A New Beginning

Rin easily sees that Masuyo takes a skip backwards for it was a simple movement and Rin never took his eyes off her. Rin was beginning to flip his body to where he sensed a presence of chakra is directly under him and could see the very ground beginning to change color. Rin literally threw his right katana at that area with uncanny accuracy while continuing his flip until his feet were leveled with the ground. His katana sinks into the soil as the blade easily sank into the churning mud. Accurately angling his left foot, Rin lands on the pommel of his katana as his angled foot with the momentum of the flip causes it to move sideways carrying the boy’s momentarily weight on it.

Nearly the instant his foot touches the pommel Rin immediately leaps away as the mud bursts towards the sky. His right katana poofs in smoke as the mud crashes onto the weapon. Part of the mud spraying on his cheeks as Rin leapt through the initial stage of the technique. Meanwhile Rin leapt towards Masuyo and with the short 2 meter gap Rin can close it within the second. Where Rin drives his left shoulder at Masuyo’s chest with the momentum, weight, and strength he can muster. Simultaneously the right hand is being hurled with an open palm at Masuyo’s belt. Where Rin will swiftly unbuckle the utility belt with a flick of his thumb as his fingers wrap around the leather strap at the buckle side. So when Rin shoves Masuyo away he could take the belt off even if there is a latch since he lift the buckle. Sure it might pinch, but hey the belt is a bigger target than the bells itself.

On the chance that Masuyo remains rooted in place Rin will give a strong pull with his right hand at the said belt. As he’ll attempt to remove the belt and follows up by shoving his left elbow at Masuyo’s abdomen area to create a gap. A gap in space and provide enough time for Rin taking a meter skip back with the belt in hand. The very same belt that contains her hip bags and the bells.

Spoiler:

Taichi continued to jump from branch to branch, seeing the mudslide that's crashing down into the forest, with Taichi trying to stay high in the trees and clear of the mudslide that's happening, though he isn't in the right angle of the forest to see if it actually hit Rin or not and didn't know whether to jump in for support, but he saw Masuyo clear as day just a few jumps over, he's tempted to rush her now as it is but if he did, even he had enough common sense that she would have something up her sleeve. "Remember what I called you earlier?" rubbing in the insult that he said when he used that jutsu to mess up the trees of the forest, to shake out Masuyo.

If he could see her so clearly, she would've seen him well enough. He saw this as a solid chance to take on a skilled Jounin on his own, though he's hoping that Sera might come up with a good surprise attack of some kind if Taichi's going to be tackling on this gal head-on. He has no idea where Rin went, but knowing that this is a training exercise, he would just be incapacitated at worst.

Taichi quickly grabbed out two shuriken from his waist holster, throwing them towards Masuyo, with both aimed at her stationary spot, one straight for her head should it land meanwhile the other towards her lower chest, basically forcing her to move. After Taichi threw the shuriken, he would start running back towards the branches from where he came from, as he didn't want to be near the ongoing mud river, or much less take her on hand-to-hand near it. He hoped the shuriken would taunt her into following him, so he could take her on in a slightly better area of the ruined forest.

As Rin descended from his aerial approach he had his sword in hand ready as usual. As the ground beneath him began to change he switched from an offensive combat pose into driving his blade into the ground. This hinted to Masuyo that he was aware of her technique before it was actually executed. Unfortunately for Rin, his attempt of making a foothold was thwarted as the earth became mud, and that mud pushed towards him and away from Masuyo. It would be enough to easily carry the boy, or move a large man of any stature. It was an impossible technique to negotiate without a sharp wit and the right tools for the job. After all, robbing a Shinobi of their freedom make them a sitting duck. The boy would be carried down to the end of the river separating him and Masuyo a good ten meter distance. As she fed her chakra into the earth she produced an indefinite amount of mud to keep the boy pressed between the log and the river.

At opportune timing the other two would arrive. First Sera, exiting the tree line and joining Masuyo at the shore. Sera were a mere four meters from the Jounin, such a short range providing Masuyo with a plethora of ways to combat her if the chance was needed. Instead, she would simply turn her head and keep eye contact with the klutz. Although she was quick to jab at Taichi's appearance and seemed like the most outgoing of the trio, she certainly appeared as the most hesitant and in her eyes, the weakest link.

Of course, her personal opinions about her students never left her lips. That would give them more information about how she felt, and the more information your enemy knew about you, the weaker you became. Exiting the tree line shortly after Sera was Taichi, her own long-term Genin she brought with her from Iwagakure. His attempts to get a rise out of her was easily seen through, as a few harsh remarks were not personal enough to break her will. Though, this did not mean she was unable to play the game. Smirking to herself she rebutted the boy's remarks making it look easy, as if it was a well-rehearsed line. "Varmint such as yourself talk a lot of garbage. As a deadbeat child whose guardian still have provide for them and buy them clothes, I guess varmint best suits your name."

Assuming the man planned to continue through with his attack, Masuyo would effortlessly open herself up by stepping one foot to the side, the shuriken continuing on their path and missing the Jounin. "But I'm already doing you a disservice by giving you the attention you crave. I will be doing your folks a favor by feeding into your needs." Her words were bitter and gave off a different tone than her normal, bubbly behavior. Despite this, she seemed cool on the exterior. She made no additional efforts to acknowledge the boy directly. She kept all three of the Genin, Sera, Taichi, and Rin in her sights as long as she could. After all, she was still the defensive player and the Genin were given the task of pursuing her. If they failed to provide any aggression, she would simply flee and resume hiding.

The Stuff:

Tried as Rin did to press probably the best shot he had. It wasn’t enough despite his efforts as Rin was caught into the rushing flow of mud. The curling wave of dark soil rise slamming right onto the boy’s body in the middle of his flip. From there the wave slams Rin’s body hard onto the hard packed ground before proceeding to sweep him further towards the forest. Everytime that river of mud slammed him into something Rin would gasp as it practically knocks the air out of his lungs. However it was quickly filled with mud so it was a struggle to find air on its own. Somewhere along the way Rin felt his katana wrenched from his grasp shortly before Rin was slammed into a senju tree. Causing him to gasp once again as normally he would be sitting so only his head could be seen over the surface.

Struggle is honestly not a word to describe the effort going on here as Rin fights off from being heavily pressed against the tree and the river of mud constantly pressing the same overwhelming force on his body. Rin almost got up to at least propping on the tree with a raised hand before something sharp under the mud pierced his thigh. Quickly following behind it was the seething hiss coming from his bared teeth as he flinched and fell to the ground again. Whatever it was the thing went all the way through as sharp pain that burns from the mud caressing around the wound. ’Did i lose again…? Am i going to get discarded like last time?’ Rin mentally thought that infuriated him with no end on sight. ’Is that why Tsuyo left me to fend for myself? Was i too weak to keep up?’

Self-doubt encroached inside of his mind as his heart weighs heavily in guilt and fear. Fear of being abandoned again because he did not live up to someone’s expectations. The boy was covered in mud as the pain was a bit too much for him to bear and just walk off. However the pain is more than just physical, but Rin tries to fight the emotions off. After all shinobi are supposed to be cold and never let a single emotion surface above their mask. Yet Rin feels so powerless in his situation for he could not even get up like he did before. Granted just getting up was a great effort on its own, but ever since whatever had stabbed him on the thigh using the muscle around his left leg angers the wound to scream inside of his mind.

He couldn’t even see where the others were at because he can’t wipe off the mud away from his eyes. So when all of the sudden he felt the pressure from the river seem to lessen Rin figured to try to at least place a hand of chakra on the bark. Trying his best not to put any pressure on his left leg as he pulls himself up. When he suddenly felt other pressure on him yeah the boy panicked for a moment because for one he can’t see and wasn’t exactly expecting anyone to touch him. However when Sera spoke Rin immediately calmed down and accepted her aid as he practically walks on his hands up the tree. His body feels heavy from the mud and whatever is still in his leg still burns like rubbing salt on it. Normally Rin would try sensing his way around, but with the pain on his thigh it is hard to concentrate and Rin knows that for some strange reason that pain would increase at least times two.

To Sera’s perspective, Rin practically crawls his way out of the river of mud when she notices there is something… odd protruding from his left thigh. Rin carefully bends from the torso using those ‘abs’ to curl his body and plant the toes of his right foot onto the tree before placing the chakra under his foot to create the magnetic effect. Where Rin takes the time with one hand to try and wipe off the mud around his eyes and nostrils. As the mud drips from the odd shape as it faces away from the tree, or at least the long part of it since it appears to be at least a foot long. However as the mud drips Sera could see there is something metallic about it.

Now that Rin can somewhat see better than nothing, he blinked a couple of times as he looked over at Sera and tries to give a apologetic smile though his leg is a rude reminder causing him to wince instead. “So Taichi is drawing her attention… In that case we wait for the opportune moment. She is bound to slip up, and we’ll need to get closer to really get a surprise on her. Once she opens that window we expose it by combining either our kenjutsu or i can cause her to stagger into your grasp. I’m sure you can put her into the ground one way or another.” Rin whispered as he took a couple of deep breaths before looking ‘up’ at his left leg. More mud seems to have come off, and Rin reaches with a shaky hand to grab the object. Even though it was slimy and caked with mud. Rin knows the feeling of threads by touch when he feels it and an aggravated sigh as he closed his eyes for a moment. Also it send another scream of pain as he winced again.

“Son of a… Of all things i get myself stabbed by my own stupid blade. Great no wonder it hurts so bad.” Rin opened his eyes as he looked at the other side of his thigh and saw that it appears to have through his thigh all the way down to the hilt. Probably stopped at the tsuba from the looks of it. “And it went all the way through it seems…” The boy can see at least both of his wakizashi are in place so at least he wasn’t exactly weaponless nor out of commission yet. Rin takes another deep breath as he looks around once again to spot the nearest set of trees. “Alright, bear with me because i’ve never done this before. But we’re going to go around and see if we can flank her from the river.” Rin would state before pushing off from the tree towards the nearest tree towards the river. The boy will twist and flip to slam a chakra-coated palm on the tree. Taking advantage of his momentum and constantly lowering to stabling the chakra flow to basically spin around the tree. Where Rin slams his other palm to push himself off from the tree. Performing another flip at about 270 degrees to plant his right chakra-coated foot on the other tree.

Rin would ascend up to the tree canopy by cartwheeling himself with careful stream of chakra on his foot and hands while keeping the pressure from his left leg. Of course it still hurts like hell regardless, but at the very least Rin is moving to higher ground and would try to blend with the branches as he moves closer to the river. He was given another chance, and it was a chance Rin was not going to give up. Also Rin hopes that Taichi can buy them time as well as keeping Masuyo’s focus on him. After all anyone would look at him and think he’s not going to fight because of his condition. However that is where Rin plays the thought of his enemy is not going to sit there and allow him to recover. Seeing as how that played out, Rin realizes that he’s going to step it up on his part.

It seems both of the shuriken failed to hit her, along with a nasty comeback from Masuyo. It did get on Taichi's nerves quite a bit, especially how that second line with his outfit wasn't exactly far from the truth. Oh, he was invested now more then ever. "Yeah?! at least I have folks to get attention off, instead of slobbing on guys for it!" he just basically called her a slut, a typical degradation he has to resort to but one that might work with any female really in Taichi's eyes, even the all chilled Masuyo must have some form of feminine insecurities. 

He came back to a closer distance with Masuyo after her insult, and especially after realising she wasn't taking the bait. He remembered that they're supposed to be the ones hunting after her, not her after him. "Okay, that's a bit of an idiotic mistake on my part..." but at least he'll continue to do what he's supposed to do, and that's keeping Masuyo distracted.

As soon as Taichi noticed Sera trying to recover Rin, Taichi knew that it wouldn't take long for Masuyo to see them as well. On that front, he threw another two shuriken from his waist holster at her with the same places at before, one aimed for her head and the other aimed for her lower stomach before activating his Arhat Fist and trying to take on Masuyo straight on.

He started to jump in straight for Masuyo, hoping to catch her before she would either jump for his two teammates or to try and keep her mudflow going, launching straight for her with his Arhat Fist activated and a Shattering Palm aimed straight for her, he didn't have high hopes it would land but it would at least keep her distracted.

Stuff:

Masuyo stood with her hands on her hips, grinning, and slightly blushing following Taichi's remark. She went on with the satisfaction she provoked the boy after all of his meaningless attempts to insult her. "I've wasted enough time here. You should check up on your allies instead of making purposeless attempts to provoke me." Holding up a half tiger seal the Jounin produced a cloud of smoke similar to her previous disappearance. Masuyo would flee deeper in the forest the opposite direction from the Genin.

As the Jounin vanished the flow of the mud river would cease leaving a tranquil sound of the river calmly running downstream. What was left was nothing short of a natural disaster. The woods behind the Genin were collapsed and the ground heavily cracked. A large pool of thin mud also covered a semi-large portion of the shore and spread just a bit into the ruined forest. It was a short conflict of Ninjutsu that left Rin wounded and partially drowned. Sera and Taichi were unscathed for the most part.

Masuyo did not attempt to flee as deep into the forest as she did last time. She knew currently the Genin were at a loss for actions. Sprinting just one-hundred fifty meters she was well out of sight and within the foliage of the forest. She would be crouched on one knee behind a shrub near a large tree. She focused her vision through the woods, her perception just barely catching sight of the river but not the Genin. She was in a good enough hiding spot for now. Holding a particular hand sign she summon a clone of herself which immediately began tunneling beneath the earth with aid of her Earth nature. The clone would tunnel herself towards the Genin passing the damp earth beneath the river. She would position herself five feet below the surface of the earth, which allowed the Jounin to survey the Genin while staying out of sight.

The Stuff:

Another sharp pain erupted from Rin’s left thigh which not only caused him to wince, but it also caused him to stop with his momentum. Luckily Rin was already at the top of the canopy so he was able to find a stable branch to sit on. Painful all the same as Rin took heed to be careful with his wound. That is when Sera came up next to him and told him that he’s a tough kid yet needs to not try so hard. Rin grimaced for a thought immediately surfaced in his mind. ’But if i don’t try harder you guys will abandon me…’

“Taking it a easy… Yeah that is a luxury i was never granted.” Rin answered before taking a deep breath and steeling himself for what is about to happen. Both of his hands were slightly shaking from the pain, but he searched around his shorts to find the torn portion without touching the hilt of his katana. Unfortunately, Rin comes to a dire conclusion that the tsuba of his katana is hiding the tear. The kid takes a quick break to take a couple of a breaths and he’s been listening to Sera as well. The threats were heard, but if it had any true effect then Rin doesn’t show it because he’s trying to cope with his physical problems. Least to say he’s not moving anymore, and he takes fabric around the left leg on both sides before giving it a quick and strong pull. The sounds of fabric ripping can be heard as Rin tears the shorts to his hip.

“I may not know much about Ninjutsu since i can barely use it as it stands. However i do know it can be seen as careless to be casting jutsu back to back like that. We’re just lucky no one around here can use powerful jutsus meant for jounin.” Rin responded to Sera as he took a break for a couple of moments. Then Rin would set about wiping off the mud around his wound. Flicking the residue off from his hands to the side that Sera was not located at. When it seemed that Sera had lost sight of Taichi and Masuyo the boy drew in a deep breath as he places a shaky hand on the main part of the tree they’re on. Like a pulse Rin scans the area at 50 meters in a radius. Rin detects Taichi, but Masuyo was nowhere near them now. “Taichi is where Masuyo used to be. She is gone from this area and i can’t…” With the enhanced senses comes the enhanced pain as his thigh throbs and feels like multiple needles stabbing into him. Thin lines of crimson liquid flow down from his thigh and tip of his blade drips with the same life water.

Rin was just about to drop the sensory field when he detects something out of the ordinary. “Wait…” It approaches from the north, yet with his visual sight there appears to be nothing there. “Something is coming, but i don’t see anything…” By now Rin was getting a headache that was borderline from being a migraine which is enough to make him drop his field. Yet Rin searched harder barely able to keep his eyes open and his face grimacing to display his constant struggle to maintain. Yet he searched with his mind’s eye as this thing grew closer to their location. Luckily Rin’s search presented fruitful results for once. “I don’t know if it is Masuyo or not… but there is something underneath… underneath the river. Not submerged in water, but inside the earth itself…”

Rin felt like his head was going to split in half from the pain inside of his head alone. He had to close his eyes and cover them with his dirty hands to shield them from any source of light. His muscles around his arms and torso spasm as the nerves cause the muscular system to become unstable. A sob sneaks its way from his lips as he couldn’t stop himself from crying. It just hurts so much both inside of his mind and throughout his body. Eventually the spasms subside and his muscles calm themselves. Rin’s mind still aches, but not so bad as before as Rin starts wiping off his face.

“Now for the fun part…” Rin mumbled more to himself as he reached down with one hand to take out one of his wakizashi. With only one eye open since right now he can’t see out of his right eye because the lights are too bright for it. Rin cuts off the rest of the fabric around his left leg. Getting a nice, large piece of torn fabric Rin with try his best to fling off the dirt before tearing the fabric in half again. “From the feels of the blade running through my leg. It doesn’t appear to hit the bone, and the good news is that it did not hit my artery on the inner thigh region. I need…” Rin winced for a moment as tears runs down his cheek, yet he still pushes onward as he takes one of the fabric and makes a tight wrap above the wounded area. To limit the bloodflow and he won’t be losing too much blood once he pulls the blade free. In all honesty Rin would fight tear and bone until somebody actually knocks him out as Rin sets himself to clearing the mud from the wound some more.

Spoiler:

"Wha- hey! get a set of balls and fight me like a-" Taichi really didn't think that comment through, he was just too flustered to think up of a clever comeback that time, and it didn't matter anyway as Masuyo already seemingly disappeared, Taichi's perception allowed him to see a slight blur of her figure but not enough to figure out where she headed off to this time. He kicked against a nearby tree out in anger. "Shit! I used Arhat for nothing... I should use long-range ninjutsu... but I'm a close-range fighter, that's my speciality currently." he started to realise in a real fight, he wouldn't stand a chance against Masuyo, it frustrated him.

He would've tried to give chase and wander aimlessly to where she could be, but even so her insulting comment had some truth to it. After realising he's not gonna have much of a chance against Masuyo solo, he's going to head back to where his teammates are to think up of a plan. He's done doing the lone wolf act for now and finally came to the conclusion that actually working with his team will yield better results.

It didn't take long for him to spot him, as he started to jump his way over the branches to where they are, to which he then saw the sword pierced through the kid's leg. Despite that, he could see the kid's trying to be useful even with that injury. "Heh, a kid with that injury and he's taking it? what a champ." it impressed him honestly, Taichi couldn't really relate or brag about an achievement himself as he hasn't had one shoved through his leg yet.

After he reunited with him, he instantly heard Rin's warning about something underneath the earth moving. It took a few seconds for Taichi to get it, but he finally did. "She might be using the hiding-like-a-mole earth technique, it basically allows you to go underground and move around all sneaky like. I have it myself, and it might be worth noting they know what's on the surface above them so it's a good technique to ambush with." but if she's trying to do that then she's trying to get an ambush in on them, what didn't make sense is that she must know about Rin's sensory abilities, so why would she risk it? it sounds like something Taichi would honestly do.

Before the clone would get any further, Taichi would perform the similar handseals that he used earlier, the same jutsu that he used to turn the forest up on itself. After performing the required handseals, Taichi slammed his hands on the ground once more, aimed towards the river as he started to make the earth and water collapse and fall in on itself like he did with the forest earlier, Taichi got excited with the aspect that he outwitted Masuyo if this really was her under the ground and approaching them.

Stuff:

The clone tunneled itself under the Genin allowing her to eavesdrop on their conversation. It was Masuyo's effort to survey their teamwork as well as get a grasp on their abilities. The clone listened to near beginning on their conversation as Masuyo waited at her safe spot awaiting the clone to be dispersed to relay the information. It was no surprise Rin was able to detect her location, Masuyo easily linking that awareness to the boy's natural sensory ability. This, however, left Masuyo compromised. With their presence no longer on top of the Earth the clone would rise to the surface. The Jounin would first pop her head out like a mole, shaking her head to rid of the loose dirt that clung on. She caught the trio of Genin amidst their conversation. Fortunately, she heard Taichi's bit about his experience with the technique. "It is very useful. You would have been in a better position if you utilized it yourself." Following her head would be both of her arms as she pulled herself out of the dirt as if she was getting out of a pool.

This came with a nasty retaliation. Masuyo perceived the boy's hand seals from her position. Time to move! The clone's pace quickened as she hopped out of the dirt and kicked off the ground into the treeline. The hand signs were familiar. She knew the technique herself, which also happened to be the first technique Taichi used to stir up the woods at the start of their encounter. It was not rocket science to conclude the technique was also good as crushing enemies that tunneled within the earth. The clone did not want to be apart of the casualty.

Masuyo would cling to a neighboring tree that the trio resided on as the earth beneath them located by the river crumbled and swirled. This, as a result, began flooding the once shore as the river's natural path was disturbed. She was perpendicular to the tree she squatted on facing the three Genin on the tree branch at a canted angle. She had a kunai in her right hand, one she drew from her thigh holster, in a reverse grip while her other hand was stuck in her left hip pouch. Dashing at the end of the long branch the group resided, a short twelve meters, she brought her left arm across her body simultaneously releasing four kunai in a single volley. Her target was simple: the weakest link in their group. Rin, who was performing self-assisted medical attention attempt to remove the sword from his leg would be the victim of this assault.

The black daggers jetted towards the boy as they were spaced rather dexterously in two rows, side-by-side. This prevented a single sword stroke from negotiating the volley. It would instead force the target to evade, which in Rin's case, would not be a viable option unless aided by his comrades. However, given their range, it would be nearly impossible to pick up the boy and move without having extreme speed and strength at one's disposal. It was a challenging obstacle to deal with, and Masuyo was not prepared to let up there. She would pursue the kunai she threw with her own charge, Taichi being the first of the three Genin in line. With her chakra flow as backup keeping her secure on the tree branch she prepared to engage in close quarters.

Closing the gap in a mere fraction of a second she would start off the combat executing a basic combo. In her low sprint she would dip low almost to the man's abdomen as she spaced herself allowing her to strike with her knife. Masuyo would bring the kunai across his belly in attempts to slice his abdomen being rising from her lower crouch to a more appropriate hunch for combat. She would sweep the kunai right back regardless if the strike was a hit or miss to perform a reversed slash dragging the tip and sharpened edge in efforts to carve across the man's upper torso. Both attacks were not considered fatal by any means, their efforts to distract their opponent into focusing and avoiding the knife. Following the reversed slash would be a lateral kick from the Jounin's left leg. She would put her effort into the attack to strike the man's lower ribs utilizing her speed to deliver a more punishing kick.

The Stuff:

Whether it was getting stabbed by his own blade or the strong possibility of being stabbed by other blades. Rin practically had enough of it as thoughts were swimming inside of his mind. Frustration in his emotions was the winner out of every other emotion. Rin closed his hand and then released while inhaling, hold, then exhale to gather his willpower. Then all of that frustration went away the moment Sera placed her black ribbon onto his leg. It would work better than the cloth he’s using and it is made out of silk from the feel of it. Rin would dip his head as a faint smile made its way to his lips. “I will be fine for the most part. It’s not the first i’ve gotten stabbed, but it is the first time i got stabbed by my own weapon.”

Then Masuyo popped her head out like a mole from the ground below the genin. Right where Rin had pointed out too. Still, perhaps it was just his gut instinct, but something was wrong as the hairs on the back of his neck begin to stand up and the tips of his fingers began to tingle. Rin chose to ignore his instinct though as his eyes focused onto Masuyo. Rin had raised his wakizashi to where he could bite down onto the metal blade between his teeth. However he stopped himself when Taichi used that technique to crush and tear at the environment. The tree shuttered from the tremors and the water howled as a new pathway was created and now it fills the void.

Masuyo was ascending up on the tree and Sera took off to meet Masuyo. Masuyo’s speed kept blurring in Rin’s eyes to the point where he’s practically following Masuyo’s shadow. Whether Sera could reach Masuyo on time or not, Masuyo’s kunai would already be out as the sheer speed alone outmatches anyone out here. Of course it is still up to Masuyo on whether or not to redirect her attacks, but assuming Masuyo proceeded to throw her two kunai. Rin immediately lost sight of those kunai the moment they left her hands. Not even a second later two sharp pains screamed from his right shoulder and from the left side of his abdomen. Rin winced and grunts from the pain while his right hand began to shake. Looking at the source were indeed a kunai protruding from his right shoulder most definitely hitting the bones there and another kunai buried to where only the small ring at the end into his abdomen.

The smell of iron creeps up to his throat just before small amounts of blood hurls into his mouth. Causing him to gag as the hot crimson liquid sprays from between his teeth. Staining his teeth red and his lips dripping from a mixture of saliva and blood. “Well damn… Guess i might die from this one…” Rin’s voice was raspy, yet it wasn’t so much as a surprised though shock is definitely present on his body. Rin pondered a bit before he lowers his wakizashi. If Masuyo does get past Sera, which most likely will happen one way or another, Rin will drop his wakizashi as he reached up with his left hand to grab the kunai on his left shoulder. The boy’s face hardened with determination as he steeled himself. In one swift movement Rin pulls the kunai out of his shoulder and with a flick of his wrist Rin will throw the kunai at Masuyo. Not really aiming anywhere in particular other than at Masuyo’s torso region as Rin was trying to throw Masuyo off from her rhythm. “You can have that one back… I won’t be needing it.”

It was for a brief moment, but Rin really did feel the tug of something cold that scared the hell out of the boy. Red liquid flows out of his shoulder like thick liquid ooze. It is practically summer’s weather for it is hot, sunny, and the environment is beautiful to behold. Yet the colors were beginning to turn grey while his fingers and feet were becoming cold. Rin knew it would only be a matter of time now.

The blonde-haired individual got surprised by his sensei suddenly popping up from the earth, stating about how she was listening in on the conversation and about how useful the mole technique is, if it were any other situation, Taichi would've agreed but the arrogance she showed with her popping out of the earth just to tell them that pissed off Taichi, and he didn't delay launching his jutsu against the river at all. When the river started to make a pathway due to Taichi's jutsu, it looked like Masuyo managed to jump out just in time and towards the treeline. Taichi released his palm from the ground as the jutsu did it's job, but didn't end up getting Masuyo in the mix.

It didn't take long for Taichi to put together that she might go after Rin, considering his weak state, as it's something he would likely do himself. He saw Masuyo dash from the long branch and before doing her jump towards the group, throw a volley of four kunai towards Rin. Taichi slightly panicked, but his quick-thinking kicked in time as he quickly used his left hand to grab his kunai from the left leg holster, and his right hand into his pouch to grab an explosive tag. He quickly attached it to his kunai by hastedly wrapping it and setting it to detonate in a few seconds, where Taichi threw the kunai towards the intercepted path of the four kunai, and at the last second exploded to put all the kunai off their path, with even some of the iron being blown off as shrapnel and heading off in all directions.

Taichi took a bit of a hit from the shrapnel, a piece of metal had pierced his chest and three metal pieces had pierced the man's left arm, with most of them around his elbow. The pain was annoying to deal with but it wasn't a deep stab luckily, and he could put up with the pain for now, his focus on the pain was quickly interrupted when he noticed Masuyo trying to aim for Taichi in close quarters. If this were a few minutes ago, Taichi would've gladly taken her head-on but he already came to the realisation that he'll have to depend on his teammates to win against her. He put his right hand into his pouch again and noted the direction of where Rin is, before grabbing for the smoke bomb in his hip pouch and dropping it straight on the ground, making it go off and blurring the small area they were in with a smokescreen.

Taichi rushed towards where he remembered Rin being, as Taichi couldn't see himself. Taichi started to light up his blue sandals with chakra and started to run up the tree to where Rin is on top of the canopy, where the smoke wasn't as thick and Taichi could just barely see Rin. He didn't know if any of the shrapnel landed on Rin but he wasted no time wrapping one of Rin's spare arms around Taichi's neck, helping him up and starting to run across the tree branches to at least get Rin away from Masuyo.

When Taichi had set about at least 50 meters from the smokescreen is, he came up with a plan, Taichi knows he won't be able to take on Masuyo in a one on one, with the only capable teammate being injured severely, instead Taichi went back towards the ruined forest with all the collapsed earth and trees all around. Taichi carefully placed down Rin near a heavily disfigured part of the ruined earth, and started to perform a few handseals and placed his palm on the ground towards the direction of where they ran from, making a earth wall, Taichi then helped Rin back up, and gently placed him down against the earth shore return wall, with all the earth messed up around the area, this wall wouldn't look that different from them so it would be hard to single this one earth wall out from anything else. "You're fine now, so I can focus on fighting her."

With that out of the way, Taichi performed yet another set of handseals which created a haze clone right next to him. It did it's own independent movements similar to a shadow clone except it's intangible, it can't be hurt and it can't hurt others. Taichi then performed another combination with him entering the earth through a hole and quickly closing it up. Taichi under the earth started to make his way back to where Masuyo supposedly is with the smokescreen, with the haze clone on top of the surface, who looks cautious and is slowly walking back towards the fray to anyone unsuspecting of what Taichi is really doing.

Stuff:

The clone forced herself out of the hole just at a moment's notice as she got enough footing to leap out of the way. The other female, Sera, attempted to intercept the path of the Jounin, though fortunately for Masuyo her poor judgement of her trajectory and Speed made that feat neigh impossible. Masuyo would dash by Sera's peripheral without a trace, the girl's only visual of Masuyo being her leaving the ground. Masuyo would solidly plant both feet on the tree as usual and execute her plan of action attempting to pursue the weakest link in the group. Coming from her hand were the four kunai designated to pin the young Genin into a completely incapacitated state. In that event she would have to call the training to a halt and transport the boy to the nearest medical center. She was no professional in the field of medicine, but she reckoned the boy was frail as most Genin but the exception were. He would lack strength and vitality to stay alive is he sustained too much physical damage. Even the shock of enough attacks would be enough to kill.

However, Masuyo was willing to pull the most serious side out of her Genin to see how they operate under pressure. The four kunai soared in the air towards the two remaining Genin on the tree branch. With Rin technically incapacitated it was up to Taichi to save his ally. His plan of action would actually make the Jounin smile with a small sense of accomplishment. Deftly reaching into his holster and hip pouch he would assemble a last-second explosive kunai. Due to his lack of preparation the kunai would have made it closer to his side rather than detonating it in the middle. Still, she was willing to give him props for quickly assembling a genius defense using his basic tools.

As the blast would go off Masuyo would instinctively use both arms to cover her face and halt in motion. The blast sending shrapnel around all corners she was particularly safe. A few bits of iron stung her arms and thighs, though given her distance they offered nothing more but a slight bit of impact force not actually breaking her skin. The pieces that hit her flak jacket were null. Still, she did not let the explosion deter her. It was not the first or last time she would encounter a paper bomb. Crouching her legs she would begin her pursuit with her blade in hand. She watched carefully as her opponent reached into his hip pouch again, the boy wielding a small purple orb which was an active smoke bomb. Masuyo would focus on her immediately surroundings trying to capture a mental picture before the smoke went off.

As the bomb was activated Masuyo would spring into the air during the smokescreen. Her speed and accurate perception of her environment centered herself right between Taichi and Rin, a light thud following her impact. Just as she landed a sudden gust would roll through the woods resembling that of a whole gale. Taichi, Rin, and Sera would all experience this sudden wind. Although it was not powerful enough to influence their bodies directly it would effectively scatter the smokescreen into the air. Being a mere two meters in front of Rin she would intercept Taichi's path by her mere presence acting as a permanent obstacle between him and his wounded teammate. Her free hand would reach out attempting to snag the boy by his front collar in efforts to lift him up.

If successful she would not waste a moment of time, tossing him aside with her strength. He would not go a great distance, a measly few meters from her location, but he would be separated from the tree and therefore leave Rin at her mercy.

The Stuff:

BOOM!


"Awww man, what the hell is goin' on over there. Is that where I have to go? Fuck me, man..." The chuunin named Rito Kazawa turned towards the explosion he heard in the training grounds. He had been told to search for one Masuyo Kaede there and deliver a mission to her. That mission was contained within the scroll he had in his right hand, an official seal on it from the village. He was of middling height and weight, with nothing too special about his appearance. Short brown hair and eyes, with a nose that was perhaps a bit too long.

When he got to the area he was hoping led to his target, he was delighted to confirm that she was, in fact, there. A woman with pink hair was not hard to spot when she wasn't trying to hide. Aaaaaaand then there was a smoke bomb let off. Rito ran towards the smoke, unsure of what was going on inside. "Masuyo Kaede! You and your squad have a mission!" Assuming the oddly intense training session would stop and Masuyo would come to him to retrieve the scroll, the chuunin would turn and get as far away from the carnage as he could.



Inside the scroll:

Spoiler:

So yes the kunai in Masuyo’s hands virtually vanished from Rin’s sight when Masuyo threw them. However from the corner of his eye Taichi deftly was rummaging into his bag and hastily threw something that wasn’t directed at Masuyo. Rin saw the tag on the kunai as it was burning away and instinct took over as Rin raised both arms and his right leg to shield his face, torso, and abdomen. When the explosion erupted from the kunai, Rin felt the shrapnel bouncing off from his head. However they lost the velocity to damage much of anything aside from noticing that it was there. Other shrapnel seems to have taken onto Taichi’s body, and with Rin peeking from his defensive arms the boy will see Taichi also grabbing a dark ball-like object. One Rin remember seeing Masuyo used when she body flickers that is a smoke bomb.

To be honest Rin didn’t know what Taichi was really planning, but he certainly did get the gist of putting a good distance from Masuyo. Taking advantage of the smoke, Rin placed his right foot onto the ground before forming the half tiger. Rin already knew where the river was since he’s been wanting to get over there for a while now. So with the chakra rushing through his body and into his legs. Rin seemed to have vanished when Masuyo cleared the smoke away as Rin made a beeline towards the river. Within the second Rin would be at the river while also in the air still.

Rin will flip his body with an added twist so when Rin goes to land on the water’s surface he’ll be facing towards Masuyo’s position. The way Rin lands is mainly extending his free hand coated with chakra towards the water as he was upside down at the time. Rin will briefly land on his right hand, and though his muscles were burning from the strain Rin slides a meter on the river. His fingers being partly submerged creating a claw-like ripple in the water. When Rin came roughly to a stop, the boy will gracefully lower his body to more or less keep himself propped by his right leg.

Rin still has his wakizashi in hand as Rin looks up to see Taichi being grabbed by the collar of his shirt. Sera was approaching, but she looks confused as she was looking for something in particular. Rin feels like she might be looking for him, and Taichi will probably looks as well. Still it’ll create a moment where all of them virtually stop to look. Or it’ll incite them to become worse. Whichever came first honestly. Still Rin feels like he’s being targeted specifically, which thinking logically compared to the rest of his team Rin is now the weakest member. If he wasn’t already the weakest to begin with which Rin would not doubt that is the case. Still if Masuyo is really targeting Rin, then Rin could try to lure her towards him. On ground Rin has learned would be ill-advised, however Rin still doesn’t quite understand why she used ninjutsu back to back like that. It seems careless in Rin’s mind. But he’s not going to say anything right now.

The black ribbon Sera had given him is now stowed into his hip pouch. The water beneath Rin is slowly becoming clouded from the mud washing off from his right hand and foot. His left wakizashi poised and ready for an attack. Whether it is meant to actually harm or defend truly does depend on what comes at Rin’s direction. With there being somebody else that seemed to be getting or trying to get Masuyo’s attention. Rin only hopes this concludes the training session since it appears to be a mission. However something tells Rin he’s going to get hurt a lot more before the day is over.

Spoiler:

Taichi didn't waste any time trying to get to Rin and save him from Masuyo, but that was before Masuyo used some sort of wind jutsu to clear up the smokescreen that Taichi put down, resulting in her quickly landing between the two of them and intercepting Taichi's path. He saw it coming soon enough to know this would most likely result in close-quarters combat, and already activated Arhat Fist but wasn't quick enough to counter her grab and easily got picked up by the collar, however in the instant that Taichi was about to get chucked a few measly meters, Taichi got a strong grip onto her throwing arm's wrist with one of his free hands and forced her to be slightly pushed back with him, though with his and her combined weight, he easily got back down on the ground with his feet and only got pushed back by a mere meter.

Quickly afterwards, Taichi used his grip on Masuyo's wrist to pull her in roughly, doing his best to not even give her a chance to react and if she didn't end up countering Taichi's own attack, her stomach would collide with the powerful Arhat palm that Taichi has thrown towards her, throughout this sequence, Taichi is hoping either Rin or Sera will use this as a chance to get themselves to safety and formulate a plan while Taichi is taking on their sensei head-on, ironically this is what he wanted at the start, but even he's starting to learn now he probably can't take her on a fair one on one.

St00f:

As the smokescreen cleared Masuyo was aware of Rin's absence as he made a quick break out of the scene. She was a bit surprised at the boy's dedication to further cause damage to himself. He was certainly headstrong, but not the brightest. It was a character trait she had to beat out of him to ensure he did not kill himself in the future. It was one thing to be driven with your actions, but to pursue them when incapacitated only did further harm to oneself and caused a greater burden to your team. Nonetheless, Taichi was a threat. Having him in her hands she felt a sturdy grip around her wrist. It would traditionally prove troublesome to her next action, that is if both parties were equally matched. Masuyo was superior in a physical sense, but what else she had under her belt made the whole scenario almost pointless. As Taichi prepared his palm thrust the Jounin fought the man in a quick grapple with as much finesse as a professional could.

She would twist the wrist that Taichi held onto. Not twist in the sense that intended to strain or break, but in the realms of fighting for wrist control. She would become the dominant hand and put his wrist on lock down. As this happened her other hand flew to intercept the wrist of the man's thrusting palm. In a brief instance she would have both limbs under her control. At this point a simple twist of her hips and following of her arms would sling the man with now greater force than previous anticipated. His direction would head straight into the female Genin, Sera, would pursued Masuyo's side with a solid blitz. In the theory of success she would have Taichi's body smash into hers like a meteor which bared enough force to send Taichi and Sera in the direction she came from to impact the earth. The combined body weight back with the speed and strength of the hurl would cause a small crater in the earth as their bodies cracked and upturned a small around of the topsoil around them before tumbling along the ground in the ruined earth environment left behind from the previous abuse of various earth technique.

Of course there was another manner to attend to. "Hold." She would announce, primarily towards the Genin as she turned to her flank. There was another Shinobi. One uninvited to the scene. He was a Chuunin at the very least. "Oh boy, a mission!"[/b] She exclaimed as she trotted over to retrieve the scroll. She would immerse herself in the details, opening the scroll immediately as she scanned the content, the Chuunin quick to leave the squad behind as fast as he arrived. She was a bit taken back at the complexity of the mission. It was considered B-rank and given to what would be a squad of Genin topped with Masuyo, a Jounin by class. She would roll up the scroll and place it in the next free space in her hip pouch. "It seems there is a change on plan. This training session has come to an end." Dropping from the branch she'd touch base as her knees just bent slightly adapting to the pressure.

"I can confidently say you all have much work to do. And I mean a lot. Together you all managed to cause more harm to yourselves than you actually managed to cause me. I did not expect much, as you all are simply Genin, but I expected something. But if you will excuse me..." She said as her body suddenly vanished. This was no movement, either. The Masuyo before than was gone in the presence of smoke. The clone being dispersed relayed the events that occurred since. Most importantly, the details of a mission. As the smoke cleared there was nothing but the mission scroll laying on the floor as it was the only item in her inventory that was not originally there when created. From above the actual Masuyo would fall from the treeline to take the clone's place as she picked up the scroll from the ground and returned it to her hip pouch.

"I was looking for coordination in your actions and purpose. Instead you have one man running himself through with his own sword, one man more interested in insulting his foe than actually doing something about it, and your woman who doesn't know up from down. If you all considered your actions before doing them, you wouldn't be in the situation you are now. With a wounded team member, loss of chakra, and a failed objective." Masuyo had finished lecturing them, letting out a sigh returning her hands into her pockets. "But I guess it's not the end of the world. It is just training after all. We have a mission, which was just given to me by a messenger. It is a B-rank mission. This means I need all of you to be at your best performance. This means I am going to require you, specifically Rin and Sera, to carry basic gear that you are all painfully lacking." Reaching inside her hip pouch she retrieved a pen and notepad. Flipping to a blank sheet she quickly jotted down several lines of text before flipping to the next and doing the same.

When she finished, in a surprising mere matter of seconds she would store the pen and remove both notes of paper. Holding them up to her face she read them aloud. " Twenty shuriken, sixteen kunai-- one for your leg holster and the rest for your hip pouch, five explosive tags, one flash bomb, one smoke bomb, a backpack, one-hundred and fifty feet of steel wire, and a bag of military ration pills. These are the bare essentials you should always carry when on duty. You may always carry more than what is listed, or buy anything extra. But your kunai, shuriken, explosives, wire, ration pills, and storage is always a must." She would hand both Sera and Rin their piece of paper individually. "Take the rest of today and tomorrow to recover. We will gather at the gates Tuesday morning just after dawn. Rin, you need to be taken to the hospital. Given the severity of the injury you can have it worked on by Medical-Nin." Storing the notepad back with her pen she would place both hands on her hips wrapping up their meeting with a final clause. "So do we have any questions?"

The Stuff:

Luckily for Rin, and for the other two as well. The newcomer leaf seemed to be giving their squad a mission. One that Rin was glad to see Masuyo told them to hold. Still Rin did make a face that silently said ‘Ouch’ upon witnessing both Taichi and Sera being slammed pretty hard onto the very earth. Normally he would immediately check to see if everything was okay, but the boy wasn’t sure if they were done with training yet. Rin certainly did not want to give up his position either, but ultimately as Masuyo was talking with the chunin Rin began to move closer towards his allies.

This is done by bending by the right knee and left elbow to build up his strength. With a push from his right leg for power and aided by his left arm Rin leaps forward towards the shoreline. During this flight Rin alternated his drawn wakizashi by switching from the left hand towards the right with a toss. Simultaneously Rin’s left hand reaches back towards the empty scabbard and draws that one from its hold onto his belt. When the genin reaches the earth and nears the end of his leap. Rin flips forward while thrusting his right wakizashi into the earth which sinks a quarter of the blade’s length before coming to a stop along with Rin’s momentum.

Rin purposely lets the right side of his body to fall sideways and by bending his body Rin plants his foot onto the ground first before pushing himself off from the wakizashi. Only Rin stops his momentum from falling onto his left leg by slamming one end of the scabbard Rin holds in his hand and puts a portion of his weight on it. Stable for now, Rin lets out a sigh of relief only to be replaced by the sharp pain again in his left leg. Grimacing, Rin lowers himself slightly to pick up his wakizashi from the ground before using the scabbard like a crutch to walk towards the other two. “Both of you are alright i hope?” Rin asked them as he raised an brow at the two of them in the small crater. Taichi appears to be on top of Sera and for a moment there Rin was expecting jazz music to play in the distance.

“I apologize for my mishap. I wasn’t expecting that… technique i guess possessed such strength. Figured i could’ve get through at the initial step.” Rin expressed to the two as Masuyo and this chunin leaf were conversating even for a brief period of time. Then a fun part came when Masuyo, or rather the clone of her, was scolding them and reprimanding them for their poor efforts. Rin listened, though with his pain perhaps it was because he was just simply tired now. “This training session was a test on all accounts. My role was to track you down and aid my teammates. When i got separated from Sera and Taichi I had to improvise and buy time for them to arrive. Only…” Rin looks down at the hilt protruding from his left leg as the blood coated blade sticks out through the other side. “Only i hurt myself in the end. Becoming a liability to the team…” Rin closed his eyes as he shook his head with a sigh.

“If only i can actually use ninjutsu things might’ve turned out better.” That was right when the shadow clone dispersed leaving only the scroll containing the mission, and it donned on Rin. “Of course. You started to run low on chakra from using techniques back to back like that so you resorted to shadow clones.” Which is also where Masuyo drops in her clone’s place and picks up the scroll again. From there Masuyo proceeds to tell them that she expected coordination and some form of teamwork from them. Rin wanted to say something about that, but held his tongue for now.

Their new sensei wrote down two notes, handing one to Rin and the other to Sera. It was at this point that Rin noticed the reddish tint to Sera’s face. Based on the watery reflection from Sera’s green eyes Rin assumed that she is visibly upset. Thinking back on it Rin could’ve helped Sera more. The boy takes note on his actions and what he subconsciously neglected before as Rin takes the note from Masuyo between his index and middle finger. It was when Masuyo was asking for questions that Rin finally spoke his piece while reading the note. “Coordination within a squad is not exactly an easy thing to accomplish. Especially when someone like myself had to resort to training by himself then suddenly is told to work in groups is not going to end well at first. It’ll take some time, but i along yourself can see that there is work and potential in this squad.”

Rin took a moment to reconsider that piece. “Erm… more like potential in Sera and Taichi. Not much on my end as today proved to everyone here that I am the weakest. I showed hesitation and didn’t follow this session with strong enough willpower and assets at my disposal.” Rin took this moment as he detected something earthy in his mouth again and quickly spits it out away from the others. It was pieces of mud mixed with saliva. “I’ve tasted blood before, but I rather not drown in mud.” Clearing his throat before expressing his apologies to the team. Then Rin will depart with a farewell though it was a bit savvy on his words and Rin will begin to depart using the scabbard as a cane of sorts. That is of course, before Sera silently came up to Rin and pushed her way under his left arm. It honestly took Rin by surprise as he was still not used to people helping him. “Thanks Sera. Hey Taichi…”Rin calls back as Sera adjusted herself to become more of an assistance with Rin. “And Masuyo too. After this mission we should get together some time that is not a mission or training. We can even go to the hot springs if you want.”

---

And with that Rin will depart with Sera back to the village. Where they will be heading towards the hospital in the end of their trip. Upon entering the hospital there is a nurse sitting behind the desk at the lobby. Her reddish orange locks dancing at the shift of the wind as she looks up from her paper. A bright smile flashed on her face by habit, and then replaced with grimacing expression upon seeing Rin. The boy gave a weak smile and waves at the nurse. “Sorry to bother you again Nurse Kyoko. Had a little incident while training.” The nurse rolled her eyes as a pen can be heard clicking from the desk. “Well at least this time you’ve just been run through at the leg. I’ll set you up a room immediately Rin and get Doctor Taki to you.” Kyoko took a couple of moments writing something on a log it appears. Once she was done Kyoko lifts the binder to place it on the counter with a pen next to it. “Just sign your name here. And is she your relative by chance?”

Rin shook his head as he hobbled his way over to the desk with Sera’s help. “Shame. You two almost look alike to be honest.” What Sera sees on this log is names with a date and time along with the name of the doctor. This log is detailing over the the month thus far, and aside from what Rin is writing down at this current time there are three other entries of Rin Uchiha in the logs as well. Kyoko leaned close to Rin before dropping to a hush whisper. “Is it from those brats again?” Again Rin shook his head in disagreement as he finished putting his information down. “No. Not this time at any rate. This one was done by me while training.” Squinting her eyes at Rin for a moment, Kyoko looked over at Sera before speaking again. “Rin will be going into a small surgery to safely remove the weapon. Would you like to stay in the room he’ll be attending for today or do you wish to depart?”

The boy had set his wakizashi propped against the desk to the marble floor. Where he begins rummaging inside of his hip pouch before bringing out the silk ribbon and Rin hands it over to Sera. "Here you go. I was going to use it, but then Masuyo started to come for me so i had to bail at the last second." Though if Sera doesn't take it from him for some reason the ribbon won't fall out of his grasp. As he won't let go of it until Sera takes it from him, and if she doesn't take it Rin will store it back into his pouch.

Taichi's attack against Masuyo had been thwarted by her superior strength, speed and perception of the order of attacks Taichi had tried to throw at her, making his attacks seem like childs play the instant he locked onto his wrist and chucked him with quite the considerable strength towards Sera, knocking both of them towards the small crater made from the impact, as soon as he realised the weird position that he and Sera were in, he quickly stood up from their double bodied pile and looked away, trying to avoid the more awkward thoughts of how that may of looked to the other two, Rin and Masuyo.

This quirky, harmless mood Taichi had was instantly shut down the moment Masuyo launched her dreadful lecture upon the trio. There might've been a lot of truth in the words she said to her students, but there's also a lot of negativity behind them which would've definitely left it's mark on the three, Taichi was curious to see how the others felt about it, it seemed Rin was self-deprecating himself for being a liability to the team, Taichi did feel a bit bad for the kid but he did have a sword pierced through his leg... maybe this is a lecture he actually needs to improve himself to prevent that from happening again.

Sera's obvious attitude to the lecture of her redded face made Taichi smile, it looks like he has a partner to shit talk with later on about Masuyo! assuming she might be that type of girl, but he might be wrong, to Taichi himself? he already felt a bit shitty with how he's been trying to adjust to Konohagakure the past few weeks, one little lecture about their team doing everything wrong didn't help, but it helped him embrace the harsh criticism better. 

Besides, it wasn't all that bad... Taichi took pride in the fact of that last minute explosive kunai to save Rin. He didn't know how he came to that thought process, but maybe Taichi performs somewhat well when the pressure is on, mentally and physically? he didn't know. He nodded to what Rin said though about perhaps meeting together for a social session sometime, being friendly with Masuyo didn't exactly invite the best thoughts to Taichi's mind... but he's willing to try, for the sake of his teammates.

When Sera and Rin had walked away since Sera was helping Rin get to the hospital, Taichi had stayed behind to ask Masuyo about that lecture. "I can take on your way of teaching, but I think you went a bit too much with the other two, I'm guessing they're just recent Genin?" Taichi's been a genin for quite a while and under Masuyo for some of it, so he knew to expect Masuyo's tough teaching like this but he didn't imagine the other two were quite prepared for that.

The clone monitored each of the Genin as she lectured them, each having their own unique response. Taichi was quite stolid, as expected. Sera, to her surprise, demonstrated quite a lot of frustration and rage. Rin was the odd ball out of the group, the clone listening to the boy ramble on and give his analysis on the training exercise. The Jounin placed her hands on her hips with a raised eyebrow as he rambled on, half-hearing what he had the contribute. Her eyes would occasionally dart down to the stream of blood, which for the most part, dried along his leg. She found his behavior somewhat complacent. She wondered if he felt accomplished given his two cents at the end of the session. "That's quite an imperious insight for somebody who tripped over their own sword. But if ya wanna feel like a smartass, let me indulge you: my reserves are quite fine. It's ironic you mention that I would use shadow clone. It appears you have no clue how a shadow clone works. Teamwork is not easy. It's why we practice it. Suck it up, Lieutenant Dan. We all have obstacles to overcome. The more you victimize yourself instead of striving to become better, the more you will hold yourself back. I don't want to hear you make excuses about your performance."

She finished, the last of her words being somewhat venomous as they were personally insulting and aggressive. Masuyo despised the mental weakness Rin demonstrated. He was the exact opposite of confident, something she made an effort in the beginning for them to share and pursue. Confidence was the key to success. It was in these events that Sera and Rin would supposedly depart from the training ground, Masuyo acknowledging Taichi not leaving with the rest. She pivoted her body to the side, the Jounin's hands still resting in her pockets as the two ahead of them disappeared. He spoke out in a rather sincere concern for his teammate's well being. She was a bit surprised to see this compassionate side out of Taichi, though this was his first time being on a squad, and her first time having Taichi really interact with others.

"If you can take it, so can they. As the saying goes, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' As long as I don't kill them, they will get better. I have a standard set, and unless they're handicapped, they should be able to achieve it. All it takes is time and effort." Despite being only an hour after her "snack" her hunger pains resumed. It was close to lunch-- the lunch she expected to share with her students assuming one of them were competent enough to obtain a bell. Lifting her head she gazed into the warm sunlight which broke through the leaves. A slight breeze created a soothing atmosphere as her silky, black hair reacted to the wind. "Rest up and prepare for your mission the day after tomorrow." Masuyo would return her head back to the horizon as she began strolling away from Taichi and to exit the training area.

[Exit]