A Genin and Chuunin Collide! (Salzem)

As Salzem raised his hands to signal the end of their fight, Hikari breathed out a sigh of relief. She didn't know before, but she was actually getting exhausted from their sparring. She deactivated her Byakugan, the veins that had been protruding near her eyes went back to their normal, relaxed form. She watched as he did the signs to start his medical ninjutsu, and with melancholy in her heart she saw the all too familiar bluish flames envelop around his hands. 

"Thank you, for healing me and for this fun sparring match. It was because of you I was able to learn the Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms technique." She spoke softly as he healed her, her lungs and ribs already feeling better than before. She didn't care about the scrapes on her body, they were minuscule to her compared to her other injuries. 

She almost chuckled when he said she was tough. She did not believe that, she thought she was rather weak for a ninja. Not being able to battle with strong jutsu, nor being able to withstand against attacks from stronger opponents, like when she got kicked by Salzem and he broke some of her ribs. She wasn't able to dodge the rocks, whereas a stronger ninja would not have had any trouble dodging or breaking the rocks into smaller pieces. 

"Thank you Salzem, but I do not think that is really true. My clan is tough, but I am still a very weak Genin. When you kicked me, you broke a few ribs of mine. Then because of that, I couldn't jump to dodge those rocks you threw at me. How is that being tough? I won't make it as a medical nin if I can't protect myself from getting injured during battle..." Meaning I would be useless...


[WC: 3,234]

Salzem shook his head as Hikari disagreed with his assessment of her toughness. He looked her in they eye, showing he was truly serious about what he was going to say.

"It takes a strong person to know they are weak, and it takes a weak person to boast about their strength." Salzem put a hand on Hikari's shoulder in a reassuring fashion.

"Physical strength is just a tool. You dodging my attacks means nothing. Its what's in there," Salzem pointed at Hikari's heart (at the risk of seeming corny) "That truly matters. Everything that happened today only proved one thing, and it's not your lack of strength or durability. Your persistence, your stamina, your will to go on has been shown here today and should be celebrated. You have done good, facing down someone like me, almost fearlessly."

Salzem would then, having finished his healing, would find a couple of flat-topped rocks to sit atop of. He had not missed the look she had given him when he activated his medical Ninjutsu, but if she was anything like himself, would probably not want to talk of it. He sat atop one and offered the other to Hikari.

"There is something else. I know a couple of Jutsu I think you with find useful."

Her eyes widened slightly at his words, surprised someone was trying to cheer her up for a change. No one had ever said such kind words to her, at least no one other than her parents. His words were making her feel better, and not worthless. She smiled when he became a little corny, saying that what was in her heart is what truly matters. She felt happy at his almost praise like words, not knowing she had qualities that were nice and showed her as a strong ninja (like that she had a strong will and was very persistent).

"Thank you very much Salzem, you are very kind and your words did make me feel better." She smiled cheerfully at him, taking a seat on the flattop he had offered her. She was excited to hear that he was going to teach her a few jutsu, she wondered if he was talking about a basic medical ninjutsu technique or just some other basic technique. It didn't matter to her, she loved to learn all types of new things. Just thinking about it got her pumped up. 

"Woah really? Thank you so much! I cannot wait to learn them! What are they, if I may ask?"

[WC: 3,440]

Salzem smiled slightly, seeing Hikari had been reinvigorated with his words of wisdom. Hikari was a bright girl, aspiring and strong. Just what Konoha needed now in their chuunin. When she asked what they will be learning, Salzem gestured to the flat rock across from him for her to sit down.

"Please, take a seat. Two out of three of these techniques won't require movement so why not be comfortable?"

"What I can teach you now is Chakra Senseory, Genjutsu Release, and the Generic Sealing technique. These may seem a little bland in comparison to Fireballs and Chakra blocking Gentle fist, but they make your life easier."

Hikari took a seat on the flat top rock across from Salzem, excited for the new jutsu, even if they were not the type she was expecting. I'll just have to go to the library and then the hospital to train some medical ninjutsu, or any other jutsu for that matter. 

"That is fine, I like to learn all sorts of jutsu anyways! Woah, so what does the Generic Sealing technique do?  Is it like the Mark Seal?" She really was not sure what all the sealing techniques did, she was still very naive about many jutsu, after all no one has ever taught her and she has spent all her free time training, not at the library learning about jutsu. "Oh! And which one do you want to start with?"

[WC: 3,571]

Salzem shrugged his shoulders and pulled out an empty scroll.

"Considering your excitement for the Generic sealing, We will start with that." Salzem unrolled the scroll until a hollow circle of symbols with more symbols branching off of it every which way was visible.

"Now, the way this technique works is relatively simple." Salzem said, looking up a Hikari. "Blood is needed for this technique, but a little pain is worth a whole pack's worth of stuff stored away, not weighing down on you." Having finished saying this, Salzem pulled out a Kunai, placing it on the scroll to demonstrate. He would then slip his fingers into the Tiger sign, channeling chakra into the scroll. In a poof of smoke, the kunai had disappeared into the scroll. Salzem would then hold up a finger.

"This is where the blood comes in." he said, raising the tip of his finger to his mouth. He bit down hard, causing it to bleed lightly.

"The blood acts sort of like the key to the lock your chakra has on the object." Salzem said, pushing his bloodied finger into his palm so that a bit stained the center of his palm. He would then place his bloodied palm in the center of the circle, channeling chakra into the scroll but instead of shoving something into the parchment, he pulled something out. Another cloud of smoke poofed up from the scroll. As it dissipated, Salzem held up his Kunai for Hikari to see.

"See? With this technique you can carry up to 20 items per scroll. Pretty handy if you want to be a merchant." Salzem joked. "However, nothing living, be it humans, beast or otherwise cannot be sealed with this technique. It only works with inanimate objects." Salzem stepped away from the scroll, giving Hikari space to practice.

"Why not give it a try?"

Wow, this Generic Sealing jutsu sounds useful! I was expecting it to be like the Mark Sealing jutsu that Mitsui showed me, where I can track people. But I guess that wouldn't make any sense if there were jutsu that were so similar to each other, silly me! At first when Salzem started explaining the jutsu, she was a little confused when he said 'but a little pain is worth...not weighing down on you', but as he continued talking and demonstrating what the seal does, she understood what he had meant. So it can be used to store up to twenty weapons in a single scroll? I wonder where you even get those scrolls. Do you buy them at an ordinary ninja shop or do you make them or...? I'll have to ask Salzem.


Hikari had watched Salzem intently, making sure to understand fully what he had been doing and was saying. The jutsu they were working on did not seem to be that difficult for her to understand, so she figured it would not be too hard for her to master pretty quickly. "Sure! I would love to give it a try!"


She pulled out one of her own kunai's, placing it on the scroll just as Salzem had done so. Hikari then made the tiger hand sign, focusing her chakra into the scroll. Here it goes! There was a poof of smoke, and then, to her amazement, the kunai was gone. Hikari started grinning, happy she made the kunai disappear. "I did it! Now time to see if I can bring it back out!" She was talking mostly to herself when she spoke aloud, instead of thinking to herself. Talking always made her feel better and think clearer, it also made her feel less lonely.


She brought her thumb up her mouth and bit down, hard enough to draw some blood. Then, copying Salzem's actions from earlier, she used her bloody finger to make a mark of blood in the center of her palm. She put her palm down on the center of the scroll, channeling her chakra into her palm and thus onto the scroll. Another poof of smoke appeared and as it dissipated, the kunai showed back on the scroll. She grabbed the kunai, making sure it was not just an illusion and that it was her real kunai. "Salzem, I did it!" She looked over at the older shinobi, waiting for his response. While she waited, she remembered the question she was going to ask him about. "Oh right! Salzem, where do you get these scrolls to use this jutsu? Any ninja  shop or...?"

[WC: 4,010] [Generic Sealing learned! ^^]

Salzem smiled as Hikari completed the technique he had demonstrated and in half the time it took him to! It was admirable. He clapped lightly for her, before patting her on the shoulder.

"Good work! You, my friend, are a natural. And Yes. You can find these scrolls at about any ninja shop." And Salzem meant it. She was learned surprisingly fast. Faster than he had at least. This made him happy. Proud even. She was going to be a great shinobi.

"Now, the next thing you learn is up to you. Genjutsu Release, where you break out of Genjutsu, or chakra Sensory, sensing the location of other people with your own chakra." While he displayed the options, he would roll the scroll back up and put it back into his pack.

Hikari smiled at Salzem's words, not being the first time someone was surprised by her fast learning skills, there was also Mitsui and Cole. She figured it had something to do with a mix between her being a Hyuuga, her love for training, and her ambitions for becoming a great shinobi, and quickly at that. "Thank you Salzem." 

She watched him roll his scroll back up curious as to which one she should learn next. Obviously the one they had just gone over was the easiest sounding out of the three of them. Breaking out of Genjutsu, or sensing the location of someone by using my own chakra. They sound fun to try, but I will probably take a few tries to learn them, unlike the Generic Sealing jutsu. After thinking it over for a moment, she came to a conclusion. "Let's try Genjutsu Release!"

[WC: 4,155]

Salzem nodded at her choice. This one was going to be a bit harder, perhaps painful than the last, but it was probably a pretty good representation of what thy were actually going to face in the field. Salzem pulled out a black scroll this time and handed it to Hikari. This scroll contained a genjutsu which will activate when a person opens it. This was how he learned it himself, with this very scroll. Before Hikari could open it, Salzem wanted to explain the jutsu first.

"A genjutsu is basically sending chakra to disrupt the senses, causing the afflicted to see things, feel things, experience things that aren't there. With this jutsu, you will disrupt the flow of chakra from the scroll with your own. To do this, use the tiger sign to best stimulate your chakra." Salzem would hold up a hand, stopping Hikari before she could open the scroll one more time.

"What you are about to see is horrible. The Destruction of Konoha. Knowing how to escape is not enough. You have to be able to find breaks, places where the jutsu's representation of reality is faulty to convince your mind you are in a Genjutsu. Only then will you be able to break free." If Hikari showed any apprehension, he would smile reassuringly. "Don't worry. I'll be on the other side."