The awakening of steel(Flashback/Self Only/Char Dev/Closed)

The wind whistled through Yaju's hair and dirt blew up making it harder to see his opponent who was standing no more than 5 meters away from him.  He had been separated from the rest of his team and had to take on this ninja alone.  It was a C rank mission to deliver a message from one brother to the other in order to fix their bond and re-establish their business together.  Yaju's team had been assigned to guard and transfer the letter because there were people who didn't want it to be delivered successfully.  If the letter never got delivered then the business would never thrive again which was great for its competitors.  When they were walking with the envelope they were ambushed by two ninja who caused a huge cloud of dust to appear as they attacked.  While Yaju's teammates were taking care of one of the ninjas, there was one all for him here to deal with.

Yaju's opponent had long orange hair and had blue eyes and although the bottom of his face was covered with a cloth, Yaju was pretty sure it was a male.  The man unsheathed what looked like a small version of a katana and put himself into a fighting position so that he could strike at any moment.  Yaju reached into his pocket and pulled out a kunai in order to block any potential attacks that would be heading his way.  Some people would think that they were in trouble when faced in a situation like this but Yaju was excited and his wide smile flashing his white teeth was a clear sign showing it.  It would have been boring if he were to fight this ninja along with his sensei and teammates.  The fact that he was able to take him on by himself was almost like an early birthday present.

I wonder if he is strong…

The man stuck his short sword into the ground and reached into his pocket quickly pulling out and throwing multiple metal shuriken towards Yaju. The man threw a couple to either side of him as well so that he would be hit if he tried to dodge as well. As the metal whizzed through the air Yaju ran towards the man with his kunai waving in front of him trying to deflect the projectiles before they could hit him. He blocked a couple of shuriken that were aimed at his face but one of them slashed his left leg as well as another which cut into the right side of his gut. They weren't deep cuts since they were only small shuriken but they began to bleed and would end up being a big problem for him if the wounds weren't treated soon. The man ran up to Yaju and tried karate chopping him in the neck. this was a taijutsu move normally used to finish off a foe by knocking him out so that they wouldn't need to kill him.

"Are you kidding me? Don't patronize me!"

Yaju dropped his kunai and countered the man's attack with a punch that landed square on the man's chin. The man stumbled back and fell to his knees for a moment; stunned from the temporary paralysis that hitting someone on the jaw will inflict. The man's eyes steeled over with resolve as he realized that he couldn't take the easy way out; he would need to kill this young boy. The man jumped back to where he was when the battle began and pulled his sword out of the ground, holding it like a samurai and focusing closely on Yaju's movements. Yaju stumbled and held his side as the blood from his previous wound still hurt him. He bent down slowly to try and grab the kunai he had dropped previously and in that instant his enemy disappeared from view.

The sound seemed delayed and he could only hear it after he experienced the pain. There was no avoiding the attack for it took place in Yaju's blind spot as well as being incredibly fast. His chest had been sliced open, the blood spurt out of him and splattered the ground as the sword finished cutting downwards. It could have been a lot worse for the man had only sliced across Yaju's chest as opposed to cutting him in half. Yaju wasn't sure if the man was strong enough to do that but the pain of the sword slash was the only thing he could think about. Yaju buckled down and fell to his knees as he grasped his chest. The slash had gone from his left pectoral down to his right hip and the wound was still oozing blood.

T-that was incredible! I don't know how he moved that fast but I need to find away to stop that sword of his!

Yaju slowly stood back up and put his fists up in the 'ready' position again and got ready to try and avoid the next attack. The man was already walking away with his sword sheathed once more and didn't seem to be interested in Yaju anymore. There were a few things that Yaju could have been upset about, like how he failed to stop this enemy or how he would attack his comrades next but neither of those were the reason.

"You think you're that great?!" Yaju yelled at him.

The man stopped walking and turned to face him. There was a look of no nonsense and suddenly he was in front of Yaju with his sword already mid swing. Yaju had thought he was ready but it was once again too fast for him to react. The blade had started at a 12 O'clock position and swung down to a 6 O clock and was aimed for severing Yaju's head off at the neck. Time seemed to slow down and Yaju couldn’t move his body but the one thing that kept going was his thoughts which raged within him.

Hell no! Hell no! Hell no! Hell no! Hell no! HELL NO!

The blade hit his neck at full force and Yaju's body rocked to the left from the blow. His head was still on however and he wasn't really even that hurt. Yaju looked over at the blade and there was a long crack along it from where it had hit the skin on his neck. His neck was a shiny black instead of it's natural tannish color.

"I'll crush you!"

Yaju wasn't a specialist in ninjutsu and he didn't control his chakra very often but he recognized the feeling as it surged to the point at his neck to protect him. Using his chakra he had turned the skin on his neck into a shiny black metal and it had deflected the blade and saved his life. His opponent took a few steps back and examined his now cracked sword and a look of shock was spread across his face.

Now experimenting with this new found power, Yaju began to use this familiar flow of chakra to focus on his hand. When he did this the skin turned into a shiny black just like his neck. When he removed the chakra from his hand it reverted back to normal and Yaju grinned. He could definitely use this to his advantage if it worked like he thought it did. He took a step forwards and pain shot into his gut from his previous shuriken wound. His small wounds were still open and his chest wound was still as painful as ever so if was going to make a move it would have to be soon.

The swordsman dashed at Yaju once again with his cracked blade and swung it horizontally towards his shoulder. Yaju raised his left arm and put it in the way of the blade while surging it with chakra. Black steel coated his arm and the blade shattered on impact, causing tiny pieces of metal to shower the ground beneath them. Yaju grinned and grabbed the man by the shirt with his left hand. He spread the black steel to his fist and his grip became even stronger.

So it protects me as well as enhances my strength huh? I feel a little slower with it activated but that is a small price to pay!

Yaju pulled back his right arm and as he punched the man in the face coated his fist in the black steel as well. He felt the crunch as the man's jaw broke and Yaju released him and watched him fall to the ground.

The man scrambled backwards using all of his limbs to try and get himself back on his feet.  This was a harder feat than it seemed however for being hit on the jaw was paralyzing enough to keep you down but not only had his jaw been hit but it had been shattered by the might of Yaju's punch.  The man's orange hair was now soaked with red at the tips from hitting his jaw which was bleeding profusely.  Seeing that his opponent was weakened Yaju started to walk towards the man in order to finish him off.  He walked slowly as to not injure himself further because even though he was winning the fight, he had taken some heavy damage earlier.

The orange haired man threw some shuriken out of his pocket towards Yaju but instead of aiming for vital points they had been thrown randomly. The man was tired and injured and his aim was less than ideal.  As the shuriken flew through the air Yaju coated his entire body in the black steel and when each flying piece of metal hit him they just ricocheted off harmlessly.  He removed the armor once more and made his way over to his now defeated opponent.

The orange haired opponent had almost lost consciousness and he could barely keep his eyes open to look at Yaju who was now standing over him. The crazed genin was baring a wide smile and his black armor crept along his skin as it covered his body once again. The man closed his eyes as Yaju slammed his black steel covered boot onto his neck breaking the bone and ending the man's life once and for all. Yaju fell backwards to the ground and his black steel receded yet again. He had just discovered that he had the power to use it and even though he could now use it with relative ease, he was still having trouble keeping it activated for long periods of time.

A wave of exhaustion swept Yaju's body as he finally realized how much trouble he was in. He had defeated his opponent through some kind of miracle but he was on the brink of death and he had no idea where his sensei or teammates were. Yaju closed his eyes and before he knew it he had lost consciousness. Luckily for him a few minutes later his sensei and the rest of his team arrived in the area. They had defeated and knocked out the other man who had attacked them and captured him. Quickly rushing over to Yaju his sensei performed some emergency medical ninjutsu in order to close up his wounds and save his life. Although he was out of immediate danger he was still low on blood and when he awoke he was in a hospital back in Iwagakure. They had successfully completed the mission and it was partially thanks to him. Yaju however was not concerned with the mission and he never thanked his sensei for saving his life. He now had a new weapon and he would train this black steel in order to become even stronger.