This can't be very healthy

[That Guy]

Somewhere that can only be described properly as no where nothing had occurred for roughly three hours. And before that the most exciting thing that had happened was a man with a wild untamed afro walking into the middle of no where and sitting cross legged on the sand with his katana in its crimson sheath resting idly across his lap and his eyes closed. After that nothing happened for about three hours unless you account for the sweat that coagulated along his brow before dripping down profusely. But things were about to happen again, even if they affected no one but the swordsman himself.

Taking a deep relaxed breath Amon opened his eyes slowly to take in his surroundings. Nothing had changed except for his own condition as he now experienced blurred vision and physical exhaustion. Stupid as it was, this was his training for stamina in the event of a long fight without chance for breaks. The concept was that if Amon could practice and learn to fight some what efficiently even when weary who would never be entirely defenseless from just exhaustion. A weakness he felt many ninja would gladly exploit.

Amon got up shifting into a kneeling position holding the sheath of his katana in his left hand and resting his right hand on the hilt. Touching the hilt he could feel how dry the hilt was in comparison to his now moist hand. He released his grip momentarily to wipe the palm of his hand on his pants before resting it back on the sword and gripping tightly. His body grew tense in anticipation as he thought out the pattern of attacks he would execute.

First he imagined a ninja approaching silently from behind raising a kunai prepared to strike down. Before the figment of imagination could strike, his all too real target spun around rising to his feet against him swiftly while unsheathing his sword and thrusting the blade through the ethereal chest. The ninja froze in shock and pain before hunching over and vanishing having never been there at all.

Amon's stance did not waver as he held his sword straight out where it had pierced the body of his assassin. His muscles were perfectly tense and his body had learned this simple rear thrust so perfectly it was now habitual. Even in these intense conditions the execution of the attack was flawless. Internally however Amon's head was swimming and his vision had gone from bad to worse. The rise in elevation had been quick, and even though this had been more of a reflex the head rush had was slow and debilitating as it caught up with him.

[That Guy]

Amon did not allow himself long to recover before he was beset upon by more imaginary foes. This time the missing three ninja from the four man cell charged him from the front now with various weapons. The largest of the three took a commanding lead in speed as he sprinted head on for Amon raising a large claymore above his head and yelling mutely about to swing down and across at the dark man.

Amon however swung his sword down and brought it forward in an abrupt thrust piercing the sword through the mans chest and halting his charge with his claymore still high. Amon's hair was now in the face of the dying man, and his shoulders were just below his elbows. It took him a moment to comprehend just how close he had gotten to the imaginary target. So close that if the target had been breathing he could have felt, smelled, and practically tasted his breath. He had stepped further than he had planned and his head was spinning from the heat and abrupt movements he was pushing himself towards.

The mistakes were intolerable, if this imaginary man had been real there were too many openings for a counter attack Amon had left himself open too by stepping up to his attacker practically chest to chest. The intent of this exercise was to make every movement of his body a perfectly calculated kinetic reflex. If it could be done then the swordsman would have only to plot his moves as one plays shogi. It would become a tactical game of moves and counter moves completely eliminating accidents and faulty maneuvers.

[That Guy]

No sooner had Amon regretted his mistake than he realized the other two were already upon him. He tore his blade sideways out of the giant's chest and delivered a powerful blow to the left temple of the falling corpse sending him falling into the path of the second ninja who who collided with him falling to the ground as well. He immediately spun dodging the strong but slow thrust from the man's spear (LOL MAN SPEAR HAHAHAHAHA) and retaliated with a strong back hand making ample use of the large hoop bracelet around his wrist to cause the ninja to recoil gripping the side of his face.

But Amon could see no more of their movements his world was spinning and he could hardly tell the ground from the sky with the several motions he had performed. He sprung backwards landing off balance slightly but salvaging the movement but falling to a kneeling postiion. He did this instinctively to get distance between them while they recovered from the swift blows they had received.

Now not only was his slipping up on his exit maneuver, but he had also failed to plan far enough ahead. He should have been in the moment, expecting their charge as soon as he had dropped the first ninja. He could have easily with drawn his blade and spun around to charge one side taking the second ninja by surprise and allowing him to take them down one at a time but now he no longer had the luxury of a tactical advantage. All of these mistakes simply had to be avoided in the future if he was going to achieve his dream of becoming a samurai...

[That Guy]

His vision returned first to a stage of blurry silhouettes, one very recognizably charging at him with what could only be the outline of a spear. Rising and stepping forward he quickly slashed up and across, striking the head of the spear perfectly diverting it's thrust. Amon grinned and brought his sword down the same way it had came up now slashing through the ninja's torso from his shoulder to his opposite hip letting the body fall into halves on the ground.

As the remains of the ninja fell to the earth Amon looked up above where he had been and sure enough like any proper ninja, the last had taken the opportunity for a surprise attack. Having leaped over the charged of his most recent partner the final ninja fell upon upon delivering a downward stomp to the swordsman's shoulder forcing him downward towards the ground. Just before the entire collapse Amon's spare hand stretched outwards supporting his falling body once again in the kneeling position.

Sweat dripped profusely down Amon's face and his vision was once again completely lost. He imagined the weight of his enemy lifting his foot again and knew he was about to bring it right back down to completely level the afro head face first in the dirt. If amon was face down with a foot on the back of his head there was no real way of coming back from such a position. He had to act now.

Without a thought, feeling, or emotion Amon moved. Motivated only by his drive he reached his hand to the air above his head catching the falling foot in his palm with a strong grip he would've used on the hilt of his own sword. This was checkmate, Amon grinned as he swung his sword horizontally across severing the leg the ninja was standing on in a spray of red mist. As the leg fell Amon rise swiftly his grip on the remaining leg stroke and jerking upwards flipping the man backwards before releasing him. As the men flipped backwards, while upside down facing away Amon swung back again horizontally this time removing the other leg that fell aside as well. The body fell face down in the dirt legless with a mute whimper just before Amon took set his own foot on the back of the man's head. He smiled looking down waiting for his vision to clear to as to confirm everything he had done had happened as he had planned. Sure enough when his vision had returned he was exactly where he would be, his planning motions, and reflexes had been what he had wanted all along. Perfection.

[That Guy]

Amon delivered a swift slash beheading the illusory ninja beneath him causing all the bodies to fade away. His smile did not fade as he fell back on his ass to rest and recuperate. He would next need to make this perfection of movement and foresight habitual. But for now today's progress had been an extremely rewarding experience.

Sitting down on the hot sand he began to meditate on the battle envisioning it from the outside. Watching the mistakes he had made earlier and the slight trips ups he noted he would need to be more aware of his surroundings before engaging. If he had planned on the sand beneath him he may have been able to maintain proper balance and if he had remembered the last two ninja charging he may have been able to take them out swiftly without receiving any trade back blows during the engagement. But even as his meditation lead him to learn many things to incorporate into his style something even more urgent surfaced in his thoughts. He was truly thirsty and needed to get to the Oasis soon before his condition grew much worse.

Rising to his feet slowly and easily so as to avoid head rush he ran a mostly try tongue across his chapped lips in vain. He turned in the direction he had been informed that he would find the oasis and froze suddenly. While he had been meditating the middle of no where had taken a drastic population rise. In fact the population had now tripled as he stood facing two men who stared back. The men wore proper ninja garments but they wore puzzled and confused looks on their faces just before they started chuckling and reaching for their weapons. Both men each had a shorter katana of their own and they held them forth professionally and proudly. Amon's hand felt to the hilt of his katana and gripped it powerfully, this was not a favorable position to be in at all.

[That Guy]

"You look a little thirsty, friend." The shorter ninja mused with a grin. "This desert isn't the kindest to ignorant strangers. Anyone foolish enough to travel here without knowing exactly where they are going will to end up like you, dehydrated and soon to die. While I'd normally leave you to this well deserved fate my companion and I can't leave any witnesses even if they are about to die. You would most likely point our pursuers in our direction for a promise of a drink and then you'd die anyway along with us. Sorry we have to end it like-"

Amon cut him off sharply however, "Keep talking and delaying your attack as much as you want, it's the only reason I haven't cut you down yet." Amon spoke strong and tough, but he wasn't sure of his own ability to find real enemies in this state. Speaking without fear was his first defense to hopefully get them to leave peacefully so he could try and wander back to the oasis. His vision began to blur once more.

The two ninja glanced at each other and chuckled, "You've got quite the mouth on you. That or you're just begging for us to put you down. Fortunately for you we've got to make this quick so you won't suffer for long!" The ninja's arm shot forth and a kunai that had not been previously seen shot out at Amon's head.

Dropping down to his knees just in time to allow the kunai to fly through his afro harmlessly the swordsman gripped his sword tightly and began to plan. They hadn't closed the distance between them, and if they didn't soon he would have to do it himself. A charge about 20 meters and he would lose much of his vision he predicted after the first three steps. This would have to be well timed, planned, and utterly perfect if he was going to make it out alive.

[That Guy]

Time seemed to slow down extraordinarily for the afro samurai as he contemplated his next move while bent over. He didn't have time for much action, he was feeling so weak he would most likely faint. He had one attack he would use now and he could only hope that when the fight was done someone would find him since this would most likely leave the samurai unconscious.

During this slow down of time he had been taking a deep breath. Now the time came to exhale and attack. Exhaling just as slowly as he had breathed in, Amon stood up and with the simplest motion swung his katana across horizontally in front of him. The enemies were still no were in range of his sword but the smallest ripple of motion would be seen radiating from the air as an edge without a medium tore silently through the air.

The two first ninja was severed in half immediately, the second ninja who had seen the ripple at the start had immediately jumped up. However the edge of the attack traveled far faster than anything he had ever had to dodge and he had barely left the ground before it cut off his legs at the thighs.

The ninja fell helplessly to the earth screaming in pain and agony that alerted Amon that one of his victims had survived. Amon was weak now and his vision had gone dark. A kunai slipped out of his sleeve and into his palm before he cast it at the center of the noise before he heard a squelch and silence. He smiled and fell down face forward on the sand.

[That Guy]

When Amon awoke the next day he was in the shade, inside some sort of shack. Sunlight peered through the window as he lazily sat up rubbing the exhaustion he felt all through out his body. Reaching for his shoulder he felt the touch of paper pinned to his shirt. Strange, but hopefully the note could explain and answer a few of his questions. He opened it and read it slowly and carefully.

The letter explained that he had been found unconscious in sands now stained red with blood of the two ninja who had attacked him. They were missing ninja who had abandoned the village hidden in the sand and a hunter ninja had been sent out to track them down. The hunter had tracked them to the site of the battle and found them in pieces along with Amon's unconscious body. The hunter claimed their bodies and would be returning them to the village, but he had first taken Amon to the Oasis and left him with a small pouch of money to pay for water until he was feeling better. This was the hunter's way of thanking Amon for saving him some trouble. On the bottom of the note there was a foot note that read, "Oh, and after reviewing the battlefield I can tell you're skilled with your sword. Are you by chance a mighty samurai?" After the footnote there was a silly but friendly face drawn on the paper giving a peace sign.

Amon sat up letting his feet hand over the side of the awkward cot he was on. He wasn't a samurai yet, but he had set out on his trip to become one. The samurai were very specific though he they recruited, you couldn't just be any sword swinging jockey these days. You had to be an advanced swordsman of amazing prowess. It was because of the samurai that Amon had taken to travelling. He was determined to travel and train learning a much broader range of sword style than any before him had mastered.

Amon had become an impeccable master of the sword but there were still things to learn and apply to his style. Perhaps the most important thing he needed to learn was going to be next and as ironic as it seemed it was a skill developed by the ninjas but it was dangerous to use. The next stage of Amon's training would be the eight chakra gates...

[Messatsu!]

+70

(post in the Birthday thread to get your x2 reward.)

[chiatsuki]

+ another 70. Birthday reward.