“Ready, kid?” The man stood up, as if expecting Hiroshi to immediately agree. “Of course. That was nothing,” he jumped up with excitement with a voice full of confidence. “Now listen 'ere real close, now,” the man took the cigar out of his mouth and tossed it on the ground as he stepped on it. “Good, now lemme teach ya a lil' sumn' 'bout us here shinobi,” he said as he toss a kunai to Hiroshi. “What am I supposed to do with this?” the boy said as he caught the kunai by the handle. “Throw it at me as if yer tryna kill me,” he said, pounding his chest lightly. “Are you sure you want this?” Hiroshi asked the man. “Do it or I won't teach ya a damn thing,” the man retorted irritably. Without second thought, Hiroshi threw the kunai at the man as quickly as he could and it struck him in the neck. Hiroshi looked shocked for a few moments before the man turned into a wooden log and appeared a few feet behind the young boy, saying, “Yer too slow, sonny,” Hiroshi turned to look at him with slight shock. “What happened?” the man began chuckling as he saw the expression on the boy's face. “It's the Substitution Technique. You need it to graduate, doncha?” Hiroshi nodded as the man pulled a cigar from his pocket and began to light it up. “Good. Now it's yer turn, boy,” the man pulled out a kunai as he looked into the eyes of the young Hiroshi.
“Find an object relative to your size 'n switch places with it,” the man said as he lifted his hand which held the kunai, ready to throw it at Hiroshi. Within the first few words of the man's sentence, Hiroshi had already picked out a log a few feet left of the man, sitting besides a boulder. “Hit me with your best shot, Cowboy,” the man seemed particularly bothered by Hiroshi's taunt and tossed the kunai at him faster than usual, in which it struck him in the chest, causing him to fly backwards a bit. However, a cloud of dust quickly formed and dissipated into the log that was sat upright against the boulder, where Hiroshi now stood. “I see,” the young boy said. “It's almost like the Body Flicker technique! ” Hiroshi exclaimed. Moments before the tossing of the kunai, Hiroshi had already substituted himself for the log, relatively close to his size. “Not bad, kid. Next time, however, I do think you shoulder watch yer mouth,” the man said grumpily, walking away from Hiroshi. He waved Hiroshi to leave. “We're done here, boy. Go back to the village and find somethin' to do. I'm tryna get some peace and quiet before I have to go back,” he said as he continued to walk towards the waterfall. (“What a peculiar individual...”) Hiroshi thought as he watched the man for a few moments before deciding to head back to the village. He was thinking about what he had went through and became excited due to him finally doing everything he had wanted - mastering all the techniques needed to work his way up in the village. (“I will be among the greatest. I will protect what's mine!”) his determination showed on his face as he jumped through the trees, looking for other things to do inside of the village of Konohagakure.
Akio had left the museum, on his way home however he felt drawn somewhere. He wasn't sure exactly why but he made his way to where he had been drawn to anyways. He found himself at the open area of Takijinsei Falls. He had heard that there was something happening here a mere few hours ago or something like that. Why was he drawn to this place? He wasn't sure...he was confused. This place...felt different. He had been here before...plenty of times before. But something was a lot different now. Like something happened here that was somehow connected to him in some way. He would find himself heading to a particular area that was even more different. Placing his hand on the ground....then sitting down.
He felt the need to meditate. Something he did not do much at all. It was a weird feeling for him. The young boy's need to do this was off-putting to him. However regardless he would close his eyes. As his eyes closed slowly, his mind faded. His body was clearly still there, he knew it. He was alive but this was different. Like a deep sleep that was somehow forced upon him. He opened his eyes, and found himself standing atop the clouds. Looking down over the edge of the clouds he noticed he was very high....but he also felt like he knew where he was. He felt like he was still there...still above Konoha....but also like he was not. Like he was above another place as well. He felt like he was both in Zaishin and Konoha at the same time. Zaishin was a place he had never visited before. He didn't know how looked, what the people there did. Yet he somehow knew that was where he was. His gaze shifting from looking over the edge of the clouds to looking forwards, he noticed a vast golden skyscape. It was beautiful, he felt almost like he was in a painting, an ideal place. He went to look back down over the edge of the clouds but the edge was no more. Clouds surrounded him. Where he once felt like he was above some odd combination of a place he knew and a place he didn't now he felt completely different. He felt like he was nowhere now. He was sure the space above the clouds did not look like this, he looked off in the distance and saw something moving.
Something big, serpent like, he felt stuck unable to move. He wasn't sure why, he was afraid for a moment. But only for a moment. The figure got closer and as it did the young boy seemed to calm down. He no longer felt frozen, but he didn't feel the need to move. He stood there in the golden cloud scape as the large figure moved towards him. Eventually reaching him, towering over him, and even extending far back into the cloud scape. Like the entire path the serpentine form moved through was still full with the serpent's body. He looked up at it, his vision clear now as he gazed upon the golden scaled form of what seemed to be a dragon. He had heard of such legendary creatures before, but never seen one. At this point he was sure that he was dreaming. The large beast did not speak, it merely stared down at him. Akio's much smaller form. Another form seemed to appear next to the dragon however. There was no warning as it appeared, it was barely able to be seen in the first place. Akio however felt like he had some sort of distinct familiarity with the figure. It looked at the dragon and nodded to it. The dragon looked at the figure and nodded back.
The figure once more disappeared from the golden cloudscape they stood in. As it disappeared there was a warping, almost sonic like sound that was even more familiar to Akio. He couldn't place the sound at the moment though. Then the dragon looked down towards him once more. It's serpentine form suddenly had wings...large wings extended. Akio thought for sure he would be within the shadow of the wings. However the wings glowed, there could be no shadow from the glowing wings. Now that he thought about it, he didn't think the dragon was even casting a shadow upon the clouds. The wings would shift, turning into a golden energy that Akio could tell was a lot like chakra. Then they made their way to Akio's person, swirling around him for a moment. He was confused but still calm, and then the swirling golden chakra would enter his back. It felt hot....no more like it felt warm. A comforting sort of warm feeling. The chakra continued to funnel into his back, forming large golden wings of chakra that sat upon his back. Not long after the wings receded into his body, then up to the back of his neck. He couldn't see it but he knew something was there. A golden symbol, the Kanji for Wings upon the back of his neck. It would be then that the golden dragon would tap the boy's forehead.
As the dragon's claw touched his forehead, Akio's eyes opened again so it seemed to him. Gasping for air, mostly from the shock of having seemingly just woken up from a dream. He looked around for a moment, up towards the sky. Did he fall asleep? He must have, to have such a weird dream. The glorious appearance of the golden dragon remained in his head for a moment. Weird dream right? He thought to himself, his hand moved to the back of his neck to rub it. Then he felt it, the warm feeling from the dream. There was something there...the symbol that the giant golden wings had turned into he was sure. Worry was planted on his face, so it wasn't a dream? That happened? He stood up and would head out of the falls. Maybe he could get more understanding from someone else about this. He was sure one of the higher ups would know more about it...maybe Lady Hokage?
Hiroshi, after jumping through trees yet again, found himself at the spot he had been trained at beforehand by Soyoka. “Well, he wasn't that irritating after all,” Hiroshi said as he immediately began to focus. “I don't have that much time left,” he said, forming hand seals as he struck the earth with his palms. As soon as his hands hit the earth, bracers of earth appeared on either side of his arms up until his elbows. He walked over to a rock and smashed his arms at the top of it as the bracers broke into pieces. He looked at the rock and the top was chipped off from where he struck. “That rock seemed sturdy. It's strange,” he said as he caressed where he struck. “This technique must be stronger than it lets off,” he said as he fiddled with some debris between his fingers. “That seemed easy enough, so it's time to move on,” Hiroshi then turned his back and walked towards the river until he stood a few feet away.
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Technique learned:
Stone Bracers [ Ishi Yoroi no Ude ] | Rank E
Hiroshi, as with the previous technique he had learned, began channeling and focusing chakra into his arms until it reached his hands. However, instead of slamming his hands into the earth, he simply placed both hands gently on the ground. The earth in front of him began to shift until it had been a stone with the span of three feet. He then launched the stone no more than 10 feet in which it splashed into the running river. “Well, then,” Hiroshi said as he slowly stood up. “I'm starting to get a hang of this shinobi business,” he chuckled confidently as he clasped his hands together, interlocking his fingers and stretching upwards, preparing for the next mission assigned to him by Soyoka.
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Technique learned:
Rock Throw Technique [ Iwa Tounyuu no Jutsu ] | Rank E
Holding up a hand seal, Hiroshi began sinking into the earth. Although he could not see with his eyes, he could feel the presence of the earth and was therefore able to move around. He began moving around slowly in a ten-foot radius as he remembered moving further would cause him to expend more chakra. He felt as if he was one with the earth, though still himself, as he moved gradually to his initial position and popped out of the ground. “Piece of cake,” he said as he dusted the dust off of his shoulder moments after surfacing. “Is it now, boy?” Hiroshi looked up to see Soyoka sitting on a branch of a tree from several feet above. “Why do you always appear from nowhere?” He said to Soyoka. “Why are you always unaware? Yer a shinobi-wannabe, ain't ya? You'd be killed in seconds,” Soyoka chuckled at Hiroshi's clear disdain of his words. “Anyway, yer next missions are as follows -” Hiroshi scoffed, causing Soyoka to pause momentarily. “You said if I did these missions, I'd be able to graduate and become a shinobi. What are all of these added stipulations?” Hiroshi said, trying to hide him being irritated. “I ain't never said that those were the only missions, boy,” Soyoka laid on his back against the branch as he continued to give Hiroshi his missions. “Yer next missions are to learn 3 techniques from yer clan. Each of 'em count as one mission completed,” Soyoka yawned and pulled out his eyemask and began to nap. “How did you know I was a Senju? I've been keeping it hidden,” Hiroshi said surprised. “I ain't know that then, but I know it now. Yer gonna be a horrible shinobi, offering information for free that could very well prove detrimental,” Soyoka chuckled once again. “Now go on and git from here, boy. I need myself some beauty sleep,” Hiroshi laughed nervously as he had not fully been paying attention to what Soyoka had been saying. “Who else knows I'm a Senju...?” The boy had whispered to himself as he began to make his way back to the village as quickly as he could.
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Technique learned:
Earth Military Movement Technique [ Tsuchi Gunjikoudou no Jutsu ] | Rank E
Mission(s) completed:
Title: Learn Stone Bracers Technique Rank: E Reputation: Positive Impact: Local Information: Cowboy-sensei says that if I am able to formulate these hand signs and channel chakra through my arms until my palms, I will be able to create earthen bracers for myself. They are not that strong, though they will help - or so I am told.
Title: Learn Rock Throw Technique Rank: E Reputation: Positive Impact: Local Information: Cowboy-sensei said that it is possible to not only amass enough chakra to manipulate the earth, but to create a stone that is able to be hurled at someone within a ten foot radius.
Title: Learn Earth Military Movement Technique Rank: E Reputation: Positive Impact: Local Information: Cowboy-sensei states that it's possible for me to move underground within a ten-foot radius.
