Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hiru was a bit underwhelmed to be once again lead to a different location. This mission was starting to look like an easter egg hunt. Still, he was smart enough not to complain when following a man who can literally sow your butt to your face in the blink of an eye. Without hesitation Hiru followed his superior and left for the beach.

Masa looked down at Shinzu from the rooftops. She was going to get him this time for sure. She poised herself, preparing for the attack. She was about to launch, but somebody came running down the street, flailing their arms about. Masa jumped down and pointed at an alleyway. "Somebody is coming." She readied herself for the attack, but instead came the librarian.

He recognized Shinzu, the thief and troublemaker, as well as Masaraku, the rude smartass. He waved them down and said, "There are ninja in the library! They're destroying the whole place."

Name: Shinzu Akara
LV. 12
Experience: 627/650
Hp: 180
Cp: 72
MHp: 168





Was one day off to much to ask for? Hell his wounds from Kodoku village were still healing! Sighing Shinzu turned to Masaraku, who had been stalking him, like usual. "Come on, whatever it is we have to go." He said, before taking off towards the Library.

Name: Shinzu Akara
LV. 12
Experience: 627/650
Hp: 180
Cp: 72
MHp: 168




Shinzu stayed close behind Masaraku whilst they traveled to the Library, wondering jsut what in the world was possibly going on? Really who attacked a library? Of course he could understand getting in to find something out, but completely attacking it? That made no sense.
.
(Exit to Library)

Byakuran Usotsuki
LV. 8
Experience: 257/450
Hp: 128
Cp: 168
MHp: 96
Dodge Bonus: 18

Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Doppelganger Technique)
Stage 1: Ninjutsu DC: 28 (raise DC for challenge), Making a solid clone from water.
Ninjutsu: 20
Roll: 10 or above needed
Train: 4/10

Byakuran's path through the housing district was quick enough, his steps taking him further and further at a diagonal along the sides of the buildings, his wall walking well within hand by this point. He was returning to his own apartment, which he hadn't been too since the day before, given his crashing at Tomoyo and Takahashi's place the previous night. He had to admit, after the day's previous training, he had been marveling at the fact he had been in fighting shape at all. Let alone in enough shape to actually hold his own against a Ninja who'd had combat Ninjutsu and the jump on him. Fortune seemed to have favored him in that regard...but now... a small smile came over his face. Now he felt incredible. A new man? Maybe he was. The power that he'd gotten from his work with his chakra and his efforts in the cave...it showed. It seemed to fill him like a swell of power he'd never felt as a part of himself before. He felt like he could do anything. Like he could use his synchronize with his second self a dozen times over. It felt incredible. This, indeed, was the power that he had been wanting. That he had been expecting when he'd battled with himself in the tunnels. This was the power that he had so greatly desired....and now...

As he landed on the roof top to his apartment building, he took a moment to look out over the village. The Village hidden in the mist was a...peaceful sight.He enjoyed, truth be told, looking out over it sometimes with no particular intent, just watching, observing. He really did, despite his oft attitude, like people. They were so fascinating to watch and did and said the most interesting things on occasion. It was the rare conversation with another person where he wasn't at least the tiny bit amused over something that had transpired. But the fact of the matter was that humans...well, as amusing as they were, and were dangerous. To him, at least. In his position he had to be wary at all times...because discovery would mean death.

His eyes seemed to turn over the edge of the roof top, and at last to the tub of water that he'd had set out some time ago so that he might be able to practice water walking, though it had come so easily to him he'd ended up not needing it. Now though, it had another purpose. he reached into the pocket of his black coat draped around his shoulder, and withdrew a scroll. It was one that he had gotten from the library the day before, and, as it happened, one of Kiri's signature jutsu. The water clone. It wasn't so significant a jutsu to the Hidden mist as some, the Hidden Mist technique itself for example, but it was still a jutsu that they had kept as a closely guarded secret. If he was truly a spy or the Otobe...if he was loyal agent to them. There was really no debate as to what he should do with this copied scroll once he was done with it.

He should hand it in to his superiors, pass it along to the clan as a loyal little soldier who wasn't the least bitter at their commanding treatment, and wasn't in the least harboring a hatred for his own clan... but...well, Byakuran otobe wasn't that sort've person.

He formed a hand sign as his chakra began to focus, the rather potent energy coming from his body far greater than that which should have been coming from a genin. His training hadn't even taken full effect yet, and it had still grown to an unbelievable level compared to his original capability. the instructions on the scroll were simple enough for one training in a fair amount of ninjutsu, and it was even easier given his exprience with the syrup technique, but this starting step was far different than merely turning one's chakra into water. it was actually using one's chakra to manipulate water...to bend it...to control the flow and ebb and manipulate it into a solid form. This was infitely more difficult than merely spewing out water...or rather, it was far different. He supposed in terms of learning how to convert one's chakra the difficulty was reasonable similar... but they were two different matters.

His eyes slowly passed from one side of the tub of water to other, his chakra flowing forth as he struggled to get the water to move...to bend...something. He closed his eyes. The water...he'd been surrounded by it when he had been training his chakra...water was everywhere...it was a part of him...a part of the very nature of his chakra. He could do this. He took a deep breath. Water was life...but it was also about control...about tides and flows...streams and slips. It was about change, it was about consistency, it was about unyielding force...and it was about adaptability. Water was like himself....so really, was it truly so hard a thing to think that he could create a copy of himself with it? If it's nature and his own were so closely tied then was it so difficult a concept that he could manage this...?

The truth of the matter was, that he was in no way the sort of back down. even if the task was difficult, but was this really so difficult? He focused, his mind concentrating on the water before him in the tub as his chakra pulled...it pulled and it tried to shape and mold the water...conduct it and orchestrate it's motions... he knew that he could do it...he just needed to...

The water, even as Byakuran sent his chakra forth, was beginning to ripple. Slowly at first, like the calm before a quake, and then slowly but surely rising in intensity. The ripples across the surface of the water became more and more intense, the body of the water itself beginning to rise slightly. Not as a whole, the from the middle, like force was pulling the water up, slowly but surely. This pull was indeed growing stronger, and Byakuran continued to work with the shape, work his will upon the water via his chakra, the swell became more and more prominent. after a time one could clearly see that the swell was unnatural, the water pulled upwards into a sphere like oval before him, it's smooth featureless surface staying suspending in the air before him as the chakra within it tried to shape it...tried to bend it and move it as it willed. A bump that might have been an arm appeared, a stub that was the beginnings of a leg. A faint impression that seemed to be the vague outline of an emerging face....

The it collapsed. with sloshing splash the water fell back with the rest into the tub, a bit of it splashing about and getting on the roof. Byakuran took a deep breath. This was nothing to get angry with. That had been good. He had been making some progress. Certainly in the least he was not proving talentless at this endeavor. No jutsu was mastered without some sacrifice. Even for the most skilled ninja. There was always a price to be paid... and this case it was effort. In many cases, that was so. all things considered this one would come cheap. All he had to do was work at it. He closed his eyes once more and took in his breath, the chakra from within him once more reaching out and taking hold of the water as it had before, lifting it much more easily this time. The trick, he was learning, was in how one chose to grab the water their chakra. Filling it from within as one might use to make a very basic bushin. It was, in a theory, the same as when he had mad the construct within the water he created when using the syrup technique. Just as the chakra filled that and built it from within, changing it;s structure and properties...it was the same, on a different scale, with this water. He was building skeleton from within, a form, a base, with which he could control and accurately manipulate the water as he liked, channeling his chakra into a basic puppet like thing which he could control on a base level purely through manipulating his chakra. This was, he suspecting, the base of a clone. Though thinking of that, he wondered how on earth the Shadow clone worked. Here he had something to work with, something to enhance and built his construct within...did that mean that the shadow clone was building a construct where there was nothing? Merely out of thin air? The process would be much more difficult, and more so he couldn't imagine how it would end up being more powerful. Yet it was... he complimented the founders of the Hidden leaf for their brilliance. He himself would, in the mean time, however, have to focus more on this clone. The oto-bushin would also be open to him, given his clan's access, but that would be too difficult for him right now... that and, after all, his clan wouldn't likely send him such a powerful secret jutsu without some proof he was useful to them...





Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Doppelganger Technique)
The technique creates clones out of water. Like other solid clone techniques, the clones can be used to perform tasks the user is unable or unwilling to do for themselves. The range of the clone is limited however, as it can not travel very far from the original body without losing control. Additionally, water clones only have a fraction of the original person's power. Like other clone techniques, if the water clones are injured enough they will revert back to normal water.
Rank: C
Dice Rolls: 3
Cp cost: 15 per clone
Damage: Physical damage caused by clones is cut by half.
Reflex DC: n/a
Requirements: Kirigakure or Amegakure or Takigakure, Water Affinity, Chakra control 20, Ninjutsu 18
Training: 3 stages
Stage 1: Ninjutsu DC: 28, Making a solid clone from water.
Stage 2: Chakra Control DC: 30, Animating the water clone.
Stage 3: Ninjutsu + Chakra Control DC: 51, Fighting maneuvers with the clone while making him mimic your combat style.
Special:
*Mizu Bunshin can only perform water jutsus and taijutsu.
*Reflex and Dodge Bonus increased by half compared to user's base stats.
*Clones have to stay within same thread as user and within eye or ear shot of them as well
*HP: 20 + 2 per 10 in Chakra Control + 2 per 10 in Ninjutsu Skill + 5 per 10 CP over base CP
To See Through Clones: d20 + 1/2 the user's int mod + half the user's chk mod vs. d20 + opponent's int. mod. Opponent will target the real ninja among the clones.

Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Doppelganger Technique)
water.
Stage 2: Chakra Control DC: 30 (Change DC for challenge), Animating the water clone.
Chakra Control: 25
Roll: 10 or above needed
Train: 4/10

Byakuran had to admit, this was much harder than he’d thought it would be. What made him him? He supposed understood the basic meaning, but understanding that concept and actually finding it within his chakra…that was whole other matter. It was like trying to pull the wetness from the water to him. It just didn’t make any sense. His chakra WAS him. How could it be anything else? The idea that it could somehow not be him was lauaghable. Chakra was the shadow of the soul. The chakra within his coils seemed…alive, most of the time. It seemed as though everything that it was composed of was life itself, the shadow of his own existence, the product of his own being. Like a flowing river it continued to flow always, running like a constantly shifting stream towards the beginning of the cycle once more. So the process of turning it into a clone didn’t really seem all that strange, all that bizarre to him…but how to isolate that part of himself that made it possible? How did he bestow himself upon the lifeless clone?

And really, when he got to it, what made him him in the first place? Who was HE, as such. Most people spent their whole lives trying to answer that question. He was young enough as it was, and the fact that he was also the victim of a great deal of self-introspection and confusion hardly helped matters. How was he to answer that question in a literal sense when he couldn’t even grasp who he was in a philosophical sense? How did he define something in reality that metaphysically had escaped him countless times? Was it really just supposed to be that easy? He was trying to become a true ninja, a powerful warrior capable of surpassing even…that man, and more so than that he especially wanted to be free of the influence of his clan. Even if that wasn’t very likely anymore. What with the conquering of Oto. Still, if he managed to achieve the power necessary of one worthy of being called “Knight of Forte” …if he was able to defeat his brother… then he would be satisfied.

The time and effort taken to achieve such a state, to be worthy of the rank of "Knight" amongst the otobe, was something that most, even in a clan that stressed and strove for power and excellence above everything, putting great pressure on those within it to do so, never achieved in their life time. To be worthy of such a rank, to achieve what it meant to be Jounin, was something that, to Byakuran, was on an entirely different plane to his current existence. Right now he was striving to be worthy of the rank of a true ninja, a real warrior. Being an elite warrior? That was far beyond him along his path. It hadn't even entered the horizon yet. Even still it WAS on his path. He was determined to get there and, indeed, surpass even THAT lofty perch. He was going to, after all, be worthy of the title beyond it. He was, even if he didn't really have any inclination to have the title in the official context, going to be worthy of the Name "Knight of Forte."

That was years in his future no doubt, a far off goal for him to reach for, but he did intend to reach it eventually, he did intend to get there in time. After all, his senpai had done it. Kyojin Kotei was a genius, yes, but many forgot that once upon a time he too had merely been a young student with his now oft concealed eyes filled with hopes and dreams of the future. And now? Now was the he was the last laugh. Close to, if not worthy of, the rank of Jounin, and one of the more feared missing Nin in the business...merely because of his unpredictable nature and, to be completely honest, because Byakuran suspected he spent much of his time figuring out how to come off as naturally frightening as humanly possible. His personality was so unsettling, his general air so very...off, that even men twice times his size found him terrifying. Byakuran was determined to reach that level...determined to surpass it...

He had a somewhat complicated relationship with his brother. He the second son who was in the shadow of his brother, and yet at the same time he would not be the boy for all the world. He was in the boy’s shadow only in the eyes if the Otobe… in his own mind, Byakuran was as far away from his brother and his shadow as one could be. He was the second son of the Otobe’s seventh house, and as such expendable when his parents already had one as highly regarded as a Knight of forte. He was just a stain on the family name who had not taken to the Clan’s teachings… but deep down, because of the latter, he didn’t really care about that. His brother, in his eyes, was the purest definition of a tool. A timid weakling who in a flash became a monster for the purposes of others. He was completely without will of his own, always latching on to others intents and desires. The supposed “Black Sonata” was nothing more than a dog that attacked at others command, or when he felt threatened. Byakuran was so far removed from being that… from suffering that fate, that it wasn’t even worth comparing him to his brother. He was more than that…he was greater.

Even if he had yet to attain the strength his brother possessed, he was well on his way. He would continue to grow in power and in ability until he was beyond him… until he was able to truly surpass his brother in every definition of the term. It was petty, perhaps, but he was doing it as much to prove it to his brother than anything. Deep down, he didn’t…hate, his brother as such.

There had been a time when he’d pitied his brother, and wanted him to open his eyes and wake up, to free himself of his insipid personality… but that seemed unlikely given that by reputation the boy hadn’t changed at all. His brother was still the same… and that was why Byakuran had to show him that his way wasn’t the way, that his power would not always be enough to protect him if he always made himself nothing more than a pawn for others…
But then what was it that made him so strong? That was always the one thing that Byakuran never understood. His brother always fought for others, never for himself, always serving as a mere extension of another’s will. How is it that he could have become so powerful living his life that way… how is it that he could have gotten so strong when that was all that gave him his drive to carry on? Hn…was that what they called selflessness? He supposed that in a way that was it’s own admirable trait… but not in his book… at least not the way his brother demonstrated it….

But then did those things define him? Was he the sum of all these truths? He didn’t really think so…no, he was more than merely that. He was more than merely the sum of these facts. There was a deeper nature to him that defined him much more clearly than merely these facts…these aspirations and designs. He wanted to know. He wanted to learn. He was curious and he was whimsical, and he enjoyed playing with the reactions of others. He enjoyed musing to himself about the truths of the universe, and he enjoyed serving his own purposes and ends. He enjoyed music, and he enjoyed being cheerful. He enjoyed just listening to world around him, standing there atop that rooftop and allowing the truth of the sounds all around him flowing up through his enhanced senses, his second self detecting all the vibrations coming in as he interpreted them all…

This was a bit closer to him. This was bit closer to the truth of what and who he was. What it was that defined him. It was as close to the truth of what he was that he could think to come. It was as much of himself as he could solidly define. Perhaps a combination of these things, a fusion of the facts and dreams and aspirations of his life. Was that himself? Was that what it meant to be Byakuran? Was that what he had to give to this clone? Was that the secret that he had to bring out of his chakra in order to make this doll animate? He closed his eyes as he continued focus, trying, in some small way, to bring out this “self” from his chakra…to allow him to inject it into the clone…to imprint it unto the clone… to bring it to artificial life. There was still hthe single overpowering question of how. How did one pull something from itself? How did he separate himself from his chakra when to him the difference was too close to see. When to him the lines between himself and his chakra had long ago dissolved, particularly after the incident in the cave. He needed to think….

Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Doppelganger Technique)
water.
Stage 3: Ninjutsu + Chakra Control DC: 51, Fighting maneuvers with the clone while making him mimic your combat style.
Ninjutsu: 20
Roll: 10 or above needed
Train: 8/10

He gave a slow breath as his water clone’s arm began to destabilize slightly, his corrections springing to action immediately as he sent his chakra to fortify the area. There were so many points of articulation, and so much force put on the body while perform the ninja arts, that this last step was proving to be no easy task. He wasn’t having nearly as much trouble with it as the second phase, of course, but it was still no matter which could be easily brushed aside. He had now drained the tub of water, two water clones now standing upon the roof as he held his connection stable with them, watching and observing their inner constructs as they performed some combat exercises together. They started off light at first, a slow incline into the real work so as to test the constructs hold at certain levels of pressure and action, yet not they were battling in earnest, the inconsistences and mistakes in their design slowly being brought to the surface, only for him to fix them and continue the process all over again.

This process of trial of error was actually fairly similar to the process that he had gone through while mastering the syrup technique. This was obviously a bit more complex, of course, but it was a rather reminiscent at the least. There was a strange rhythm to the repetition and yet shifting circumstance to the actions that was familiar somehow. He supposed if he had to pin it down to anything, he would say that it was like a song. A constant beating waltz, and ever present three beat dance that he was having to conduct in order to master the technique, to make it ready for battle. There was a sort’ve comfort in the music of it, in the pattern that to him, reminded him of the one thing that he actually did suit his clan in, the love of music.

Well, the love of music and all things which touched his enhanced senses, actually. Even since he was small it was the one thing that had always, at all points, agreed with his clan’s value of it. Music when experienced from the senses of an Otobe was extra ordinary…and now that he had mastered the musical inclination it was even more incredible. He could literally express the music that had been inside his soul all this time. In a way, this music that seemed to be carrying him through training reminded him of that feeling of peace, that feeling of elation and triumph. The movements of the clones seemed to be sweeping and graceful, a quick and sudden exchange of dexterous movement. They were fast, very fast, and their movements were…in a pun, fluid. And the refining process continued to pan out they grew even more so, their capability and durability increasing slowly but surely. He was able to see the patterns in their moves and understand now how failures in the inner construct of the clones could manifest in imperfections in their ability to move, beginning to learn how certain things affected others, and most importantly, he was mastering how exactly to enact all these things in a singular motion, a single expansion of his chakra, learning to master and control the process of making them as he might particular motion of his own arm. He was learning the art to making them as one might a trick, a sleight movement of the hands. It was a thing of control, it was thing of cunning, and it was a thing of chakra. These three things, when brought together, and he was starting to believe that he could anything. The composition the chakra construct was nearly complete, he could feel himself getting closer with each step. Each movement of the clones, and even every time an imperfection appeared.

The power that he had obtained the day before was flowing through him, and to be honest the mere act of making these clones in regards to his overall store of chakra was laughable. He could easily make, taking into account raw chakra alone, more than six of them easily. If he had had that sort’ve option against Jin…but then again, he hadn’t yet been able to rest up from his training then, not given his body to get used to the new chakra it had taken into itself, so he probably wouldn’t have been able to make full use of the technique as he was now…if he had had a chance though. It was trange to imagine though, that indeed, he hadn’t yet gotten the full power of the chakra that he had worked so hard to obtain. He wasn’t yet receiving the full power of it. He could feel it somehow, deep within him, the sleeping power that he had taken into himself waiting for the moment when he could properly call upon it…when the hidden potential within him after his time in the cave would awaken. It would a be a moment indeed for him to remember. His chakra stores would be radically different, and…and if he was truly honest with himself, obtaining nthat power had taught him more then merely the taming of the power itself. It was a matter of him being able to control himself…to beating back impossible odds and facing his true self…and indeed what he saw there. The cave had been the moment that he had truly had to face himself as a ninja…even if his battle with Jin just afterwards was technically his first true moment as a ninja, as a warrior. True, he hadn’t managed to defeat his opponent alone, but that wasn’t really the point. It had been a point where he had had to face a life or death struggle, and been caught without suitable weapon in hand. It was a drive, a motivation, to not be so again. He would grow strong…and master techniques which would allow him to avoid such a situation in the future.

This was one such technique. It was the basis for others which would prove exceedingly useful. It would allow him to outnumber his opponent, and when he was stronger and had mastered more than one jutsu, hitting his target from all directions. It was a potent strategy, and it worked well against even the strongest opponents. Once he mastered a proper attack water jutsu…it would be all he needed to defeat people like Jin with minimal effort. With his vast stores of chakra, he would be able to support said jutsu as well… and who knew, with the level of chakra that he had managed to pull out of himself, what other things that he might be able to master.

Another key thing that he began to notice about the water clones was that they were indeed quite a bit more adaptable in th aspect of evasion. While they were slower and not nearly as strong as himself in other areas, their consistency and many aspects of their original base form as water allowed the great degree of maneuverability. Which was more then a welcome addition to their list of uses. They would not only make good tools as distractions and additional means of attack, they would also serve as even greater diversionary tactics due to their ability, once they had an enemy’s attention, to avoid their attacks. There was really beginning to be a vast increase in his fighting capability, merely from learning this single technique.

It was amazing how much a single jutsu could change the course of a battle, and how using it correctly could have an greater impact. This jutsu in particular had the power to multiply his fighting power many times over. His clones seemed to stop for a moment as a slight wind passed over the rooftop, stillness falling over the trio of Byakuran’s as they all waving their gaze over the others…before the two clones once more charged one another, slamming into one another going full speed, and shattering one another into water. Byakuran gave a slight smile and reformed them, his testing of the clones limits moving along well, as well. It seemed that he would indeed prove capable of mastering this with just a little bit more effort. It was only a matter a further initiative on his part. The perfection of the Clone’s was indeed a process of trial and error, and he was nearing it's end...

Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Doppelganger Technique)
water.
Stage 3: Ninjutsu + Chakra Control DC: 51, Fighting maneuvers with the clone while making him mimic your combat style.
Ninjutsu: 20
Roll: 10 or above needed
Train: 9/10

He still just couldn't get a handle on it. It was starting to bug him, like a constant nag of when he had left the oven on. It was like a single sour note in the song that his mastery of this jutsu and no matter how loud the rest sang the single sour pitch rang out and lessened the magnificence of the rest of the performance. He focused this time, he HAD to find this mistake...this error somewhere...he had to finish this jutsu with distinction. He knew that he had it in himself to do it, it was just a matter of finding the balance, the right construct for the chakra, the right way to bond it to the water, and finally the right way to assimilate his personality into the clone, all these elements working together as one. He knew that he was close now, so close he could taste it, but he was just a step away yet, a step away from noting what it was about the construct that was still causing him that nagging irritation...