Progressing

Under the light of a mid-morning sun masked by the veil of an overcast sky, a pack of seagulls soared around the seashore, dipping and diving in search of fish for food while a stoic Zurui stood atop the swaying waves, unaffected by the wind rushing over the area or the many creatures bustling around him. His arms crossed and coat blowing in the wind, the Kiri Jounin did what he did best: wait for Akihiro to arrive. Unlike most times, this was not on the matter of a mission, but in training. Too often did the duo get caught up in the busy work of consecutive missions and find out in very unfortunate circumstances just how lacking they had become in their training. Times like this were dedicated to remedying this, by focusing on pure training between the two in the form of competing with their bodies, intellect, or, more often, new and unfamiliar techniques.

"Standing on top of the waves and trying to look cool is so like you." Akihiro commented from the beach, loud enough so that the man would hear him. "It gets old after the 10th time tho, tee hee." he chuckled. The two companions had developed a sort of friendship during these past two years which Akihiro had never even considered to be possible amongst ninjas from different villages. Their past was different but the two of them seemed to share a set of ideals that somehow brought them together and allowed for trust to be built between the two. They weren't naive enough to believe that their villages's relation could stand any trial but for some reason, it didn't really matter- the two of them shared a bond that surpassed that. Akihiro had grown stronger fighting against and alongside Zurui in the two years than in the other 12 years he had spent training with other Genin in Konohagakure. Zurui was an opponent that could match his intellect and the two of them grew stronger by the minute every time they fought. Today would certainly be no different.

"Allow me to start, then." Akihiro would say after allowing some time for the Jonin to reply to his initial comment. With a set of hand-seals Akihiro inhaled air and expelled a fireball from his lips, aiming directly at Zurui. This would be the opening move for their match here.

Trained Great Fireball jutsu, C-rank 150 words required over 200 typed.

Offering no response, Zurui simply stood there and waited, his form stationary but for the motion of the waves beneath his feet. His arms remained crossed until Akihiro released the fireball. Then, with no apparent rush, the Jounin unfolded his arms and walked fifteen feet to the left. "You know," he began as he started to move, "a projectile fired at that distance and with that giveaway needs either speed or reach." He stopped, waiting for the fireball to pass harmlessly by. "That has neither." The Jounin folded his arms once more and returned to waiting.

"Try again."

"You're really anticlimatic, you know that?" Akihiro sighed. There was no having a cool match with this guy, he was all about business. But truth to be told, Akihiro did surpass him in terms of intellect if nothing else. The younger Uchiha knew very well his fireball would most likely not hit the target but he thought it would be a cool way to start the match. Unlike most Uchihas, Akihiro hadn't developed the use of Fire Release early in his shinobi career. The first element that had manifested itself within the Chuunin was Fuuton while Katon was a late bloom. Because of this, he was still playing around with fire and using every opportunity to try and gain a greater degree of skill over this elemental mastery. "Well, I suppose we gotta try something else then. " Akihiro smirked. He knew the Jonin could move out of the way of pretty much any projectile but...what if that weren't true? Twenty-five meters separated Zurui from Akihiro's position on the shore and that put him well in range of a technique Akihiro had been dying to try out. Hidden by his long sleeves, each one of his hands made a single discreet hand-seal while Zurui was looking at him and Akihiro activated the Genjutsu Binding Technique.

A powerful S-ranked illusion which would play directly against Zurui's intellect. The Jonin would suffer a two tier debuff to speed and coordination while Akihiro rushed to make the hand-seals for another Great Fireball jutsu and shoot it directly at the Jonin. What would Zurui do? Akihiro couldn't help but wonder that as the fireball made its way once again from his lips towards the Kirigakure Jonin, gaining size and consistency as it traveled further. Akihiro figured his only option would be dropping the water walking technique and fall on the water...but was it really? The Jonin had surprised him many times before.

Trained:
Genjutsu Binding, S-rank 300 words needed, about 320 typed.

"Hm?" Said the Jounin with a raised eyebrow. Akihiro had many supposed 'tricks', but he sensed something else. This was one of very few times that the boy had actually attempted Fire Release, so he was almost certain this 'something else' would be new. Zurui saw some motion and went to move, but found his body locked in place. "Binding?" He said under his breath. With that Genjutsu in effect, his moves were suddenly quite nearly none existent. He'd never be able to muster a proper response to that fireball, so he spat at it.

More accurately, he fired Suiton chakra from his mouth thrice, releasing three consecutive bullets of water that would pierce and disperse the fireball before moving on towards Akihiro. While they'd be slowed and weakened by the opposing Katon Ninjutsu, they would still give something for the Uchiha to do and hopefully at least split his focus to allow a bit more movement out of that Binding than what Zurui presently had.


Elemental Mastery
Water Release: Gunshot

Akihiro shrugged after his fireball was destroyed. He released Zurui from his Genjutsu. "C'mon, we got work to do." and they did. There were more than a couple of things they'd need to be doing here in the land of waves.

[Exit >>> Konoha]

(not claiming exp for this post. Just leaving >.<

Zurui was not like Akihiro. Zurui liked experience. With the fireball destroyed, Zurui began to plot his next course of action while watching for any other moves Akihiro might pull. Being stuck in this hold was troublesome, for sure, but it didn't completely eliminate every option at his disposal. He'd figure out something and just keep spitting jutsu out of his mouth until he did. Meanwhile, Akihiro readied himself and...quit? The genjutsu let loose and Zurui sighed a breath of relief now that he could freely move once more. The Jounin merely nodded in agreement to the Uchiha and departed with him. There was indeed a great deal of work to be done, and this one step was one in an extremely long and winding staircase.

[Exit]