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 Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 9:23 am
Nemu demonstrated the hand sign patterns what felt like a hundred times; although in fact it was only seventy. Finally, after her fingers began to feel just the faintest bit numb, Sagi let her stop. Shaking her hands slightly, she winced ever-so-slightly as the blood circulation resumed it's normal flow.
Now that she had the pattern down, Sagi seemed ready to teach Nemu the actual chakra part of the skill. He stared at her for a moment, as he gauged her strength and amount of chakra. He didn't use a technique for this, just experience and years of practice in isolation. He finally came to his conclusion, and told Nemu approximately how much of her all she should put into the technique.
From there it was straight to the demonstration once more. This time, Sagi would actually perform the jutsu, instead of just the motions or just saying how it worked. Nemu remarked inwardly on just how patient he was, he was certainly making this lesson take it's time. But that was fine, actually it was better that he took longer than other teachers. That way, if she fell asleep, she might not miss as much.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Nemu watched as Sagi performed the Art of Substitution. First, he performed it just standing there. It seemed he transformed into a dead log, until he stepped out from behind a nearby tree. For the next example, Sagi had Nemu pick up a few small stones from the forest floor to throw at him, to show the timing involved for avoiding projectile attacks.
Nemu picked one stone up, readied herself, and waited for Sagi's signal, which never came. Instead, he told her that ninja had to be prepared for surprises, so she should throw when she wanted, not when he'd expect it. No sooner had he said this, then Nemu tossed a rock at him. Not very strong, or fast, but it would serve it's purpose. Just as it bounced off Sagi's arm, a puff of smoke obscured him for a second, replacing him with that same branch.
(Art of Substitution: 3/4)
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 9:35 am
Sagi performed the Art of Substitution several more times, with Nemu throwing the stones harder and faster. One time she even threw two at once, which almost managed to surprise Sagi. The end result was the same, but Nemu felt proud at her bit of improvisation.
Finally, it was time for Nemu to try the technique herself. She got to her feet, dusted off the leaves and such that clung to her clothes, and got ready. Sagi declared she'd perform the jutsu under fire, brandishing a small pouch of acorns. Nemu felt a bit nervous at this, but still prepared herself, doing the hand seals a few times to make sure she remmebered correctly.
Without warning, Sagi let loose an acorn! Nemu panicked and ducked; the acorn flew just over her head. Blushing, Nemu apologized, wanting to be ready for the next one. And ultimately failing, as it bonked her right in the forehead during her apology. She began to catch on then, and started watching Sagi closely, waiting for just the right moment...
There! He just shot an acorn at her, now was the time to act! Nemu quickly did the hand seals, using the level of chakra Sagi had told her, and... Got hit with another acorn. She tried to figure out what she'd done wrong, when Sagi pointed out she had forgotten the very last hand seal. Nodding, she still kept an eye on Sagi, so she wouldn't be caught off-guard again. And with good reason, for there was already another acorn on the way. She did the hand seals again, used the same amount of chakra, and chose the target that would be switched with her.
This time it worked! Nemu looked around curiously, she'd shifted a good ten feet to the left. Just then she heard a faint 'thunk' as the acorn hit a small log. She did it!
"Very good, Nonohara. I see you have some skill. Would you like to continue your lessons here with me?"
Nemu thought for a moment. It was peaceful here, almost too peaceful. She knew she'd keep falling asleep here even easier than at the academy, but maybe that was training too? But it kind of felt...
"Zzzz..."
Sagi chuckled a little as he saw Nemu drift off to sleep once more, slumping against the tree she'd appeared next to.
(Art of Substitution: 4/4 complete!)
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 9:51 am
When Nemu woke up, a tantalizing arome wafted to her, catching her attention. Perkign up, she looked around. The first thing she noticed was the unfamiliar surroundings, she'd never seen this place before. It was a single room cottage, with very rough design. Through the open window, she saw forest, and finally pieced together where she was. She had to be inside Sagi-sensei's house.
"Ah, awake again. I see you do fall asleep quite a bit, don't you?"
"Um, yes, I try not to but it keeps happening. It really seems to slow down my training."
"That's hardly something to worry about, you shouldn't be in such a rush to complete your training. You'll become a ninja when you're ready. Now, it's getting kind of late, would you care to join me for dinner.?"
Nemu nodded, she didn't know what food it was, but it smelled absolutely wonderful. It would appear Sagi was quite the good chef as well as a ninja. She sat up straighter and moved to the small table with Sagi, sitting down opposite him. Looking down, she was a bit surprised by what dinner would be. Vegetable medley soup, plain rice, and steamed vegetables?
Sagi noticed her surprise and spoke about his time as a mountain ascetic, complete with full vows, which included eating no meat or fish. Nemu nodded, somehow that made sense with his personality, his tranquility had kind of reminded her of some holy men. Even as plain a meal as it was, it still smelled wonderful, so the two of them dug in. As they ate, Sagi mentioned how he believed Nemu could stand to learn some further skills. Not techniques per se, but skills that would help her focus and better control her abilities. This made sense, so Nemu quickly agreed. They decided they'd begin immediately after dinner.
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:00 am
Once they'd finished eating, they both stepped outside, and Sagi led the way to a small clearing, where several large, flat stones were spread out evenly. Sitting down upon one, he motioned for Nemu to take another. She did so, and he began. They would be practicing Meditation. A simple matter that let the mind center itself, that enabled someone to make clear decision with a heart unswayed by outside forces or emotions. Such a skill could be invaluable in the long run.
The first step was to clear the mind. Nemu closed her eys, and tried to empty her head of thoughts. Visualizing her thoughts as parcels, she dropped them into a black abyss, until finally there were no more parcels. Finally, she sent that idea down as well, and the abyss collapsed on itself, leaving her in blackness.
Sagi was impressed. Meditation was usually hard for younger ninja, but Nemu seemed perfectly suited for it. The sheer amount of calm she was manifesting was staggering; had she practiced it before?
"Zzzzzz..."
Oh. Sagi almost laughed at that, perhaps she was too good at meditating? Sleeping didn't really count, but at least she was on the right track. Slipping into the proper forms of meditation, Sagi awaited Nemu's awakening.
(Meditation: 1/3)
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 1:02 pm
After Nemu woke up, they resumed training. Meditating was a lot harder than it looked, keeping the mind clear without falling asleep. But Nemu kept at it. Finding the proper balance of peace and alertness wasn't easy, especially for her, and after popping in and out of sleep and wakefulness several dozen times, she grew a little frustrated.
"This is rather difficult, isn't it?"
"Well, you seem to be having more trouble than most, but yes, it's certainly not an easy task. Just keep at it."
"Hai!"
Nemu closed her eyes again, and emptied her mind. This part was moderately easy, especially now that she'd been practicing it. But finding the limit at which she could handle it and not fall asleep was much more of a challenge. But she knew if she kept at it, she'd probably eventually manage to pull it off, so she didn't give up. And sure enough, slowly but surely she did make progress.
Of course, Sagi did help with that. Between attempts, he gave her pointers and tips, thought processes and such that might allow Nemu to stay on the right side of the meditation. Chakra visualization, body rhythms, breathing control, all of these might help her slip into a proper meditative trance while not losing control over her body.
(Meditation: 2/3)
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 1:09 pm
Sagi's tips did help, and soon Nemu found herself able to keep herself conscious while she tried to slip into a trance. It had taken a good deal of work, but now she was at about the point where normal ninja would be beginning the exercise. This inspired her to try harder, although she knew that a strong desire might influence her attempts.
Trying to blank her mind, she went through the various exercises, letting her body fall into a stable rhythm so that she hopefully wouldn't fall asleep again. Of course, she still nearly dozed off a few times, but caught herself each time, managing to avoid that last fateful step.
Finally, it was getting late. If they continued much later, it'd be even harder to stay awake, and part of knowing your body was knowing when further training was worth it or not. So Nemu decided to try one last time, before calling it a day.
Only to snap alert an instant later as Sagi tapped her on the shoulder.
"What happened? Did I fall asleep again?"
"No, that was a trance. You finally managed it. You were in it for close to an hour, do you realize that?"
Looking around, Nemu was surprised by just how dark it had gotten. Normally when she fell asleep, she knew more or less how much time had passed. It felt like no time at all had, so maybe Sagi was right. Maybe she had actually gone into a meditative trance? Yes, she had! It hadn't felt like sleep, either, she hadn't suffered a bout of dizziness or paralysis or anything.
"I did it. I did it! *Yawn* And now I must get some sleep. I'll see you *yawn* in the morning, Sagi-sensei."
(Meditation: 3/3 complete!)
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 2:23 pm
In the morning, Nemu woke up a couple hours late, had a quick breakfast, and set off. She almost went back to the Academy, but then remembered that she was to meet with Sagi-sensei for further lessons. Turning down the main road, she walked past the school she'd spent so much time at, and continued on. The walk took a fair bit, but since she'd already been there once before it didn't take quite so long this time. When she arrived, Sagi was already awake and waiting for her.
"Sorry for being *yawn* late. What is planned for today?"
"Today I shall be teaching you how to climb trees."
"Climb trees? Isn't that *yawn* pretty easy?"
"Not if you don't use your hands."
"Oh, I see. How do I start?"
Sagi went into another in-depth explanation of the skill. The nature of the tree, the paths that chakra took passing through the feet, the proper hand seals and technique, and duration involved. He talked for at least an hour, but even though Nemu nearly dozed off two or three times, she managed to hear just about everything.
(Tree Walking: 1/6)
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 3:40 pm
It took some time, but finally Sagi finished talking. Nemu took the opportunity to ask a few questions, which he answered with predictably long-winded explanations. This time there would be no examples; as a further test of her ability, Nemu would have to try it blind, technically. They moved to the tallest tree in the forest, one that had been stripped nearly bare for most of it's height.
Nemu wasted no time in preparing, she slipped her sandals off to make a better contact with the tree. She gathered chakra in the soles of her feet, carefully measuring it. She pressed one foot against the tree's trunk, measuring just how much give the trunk had. She pushed her foot against it a few times, and apparantly found something a bit off, so she tried again. Finally satisfied, she was just about ready to begin.
(Tree Walking: 2/6)
She pressed her foot firmly against the trunk, and tried to raise the rest of her body to stand straight against the tree-
only to fall on her rear. Wincing in pain, she gingerly got to her feet, wondering what had went wrong.
"Until you've practiced it a lot, it might help if you get a running start. If you just try to climb as unpracticed as you are, you'll only fall again and again."
"Hai!"
Nemu pulled her sandals back on, if she was going to be running she wasn't about to do it barefooted. Moving a good twenty feet away from the tree, she prepared herself by gathering chakra in her feet once more. Moving into a classic runner's stance, she waited, making sure the chakra flow in her feet was normal, and then she was off!
Charging, she made a beeline straight for the tree. A few feet before she would have hit it, she jumped, twisting her body in mid-air to point her feet towards the trunk. She slightly bent her legs, to better absorb the impact.
(Tree Walking: 3/6)
-Crash!-
Nemu's aim was true, her feet had been aligned perfectly for the tree's trunk. Unfortunately that was pretty much the only part of that attempt that was right. She had forgotten to take the change of momentum into account, and instead of continuing up the trunk, she hit it and almost instantly began to fall. Her sandlas slid against the trunk, they managed to stay more or less connected, but not nearly enough to stop her fall. She ended up in a tumble at the base of the tree.
Getting up again, she looked a little banged-up, but she wasn't ready to quit yet. Dusting herself off, she checked for injuries and thankfully didn't find anything serious. Moving back from the tree, she readied herself for another try. Sagi watched silently, waiting to see how soon she'd give up, or if she could actually manage to succeed.
(Tree Walking: 4/6)
Nemu ran steadily for the tree, keeping in mind the mistakes from her last failures. She wouldn't jump to the tree this time, she'd use her last footstep as a springboard to change her momentum. And that moment was rapidly approaching. She made sure she was ready, double-checking the level of chakra she had prepared. Each time she failed, she lost chakra, and quite a bit of it. If she didn't get it soon, she'd have to call it quits and rest, whether she wanted to or not.
And there was the tree! She didn't jump or dodge out of the way like her instincts commanded, instead she tilted herself slightly, and when she put her foot down the last time; she pushed hard against the ground.
It seemed to work! She could feel the slight force of momentum helping to let her run up the tree. She put one foot after the other, too rushed to worry about exact levels of chakra or anything besides continuing to run.
Of course, that was a sure way to mess up. She felt her feet lose their conenction to the tree, and she began to fall away from it. Flipping in the air, she crouched and landed roughly.
"How far did I get?"
Nemu was slightly out of breath, she hoped she had managed somethign at least slightly satisfactory. She turned to see Sagi, waiting to see if the remark was positive or negative.
"Not so good, you didn't even hit ten feet. How much chakra do you have left?"
"Hmm, not too much, maybe three more tries?"
"Then try three more times."
(Tree Walking: 5/6)
-Crash!-
-Crash!-
Two more times Nemu tried to run up the side of the tree. Two more times she started to succeed, only to lose her connection and fall back to the ground with a crash. She was bruised and battered, and her chakra was droppign fast, but she hadn't given up yet. Sagi had told her to try three more times, so she'd try three more times!
But it was hard, the loss of all that chakra, plus the actual falls, were definitely taking there toll. She felt shaky, her muscles complained about too much work, and her back felt like jelly. Even so, she made her way to her self-appointed 'starting spot'.
"Okay, this time I'll do it!"
Nemu was just about to try again when Sagi finally decided to offer some more advice. He told her to keep her chakra levels balanced, and make sure she moved her feet in the same rhythm so she knew when to stop using chakra on each foot, and when to start again. Being too early or late was what was making her miss her fotting these times, all she had to do was keep a better rhythm. He had her close her eyes and listen carefully. He didn't say anything, instead he had her listen to her heartbeat.
This was the surest rhythm someone could use, it maintained it's same cadence much more surely than a beat in someone's mind. If she couldn't keep her rhythm, maybe this would help.
Nemu nodded as she felt her heart's beat. It was rather faster than usual, but then again she'd been working pretty hard. Even so, she felt she could move in time with it. She opened her eyes, ready to begin. She sent chakra to her feet, and looked at the tree. Running towards it, she moved faster than she had before, her feet hitting the ground hopefully in time with her heartbeat.
Finally, she reached the tree. Using the same method she had earlier, she pushed off the ground, and began racing up the tree. She'd made a little progress each time she'd attempted this before, eventually hitting twenty-feet. (That fall had especially hurt.) But with her new method, it seemed she'd do even better.
No! She felt herself getting tired, and slow down. She tried to keep moving, but her body protested. But wait, why wasn't she falling? She double- and triple- checked her chakra, and dared to look closer at the tree. She saw her sandals pressed against the tree's trunk, and it looked like she wasn't falling! Had she done it? She didn't want to try turning around to look for Sagi, so instead she just called out for him.
"Sagi-sensei? Did I *yawn* get *yawn* it? Oh no..."
Nemu felt a familiar sinking feeling. No, she wasn't falling, well, technically she was. She was falling asleep. Almsot as soon as she noticed, she was already deeply asleep. Her chakra maintained it's hold only a second or two longer than her, with a small 'pop' sound she detached from the tree, and started to fall.
Sagi looked up at his unique student. She'd finally managed to do it, he had to admit that. She'd climbed a full fifty feet, much higher and the tree would have been too thin for such a purpose. Overall, he'd have to say she passed. And passed out. Moving underneath her, he caught her neatly, saving her from a very painful wakeup call, if indeed she'd wake up.
Well, whenever she did wake up, he'd go ahead and tell her she succeeded. Maybe she wasn't as strong or skilled as other students, but even so, she was doing her best.
(Tree Walking: 6/6 complete!)
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 6:56 pm
Nemu woke up later, in her own bed. She looked at the clock, wondering what time it was. Sitting up gingerly, all the aches and pains from earlier made themselves immediately noticeable. She winced and tried to stretch, to loosen up her tight muscles a little. She realized that by how light out it was and what her clock said, it must already be the next day. Or, considering her injuries, possibly the day after. She noticed there were a few patches applied to her sorer spots, they smelled like healing herbs and poultices. Had Sagi-sensei done that?
Now that she was awake, she knew she couldn't just go back to sleep. She had better get back to training. It took her a lot more work getting ready this morning, she had to do everything much slower and more carefully. But finally she was ready, and set out on her way. Even though she knew the way, it took longer getting there than it had even the first time she'd went. Finally, she arrived.
"Oh, you're awake already? I thought you'd be asleep at least another day. How are you feeling?"
"I'm doing well, all things considered. I'm ready to resume lessons, maybe something low-impact if I could?"
"Low-impact, hmm? I suppose that will be fine. How's your throwing arm?"
Sagi pulls out a kunai and whips it to the side. It hits it's target a moment later, sticking deeply into the wood of a low-hanging branch. He follows it up with a string of other projectiles, each one hitting the target and sticking fast.
"All you have to do is practice throwing weapons. Your goal is to hit the center of the target at least ten times out of fifteen."
Sagi points off to the opposite side, where another low-hanging branch bears a target. This target is fairly small, just a square of leather attached by cords to the branch. Looking closer, she saw several more targets near the first, each one a little smaller and harder to see.
Nemu nods, and moves to get closer, but Sagi stops her, telling her to throw from here. Nemu is a bit worried, she must be at least twenty feet from the closest target and she'd only practiced at five and ten feet before. But training is training, so she began.
(Shuriken/Kunai Training: 1/2)
Nemu had been throwing for over two hours. When her arm began to get tired, she switched to her other arm, even though she wasn't quite as good with it. She had started well enough, but as she got more and more tired, her accuracy dropped dramatically. Each time that she ran out of projectiles, she had to go to the targets and retrieve her weapons. Some of them took a while to track down, when they'd gone wide of their target.
Finally, she had to call it quits, at least for long enough to catch her breath. Sweating, she collapsed against the ground, breathing heavily. Normally this wouldn't have been such a strain, but with her injuries she noticed she was getting more and more exhausted. Sagi let her rest for a good ten minutes, then had her resume. It was almost midday, the sun was rising high overhead, making it hotter as it shone down on her, even through the speckled camouflage of the trees.
She got to her feet, and pulled out a pair of shuriken. Even with that rest, she knew she couldn't keep this up much longer. If that was the case, might as well put her all into it, and have this be her last try for the day.
"Yaah!"
Shouting, she began. The first two shuriken, away! A kunai, away! Another shuriken, away! The flurry continued, until she'd thrown her entire complement of projectiles. The first couple had already hit, the last ones were virtually there, so she bounded over to see how she did. Approaching the first target, she saw that the pair of shuriken had both hit, just barely within the ring to count. The next target, also barely counting. She mvoed from target to target, checking her progress.
Finally, she came to the last target. No! She'd already missed five, if this was a miss too, then she failed! Wait, what was that mark? Looking closer, she saw that she actually had hit the target, but her shuriken had fallen out. She'd made it! Shaking her arms loose, she began the process of picking up her weapons. Once finished, she went back to report to Sagi. He'd watched how she fared, she probably didn't have to tell him. But this was part of the trainin too, to see if she were to tell the truth.
"Well, I got five misses and nine hits. Then there *yawn* was one that hit but fell out."
Little did Nemu know that that one was in fact a miss, the mark had been put into it by Sagi himself when he saw she missed. It was designed to see if she'd tell the truth if it meant failing. And she had.
(Shuriken/Kunai Training: 2/2 complete!)
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 7:02 pm
((O_O O_O O_O O_O WAHHHHH!!! RPER EXTRORDINAIRE!! *bows to you* you do know that to pass as a point on the training. You just need 5 lines minimum right? But keep it up ^_^ you could get a training done in one of those huge posts 3nodding 3nodding ))
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 9:51 am
Max set in class falling asleep as usuall. " Max wake up know" yelled his remedial teacher. Even though max could pull of some amazing techniques when he learned them he had been put in the remedial ninja class due to lack of drive and not practicing his lessons. "Max if you just pay attention you could learn to do the clone jutsu and I know you would be one of the best at it know watch me do it". Max's teacher made the corrisponding hand signs and prodcued several clones.
clone jutsu 1/3
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 12:05 pm
Nemu took the rest of that day and all of the next to rest and allow her body to recover. It was Sagi's idea, she had been ready to continue, even with all the different bruises and cuts she'd already earned. But training when the body was fit was much more efficient, so he had her go home and rest. All in all, she was pretty thankful he had, she was aching all over, though she tried not to hide it.
But finally the third day came, and she was ready to resume training. Her wounds had healed nicely, she felt perfectly capable of doing any number of strenuous activities. So she left her house early, and made good time to Sagi's place. He was already awake and waiting for her, she was starting to wonder if he ever slept at all.
"I'm ready to *yawn* resume training, Sagi-sensei."
"Is that so? Very well, then let us begin. Since you have already learned how to climb trees without using your hands, now I will have you learn how to move across water without getting wet."
"You're going to teach me how to ride a boat?"
"No, how to walk on water."
"Walk on water? Really?"
Sagi led the way deeper into the forest, until they came to a small stream. It's waters were cool and clear, it's bed was scattered with small stones and a few waterplants. Overall it was a very peaceful looking scene. Which of course prompted Nemu to yawn again.
(Water Walking: 1/6)
Sagi sat at the water's edge and slipped his hand into the stream. He beckoned Nemu closer with his other hand, so she sat down next to him, looking at the water flow past. Sagi began talking, but not about walking on water. Just about water itself. How it flowed, never bound in one shape for long, how it was infinitely adaptable, how it was necessary to all life.
As the metaphysical implications continued, it seemed walking on water was merely a metaphor for life itself, that to walk on water, you must become water. This was all a bit beyond Nemu, but she knew that basically it meant that she had to concentrate really, really hard, but stay peaceful. Once she learned that, Sagi went into the next lesson, which was much more factual. The various parts needed to allow you to walk on water. You needed yourself, you needed to be able to walk, and you needed water. Chakra also. All four of these, in the proper amounts, and you could walk on water.
(Water Walking: 2/6)
Sagi kept talking until it was getting close to lunchtime. Nemu strived to stay awake, although she did still doze off once or twice, missing two large pieces of Sagi's explanations of what the water felt when being walked on. Even so, he hadn't woke her up, letting her wake on her own to return to the lesson. Finally, it was time to begin. They both got to their feet, and Sagi demonstrated the proper forms and chakra control needed.
"Since you already more or less mastered Tree Walking, you should know the basics already. The only new part is that the water is constantly changing, so you must change your chakra as fast as it does."
Nemu nodded, and slipped her sandals off. Rolling her pant legs up, she approached the stream, gathering up her chakra. Holding one foot above the flowing water, she gently moved it lower and lower, until it was barely above the water's surface. She focused her chakra, and pressed down...
Only to sink to her ankle in the cold water, yelping in surprise. She pulled her foot out hurriedly, shaking some of the water off before getting ready to try again.
(Water Walking: 3/6)
Nemu kept at it, and soon began to get the hang of it. She could put her foot down and feel resistance from the water, but as soon as she put all her weight on that foot, she inevitably sank. She still didn't give up, and soon caught on to increasing her chakra as the weight increased, and decreasing as the weight balanced. Several dozen tries after that, she was finally able to actually stand on the water.
She felt this was pretty good, but Sagi pointed out that it didn't count until she could actually walk across the water, which brought a whole new dimension of problems. In typical walking, the foot rises up on it's ball, or falling on it's heel. This drastically reduced the surface area to send chakra against the water, and was for such a short amount of time it required very fast reflexes and exact chakra control.
(Water Walking: 4/6)
Nemu didn't stop there; she continued trying, but she just couldn't get the hang of it. She failed spectacularly when she managed to doze off while standing in the water, luckily Sagi caught her before she fell face-first in the stream and drowned. After her nap, she felt a little rejuvanized and went back to work.
But instead of charging headlong at the problem, she first experimented with her chakra control, measuring how fast she could switch the area of force from her entire foot to her heel, and back. Once she knew her best speed and average speed, she knew how fast she could walk. If she moved faster, she'd miss her mark and fall, if she moved slower, she'd still miss her target. This would require precise timing, and very good balance.
(Water Walking: 5/6)
Okay, she was ready. Nemu straightened up, made sure her pant legs were rolled uo snugly, and began. Gathering chakra, she felt a slight tingle in her feet which let her know how much she was using. It was very faint, but enough to give her a slight degree of control. She approached the water, doing a few practice chakra alterations in advance.
Finally, she was at the stream. Her foot set down upon it evenly, and then her other foot followed suit. She stood there for a moment, making sure her chakra was balanced perfectly between her feet. Then, gulping once in nervousness, she began walking. Reduce one foot's chakra as it lifted, move it forward, raise it's chakra as it set down, starting in the heel. Repeat for the other foot.
She managed one step, then two, then four. She had already crossed the majority of the stream, so now she tried turning. It was a little more difficult, her feet sank just a little bit before she readjusted the balance of chakra and rose back to the surface. She continued moving, walking downstream carefully. She kept an eye on her feet most of the time, but every once in a while tried to look at her surroundings, to walk without being totally concentrated on it.
That was a bit harder, she nearly fell at least twice, so eventually she gave up on that, saving it for when she'd had more practice. Returning to where Sagi still stood, she finally left the surface of the water.
"How'd I *yawn* do?"
"Just fine, just fine. You are developing into a pretty good ninja. Keep at it, and you could be truly great."
(Water Walking: 6/6 complete!)
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 12:23 pm
Max'z teacher continued " Now that I have demonstrated I would like you to practice the technique over and over again till you do it and every time I see you slacking off I'm gonna wack you with a yard stick. Max just stared and then got wacked for slacking off. He began to hand signs not being concerned with gathering his chakra. He got a sudden rush and proceeded to preform the jutsu. In a puff of smoke five clones appeared sitting within the entire row. As his teacher gave him the thumbs up he relized his training had just begun. "Now that you have the jutso down I'm gonna preform the clone jutsu and you must reconize the one who isn't the clone to follow me to the sight were I'm gonna train you in both the transformation jutsu and the art of replacement jutsu.
clone 2/3
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 12:36 pm
maxzero0 Max'z teacher continued " Now that I have demonstrated I would like you to practice the technique over and over again till you do it and every time I see you slacking off I'm gonna wack you with a yard stick. Max just stared and then got wacked for slacking off. He began to hand signs not being concerned with gathering his chakra. He got a sudden rush and proceeded to preform the jutsu. In a puff of smoke five clones appeared sitting within the entire row. As his teacher gave him the thumbs up he relized his training had just begun. "Now that you have the jutso down I'm gonna preform the clone jutsu and you must reconize the one who isn't the clone to follow me to the sight were I'm gonna train you in both the transformation jutsu and the art of replacement jutsu. clone 2/3 (do u have a profile)
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 12:38 pm
Nemu sat down against a tree's trunk and looked over at Sagi. He had mentioned there was one further exercise for the day, but so far he hadn't said what it would be. As long-winded as his explanations were, aside from that he was remarkably quiet, he didn't seem to talk unless he needed to. That was fine, she just hoped he'd hurry up and say what the trainign would be, if he didn't, she might fall...
Nemu woke up, looking around her curiously. She knew it! She did doze off! Was Sagi still here? Yes, he was sitting in front of her, it looked like he was meditating. She didn't speak, but even so he seemed to know she had woken up. Maybe her breathing had changed? He better not say she snored!
"Let us begin. You have done well so far, you seem to have good control over your chakra. But do you know just what your chakra is? How big it can grow, how small it can shrink. What color is it, what does it taste like? Now, you will find out."
(Chakra Moulding: 1/5)
Nemu tilted her head. What did Sagi-sensei mean? What her chakra tasted like? She didn't even know you could eat it? Or was he just being metaphysical again? She didn't know, but she did now she was confused. She knew what her chakra was, didn't she? Iruka-sensei had gone over it so many times back in class, it was the basic energy of life, that when used properly, enabled the trained individual to use Ninja Arts.
"To begin, call forth your chakra. As much of it as you can manage. Go ahead, do it."
Nemu blinked. All of it? She tried, gathering more and more of her chakra. She didn't know what to do with it, she felt it fuzz around her like an invisible blanket. It grew thicker and more dense, until she could almost actually feel it.
"Okay, stop, that's enough. Now, release it."
(Chakra Moulding: 2/5)
Release it? But why, why ddi she have to gather so much and then get rid of it? All that would do is cause her to get tired. But she didn't argue. She felt her chakra dissipate, and a wave of tiredness swept over her. She yawned hugely, then looked to Sagi for more instructions.
"Alright, good. Now, did you feel anything when you ahd all that chakra gathered?"
"Yes, it kind of felt like a thick *yawn* blanket or dandelion fluff."
"Good! Now, call forth the smallest amount of chakra that you can still feel."
Now a small amount? Nemu began to wonder just what was going on, but still did it. She visualized a long column of chakra going down her back along her spine, and imagined a few drops spraying loose to gather on her fingertip. If she tried hard enough, she could just barely feel it's presence, like a single piece of hair.
"Can you feel it?"
"Yes, barely. *Yawn*"
"Good, you're doing good. Now, call forth more chakra, but keep it in the same spot it's in now."
(Chakra Moulding: 3/5)
The same spot? But it's so small, how much chakra can fit there, anyways? Nemu still tried, calling forth still more chakra from her dwindling reserves, sending more and more drops to gather on her fingertip. As it got full, she imagined pushing them back in place, smushing the droplets together to make one big drop. then she smushed it as well, until it was the size of the first drop. It was much easier to feel now, almost like a butterfly had landed on her finger.
"It's easier to feel, isn't it? With enough practice, you can do this to physical object, put more and more chakra into them that you can access much easier than your own. But doing so does take time, you first have to gather it, and compress it."
Nemu began to see what Sagi had been trying to teach her. Her chakra, which she had always thought of as pretty much formless, she'd never known it really had a presence.
(Chakra Moulding: 4/5)
"Now that you know how to concentrate your chakra, you can try to form it. Go ahead, gather some chakra and try to compress it into a shape. Try a ball to start."
Nemu nodded,a nd called forth most of her remaining chakra. She felt that same fuzzy blanket feeling again, and tried to visualize folding the blanket, making it smaller and smaller as she did so. It seemed to work, she couldn't feel the tingle on her head or legs anymore. There, her arms were free. Still, she continued to fold her chakra in on itself until it was the size of a handkerchief. She felt exhausted, using all her chakra up like this was wearing her out.
She tried to finished, but she started to lose track of just how big her chakra was now. It started to unfold, expanding when she stopped compressing it. She caught on and began to make it shrink again. Finally, it was back to the size of a handkerchief again. She visualized it being crumpled up, wadded into a ball. Holding it tightly in her hand, she tried to make sure it stayed in it's shape. Opening her eyes, she looked at Sagi.
"I think *yawn* I did it. Is this *yawn* small enough?"
Sagi looked at her hand. He almost seemed as if he was able to sense where her chakra was, he was looking right at it. In fact he was able to, he could see her chakra, crumpled into a ball, resting in her hand. He smiled and nodded, letting her know she'd done it.
"Yes, that will do just fine. Now, shove it back into yourself to recover it."
Nemu did so, feeling the strain and weariness reduce as she felt her chakra replenish. She'd done it! She felt proud of herself, having succeeded even when the training had started off so confusing. She wiped some sweat off her forehead and grinned, and then yawned again.
(Chakra Moulding: 5/5 complete!)
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