It was tough keeping up with a Kage's training regimen, but Vox liked to think he was doing well at it. He had a long way to go yet, but he was getting stronger, and fast. He knew it would be a while, but every day he was getting closer to deserving that Keukage title.


His training with Han had made him keenly aware of how much he'd neglected his sword training lately. He had a whole mountain of taijutsu to work with, but he was lacking versatility with his swords. He planned to remedy that. This scroll still had a few good techniques left in it. Some weren't even completely insane. But these were dangerous to train, and and he needed a live training partner. The genin weren't up to it, and he didn't quite trust the ANBU captain. Her too cool for school attitude was just annoying in the office, but training something like this it could get her killed. He looked through his dossiers, picking a jounin appropriate for the job. An earth type, with quite a bit of swordsmanship experience. And an earth clone technique, that settled it. Checking the schedule, he noticed that the jounin was free that day. Not a scheduled day off, and no missions. He grinned, buzzing his receptionist. “Get a message to Mr. Kumaburo. He's to meet me on Training Field G at 1500 hours.”

Vox arrived at the field a couple minutes early, but his training partner was already there. Vox nodded in approval. He liked punctuality. The jounin bowed when he saw the Keukage approach. Vox put up a hand. “At ease, Mr. Kumaburo.” He took off his coat and folded it, setting it aside. “I won't order you to do this. I've been training some new kenjtsu, and I could use some assistance. I'll need a clone for this. A solid one. And if this works, I'll be buying you a new sword. The old one won't survive this technique. Do you accept?” The jounin nodded. “It would be an honor, sir.” “Good. I need to prepare a bit first, get ready. Warm up a bit at field F, I'll call you when I'm ready.”


The jounin bowed and gave Vox his space, giving him time to work. He had chosen this training field for a reason. An earth style sparring match last week had left it with some rather large standing stones, those would be good to practice on. But first, he needed to get the foundations of this jutsu down. He'd never tried many quick draw attacks, at least not with swords. It was some new territory, and he needed to practice.

Vox took a stance, holding Remus' scabbard in one hand and resting his other hand on the hilt. There was a trick to this sort of technique. He had to have the scabbard angled differently from its usual position, so it could flow seamlessly from draw to strike. His first draw was slow, just to see how smooth the movement was. It had to be flawless, and it was still pretty rough. Mr. Kumaburo might be waiting for quite a while.

Vox adjusted his stance, shifting the angle of the blade. The scabbard had interfered a bit last time, he hadn't quite gotten the pose right. He controlled his breathing, calming himself and focusing. Vox knew he wouldn't be able to make these sorts of adjustments in the heat of battle, but he had to get things right before he tried to stress-test it. Timing it with the exhale, he drew the sword in a sweeping strike. It was better this time, smoother, but it still needed some polishing. He set himself to repeating it until he got it right.


Vox realized this was going to take a lot longer than he'd thought. He strolled over to his coat, retrieving a two-way radio and tuning it to Kumaburo's frequency. “Mr. Kumaburo, there's been a change of plans. You are dismissed for now, but I expect you to be on call. I'll call you back to the field when I'm ready, over.” The voice crackled over the radio in response. “Roger, Keukage-sama. Over and out.” Vox set down the radio and headed back to work. It would probably be a few hours yet until he had to call back. I hope I don't interrupt his dinner, that might seem a bit dickish. he mused, chuckling to himself.


Taking his stance back in the center of the field, Vox started picking up the pace. He had the basic movement down, but it was still slow and sloppy. The attack needed to be stronger, sharper. It needed to become the monster of an attack the scroll claimed it was. Now that he had the basic movement down though, things were going more smoothly. The quick version was rough the first few times, but it was rapidly improving. He was starting to get the hang of this quick draw thing.


Before long, the blade was a blur as it lashed out. In one fluid movement, the sword leaped from its scabbard and shot out in an arc, ready to cut through anything in its path. Vox gave a satisfied nod. He had the speed down, now it was time for the power. He had been doing it lightly to ease into it, but he would need to step up his game a lot before this was ready. When he added power, it was like starting all over again. Putting his full strength behind a single swing was tough, and it was risking throwing off his balance. He stabilized his stance, rooting himself to the ground. This way, he could cut loose and still be ready to counter any followup that may come. The sword shot out, its sheer force stirring the air around him. He was ready for the next stage.


Now, those standing stones would finally come into use. He approached the first pillar, taking his stance. He breathed quietly, focusing himself. In a blur of movement, the sword swung out and bit into the stone. It dug in a few inches before sticking. Vox frowned. Clearly, he still had plenty of work ahead of him. The Keukage planted his foot on the pillar, drawing the sword from the stone. Then, taking his stance again, he focused more intensely. This time, the hit was far stronger. The blade struck a few inches before the first point of impact, shattering the pillar. Vox looked it over, shaking his head. It was impressive, but not his goal. He wondered if the first cut had weakened the structure before moving on to the next pillar.


Taking his stance, he adjusted his technique a bit. He'd learned a bit from his prior mistake, and he thought he had it down. A bit more focus, a more stable stance, he was close to getting it right. He breathed lightly, focusing for the strike. Then, in an instant, it was over. His sword was out, extended to his side. He looked at the pillar for a moment. Had he missed? He had felt resistance, he was sure of it. Then the pillar started to move. It slid along a diagonal cut, falling over and shattering on the ground. Vox smiled proudly, inspecting the smooth cut on the remaining part of the pillar. This jutsu was certainly something. Not taking the time to rest on his laurels, Vox decided to test out using it while on the move. He dashed from pillar to pillar, pausing for a moment to unleash a swing before moving on to the next.


When Mr. Kumaburo answered his kage's call, he was amazed by what he saw. The tall stone pillars had toppled, leaving neatly cut stumps. He gulped nervously, not so sure about this anymore. “Don't worry, your clone's going to be the one in the hot seat.” Vox sheathed his sword, and the jounin called up an earth clone. The clone drew its sword and took a fighting stance, and the Keukage beckoned to it.

The clone charged the unarmed man, sword swinging. He was good, and a few of his hits nearly struck home. One even grazed across Vox's cheek. The whole time, Vox was breathing calmly, listening to his opponent's breath. The attacks let up for a split second, and the kage struck. The clone barely had time to react as Remus shot from its sheath. He tried to block, but the strike cut through his blade as though it were a blade of grass. The sword sheared through the clone's chest, cutting clean through just below the shoulders. As the clone crumbled back to dirt, Vox sheathed his blade and gave the jounin an appreciative nod. “Thanks for the assist, jounin-san. I'll have that new sword delivered tomorrow.” Vox gave a quick bow and headed off to find some dinner. That had taken a while, and he was starving.

[Words: 1495]

Jutsu trained:

Approved