Tutoring a Class

Mission Details:

Zen would smirk as he crumbled up the note that had been delivered to him in the early hours of the morning, when he had offered his services over to Kirigakure he had not expected something like this. However, it would seem as though the academy's weapon instructor is out sick and they are in need of a substitute. While Zen did not view himself as the teaching type it would seem as though the administration of the village felt his particular skills could be a useful asset for their younger generation to learn. Surely there was someone more qualified for such a task, anyone with actual teaching experience, but alas the boy knew better than to refuse a job least he never be given another during his stay here. Zen would grab his bow and arrows, strapping them both to his back before heading out the door and down the road towards the academy. Along the way the boy began to contemplate what it was that he would say to the class, surely they would not be much younger than himself. That mixed with the fact that he was a foreigner he would have to come up with some way to grab their attention and show them that he was worth listening too, that he could show them something that might help them one day in the future. As he reached the entrance to the academy he had made his strategy for the best impression in his opinion, all he had to do was put his plan into action.

Walking through the doors of the academy, the boy would be almost instantly greeted by the head master in the hallway. "Ah, you must be Zen. Yes, they told us to expect a foreigner substitute for the weapons lesson today. Please follow me and I will show you to the class and explain everything for you." The man moved to head down the hallway with Zen following closely behind him, as they walked the man began to talk again. "now the weapons teacher has been showing the class the different uses and operations of the various and almost endless types of weapons within the world. This week it's all about the bow," the man would pause and motion towards the bow on Zen's back, "something I am sure you are familiar with." The man added as he began to chuckle as if he had told a joke, Zen would force a small chuckle just to avoid seeming rude though he did not find what the man said to be funny at all.

"Now the kids are all well behaved, however if they give you any trouble you can send them to my office. Ah, here we are," the man said as he stopped in front of the door to one of the classrooms. "I'll introduce you," the man began as he reached out to grab the door handle. "Wait," Zen stated placing his hand on the man's arm. "I have a better idea, where is your training area?" The man stood in silence for a second as if he was having trouble processing what it was that the boy had asked before finally pointing towards the courtyard. "Most of the weapons training is handled in the courtyard, it is already set up for today's lesson. I plan to take you there after we introduce you to the class and..." Zen would stop the man there raising his hand up off the man's arm, "I am going to the courtyard, give me five minutes and then bring the class out there. We can do the introductions then." Without waiting for an answer from the man, Zen would take off down the hallway heading for the entrance to the courtyard. "But wait, what is that you are doing?" The man would call out after the boy, though Zen would not respond, the man would see what it was he had planned for the kids in just a few minutes and there was no need to ruin the surprise.

Zen would waste no time at all once he made it into the courtyard, finding the range targets against one wall of the courtyard Zen would make his way to the opposite end and climb onto the roof. He positioned himself low to the roof to try to make himself harder to spot unless someone was looking carefully at the roof where he was. Zen would remove his bow from his strap and pull out six arrows one for each of the targets, his plan was simple he would wow them before they even meet him. This was definitely the best impression he could make, and with the relative small size of the courtyard the boy could easily make the shots without really even trying.

The sound of the man's voice could be heard before he even reached the courtyard, "...and it would seem he has a surprise for you all." The man said as him and the 6 students entered the courtyard, it would seem as though the good head master was already trying to hype the class up for today's lesson. Zen could see the look of confusion come over the man's face when he looked around the courtyard and did not see him, "well that's strange, he said he would be out here." The man stated as he stood in the middle of the courtyard between where Zen was and the targets. As the man spoke Zen would release one arrow after another in rapid succession towards the man, his aim true and the speed of each launched so there were mere milliseconds between them.

The arrows would travel towards the head master, though not a single one struck the man. One arrow however would come close enough to slice through a strand of hair on top of the man's head, causing it to fall gently towards the ground. Each of the six arrows would strike one of the six targets standing behind the head master in the dead center, a perfect bullseye with the one that slice the hair being the middle target and the one directly behind the head master. The thunk of the arrows piercing into the targets would echo through the silent courtyard one after another, drawing the attention of not only the head master but the entire class to the targets. Zen would use this time to leap from he roof top and begin walking towards the class, "Archery is more than just pulling a string and letting go of the arrow, it requires dedication and practice to achieve greatness just as a true sword master must train himself to wield his weapon efficiently." Zen stated loudly in hopes that everyone heard him as he spoke so that he would not have to repeat himself, "sometimes you need to have the advantage, be able to surprise your target to give yourself enough time to set up the shot and other times you have to be able to react out of pure instinct." Zen would stop a few feet from the class standing with his bow gripped tightly within his hand, "my name is Zen and I will be your instructor today. Thank you headmaster that will be all." Zen said as he waited for the head master to leave the courtyard, "ah.. well yes... It would seem as though you have things handled here." The man stated as he took his leave, lightly touch the top of his head to ensure that he was not missing a chunk of hair.

"Before we begin are there any questions?" Zen asked address the six students standing in front of him, which he was not at all surprised to see that they were all at least ten to twelve years old. "It's easy to hit a stationary target, how good are you with a moving one?" Came a question from one of the kids in the back, "well that's a good question, let's find out shall we? Pickup that log and toss it as hard as you can into the air." Zen replied pointing to the nearby log for the boy to pick up, the boy was one of the taller ones in the class and by far the closest in age to Zen based on his appearance. The boy would grab the log and launch it into the air higher than Zen thought the boy to be able to as well as at an angle rather than straight up, but that was fine by Zen it would give him a better chance to show off his very limited skill. In a matter of a few seconds Zen launched eight arrows into the log, through rather than the board long side of the log he stuck it at the small round end of it. The arrows wouldn't hit a bullseye on the wood but rather make a unique design that was better view once Zen picked up the log and showed it to the class. Upon the log the arrows formed a crude yet obvious smiley face with the round end of the log being the outside circle of the face, two arrows marked the eyes while the other six formed a half crescent for the mouth.

The class began to clap at the Marksman, as he held up the log showing his work before pulling the arrows from the log. "Enough about that now, this is not going to be a lesson about how great of a shot I am. This is about you learning to wield a bow properly, now everyone grab a bow and a quiver." Zen stated as he began walking towards the targets. Once everyone had their gear he would instruct them to stand in front of a target and to assume their shooting stance without an arrow notched so that he could inspect their form. Before he inspected their form however he would walk to each of the six targets and recover his arrows from them as he spoke. "The way of the bow requires strength, coordination, perception, and knowledge. You must use all of these in order to have even the slightest chance of hitting your target." He spoke slowly and walked even slower as he pulled the arrows from the targets, he did this for a reason. Causing the children to hold their pose this entire time would give him an easier view to see faltering and be better able to help them address these flaws to improve their aim. He would inspect each of them one at a time giving minor corrections for the student in question to adjust, anywhere from raising or lowering the elbow on their shooting arm to holding the bow away from their body or in the regards to 1 imparticular student the proper grip in which to hold the bow. Once he was satisfied he would have them each notch an arrow, though not draw the string until after he inspected how they had the arrow notched. He was happy that he only had to correct one of them on their notch, it showed promise for the rest of them. "Ok when I say loose you are you draw your bow as I instructed you earlier, and then release the arrow. You will continue the process until you have shot all ten of your arrows, this is not a timed exercise this is a precision trail. Take your time and ensure to hit your mark, once you have shot all ten of your arrows you will wait until everyone else has finished firing theirs. After which we will inspect each target and talk about where and how you can improve, then as a class you will each retrieve your ten arrows and resume your positions to do it again keeping my advice about your shots in mind to improve yourself." With that Zen would take position next to the tree out of firing range and give the order, "loose." As he watched each of the six kids begin their process of firing their arrows he would watch them, he would have time to judge their shots later this was about watching their form as they shot actually arrows. He would spend the next several hours critiquing the individual students, while some seemed to appreciate the advice he would give it was obvious to him that there were a few that couldn't care less. Zen would shift his focus to those that took his advice to heart, and ignored those that he felt were not trying or did not care. By the end of the school day two out of the three students he had focused his attention on hit the outer rim of the bullseye with the third student extremely close to it's border.

Zen was more than satisfied with the outcome of his lesson, after dismissing the class Zen would go to the classroom and leave a note on the teachers desk for the instructor to see when they returned. The note would explain what Zen taught the students as well as the outcome at the end of the day, with that in place Zen would head for the headmaster's office ready to call an end to the day.

{Exit Thread}