from the side in a split-second choice, a dangerous manevur but one if done correctly, would spell the end for many shinobi.

PC: 4/5
WC: 1865/1500

 

[Yume Izanami]

Mitsuha had caught what Soku had said whilst she was running from her to grab the rapier. She didn't really expect to get the jump on the far more experienced person, just make room for her to grab another weapon.

Once she turned around, her teacher had given her a confused look, as if to say, why would this idiot grab a rapier of all the weapons that she could have used? Well, for her size and strength, the rapier felt perfectly balanced in her hands. She had remembered something that her butler had once told her. If a weapon just feels right to you, it usually means that you should work towards mastering it. Wearing the chakra blades felt a little bit weird for her, but holding the rapier just felt right. She couldn't really put it into words other than that she felt more comfortable holding this weapon than the chakra blades. Switching hands, the weapon still felt comfortable in her left hand as it does the right.

She was partially listening to Soku speak as she saw sudden movement in her line of sight. First thing she thought of? Oh crap... She instantly switched to her right hand holding the weapon and went in for a poke, but seeing the sudden movement from her teacher switch, the girl had to readjust and duck under as she continued forth. But before it would reach, she would drop her rapier from her right hand and catch it with her left hand, which was already in a thrusting motion to try and get an attack in. She already had a plan if it were to fail. Stepping further in, she would a) try and step on her teacher's toes, and b) She would come in with her right hand with a quick jab, aiming for the stomach area.

post: 4/5
Wc: 1451

 

[Nanjirou Soku]

She could see the now-determined look in the girl' face, a look of realization as she realized perhaps what Soku was trying to point and that was something that pleased her. It was these little details that got people killed and if she could bring a little bit of awarness to that in order to preserve the next generation then that meant Soku had done her part as they readjusted themselves for another attack. Still, with the rapier being as thing of a blade as it was, it was fine for quick, little jabs but it would not hold up well in a long-drawn out battle especially against the hardened steel of the Nanjirou steelsmiths.

The blade whistled just above as the student ducked just in time to miss, a look of surprise crossed Soku's face as Mitsuha executed a most perfect sword technique dropping the rapier to snag it with her other hand, the blade thrusting forth in an aim at her torso. It was much too late to perform any type of alternative gesture or counter and that for Soku, was something she would take note of.

Blade met blade as the rapier nearly bent clanging against the vest that Soku had worn. If not, she might have been skewered in two. "Impressive. The Falling Dragon Lunge is the name of that technquie, dropping your blade to increase moment and feint weakness before coming in for a strike exposing your opponet's vulnerability."

Still, it was clear that if they had continued meeting sword with sword, the poor rapier might have shattered. It was a good weapon but as long as you knew how to use it which in this case, Mitsuha had done perfectly. "Interesting choice, not something I would have gone with but to each their own. Quick, effective and deadly but take care not to get caught in a drawn out swordfight, rapiers tend to rely on their speed and short jabs so they have to be light as compared to a standard shinobi blade like mine, slower perhaps but the steel will hold up especially against that."

Soku sheathed her own sword nodding approvingly.

She had liked what she had seen and moreso,, she was glad she had been weaaring her vest otherwise, she figured they might be having a very different converstation of how Mitsuha had managed to wound a Sennin. Granted, they weren't in a actual situation so it was expected both of them would be holding back for the sake of the lesson but as far basics went, she liked what she had seen.

"Good stuff, Mitsuha.. Any questions? Anything else you want to try? I know it can be tempting." She said, a bit of humor in her eyes.


PC: 5/5
WC: 2317/1500

 

[Yume Izanami]

She got a hit in? She got a hit in?! Mitsuha was by all means surprised and stunned about it too, though the rapier had met its end by Soku's blade as the thin weapon was bent in half. It had also made her happy to receive praise from someone of a much higher rank than her, though she probably not shown it much.

The older woman would then ask her if she had any questions or if there was anything she'd like to try out. She would then give a bow of respect and smile sheepishly shaking her head. "I'm sorry, but... talking and being with people drains me. I hope you understand." She would awkwardly hold the broken rapier, not really knowing what to really do with it, "Um... Thank you for training me... And..." She gestured, holding up the rapier, "Sorry for breaking your rapier."

PC:5/5
WC: 1599