Location - Kouin Bridge
A gentle wind stirs the peaceful water below as Ichiro sits on
the railing of the bridge studying a small notebook and sipping
at a cup of sake.
Taishita walks up onto the bridge and asks, "How're you today,
Ichiro?"
Ichiro closes the notebook and puts it away as he looks up at
Taishita. Producing a second cup from his backpack, Ichiro
says, "I'm doing pretty well, just taking a break from my
training to study a few notes I gathered at the library in
Hitokurou." Pouring some sake into the second cup and offering
it to Taishita, Ichiro asks, "So what are you up to,
Taishi-kun?"
Taishita timidly takes the cup of sake from Ichiro and gulps it
down. While coughing, Taishita exclaims, "That stuff goes down
hard every time!" and continues coughing. Taishita says, "I
haven't really been up to much, just practicing my Kame form."
Ichiro grins at Taishita's weak tolerance for sake and says,
"You know practicing forms will only get you so far, and that
sake would go down easier if you sipped it instead of gulping
it everytime."
Taishita throws his head back and slings it back down with a
slight grin crossing his face, "You know me, I like to finish
things quickly." "And practicing forms is all I got to do
right now," Taishita says. "The Uchuukage still has his little
hold on my missions still." Taishita sighs and asks, "So, you
have anything interesting planned for today?"
Gathering his cups and sake then placing them safely in his
backpack, Ichiro slips his mask on and says, "I was thinking
maybe we could do a little sparring. I think Tsurugami Shiro
wants to see my battle abilities at some point, and I'd like to
make sure I'm in top form for his examination."
Taishita says, "Yeah, I've heard of this Tsurugami Shiro,
everyone says he's pretty tough...Anyway, I'd love to have a
little sparring match between you and I, be forewarned, I'm
probably no match for you though," Taishita says while
chuckling slightly. Taishita becons for you to show him where
you want to spar, "Lead the way, Ichiro."
Gathering himself up, Ichiro stands up, bows from the rail,
then leaps backwards landing lightly on the water below.
Stepping back into stance and grinning, Ichiro says, "Ready
when you are."
Squating low, Taishita smiles and exclaims, "Alright!"
Taishita quickly springs into the air, unsheathing his black
jian from its scabbard on his back and begins falling quickly
down toward Ichiro, jian held high above his head.
"Aaaaaaahhhhh!" Taishita screams.
Grinning widely Ichiro releases the chakra under his feet,
slips down into the water, and rapidly sinks into the depths.
Taishita, unable to stop, plundges deep into the water with a
large splash.
Ichiro bursts out of the water a short distance away, leaping
into the air, and landing on the water again, grinning more
than ever. Ichiro shouts, "Come on, you can do better than
that!"
Taishita slowly pulls himself to the top of the water,
coughing, raises up gaining his footing on the water. "Tch. I
should've known that that wouldn't work on you...." Taishita
mutters. "Try evading sound..." Taishita exclaims. "Do!"
Taishita shouts, pointing at Ichiro.
A gash appears in Ichiro left shoulder, but quickly begins
sealing itself backup. Ichiro leaps into the air as he blazes
through a series of handseals. The air around Ichiro begins to
swirl as it becomes water that quickly rockets towards Taishita
as it forms the head of a dragon.
Taishita gasps and exclaims, "High speed regeneration and
suiryuudan! Shit! No way I can dodge it!" Taishita shouts
while crossing his arms, bracing for impact...Ichiro's
suiryuudan smashes into Taishita with incredible force,
throwing him into the bridge's stone railing, screaming and
breaking off chunks of stone. Taishita falls to the water,
barely able to stay afloat, coughs up blood and says, "What the
hell? Are you trying to kill me?"
Landing back on the water, Ichiro chuckles and says, "I know
you're tougher than that. Besides, that was a weak Suiryuudan.
Try to dodge it next time."
Taishita chuckles as he stands up sheathing his jian and says,
"Yeah, I just bit my cheek when I hit that rail." Taishita
throws together a quick string of handseals and draws in a
massive breath. Taishita exhales rapidly, sending a giant
fireball hurdling toward Ichiro, evaporating a large amount of
water causing a wall of steam to climb up between the two.
Trying to seize the moment, Taishita quickly unsheaths his
jian, throwing it towards the back of the fire ball.
Sealing as quickly as he can, Ichiro shouts, "Suiton:
Suiryuudan no Jutsu" and launches a dragon at the rapidly
approaching fireball. As the two jutsu crash into each other
and completely dissipate, the jian zips through the steam and
stabs through Ichiro's leg.
"Uh-oh...", Taishita mutters. "Sorry about your leg...",
Taishita exclaims before jumps up to the bridge rail. Taishita
asks, "Mind givin' that back to me?" and then chuckles to
himself.
Pulling the jian from his leg with a grimace, Ichiro tosses it
back and waits for Taishita to catch it before beginning his
next set of handseals, saying, "There you go."
"Thanks...", Taishita says dryly.
Grinning still, Ichiro says, "Time to finish this I think."
Ichiro blazes through a series of handseals and begins to
launch Suiryuudan again. Just before Ichiro finishes his
handseals, a second dragon head emerges from the water, flying
straight towrds Taishita as well.
Taishita dodges the first suiryuudan and states, "Heh,
too...Aaaahh another one!" Taishita is carried into the sky by
the dragon. The dragon dissipates and Taishita begins falling,
unconsious.
Ichiro leaps out of the water and catches Taishita. Setting
Taishita down on the bridge, Ichiro and his clone kneel over
Taishita as their hands begin to glow. Working quickly, the
two Ichiro's stitch up Taishita's external wounds and repair
the internal injuries.
Taishita 's eyes flutter a little and then open fully, Taishita
coughs up some water and says, "Che-eap..." and then laughs.
Ichiro mutters, "Glad to see that your sense of humour wasn't
damaged..."
Taishita says, "Thanks for the patch work, doc." and sits up.
One Ichiro shatters into a puddle as the other smiles and says,
"Gotta make sure my teammates are okay. So what do you think
of my latest strategy?"
Taishita says, "I think you'll be able to take that Shiro
fella, no problem."
Smiling, Ichiro says, "We'll see. He's a pretty tough fellow
from what I can tell. Be a bit more respectful when you meet
Shiro-sama, he might be interested in inviting us to his clan."
Taishita grumbles as he trys to stand up. Taishita snickers
softly, "I'll try...I should probably head home...get some
rest, just in case the Uchuukage decides to let me continue my
missions...Thanks for the valuable lessons today, hopefully we
can spar again soon."
Ichiro nods and says, "Any time, Taishi-kun. Rest well,
tomorrow might be a busy day for you, if the Uchuukage decides
to let you out on some missions."
Taishita chuckles and says, "See you around," while walking
down the bridge and waving.