Apparently the 'class clown' not only had some artistic talent, but some special jutsu that allowed him to work that end of the business as well. Not to mention that he might be twelve, but looked a bit older, and had cords of tight muscle that moved under his skin in a way a teenage girl could find enjoyable.
The clang of metal against metal elsewhere though - that called to her. When she got to the front of the shop, she stopped and nearly forgot about the blonde weaponsmaker working in her father's shop.
"The various types of spears are made for specific functions," instructed the armored blonde girl as she twirled a polearm in one hand. "This is a modified boar-spear. See this bar here? Boars and similar targets will impale themselves on a spear like this, and try to push themselves up the shaft in order to get to you. This bar keeps them from doing that. The modification from a more typical boar-spear is in the head, as boar spears typically don't have this extension to be used as a chopping blade."
Tenten moved a little closer, her hearing not completely recovered yet.
"This is a halberd, best used for defending a home or castle," said the blonde as she picked another weapon from the stack and went through a couple of quick attacks with it. "Can be used as a spear, as a long axe, or as a military pick to punch through thick armor. This curve here is to be able to grab grappling hooks or ropes while remaining out of direct view of attackers."
"What about this?" asked Tenten, picking a weapon up and tossing it to the blonde.
The blonde in question let the halberd drop onto another stack of weapons then casually snatched the weapon out of the air. "Dai-kunai. A sort of traditional weapon, but actually fairly clumsy in execution."
"'Clumsy'?" asked Tenten.
The blonde threw it back. "Yes. The kunai was originally a masonry tool, combining the functions of a chisel with a trowel and plumb-bob. Kunai are serviceable weapons, but a dai-kunai is simply a scaled-up version of a kunai. Shortsword versions are unnecessarily heavy."
"Lots of people are strong enough to use them," pointed out some boy with obsidian eyes.
"There's still the effects of mass to consider," countered the blonde. "In a fight it will tend to pull you off balance and slow you down slightly. Whereas a sword specifically made for the purpose of fighting is lighter and therefore faster."
Tenten grinned and stepped up with the weapon ready. "Care to demonstrate?"
Sasuke watched as the girl with the twin bun hairstyle used the 'dai-kunai' to fight Saber. Who disarmed the girl within seconds.
Followed by twin-bun picking up another weapon and bringing it to bear. Followed by Saber blocking every attack and then doing a couple of attacks herself.
Within two minutes the two had cranked up the speed, and the twin-bun girl was breathing hard but looking almost ecstatic at the way the fight was going. Now they were using bo staffs and Sasuke could tell both were more than slightly proficient.
"Your rear leg is slightly too far back," pointed out Saber at one point.
"Better," said Saber after another two sets of attacks were blocked, and she nearly took the girl's head off with a whirling attack.
"Try this," said the girl, leaping up into a rotation that brought her staff swinging around.
"Flashy but easily avoidable," said Saber, counterattacking by driving the end of her staff into the girl's midriff.
"Urk," said the girl as the fight suddenly left her.
Saber waited for the girl to recover, her stance relaxed but ready.
"I... think that's enough for now," said Tenten as she regained the ability to breathe. "I'm Tenten, I'm the daughter of the shop owner."
Saber nodded. "Saber. I'm the replacement member of Team 7 while Sakura Haruno recovers."
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(Posted Thu, 30 Dec 2010 16:23)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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