Genjutsu reinassance/an additional ally (Training)

Maku had been for some time contemplating his usage of a specialty.  He had been a genjutsu master since he was a genin, as his father was before him.  But what did he even know about his father.  The man was sickly and ill for most of his memory, and before that he was just another man that lived in the village.  Maku had even developed some powerful genjutsu in his time, capable of capturing strong people in his traps.  But even this was of little comfort anymore.  He had used them a couple times, and they had always worked but he still didn’t feel like they were truly his own.  He had moved with the tools of others, and expanded on previously created jutsu, but nothing was specifically his.  For weeks, no maybe months he had been considering this identity crisis, but didn’t know what to do about it.  Truly he was at a crossroads, and this indecision would do him no good if it came to combat.  As Youka and himself had just kidnapped some kid, he had stepped away to get some air in the open.  Of course, Maku had found himself having feelings for this girl which made all the mosre confusing.  Leaning against a tree, Maku felt tears start to flow from his eyes, as he leaned against a tree, an influx of emotion that he was not used to.  He had become so accustomed to using only logic that this took him by surprise.  While standing their all he could think about was how he was such a failure, and how he would never be able to amount to much as a ninja in his current state.  Sitting down he released all his emotions.  Maku holding his head in his hands, racked his brain, and considered what he could do to change his current station and fix this problem.  How could he be his own man, develop his own techniques.  Of course he had murdered his Uncle, and his mother had left him when he was still young.  Perhaps following in his families footsteps wasn’t the best thing that he could do.  Contemplating what his next move should be, he decided to go to the land of the crustaceans.  He had done a lot of training there in his time, and perhaps they could help him decide what to do.  At the very least they could point him in the right direction.  The ninja summoning races had been around for a long time, and had developed many powerful jutsu.  Maybe they would know a new direction he could travel in, or even increase his genjutsu abilities.  One of the crab elders was even a genjutsu specialist, so maybe he would know how to help him.  Walking farther into the forest, he prepared to summon the Bafukani, as a way to get to the summons home land.  He trusted that Youka would be fine while he was gone, after all the man was just as strong his Maku was himself, if not maybe a little stronger if truth be told. AS he sat there contemplating all this a tiny skunk arrived.  At first Maku was shocked, and moved to run away so he wouldn’t get sprayed.  However the skunk made no such move.  Putting his hand out the skunk nuzzled it.  Maku felt something, picking the skunk up he placed it on his head.  “I think I will call you Tricky, how about we go do work together.”
 
Slicing his finger on a kunai he had gained from a mission in Iwagakure, he summoned the Bafukani. Once he had telepathically spoken to the crab, it desummoned itself, and a moment later he felt that familiar hook behind his naval.  After another second, he disappeared and reappeared on a beautiful beach.  The sun was shining and the waves were gentle on the coast.  Perhaps this was what he actually needed, just a vacation.  Not that he was actually doing a lot of hard work back where he had been.  Knowing though that this wasn’t an option he headed towards the cave of the crab elders.  There he would speak with Loki and see if he could gain any new understanding.  The walk wasn’t a lonely one, as had his new pet with him resting on his head.  Usually the beach would be covered with small crabs going about their business and performing the various duties that they were charged with.  However today seemed to be different.  Looking around, he still could not find any individuals on the coast, and with the nice weather this seemed odd.  Continuing on his way to the cave, he figured at the very least the crabs would be there.  Upon reaching the cave, he was once again taken aback by the large stalagmites and stalactites that littered the caves floor and ceiling.  Upon loking around in the cave it appeared the floor and ceiling where in motion.  Upon closer inspection it was almost the entirety of the crab population in the single cave.  The Bafukani his personal summon dropped from the cave to land on his head and began speaking to him.  “The lord Loki has been poisoned and is on the verge of death.  Sinjetsu it furios, you arrived at the right time, for he was about to summon you since you are currently our only contracted ninja.  Please walk forward and speak with him.”  Maku was shocked at these words and moved forward, in a haste as crabs moved out of his way to allow him through.  He had always had great respect for the elders, and even had hoped to one day summon the great Loki in combat.  Arriving in front of where the two elders usasully resided, he saw Sinjetsu towering over his small friend.  While crabs weren’t the easiest to tell if they were sick, it was obvious Loki was near death.  His shell was cracked and calcified, and the color was no longer the red and orange he had last seen it, but instead a dull gray.  Reaching down he allowed Loki to make contact with him so he could speak.  “Summoner, I am dead, no way around it, but I have one last gift to give you.  You served us faithfully and even killed your kin for our fate.  For that you should know the truth.  The genjutsu you use is not your own, and I will now release you from it.”  With that a surge of chakra seemed to flow through Maku’s body, his skin turned red for an instant and his whole body seemed to shudder.  He felt something break inside of him.  Looking back up Loki had fallen and was clearly dead.  He did feel something new, it was as if a barrier had been holding him back, keeping him from developing as a ninja, was there a barrier on his keeping him weak this whole time?
 
It was at this time that Sinjetsu spoke for the first time.  It was a loud and gravely speech, clearly filled with sorrow.  “Loki has passed from this world, forever will he be missed.  By our laws the Bafukani is promoted to lord elder, and will be my battle partner should the land be threatened.  As for this summoner, he will be taught our most secret arts, while he is no sage, he will be our eternal ally.  He has spilt his kins blood for us and there is no higher sign of loyalty.  Child follow me.”  With that the great murder crab walked away, and placed a clawed hand on the back of the cave wall.  A seal appeared and immediately opened up the cave wall.  Following the crab elder, the bafukani leapt of his head and landed on Sinjetsu his new partner.  In this new room that he had never been in before, there were scrolls located all throughout it.  The dampness of the cave would have lead one to think that they would have cracked and rotted away, however all the scrolls were made of a hard shell like material, presumably made of actual crab shells.  On each one was complex seal and hex locks.  Sinjetsu once again began to speak.  “Maku, in this room is our prized treasury of all our knowledge.  What it is not known is the crustacean race is primarily a genjutsu race.  We hide this detail so others will be unaware of our abilities.  While one elder is a warrior, the other is a genjutsu support; in this way one would assume we are more warrior like, and the genjutsu is hidden from eyes, besides our natural look discourages such an assumption.  We leave it up to our most trusted summoner to know the skills we have.  Loki believed that to be you, and because of that you will be allowed full access to all the scrolls in here, to use the knowledge as you please.”  Maku had never heard the murder crab speak his name before, this new level of mutual respect touched him as he had someone believe fully in him.  He only had one question for him “What did Loki do to me, it seemed like he broke something inside me, I feel different somehow.”  The murder crab looked upon him and spoke.  “There was a seal upon you, preventing you from using any strong ninja abilities keeping your mind clouded preventing you from developing as your own ninja.  Because of this they hoped to keep you weak, and kill you when the time came.  Loki was the one who discovered this, and wanted to break the seal.  Because of this he was murdered.  However he did what he wanted to do, and now it is up to you to make sure his sacrifice is not in vain.  Learn what you can and then come find me.”  With that the murder crab left him alone. 
 
Looking around the room, Maku was overwhelmed.  He wasn’t sure where to even start.  Pulling a random scroll, he began reading.  This scroll was all about genjutsu that were used to block peoples chakra.  By applying the genjutsu one could block the chakra usage to a certain spot on the body.  It described in painful detail, how the hex locks worked, and how the jutsu would stop chakra.  Dropping it, he began reading another scroll.  This one was more what he was looking for.  It was a powerful genjutsu that used the users chakra, and a source of smell.  By combing genjutsu with a smell, one could cause an intense feeling of sickness, wearing an opponent out without even realizing what was going on.  This would be an interesting addition to his wheelhouse.  It was lucky he had picked up this skunk apperantly.  Together they could become quite the fighting force.  All he could think about was how it could be used to enhance Youka’s power as well.  By increasing both their strengths they would be more likely to survive combat.  Maku studied these scrolls throughout most of the night.  He learnt a many thing about genjutsu that he had never known.  He had always assumed the skill was more of novelty ability, but he was wrong.  It had true power in the enhancements it could bring, and the offensive properties it could do.  By sealing peoples minds he could possibly cut off their abilities to attack, and use chakra control.  Overall, it was like he was rediscovering how to be a ninja.  Having never known he could have so much fun in learning a skill in the ninja arts.  It was true he worked hard to develop genjutsu, but it had all ways been more work than this.  All aspect of the art seemed enjoyable.  Working with his new pet Tricky, he strived to work on their teem work, and become a powerful tag team..  Even the science behind the genjutsu was an interesting aspect of the technique.  Once he had finished the majority of the scrolls, he took a brief nap in the scroll room.  His dreams were flooded with the thoughts of illusions and techniques that he could create.  The most interesting aspect of learning this skill was that he not only would help himself become stronger but he could make Youka stronger as well.  Maku had always been most interested in working as a teammate, not just as a solo ninja.  After all one ninja could be strong and destroy many villages, but several in conjecture could change the world.  After awakening from his brief sleep, he reviewed a few more of the scrolls.  He didn’t find any other seals or marks that would be useful to him at the moment, but he was sure more could be found later.  Opening the seal on the cave door, Maku exited and went out to find Sinjetsu the murder crab.  He had told him to find him when he was through studying, perhaps he knew something on Loki’s killer, and he could assist him.  Continuing to allow Tricky to sit on his head, the animal slept.  He had tired it out with the training; it would be a valuable ally once she was trained up a bit.
 
It didn’t take long to discover where he had gone.  He stood on the coast, looking into the ocean.  He seemed to be in great thought, and had a quite rage about him.  Maku didn’t know much about the murder crab other than he was the greatest warrior the crabs had to offer.  He knew that the elders rage was legendary, which made this the calm before the storm he assumed.  “I am finished elder, I am prepared to do whatever you have prepared for me.”  The great warrior looked down at him.  “Loki’s killer was your mother Maku.  It was her who arranged the seal on your body, and it was her who poisoned the great elder Loki.”  At this he looked back to the ocean.  “It is up to you if you wish to help me, but I warn you I will slay her.  This cannot go unpunished.”  Maku also took this moment to look out towards the ocean, deep in thought.  His own mother had conspired to kill him it would seem.  She had placed a seal that kept him from unlocking his true potential even.  How could she have done that to him, it didn’t make sense.  But then again he didn’t even really know the woman.  “I will assist you Sinjetsu, the crab people have been more of a family to me than my own, It is with pride I will assist you.  Let us leave as soon as you wish and finish this intrusion on the crab race once an for all.”  Maku wasn’t happy with what they were going to do, but he wasn’t sad.  Logic told him it was the best thing he could do.  Surely he would learn from this interaction, and perhaps gain new insights to himself.  One he had given the go ahead, Sinjetsu began to run across the ocean.  His speed was faster than Maku would have imagined for such a bulky warrior, but he still ran after him and caught up quickly enough.  Maku began to think of the seals he had recently learned about and which ones would be useful to him when the fight came.  He had always assumed that his mother was weak, but apparently he had been wrong.  Arriving on the same island that he had killed his uncle a woman stood in front of them.  She was tall and beautiful in her own way with shoulder length raven hair; she stood in full battle garb and had obviously been waiting for them.  “Mother, how dare you, how could you attack these people, how could you seal away my potential.”  He practically shouted this at her, his anger was real.  For the second time his emotions were running high, very unlike him.  He drew his blade and kunai and prepared to strike at any moment if she made any movement that could be taken as hostile.  Tricky had also raised her hackles, and made a hissing sound as Maku approached his mother.
 
His mother stared at him; it was obvious she saw through his guise.  “Son, you were a mistake, an experiment, someone to work our seals on and see if you could be used.  Your father was the same, but he was too weak to survive.  The seal had the desired effect, why do you think you have grown so strong so quickly.  However now your time is over, and you must be ended.  No one can know of this seal, your fake uncle was supposed to take care of it but apparently he was to weak.”  With that she flashed with speed, before Maku could react she was in front of him and brings down a blade at his throat.  Luckily for Maku SInjetsu, was the murder crab for a reason and had smashed her body with the butt of his spear.  She flew 10 meters rolling and sputtering in the dust.  In the next moment he had repapered next to her to stab her through the chest cavity, however she had sunk into the ground suing the mole technique.  Maku recovering from his momentary weakness activated the hidden mist jutsu which was how he would hide and make his next move.  Having Tricky activate her spray, he immediately infused it with his genjutsu prowess, working off a tech he had read about in the cave.  His mother leaped through the ground to strike him, however her blade reflected off Maku’s blade.  His reaction was swift, he stuck a kunai directly through her body.  Puncturing the right lung.  He stared at her, as the light left her eyes forever.  He last moment she reared back and spit blood onto his face.  Pulling his bladed fingers from her body he let her fall.  Sinjetsu walked over to where he stood.  “Today, you are one of us Maku Jemuzu, no more should you hold your family in regard, but we are your family.  Trust in us and you will be rewarded greatly.  Feel free to come at any time to use our libraries and studies.”  At this the murder crab bowed something Maku would never have expected the great behemoth to do.  With that the elder left in a flash, presumably to return to the elder cave, and teach the Bafukani the remainder of his duties.  With that Maku also returned, and had one of the lower ranked summons send him back to where he had been.  Standing next to the tree where he had shed tears at, he took out his kunai.  Stabbing it into the trees he closed his eyes and said a prayer.  In it he left all memories and loyalties to his family with this kunai.  He no longer would worry about them; he would also leave his over emotional responses with this tree as well.  He would fully allow logic to guide his motives and abilities.  Maku, also had left the art of weak genjutsu behind, and taken up his own style, molding it to his will and making it stronger.  It would be a valuable skill in the future, and he was going to get started working on it immediately so as to increase the power of himself and Youka.
 
Deciding to practice with Tricky for a bit before he returned to the village he allowed the tiny beast to leap off of his head and land on the ground.  Walking away he lunged to strike at the beast.  It seemed that tricky already knew what he was doing.  She dodges and leaped at him, trying to bite him.  They went back and forth like this for awhile.  Maku would lunge, and Tricky would dodge.  It worked nicely increasing her agility, and offensive cababillities.  He needed her to be fast, and reactive to dangerous circumstances.  She would be on the front lines with him, fighting and attacking.  As a team they could use new ways to fight, but only if he could rely on her to be competent.  Though it would be a long road, and be difficult, he was confident that this could work.  If he had the ability to infuse his genjutsu with her spray, he would be able to create powerful genjutsu that no one would be expecting.  He also wondered if he could train the skunk to have other abilities.  Like a hidden mist jutsu that used her spray, so to throw the smell out further and also hide his chakra signature.  This would be something to consider for later, as it could be useful.  Now at least he would never be alone in combat, even when he wasn’t with Youka.  He also contemplated Youka’s golems, and if they could somehow help his cause.  There were many variables to consider while he trained with his furry polecat friend.  Picking her up he bagan walking back to the village.  Training complete for the day.  It had been fulfilling, and he knew he had a lot to talk to Youka about. 
 
                Heading back he hoped that his female friend hadn’t left the room.  It was still dangerous to have her around but he kind of liked her company.  Perhaps they could work on some trainings as well.  Perhaps she could end up being a valuable asset to the team that was Maku and Youka.  As he was walking back to the village, thinking of Tori, a bandit or some kind of man ran from the brushes and tackled Maku.  He could feel the man attempting to pull off his purse, stealing all his money.  Maku let him do it, the man was weak he could feel it from the push.  He had only fallen because he had rolled with the blow.  Letting the man run a bit, he quickly followed after him.  Allowing Tricky to spray the man.  He would infuse his genjutsu with the spray as it left the skunks body, causing the man to be sick.  As the man ran he even started to vomit, but seeing Maku behind him he kept running.  It was disgusting and interesting at the same time.  The man soon collapsed onto the ground.  Clearly the illusion had taken its toll, wearing down the man’s mind and body.  The man collapsed in a puddle of his own vomit.  Breathing heavily, panting and unable to move from his own filth.  Walking up he looked down at the pathetic creature that lay at his feet.  Reaching down, Maku grabbed a fistful of the man’s hair and stretched his neck out.  Slicing it with a kunai, he watched the man’s blood mix and swirl with his vomit.  Reaching down, he retrieved his coin purse before it got covered in filth and left the dying man to die.
 
Tricky was already sleeping on his head again.  The creature sure did like to sleep, but she seemed to have an instinct for danger.  Awakening when needed.  Walking down to the path, he continued on towards the village.  Well he hadn’t planned on trying that combo out in combat just yet, it had worked out pretty well.  Having now had trained in combat, he would return to the village with a sound mind, and hungry stomach.  He needed to eat, maybe he could pick something up for himself and Tori.  HE really was starting to have feelings for her.  This could be dangerous, but intresting at the same time.  He hadn’t even talked to Youka about her traveling with them yet.  He would have to make it a point in the future. Making it back into town and grabbing a bite to eat, he headed back to his rented residence, feeding Tricky bites all the while he walked.  Making it to the door, he prepared to introduce Tori to his pet, and have dinner with her.  Maybe this would be the start of something special.

 
(WC = 4001, 40 jp for Maku, 13 stats to Maku to give him max stats.  7 excess stat points sold for 50 ryo each, equaling 350 ryo )

Approval no jutsu