A loud crash burst from somewhere nearby, sending a wave of water onto the side of the road where it would douse a number of unsuspecting villagers that happened to be walking by. The abruptness of the splash gave rise to screams of surprise and angry shouts as the bystanders staggered in newly drenched clothes. Some looked intent on finding the perpetrator as they glanced angrily around while others ducked for cover.
That's when a second splash popped over the busy street, soaking the villagers again and sending them fleeing.
"Oh c'mon..."
Makoto huffed impatiently, wiping water from her eyes.
She was the only one to blame for all the splashes, thanks to staging her training exercise in the middle of town. But what was happening behind her didn't seem to register to the Inuzuka's senses whatsoever. It wasn't that she didn't know or didn't care, but rather she was of the mind that a little water never hurt anybody.
"Try it again!" she shouted to her dogs.
The three of them charged through the pond and barreled toward their master, paying no heed to the ornaments and carefully grown plant-life that lined the water's edge. Instead they only appeared intent on converging on Makoto as quickly as possible, to which the jounin responded with an expression of fierce concentration. Her fingers moved together in an unfamiliar pattern, indicative of a jutsu she had yet to master.
But the ninken got to her first, crashing and skidding as they knocked her back and sent more splashes toward the road.
It wasn't often that there was a gap in Ryota's teaching schedule. But it turned out that Oda was a rather hands on individual when it came to training. He had made a point of taking all four of the platoon's genin today in order to test them. He had been told that he had today off, but his test would come eventually.
That was why Ryota had been making his way back towards the residential area of the village. He could take the time to relax, maybe read..at least, that was what he told himself. Truth be told, he had been looking forward to taking back up a bit of normalcy in the routine he had given himself, and it had just been taken from him.
So when he heard an all too familiar kind of angry shouting, Ryota felt the corner of his lips tug upwards. Ah, that brought back memories. As he closed in, the sounds he heard were all the confirmation he needed. After a year of peace and quiet, someone had taken to using the one naturally occurring pond within the village proper as a practice ground.
The splashes and shouts were like a nostalgia trip for Ryota. He had been the last one to pull this. It wasn't anywhere near as chaotic sounding. Of course, as he closed in on the area, a few of the villagers seemed to recognize him, and made angry gestures towards the woman at the edge of the pond. He watched as she tried to weave together a familiar series of seals. She was clearly trying for a move that would push the charging dogs back, and failing.
"You know, there's a lot of ways to pick up on a skill this particular."
He called out as he walked closer to the pond, seeming to assuage the attitudes of some of the villagers who had been passing by and gotten soaked in the process.
"Some of them are more forgiving than others. Unfortunately, I've got an idea of what you're going for..and it's a lot more finicky. You could stand here trying to brute force it all week and still not get anywhere."
He said, looking the hounds over, as well as the very clearly older woman who was standing in the pond with them. As he spoke, he made his way towards the pond..and instead of having his foot sink through the water, it rested atop it, like it was solid. He didn't quite get between this woman and her hounds. Rather, he aimed to put himself in their peripheral view, hands still in the pockets of his jacket. "Of course, I'm not trying to say that your effort's wasted. It just needs to be pointed the right way, you know?"
He asked, giving them a smile. He would certainly be an odd looking one to the inuzuka. His jacket was subtle enough, being a plain black in color..until it got down to the 'tails'. At that point, there were two different patterns on each side. On the left was..was that leopard print? Who in the hell thought that was a good idea? And to make it white? That took either a wildly poor sense of fashion, or a great deal of confidence to pull off.
The right side was a bit more subtle. Plain white, with black stripes. But it was what was underneath the jacket that was the oddity. It looked to be what most people would consider to be a second jacket. In truth, it was a short sleeved shirt with a hood. Would be rather useful in stealth..if it wasn't bright orange. Between all of that, it was enough of a distraction that it might not be initially noticeable that his headband was tied around the left cuff of his jacket.
Thankfully, the cuffs didn't go as crazy as part of his jacket did. The one that was visible was a checkerboard pattern made out of black lines on white cloth. Ryota clearly dressed in a very unorthodox manner for someone who was very clearly a shinobi. Between that and his age, would it really be possible for her to take him seriously?
Probably not. But it wouldn't be the first time he'd had to prove himself. And until his actions were able to speak for him, it wouldn't be the last. But that was OK. For now, he had something to spend the day on, and had slipped right back into the comfortable role of teaching, his tone of voice having been level, understanding, and even a bit encouraging right at the end there.
Picking herself back up after the collision with her ninken, the Mist jounin wiped the water from her face to reveal a disappointed grimace. The timing of her technique was still way off and so was the flow of chakra, leaving her destined for failure. With neither of those aspects working in the kunoichi's favor, the elusive art of Suiton would remain out of her grasp.
Then a moment later the approach of a young man distracted her thoughts. The dark-haired Inuzuka shifted to face him, blue orbs narrowing with suspicion while disappointment continued to furrow her brow. "Huh? What's that yer yappin' about?" she questioned firmly, the corner of her lip upturned with a snarl. Truth be told, she ignored the first few comments the youngster made, thinking he was just some complaining citizen.
"Stay back unless yer lookin' to get soaked. I'm workin' on somethin' over here."
Makoto then gave her mane a wild shake, spraying her immediate surroundings with a shower of water droplets. It didn't do much to alleviate the discomfort of walking around in drenched clothes, but at least it felt good to clear her head. The frustrated expression she'd been wearing was quick to fade away in the same motion, replaced with a determined scowl.
"Besides, brute force is all I know," Makoto grumbled.
That admission didn't exactly bother her, but most would probably interpret that reaction as arrogance. To try and tackle new skills with nothing but grit and a lot of muscle at her disposal, it was no surprise Makoto had been met with setbacks. Though after all the years she'd spent fighting, she was simply set in her ways. Perhaps all she needed was a push in the right direction?
It wasn't surprising that he had been ignored. It wasn't like he wore his headband where it was supposed to be, nor was he dressed up in uniform. It would have been easy to mistake him as someone normal. But of course, he wasn't one to shy away just because a 'student' was being difficult. He nodded a bit as he listened to her tell him to stay back, as well as state that brute force was all she knew.
"Just because it's all you know now doesn't mean that it's got to be the only thing you ever rely on."
He said as he took a step closer, each footfall being all but silent as they caused the water he was standing atop to ripple outward. Water Walking wasn't the most obvious thing in the world when used in the shallows like this, but it was certainly good practice in control.
"After all, Suiton is something that requires you to take a different route."
He said as he stood between Makoto and her Ninken, making a point of forming two hand seals in quick succession, causing some of the water in front of him to rise up in two threads of water that twisted around each other while he held the second seal.
"All that brute force accomplishes with water is throwing it around all over the place, without focus. If you want to make active use of it, you have to approach it from a different angle."
He explained as he released the hand seal, causing the water to suddenly splash back down into the pond. Did he think she was more likely to listen after that little display? Not really. But at the very least, he hoped it would make her stop and think for a moment. After all, there was a definite difference in being stubborn versus being arrogant. It was all in how one spoke about themselves. And judging by the way she had been grumbling, it was clear enough to Ryota that she fell under the former, rather than the latter.
LAIKA OF GS!
Last Edit: Nov 10, 2021 19:37:04 GMT by Ryota Sadao
Had the visitor not made it a point to step right between her ninken, Makoto would've very likely shooed him away again. Yet she quickly noticed something was off about his approach, especially when he didn't make much of a splash. "W-Whoa. Look at that!" she exclaimed to her dogs, each of the shaggy beasts tilting their heads in confusion. They didn't appear to understand how the visitor could move so smoothly, or how he made the water rise, but it certainly captured their attention.
Makoto felt suddenly encouraged, her prominent fangs poking out to reveal a wolfish grin. "Well, I don't get a lick o' what yer sayin' but ya seem to know how this stuff works!" There was plenty of pride to be heard in the kunoichi's tone, like she was glad to have a lack of understanding. Finding clever ideas and inventive approaches had never been her forte, so the talk of taking different 'angles' went straight over her head. "Where's a pup like you learn how'ta do a thing like that? They teachin' e'ryone to walk on water these days?" Her frosty gaze narrowed a bit as she pointed at the visitor with an accusing claw.
Today marked the second occasion she met a child in this foreign land who could manipulate water with such ease. Was it all simply coincidental or did it mean she was behind the curve for not learning earlier in life? Whatever the case, it made the Inuzuka somewhat jealous to see members of the younger generation pick up skills so effortlessly.
"Show me that trick of yers again," Makoto insisted bluntly, recoiling her arms to cross over her chest. Whether or not the young visitor had intended to give more displays of power, it sounded like it was being expected of him now. Not to mention, the way the dogs began to circle around him made it feel more and more like he was being sized up. "I gotta do somethin' like that but bigger an' more...shwoosh!" the kunoichi commented next, merely thinking out loud as she swept a foot through the water to kick up a hefty splash.
