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But it seemed whatever God was out there, Leviathan or whatever that lived several hundred feet below the waves, did not want him to get away quite that easily from the promise that bound him to the village... He heard another poof, and knew he returned to his own form. A sigh left his lips, as he looked back at the odd indents in the sand that eventually became human footsteps. His gaze was oddly thoughtful, even as the thoughts that ran in his head raged: six months...six months he had refused to practice Jutsu...why did he use one just now...?

Can't deny what's part of you.

A hollow statement, that he cannot deny. But... What was the point? He may only be a Student, but by this point he had a good enough idea of what the shinobi serving this village do. There was no honor in the stupid job, no redeeming lost honor of any kind, merely a prettier word for mercenaries. Might as well say the Students of the Academy, still innocent children, were being trained into killers for Kiri.

He was only a little away from the edge of the water now. He slipped off his shoes, before leaving them behind, he sat at the edge of the shoreline, dipping his feet in the icy, saline water. He winced a little from the cold. There was a soft n** at his foot, the claw of a young hermit crab. His brows crinkled.

"Shoo." Mumbled Inori. "Shoo, ok?"

He was going to kick the crab away, but instead rested his toe on its stolen shell. It was after all...the only other moving company... But he wasn't that lonely to miss Nero that much. Or was he? Was he seriously going to intend on humoring those old geezers whom wanted to play with his life?

He decided it was a stupid idea to want to live as a shell. The shell wasn't something alive.

"You are lucky, you know." He mumbled to the tiny crab still attempting futilely to escape.

He leaned forward, his face hovering just above the clear surface of the water.

"If I could be you...?"

Henge no Jutsu
Cp: 18/20
Chakra Control: 3
DC: 13
Formula: 1d20 [9] + 3 [Chakra Control]
Successes: 4/10

There was a satisfactory 'pop' and the next thing Inori knew, he was in the water with the crab. He coughed reflexively, spluttering, before scuttling out of the low tide as fast as he can. The hermit crab he had been holding hostage before, curious now, scuttled slowly after him. He ignored the critter, intent on removing the horribly saline water from his system. It was a rather indignant sight, a crab foaming at the mouth, but Inori didn't know that.

Ugh... He mentally groaned. He got the form of the crab all right, but he's missing something. Like what crabs use to breathe underwater? That voice in his head sarcastically provided. He didn't know what faces crabs make, but he certainly did make one. How was he supposed to know...? It wasn't like he studied hermit crab anatomy.

Slowly, he turned his body 180 degrees, and faced the...ehrm, original. An idea slowly popped into his head, and with another pop, the boy was back on the beach. He looked at the crab thoughtfully (who seemed rather stunned that its 'friend' was so suddenly gone). There was no way shinobi spent time studying every target's exact details using memory alone. There must be a fingerprinting of a more efficient method. Otherwise, the fake will get discovered by another more acquainted with the real object, right?

Henge no Jutsu
Cp: 16/20
Chakra Control: 3
DC: 13
Formula: 1d20 [13] + 3 [Chakra Control]
Successes: 5/10

The deadlock persisted for a few moments longer, until Mr. Crab relented, seemingly glad to see its "fellow crab" back. Or perhaps...it was curious...? Mr. Crab scuttled slowly forward, as if to examine Crab-Inori. Inori resisted the urge to scowl (what would a crab look like anyways with that expression?) as the original examined his form. It seemed to be a pass, because, the hermit crab, raising up one of its little claws, patted Crab-Inori's shell.

Inori fought down the urge to make a face.

With another 'pop', he returned to human form.

"I'm tired." He grumbled, before letting himself fall back on the sand.

Mr. Crab didn't seemed to be alarmed. Probably figured out where the other crab came from by now. Instead, it scuttled upwards towards where Inori's face was now, since his body all of the suddenly lengthened.

He shifted his gaze a little to meet the hermit crab's beady black eyes.

"You're weird." He murmured.

And then he closed his eyes.

"Staying here like that."

"Kokee." Answered the crab, as if in agreement.

His lips twitched into a small smile.

Henge no Jutsu
Cp: 14/20
Chakra Control: 3
DC: 13
Formula: 1d20 [3] + 3 [Chakra Control]
Successes: 6/10

As soon as he took on the crab's form, he scuttled with excitement towards the shore. With a light hop, he tumbled into the water, only to scuttle back out with horrid haste as soon as he realized he still couldn't breathe.

Crab-Inori was decidedly unhappy. He had even retreated into the inside of the shell to sulk. There was an occasional, annoying little knock on the shell...probably Mr. Crab, to see if he was ok. No, Mr. Crab, no. He was not ok. He had managed to produce gills now, but they don't work. How was that "ok"?

"Kokee kokee." Said the crab.

Slowly, Crab-Inori peeked out of the shell. Mr. Crab had little folds at the corner of his face... That was the gill part, he had managed to create that, folds and all. The problem is internal... And just how was he going to make a different respiratory system? This wasn't funny... He could end up hospitalized if the effects weren't reversible.

Henge no Jutsu
Cp: 12/20
Chakra Control: 3
DC: 13
Formula: 1d20 [12] + 3 [Chakra Control]
Successes: 8/10

He tentatively poked one crab-foot into the water. His apprehension was easily...understandable... He didn't want to find out that his idea didn't work.

"Kokee." He grumbled to the crab, though he had no idea what that meant in the crab language.

"Kokee~" Came the reassuring response.

With a crab-sigh, Inori plopped into the water. This time, the drowning feeling wasn't there... Well, it was still uncomfortable feeling something pour out of you, but at the least it didn't feel like his brain was running out of oxygen and fast.

With a poof of smoke, he returned to human form.

"Well, that ended well." He said beamingly to the hermit crab.

Come to think of it, wasn't he also a crab for quite a while now...?

He had passed the time limit too, eh.

Henge no Jutsu
Cp: 10/20
Chakra Control: 3
DC: 13
Formula: 1d20 [17] + 3 [Chakra Control]
Successes: 10/10

The fatigue really was wearing into his bones...

It was too disorienting to stand, so Inori remained sitting on the sand. That's probably why daily practice was recommended. Shinobi could not afford to get out of shape, especially for a common technique like Henge to wear them out so greatly. Of course, Hatsuyuki-chan mentioned too that chakra reserves expand with use, which was why those from long lineages of Ninjutsu masters had more chakra than the normal folk.

Well, he may not have particularly cared for Hatsuyuki's lessons on recovering from spiritual fatigue, but he was definitely wracking his head to try and remember now. Quite counterproductive it would be if he was stuck here in this position all day long, won't it? And even more troublesome if someone from the Academy was to come across him here...

Cp: 12/20

---

He tucked his feet into meditating position, and closing his eyes, remained quite still. The scuttling sound over the sand he couldn't quite tune out however, and he shot a withering look at Mr. Crab. He needed absolute silence to think, a definite disadvantage, but it was the situation that he worked best in. He'll worry about concentrating under pressing conditions when the time comes for him to be in such a situation.

"Kokee?"

Inori sighed.

"Don't they sometimes train here?" He asked the hermit crab.

Surely, Mr. Crab must've experienced some traumatic events, like Suiton mispractice, or something.

Cp: 13/20

---

He may not remember the specifics on chakra molding, but slowly and surely, he was able to gradually tune out the more distracting backdrop noise by focusing on the hum of the waves. It gave a certain peace of mind to him, and with better focus he could almost feel the gradual mixing of two distinctive forms of energy...replenishing his body... Weary fatigue slowly waned, becoming closer to stable strength.

Really not hard at all. He mused. Considering this was something he had not done for months.

Perhaps... This was what his mind was trying to tell him all along. This was part of him...something he cannot escape...

Cp: 14/20

---

It was interesting, because as he gradually regained strength, so did the feeling in his toes come back. Something about this chakra system must be very closely interwoven with the other body systems...nervous...circulatory too probably. Then, was it possible to damage people by hurting their chakra system...?

The disorientation he had experienced was due to a loss of chakra from maintaining the Henge. He could very well imagine how painful it'll probably be to have chakra ripped directly from the system.

Cp: 15/20

---

The afternoon weather here at the sea was also cooler, but chakra meditation kept his body warm. It was almost like an internal furnace, similar in some ways to the circulatory pathways. But while doctors can see the blood cells running in vessels, people can't see the pathways in which chakra run, which makes it even more interesting.

He couldn't help but wonder: what was the basic form of chakra like? If blood cells, and many other things, comprises of blood, chakra has to be made of composites too... The physical energy of the body from the cells, and the energy of the mind, seems too simple to describe something like chakra.

It didn't add up. Chakra was too intricately connected to life.

Cp: 16/20

---

The basic energy was probably something... More primal. More raw, if it enabled him to rearrange his internal system as he saw fit. Something that allowed the rearrangement of cells, or embellishments, into something they presently genetically weren't. But perhaps there was a base code from a long time ago, when all the species haven't separated out yet.

There was something about the Henge that served as of great interest to him, and that was the ability to change the form to mimic another. It seemed such a simple transmogrification, yet it denies much of the natural laws. Different from the Suiton used by much of the village, which is dependent either on the waters of the sea, or the ever-moist environment of Kiri.

Cp: 17/20

---

"Wish I had more books..." Muttered Inori. Many things he could tolerate, but the lack of books... That was difficult. He would like to research more about chakra, that was indeed a fascinating concept. Like why couldn't everybody use it. What was so different about people from shinobi bloodlines compared to the civilians?

It would be nice if he was in a better position to get the books he wanted. But Nero wasn't around Kiri anymore, it wasn't like he could just ask Hatsuyuki-chan to pick up some things from the public library. And he didn't really want to ask Hatsuyuki-chan to use her clan's library... He had the sinking suspicious feeling Nero was relegated to Yuki because they consider he was responsible for the other getting the "inexplicable urge" to skip class.

Cp: 18/20

---

Of course, they had to be so prim and proper. He thought unhappily. Even if he did have the good luck to run into Hatsuyuki-chan, she'll probably react with alarm: as to why wasn't he in class, considering he was technically in his sixth year already. Though really, considering what happened the one day he convinced himself to go check the Academy out... He didn't think it would be possible to muster up any desire to go there again.

Besides, all that would be there to see are boring teachers giving boring lectures... That is if they don't give a scroll and let you do things on your own anyways. So, what's the difference? Only one form had a baby sitter. The other was truly freedom to learn at whatever pace he desired.

Cp: 19/20

---

He was rather hungry... Perhaps it was time to try out his new technique in a, say, actual situation. A thought came into his mind: Nero may have been gone to Yuki, but that didn't mean he couldn't have come back. Perhaps he could borrow his friend's form... Surely the aristocrats won't mind another bill to their tab, they had plenty of money anyways.

"Wanna come along?" He asked the crab, holding out his palm for the hermit crab.

"Kokee?"

Without waiting further, he scooped out Mr. Crab, and placed him on his shoulder.

"Let's go, then."

He slipped on his shoes, and then made his way out of the beach.

((exit))

Cp: 20/20

[11+39=50]
Masaraku raised up another wave, carefully minding the center platform, keeping it flat so that she could ride the wave to the top and attack from it. She was happy to finally be learning this jutsu, and she knew that soon it would be time to step onto the waves and ride them. She had to admit, she was a little scared of the idea.

[11+39=50]
She sent the wave forward and began to concentrate on keeping it level as she sent it forward. Every move she made now had to take the future into consideration, and her future was going to be riding on the top of that wave. She let the previous wave go and began raising the next wave. She raised it up, perfectly level and held it, raising it up like a wall.


[4+39=43] FAIL
The wall of water before her had been pushed up to straight, when she sent it forward, the middle went forward, but the top of the wave cam crashing down on top of Masaraku, taking her out into the ocean until she got her bearings again. She swam down into the water a little ways before swimming up and jumping out of the water, activating the chakra on the bottoms of her feet as she exited the water and landing once again on the waters surface.

------------------------
Suiton: Bakusui Shōha (Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave)
Stage I: Chakra DC 20 {d20 + chk mod} Creating or gathering extremely large quantities of water for a technique.[+16] [10/10] 12 rolls
Stage II: Chakra Control DC 45 Launching the water into a wave. [+39] [9/10] 16 rolls
Stage III: Dexterity DC 15 {d20 + dex mod} Riding the wave while maintaining balance.[+8] [0/10]
Stage IV: Ninjutsu DC 40 Launching an attack while the wave hits.[+34] [0/10]

Hidan: Kenjin Heigou (Hidden Art: Human Blade Merge)

Samehada merges with its wielder, merging their chakra systems, abilities, and increasing his overall physical abilities. The resulting creatures greatly resembles a practically perfect human/shark hybrid and is particularily effective in underwater combat.
Cp: 150 Cp
Dice Rolls: 5
Damage: Regular weapon damage.
Reflex DC: n/a
Requirement: Samehada 40, Chakra Control 40, Chakra 45, Ninjutsu 40.
Training: 5 stages
Stage I: Samehada DC 50, Studying the weapon's internal chakra systems.
Stage II: Chakra Control DC 50, Synching your chakra system with the blade's to prepare for a merge.
Stage III: Chakra DC 27, Flooding the blade with your synched chakra until it's chakra is indistinguishable from yours.
Stage IV: Ninjutsu DC 50, Controlling the merge so that the two physical systems perfectly harmonize with each other.
Stage V: Samehada DC 52, Familiarizing yourself with the new body to devellop combat efficiency.
Special:
*The blade and the user fuse into one being allowing the user to instantaneoulsy use any ability of Samehada.
*The chakra reserves of the blade and the user become one and the same.
*While underwater, increase [Base Attack Bonus], [Dodge Bonus], [Reflex], and any check related to underwater movement by [(Samehada - 10) / 2].
*Increase all checks to detect or identify targets who have chakra (basically anything that is a jutsu or alive) by [(Samehada - 10) / 2].
*Any physical contact with the user causes chakra damage to the individual touching him as though he or she had been struck by the blade.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stage 1: Studying the weapon's internal chakra systems.
DC: 50
d20 + Samehada [40]
04/10

d20 [08] + Samehada [40] = 48 (pass/fail)

Hiru wasn't completely sure how such a feat could be accomplished. It didn't appear to be the same basics as an usual combination jutsu in which the two users must fuse their bodies together into a new being. In a way, it would prove a bit harder since there are usually two people channeling the technique and helping each other. Here, Samehada, for all it's strengths, cannot mould chakra.

d20 [03] + Samehada [40] = 43 (pass/fail)

Looking at the blade and trying to get a feel for its physiognomy, Hiru tried to understand how he could proceed to reproduce the same principle himself and devellop what was most likely this legendary shinobi's signature technique. Samehada was basically a beast covered with razor sharp scales which had the property of draining chakra. It was notably from these that were spawned the Samehadamakus that each Hoshigaki shinobi is granted.

d20 [01] + Samehada [40] = 41 (pass/fail)

As he pondered further, he realized it was probably in that characteristic that lied the key to the effectiveness of the jutsu. It isn't so much a fusiion as an alternate form of equipment. The blade seems like it does fuse with the user but really mostly covers his body like a coat. Given Samehada's apparently limited consciousness, however, this technique would require a great amount of skill and fundamental knowledge of the weapon's inner workings.

d20 [19] + Samehada [40] = 59 (pass/fail) [05/10]

Hiru unsheathed the blade from his back and held it in front of himself. With his free hand, he delicately stroked it (in the direction of its scales of course) to get a feel of how chakra actually circulated inside of it. Unserstanding its properties would be primordial into learning how to properly merge with it, even if only partially. As his hand glided on the scales, he paid special attention to the way its chakra felt under his palm.

d20 [01] + Samehada [40] = 41 (pass/fail)

Very slowly, he started getting a feel of where its main chakra channels were placed. They seemed to be irrigating each scale individually, but the largest appeared to be situated in the blade's main trunk. He realized this as he could feel the delicate drain in his chakra becoming stronger as he got closer to its core, and weaker as he brushed more delicately against individual scales.