A Thief in the Night

"Clang!" Tora's sword bounced off his opponents own giant blade. The two of them had been sparring for awhile and were really in the groove of it. At first it started out slow, Tora and his opponent feeling one another out. Both of them had a similar style coming from the Dancing Dragon Kenjutsu dojo.

The both of them mirrored each others movements and doubled back with a flip. Tora  had his Kenseigan active and so did Oliver. Oliver was the same age as Tora and he was just as skilled in Kenjutsu. The mirror match up was interesting to see.

Oliver wielded two great swords in his hands, and had a shield strapped to his bare back. He was a much more imposing figure than Tora, but he seemed to be equal with him. Tora was handling himself and definitely had the edge when it came to speed and nimbleness.

Tora began circling his opponent, the dusk blade in his forward right arm and a eakizashi in his chambered left arm. Tora was watching for a vulnerability, but Okiver was skilled. He didn't wear any armor though, so Tora knee it would only take one fell swipe of his blade to end the match.

Circling with Tora around the circular ring Okiver was doing the same thing as Tora. Searching for any weakness in his stance and waiting for the moment to attack. Bith of them did this for a solid two minutes.

The crowd began booing.

Tora felt flustered by the crowd and decided to make a move. He dashed in a zig zag towards Oliver, leaving after images of himself. Tora flashed forward with a stabbing strike but Okiver dodged it andbcsme down with a swinging elbow. Tora was able to move his arm fast enough to mitigate most of the damage but his wakizashi fell to the ground. He was at a serious disadvantage with only one arm in this fight.

Tora Re-quipped the wakizashi back to the plane of Re-quip. It flashed suddenly from the ground into nothingness. "You got me good Oliver," said Tora. The genin stepped forward and slashed at his opponent senseless. Tora was building up momentum. He pushed his opponent back further and further but eventually the bulky Oliver riposte a strike and flank Tora. He was wide open.

Oliver lunged forward with the broad side of his blade, trying to push Tora down and onto the ground for a victory. Tora wouldn't be so easily defeated though, he Re-quipped a buckler into his left arm and bashed it into Oliver's sword. "Good try." Tora said to his opponent, his cheek pressed close to his shield.

Tora was at his limit. With his Kensaigen active and the constant Flux of Re-quip he just couldn't take much more. Oliver's blade pushed him back just a centimeter, a reminder of the little amount of time he had left. Tora lunged forward with all his might knocking the sword from his shield. Tora slashed with his wakizashi knocking the giant blade out of Oliver's hand. Before it hit the ground Oliver Re-quipped it and was wielding a mace.

Oliver swung the mace he was holding, beating it into Tora's buckler. Tora managed to deflect a blow and suddenly he had Oliver on the fence. Tora struck fast with his sword, and Oliver could barely keep up. The hulking Hoshimura stumbled back. Tora flew forward with a flying kick and knocked Oliver to the ground. The giant ninja quickly recovered and hopped back up.

"You almost got me," Olivrr shouted to Tors from a ten meter distance. Tora was too tired to Re-quip again so he took the second to catch his breath instead. He took a couple deep breaths before Oliver charged him with a spear. Tora was ready for him.

In a slick move Tora deflected the piercing spear strike with his buckler and rolled into Oliver's left flank. Tora spun his sword around in the air, aiming it directly for Oliver's cheek. The giant didn't have enough time to react.

Tora pressed the face of his blade on Oliver's cheek. He was gasping for air but managed to say, "I win." Tora released his Kensaigen and fell to the ground. On his knees he said to Oliver, "You nearly got me. I was running out of chakra." Tora chuckled, "Yanno, you're pretty nimble for such a giant." Tora smiled up at Oliver.

Oliver was still standing there, awe struck. He couldn't believe the daring move Tora had performed. He only half heard what the teenager was saying to him, but it wasn't because he wasn't interested. Oliver was zoned out, trying to focus on where he went wrong. After a good minute of Tora talking Oliver snapped back to reality and released his Kensaigen.

The two set their weapons, and shield, down in a pile. Both of them were too exhausted to send the items back to the Re-quip plane. They rested on Tora's favorite flat rock, and ate lunch. For himself Tora had packed some tuna Rolla with spicy mayo, and he gobbled them all up quickly. The food was delicious, prepared by his mom the night before.

Feeling rejuvenated the two decided to perform some meditation for awhile. Chakra control was very important to using Dojutsu, and Tora knew he could use some practice. He had gotten gassed out way too early in the sparring match. He wanted to have stamina like his dad, and he knew that meant controlling his metered chakra strains.

Sitting with his Kensaigen active Tora was facing Oliver, and likewise Oliver was facing Ken. The two had their beautiful pink eyes lit up and stared blankly forward.

Tora imagined his Chakra like fire inside his stomach. He imagined that his body was the cast iron container, and the fires raged within himself. It was up to his soul to meter this raging inferno of Chakra. Tora sat down in his mind before the fire and began to blow with Chakra. In real life he too glowed with Chakra.

As Tora sat near the fire it calmed down and he could feel heat in his body glowing. From his stomach it went north towards his heart. Tora once again thought of his heart as a stove and used meditation to meter the flow of fire. He did this for each one of his Chakra points.

Tora and Oliver meditated for three hours, governing the flow of Chakra within their bodies. Tora was an imaginative young man and his fire allegory was taught to him by his father.

Oliver on the other hand came from the monastic cult of Hoshimura. He believed in a clear mind and clear body to control the flow of Chakra naturally. Oliver sat silently imagining white in his mind and his Chakra naturally regulated itself.

There were multiple methods to meditate and control one's chakra but the way one chose didn't matter. What mattered were the results. After the two were done they decided on a little competition to test each others training.

The rules were simple. Re-quip two separate weapons or armor until one person gives up.

Tora had no intentions on losing this fight. To make it tougher the two had to perform with their Kensaigens active.

Leading the fight Tora Re-quipped his Dusk blade. "I didn't feel anything!" Tora quipped and stared at Oliver. The giant Re-quipped his broadsword. "Me neither," he gruffly stated. It was Tora's turn now and he planned on going big. Toras midsection suddenly flashed and he re-quipped a chest piece of armor into his body. "Hehe, let's goo!" Tora shouted.

The two of them went on like this well into the evening. Eventually Olivrr couldn't take it anymore, but instead of giving up he passed out. Not wanting to leave his training partner Tora waited for him to wake up. While waiting he practiced some sword techniques like the Tiger Lunge and the Black Stripe combo. Tora was excellent at Kenjutsu, and he was most familiar with the multitude of weapons at his disposal.

Once Oliver woke up Tora goaded a bit, proud he had won the contest. With everything wrapped up they bid each other farewell and headed home. Tora knew he would see Oliver again at sword practice and was excited for it. Rarely did he find someone so skilled with a great sword, and Oliver was the perfect match up to test his own skills. Tora had known Oliver for years, but only recently did Oliver begin making great strides as a shunobi. He attributed it to a healthy diet, but Tira couldn't believe it. In fact as he headed home he stopped at a candy shop to buy some gummy bears.

Tora loved candy.

When he got home his mother yelled at the poor kid for spoiling his supper, so Tora was forced to go to bed without any delicious pork roast. His mother had spent all day smoking the pork and was most upset with Tora. It was nothing new for the kid though, he always ruined his dinner after a hard training session.

Sitting alone in his room Tira continued his meditation training. He balanced his chakras, mediating the flow from point to point. Tora activated his Kensaigen.

Looking around briefly Tora noticed an unusual chakra signature near his front door. Curious he interrupted his training to check the door. He ran downstairs silently and crept up to the peephole. Looking through it he saw a most disturbing sight, a ninja clad in a blue united performing handseals.

"He's trying to unlock the door!" Tora thought to himself and took a step back. He too began performing handseals. As he finished he took a deep inhalation. His mouth was infused with water Chakra and he was ready to let it rip.

The door clicked, and then thr know turned. Tora watched as it slowly was pulled open and then he released his jutsu. The Wild Water Wave went blasting forward and swung the door open. The intruder ninja was pushed back and slid on their back thru the Hoshimura yard.

"What are you doing here!" Tora shouted and began performing more handseals. The ninja flipped up off the ground and cast their own handseals. Tora shot another blast of water that was blocked by a mud earth wall. Now tora couldn't see his enemy, and he leapt high up into the air. Landing on the earth wall Tora looked around for his enemy but saw nothing.

Running into the house he woke up his mom and dad. "Someone broke in!" Tora cried to them.

After an investigation by the police it was decided that it was a random robbery. Tora gave a statement and provided all the clues he could for the search. There wasn't much to go on, but based on the description Tora gave the police concluded the would be thief was a member of the Azure Streaks, a gang of criminals that operated in Hoshi.

Tora didn't say it to the police but he intended to search for these criminals. Whatever they wanted, Tora was determined to protect his family.

WordCount: 1,865

Stat Allocation:
+18 Chakra

Technique Training: 25% Advanced Training Facility Discount
Sky Shredding Dragon (1,125/1,125)
Glass Shard Swing (1,313 /1,313)
Imitation Black Hole (210/1,313)