Starring:
Date: July 17, 2012
Summary:
Some planning for the next day's lesson in underwater traps leads a ninja instructor to seek out an experienced veteran who may have some ideas of what kind of trauma to put the students through next.
"Old Knowledge"
Cold Springs (The Pits) - Kirigakure
The pits of the Cold Springs had seen better days, more people gathered in it, but lately most people had forgetten about it, foregoing the cold springs for that new tropical oasis found on the island. Not that the elder blames them, and he doesn't particularly mind the quiet place to meditate, but still, kind of annoying.
For now though, Takeshi was simply enjoying the quiet, sitting on a stone slab balanced over one of the spikes calmly. His eyes are closed, so it's probably some kind of meditation exercise.
Komachi has completed her lesson for the day. Underwater demolitions handling turned out to be a bit much for many of those she was teaching, but some did exceptionally well, and almost all at least LEARNED something from the experience. Afterwards, she had to go and disarm all the explosives remaining that had not been triggered as well as the ones that had been set by the students as part of the lesson. What kind of traps should she have them deal with next?
That is what she has come down here to determine. The Hozuki kunoichi has asked around, see, and has located someone who might have some experience with traps she can speak to. So as Takeshi meditates, Hozuki Komachi descends to join him on 'his level', so-to-speak, and then waits patiently until he takes notice. If she has to wait an hour or two hours or five hours, that's okay with her. She wants to relax a bit after that lesson anyway. But she won't wait six hours. She has to have some time to plan the next day's lesson, after all~!
So she stands, watches, and waits.
Takeshi is aware that someone has entered the pits and..appears to be staring at him. The old man is use to this, he's a kaguya that meditates, that alone is enough of a joke in itself, but this staring was more annoying, like they were going to keep doing it until something else happened. The elder's brow twitches and then he stands, moving over to the solid ground around the pits, the slab hitting the water with a splash.
He blinks a couple of times and looks towards the intruder. "Oh…You." Another teacher from the Academy. "…Wait, we had a staff meeting today…Well, it didn't take long for them to send someone after me for missing the meeting. Seriously, you'd think they actually discuss important topics at the academy staff meetings with the way they handle them."
Komachi wasn't expecting such an irritable response. She also wasn't expecting such a mild response either. Kaguya have a reputation, after all. She smiles faintly and bows her head a bit as she replies with, "Aa, I actually wished to confer with you about any knowledge you might have about underwater traps that I could use on my students tommorow. I'm doing a week of lessons on underwater warfare, and I've already done demolitions. You are said to be quite experienced as a ninja. If I am interrupting your meditations, however…"
Komachi bows a bit further, "Then I sincerely apologize. Perhaps we can speak another time, if so…"
Takeshi quriks a brow and then looks like he had a realization, "Oh, you're not here about the staff meeting. Right, right." He nods satisfied with that, "Oh? Underwater Warfare? Man, training sure is tough for kids these days. I mean back in my day, we just had to know how to slide a knife across a person's throat." Then a shrug, "But that's not important, you're here for my age. Let's see," The old man plops down, "One of my best friends is an old pirate. Helped me stage an assault for the younger ones as a test. Pretty interesting results. Underwater traps though. Assuming you actually want them to think they're going to die…I've seen several."
The old man pulls a sake bottle from his robes and sips on it, "The first is rocks. Underwater passages are typically not that stable. A good ninja can booby trap it so that even the water being moved by swimming will pop out a single rock that holds up the wall. Then there is always the underwater rope cage. Actually, the right rope can move through the water quickly. Additionally, a lot of people like to disguise cages in the water itself, usually over an entrance. When they swim in, the cage locks them in. Most shinobi can't deal with that."
Then another pause as he sips, "But I mean, underwater traps are hard to come back. Usually it's just water jutsu."
Komachi listens attentively, though also with a subdued expression. Then again, just about all of her behavior seems to be subdued. "Oh, no, thinking they are in danger of dying only works occasionally. I would not want to have an entire week of such a plot as part of a lesson. They would then stop believing the danger was real in the future and might not take the lessons seriously as a result. However, those are excellent potential traps."
Thinking to herself for a moment, one hand raises to tap a finger on her chin as she looks upwards. Eventually, Komachi says, "Water Ninjutsu is indeed what is more commonly encountered. Further, being that Kirigakure is in the Land of Water, it is what most would expect us to make use of. Therein lies the purpose of this lesson. Using what one is best at is easy, but it also means that one's enemies can more easily determine what one's typical attack patterns and skills will entail, and thus how to circumvent or defeat them. As an island nation, we have the opportunity to practice at and master means of warfare that the ninja of other nations would not. They simply would not expect such mundane traps and defensive measures in most cases, because it is beyond the scope of their experiences. Further, it takes no Chakra to plant sharpened poles in the sand near the beach, facing towards the sea. The very tides themselves would impale landing craft upon such a defense, requiring no effort on our part."
Eventually, Komachi returns her gaze to the Kaguya Elder. "It is exactly as you say. Water Ninjutsu is what we normally use, and in the past training was much simpler. We needed to know only how to kill. This shinobi world of ours is gradually evolving, however, and our methods of fighting wars are evolving with it. If we do not look for new and terrible ways to defeat our foes…" She smiles and shrugs. "…Then I would not expect our enemies to make that same mistake when facing us."
Takeshi sips at the sake and then offers it to her, "Drink?"
Then a shrug, "It is changing, that's why I retired. I'm better as a figurehead in my waining years, perhaps as a guardian. It's time for me to let the younger ones fight their battles and win their own wars. Protect their own loved ones. The position at the school was the only thing I kept, because someone has to teach them how to punch their elders in the face the right way."
Komachi shakes her head slightly as she politely declines the offer of a drink. "Then I shall rest easily knowing that we have your experience on-hand to continue aiding us. Thank you very much for your time and your ideas, Takeshi-sama. For now, I must go plan tommorow's lesson…" Then she bows slightly once more and turns to depart, with a wave over her shoulder as she goes. "Have a good day~."
