War and Peace (Takeda Training)

[Tsukino Seiko]

The first of the stars were evaded simply by chance to avoid one of the arrows, though didn't go unnoticed. It cut through several strands of her hair, causing the pupils of her eyes to narrow in recognition to what was being done. She wasn't so sure if she liked the difference in treatment now because it just meant more work for her. Physically, she was already at a disadvantage from the rest of the men.

The staff in her hand, she started to twirl with ease- as if she had done this many a times before, hoping that the stars would be deflected. Not much was done- some stars got passed, one even making a thin cut on her left cheek, while the others stuck to the wooden pole. The position of her hand on the pole switched, as if she were ready to throw it-- and she did. Straight into the direction where the stars were coming from, which is where Sasuke had been. It wouldn't be thrown hard enough for it to actually reach him, but she was hoping that he would be distracted long enough for her to make a mad dash to the finish, avoiding the arrows by moving in erratic patterns.

...

"Takeda army, form up! Well done everyone, you survived your first training day. But don't celebrate just yet. There will be more training days in the future, so prepared. But for now, you've earned your meal. Dismissed!"

She was exhausted. She was bleeding. She was tired. She wasn't hungry. So rather than going to grab her meal, she just wanted to find a place to nap. Ugh. First day of training sucked.

[Oda Nobunaga]

All participants receive: +3 Exp to distribute how they wish

AND

Mon of the Takeda: The symbol of the Takeda clan, bestowed upon those who have proven their worth among the Takeda ranks. +3 Str. Add-On Item. This item can be worn in any slot as an add-on. CANNOT BE SOLD OR TRADED.

[Takeda Shingen]

(OOC: For this second training session, anyone who wishes to join the Takeda faction may post as well. However, you cannot join this session if you have joined another training thread already. This will be submitted to a staff member for EXP and rewards once again, but the requirement for the rewards is you must have at least 5 posts of decent length, meaning no one-shot post or one-liners and that's it.)

It had been quite some time since Shingen had called together a large group training session, though unlike the last time, he was not waking up his army early in the morning. In fact, he stood in front of the tents at a relatively decent hour, about 8:30 in the morning. His arms folded across his chest, his giant axe on his back, he decided today was a good day to begin the second session of training, especially since the next day would be a day of rest, and like the first session, he would announce it with a loud boom of his voice.

"GOOD MORNING TAKEDA FACTION! IT'S TIME TO RISE AND SHINE, FORM UP IN FRONT OF ME!"

Though most of the members reacted with shock, surprisingly, a couple had expected it, and were ready almost immediately. After sending the men on the usual run, all of the men filed into formation in front of Shingen, as he would look them up and down, his arms folded across his chest. Behind Shingen, just in front of the entrance to the camp, stood one of the Six Wise Protectors, Sanada Masayuki. Nearly halfway across the campsite, on the opposite side of a lake gracing the area, stood Takeda Katsuyori, Shingen's son. Across from the lake, on the other side of the campsite, standing in the middle of a large bamboo grove surrounded by trees on all sides, stood Mochizuki Chiyome, the head priestess of the main shrine in Kai, and Sarutobi Sasuke, the captain of the Sanada Ten Braves. Lastly, located at the back of the campsite, a smooth stone platform supported by stone pillars could be seen, and upon closer inspection, would reveal the platform was riddled with hued out holes.

"A much better response time than the first training session, but we still have a long way to go. Each of you will start at the first area, training with General Sanada, and after all of you have successfully completed the exercise, you will be given a break, before moving on to the next area with my son, and so on and so forth, until you reach the last area where I will be testing you. Is that clear?"

"Yes Lord Takeda!"

"Very good then. Begin!"

[Yamabara Shou]

As the booming voice of Lord Shingen filled the the camp, Shou was on his feet in seconds. He had already been awake for the last half an hour. Talking casually with Captain Koboyashi. Like Shou the captain was also on his feet. The pair quickly roused the other men of the unit. Physically dragging the few unable to wake quickly  enough to there feet. Their unit wasn't the first to react, but they were not far behind. The men would be marched quickly out to Lord Shingen. Fully dressed and weapons on person, at the ready, as if this wasn't training drill. 

Shou smiled slightly, please with himself and Koboyashi at the praise from Lord Shingen. "Yes Lord Takeda." Shou would say with the rest of the men. Captain Koboyashi and Shou would lead the unit off in the direction instructed over to the training area where General Sanada was. 

[Sanada Yukimura]

Having been woken up well before Lord Shingen gave the wake-up to everyone by Sasuke, Yukimura would wake up the men of his unit not with a shout, but with an actual boom. As Lord Takeda's voice boomed through the camp area, Yukimura would rear his arm back and swiftly slam his fist into the floor, sending a quake through the ground to shake them all up and awake. As a majority of his men woke up and got ready immediately, he'd have to physically drag a couple out of bed to get them up, and after everyone was in formation, he'd stand at the front, facing Lord Shingen. Unlike the last session, today Yukimura would be partaking alongside his men, and if they thought the last one was hard, they were in for a treat.

Once Lord Shingen had given the itinerary for the day and dismissed them, Yukimura would head to the first training area, headed by none other than his own father, Masayuki. This was going to be interesting, to say the least.

[Takeda Shingen]

Once everyone was lined up in front of him, with his hands clasped behind his back and a piercing look in his eyes, he would drop to his knees and slam his hands onto the ground, as a ten foot high and four foot wide wall formed in front of them with small hand and foot holds scattered about it.

"Listen closely! For every person that does not make it to the top I will make it harder. If you take too long I will make it harder. And if you even so much as think I am being unreasonable, I will make it much more harder for you."

Straightening up and clasping his hands behind his back once more, as long as Masayuki continued to make contact with the stone wall, it would stay up, but he still needed to focus, because as the first soldier to climb the wall would find out, Masayuki wasn't just leaving the wall as is, as handholds started to vanish and reappear, shifting randomly throughout the wall. The first soldier attempting to climb the wall fell and the next one would find the handholds also disappearing from right under his hands if he took too long to move.

[Yamabara Shou]

Shou watched as the first couple of men tried to tackle the wall and fell. Noting that the handhold started moving. That was interesting. Shou turned to Koboyashi. "Try to make the men keep up." Shou would joke with the captain before rushing at the wall as and example to the rest of the unit. Rather then try to climb Shou leaped. Off the ground and pretty much at the wall, is right leg would kick into the wall, and push himself leaping upwards, arms out stretched.

The first thing in any situation is to look for a different method, rather then climb, he went for a more direct approached. It was that hard either, Shou arm above his head was only a few feet shorter then the wall. If it had been taller, this would have worked, but seeing as it was short he only needed a few extra feet from the jump and kick to grab on. Pulling himself up as quickly as he could, Shou stood atop it panting, pulling himself up had been the hardest part, that and how he had slammed into the wall after having grabbed it. Shou would then crouch down, ready to help the rest of Koboyashi's unit following his example. 

[Takeda Shingen]

As Masayuki watched and focused Shou tackle the wall, a smile would twitch at the corners of the General's mouth. Unlike the other soldiers who had tried to reach the top by climbing the wall, Shou utilized a different strategy. As Shou jumped towards the wall, a fist of rock would burst forth from beneath him, missing him by mere inches, and fists of rock would follow the courier as he scaled the wall in two leaps. Letting out a satisfied "hmph" as the courier reached the top, he would make the wall much harder for the others of Koboyashi's unit to scale, as fists of rock would shoot out and shift about the wall, aiming to knock them off as they tried to leap up and grab Shou's hand. If they wanted to get up, they'd have to think of another strategy.

[Sanada Yukimura]

Watching Shou's success at getting up the wall, as the line in front of him slowly grew shorter and shorter, soon enough, it was Yukimura's turn. Following Shou's example, Yukimura would go for a running start for the wall and leap towards it, grabbing onto one of the handholds. He'd then quickly swing himself to another handhold above him as that one disappeared, making sure to stay constantly on the move while moving higher and higher up the wall. With the constant movement and never staying in one spot for too long, though it took a lot of upper body strength to maintain his pace, in doing so, it allowed Yukimura to avoid all the stone fists his father bombarded him with, making his pattern just as unpredictable as his father's barrage. Quickly scaling the last part of the wall, Yukimura would pull himself to the top, breathing heavily from the physical exertion, but he had made it.

[Yamabara Shou]

It seemed General Sanada didn't like to have his test passed so easily, well that made sense. What was the point of training if it didn't challenge. Shou would rub his side, where one of the fist of stone had caught him on the way up. Looking down as the General made it even harder for the unit. 

The first of them tried to follow what he had done, only to be knock down to the ground. "Koboyashi, it looks like the General is trying to give us a hand." Shou said with a small laugh, hoping the captain would get what he was hinting at. Koboyashi spend a few second in thought, before the idea got across. 

The captain like Shou would move forward, as a example to his unit. However once leaping at the wall like Shou had more fist would attempt to stop him. However rather then be hit by them, the captain would grab them, or put his feet on them. The provided short term ledges, much better then the normal hand holds of the wall. However near the top, the previous fist, Koboyashi stepped on faded, and swung out a arm. Shou lent down as far as he could and grabbed it. Pulling the other man up, a few more fist trying to knock him off but being unable to. 

[Takeda Shingen]

A barely perceptible smile tugging at the corners of Masayuki's mouth as his own son managed to clear the test after Shou, the stone fists would disappear and reappear, attempting to take Koboyashi out as the captain made his run against the stone wall, just barely missing hitting him as he scaled the wall without too much difficulty. But with all these consecutive successes, it would cause Masayuki to up the difficulty for the remaining soldiers, and the stone fists would retract back into the stone wall, while the stone handholds he had initially formed, would remain and continue to shift about, lasting for no longer than a second, and any soldier that showed hesitation, would find a stone pillar come shooting out to slam into their stomach, knocking them off, before quickly melding back into the stone wall.

Likewise, any soldier that tried to emulate Shou's strategy would find a pillar of stone come shooting out just as they tried to heft their body up over the top, knocking them off. The general wasn't joking when he said he'd make it harder.

[Yamabara Shou]

Shou would see another of Koboyashi's unit get knocked down, as the general changed up his method to counter the tactics they were using to beat the wall. It caused Shou to frown, well no one said a good idea lasted forever. Shou would lean over slightly, using Koboyashi as a support to see how the wall was acting. The shifting hand holds would be moving with incredible speed. 

A strange sense of challenge filled Shou. Now that was something that would take a lot of skill to over come. He would watch as a few men of the unit failed even to get to the top, only 1 or 2 managed to reach them. Shou would wait until things were clear for him, and hop down. "Be confident, don't hesitate, commit, and do so quickly. Here you fall on your ass if you don't. In a real battle, you'd fall forever." Shou would tell the other men of the unit, before turning back to the wall. 

Shou would charge the wall again, but rather then his previous tactic he would tackle the task legitimately. Hands and feet darting out to grab hand hold. Struggling to turn a disappearing hand hold, into a side swing before the other shifted and grab at another. He actually spend some time just ensuring he didn't fall, gain no ground, before seeing a opportunity, where hand hold lined up well and rushing the last of the climb. Reaching the top, he was panting, his arms ached from the sudden pace of the task. Before dropping down the other side of the wall, and getting his breathe back. The men should be able to do it, if they tried, and if they didn't they would learn.

[Sanada Yukimura]

While the soldiers of Koboyashi's unit would end up being knocked off by his father's tactics to up the difficulty of his exercise, Yukimura's men would come up from behind and tackle the wall, some following Yukimura's strategy with varying degrees of success, while others would go for a different strategy than their General did, simply because they did not possess the upper body strength he did. As one soldier would approach the wall, he would glance up at the wall and Yukimura, who was perched up on top. The both of them locking eyes, giving a barely perceptible nod of his head, the soldier would jump up towards the nearest handhold, and grabbing hold of it, would push off from it and to the side just as it disappeared and a stone pillar shot out.

Quickly jumping onto the stone pillar, he would use it as leverage to get up to a handhold above him just as the pillar melded back into the rock, and would keep this strategy up, until he was just at the top, and instead of hoisting himself up over the top, would jump the last part, so he could avoid getting sucker punched in the gut from the stone pillar that would shot out. While the soldier had been scaling the wall, some of the other men had tackled the wall simultaneously, and would follow his strategy, keeping Masayuki's attention divided, preventing him from taking them out one by one. Shou wasn't the only one that came up with a new strategy it seemed.

[Takeda Shingen]

Watching as one by one, each soldier of the various units would manage to scale the rock wall and reach the top, once the last soldier managed to get to the top and then dropped back down to the ground, the rock wall would drop back down into the ground and meld back into it as Masayuki would straighten up, clearly exhausted from the intense focus and concentration he had put in to make the exercise difficult for them.

"Well done, all of you managed to get through and complete the exercise. Take a fifteen minute break, then report to General Katsuyori. And trust me, you will need the break. Dismissed!"

[Yamabara Shou]

Shou would pat a few men of the unit on the back, as the exercise came to a close. The General really wanted to test them, which was good. In the end though, they had all managed to preform admirable. However even though told to have a break. "I'll see you over there." Shou would quickly tell Koboyashi before he left the unit to it, and headed over to the next exercise in advance. Wondering what the next General had in store for them.

He didn't know if the next exercise would be something like the last. Not visible until the general brought it forth, however any form of additional information in advance was always nice. Plus it made him look eager to continue, not a bad thing in the eyes of his superiors. It was also a good example to set to the men. 

[Sanada Yukimura]

Congratulating the men of his unit on their success as his father wrapped up his exercise, the test had not been easy by any stretch of the word, which was what his father had been aiming for Yukimura was certain of. While he would command his men to take their well-deserved break, watching Shou wander off to the next area of the training regiment, which was under General Katsuyori's command, Yukimura would take a quick drink of water, to parch his dry throat, before making his way over to the lake as well, the General standing on the other side. Just like his father's exercise, this one was sure to be interesting and challenging as well.

[Takeda Shingen]

Glancing up upon seeing in the distance two men come walking over to and standing on the opposite shore of the lake, General Katsuyori would give the two men, upon a long and closer inspection, Yamabara Shou and General Sanada Yukimura, a nod of approval at their eagerness to train. Once the 15 minute break was over and the remaining soldiers had formed up on the shoreline, with his arms folded across his chest, Katsuyori would scrutinize all of them from his position on the shore on the other side of the lake.

"Listen closely men! For my exercise, you will be swimming across this lake to try and reach the shore I am standing on. But, you will be doing so in your armor, and you will not be allowed to remove a single piece of armor."

Pointing both his hands out towards the lake, all of the men would soon find out this exercise was not as easy as it sounded, and just as difficult as Masayuki's exercise was. The moment the first soldier dived into the water, waves would begin to buffet him, while the current would fight against him. Though he did his best to fight back, eventually he would end being tossed back onto the shore by the waves.

[Sanada Yukimura]

Once the other men had arrived and formed up, after General Katsuyori explained his exercise, the men would line up just as they had done for the previous exercise. Watching as one by one, the men tackled the exercise, only to be tossed back onto the shore by the powerful waves General Katsuyori controlled, soon enough, the line in front of his trickled away, and it was Yukimura's turn. With his training armor on, this exercise wasn't going to be easy, but Yukimura had an idea. Diving into the water, he immediately greeted by waves and powerful currents, but instead of trying to fight against it, he'd use the weight of his armor to his advantage, and dive below the currents and waves.

Using his muscular arms and legs to push his way through the water, he'd swim as far as he could before pushing his way up to the surface, doing a little jump out of the water, before diving down once more. Instead of diving below like before, he'd instead jump out of the water in intervals, to prevent General Katsuyori from pulling him under by the current and drag him back to the shore he started on. He'd alternate his strategy, making sure General Katsuyori couldn't predict which move he'd make, and with a powerful stroke of his arms and kick of his legs, would burst forth from the water, and land on the shore in front of him, exhausted, but successful. Now it was up to the men of his unit to either follow his strategy, or come up with one of their own.

[Yamabara Shou]

Shou's eyes would roll around behind closed eyelid as the General explained the task ahead of them. Swimming in armour was annoying slightly challenging but not as bad as it could be. Opening his eyes, Shou would see what happened when the first of them men lined up tried to tackle the lake ahead of them, only to be buffeted by waves, lift up and pretty much thrown out of the water. Shou sighed, at least the men were being prepared to come across the supernatural by this training session it seemed. Moving walls, and unnatural waves,. Shou made a mental note of the abilities of those leading the training session. 

Slowly Shou walked to the the side of the water. Watching the men struggle to fight against the wave. Once again Shou planned to tackle the task in a strange manner. Walking back again, Shou charaged leaping into the air. Using his burst of speed to clear as much of the lake as he could jumping. The less time he had to spend in the water fighting the waves the better, and while the cannonball leap didn't cut off much distance a little free head way was better then anything.

Swimming up, Shou broke the surface of the water, waves trying to push him back. Shou started kicking with his legs as powerfully as he could. While the weight of his armour, and now water logged clothes would slow him down, it also meant the waves would have a harder time moving him. It was a struggle to keep above the water and in the end Shou decided against it. Pulling in a breathe as deep as he could, he held it diving below the water and swimming down and forwards. Below the surface of the waves, the waves would be lesser. Unable to push him as easily, Shou would swim as her as he could eventually hitting the wall of the other side of the lake, swimming up, and panting for breathe Shou would crawl out of the water. Muttering to himself, through ragged breathes as he rung out his clothes. 

[Takeda Shingen]

As Katsuyori watched and focused on Yukimura tackling his exercise, unlike Masayuki, a frown of displeasure would appear on the General's face. Though he was older than Yukimura, it was clear the General did not take too kindly to his exercise being completed so quickly, and by the youngest General in the Takeda army no less. Making it much harder for the soldiers of Yukimura's unit to cross the lake, the waves would get higher and stronger, while the current grew stronger, dragging many of the men asunder, before spitting them back out onto the shore.

But despite the difficulty increasing, Shou would complete the exercise after many a men had been dumped back onto the shore, utilizing a similar but at the same time, different strategy. With yet another managing to successfully complete his exercise, Katsuyori would make it even harder for the remaining men, but instead of waves, the water would turn to calm. However, beneath the surface, the current had grown much stronger, and riptides lurked beneath, ready to drag the men down underneath and then toss them back out. They would have to figure out a new strategy to get across.

[Yamabara Shou]

Shou would continue to ring out his clothes, looking back at the rest of the Takeda soldiers taking on the exercise. Not many were succeeding for some reason, even though from first glance the lake seemed calmer no wave. That was somewhat odd. Focusing his eyes down on the water the rest of the world faded away from noticed. A smile of respect appeared on Shou's lips when his eyesight improved by his headband allowed him to pick out what was happening. Almost unseen current below the water were pulling people down and pushing them back, a unseen foe when it came to the training. Much like what Shou tried to be, a threat or task unseen was that much harder to face. 

However even now that Shou could see what the General was doing, Shou couldn't really see a way to advise the men to get passed it. One, he was on the other side of the lake, it was a long walk round, or getting wet again something he didn't want. And two, beyond decent strength and swimming skill there was not much that could be done to avoid the currents below from dragging them back, it was a force that ad to be over come not circumvented. Shou quickly started to jog off, to get back to the other side of the lake where he started, he may not have a solution but maybe some encouragement would push the men onwards. 

[Sanada Yukimura]

With about 99% of his men tossed back onto the shore that they all started on, with only one man managing to get across, and by utilizing a clever way to get across the lake, it was clear General Katsuyori was not happy that both Yukimura and Shou had completed his exercise so quickly. Taking a running start, the soldier used his spear to vault himself as far as he possibly could, and once he crashed into the water, as the current took hold of him and drag him under, before he could be dragged back and tossed out of the water, would coil himself up like a spring, and then push off of the bottom of the lake and come leaping out of the water. He'd then repeat this strategy to cross the lake, all the while, Yukimura giving loud encouragement to the rest of his men. Crossing the lake, despite the strong currents beneath the surface, could be done, they'd just have to think outside the box, as it were.

[Takeda Shingen]

With only one soldier managing to get across the lake, the others getting caught by the hidden currents and dragged underneath before being tossed back out on the shore, though it was petty and rather childish of Katsuyori to act in such a manner, he was only a year older than Yukimura, and was somewhat of a sore loser. Nonetheless, despite the fact he didn't like to lose, by making it harder for the other soldiers to complete his exercise, he was challenging them to not only think outside the conventional means of getting across, and in armor no less, but also physically toughen them up. Continuing to focus on maintaining the currents underneath the lake surface, he had already upped the difficulty as much as possible, any further would make it just impossible for any of them to complete, and that was not the point of the exercise at all.

[Sanada Yukimura]

With plenty of loud encouragement from their General, instead of losing spirit from constantly being tossed back out onto the shore, Yukimura's men felt greatly pumped up and spirited, and with a loud roar (influenced by Yukimura no less), they would tackle the exercise with vigor, and some would follow the strategy of their one fellow soldier that managed to get across, but changing it up slightly, as instead of leaping up from the bottom of the lake, they would give a powerful kick to break through the water and leap out like a dolphin before landing in the water, repeating the leaps to get across quickly and avoid being caught by the current.

As for the others, they would take off with a running start and leap into the water, before powering their way through the water, sticking as close to the surface as they could, to cross the currents below as quickly as possible. With this strategy, most would get across the lake, but there were still a few tossed back onto the starting shore. But it could be completed, and spur them on to get across the lake and move onto the next exercise.

[Yamabara Shou]

Shou would reach the other side of the lake once more, Still slightly annoyed about his wet state. He would also need to dry down his equipment. Prolonged exposure to water and air on metal wasn't best for the upkeep. Back where he started he noticed that some of the men had started to come up with a method for actually getting across. The way they moved put him in the mind of some aquatic animal , however he had no idea what. Animals and fish of the sea were not something that he knew much about. Unlike Sanada who inspire the men with shear personality, Shou used the idea of bribery to get Koboyashi unit tackling the task with everything they had. 

"I believe I have a couple bottle of Yamanashi fruit wine." Shou stated as if he wasn't really talking to the soaked dishearten men. "Maybe if we got this training over and done with quickly enough. Say prehaps 5 minute at most, i'd feel like opening a bottle." Shou would add, it wasn't subtle. The wine in question was a local delicacy, much much rarer then simple Sake and quite a bit more expensive as well. Only a few maker of in the direction of Mount Fuji actually made the stuff in current times. Shou watched a smile on his lips as, unlike some men who seemingly used technique to beat the tides. They tackled it with a sense of strength only a stiff drink, or warm women could really encourage a man to. All at once they would attempt, and while some fell back others didn't, while those that did get pushed back tackled the waters again without breaking. Eventually they would get lucky, the tide under the water would be in the wrong place as the moved in, and they would manage to slip passed.