'Clang'

Rei parried yet another slash from Yugito who was swinging Samehada at him. It was years since he held a sword and his wrists made this fact clearly obvious to him as they painfully protested every time Rei's and Yugito's swords clashed. ​​

In the past years, Rei was far too preoccupied to train so he mostly depended on his shadow clones. That, however, had its bright and dark spots. In things like Sealing, Ninjutsu, and generally, anything to do with knowledge and energy manipulation, he got infinitely better than he was before. The physical aspect, though, suffered.

It was not that he lost his muscles. They were nourished by nature energy and could not shrink or diminish. It was his muscle memory that became a problem. Funny thing... shadow clones could train muscle memory and to some effect, even transfer it to the user but Rei found out it was not reliable because the muscles of his clones were, in the end, not his and therefore his own muscles didn't learn anything.

Ergo the situation with his wrists and some other joints...

When Rei previously blocked with his sword, he always minisculely turned his wrist which would ease the power behind the clash. He did these things instinctively. Now, however... Rei had a really painful time after the first half-hour of the spar when he realized he forgot to do this and his wrists were screaming at him in pain for it. Jinchuuriki-powered Samehada was no joke to block, after all.

It was then Rei noticed his entire body moved somewhat off. It all laid in small details. His hips didn't lean to the appropriate side while he was slashing. His ankles didn't ease up to be more flexible and prepared to jump to either side. His abdominal muscles were a bit more tightened than necessary. His form was simply a mess.

'Well, not that anyone other than probably Tsunade and Konan noticed.' Rei thought as he deflected a downward cleave from the massive Samehada without even moving a half-step. The force behind Rei's deflection caused Yugito's body to fly back a few feet before she landed and slid on the ground to a halt, making her end up on one of her knees as she panted, trying to regain her breath.

Fortunately for Rei, Ringo was far too engrossed in her new forging project so nobody bothered to inform her there will be a sword fight. Something Rei was sure she would throw a fit at a later date. As long as she didn't see his atrocious form though, it was a win-win for him. He knew he would never hear the end of it.

"Being a bit less straightforward would help you a lot, Yugito." Rei said, causing Yugito to groan as the exact same words Ringo tells her when she trains her came out of his mouth. Rei, not really caring about her outburst, continued, "Samehada might be a bit too big and it surely prevents you from utilizing your max speed and numbness but that's just because you are too focused on a fighting style based on the type of your weapon. Yes, you have a two-handed cleaver in your grasp but you are Nibi Jinchuuriki with the natural grace, nimbleness, and speed of a cat. Use it. Samehada doesn't need more than a touch to injure anyway."

Yugito's eyes lit up. Ringo never explained what exactly she meant with those words so when Rei elaborated, Yugito was very grateful. She stood up, still somewhat shakily, and channeled her chakra into her body to prepare for another clash as a new plan formed in her mind.

Yugito dashed at Rei, hurling Samehada through the air towards Rei's right side. Obviously, her strike was easily deflected. Despite the massive size of Samehada, Rei could simply overpower her strike before she could get anywhere close to his body. Considering he didn't use chakra on his blade because of knowing Samehada would just eat it... yeah, Yugito was very resigned since be it Ringo, Rei, or whoever from Yozora, they had their own way of completely negating the biggest advantage of Samehada.

This time, however, Yugito gambled and her gamble clearly paid off. She used the force of Rei's deflection to spin her body in the air alongside Samehada, sending a kick at Rei's head, making him duck, and slightly disrupting his balance. The force carried her body and Samehada, making it spin and suddenly the blade that came at Rei from the right side was rushing at him from left with a momentum Yugito would never be able to create alone.

Rei's eyes widened at Yugito's plan as he realized he used too much power to deflect the strike. Depending on the power of the opponent's deflection to set up a follow-up attack was foolish because experienced swordsmen could simply alter the force behind their deflection, disrupting these plans. That most often than not ended with the idiot who tried impaled through his chest or head. But...

'The girl has the natural balance of a cat!' Rei cursed. Even if he realized her plan and countered it, Yugito would simply use her cat-like balance and nimbleness to find a foothold. Rei had to admit the girl really came up with something ingenious this time.

For the first time during the spar, Rei was forced to step back from his starting spot as he impaled the tip of his sword into the earth, barely blocking Samehada. His entire sword trembled from the power behind the slash, passing the impact to his arm which also slightly shook.

Rei noticed Yugito's body was still in the air but before he could counter-attack, she channeled her chakra into Samehada, making the shark-skin blade enlargen. Samehada shocked Rei by twisting its tip with the mouth around the blade of his sword, clearly aiming to take a juicy bite out of his side.

Rei quickly recounted his losses and jumped back to avoid being munched on by Samehada. His sword, however, was plunged into the earth so he had to let it go. As he landed, Rei sighed and shook his head, before looking at Yugito whose eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, happiness almost radiating from her.

'Yeah... I guess this time she deserves it.' Rei chuckled and nodded, "You win. I guess, you passed my requirement," He said and before Yugito knew it, Rei's sword that was next to her sailed through the air into Rei's hand via almost invisible chakra string. After all, letting go of his sword was one thing, having no way to retrieve it another. "But... there is still Ringo's requirement." Rei sternly reminded the delighted girl, causing her to pout.

"Quite rusty, eh?" Konan's voice resounded from behind Rei and before he could react, he felt her lean on his back as her arms tightly embraced him. "I think we are due some... exercises, don't we?" She whispered into Rei's ear, causing his body to stiffen...

'Wham' Tsunade's hand light-heartedly slapped Konan's shoulder, breaking the intimate atmosphere between Rei and Konan.

"Rei... I, on the other hand, think we should talk about the unnecessary strain you put your body through during the fight." Tsunade slowly said, her tone low. Needless to say...

"I think I am going to visit Ringo, hehe..." Yugito quickly realized she didn't want to be present for this and left even before finishing the sentence, not leaving Tsunade a chance to stop her and berate her for hurting her body during the fight. Yugito could feel her hips hurting from the last twist in the air she did and she had no illusions that Tsunade didn't notice. Thankfully, as a jinchuuriki, she didn't need a healer for such trivial injuries.

Just like that, Rei was left alone, gaping at being so easily abandoned in the clutches of...

"You are NOT going to fight with a sword against opponents of Yugito's caliber before you regain your muscle-memory, am I clear?" Tsunade firmly spoke as her hands gently grasped Rei's cheeks, and locked his head in place so he could not avert his eyes.

Rei could only smile at the concern Tsunade was showing for him as he enjoyed her warm hands on his cheeks. All three of them knew she was exaggerating and overreacting but... that was simply Tsunade. For her, Rei, Konan, Mei, Ringo, and Pakura were family and so she took care of them the best she could. And they loved her for that.

"Yes. I won't put my body through strain that even chunin can handle." Rei said in an amused tone, causing Tsunade to click her tongue at him.

"Smartass." She leaned forward, affectionately kissing him on the lips. "I know Konan wants to talk about some reports with you so I will be with my apprentices if you will need me. See you tonight, Rei." She one last time caressed Rei's cheek with her thumb before turning around and leaving with a skip in her step.

"You are in for some healing and sex tonight, I see." Konan chuckled, letting go of Rei before stepping back.

"I am honestly surprised she didn't order me to lay down so she can heal me." Rei shrugged. "But... what report?" He changed the topic.

Rolling her eyes, Konan took out a few documents. "The date for signing the peace treaty between Kumo and Konoha was set." She smirked at him knowingly, "Is that why you let Yugito win? You said you won't let her go and have her revenge before she makes you move in sword-fight and pass Ringo's stealth training... and here we are."

"And here we are," Rei repeated in a light-hearted tone. "Honestly, she was strong enough a year ago but..."

"But you wanted to be certain nothing could go wrong." Konan nodded in understanding. Yugito grew on them during the years. In Konan's perspective, she was... well, not-really a daughter but a bit more than a pet. Officially, Konan would refer to her as Ringo's apprentice or Mei's friend though.

"Doesn't hurt that the situation is extremely favorable. If we play our cards right, we might even get some cash for her enacting her own revenge." Rei hummed before his eyes landed on one particular report which made him halt.

Konan naturally noticed the sudden shift in his posture and tilted her head before noticing what he was reading.

"So the Third Mizukage was assassinated, huh?" Rei finally said with a detached tone. He had a lot of memories of bickering with the man and while they didn't exactly like each other, it was still a nostalgic feeling to remember those times. "Guess the swirly bastard wasn't much impressed with his plans to manipulate Yagura getting delayed because of the Third."

"Not that you were impressed either. I distinctly remember you destroying half of your personal training ground with fire that day." Konan quipped.

"Eh... can't fault me for that. My plans got delayed by years, ya know?" Rei shrugged, "It still isn't best. By now, the civil war should have been starting but because of that single intervention, it will take years for us to be able to collect some desperate bloodline clans from the Land of Water."

"The reports say he was run through with a blade from behind without him even noticing. Ironic, really. An assassin was assassinated." Konan mocked in her deadpan tone.

In a way, she was right but Rei knew Obito had a cheat-like bull for his Mangekyo Sharingan and the Third Mizukage was a marvelous schemer, assassin, and strategist but a head-on fighter he was not. At least not in the leagues of the Kages of his generation. Yet another reason why Rei stacked seal after seal on his territory to prevent nuisances like Zetsu or Obito from entering. Honestly, any space-time ability would not work on the territory of his Other-sided Village without being keyed into the sealing barrier... or ten.

"On a happier note... up for a shower and lunch?" Konan asked while licking her lips as her eyes wandered on Rei's body.

Raising his eyebrow, Rei's lips twitched, "Now that is an offer I simply can't refuse, can I?" He chuckled, giving the documents back to her before he grasped her hand, his mind trailing towards the enticing girl in front of him.

'Now that she mentioned it... I can take a break for a shower. Few hours won't kill anybody, right?'