Turnabout for the Future [p,nk]

Leaving his small sect-sponsored residence in the hyuuga district, Koz left the district. Today, he was heading to someplace within the village that was both quiet AND had good world qi and elemental energies in the area. Within the village, mind you, not elsewhere. He wanted to find a place that was both quiet and pleasant, because after all, he couldn't always visit his teacher. She was strong and powerful, it was true, but she wasn't everything in his life. What was most important, though, was that while he was away from her, he had to keep cultivating diligently. Without this, how would he achieve his goals of standing at the top with the rest of the combatants? It simply would not do to run into a self made bottleneck at an early stage and quit cultivating. That would render all of his foundation building up to this point completely useless.

At any rate, there he was, wandering through the streets of Konoha, when he felt a tug. Oh... what was this? He breathed in, then out, and placed his mind in a state of unification. While he was like this, he could look at nature without smiling or frowning, and only see it for what it was. It was like a zen like state, after all, and was a small step in attaining a greater unification with nature. Although he could not directly reach out and use nature's energies or the universe's laws for himself, he knew that if he trained hard, he might get there some day. 100th Jie Saint innate potential could get that far, after all, and perhaps even transcend to different levels of existence! To be sure, however, he was decades away from reaching that level. It might even take him centuries to get that far.

For now, all he could do was train his martial arts. He knew that there were four levels of attack when it came to martial arts of almost any kind: basics, "wielding something as if it were something else", "impose", and "profound truths of something", that "something" being a particular element or attribute. For example, his master's style and pinnacle of attack could be "profound truths of shadow". That alone made him shudder a little. An attack like that... he probably wouldn't even be able to see it before it killed him. Indeed, compared to current experts, Koz was really nothing.

At any rate, he had found a good place. It was a deserted lot (not too dirty, thank goodness) with lots of good earth nature elements. Sitting down, Koz would place his body into a meditation stance and begin meditating. Hmmm... envisioning his dantian, Koz was a little worried. It clearly wasn't strong enough, yet, and neither was his body. But if he trained his body, his dantian would naturally follow. As such, he began to work out the basics of the gentle fist. Having already learned the palm bottom technique, Koz focused on the next level of power.

[wc 501]

She noticed the boy from her position, arms crossed across her chest as she leaned against a building down the main road through konoha. It was surprising to see the Hyuuga boy outside of the districts, asside from the one time he'd left the village to seek a quiet place to train in..... whatever the hell wierd way he used to figure out jutsus. He'd gone on about a dalmation if she recalled, and a bunch of other words that started with consonants that she was pretty sure weren't generally use to begin words. Wierd kid, but good potential. Thinking back to her convorsation with the hokage her eyes grew wide. If he was seeking sanctuary in the borders once more trouble could happen. with this in mind she followed him, her speed allowing him to easily catch up to the boy. She stopped, watching from a distance as he sat down, preparing what looked like meditation and a cruel smile began to creep across her features.

She allowed the cloak to flow across her body, deep black hiding her form from... Well not really hiding her anything considering it was clearly midday, and being shrouded in blackness didn't really do anything to hide when the bright sun beamed down. Still she'd walk in complete silence thanks to her jutsu, sneaking right up behind him. Reaching out she'd stop her hand just behind his head, summoning the twin daggers of disdain, which let out a shrill blood curdling screech right near the boy's ear, causing the girl to jump backward to avoid reflexive action before nearly dropping down to the ground in laughter. "wh.. What's up kid."

Hmmm.... to have a breakthrough in the sense of cultivation, it was supposed to be a great feeling. He remembered Li Xuan's bodyguard (whore?) Feng Yeyuan talking about how she had recently broken through to the 5th Xing envoy layer (cocky bitch). She had described it as some kind of exhilirating feeling, comparable to a climax. Of course, being the young cultivator that he was, Koz shied away from such vulgar descriptions. Judging by how Yeyuan trained, her foundation was too small to allow her to reach her potential quickly, which explained the cocky attitude. Or was it the other way around? No, it was a cycle, wasn't it? Lin Feng had spoken of such things. 

At any rate, there he was, ready to break through to the first part of the 2nd Hui layer at any time. From there, the journey to 3rd Fen magister, the base layer from which people started to get REALLY good wasn't a hard journey. He just had to cultivate hard, but especially, train his martial arts skills to a peak level. "Wielding something as if it were something else"... in this case, the gentle fist. From his point of view (which, in a cultivator's world, was basically the only one that mattered), that meant using a gentle attack as if it were harsh and destroying. Well, that didn't seem too hard, but he was sure that he was missing out on some insights. Besides, he hadn't even mastered the basics yet. All he had was the fundamental motions and palm bottom. Something like that could hardly be considered a good foundation for stronger and stronger martial arts techs. No, gentle fist itself required more training than simple punches. The ability to attack internals.... that was fearsome indeed. Internal organs could not be conditioned to become more durable like the external elements of a person could. In that, gentle fist was powerful for a combatant, especially against tough-skinned enemies.

At that moment, he heard some kind of screech and opened his eyes, a little shocked since he had been interrupted from a peak state in meditation. Coughing like he had last time, he noted that the screech went "EEEEEeeeeee", deepening slightly in tone and decreasing in volume slightly as it went. Well, that meant that the source of the sound had moved away from him. Basic physics. What Koz didn't know, of course, was that this was due to the doppler effect. No time to explain that now, however.

He stood up calmly, though still somewhat shakily, and turned around to see who it was. 

"Oh...." It was his teacher! Amazing! Was this part of her cultivation method as well? If so, then it was most likely unique to her, as in the sect, one would be severely punished for interrupting a disciple in meditation. Interrupting someone at a peak moment was no good for the sect or its members. However, if his teacher trained this way, that was fine. Also, who was he, to argue with someone powerful like that?

"Good morning, teacher", he began, cupping his fist and bowing like he always did. "I hope, uh, that you're alright." She seemed to be fine.... but laughing really hard? Uh, at him? Koz felt a little embarrassed, as this situation wasn't really something his elementary stage of the unification state could cope with.

"Um... I'm attempting to cultivate the gentle fist, or at least, the basics of it. After I master the more elementary stages, I will probably have to go into closed doors training in order to gain flashes of insights for the second stage."

[TWC 1104]

As he turned around, the joy seeped slowly from her face. He reacted, though barelly, which was not at all what she was hoping for. Kiru probably would have crapped himself.... though considering the situation it was probably for the best that the boy reacted differently from her prized pupil. "Good morning Koz. Noticed you walking through the village and figured I'd see what you were up to. Honestly I was worried that you were going back out to the borders to get away from the sounds and bustle of the village, which would be unacceptable. Not that I personally have an issue with you going out of the village of course, I've ensured that it is in fact safe. " As she spoke she'd walk up, patting the boy on the back and placing a mark seal on the base of the boy's neck just an inch off center to the left, hiding the fact behind encouraging gesture.

"See, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I've been able to gain entrance to the village until further notice. I am officially a protector of Konohakagure employed by the Hokage. The bad news however is that we are preparing for war. I brought light to some issues that troubled the Hokage and as such well..... The anbu have been keeping close tabs on any attempting to walk out of the village. Thankfully this will help." From the hemp bag at her side she pulled a simple silver necklace with an odd symbol on it, the same symbol she wore around her neck, though it hadn't been on her person the first time the two met. It was a new addition she'd began wearing after the convorsation with the Hokage.

"This is a symbol of my protection, among other things. When you've gotten strong enough to make the choice I will offer you the chance to join my organization, all of which wear this symbol openly displayed somewhere. Until then that should allow you to move about with a bit more freedom then most in the vilage would. In the event a high ranking member of konoha questions your actions, specifically if you feel need to go out to the borders, be respectful of their authority of course, but inform them that you are part of my organization, tell them where you're heading, and if they have any issues comply but keep an eye out. As part of my job I'll be keeping tabs on those in my care so ideally I'll be only a short distance away to assist. Am I clear?"

Oh... amazing! His teacher really had gotten along well in life. See, this was a small part of what he meant when he said that a person with a powerful shadow spirit foundation could have a future that was bright and limitless. After all, who would challenge such a person (even if it was an authority like the hokage) if she had talent and power like that? No, that was the way of the world. No good leader would want to lose talent and potential if he could help it, and the relationship between the hokage and his teacher seemed to be no exception. Well, this was very good for him, as her student.
However, Koz knew nothing of the seal that she had just placed on him. Had he known, he would probably have accepted it anyway, but he didn't, so it didn't make a difference anyway. Still, had she aimed lower, at his stomach, he would have felt a little bit more concern. After all, his dantian was there, and as such, it was the source of his qi processing and cultivation. If anyone harmed that, he would likely find it hard to forgive them. Such was the temperament of a high potential cultivator.
Should Kira actually be offering the necklace to him rather than just showing it off, Koz would accept it, putting it around his neck. To be fair, things like this weren't really seen as "girly" among the sect (gender stereotypes were a tad different there), so Koz didn't feel awkward at all.

"Ah, I understand," he spoke, "thank you." Speaking of which, his teacher had spoken of choosing to join an organization when he got stronger. Hmmm... so was this like a secret sect? He had heard of some in the mountains of.... er, somewhere? The elders hadn't exactly specified, but they were less of sects and more of a group of people with a common goal. He remembered the Crane Castle organization from legend that had gotten stomped on by Elder Lin Feng in a bout of fury. Oh, to incur the anger of an expert... that was something which Koz did not desire. Most often, an angered expert would cripple people at the slightest provocation, and that would stop them from reaching their true innate potential. Koz almost shivered at the thought. He'd never actually seen many of the elders get angry before, and hoped that he never had to.

Hmm... well, this seemed pretty good. Koz took this to mean that his teacher had finally accepted him (even though she probably had before?), and that he was well on his way to a more diligent and effective cultivation.

"So, teacher, what does this situation mean for training? Do I just need to keep my head low and cultivate diligently?" If so, he could certainly do that. After all, it was what he had been doing his whole life up to this point. He just needed to master the basics, and then he could get at the laws of the universe.

[TWC 1613]

"it isn't exactly a secret sect, however our goals are quite..... dangerous. "As she spoke she formed the seals for rain tiger at will, calling great black clouds high above their head. The crackle of thunder symbolized the creation of the technique and in barely a few moments small droplets of rain began to flow across the village, the pace picking up quickly until the ground was fully saturated with pure clear suiton. "The organization Koukan was created to fight against the thread of Akatsuki, which has been reformed in the past year. You may not have heard of the legendary group of missing ninja who attempted to destroy the world... Trust me they're bad news. Because of this I've gathered any willing to fight and strong enough to stand against the evil."

She formed the hand seals for the summoning jutsu twice, causing the two dragons to pop into existence, quickly dipping between the girl's cloak and armor to hide away, drawing in power to fuel her sage mode. They'd been informed today would be the day they work on very important techniques, and that they should be prepared once summoned.

"As for training, train hard and long. Stay within the village though. If you need to get out of the bustle of the village come to the Nara district. You will always be welcome within my forest and it's quiet there. "

(948)

Oooh danger.... although Koz's masculine side was ready and waiting to get right into the thick of things, he was more intelligent than that. He knew that in order to achieve his goals, he would have to do things the right way and stay safe, just as his teacher had told him to. To train hard and long... he would almost certainly do that. That was the way of cultivation, after all. To do it diligently and carefully, to not make a single mistake. To do it with great patience, since a cultivator in the right mental state could have all the time in the world in which to do his or her training (yes, girls can be cultivators too!), so that their powers could grow. 
Although, Koz currently knew nothing of the great powers that his teacher spoke of. The Akatsuki?

"You speak of the Akatsuki. Is this some kind of dark sect of cultivators?" He knew a lot of information about how dark sects worked, how they were steeped in ancient history and the forbidden arts. He also knew how they operated... the clandestine F5 sect (it's a meme, don't worry about it) for example, and their all powerful Lord Fifth. What was the chant again? "Follow Lord Fifth, and gain eternal life. When the Lord Fifth arrives, who dares cause strife?" For so it was in great (meme) legend that this Lord Fifth was the only sower of strife amongst the dark sects, and none dared to try and take his position.

However, this was all just (an internet joke) heresay, and Koz had no actual knowledge of it (the internet hasn't been invented in this world yet). However, what he did know was that his teacher was probably telling him the truth. After all, it was her organization, right? He had even been given the opportunity to join it when he became more powerful. Hmm, that would be quite the long journey indeed. He first needed to get past the basics, which his soul had almost reached. Physical movements... when combined with an opponent's movements, there was a rhythm to them. Hm, very good. 

Now, as to the next step, "wielding something violent as if it were gentle", which was the whole point of the gentle fist. However, just because he wielded the style as if it were gentle, does not mean that it actually was gentle. Truly, its nature was violent indeed, striking at the opponents meridians, and hoping for a good crippling blow during a fight. As an open palm style, it was patient, but harsh.

Although, he noted that his teacher had brought forth those creatures, who were probably from a different realm. Amazing! That gave him an idea. What if he, too, were to find a realm somewhere on this planet and gain access to the creatures there as well? Would that not make him stronger both as a person and as a cultivator? In addition, it would give him yet another safe place to train, which was valuable indeed. He had heard that these realms were filled with elemental essences, and were great places to meditate.

[TWC 2138]

"They were once a group of terrifying evil. The important thing to know is that they're very very bad. Unfortunately the leader of the group is um... Sort of my teacher?" It was always a little awkward talking about her teacher. To think that she had resolved her life or death in an attempt to end the reign of the demon priest, who's life in truth she owes... It wasn't a good situation. If things had been different it could have been her standing at his side, threatening the safety of the world. Imagining the minor villages falling at her hand send a shiver of terror down her spine. Feeling the power of her Faewild energy pulsing through her body she'd simply nod, allowing the effects of her sage mode activate, with the bonus effects of pixie whiles. Once more she'd seem to grow taller, the tips of her ears extending upward as she took on the appearance of a high fae, though the wings on her back were formed folded inward against her cloak.

"It isn't anything you'll need to worry about right now. Just concentrate on becoming powerful. Then we'll discuss the potential of you joining the fight. Hopefully the Hokage and I will have the situation cleared up before you need to worry about it." The Rain formed large puddles on gthe ground around them as it continued to pour endlessly on the village hidden in the leaf. Calling out to the power of her suiton she'd begin flowing her energy into the water beneath her feet, causing a small puddle beneath her to begin turning a soft white color.

(1221)

Mmm, so it was a dark sect indeed. As such, Koz knew that in no way was he able to take them on at his current skill level, or even so much as look into the matter. He decided that it was best left to his teacher. She was far more powerful than he was, and he knew that there were probably small details here that would trip him up if he poked into business like this. It might be obvious to her, but completely unknown to him. It was in situations like this that Koz reminded himself of the saying "I had eyes, but I did not see Mount Tai."
The meaning of the saying, however, was irrelevant to his current training. He knew that gentle fist fell very easily into that second level of martial arts training, "wielding something violent as if it were gentle". It was like the wind.... or water? Hmmm, or perhaps like any of the elemental systems of the universe. It was mysterious and profound, indeed, how the universe worked. Even he, if he were ever to reach the peak of his innate potential, would probably never be able to comprehend all of them. As far as he knew, none of the experts in the sect comprehended all of them either. 
This meant that of all the laws of the universe, he would only be isolated to those that were in his profound rooted vein. Hm, in that case, his efforts would be to become a god level cultivator in everything that he was given. If one had talent, but did not make the most of his talent, then that person was a piece of trash, and did not deserve to live. No, even better, that person deserved to have their cultivation crippled, for he or she was making cultivation itself lose face. Cultivation was an ancient art, and no cultivator should ever shame his art, whether weak or strong. At any rate, he nodded, assenting to his teacher. However, he now had to address the question that he had been thinking about. 

"Would it be good for me to acquire some kind of magical beast companion? It is clear to me that you have some, so I wondered whether such things would be beyond me at this stage of my training." He had heard that having such companions around him helped his cultivation by stimulating world qi flowing through the area, but he hadn't ever encountered any until his teacher had appeared. 

At the same time, his mind was still working on the profound mysteries of the gentle fist. Postulate, experiment, fail and try again. This was how it was for those who forged a path in martial arts. The more one did this, the more power one was able to use. This was also part of cultivation at its core. Striking at one's inner qi with the power of the pulse of the world.... the more he thought about it, the more he realized how well this worked with the open palm.

[TWC 2648]

"It would be useful. Summons can be incredibly helpful, though how one finds them I'm honestly not sure. I happened upon mine thanks to a gift i'd had with me since birth. Two strange creatures just kind of appeared far before I was old enough to understand what was going on. When the time was right well.... poof I was and we were teamed up." This probably didn't sound quite as strange as to the boy as she thought... or at least she hoped, though considering after barely moments confirmed that she probably sounded like a crazy person.

"The important thing is that you consider very carefully what contract you sign. if you break a contract with your summon companions they wont like you very much so make sure if you commit you're willing to learn not only who you're working with but their ideals and that you mesh as a team. If my pixies and I didn't get along so well I would have been dead so many times over." It wasn't a whole truth, but the purpose of the statement did its job. Of course she had issues with those she summoned, specifically the black pixie who seemed to have an issue with life in general, however the important part was that if she were in trouble Daruku would in fact come to her aid.

As she spoke she continued her concentration, pouring energy into the suiton around her. The pudle beneath her feet began to rise, small white knife like peaks raising up from the wet earth to cover the edge of her shoes. Her mind drifted back to the words spoken in confidence as she sat, going over the details of their latest meeting with the four queens of the high court. Amber spoke of a jutsu they'd been saving for just the right time, explaining its effects in detail and the potential power it would hold.

'the white roaring waters kira, is the next gift given to us by the court. She's explained the basics but I fear it will be up to you to figure out the rest. It involves Suiton enhanced with Senjutsu and medical chakra to increase the range of your medical effects, among other things. "

(1595)