Ari's Training Tantrum [P, Ongoing]

Ari was simply in the training field, this time practicing the move known as Dynamic Entry. It was a staple move of taijutsu practitioners and especially those in Konoha. Although she had difficulty figuring out what circumstances would make it useful for attacking, Ari understood the utility behind it. As one of the few D-Rank taijutsu in existence, it was also quite embarrassing to have never learned it before now. Considering it a disadvantage not to have such a basic technique was the only reason she decided to learn it. Thus, Ari was launching herself at dummies, and would be for a considerable amount of time. Propelling her body off one foot and landing with the other on a dummy's face. Ari attempted to master the movement itself before using it on any moving targets; she didn't want to look a fool in front of anybody in the grounds. As a matter of pride, it was certainly embarrassing to even be practicing the technique at her rank.

Having seen it be used by a comrade once before, Ari didn't need to obtain any further information on the technique. It was such a basic movement that any competent taijutsu practitioner could pull it off after seeing it once, surely. Ari truly believed this as it was the only logical reason she too could pull off a learning method such as this. She didn't believe herself to be a prodigy of taijutsu, or anything beyond average when it came to fighting. Although there were plenty of people weaker than her, at least physically, there were plenty of people stronger than her. Whether mentally, physically or through their capability to use Chakra; judging anybody based only on physical appearance was a mistake she wouldn't fall into. Ari kept kicking the dummy by propelling herself towards it with one foot and landing on the other's heel, eventually splitting the dummy's head in half as she decided to use her full strength.

Since it was made of hardened wood, she knew progress was being made. Ari could take the technique to the next level of practice soon where she'd go for moving targets. Searching the nearby vicinity, she saw a tree shedding its leaves. That was the perfect opportunity for moving targets, after all a falling leaf can change its direction at any moment due to the wind. Watching the leaves as they fell, she picked out a specific one. It was red, obviously it should have been shed from the tree's branch a while back but it chose now. Ari kicked off her left foot and slammed into the leaf with her right, crushing the targeted leaf into the tree it came from. Unfortunately with the amount of strength she had, the tree itself split in half. Ari scraped her butt on the remaining stump before gradually falling to the ground thanks to gravity, rolling to a halt.

Immediately bracing her grazed buttocks while groaning with frustration, Ari slammed her right fist into the dirt and stood up. She slowly limped over to the stump before sitting on the flattest, smoothest surface. Happily content to rest for a moment until she felt better, Ari mulled over the technique in her head. The practical application intended for this technique was kicking an opponent while your presence was undetected, while the more cunning use could be to get around on the battlefield. Ari had to figure out how she could use this technique while landing on a surface without using her full strength, instead using all of her speed. Searching for a new tree from where she sat by merely leaning to either side and turning her head, Ari couldn't see any particularly great options. This one tree she'd accidentally exterminated would have been the best option.

Sighing heavily, she stood up, rubbing her butt one more time to sooth the graze. Luckily her pants weren't torn or she'd have to call it a day. Instead, she could finish the last task on her mind. Ari targeted a weaker tree and would attempt to land on it without destroying it on impact. She prepared carefully for the attack, attempting to come to an understanding with her strength before launching herself with all her speed and strength. Naturally to understand her own body came easily. Ari kicked off the ground and threw her body weight at the tree, with her left leg extending towards it this time. As she came closer to the tree she bent her leg, creating a springing effect that removed some of the force behind her attack. This allowed her to immediately kick off the tree after slamming into it, although the tree still broke as she kicked off it. Naturally it wasn't tough enough to endure her launching from it with all her strength after landing on it.

Ari stood a few meters from the last fallen tree, pressing her right palm to her face. Unfortunately this would probably get reported and Kurisu would have a word with her. However, she didn't do it intentionally; that probably didn't matter though. Ari would have to convince him to forgive her somehow; perhaps they'd have another couple of kids sometime soon. That was the best outcome after all. Suddenly snapping out of her thoughts, Ari realized she still hadn't perfected the technique. It was an incredibly simple movement and the basis behind it was anything but a mystery. Seeing as she hadn't tried it yet, Ari threw herself at an empty space to see how long her momentum would keep up. With a sudden flash, she propelled herself at the nearest empty space and flew forwards for ten meters before slowing down. Ari lowered both her legs to come to a running stop as she attempted to prevent herself from tumbling over.

Successfully completing the most important task, stopping, Ari decided she was satisfied with the outcome of today's training. The technique was ultimately one of the simplest a taijutsu user could learn; especially one that already knew techniques of far greater calibre.

WC: 1009
Claiming: Dynamic Entry, +10 AP (Max Stats Training)

Trial approved

Approval of the approval.

To ensure her success with the upcoming Jounin exams, Ari had a day planned out to train the Perfect Cell Transformation. She'd awaken at dawn and get started immediately. Six AM marked her alarm; quickly rolling out of bed and going for a shower, she needed all the time the day could offer her to train with. Going for a new look in her wardrobe these days that involved a complicated assortment of apparel, Ari took a few minutes to get dressed. The clothing was imported from another country with more formal dress codes; while it may have felt a little restricting, the clothing was created with top quality materials and felt nice on the skin. If possible she also wanted to finish fleshing out a technique of her own design named the Aura of Malice; on top of that Ari planned to learn the Iron Chop, a hidden Taijutsu created by her clan. One S-Rank technique and two A-Rank techniques, if she'd made as much progress as she believed, it could be done.

Ari started by writing a note to tell Kurisu where she was going and her plans for the day, as she wouldn't return until sundown at the latest. She left immediately after slapping the note on what remained of his door. With her, Ari brought four metal poles with white sheets attaching them at the sides. Using this construct she would create a small walled off area in the training field to keep unwanted eyes away. Ari didn't intend on letting just anybody watch her and figure out her abilities before the second and third stages of the Jounin exams. When she arrived at the training grounds there were a few tasks to see about before training. Searching for a spot secluded enough that the construct wouldn't get in anybody's way, Ari chose a corner close to a pair of buildings. She used her raw strength to drive each pole into the dirt and create a perfect square before ducking under the closest white sheet to begin her training.

Some sound was blocked out which would nevertheless help her focus, although it felt weird to be in such an open public place yet secluded at the same time. Untying the knot of her leather cloak and tossing it into a corner, Ari spread her arms out and stretched her muscles for the upcoming challenges. A lot of time would be spent sitting and Ari wasn't planning to die from a blood clot. After a few minutes she finally knelt to the ground, resting both arms on her knees and focusing on her Chakra system; she wasn't a prodigy or anything beyond unique when it came to learning ability. At least during training sessions, Ari required her utmost focus be dedicated to the task at hand. Connecting with the required tenketsu points for the Perfect Cell Transformation took some time; as the first S-Rank technique she'd ever attempted learning it would take significantly longer to prepare her Chakra system for the strain.

Thinking back to when she read the scroll detailing how the Perfect Cell Transformation worked, Ari remembered to perform the Ram handseal and did so. While she had no faith in performing the technique immediately by doing this, the sign was required to properly focus her Chakra. She could feel it, the Chakra, coursing through her body and activating various cells throughout it. The amount that was receiving Chakra however, was far from the mark. Ari would have to send Chakra into every cell of her body before she could confidently make a step forward on learning the technique itself. Eventually she would have all the cells in her body working to heal damage, while also optimizing her body for combat. The idea of having so many effects taking place in her body at once made Ari feel a bit faint. However, she had learned a technique like this before called the Basic Enhancement Technique.

Unfortunately Ari forgot the specific details of that technique as she failed to maintain a consistent practice of it. The method for using it had in fact, completely escaped her mind. Odd as it was, Ari had to move on and continue what she entered the training grounds today to do. Nothing was changing by staying at home and living life normally, she wasn't getting stronger or improving her fighting knowledge. Ari once more felt a drive she'd forgotten, to match Kurisu's strength and follow him into whatever mess he'd encounter. The daunting knowledge that he'd refuse to accept putting her in danger even if she wanted to help had previously stayed her hand, destroying her motivation. However, it was now she found this provided her with even more admiration for him, and a deeper meaning behind her desire to become stronger and follow him. Regardless of whether he wished for her safety and to leave her behind, she couldn't let somebody like him leave without someone she trusted watching his back.

Then even if Kasuga volunteered, she wouldn't feel comfortable with nobody watching his back too. Ari suddenly realized that Chakra was surging throughout her body and activating the majority of her cells in response to the Ram handseal. She may have simply been sitting for an hour contemplating her reason for training, but it was beginning to pay off as her motivation and focus worked in unison. Picturing her cells being manipulated to enhance her physical strength and speed, Ari attempted to put one concept of the technique into practice. A slight change in her muscle mass and her fast twitch muscles took place although nothing as significant as the technique entailed. Believing she was approaching this from the right angle, Ari pressed on trying to enhance her body's physical traits. Cells multiplied and joined with the rest of her body, gradually improving her body's natural abilities.

However, before she could get a handle on the concept, she suddenly lost focus and the cells dissipated. Ari felt her body decrease slightly in size and even her strength and speed. She wasn't sure how much the partially realized version of the Perfect Cell Transformation had affected her, but it felt good while it lasted. Deciding to press her advantage while the ladle was hot, Ari attempted to repeat the process in its entirety. Forming the Ram handseal and focusing Chakra throughout her body's cells with the intention to improve her body's physical strength and speed. Ari hoped this time she'd reach the full effects the technique promised, but wasn't sure she'd complete this task in the meagre amount of time it had taken her to this point. As such she tried not to get her hopes up and pushed forward without considering it to be the last try.

With Chakra surging throughout her body once more and using the focus she'd honed over years of training, Ari sent a burst of Chakra into her body's cells with the intention of once again improving her body's physical strength and speed. The message was faintly received once more to about half the intended effect. Ari was quite disappointed with the lacking progress but decided to repeat this process a few more times before calling it quits. Each time her cells responded the same way, barely reaching half their potency before the technique forcefully ended. Ari received a fair amount of pain throughout her body with each failed attempt as her cells multiplied and died repeatedly. It was like an electric shock passed through every one of her body's cells individually, quickly tiring her out and forcing her to lie back.

While Ari had never felt pain quite like this before, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Breaking her finger hurt more than the pain of each failed attempt. However, along with the physical pain was the knowledge she wasn't making progress that was the true determination crusher. Remaining still while contemplating how to better focus the Chakra throughout her cells, Ari wondered if it was truly worth all the effort. Was she going to be significantly more threatening to her enemies just by possessing this one technique? According to the history she read on it, a group of Hiyu once used it to fend off an army. Such feats, could she if given the chance accomplish something similar? Ari thought hard on the matter and whether or not she truly desired this technique to be part of her arsenal. The benefits it had certainly outweighed the effort she imagined would be required to learn it, for whatever pain or frustration it could cause her, it may eventually save her life or the life of a family member.

Ari grumpily continued training and put the idea of giving up behind her. She wondered why such a thought had even entered her mind to begin with; it wasn't like her to give up on anything. Perhaps she was getting tired of the daily rituals and wanted to rest for a while longer, that wouldn't do however. Jounin exams were just around the corner, Ari had to be prepared or she'd fail. Considering there was an easier side of this technique to start on and the progress she'd made thus far, it was time to try tackling it from another angle. Ari would try using the healing factor that accompanied the Perfect Cell Transformation without enhancing her body's physical capabilities. It should have been a much easier part to perform by itself, as it was quite weak. Although the thought of having it and the enhancements to her body both in use at the same time was daunting, considering how difficult the latter was to maintain by itself.

Focusing a small but concentrated amount of medical Chakra throughout her body's cells, Ari began the process of enhancing the latent healing abilities within them. This side of the technique didn't use Chakra specifically to heal wounds after all; it just made the pre-existing healing abilities of the human body more potent. As such it was actually quite easy to perform since there was a base to start with similar to how someone born with a Doujutsu found it easier to use than one with it transplanted. Ari understood now how the enhancements to her physical abilities could coexist with this healing, as it required such a small amount of focus and had practically no toll on her Chakra. She would maintain this transformation until she became used to it running without focusing. It would be impossible to use it beside the other effects within the technique if the healing alone required focus.

Although she had no injuries, Ari could feel unhealthy cells being purged as the healing factor attempted to keep her safe. There wasn't any pain now, rather, she felt a bit numb. Perhaps she should have considered doing this sooner as it would have saved her a lot of pain. Such thoughts didn't help Ari progress however, so she moved on quickly. Performing the Ram handseal once more with the healing side of Perfect Cell Transformation running, Ari attempted to improve her body's strength and speed once more. A surge of Chakra sparked throughout her cells alongside the medical ninjutsu side, rapidly improving the cells' capabilities. It was strange how without the healing side it appeared to be harder to use, perhaps because the pain accompanying it prior made her reluctant to use the technique. Regardless of the reason she could only hope to maintain what effects were produced for as long as possible.

Ari's body felt like it was becoming stiff as she maintained the Ram handseal and put all her focus into the Chakra coursing through her cells. She didn't want the effects to end before she saw some results, but she didn't feel stronger or faster yet. While the Chakra was doing some work and seemed to be improving her body's definition, the feeling of stiffness completely robbed her of the feeling of progress. Ari frowned as she was forced to release the Ram handseal, her Chakra running low and her focus breaking immediately afterwards. Thoughts of the Jounin exams entered her mind to replace the focus she once held, as she considered what would happen without a trump card. Unsure of how the exams were going to work and what they'd be allowed to use, Ari could only continue and hope to understand this technique before then.

She considered the difficulties there'd be if someone else had a similar ability while she didn't. Such a fight would be impossible to win, as her physical abilities would be lacking in every aspect. These thoughts motivated Ari to lie back and attempt to regain her Chakra in a timely fashion. She felt the natural energies every ninja did, her Chakra quickly replenishing itself as she rested. During this time Ari attempted to figure out a way to make further progress, what might push her one step forward, or perhaps a new approach? So far she'd been trying to use the side of enhancing strength and speed, rather than Chakra and Speed. But maybe if she enhanced her Chakra it would give her a better understanding of how to enhance strength instead. Deciding to go with this route, Ari performed the Ram handseal once her Chakra levels replenished to about half.

She didn't have a lot of time left in the day but there was plenty left to do. She focused on her Chakra system and the cells that it coursed through, to enhance them she would have to use a difficult approach that she didn't even fully understand. Ari allowed her Chakra to run wild for a second while she pinned down the locations of her body that it flowed through. Practically her entire body, but the specific cells alongside and within it were what she had to find. Using the Bodily Monitor she'd previously transformed within herself, Ari found every individual cell that the Chakra coursed through. It was hard to remember them all at once but also came naturally as she used the Ram handseal to enhance her body's healing once more, then used Chakra to enhance her Chakra system. It was a strange concept but she was sure others had done the same before the Hiyu.

This was after all a world of ninja and stranger things happened. Ari felt something new as her focus seemingly improved, most likely due to her Chakra system being enhanced. It was like she'd been reborn all of a sudden with understanding over her abilities she never before thought possible. Yet here she was able to focus Chakra throughout her body and improve upon something she'd previously been poor at using. Ari went with Taijutsu as her first specialty as Chakra control wasn't her forte, but now she felt like an expert. What was stranger was her ability to also enhance her body's speed at the same time without feeling tired. Truly the Chakra system was a complex thing and even more difficult to utilize without a proper understanding of it. Even though Ari was a ninja like any other, she felt silly for never studying up on the Chakra system and how it all worked.

She knew the basics of using the body's energy to perform Jutsu and how without the Chakra system she'd die, just like any human being would. Whether or not animals had something similar to humans was still up for debate, but Ari knew summons existed with Chakra systems similar to theirs. Getting off track in her thoughts, she suddenly snapped back to the reality of what was happening. Her focus had dwindled slightly and she was running low on Chakra, so Ari ended the handseal and thus the effects of the technique. It still didn't feel like she had a full understanding of it, but there was naught to be done until Ari's Chakra had replenished once again. This time she laid back and decided it would be prudent to fully restore her energy. Ari picked up a sandwich from her coat and began eating it from a corner; she also dug a water bottle out of the same coat for a quick gulp of refreshing H2O.

Food and water in itself seemed to help replenish Chakra for some reason; perhaps the stomach was linked directly to it. Whatever reason was behind it didn't really matter at the moment Ari thought; instead she focused on getting back to one hundred percent to practice with the technique some more. After finishing half her sandwich she threw it onto the coat, allowing it to sit there and probably go stale while she trained. Ari thought it lucky that she was training behind the white sheets where nobody could observe her, she didn't like eating in front of strangers and probably wouldn't have taken such a long break with eyes watching. Standing up while tossing the water bottle beside her sandwich, she assumed a basic taijutsu stance and began throwing punches starting with a right hook, followed by a left hook. She performed forty of them with each fist before moving on to high kicks starting on the same side.

After various sets of physical strikes with her hands and feet, Ari sat back down and prepared for the challenge ahead. While physical activity came to her naturally the use of her Chakra still remained her greatest obstacle. She'd been told by an acquaintance that her Chakra was apparently slightly better than most ninja, yet it still proved harder for her to learn techniques involving a heavy use of it. Later, Ari would find out it was her lacking knowledge of the Chakra system itself that caused this problem, but that wasn't something she'd understand today. Using the Ram handseal to surge her Chakra system once more and enhance it at the same time as speed, with the healing factor active beside them. It seemed a good rest did the trick as she managed to get the enhancements to her Chakra system and speed working at about seventy-five percent, while the healing was working perfectly.

She felt a little relieved with this progress even though it wasn't great. There was still a lot for Ari to do before she could go home, but the idea of making progress gave her comfort nonetheless. Suddenly standing up once again, she decided it would prove beneficial to get in some physical activity while the technique ran at seventy-five percent. Although the true test while her Chakra system was enhanced would be to use other techniques, so she considered that to be the last thing to do before sitting back down. With her speed somewhat enhanced, Ari's own movements seemed like a blur to her. She had a total of 177 speed up from 125 after all. As her eyes and reactionary muscles adjusted to the increased speed, Ari attempted to get a grip on her own newly realized abilities. Although they were temporary it was best to get used to them before reaching the technique's ultimate goal of an increase by 70 speed.

At least she had some wiggle room between now and then, Ari thought. Throwing a few punches and kicks to adjust, she was surprised by how each one seemed to move the air around her. When Ari noticed the white sheets flaring open with each movement she stopped and allowed the wind to die down, sitting to assess how the transformation had impacted her Chakra. Ari performed a Ram handseal and activated the Semi-Ultimate Shield to judge how it was improved in her current state. She found it was considerably better with a shield worth 95 power. At full potency it would exceed 100, Ari was positive. Imagining how safe such a thing would keep her during fights was too exciting to remain focused, releasing her Chakra and allowing both techniques to dissipate. A relieving feeling came over her as she fell backwards onto the ground once more.

Having both techniques running at the same time exhausted her quickly with her current stock of Chakra, it would prove very beneficial to work on that she realized, huffing and puffing. Attempting to stand up soon after falling, she found herself unable to muster even enough energy for that feat. Ari understood how lacking she was on the department of latent energy all of a sudden. Some would be able to keep both techniques running for minutes, maybe even hours, although that was far less likely. Training could be done to improve it though; in fact she knew that even this training was slowly improving her latent energy. Even while she was determined to remain awake and train, Ari didn't feel like getting up yet as she pondered a faster way to improve her energy before attempting the technique again. Perhaps learning other techniques and finishing with it later, this was the only possibility after all.

Ari began doing sit-ups as she waited for her Chakra to restore, although it was hampered by the physical activity. She wasn't going to get anywhere simply resting. Forcing her Chakra to restore under the pressure of physical activity, however, seemed like a good idea. After ten sets of twenty repetitions, Ari pushed herself off the ground using only her butt and stood up straight. Her Chakra had restored enough that she felt like continuing, although she ultimately decided against doing so yet. Previously Ari had made the most progress after allowing her Chakra to restore to full and that was what she planned to do from now on. So she wandered over to the sandwich she previously threw and picked it up, only to realize it had indeed gone stale. Her water bottle was still fine naturally; she upended it and drank the remaining three hundred millilitres.

Ari wanted to eat before continuing, she dropped the empty bottle on her cloak and left the safety of her square to seek out nourishment.


WC: 3661
Claiming: 3650/8000 words towards Perfect Cell Transformation, 36 AP from training at full wordcount.

Ari approached from the east of her small improvised private training room shortly after leaving to eat lunch. While she had been spending time trying to learn the Perfect Cell Transformation, she would now move onto the Aura of Malice. It was a fairly easy technique in concept and one she created herself. While simple in concept it was significantly more complicated than the eye could see. To use it, Ari would have to multiply her cells and create billions more of them to surround her while maintaining their position and turning them into an offensive weapon. Their ability to destroy cells of other living beings, creatures or fauna was essentially the purpose behind this technique. However, there was another side to it that Ari came up with along the way. Instead of just destroying the cells, this technique consumed them and with a human victim was capable of healing any wounds sustained by her, as long as the damage inflicted to her target was sufficient enough.

Fully understanding the concept behind her own creation and the offensiveness behind it, Ari had simply to attempt the transformation now. Although she was still unsure whether or not her abilities matched the requirements, considering she was nothing special when it came to ninja. While doubtful of her own abilities, the one thing that always kept Ari persistent in her endeavours remained true; she wanted to match Kurisu's strength so that he could rely more on her, and so that she would never burden him. Keeping in mind she'd never done either before, that was a record she intended to keep. Ari wasn't sure what effect the technique would have on her clothing or anything else while attempting to put the concepts into practice, so she quickly undressed and used the Advanced Transformation Technique to multiply her cells and create identical faux clothing. This was naturally a part of her body after the transformation and would not suffer from any mistakes made during her training.

Considering the usefulness of this idea, Ari decided to keep it in mind for future reference. It felt so comfortable having clothing that was actually part of her body that she figured it'd probably be best to only ever go out wearing her own faux cellular transformed set. Still, this was keeping her off track from the actual reason she used the transformation. Focusing on her objectives was the most important thing Ari could do to make progress, so she quickly sat down and started thinking about how to multiply her cells into an aura that could be held together around her. The easiest solution would be to use Chakra that would keep all the cells in place. While a simple concept, Ari worried still about her affinity for Chakra control and how well she'd perform at such a feat. Instead of getting wrapped up with concerns again, she performed the Ram handseal and attempted it immediately. Multiplying billions of cells from her skin and thus her faux clothing, to cover her body.

While the cells multiplied and covered Ari in a sticky red silhouette, she sent out a burst of Chakra into them. The intention behind her Chakra being to hold the cells up in place. Suddenly the red silhouette shot out from her body and painted the white sheets; luckily the cells were not liquefied or else it would seem the white sheets had been covered in blood. Instead it would just seem from an outside perspective that the sheets had been painted on the inside, although rather suddenly. Ari realized the mistake she'd made was not setting up a layer of Chakra on the outside of her cells before attempting to hold them in place, with the Chakra beneath them suddenly repelling them from her body with no external force holding them down. On her next attempt, after lying down for a moment to rest and recover some Chakra, she would create an external barrier before multiplying her cells.

Using the Ram handseal once more to put this into effect, an invisible layer of Chakra formed on her skin before billions of cells were multiplied beneath it; followed by a layer of Chakra beneath those cells to hold them around her body. Ari then gradually increased the distance between the external Chakra barrier and the internal one, allowing room for her cells to move within the space. The aura created by her cells was indeed red, something she hoped for during the transformation that would seem more intimidating. However, she wasn't done yet with the aesthetics of this transformation. Before moving on to understand the offensive application intended for it, Ari would perfect the visual style she wanted. Focusing all of her effort on the external Chakra barrier, she began visualizing a violent storm on the ocean. She wanted the aura to move and seem like it was wild, similar to Mother Nature’s own frightful power.

While she focused on this, the external Chakra barrier began shifting like calm ocean waves. Unfortunately this was not the appearance Ari wished for from visualizing a violent storm. She thought momentarily how to make it seem scarier; to look as if it should not be touched. After a minute of careful deliberation on her own she figured it out. Visualizing a forest burning was what Ari understood as being the most violent thing known to her. Forest fires had the potential to kill thousands of trapped animals and human beings alike, while they were also almost uncontrollable by anyone without powerful techniques. Ari sent more Chakra into the external layer to help in creating an unpredictable outer layer of sporadic tendrils mimicking the appearance of fire. While a flame would normally point straight up, she had the tendrils pointing up, out, down and every other direction possible surrounding her body.

Unable to see what kind of appearance this had from an external point of view was unfortunate, however, Ari would figure out anything more specific regarding the aesthetics later in a mirror. Now for the fun part; while she had figured out how to create and surround herself with these cells, the next step was transforming them into an offensive aura that consumed other living cells. This would be a considerably more challenging lesson in understanding her abilities and her talent for creating techniques. Ari was unsure of even the first step she should take to move in the right direction. Supposing that it would once again be a matter of using Chakra to do her bidding, which was the natural direction to head in. She thought on substances that were harmful to living cells and how to go about turning her cells into an imitation. There were few things in the world that specifically targeted living cells, although there was a spider she knew of.

With its venom the spider was capable of biting once and causing necrosis, essentially melting the skin of its victims. Ari figured by transforming her cells and imitating this effect, she would be capable of figuring out the next step after damaging the target's cells. It was tough to understand exactly how her cellular structure should change to imitate these effects though. Using the tiger handseal to disable her current mere aesthetic of the transformation, Ari would spend some time deliberating on how to properly go about things. It would be prudent for the cells she multiplied initially to carry the effects of necrosis without transforming them after creation, as that would save time in a combat environment. Ari didn't wish to waste any time and give her opponents an upper hand while using a technique that should be her trump card. With even the creation of her cells proving problematic, she would have to think long and hard on the issue.

While thinking about how to properly transform her cells, Ari remembered the healing factor to Perfect Cell transformation. It gradually healed her body using cellular transformation, while this technique was to perform the opposite on her opponent but also heal her. Essentially it was a medical technique that stripped cells from one place and sent them to another. Thinking of it in these terms gave Ari the thought to try creating cells possessing simply the opposite effects of medical ninjutsu. Forming the external Chakra barrier to hold in her cells, she focused on creating billions of cells already possessing this offensive quality. It felt painful at first as she attempted to understand how they worked and prevent them from harming her own body. On creation the first layer of her own skin was destroyed before Ari quickly figured out how to stop them from harming her, preventing further loss of her skin.

She then formed the Chakra beneath the cells and continued with the aforementioned aesthetic process that formed an aura of violently swathing red tendrils, covering an area of two feet outwards from Ari's skin. Due to the properties of the cells, while her external skin layer had initially been consumed, they also healed it shortly after. Ari felt burdened with the aura surrounding her, although her movement wasn't actually slowed down. It was the constant drain of her Chakra the aura required that bothered her. However, it was nonetheless an effective barrier against would-be opponents. Seeing as the concept behind this barrier appeared to be working perfectly, Ari decided she would have to take it for further tests. Noticing that the grass beneath her feet wasn't being destroyed by it, this was an issue that needed to be resolved. Ari intended for the barrier to consume all living cells of organisms it came into contact with and that included fauna.

Leaning onto her back with the grass cushioning her beneath, she would attempt to modify the aura until the grass was consumed and left nothing but dirt in its absence. Focusing on the cells surrounding her and picturing the grass as an enemy, the amount of focus required to modify the cells was immense. Ari had never experienced a battle with her own body's creation as intense as the one she now faced. With so much focus on just maintaining the technique, it was taking everything she had left to modify the cells. Her energy seemed to be running low as the aura weakened and began to dissipate, with no effect on the grass beneath. Ari sighed with disappointment as she would have to wait for her Chakra to gradually restore, although it did give her time to think about things. She was making excellent progress at the moment with the technique after all and things would go smoother from here on.

It seemed the amount of Chakra she had was also gradually improving just over the course of the day. Ari wondered how long it would take before she no longer gained anything from training except more techniques. What was her maximum potential? The thought of a road block where no further progress could be made scared her more than anything; Ari enjoyed growing and improving herself. The effort required to push oneself further and progress as a ninja was thrilling. A thought also occurred to Ari; she wondered how Kurisu dealt with being so powerful that his progress was basically stunted. There wasn't much else he could do to further improve himself as such a powerful shinobi. If she ever reached that milestone, would it be a victory or an unfortunate turn of events? In fact, did she want to match Kurisu's strength in reality? Ari was concerned by these thoughts even though her progress was doubtlessly making her a better ninja.

Fun was high on her priority list as she enjoyed spending time with her children and growing as a person, as a ninja, as a parent. While her parental skills seemed to be lacking lately, since Ari barely spent any time with Kasuga, Kaya, Kurisu Jr and Kyoto; she was quite busy with the Jounin exam preparations. Unfortunately she had to put her children after the exams on her priorities list. These thoughts were making Ari uncomfortable as she considered what life would be like without such priorities. The lack of effort required to live her life as it was now would leave her with a lot of free time, which wasn't something she wanted. Ari enjoyed her life being laden with responsibilities and people depending on her. Perhaps what she truly desired was to take over Kurisu's spot as Hokage one day, but she didn't want to talk to him about that. Instead she would sit on the idea and wait to see what happened later in life.

Feeling like her Chakra had been fully restored, Ari performed the Ram handseal and focused on forming the external Chakra barrier, multiplying cells beneath it with the offensive qualities, then creating the Chakra beneath them that separated and controlled them. Instead of focusing on turning them hostile against the grass beneath her immediately, Ari decided she would figure out how to change their target. Using her own right foot as the test subject, she attempted to turn the cells hostile against it. Thinking of her right leg being destroyed and rebuilt by the same cells was quite difficult as she imagined the pain it would cause. However, when the time came, she knew the bullet had to be bit. Suddenly she felt a tingling in her right leg, then burning, followed by nothing. Ari peaked down at her right leg which had completely disappeared, panicking slightly, she focusing on the technique's medical aspect.

Using the cells consumed from her own leg, she immediately tried restoring it. Forming from the bone to the tendons, surrounding them with muscle, fat and other body tissues. Ari then controlled the blood flow that rushed through it once again and restored her leg's movement. Lastly she restored the flesh surrounding the leg, giving her a normal external feeling once more as the grass beneath it no longer hurt. Wiggling her toes briefly before looking down, Ari saw her leg and breathed a sigh of relief. She knew it was possible to target things now and decided to move on. Although the aura was still only capable of targeting things within two feet, Ari couldn't figure out a way of extending it. She felt the amount of Chakra being used was already pressing her to the limit for range and utility. Instead she had to focus on how to target other organisms such as plants, the grass beneath her would once more become the target. Ari closed her eyes and focused on the grass while picturing it being eaten away.

She imagined a horde of insects chewing away at the grass with billions of tiny mouths. Her cells were essentially just that, billions of mouths feeding on a particular target. Worrying about targeting the wrong thing wasn't a concern either as Ari still wore the faux clothing created from her own cells. She had already experienced targeting her own leg too and knew how to avoid such an outcome. Presumably avoiding the injury of team mates worked under the same process that removed her leg, so that was another key piece of knowledge Ari retained. While picturing the grass being nibbled away at, the ground appeared to become wet. Unsure of the reason for it and curious as to whether she succeeded or not, Ari turned her head left while opening the same side's respective eye, peaking at the ground. She saw that only dirt remained within two feet of her body. Understanding this apparently meant she was successful, Ari opened her other eye and rolled over completely.

Supporting herself with both arms and knees, she looked directly beneath herself and saw only moist dirt remained. She'd have to be careful around gardens from now on, but it did present an interesting idea. Ari stood up and walked out of her private white sheet clad training square, making her way to the Hokage's building. Some weeds had been giving them trouble lately as they grew into the bricks. With this technique, Ari figured she'd be capable of chasing the weeds inside where fingers couldn't reach to remove them. On her way she naturally used the Tiger handseal to undo her transformation, not wanting to scare, injure or kill anybody accidentally. Ari picked up the pace to a jog as she wanted to get to the building and make good time, hopefully leaving her the rest of today and tomorrow for training before the second stage of Jounin exams. She was going to try and pull an all-nighter too if possible.

Approaching the building from its West side where weeds were giving them trouble the day prior, Ari performed the Ram handseal and activated the Aura of Malice. Once more forming the Chakra barriers and hostile cells. The aura around her appeared angry and would have prompted people to question what she was doing beside the Hokage's office with it active, at least if she wasn't the Hokage's wife that is. Placing her right hand on the wall, Ari sent the aura into a small gap where weeds had grown into and gotten stuck. She could feel the remainders of it being destroyed as her hand approached the wall, before even touching it. The aura had flooded into the gap and sought out the organism within. Ari understood this meant people wearing armour that wasn't completely sealed off would still be vulnerable, which was a handy tip in itself. However, her job at the Hokage's building was done and she'd have to figure out what else needed testing.

While most aspects of the technique seemed to be covered already, she was sure there were avenues yet to explore. Although she hadn't really thought of using it to remove her own limbs and repair them in some way, Ari was sure without an equivalent exchange this wouldn't work and didn't want to risk injuring herself badly without a surefire fix. Instead she scraped the palm of her left hand and removed a bit of skin before approaching a plant with her same hand. Trying to use the plant's cells to heal her own, the plant was destroyed as the aura consumed it, but when turning her left hand around it showed nothing had been healed. Ari figured she would have to use another human's cells to fix her own in the event of injury. Unsure of what things might counter this ability too, she could only guess Chakra constructs would weaken it. There was only one safe way to test the aura's abilities without injuring another human being.

Ari saw a wasp nest the other day and began heading in its direction while using the Tiger handseal to deactivate the aura. She would disturb the nest and attempt to kill all the wasps that attacked her, except she would only use a small amount of aura. Getting specific with a smaller range of the aura than it allowed would give her some idea of further utility, so she thought. If there wasn't time to specify things she wished no harm upon, or if she wished to try and make the aura look a little less threatening, this was a good way to do so. However, whether the aura would stop the wasps from touching her skin with only a thin layer of it coating her, this remained to be seen. Ari considered not attacking the wasps briefly as they had a right to live like any other creature, but they were also a threat to bees in the area and would probably destroy one or more of their honey nests.

As someone who enjoyed honey on her pancakes and in her tea, Ari could not allow this to happen. She would continue with the plan of eradicating the wasps for the sake of testing her Jutsu. While coming up on the tree she saw the wasp nest in and coming to the prior decision, another villager walked past. Ari waved in a friendly manner as if she wasn't about to cause any ruckus. However, once the villager was out of sight she punched the tree. The nest was only hanging by a thread and snapped off the tree's branch. As it fell and the wasps began to angrily chase it, Ari formed the Ram handseal. She focused on the Chakra barriers and created only a millimeter of aura around her body. With this tiny layer, was it possible the wasps would touch her skin or even sting her? Ari wanted to know for future reference and prepared for the wasps to attack. Taking a basic taijutsu stance, she threw a punch at one approaching insect.

It seemed to melt on impact at first before she felt something touch her knuckles. Currently the power behind her aura was only fifty, Ari felt she could improve this somewhat with effort. Focusing on the cells and Chakra around them, she attempted to increase their strength and pictured the wasps being melted as they came in contact with the aura. Meanwhile the wasps were assaulting her, coming from multiple directions and having their bodies destroyed just as they touched her skin. Unsure of whether or not any would have the opportunity to sting her, Ari tried to rush improving the technique's power. She didn't enjoy stings from insects as they became sore for days, even medical ninjutsu struggled to remove the sting from a potent wasp's butt. Ari tried to picture the aura as a force that would kill anything excluding herself, the moment it was touched. She pictured the wasps as a threat that required her utmost power.

While difficult to imagine wasps as a threat greater than ninja, this gave Ari a thought. Picturing the insects as Jounin from another village approaching with swords intended to kill her gave the aura a little more power. The wasps barely touched her skin on every impact as it ramped up to 60 power. Still not quite enough as they managed to touch her. Only a few wasps remained to improve the outcome. Ari pictured herself failing the Jounin exams because her Jutsu lacked power, it annoyed her. Kneeling onto the ground and digging her fingers into the earth, Ari once more tried to send more Chakra into the aura. Pulling on the ground beneath her and struggling to maintain focus on the aura while sending Chakra out like an open faucet. Gradually she felt the aura becoming stronger again. At first it ticked up slightly before bursting into its full potential. She could tell when the technique was at its strongest as her own Chakra was raising its capabilities.

It also felt more stable as she reached the ending point, as if it was a bucket full of water with a lid on it. The technique felt balanced like it wouldn't tip over one way or the other during use. Ari felt it was hard to explain how the technique felt at this point, but she was running out of Chakra to maintain it. With a leap of faith onto the wasp nest, she crushed it beneath her body as the aura consumed the remaining wasps. They had no opportunity to touch her skin this time, practically melting the instant their bodies touched it. Losing control over the aura as her Chakra was almost completely drained, Ari released it with the Tiger handseal and rolled onto her back. Staring up at the sky and breathing heavily, she had accomplished learning at least one technique today. Although she wasn't able to learn the Perfect Cell Transformation in its entirety. There was a mission with Kasuga coming up where she could focus more time into that.

Ari gradually sat up as she felt almost too exhausted to continue for the day. However, there was one last thing she wanted to do before calling it quits. First she had to make her way back to the small training square she'd created. It probably smelled weird due to the cells coating it inside, but with the aura properly figured out she could use it to consume those cells and clean the sheets easily. Limping her way to the nearest food stand seemed to be on the agenda, as she struggled up to a Ramen shop. Ordering noodles with bacon for the sake of protein, she rested her head on the table and waited patiently while considering her priorities. The next technique would probably be something physical and well known to most taijutsu users. Her arsenal of moves such as these was lacking and she couldn't afford to be lacking in any aspect with the Jounin exams. Ari took out the Jutsu Encyclopaedia and flicked pages aside until she got to B-Rank Taijutsu.

There she saw the Leaf Great Whirlwind, a technique with multiple spinning kicks. This would probably most likely be her next goal to learn. Decisively placing the book back into her pouch, the ramen cup arrived in short order. Ari passed the Ryo for it to the man directly before slurping down her food. The thought occurred to her of seeking a training partner, but with Jounin exams so close she wasn't sure about wasting time on that kind of endeavour. Instead Ari had to focus on training by herself with all the time she had left. She wanted to make Kurisu proud of her during these exams, as he'd no doubt be one of the assessment team. He was unlikely to give her bias as things were, perhaps he expected more of her than anybody else. Ari wasn't sure and didn't intend to ask, so she finished her food before standing up and getting a wriggle on. Jogging back to the training grounds, she suddenly turned around and grabbed the cup.

Almost forgetting to throw it in the bin was a sign of her anxiety, as Ari tossed the empty paper cup into the nearest bin. Looking up at the sun to judge what time it was, she figured there were only about three hours left in the day. If anything was going to get done, it would get done with better lighting than the night could offer. Ari saw the white sheets of her training square come into view while turning a corner and quickly ducked into them. Using the Ram handseal to activate the aura and consume the expelled cells from much earlier, she quickly disposed of them. They smelled sour and gross. Figuring it was lucky the aura was capable of removing them, Ari moved on to the next stage of training.


WC: 4437
Claiming: 44AP, Aura of Malice

Approved