Stepping out of his room, Hayate brushed the last of the dirt from his jacket. He had spent most of the day toiling in the gardens, trying to keep his mind occupied. He found it harder and harder to keep himself distracted these days, all too often his thoughts travelled back to... Shaking his head with a frustrated sigh, Hayate made his way into the lounge of Azumi. He chose a small table off to the side of the room, away from the rest of the surprisingly few patrons. It wasn't long before a server came over and asked what he wanted. Hayate asked the server for a glass of water and then turned his attention out the window.
Katsu woke up in his bed, his hair covering his eyes. He lazily got to his feet, putting his clothes on. After having gotten ready, he leapt out through the window without informing anyone, landing on the deserted street outside the Uchiha district. He started to make his way to the teahouse, or rather the Azumi. After a couple of minutes, he reached the building and to his surprise, he wasn't alone. There was another boy, probably around his age sitting at one of the tables. Katsu walked in with a smile, excited to meet some new people there. "Good morning," he spoke cheerfully.
The voice caught him off guard and Hayate turned to see who had spoken. He did not recognize the other boy and at first he thought that maybe the buy had been saying good morning to someone else. After taking a brief glance around the room however, Hayate realized that the boy had been talking to him. He had been lost in his thoughts again and it took him a moment to remember his manners. "Good morning to you as well." He said, offering a polite smile in return. Hayate did not know what else to say. A part of him had wanted to be alone today, but he realized that all that would do was make him wallow in his thoughts all day. And that was something he wanted to avoid. Cocking his head to the side slightly, Hayate asked, "Are you new around here?"
Katsu nodded, a proud grin on his face. "Pretty much," he said, taking a couple of steps inside. He stood in front of Hayate and extended his arm. "My name's Katsu. Nice to meet you." His fatigue suddenly disappeared and his eyes opened wide. He hadn't expected to see someone there, but he was glad that he would at least be able to start meeting some of the people there.
Pausing only slightly, Hayate reached out a hand and shook. "Hayate," he said politely, "and it is a pleasure to meet you as well." After shaking hands, Hayate gestured at the seat in front of him, indicating that Katsu should join him. "Are you a member of the guardians?" He asked, more for the sake of conversation than anything else. Hayate did not like to pry into people's personal lives, but he could also sometimes be a little inept when it came to small talk.
Katsu sat where Hayate had gestured after a moment's hesitation. He looked back over at Hayate after hearing the question. "I was recently invited," he answered. "Are you new as well?" He had an excited visage as he spoke. He seemed quite eager to learn as much as he could about Hayate, someone who he was hoping to call 'friend' as soon as possible.
Thinking about the question for a moment, Hayate couldn't help but smile. The memory of his own invitation was a good one, and had to stop himself from falling back into his thoughts. Looking up at Katsu, Hayate let out a small, warm laugh. "I wouldn't exactly call myself new. I have been a member of the guardians for almost two years now, though I guess I could be considered fairly new compared to a few of the others here." Leaning back, Hayate's tone grew a little more serious. "It is quite an honour to be invited into the guardians, you must be quite skilled Katsu-san." He spoke sincerely, and he hoped he wasn't coming off sounding like a prude.
His face turned bright red as he tried to hide his smile. "I... I'm still a new genin," he said with a humble tone. "I wouldn't say that I'm too skilled." He was glad to hear something like this said to him. Appraisal wasn't something he heard everyday, so he didn't really know how to respond appropriately. He raised his head again. "Er... I was wondering," He paused for a moment. "It might be inappropriate to ask something like this, but could you perhaps help me with my training? I'd be honored if you, as a senior member, could help me better myself."
His eyes widened in shock briefly as Katsu called him a senior member. He had never thought of it like that before. Smiling again, Hayate replied. "I was a fresh genin as well when I was invited into the guardians. I thought much the same as you though, and to be honest I still don't know that I am truly qualified. If Kiyomi invited you, you must truly be quite a capable shinobi Katsu-san. So try not to doubt yourself too much." He cocked his head to the side again, he wasn't used to people wanting his help with training, usually he was the one who went to others for help and training. It felt... nice for a change. "It would be my honour to help you Katsu. What kind of training did you have in mind?"
"Some kenjutsu and taijutsu," he suggested. "If that's acceptable." He had a wide grin on his face as he spoke. "Those are the two areas I want to be able to use together. I tend to train alone, so I think it would be good for me to train with someone else who has been tutored by some of the strongest of the leaf."
Smiling widely, Hayate nodded his head. "Well, I certaintly wouldn't mind the distraction, and I suppose it would be good for me to get a little more training in as well." The server returned with Hayate's water and he quickly downed it. "Shall we get started then?"
Katsu nodded back. "Should we go back to the training fields? Though I believe I was told there was a dojo here," he said. "I'm still new here so I don't know what's where..." He got up, pushing the chair back under the table. "There is indeed a dojo here, though... I prefer a bit of open space when training, so the fields may be better." Hayate replied, with a slight smirk. He stood from the table as well and began heading for the door. "Did you bring your equipment?" He asked the other boy from over his shoulder.
Katsu nodded, gesturing to the hilt sticking out from behind his shoulder. "I brought my sabre with me," he said. "It's the main weapon I use for close combat, even if it's not a very long sword. Nodding his head again, Hayate opened the door. [b]"I have seen many people use many different styles of blades, in the end I found that it comes down more to the user then the style of weapon. But, I suppose that has yet to be seen with you. I am looking forward to this Katsu-san."
"So am I," Katsu said with a wide grin, walking through the open door. Once they were at the fields, Katsu took a few steps back and performed the Seal of Confrontation. "Thank you for helping me with my training, Hayate-san."
"Don't thank me just yet." Hayate responded with a grin. Also performing the Seal of Confrontation, Hayate cocked his head to the side. "So what would you like to start with?"
"Simple sparring with no genjutsu or ninjutsu," he said. "It's always a good way to start a training session by warming up, right?" He put his hand on the hilt of the sabre. "If that's agreeable with you." His grin widening, Hayate bowed his head slightly. "Then let's begin." Pulling his staff from the holster on his back, Hayate charged forwards, spinning the blade rapidly, causing it to become a mere blur. He wasn't moving with full speed as he had no intention to actually hurt Katsu, but Hayate was moving fast enough to make the boy react qucikly. Spinning his body, Hayate launched a quick series of blows towards Katsu. Let's see how fast he is, Hayate thought.
Katsu quickly drew his sword as soon as Hayate's weapon was close enough to contact. With a vertical slash, he met the blade with his own. As he pushed his sword down, he rapidly changed his stance and spun the blade in his hand, holding it the opposite way. He started moving it so that the attacks would contact what could be considered a ramp and be redirected.
The counter attack however, met with a simple afterimage, as the real Hayate had moved around behind Katsu using the Secret Sword: Moon Shadow technique. He brought the staff around quickly towards the back of Katsu's knees. Hayate wanted to trip the boy, but not cause him any actual pain.
Katsu felt the weapon hitting the back of his knees. He fell over but quickly regained his balance, flipping and landing back on his feet right after his back had hit the ground. "You're fast," he said with a wide and satisfied grin. "I didn't even see you move back there..."
Happy that the boy was able to react so quickly after being attacked, Hayate stood back, his staff still held at the ready. A smile touched his face as he replied. "It took me a long time to get to this level, and trust me, I spent a lot of my time sprawled out on the ground wondering how my opponent managed to take me down." He let out a small chuckle before spinning his staff slowly between his hands. "You look like you have a fair amount of speed yourself Katsu-san. After all, it is not often someone is able to react so quickly to an attack. I am impressed. How about you show me just how fast you really are though?" Hayate grinned, gesturing for the boy to attack.
Katsu nodded and took a couple of steps back. He held his sabre by his side. He leapt off, covering some distance at an unimpressive speed. After the feint, he gathered his chakra at the tip of his feet that touched the ground. As he leapt off, the speed at which he moved increased drastically for that single gesture. As he did so, he slashed at Hayate from the side he was holding the staff. He assumed that Hayate would be skilled enough to dodge or block even if he attacked from the other side but the change in his speed was meant to confuse his enemy, which could sometimes work more effectively on certain people.
Watching how Katsu moved closely, Hayate was impressed with the other boy's skill. Had he not been prepared for the boy to come at him with speed, Katsu's sudden attack would have certainly caught him off guard. Sliding the staff down so that he was gripping it near one of the ends, Hayate kicked out, giving the staff extra push. His staff would meet Katsu's incoming blade, the extra kick Hayate had given it causing it to move with impressive speed of it's own. After parrying the strike, Hayate spun on his heel, whipping the staff around in another attack directed towards Katsu's midesection.
Katsu's blade turned the other side as he got closer and closer with the same amazing speed, his feet still not touching the ground. He saw the staff and spun in mid air, swinging his foot to the side of the staff to kick it out of its trajectory. He swung his other foot simultaneously upwards, aimed to hit his opponent himself.
With his staff now off target, Hayate used the momentum of the swing to turn his body, dropping himself into a low crouch. He watched Katsu's attack pass over him, noting that the boy was doing quite well. He could see why Kiyomi recruited him. Continuing with his movement, Hayate passed under Katsu and rose to his feet, bringing the staff around again. This time he was behind Katsu, so the boy would have to react quickly if he wanted to dodge the attack.
Katsu's back turned towards the ground with the gesture. After Hayate had passed, he was close enough to touch the ground. His palm touched the ground and he grasped it with his chakra. He pulled himself close as the attack came. He spun on his hand, swinging his feet like a whirlwind towards Hayate's staff and leg, each feet attacking one target.
The attack came straight towards Hayate and - - would hit empty air as the afterimage faded. Hayate had once again used the Secret Sword: Moon Shadow technique to move past Katsu. Instead of attacking however, Hayate stood still on the other side of the boy. "You are very impressive indeed Katsu-san. Though you must be careful to remember the skills an opponent has shown you in battle. If you remember them, you can find ways to counter them, and render their skills useless." Hayate had to admit, he had not expected Katsu to already be so skilled with close combat, it was nice to see. "Tell me Katsu-san, you seem like you have had some training in this field before, or am I imagining things?" His tone was light-hearted, but Hayate was actually curious as to what the boy would say.
Katsu noticed that Hayate had disappeared again after his feet ran through the image. His feet crashed into the ground as he heard Hayate's voice. He got up and turned himself to his senior. "I do have some training in Kenjutsu mixed with some Taijutsu," he answered. He paused for a moment. "Er... I might be asking a lot from you with this but.... Could you perhaps teach me how you did that, Hayate-san?"
Pausing for a moment, Hayate hesitated. He wasn't sure why at first, it was an honest enough request, and one that he should have been more than happy to oblige... But... Hayate found it strange, it was the first ever technique that he had ever learned from Kiyomi, and for that very reason he felt a sort of personal attachment to it. Cursing himself for being such an idiot, Hayate broke out of his own thoughts and smiled at Katsu. "The technique itself requires a great deal of speed and coordination. It may take some time to learn, but... but I would be happy to teach you." Lowering his staff a little, Hayate wondered how to explain the first step. "The technique itself is called the Secret Sword: Moon Shadow technique. It is not really a ninjutsu technique as it relies more on using your natural speed to create afterimages that will fool your opponent into thinking you are somewhere else, or thinking that there are multiples of you. Make sense so far?"
Katsu nodded, showing that he understood what he was saying. "I see... But simply moving fast shouldn't create an afterimage like that, right?" he asked. "I mean, otherwise it wouldn't be a technique; and just be the user moving fast." He stroked his chin, resting one elbow in his other palm as he slightly looked down, thinking about how one could do that. "Do you somehow leave behind some chakra to create the image?"
"Not exactly." Hayate responded, wondering how he could clear things up. "As I mentioned before, this technique is not really classified as ninjutsu. It would fall under the category of kenjutsu, or even taijutsu. But it does not require chakra to implement. The technique portion of it is being able to create an afterimage. Just moving quickly is not what causes the image, as I said before you need the right mixture of speed and coordination." He paused, and an idea came to him. "Look at it like this. If you were to move with speed up to a certain point and then slow your body just enough so you were perfectly visible, and at that exact same instant you moved again in a different direction with so much speed that you could barely be seen, it would create an image in the spot that you slowed down. Does that make more sense?"
He nodded thoughtfully. "I guess it does but..." He shook his head and smiled. "No, I understand the theory of the move now, more or less," he said. "Though it sounds like the trick is making sure your opponent doesn't notice your sudden movement. Is the afterimage the last pose you're in right before you speed up?"
"In a way yes, though it is up to you to manipulate your body into whichever sight you want them to see. For example, as you asked earlier, the implementation of chakra into the technique would probably enhance the effects, but it would become a different technique entirely. If you grow skilled enough with the technique, your opponent won't have a chance to see you move. The 'trick' as you put it, relies on you being fast enough to move a short distance with such speed that you become almost invisible. It is the result of the perfect blend of speed and maneuverability." Hayate finished speaking and wondered how Kiyomi had managed to explain it so effortlessly to him that time so long ago. He felt like he was doing a poor job explaining things to Katsu, and only hoped that the boy was getting the basic idea down. "Perhaps it would be easier to show you a demonstration, would that help?" He finally asked.
"I think I get the basic idea but a closely observed demonstration is always helpful," Katsu said with a smile. He backed up a bit and watched Hayate closely, his eye locked on Hayate's feet. Grinning, Hayate stepped away. Forming a shadow clone, he had the clone stand in position while the real Hayate walked several meters away. Turning to face the shadow clone, the real Hayate held his staff in a ready position and paused for only a moment before surging forwards. He moved with great speed as he neared the shadow clone. When he was only a few feet away, Hayate moved slightly to his left and spun, raising his staff in what would appear to be an attack. Only to suddenly appear on the right as well, also spinning, but this time the staff was coming in from the bottom. Hayate had moved with such speed that it would be nearly impossible for anyone without the proper training to have seen him shift from the first position to the second. But he wasn't done yet. Hayate's shadow clone managed to dodge what he thought was the first attack, and was barely in time to react to the second 'attack,' by getting his staff in the way. But the real attack came from behind, as the real Hayate appeared to materialize out of thin air from behind the clone, swinging his staff down in a vicious arc towards the clone's head. Stopping the attack an inch away from hitting the clone, Hayate lowered his staff and turned to Katsu. "So, what did you think?"
Katsu watched carefully. His eyes followed Hayate up to the point he created the afterimage. He lost him for a moment but caught a glimpse of the blur he'd created for a split second, which astounded the boy. He saw Hayate appear behind the clone and started thinking as Hayate almost landed the hit on the clone. "I definitely understand the principle, but..." He heaved a sigh, slowly shaking his head. "I don't think I can move as fast as you can. Even if I could, I wouldn't be able to react quickly enough when I got behind my enemy to land an attack."
Pondering for a moment, Hayate looked away. "It is just a matter of practice Katsu-san. If I have learned anything since graduating from the academy, it's that things do not come easily. You have to decide what you truly want, and fight for it however you can. Personally, I believe you have the potential to do this, you showed me that when we sparred. But, if you truly want to learn this, you will need to put your heart into it." Smiling, Hayate turned back to the boy. He was trying his best to remain encouraging, but he knew that he wasn't as good at talking, or inspiring people as Kiyomi was. "So what do you say Katsu? Do you want to give it a go?"
Katsu thought for a moment. Even if I can't do it, practicing the movement would be useful for when I get to a level where I can... He nodded, smiling. "There's nothing to lose," he said cheerfully. He pulled out his sabre once more, glancing at Hayate. He shifted one foot back, its heel lifted to spring himself forward. He leapt off, moving quite rapidly, accelerating. I know I can't spin around the clone quick enough, so maybe I can alter the technique a bit. That way I can just use sheer speed without slowing down to turn. As he got close, only a few meters away, he gathered a lot of chakra around the foot that was about to land. The moment the foot hit the ground, he flew upwards, spinning. Though his speed was much greater than before, he hadn't vanished. Before the tenth of the second had ended, he extended his arm which was right above the clone along with the sabre, spinning towards the back of its shoulder. There was a rather flimsy afterimage where he had sped up.
Both the real Hayate and his clone watched as Katsu charged forwards. The boy managed to build up some impressive speed as he made his way towards the clone. When Katsu leapt into the air, Hayate smiled. He had indeed managed to make an afterimage, even if it wasn't the clearest of images. His clone saw the boy jump up, and simply stepped to the side swiftly to avoid the incoming attack. The whole scene reminded Hayate of the first time he trained to learn the technique with Kiyomi. He had, in a sense, made the same movements as Katsu, and the memory caused his smile to grow. "Very good Katsu-san! Your speed was impressive and you found a good way to boost it enough to create an afterimage. The only flaw in your attack was when you decided to leap before the blow. It is not that your form was wrong in any way, but an attack like that is unfortunately quite easy for the target to avoid." He tried to remember the words that Kiyomi had told him when he'd made the same mistake, but he knew he would never quite be able to say it like her, so he decided to paraphrase instead. "Once you leave the ground, you instantly cut down your ability to change direction. If your opponent is wise enough, they will know this as well. Then, all they will have to do is shift in another direction and they will have you at a disadvantage. Does that make sense?"
"Huh?" was the first word Katsu muttered after he saw that Hayate's clone was out of the way. As he flew forward, he rolled after contacting with the ground, his body stopping thanks to the friction, lying upwards. The sabre had flown out of his hand at that time, laying a few meters back. He sat up and shook his head, turning his head back to Hayate. He got up and picked up his sword, listening to what Hayate was saying. "Yeah, it does," he said with a grin. There was some dirt on his face as he spoke but it didn't seem to bother him.
"Good." Hayate said, nodding his head. "With that in mind, did you want to try it again?" He cocked his head to the side slightly, waiting to see what Katsu would decide upon.
Katsu nodded, taking a few steps back again. The biggest problem is maneouvarability right now... Jumping is too predictable, leaping to the side and running around would slow me down too much... He thought of what could be a solution and got ready. After a few moments of waiting, he rushed forward again. Once he'd reached the same distance, he scoured slightly to the left, making a feint. The blurry yet somewhat more visible afterimage looked like it was going right. Since he'd need to act before his opponent could react, he thought that the first image would at least make him act like Katsu was on that side as a reflex. He had leapt to the side and stabbed the ground with the sword, preserving his speed and extending his leg down low as he did so, in order to trip his opponent over.
The shadow clone kept track of Katsu's movements once again, watching as the boy sped forwards. When Katsu shifted to the left, Hayate's clone didn't notice the movement at first, focusing his attention instead on the afterimage. He noticed something off with the image and quickly turned his head, trying to discover where the boy had actually gone. Seeing the real Katsu coming in for a low attack, Hayate's clone barely had time to flip himself backwards, doing a backwards handspring to increase the distance between them. Standing again, the clone once again readied his staff.
Watching all of this from the side, the real Hayate smiled. Katsu was improving quickly. "Excellent! You are doing quite well Katsu! As you grow more familiar with the technique, it will become easier to shift your body so that the afterimages become more realistic, and more frequent as well. Remember, the main goal of this technique is to disorient your oponent, and through them off guard. The more afterimages you can create, and the more you are able to maneuver, the better the chance you can catch them unaware."[b]
Katsu didn't wait for Hayate to finish talking for his next turn. He knew very well what he had to do to land a hit, or at least he believed his tactic would work. He knew Hayate could react pretty quickly and using the same trick twice would be idiotic. Nevertheless, he did his next move consciously. He put his feet on the sword's hilt, standing sideways just above the ground. He leapt of and once he had gotten close to the ground, he started running. He did the same trick, feinting one way and leaping the other way. This time he used one foot as the centre of his turn, sticking it to the ground like he would on a tree. The next kick came low as well.
The clone stood, watching once again, as Katsu charged him. At first glance it appeared as if the boy was going to use the same method as the time before, and the clone's eyes narrowed slightly, wondering what he was up to. Barely glancing at the first afterimage, Hayate's clone expected the real attack to come from another direction, and thus he was not as surprised to see Katsu's attack coming from below once again. A sudden, brief realization came to the real Hayate as he watched the situation from the side, and a smile touched his lips.
In the meantime, his clone leapt into the air, avoiding the low kick. At the same time, Hayate's clone brought his staff swinging down in an attack towards Katsu.
Katsu saw the clone in the air. He quickly sidestepped the staff and while it was in the air, he jumped with one foot raised sideways, which flew towards Hayate as the staff would land on the ground. He hoped that this wouldn't hit too hard as to make it disappear, but just push it back enough to do the move one last time. Unable to dodge while he was in the air, Hayate's clone felt the kick hit him in the side. Coming down from the blow, the clone raised his staff once again, turning to face Katsu.
Katsu ran at it again, doing the same act. As he got close, a smirk appeared on his face. He knew that Hayate's clone was used to him doing the trick with the feint, so he would use Hayate's quick learning to his advantage. He took the same stance as when he was feinting earlier but this time, he went the same way as the afterimage. He assumed that if Hayate was going to try and dodge again, he would jump up. As he turned on his foot, he spun his outer leg towards his opponent's back.
Seeing Katsu begin the same routine once again, Hayate's shadow clone once again ignored the afterimage, readying his staff and himself as he anticipated the attack from below again, only to see nothing coming. Instead of leaping however, Hayate's clone quickly performed the hiding like a mole technique and disappeared below the earth, just as Katsu's foot would pass over his head. A moment longer and he would have been struck full force by the kick. Re-appearing above ground several meters away, Hayate's clone was already facing Katsu, a smile on his face. The real Hayate also held a smile. [b]"Very nice Katsu. Way to use your opponent's expectations against them!"
Katsu was rather annoyed and impressed. It took less than half a second for him to reach the area behind Hayate and he hadn't wasted any time with the kick, using his previous momentum. During that time, Hayate's clone had shifted its view to where Katsu would usually go to and then performed a technique to sink into the ground before Katsu's foot would reach him. He quickly pulled out two kunai, and crouched down low, swinging them in the air, thin vacuumed air waves flying from their edges towards where Hayate's feet were, covering quite some ground. He followed the attacks which had been moving quite quickly. They were quite quick but easy to dodge at a distance like this, which was what Katsu was counting on.
Watching as the rapid moving air waves surged towards him, Hayate's clone formed several quick handseals and slammed an open palm into the ground. A dome of earth shot up around Hayate, stopping the wind from reaching its target. The real Hayate watched to see how Katsu would react to this new tactic, still impressed at the boy's ability to adapt.
Katsu cursed under his breath and took a few steps back from where he was, forming the handseals for the shadow clone technique. It popped up where he was standing earlier. He then performed the handseals for the transformation technique, turning into a fuma shuriken. The clone dropped an empty scroll to the ground next to him to make it look like that's where the shuriken had come from. The clone threw Katsu, or rather, the shuriken, which stuck to the dome.
From his position within the dome, Hayate's clone felt the impact of Katsu's projectile. Cocking his head to the side, he waited to see if anything else would happen. After a few seconds pause, the clone sighed and created a hole within the dome to look out. He could see Katsu standing several meters away, and a large fuma shuriken embedded in the outside of the dome. It seemed the boy had tried to break through with a simple weapon. Unfortunately for Katsu, the dome was designed to be stronger than that. Pulling out two kunai with explosive tags attached, Hayate threw them through the opening that he had made in the dome. The kunai were purposely aimed to miss by just enough that they would not cause any serious harm to Katsu, but they would force him to move in order to escape the blast.
The clone saw the kunai approaching him and he clasped his hands together. Violent winds started being expelled from his body and the kunai stopped before getting too close. He took a few quick steps back to be safe just in case. Meanwhile, the real Katsu was still sticking out of the dome, waiting for his opening.
Pondering for a long moment, Hayate's clone wondered what he should do next. The point of the exercise was for Katsu to defeat the clone, and so far he was doing a good job keeping the clone contained. From within the dome, Hayate's clone was making it nearly impossible to attack, and he quickly realized that it was an unfair advantage over Katsu at this stage. Deciding on a course of action, the clone sealed up the dome once again, and used the hiding like a mole technique to slip out through the back, unseen to Katsu. Pulling out two smoke bombs, Hayate's clone threw one on either side of the dome, waiting for the smoke to gather... He would make his move soon.
Katsu's clone pulled out two tags and attached them to his arms, concealed by his clothes. He watched as the smoke rose and the original Katsu waited patiently. The clone started rushing towards the dome.
The smoke had built up enough that it now completely enveloped the dome, and a small section around it. Hayate's clone leapt up onto the top of the dome under the cover of the smoke. Trying to see if he could spot Katsu, Hayate's clone realized that it would be nigh on impossible to see through the rapidly expanding smoke. He could always use the hiding like a mole technique again to travel underground and then find Katsu via the vibrations he made, but Hayate's clone didn't want to make things too unfair. Remaining on his vantage point, the clone pulled out two kunai and waited, listening for any sounds that would give Katsu's position away.
Katsu's clone stopped when he saw that there was no way he could see Hayate in that much smoke. "Hayate-san!" He yelled. "I feel like you're going easy on me. Unless you do all you can to beat me, I doubt I'll learn much!" He was trying to challenge Hayate to either come to close combat or somehow get him out of the smoke. While he could guess that this wouldn't agitate him, he knew that it would be just as impossible to see through the smoke from the other side. This way, he'd look like he was recklessly announcing where he was.
Hearing Katsu call out, Hayate clone quickly whipped both kunai towards the source of the sound. He knew that the boy was trying to goad him out of the smoke, but Hayate's clone wasn't falling for it. The boy would have to learn the hard way just how difficult it could be fighting someone that you couldn't see. Reaching into his pouch, Hayate pulled out two more kunai, readying himself in case of any other sounds.
Katsu's clone used the same technique as before, clasping his hands together and repelling the kunai. "That won't work, Hayate-san," he yelled out, smiling. The winds got more violent for a moment, reaching the smoke and pushing it back, clearing most of it away. They were weak enough to move the smoke but not enough to push back a person, unlike last time when he repelled the kunai. The winds stopped when he lowered his hands and pulled out a kunai.
Crouching, perched on top of the dome, Hayate's clone watched as the smoke receded around him. Clever. He thought, quickly attaching two tags to the kunai he held. They would look like explosive tags again, but this time they were actually flash tags. Whipping the kunai towards the boy, Hayate's clone would wait until the tags were just about to go off, before using the hiding like a mole technique to disappear back into the dome.
Katsu's clone attached his own explosive tag to the kunai in his hand and threw it as he saw Hayate's kunai flying towards him. Katsu's flew towards Hayate past the two Hayate's clone had thrown and quickly clasped his palms again, stopping the kunai Hayate had thrown and speeding his own up.
Making a seal with his hands, the flash tags went off. Hayate's clone had never intended for them to get close to Katsu, they didn't need to in order to blind the boy temporarily. The instant before the tags went off, Hayate's clone was already sinking into the dome. He could hear the echo of the explosion reverberating inside the dome and decided that it was time to stop simply hiding. Using the hiding like a mole technique once again, Hayate's clone slipped beneath the earth and began moving towards Katsu's position.
The kunai's explosive tag ignited right after the flash tags did, having startled the clone. The clone stumbled back, trying to recalibrate itself. However, this was really what he wanted. During this time, Hayate would probably get close to the clone, not wanting to hurt the boy with sharp weapons like kunai and make sure its unavoidable.
Suddenly a hand would shoot out of the earth at Katsu's feet and quickly pull him under the surface up to his head. Hayate's clone stood in his place looking down at the boy. Cocking his head to the side, the clone stared at him for a moment before smiling. "Your wind techniques are quite impressive Katsu-san." Hayate's clone began pacing around the boy, wondering if he would be able to get himself out, or if he was going to have to call the exercise here.
Katsu's clone struggled, being rather loud. "This isn't really fair, Hayate-san!" he whined. In the meantime, Katsu had transformed back to normal and launched a kunai towards Hayate. Right as it was closing in, he made the Seal of Confrontation and his clone exploded, the damage being muffled by the earth, only being a little startling. The clone had disappeared, or perhaps in an outsider's eyes, Katsu had blown himself up.
The explosion of Katsu's clone caused Hayate's clone's eys to widen with surprise. He realized almost instantly that he had been caught. Clever kid. He had time to think, trying to turn his body to face the real Katsu. Hayate's clone wasn't fast enough to dodge the incoming kunai however, and it struck him full in the chest, causing him to take a step backwards before exploding in a poof of smoke.
The real Hayate had watched all of this happen without uttering a word. As his clone vanished, Hayate began clapping slowly. "Very well done Katsu-san. I must say I am quite impressed." He was beaming at the boy, waiting for Katsu to come closer so they could talk.
Katsu grinned at Hayate. "Thanks, Hayate-san," he answered. "I kinda cheated back there when I was whining, but..." He chuckled. "I can't help using underhanded tactics sometimes." Raising a hand as a gesture of acceptance, Hayate's smile remained on his face. "That is not something you should ever apologize for Katsu. Nor should you stop doing it. You are a shinobi after all, your job is to defeat the enemy using whatever means necessary. And you have shown that you are quite capable of that." Turning for a moment, Hayate looked up at the sky. The smile disappeared from his face, but not for any negative reason.
"Thank you," Katsu said, with a bit of pride. "That was great exercise, though. I learned quite a bit from you today, Hayate-san." He put his hands on his back and tilted his head, looking up where he'd noticed Hayate turn his attention to. He tried to figure out what Hayate was looking at. Perhaps the clouds or perhaps he was thinking of some deceased friend or a memory.
Hearing Katsu speak again, Hayate's focus came back to the present. Looking back to the boy, he smiled warmly again. "Kiyomi made a good choice Katsu-san. I learned quite a bit from you as well." Bowing his head slightly towards Katsu, Hayate felt a little strange. He still had doubts on whether or not he should have shown the technique to Katsu, not because he doubted the boy's skill, but... Sighing, Hayate grew a little more serious. "Listen Katsu... The technique I showed you... It isn't one that many people are familiar with, nor is it one that should be shown to many. I may have gotten a little carried away earlier and for that I do apologize. But I just want you to understand the importance of keeping a technique like this hidden." He paused for a moment, wondering how to say what it was that he was trying to. "The strength in this technique lies in the fact that not many people know about it, therefore not many people expect it. If more people knew about the technique, it wouldn't take long for people to be able to counter it and then render it entirely useless. Does that make sense so far?"
Katsu nodded. "Don't worry, I won't use it as long as the only witness is supposed to be killed," he said with a rather disturbingly calm and reassuring smile. "You have my word."
Nodding, Hayate was at least a little relieved. "I trust you Katsu. I am sorry if it seems the other way around. It is just that I consider this move to be a very important one, and one that should be used carefully. But I am glad that you have taken to it so well. You're a good learner Katsu-san."
"It's okay if you don't trust me too," he answered. "We recently met and you still taught me how to fight. I think I can earn it over time, and prove to you that I'm worth entrusting with trust." Katsu meant the words. Though he figured Hayate was one of the more easy-trusting types. Smiling again, Hayate turned and looked away once more. He wondered if Kiyomi would be upset with him for teaching Katsu that technique, but brushed that thought aside. What was done was done, and despite Hayate's words he did not trust the boy. Not yet at least. But Katsu was making a good enough impression that he decided to give the boy the benefit of the doubt. For now... Turning back to look at Katsu he spoke with a happy tone, "Well Katsu-san, what would you like to do now?"
Katsu huffed. He looked down and patted his stomach which made a slight growling noise he could hear. "Eh... I'm rather hungry," he said, rubbing the back of his head with a nervous smile painted on his face. "Perhaps you'd like to go and get some food? I have some money on me, enough for a quick snack."
"Food sounds like a good idea." Hayate replied, turning to begin walking back towards the village. "Though lunch is going to be on me this time, and I won't take no for an answer." Flashing Katsu a grin, Hayate continued walking, throwing his hands in his pockets as he moved.
"Alright," Katsu said simply, not wanting to argue about a free meal. He followed Hayate and after a few moments of suspense, spoke again. "Though next time, I'm paying. I'll get some extra money by then too~"
Nightwing95
