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It was any wonder why the Jounin wasn’t picked for Mr. Fuji’s representative although it was more than likely because Helios was specialised in Kenjutsu. The sheets said that the sparring match was going to be involved using swords although Helios began to wonder if the term “sparring” was being used as a looser term for “death match”. Still, Helios didn’t mind the implication of whatever sparring would occur considering he was all but ready to maim him although the captain needed him back alive for interrogation.

The boy would make his way down the path towards the village square noticing that the crowd was still there although in much smaller numbers. He could hear voices in the forms of questions and statements, as well as various forms of praise and ridicule. Helios followed the voices down the dirt path in which the voices could be heard much clearer, as well as to where they were; the shinobi looked up to a house-like structure with a sign post of soft wood with the words “Fuji’s Wares” painted upon the grain. The boy began to understand that these words were directed to Mr Fuji, whom was probably inside.

“What are ya gonna do about the spar?”, “You ain’t got anyone to represent you!”, “Hey, I could represent ya old man!”, “You’re nothin’ but a washed up hack holdin’ on to old traditions!”, “Why should we come to you when the other guy has much more stuff at lower prices?” Helios could hear all of these being said and then more. It almost sickened him to the point that he just wanted to draw his sword and start carving a path of limbs and torsos; how could people treat this man with such disrespect just because he had some sort of fierce competition?

The boy fiercely shoved through the crowd of men, pushing them from his direction as he began to infuse chakra into his hands to increase the force of his pushes; two men even fell down but dared to challenge the boy after seeing whom he was and that he was carrying his sword with him. As Helios got to the front of the crowd he managed to meet face to face with the man; he had no facial hair besides a trimmed moustache, with a rounded head with bushy eyebrows and short cut greying hair. He was holding a small hammer that was probably used to shape smelted metals and had a pair of goggles around his neck.

”You’re Mr. Fuji, right?”

It seemed that whenever Helios was having a good day somewhere nearby there was trouble. As he proceeded out towards the door he heard some sort of commotion along the street near the market place. He could hear raised voices and crowds building along the path way although over the roaring voices of the people he couldn’t make out what the voices where saying or from whom they were coming from. He could discern that one of the voices sounded rather old and frail as though from an old man, while the other tone sounded seedy, high pitched and tempo, with a crack at the end of each sentence like a whip.

Helios proceeded to take a gander at the crowd to see what was going on. However with everyone being consisted mainly of teenagers and adults Helios found that seeing over the heads of the crowd to be considerably difficult. He tried to push through but with so many villagers so tightly knit together it was difficult to get passed them. Eventually he ended up jumping a top one of the dumpsters and onto the roof of a building, peeking down at the men below whilst making sure not to be seen.

It seemed that what Helios had thought earlier was somewhat accurate. The voice he could hear that was somewhat old came from a short old man with grey hair, wearing a white shirt and dull green pants and sandals. The other man, who bore the devilish cynical voice, was of a much taller man with a pair of tinted spectacles and spiked up black hair, wearing a black suit with a white shirt and a red and white striped neck tie. The old man was raising his fists almost in a threatening manner while the man in the suit stood straight with hands behind his back.

Helios had seen enough though. As the voices began to die down the young shinobi hopped down silently from the roof to the dirt below on the opposite side of the building from the crowd. He waited for the people to disperse until he began to walk amongst them, making his way towards the mission office. He had hoped that whatever his next mission was it would be away from those two.
 

This was it; the beginning of Helios’ training to which he couldn’t help but feel too excited yet nervous all at the same time. However, he had to remain calm and focused if he was going to be able to get this done and dusted quickly. The problem was that Helios was so focused on getting this right the first time that he believed that he was going to end up failing it.

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Those were the words that Helios clung to as Amon spoke. His voice would infest inside the boy’s ears before nesting itself carefully and caringly into the front of his mind. The boy’s eyes closed and as he did he could begin to feel and hear the world around him; the winds brushed over his pale skin, reaching to brush and wave to one side every single hair on his head, caressing his cheeks like the soft slender fingers of a doting mother. Was this what it felt like when one became… clear?



The thoughts began to turn and twist like mixing paints on a palette, brushed quickly and roughly on an open canvas and yet somehow still creating a vivid picture of color and essence. He could see it all, the battle that he had fought for weeks and all the chores he had done to which he incorporated his teachings into each minor miniscule activity no matter how insignificant they seemed. He could see himself in a first person view, slashing and beating on his adversaries; eight gates, diagonal slash, front thrust, rear thrust, they were all there played out in front of him like a home video.

He could hear something, the scraping of dirt and its compression under such tension that sounded like footsteps. They were so loud though, much louder than he ever heard before or could even conceive to hear if he focused on sound alone. Without sight, all of his other senses heightened but he dared not move from his spot; like a stone statue he would remain rigid as he was but he was not afraid to pounce like a lion.

It wasn’t just the wind and the sounds that tackled his senses; his scabbard began to expand, contract, cool and heat as the changing on the winds began to affect it. He could feel the winds cool the steel of the scabbard in his palms along with the slightest of contractions as metals normally do under temperature change. Likewise as the winds died down he could feel him palm heat up the steel, causing it to expand.

Suddenly he felt something on the hilt. It wasn’t the wind or the temperature but he felt something hit the hilt of his sword. As it touched the hilt it sent of a light vibration that perhaps no normal man could feel, but Helios could feel it; it made his skin tingle as the vibrations travelled across and into his palm. Instinctively he opened his eyes and struck out forwards with a powerful Diagonal Slash to the air in front of him. His eyes darted before looking back at Amon, rather undignified.

”Was that it? Did it work?”

The young shinobi was rather eager to learn this new technique; perhaps rather too much so that he felt that he was becoming anxious, too anxious to attain the focus to utilise such a technique. Although he was surely very ecstatic now, he was certain that after Amon has demonstrated how the technique actually works he could attain a much better sense of neutrality. In any case, Helios watched his friend as a grin plastered itself upon the canvas that was his face, watching his eyes dart around before locking on fixating to a nearby tree.

Helios couldn’t shift his eyes to anything else other than Amon; his body stood rigid, his hand gripped forcefully upon the handle of his sword, and his mind calm and composed. Helios could only begin to stare in wonder as to what was going through this man’s mind, although for a brief moment he suddenly realised exactly what was going on through his mind; nothing. His mind was completely clear, devoid of outside interference and only meditating on himself and his blade as though they were one in the same.

Then that glorious moment came when a student watched their teacher perform a feat of strength to which the boy could not fathom accomplishing himself. Amon drew his sword from it’s sheathe gently and, with a strong arm yet with a gentle stroke, the blade came down. It was that moment that Helios could see it vaguely but he saw it; the slight ripple of the air around the blade but, as the sword came down to a vertical chop, it vanished in a flash. The only mention of the wave that was left behind was a thin string of cut dirt along the ground, and an even greater cleave upon the tree Amon was facing. The entirely of its trunk was split in two down the middle, with the sides splitting away slowly as though it was some sort of parting of the seas.

Helios tried to remember the words of his mentor; “this should not be attempted unless your will to kill is absolute”. It was awkward to listen to; although Helios did have a complete will to kill those who would oppose him in the same intent, he couldn’t help but think that that was just some form of flavour subtext. Regardless, he knew that he had to put his entire mind and his entire body is a perpetual state of focus if he was going to learn of an attack that required considerable control.

The boy took another drag of the cigarette that was pressed between pale lips, inhaling its relieving properties before exhaling heavily a thick cloud of grey tobacco smoke. He had noticed that Amon’s breathing was becoming considerably more strained although he couldn’t tell if that was the smoking getting to his lungs or if the attack drained a severe amount of energy from him. Regardless, the boy smirked at his teacher in a vote of confidence; not solely upon his own abilities to learn this technique but also in confidence that his friend was going to be able to coach him all the way.

”Well… that was definitely some attack,” Helios praised the attack with the utmost of respect; he wasn’t expecting such an attack of that calibre but, as he looked towards the tree and the execution of such a move, he could begin to realise why it was so powerful. The boy sighed heavily as another thin streak of smoke trailed him his mouth and nose to form a long but rather thin cloud. ”And I see it’s left you rather tired. But regardless I am ready to learn with the utmost of my mind, whenever you’re ready, Amon.” The boy placed his hand upon the handle of his blade, turning much like Amon had done prior, facing a tree around eight meters away and awaiting further instruction.

It seemed that with the three fights over no one had been able to come close to winning their share of the thousand ryo that Helios had offered as payment if they were able to beat him. However, it seemed that each one of the kids knew that they had learned a great deal from fighting with Helios; tactics in which they could deploy in combat, tricks to certain jutsus and how to avoid them, and why the basics of ninjutsu and basic academy techniques were important.

The three kids stood in a line side by side as they did earlier, facing Helios as he stood with his equipment back on his person again. The three of them seemed down, not because they lost or because they weren’t able to get any money out of it, but because they had wasted their time skipping classes instead of practicing which could have cost them their lives today.

”I was impressed by all three of you today if I have to be honest with you,” Helios praised the three of them to which he was all but too kind with. The three of them looked up with a small gleam in their eye to know that what they had done today was something well worth it. ”even though you skipped your classes you displayed a great deal of courage, tenacity, skill, and spirit.” Helios began to scan again from left to right, the first being Nene.

”Kirika, I believe that your use of items and your weapons were to be considerable. I think that you should focus on your weapons training as well as learning your ninjutsu.” a cheery smile and a blush began to show upon her face as Helios addressed her abilities. Her shy face hid behind two bangs of hair and her intertwined fingers with twiddling thumbs. Regardless, she was considerably pleased with Helios’ evaluation of her and her fighting abilities despite having such a short spar.

” Saotome, when I first laid eyes upon you I thought I was going to have a considerably easy fight on my hands, and I was proven wrong. Your uses of clones were considerable and despite your looks and your build you’re considerably quick as well as packing a lot of power behind your punches.” Borai gave a wide smile and nodded; it was great, knowing that despite his overweight physique he was still considerably quick.

”Touhou…” The sullen tone of Helios’ voice made Jiro wince at the sound of his name, not because he used his last name but because his voice sounded as though all he had was bad news. ”You’re a tough man. It’s a shame that this document doesn’t say you’re pretty quick, but you are; you should apply yourself more to your training and show off your speed. And the fact that I had to hit you so many times before you stayed down was remarkable.” Jiro smirked as he held his hands behind his head and chuckled a little.

It seemed that the mission was a success; Helios was able to demonstrate all of his academy jutsu as well as teach the kids the importance of the basics of jutsu and training; if not for one’s self, then for others.

EXIT

It seemed that the kids were no longer as confident as they were since before they started this little sparring session. All of them were considerably quiet, with only light murmurings between the two that remained seated at the moment. Nene was still clutching her tummy after taking such a strong blow from Helios, while Jiro awaited his turn as he watched Borai stand a distance in front of the swordsman. The tension was getting considerably thick as one of them was taken out so easily, to which they all began to think if winning was at all possible.

Borai stood in a rather thuggish, almost caveman-like stance with a hunched back and arms held up in front but not square like a boxer would but more in lines of a grappler. His face had the look of seriousness plastered all over it, his eyes drawn and fixated upon Helios only. The swordsman however remained in his lax and upright stance as he did before, waiting for Borai to make his first move.

At first, the wide boy placed his hands close to one-another, his fore and middle fingers straight and crossing over one another. His use of jutsu was limited but he was fairly adept at using the Clone Technique, creating two clones beside him. Quickly though all three clones began to charge towards Helios, crossing over one-another in order to create confusion as he hoped that his opponent would have trouble keeping track with which one the real one was.

Helios wasn’t that much of an amateur though so he had already figured out which one was the real one without even thinking. Quickly Helios did the same thing as Borai did; crossing his fingers over one another he too created two clones. As his opponents charged closer Helios quickly stepped forwards with his clones soon following. The quick movement caused Borai and his clones to shield themselves in synchrony in reflex of the attack. The six of them collided upon the ground; one of Borai’s clones and Helios’ clones collided together and caused them to dissipate, while Helios’ second clone passed right through Borai and Helios passed through Borai’s second clone; it was evident that Helios was merely toying with the boy.

The boy was rather agitated and instead turned around seeing Helios form a seal. Borai reared his fist back and was about to punch at his opponent with great force, but suddenly Helios disappeared with nowhere to be found leaving behind a puff of smoke. As Borai become confused, Helios suddenly reappeared in another puff of smoke and struck Borai twice with his scabbard; one in the stomach like with Nene and then again in the side, causing the boy to tumble down.

”Your clones were good Saotome,” Helios awarded the boy’s efforts with kind words. ”The problem with clones is that only the real one gives off a shadow, which I used to find you were the real one and instead attacked your clone. My transformation Jutsu also allowed me to avoid your punch by turning into a rock and then changing back again to strike. I hope you’ll learn from this. Now then, one more opponent.”
 

It seemed that Helios’ bluff of a threat sunk deep into their heads, but even so Helios couldn’t help but think that hacking off their legs for disobedience would be a rather fitting punishment; at least they wouldn’t be able to skip classes anymore. Putting his grim thoughts to one side Helios looked at his three “students” whilst maintaining a grip on his scabbard, causing some discomfort between the academy students. He eyed all three of them for a moment as they stood next to each other in a line side by side before taking out and unfolding the sheet with their information; their profiles stated their combat effectiveness and where their sensei’s believed their strength lie.

According to the document, Jiro was an A class bum who spent most of his time sleeping in classes and not paying attention to his lectures, although it does say that he has considerable stamina as evident from the amount of fights he gets into. Nene doesn’t have much talent in the ways of ninjutsu although her use of weaponry is considered to be her main point of focus. Interestingly enough Borai has been noted on his speed and his use of Taijutsu coupled with a strong affinity to the Clone Technique.

”Interesting read. I think I have a rather good idea,” Helios began as he looked up from his sheet, looking from left to right at the students who stood in front of him; Jiro has his arms folded with an impatient look, Nene was still looking shy with her head down and twiddling her thumbs, while Borai was up straight with his attention focused solely on Helios. ”Seeing as you simpletons think basic training is a waste of time, I’ll make a proposition; if any one of you can beat me in a one-on-one fight I’ll give you each a thousand Ryo.”

All three of them were gobsmacked at Helios’ proposal; they began to imagine what they could do with a thousand Ryo each. However, Jiro raised an eyebrow as if to say that there was some sort of catch that their instructor wasn’t letting them in on.



”Oh yes, you’re right. My wrist blade,” Helios humoured the boy as he pulled up his sleeve to reveal a wrist-mounted contraption that held a secret blade. ”But jokes aside, here’s the handicap; you three can use whatever equipment you want while I limit myself to only this scabbard, my fists, and my academy jutsu. You know, the ones you never bothered learning, Touhou.” The calling of his last name seemed to bother Jiro somewhat. ”So Kirika, why don’t we start with you?”