The Evening Wind [Training, Bankai]

The day had pressed onto to a point where citizens called the hour, mid-noon. 5-6ish, the sun was just beginning to set in the blue sky and people were beginning to either head home or start their shifts. For Kotaro he would be starting his shift. He had been taking it easy for the last two days and felt he needed to get back on the training grounds since he had a pretty important mission coming up soon. His 6`0 frame looming in the empty vicinity, if one saw him they'd see his shadow of a black cloak swallowing his athletic body which resided under. Even up to the mouth the ebony garment shielded the Captain, who mentally prepared himself for his training routine in the training grounds of Hanagakure no Sato. A hand underneath the cloak moving to the side of his neck, it worked nimbly to unfasten the stitching that tied the cloak closed. Once the thread was released, the cloak opened up and was allowed to breath on Kotaro's frame, before being taken off and tossed to the side. A solid thud and a plume of dust being riled up from the removal of the thick garment, the man now clothed in camouflage styled shinobi pants and a tight black sleeveless shirt began stretching out his arms as he still paced through his routine in his mind.

Appearance:

It was as if a gold veil was over his eyes as the sunlight was draped over everything. Light was a thing that had always fascinated him ever since that experiment that was conducted on him. Something they did to him had always made him want to have a love for the sun and deep within, he had a yearning for it whenever it was this time of day when he knew the sun would soon be asleep beyond the horizon in the east. Most mornings Bankai would be up to watch the sunrise in great anticipation of its warm golden rays stroking his face gently; highlighting his blonde hair even more. Some would call his hair golden sometimes, but he did not care for those comments if it was not from a lady. His giant neck slicing cleaver was strapped to his back and glistened in the evening fading light and his eyes glowed blue as always, an unexplained result from his experiments. His eyes gazed towards a figure in the distance. At once he knew who it was, he saw him many times carrying out his duties and his rank was unmistakable. It did not worry Bankai none, at least someone else had their eyes alert to the going on of the city.

Breathing in deeply, then out, Kotaro felt the oxygen fill his lungs to a point it felt they would burst in his chest. Then as if by some miracle, the Captain exhaled right before such a thing could happen and he would feel refreshed and full of life afterwards. A nice breeze dancing over the landscape, Kotaro could smell the village and all of its local cuisine being carried. "Such a peaceful little place I've fallen upon . . ." He thought back to his past and days of adventuring. Shaking away such poisonous thinking, Kotaro went back to his breathing practice, in with the air, then out. Stretching out his fingers, he let the wind play in between the battle hardened appendages. All the while, he was steadily fluctuating his chakra levels. Dormant resting in his body, with each breath he took, he woke the life force within his body and soon enough he was all warmed up for his training. There was only one final step to take. Reaching down oddly enough the Captain removed his shoes and felt the grass in between his toes, bare foot. It felt nice since the grass was soft, rather than the other times of the year when the grass was dead, rough, and prickly.

One last time he stole oxygen from the world and converted it into Carbon Dioxide, but this time with a single hand extended out in front of him. As he exhaled his breath it was almost visible if one were paying special attention to him. Atop of being visible, the way it flowed was like water in a ghastly or surreal way as it took it's time sailing to the palm of his hand. There slightly away from the outstretched palm, an apparition of wind began to form after swirling around and around. The form it took was that of a demon wind shuriken, the consistency was still horrible and it was obvious the jutsu was in the works as the scale of the shuriken was small, barely bigger than your typical throwing star. It spun slowly and carefully as if the wielder was calculating something in his mind or studying he new life form in front of him, but instead he was feeling out the atmosphere and well . . . taking aim. A peculiar silent birdie had been present before Kotaro even arrived and the Captain being the mischievous soul he was thought it'd be fun to get some live practice. "Whoops! Hey you watch yourself!" "Accidentally" losing control of the jutsu int he works, the blade of wind was fired towards the bystander. With the amount of chakra concentrated into the technique and with it being in development the damage would be minor, but such things should be unknown to this soul the shuriken was headed for.

Jutsu Being Trained:

476/1,500

Bankai watched at the Captain's movements, how intricate they were. That was to be expected from someone at that level. He looked at the swirling wind nature chakra within the man's hands and watching at how it obeyed the Captain like a pet and remained motionless within his palm. With the Captain's words, Bankai's eyes squinted as his reflexes and his brain kicked in as well as the man launched the swirling mass of air towards him. He timed it perfectly as he twisted his body into a horizontal flip as the wind projectile whizzed past him. He landed on the ground with his two feet shoulder distance apart; a stance he was thought that was basic and would ready him for anything. He wrapped his digits around massive his neck slicing cleaver. A weapon that he had grown to love but was skeptical against using it against a Captain of Hanagakure.

"Taichou...what is the meaning of this?" said Bankai normally as he looked at the Captain with his eerie eyes glowing as usual. His tone of voice held no malice or ill will towards the one that stood before him. After all, he too was a soldier of his beloved city.

Kotaro cackled deviously with the smile of not a serpent, but a serpent charmer, far more cunning then your run of the mill reptile. "Just making sure all the chess pieces not he board are alert and efficient, no need for such a response." As he spoke his hands had rose open palms presented to the Lieutenant as if trying to soothe his nerves from a distance. Before his dialogue had ended and his hands had subconsciously dropped, one impish appendage had found itself calmly behind his back. With a mind of its own the hand began to mold wind nature chakra like before a short distance from the palm as Kotaro continued to speak. "Perhaps I shouldn't say chess pieces, it makes us sound rather insignificant . . . in a way we are I guess." The Captain had a horrible habit of rambling on and on about what his mind was pacing through when in the company of others. If the Lieutenant stayed around in thirty minutes being not he topic of pudding or plushy dolls wouldn't be a surprise now that Kotaro started. "Or maybe we're not . . . expendable . . . but not insignificant I guess . . . hmm, what do you think Lieutenant?" The appendage that had gone rogue and had begun crafting a four bladed projectile of gales, was seized by its leader once more -Kotaro- and control was regained, dismissing the conjuration of wind that was swirling behind his back. With an innocent, almost child like, smile as if another jutsu hadn't even just been prepared in plain sight of the Lieutenant, Kotro awaited his answer. He was rather curious and wanted someone to feed his ever racing pink matter whose gears were now energetically rolling in his brain. One could smell the anticipation for the answer to come seeping out his pores, as if the moment the one addressed opened his mouth to speak, he'd be cut off with the sharpness of a dagger only to have Kotaro begin talking again.

Again the breeze in the empty space of his palm picked up and his chest rose and fell as he molded wind nature chakra harmlessly forming the jutsu once more. It wouldn't be ready till after the Lieutenant answered; and even if he did take a while, Kotaro wouldn't dare toss the blade till after his brain's hungry curiosity was appeased.

844/1,500

[OOC Sorry if this post is weird, been reading a bunch of books and got this author's weird writing style in my head.]

Bankai was not phased by the man's retorts but he had no idea the Captain had a wind affinity. Since the experiments that were done to him, he did not have any dealings with such an affinity as in having it himself as he looked at everything at what the Captain was doing. What he had could be so potent that it could change the face of any battle due to its many uses. Bankai knew that although he knew how to fight, the fact was he did not have any jutsu nor did he have any weaponry but if the Captain wanted some sort of physical engagement with him then he would gladly oblige. A sweet evening breeze rustled his clothing and hair as he gathered his thoughts. He had to because words like that used to unsettle him; even an emotionless person as Bankai. And for the sake of seniority, it would be disrespectful to ignore his superiors' words and with that thought his lips parted and gave way to speech.

"I would never view myself as a pawn piece, expendable or insignificant. I am Bankai of the proud Misaki clan, Lieutenant of the greatest city on earth Hanagakure no sato and I have made an oath to carry those names as high as I can. Anyone who slanders those names will automatically become my enemy...Taichou." said Bankai as he even surprised himself that he spoke to liberally about himself. But he knew the reason.

Even though his voice dropped an octave lower than usual, the only hint of him being annoyed by the Captain's words, those words to him were so deragotory that a Captain should never use such words, especially in front of subordinates. Bankai could already tell that the Captain's fighting prowess was high above average but socially he was left to be in want of some more skill in that area.

"Waaaaaah!" Kotaro exploded with excitement, his face akin to a firework at the answer he was given. "Great words- NO! Grand words from a man like yourself, things like that keep the blood in my veins hot and boiling rather than luke warm . . . hot with excitement however . . . yes certainly excitement." Kotaro was extremely animate at this moment. It wasn't often one carried such devotion for their village, it was without a doubt this one was more chauvinistic than Kotaro was himself, that's not saying much however. "Mind going for a spar Lieutenant? I could really use the practice and your words have me mighty interested in the skills you possess." The smile lathered in poison returned, but no malicious thoughts nor wishes dwelled in the cranium of the one with a cheshire grin. Kotaro was genuinely interested and was also in dire need of a sparing partner, for he found it much better to perfect his techniques in live action rather than continuously drilling by oneself.

If the blonde haired male agreed to the engagement, the ball of spiraling wind would quickly evolve to its final state. Four blades phasing into existence in a surreal fashion, it would also rotate and tear the air around it violently as it was now near it's perfected state. Kotaro had been working mighty hard on this jutsu and it was finally ready to be battle tested. Again the Captain had no wishes to seriously harm his Lieutenant, though he seemed a little off in the head, he was far from it. Think of it as a mask of many that he wore to see the colors of the people he encountered. "Ready or not Mr. Misaki." The voice was soft and playful like the coo of an infant as Kotaro ran in with his arm wielding the wind shuriken reeled back. His crimson eyes narrowed on the specimen before him, he awaited his response to choose to throw the shuriken or not.

1,188/1,500

((Sound track Playing......https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMvHTlWyxH0&index=4&list=PL77D98F68F6DBB35D ))

It was inevitable and Bankai knew it now, he knew that even in times of relative peace such as this he would have to show his skill with the blade. He knew that he would always have to differentiate between enemy and ally and not try to kill everyone who asks of him to raise his blade at them. He knew of the power gap between the ranks of Hanagakure no sato and to be honest, to face a ranked officer of this city in serious battle would be like a curse, a slow death, one that would want to escape from this life even through the sweet release of death. But even though he was currently at a disadvantage, Bankai knew the very name of the Misaki clan since the Captain knew it now, was threatened. Bankai had every intention to uplift his family's name and show this man just what it meant to test the name of Misaki. It was then he realized his fingers were already wrapped around the hilt of his massive sword. Against a normal opponent, he would have done things differently but for now, he needed to know to what extent was the captain's power.

((Soundtrack playing......https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoCDlOLN9Y8 ))

"Taichou..." began Bankai, his eyes glowing blue and his voice deepening as he looked at the man and getting serious, "...with all due respect..." continued Bankai as he removed his massive neck slicing cleaver from its harness on his back and allowed its heavy blade to crash onto the ground heavily. "...I will show you my skill...Taichou."

And with that, with superior strength, Bankai easily lifted up the sword and began pivoting and used momentum of the swing and the heaviness of the sword and swung the sword hard horizontally at the Captain's mid section hoping to cleave him in half.

Kotaro watched with analytical eyes as the man maneuvered the behemoth of a blade. First it slammed ingot he earth unsettling eh terrain, but that was without the Lieutenant exerting his true strength. Immense power he had to dance the blade around as if it were a marionette on puppet strings, but such things didn't impress Kotaro. The Shinobi World was full of freaks like this and maybe if he could actually cut the Captain in half, something obviously yet to be done, then the Fuma would be truly impressed.

Regardless of the strength the man possessed, Kotaro had a theory to test to see just how strong the man really was. Given the weight and size of the blade, Kotaro figured at the end of his swing he'd be left slightly vulnerable. It wasn't granted of course, but in most cases it happened when people used weapons such as this. That said as the strike was coming in towards his midriff -Kotaro having entered the danger zone-, the Captain abruptly stopped with a bend in his knees. His chest rising before he had even stopped, he released a gust of harsh wind aimed towards the ground, but at an angle. This being the Wind Stream jutsu, it was used to propel the Captain safely up and backwards -diagonal- into an aerial position to avoid the swing of the blade. Along with that, given the angling of the Wind Stream jutsu since it was used to blow himself away from Mr. Misaki, the gust of wind would also work to up lift debris into the air. It would surely work to block his line of vision normally, but it would double as a bonus if it could also lodge some of the golden dust of the training grounds into those shimmering blue gemstones that were in Mr. Misaki's head. -his eyes-.

Blinded directly, or from the cloud of dust in the air -lets say 2m in diameter centered around yourself- nonetheless, Kotaro would hurl his Demon Wind Shuriken conjuration at the Lieutenant from his position in the sky about 5m high. The projectile would be tossed in such a way that it would touchdown with the ground first and the curve it was tossed with would make it hurdle towards the target like a wheel. Not touching the ground, but hovering a mere inch or two above it while visibly spewing harmless amounts of dirt to its sides and behind it as it raced to it's hopefully blinded and vulnerable target. "Don't let the sound of my annoying shouting cloud your ears from hearing the approaching threat Mr. Misaki!!!" Kotaro giggled childishly as he safely descended from his positioning in the air while watching the spectacle while molding chakra for a new technique all the while.

1,663/1,500

Jutsu Used and Mastered:

As expected, the Captain had evaded the swing from his cleaver while it was in mid attack. Bankai's vision was obscured by the sudden rise of dust in the area and did not know where his opponent was. He did however have a good guess of his position. If he were wrong, he knew it would cause great injury to himself. A familiar sound was heard though, the sound of the wind parting and searing through coming no doubt at him. Bankai moved his sword towards the direction of the sound and stuck in the ground and the expected crash of the attack crashed into the thick steel sword and Bankai just slashed upwards in the direction of where the attack came from hoping to cleave his opponent in two vertically.

Training Strength from B to B-1

"Quite a sturdy slab of metal you got there Lieutenant." Kotaro was astonished to see his technique negated so easily, but no matter, he still had a plethora of wriggly tactics to execute.  His Demon Wind Shuriken having parted the dust cloud clearing everyone's vision, Kotaro could clearly see the incoming attack, the only issue was avoiding it in such a positioning. His grin never having left his face, if Mr. Misaki had the eyes for it, he'd be able to see the air beneath Kotaro's feet began to bend and swirl to his will. Preparing chakra before hand had come in quite a use.  "Almost." He'd say as he quickly pressed off the platform to sidestep in the air to avoid the  monstrous blade. The way he evaded was in such away it also moved him forward in the Lieutenants direction as he reached with a desperate hand towards his shoulder. Either of them worked and if a grasp was secured he'd began a front flipping maneuver whilst the Lieutenant was in his clutch. With one hand boasting strength that'd startle most, he'd attempt to drive the man into the ground by flipping him over Kotaro's own head. He'd sustain a touch of damage if Kotaro were successful, but nothing major as to what would happen to an actual foe.

228/900

Spoiler:

Keeping his composure, Bankai knew that the momentum gained from the Captain's movements were unnatural because naturally no one would be able to side step such a heavy blow while in the air. His gamble fell through thinking he could have struck the Captain by considering his positioning but now it changed. He was not quite sure of how he did it yet. Maybe if he were to see it a couple more times he might be able to figure it out. But of course that was not all. His opponent used the same unnatural momentum to attack him. The Captain's arm was outstretched towards him, his sword was still in his hand. He judged the height of his opponent's body and timed it perfectly as he simultaneously stuck the sword into the ground and gripped the long handle and pushed upwards so that he used the sword as a prop for himself to perform an upside down round house kick to the Captain in hopes of keeping him at bay and flipping backwards to give himself some room.

Kotaro had placed confidence in his movements, but such confidence never lead him to not have a back up plan, such thinking was arrogant. In this case however, he admired how Mr. Misaki was so determined to escape his grip and ultimately a fairly painful crash to the ground, so the Captain would take the L in this minor exchange. Wriggling like a fish out of water, the Lieutenant maneuvered himself excellently in an aerial position in such a way he could unleash a roundhouse kick towards the Captain. Kotaro had two choices, either be stubborn and try to power through while taking the kick or to release his hold and attempt to guard his own body. It would catch most off guard that the Captain would choose to guard himself rather than attempt a Taijutsu Technique where he'd now face recoil, but alas most people didn't know the true Kotaro.

The kick sailed in and the Fuma's grip was relinquished, now he moved his hands to his own torso guarding the body and taking reduced damage from the blow. Sent back only a meter or two, Mr Misaki from his aerial placement would still have a bit of landing and balancing to do. Nothing arduous given things like this happened on the daily with their lifestyle, but the time lapse could be useful. Tiger → Horse → Boar → Ram → Rat → Snake The Captain was swift, but not swift enough to finish all the seals before his sparring partner would land of course. Nonetheless, this was  a two part jutsu and that wasn't of any real concern. Holding the last seal, his hands were clasped together and he was noticeably channeling chakra for a technique yet to be mastered. The only notable change taking place at this moment was that his hair was beginning to gain more volume, but the rate of growth wasn't anything amazing at this level. "I hope you don't mind being my target for another jutsu I've been working on Mr. Misaki." The growth of his hair follicles began to quicken and the strands of crimson were now down his back and some were draping over his shoulders to his chest almost like a hooded fur coat since it framed his face as well. "This one may be a bit more nasty however."

392/1,500

Bankai stood there emotionless and so far un-phased by the Captain's movements. He cursed himself for not taking his training more serious. All he had on his side was his wit and his sword. Against most people that was all that it took, but against this man that stood before him it would be different. He knew nothing of what the jutsu the Captain was about to do. He did know however that the 'Snake' hand seal was more associated with Doton type attacks. Other than that, he was completely unaware of what he was about to face. He simply crouched in a defensive manner with his sword resting on his back, ready to make quick movements that he knows he will need very soon.

Kotaro was surprised that Bankai stood motionless in wait for his jutsu, but also not too surprised. He was lying in wait for the Lieutenants move to make a quick counter to give him the upper hand, but figured such a thing wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Inhaling deeply, then exhaling, the strands of crimson hair quickly finished their growth and covered Kotaro in a suit of needle like armor. Like one giant fur coat the way it covered him, save for the inside was sleek and cradled his skin gently daring not to stab or jab the one inside the suit of armor. Only those on the exterior were to be punctured with the newly grown coat of fur. "Well then, I guess I'll take the offensive." He released the snake seal and charge in towards Mr. Misaki at full speed. His attack style was ironically much more animalistic in this new suit of needle made armor. Relying on swipes and slashes rather than straight punches and kicks. His aim was to slice with the needle points given that'd be safer damage to inflict upon someone than stabbing with jabs and straight kicks. Just a short combo of four attack were executed, three swipe style hand strikes, followed by one low sweep kick with Kotaro's right. The kick would come clockwise and stop once his leg had again reached 4-5 o'clock, with him in a firm grounded stance, ready to pounce on his foe.

644/1,500

Jutsu Used:

"Do what you wish...Taichou." said Bankai.

He knew this was getting serious. And again he wished he could kick himself that he did not train harder. As he thought before, he would have to make do with his sole weapon, his sword. He noticed the obvious that taijutsu as before would be if not difficult, nearly impossible with this new spike armor the Captain donned on his person. The only place that did not have the spikes was his face. Also he was not sure of the ability of this spike armor the Captain had. But initially the Captain's face would have to be his target because he himself had no armor to counter the spikes. He remembered from a kid that when he went to the hot springs, his rubber dragon floated away in the hot water and he could not get it. And before he could jump in, his mother stopped him and told him of the danger and how he would go about getting the rubber dragon.

Bankai kun, the water is too hot for you my son. Use something that would keep you safe and you can still get your toy.

She then handed him a stick and he easily tapped the dragon until it floated to him and he picked it up and got his toy. Bankai now realized that the same principle could be used here. Even though he himself could not touch the Captain, he would use his weapon to 'touch' him. With that thought, Bankai waited for him to come closer and timed it carefully. The Captain's movements were not difficult to read since they were not unorthodox. With the first swipe, Bankai raised his weapon and already pushed the handle of the blade under his arm pit allowing it to start to fall as he jumped backwards just enough to be outside of the Captain's reach. While the Captain was in mid attack even if Bankai was a couple feet away, the length and weight of the sword would still not be able to greatly injure the Captain with his armor but still it would make the Captain see his capabilities

Kotaro was advancing towards Bankai fairly quickly, but the Lieutenant was still able to pull off an effective counter. Before he could execute even his first swipe, the blade of the Lieutenant was hoisted towards the sky. It was simple to predict the attack would be a vertical slash downward given this fact, so Kotaro was swift to jump about a meter to his own left. Sure he was still in range to be cleaved if the Lieutenant repositioned where he was swinging, but given that the Captain was faster than the Lieutenant, after his sidestep he'd be able to approach Mr. Misaki's right flank before he could be struck. A bit of strain having to increase his pursuit speed, but he moved no faster than his natural limitations, barely more than 75% of his maximum speed. Once to Mr. Misaki's side, the Captain would swipe towards his side with his coat of needles on. Wild and savage like a rabid animal, the spines he wore threatened the exposed flesh Mr. Misaki had.

Hoping for his strikes to land, they were four in number, but not for more than a second did Kotaro's eyes leave the monstrous cleaver that his target wielded.

850/1,500

Bankai knew some sort of sacrifice had to be made if he were to land a decent hit on the Captain. As the Captain moved it for his hits which Bankai thought would land sooner or later, he should sacrifice his body a bit. So instead of evading and changing the massive cleaver towards the shoulder and neck area of the Captain's body. There would be a great chance that the Captain would be struck as well since he was in mid attack and nothing else mattered to Bankai at this point. And landed they did as his body skidded on the floor and blood; his own blood could have been seen seeping on his clothing. His sword fell; he was unsure of where it fell but it was loud as it crashed into the ground kick up a plume of dust. He had one eye closed from the impact of the fall and tried to open it. If the Captain tried to attack him in this position then the fight would be over for him. He got up slowly but his knees did not buckle or his legs were not shaking. His left hand was over the wound as he tried to put pressure on it. He glanced at his sword that was two meters away from him. He looked the the ground and saw seven drops of blood of varying sizes.

Hmmm. My own blood.

He was breathing heavily as his body tried to cope with the blood loss. He did not know how the Captain would react next. Did not matter to him though. He gave the Captain his best at this point. Hopefully he would realize that.

Kotaro didn't quite understand how a weapon of such tremendous proportions was redirected in such a manner to strike him as he struck the Lieutenant, but alaps it had happened. His armor of hair cuticles shielded him from the blade of the blow, but the brunt of the attack and the force it had was still a factor to be taken into account of. Knocked a fair distance away, about a good 7m, Kotaro had a bit of a hard time catching his balance from his irregular aerial positioning from being hit with a weapon of such weight. It was a given that the Captain would stumble as he forced his feet to the ground to avoid being knocked to far away, but even then he had lost his balance as the blow was just too much. The fact his movements were a bit sluggish from the suit of armor also worked against Kotaro's will as he fell to the ground, but into a roll. Just like he was taught, he rolled for a good two or three times, then pressed himself to his feet. Steady in a solid stance, it wasn't until he tried to move to attack the downed Lieutenant, that he felt the pain from the blow he had received. Like a pickaxe it stung at a key focal point, then the pain shot throughout the struck area. The assaulted area wasn't anything too big since not only was his armor covering him, but it was only the thin surface area of the blade's edge hitting him.

He would surely have a nice tender bruise to poke at at the end of the day and some aches and pains for a few days to follow. A few drips of blood falling from his crimson suit of spines, Kotaro then analyzed the damage he had done to Bankai to see he was unarmed and he was quite winded. "That was quite the fishy trick you pulled on me Lieutenant." The Captain still wasn't sure how it all happened since he was at such a close range, but nonetheless it did happen. Taking his time as he approached the distant Lieutenant, he gave him time to do what he was going to do. May it be surrender or pick up his blade again, the choice was all his, but the Captain wasn't out of the fight yet. No where near it in fact, given the amount of chakra put into his armor the blow was tanked quite nicely and it felt like he had taken nothing more than a decent punch straight on, though the stinging sensation was something a bit odd, possibly from a few broken spines stabbing him form the pressure of the blade.

1,315/1,500

Having no time to acknowledge the Captain's words as adrenaline rushed through his body as he lunged for the weapon yet again and rolled into a defensive stance. But barely because the weight of the weapon was getting to him because of the blood loss. And he could not move his hand from the wound because the blood loss would be more. He lifted his sword to his shoulder and spread his legs until they were shoulder width apart. He knew this next move would be his last in this fight. If he had the right equipment or even a jutsu or two he would have been more of a challenge in this fight. But against people like his opponent, there is only so much one could do with just a sword. That armor was tricky too, because it nullified his taijutsu that was going to be his support in this. He could not afford another hit from the Captain's claws either. That gamble had paid off with a others in which Bankai actually cleaved the man in two with his sword but of course it did not work even as half as he had planned. From the looks of things the Captain was not even phased by his assault. It unnerved him and it pissed him off and still his face remained as impassive as ever. He suddenly straightened and placed his sword back in his hook on his back and stood there looking at the Captain. He knew this was indeed over.

"It has been an honor Taichou. I hope the next time we meet I will be better than how I currently am. I have no regrets. I did my best."

ooc: thread closed
my words - 2400 words

Kotaro watched with genuine curiosity as he saw his Lieutenant move for his blade. Seems like all the Soldiers of Hanagakure aren't your run of the mill people to be taken lightly. The Captain was more than happy to trade blows with Mr. Misaki once more. Crouching back into that feral stance he favored oh so well, Kotaro was ready to leap like a feline animal that lived in a safari hunting a wild mammal of some sort. Chakra readily flowing through his coat of spines, just as the balls of his feet were about to leave the soft grass of the training fields, he saw the Lieutenant move his blade to his back. A brow was raised, but then he figured it meant that the Lieutenant was surrendering. It was a good fight given the subordinate hadn't used anything other than the massive blade he swung with relative ease and it was a spar Kotaro enjoyed. It wasn't that often the Captain actually got to exert himself this much in a spar with another, so he really appreciated what the Lieutenant offered him. "I enjoyed every moment of it, be sure to patch those wounds up." His smiled as the man departed, but stayed to finish a bit of training of his own.

1,532/1,500
Mastered Needle Jizo
[Exit]