A Clash of Sand and Stone

It'd been a while since she'd been to the training grounds, Kudo typically headed out of the village to the mountains when exercising alone. I really should make it here more often, it's such a nice facility! It was fairly empty today, the stone ground had been flattened after the use from the day before and lay ready for more abuse. Sliding her pack off her shoulders she knelt down and pulled out her headband before tying it to her forehead, jumping up and stretching her limbs with an excitement she hadn't felt in quite some time. It really had been too long since she had a proper sparring partner, Kudo only worried about the amount of rust she'd need to shake off. Thankfully it had sounded like the two of them were in a similar boat in that regard, though her lack of confidence didn't allow her to feel that with any sincerity.

Once the two of them were situated Kudo would look to Son'Rei with a inquisitive expression. "I'm mostly familiar with Ninjutsu myself, I was looking forward to practicing some of that today. Is there anything in particular that you're looking to exercise?"

Following Kudo to the training area, Son'Rei would take a look around. It was simple, similar to the one they had in Sunagakure, though with less sand. Seeing Kudo stretching, he would begin to do the same. It had been a while since his last spar, but he felt confident that he still had it. Of course, with this being no more than simple training he wouldn't be practicing any of his clan techniques. They were far too dangerous for him to attempt around someone until he was sure he had a handle of it. There were a few techniques of his clan that he did know and already had a handle on them, though he doubted he would be using them.

As Kudo mentioned her familiarity with Ninjutsu, Son'Rei would let out a laugh. "Well, it is a small world. My specialty is Ninjutsu, though I have been lacking in its training. I think that would be a good place to start, what is your elemental natures. I can use Katon or Futon, but I specialize in my Clan's ability to mix the two natures together to create Shakuton. That however is extremely dangerous so I think I will just keep to practicing some more basic techniques." With that said, Son'Rei would form the ram hand seal as he focused his futon chakra into creating four small tornadoes. These tornadoes would not be formed anywhere near Kudo, Son'Rei ensure that they would remain far enough away from both of them so that neither one of them would get cut by the pressurized wind that formed the small tornadoes. "Some techniques are easier for me than others, Futon is actually the one I have the most trouble with." Son'Rei would state as the tornadoes would dissipate, "of course, I also need to work on my hand to hand as I am lacking even more in that field." He would add with a slight chuckle.

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Trained C-Rank Technique Wind Release: Divine Wind 300/300 (WC doubled due to UA)

This form of chakra that Son’Rei talked of sounded scary and potent, one that she was thankful to be wielded by one holding a temperance such as Son’Rei had displayed. She shuddered at the thought of the effects a fire and wind combination could bring about, scorch sounded awfully lethal. Doubly thankfully he said that he would refrain himself from using such dangerous jutsu. With that the suna-nin quickly lept into action and displayed a skilled use of the wind element with mini tornadoes forming around them before spinning their final spirals as they lost form leaving the training ground quiet once more. No ground torn asunder, no rocks blackened with scorch marks. Just simple wind formed from nothing in all their destructive potential.

Having never seen a wind jutsu quite like that Kudo jumped with glee, delighted to see such an interesting display that didn’t require ripping the ground or belching some awful earth-flavored something. "That was really cool! You don't see many Futon user's here, it's neat to see it up close like this!" The mention of hand to hand perked her ears, forming her own hand seal as her chakra began to coat her skin in a protective layer. Eyes squinted behind a darkened brow now furrowed with determination, jumping from side to side as she jabbed at the air excitedly. “You up for some of that hand to hand practice?”

Used: Earth Release: Earth Spear (10 activation)

CP: 100/110

Earth Spear:

Son'Rei would do his best to stifle a small laugh at Kudo's eagerness to train hand to hand, he would even briefly marvel at her technique that seemingly coated her body in earth. Realizing that he was actually going to have to back up his words, Son'Rei would put his hand behind his head and laugh neverously as he did his best to remember his lessons with his former sensei. It was a brief lesson many years back, but he was pretty sure that his sensei called it something like Sprung Cant, Spring Cat... Spring Chant that's what it was, now if only he could remember the form that he was going to have to take and what he needed to do to make it work. Lowering his hand back down, Son'Rei would nod his head in agreement. "Alright, but like I said I am lacking in this." Son'Rei would remark as he took a stance and began bouncing slightly like a boxer. He wouldn't make a move against her just yet, mostly due to the fact that he was still trying to feel out the fighting style, but also because he wanted to make sure she was ready before they actually started.

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Learned Spring Chant (150/150)

Spring Chant:

Having never really tested this jutsu using hand to hand combat against another shinobi, Kudo wanted to test how durable her new form was. It looked like she was left to make the first move, Son’Rei professing to be somewhat of a novice taijutsu user. “I’m no Taijutsu savant myself, let’s hope I don’t make a fool of myself!” Lunging forward Kudo made a simple punch with her right fist, expecting a parry or counterattack to the easily telegraphed move. She was most interested in how her armor would take a strike, planning a counterstrike of her own if a hit landed against her. Were a hit to land she would bring her knee up in an attempt to strike back.

CP: 95/110

As Kudo moved forward, Son'Rei would quickly dodge to the right. Bringing his fist to strike her in the midsection as he did so, the contact with Kudo however would prove to be more than he expected. Likely causing himself more damage than he was able to inflict on Kudo through her rock armor, as his fist made contact he could feel his wrist buckle but before he could react to the pain of it Kudo would bring up her knee striking him in the gut. The blow from the knee would knock the wind out of Son'Rei causing him to double over slightly from the strike as he tried to catch his breath. Holding his wrist, Son'Rei would look up once he caught his breath. "That did not work out as planned, wow that hurt. Note to self, Rocks are hard." He said with a chuckle as he straightened himself back up to a standing position. He knew it would be tough, but he had no idea he was this weak physically. In retrospect he probably should have trained his body more than he had, but he had spent all of his time working on Ninjutsu instead. He knew that he wouldn't be able to break through the rock armor with brute strength considering he didn't have any, but a brief smile would cross his face as an idea formed. "What's say we test out your reflexes?" Son'Rei would ask as he formed a string of three hand seals, two balls of fire would appear in his hands and he would look to Kudo and await an answer. If she agreed, he would throw the first one. Not directly at her, actually aiming to hit at her feet. He hoped that she would be able to move fast enough to dodge it, or that her rock armor would protect her. After the first one, the second would be thrown to wherever it was that she moved to from her dodge of the first one. If she didn't agree, the Son'Rei would end the technique without throwing the balls and have to figure something else out that he could do.

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Used Exploding Flame Shot

Tech:

Her plan had worked! After dodging the single punch Son’Rei landed a punch to her stomach, the stone holding up and even seeming to hurt as he began to recoil from the pain as she connected her knee to the same place she was struck. As Son’Rei cracked a joke, Kudo couldn’t help but chuckle lightly to herself, or perhaps not as quietly as she’d thought. The proposal for some more reflex oriented trials had Kudo excited, nodding nervously as the balls of flame were created in the suna-nin’s palms.

Kudo's eyes narrowing as she focused on the flickering balls of fire before yelling out. “Al-alright, let’s do this!” While nervous she was still buzzing from the confidence of succeeding with her impromptu plan and wanted to take this challenge head out. When the first fireball was thrown Kudo started sprinting away from the projectile as it chased after her. Molding chakra on the fly, Kudo dispersed it around herself and jumped into the air assuming a diving position with her hands outstretched in front of her. Breaching the earthen ground as if no more solid than water and pushing herself down as far and as fast as possible. Not long after submerging herself she felt the ground shake with the impact of the Katon jutsu, knowing there was still one more to deal with.

Resurfacing, she looked to Son’Rei and waved before pulling herself all the way out and nodding with determination. She had a plan for this second one, but only one she was willing to test out while keeping her defensive technique active. Kudo simply stood there for several heartbeats as she watched the flaming orb hurtling toward her. Then she began weaving the four required hand signs before slamming her hands to the ground with mere moments to spare. As the stone wall began to rise the fireball arrived before she was fully covered by the wall, connecting with the partially formed wall and exploding out around the attempted cover.

Light blinded Kudo’s eyes as she shut them a moment too late, though her armor took the brunt of the attack leaving her physically in alright shape. Coughing she emerged from the cloud of smoke and gave a thumbs up to show that she was okay. “Playing chicken with a fireball turned out to not be the best idea. Good thing I kept my armor up!” She truly was marveling at the effectiveness of the coating of chakra, though she doubted it would hold up to too much abuse.

“Perhaps we could keep up with our reflex training and have a contest of sorts. See who can pull off the faster technique and hit a target first. Say, the remains over there?” She would then point to the smoldering but still largely intact portion of wall she had attempted to block the attack with.

CP: 75/110

Jutsu Used: Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage(5), Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall(10)
Upkeep: Earth Release: Earth Spear(5)

Spoiler:

Son'Rei marvelled at the way Kudo leapt into the air before disappearing into the ground as if she had dove underwater, the shinobi of the hidden stone village had some interesting jutsu. From rock skin to diving into earth as if it was just water, even making a wall from the earth. He wasn't sure if all the shinobi where like Kudo, but his first impressions in a spar with one was that they would be tough to actually beat. When the second shot hit the only partial formed wall however, a brief look of concern would flash across his face. Seeing her emerge from the smoke, he would ease, thank that her armor had held up to the blast. The last thing he needed while he was here was to get arrested for accidentally maiming a Iwa shinobi, even if it was an accident he didn't know how they would look at it considering the country's stance on criminal activity and what counts as criminal or not. This however did put into perspective just how strong a genin from the stone village could be, causing him to wonder just how powerful the others of the village were. Son'Rei would nod at Kudo's remark of testing their reflexes, he figured that they were about even on their speed, so it all came down to who was the faster draw as it were. Looking to the remains of the wall Kudo pointed to, Son'Rei would inhale a breath infusing it with his chakra before releasing it as a powerful bullet of air. The air bullet would fly towards the wall at sixty meters a second before colliding with the wall and breaking a small chunk of it off from the corner.

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Used Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet

Tech:

There was only really one option Kudo had if she were to keep up the guise of Doton being her only element. It was a cumbersome technique when compared to the efficiency that so many Futon techniques had with not requiring hand seals. Futon was the clear choice for a battle of speed, particularly when racing to get the jutsu out as fast as one could. Regardless, Kudo kept to her solely Doton-focused training, wanting to keep some secrets remaining as she began forming seals as fast as she could. By the second sign Son’Rei had already released his technique, one that she recognized and knew to be a speedier jutsu than her own. Completing the technique Kudo opened her mouth to expel the bullets of stone that tried helplessly to catch up to the pocket of compressed air that only moved further away. The two jutsu collided with the wall with distinct *whaps* though the second one was very clearly the sound of stone hitting stone.

Holding her hands up in defeat, Kudo conceded the contest to Son’Rei. “That was a heck of a quick draw! I was still fumbling with my seals by the time you’d gotten yours out.” Brushing the dirt from hands she took a look at the budding wall, no longer intact after being used as target practice and now lying in pieces on the field. Finally releasing the defensive jutsu she’d realized she was still maintaining, her skin returned to its lighter pigmentation as sweat ran down her brow from the costly expenditure put into it. “I think that might have done it for me there, that earth coating technique is helpful but puts quite the drain on my reserves.” Taking a moment to catch her breath she then recalled the other idea presented by Son’Rei at the food stall earlier.

“We could try to run a mission together soon, I liked that idea and bet we could swing it. Hopefully one befitting a couple of up-and-comers like ourselves and nothing boring like I’ve run into on my own.” She would wait for him to respond before saying goodnight and heading home, eager to doze off and recover from the fun but tiring day.

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Used Earth Style: Stone Pistol Technique (C-Rank)

Tech

Spoiler:

Son'Rei would chuckle at Kudo's comment of the quick draw, "yes, well it is one of the benefits of the element particularly that technique. Not needing hand seals can make a technique happen fast, something to remember in combat. Even if you excel in hand to hand your opponent could catch you off guard with such a technique, firing it off at point blank range." As Kudo would mention having enough training for the day, Son'Rei would nod, both of them has exerted a lot of chakra during their training and it was probably best not to try to push it. He would smile as Kudo mentioned doing the missions together, "yes I will have to go and speak with the administration possibly even the Kage to find out what I need to do in order to pull my weight while I am here. As soon as I know something I will have them notify you, requesting an Iwa shinobi as a partner should allow me to do something for your village." With that said, Son'Rei would wave good-bye to Kudo before heading to the Fujio district.

{Exit Thread}