Physical Training [Hiroshi/Masuyo]

There were quite a few concerns that were raised with Hiroshi when he spent the last two missions under the care of Akihiro, that while he's good at Ninjutsu his close-range is lacking and should an opponent specialise in that area, Hiroshi can very easily get beaten to a pulp and the only thing that he could defend himself with is his Kusarigama and even then with his knowledge of Bukijutsu, he didn't know to utilise it properly for it's full effect. He got recommended to go to the second training grounds around 12 PM, but he ended up getting there about half an hour earlier to try and quickly revise on what he knew in close-quarters combat. Since this was a training, he knew to get there in his ninja gear

He dressed to impress, wearing a light shaded black outfit that seemed to be easy to move around in, showing that it's good for easier movement for the wearer, while he wore blue sandals and just above the sandals is bandages around the shin. The black colour showed to be an interesting contrast compared to his red hair and the blue headband with a metal plate on front with the Leaf's logo around his forehead. He was also armed to the teeth with two holsters and a hip pouch, the hip pouch containing his explosives, smokes, kunai's etc while his right leg holster has one kunai while his waist holster on the side has ten shuriken. He also has a spring-loaded kunai mechanism attached to his wrist, hidden under his black sleeve.

In the free time that he had, he revised on close-combat jutsu that he could get his hands on, since that's one of the areas he luckily invested in, being Ninjutsu. There were a few shoddy attempts but after constantly going at it, his skin turned into a black hardened stone of sorts that acted as a second skin of stone, a good offensive and defensive technique. He then began training a technique of his second chakra nature being Wind, while he did want to focus on close-range he also needed to learn stronger Ninjutsu as he developed. After performing one handseal, a series of wind bullets flew straight out of Hiroshi's mouth and pierced through multiple trees, making numerous holes in the forest trees which stood and endured the damage. He was quite pleased with the result either way... believing that he learned what he could without exhausting too much of his chakra, he then waited patiently for whoever was training him to come along.

Learned: Earth Release: Earth Spear - 200 WC
Wind Release: Air Bullets - 200 WC
Total WC from post - 430

The following day since her return and trying to get this whole mess with Lord Satomi's assassination ironed out she found herself an opportunity to step outside the stuffy office and get some physical activity in. Masuyo was a hard worker when she had work to do. Paperwork and problems were addressed immediately, the woman not keen on letting work pile up to spend time "thinking" or sipping tea. Unfortunately with her work style she would end up not having anything to do for sometimes hours. She greatly disliked the lifestyle and hoped to have the Hokage position filled soon, but that was pipe dream. The roster showed her unreliability and incompetence. Between the Head Medic disappearing on a year long vacation to the lack of skillful Jounin and Jounin in general. Akihiro was the Head Strategist at such a young age. She could not argue his intelligence, but his achievements have also made him complacent and arrogant. It was a trait she picked up on the boy after a few interactions. To her standards he was incapable as a Jounin. In her eyes he was best suited as a Tokubetsu Jounin. It was something that needed to be addressed by her.

Her footwear consisted of standard black sandals fitted for comfort and security. With the toes and heel left exposed they provided additional balance, while the rest of the foot up to the ankle was protected by the thick nylon material of the sandal. The soles of the sandals are reinforced with hardened material to resist heavy impacts and weathering. She wore a pair of loose fitting black pants with the bottoms near her ankles taped securely in white bandage wrap. This provided balance and reinforcement to her ankles while closing off the ends of her pants. In addition, more bandage wrap was wrapped around her right thigh which allowed a navy blue holster to be strapped over comfortably. Around her waist she wears the basic utility belt which carries two green holsters on her right side along with a tool pouch around her back side and a canteen to the far left.

A black mesh shirt is worn under a common long sleeve black top having a red seal of fire placed on the outsides of each sleeve towards the upper arm. Over that was a fitted green flak jacket provided by Konoha's armory. The jacket was zipped up and secure firmly on her body. On both of her hands were a pair of fingerless black leather gloves, each fitted with a steel plate on the backs for protection as well as a means to fortify backhanded strikes. Around her neck Masuyo wears her forehead protector as a collar. The black cloth is tied in a knot around the back side of her neck with the steel plate facing the front for identification. The steel plate has Konoha's emblem engraved on the front. Masuyo has straight black hair which extends down to her mid back. Two strands of hair drop down touching her chest which leads into her bangs, those being cut shorter and swept to the side. She stands at 5'9 weighing approximately 145 lbs. Her fair skin is complimented with her voluptuous form which is completed with a pair of hazel eyes.

What Masuyo wore stayed the same. She never cared to wear the Kage robes and didn't feel it was even appropriate with her being the second-in-command made first. To her the robes were just symbol of status. It was the same pretentious 'M'lady!' society she was reluctant to participate in. The lock down prohibited her from leaving the village to her own home out in the woods which forced her to live a life of luxury.

She hated it and all the mindless indulgence. The people were pompous crap and so full of themselves. The clothing worn was expensive for something inefficient and the food they ate was trendy and show-offy. " 'Oh, a slice of white cake that looks like a castle and has fake edible gold! Let me pay one-hundred thousand ryo for that! Mmmm yes, yes very good M'lady!' Pfft!" Masuyo spoke to herself, mockingly, as she passed through the crowds. She'd stop by a small general store on the way to the training grounds to grab a salted beef sausage and a piece of cheese to munch on during her travel. She manged to find an opportunity to train a Genin who showed signs of excellence and was a potential candidate to be promoted to Chuunin. Konoha was in need of active duty personnel. A Genin lack the privileges of a real Shinobi to carry out jobs that needed to be done around the village.

Masuyo wound up nearing the training ground she was designated to meet at. Her eye caught the Genin, a young red-headed boy. He was short and slim with the potential to mature into a strong man. What Masuyo appreciated in training seasoned Genin was they already have their basics together. He was well-armed with a variety of tools and appraising the training area he was capable of some basic Ninjutsu. The man trained in a twenty meter clearing in the middle of the wooded area of the training grounds. Its lack of diversity regarding water sources and earthy structures made it a fairly neutral training area for all party members. She'd step in close enough to be within five meters of the boy who was waiting for her by standing idol in the clearing waiting for a sign off his trainer's arrival. "Hey'a. You must be Hiroshi." She said with a cheek full of chewed meat while she still held a half-eaten dry cured sausage.

Masuyo turned her head towards the far side of the clearing where the forest began. The trees were riddled with several holes which followed through to other trees deeper in the woods. "You seem quite capable with Ninjutsu. You seem proficient enough in Wind release from what I can tell. Why didn't you compete in the Chuunin Exams?"

His waiting around resulted him being left alone in his thoughts, reflecting on his past and how he had gotten up to this point... as he progressively became a decent shinobi, that mental scar of trying to be out on top grew smaller with each passing day, but it still remained there very strongly and as one of the driving forces for him to consistently train and one day, to hopefully unlock what he's really capable off with his bloodline. Regardless, that's something to think about for another day as he noticed a woman walking up, his eyes went down and up her figure, looking at her clothing and equipment. He could only guess that this is the person who's training him.

He was a bit reluctant at the first impression he got from her, but he knew not to judge a book by it's cover when he was on his first mission with Akihiro who displayed incredible genjutsu at such a young age. He imagined she's a similar case where she's more then just a pretty face and when push comes to shove, she's a strong ninja. The mouth full of food with her talking didn't really help it either, but he remained respectful towards her as he was told that somebody of a high rank would be training him. "Yes, Hiroshi Kazehana." he answered gently, he wanted to see if that last name might raise any red flags with her. He had a bit of trouble in the academy for it but as he grew up in becoming a ninja, it became less troublesome to the point that people started to see his loyalty towards the village. He especially knew that Akihiro had an interest in helping him unlock his magnet release.

Then came that next question, which was given a pretty speedy response, as if he had already gone over it before. "I wanted to but around the time for the signups, I wasn't as skilled in Ninjutsu or in general really. I might've gone if I had the level of strength that I have now but even then... I have a few weaknesses that might've been exploited in the exams. I'm not good at close combat for one, even now I have a few problems with it." he clearly thought it through a while back but in the end, he decided that he wasn't ready for the exams when they came around.

Since he gave a fair bit about himself, he wanted to learn who she was as well. "I don't think I know who you are, what's your name? and what's your rank? if you don't mind me asking." he had a feeling that despite the carefree approach she came up to him with, the way she spoke and the equipment she wore, also having his own guess at her age... she must at least be a Chuunin. That's the only educated guess he could give.

She acknowledged his confirmation and listened to his brief explanation, all while she enjoyed the rest of her lunch. It seemed the power he displayed now was only recently acquired. What was worth noting was his apparent weakness in Taijutsu. "Just call me Sensei. That's all you need to know for this session. Fortunately for you, being proficient in close-quarters is not a requirement for Chuunin. Though, if you ever wish to become a Jounin you will need to display some prowess with Taijutsu. For Chuunin we look for maturity and a certain level of leadership and tactical prowess. A lot of Genin are incapable of putting their emotions before the objective causing them to fail any task set before them. Mental maturity is also a huge skill to have. Removing selfishness and developing common sense is not just something you need as an adult." Masuyo's hand guided itself towards her flak jacket over the left breast as her fingers pinched the scroll release over one of the pocket. Immediately cupping the same over under the drop a single, small scroll fell into the palm of her hand.

"The Chuunin Exams are rather easy. We don't expect everyone to win their fights. An expert in long-ranged combat would destroy a Taijutsu expert if the ranged disciple had the advantage of conceal or a fortification. That doesn't mean the Taijutsu user is useless and an incompetent Shinobi. He simply had a poor match up. No, instead we look for his characteristics. Were his actions making sense? Did he put himself or his allies in harm's way? Did he take control of the situation? That's what makes a Chuunin. Of course we still expect to see some combat proficiency, but the main focus is 'Did this Genin ever grow up and mature into an adult? Can they handle adult responsibilities?' Because you'd be surprised how little combat Shinobi actually do. In peace time you're running errands and making a presence. But that's enough rambling. I want to see what you are capable of."

Pulling open the scroll she'd graze her thumb against one of the seals and within a plume of smoke she snatched her tool from the air. As the smoke settled she held a six foot quarter staff. It was made of oak but sturdily reinforced with steel langets and shods at the end. Masuyo would stick the butt end of the staff into the ground having it stand upright with her. "There are no rules for this match. I want to see what you're capable of in unregulated conditions. I don't intent to hold back, so neither should you. As a sense of courtesy, you have the first move." Masuyo would lower her stance just slightly so her knees were bent and ready to spring into action. She'd choke her right hand up the shaft of the staff while grabbing the lower quartet with her left hand. She would lead with the upper end.

He didn't quite pick up on the reason why she was here, other then the fact that she's supposedly training Hiroshi... however, he soon put it together that the reason she's here is to see if he's Chuunin material? It would seem to be case, considering how extensive she went in her explanation. Though her points did make sense and even then, he was more so worried about his close-combat prowess in the situation where he's ever forced to fight in close range like that, he would naturally try to run back or keep his distance but he wants to prepare for the cases where that's simply not possible. Regardless, that's what training would hopefully fix in due time, to weed out those sort of mistakes so they aren't made for when it counts.

Then came a surprise, their training would start immediately and it's in the form of a spar... he was thinking they would start more simple, like a warm up but he didn't mind this outcome. That answer of hers as well didn't really give him an idea on her rank or her name but considering she wants him to call her sensei, he can only assume that she's of higher rank and she's there for a reason, he couldn't underestimate her. He started to blow wind-infused chakra into his hand, taking advantage of the first move as she mentioned and soon enough, a swirling ball of wind chakra is on his open palm, he then launched it right towards Masuyo to make her move from that spot. He didn't want to go crazy yet, as he wanted to get an idea of her strength. He could guess that she's proficient in close-range with that staff of hers but he wanted to know how physically capable she is.

Learned: Wind Release: Spiraling Wind Ball - 200 WC
Total WC of Post - 298 WC

The Stuff:

Technique Descriptions:

Hiroshi was given the first move and it was no surprise he was capable of advanced technique. He held an open palm before him while he breathed into it. Wind would dance in a vortex as it formed into a sphere. It was essentially an energy ball reinforced with wind increasing its speed and overall destructive power. It was an advanced technique and allegedly a staple technique for Wind release users. Powerful, fast, a great range, and destructive enough to be reckoned with. A slight shift in Masuyo's stance could be noticed as her body became more tense and ready to move. It was certainly a great technique, but the clear weakness was being how much space it covered. The sphere was roughly the size of a hand fruit meaning a simple movement of the body would negotiate the technique.

The sphere would leave his hand whizzing through the air like a missile causing Masuyo to react. She could follow the speed of the sphere easy enough and move just as well. A sidestep allowed the chakra ball to pass right besides her as it continued into the treeline drilling through one trunk before exploding on another. She stood a meter and a half to the right from where she once stood being enough to avoid the attack. "What was the point of that? To get me to scoot?" Masuyo expected some Ninjutsu and was honestly not too surprised it was used this early. She noticed this trait with all Genin when they develop decent power. Some Genin feel Ninjutsu will carry the battle for them, often using it when not in the most ideal scenario. This results in a waste of chakra and eventually the right. Reminiscing with Rin, Sachiko, and Yui this was all the case.

"When you're unaware of what your opponent is capable of, try a conservative approach. Now I know one technique in your arsenal. If you need to distract me, use a technique meant to distract or improvise. Try again, or I'll bop you." Masuyo said this while getting low again holding her staff in both hands in the same grip practiced before.

All though the criticisms did get on his nerves a bit, he knew deep down that he couldn't be mad at her for it. It was a bit obvious now that he knew about it, trying to go for a quick, easy blow like that. It's not like he can just rely on her to stand still and take the hit. He was a bit impressed however at how she easily dodged it by going to the side, his own eye could just barely register the speed of that jutsu but that in itself might hint enough at the level of ability between her and him. He still decided to go with his original strategy and that's to force her to attack back somehow, he needed a clear idea of what he's up against and he knew going blind right against her in close combat is just foolhardy and idiotic... he needed to experience her level of strength without actually experiencing it... and that thought gave him an idea.

Shadow clones, he remembered that when they disappear into a puff of smoke, everything they experienced goes back to the real one, right at this moment, knowing about Masuyo's ability feels critical to him. He decided to go with that route and with one hand into his hip pouch, he brought out a smoke bomb and chucked it down at the ground, a large smokescreen soon appeared in Hiroshi's location. He didn't quite count on her just standing around and letting him do whatever he wanted, even with that promise of a first move so he decided to quickly weave a clone handseal to bring out a shadow clone with a considerable amount of chakra and then jumped into the earth afterwards with the Hide-like-a-mole technique, the hole he entered closed right after, as if he never used the jutsu at all. He then slowly but surely moved away from his previous standing location.

Right after, the clone used the Snake handseal and his entire body hardened into black, with the clone rushing out of the smokescreen and heading for Masuyo to try and face her head on, he wasn't planning for anything advanced at this stage and the clone would simply hope to get close enough to be threatening but as soon as he got in close contact, he would attempt a punch for Masuyo's chest, knowing full well that she would have some counter of some kind.

Meanwhile in the hopeful confusion, his second plan involved in the use of a wind jutsu from underground, one strong enough to pierce through the Earth but just to make sure, he got close enough to the surface and through the magnetic forces of the ground, could sense the location of where Masuyo and his clone is. After weaving a few handseals, he took a deep breath and started to exhale seven wind bullets that pierced through the ground and went towards the general direction of where Masuyo is, in the hopes that at least one of the bullets hit her. He didn't seem to mind if his bullets were to hit his clone.

Learned: Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere - 200 WC
Total WC of Post: 522 WC

The Stuff:

Masuyo waited for the boy to realize his mistake and plan accordingly. He didn't take too long, which was fortunate for him as the Jounin was growing impatient. Hiroshi quickly learned as his second try was a much more tactical approach. Throwing a smoke bomb onto the floor beneath him caused it to create a large cloud of smoke as it created a ten meter cloud of smoke. Masuyo retreated a little further back dashing a few meters to avoid being inches away from the swallowing gray mass. She stayed true to her word giving Hiroshi the first move. Instinctively she wanted to counter his set up but that would make the battle too unfair. She was going to be ruthless, but not overbearing. The young man was Chuunin material, at best. To exercise her full Jounin Commander potential would be a landslide.

Masuyo's eyes were sharp, as was her smell and hearing. In the density of the smoke she could pick up the presence of two bodies. The scent of Hiroshi grew considerably as two versions of himself were next to each other. There was the sound of earth shifting which was brief, yet audible. Masuyo took these audio cues and considered the young man's options.

Emerging from the smoke came the red head with a different appearance. He was clad in Earth-release, a technique Masuyo was well familiar with. The darkened skin tone was more than enough proof that he was using Earth Spear. It was a powerful defensive technique which made her staff useless. Although he was considered practically indestructible she could still control his movements using the staff as a tool for leverage. The clone's straight punch was countered by a basic upwards parry. Having both hands on the staff she pushed it upwards holding it horizontally. She would contact the boy's wrist and as a result deflect his punch above her head. This inevitably left the clone open for a counter attack. Stepping aside and pushing with her left hand she'd strike the clone against the side of the head. It would do light damage as it carried concussive impact, but not enough to disperse the clone in one strike. It would require the Jounin to follow up two or three more times to see an effective result even considering the boy's durability.

This movement was fortunate enough to duly evade the upcoming wind release technique as the spot where she once stood was compromise. The earth was demolished by several bullets of wind as they blew through the treeline from above shredding whatever leaves were unfortunate to be in its path. A hole remained, shallow, harboring another Hiroshi who was completely exposed. Masuyo acknowledged his position but did not waver. He was no real threat currently.

The Stuff:

He didn't have high hopes for the clone to deal that much damage against her in close quarters, if her carrying that staff was any indication she isn't one to be messed around with in close quarters combat. He had put his hopes on his wind release technique hitting her at least once, but as soon as he saw that had failed, he quickly turned back on his Hide-like-a-mole technique and hid back under the ground, not wanting to give her a chance to strike at the real Hiroshi. His clone wasn't fast enough to counter the series of counters Masuyo led, resulting in all of them landing on him successfully with that whack on his head knocking him back a bit, but he kept his ground due to the Earth Spear. A few of the wind bullets landed hard against his armour as well, but the shadow clone hadn't been dispersed yet, one more strong hit like that however and the clone would be gone.

At this point, he could only hope to rinse and repeat his strategy until an opening presented itself. The only reason Masuyo isn't going after the real Hiroshi from what he believes is his clone keeping her occupied, which meant he had to make this next jutsu count and considering how fragile his clone is at this point, there's no point in holding back for his next jutsu.

The clone continued to do it's job and despite the hits that it took on, he continued to rush Masuyo, mindlessly trying to punch her, clearly having no wits or organised movement behind his physical attacks and merely to act as a distraction while the real Hiroshi plotted his next move.

He decided to pull another similar move to the one he pulled previously, but with the idea of hitting Masuyo at least once instead of focusing on an ability with power like the last one, instead of seven wind bullets, he would make thirty. After he had set himself in position again, using the Mole technique to sense where Masuyo and Clone Hiroshi are, he used a handseal and with a deep breath, a large amount of air balls came from his mouth and shot through the Earth once more, tearing it up and aiming straight for Masuyo. The speed was slightly slower compared to the last technique but the quantity of the bullets would make up for that.

The Stuff:

Masuyo caught on quick to the boy's tricks. Hiroshi did not give up on his attempt to blindside her after he was compromised. The exposed earth sealed back up and he began to tunnel after her again as the earth shifted beneath her and the clone, who had recovered from his previous hits, began to pursue her again. He was no match in a battle of wit. Taking one hand off the staff while staying in guard with her other hand, she held the Tiger hand seal. She surged chakra into the earth beneath her. As Hiroshi threw his straight punch towards the Jounin the ground softened quickly into mud. This would affect the real Hiroshi while he was underground. Suddenly he would find himself in a bath of mud before being jettisoned out of the ground and towards the surface. The mud took form of a powerful river aimed to swallow the clone as well.

The river of mud would carry the pair five meters back throwing them into a tree causing some minor tumbling damage but nothing major. Masuyo would safely perch herself on a tree branch several meters away from where she jumped to observe the battlefield and Hiroshi's condition.

The Stuff:

Before Hiroshi had a chance to even use his wind jutsu, he didn't have enough time to react to the mud river and it did indeed pull him up to the surface, the first thought that came to his mind is to use his steel wire to get out of the mud but before he could even reach for his hip pouch, he got slammed into the tree with his hardened clone who popped off afterwards. Hiroshi felt the impact of that one but luckily due to the short meter range and his built up durability, he managed to take on the hit but being slammed on the front by a hardened clone and on the back by the tree via the mud left him a bit winded, his attempt at standing up only met with one knee dropping back down to the ground.

He couldn't quite understand how how his strategy couldn't work, was she that different in her overall ability compared to his own that she really didn't have to overexert herself, or was his plan that easy to predict? for him sticking to his plan two times in a row, he had already lost a considerable amount of chakra and even though he had just roughly half of his chakra left, he had the feeling if he came up with a similar or new strategy, she'll easily counter it just like she did with his one previously.

He decided to go back down on the ground, breathing a bit heavily yet trying to rest up a bit now. "I want to know... just how strong are you?" he couldn't seem to quite wrap his head around how his strategy was easily predictable and countered in such a low effort, but he seems to have accepted his defeat since he feels outmatched here and knows that another round of cleverness like that will just end up short.

The boy fell victim to the simple trap she set up. It was one of a number of different ways she could have approached the situation. She found this the less lethal. She'd set the butt of her staff on the tree branch she stood on using it to push herself upright. Looking down at Hiroshi she watched the boy recover. "Strong enough. Just like yourself. The plan wasn't so bad. I reckon you'd mutilate anyone not so aware of their surroundings. Your strategy was effective and considerate of possible allies. Although it didn't work against me doesn't mean it was a poor strategy. You have proven yourself beyond Genin level. I'll make sure you are recognized as a Chuunin. Take it easy the next couple days and check back in with Administration. Your paperwork and uniform should be ready." Masuyo passed the boy a mild grin before turning the other way and vanishing into the woods. Satomi's disappearance and Konoha's sub-par performance at the Tournament was a sign that the village needed to reinforce its military and mindset. It all started with her and her Genin.

[Exit]

So it was as he initially thought, she is far stronger then she shows herself to be, he was worried that this would be someone of a Chuunin level and the difference between him and a Chuunin was that great, but an even greater shock came to his face when he suddenly got that promotion right there and then, a rush of emotions went through Hiroshi, excitement, achievement, confusion, he couldn't even say anything in time until Masuyo had suddenly rushed off into the distance.

He finally collected his thoughts and he remembered something, a promise from his dad. "When you make it to the Chuunin rank, I'll start training you in the ways that the Kazehana are truly known for." because as Hiroshi's proficiency with Ninjutsu increased over time, so did signs of him using Magnet Release, as a starting Genin, he could barely even levitate a spoonful of sand with his Kekkei Genkai but as he improved in his abilities, that spoonful became a handful, and it eventually started to blossom to greater lengths but has no idea on how to control it in a more refined matter to utilise it properly... but now with this promotion, he can finally get the training he needs and become even stronger.

He's always proud in his achievements, but this is one he wouldn't ever forget because it was so sudden, what was thought to be a simple training turned out to be a trial of sorts, one that he succeeded and became a Chuunin for it.

(Exit)