A Pit Stop

Tsuyo hadn't said anything to Makoto yet as they reached the three kilometer mark of their journey north. For this portion she had decided to stick to the road as it was an area heavily scouted by Konoha. Usually a fairly safe place the last five years or so. Tsuyo's first missions as a chuunin of Konohagakure were in this area, her task being to scout out the many rogue warriors and rebellious clans who initially fought against the founding of the village. Scouting missions truly were something she could do in her sleep, as they were the foundation of her career as a shinobi. It was due to this history that she wanted to make sure Makoto knew a few things before actually having to take on a mission. She had been stripped of the valuable initial training with him before going on an official mission, and this one had the potential to turn serious quickly.

"Head west," she ordered before doing the same. She turned off the road to the west, heading into the forest. She kept her speed down so that Makoto could keep up with her, leading him further and further into the forest. After three hundred meters or so of trudging through the undergrowth of the forest, Tsuyo would break through the treeline into a small and semi-clear area. Four trees were inside the otherwise clear twentyish meters in diameter clearing. Two to the north separated by a couple meters near the edge, one off-center by a couple meters to the east, and the fourth to the southeast six meters from the edge of clearing.

Tsuyo walked to the center before turning on a dime to do a one-eighty and face Makoto. Her arms came up and folded underneath the slight bulge showing through the shirt and flak jacket where her breasts were. She looked down at him, curiosity written on her face.

It was possible she wouldn't be able to look out for him in the worst case scenario, so he had to either know how to fight or know how to hide. He probably couldn't out run them unless he was a particularly gifted genin. And she was hoping he was particularly gifted, if not in speed then in awareness. Both could be instilled the old fashioned way if necessary.

"So, Makoto. We haven't exactly had any time to get to know each other or even do an introductory training lesson. It's unfortunate timing, but you're going to get a crash course on surviving. You'd be surprised how often things don't go your way and that's all you can do, so I'd rather you be good at it earlier rather than later." She paused to let it sink in for a moment, continuing after taking a small breath. "First though, I want you to tell me a bit about yourself. I'd like to know what you think you're good at as well as what techniques you know how to perform." Tsuyo needed to have a basic grasp of what he could already do in order to decide what he was capable of learning somewhat before the mission. She awaited his response with a somewhat passive expression, though the focus of her eyes on Makoto still gave away her curiosity.

Makoto kept his hands in his pockets as he followed the woman for a lengthy walk. It was quite the boring walk in silence but that’s what his bugs were for, they could communicate with his and vise versa. Makoto would do as the woman told him and follow her west as she turned around and face him and began to talk about survival. Makoto knew that no matter what he would live, he was smart enough to know that. In fact his smarts were what got him the genin rank in the first place, he was top of his class in intelligence. Makoto would speak up as she began to ask about things he excelled in.

“I’m a Aburame so due to our clan almost all of my techniques are bugs other than my taijutsu and academy jutsu. Im really smart, I graduated at the top of my class in that but Im very slow and not very coordinated. I tire out easily and uhm…” Makoto’s eyes would venture into the Hyuga’s. Byakugan’s freaked him out for some reason, he figured it was the paleness of them. “And that’s all” he would say confidently as he looked up at her. “What about you?”

Well, at least I know he's honest Tsuyo thought silently as Makoto explained his basic capabilities to her. His file had said that he was among the most intelligent at the academy while he was there, rivaling even some of his teachers in raw intellectual capacity. Smart did not always mean talented though, but she appreciated his honesty in self-analysis. He admitted his faults, something she hadn't asked for from the genin, but that she appreciated nonetheless. His answer about most jutsu being about bugs didn't surprise her, but she did wonder just how many techniques he actually knew. Being so intelligent meant he had to have a larger than average pool of techniques for a relatively fresh genin, at least, that's what she hoped. His comment about tiring easily discouraged her a bit, but she did not let it show.

His mention of taijutsu intrigued her. He said it as if it was a secondary skill, but it was one thing that Tsuyo could definitely help him get better at. Makoto then followed with a question of his own, asking about what she could do. Tsuyo let a sly grin mark her features for a couple moments before replying. "Well, I'm one of Konohagakure's best scouts and as a Hyuga I'm pretty good at taijutsu." Tsuyo patted her bowstring that was slung diagonally across her chest. "Not too shabby with a bow either, and it's not very likely you're going to sneak anything past me."

Tsuyo brought both of her hands to her hips, placing one on each hip. "You said something about taijutsu when you were listing your skills. Is taijutsu one of your main focuses, or is it just a supplementary skill?" The obvious indication with this line of questioning was that Makoto was going to be doing something related to taijutsu very soon. She would need to see just how good he actually was, after all.

Makoto would listen to his new sensei as she talked about rambled about being one of the best scouts and being a beast in taijutsu. He didn’t doubt her. Her skill with the Byakugan would prove to be very useful as it not only could see through anybody but see your chakra points as well. As she mentioned the bow Makoto didn’t think it would be something he was interested in. For his ranged jutsu his bugs would serve him just as well if not better than some dumb arrows. Makoto would look at the woman as he spoke up.

“Taijutsu for me, right now? Its more supplementary than anything. With taijutsu I aim to land my bugs and from there they will begin to feed on the enemies’ chakra but then again. Im not slow enough to land most of the moves I know but once I train on getting my speed up it won’t be an issue. My jutsu catalog for my insects alone is pretty high and they move at a great pace so I think I should be fine. Although if you would like to teach me some taijutsu, I wouldn’t complain although it’s hard to teach me something that I don’t know. I’ve learned mostly all I can at this point.”

Makoto told Tsuyo that he used taijutsu as a supplementary skill to get his bugs onto his opponents easier, a tactic that sounded like it would be fairly effective. She nodded slowly a few times as he explained himself, planning on what she wanted to do for this session. After a few moments of contemplation she would decide that a quick spar would be her choice of figuring out his level of skill. She could help him develop his skill at a later date, today she just needed to know what he could do so she knew what he could do on the mission. Her mind made up, Tsuyo would clap her hands softly and let a soft smile grace her lips.

"Alrighty then. I want you to show me what you've got before I show you anything else. I've gotta see what you can do before we initiate this mission. It's never a good idea to go on a mission of any rank without at least knowing the basics of what your squad mates can do." Tsuyo jumped back a couple steps to bring the distance between Makoto and herself to two and a half meters. She turned to the side with her right hand as her rear hand and placed on her lower back with a clenched fist. Her left hand was extended in front of her with the palm facing her and the fingers extended straight up with the thumb tucked in. The classic stance for the Gokenryu, and an invitation for Makoto to launch an attack of his own. "Whenever you're ready!"

Makoto sighed as he looked at his sensei. A spar wasn’t what he had in mind on his first mission. He didn’t like to spar especially this soon, he wasn’t even confident in his skills to fight a jounin but at this point it couldn’t be helped. Makoto would watch as she jumped back a couple meters to put some distance between the two of them and assume her taijutsu stance. This was a much different stance that he thought a hyuga would use but never the less she let him begin the spar which made him smile a bit. Makoto’s hands would reach into his pockets as he looked at her. One thing Makoto wasn’t was stupid, he graduated top of his class for a reason so he would have to use his head more than anything in a fight like this. The way she moved back didn’t seem to be that fast and it would aid him greatly if he was able to catch some of the bugs on her. Landing every single bug on her would result of someone with even rank S chakra to be drained quickly. Makoto wouldn’t move as he looked at her and raised his hand up with a swiftness letting his bugs do all the fighting as he had them rush out of his sleeves. Around 700 Kikaichū flew out his sleeves with extreme speeds leading with the females attempting to get a hold of the Jounin and cover her body. Feeding on her chakra would be crucial to the attempt on winning. Makoto would keep his eyes peeled on the woman hoping she would give up after this attempt.

Kikaichū:

Tsuyo's eyebrows raised up when Makoto began the little spar meant to be using taijutsu with a pure insect attack. The jonin jumped back while gathering chakra in her left palm to give herself more time. She got back a meter before flipping her hand around and thrusting forwards simultaneously. A blast of pressurized air erupted from her hand in the form of the Vacuum Palm, the attack generating wind that would scatter the insects which weren't sent flying away by the attack itself. It had been a fairly concentrated cloud of insects, intent on coming after her alone. The blast of air had also been aimed for Makoto, her intention to knock him flat on his back and send him flying a bit.

She assumed the insects would not stop coming after her and also assumed that some would likely land on her. Not many though, not after that attack, but there were a few dozen that had gotten past her counter. Tsuyo's hands came together to form a single seal for the Body Flicker technique, retreating to the pair of trees to the north at a speed just high enough to evade the insects. Once between the trees, she would jump behind the one to her left and form the seal for the shadow clone technique. The clone would pop up and immediately jump to the other tree as a decoy for the insects. If they tracked her by scent, the shadow clone would work well. If they were attuned enough to track chakra, well, the clone should hopefully trick them in that case too. Either way, Tsuyo would wait behind the tree out of sight of Makoto so that the only Tsuyo he witnessed was the one that had dashed to the second tree and was now entering the clearing again to see what her student was doing.




Used:

Vacuum Palm C rank

Body Flicker C rank (C tier Speed-> B tier)

Shadow Clone


Stamina:

Tsuyo: 35/40

Clone:35/40

Makoto would be sent back a couple of meters landing up against a tree from the woman’s attack although most of the Kikaichū were blown away, they weren’t killed seeing that the technique wasn’t meant to do so. Also with her scattering gave him a good spread of locations for the bugs to come for her. Makoto also knew that some Kikaichū had landed, particularily the females which was a for sure good sign as the rest of the bugs that were be scattered  would chase her with the same speed she was moving at. “The thing with Kikaichū..” He would say as he made the bugs come in from every angle of the women due to being scattered. “they don’t track your scent, or your chakra.” The bugs would make their way by the ground giving a stealth side to it. The would ignore her clone seeing that it didn’t have a female Kikaichū scent on them which is what cause the males to hunt out the real Tsuyo. Although she knew something about Makoto, he didn’t expect her to know that seeing that she was not from the clan. The whole idea was for the females to land on Tsuyo giving the males a sense of direction as far as where she was at all times. Makoto would smile as the bugs would assume to overcome her in a sphere pattern around her, assuming the technique worked they would immediately begin to drain chakra from her as Makoto would get into an defensive taijutsu position to try to defend himself should she use Taijutsu although the Kikaichū would follow closely behind her. Makoto may lose this fight but there was no way she could escape the bugs in his mind.

OCC: [You stated a couple dozen landed so ill say 20 for a easier chakra count. 20 Kikaichū result in a drain of 2 chakra. So you will be minus 2 chakra no matter what happens. If the insect sphere does land it will result in 650 Kikaichū (Ill left 30 go for the easier count) which is a drain of 65 chakra which unless you get the chakra from the clone back which i dont know... puts you out of the fight]

Jutsu Used:

Stamina| Makoto: 15/20

Kikaichū Count: 350 on Makoto [300 leftover from the first move, 50 more passively]

The real Tsuyo noted the insects on her and felt a noticeable drain on her reserves of stamina. She kept control of her chakra system at all times, ready to utilize the Gentle Fist at a moment's notice, and this unexpected drain was enough to alert her. Almost enough for a low level ninjutsu, actually. Chakra draining, hm? Probably traceable by chakra, then she thought to herself. Tsuyo activated her Byakugan showed that the insects were, indeed on her body as well as coming after her. Tch, how annoying the jonin thought as chakra welled up everywhere on her body. The clone turned towards Makoto, noting how open he was against the tree and dashing him while the real Tsuyo would begin to rotate behind the tree. The insects would get to her, but not before a shield of chakra had begun to form around her body as she began to rotate faster and faster. It only took a couple seconds for the full power of the Rotation technique to explode from Tsuyo, the chakra forced from every chakra point on her body with the intention of forcing the few insects already on her person off and repelling the ones that were approaching.

The tree she was behind would splinter from the violent rotation of chakra. This weakened the trunk too much, and the tree began to fall towards the northwest behind Tsuyo. Tsuyo kept the Rotation up long enough for her clone to close the relatively short distance to her new pupil, itself utilizing caution when approaching. The insects had, for the most part, attacked the real Tsuyo. The clone had managed to come to the same conclusion as the real Tsuyo, as it had no insects on it and the insects hadn't followed the clone at all. This clone would speak to Makoto, hands on its hips, from a couple meters away. "That's not taijutsu, but I will say that you've got some talent for surprising your opponent."

The real Tsuyo stopped rotating at this point, the violent sphere of chakra freeing her of the insects and dispersing the cloud of insects that had followed with even more effectiveness than the Vacuum Palm. Sad to say, it was probable that there were casualties among the insect horde that go round. The clone would continue to speak as the real Tsuyo kept tabs on the insects around her with her Byakugan. She was ready to react to whatever they might try to do to her, allowing her clone to do the talking. "So, how about you call them off and we can try this again." The clone's tone did not make this sound like a request.




Used: Byakugan Stage Two

Rotation (small), A rank power - 8 point cost



Stamina:

Tsuyo: 24.6/40

Clone: 35/40

Makoto would sit there are he noticed his sensei was before him, talking about his lack of taijutsu in the fight. Makoto knew he didn’t need taijutsu for this one seeing that his bugs were fast enough to catch anyone that was at a subpar speed. He also knew that his sensei before him was just a clone. It wasn’t that he could see through it or anything but he did notice the sound of a tree hitting the ground, it was most likely a jutsu on her part to get the bugs away. He would chuckle to himself as he explain. She was his sensei so he might as well let her know the strength of his bugs.

“The purpose of the bugs is of course to train chakra but I might as well tell you how they work. When I sent them out the first time through my sleeves, yes you knocked most of them away which I applaud.. but, a majority of the bugs were females. The female Kikaichū put off a scent that only the males can smell due to mating which made your clone none void and due to the sound of the tree falling it sounds like the real you is still putting them off.”

He would chuckle as he put his hands in his pockets. Most of the Kikaichū had died in her rotation except for a couple hundred due to not being as close as the others.

“Although you are a very tough opponent I noticed something about this fight. You didn’t use taijustu which would’ve put me out of the fight or came close to it other than you would have to deal with my bugs. Also I have to come up with a way to breed my Kikaichū stronger, seeing that Hyuga send release chakra through their techniques I will have to come up with a way that the Kikaichū feed on the chakra you release.” Makoto would state as the couple hundred bugs that survived come flying back to his sleeves. “I think ill expect you to be better prepared next time seeing that you know what to expect and when are you going to teach me some dope jutsu?” He would ask as he looked at the clone smiling hoping she was willing to teach him something atleast.

Stamina| Makoto: 15/20

Kikaichū Count: 600 (350 + 50 [passive] + 200 that survived)

The clone listened to Makoto as he explained how the bugs he just used worked, which wasn't entirely what she had been expecting. He made a few more comments that came across as smug, apparently trying to show off his intelligence. He said that he expected her to be better prepared. The real Tsuyo came walking back over during his monologue, dismissing the clone once she was at around the same distance. Everything he had said was relayed to Tsuyo and she scoffed once she knew about it.

"I didn't respond with taijutsu because you didn't start with taijutsu. A shinobi doesn't just charge head first into an attack they know nothing about, so taijutsu wasn't an option. Treat everything your opponent does as a threat to your life, even if it's just a spar. Having that mindset will save your life more than once on missions or a battlefield." She stopped and let that sink in before continuing. "But if I had used taijutsu as a response, you would have enjoyed the result much less," she finished, letting his imagination fill out what might have happened if his sensei had gotten serious.

Makoto had also inquired into whether she was going to teach him anything too. "As to whether I'm going to teach you anything, it depends on what you already know. When you were learning taijutsu in the academy, did you happen to receive any lessons on the Arhat Fist?" Tsuyo needed to know whether he was just a smart brawler or whether he had any formal training. The Arhat Fist was a commonly taught style throughout the continent, and anybody with taijutsu in their arsenal typically knew a little bit of the style. His answer would determine how the rest of this lesson was going to go.






Deactivated everything


Stamina: 59.6/80

Makoto would think about all the points that his sensei brought out. With the taijutsu and needing to be patient and wait for the opponent to make their move first, that was fairly new to him seeing that he always rushed his bugs before rushing himself in the first place. While he valued his Kikaichū he knew they had short life spans and for that reason he used them freely. He chuckled at her comment about her taijutsu being superior. He knew that already, it was a matter of him coming up with a way to get his Kikaichū to absorb the chakra that she puts out. Makoto would stretch his back as she asked about what he knew abot Arhat fist.

“I know a couple things about Arhat. Rising knee, the shoulder charge, shatter palm, slamming palm. Those are all the techniques I know but it would be hard to land any of them seeing I would have to get faster somehow.” Makoto’s voice would trail off as he looked at his hands filled with Kikaichū, seems he was nearing his max of Kikaichū capacity.

Well, at least he knows an actual style instead of just basic hand to hand combat, Tsuyo mused to herself. Makoto reaffirmed that he wasn't the fastest shinobi around, and Tsuyo could see why he would have neglected that aspect of his training in the academy. Those insects he had could do some serious work on an opponent if more than a couple dozen landed on them if she was calculating how much they had taken from her. Building upon that strength to set the foundation of his skill set was a good idea, but neglecting the rest of your skills for too long could wind up being a very, very bad thing.

"Those are all fairly good technique to know from the Arhat style, and I'm glad you learned more than just the basics. It makes this a little easier," she replied to her student. Tsuyo's eyes flicked down to the insects on his hands, examining them at close range with her superb perceptive capacity and absolutely ridiculous eyesight even without her Byakugan. "Arhat doesn't help your speed much, if at all, but we can work on that right here and now. Square up!" With that command, Tsuyo readied herself in the same stance she had when she first intended to spar with Makoto. She either needed to get his stamina capacity up or get him to be a little faster, so she needed to see what his limits for those individual areas actually were. Best way to do that was by punching him in the face and seeing how he reacted, she supposed.

Makoto chuckled at her as she mentioned that they were good techniques. He knew that but he also knew that he couldn’t land any of them. Although he didn’t care to land any of them, his bugs moved at faster speeds than he had seen most Jounin move at, including Tsuyo. Although he knew some of her weaknesses Makoto was more than sure that she made up for them in her other skills, probably her eyes. “Alright.” Makoto would say as he looked at her , pearly white eyes that practically spelled death across them. His back foot would move back as his hands came near his face. Nervous would be the word he would use to describe himself as he knew that she might have not be as fast as his bugs but she would move much faster than him, he didn’t even have speed near his fellow genin. Makoto’s hands would tighten into fists as he would try his best to watch her motion and take the hit.

Tsuyo's scrutinizing gaze caught the bit of nerves Makoto was showing, obviously a bit intimidated by her. I'll take it easy on him, see how he does first. Can't hurt him before the mission, she thought to herself before she made her first move. Tsuyo jumped forward, closing the short gap between them in a few steps. When she got to her fourth step with her left leg, she made sure to plant herself for good balance as she brought her right leg up from behind to kick Makoto. It was aimed for his shoulder, a kick intended to be blocked.

Assuming it was, Tsuyo would drop her right leg and shift her stance to a southpaw one. The pivot for the kick put her left hand as her rear hand, which Makoto would find firing an open palm jab at his chest as a follow up to the kick. Her movement forward would begin before her leg hit the ground, shaving a little precious time off of the simple assault. She made sure to keep her right hand up so she could react to anything Makoto may wish to try. What came after the jab would depend entirely on what Makoto did and how well he did it.



Relevant stats:

Str: D
Speed: C-> D
Coordination: C-> D+

Makoto knew what was going to happen, it played just as he thought Tsuyo was much too fast for him as she brought her right leg from behind to knock him into the shoulder. It was painful sure but nothing that he hadn’t had some type of experience with. Makoto would slide back a couple feet as the dust rose from the ground under him. “Tsuyo! I wasn’t ready!” He would scream out to her as he rubbed his arm. The truth was he would never be ready.. not for her. She was a hyuga that was strong in Taijutsu and if Makoto had to guess she was stronger than anybody in Konoha in Taijutsu. Makoto would walk back to her holding his arm as he waited for the her to say anything to him. She was getting a feel for his skill set but by this time he was ready to start the mission.

Her kick sent the kid sprawling. She blinked, knowing for a fact that she had only put about half of her max strength into that attack. Was he really that physically disabled so as to not be able to withstand something like that? This kid was in much worse shape than she initially thought. Tsuyo got out of her stance by folding her arms under her breasts and cocking her head at Makoto to the right a bit. A sigh escaped her lips as Makoto excused himself for his poor performance.

"Do you think an enemy is going to wait until you're ready? You've got to be able to react at a moments notice, even if it's just to block an attack. It's always better to take a kunai in the arm than it is to take it in the heart, and it's one of the first things I'm going to need to work with you on." She moved to depart, stopping as she remembered something. She turned her head over her shoulder to speak to Makoto again. "After we make sure you can throw more than a couple punches before getting tired. Come on, we've got a mission to do." With that, Tsuyo would depart for their mission target with Makoto in tow.


[exit]