Himiko's Training; First Step to Ancestor (Duel Training)

Admin Posts : 2110 Join date : 2010-07-23 Age : 31

Techniques Himiko will learn (not including Barrier Techs for now):

Himiko stood on the edge of the beach overlooking to tranquil ocean, her favourite both training and relaxing spot, with her focus only on the former. Whilst there was a long wooden pole buried and standing out from the sand behind her, the ocean lapped at her feet as she was practising the style and methods for regular sword fighting. She'd finally been gifted with the old scrolls of her ancestor for learning the 'Water Wield' style, and knowing she and her team would be attempting to rank up in the coming exams, she needed the extra offensive skill set. She was strong. She had surprising techniques. She was cute. She was descended from the greatest of her clan. But against any kenjutsu users, any faster fighters, she was dead weight without some sort of setting up. Without her evolved Dojutsu either she was limited in defensive techniques, and hoped along with assistance from her teacher in learning this new technique that she could learn some other moves. As she splashed through the water she molded the waves to dive at her in controlled bursts. Whilst not perfect she could simulate movements as she learned to dodge and parry whilst holding her training sword.

Crystal was having a lazy day, and thus while she was fully capable of well getting out of bed she wouldn't and instead sent a shadow clone to meet with her student. She didn't feel like getting up and she had been throwing up recently for some reason which made her even less inclined to get out of bed. Still Himiko wouldn't know that and thus when she arrived at the location the shadow clone would wave at her original's student. "Yo my one cute genin, you wanted to train right, what's up?" "Crystal" said with a smile as not only the only other female but the only other person on the squad who talked normally one could say that Himiko was easily her favorite. She wasn't biased but anyone who reminded her of Hugo lost major points with her in terms of her tolerating being around them for long periods of time. Then again she did like her not cute genin, because even though they weren't cute they were still her genin and she was happy to be the sensei to each and every of them even if they had their quirks.

Admin Posts : 2110 Join date : 2010-07-23 Age : 31

Himiko wasn't sure if she'd done it on purpose, but her teacher, or her shadow clone anyway, stroking her ego certainly helped in snapping her out of her focus once she was joined on the beach. Wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead she made her way over towards her and stabbed the training sword into the ground besides the staff. "Erm, y-yeah, I mean with the exams approaching Armen was pushing me into practise to prepare. I've been trying to master one of my clan's techniques, but... it requires a lot of chakra control and if I'm perfectly honest... it's difficult. I'm getting there and all, but getting the fine amount of control isn't the easiest in the world." She dug through her satchel by the training weapons and showed the old scroll depicting the Water Wield, "Likewise... I was hoping for a little guidance on where to make up what I'm missing in training. I used most every technique at my disposal during practises or during that test, so... of the people more experienced with my style, you're the only one who's been a true 'opponent'."

"Hm alright, okay it can be one of three things, either your Water Affinity hasn't been honed enough, your chakra control isn't up to par or you aren't putting enough chakra into the technique due to your reserves being too low." "Crystal" said before snapping her fingers and deciding that she knew how to help. "Or it's a combination of two or even all three of them. Alright so we'll start with your chakra control, you've completed the Leaf Sticking, Tree Walking and Water Walking exercises right? While in terms of honing your water affinity you've learned how to drain the water out of a leaf, as well as re-hydrate a dry leaf right?" she suggested them just to make sure she knew where her student was at in terms of not only chakra control but honing her affinity as often times people forget the basics because their clan makes learning certain things easier for them. For instance because she's a Shinto learning how to break genjutsu was always very easy for her due to her insects being unaffected by them. It was only after a hard mission where her entire hive died and she had been ensnared in a genjutsu after almost dying but managing to escape with her life that she had gone back and retrained without the assistance of her hive.

Admin Posts : 2110 Join date : 2010-07-23 Age : 31

Himiko rubbed the back of her head as she was told the three main possibilities. "Definitely not the elemental control, I was taught how to wield the water and fire elements of chakra fairly early after I could work them. And I've got the Walking done too, that's never much of an issue." She would go into saying, holding her hand out as she focused out with her chakra. The strain was clear once what could easily be a hilt formed in her palm, however it seemed to go no further. She grumbled as she swung her hand down through the water, shaking it off as it was covered in droplets of the water. "I just... I can't seem to get it. My old teachers always made this look so easy." She sighed, going to her satchel and taking a drink from her water flask, when an idea struck her. "...if it's simply an issue with my reserves then... you think I could try using my chakra vials?" She asked as she held the vials up, only having the two of the four currently filled as she had yet to refill them. "I mean I've been using them as, I guess, overcharges for my techniques, so I suppose until my reserves increase they could be used?"

"So then it's power for sure, hm your water vials I don't believe I've asked before but what exactly do they do?" "Crystal" said genuinely curious, she assumed they were some sort of crutch or something as well as a tool to allow her to preform her water techniques easier than usual but what they did exactly she had no idea. "Still perhaps you could try it, see if it works and then you can work your way to preforming it without the assistance of your vials. Since it would be good to know it just on your own without any you know, extra help." she said though she was inwardly glad that she didn't have a fellow Shinto in her squad as she could only imagine how that would go when she wanted to be lazy. Perhaps she should learn the Bug Shadow Clone though with Jasasori that technique was pretty much impossible what a pain.

Admin Posts : 2110 Join date : 2010-07-23 Age : 31

"The vials are... it's water that I infuse chakra into. The way my old teachers put it, is to think of the vials as containing physical elements of my chakra. Specifically my chakra. I'm the only one who can mold this water so... it would kind of make sense that the vials would help." Himiko fished one out and popped the lid off. Taking another note she went back into her bag and pulled out a small sheet like mat which she stood over, looking up as she realised this probably looked weird. "Oh, this sheet repels water... sort of. Any water that drops will collect and can be reused without being tainted." She answered with a smile, the sheet looking very old however, despite still being in good condition. "Alright..." She took a deep breath as she was able to mold the water out of the vial by expelling her own chakra to pull it out. With a glance up to her teacher she would give a brief smile before focusing. She once more could form the hilt again with ease in both hands, something she could already do prior, whilst a long rod formed in a spiral. However this quickly burst like a bubble and dropped down with patters onto the mat. With a sigh she swept her hand over the mat, once more pulling the water back up, and tried it again. Once more the 'blade' became a shakey spiral, and popped.

"Ah I see, that's pretty interesting leave it to you guys to know what to do with water manipulation huh." "Crystal" said her gaze going from the vials to the mat and then back at her student as she tried to form the blade only for it to lose it's consistency and burst. "Shape Manipulation, that's your problem in addition to lacking the available power. Okay try to focus on an external layer of chakra, then use the water to fill it up like a container, continue channeling chakra into the blade like shape with your chakra while cycling the chakra comprising the outer layer around so as to maintain it's consistency while it is being filled up." Crystal said now getting an idea of what Himiko was missing thanks to the demonstration.

"Just breathe, I know it's frustrating but block everything out and concentrate on doing that."

Admin Posts : 2110 Join date : 2010-07-23 Age : 31

Himiko halted the technique, letting the water splatter onto the mat again whilst catching her breath. "External. Right." She repeated shortly, sweeping up the water and trying again. It took her two more times before there was any real change, the 'blade' becoming straighter, however still bursting before too long."Ugh, still not. I just... wait," She had a thought pop into her mind as she went for the technique again. This time however she made a slight change, rather than hold both hands at the hilt she began the technique then slipped her hand along the 'blade', continuing to expel chakra. Immediately the effect could be seen, the blade thinning out in a single direction and maintaining more of a straighter katana blade shape. Himiko's surprise at the sudden success however was enough to snap her concentration, only further showing that the technique still hadn't quite being completed.

The shadow clone would just watch, after all her student was making progress and Crystal always believed in repetitive failure only allowing one to discover different ways of success. For instance if she had gotten it immediately she would have never thought of utilizing her hand as a physical guide for her shaping of the water. She wouldn't say anything this time, knowing that Himiko could see her own success and didn't really need a reaffirmation of said success. Instead she would focus on more of the mechanics of such a technique, the shaping of water into a sword was it hard like a solid or was it still liquid or perhaps it combined attributes of power. Perhaps it was both a saturation effect to maintain the solid consistency along with a constant cycling of the chakra used to maintain it's form in order to retain the malleability of liquid water. She wondered if her student would grasp it even without her assistance but she would wait and see and if she didn't then she would give her another hint and push her in the right direction hopefully.

Admin Posts : 2110 Join date : 2010-07-23 Age : 31

Time and time again Himiko would perform the techniques, occassionally having to take a few minutes of break to refill her reserves and to take a drink from her flask. "Ok... I've almost got this." Each time she slightly changed her method. The hilt was easy, it was just a block after all. Gradually even the method she used to creating the blade changed. She focused on the idea of riptides, whirlpools, and swirling the waters in that way. After the dozenth try with her more ideal method, she gradually moved her hand by the blade away, hand holding around the hilt of the water sword. "I... I think I've got it." The blade wasn't perfect, it vibrated as getting the precision of the water swirls. She gave a few slight swings, the water spitting out as she did, but holding it's size and shape greatly. Getting a little over confident, she made a swing, forgetting the practise weapons were behind her as she swung through one. The water sword simply burst, also depriving Himiko of that chakra water as it dissipated into the ground too much to reuse. "... ok, maybe not..." She trailed off as gravity took hold of the training weapon, cut through, if roughly. "Or... yes?"

"No better way of testing it than through combat. Prepare yourself and restrict yourself to only using kenjutsu." "Crystal" would draw one of her hooked blades that not only functioned as throwing weapons but could be used in close combat if need be. She would wait until Himiko once again formed the rough blade comprised of water before she would move forward at normal running speeds before aiming a swipe towards her student's mid section. She would pull back her strike if the water sword didn't hold so that the slash wouldn't bite too deeply into Himiko's skin. But the threat of injury had to be there to not only teach her to keep her concentration up during combat, but also encourage her to learn how to properly use the technique lest she continued to get cut. "After all what use is a weapon if it can't be used in combat, whether to take a life. Or in your case to prevent your life from being taken from you."

Admin Posts : 2110 Join date : 2010-07-23 Age : 31

Himiko was thankful at least for the moment to prepare, creating the blade again, trying to form it quicker this time, though there wasn't much difference in that. Trying to react quickly she brought the water sword around to parry the blow. Whilst the blade still dissipated on contact, not that Himiko would realise, there was enough resistance still that should Himiko have not also twisted away from the strike that it wouldn't have caused as deep a wound. "Alright... chakra barrier not strong enough. Compensate." She muttered to herself, a glance to the side telling her exactly what she needed, and certainly fit her ideals more than a sword. With confidence she took on a fighting stance and creating the water weapon again. This time she changed it's appearance again, returning to the basics. The sword shape came perfectly, but rounded showing no sharp edge. "Zakiyoshi Style Water Wield, Bokken style~" She commented, feeling herself a little proud as she swung it around at the remainder of the pole she'd cut earlier. The pole tumbled over, dented by the hit, and importantly the weapon maintained shape. And Himiko couldn't help but have a grin across her face at the seeming success.

Crystal would pull back as her student managed to avoid sustaining the injury from her strike while simultaneously noting the problems her technique contained and promptly rectifying it. Crystal would nod encouragingly before beckoning Himiko to test out exactly how well she had the technique mastered. She would end up drawing her second curved blade first spinning them around her hands while holding the ring at the bottom before gripping their hilts in a reverse grip and assuming a rough kenjutsu stance. "Let's put your new found confidence to the test shall we." she was eager to see what Himiko could do with the Water Wield technique, after all why else put so much time into trying to learn it if it wasn't going to be an immediate boon to her fighting style. Otherwise it would just be a waste, then again the Zakiyoshi were skilled kenjutsu users that was just a fact any one familiar with Dipu knew. After all the Dipugakure Hunter-nin Corps still used the watered down version of the tier signature fighting style, Hidden Mist Kenjutsu.

Training:

Admin Posts : 2110 Join date : 2010-07-23 Age : 31

Himiko help the sword in one hand, feeling most comfortable with the one hand free, and of course needing one hand on the technique at all times. All confidence aside, whilst she noticed this form had more of a weight to it, this was still the first successful attempt. "Alright. Not exactly going full on but... let's go," She said to give herself a moment to prepare herself, slipping her foot into a good position, aiming to work out the other potential weakness of the technique's form as she went to lunge forwards with the water-bokken in a thrust, aiming a disarming strike.

Crystal would nod, before twisting as the thrust came forward deflecting it to the side with her right arm using the curved blade held in a reverse grip while shifting her left hands grip in order to aim a slash at Himiko's torso while she was still off balance. Crystal assumed the blade was light-weight in addition to being flexible but truly if Himiko lacked skills in kenjutsu then there was no point in her learning the technique in the first place. Still as her teacher she would have to fill in the blanks but it was such a pain that her students didn't specialize in what she did despite their elemental affinities being the same. Well then again, Armenezra seemed like he utilized fuinjutsu but the whole kenjutsu thing was something her other teammate Jordan was more into. Unfortunately he was a busy hunter-nin and truthfully she didn't know when she could get him to make show Himiko a few pointers in the use of kenjutsu as a combat style.

Admin Posts : 2110 Join date : 2010-07-23 Age : 31

Himiko wasn't a perfect kenjutsu user, and whilst she could make her response quickly she still had to work on her reaction. The weight, or lack thereof, of the water wield certainly helped. As the sword was parried away, Himiko could continue to motion still without needing to fight the momentum as she came up to block the second blade's strike enough to turn herself out of the way. In doing so she was made aware of a downside to her technique; the chakra drain. As the bokken was nearly knocked from her hand, she felt the burn of chakra just reaching out to maintain it. Closing her hand again resolved that issue. "Alright... need full chakra to form, so long as I still hold the sword I don't drain any." she muttered for her own benefits of mentally recording that need. "But it's a big burn to create. Probably can't make another today without a good rest,"

"A-rank techniques typically do that, if those water vials of yours are so useful you should probably maximize their use and set aside at least two specifically for this techniques use. That way you don't waste your normal pool of chakra for it. Still, I would recommend maybe either learning a seal or two just to increase the amount of water you can store inside of your water vials I understand you probably chose them so it wouldn't be bulky and thus weigh you down but it'd be more practical to have them be unassuming yet contain more than just the visible water stored in them" Crystal said pointing at the water vials and trying to get Himiko to at least consider it. "Or, at the very least if Fuinjutsu isn't your thing buy some storage scrolls and store extra water in them."

Admin Posts : 2110 Join date : 2010-07-23 Age : 31

Himiko listened intently, certainly thinking the possibilities over. She'd only ever carried the four vials because it was the easiest for her to do and to carry. "Yeah. I just have the limitation that I have to still create them," She rubbed the back of her head, "It's a technique developed trying to create a unique version of the Strength of a Hundred Seal," She would go onto explain, only honestly then recalling the original creation. "Originally we were supposed to infuse the water, then when we reach our second form of dojutsu, infuse that water then back into ourselves for enormous boosts. It didn't work of course, but it did help create single use catalysts. Just obviously we expel a lot of chakra just to do it so we can't exactly infuse on a whim. That's why I only had three vials rather than four today, I can refill all four in a day, but it's time and energy consuming," Even just explaining that helped her in thinking over her own technique and uses.

"Ah I see, so what does it do instead of that? Saturate water materia with water release chakra so that you can draw from the water like an additional chakra pool? At least for water techniques I mean. Hm...if that's the case...exactly how much can you store in one of those vials? I mean normal water materia, and how much water chakra can you store inside that amount of water materia. Depending on your answer it might determine whether or not you need an extra flask or two at least until you can refine that trick of yours." Crystal said while assuming a thinking pose with her hand under her chin, that is after she sheathed her curved blades. With such an ability Himiko could really become a chakra powerhouse if it was used correctly allowing her to not rely on her internal stores of chakra for her water release techniques at the very least. That would be useful considering it would allow her to focus on other aspects of the shinobi arts as well as leaving her chakra pools untouched if she wanted to utilize Fire or Boil Release. Coupled with the fact that if she left chakra specifically for the use of her Zaki-Style: Water Wield then she has access to her A-rank technique without the drain that would usually accompany it, she would most definitely have to get in touch with the other member of her squad as with the Hidden Mist Kenjutsu style Himiko would really shine.

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"Yeah, that's a better way to describe it," Himiko would latch to that, feeling a little embarrassed she couldn't quite describe it herself. She knew how to set it up, and how to access it, but actually describing it had always been difficult for no particular reason. "And yeah, it only works for Water Release techniques. I've tried getting it to work with Boil but it just doesn't work, although I can sorta understand why just because of the effort it takes just with Water," She began having little thoughts run through her mind, concentrating and running possibilities through her mind, and yet still shook her head as nothing that would work popped in there. "There's 40 mils in each vial too. There can be a tiny bit of room for error, if anything the water is made as saturated as we can get it so it's not too difficult to judge. But it drains enough that right now I would max out at filling four vials, but it likewise takes maybe... an hour tops per vial. I've gotten faster though, but it's still slow."

Spoiler:

"Hm, that's enough materia to fuel 8 B-rank water technique prices assuming you saturated each one, so my point still stands, if you set aside two of the water vials specifically for your Zaki-Style Water Wield then you still have 8 B-ranks worth of water release chakra left over." Crystal thought out loud before smirking as she was lucky that her squad was quite talented, sure her two uncute genin were annoyances due to the way they spoke but they were intelligent. After all despite their upbringing they were still Rikigaku, whereas Himiko had this unique trick of hers which would make her water techniques and by extension her more versatile on the field. This was good considering she was going to be signing them up for the exams that were going to be hosted back in Hakagakure. She wanted to brag to the other jonin that her squad was of course the best, and it would at least ease the teasing when they failed the qualify when the exams were hosted in Dipu.

Admin Posts : 2110 Join date : 2010-07-23 Age : 31

Himiko gulped and nodded, "Ei-Eight?" She repeated, trying to wrap her head around that idea. Cursing under her breath then, falling herself into a slight tantrum of stamping her foot, frustrated in herself, before taking another breath again. "Alright, I... I think I got a little too excited over having this technique begun to notice. Ok, I've got it now." She said with a smile, sealing up her used vials as she fiddled with them on her belt. "But yeah, I've got this down now, so two vials purely for the water wield shouldn't be too difficult, and I still have the other for stronger jutsu." She sat herself down on the sand, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Just imagine... I can do all this now before I'm even onto stage two." She would comment, clearly proud of herself, indicating towards her eyes and the dojutsu she hadn't activated too much in the whole time. "I think I might be even better than my Kage ancestor,"

"Whoops six, I meant six. Well if you only create one blade it's six, if you create two then it's four and you'd only have four B-ranks worth of water infused with water release chakra." Crystal said quickly not realizing she had made an error though when she heard her genin boasting she would sigh as pride often came before the fall. "Oi, your ancestor made Kage, and that was before the Shogunate made shinobi weak I'm guessing, so until you get to that rank I don't think you should be thinking your stronger than her." she said quickly trying to diffuse the air which was expanding Himiko's head before reality decided to pop it. "Anyways, you need to sort that out and make sure they are always saturated with any chakra you can afford to say, store away. Anyways do you need help with anything else?"

Admin Posts : 2110 Join date : 2010-07-23 Age : 31

Himiko was smiling still as she stood up once again, returning back to a posture of showing respect to her teacher. "No Ma'am, I think I'm a little physically worn out so I'm gonna enjoy the waves and refill a vial, maybe two depending on how long I'm here for," She shifted her position to one reminiscent of meditation, taking up her water bottle and carefully dripping the water in until it hit the right mark. Closing her palm over the top of the vial, she closed her eyes and began the low feeding of chakra in. She knew she might ache a little from chakra burn after this, but it would only be some discomfort at worst, and she thought her sensei might like to see how she actually does it.

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Road Trip

With the first round of classes complete and the students already acclimated to life at the academy. The school has organized a field trip in order to give the students a taste of what …

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