A lightning bolt separated the sky and illuminated everything on the training area Ryoku was waiting at. A few seconds later, the thunder arrived - low, dreadfull, with the promise of rain. Exactly the conditions Ryoku hoped for for his training session with one of his students, Sho Deshuga. Since the Chuunin Exams were approaching at a rapid pace and Ryoku was occupied, he wanted to make it up to Sho as much as he could. He registered the boy into the exams as he had confidence in his abilities, but he still wanted to train him. It was better to be saffe than sorry, and Ryoku was sure that Sho can handle the rigorous training they will undergo in the days to come. And then, he will have the basis he needs to pass the exams and become a Chuunin.
Another lightning bolt crossed the horizon, this one too far for the thunder to be heard. The boy should be here any minute. Ryoku smiled a bit - knowing Sho, he will complain a lot about the selected training method, but he will appreciate it in the end. After all, he had gone a long way since their first meeting. Still smiling as he looked up to observe the dark grey clouds, he looked forward to train with him again.
Stupid lightning, Sho thought as he made his way over to the trainingsfield. Apparantly his sensei, the so called Amekage, had decided that oh, maybe he should train him after all. How nice of him. Sho kicked a can away. He trained better by himself, that was for sure, but there was one thing that was hard to do on your own: beat someone up. And he had to admit that Ryoku probably knew more new techniques and tricks that possibly might be rather useful for the upcoming exam. He did appreciate that he had been entered, but it was only natural. He had been a Genin for way too long now. It was time he moved up.
Finally the boy arrived at the field, the lightning flashed again and he could see Ryoku standing in the middle. With a scoff he walked over to the man and halted before him. "I am here. Let's do stuff."
Ryoku chuckled at his greeting - it is just as he expected it. He remained silent for a few seconds before speaking up." Stuff is a very wide term, Sho. It can mean that we can sit here and watch the sky for the entire day, as it is also stuff. I had some very special training routines in my mind, but for that, I need you to take a seat next to me. Then, we can start. So ... if you would be so kind."
"Sure... whatever." Sho replied walking up next to the man and sitting down. This didn't sound very promising really. Ryoku was going to train him in sitting down? What kind of fighting style used a sitting position? He couldn't think of one. So possibly this was all going to be a serious waste of time, which sucked and which he disliked.
Ryoku observed the sky for a couple of seconds, spotting another lightning bolt struck, this time closer to the village." I know you dislike doing this, but before we can train, we have to be prepared for training. I am sure that you are aware that we are just sitting here and doing, nothing. That maybe true, depending on the point of view. From mine, it is not doing nothing - it is about mastering one of the most important virtues for us shinobi - patience. Great things do not happen overnight, just because we want them. They happen because we work for them, we wait for them. That is why patience is an important virtue. And patience might bring us the ideal conditions for our training - the real training for you, Sho." He stayed quiet for another couple of seconds." I did not call you here so that we can sit in the rain, you can be sure. But while we wait for the rain, we will talk - you know that the Chuunin Exams are approaching for you, and I ... well, I failed to train you adequatly in the past, for which I apologize. But I would like to make up as much of it in the days to come. I have prepared a rigorous training regime that will help you to prepare for the exams - if you are willing to participate in it, Sho. I am not waiting for the rain just so that we can get soaked in it - we will practice Water Release in a bit different way, Sho. But for that, we need to be patient and wait for the rain. If there is anything you would like to train in specifically, say it now - I will adjust my plans for that."
One could say that receiving an apology from the Amekage was quite... cool. And quite an amazing feat to achieve. Sho was just annoyed. They were going to sit here and talk while waiting for rain? That sounded awful and totally pointless. He had to learn patience? Sho figured he had been patient enough with this guy. He had waited for him to do stuff and he hadn't delivered so the young boy had set out for himself. But no, patience was the thing here. Stupid training. But Sho resisted the urge to just get up and leave just on the basis of that last few sentences. Rigorous training and Water Release in a different way. Now that did sound like something he could actually use. The boy shot a look up to the sky as well. If only that rain would fall faster. Normally Amegakure was always coated in a shroud of water, but, of course, today the weather said: "Let's give Sho time to learn patience." Stupid weather. "I want to up my Water Release." He replied never the less. "I have the combo's but not enough techniques. Taijutsu could so with some more work." His tone was almost lazy. "Can't you just... like... make rain? Didn't you do that before? That way we could start now instead of wasting time."
" That would make me waste my time, and precious chakra I want to spend on your training. No, Sho. Patience is a virtue you must master. Patience is the key to many things. I know you are working hard on your training, but just working hard is not enough. You must work towards the right goal, using the right way. Patience can one day lead you to become the Amekage." He remained quiet for a few seconds, not sure if the words will have the desired effect. Just as he speak, another thunder was heard in the distance." I am not sure if that is what you desire, but patience can lead you to that. In our case, patience will bring us rain. I can help to expand your arsenal of Water Release techniques, as that elemental manipulation happens to be my specialty. That, combined with your drive to train will yield us impressive results." Ryoku thinked for a while, then looked at Sho." And while taijutsu is not my specialty, I think I will be able to help with that as well. Now then ... " Ryoku stopped mid-sentence as he spotted a rain drop fall into the puddle before them.
Why the hell would he want to become Amekage? Sho couldn't think of one reason that made him want to chose that job. It sounded boring, stupid and irritating. So many people who would demand stuff from you and wanted you to do things. If patience was a virtue of the leaders of the world, then Sho would never need to learn that bit. He didn't think Ryoku would appreciate that answer though, so he kept his mouth shut. Especially since the man agreed to train him in the things he wanted to learn. He had to profit from this, not shove the guy away.
There it was! A rain drop. Sho almost jumped of his chair, but contained himself. Rain ment the start of the training right? So more patience talk? "Thát'd be great." He said. "Can we start then?"
More and more drops of rain started to fall from the sky, and Ryoku stood up." Looks like even a little patience paid off, Sho. Yes, we will start. As we all know, Water Release is most effective when we manipulate Water that has been touched by our chakra. But it can also be done with an other, pre-existing water source. For that, I will teach you a basic sealing technique that will allow you to store water into the scroll - you can release the scroll on the battlefield and gain an advantage. What I want to talk about is creating water outside of your body. It is a bit tricky, but I am confident you can handle it. I wanted it to rain so it will help us to grasp the basics faster."
Ryoku formed the Ram seal and started to infuse his chakra." Just as with Earth Release, you can send your chakra into your surroundings to manipulate earth. In a very similar way, we can use the water around us to help us. If you let out a bit of water through your feet, you can touch the water with it. Even if you touch the tiniest drop of water, you can continue to add your chakra to it and create more and more water. Even outside of your body. Ready to give it a try?"
Now this was useful. Sho had struggled before with the fact that if there was no rain he couldn't proform most of his jutsu. This was a severe problem when you were beating up people. He still thought that Ryoku could have just made rain right of the bat, but whatever there was rain now so it was fine. In Ryoku's example Sho made the Ram seal and concentrated. Chakra control was something he was quite decent at, especially when done with water. "Yes, ready." He said. His tone was no longer annoyed or irritated. For now he just sounded focused and ready to get this down.
" Very good. Now, I want you to focus on a point near you. Not too far - that will make your chakra to be less effective. But if you do it too close, you might get nto the way of your own technique and that is not good. It happened to me several times when I was younger. Build your chakra and start releasing it into that point. As you start to release it, start to work on the nature transformation. Your chakra will start to turn into water around the point of your choice. You will need to concetrate at the beginning, but it will get easier as you practice it. You will notice that water will be forming around that point - form only as much as you can handle. The more water, the stronger the technique can be - but the chakra cost will also increase. Do that now - if you are satisfied, you can try and use a technique from the water you created."
That didn't sound overly complicated, Sho thought. Focus chakra on a specific point and make water. He nodded once and then turned his full attention to the seal he held before him. Chakra molding: check. With that he turned his attention to a spot right before him, not too far away as Ryoku had said. Now the issue was getting his chakra there A frown appeared on his face as he started pushing chakra forwards. Somehow this was slightly harder then expected. Maybe he had been lacking in this part of training. It wasn't very exciting to train control after all. Yet after all while indeed water started to gather before the boy. It wasn't overly much, but it was certainly the beginning. He dropped the seal to form some others for a technique, but immediately he started to loose grip on the water before him. So he resumed the Ram seal once more and again concentrated until he was satisfied with what he had made. Then he formed the seals for the Water Whip technique and surely the water responded to his bidding and lashed out to splash him in the face, much to Sho's dismay.
Ryoku watched Sho trying to perform the technique, and even though it backfired on him, he considered it a success." Very good. Even though you hit yourself, think about it as a success. The water could fall apart or not even form, yet you managed to perform a technique on your first attempt. As I expected from you, Sho. The phase when you create the water is good. But remember - in order for the water to maintan its shape at the point, it is spinning. You might have done that without realizing it, but the water was spinning - otherwise, it would just splash away at every direction, making you waste your chakra. Try and take that into consideration. So far, you are doing just great."
Sho wiped some water out his eyes before looking back to Ryoku as the man explained. Water should be spinning? Well... it was nice to have good instincts then. "I will." He said, not wasting his breath on a "thanks." It was nice to be complimenten, but he didn't really need the mental support. He formed the seal again as focused on the water before him. Yet now with the knowledge that it should be spinning it suddenly became harder. While he had been acting on instict the knowledge made him think too much. Water started to splash around and Sho had much more trouble to keep the water in one place.
Finally after a while he got the thing stable again. He almost rolled his eyes. That was just stupid. How hard could it really be? But now with the water formed Sho preformed the same Water Whip technique again. This time with more success as he was able to get a firm grip on the whip and hold it. Slightly triumphant he looked to Ryoku.
Ryoku let a wide smile appear on his lips." Splendid. It took me days to master this part, and you done it on your second try. However, I want you to practice and practice it until you can do it perfectly. You can continuously increase the volume of water. If you manage to master the control of large amounts of water, smaller amounts of water will seem like child´s play for you. Now then, are you ready to try something ... much bigger?"
Ha, he bested the Amekage. Somehow that felt really good, but of course Sho's pride didn't let him say that to the man's face. He just grinned slightly, pleased with himself. Now he only needed to get hold of some scrolls and he would be all set in the future when people thought that they would have the advantage over him because there was no water around. Suckers. He dropped the technique, he was wet already so it didn't matter anyway and nodded. "Much bigger sounds good." The boy couldn't completely hide his excitement how much he wanted it.
" Good. I will skip all formalties and be blunt - I will teach you a technique of my creation, the one I used to immobilize a Tailed Beast. Even if briefly, but it succeeded. The Water Arms technique. Now, I do not expect you to create the arms of the size I used to stop the beast - we will start with the size of your own arms. This technique is like the extension of your body, so you will be using your chakra in the same manner. You already got the basics on how to create water outside of your body. For this technique, that is only the first half of the technique. You will need to increase the volume of the water and also add shape manipulation. Just like when you created your whip, this time focus on creating entire arms, not just whips. Imagine them as if they are your own arms. The seals are the Ram, Tiger and Serpent. Create water, increase the volume, apply shape manipulation." Ryoku did just so as he told Sho. He created some water in the same manner he just taught Sho, then by using his shape manipulation skills, he formed two arms. This time, smaller ones - to show Sho the results.
Sho nodded slowly. It looked pretty useful and really kind of badass. A technique that had stopped a Tailed Beast? Now that was something. Carefully he formed the seals a couple of times to get the hang of it. Now there were quite a few steps to this and he wasn't so stupid as to think he would get it in one try. He formed the seals once more and focused. He had to create water first which did take some time. This should get easier, Ryoku said, but so far Sho had to concentrate an awful lot for it. But finally he had some water shaped. Now it was to increase volume. Sho bit his lip. This took way too long. He dreaded asking for help but... "Any tips as how to make this less of a concentrating job and faster?" He asked Ryoku.
" I did not except you to succeed on your first try, as neither did I. Not even I am perfect with that technique, despite inventing it. That is why I brought here this." Ryoku took out a scroll, and rolled it out. It had a formula written on it, with the kanji for "seal" in the middle." This is a generic sealing scroll, suitable for storing water. When preparing for missions, you can store water into them - the seal can be easily released and release water - water created by your chakra. Since you will not have to focus on creating water, you can put more focus on shape manipulation. Here, take this. The seals for the technique are the Ram, Serpent - you finish it by slamming your fist on the scroll. But for now, just take it." Right now, we can divide the task. First, create as much water as you can, no matter if it will all splash away. It is still your water, from your chakra - you can manipulate it much easier after you create it. Then, infuse your chakra once again and create the arms."[/b]
Sho, of course, couldn't say he was grateful. He didn't do grateful. But he had to admit that those scrolls would be pretty damn useful. He accepted them and stored them away in his belt. There was no way he was not going to use that. Would be great for the upcoming Chuunin Fights too seeing as he had no clue in what kind of terrain he would be fighting. With that done he nodded to the man and gave it another try. His hands flashed the seals and he started to create more water. He let it splash freely, not disturbed that some might hit himself and some might hit Ryoku. No one ever died of a bit of water. Next up was the shaping. He figured that it would be akin to creating the Water Whip, after all the whip was just the arms without the hands. So he focussed on that. Problem was he had to make two at the same time. The result was... meager. Two small shapes stood before him, but they didn't look very much like arms and they didn't look very strong either. Sho tsk'ed and looked annoyed. What could those things ever do?
Ryoku observed the results with curiosity - the general shape of the hand was there, but it lacked the fine tuned details. Despite all of it, he was satisfied with how Sho progressed. Spotting the annoyed look on his face, he intervened." Do not let small failures like this discourage you, Sho. To be honest, this is not even a failure. It took me several years to develop this technique - and you achieved the basic shape of the arms on your second try. What is there to be disappointed about? You are doing just great, Sho. Just what I expected of my student." Ryoku increased the volume of the water and enlarged the arms." Take a look at the arms I am creating Sho - they look pretty much like me own arms. That is why I want you to stay patient - with training and determination to succeed, your arms can look just like this. At first, focus at the general shape of the arms - leave out the fine tuned details. Remember ... if you hit somebody with a shape of water in his head, you might still knock him out could. Give it one more try, Sho."
"Well yeah, but it already took me a year to get the Water Whip down properly. On my own." The little sneer was obvious in his words. "I'd say that at least that has to pay off for control and creating the basic form. Otherwise I'd really suck." He watched Ryoku form the arms once more and contemplated hiw own actions and Ryoku's words. The man was trying to be so... nice. Somehow that annoyed him. Not because he hated niceness in general, he just... wasn't so used to it. It had been the same when Ryoku had first take him in during the Shoji oppression. He had been so nice too then and it had thrown Sho off by a great length. He still didn't quite get what being nice got you, but he had to admit it was slightly better then being yelled at for doing it wrong as his father would have done. Sho's eyebrow twitched at the thought of that man and he pushed it away.
He nodded slowly and tried again. Everytime he would do it water creating indeed got easier. Still took him quite a while, but that was okay. He formed the seals again and tried to create the shapes again. They still didn't look like much, without fingers or any shape of hand for that matter, nor very strong, but this time Sho kept them in place and tried to gently sway them back and forth. It felt strange and after the second move they fell apart again. In reaction Sho immediately formed the seals again to use the water that was still connected to his chakra to regroup and form the arms again.
Ryoku silently observed Sho struggling with the Water Arms. His determination was admirable, and so was how hard he was working. Immediately as his arms falling apart, he was trying to form another ones. His determination was admirable. His drive to succeed was working in his favor right now - it was a trait Ryoku wanted to presist in the young boy. He did not realize it, but by not giving up on mastering the technique, he was already patiently - or not so patiently training and not giving up. But just maybe if he did a little thing to try and motivate Sho even more, he would be driven even more to succeed. Using his hands, he created a Water Clone that stood in front of Ryoku." Try to form just the basic shape, Sho. Once you are done with it, you might try and strike my clone with them."
A grin tugged on the corners of Sho's lips. He could beat something up, that made everything better. That was what he knew how to do. Eager he formed the arms a third time (they fell apart if he didn't concentrate very well) and looked at the clone. The arms still looked stupid, She thought, but Ryoku was right, he could possibly whack someone with them regardless of shape. As long as it got the job done it was fine after all. He tested his control for a bit. It wasn't great. It wasn't even good, but he figured he would try it anyway. With some difficulty he "raised" the right arm and attempted to strike the clone with it.
The clone made no attempt to defend himself, as Ryoku wanted Sho to really be able to test out the arms. The strike hit the clone from the side into the chest area. The clone did not feel over but it was pushed back a bit. Curious to find out, the man looked at his clone, who after waddling backwards a bit, tapped his chest and looked at Sho." Medium concussion. Knocked out breath and a blunt feeling of pain on the area of impact. Not deadly, but it might interfere with fighting at full capacity. The consistency of the arm was on a good level, so was the volume of water. The advantage here, Sho, is that you are working with water. The sudden trauma of a body of water hitting a body is the real danger in this technique. But you have done great, Sho."
Sho himself was actually surprised by the effect of that hit. Sure, after it the water arm had fallen apart, leaving him only with one other, but he had actually hit that clone pretty damn well. That was strong. That was... pretty cool! He grinned and almost looked excited to Ryoku only to remember that he didn't like the man and that the man shouldn't see him so excited anyway. Instead he stared to the remaining arm and moved it back and forth a bit. So the force of the water made it strong. He thought he understood that. It did hurt pretty bad if you jumped into a pool and landed flat on that water. Sho stretched his control on the leftover arm a bit more and suddenly tried to punch the clone once more.
This time, the blow hit the clone to the area of his head - and it was sufficient to knock the clone down from his feet and made him dispel, creating a large puddle of water. Ryoku observed the events with unhidden curiosity - since he was not using Shadow Clones, he could not gain the experience of the clone." Medium to severe head trauma, possible brain concussion. As you increase the volume and density of water, those injuries might leap up to a cracked skull to severe concussions to death by one blow to the head. But as with every water release technique, stay aware of Lightning - they will turn your weapon against you. And in the early stages of the technique, a large scale Fire technique can make you sweat as well. At the later stages, Earthen defenses have a hard time withstanding the sudden impact of the force. But be careful against wind - a strong wind attack might still cut the hands in half."
It felt pretty good to see the clone crumble and fall apart. Sho stared to the puddle of water as he listened how Ryoku listed the strengths and weaknesses of the technique. Nothing he couldn't have figured out himself though. As a general rule of thumb Lightning was his bane and wind could through his whip with ease, he was aware of that. But the fact that earth users might have a more difficult time with this pleased him. He nodded twice to signal that he had understood Ryoku's words. He wondered if the man now wanted to hear a "thank you" from him. The boy shuffled with his feet. He didn't feel like saying thank you at all. When had he ever said thank you to anyone? Yet the man had thought him so useful stuff. In the end Sho settled for: "I understand." and left it at that.
Ryoku smiled at the statement of Sho. The boy was a fast learner thanks to the sheer amount of work and determination he placed into doing things. That was great - if he persisted, Ryoku was sure that the boy had a pretty solid chance at making it to the rank of a Chuunin during the exams." Very well, Sho. That covers all I wanted to teach you today. You did very, very well - and I am proud of you. You grasp things very, very quickly - and get to use them in the correct way just as quickly. During our next meeting, we will work a bit on your Taijutsu and mainly your footwork. Take a rest for today, or practice - it is up to you. But know this - keep this up, and I am confidend that your chances in the upcoming exams are pretty solid. Now, if you will excuse me, my duties await me. I will also figure out a training method for our next meeting."
Sho knew for sure that he wouldn't rest yet. The day was still long and he had time to spare anyway. It was not like he was going to hang out with his teammembers or something. He almost rolled his eyes when he thought of Rini. At least Kira was strong. Rini was just... stupid. But he didn't speak his thoughts to Ryoku. Instead he just nodded again. "I..." For a moment he wasn't sure what to say. The praise made him uncomfortable. His dad had never been proud of him. His mother had never showed it either. Why was this man proud of him? It felt strange. "I'll see you at the next meeting.... sir." He mumbled the last word.
Very well. Now that things were wrapped up here, Ryoku started to walk towards Sho. A large puddle of water was left where he dispelled his arms, but no rain drops were falling into it. Just as he stood next to Sho, the rays of sun broke through the clouds, showering the training fields in light. Ryoku placed his head on the shoulders of the boy in a confronting way." Looks like the sun decided to celebrate your accomplishments as well. Keep up the good work, Sho." With that being said, Ryoku took off his hand and left the fields with a leap, heading back to his office. He was smiling the entire time.
