As the fireballs each dispersed, they impacted the grounded areas of the training grounds leaving a scorched mark on the already dead grass. Hideo watched as the squad split up and headed deep into the forest surrounding him.
Good. Good. These losers know how to hide. As snide as his thought was, he was satisfied by the squad's choice of range and would commend them for it to himself. Hideo lessened much of his combat guard and focused mainly on his surroundings. If his assumptions were correct, the various squad members would be circling around the forest in haste for a good vantage point and would at a moment's notice unleash their attacks. The strategy is one Hideo would do if ever put in the situation. The man would look down adjusting his foot placement inside the dirt circle.
All they gotta do is get me outta this circle... The man would grin cockily before sliding his hand discreetly into his pouch.
He would hear out of the forest a Shuriken flying towards him.
Basic attack. Instinctively, he would throw a single kunai which would impact the projectile, stopping its movement. To the jounin's surprise, shortly after the deflected attack the shuriken would react with a small explosion followed by two more appearing from the forest. Hideo would manage to send out two more Kunai, this time with even more haste, stopping the other two shuriken from traveling any further. Inevitably they would explode aswell. Hideo could not deny that whoever started the attack caught him by surprise. If Hideo had been any more lazy and had let the shuriken travel its course could have potentially forced him to move out of his designated area.
"Crafty." he would utter to himself.
"I guess I should loosen up a bit."Before the Jounin knew, he would hear a fast
woosh past his ear followed by a
thunk to the ground. He would quickly turn to the direction of the noise to see an arrow struck into the ground.
Fuck! I forgot about that arrow girl! The stunned Jounin did not know if it was luck or if the girl had missed purposely, either way, the shot was closer than Hideo would have liked it to be. He would turn his attention to the opposite areas of the forest the arrow landed, scanning the trees carefully.
The alert man would assume the girl would still be in the general area. To his expectation, he would see an arrow launch from the forest, but unlike the last shot, this one flew upward in a arch towards the jounin. The shot was unorthodox and could be possibly effective against someone less cautious. The jounin would quickly slide his foot back, keeping in mind the boundaries of the circle, as the arrow landed directly where his foot previously was. Soon after another arrow would follow to which Hideo would react by lowering himself for balance and side stepping away from where it would drive into.
"I gotta watch out for those arrows too, huh?" He would chuckle as he rose up from his lowered position.
"Maybe I'm at a disadvanta-" Hideo would stop talking as he deflected another barrage of shuriken that flew towards him. This time they didn't explode fortunately. The jounin would expect as much from a group of genin. Though being low level ninjas, they each bring a skill in which the academy sees as ninja quality.
Their strategy so far has had Hideo on his toes for the most part. Nothing too fancy, but nothing that should be ignored. Almost instantly after the arrow attack, he would notice a huge rock flying towards him. The jounin like last time knew he wouldn't be able to take the piece of earth head-on. Like before in a quick succession he would input various hand seals before launching his Great Fireball Jutsu from his mouth. He still however used lesser amounts of chakra, making the jutsu slightly smaller than the average great fireball. The fireball would meet with the flying rock and disperse as they both impacted into each other. Hideo did not like using his jutsu against avoidable objects like those, but given his circumstances, it was the safest option. In the midst of it all, he would still manage to wear a cocky grin as he cocked his head to the side jokingly as if he were trying to peak into the forest.
The three are utilizing their range well. I didn't expect them to be doing this good so early. The jounin wouldn't retaliate to the genin, yet. The man instead would dig around his pouch pulling out a single smoke bomb.
This is my only one. heh. And to think I thought wouldn't use it. He would then throw the bomb down to his feet engulfing him in a mist of smoke. The man would then quickly put in the hand seals for his
Cloning Technique, A basic academy jutsu the newly graduated genin were probably familiar with. The jutsu was mediocre for Hideo's taste but it was something easy he assumed would trick the less experienced ninjas. The smoke cloud would disperse to reveal two other lazily looking Hideo's standing presently in the circle. The three would stand backs to each other looking off into the distance with a sly grin.
"This'll get 'em hard." Hideo would snicker devilishly.
