Amara's Studies [Training]

Dirt? You want to learn how to seal dirt? Terrence asked, a tone of incredulity in his nonexistent voice.
Well, it's more specifically the Earth Release Sealing Method, but I suppose dirt will be a part of that, yes. Amara said out loud, not worried about people finding the young bookwork talking to herself strange.
Such a waste. You can just pick up some dirt and put it in your pocket. We need to get back to the Medical Ninjutsu and Medical Fuinjutsu, perhaps even some Medical Genjutsu. Anything Iryojutsu related really would be ideal. Terrence demanded, clearly annoyed, yet far more articulate than he had been in the past.
We will, but I'm not comfortable with learning much more about that until I'm at least a genin. Plus, your sudden aggressive desire to delve into that field gives me pause. Not to mention...you're actually making sense now when you speak.

Terrence fell silent, apparently he had nothing to say once Amara shot him down. It was beginning to worry her just how aggressive he had become when Amara started diving into the medical arts and reading about them. It was something he seemed to want very, very badly and as a result, she wasn't lying when she explained to him that it had given her reason to pause and reevaluate. Not to mention, she didn't even know what Terrence really was. The Jinchuuriki claimed to hear the voices of their beasts in their head, a shared consciousness of sorts, but Amara was beyond certain she had no evil demon dwelling within her. This was something different and the more she studied various ailments and mental diseases, the more concern grew within the pit of her stomach. Was she...broken? Was Terrence, a playful, but annoying voice in her head over the years actually becoming a split personality? Would he try to take over? Could he? Was his existence the reason Amara rarely got angry and lacked any sense of a desire for bloodshed? These questions and more plagued the young medical-nin to be as she practiced tracing the seal marking for the Earth Release Sealing Method with a stick in the dirt. It helped her relax and focus her mind on something else. Earth Release Sealing would be one of the easiest to master. Wind next, though she'd have to wait for a particular day. Lightning Release was a whole other beast that she still hadn't quite figured out how to capture. All in do time though, all in do time.

Words: 417/400

Jutsu Learned:

All approved

OOC: Last Spec training was Wednesday, September 7th. It's been over a week.

Strangely, Amara found herself not only enjoying the sidetracking that these ridiculous fairy tale stories brought her, but actually welcoming them and seeking them out now. It brought her a sense of calmness, allowing her mind to simply wander, or rather be led, through a story that didn't matter if she retained anything or not. There was no quiz or test for these stories, they wouldn't better her prowess as a Medical-Ninja or improve her combat potential. They wouldn't even be responsible for saving her life, but she did find that they often helped save her sanity. Not only that, but she was discovering that many of them ended with some excellent life lessons and advice if a reader dug deep enough. Even though, on the surface, they were nothing more than children's tales of one dimensional characters, sometimes animals rather than people. In this case, the story today was particularly different as the characters were instead plants. Amara actually hesitated with this story. This seemed to transcend even the usual ridiculousness she found in these books. Talking trees and reeds? Preposterous. Though, she did remind herself that studies on various mushrooms and fungi alluded to the fact that they had some sort of network of communication. She began to wonder if the Dokusei were doing any experimentation in that vain, but quickly shook her head to bring herself back to the present. This was not a time for hypothesis or research analysis, it was a time for rest and relaxation. She cracked open the short book and began to read.


In a small, unkempt field, a mighty oak stood proud over a sea of reeds. Its branches reached to the sky, growing slowly over the years but intently. Its thick trunk spoke to its decades of life, while the flimsy reads it shaded merely sat low on the ground. One of the oak's greatest pleasures was to watch the reeds sway and bow to the breeze. Occasionally, his own leaves would rustle, perhaps a few old ones even drift lazily down to the sea of reeds, but he still stood tall and proud. No breeze, no gust of air, or breath from the gods would cause him to bow. For he was the mighty oak, more powerful and longer lasting than simple reeds.
You reads are a poor excuse for a plant. We trees stand tall and proud, bowing to no master or outward force. While you pathetic things simply drop at the faintest hint of a breeze. To think I must exist in the same field as you, bah! The oak said one day, not bothering to hide the disgust in his voice.
We do not bow to the breeze, we simply work with it. The breeze does us no harm, so we allow it to flow freely over and through us. Why resist what doesn't hurt you? It's better to coexist than pick needless fights. The collective reeds countered, but the stoic oak was having none of it. What did reeds know? What they lacked in strength and intelligence, they made up for in numbers. As the oak gazed across the open field, he reflected happily that it took hundreds, if not thousands of reeds to make up just a fraction of the strength and intelligence a singular oak tree had. These reeds hid their subservience with a ridiculous outlook on life.

One night, during an unexpected storm, the oak found himself bracing harder than he had before. The wind howled while lightning roared and the oak put everything he had into resisting the wind. Beneath him, the reeds flailed and fanned, not even putting up a fight against such a monstrous gale. Leaves scattered from his branches, but still, the oak resisted. Morning came eventually, and although he was exhausted from the whole ordeal, he still stood proudly over his sea of reeds. His point was only proven more when he noticed the hundreds of displaced reeds and numerous bare spots in the field.
It would appear your brethren should not have trusted the wind, for it took advantage of them and was their undoing. They've been carried away, homeless and to a strange land, they are not prepared to survive in if they survived at all. I however still stand, for trees are superior and the wind is not to be trusted or allowed to have its way.
It is true that we have lost some of our friends, but they have merely been taken away to spread across the world. It is simply the way of things, the natural course of the natural world and to resist such a thing as you do is unnatural. It will be your undoing. The reeds said cryptically and even the oak found himself uncomfortable by their prediction. However, he chose instead to simply ignore them and their ridiculous prophecies. He turned away once more, basking in the sun and the windless morning.

Weeks passed and a hurricane appeared on the horizon. The oaks hook with nervous anticipation as the winds whipped and howled through his branches. He resisted for as long as he could, but the sheer aggression of the wind was too much and with a thunderous crack, he snapped and toppled into the sea of waiting reeds. When the hurricane had passed several days later, the reeds took no time in growing around, over and even through the husk of the old oak. For this is the natural way of things. The reeds said as they snaked their way through the corpse of the stubborn tree. The oak said nothing. He had stood proud for as long as he could, but died helpless to the very creatures he spent most of his life mocking. The last thing he felt was a soft breeze snaking its way through the tops of his branches one last time, or perhaps it was simply one of those damned reeds.


Amara closed the book and let out a deep breath. That had been...surprisingly unsettling. Maybe she needed a break from these stories as well.

Word: 1011/1000

Specialization Trained:

Approved

Wind Sealing Method, now this one would no doubt be tricky. It was nothing compared to the difficulty she'd face with practicing the Lightning Sealing Method, but it was a far cry from the ease of the Earth Sealing Method. Wind was so much more than simple air, it was a force of nature and not one to be taken lightly. Amara smirked as she exited the village and walked several dozen yards out into the open, unprotected lands. It amused her that only hours before she had read a children's story about the raw power of wind and a character who underestimated this force of nature. It had ultimately been the mighty oak's downfall and Amara was resolute to not follow in the character's footsteps. Er...tree steps? Root steps? The point was, she wouldn't end up like him. No reeds would sew her corpse today. Now, the land of Malice was a fascinating place. Fifty-two weeks with fifty-two seasons, all as unpredictable as the last. It was why Mahougakure had been built the way it was, with enclosed spheres to protect its residents from the harsh storms and weather patterns produced here. For generations before its establishment, this entire land had been far too harsh to settle. Only the most monstrous of creatures could survive here, but that all changed when Mahougakure's creator, a now ascended being, established this village and began to civilize some of the surrounding area.

The Village Hidden in Magic, how strangely named, Amara thought. There was no magic here, only a marvelous feat of engineering and one with inspiration taken from the depths of Dipugakure's own glass domes. Though, in fairness to her village's creator, the spheres of Mahougakure were far more dynamic and powerful than even Dipugakure's domes. Those domes only had to worry about the pressure of being at such a depth, where as Mahougakure was designed to withstand just about anything the natural world could throw at it. Amara's sight drifted to the missing spot of one of the orbs, taken down by the attack of the smoke demon, Nibi. Well, withstand almost anything. Amara said to herself over the howl of the wind and crashing of the thunder around her. Which, brings us back to why the girl had wandered outside the village in the first place.

With her rain jacket thoroughly soaked, though doing its best to shed the pelting rain, Amara hiked out to an area of relatively open ground. This week's weather forecast called for severe lightning storms, truly hurricane-level destruction. To the point that the guards at the village entrance had stopped her and told her to turn around. There was no reason for an Academy Student to be venturing out into this alone and unprotected. After several long minutes of back and forth, she had managed to convince, or possibly annoy enough, the guards to let her out into the storm for a short period. She claimed it was part of a homework assignment from the academy and it was exactly a complete lie. The academy wanted their students to grow stronger, train, and practice what she had learned back home. Well, Amara had been learning seals at the academy and now she was learning seals at home. Reinforcing that oh so precious knowledge they had gifted her. The thought of those two seal instructors made her roll her eyes as she generated a co-ordinate cube and began tracing the fuinjutsu seal for Wind Sealing Method on the side. With the seal complete, it was no only a matter of time, waiting for a strong enough gust. Then, there it was. The trees around her groaned, some limbs even snapping as a whirlwind of debris, leaves, and small pebbles ripped through her small clearing. The girl snapped her fingers and then there was a sudden silence. It lasted for only the briefest of moments though, a small pocket of violent wind having been plucked out of reality with little more than a thought and snap of the fingers. The rest of the wind, that which came behind her stolen sample, resumed the onslaught, and Amara had to raise a hand to protect her face from the attack.

As the howling wind died down a bit, Amara lowered her arm and looked around, satisfied with her success. However, she didn't have long to bask in her glory before the grove of trees to her left exploded with light. She screamed in surprise, using her hands to shield her eyes rather than her face as the whole world seemed to go white. The thunder followed nearly instantaneously afterward, something she wasn't used to. For the briefest of moments, she remembered counting the seconds between lightning flashes and thunder booms with her father. A joyful childhood memory, ironically just two years before because she was a grand total of four now. Each second marked a mile, that's how far the lightning strike was her father had told her. However, there were no seconds to count this time and that meant the lightning was right on top of her. Once her fear had subsided, Amara's scientific brain kicked in and she realized this was a prime opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, as it were. Jumping into action, she spotted the tallest tree still standing near her and began forming a co-ordinate cube with one hand while pointing towards the epicenter of the lightning strike with her other hand and forming a second co-ordinate cube. Flames had sprung to life where the lightning had struck and though the torrential downpour was doing a fine job of turning fire to steam, Amara wasn't taking any chances. She snapped her fingers, sealing away a massive chunk of fire and felt that was enough to allow the rain to take care of the rest. Back to the tree now, her fingers weaved and twirled, a twinkle of madness in the young girl's eye as she hastily prepped the Lightning Sealing Method seal on the side of her co-ordinate cube. Then, just as she finished, the lightning struck again, Amara turned away as fast as possible to avoid any type of potential blinding. As the world shook around her, Amara laughed with glee, finding a small bit of lightning had been sealed within her co-ordinate cube.

Words: 1052/1000

Jutsu:

Approved

Something about the hospital's records library was unnerving compared to the safety and warmth Amara felt all around her at the regular library. Perhaps it was the lightning, which buzzed like a nuisance above her and cast strange, inorganic light all around the books. Perhaps it was the smells and odors that leaked in from the hallway, no matter how distant the operating rooms were. The stench of sewage, rot, and even death was thinly veiled with cleaning products that could never hope to win the war they waged. She was thankful that the sounds at least were kept to a minimum and for the most part, she was left alone in silence. There was a record keeper, someone Amara signed in with every morning and signed out with every evening. Unlike the library, she was unable to take anything home or out of the four walls that she was contained to. The man who worked the front desk wasn't rude, but more so...lifeless. He regarded Amara with no more interest than he did the dust on his desk. Occasionally a frantic doctor or nurse would barge in, demanding a specific tome or medical journal, but for the most part, day in and day out, it was just Amara. She had made a nook for herself, a small juncture in the wall with piled-up manuscripts and books. The man at the desk never yelled at her or demanded that she returned the books, though every morning she found them neatly reorganized, returned to their home position from which they came without a word.

The medical journals and texts themselves were dense, to say the least. Amara had thought fuinjutsu tomes were brutally boring and convoluted, but those paled in comparison to the vast array of knowledge within these books. The real problem was just how diverse each creature's body was. On the outside, the surface of it all, all four races appeared relatively similar. Humanoids with some interesting, noteworthy characteristics, but when someone delved deeper, each race was completely different. Then it came down to the anatomical differences among different types of members of races. Entity for example were vastly different than Cypher. The humans were thankfully somewhat similar, though any given Ronin could vary dramatically from a human to a nova to a zireh depending on that Ronin's ability. Then finally, she had to study up on and consider all of the different races, their attributes and how their techniques impacted their physiology and needs. Bishamon for example had different blood than ordinary humans, or any of the other races in general. The same was said for Dokusei as well, but their blood had different properties than even the Bishamon. Amara hadn't yet delved too deeply into the different clans and already she could feel the headache coming on.

She sat back, rested her head on the cool brick of the wall and closed her eyes with a quiet groan.
You seem...perturbed. Terrence's familiar voice spoke to her in her mind.
Perturbed? Where did you pick that one up? Amara asked with a faint smile, glad for the distraction even if Terrence's usual distractions involved ranting about bloodshed and burning things down.
You've been consuming a lot of material these last few weeks. I've expanded my vocabulary with your strange language. Terrence said matter of factly, giving Amara pause. Your language? That was an odd thing to say. Terrence, as far as Amara could tell, was a projection of herself. Probably an amalgamation of some negative traits used to block a forgotten trauma in her life. Though, she hadn't had time to really delve into that. So if Terrence was a projection of herself, why did he say "your language"? There had been some other strange instances over the last few weeks with him, never mind the fact that he had become seemingly more docile but not any less dark. His outbursts were less outbursts and more simple, ominous observations and quiet thoughts said out loud. It was...unnerving. Amara had always been annoyed by the voice screaming in her head, but it had been constant, predictable. Now that it was changing, that meant something, but she didn't know what. And not knowing was terrifying.

Alright, my theory is you're some part of me. What's your theory? Amara asked, curious.
My...theory? Terrence asked hesitantly before falling silent. As the minutes ticked by, Amara began to wonder if she had stumped him and he had given up, falling dormant. When she was about to give up and return to her reading, he came back.
I'm not sure if I am. He said simply.
Am what? A part of me? Surely you must be. I'm no jinchuuriki and you've been here all my life in some form or another. Amara countered, a cold sweat rolling down the nape of her neck.
Hmm yes, true. I don't know, but I'm growing more and more confident that I'm not you. Though, I'm learning a lot from you. There's something...different. A feeling, a pull towards something that you haven't expressed any interest in at all. I don't know if you can even feel it and if you can't...then we're not the same being.

Amara swallowed hard and felt hollow. This was far too intelligent, too deep for the Terrence she knew.
I don't think I'm enjoying this conversation anymore.
No, I didn't much think you would. I'm very confident though Amara, that we are not one in the same, that you won't just grow out of me or take medication to forget me. For both of us to survive the coming years, you need to find a way in those mountainous books to separate two consciousnesses from one body. I need to be let out or it'll be the end of both of us. Terrence said and Amara actually felt him disappear. She couldn't explain it, but it made her breath catch in her throat. It was as if he had closed a door in her psyche, locking himself away where she couldn't pry. This had never happened before and it meant only one thing, Terrence was growing and growing fast.

Words: 1013/1000

Training:

Approved

It was back to fuinjutsu for the young academy student. The class she had signed up for proved to be less than fruitful in her endeavors. What she really needed was to get faster with her seal work, not more of it. She could learn and read about theory all on her own without the help of a mere chunin level instructor, but to actually hone her physical abilities would require someone who knew what they were doing and could watch over Amara to make sure she didn't hurt herself while training. Physical techniques were, after all, far from her strong suit. Besides, the instructors for the fuinjutsu class had been less than useful to her endeavors. It was an unfortunate truth, but a truth none the less. Couple that fact with her genuine, growing fear of Terrence's advancing sentience and Amara was more than happy to stay well away from anything other than seal work. Medical Ninjutsu seemed to only draw the stranger out more. That was the last thing she needed.

So, she returned to her seal work, specifically enhancing her abilities with manipulating the six basic elements. With those sealing methods mastered, it was now time to expand her ability to actually utilize them. Sure, it was helpful to volunteer with the fire brigade and seal away a raging inferno, but what if she could bring forth that inferno in combat without ever being able to align herself with the fire element naturally? Now that would be a useful trick to be certain. She had already advanced her way through the manifestation seal family, so today was about focusing on range and something called enhance. Radius was simple, it would allow her to seal away techniques from a greater distance. Rather than having to envelop the flames within her cube, she could have the cube smaller and offset to the side, sealing the flames up to ten feet away from the cube. It also allowed her to drop a shape within an inferno or any elemental technique and seal away a larger portion of it immediately. Enhance however was...different. She didn't quite understand its use now, but from what she had read it would serve as an excellent gateway to a more powerful technique later. Potentially allowing her to even seal away entire jutsu that others have used. Like any technique, it did have its dangers though and Amara would need to acknowledge its limit so as not to receive a deadly level of recoil upon use.

Words: 420/400

Jutsu Trained:

Amara obviously didn't realize she had fallen asleep, and she certainly hadn't planned on it. The medical textbook she had been perusing simply had taken its tole, even on a studious mind such as hers. It wasn't entirely the textbook's fault, at least not this singular textbook. The weeks upon weeks of studying not only Medical Ninjutsu, but Fuinjutsu as well, had simply become too much. She had had little break, other than a few short stories her parents had left her and encouraged her to read just to break it up. So her mind had finally quit and demanded an extra break beyond the five hours she gave it each night. She'd awake annoyed, but refreshed and in the long run that was what mattered. Still, as she slept her mind worked and it worked its way into a fascinating, fantastical dream.


The old man’s airship fired a volley of charged cannon fire overhead, and for the life of him, Cyrus had no idea why.
A quick knock came at the door to his chambers.
“Captain!” A voice called with a tinge of urgency.
“I know.” Cyrus called back. He stood in front of the bay window in his quarters, staring out from the stern of his own airship. The captain of The Mercy scratched his cheek idly, racking his brain for an explanation. The Iron Wrought had appeared only several minutes earlier, flanking them, but showing the colors of intended parlay. Curious, Cyrus had ordered his crew to slow the ship. Striders cut the wind in the sails and Floaters made sure to increase the ballast, lowering The Mercy until it was parallel with the larger vessel. Cyrus had more or less forgotten about the ship at that point, busying himself with other matters aboard the vessel while waiting for The Iron Wrought to pull up alongside. It was only upon returning to his chambers that he noticed the vessel hadn’t slowed down its approach.
Something wasn’t right.
Luckily for him, the old man showed his hand too soon, firing the first salvo before they were within a proper range.
He was nervous and on edge.
The knock at the door came again, harder this time.
“I said, I know,” Cyrus called over his shoulder, just as the door burst open.
“What did you do?” Una demanded.
“What do you mean, what did I do?”
“Willis wouldn’t just start attacking us, especially with a cowardly approach like this.”
“I’m just as confused as you are, my dear. Been trying to sort it out this whole time.”
“I ordered the crew to turn us hard to port and prepare to return fire.”
“Ah yes, thank you. Always good to have a responsible first mate.” Cyrus said, leafing through some papers on his desk.
“What are you doing?” Una asked.
“Looking for something.”
“Something to do with Willis?”
“Ah-ha!” The captain declared, holding up a wrinkled piece of parchment.
“What? What is it? Did you squander a trade deal again? Is that why he’s after us?”
“Hm? Oh, no.” He said with a laugh, “I just wanted to make sure I had our supplies list for the next time we dock. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember where I had left it. The thought just crossed my mi-”
“Cyrus.” Una said flatly, “We are currently under fire.” She stepped over and ripped the shopping list from his hand.
“Focus.” She nearly growled.
“Yes, I can see that, thank you.”
Cyrus stepped around to the other side of his desk, grabbing his weapons belt off the back of his chair. He pulled the black leather strap through, buttoning it, and checked the hilt of his blade with a quick nod.
“We didn’t do anything wrong.”
“What?”
“With Willis, please, try to keep up,” Cyrus said, strolling towards the door and throwing it open. A lower crew member jumped back a bit in surprise.
“We didn’t wrong Willis, you see, or at least that’s what I’ve decided. If we had wronged Willis in some way, reneged on a trade deal, set him up for a sting with the Armada,”
“Slept with his wife?” Una added.
“That was one time.” Cyrus rebuffed her, “Regardless, if we had done something personal to gain his ire, he’d have brought his complaint to the Garasi Faction, with which we have a grand business relationship. They would have voted, made it a whole bureaucratic to-do and if they had found it reasonable, well then we’d have far more ships taking pot shots at us right now and be in much bigger trouble, right?”
“So because he’s acting alone, you think the Garasi don’t know about this? He’s gone rogue.”
“In a sense, maybe. The fact of the matter is, he’s willing to risk being cut out of the Garasi Faction. No simple slight of character would convince the old man to take out an unsanctioned hit on us. This is something else entirely.”
Cyrus looked to the sky as the two of them strode up the stairs towards the helm. The clouds had grown a deep, foreboding grey. The smell of rain was in the air as the first echoes of thunder explored the sky. They were beginning to list to the left as Una had instructed, swinging their stern out and around just as another salvo from The Iron Wrought streaked through the darkening sky. Mercy’s Aegis lit up where the charged shots struck, creating a rippling burst of color that dissipated as it spread. The fractals lining the port stern side of the ship burned brightly as the Aegis pulled power from them to deflect the attack.
“They’re getting closer. I’ll have Rejik prepare to fire.” Una said.
“No.”
“No?”
Cyrus pointed skywards just as the first few drops of rain began to fall, “To make a storm this big, this quickly, Willis will have any of his Tempestrii who aren’t keeping that ship moving working on that.” Cyrus pulled at a bag on his belt, loosening the knots as he spoke, “Last I checked, he doesn’t have any heavy hitters in his employ. Plenty of Breezes to keep the ship moving and drum up a couple of storms from time to time, but no one who’s going to put up much of a fight if their attention is elsewhere.”
“And if he’s calling up a storm, he’s not planning to drop us,” Una added.
“Exactly, he wants to board us. Take a few chunks out of us first and disable our weapons, maybe, but he has no desire to drop us.”


Words: 1061/1000

Training:

Approved

Hmm I have solid and liquid state modifying seals, but those don't really help me with my elements. Amara mused to herself while tapping the blunt end of her pen on the notebook. She scanned through her notes, realizing she was quickly approaching the extent of her trainable techniques. The year at the Academy felt like a decade at this point and she was ready to move on, though she did have a growing concern about the exam. She wasn't built for a fight, if that was in fact what the Academy decided on for their examination type. Not only did she lack any real fighting abilities compared to most of her classmates, she simply wasn't intending to develop those skills for a long time. No, seal work was her best art and then adding in Medical Ninjutsu, she wanted to play more of a support role to her comrades. She wouldn't be able to blitz attack someone or put out tremendous amounts of damage. She couldn't even defend or avoid all that well right now, but if someone needed matter manipulated or simply sealed away? She was their girl. However, such a lofty claim couldn't be validated if she couldn't even seal away her own elements.

Vapor would be the easiest to get down. Psionic was in an entirely different class, part of some of the strangest elements on the planet, it fell into the Unknown Category in terms of natural make up and composition. Vapor was far more simple, simply a gas version of whatever was turned to vapor. Though, somewhat ironically she still wouldn't be able to seal it and store it without the proper Vapor Elemental Seal, this was at least a step in the right direction. So, gathering her things and her thoughts, she began to trace the Modification Seal: Gaseous State Formula into her notebook. It was similar in most aspects to the previous two, liquid and solid state formulas, though the edges were more flowy and obscure. The solid formula had rigid edges, hard and defined while the liquid formula's edges were more flowy, but still connected and finished the marking. The gaseous state formula though didn't fully connect, instead extending seemingly into infinity. It was odd, but Amara had studied far stranger than that. With the seal complete, she brushed away the excess graphite and stared at it. Happy with her work, she closed her notebook and packed up for the day.

Words: 410/400

Jutsu:

Approved

Amara had done it, or at least she felt like she had. Granted, she knew she hadn't literally done it. There were still dozens upon dozens of fuinjutsu techniques she had yet to master at her current rank, but she felt like she had run her course through the vast majority of them and was now ready to start dabbling in something else. Everything would still be fuinjutsu adjacent of course, seal work was imperative to her development as a shinobi and she was still far from ready to truly dive into the medical ninjutsu side of things. Besides, she'd need a tutor for most of that. For the time being, all she had was theory and no real way to practice what she read about. It was frustrating but understandable. So, she turned her attention to what lay beyond fuinjutsu, the techniques and paths that could work with her specialty hand in hand to create some truly impressive combinations. In truth, though she knew so many techniques, her battle capabilities were...lacking to say the least. Thankfully, classes had started up again at the Academy and she was already training her physical body beyond limits she ever thought possible. So, on the plus side, she was getting faster at what she could do in a fight. Unfortunately, she couldn't do much in a fight right now. Her best bet was to seal people away with a Co-ordinate Cube and she still couldn't even fully do that. Only limbs, not actually full, living beings. Still, a charging Academy Student with a sword would drop pretty quick if their leg just disappeared.

Regardless, it wasn't good enough. Fuinjutsu was exceedingly difficult to resist. It didn't have hard counters like a person's endurance for ninjutsu or a physical technique's counter of defensive tiers. Those ronin could be disturbingly sturdy, not that she ever planned to really attack someone physically. Her best course of action was avoidance and all of these thoughts didn't even take into account the disturbing capabilities of the multiple jinchuuriki that she'd be competing against in any of these exams. She had gathered as many notes on each of them as possible, but there was still so much missing and so much to learn. She had no real idea of their capabilities, but the horse one seemed the most promising. It wasn't just that he had the highest-tailed beast sealed within him, that fact, especially at as low a rank as they all were, hardly mattered. He just seemed to be the only one taking his training seriously of the five. Then there was the moth girl she had sat beside in the taijutsu class the other day. Somewhat unassuming, she was a physical specialist and one that was completely dialed in to her physical side. Those types were threats to be sure, even if they were mostly one trick ponies. Amara would stand no chance against such speed and strength in a fair, one on one fight. So, she'd need to find a way to make it unfair if she were to be paired against her. In fact, she'd need to find a way to make all of her fights, exams or survival, unfair for the opponent.

Sitting straight up now from her position on the library floor, she realized that that was it. That was the answer to her fighting style troubles. She wasn't a samurai of honor and respect for her opponent. Fights were about one thing, winning. If it was an exam, it'd mean she'd pass. If it was a matter of survival, it would mean she'd get to return home when her opponent would not. There was no honor to be had in a fight, only the dead carried honor and it was an attribute that would only get in the way of her future goals. So, instead of focusing on raw strength or power, instead of trying to build up her own defenses, she'd focus on strengthening the allies around her and dampening the abilities of those who would bring her harm. She'd become the ultimate support specialist, along with a flourish of trapping seals and debuffs that would cripple anything stupid enough to look her way with a predatory thought. The first step in this journey would be juinjutsu to compliment her already vast array of fuinjutsu techniques. Curse seals would help her cripple her opponents directly, potentially winning her matches without actually harming her opponent. Later on it would make gathering the samples she'd need even easier. After all, live specimens were so much more valuable than the dead and rotting ones.

My, my, what a realization we've had. Terrence spoke from within Amara's mind, sending a chill up her spine that made her shiver.
Yes, I like this sudden turn we've taken. Plus, these thoughts of experimentation that I'm seeing blossom in here. Now that is all very interesting. Terrence said with an almost hungry growl in his disembodied voice.
Are you eavesdropping? That's rather rude. Amara thought back somewhat perturbed by the way he spoke so casually about her personal thoughts, things she believed were hidden from anyone else.
There's not much room in here, child. I've always been able to see fragments of your frantic mind. Only recently I've begun to reach out and hold onto the interesting ones, to be able to really see them for the first time. It's fascinating.
Amara sighed, dealing with Terrence's growing intelligence and autonomy was rapidly rising on her priority list. At this thought, the voice simply chuckled and Amara paled. Truly no thought was solely her own anymore. Pass the genin exams, then she would look into this and deal with Terrence for good, but she had to pass the Genin exams first. It would provide her a bit more discretion than if she mentioned something while enrolled in the Academy. They'd simply take her back for multiple psych evals and slow her progression through her classes, or worse, deem her unfit for the shinobi life and relegate her to a simple civilian. That would be a fate worse than death as far as she was concerned.

Words: 1019/1000

Spec Training:

Approved

Amara mulled over her class with Gin and Kin. They had been...simply downright annoying, but she knew they possessed some level of impressive sealing skills or else they wouldn't have been put in charge of such an important position within the academy. There were flashes of seriousness and although she refused to ever take another class with them again, she wondered if she might get an opportunity to observe one or both of them again at some point. Regardless, it was back to her own studies and self-training for this Academy Student. On the plus side, Shiro-sensei had been a wonderful teacher and Amara could already feel her ability to rapidly draw shapes increasing, as well as an expanded capacity with increasing their size. It was very exciting, considering before she could really delve into medical ninjutsu of any kind, it'd be her shapes would be her main form of offense...and defense...and really everything. Without her shapes, she was mostly useless in a combat situation, so being able to produce larger shapes faster than before was an unparalleled blessing.

Still, she was acutely aware that there was so much more she could do with her shapes than simply draw them. Of course there were more advanced shapes that she hadn't learned yet, but really at this stage they were nothing more than a chakra drain. One of those and a fuinjutsu seal or two and she'd be dead on the floor before the shape even sealed away. So, that meant she'd need to turn her attention not to more shapes, but to variants instead. She had already figured out Co-ordinate spear, which would be great for keeping people in place while she did as she pleased, but now she needed something with a wider area of effect. Thus, Amara had delved into the Co-ordinate Field line of techniques. A line that would take the uses an abilities of her three dimensional shapes and revert them to a two dimensional area of effect, allowing her to apply seals across a wide range and potentially help her set up some devastating Barrier Fuinjutsu techniques in the future. Shapes were useful because they allowed her to be accurate at range with fuinjutsu, something that almost anyone other than Inkan could not do. This field line of techniques traded accuracy and precision for simple wide effects. Rather than having to draw multiple co-ordinate cubes to seal people away, she could potentially flatten and expand one cube to encompass several targets all at once.

Words: 418/400

Technique Learned:

Approved

Amara read through her scroll on Inkan fuinjutsu while she sat at a cafe in Mahougakure. It was a brisk day, with sudden, sharp wind gusts that made reading a bit challenging, though she preferred to stay outside regardless. The sun did its job to warm her and a light jacket was enough, besides, the sudden slice of cold air did wonders to keep her awake and alert so she didn't succumb to the embracing warmth that the sun presented. She looked side-eyed at her table neighbor, who had seemingly finished their drink and danish and curled up on the bench, sound asleep. A faint smile touched her lips and she shook her head before returning to her reading. As an Inkan, fuinjutus was supposed to come naturally to her and although this was true, at times there seemed to be just so much to remember and learn that it became slightly overwhelming. She was progressing well, especially for someone her age. Having already mastered over fifty different fuinjutsu techniques and not just the Inkan ones either. However, there was simply a never ending list of fuinjutsu to be learned and unlike many other techniques, each one relied on another. So if you wanted to learn one higher rank technique, you probably had to master five other lower rank ones to get there. It made for rather tedious and time consuming training, but she had the time. The Academy still moved at a snail's pace and there were times she worried they'd never have a graduation exam.

All she could do though was prepare so that when the Academy finally got its business together, she'd be ready. One idea did bother her and that was her lack of preparedness when it came to combat situations. While fuinjutsu was painfully useful, it did present the problem of not being the most useful purely used in combat. It augmented abilities and allowed Amara to craft traps. At this stage in her training she could even seal away living tissue such as limbs, but still...it wasn't perfect and in a one on one fight, she'd be in trouble. The technique she was studying today most likely wouldn't help much with that, but it was an avenue to bigger and more powerful techniques, just like everything else in the fuinjutsu world. After learning Co-ordinate Field the other day, she had begun to delve into the world of Barrier Fuinjutsu. She may not be the most capable shinobi in a one on one fight, but if she could figure out a way to control the area of a fight, she'd be far better off. After all, control of a situation was far more useful than simply being strong or a powerful technique.


Words: 456/400

Technique:

Approved

OOC: Last Spec training was 10/03/2022 (or 03/10/2022 for the Brits).

Amara hadn't exactly mastered fuinjutsu, but she had a pretty strong grip on it considering her rank. Countless hours spent studying up on and mastering various seal markings had made her begin to grow interested in the other side of seal mastery. Fuinjutsu was of course the main item on the list, but it was far from the only one. When people thought of sealing, they naturally drifted off towards Fuinjutsu, completely forgetting about techniques like Barrier Fuinjutsu, Kinjutsu, and most importantly, Juinjutsu. Techniques that many thought of as just as forbidden as Kinjutsu, Juinjutsu was a dangerous and deadly game. Usually utilized by the torture and interrogation unit, techniques had begun to leak out to the general public and be utilized by shinobi across all departments. They were dangerous, they were twisted, but they were effective and Amara had discovered a way to integrate them with her Co-ordinate shapes. The Inkan's main advantage over the other fuinjutsu users of the world was that they could apply seals at a distance with their co-ordinate shapes. Amara could do the same with curse seals now as well. The girl wasn't meant for speed or any form of physical activity really, but if she could apply curse seals to her opponents from a distance, she'd never have to worry about outrunning or maneuvering around them ever again. Not only could she focus on singular opponents with precision using her co-ordinate cube or other shapes, she could cause mass paralysis or pain with her co-ordinate field line of techniques as well. It was truly a dangerous ability to have mastered and she was eager to get started, albeit a bit wary of the creature lurking just below the surface.

The last time she had started to delve into anything that could be twisted and contorted to more vile means, Terrence had shown an interest that, quite frankly, frightened Amara. He had felt stronger, more in control, and certainly more present than ever before. As if he was creating a persona of his own rather than just some disembodied voice. Worst of all, he had shown patience, understanding, and even deep thought as opposed to his usual one-note rage and desire for bloodshed. He was certainly...advancing and Amara wasn't exactly sure where this advancement would end or what would happen when he eventually achieved his highest level. For that matter, she wasn't even sure what he was. As if summoned, his voice broke into her thoughts on cue.
Juinjutsu? You mean to start experimenting with curse seals, Amara? Interesting. His voice was different now, though it still showed its trademark moments of rage from time to time. However, he now spoke with a more refined sense, as if a gentleman in thought and she wondered if it was something he had picked up on or manifested from the countless, dense textbooks she had consumed over the years.
I'm simply researching the upper limits of sealing as a whole. She responded, doing best to ignore him and the sudden, predatory hunger that arose in the pit of her stomach.
Mhmm yes, I'm sure that's it. Though if that were the case, why aren't you looking into any of the other aspects of sealing? Why start with Juinjutsu if it wasn't your main concern and interest? He asked and Amara could almost hear the smirk on his inexistent lips. She broke into a cold sweat, trying to come up with a counter.
We have to start somewhere, Juinjutsu happens to be where I chose to start for now.
Yes, of course, that must be it. Just simple happenstance. Well, I'll leave you to it. Terrence said and, though she couldn't explain it, Amara felt his presence begin to leave. That was certainly a first, usually she could always detect him, a sort of internal sixth sense really, but now he was seemingly slipping out of focus to the peripherals of her self-sense.
You're leaving? She asked a little too quickly, I assumed you'd have a considerable interest in this field of study and want to stick around for it.
Oh my dear, I do. In fact, I'm a bit annoyed that you just so happen to choose today to begin your studies of Juinjutsu. Unfortunately, I have other matters to attend to, all for your future benefit, don't worry. With that, Terrence was gone and Amara felt a small, empty pit in her very being without him. It was strange and certainly unnerving, but she did her best to ignore it. Where would a disembodied voice, a true psychotic mental manifestation need to go? Her mind was truly twisted at this point and she worried she was beyond help. The time to confide in someone about Terrence was long overdue. She'd need to seek help through her books, scrolls, and tomes and fix this herself.

For now though, just like Terrence, she had other matters to attend to. Juinjutsu, unlike Fuinjutsu, fell into the Natural category of technique types. Both Spiritual and Natural were some of the most powerful technique types out there and as a result, some of the most dangerous. Many Spiritual techniques took a blood price to fuel them whereas Natural had the added effect of turning practitioners to stone inside and out when overused. It was a process that was nearly irreversible without some very, very high-level Medical Senjutsu techniques. The number of known Medical Senjutsu users within the Republic was slim, to say the least. That meant she would need to be very careful throughout this training process, potentially even more so than when she was using seals. Seals on their own, thankfully, were close to harmless. They relied on other seals, seal chains or formulas if you will, to actually be effective. As a result, learning singular seals at a time made for a low level of risk. However, curse seals were far from that. Even a simple D-rank seal could cause lasting harm and serve as a danger to the practitioner and anyone around them. This would be a long, slow road of study but it was necessary for Amara to have a chance in the upcoming Genin exams and, quite frankly, continue her career as a kunoichi.

Words: 1030/1000

Spec Tech Breakdown:

Approved

Well, no time like the present to start learning ways to torture and inflict debilitating pain on the only targets currently available to you, namely your own classmates. It was not lost on Amara just how disturbing this prospect was and honestly, she was shocked that no one at the Academy had tried to stop her from studying these curse seals. They were a valid form of techniques, true, and other students were allowed to learn Kinjutsu techniques, also true. Not to mention, they had five walking demon seals busying the halls and she had even heard of a boy who could summon and transform into various demons of some kind. Which, was something she very much wanted to learn more about and witness for herself, she just hadn't been able to track him down yet. However, will all that being said, she rationalized that the Academy already more than had their hands full so the mousy bookworm in the corner dabbling in ranged torture methods was the least of their concerns.

As for her own rationalization behind wanting to learn seals known as Base Curse - Pain Curse, Electrocute Curse, and Burn Curse, well the explanation was really just a bit selfish in reality. It was true that these were, by definition, part of the sealing branch of techniques. Thus, she was interested in how they worked and learning about them. However, the real reason stemmed from a lack of combat prowess amongst her peers. Many of them had already shown glimmers of true combatants and while Amara was certain she possessed knowledge of techniques that far outstripped any one else's here, that knowledge wouldn't do her much good in a one on one fight. These Juinjutsu techniques presented an ace in the hole and a surprise for anyone paired with Amara. She wouldn't go down without at least taking someone with her.

Words: 313/300

Techniques Trained:

Approved

Faster. She had to get faster. Her fellow classmates were physical beasts, not to mention the demonic chakra beasts half of them had sealed within themselves. Amara was a studious shinobi. She could research and record new information with little to no issue. However, that also meant she had never spent a moment of her life in the gym. She was of about average physical speed, so she could at least MAYBE run away if trouble presented itself. Her own personal speed was of little concern though, after all her plan was to never really have to move during a fight. Instead, she wanted to set up an area of control around herself in which any opponent unfortunate enough to enter this zone of control was doomed from the get go. So rather than focus on improving her physical speed, she wanted to improve her shape-weaving speed. If she could fire off co-ordinate shapes faster than her opponents could move well then, they were doomed and she would win. Unfortunately, while fuinjutsu and sealing theory were quite powerful, at such a young age and low rank there was little she could currently accomplish with them. It was simply the unfortunate nature of it all. However, she had to do at least something. Shiro-sensei had mentioned that just like training their physical bodies, Amara could train the speed at which she drew. That meant she had to train two aspects of herself, both her drawing speed with her extended hand (which allowed for a heightened draw speed), and the drawing speed with her eyes. Incorporating some of her psionic abilities into her shape weaving would allow for increased speed and most importantly, an increased number of shapes being simultaneously weaved.

So, there she sat in the Fira training grounds, pondering how exactly one trained a physical aspect of themselves. It wasn't like sealing theory in which she simply read a book and then practiced writing the seal itself or even Ninjutsu which walked her through how to do something and then she practiced the various hand seals and chakra molding to do so. This was entirely uncharted territory for the young girl. The only real physical exercise she knew was doing pushups, so she started there. It was a complete and utter failure. Before she had even completed one her arms began shaking violently and threatened to drop her on her face. With a sigh, she gave up on those and remembered Shiro-sensei's boxing instructions with Keid the other day. She didn't have a partner, but she could at least practice throwing punches and sort of shadow-boxing. It was ugly, but she could feel her heart rate increasing and within seconds, mostly thanks to the increased temperature of the Fira sphere, she was sweating profusely. Well, she didn't know how all this would help her increase her shape weaving speed, but at the very least it made her feel better. While she shadow boxed and prayed that no one was paying attention to the mousy girl in the corner fighting ghosts, her mind began to wander back to the Juinjutsu she had been studying days earlier.

Already she had three different curse seals under her belt and she knew there were more to go. Stronger versions of those basic seals that she could place on her co-ordinate shapes and transfer at range to targets. They wouldn't kill anyone, but they could make for a very decisive pivot in any fights she found herself in. Whether that be a fight to the death with some bandits or a simple exam fight. If she could paralyze her opponent, they were left defenseless and she could go in for the finishing blow...one way or another. Still, while effective, they were pretty much her only real offensive plan at this point. She did have enough sealing ability now to get rid of organic material like someone's limb. That would be useful, but with her chakra reserves impractical to use more than once. Amara realized she was a bit of a one hit wonder. She could fire off something extra spicy and very dangerous to her opponent...but only once or twice at most. If she missed, it was game over. With no other avenues to turn to or plans in motion, she'd simply have to keep training what she knew and hope for the best if the situation ever presented itself.

With a sigh, the girl lowered her fists and began sucking in hot air. That had...taken more out of her than it should have, to say the least. She raised a shaky hand and pointed it at a nearby rock, drawing a cube in mid-air ever so slightly faster than she had been able to before. The cube formed and the girl snapped. The rock simply disappeared along with a bit of turf it had been resting on. Neat.

Words: 811/800

Technique:

Approved