Pov: Takumi Uchiha.
*Woooosh!*
The Kunoichi laughs in anger as I enter close range once more and ponder on how to get past her defences.
*Swish*
Like a dance our bodies weave around each other in quite the elegant fashion- her elite skills and jutsu aimed to break my bones as I delicately tread around her attacks using my small size advantage.
*Slam!*
She slams her foot down and cracks the earth beneath us- as I step to weave around her I feel my balance shift and lose control.
*Leap!*
I flicker backwards and she immediately shoots off four mud bullets.
*Bang!* *Woosh!*
I freeze and absorb the first impact before dispersing it into the air as the second one is about to hit me- deflecting it.
I land and shift my feet fast as I twist my torso- dodging in time as the next two pass by me.
"You have to be the very first warrior I have ever truly faced in this world. What is your name?" I ask.
"You calling my men useless?" She growls.
"I am calling you good" I compliment.
This is who I would call a proper Jonin- someone who at least has experience throwing that title around.
Someone who was most definitely promoted outside of a war where promotions come easy.
This is my 'baseline' for a proper warrior worth their merit.
"Ema, of the Stone Village- no title" She starts to calm down and clenches her fists, ready to fight me again.
I relax my body and roll my shoulders, keeping my eyes focused on her entirely.
*BAM!*
She flickers and with her stone like weight the floor crushes behind her- I grab her fist and disperse the impact, sending it right back.
Her arm flies backwards but no visible damage appears, I throw two punches and absorb all of their impacts to disperse them at my joints.
*Swish* *Flick*
My body flies faster as I increase the power of my evasive move set- every hit I land is directed into the next step I take.
And with every step I take- my Form is revised and perfected.
Tiny adjustments that save my chakra from burning and allow me time to think, fight and evade.
*Swing- Stab!*
I swing my arms around her waist and throw myself up to her neck, I grab a kunai from her pouch and stab at her eye.
*Snap!*
The kunai's tip breaks and I quickly pull back away from her grapple attempt to continue my close weaving.
"Why are you so slippery?" She comments before raising her leg to stomp down once more.
*SLAM!*
I jump backwards as the earth cracks and becomes uneven.
I don't have an enhanced body- I lack the training necessary to move at the speeds I need to reach.
My strength cannot pierce her hide and my senses are barely keeping up with my skills.
I am skill and no power.
Something as simple as this defensive skill can overwhelm me.
I have never faced this problem before, the second I awoke my first aspect of sharpness was the very second I started facing real threats for my empire.
I was raised being sharp enough to cut through anything I put my mind to- and now I face a wall I cannot cut.
A smile squirms onto my face, corners lifting as if being pulled by strings as my eyes widen in joy.
My heart beats fast and my mind races to solve this puzzle- much like the time I was reminded to not hold back my power to prove my skills.
Nothing can beat this timeless high- the feeling of an overbearing wall crumbling before you!
*BANG!* *Catch!*
I disperse her punch and return it straight to her.
*Swish* *Woosh!*
My forms are just movements to remember, notes to help use a jutsu.
*Slap!* *Crack!*
Her chop turns into a slap as I transfer the entire impact into the floor beneath me.
*Wham!* *Swoosh*
Form A, B and C are designed to use the Sleep standing jutsu in defensive, counter based and offensive ways.
*Whoo!* *Swing!*
I step back twice, maintaining a small distance from her attacks.
*Slam!* *Crush!*
But when you master them, use those forms so well- you start to improvise new attacks and blocks to enhance the forms beyond what they are capable of.
*WHAM!* *BAM!*
The Kunoichi wails on me- slamming her fists like hammers and I transfer the impacts into the street as more and more attacks reach me.
*Whoosh* *Wham!*
These forms start to become a style of combat, a martial art or a 'Taijutsu' in this world.
*CRUSH!* *CRACK!*
More and more steps leave more and more cracks upon the street.
*Wham!* *Slam!*
The taste I am sensing now is one few masters ever grasp- of their technique breaking through a barrier.
*SLAP!* *TAP!*
A kick to my torso and a punch to my head get dispersed- but the impact does not visibly appear around me.
*Woosh!* *Tap!*
A taste I have dined upon too much in my past life- and now I recognise it once more with these forms becoming a Taijutsu.
*Tap!* *TAP!*
More punches are thrown and my smile widens as I figure it out. The ground doesn't crack.
*Wham!* *Woosh!*
Evolution! Ascendancy! Transformation! This Taijutsu is breaking it's limits and gaining more power!
*Tap!*
I catch the last punch and nothing around me is faced with the transferred impact. seemingly.
[Takumi Uchiha Style]
[Impact Shift]
I absorb the impact and shift it away.
Through evolution I let that impact 'flow' through the outer layer of something I am touching to strike underneath. Much like I am letting the impact shift through my own flesh.
*Step- thunk!*
She steps over to me and the ground caves in under her, the punches she threw forming holes under the street where no crack forms- my impacts striking underneath.
Her foot gets stuck in the rubble for a single second.
[Impact Return]
To absorb an impact and return it to its source.
Through Ascendancy I understand that impacts need not be returned the same way they were absorbed. Turning bludgeoning impacts into a sharp edges slash.
*WHAM!*
She throws a punch as she kneels down from the sudden loss of footing, I catch that punch and her hand pulls back as a scratch runs along her knuckles, because the impact was more compact on return her power was able to break through her own defences.
[Impact Flurry]
I absorb my own attacks and disperse that impact behind critical points of my next attack. Pushing the attack further, any damage I take is turned into more powerful attacks, including the damage I deal to myself through this flurry.
This leads into a [Final Impact].
But through Transformation I can turn my punch into a sharp spear! And plant that spear beyond any flesh that blocks me!
*Thwackackackackackackackackackackackackackackackackackackackack!!!!!!!*
My punches fly at her face that is now level to mine- my attacks ramp up in speed, looking as if my fists where teleporting to her face- the illusion of teleportation coming from the instant of freezing before punching faster and faster a moment later.
Her hands raise to block the attacks and she struggles to stand but the moment she does I reach my impact limit.
FINAL! IMPACT!
*TAP!*
My hand plants against her torso, weaving past her arms and she freezes in place for a moment.
*Thunk*
Before falling backwards onto the street below her.
"An internal impact that pierced your heart. I am glad you were here today as your jutsu allowed me to overcome one of my weaknesses" I take a breather and begin to monologue to her.
"... your foundations were strong, no visible weakness in skill or power that I could use to my advantage, and I admire that you chose jutsu that complimented both your ranged and close combat fight styles" I slowly walk around her, and step just behind her head.
I peer down at her dying form and smile.
"However I do have a few critiques. The first one is your reliability on your stone flesh jutsu, clearly you are proud of your defences but that shouldn't mean you need to abandon your ranged ninjutsu to go headlong into a melee fight- granted I did ensure that I was within punching distance for quite a while. Which leads to my second complaint, when I started backing off you should have stopped following me, you gain no advantage over punching at me more but your second weakness flared up- Anger issues. The disgusting idea that not training your mental state as much as one trains their physical state is popular in this world and it befuddles me. Being quick to anger made you focus on me instead of on the battle you needed to win, a battle of attrition. My final complaint is that you are older and more trained, have much greater chakra reserves and knew I had just exhausted myself from killing four of your men and you didn't continue with your initial plan to tire me out. It annoys me that someone with great foundations died like this, of wrath and a lack of wit. Your failure stems from the fact that you are a Jonin. You never were more than a Jonin and will never be more than a Jonin thanks to me. Enjoy whatever afterlife you believe in" I watch the light slowly leave her eyes.
...
After I confirm she is dead I grab any scrolls, letters or information she may have on her before picking her up and carrying her just outside the town.
Multiple onlookers watch as I drag every corpse just outside the walls.
"Everybody go back inside, do mind the mess and ensure the stability of every building before using them again. I left the hefty sum of these false merchants in the town square to fund the repairs, do enjoy your protected safety. And remember that the hidden leaf village will always strive to defend these lands, if anyone of you finds another spy or even the inkling that someone could be an enemy nations shinobi, ensure your own safety before reporting it to the nearest Konoha Shinobi or Kunoichi you can find" I clap my hands and everyone shuffles back inside the town.
I look at the corpses and sigh.
"Do stone ninja prefer to be buried?" I ask aloud.
Pov: Minato Namikaze.
"... and he is now burying the enemy ninja just outside the town, on a nearby hill. He should be returning shortly" I finish my report.
"Stone shinobi transporting weapons and supplies towards our flanks? I believe Takumi has succeeded his mission, even if I wanted less violence and more infiltration involved. You should investigate our back lines to ensure no stone ninja are waiting for those supplies, keep from danger and only investigate- direct any available ninja on nearby border missions to deal with the ninja or if they are weak enough, handle them yourself" The Hokage writes up a mission real quick.
"And if I may inquire, what will happen to Takumi now that you know more of his strength? His ability?" I ask.
"What do you mean?" He replies with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, I suppose I don't know what I mean" I furrow my brows and think.
"What would you do now? You personally saw his ability" The Hokage asks me.
"I would... allow him his rest, and be very selective with the missions I send him on- keeping him for the toughest and most gruelling ones as it seems that he shakes off the laziness when on a mission..."
...
"... I trust that he asks for rest not because he is lazy but because he really needs it. Whatever it is that is holding him back, it's clearly affecting his entire life. I hope that he gets better but sending an unwilling soldier would be... undeniably a bad idea for everyone involved" I respond thoughtfully.
"Than that is what we will do. Thank you for humouring this old man, but I think it is time you prepared yourself to teach your new students" He chuckles.
"Of course Hokage-Sama" I bow and vanish from the room.
Appearing in front of my home.
Thanks for reading! :)
Chapters will release at a minimum of 1 chapter a week still, however my other story just concluded so I will have time to upload more- meaning the amount of chapters will vary every week! this week, we have three!