The Shark [T/O]

[Jäger Beschützer]

[OOC: Training started on the last post of page 4]

[--/80]

The muscles in his legs tensed hard as he began to straighten them, beginning to lift the massive weight.  His shoulders tight and the belt tied around his stomach to keep his back from bending, he was certainly fighting gravity and his basic muscle groups.  The bar bent as he began to lift, and the concrete chunks had not lifted themselves from the ground until the bar bent about fifteen degrees from where his hands gripped the metal.  Shoulders back and tight, his legs managed to straighten out and he drew the bar upwards, scraping up his thighs as he did so, his body shaking quite intensely at the strain.  As he raised it near his hips, he leaned his upper body back slightly and looked at the ceiling while he puffed his chest out and held the bar there to force his body to continue straining against gravity in order to get the full work out.  Grunts managed to escape his throat as he began to lower the bar, even more slowly than he had raised it.  As his knees began to bend again, the grunts grew louder and he managed to let it rest on the ground.  

Gasping for breath and feeling the ache all through his body, the high of the workout began to hit him as he flooded his body with much needed oxygen.  There were only two left on this set, then he could move onto the next workout, which was equally exhausting, but his mind was on one track and the need to wreck his body was great.  Hands bloodied and covered in concrete dust, he spat on them and slapped them together in order to prepare for the next lift.  Sixty seven more seconds until he began to lift it again.  Because of the immense weight he was working with, even he needed a little time between the lifting in order to allow his body enough rest to do it again.  Rotating his shoulders to loosen them up, he tried to stay as relaxed as possible, to prevent his muscles from seizing up while merely waiting between the reps.  It helped to be so familiar with the procedures of heavy weight lifting, otherwise the risk of injuring himself was great, and an injury in this time of turmoil in the village could not happen.  

Twelve seconds were left, and he prepared himself, placing his hands once more onto the steel bar, right where the blood and skin had been practically stained onto the metal thanks to his monstrous grip.  Comfortable with his grip, he settled himself into the deadlift position once more and prepared himself.  A slow, purposeful inhalation of the warm air filled his lungs and helped him hold form as he began to lift.  Holding his breath while performing these exorcizes may not have been the smartest, as one could pass out from the strain after forgetting to breath, but as keeping his chest out as much as possible helped him lift the heavy weights, he took the risk.  The bar bent once more as he lifted, unable to hold the weight without the aid of a little flex.  This time the strain felt worse than ever, as he had done this a good many times already, and the final lift always proved to be the most difficult, especially knowing that he had to hold his form for ten long seconds before he could truly say this had been the third rep of the set.  

As the bar raised to his belly button, his arms kept raising, his elbows sticking out from his sides, and his body shaking madly as he strained.  Holding the bar at nipple level, he could no longer hold in the air, and began to roar loudly, fighting the agonizing weakening of his body.  Five seconds.  Six seconds.  The weight felt like it was slipping from his grip, and the weight rested more and more on his fingers as he continued his hold.  Seven seconds.  His breath was running short and spots were dancing before his eyes as the oxygen had completely left his body; only spittle left his still open mouth as he stood wide mouthed, holding the bar up.  Eight seconds.  The shaking of his body was immense, the bar itself wobbled thanks to his inability to hold it straight.  Nine seconds.  The bar lowered slightly and he began to breath in.  Ten seconds.  Unable to hold it any longer, his hands released the steel bar, and it dropped quickly, forcing him to step back as the massive weight collided with the concrete floor, breaking it and spitting debris in to the air.

Jäger stood weakly for a moment, trying to catch his breath, feeling light headed and very sore.  Still so much work left.  

[Jäger Beschützer]

[--/80]

The Hoshigaki stared at his hands, torn and bloody from the metal having been rough against his skin.  This was an impressive feat considering the thickness of his skin too.  His legs burned from the heavy lifting but he was still only just beginning.  Placing a foot atop the bar that connected the two pieces of concrete he gave it a powerful shove, and it scraped across the ground, grinding more concrete from the ground.  Sweat dripped from his brow and dropped to the floor, the stench of blood and sweat and petrichor filling the converted warehouse.  His mind was awash with the need to work the fury from his body; and as he moved to the wall, he knew that chin ups were only going to make him angrier.  Luckily the exhaustion would be too great for him get up and actively do something about his problem given how tired he was.  The bars of steel that had been inserted into the wall by him were done so with extreme prejudice. 

The nice thing about where he was currently living; was that there was plenty of building materials for a makeshift gym, and support struts were probably one of the few things around that could support his immense frame.  The two bars extended about three feet from the wall, giving him enough room for his belly to extend without dragging up and down the wall as he did the workout.  He may have been able to simply turn around so as to avoid that problem, but truth be told; he had not thought of that at the time, as he was too worked up.  His shoulders and back had been worked quite a bit already; but he was still in good enough shape to do a couple more heavy workouts before he crashed.  These were some of the most difficult for him; as they required him to lift his own body weight using his arms alone.  Although he was strong, there was a lot of weight for him to have to haul against gravity, and history had taught him that these were his second most despised kind of work out.  Which was exactly the reason that he was forcing himself to do it now. 

The worst workout of all time was burpies of course, the large Fishman was incapable of even performing them due to his size, but those times he had done them, they had been the most hated activity of his life.  Jäger considered them probably worse than the slavers, which was saying something.  Reaching up; he had to stand on his tip-toes in order to reach the bars, as he had needed to put them into the wall at a high point in order for him to do them properly.  His hands wrapped around the metal, and it dug into his palms, but he did not feel a thing.  His body dangled from the bars and he felt the pull of his weight on his shoulders, which was uncomfortable, but not impossible for him to hold.  Taking in a deep breath, his breast prominent, he began to pull himself towards the ceiling.  Jaw clenched and eyes glaring straight ahead, his biceps flexed and shone in the dim light of the warehouse.  The bars were not amazingly supported, and did make some creaking noises as the concrete around the steel cracked, and the metal bent with the weight.  

His eyes became level with the steel, then his chin breached the level that he forced himself to hit whenever he was doing these.  Slowly he began to lower himself and his breath escaped slightly as he exhaled as though he was whistling.  Once his arms had once more become fully extended, he began again, slowly rising and falling, breathing with the directions.  He only needed to do fifteen, that was all he expected his body to do, as he spent a lot of time with it, and understood its limits well.  Especially on a day where he pushed himself as hard as he could; abusing it too much on one exercise would break him for any further ones.  Before he had even hit double digits, his arms were tiring and he was beginning to have second thoughts about the workout, as he was growing quite tired, but he inwardly slapped himself for his weakness. Amegakure needed him, and it was his duty to step forward.  

[Father 'Suke]

+26

[Jäger Beschützer]

[26/80]


Arms falling weakly to his sides; Jäger could not help but feel at least a little satisfied with how hard he was pushing himself, although he was not really able to move his arms too much. His anger had subsided, but the sadness that set into his soul was weighing him down; there were still things on his mind he needed to rid himself of. Life was heading in a direction he did not understand, and it was not a direction he ever would have imagined himself going in while he was younger. There was so much potential in him and he had squandered it, wasting time planning things and never going through with them. If he were to be in the situation as the Amekage had been, no one would even have begun to look for him. The thought of it depressed him, as no matter how positive he tried to remain about his life, that was a stone cold fact. He meant nothing to no one. An angry tear slipped from his right eye and he let it slowly wend its way down his face, before it dripped from his chin.


The people that others had memories about were those who did, whose deeds echoed throughout the halls of history, treasured in the hearts of all. Jäger was sick of wishing to be one of those people and was taking steps towards achieving his goal, being sick of lacking motivation and confidence in himself. As he moved, his arm shot out and he struck the punching bag that was chained to the wall, which rocked violently from the ferocity of the blow, but was otherwise fine. Perhaps it was time to do a little sparring. If his memory was correct; and it was usually fairly dependable, there was a sort of dojo around here with the old man who had helped him a lot as a kid. In fact the old man helped a lot of people, more than simply him. That geezer had aided so many kids in the Rust District that the population was mainly comprised of people he had fed and taught to defend themselves. Remarkable really, and probably the reason why of all places; his was always left alone.


It was not a far walk from here, and he was raring to go; the trip would not take long at all. Locking the chain that kept the warehouse closed, the Hoshigaki checked the sky and tried to remember which direction he needed to go. The sun was setting now, which meant that direction was to the west, and he needed to follow it. The place he needed to get to was south west. There were a few people on the street, most of them were heading back to wherever they slept, whether it was on the streets or in abandoned buildings. The lights of the dojo were on, and there were people milling about outside, looking like they wanted to start a fight.  As he approached, they seemed to think that stalking around him trying to look threatening was an appropriate thing to do; which he felt was a very poor choice for them to make.  They were all quite a bit smaller than him; and the youths looked ragged.

Three of them circled him and he had to let out a grand sigh.

"Not a good idea lads, I wouldn't want to hurt you"

They ignored his warnings and continued trying to intimidating him, sneering at him; calling him fat and other silly names.  The large Hoshigaki merely frowned at the childish display; but could not rebuff them with words alone.  It was not in his nature; however; to cast the stone as the phrase went.  These hoodlums would need to strike first.  It was his fortune that he would not have to wait long as one of them tried to attack.  Jäger was large, and for him to be so quick, it must have been disconcerting for the boys as he reacted with swift but fair punishment.  Having been training all day; he was not in the greatest of fighting form; but he was more than enough to break this small gang attack apart.  The first attack tried to tackle him around the waist; a tactic that would have most certainly failed even if he had not tried to defend himself, after all, only the most powerful gust of wind could move a boulder.  And this gust was barely an ants fart in the presence of a planet.  

Twisting his body, he wrapped a massive hand around the upper arm of the boy who was trying to tackle him and he rotated, throwing the kid to the ground with little effort.  They were young and stupid, he most certainly did not want to cripple them; he just wanted to scare them.  The thrown body landed with a thud and rolled over, surprised to see that he had done nothing.  This prompted the other two into attacking out of fear, one went low, and the other went high.  Due to their lack of training in Shinobi arts, their speed was poor, even against the Goliath before them.  The one that went for the leg was stomped on, and the one that went to try and punch him in the chest was grasped by the face, Jägers massive palm blocking off his air supply and holding him in the air by his head.  The kid struggled in his hand, and the boy who had the heavy foot on his back swore madly and wriggled like a worm on a fish hook.

"Let them go you bastard!"

The boy who had attacked first looked fearful as the titanic fishman who held his friends stared him down.  Jäger was not impressed by their idiocy, but he was certainly not going to hurt them.  Before he could act though, the door to the building opened and the resident popped out to see what was causing the ruckus.  The old man looked dishevelled and tired, and older than the buildings around him, but he had not changed a day in the twenty years since the Hoshigaki had last seen him.  Four voices cried out for him, all saying the same thing:

"Master Shen!?"

The boy who had attacked first and Jäger stared at each, questioning why they both knew the old man.

"Jäger, let the boys go, boys, you should be ashamed of yourselves, what have I told you about causing trouble for people here, we're all in this boat together"

Jäger felt his heart swell with happiness when the old man recognized him, and he took his foot from the boy on the floor and released the boy he was holding by the head.  They took off sprinting, leaving the fishman and the old master looking at each, reunited as friends.  The Hoshigaki moved to shake his hand, but the old man retreated back into his home and slammed the door, leaving the large blue man staring at the roughshod wooden door with his mouth agape.  Shen had never closed his door to anyone in need before; especially not the big fishman; whom he had recognized.  Kneeling down, he knocked on the door and went prone in the begging position; hearing the door open slightly, still locked by a chain across the opening.  The old man looked out, but did not respond for a moment, before he sighed and the latch could be heard being unlocked.  

"You've been gone for so long, no love for Shen, I thought you had been killed or captured again..."

[Father 'Suke]

This is very touching, and such a show of brutality to go along with it.

+10

[Jäger Beschützer]

[36/80]

The door to the small shack was not large, and Jäger doubted he could even fit through it without squeezing very tightly, but he was not invited in as he expected, as the old man stepped outside and closed the door behind him.  The large Hoshigaki wondered what he was doing, but he stood from his kneeling position and let Shen walk outside of his home.  Neither of them spoke a word as the old fighter slipped into his stance and readying himself for a fight.  Normally the massive Fishman would have been hesitant to combat someone of this age and size, but he knew from first hand experience that his old master did not need anyone to pity his skill or take it easy on him.  Instead of trying to talk the man out of it; the large blue warrior knew what was expected of him, and brought his fists up to defend himself against the onslaught that was about to come.  Unlike the old days as a child; when he possessed no skill or strength, or at least less, he was now strong and had a sense of his powers, and would not let the old man get the best of him as he used to do.  

Shen reacted quicker than Jäger thought possible, and just when he thought he was ready; he had caught a knee in the face which had knocked him backwards a couple of steps and had broken his guard.  There was not enough time for him to register the pain though, as she was on him again, striking him in the gut with a powerful right straight punch that doubled him over, right into another knee in the face.  Blood leaked from his nose and mouth, but he did not let that bother him either; although he was sure that his nose might have been broken by the second strike.  The small man drew back from another strike, this time at the kidneys of the large man, who manage to twist a drive a powerful right elbow into the back of the older males skull, sending him careening forward into the trash.  Finally getting his breathing straight, the Fishman was able to adjust his nose in his large hands, knowing that Shen would need far more than that in order to keep him down, it had practically been nothing more than a warning shot.  The heat was about to be turned up, and if he was not careful, the Hoshigaki was going to find himself diced and prepared finely with a delicious white wine.  

The true difference in their skill, besides knowledge alone; was how their bodies were able to play their strengths.  Being as large as he was, Jäger was capable of dishing out massive amounts of damage, and capable of being on the receiving end of the damage too.  For his immense defence, he lacked speed, which Shen had in spades, and he had always told the young Fishman that he needed to increase his speed and ability to actually place that strength behind some attacks.  This had always been a problem when he was younger due to his lack of a place to life and the uncertainty as to whether or not he was going to survive the night.  These days he had established himself as a power, and it would take a lot more than a couple of thugs to take him down, so working on speed exercises with his old master was more than a treat for him.  The man was quick and powerful, so dodging and sparring with him would surely allow him to quicken his reflexes and give him a little more speed in his step.  Even if his training did not incur the expected results, he was reuniting with an old friend, which was always a special moment for a man who possessed so few personal connections. 

The heap that the small man had been thrown into from the strike shuffled and moved as Shen excavated himself from the hole in which he had been put.  Blood leaked from his forehead from where he had struck the wall, but he looked quite amused by the whole situation.

"You're a lot stronger than I remember, and that's saying something"

Wiping his forehead of the blood on his dirty sleeve, Shen cracked his neck then burst forward, throwing a piece of metal that he had broken from the bigger pieces in the pile.  Leaping back onto the defence, Jäger batted the metal projectile out of the way and rotated to the right, letting the side kick strike the large metal shield on his back.  Still rotating, his right arm drew around in a large back swing, the chain being released from his robe as he did so.  The strike itself did not catch the old man, but the dove at him like a striking snake.  His old mentor was not so easy to catch off guard though, and the chain was caught and wrapped around his wrist, connecting the two.  The muscles and veins bulged in their arms as the two squared off in a show of power that could only end up with the Hoshigaki winning.  A powerful kick to the back of his head knocked his senses loose though, and his grip on the chain loosened, and he was pulled over to the floor by Shen.  Or what had been Shen at least.  The person gripping the chain vanished in a poof of white smoke and the chain fell to the floor.

"Not much smarter though"

[Jäger Beschützer]

[--/80]

Shen stood with his arms folded across his diminutive chest, a look of humour written across his lined visage.  Jäger was understandably frustrated that he had fallen for such a simple technique, but he had to commend his mentor on his practical and effective tactics.  The older man leant a hand and helped the large Fishman get to his feet before the two moved apart and stared each other down and began combat once more.  It did occur to him that the Shen he saw before him could also be a clone; but would the old man do the same trick twice?  He did not know, but it would have made an excellent double bluff; but he was certainly not able to tell without further investigation, such as landing a blow.  Of course there were countless tactics that the old man could be relying on that required him to land a blow; but the worst thing that could happen was that he ended up on his behind once more; and a lesson would be learned.  Shen was a remarkably hands on teacher, and he always managed to make his students kneel or sit down before him.

Jäger figured it was his turn to start, and his immense body rumbled forward, the chain in his right hand spinning so quickly that the wind whistled around it.  Halving the distance between them, the chain whip struck out and bit viciously into the earth where Shen had been standing, as the old man had moved to the side and avoided the chains bite quite graciously.  Diverting his course, the Hoshigaki twisted and used the chain as an extension of his arm to drive back the older man even further, keeping him at a distance and keeping his guard up.  Dashing straight forward, twisting the chain and wrapping a short length of it around his knuckles he struck at his mentor, who moved his head to the left, letting the right straight go past his head, and his hands moved up and tinkered with the length of chain for a moment before he stepped in and placed a foot on the chest of the massive attacker, stopping the behemoth in his tracks.  The two faced off unmoving for a moment, then the chain that had been cuffed to his wrist fell to the floor with a loud rattle, and the Akimichi widened his eyes.

The chain had been there for a purpose, and it was purposely hard to remove so that sort of thing would not happen in the midst of a battle, but the old man was more skilled than the behemoth recalled.  The foot that was on his stomach began to apply pressure and Jäger could not seem to overcome the strength that was pushing him back.  The two pressed against each other, but with a loud grunt, the Hoshigaki was shoved back and onto the floor, his arms in the air as he went.  Landing with a thud, he moved his hands quickly, catching a straight kick that aimed to break his nose even further, but it merely shoved him back another foot, and began to make his pants slide off.  As quick as he could, he rolled backwards, pulling his pants back up and getting to his feet in time to block another punch that made his arm sting and he held it back, deflecting the next two strikes with his left hand, fending them off and watching the intricate footwork of his mentor, who then rotated his body and cross stepped around a strike, leaving the larger fighter awkwardly stretched out.

Three strikes caught him under the ribs and winded him, and he fell to his knees, waving his hands in the air, giving up and not being able to breath.  Shen laughed and lowered his guard; helping the larger man stand up and watching as he coughed.  Jäger felt horribly abused, but he had been down earlier, and seeing his master still alive and well brought sunshine to his spirit, and he felt overjoyed.  If only he could breath.  Resting his hands on his knees as he was bent doubled, he tried to get get his breath back, but the strikes had taken a lot of air from his lungs, and the work that he had just put his body through after the intense working out he had been doing during the day had left him quite depleted of willpower and strength.  The older man was patient, and helped lead him to the house, where he was squeezed inside and lead to the couch, where he sat.  The furniture groaned beneath his immense weight, and the two looked awkwardly at each other.  Just like he had done as a child, he had forgotten the enormity of his weight and its effect on things that he sat on.  

[Father 'Suke]

+20

[Jäger Beschützer]

[56/80]

The two spoke for hours on what had happened in their lives since they had last met, and Jäger found himself apologizing after every story, forcing the older man to eventually tell him to quite being such a child and accept that they had both been incorrect to never try and contact the other.  After a couple of hours though, the subject fell back onto the training and the skills he had acquired, and what he wanted to be doing.  Thanks to the recent upset that had occurred in the village; the Hoshigaki had admitted that he wished to take a more active roll in the protection and activities of the village; and had been training his hardest in order to acquire more skills and become a master of himself so that no one else would be hurt on his watch.  Shen remarked that he had become a powerful and respectable man, but that his training could always continue and his strength would grow, and offered his services to the whale shark.  There was nothing on the green Earth that could have pleased the Hoshigaki more; and he accepted his mentor once more. 

The two had rested long enough for one more spar before parting ways for the night, as the sun had gone completely; and the only light that they would be fighting under was the light from his house.  Luckily for the Hoshigaki; he was capable of seeing exceptionally well in the dark, although he felt that the old man probably had a couple of tricks up his sleeves for that.  As the two faced off outside under the light, Jäger cracked his knuckles and observed the wrinkly, balding man, wondering how such a tiny body possessed such immense strength.  His own body contained more; but he was always quite shocked when he faced off against the strength of the small man, and his ribs still ached from the three strikes he had received when he had lost the last fight.  There was not a lot he could do other than to take up arms and get faster and stronger in order to try and keep up with the old man, and then eventually one day he would be able to beat him, although he suspected that day would merely happen because old age would finally defeat him in a more proper fashion than Jäger could.  

This time he was going to go on the offence first; and he dashed forward, driving an iron fist at the small man, who capably deflected the blow and countered with a strike that caught the fishman in the chest; but he used his weight and momentum to push the attack back and fell atop the old man with his flurry of the blows, striking out as much as he could with as little accuracy as manageable, knowing that while the older man was committed to his attack, he was unable to move away from the flurry of punches that were raining down on him.  The first two strikes were dodged and blocked respectively; but the third, fourth, fifth and sixth all struck their marks, blowing the old man backwards, rolling and striking the building he lived in.  The recovery was very quick, and the elder was on his feet rushing at him; but the shark was prepared and managed to slip around the axe drop kick that aimed to break through the guard he was supposed to put up.  An open handed stamp was thrown out; but the older man ducked and swept a low kick that took out his ankles, sending the heavy beast to the ground.  
 
If Jäger was a rude man, he would have sworn at being taken down again, but then again, he would have needed time too, as the foot that struck him in the face and made all thoughts in his mind go blank took any choices he would have made, away.  He awoke quite quickly after blacking out, as Shen had only just moved to his side, but he was feeling the effect of all the training he had been doing lately, and the effect was not good, his arms would barely raise.  Shen dragged him up by the robe, but it appeared the kick had knocked the behemoth quite senseless, and he was not walking in a straight line, and required the support of the old man in order to be walked home.  The training session had been a little shorter, but he had abused his body to the breaking point today, and going that extra mile to try and slip some extra training in there had been a bad idea, as now he was probably going to be bedridden for at least a day while his muscles tried to repair the damage he had done to them.  Jäger did not even recall the walk, he would wake up the next morning in incredible pain, and with no recollection of the stumbling walk back to his home while using the short Shen as a walker.  

[Jäger Beschützer]

[--/80]

The rain was heavier today than it had been for a while now.  It was practically torrential out there, and Jäger was in the rain, on his back on a metal sheet he had laid upon the soaking earth.  In his hands, a boulder roughly three times his size and many times more of his weight, which he was using as a warm up workout.  With each time the boulder sank a little as he let it come down, he took in a massive breath and filled his lungs.  Each time he began to push, the herculean effort it took for him to lift the massive rock was to emit a thundering roar that echoed loudly in the empty streets, and was surely being mistaken for thunder by many of the residents.  The behemoth was shirtless, relishing the feeling of the cold water dripping on his skin, keeping him nice and cold.  A Hoshigaki feared no water, and being out in the torrential rain was just as good as being in the deepest ocean.  Another roar of effort sounded out as he lifted the rock higher on the last push, finishing the set he had been working on.  Holding it there for a couple of extra seconds to squeeze the last bit of effort from his arms, he let the boulder roll off and over his head.

The giant rock kicked up a lot of water from the sodden ground, but he did not mind the splash back.  The workout had him quite out of breath, so the cooler his body the better.  Placing his left hand onto his right shoulder, he rotated the cuff, still feeling the bruises under his left arm on the ribcage from his sparring session with Shen.  The two had spoken briefly the day after about training; but Jäger had been too exhausted and beaten up to be able to practice, so they had agreed to wait a couple of days.  The end to that couple of days was tomorrow, and the Hoshigaki was quite looking forward to the lessons he would be learning from the martial arts master.  By all means he was not strictly a Taijutsu user, and the thought occurred to him that he had been exclusively learning techniques he would only be able to use in close combat.  All this time and he had not even thought about learning any ninjutsu techniques, and he was fine with it really, preferring the hands on approach, but he made a mental note to fix that sometime in the near future; perhaps after a sparring session that left him quite unable to train his body.  Those happened often enough.

Today was a light workout, he was going to be getting the best workout quite soon, so this could not be too limiting.  The lifts and then a couple of laps around the village seemed appropriate.  The boulder was going to be there when he got back; if he felt like there was a little more energy that he needed to waste, he knew where to find it.  After all, there was not going to be too many people living in the rust district that could move an object such as that.  Huffing and puffing, he drew in his belly and pulled the crimson sash around his waist up and tightened it.  The jog began at a light pace as he moved to the outskirts; where he was able to move up to his full speed.  Swiftly running near the edge of the wall, he ran his hand against the rock as he moved, feeling the indentations between bricks, and hearing the soft thud of his fingertips against the brick of the wall.  The running was quite relaxing and in the rain it added an extra challenge for him to overcome, as the wind that was pushing the rain sideways was also shoving him back.  

His steps were drowned out by the sound of the rain hitting the buildings; but his breathing could be heard over the torrent without any problems.  The workout he had done previously had tired him, but cardio was always something that he struggled with, and his heavy breathing and grimace said it all.  This was for a good cause though, he was trying to become faster and be more effective in battle.  With added physical abilities, he could actively perform more on the battlefield.  Even when it came to ninjutsu, there were more options available to him when he combined faster speed with performing his seals.  His jog picked up the intensity and he ran harder into the wind, ducking his head and barrelling forward, watching the ground to make sure he was not going to trip over anything.   His feet splashed against the puddles of water, and he realized that the water was pooling a lot, and there was no effective draining system.  

[Y]

Hence! What is this! Do men have no respect for their ancestors?
Amidst the training ritual of a strong, young shinobi of the hidden rain, he would make a disturbing discovery. He would set foot once more in the sanctuary, that oasis where he had been training, but this time he would tread with too much force. For, below his feet, there was a large collapse of stonework. This was not a natural event, no a large cavern made of stone bricks had opened up beneath his feet. It was very dark in there, no doubt. Judging by the growth and vegetation patterns, it had been years since last this tomb had been disturbed. Dare he enter it? Or does he leave the place, for fear of some hidden danger from long ago?

[Jäger Beschützer]

Jäger assessed the hole before him with intrigue, having nearly fallen in; he was quite perturbed and feeling considerably lucky.  The hole did not look quite large enough for him to fall through anyway, but that was besides the point.  The behemoth pondered his options.  The hole looked ancient and untouched; his presence probably the first in many years.  What prizes could lay beneath the earth?  Common sense told him that entering it was a bad idea, but he was in the midst of his training, and the adrenaline coursing through his veins from the possible excitement was far more convincing to him.  Although he was not as skilled as other Shinobi in the village, he did possess a great natural strength that often proved to be more than a match for most of his opponents, whatever lay under the earth was likely dead, or was going to be if it tried anything funny on him.  Swallowing thickly; he knelt by the hole, sticking his head in to examine the insides.  Sometimes he simply forgot how heavy he really was, and how weak the bricks that were used to seal the tomb was.  

The scraping of bricks sounded and he was unable to get up fast enough and he fell in, his deep voice resonating around the cavern as he disappeared into the darkness below.  If only he had trained a little harder and had been a little quicker!  All the training really was not doing him any justice.  The darkness engulfed him and he fell for what seemed like eternity.  

[Y]

The hulking new shinobi had landed less than gracefully at the bottom of the cavern. Fortunately for him, the drop was only about ten feet, and floor below seemed to be more dirt than actual stone. While he might be injured, it would appear to him that the made it through the tumble without any broken bones, and only a few bruises on his abdomen and legs. Nothing that a man of martial talent would be afraid of, and nothing that would stop him from exploring the caverns if he wished to. And, unfortunately for him, it would appear that there was no direct route to the surface. If he did not want to perish inside of this place, exploration would have to ensue.

If he stood up, and observed his surroundings, he would notice he was actually at the center of a large, central room. The natural light from above let him see the area immediately around him, but the edges of the room were too shadowy, too far away. He might suppose the room was at least a circle of a 15 meter radius, but it would take some more exploration to determine the actual size. But, more pressingly perhaps, he heard movement around the edges of the room. There were several things moving about, and they seemed to be getting louder.

[Jäger Beschützer]

[--/80]

The ground prevented him from falling any further, and he felt a little silly that he had exaggerated how far the fall felt, but berating himself would come later; as he feared he was not alone.  The soreness from the fall was nary a bother, it was the sounds of the chamber he had entered that were quite worrisome.  Clambering to his feet; he looked about; trying with all of his might to strain his eyesight to see through the darkness, but to no avail.  What was worse yet; his chain and shield had been left at his home, having believed he was going for a simple jog.  Weaponless and with no information regarding the situation; things looked bleak.  The skittering sounds were coming from the darkness around him, and a shiver ran up from the base of his spine.  There was no where to go but forward, although that did not mean he could not do it as quickly as possible.  The chakra in his body began to churn and the fat rearranged itself, sucking his large belly in and redistributing itself around his entire body.  His already powerful arms doubled in size, and his legs thinned and became more toned.  Muscles rippled along his body as he stood still bathed in the natural light from above, the water from the rain leaking down upon his already soaking body.

His powerful body stood as a testament to the power of the Akimichi combined with the Ritual of the Shark.  The behemoth was treating this situation as a life and death situation until he discovered more about what was happening, and there was no reason to give any possible attackers any sort of chance to get the drop on him.  With his new speed and power, he was at least a little harder to take down, and if things became completely unwieldy, he always had one more back up technique to go with.  His breath had evened out and he was confident enough that he could progress through the caves.  Whatever was scampering around in the dark had not yet attacked, and probably would not do so until he showed weakness.  Jäger was not prone to being a weak man, he had spent all of his life being someone that others could rely on, his confidence was unshakeable.  As he stepped forward out of the light from above, his body was tense and alert, his heightened shark senses listening, smelling, tasting for any sign of trouble.  They were not as remarkable as they could be, but when the world around smelled of petrichor, then other scents were not difficult to pick out.  

The training he had been working on was essentially forgotten about, but if he had not managed to increase his physical fitness quite yet, then there was always after he had escaped from the hole in the earth.  His jaw was locked in a grimace as the darkness swallowed him, and he broke free of the bonds that held him under the sunlight, and he was one with the darkness.  He wished his eyesight was a little better in the dark, or that he had some sort of light, but he was not nearly as prepared as he should have been.  

SPOILER: Click to show

Shitai Kinniku Tesabaki (Body Muscle Manipulation)

Rank: "B"

Skill: NinJutsu/TaiJutsu

Effect: A technique where the user takes the heavy mass around their belly and contracts the mass to where it becomes into hard muscle mass. Their body goes into a large like change as they turn into a hulk like creature to where their stomach turns to stone rock like abs, the mass along their chest turns stone hard as well. This adds greater strength within the body and the hits that the user is capable of producing forth. Depending on the Class the user is, is depending on how long this technique can stay forth in this technique until all excessive fat cells within the body is depleated leaving the user helpless. This technique enables the user to lift two times their body weight for the amount of time as well as the capability of moving two movements faster then normal.

Special: ---

Drawback: Really meant for the males of the Akimichi. The women in the family are capable of this as well if they truly wish to become that of a bulky hulk like creation. This technique since it is taking the formation of fat tissue and converting it into muscle mass the user will become fatigued after this technique, and the very technique will desolve fifty percent of heavy tissue mass within the body. It is best to be quite heavy weight around the size of three hundred to four hundred pounds as a start in order to use this very technique.

Description: As the user concentrates the chakra along their belly the belly quickly begins to rumble in a large like motion as the muscles along the inner body begins to contract. The user's muscle mass doubles in size as they stay in the grand hulk like form. When the user is "D" Class they are capable of staying in this technique for Six rounds. For each round that the user is in this technique one must subtract Sixteen percent out of a hundred percent of total body fat within the body. When the user is "C" Class they are capable of staying in this technique for Seven Rounds. For each round that the user is in this technique one must subtract Fourteen percent out of a hundred percent of total body fat within the body. When the user is "B" Class they are capable of staying in this technique for Eight Rounds. For each round that the user is in this technique one must subtract Twelve point five percent out of a hundred percent of total body fat within the body. When the user is "A" Class they are capable of staying in this technique for Nine Rounds. For each round that the user is in this technique one must subtract Eleven percent out of a hundred percent of total body fat within the body. When the user is "S" Class they are capable of staying in this technique for Ten Rounds. For each round that the user is in this technique one must subtract Ten percent out of a hundred percent of total body fat within the body.

Limit: Must be Akimichi. Must know Baika no Jutsu (Multi-Size Technique)

[Y]

Now you will know why you fear the dark!
The ninja began to move again, bulking himself up, quite literally, against any possible attack. It seemed that the foreign movements unnerved him, and they had every reason to. He was in the center of some slimy old structure built underground, whose purpose was unknown. It was impossible that this place had seen human use in the recent pass, but whatever that sound was had to be caused by the movement of something bigger than the mere vermin one might expect to find.

Then, stepping into his line of site would be a stumbling figure. It looked like a human being, in some ways. It was torn apart, no doubt by violent means, with gashes in is clothes, and a weird hunch that could only be characteristic of a broken back. Despite its seemingly crippled status, it still looked like a serious threat to the man it was lumbering towards. It wielded a lumbering great axe, made out of a shining metal. Despite the apparent age of the thing, it still seemed to be sharp enough and dangerous enough to inflict a fatal blow to a man. The man, or thing resembling it, lumbered up the last of the distance to its intended victim, lunging until it was a bare meter away from the man, and swinging that great axe in a low arc at the lower abdomen.

And, to add insult to injury, more sounds were heard from behind the man. 

---

SPOILER: Click to show

"D" Rank Tai Master
Undead Type,

SPOILER: Click to show

Axe, Great (Overview)
Rank: "B"
Type: Main, Slashing, Axe
Effect: A very large axe, made for hurting things, badly.
Special: ---
Drawback: Due to the weapon's size each technique performed while wielding this weapon takes up 3 movements.
Description: A Two-Handed Weapon. These weapons do +16 Amour Points of Damage. A Great Axe is a superior 2-handed melee weapon in the heavy weapons group. A Greataxe is 18 inches longer than a War Axe and is too large for a Medium-size creature to use with 2-hands correctly. A large creature could use a Greataxe with two hands and will not suffer any drawbacks while wielding the weapon. A creature may learn Weapon Specialization: Speed Training to remove the drawbacks of Movement restrictions. If the user learns Wield Oversized Weapon the user is able to wield the weapon 1-handed.
Limit: These items may be bought inside any Weapon Shop.
Cost: 16,000 Ryo

[Jäger Beschützer]

There was not a lot of things that the behemoth would say he was afraid of; but the creature lumbering before him was something that he never imagined would face in his wildest dreams.  Human in appearance, yet murdered in a macabre fashion that he would wish upon no man.  Jäger felt remarkably uncomfortable laying his eyes on the creature,  but it was obviously not going to go away just because he wished it would.  It stumbled towards him with a large axe in hand, which he definitely intended to use as his own while he was stuck down here, but until he got his hands on the weapon, he would have to get his hands dirty.  As it approached, he brought his hands up to defend himself, and stepped in with his right foot, turning his body, using his left hand to catch the arcing weapon, while his right threw a powerful strike at the side of the shambling creatures head.  If the blow to the side of its head caught it, he would wrench the weapon away with his left hand and rotate to meet the aggressor from behind.  

SPOILER: Click to show

Tetsu Tekken (Iron Fist)

Rank: "C"

Skill: TaiJutsu

Effect: A Brawler's true capabilities is within his fists and legs. The Brawler is capable of hitting as if his fists were gauntlets themselves. They say a Brawler's punch is like being smacked by a bull and that is where these power attacks come to play. Those who get hit by a Brawler's Iron Fist feel a knock back effect depending on the user's class.

Special: ---

Drawback: The user is only capable of performing this attack so many times per day depending on how many times the user knows this technique as well as the Class level of the user.

Description: When the user first learns this technique they are capable of performing this technique a total of five times per day as well as any other technique that is in conjunction of the Iron Fist. Every time this technique is learned the user is capable of performing this technique as well other techniques into conjunction one more time. This means that if a user learns this technique twice they are capable of performing this technique a total of six times. Depending on how well and how strong the user is by Class, the user is capable of performing the technique with devastating power. The higher the class is the more devastating the attack will be creating a more sufficient way of breaking one's bones.

D Class - Five Meters Knock back

C Class - Fifteen Meters Knock back

B Class - Twenty Five Meters Knock back - 10% Chance Bones may Break

A Class - Forty Meters Knock back - 30% Chance Bones may Break

S Class - Sixty Meters Knock back - 50% Chance Bones may Break

Limit: Must be a Brawler

Body Manipulation: 1/6 rounds

[Y]

 It seems that that Jåger had no problem taking on this creature that assailed him. With a quick step, a twist, and a couple of hand movements, he had stopped the axe blow, and sent the creature flying back. The head twisted at a sickening angle as it absorbed the blow from his fist and dragged the entire body backwards, into the shadows. He could still make out in relative clarity the thing trying to untwist itself, but without the axe it no doubt served as much less of a threat than it had before. The encounter left the shinobi with a grip on the axe right below the head, and two squirming digits also fighting for the axe, but those also posed minimal problems.


Of  course, the now mitigated risk seemed even more minimal now that another creature of the night attacked. From his left Jåger could see a beast of the same nature, with similar wounds, lunging into position, with two sickening looking swords, one in each hand. The two blades would swing down onto his chest if he let them, no doubt doing irreparable damage. And, if that didn;t serve to strike sufficient fear in his heart, he heard something running from the other side, with more speed and purpose than the other two had. And the first beast wasn't completely dealt with yet either...

---

SPOILER: Click to show

D Rank Undead Type Tai Master

SPOILER: Click to show

Sword, Short (Overview) x 2
Rank: "C"
Type: Main, Piercing/Slashing, Sword
Effect: A weapon with a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: A Light Weapon. These weapons do +6 Amour Points of Damage. A short sword is about 2 feet in length. Examples of Short Swords: Tanto, Baselard, Cinquedea, Gladius, Kodachi, Xiphos or even the Mechete.
Limit: These items may be bought inside any Weapon Shop.
Cost: 2,000 Ryo

[Jäger Beschützer]

As the zombie wielding the axe was blown away by his strike, Jäger found himself with a nice and quite indomitable weapon that weighed heavily in his hands, but did not inhibit his speed or power in the slightest.  As the attacked on his left approached, he stepped back from the strike, letting the two swords fail to strike him from their overhead strike, and left his head wide open for the Hoshigaki to counter against.  The blade would aim to remove the head from the shoulders, but attacking from above and down meant that the shoulders and arms would probably go with it.  Whatever these things were, it did not look like the usual powerhouse kind of approach was working.  With a firm grip on the axe he began to run, trying to get away from his position in the middle of the room, a completely indefensible spot.  There had to be some sort of cave system in the underground caverns that would get him out of here, as he could not combat undead creatures forever, they would eventually tire him out and overcome it.

Whatever was loudly skittering after him behind him could wait, he was moving at full sprint, praying that he would find an opening for his escape.  

[Father 'Suke]

Jäger Beschützer: Learned

[Y]

No rest for the wicked; but no luck for the weary.
Despite his best efforts to flee the scene to safety, it would seem that Jager went straight into a corner of the room. While this likely meant that the room was square, there was nowhere to run, and a vile beast of these strange place was on his tail. Not only because the monster with the short swords was still in pursuit, but because the other one who had no yet been seen in depth was back there in the dark somewhere, making his rounds in. The light was even worse in this corner, for the distance from the hole in the ceiling had been increased greatly.

The other beast caught up immediately as the Tai Master realized he was in a corner. While there was still space to run, it would put the man in a vulnerable spot between the monster and the wall. With two wild swings, one coming from the right which was a low swip, and one which came from the left and was a high, torso aimed blow, the shinobi would have to think very quickly.