Chapter 24- Spar

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Yama and Kakashi walked out to the training grounds and positioned themselves atop one of the dueling platforms.

The two shinobi settled into their stances.

Kakashi was light on his feet, his legs somewhat crouched, and his hands held high, protecting his face and torso. His left foot and fist were forward in the standard orthodox stance for right-handers.

Yama was more upright, and his feet were solidly on the ground, his weight a bit further back in his stance than Kakashi. Yama had both hands clenched into fists. His left was held forward, his arm almost 60% extended, while his right has held low, a few inches from his belly button.

Most of the kids were inside, enjoying their lunch, but there was one witness. Iruka had left the classroom to be alone during lunch and went outside.

He was sitting by himself under a tree, not too far from the dueling platform, but not that great of a view either.

Kakashi spoke to Yama.

  "It's just taijutsu, right? Why don't you show me what you can do? I'll moderate my strength and speed."

Yama smiled.

  "Much appreciated Kakashi."

With that, Yama closed in on Kakashi. Kakashi was somewhat surprised with his speed. Even though Yama was unable to mold chakra, he was able to maintain high genin level speed. If you take into account the armor hidden under his loose pants and jacket, it was quite a feat of strength to move like that under such a burden.

As soon as he was within range, Yama threw a hard right straight at Kakashi's face leading into further strikes and combinations, all of which were evaded by the agile Kakashi.

Kakashi retreated at first, trying to gain distance, but Yama was mirroring his movements well. As Kakashi retreated, Yama advanced, and as Kakashi tried to circle out from the edge of the platform, Yama would circle the same direction.

Before long, Kakashi found himself in a corner of the platform and forced into meeting Yama rather than evading.

Kakashi started to throw strikes of his own, but was soon irritated with the way that Yama fought.

Whenever Kakashi threw a blow, Yama would block it with extreme prejudice, meeting him halfway through the strike, always with the hardest part of his body.

When Kakashi threw a jab, Yama would block it by hitting his forearm, sometimes with an uppercut from below, sometimes with a knife hand strike from above, often with the edge of his own forearm.

A straight would be blocked in a fairly similar manner, with Yama focusing on throwing blocks as hard as one would throw a blow of their own.

Kakashi was soon extremely uncomfortable, especially considering that Yama had metal armguards on and was not hesitating to use them whatsoever.

As Kakashi started to mix it up with hooks and uppercuts, Yama started to incorporate more blocks with the point of his elbow and Kakashi found himself having to pull some of his blow to avoid punching directly into Yama's elbow.

Kakashi started to throw more kicks, but it was futile as well. Yama met each kick that he could with shin on shin contact. Sometimes he would block with his knee, and if the kick high enough, his elbow.

No matter how Kakashi mixed it up, Yama's defense was near impregnable and extremely uncomfortable to go against.

Yama started to speak during the spar, much to Kakashi's displeasure.

  "This is the Konoha Strong Fist. It is a great choice to fight someone on equal grounds. It focuses on heavy strikes with the hardest parts of one"s body.

  As one continues to fight, one's opponent will accrue more and more damage on their limbs and body from aggressive blocking and hard contact.

  However, it is simple. Nothing is hidden, and if one practices this style and finds themself against an enemy that is stronger than them, they will find it almost impossible to reverse the situation.

  That being said, for an enemy weaker or on parity with you, they will also find it almost impossible to turn the tables on you.

  Furthermore, it is a style that require great preparation. If one does not temper their body well, they will find that they hurt themself more than their foe."

Kakashi's mouth was slowly turning into a frown.

  "I am well aware of what Konoha's Strong Fist is like. I can tell you that I fight one of its greatest practitioner's each morning.

  Furthermore, I can tell you that it is a style that is somewhat unsuited for genin and lower class shinobi, because they will often meet those who outstrip their strength.

Kakashi dashed back into the fight, but this time he started to flow more of his chakra through his body, toughening his body, deadening the impacts between him and Yama.

He slowly increased his strength until he was blowing through Yama's blocks and making contact on his body.

In the background, Iruka started to pay more attention to the spar between two of his instructors and started to move closer to observe.

Kakashi continued his assault on Yama, breaking through his defense with pure strength, eventually tagging the man in his chin and knocking him to the ground.

Yama simply laughed and stood back up while rubbing his chin.

  "Right you are. Strong fist is almost useless against someone stronger than yourself.

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  Which is why there is also the Soft Fist."

As Yama spoke, he settled into a new stance. His hands were now open and his weight a little more on his back leg. His palms faced Kakashi.

Kakashi charged back in, striking with greater force than a genin would be capable of, solidly in the chuunin level.

However, Yama was not perturbed in the slightest.

While he had focused on confronting Kakashi blow for blow earlier, now he was focusing much more on evasion.

When Kakashi threw strikes that Yama could not evade, Yama would deflect them rather than block them.

Yama focused on blocking from the inside on Kakashi;'s strikes, often using the back of his hands and forearms to guide Kakashi"s blows away from their intended target and off course.

Kakashi soon found himself not making any meaningful contact with Yama, even while employing chuunin level strength in his fight against the man.

After several exchanges were completely neutralized, Yama started to throw blows of his own.

Each and every one was a lethal threat.

Knife hands aimed at the side of the neck, elbows aimed at the back of the head. Spear Hands aimed at the larynx. Kicks to the groin.

Each and every strike that Yama threw at Kakashi was aimed at something vulnerable. Joints, nerves, organs.

Kakashi was immediately stopped in his assault.

Yama continued to lecture.

  "This is Konoha's Soft Fist. It is no less lethal than the Strong Fist, and do not mistake its name for weakness.

  It focuses on pinpoint strikes to areas that would deal massive damage.

  Unlike the Strong Fist, it does not require immense strength to practice.

  However, it does require some speed and knowledge.

  While the Strong Fist requires tempering one's body before hand, Soft Fist requires years of experience to accurately target the enemy."

Yama and Kakashi once again broke apart and maintained their distance.

Kakashi replied.

  "You must know the weakness of the Soft Fist then?"

Yama nodded.

  "If the enemy is much faster, its useless."

Kakashi charged back in, this time upping his speed. He was now fighting Yama with the speed of a chuunin.

And Yama was completely right. Now that Kakashi had upped his speed, Yama's blocks and strikes were wholly ineffective.

Kakashi once again knocked Yama down.

Yama stood back up, still sporting his smile.

  "When outmatched in speed, use the Interceptor Fist."

And Yama charged back in, trying to maintain his disatnce as close as possible to Kakashi.

  "When someone is much faster than you, distance is actually the enemy. It lets them build up speed, and it lets them maneuver around you.

Yama did his best to stay inside Kakashi's guard.

When Kakashi was close enough, Yama would preemptively strike in order to minimize the damage he took.

As soon as Kakshi would punch, Yama would try to meet him with a mirrored movement that would stop the blow before it built up speed and power.

When Kakashi lifted his leg to kick, Yama would throw a small kick of his own, aimed at Kakashi's foot or shin in order to stop it.

The less distance and time that Kakashi had to accelerate his blows, the less they would injure Yama when they did inevitably hit.

As Kakashi distanced himself, Yama would get at least one blow on Kakashi. As Kakashi entered Yama's range, Kakashi would get hit at least once. When they were close to each other, Kakashi would overwhelm Yama with strikes.

For every strike that Yama got on Kakashi, Kakashi got at least three on Yama. However, Yama was avoiding most of the damage.

Speed was king.

Yama continued to speak.

  "The Interceptor Fist isn't a very good style. It turns a battle of technique into a slugfest.

  By striking your enemies strikes before they can build up speed, you lessen their impact and force.

  This style is meant to neutralize the playing field.

  If you can take more damage than the enemy can, and you can outlast them, you might win.

  However, its best to use this style to delay and wait for backup.

  It will be slow and painful, but its better than dying fast.

  Furthermore, this style takes even more experience to use effectively than the Soft Fist because you ability to identify feints is even more important.

  Against an enemy that outspeeds you, taking a feint as real is a death sentence.

  By the time you have enough experience to use this style effectively, you have usually either died or become strong yourself.

  Its a style for the lucky and for geniuses."

Kakashi broke off from Yama and recentered himself.

His father had once taught him the Interceptor Fist when Kakashi was still a child and had given him almost the same exact speech.

Kakashi closed his eyes and calmed himself before speaking.

  "What do you do if your enemy is far stronger and far faster than you?"

As he asked Yama, he fully roused his chakra and prepared to use his full strength and speed against Yama.

Kakashi begrudgingly respected the man.

  So he wasn't full of shit when he said he learned the styles.

  I would hate to see what kind of monster he could've become if he wasn't crippled.

  Maybe he was a taijutsu specialist as a genin? It would explain his strength and speed that he maintains without chakra.

  I hate to admit it, but his taijutsu is damn near flawless. His only flaw is that he is weak.

  He isn't fast enough, and he isn't strong enough.

  But he is definitely hard enough.

  He didn't flinch a single time, his eyes were open the entire time.

  Even when I made contact, he never took his eyes off of me.

Yama pondered the question while he and Kakashi maintained a few yards of distance between them on the dueling platform.

  "Strongest and Faster? What do you do then?

  Easy, run."

Kakashi performed a quick shunshin to right behind the man and struck out with the edge of his palm, aiming at Yama's neck.

Kakashi was surprised when the man ducked to doge the strike before jumping away and getting back into his stance to face Kakashi once again.

Yama continued.

  "If you can't run, then you counter."

Yama, who had kept his body loose the entire spar so far, started to tense himself.

Kakashi watched as Yama settled into his stance once again.

Yama bent his legs and got into a a lower stance than any before. His left hand was held out forward and low, as to not obscure his vision. His right hand was chambered at his right hip, somewhat hidden from any enemy that would be in front of him.

Kakashi could tell even through Yama's baggy clothing that the man was tensing himself like a coiled spring.

Kakashi found himself tensing almost involuntarily. The air around Yama had changed. What had once been a comfortable and casual atmosphere had hardened and sharpened.

Yama looked directly at Kakashi, and his hard, blue eyes stared straight through him.

Kakashi found himself somewhat on edge.

  There is no killing intent, but this level of focus...

  Older Shinobi are something else. He has the same air that Sandaime-sama has every once in a while.

  Older ginger really is spicier.

Kakashi at full speed. In the split second that it took to approach, Kakashi noticed something that he really did not like.

  His eyes are following me.

  Can he actually see me at this speed?

Kakashi continued to charge in, and as he closed in, he struck out with his right palm, aiming at Yama's heart. It was the taijutsu equivalent of chidori. Linear, fast, and all power devoted to penetration.

He would have to pull the blow in order to avoid hurting Yama.

At the very last second, he stopped in place, his hand hovering over Yama's heart.

Yama looked down at Kakashi's hand and took a step back before making the seal of reconciliation.

  "And if you can't counter, you die."

As he stepped back, his right hand finally came into Kakashi's view.

It had been hidden in his blindspot on his left hand side. Kakashi was frozen in place.

Yama had timed the attack perfectly and kept it out of sight the entire time that Kakashi had him in view.

Kakashi straightened his stance and also made the seal, thus ending the spar between the two. He however remained a bit frazzled.

  Yama would have at least knocked my block off with that blow.

  Just like when I first used Chidori...

  Shit.

Kakashi frowned as some awful memories were dredged up.

  "I'll be back, Yama."

And with that, Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving only Yama on the platform.

As the spar progressed, Iruka eventually ended up ringside, watching the two instructors go at it.

Iruka ended up being entranced. The speed and strength that Kakashi ended up employing by the time the spar finished had won his attention.

It was Yama though that enthralled him. His parents were ninja, but he had never seen anything like what he just saw.

Through pure technique and experience, Yama had held his own against a far stronger opponent. It was almost unheard of in the Shinobi world.

Yama turned to face Iruka, and Iruka finally made eye contact after hiding his face for the past day.

Iruka's eyes were hungry and he stared at Yama with full force.

Yama gave him a small smile before asking.

  "Finally got your blood boiling, huh, Iruka?

  I can teach you if you want to learn."

Iruka continued to stare a hole in the man.

  "Can you make me strong?"

  "Yes."

  "How strong can you make me?"

  "How strong do you want to be?"

Iruka's eyes had started to tear up, but he didn't break eye contact with Yama.

A sleeve came up to wipe his eyes and obliterate the tears before they fell.

Iruka's answer followed.

  "Strong enough to never lose anything ever again."

Yama's smile turned down just a little. It was still there, but just a little more subdued.

  "I can't do that, but I can start you on the path."