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Satori relaxed after the blow had landed, giving her time to gather herself once more. As she straightened and glared, his brow simply cocked in reply. Clearly unhindered by the reaction and instead lifting a hand to silently tell her to take a minute and re-center herself. There was no point in this entire exercise if she lost herself, and frankly, it was an excellent way to help her learn to reel herself back in.

The angrier she became the more she had to learn control. The more she learned to control herself the more level-headed she'd become on the field. That said, she'd have to eventually deal with those underlying issues of hers. But Satori wasn't the type to dig into her emotions and force her to admit them, and face them either. She'd do it herself when she was ready.

Or, she'd explode and need his help. Either way, he wouldn't interfere until she clearly needed him to. For now, he waited patiently for her to regain control of herself, her chakra, and the training session.

Midori saw him relax, obviously not pressing the attack, and cock that damn eyebrow at her again; one of the signals that she was doing something questionable.  As she reflected and her anger at the situation cooled, she saw it for what it was and part of her wanted to say 'to hell with you, rage is a part of my style'... but that wasn't good for learning in any way.  She had to stay level headed and learn all she could so that when she could truly cut loose, she would be more effective in whatever situation she found herself in.

But the beast within her had begun to stir.  She was focusing on not absorbing Nature energy, as that would only make things go from bad to worse, but still a part of her wanted to see if she could get a good hit on him.  She was done letting the anger take control, that much was certain, but there was just so many things feeding into that rage that it was a constant battle.  Taking in a deep breath, she released it in another Calming Steps, leveling herself and focusing on what she needed to do.

Once again, she got loose, focusing on nothing and yet everything at once, and prepared herself to counter his next attack, waving him forward.

Satori waited patiently as Midori fought her internal battle, his hands resting lightly on top of his hips as he tilted his head slightly to the side. Waiting patiently for her.

Once she settled and motioned him forward, Satori stepped forward once before dashing forward once more. Covering the last few steps and grinning as the chakra pulsed through her body. He caught the scent of it; so she was doing it correctly again. Good. It was time to pressure her just a bit more though.

As he launched toward her, at the last minute his body suddenly jerked to the left as his right arm reared back before releasing a powerful haymaker aimed at her right lower-ribs. His body going near-horizontal due to his unnatural flexibility and movements.

Midori saw him rush in, tracked him with her peripheral vision to her side and saw what would have been an extremely powerful blow aimed towards a spot that would be critical if it connected. She slipped backwards, pivoting off her back foot and rotating her torso so she never stopped facing him, but let the blow swing wide, ruffling the ends of her clothing. She saw a point of attack, a spot where she could retaliate considering how he had nearly become a puntable object with how extended he was, but she resisted the urge to do so and focused on defense.

The reason she had been so over-extended on her focus was because she had been trying to do too much all at once, and she needed to be completely comfortable with this part of the stance before trying to mix it with anything else. Once she had it down to something she didn't need to think about, something that came naturally, then she could shift her focus to trying to mix offense into the mix. Midori may not have been the brightest of people, but she generally only made most mistakes once, learning from them and finding ways to ensure it didn't happen again.

As Satori purposely revealed himself to her--and she didn't retaliate, he grinned.

That's a girl.

She realized what she was doing wrong and had corrected herself. If she had tried to attack the opening her had offered her, she wouldn't have enjoyed the outcome most likely. He was proud of her for making the adjustment so quickly, especially considering how divided her focus was at the moment. So as his right fist swung wide, instead of falling forward his left arm caught his body's weight.

Balancing it on his palm as his claws clenched into the dirt, and flipped him into a one-handed horizontal handstand. This didn't slow him down at all however as instead, he used the anchor point to spin his body and use the extended range of his entire lower body to release a hard kick with his right leg aimed at the side of her stomach. Specifically targeting an area with no bones this time.

Midori couldn't help but marvel, even with the gentle fuzz in her vision, at how flexible and strong Satori was; he could use a single hand with a little extra help from his claws to support his entire body not only in weight but in motion seamlessly and go for another attack. Midori still wasn't going to attack, but what she could do was start working on the next step after one had figured out evasion, and that was purposeful deflection. This was something simple, naturally, and a Taijutsu basic, but it was also something vital when creating openings.

Midori's arm lowered, and her hand caught his foot and pushed upwards, not blocking, but redirecting the force to where it passed smoothly under her ducked head. This would throw off his center of balance, or rather, it would for just about anyone but Satori who was more than likely going to pull some more magic out of his ass and keep the pressure up. She would need to do this another time or two before she would be able to work on the next step in defensive Taijutsu, but she was taking it slow, progressing naturally as she felt comfortable, and fighting at her own pace instead of his.

Satori's grin expanded even further as she began to evolve her defense. Moving from basic dodges and blocks, and into parrying, deflection, and grappling. Core steps in advanced martial arts, and something that was difficult when relying greatly on one's physical basic foundations. But she was doing well using it despite that, as her arm lifted and jerked, forcing the kick of his leg that had been aimed at her left side upward and flipping him into an outright handstand.

Instead of fighting against this force, Satori rolled with it, launching himself from his palm as his kick caused his body to flip mid-air with his own strikes momentum. Keeping his body facing her, as he was mid-air his right hand that had long since recovered from its miss earlier shot out in a powerful jab aimed at her right lower ribs once more at the same time that his feet slammed into the earth so he was facing her on her right side instead, bare feet digging into the dirt.

Midori pivoted just barely as her right hand deflected the incoming blow downwards, and it would move to where her leg was at just a moment ago. She was starting to get the hang of it for real this time; her body knew not only which was to deflect the blow, but also where to position her body to where she would be safe from any after effects of that deflection while keeping her defense up. She was safe, at the moment from any blow he could issue in her direction, millimeters out of range for any strike in his current stance...

That meant that in order to attack, he would have to move, which meant he would have to telegraph his attacks just a bit more than if he could remain stationary. Now she was starting to see the true potential of this stance, as not only was she seeing all this available to her now, but she also didn't have to focus on it, which meant while conducting this defense, she could analyze his style more and find an opening, a way through the insane dexterity and a spot to land a solid blow. She watched carefully as she continued to move and practice, looking for her chance that wasn't a mere trap.

Satori grinned as she deflected the blow, she was getting used to it now. Using the technique she was comparable to him in reflexes at his base state now, he still had the advantage, but not by an overwhelming amount with his speed held back. That was good. It was proving that she could use this to cover the weakness of fighting against someone superior to her in speed to mitigate the advantage it brought her.

The jab that was aimed downward caused his hand to smash into the earth and in the same motion, his legs left the ground, releasing a barrage of high-power kicks from above instead. The muscles in his back contorting, causing the legs strikes which were already naturally stronger than the arms to bombard her from above. Each kick aimed at her head, or joint as his head remained facing her from below despite the awkward position it would put non-Ryuutei in where he stood on his hands now.

Almost like she knew it was coming, her arms raised, smacking the legs away and forcing him to use extra effort to raise them for the next attack, backpedaling slightly to ensure she wasn't in range of his arms. That was probably another true advantage to this stance; it would wear someone out and force them to use more energy than if she had simply blocked as they recovered from the deflection that caused them to overextend. If he hadn't been as strong as he was, the earlier deflection could have hurt his hand even... but that was enough of that. She finally felt comfortable enough that she thought it was possible to counterattack.

It wasn't anything fancy or mind blowing like his moves, but at the final kick, instead of deflecting to the side like she had been, she slipped backwards to make him off balance, and performed a single move that in his current state would be hard to dodge, even for his gymnastic abilities. Her feet had been planted in preparation, and she was certain that now was about the only chance she could get, lowering down slightly and curling her arm inwards.

Shoulder Charge

Satori's eyes narrowed as she shifted to attack, and this time it was a good one taking advantage of the defenses she'd managed. A grin formed on his lips as she suddenly launched at him, the chakra burst of speed forcing him to release the ground, and instead of fighting against her he remained exactly where he was. Her shoulder smashed into his lower back, but instead of sending him flying, Satori had moved with her.

His speed wasn't as great as her own using that technique since he was holding back, but his senses and flexibility were still far superior. It was close, but he'd managed it. The impact was there, but there was no damage. Instead, she had him mid-air pressing into him with her shoulder as they moved several feet forward.

Then his legs snapped down, suddenly grasping her upper body as his stomach clenched and forced him upward. Going from his back facing her to suddenly holding her torso with his legs. Constricting tightly around her, even without chakra quite tightly. Instead of giving her free access to his groin, however, he purposely kept the space distance.

He wasn't grappling her, he was using her as an anchor point as his body rested on her shoulders to limit her arms movements while his fist drew back from above to smash into her head.

She felt the blow connect but not quite the way she wanted to and instantly knew what he was doing. He had done this earlier; loosening his body so that it absorbed the impact as movement instead of blunt trauma and using that to counter attack. Her mind rapidly snapped into focus, and for the first time in her memory, she knew exactly what to do about this. It didn't take her by surprise and that meant it gave her a little more reaction time to come up with a proper counterattack. She felt his legs reach up and purchase around her neck and on her shoulders and him flex upwards for a double overhanded strike, and she was ready.

The first thing she did was catch his hands, not regularly, but cross over at the wrist, which took a little more effort but she managed... and then she turned her head, opened her mouth, and got a large chunk of his leg between her teeth, holding him firm. Normally, she would never have resorted to biting Satori, but she needed to make sure he couldn't slip away or pull one of his acrobatic feats of freaking magic to avoid what she was about to do. Now that she had a hold of him in three different places, the only thing Satori would be able to do was eat the ground as she rapidly brought him down to smash him on his back against the unforgiving earth. The cross-pattern for holding his arms made them unable to respond and protected her head from assault.

She was banking on this working too; she was almost completely exhausted... and she would have to let him go and take a couple of steps back to try to catch her breath.

Satori grinned as she resorted to grappling. As straight-laced as ever. That was until she bit him. His eyes ignited at that, she was even using more tricks now. She had one leg, the other was wrapped around her arm and trapped between her wrist and his hands. But there was an issue with that, it meant that her hands were trying to hold his legs, back muscles, abdomen muscles, and his arms. Even if he didn't use one leg...

Satori's body completely relaxed as she began to hurl him toward the ground as if giving up, and then when there were only a few feet between the earth, and himself, every muscle suddenly pulled with all of his force. Leg, abdomen, and back all snapped back and to the side with his arms against the strength of only one arm at an awkward angle.

There wasn't a chance it was holding him.

The sudden force snapping the bond would also fling his upper body back, causing his hands to smash into the dirt instead of being slammed into it, and instead of halting it there he continued to full-force pull of his body. Using her own momentum against her and combining it with his own. He still had his legs on her. His abdomen clenched and using the combined force he tried to swing her right off her feet using his hands in the dirt as an anchor to throw her right over his head to go flying into the dirt in front of him.

Midori saw what was happening and gritted her teeth a bit harder before releasing his leg and pushing off the ground. If she was getting tossed, it would be on her terms as she rotated her legs to twist her head out of his leg's grasp, and then pushed off his legs with her hands and tucked into a neat flip a couple of times before extending and landing in a crouch. She stood quickly, holding up a hand indicating that she needed to pause for a moment. She had always recovered quickly, but couldn't do so mid-battle, at least not with her natural chakra pool.

And she wasn't using Nature Chakra, so that was out.

Midori was breathing a bit labored and sweat had begun to bead on her face, and she took a moment once Satori realized that she needed a short break to move to her bag she had set down earlier and retrieve a canteen with water in it, eagerly gulping down the contents. She was certain he would take this time to address the students and a bunch of that none-sense, and she doubted that anyone would be looking the direction of the person who wasn't even able to land a clean blow while holding three out of four limbs of the enemy.

As she landed, skidding back, Satori's grin widened. Falling from his handstand as he threw her to shift to his feet instead and he placed his hands on his hips as he straightened.

"That was damn close," he commented idly, glancing down at where she had bitten into his leg, he chuckled. "If you incorporated more things like that bite, I'd be even more hard-pressed you know," as he stated this he eyed her angrily chugging down water and his eyes softened. She was going to have to face those issues of hers at some point, but he wasn't going to force her. Especially not here in front of children they were supposed to be acting as role models for.

He turned and clapped his hands together once more to get the students attention. "Right! Who can tell me the differences between my own, and Midori's styles?"

Midori finished her water and replaced the empty canteen back into her pack and moved to be next to Satori; she didn't like it, but this was a mission, and if she expected to be paid, she was going to have to keep engaged with the students. She knew that Satori would be able to lead the conversations and ask the right questions, but she also had to be present to answer anything that he proposed to her, and help with anything she was required to do to help accomplish the goal of educating these young, would-be ninja. As frustrated as she was at her own failure, she found it hard to be actively angry in front of the kids, some of whom were actually looking at her instead of Satori.

An odd sensation ran through her, that she wasn't exactly sure what to call or even identify as an emotion, but she felt it all the same. Uncertain about it, she listened to Satori as he spoke, thinking about the styles and how she needed to train in her own way; she always admitted that Satori was stronger, faster and more smart than she, but that only would make her want to train harder. She would catch him, and she would do it her way, not his.

As Midori approached, the same student that had been watching her eagerly from before lifted her hand to speak.

"Yes?" Satori smiled softly, causing her to slowly furrow her brows looking between them both.

"Uhm. You seem to fight more like a ninja, Satori-sensei," she mumbled as if struggling to find the words. "Midori-sensei reminds me of... a samurai, almost?" It was clear she meant no offense by this and Satori smiled lightly at her words.

"That's a good way to put it, yes. Midori is what you call, in slang terms, a 'straight-laced' or 'by the books' fighter. She uses techniques and strategies that most people have access too," he glanced over to her briefly, before focusing on the children once more. "I, on the other hand, use my own style. I take from everything, everyone, and use whatever I like in combinations specifically designed to keep my opponent off guard," Satori then glanced around at the children.

"Now. Going by that information, I want you all to explain something to me. Which of these styles is superior?" This question was important, for both the children, and Midori.

Sensei??

Midori blinked, visibly, clearing her head and ensuring that she had indeed heard correctly. Midori had never thought herself qualified to teach anyone much of anything, much less get the respect that a teacher would deserve. Satori was a natural teacher, able to engage and interact with people young and old on a level she could never dream to attain, so she had expected it for him, just not for herself. Perhaps they were just being polite, but from the looks in their eyes, it was more than that.

It was legitimate admiration.

Unsure how to feel about it, she was brought out of her thoughts by a question that she could hear a slight bit of emphasis on, and one that made her eyes narrow ever so slightly and her gaze turn towards Satori. The green haired teen wasn't sure where he was going with this question, but based on what she was taught, there was only one right answer... and she turned her gaze back towards the kids, curious to see if anyone either piped up with the answer she had in her mind, or if they would go with the surface level and answer with what their opinion was.

One of the children frowned. "Wouldn't your style be better than, Satori-sensei? After all more versatility and wider knowledge sounds more usefu--"

The girl from before interrupted him by clearing her throat, and Satori's brow arched slightly. A smile playing on his lips. This one was clever.

"Yes?"

"Neither is better, sensei," she stated firmly causing several of the children to appear confused. Satori nodded once with a smile.

"Very good. Correct. Can you tell me why?"

"The wording was a trick question. Your style could be superior, but you're understating the amount of mid-combat thinking, strategy, and how difficult it would be to sift through a mountain of knowledge while dodging and fighting an unknown opponent. I doubt many people but you could do something like that, making it highly inefficient for most." As she explained this, Satori smiled softly. But he let her continue on as she slowly got into what was clearly more important to her, eyes practically glowing as she looked at Midori.

"But by extension, the standard techniques are standard for a reason. The style has been honed by thousands of great legendary figures for thousands of years, they're strong and versatile and specifically designed to be used by anyone and maximize benefits for as little energy as possible. It's the perfect neutral ground to cover every weakness as efficiently as possible." The words caused Satori to smile, and he nodded once firmly.

"Very good. There's also the fact that many people give up on fighting 'by the book', midway through. They lack the willpower to keep powering through, and getting through the points where they're weaker then they're peers due to their focus." His gaze flicked toward Midori for a moment, before he focused on the children.

"But by sticking to their guns, some of the most Legendary Ninja in history used those styles and earned their reputation from exactly that. Not to mention the willpower, pain tolerance, and force of determination it can build as a side-effect." At this point more than just the girl was staring at Midori with surprise and adoration.

Satori was impressive, his skill set was unique, near untouchable, versatile and overwhelming. But for that same reason they could never relate to it, never truly understand it. But Midori was comparable to him; in a way that they could understand, and that was inspiring for the children. It gave them proof that they could be just like her if they tried hard enough.

Midori listened to the initial answer, and she was in the midst of inhaling for a sigh when the young girl who had answered before piped up and interrupted him, drawing her attention. The answer she gave was thoughtful and thorough, pinpointing what Midori was thinking and elaborating on it to the point where literally anyone could understand it. This was not the knowledge one got from simply paying attention in class, this was the knowledge someone had from a sharp mind and countless time researching the subject and giving it the attention and respect it deserved. Midori couldn't help but compare that sharp mind to Satori himself, and she mentally marked the girl as someone to watch out for in the next few years as a possible prodigy.

But what really got her attention was what Satori spoke of, and she slowly turned as he spoke, just her head, with her eyes betraying the emotion she felt. All the angst and resentment she had felt, a result of feeling like her combat style was not respected considering all the hard work she put into it, was simply gone. He did respect her, her style, and what she did every day to make it the best she possibly could, and to hear him put it into words was something that brought a very gentle, very slight smile to her face. Considering how rare her smiles were, that was speaking volumes for someone like Satori who knew how she was an how her actions were the primary means for communication.

She gave him a nod of respect and turned to face the class once more, waiting for the lesson to continue and wiping a bit of sweat from her forehead, tossing the moisture aside and relaxing her breathing further. A few more minutes and she would be ready to go again... and this time, she was going to get her clean hit. That determination filled her with excitement for round two.

Satori spotted the smile, and that was enough for him. All that angst inside her had melted away and was replaced with that fire in her eyes once more. Stretching his limbs above his head, his gaze lowered to examine the children as he moved on to the next subject.

"Now, moving on from styles, what were three mistakes that both of us made during our final exchange?" Satori's brow arched, the question threw the children off initially. The idea that their teacher was purposely saying both of them had made mistakes was odd to them, and even the teacher looked bemused. Few adults had the self-assurance to point out their mistakes to those younger than them. Yet, here was Satori, proudly showing off failures for others to learn from.

He'd never been the type to worry over such things. His failures were built for the next generation to evolve to the next level. He wanted the next generation to surpass him, it was that simple.

Midori heard him mention mistakes, and turned her gaze towards him again, this time she was the one cocking an eyebrow. Certainly, she had never known Satori to be one to be shy about the ways he messed up, but usually he didn't vocalize them either, so this was an interesting treat either way. Not only that, but she was curious to hear about the ways she had messed up from his perspective, as most of her self reflection was simply that she wasn't strong enough or quick enough to handle this, that and the other during the heat of the moment.

Satori was different though; the smallest details were not lost on him, which made his feedback an invaluable part of their training, even when they were younger. Kiyoshi would be much like her in the way that 'Might makes Right' and she had learned much of her style from him, but she had long since learned the value of Satori's far more technical side when it came to combat, and she credited that to much of what he was able to accomplish and how he had surpassed her so quickly. She listened closely as he began to speak, careful not to let anything slip over her head.

The children looked confused, even the clever girl from earlier only piped up once as her brow furrowed.

"You gave up three limbs, Satori-sensei?" Even this sounded like a question more than anything else. Satori nodded his head despite this and smiled.

"Very good. Yes, I gave up three limbs. That was a mistake. Four limbs wouldn't have just been a mistake, but the equivalent to a serious injury in a true fight, perhaps even lethal depending on the situation. I also relied entirely on my mobility. When I cartwheeled to the side, I opened up my entire side to her. The only reason Midori didn't take advantage of it was due to adjustment to the new technique, and her own fear that it was a trap. I did that on purpose, of course. My opponents never know if an opening is real, or not."

After a moment he smiled. "But in that instance, I had few counters: if she'd attacked I could have taken a heavy blow and it would have opened me up to a combination. Finally, I revealed my back to her, allowing her to perform the shoulder charge. If I'd of backtracked and given space in exchange for less pressure, I would have been in a much safer situation." This explanation caused the children to slowly nod before his gaze glanced toward Midori as he smiled softly.

"Midori let her emotions get to her, and caused her to be easily read several times, but we'll count that as one mistake. When she shoulder charged me, in her mind I'm sure she was trying to use the speed to make certain the attack would land: but in fact she should have focused on a more lethal blow. If she had, for instance, not feared my ability to avoid her attack and used Arhat, she still would have landed the attack. But I couldn't have just shrugged off the attack nearly as easily, it would have left damage regardless of how I may have tried to contort."

Continuing on he tilted his head slightly as he tapped his neck to reference what he was talking about. "Finally, when I had my legs around her she dedicated too much of her body power toward that body slam. Too many eggs in one basket meant that even if she did have both my arms, it would have landed, but left her totally open to a counter-attack at close range with almost no escape or fallback option. A single body-slam wouldn't be lethal to any average or more durable ninja. It also meant that I was able to throw her and create distance as well." All of these problems were minor. Little things. Small decisions that didn't seem to mean much at face value, and so the children were clearly confused that they were even being pointed out. As obviously despite the "mistakes" the fight had gone just fine.

Midori listened carefully and nodded several times in agreement... but Satori was also missing one key thing in all of it that she felt like had been a factor too... maybe he recognized it and just didn't want to comment, or perhaps he had actually forgotten about it. Mentally, she had never been able to put 100% into any fight they had, as there was also a large portion of her control focused on one solitary thing, and that was keeping herself in check. One slip and this could go from a normal training exercise to a desperate attempt to stop Midori from hurting anyone and everyone around her.

But that was just an excuse in her eyes.

That meant she needed to be faster, stronger and sharper than anyone else. To her knowledge, outside her father, no one had this Bloodline, and she had dug through many a book pouring hours of time into investigating anything she could that might be able to help. She had been forced to learn everything on her own, and some of the more odd and frankly, grotesque aspects of her abilities still brought a bit of fear to her and made her hesitant to use that side of her power.

Again, excuses.

After a couple of quickly stretches, she gave Satori a nod she was ready to go again and stepped away from the class, moving quietly back into position and shifting into her normal stance, but this time reflecting on what she had learned, staying loose and keeping her Chakra ready, but not actively pushing through her limbs.

The children seemed confused on why he'd brought up the minor issues, so he left them with a single firm statement.

"No mistake is ever too minor. By cutting out a few minor mistakes, you evolve one moderate step forward. Cut out a dozen minor mistakes, you take one large step forward and find yourself ahead of other experts. Minor mistakes are what separate a Master from an Expert. A grandmaster from a Master. Always remember that." With this, he smiled, causing the students to nod before Satori clapped once and turned as Midori made it clear she was ready.

Walking toward his spot he turned and faced her as he offered a slight grin.

"Ready to try the other foundation stances? Or do you want a bit of extra time practicing what I just taught you?"