A Hot Training Session

Posts : 1729

Name: Advanced Stealth
Rank: C
Type: Physical
Physical Requirements: N/A
Training Requirements: A 600 word training post is required to gain this special characteristic.
Description: A skill gained by ninja who have begun to specialize in the art of stealth. The ninja becomes very light and quick on their feet. Their movements no longer create sound and they now gain a natural skill for hiding and camouflage.

Gouka tugged at the collar of his coat, fanning himself to try and gain some sense of cool. He'd switched to an all-white version of his usual attire for this "mission," but the reflective color hardly worked in a place with so little direct sunlight. The air around the Great Geyser area was thick with steam on a regular basis, giving the place a perpetual hot, muggy feel. 'I should have left the jacket at home. Hell, should've gone with a nice pair of shorts.' He thought to himself. But, the training would be pointless if he didn't go about it in full combat gear. If he couldn't be stealthy in that, there just wasn't any point. Still, he grimaced as he made his way up the path leading to the main area. He'd spent several days pondering how best to go about increasing his stealth capacity, and he was displeased with the solution.

'Too risky to practice on the go on missions. Too little opportunity in day to day life. He tugged at his collar again, groaning quietly to himself. 'It's beyond me how anyone can find this heat actually pleasant!' He thought. But then, ever since the incident, heat was just one of several things he had an aversion to. He quieted himself as a wall loomed from the steam masses before him. He paused to take a few quieting breaths, pondering again if he couldn't have found a better way. 'Well, ad much as I hate admitting it...' he thought as he proceeded to hop the fence,landing with a quiet thud, 'But you can't beat sneaking around the hot springs for stealth training.' He allowed himself another grimace. 'It's distasteful, but given what will happen if I get caught, I'm certainly motivated.' And nothing could quite motivate a man like risk of imminent castration. Gouka took carefully inventory, checking to make sure there was nothing that could clank, and began his stalk.

Fortunately, the steam was even more ample in the hot springs, confined as it was by the walls. He had ample cover, as he made his way to the woman's section. He paused for a fortifying breath, stopping before the wall cordoning off a section of pools. 'Well, moment of truth...' He gulped heavily, eying the final barrier. 'Should have written up my will before-hand...' With that final thought, he hopped the wall. The pool was of course occupied, filled with lounging woman, chatting with each other and splashing playfully. Gouka moved quickly and quietly, never staying in one place for too long. The white of his coat helped him to blend in, hiding behind the occasional rock when a woman appeared to be glancing in his direction. He made his way slowly back and forth across the hot spring, pushing his skills to the limit. At one point, heart racing and mouth dry, he'd clung to the wall as a Kumo chuunin he recognized sashayed by. He had to fight hard to keep in a sigh of relief once she was gone.

'I've been lucky so far,' he thought to himself, creeping around another wall. 'There don't seem to be any jounin around today.' He allowed himself a bitter smirk. 'I doubt "But it's training!" would go over well.' He shuddered. 'Or lessen my beating.' He made his way through his most recent enclosure, hopping the wall to the next section. He landed in a crouch, taking careful note of his surroundings. It was a relatively small pool he'd hopped into, but the steam was thick, obscuring half the area entirely. Thinking it empty, Gouka made to move to the next area, when he heard a splash. He froze, ducking behind a towel rack, slowing his breathing. No time to get caught now.

The steam cleared a little, allowing him to make out a figure in the mist. For some reason, unlike the previous pools, Gouka was finding it difficult to look away. There was a... lithe, catlike grace to her. And though Gouka would commit seppuku sooner than admit it, her figure was... Enticing. The figure bent over in the pool, cupping water in her hands, allowing a view thankfully obscured by the steam, though Gouka felt a like blush creep onto his face.'Maybe voyeurism isn't so bad after all... Gouka began to think, before blanching in abject terror as the figure leaned back, throwing the water across her face, that unmistakable crimson hair now visible.

Gouka backpedaled, pulling over the towel rack and bumping into the wall, scrambling over lit like a bolt of lightning as the figure turned, calling "Who's there?" Seeing nothing but a towel rack leaned against the wall, she shrugged, and went back to her hot spring bath.

Meanwhile, Gouka was tearing down the middle of the hot springs, heading towards the exit as fast as he could push himself. 'OhKamiOhKamiOhKami OOOOH KAMI ThatWasKirimaOhKamiSheCanNeverKnowKamiHelpMeIWon'tLiveToSeeSunr-!' Unfortunately, his thoughts were cut off, as in his haste, he hadn't been watching where he was going. He and the figure he'd crashed into landed on the ground with a muffled thud. 'That's funny... What did my face land on that was so sof-' Gouka froze, slowly raising his gaze from the bosom he'd landed in, to meet the eyes of the shocked looking woman he'd crashed into. Before he could move, she took in a deep breath, bosom heaving under her towel, and screamed "PERVERT!" Immediately, the nearest pools emptied out, a number of shocked woman staring at Gouka, surprise quickly melting away into rage. Murmuring "Sorry ma'am," Gouka bolted off the woman, heading for the door.

'Look at the bright side Gouka,' he thought as the horde gave chase. 'You get your stealth and your evasion training out of the way in one go!

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Posts : 1729

Name: Evasiveness
Rank: C
Type: Physical
Physical Requirements: None.
Training Requirements: A 600 word training post is required to gain this special characteristic.
Description: The ninja trains their ability in more advanced evasive maneuvers which serves the purpose of avoiding enemy attacks. The survivability of the ninja increases as they are now capable of executing quicker flips and dodging basic forms of physical attacks by reading an enemies movement.

It was a long and bad day for Takeshi Gouka. His first mistake was reasoning with himself that the hot springs really were the best place to train his stealth skills. His second mistake was panicking after seeing the worst possible person to see short of the Raikage in said springs. His third mistake was not watching where he was going, thus leading to him crashing into the woman who alerted the angry, ravenous horde now behind him.

His fourth mistake was making the right turn instead of left, leading him even DEEPER into the hot springs, instead of out. Yes, Takeshi Gouka was just plain having a bad day.

'Kami help me!' He thought to himself, spinning on his heel to swing around the screeching banshee that had popped out of a door before him, clawing at the air he'd previously occupied in an attempt to throttle the life out of him. 'This was a stupid, stupid idea and now you are going to die for it!' He abruptly ducked, sliding under the outstretched line of towels that had apparently be tied in anticipation of him, in an attempt tp clothesline him. 'Heh. Trying to clothesline me with a clothesline. If only I had time to appreciate the iron-' Gouka's thoughts were cut off again as he swung around the corner, only to run head first into ANOTHER horde, one that had apparently split off to try and corner him. His forward momentum too great, Gouka was forced to plow into the group, shouting "Excuse me! Sorry! Coming through! I need those I may want kids someday!", ducking and weaving around women, leaping over clawing grasps, jumping as feet were outstretched to trip him. Blowing out the other side of the crowd, a few towels in hand, grabbed in the hopes of making some women stop to try and make themselves decent, Gouka continued on.

'At least there haven't been any ninj-' Like drunk at a bar, Gouka was cut off again, instinctively shunting himself to the side as a brace of shuriken flew by, one even grazing his ear. He risked a glance over his shoulder, barely ducking into a tumble as a rock and a kunai flew across the space his head had occupied, rolling back to his feet without breaking stride. 'Oh, thank you for that Kami-sama, THANK you!' Another brace of shuriken was dodged, as well as tumbling under some ninja wire strung across the hall, followed by Gouka jumping over the leg sweep of what appeared to be a taijutsu expert on her day off. The hay-maker she threw at him while in the air was barely avoided by tucking he knees back up behind him, hitting the ground in a roll. Unfortunately, by this point Gouka's momentum was too great, and he ended up crashing through the thin bamboo outer wall.

Slightly dazed, Gouka nonetheless stagger up and continue running across the open terrain. Within a few moment however, he noticed pursuit had stopped, pausing to turn around bending over with hand clasped to chest, panting for breath. The horde of women was gathered at the hole he'd made, some shaking fists angrily and a few more throwing some more shuriken half-heartedly, but they made no move to leave the hot springs area.

'Well,' he thought, panting heavily as sweat dripped from his forehead. 'At least it looks like they're not made enough to take their pursuit out in publi-' For the number of times who couldn't even begin to count today, Gouka was cut off again, but a faint rumbling in the ground. He turned his gaze to the ground, staring uncomprehendingly at the numerous holes dotting the landscape. 'Huh. Wonder what's up with all these hol-' He threw himself to the side, a jet of boiling hot water spraying from the ground over which he'd be standing. He'd certainly never have children if it had hit where it was aimed at. It was at this moment, as the ground began to rumble even more, he remembered he was up at the Great Geyser area. And like a bad bout of karma, he'd run straight into the most active, heavily geyser riddled area of the place. 'Oh, Kami you DI-' Gouka threw himself to the side again, another gout of boiling water erupting under his previous location.

Gouka danced back and forth across the geyser riddled ground, sometimes avoiding geysers only by contorting his body in different directions, sometimes a geyser spraying within inches of his face, at one point his foot getting caught in a hole and forcing him to bend over backwards to avoid a gout between his legs, stretching the scar tissue of his back painfully. The entire time the women watched, some even going "Ooo" and "Aww." After what seemed an eternity, Gouka stopped, finally in a clear area, band over and panting heavily, sleeves and pants legs soaked in placed he hadn't managed to completely avoid the boiling hot geysers. A few of the women even clapped, one even offering a whistle!

Gouka stood up, stretching his pained limbs. 'At least the worst of it...' He paused the though, looking suspiciously around. There were no apparent geysers, only a large crater in the ground some feet behind him, and none of the women, even the ninja, had attempted to pursue. Still looking around in suspicion, Gouka continued his train of thought. 'At least the worst of it seems to be ove-!' The ground began rumbling again, visibly shaking Gouka. He looked around wildly, turning around to look at the crater behind him once again, a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Oh Kami help me..." The massive gout of water sprayed up from the hole, reaching hundred of feet into the air as Gouka spoke aloud, his words swallowed in the roar. "The Great Geyser..." The geyser reached its peak, seeming to go into slow motion before slowly, and then quickly, tumbling down.

The women at the spring apparently thought Gouka had been punished enough today, as they made no move to pursue as his soaked, scalded form blew back through the hole, down the hall, and out the exit.

It would be weeks before Gouka could stand more than the coldest of showers, or even look at a bowel of ramen. Fortunately, no one ever quite saw his face, and retribution was not sought. But Kami help him, he'd bloody well got his evasion training.

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