Location: Path to Yamayuki Village
Isamu whistles cheerfully from behind his mask as he spins his sword around a few of his fingers. He casually strolls south, heading out from Yamayuki Village.
Bikku kneels along the path just south of the Yamayuki gates, rummaging through his kit obliviously. His attention stirred by the approaching tune, he looks up quietly with his eyes narrowed and his thoughts regained.
Noticing the young shinobi, Isamu slowly makes his way over. "Hello there, I don't think I've seen you around here before. I'm Sasaki Isamu, what's your name?" Isamu asks nonchalantly.
Rising from his low position, Bikku responds cautiously, "Sagiriyama Bikku." The young man rolls his shoulders slightly, seeming leery of the newly introduced stranger, "I don't think I've seen you around here either."
"That's because I keep mostly to myself when on missions. Lately the Head of the Sasaki Clan has been having me deal with these troublesome Riyoku ninjas in the mountains up north of the village." Isamu explains. Isamu looks breifly at the youth. "Are you here on a mission from the Uchuukage? I don't usually see many folks up here who aren't here for a reason."
Bikku's posture eases up from alertness. "No, I've made my way up here to train myself..." he responds, resting a hand on his belt as he looks over the Sasaki man, "Altitude and cold make for nasty training conditions."
"Ain't that the truth," Isamu mutters as he looks over his shoulder. "Just wait 'til it rains." Isamu shivers a bit as he remembers his training here. Isamu slides the sword into it's simple black sheath on his belt. "As for training, care to have a bit of a spar? Lately these specialists seem to have been weaker than normal. I'm afraid that they're losing too many skilled warriors." Isamu asks the young ninja.
"Are you sure about that?" Bikku asks hesitantly, rubbing at his ribs as he reminisces with a glance further up the mountain. Bikku thinks for a moment, then adjusts the armor over his torso, "I suppose we can, but..." he grumbles mid-sentence, "I'm not sure what you hope to gain from something like this." Bikku continues quietly, "The Sasaki family is well known in these parts, the villagers have told me things about your leader." Bikku looks over Isamu again, nodding. "Let's keep me alive?"
Isamu laughs with vigor. "Ha ha ha! I only kill those in the path of my mission, as such, my mission is complete! You have nothing to fear Sagiriyama-kun." Isamu removes his packs and hangs them on the branch of a nearby tree. "I'm ready when you are." Isamu says as he readies a defensive stance.
"Fair enough," Bikku lets out an uneasy chuckle. Bikku lowers into a loose stance, his foot pushing snow into a small pile as he prepares, examining Isamu for openings. Bikku quickly spins, lowering his center to the ground to kick a fist sized rock at Isamu, followed by a powerful lunge in the same direction.
Isamu jumps straight up, feet barely above the rock, as he gathers his chakra into his hand.
Bikku continues his path toward Isamu, closing the gap between the two combatants. Bikku's footfalls pounding the ground, as Isamu bounds into the air avoiding his earlier projectile. With a grunt, Bikku unleashes two shuriken at the airborn Sasaki.
Isamu swipes the shuriken aside with the bracer on one arm, and as his feet touch the ground he launches a chakra-filled buddhist palm at the ninja.
Bikku makes an attempt to avoid the attack, but his opponent's speed overcomes his own, and he takes a the powerful strike to his chest. Bikku glides backwards, but keeps to his feet, his eyes wide. Bikku's arms hang down at his sides, his breathing deepens, and his vision blurred.
Isamu slides back into his stance, eyes dull and distant as if he has no focus. He waits for his opponent to regain composure.
Bikku takes a moment to regain his vision, taking no time to rest himself any further, he lowers himself into a powerful looking stance. Fusegu Yama. Bikku's feet patter quietly as he takes a wide path around to Isamu's left.
Isamu shifts to follow Bikku's path, sliding his stance to the left. His legs glow blue as he molds charka into his muscles.
Halting his path, Bikku bounds backwards. After his feet hit the ground, Bikku wastes no time to blast toward Isamu again, his body flickering out of sight, only to reappear at Isamu's right, hands cocked back for a yama tsubusu aimed at Isamu's ribs.
Isamu slides back, and pours the built up chakra into his feet as he jumps back. A plume of snow rises in the air around the two of them. Isamu is nowhere to be seen.
Bikku follows through with the attack against his own will, pushed on by his momentum into the empty space. He loses his footing.
A brief flickering of shadows dance through the cloud of mist and falling snow. Isamu must be out there.
Bikku stumbles about, the shadow in the cloud catch his attention. Bikku falls into a loose stance again, now recovered from the earlier blow, his senses working at full capacity.
Suddenly, Isamu whispers from behind Bikku, "Don't look for me, just find me."
Bikku flings an elbow toward the origin of the voice, grunting through gritted teeth, Bikku mutters, "You're fast."
"I pride myself on that. It's my one redeeming trait according to the Uchuukage." Isamu says as the cloud of mist and snow clears a bit. There seem to be three Isamus standing around Bikku, with divots in the ground around their feet. "So which one is the real me?"
Bikku straightens up, smirking, inquiring with a thoughtful voice "Right, genjutsu or... a clone?" Bikku looks between the three identical Isamu's. Flickering out of existance, Bikku appears on a tree trunk to the left of the left most Isamu - he throws one kunai - Bikku phases out of existance again, appearing to the right of the right Isamu, flinging another kunai - then again, out of sight behind the middle Isamu kunai in the air as soon as he reappears - all within a brief second.
"Sooo close," Isamu says as all three after-images disappear. Isamu is standing behind Bikku, steam rising from his legs in the cold mountain air. "I said speed was my best asset after all. You've got some moves yourself, it's like I'm looking at a younger version of myself." Isamu dashes up behind Bikku and thrusts his palm forward at the younger shinobi.
Bikku is replaced by a wall of frozen dirt and snow, the area that had been under his feet dark brown soil. Bikku skids backwards away from the area he replaced with soil and snow, panting, his body fatigued. "I was worried I wasn't gonna get out of that," Bikku wipes his cheek with his thumb, before making a beeline for Isamu.
Isamu hits the dirt wall with tremendous power, breaking it all the way through. As the wall crumbles, Isamu turns to meet his opponent head on, readying himself for a fierce attack.
Bikku's right fist begins burning off a shroud of blue chakra, Bikku cocks it back as he closes the gap between Isamu and himself. "GaHgh!" Bikku groans, and unleashes a fist with the power of the gods contained inside it.
"This is it!" Isamu shouts as he lunges into Bikku's attack, stopping it short, and taking lesser force from it. Isamu's right hand glows a brilliant blue, as his other hand makes a seal. "Take the pious rage of the 1000 Buddhas!" Isamu yells, launching his palm at Bikku.
Bikku takes the full force of the hit, his vision blurring to near white at it's strength, but he keeps his force going and attempts to tackle Isamu to the ground with his other arm at Isamu's neck.
Isamu twists to the side, while rotating the hand in contact with Bikku, to shove off, pushing them in opposite directions. "Your endurance must be nearing its limit, you don't look so good." Isamu says as a trickle of blood runs out from under his mask. "Your attacks are strong and fluid, keep this up and the Head might take an interest in you. If you wish to continue, I won't hold back any further."
Isamu appears behind Bikku in a flash of pure speed, kicking up a trail of snow and dirt. Isamu spins, dropping low to the ground, sweeping his leg around under his tired opponent.
Bikku hits the ground hard with a thud, blood splattering out his mouth as his head lands... unconsciousness sets in on the young shinobi.
"Gah! I think I might've overdone it a bit." Isamu says as he pulls a greenish bottle from his coat. "I need to remember to cushion their fall..." Isamu slowly pours a bit of the Sasaki special tea into the younger shinobi's mouth, knowing that this should revitalize him a bit.
Bikku rouses some, groaning, with a smile on his face, "I won..." he says in his delirium, the tea washing over his mouth.
Isamu laughs as he props Bikku up against a tree. He hands Bikku the bottle, "Drink that quickly, since it loses it's potency as it cools." Isamu reaches into his pack and pulls out a small box. He opens it, revealing three onigiri ready for eating.
Bikku sips slowly on the tea, choking it down, grabbing his body in pain as he coughs. "What.. happened?" Bikku stammers, looking around with an eye closed.
"I told you that I wouldn't hold back." Isamu says with a smirk, "I just got behind you and knocked you over." Isamu pulls an onigiri out and takes a bite. "To be honest, I'm quite surprised that my buddhist palm at the end didn't knock you out. You've got a strong head." Isamu holds out the box, offering one to Bikku.
Bikku stretches his arm out, nearly unable to hold it up, to take what is offered. "Thank you for this," Bikku breathes heavily, taking another small sip of tea with a bite of onigiri, "If I'd beaten someone this much, I would have left them... to learn from their mistakes..."
"Eh, I wouldn't want to be left up here in the cold, unconscious and all. That and I told you, I wouldn't kill you." Isamu says as he closes the box and places it back in his pack. "Now how do you think you did in that fight?"
"Not well enough," Bikku replies bitterly, laying his head back on the tree. "You were barely even paying me any mind during the whole fight."
"That's not true at all, you had all my concentration, I was just paying attention to everything you were doing as well." Isamu says with a smile. "You just need to focus without focusing too closely, look at the whole body."
"I need work on everything," Bikku mumbles, eating the last bit of his onigiri. His eyes growing more and more tired, Bikku comments quietly, adjusting himself against the tree, wincing from the pains all throughout his body, "It's getting colder."
"Here let me get you back to the village." Isamu says as he lifts his new comrade up. Isamu turns and grabs Bikku's packs as he heads back to the village.
Bikku winces again, growling through the pain, "Fine, fine..." he tries to help carry some of his weight, as not to be completely helpless.
Isamu smiles and gets Bikku to the hospital.