Role Reversal

Shimiko walked onto the Kumogakure Training Grounds with her typical gear. The blonde was wearing her red Chinowakagumi Armour, custom Melody Arm gauntlets, and had a pair of Sai strapped to her lower back. If Seigi was going to act as an asset for both Kumogakure and Konohagakure, they’d need to dramatically increase his combat proficiency. She decided that now was a good time for her to teach him a few neat tricks with respect to physical combat. She knew that he had an afinity for Earth and Wind based on their spar, each of those elements interacted with her own: Lightning. One was stronger, the other weaker. When Seigi arrived Shimiko would call out to him.

“Ready to begin?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Seigi would reply to Shimiko, adjusting the two blades on his hip, making sure they were comfortable before they started. He was anxious to get to work, disappointed in his own skills, or lack thereof, in their spar a few days prior. He knew she was a bit of a braggart when it came to her abilities, but he now saw why; she had every right to be. She was one of Kumogakure’s best, and their fight had humbled him. He had been a bit apprehensive at first, his own pride hurt a bit, but he quickly did away with that and knew that if he was going to grow his abilities once more, he needed to accept where he was with his strengths, and focus on growth. Taking a deep breath in, he readied himself physically.


“Let’s do this.”

“Then let’s begin” she started with a smile. The cheerful and buxom Jounin drew her Sai. She held one in each hand and spun them expertly. “Your bladework is good...but it will need some work. Let’s start with a few basics shall we? Parry and Counter-attack”. Once Seigi had drawn his own blades, Shimiko would rush towards him. Her base Speed as a lot to keep up with but she was sure that he could manage even in his current state. If it was a bit too strong to start out with she could always easily adjust and go down to a level he was more comfortable with. The Chinoike started out with a slash to his right then his left. She had aimed at his chest but had given him enough room to block appropriately. If he was able to block the strikes, she’d follow with a powerful sweep kick hoping to knock him off of his feet right after the slashes were made.

Shimiko was quick to move, Seigi quickly drawing both of his own blades. He would hold the left Katana in a reversed form, the back of the blade close against his forearm, extending past his elbow, the other in a forward, one-handed defensive form. Sliding his right foot back to brace himself, his eye watched her movements carefully, sure to focus on which direction her attack would come from. Shimiko skillfully slashed to his right, Seigi keeping his blade close to his chest and turning right with his hips to parry her initial attack, carefully watching as the second blade slashed at his left. Seigi moved clockwise, bringing his blade against hers and pushing back. As he did, Shimiko would sweep low, knocking Seigi off his feet. As he fell on his back, he would tuck his legs close to his chest, rocking backwards to quickly recover, swifting moving back into a defensive form.

“Ouch.” He would mutter.

Seigi had managed to block her two strikes which was admirable. The girl was remarkably perceptive and every action he took revealed something about his stage of development. His reaction time and instincts were good. This meant that he was indeed experienced, but his body was a bit shaky. It wouldn’t be noticeable to the average person. A civilian would look at his actions and barely be able to register the minor mistakes and faults in his form. But to someone like Shimiko, it was quite obvious. The end result would be that he’d fall on his back after she successfully sweep kicked him.

“Not bad. But always root your stance. Don’t lean so much into your parry that you forget your form. Let’s go again.”

Shimiko took a few steps back to give him some more distance. She twirled her Sai again and began to come at him once more. This time she aimed for his face. She wouldn’t really cut him up but she wanted to raise the stakes a bit in the hopes that it might push him to react faster and with more precision than he had before.

Shimiko was right. He WAS leaning into his parry. It was a bad habit he had developed to make up for his lack of physical strength, and in return, he was forgetting his form. Truth be told, he wasn’t even sure what his form was anymore. When he had picked up swords again, some movements and techniques were very natural to him, but if he was going to improve, it was time to go back to basics. He would sheath the katana in his left arm, instead opting to focus on using a two-handed form with one blade. He would focus on his breathing, calming himself to focus on Shimiko’s second wave of attacks. She had put a bit more distance between them, giving him plenty of time to see her incoming attack and plan accordingly.

Kendo was the most basic form of Kenjutsu, all students beginning with this simple form. Seigi knew this, but didn’t know when he had learned it. In all honesty, he really DIDNT know it anymore, only bits and pieces, fractions of the true teachings, and whatever his muscle memory held inside. If he was going to become the swordsman he was prior, it was going to mean starting over again. Keeping the blade symmetrical with Shimiko as she quickly approached, Seigi would wait until Shimiko was upon him to move, opting for one quick, simple movement, taking a single step forward with his left leg, planting his right leg firm, and quickly attempting to block Shimiko’s attack, crossing blades with her, aiming to plant his blade between her own blade and the guard on both strikes,, making sure to keep his footing and form proper, and hopefully push Shimiko back, away, keeping his sword raised and level with her.

Shimiko watched as Seigi took her advice to heart. The fact that he was pacing his breathing and calming himself was a good sign. It showed that he was teachable and that he knew the basics of Kenjutsu. Kenjutsu wasn’t a style she herself had mastered but thinking back on it she knew that it was an art that Seigi had favored. She found katana and other such blades to be a bit unwieldy. Shimiko had always preferred ultra-sharp short blades which cut and didn’t provide a great deal of length between the attacker and his or her victim. It was a personal choice partially formed by her religious views regarding death and mutilation. It was also precisely unlike Seigi she had serrated nearly all of her signature weapons to provide jagged cuts that would not be easily healed or mended. The two were similar but not the same, and Seigi’s act of re-centering himself reminded her of that reality.

Seigi blocked her strike. Good! Good! She thought to himself. He had kept his footing and she could feel it through the way their blades clashed. A sweep kick simply wouldn’t work. He used his strength to push her backwards. Shimiko jumped back and saw the way he raised the sword and kept it level. The form had reminded her of her brother quite a bit and she couldn’t help but grin. It really did feel like the old days. Shimiko barrelled forwards and stabbed both Sai towards Seigi’s chest at the same time, if he blocked it then she’d somersault over him like an acrobatic. Gracefully landing behind him, she’d then twirl around and use the momentum to cut across his chest.

Shimko spared no time keeping the assault active, jumping back away from him, Seigi noticing her grin as she did so. He couldn’t help but grin too, matching her sprint as she rushed towards him, Seigi aiming to do the same.

“Faster, Seigi!”

Seigi would blink. He was back in the courtyard of the old Douchiwa Estate, in the parallel Kumogakure. His brother stood, 20 feet away, with his own blade raised, matching Seigi’s form. “You’re doing great, but you can do better. Move faster, have more confidence in your swing and don’t forget the basics!” He would command to the younger Seigi. The boy would nod, both eyes focused on his brothers form. Seigi remembered he had such admiration for the older Douchiwa, even as a child. His brother saw training Seigi as a duty of the clan, but this was the only time Seigi truly got to spend with his brother. Exhaling, Seigi would listen to his brother’s words. Quickly pushing his body forward, his movements in the flashback mimicking his own movements in current time. Speeding towards Shimiki, his right arm would cross his body before he began, his blade now on his left side, laterally. Pushing against the ground, his feet moved faster than they did before, as he was both pushed by chakra and motivation. In his vision, there was no difference between Shimiko and Tetsuo, Seigi inhabiting both versions of himself simultaneously. As the two approached, Seigi would swing his blade laterally, aiming to knock both of Shimiko’s blades away with a lateral strike to his right, her left. As Seigi moved, an afterimage of him would appear behind him, quickly flickering into nothing as quickly as it appeared.

Shimiko would then somersault over him, catching him off guard, twirling her body and her sai, just as Seigi would turn to face her, very carefully cutting across his chest, tearing his robe and bringing forth two thin red lines that would begin to ooze blood. Seigi would wince, but as her cut reached the climax of it’s arc, Seigi would close the distance between them, using the moment between slashes to quickly flip his blade backwards and aimed to slap her blades out of her hands with the back of his Katana, not wanting to accidentally cut her fingers in the process.

OOC: learning tech

Name: Secret Sword: Moonlight
Rank: B
Power: A
Activation Cost: 15
Upkeep Cost: N/A
Range: 0 - 25 m.
Speed: -
Element: -
Skill: Kenjutsu
Classification: N/A
Requirements: N/A
Parent Technique: N/A
Hand Seals: -
Description: The user dashes to their opponent with great speed before attacking them with a quick lateral sword strike. The tremendous speed leaves a trace of afterimage in the process.

The user gains +1 tier and +2 advantages to their Speed when dashing towards their opponent for their attack.
Weaknesses: N/A

Shimiko could tell just by the way Seigi returned her grin, that he was more focused than before. She analyzed him closely as he rushed towards her. He appeared to be so in the zone that he was in a zen-like trance. His form tightened up, his timing was massively improved, and he had struck her Sai with enough force to halt the stab she had attempted. She noticed the after-image he had created as a result of his Kenjutsu.

Impressive!

He was a bit slow on the take with respect to her somersault though. She was able to get a solid strike on him and the moment she did so, she dropped her guard a bit. Seigi, however, was far from done. He changed his grip on his sword and he attempted to disarm her. He was able to knock one of the Sai out of her hands but the one that remained in her grip, she angled so that the crook of the sai, cut his katana handle. She then yanked it out of his hand, disarming him of one of his own swords before attempting to stab him in the stomach with the weapon. Shimiko had a tendency to push herself and others to the limit in spars. The stab would not be lethal but it would draw a decent amount of blood. Enough for them to probably stop the spar for a few seconds. It was very typical of Shimiko to do such a thing. Back when it was her and her older brother, Seigi could always manage her. He was far more skilled being a Kage when she was just an academy student. As hard as she fought, she could never even so much as nick him. He let her go all out and it had improved her skills. Now the roles were reversed and Shimiko had to get used to not hurting her sparring partners by going all out.

His disarm was partially successful, managing to knock one of the Sai out of her hands, but at the cost of his own katana, Shimiko angling the Sai that remained so it would cut the handle of his new blade
. He would curse internally, knowing he’s probably have to get it repaired later, but kept his head together for the moment. As the blade was ripped out of his hands, Seigi would backpedal to put distance between them, and quickly attempt to draw his second blade as Shimiko went in for another stab. He would bring the blade up, but not quite out of the sheath completely, positioning the blade between the sai’s guards once more, but the blade of her Sai was long, and would pierce into the right side of Seigi’s torso, just below his ribs.He would pull his body away from her, holding his side with his right hand, his face giving way that it hurt a lot, but Seigi would keep his sword drawn, still in the reverse form he had drawn it from, keeping his gaze on Shimiko, and beginning to circle her, keeping his right hand on the wound. If she attempted to stop, he would shake his head, indicating he was still in this, but if not, then he would continue his circle.

“Those sai are… no joke.” He would say between winces. Shimiko was carving him up. As they circles, he would move to where her second Sai had been knocked out of her hands, acting as if he was going to kick it away, only to rush Shimiko himself. He would slash towards her laterally once more, switching his grip at the end of his slash, quickly flipping her hand around, instead of the blade, then bringing his other hand up to the pommel of the handle, using both hands to push the blade forwards Shimiko, aiming to stab her in the shoulder, where he knew no vital organs were located.

Shimiko could see that she had injured him when she succeeded in stabbing her other-brother. The girl gave a concerned look and was prepared to stop the spar but he shook his head indicating he wanted to keep going. Shimiko sighed a breath of releif. Sometimes her sparring partners got offended when she inflicted a wound like that. He commented that her Sai were no joke and she laughed in response.

“I made them myself” she said while turning the lone Sai. “You….or the other Seigi or whatever….got me my first shop for weapons crafting. Now I own my own weapons manufacturing business.”

She noticed he was moving closer to the Sai she had dropped. Instead of kicking it away though, he rushed her. She snapped into a battle position. When he slashed at her, she dodged easily side stepping the maneuver with her superior coordination. The Chinoike bounced from foot to foot eagerly awaying his next offensive.

“Come on then, you’ve been on the defensive this whole fight. Show me what you go.”

Shimiko was right once again. He had been on the defensive this whole fight, the jonin doing his best to just keep up with her. He needed to be better. He would move towards her once more, keeping his right hand on wound, using his left hand to slash at Kimiko once more. However, as he slashed towards her torso, his right hand would move from his wound, outward, Seigi attempting to use a handful of his own blood to blind Shimiko, aiming to throw it at her face. Whether he was successful or not, Seigi would attempt to mimic Shimiko, and after the blood attack, would kneel down low, aiming for a sweeping leg kick, wincing at every attack. He was definitely feeling both of Shimiko’s cuts, the warm ooze of blood on his chest and torso soaking his robes. Seigi was formidable, but he wasn’t invincible. Sweat would drip from Seigi’s brow as he breathed heavily, trying to keep up with Shimiko.

“That was good, but you can do better.” A familiar voice would say to him, Seigi blinking once more. He was in the courtyard one more, Tetsuo having knocked him down. Seigi was beaten and bruised, but his brother extended an arm out to him, helping him up.
“As a shinobi, you must force yourself to fight past your limits. Your strength, your speed, your pain, all are not completely determined by your physical force. Your greatest weapon is not your body, but your brain.” Tetsuo would speak. “Your limits are all contained inside there. You must learn to push past them.”

Returning to the present, Seigi would repeat the lesson.

“Push yourself further!”

Seigi attempted like a simple slash at her and she easily blocked it. Then he did something completely unexpected, he removed his hand from his wound and flung blood at her face. This caused her to shriek in surprise. She wasn’t afraid of blood, in fact she relished it, but she didn’t think Seigi was the type to use it as a weapon. At least, not this Seigi who was probably and almost certainly not a Chinoike. She jumped back and felt his feet collide with her own. The sweep kick would have worked if Shimiko didn’t have the agility and flexibility of a world-class gymnast. She fell backwards but shot out her free hand (the one not holding the Sai) and she balanced herself in the form of a one-handed handstand. She held this position for a mili-second before leaping backwards fighting herself and landing on her feet once more.

“Now you’re fighting like a Jounin! Cmon! More!”

Shimiko would avoid his leg sweep, expertly positioning herself in a handstand before righting herself, praising Seigi and telling him to keep it up. Seigi would keep his momentum, finishing his own spin, before righting his blade. He would jump back, away from Shimiko, picking up the Sai he had almost kicked earlier. He would then rush Shimiko once more, Katana in left hand and Sai in right, assaulting her with a flurry of attacks. First, he would slash towards her with her own Sai, aiming for her midrift. His katana would be on the ready, following up behind the sai for a secondary slash, this time from right to left, horizontally, sure to keep his footing and breathing in check as he slashed. The sai wasn’t his weapon of choice and he expected Shimiko to know this and most likely counter the sai attack, so he made sure to keep his grip on her weapon a bit tighter than normal, learning his lesson after she had disarmed him earlier. He didn’t have much hope for either of these attacks, knowing that she outclassed him in coordination and agility, but he needed to attack to find an opening. Patience would be his friend, assuming Shimiko didn’t get to him first.

Shimiko would jump backwards to avoid his slashes. She kept all of her senses attuned to each of his movements. She wasn’t going to let him out of her sight. She could tell he was getting faster and more aggressive as though his previous skills were coming back to him slowly but surely. Shimiko didn’t disarm quite yet, she wanted him to push himself but also pace himself. She wanted to see the full might of his offensive power and from there, she could help him break past his limtis. The Jounin noticed that he was far more restrained in moments like this than she was. Shimiko had had to work long and hard about not giving everything she had into every srike. She tended to fight with no holds barred and it was something that all of her sensei’s had coached her on. Nowadays, she was much better about pacing herself but she was aware when others were doing too much for too little an effect. The blonde allowed Seigi to continue his onslaught until she noticed him starting to get tired. She’d then hold up a palm and say: “STOP!”

She could tell he was getting weary despite him not landing a single blow. She was just too fast and too agile for him to hit at his current stage. If he was as strong as he said he was then whatever trandimensional portal had brougth him here had robbed him of his power. He was  a mediocre jounin in this world whereas she was one of the best in the world. He had a long way to go before he was ready to match her.

“Let’s stop here for now Seigi….Overall I think you are in decent shape….but you are better than this. I know you are. You have tons of potential and I don’t want you to squander it...if you’d like I can push you past your limits but I need to know that you’re in all the way”

The fight was over. Shimiko commanded him to stop, to which he did, catching his breath. Shimiko was right. He was out of his game. He tightened his core as pain set in, his wound from a moment ago catching up to him. Wnicing, he placed his right hand on it, his body tense and his anger at his own failure obvious. He grit his teeth, exhaling as he did, pacing.

“I hate this. I can’t help ANYONE like this.” He would look to his own flesh, his palm that had marks where his nails had dug into his skin He would clench it again. Did he want to go down this path once more? Was this strength sealed away from him for a reason? Or was it simply a memory?
“I’ll do whatever it takes.” Seigi would say solemnly, turning back towards Shimiko.

Would he though? A moral dillema was brewing inside of him, at how far he truly would go. During his current stay in Kumogakure, he had heard rumors that Konoha was shifting towards imperialism, taking lands from other smaller countries, and even changing the Leaf Village’s headband. Seigi continued to wear his old one, but something about Konoha’s actions felt off. If it truly came down to it, and Shimiko could help him become himself again, then perhaps he was better here for the moment. There was no way that it could have been pure chance that Shimiko spotted him in Konohagakure that day, and perhaps it was the work of the universe, but he felt like this is where he needed to be at the moment. That didn’t mean abandoning Konohagakure, but the Konohagakure that granted him protect and freedom was slowly shifting into something that Seigi hated.
Seigi had a lot of obstacles ahead of him currently, but in just a few days, he had gained more ground towards figuring out his past than he had in 2 years. He was going to continue to follow this thread until the end of the rope.

Shimiko stayed quiet as Seigi vented his frustration. He knew he was not as strong as he could be or should be. It was eating at him in a way that Shimiko couldn’t even begin to imagine. If she had lost most of her strength right now, she’d be just as devestated if not more so. Fortunately, Seigi was willing to do whatever it took to get back up to speed. The Chinoike nodded and walked over to him. She placed a hand on his back and said:

“Well get you there...together”

She’d then help him back to the city proper. This would be the first and many such training sessions.

Exit