Training at the Tower (Private)

Shinji awoke to the odd artificial glow of the odd rocks that had been placed in the ceiling of the Tengakure’s now underground village. It had been only about a month since he had moved to the new location for the Skyscraper village and despite not being able to see the sky the place had grown on him. Maybe it was the steam powered train, the geysers or the weird glowing lights, but the place seemed to be on the cutting edge of technology. Finally mustering up his will power he shook off the sleep and got up. Slipping into his clothes Shinji ran to the kitchen where he found his surrogate parents, Goro and Mai, sitting down for breakfast. Goro and Mai were both elderly in their late sixties, but that did not make Shinji love them any less they had adopted him out of the orphanage and given him a loving home where he could grow up.

Mai spoke up in a soft and loving voice: “Here’s your breakfast and lunch dear. Now be off and be back before the lights go out.” Shinji always found that funny: “be out before the lights” went out, because when they did it became pitch black save for the occasional street light-the district where Shinji lived was not an entertainment one so it was not very well lit. In response to Mai Shinji gave a curt nod taking the sack brunch she had given him along with a quick short hug. It was at this point that Goro spoke up in his gruff yet warm voice: “Shinji! Quit dilly dallying and get a move on your going to miss the steam train to the training tower.” Shinji flashed a sheepish grin; he had missed the train the past two times and he was determined to catch it this time. Over his shoulder Shinji said his farewells: “OK, see ya later Mai and Goro!” The door sliding shut behind him taro ran into the bustling streets.

The milling crowd was always a problem especially now that there was some construction going on with the sewers, but Shinji finally made it through the crowd to the ticket booth and bought a ticket. He then dashed over to the train that was just making its last boarding call. On the way over to training tower, which was the last stop Shinji spaced out while looking out the window. Though his body merely sat on the train staring out the widow his mind was wandering down the back roads of his memories. He recalled the first time he discovered his true ancestry. It was when Tengakure was a minor village before the great Tenkage Zachariah had revolutionized the village. Shinji had been the tender age of ten when, while practicing kunai throwing for the upcoming genin exam, while throwing a kunai a chain like thing came out of his hand. At the tip of the orange ethereal chain was what looked like a kunai. And to Shinji’s surprise it flew right into the target right on the bull’s eye.
Thankfully no one had seen Shinji seemingly grow a chain out of his hand as it probably would have been a bad shock, because Shinji himself had been surprised. Luckily the chain quickly retracted back into the palm of otherwise he probably would have sat there all day wondering what the hell just happened. On that day Shinji knew he was different than the other kids in his class-he knew none of them could manifest a chain out of their hands at will. After tireless days of practice he was finally able to conjure up the chain at will.

While practicing with this chain Shinji had started to grow curious: why could he make this chain? So Shinji under the excuse of studying for the genin exams went to the library and researched and researched, but found nothing in the jutsu encyclopedias he read. Giving up hope and out of desperation Shinji read about various clans until at last he found what he had been looking for: the Uzumaki clan. It was the only explanation; the Uzumaki clan was the only clan that had that power, which meant that one of or both of his parents had to be of the legendary Uzumaki bloodline. It was then that Shinji made a resolution: one way or another he would find his true mother and father.

Shini’s flashback halted with the train that jolted him back into reality only to find that he was at his stop. Ever since the genin exam Shinji had gone by Uzumaki. It was a new concept at the time because before he had not had a last name, but the name Uzumaki just clicked. In fact Shinji had it printed on his Ninja identification card, which as he walked into the training tower and presented to the jounin who oversaw the comings and going of the training tower who gave an affirmative nod to Shinji.
Shinji walked in the large tower that stretched all the way to the roof of the artificial cave that had been created. Up above he could hear the clanging of swords and the casting of jutsus-it was an inviting sound. Usually Shinji would go and spar, but not today. Today he was going to hone his Uzumaki bloodline. He had read endless books on the clan and learned the basic ideas-all he had to do now was put them into practice. His goal for the day was to be able to jettison two chains from both his palms. Thus far he had only been able to do so with one palm or the other, but he resolved that today was the day he would change that.

Striding confidently Shinji went to the center of the tower where there was an elevator. Stepping inside he went to the second floor where there were people, mostly genin and academy student, practicing their shuriken and kunai throwing abilities. Shinji noticed that there was a target open on the far side of the room. Making his way over to it Shinji was almost killed by some idiot academy student who couldn’t aim for shit and sent a kunai flying right for Shinji. Luckily he saw it in time and was able to dodge it without much effort after swearing profusely at the poor tike Shinji almost felt bad, but continued onto his target.

Once there Shinji rose his right palm and aimed it at the target. He got a few odd looks when he did this, but Shinji was used to it at this point and with a shrug let his chakra flow right out of his hand and in an instant an orangey chakra chain shot out at the target impaling it on the bull’s eye just like he had done the first time he had ever used the jutsu. Shinji heard as people stopped throwing their kunai and shuriken and gawked at the boy with the spiky blonde hair who had just shot a chain from his hand. This was the first time Shinji had come to train during the day, but he had not expected such a response-he didn’t much care for being the center of attention at least while he was training.

With an annoyed sigh Shinji rose his other palm and aimed at the target and released chakra from his palm yet again, which to his delight issued a gleaming chakra chain-all his research had paid off in spades. With a smirk on his face Shinji withdrew both chains to his palm-this was hella fun. The people in the room were now talking under their breathe as they watched. Setting up a moving target Shinji prepared for a bit of a challenge. The target moved at an average running speed and was not uniform so it made it hard to lead the shot. Shinji could feel the pressure as all the eyes in the room were on him. A small bead of sweat dripped down his face-not from fatigue, but from concentration. Shinji could not control the chains once he shot them so he wanted to make a perfect shot the first time around.

He watched as the target moved back and forth width left to right right to left and then finally Shinji took the shot with both palms one chain impaled the target just short of the center while the other went about a foot behind the target, missing it. Shinji was a bit crestfallen, but at least he had hit with one-it was a start at least.

It was at this point that he withdrew the chains into his palms and prepared for another go, but he felt all the people still watching him-some snickering. Turning around Shinji saw why: a tall boy about Shinji’s height was standing there with piercing white eyes and long brown hair. Shinji knew his name, Sora Hyuga, but Shinji doubted that Sora knew Shinji’s name. Sora had been the top of the class while they went to the academy together and supposedly he had already finished 5 A rank missions as a genin-a truly impressive deed. At this point a hush fell over a crowd of genin and academy students as Sora spoke up in a snide tone: “Hey your that no good Uzumaki punk right? Lets have a quick bout fourth floor. I make it my goal to whoop anyones ass in our graduating year and it looks like your up.” Shinji’s rage flared-Sora had insulted the Uzumaki clan. Shinji had become very connected to the clan despite never having met anyone else in it and he took it as a personal affront if anyone insulted it. “Your on you no good blind boy.” Shinji’s insult had been in reference to Sora’s white Hyuga eyes, but it had sounded better in his head and it left the whole group sniggering at him.

Thoroughly embarrassed Shinji pushed through the crowd to the elevator-there was no way he was going to let this Hyuga get the better of him. While standing in the elevator with a bunch of the now spectators who had been practicing in the target room Shinji’s mind raced: what did he know about the Hyuga? They had some Doujutsu and were very proficient at taijutsu-basically everything Shinji was bad at the Hygua excelled at. If anything this would be a quick and painful fight if Shinji let the boy get too close. After what felt like an eternity the elevator reached the fourth floor. Walking over to the only open sparring area Shinji took up a battle stance as he waited for the Hyuga stepped forward. The group who had been downstairs now lined the soon to be battlefield. The older more experienced jounins and chuunins on this level cast a curious eye over as well-it was always interesting to watch two genin have it out.
The Hyuga called out the rules: “Obviously there is no killing, though wounding is fine. Basically it’s a free for all. Now please, you runt, come at me. I will make you defeat swift and painful.” Shinji merely shrugged in response and rose his right palm-this guy sure was cocky. Hopefully he would end this quickly with a simple chain attack. Feinting with his right hand Shinji made it look like he was going to shoot it from hi right palm, but then shoot it from his open left one that sat at his side. Shinji had not noticed it before, but the Hyuga’s face seemed more veiny than usual-whatever it was it was too late to take it into consideration.

The Hygua had a smug grin on his face as he easily side stepped the chain, but didnt stop there. He grabbed the chain and yanked on it sending Shinji flying right for the boys open palm. Shinji was shocked that H was a lot stronger than he looked. He then felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder as the Hyuga boy’s palm impacted-in fact it hurt a lot more than it should have. Wincing in pain Shinji felt as another palm impacted his right arm and then another and another, this guy was fast. Finally Sora sent Shinji flying across the room and out of the raging attack of the Hyuga’s palm attacks. Jumping to his feet Shinji noticed that it was incredibly hard to move his right arm and was just able to bend it a bit. Adapting quickly he rose his left palm and aimed it at the Hyuga-this time he had a plan. The Hyuga dodged yet again and grabbed the chain with a laugh. Only this time Shinji was ready and allowed himself to be pulled towards Sora. This time Shinji went feet first and managed to kick the dumbfounded Sora square in the chest and sent him spiraling back into the wall. Keeping up hi attack momentum Shinji used the chain that was already out as a whip and advanced upon Sora. With one quick lash the chain flew at Sora binding his body such that his arms were pinned to his sides leaving him unable to attack or move. With a defiant cry of “Who’s a runt now?” Shinji poured all his strength into his right arm and forced it to move.

With a few swift punches Shinji left Sora with a two black eyes to match his ghostly white ones-Shinji thought it was rather fitting. To finish him off Shinji drove his fist into his gut and allowed Sora to be freed of the chain and fly back into the wall again where he stayed until he struggled to his feet and walked to the elevator without another word. Once he had left the genin and academy student erupted in a small burst of cheers until they were quieted by a few jounin. Tired Shinji took it and stride and followed Sora into the elevator. At this point it was only him and Sora in the elevator. Shinji spoke up first: “Good fight dude. Really I thought you had me beat there for a second. I still cant feel my arm.” Shinji gave a pained shake of his arm to accent his words. Sora gave a grim smile: “Yeah sure you got lucky. Plus I had already sparred a few times today so I was tired.” Shinji shrugged and walked out of the elevator and to the ground floor where he checkout with the jounin there and ran to catch the train. He had been doing so much that he had forgotten to eat his brunch. So while on the train he ate his sandwich and drank his soda.

Today had been a triumph on many field for Shinji. For one he now had better control of his Chakra chains and he was able to beat one of the top genin with an aplomb. Plus he had not missed the train once-all in all it had been a great day. It was at this point that his thought shifted to his clan: the Uzuzmakis. He wondered if he would ever meet any other from his clan. He was yet to meet one in Tengakure, but he always held out hope for that small chance. He also wondered if he would have made his parents proud wherever they were he hoped that they thought about him, because he was going to do everything he could to make them proud. One day he would rise to be a renowned shinobi and he would go out searching for them, but for now he had to just be content with training and becoming a shining example of the Uzuzmaki clan.

The train ground to halt once more and Shinji broke from his thoughts and walked out into the sea of people. Once he had been walking for a while he heard some screams. Running to figure out what it was Shinji came across a open manhole. Looking down into it Shinji could just make out the form of a child who must have fallen down there while playing. Acting on instinct more than anything Shinji jumped down and in to the sewer and grabbed the child though unfortunately he had not thought it over very well, because now he was having trouble seeing a way back up to the surface. Shinji's inner mind cursed himself for being so impulsive.

At this point the workers who had been working in the sewers had come back from their lunch break only to find that their ladder that they took down to the sewers had collapsed into the sewers. They could just make out two figures: Shinji and the child who he had tried to save. The worker called out: "Sit tight we need to go find another ladder." Shinji sighed-getting helped out of the sewer would be a major blow to his ego so instead he decided to get out himself before the workers could "save" him. Shinji remembered that the grate was still on the surface and probably heavy enough to hold his weight for a bit. The only thing he would have to do was manipulate his chakra chain so that he could latch onto the grate and pull him and the child up. Taking a deep breath he lifted his left palm up, because his right arm was still a bit numb. Concentrating as hard as he could Shinji shot up a chakra chain and to his surprise could feel where the chain was going and pushed it into the grate such that it hooked onto it. Taking full advantage of his new found ability Shinji allowed the child to climb up after which Shinji hoisted himself up. Much to their surprise Shinji gave a wave to the workers and went on his way. Now on top of everything he would have take a shower cause he smelled of sewer, but then again it could be worse. With a content smile on his face Shinji headed home.

{WC: 3025,Unlocked Chakra Chains levels 1,2&3 (level one takes 500 words of training, level two takes 1000 & level three takes 1500), +10 chakra (gives me enough for level three), +5 speed & 30 JP}

Approved.

-Suzaku

It was the dead of night and most reasonable people were in bed, but not Shinji. Shinji was wide awake reading. This was when he did most of his training. It was a rare day when he would go out to the training tower in broad daylight, or rather torch light due Tengakure’s position underground. In fact the only real reason to go in the day time was to fight with others and Shinji was not really in the mood for a fight-unbeknownst to him he would have to be fighting very soon. Placing his book back on his desk Shinji snuck out of the house-though sneaking is not the right word for it, because his “parents” knew he was leaving it was just common courtesy on Shinji’s part to not make a noise.

The street was covered by a low hanging steam that issued from a nearby power dynamo giving the streets of Tengakure the look of its sister city Kirigakure-not that Shinji would know that. As Shinji walked the abandoned streets he could hear his footsteps echo down each empty alleyway and side street. If Shinji were the paranoid type he would have sworn that there was someone following him, which unfortunately for him there was. Though still Shinji walked blindly to the training tower. To get there he had to cut through a warehouse district that was a bit spotty on lighting. It was there that Shinji noticed something was awry. Out of the corners of his eyes he could see swift shadows that melted away just as soon as he focused on him. Dismissing them at first as figments of his imagination Shinji walked onward to his destination.

It was as Shinji rounded a corner that he found that the shadows had taken form of people and now surrounded him completely. There were seven people overall that ringed Shinji. Not really sure what they wanted Shinji decided to play dumb: “Enjoying the night air..friends?” Creepliy all seven figures let out the same crackling laughs that sounded eerily like that of a crows caw. One of the figures stepped forward and started speaking: “Yes, I do believe we are and we will be enjoying it all the more with your Ryo so hand it over, kid.” Now it was Shinji’s turn to laugh who were these guys? Some thug group after Ryo-such a petty want. Speaking up Shinji prepared for a fight: “Oh really, because I thought I might be taking yours, but either way there is no way in Hell you are getting my Ryo. So if you please lets make this quick I have some training to do.” In fact Shinji had just been reading about a new level for his Uzumaki bloodline that allowed him to manifest chakra chains from any of his chakra points in his body a helpful technique indeed and one that would prove invaluable in this short and brutish street fight that was about to ensue.

Shinji’s cocky speech left all seven thug dumbfounded wondering who this kid was and why did he think he had a chance against seven of them. Coming out of their stupor it would be too late as Shinji had already scanned the situation with a quick turn of his head and was able locate all the spots at which he would have distribute chakra to release a barrage of seven chains that would injure and not kill these seven thugs. This was going to be Shinji’s first time using the technique, but what better time like the present to learn? The thugs started to slowly move in on Shinji once they were all about a meter away Shinji poured the chakra out and nothing happened expect the thugs got closer until they were half a meter away-too close for Shinji’s comfort. Trying one last time Shinji shut his eyes and hoped-he was not in the mood to get beat up. Counting to ten Shinji opened his eyes to find all seven thugs on the ground with various non-fatal gashes apparently from Shinji’s chakra chains that had already dispersed back into Shinji’s chakra system.

Wiping his brow Shinji gave the thugs a satirical military salute and, making sure to step over two of the thugs as he left. Continuing his trip to the training Tower Shinji laughed out loud-that had been a good warm up. Maybe he should get mugged more often. The rest of his walk was uneventful as Shinji approached the training tower he could hear a very faint hum from the elevator, but otherwise nothing else-it was empty save for the night duty jounin who admitted Shinji with a mere nod. Shinji had come up with a certain workout regime for nights like this: it involves first a run, then weight lifting and finally some chakra chain working. This regime allowed him to utilize and hone all of his abilities. The first stop was the track room, which was on the first floor and required no elevator to reach.

Walking into the track room the lights came on as if by magic and allowed Shinji a view of the circular track that was neatly contained on the ground floor of the training tower. With a sigh Shinji pulled off his shirt and started running. He started out slow and built up his pace so that he was going at a steady tilt. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes to hours-time was moving to the interior as Shinji ran he thought on his past and in effect his future. One time in particular was stuck in his mind as he went round and round: the migration from one location of Tengakure to its present one. That had been a defining moment in Shinji’s life as it was the first time he had ever left Tengakure. On the brief caravan ride to the new location Shinji remembered who he had helped his surrogate parents pack up all their belongings. In fact Shinji had been the one who secured them a house in the underground city of Tengakure. There had been a mad dash for housing and Shinji, all things considered, got a prime piece of real estate-right near the steam train. He really had gotten the property out of fluke- he won it in a lottery that he had not told his parents about and they still believed he had gotten it from his bargaining skill-it was the one thing that Shinji held from them after all his father looked down on gambling-luckily it had paid off or Shinji would have had to explain the loss of money. In the end it all worked out and Shinji had secured his foster family a foothold in the new village of Tengakure. Why running reminded him of this instance was, because he remembered watching the lottery basket spinning round and round much like he was now running round and round. In what seemed like a heartbeat an hour had slipped by. Sprinting out the last five minutes Shinji felt his legs burn in protest, but still he pushed onward-if he quit here how would he ever make his parents proud?

Walking off his run for one lap Shinji then made his way to the elevator making sure to grab his shirt on the way up. The cool air in the elevator was soothing and offered a pleasant sanctuary as Shinji went to the eighth floor where there was a weight room. He had never been too fond of lifting weights, but it was an unpleasant necessity in the career of a shinobi. Starting with the bench press Shinji did a few reps with a moderately weighted bar-he was not the strongest so on the third rep he had to stop and switch it up. Moving from machine to machine and weight to weight Shinji started lose track of time for the second time that night and regress back to one of his times in his childhood when he had not been strong enough. While Shinji lived at the orphanage he had been a very withdrawn child and did not have many friends. Instead of friends Shinji had enemies and rival-tons of them. Shinji was always getting into fights-not really to win, but just to fight for the thrill. In fact Shinji lost the vast majority of his fights due to his lack of strength, but still he fought relentlessly. Especially with one child by the name of Samson who had the strength of giants for his relatively small size. Shinji had never won a fight with Samson to this day. Samson always got the better of him using his superior strength to hold Shinji down while he submitted him to various verbal abuses. That was another reason that Shinji worked himself so hard-so he would never have to feel helpless again. Returning from his thoughts Shinji finished his last squat and walked out of the weight room.

While waiting for the elevator Shinji grabbed a quick drink of water that refreshed him for the best part, in his opinion, of these intense training sessions. It was when he was training his chakra that he could take full advantage of his bloodline. Shinji chose to do his chakra training on the second floor where there was a room of targets so he could practice hitting targets. Taking the elevator down six levels Shinji came out to the target room. He quickly arrayed the room so he was surrounded by targets both moving and not moving. The setup he had would provide the perfect chance to try out the same chakra control technique he had used earlier on the thugs, but first came the more basic jutsu. Shinji always practiced all his academy jutsu-they were any ninja’s bread and butter so he wanted to have perfect control over them. Making the familiar hand seals for the transformation justu Shinji transformed into a particularly attractive girl he had apprehended the other day on a mission to discover a thief. Glancing in one of the mirrors that lined the walls Shinji observed that he had pulled off the jutsu flawlessly to say the least. Moving on to the next jutsu Shinji made the hand signs for the clone technique and instantly two illusionary clones appeared at his side. All three Shinji’s smiled and made the signs for the substitution jutsu and subbed with one of the targets that ringed him originally. These were all simple, but indispensable jutsu that could very well one day save his life. Walking back to his place in the center of all the aforementioned targets Shinji prepared to use his chakra chains ability. Before doing so he took a seat in the center of the targets and cleared his mind-this always helped him when he was preparing to use a new power level of chakra chains that he had never used before-clear one’s mind so to speak.

As he sat in the repose of a Buddha Shinji allowed his whole body to relax. He felt as his breathe slowed down and his heart rate fell to a low staccato. Time itself seemed to slow. After sitting still for about five minutes Shinji’s sapphire eyes shot open and he stood up in one swift yet graceful movement. Once standing he focused on seven individual chakra points on his body. After a minute or so of concentration, for accuracies sake, Shinji let loose all seven hooked chains. Five chains issued from Shinji’s spinal cord and into the five corresponding targets behind him while one shot from his chest into the target right in front of him. The last chain came from the back of Shinji’s left hand that rested at his side and skewered a moving target straight through the bull’s eye. With a slight grin Shinji, with a quick tug, freed all the chains and withdrew them into his body. He then quickly fired them off again and again until at last Shinji was left having hit all the targets with about a 90% accuracy-not bad in the least he thought for the first time controlling seven chakra chains at once.

Unbeknownst to Shinji the jounin night guard had come up to watch as Shinji practiced, which became apparent to Shinji as he heard his slow sarcastic clapping. Rather stunned Shinji stopped mauling the targets with his chains and turned to the jounin and gave an ever so slight bow-Shinji usually one for manners was tired and this half bow was all he could come up with upon the unexpected appearance of the jounin. The clapping slowly tapered off into nothingness as the jounin took a long drag on his cigarette before throwing it on the ground and putting it out with his foot. He then spoke up in a deep scratchy voice that reflected his habit: “So you think you’re good? You can hit targets. That’s nothing compared to real people. As a genin I went on a mission and lost a teammate-we had all practiced with targets, but nothing prepared us for the real thing. So, if you will permit me I will test you for the field of battle-something I doubt you have seen and hopefully never have to truly experience.” As if to accent his words the jounin made the tiger hand seal and in four puffs of smoke made four shadow clones of himself.

Shinji at this point was rather stunned. Not really sure how to respond he gave a curt nod and squared off against the five opponents. The jounin took the nod as his cue and went on the offensive. The original jounin blurred with pure speed while the four clones clamored in for an all out attack. Though Shinji had not seen where the real jounin went he did see the four clones coming at him with moderate speed. In response he fired off four chakra chains, which all hit their mark. But, as they hit Shiji felt a sharp point on the back of his neck and the cool feel of steel-he had forgotten in the heat of the moment that there had been another one. The scratchy voice spoke up again: “If this were for real you would already be dead. We will try again.” In an instant the jounin was already across the room and had four shadow clones already made.

Shinji still in a bit of shock at the speed the jounin had been moving at was hardly ready for another attack. Regardless the attack came again with the same result-a kunai poised at the back of his neck. The jounin sighed: “You still have a long way to go. I will tell you what: come back here tomorrow night and we will continue our training. You have talent I will grant you that, but you need to hone that talent. Now go back home its almost morning.” Shinji bowed deeply to the jounin and responded in the only possible way: “Yes…” The jounin noticing Shinji’s hesitation introduced himself: “Oh sorry about that. The name is Daiki Arai.” With that the jounin flickered away into nothingness. At this point Shinji relaxed his posture and let out a breath-he really did have a long way to go. The skill gap between him and Daiki was rather striking and one, which Shinji intended to close in as short a time as possible.

It was at this point that he resolved that he would at some point in the near future at least pose a challenge to Daiki. The road ahead of him now would be a long one, but one he was more than willing to blaze. Breaking from his thoughts Shinji with new purpose in his movements started on his way back home. The streets were filled with early morning commuters going to their various jobs. About halfway back home the overhead lights came on at full brightness and illuminated the grand city of Tengakure-Shinji had trained all night. Passing by the same warehouse district Shinji could not help but smirk as he passed by a few small bloodstains on the street-where they came from would remain a mystery to all save Shinji and the seven punks who tried to mug him. At last Shinji made it home and without a word, as if on autopilot, he went into the bathroom and slipped into a soothing hot shower that made his whole body feel at ease. It was upon exiting the shower that an intense wave of fatigue passed over Shinji. In response to this he walked, as if on autopilot, into his bedroom and shut the door. He then fell straight into bed with a dull thump and quickly slipped into a land of dreams.

{WC 2810, Unlocked Chakra chains level 4, +4 chakra (Gives me enough for level four of chakra chains) & +10 Speed, +28 JP}

Approved

The lights of Tengakure were just being turned on-odd how the sun no longer signaled the start of a new day. Shinji for one would never get used to it. He had been awake all night reading and taking notes. Alas there truly was no rest for the weary, because Shinji had to go help Gorro in the forge that day. Walking on autopilot Shinji went to the bathroom sink and splashed some water on his face-he needed to be awake, because one false move in the forge could, quite literally scar him for life. Though the water did not quite do the trick Shinji knew he was late already so he dashed out the door and broke into an all out sprint to the forge.

Naturally the forge was all the way across town so Shinji was left to shove through a few groups of people who found it prudent to stop and talk in the middle of the street. Despite being verbally abused by a group elderly women Shinji arrived at the forge relatively unscathed. Though the scene that he saw when he got there was anything but usual, in fact it was downright odd-Gorro was not working. Gorro as a rule was always working or pedaling his goods, but today he sat in a chair right outside the forge smoking. Slightly worried Shinji called out to Gorro: “Hey, whats going on? Is everything alright?” Gorro looked up as if it were the first time he took notice of him even though Shinji knew that was not true-Gorro was a retired jounin after all. Gorro’s sharp brown eyes seemed to look Shinji once over while he spoke in his deep meandering voice: “Shinji I want you to take the day off. I can handle the forge today.” Shinji was about to protest but Gorro did not give him a chance as he continued talking: “Also I have a present for you. You know I don’t like you going on all those missions. So, I made you this weapon that should serve you well while in combat. Also I expect it to fuel your ambition as a blacksmith. And now it is my honor to bestow upon you Makaze: the blade of the evil wind. Don’t let its looks fool you-it is a powerful weapon indeed. Now be off and try it out..Oh and try channeling your wind chakra into it.” Shinji was about to ask how he could try out a knife, but thought better of it and thanked Gorro.

Thoroughly confused Shinji walked off to the training tower with the wrapped weapon named Makaze. Whilst walking there he unwrapped the cloth from the weapon to reveal the midnight black knife that glinted even in the artificial light of Tengakure. The handle fit perfectly in Shinjis hand-Gorro had indeed outdone himself. Once at the training tower Shinji walked to a target and holding the knife towards the target let out a sigh. He was going to look pretty dumb if this didn’t work. Using his wind chakra he was surprised when a black sphere of wind chakra flashed around the blade and then shot off a beam of wind chakra at the target. The target was completely annihilated. The results left Shinji stunned-this was going to be an awesome weapon.

{557/500 Makaze obtained.}

Approved