Zoomy
Konohagakure
Posts: 26 Likes: 1 
Character Name: Izumi Uchiha
Bloodline: Sharingan
Village: Konohagakure
Class: D
Rank: Genin
Skills: Ninjutsu Novice, Bukijutsu Novice, Genjutsu Novice
Elements: Lightning Release
Total Experience: 55
Spending Experience: 55
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Post by Zoomy on Jan 5, 2020 13:27:42 GMT -5
Izumi played with the balance of the sword in his hand. He'd never practiced with one before, so it felt very foreign in his hands. The weight felt too great, as though he would be much slower than simply throwing a punch. Suzuko watched the boy bounce the sword up and down, trying to feel it out. It was obvious that there was no experience behind those hands, but that didn't mean much. Most shinobi never lay hands on a sword until after the Academy. Suzuko himself was a Chuunin before he'd begun to really learn the art. with Izumi starting out so early, even without being a natural, he'd do just fine by the time he becomes a Jounin. But there hadn't been enough time to see whether the boy was a natural. That would come shortly.
"Treat the sword like an extension of your body." Suzuko instructed. "It's a part of your arm; swing it as such."
The Jounin drew his other katana and took several measured steps back. This is the correct distance to begin a fight with a sword. You want enough distance to determine your opponent's movements and then react. This distance will grow shorter as you get better. For now, we'll start with this." Suzuko said, drawing an imaginary line with the tip of his katana.
"Now hold up your weapon, like this." Suzuko gripped the hilt of his katana with both hands, one folded carefully over the other, and pointed the tip directly at Izumi. Izumi copied him as best he could and waited.
With a few seconds of adjustment, Izumi felt he was ready. Suzuko immediately took two quick steps forward and performed a down center chopping motion with his blade. Izumi instinctively jumped back, loosing his grip and allowing the blade to dip. Suzuko immediately took another step forward, recovering from the missed central swing to hit Izumi's katana with an angled strike. The katana went tumbling off to the side as Izumi lost his footing and fell along with it.
"The two most important parts of sword fighting," Suzuko started as he offered a hand to help Izumi up, "are footwork and grip. Today, you'll learn the basic foot movements and how to maintain a proper grip."
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Zoomy
Konohagakure
Posts: 26 Likes: 1
Character Name: Izumi Uchiha
Bloodline: Sharingan
Village: Konohagakure
Class: D
Rank: Genin
Skills: Ninjutsu Novice, Bukijutsu Novice, Genjutsu Novice
Elements: Lightning Release
Total Experience: 55
Spending Experience: 55
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Post by Zoomy on Jan 5, 2020 17:51:13 GMT -5
A solemn grunt was Arisa's only response to the absurdity she was watching. Sure, Izumi was one of the top students in the class, but he was as big a slacker as they come. She actually wanted to get stronger and had more determination than anyone else. If anyone deserved special attention, it was her. But instead, while Izumi got one on one sword training, Arisa got stuck with wasting her time trying to get Haria up to speed.
Haria, on the other hand, was super excited. She was a passing student in class, though not by any high margin. That was a problem for this team. With Izumi and Arisa on the squad, passing grades weren't good enough. She would need to reach the level they were at upon graduation just to establish a base. Only from there could she progress in her role within the team. She didn't know what that was supposed to be just yet, but she trusted Sensei's judgement.
Arisa shook her head when she got tired of watching Izumi and their sensei train. She had a task to complete today and although she didn't like it, she wouldn't be caught shirking responsibility. "Uh, okay, so what is it you need help training on?" Arisa asked.
"Um, well, I guess Taijutsu. I know all the jutsu that they taught us. I um, I'm just not really all that good at them. But I'm like, really really bad at Taijutsu. I barely passed and stuff." Haria responded, still a little shy about talking to the most popular girl in class.
Arisa nodded. She was actually relieved to hear that. Taijutsu is what she wanted to really focus on and while she couldn't get a whole lot better by teaching Haria, it would help a little. "Okay, we'll start with that. Just do what I do for a little bit and then we'll try some sparring, okay?" Arisa instructed with a smile, channeling a bit of her academy instructors.
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Zoomy
Konohagakure
Posts: 26 Likes: 1
Character Name: Izumi Uchiha
Bloodline: Sharingan
Village: Konohagakure
Class: D
Rank: Genin
Skills: Ninjutsu Novice, Bukijutsu Novice, Genjutsu Novice
Elements: Lightning Release
Total Experience: 55
Spending Experience: 55
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Post by Zoomy on Jan 5, 2020 19:31:48 GMT -5
A gentle thud preceded the end to Izumi's most recent miscalculation. He had started to get the hang of this sword thing. It was less of combat and more like a dance. For every attack, there was a proper block. For every block and attack, there was a dedicated pattern of footwork. After every block, there was an opening to attack, allowing the opponent to block and then attack, repeating the cycle between opponents over and over again until one of them slipped up. That was, up to this point, just Izumi.
Suzuko moved in concert with every attack and anticipated every block, allowing ample recovery for a return assault. Izumi was impressed with his sensei's skill and fluidity; he moved as a dancer in the rhythm of song. Little did the Genin know, the dance they were performing was of the lowest difficulty. It was designed so that a student could become accustomed to the basic movements of footwork and the simplest of maneuvers.
It took the talented young shinobi only a brief while to adapt to this new way of fighting. In fact, he rather enjoyed it, as his expression reflected. The boy got back on his feet and went right into a direct downward slash. Suzuko parried with the standard block, placing them on even footing. Izumi's recoil from the rising deflection left sufficient time for Suzuko to perform an angled downward slash, which Izumi deflected.
He'd learned the correct blocks by trial and error. Every time he failed to block or performed the incorrect one, Suzuko slowed his blade and firmly tapped Izumi's unguarded body with it. Eventually -and without direct lesson- Izumi figured out how to react. He also learned which blocks to expect for every attack by simply watching Suzuko react to his assaults.
The two continued on with their training, while Arisa and Haria began the sparring portion of their Taijutsu practice.
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Zoomy
Konohagakure
Posts: 26 Likes: 1
Character Name: Izumi Uchiha
Bloodline: Sharingan
Village: Konohagakure
Class: D
Rank: Genin
Skills: Ninjutsu Novice, Bukijutsu Novice, Genjutsu Novice
Elements: Lightning Release
Total Experience: 55
Spending Experience: 55
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Post by Zoomy on Jan 8, 2020 21:46:52 GMT -5
It didn't take long for Arisa to forget about the special attention that Izumi was getting. She got so focused on teaching Haria, had so much fun doing it, that everything else seemed not to matter. Never before had she tried to teach anyone else; she was always focusing on getting stronger herself and teaching others just took time from her own training. Now that Sensei was forcing her to do so, she got a taste for how satisfying it could be. Fortunately, Haria had undergone all the academy training, same as Arisa, and passed Taijutsu, so her skills weren't all that far off. It made for an easy student and an overall pleasant training experience.
Izumi, on the other hand, had a much tougher time. Suzuko didn't appear to believe in breaks, so they had been going at it for hours. The more time that passed, the more weary Izumi got. The more weary he got, the slower his reactions and the heavier his sword became. Suzuko, meanwhile, maintained his pace with steady breathing and a consistent rhythm. He saw that the boy was slowing, but he kept steady. Izumi met with the flat side of Suzuko's katana more times than he could count and dropped to the ground more times than he cared to admit. Getting up got harder and harder with every fall. His stamina was reaching its limit.
By early afternoon, all the genin were at their limits. Arisa, seeing how devoted Suzuko and Izumi were at their training, refused to take any breaks herself, which forced Haria to keep going as well. So when Izumi fell for what he knew to be the final time, Suzuko finally called it.
"That's enough for today." He said, helping Izumi up. The Genin wearily handed the katana back and Suzuko sheathed both simultaneously.
"Excellent first day, everyone. Your stamina isn't quite up to par just yet, but eventually, we'll be able to train until dark without stopping." Everybody's eyes widened in shock. Training from dawn to dusk?! He can't be serious! They thought.
Suzuko saw the fear in their eyes, but let it pass without mention. They'd reach that point naturally and, probably, without even realizing it.
"Izumi, you now know the basics for kenjutsu. You'll continue to master those throughout the week. Arisa, good job teaching Haria. I can see some improvement already." Arisa nodded a thanks, not even realizing that Sensei had been paying any attention to her this whole time.
"Meet back here tomorrow morning, same time. Don't be late." Suzuko said.
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Zoomy
Konohagakure
Posts: 26 Likes: 1
Character Name: Izumi Uchiha
Bloodline: Sharingan
Village: Konohagakure
Class: D
Rank: Genin
Skills: Ninjutsu Novice, Bukijutsu Novice, Genjutsu Novice
Elements: Lightning Release
Total Experience: 55
Spending Experience: 55
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Post by Zoomy on Jan 17, 2020 16:24:44 GMT -5
The old wooden door swung close and the strong smell of a freshly cooked home meal impacted Izumi like a thick fog as soon as he walked in the house. He kicked off his shoes by the door and went in to the kitchen. His mother, Takara, was busy setting the table while his younger brother and sister helped. Daitan raced through the steps like he'd done them a thousand times, yet he'd lost none of the excitement in helping mom with the grown-up chores. He was supposed to start in the academy soon and he wanted to show everyone just how capable he was.
Tanaka was much less quick. She was younger and far too easily distracted to grasp how to properly set a table. Takara moved with fluid speed to fix Tanaka's little mistakes while also making the final preparations for the food. Izumi used to be just like his little brother, so excited to do anything like a grown up. He always played ninja, too, wanting to be just like his dad. Now he was much less animated. He plopped down in a chair and waited for his food to be served so that he could go on to his room and, hopefully, find some peace and quiet. But he could tell with the looks Daitan gave him that he was more likely to get roped into playing ninja instead.
A solid tap on the doorway gave introduction to Daisuke, the father of the household. Daisuke Uchiha was once a powerful Jounin in the village, said to be among the Uchiha's finest in recent generations, but his final battle left him grievously wounded. Scars that could only come from burns covered the right third of his torso and leg, which carried a notable limp. None of that would have stopped the mighty Uchiha, if it weren't for his sight. During the course of the battle, something happened that made him completely blind. Now, he wears a cloth over his eyes and walks only with a cane to tap on his surroundings.
The battle that cost Daisuke his career happened before Izumi's birth. So while Izumi only ever knew the blind, caring father, he'd heard enough stories of his father's exploits to develop a deep respect for him. That's one of the reasons he wanted to become a ninja and why he was so obsessed with it as a child. Somewhere in the academy, he lost all that childish excitement. He no longer cared and he was okay with that, until he was in the same room as his father. It made him uncomfortable, like he knew his attitude was a disappointment, though nothing of the like had ever been spoken.
"How was training, Izumi?" Daisuke asked as he took his seat at the head of the table. For a blind man, he actually got around pretty well. Izumi often wondered if the cane was just for show, since it seemed like the old man had pretty much memorized where everything was in the village.
"Good," Izumi responded. "Suzuko-sensei has me learning sword stuff."
Daisuke's expression turned to surprise. "Suzuko, you say? I didn't know he was teaching Genin. You won't find a finer swordsman in the village." He said with a chuckle. He started to turn his head, as if remembering something, and Izumi wondered if maybe dad knew some stories about Suzuko.
"Oomi, Oomi! Will you play ninja with me after dinner?!!!" Daitan suddenly cut in. When he was learning to speak, Daitan had some trouble pronouncing the "z" in Izumi, so he just settled for Oomi and it kind of stuck.
"Okay, everybody in your places. The food's ready." Takara said. The kids rushed to their seats, eager for their portion.
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