Another Face

Cloudy day it seemed as Burittsu spent his remaining time during the festivities at the emporium he found himself intrigued daily on how the local lifestyle was completely different from that of the villages. In a way it seemed more fast paced things seemed to make more sense and connect faster in this society he was now seeing first hand. For a place he had never seen before with technology more advanced than anything he had ever been introduced to, this all was something new to him. Noticing shinobi from vast lands were around the area it all seemed too real to be true, each of them with their own brandings for their respected village indeed it was quite a sight to see. From stores to even their own training grounds the land itself was something different he even began to wonder how the peace even remained and by what protection did it mean for him and everyone all. He found himself outside under the shade of a tree sporting his blue and white kimono and regular shinobi footwear. Burittsu stood at the height of six feet with his katana on his hip encased in a blue scarab upon his body with blue and white cloth wrapped around the hilt of the blade matching his outfit.

Feeling the breeze touch his skin calmly was a fresh reminder that the land he currently was located at offered more free air then the land down below as the current of air felt welcoming with that cold sensation to boast. Relaxed as always it seemed he was minding his own business as his blue hair danced through the air his eyes appeared to be the same color matching with his hair. Watching the clouds cross through the air as if it was nothing but peace and silence such things in time would soon bore him but indeed when peace was introduced he wasn’t one to ignore a time of rest. The festivities continued on, it seemed as he assumed they probably would end the same time as the one back in the village, each land celebrating their own way with the festival. It had seemed smart to come up to these lands early so he wouldn’t be caught off guard in the future should he return but it was only another delay his true nature needed to be worked on. Cracking his neck he leaned back upon the tree wondering if he was able to accurately train something fierce and strong as he did back home with the shinobi moving around the land. It seemed all were up for the task of making this shinobi work. Closing his eyes for a brief moment he could only stand there and contemplate to himself if he was even making the right choice in asking for such attention in a land where he was in fact another stranger.

“...Maybe..”

Ayame had been walking around in wonder at the festival. She hadn't really left Konoha, besides when she was on the war front, but that hadn't been conducive to really getting to know what other cultures and nations were like. The festival was the first multi national event since the war had ended, perhaps coming a little quickly. There were sure to be people with hard feelings, but Ayame was thrilled that she didn't need to fight in the war after all.

Still, she'd witnessed some of the damages that war caused, she'd seen injuries, landscape changes, and she'd lost friends. Ayame had made a promise to herself that she'd learn how to get stronger so that she could take care of herself, and so that she could take care of her friends. There was really only one way for her to do that, and that was through training and combat.

Ayame wore a plain sleeveless black outfit, her waist length white hair hanging loose down her back. Most ninja would have some sort of hip pouch full of tools or something like that, but Ayame didn't own any at the moment, nor did she think to buy anything. The only real tool she had was a standard Hitai-ate marking her as a Konoha-nin, strapped to her arm instead of her forehead.

Walking along, wide eyes staring at all the new sights around, Ayame skipped around the area, joyfully humming to herself as she looked around at random people. Lots of civilians really. None of them would really serve to ask for a spar. As a shinobi, she was a cut above the average untrained person just by nature of her training at the academy.

She was distinctly aware that most shinobi were far above her, so she was looking for people around her level, otherwise she'd never really be able to learn. It was obvious that she'd get thrashed quickly if she approached a Chuunin or a Jounin, but it was always so difficult for her to tell if a shinobi was high ranked or not. Some of the weakest people could look really buff, and some of the strongest people could look really weak. The problem was that chakra made body types really difficult to judge a person's abilities, and she wasn't a skilled enough fighter to know what to look for to size up whether someone was really experienced or not.

In the end, she decided that the best way to find someone was to just announce what she was looking for. Cupping her hands to her mouth, Ayame shouted out, "Hey! Anyone around the genin level want to spar with me?"

Resting upon a tree seemed the perfect idea and reminded him of how he met one of his other fellow members of the village exactly; it all seemed to be planned out as if life was flipping roles. People indeed were moving around but one in particular cried out for something that seemed to be on his mind every moment his eyes remained open this was the time it seemed to be aware and eager. Cracking the back of his neck before removing himself from the tree a smile appeared as he swiftly secured his blade and began to pursue whoever was at the end of this trail he was now following. Making his way briefly through the people it had seemed all were indeed civilians all appearing to be casual and certain to not want to ask such a figure for a training session. Searching around until coming to a certain stop as the grin upon his face grew into a smile showing his bare teeth at the kunoichi he saw indeed a challenge was a challenge no matter the appearance. Gazing down upon her it had seemed this would be a remarkable workout nonetheless something to keep him occupied and also give him the chance to learn more about himself in these new lands.

“...Training..? Blitz.. At your service…”

From her perspective she would now watch him hold up the headband around his neck showing the symbol for the mist it had seemed best to represent who he was training for at the end of day. Sort of a way to show he had something to grow stronger to protect or care for with whatever potential was on the other side. Bowing his head slightly in respect to the woman he was simply eager to grow and learn from everyone he ended up encountering, winning or losing did not matter to him. But the competition in his body would certainly say otherwise, gazing upon the area they were located in almost seemed ideal enough but it would be best to find a bit more room and less civilians. In mere a second he thought of the idea of going back to where he was resting due to the fact that behind the tree was a good green bundle of land, enough space for the people to watch at a safe distance. As it also was enough for the two to take their training to new lengths if it came to that case.

Turning his back upon her he began walking slowly towards the tree once more waving to her to follow her with a quick smirk to help ease her mind. He indeed was a simple person all he wanted was to learn and grow at this point in his life. It felt rude at first to ask for her name but it was better if she only knew his name at least till the very end keeping things a mystery was always something he enjoyed when he found a new individual. Quick on his feet to make it to the tree he quickly gazed around as the area still remained lifeless just as he left it stepping forward as he placed his hand upon the tree once more. Standing there for a brief second as he took another glance making sure no one was already here or attempting to stay it had seemed everything was just fine. In quick succession he made his way across the land of grass leaving her own side each step allowed him to grow in hunger as the grin upon his face almost seemed permanent. As he made his way to his own side he stopped and turned with his weapon sheathed. He only had one thing to ask the woman.

“Hands? Weapons?”

The man who responded to her call was a man named Blitz. He was quite tall, certainly taller than her. He didn't seem to be particularly dressed too heavily, but his headband was around his neck, identifying him as a Kiri-nin, and given that he'd responded to her 'genin-level' call, she doubted he was too much out of her league. There were some insanely strong genin, to be sure, but people tended to know that genin level was different than a Jounin level genin or anything like that.

"Blitz? That's an interesting name! I like it. My name is Ayame, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Following him to the tree he'd been resting at, Ayame skipped silently next to him, continuing to hum to herself.

"Oh, uh... use whatever, hands, weapons, jutsu, I don't mind."

Ayame gave the tall man a smile. She was certainly going up against someone above her weight class, but she was fairly resilient. It was one of her saving graces during the war, even if she got injured, it didn't really matter for too long. She seemed almost oblivious to the hungry grin on his face, but Ayame was oblivious about most things.

Holding out her hands, Ayame focused her chakra into her left hand, growing a three spiraled shield made of Senju wood, and then channeled chakra into her right hand, growing more or less a meter long staff in her hand. Nothing sharp, so she wouldn't have to worry about cutting Buri if she hit him. She didn't mind if she got hit by a sword or anything, there wasn't much he could do to permanently damage her. Giving him time to set himself up, when they were both ready, she began the call.

"Ready? Set. Go!"

Ayame rushed towards Blitz and gave a wide horizontal swing of her staff at his hip level, keeping an eye on him. There was little finesse or skill in her attack, she wasn't trained in Kenjutsu, or bukijutsu, and her skill level showed.
---
-2 Stamina, Hand Tool Manipulation used twice
Stamina: 108/110
UA: Mokuton costs -1, Suiton costs +1

Spoiler:

He was ready for the woman but it seemed she had her own plan on training one that surprised the male in such a sense that he would in fact enjoy whatever pressure she would be applying he was now to make sure he was able to do the same. Manifesting in front of him the woman now had a shield and a staff both wooden but most likely durable since they came from the woman herself. All he could do was praise her from afar in producing such a skill that he read about in books such an opponent to bless him upon this day he knew if he wanted to achieve victory. Pride and the necessities must fly out the window such skill should be matched head to head she appeared determined enough to even call out when for the training to begin. The only thing that Burittsu could think of at the moment was at this moment he was going to be tested once more. She bellowed her fierce count down then proceeded to charge towards Burittsu in movement she didn’t appear to have the upper hand but that was yet to be seen she did make the first move after all.

Burittsu quickly removed his sheathed katana from his side he decided to test the waters for himself this was in fact something new to him and he would rather learn it the hard way instead of taking it easy. Gazing upon the kunoichi she was coming in with a horizontal swing, her speed at most didn’t help her with an advantage but she had unknown skills that needed to be seen. If the others were here they indeed would question his methods and why he always enjoyed getting into danger. Maybe it was simply because he didn’t value his life as much as he appeared to quickly cutting her off Burittsu aimed straight for her putting up his sheathed weapon in defense to her swing having the wooden staff bounce off the scabbard as he came in with a quick counter of his own. Lifting his right leg he quickly thrusted forward attempting to seize more than control of the fight.


He aimed his leg towards her chest in an attempt to push her back and gain some distance between himself and his new adversary if the kick landed he would return the favor. By swinging his sheathed weapon vertically downward aiming for her left shoulder in hopes of forcing her to disarm from this technique if the attack didn’t land or would be met with a block Burittsu would quickly leap back himself. Regardless she was confident to call out for training he could not wait to see what would become of this practice session a smile rested upon his face he only had time to tell to see for himself to see how this whole thing would turn out.

“....”

It was immediately obvious to her that he was faster than she was, that much was apparent from the get go. It wasn't so much that she couldn't see him, and she needed to focus purely on him in order to see it. Luckily, she was only fighting a single individual, so she didn't need to focus on anything else other than him.

He blocked her swipe with the scabbard on his sword, which he left sheathed interestingly enough. Ayame had to grin to herself, as she certainly wouldn't lose this spar if he didn't use the sword itself. Bludgeoning damage from someone her level would take ages to actually wear her down, and his weapon would never be able to begin to break her own wood release shield and staff. If anything, her own things were harder.

He kicked out at her chest, and luckily she was holding her shield already mostly protecting her body, so she didn't need to move it quite as much as he had to move to kick her. His foot would plant on the shield, forcing her back away from him slightly, although she was prepared for the vertical strike down towards her left shoulder, the distance created between them enough that she was able to shift her shield up a little and kill most of the momentum of the sword strike on the edge of it. The scabbard barely tapped her shoulder.

Still, she had an advantage against him. With the staff and the shield, she could mount a simultaneous offense and defense that Blitz couldn't. When he came in to strike, he may be faster than her, but she could attack when he dedicated his strikes. Even as his strike came down on her shield, Ayame struck down on the arm holding the sword with her staff, aiming to get a solid crack down on his arm. He may try and jump back, but Ayame knew couldn't match the speed, so she had to counter while he was attacking rather than after.

The way she moved was indeed unique; she was already prepared for the defense and willing to commit to herself with another swing instead of moving around it or running away. Burittsu saw the swing. He could only brace himself for the impact coming ahead of him as his arm would feel the impact of the wooden staff. Using this to his advantage Burittsu allowed the force to carry him away giving him time to further his distance between the two shinobi; his arm would feel a little sting as if someone slapped his arm. Shaking his arm off before the pain would decide to present itself with soreness later on it seemed wise to continue to test more of her skills. Burittsu quickly returned back into the fray of the fight with the shield on her side it seemed her defense was indeed one to study, raising up his sheathed weapon he quickly charged towards the woman. Leaping from right to left and then left to right closing in the gap with a quick bounce he had to see a blind spot somewhere along the lines of her defense or better yet. Throw her off with such weird movements even though he didn’t fully understand what he was doing but she was one of many shinobi that he would probably never have a chance of witnessing again.

As he zig zagged through the grassy field towards his opponent quickly made a leap into the air from her right side as he wielded his blade tightly, appearing to pull back as if he was charging up for a mighty swing. It was all for appearance for the time being at least all of it was only calculations he could think of with the advantage of speed that presented it seemed wise to take note and watch closely. Gazing down upon the young woman from above he managed to grin once more as in a quick succession Burittsu fired off the swing of his weapon but it wasn’t that of a mighty blow but one quick enough to determine how she would be able to dodge this swinging his weapon across the horizon he was determined to test his own limits as well. He aimed for her right shoulder with the speed of the swing and the force of gravity; this would indeed prove to be a mighty day to learn. If the attack itself was blocked it would bid Burittsu no surprise of her defensive skills. But if the attack managed to connect it would surely knock her back a couple steps or two. It pained him not having much power but he also realized this was the valid reason for all his training.

“.....”

Score!

Ayame's counter struck true, and Blitz backed away, gaining some distance between the two of them. As he retreated, she confirmed that Blitz lived up to his name, he was definitely faster than she was in running speed too. Not only that, but she could tell that her attack had definitely been felt. So his durability wasn't too high, she could definitely work with that. Another idea formed in her head.

As he was beating a retreat, Ayame stood and waited for him to come back towards her. She knew that she couldn't catch him, and would only tire herself out if she gave chase and tried to close the distance. That would be a problem for future Ayame to come up with a solution for, right now she was just too slow.

Rather than moving to block or dodge his attack, Ayame shoved her staff tip towards the bottom of Blitz's ribcage, at the soft flesh of his stomach. He really couldn't dodge with his leap into the air, and had approached her range to get a strike on her. The block earlier had been effective, but she could focus more on a counter attack if she also didn't worry about defending herself as much. She took the strike on her shoulder, enhanced by the power of gravity, but Blitz's jump would have driven himself onto her staff with more force than she could muster on her own.

Still, his strike had hurt. There was no denying that as she let out a grunt of pain, but it was tolerable. Rather than drive him back though, her strike had been intended to stun him slightly, and while her staff arm was a littler numb, her shield arm wasn't, so she drove it forward and upward into his descending form to clock him in the face as he continued to approach the ground, drawn back to the earth by the same force he used to enhance his own strikes.

Still, she had a benefit that Blitz would have no way of knowing about, especially if he never caused any serious amount of damage. Already, her Senju DNA was hard at work, numbing the area around her shoulder where his strike had landed, and repairing the damage done. The regeneration was happening at a cellular level, something that wouldn't really be noticeable unless she was caused damage that bled her. So far, that hadn't happened.

---
-2 Senju Regeneration
Stamina: 106/110

It was as if he was playing a game of chess one move from each other was calculated and planned out but in fact it was only the start of the fight it seemed each would continue to land blows upon the other. But in time only one shall win and the other would only be left with their thoughts on how to exceed and go stronger in this life. This was another wall in his way, one sturdy and built for battle. Once more the two traded blows Burittsu ended up plunging himself upon her staff in a quick successful jab having him quickly bounce off onto his feet as the pressure of the puncture remained for a little long afterwards. It takes a good breath out of Burittsu and the way it appeared this match would definitely draw out to himself being out of any energy. Certainly times such as this made him cherish the amount of time he got to put himself together to reach certain heights but this height was one he could see over but not climb she refused. A couple of deep breaths as in one instance he even held his breath in as he released out during all this he started to regain his composure and breath from the earlier hit making it a bit harder for him to stand straight for the time being.


The woman however met the same fate taking and receiving damage from the attack earlier but it had seemed she was just ready to continue after quickly recovering herself. She was indeed indeed a shinobi of a different breed such things only to read in the books of history yet that alone only proved life was short and the world is small. Coming down he was met with the force of impact that being the wooden shield sending his body backflipping in the air. It all seemed like some sort of show watching these two individuals train from anyone's perspective they indeed were putting effort into it. Especially with such a display in individuals with possession of immense potential. Burittsu seemed to have gotten lucky and ended up picking up the best time to actually act and stand. As he rose to his feet clenching one of his legs to quickly regain his balance and some air back in lungs he quickly. Began backing up a little more now that he realized that her defense only complicated her quick offensive moves but it was only the start of such a horrid event. With this he knew he couldn’t give in no matter the pain he would endure. It had seemed for someone such as himself being stuck on the bottom wasn’t as bad knowing all he could do was climb.

In a quick sprint towards the woman Burittsu quickly jumped onto the earth floor as he slid across upon the ground aiming for the legs of the woman he attempted to slide into her either knocking her over or forcing her to dodge out of the way. Now he couldn’t control where she would dodge too but if she did move that would be enough of a chance for Burittsu to quickly rise up and catch her in the middle of moving. In a quick jab he would aim straight forward towards her chest once more in hopes of keeping her off balance and knocking her over on her back. If this plan would be even successful Burittsu would come into the fray once more with a quick swing aiming straight down the middle. The whole time only one thing bothered him was the fact that he seemed to have the best luck with people but worse for himself at the end of the day.

“....”

Her strikes rang true, the first jab knocking the wind out of Blitz, the second bash slamming the man away from her. So far, she seemed to be dominating the fight with a simple and easy stalwart defense. He was having some issues breaking through her guard, which led her to believe that it was definitely good to have a good defense.

Oddly enough, he once again moved to gain some distance on her, once again giving her more time to react to him. It was that distance that kept resetting her focus a little bit. She was beginning to think that he hadn't ever fought before, because he didn't seem to be doing anything that resembled an actually skilled fighter. He was acting more on the fly and coming up with random one off strikes.

Was he going to just keep trying the same thing? If Ayame was even remotely more skilled of a shinobi, she'd have easily beaten him already by the amount of times she'd been able to tag him. As he ran towards her and tucked into a slide, Ayame's confusion got the better of her, and she found herself toppling forward as he rammed into her legs, sending her sprawling forward.

Quickly, tucking into a curl, Ayame rolled off to the side to get some distance from Blitz. Unfortunately, she'd dropped her staff, which had skittered a few meters away from the direction she had rolled, but she needed to regain her footing first and foremost.

The only chance it seemed was something of his own creation for once as he recovered so did his opponent this time without the grip of her staff in hand Burittsu knew to take advantage of this opportunity. In a real battle no opponent would be so kind as to allow their enemy a chance to pick up their weapon especially if they desired the will to live. But it also seemed he was drawing near the end of his time fighting this one in front of him staying on his feet was all he had left to manage. Being new to the shinobi world had a lot of faults . He needed to train properly to catch those who were already born in the villages with such potential. It was clear to see that everyone he met up until now had such things. Drawing his breath once more had been the only thing he was able to do right. If this was an actual battle his odds of living would have ceased from the first attack. Only thing that seemed possible for him at this point was to continue to try until the very end. She only had a shield but from the earlier moves it was clear she made the weapons dangerous. Unlike Burittsu who could only train himself so much she knew what actual training was but in a way this was a subtle view to see how far he really is from his peers.

Clenching his teeth as another grin appeared on his face he clearly seemed to think he was willing to go out with a bang if he had too in a quick rush towards the female in hopes of sealing the gap between the two. Burittsu quickly swung his blade towards the female at the same time releasing his weapon from its home, sending the sword case flying towards the female directly as hopes of a distraction. Aiming directly for her face he aimed to take her eyesight away from the actual battle for even a moment as Burittsu continued to push forward now blade in hand as he was going to make sure his last effort was something to not be wasted upon. He continued to rush directly towards the female as in a split moment he quickly peeled off to the right, curving inwards drawing closer to her right side. She had plenty of room to maneuver how she pleased Burittsu had nothing to stop her completely in her tracks, just idea’s sprouting throughout his brain.

This indeed it was a training session he needed to open his view of himself and those around him it was for growth and he was willing to walk the path less traveled in order to obtain himself a greater prize. With a quickly vertical slash drawing his blade from the bottom in an attempt to cut upwards this attempt was meant for two things: he wanted to destroy her defense or let alone create some type of momentum in hopes of gaining at least a threshold. Nothing would be easy especially in a new world where the community lives off the daily missions and assignments. It was natural to even see people come back without their friends or squad, something he would never want to experience as of now he was simply too weak in general. She had her choices to make but even Burittsu doubted the both of them would get far after this attack all he could do was watch as his body continued to recover bit by bit. Only time stood between him and the future plans he had created for himself.

As she had scrambled back to her feet, she quickly reacquired her gaze onto Blitz's location, just as he launched the sheathe to his weapon at her head. Bringing up the shield, it clunked into it, giving a dull wooden knocking sound as they collided, but the force behind the weapon was negligible. The distraction had worked pretty well though, as she blocked her own line of sight on him for a moment as she blocked the first attack, and gave a gasp of surprise as she felt the blade bite into the bottom of her shield, launching her arm further upward into the air and opening her guard completely.

Still, she'd been working on kneading the chakra in her former staff hand, and a second shield began to form out of that hand, once again guarding her body. Being able to create your own weaponry on demand made it much harder to actually disarm your opponent for any real length of time, but her speed wasn't actually the best at it.

Luckily, it didn't require much finesse for her to just lunge her arm forward and shield bash Blitz's body with the second shield. She frowned as she realized that she was using two shields, perhaps a very unorthodox thing for people to do, but a good defense was the cornerstone of surviving any fight. If her defense was impenetrable, she could strike him down until she won.

---
-1 Stamina, Hand Tool Creation for another Shield

Efforts seemed to all be in vain even Burittsu knew when he was soundly defeated this woman herself held her own and even acquired another shield he could only brace for the impact. In mere seconds he was knocked back forcing him to take multiple steps before allowing himself to fall on his back. He was tired and it was simple to see he posed no leverage with his skill at its current level the skills she honed were clever and swift to a point such abilities out of range for this outcast. Clenching his weapon he could only smile and grin as deep inside his heart he was only angry at himself for his shortcomings; everything in this life was still new to him gazing into the blue ocean of the sky he watched as clouds began to hover by casting a shadow for a couple seconds above the two. During this time he could only admit defeat as he slowly rolled over jabbing his weapon into the earth to hoist himself up as he sighed his back facing the woman. As he watched the other side of the training field begin to radiate from the sunlight once more making its way to him and the woman, the passing cloud was nearly gone. Burittsu could only turn around and gaze upon the shinobi herself.

“Thank you for the training.. I won’t be disappointing you the next we meet..”

Behind him the sunlight began to stretch across the ground chasing away the darkness from the land, bowing his body half way in full respect to his opponent. He watched from as the sunlight continued to stretch until finally touching the whole field bathing his body in its warmth once more. His skin felt the sting of the heat a little but he did not bother moving he could only think of his current situation as weak as he was he could only smile inside he felt as if he only wasted the time of the kunoichi. Remaining still his blade remained where he placed it next to him pierced into the earth upon his face was no sign of emotion he was thinking of nothing else but a way to better himself. As he continued to think about it his frustration within seemed to grow and it was clear in his mind he was tired of being the one to let everyone down. Clenching his fist tight he finally raised his body with his eyes looking down upon the ground he began to search for his scabbard that he released early at the woman.

From the corner of his eyes he found the weapon case pulling his blade out of the earth Burittsu made his way to the weapon holder picking it up from the ground and returning it to its rightful place. As he placed the blade’s case upon his hip he sheathed his weapon from the view of his opponent once more at the end he could only remind himself he was trying to grow. He understood he must learn and continue to be defeated until the day came of his own where the knowledge he applied would be followed to the letter. The training session was another wake up call of how far behind he truly was compared to anyone else; it seemed appropriate if he happened to die due to being weakling. Gazing once more upon the woman he bowed his head to her once more in respect waving off the other stranger with a smile upon his face. He began to walk down his own path only with one thing upon his mind.

“Failures need to train harder..”

End

Ayame's combination of defense and attack had seemed to beat out a faster opponent. Part of her win was definitely attributed to his cautiousness and resetting their distance, giving her time to refocus on him and reset her defenses each time. Part of it was just that his sword wasn't sharp enough, his strikes weren't hard enough, for him to overcome the strength of Senju wood. Even if every single strike had gone through and she abandoned defense completely, Ayame knew that she'd still likely have come out on top in the spar, and that was purely through her physiology.

Unlike most people, Ayame healed up her damage automatically. She couldn't really take hits that well, but she'd keep getting back up until her chakra was depleted, and most genin couldn't really generate the level of damage required to overcome that healing factor. It was her trump card throughout the war, and was why even though she couldn't really fight that well compared to others, she'd made it through the war without dying.

The wooden shields retracted back into her arm, seeming to absorb into her skin.

"Hm? No, you weren't disappointing! Thank you for training with me, Blitz. If you ever find yourself in Konoha, look up Ayame Senju for another spar."

She gave the Kiri-nin a wide smile, before they parted ways.

---
-Exit