Re: Journey of Change (and training) [private]

Fri Mar 25, 2016 5:32 pm

Somehow, once again, Taiyo has managed to gather the foliage to cook his meal. An assembly of leaves and twigs in a pile with rocks gathered around it to keep the fire from spreading to nearby grass. This time, he has placed a bed of stones as a foundation before adding the plant material. This way, the grass below is not scorched after the foliage burns. It has happened before, every time actually, and Taiyo did not like the black circle left over. He is fortunate now to have enough stones in this particular area in order to make both a small foundation for a pile of foliage and a wall around it to protect the immediate surroundings.

“It must have to do with the big boulder here.” Taiyo thinks, assembling twigs into a grill like surface with legs to hold it up over the flames that have yet to ignite the plant material in a pile below. “Or rather, the rock is a sign of the nearby small rocks. This particular area just has many stones I guess.”

With the legs secure in the dirt, Taiyo places his second to last thermos of rice on the grid above the foliage. It is full because he has not had breakfast from it yet. Looking back, Taiyo recalls all of the days he has eaten the white rice which he had packed for himself.

“The first one was…” He begins to name them off in his head, “on day one. I learned the Tearing Earth Turning Palm and Rock Section Cane. One of the five thermoses were eaten that day, breakfast lunch and dinner. On the second day, I consumed another thermos worth. That was the day that I crossed the stream. I wasted a lot of time there but also learned the Rock Fist Technique and Moving Earth Core along with Body Flicker. After midnight of that night, the third day started. I had met the beast that early morning and, after defeating it, perfected my Daytime Tiger. I also learned the Dance of the Clematis: Vine and Dance of the Clematis: Flower combination. THat technique, or techniques rather, will serve me well in battle.”

Taiyo looks down into the pouch with one of his final thermoses and a medical kit. “That leaves me with this cooking thermos and the final one for tomorrow. On that day, I should be home. But that also means that I need to travel in two days what took me three days originally. Then again, I took quite the time to cross that river, most of the second day. I should make the journey on schedule. And if I’m off schedule, if I’m late, what would the harm be? Such a thing would only mean more training for me. In fact, I may even purposefully stay a while longer just to get a hold of a few more jutsu.”

In the time that he had been reminiscing, Taiyo has forgotten completely what is in front of him. The stove like structure he has made is unlit still and the rice is not cooking. His stomach rumbles for a second time.

His right hand forms a half tiger seal and Taiyo exhales through his mouth. A cone of flames spreads from his throat and ignited the leaves and twigs below the thermos. “There,” He lets his hand down. “Now, I should probably start practicing that jutsu I told myself to learn today. Dance of the Larch. A technique unique to the Kaguya clan of which I originate. I’ve sort of gotten into the groove of learning jutsu that utilize my Shikotsumyaku bloodline. Not only are they taijutsu, my specialty, meaning that I can learn even an A-Rank of the type, but they use weapons as well. The good part about those weapons is that I create them myself and there is no shortage of them. If one of my bone swords were to break while using the Dance of the Camelia, I would grow a new one with the same sharpness and density. Such a useful technique.”

Rising from his spot in the shade with the rest of his supplies, Taiyo walks back over to the boulder-sized rock.

“To help the time pass, why not get started on this Dance of the Larch. I might get half way through before stopping to eat. Afterward, I’ll finish the rest of the jutsu, finalizing the technique, and continue on my way. Odds are that I will get about halfway home before I stop for the night. After yesterday, I won’t make the same mistake of walking through the forest at midnight again. Even if I know I can fend off any coming feral foes, I would rather rest my body. When I awaken, I will get right to training.”

Leaning back on the colossal boulder embedded in the ground, Taiyo raises his right hand to look at it. “I still remember how to perform the Ten Finger Drilling Bullets. It utilizes the osteoblasts and osteoclasts on my bones and manipulates them so that I can control they shape and density at which my bones are grown. The same occurs with all of the other Kaguya clan techniques. If I practice the Ten Finger Drilling Bullets, then, I should get a better grip on controlling those bone cells.”

Taiyo’s bones in his fingertips increase in density and layer after layer is added over top of the last to round out the tips. This is the way he has learned to use the technique in the past. But because it has been a while since he has used the jutsu, Taiyo practices using it once more to make sure that he still knows what he is doing.

“I’m doing well, the jutsu seems to progress just as well as when I first learned to use it.” He comments, finishing the rounding and hardening of the bone bullets. They creep out as he pushes them to merge with his skin and peek out of the tips of his fingers. “Chakra pressure seems good, so does my control over it. Without that pressure behind the bone bullets, the won’t fly, it’s basic physics. When the pressure needs to release after I no longer hold it back from doing so, there will be no way for it to escape but to push the projectile outward. But so that the bullets go where I need them to and so that they travel to the distance and speed which I require in the battle situation, it is vital that I can measure these things depending only on the pressure my chakra holds behind the bone. And if I remember correctly…”

Taiyo’s right hand is pointed to the bark of the tree under which his food cooks above the flames. They seem to be going well enough to heat the rice to a good temperature before going out.

The bone bullets drill into the outer layer of the bark and stop a few inches in. The chips of wood go flying in all directions, some of them landing in the flames below or bounding off of the cooking thermos.

“I’ve still got it.” Taiyo grins. “Look at those holes, such power. My precision in speed with these boen bullets is still in good shape, I wanted to pierce the tree but not break through it. I would say that I’m ready to move on to the Larch Dance.”

He stands straight, lifting his back from the rock surface he had been leaning on for the warm-up.

“OK, what do I know about this jutsu? That comes first when learning a new technique.” Taiyo recalls the guide to the Shikotsumtyaku bloodline book. In the past, he has read through it to learn about the multiple dances which Kimimaro would perform. To him, they seemed quite high-level and possibly difficult to learn. But in determination, Taiyo learned the Ten Finger Drilling Bullets and the feat has made him quite proud. After doing so, he reasoned that it would be easier than he had once thought to understand and perform the dances. Now, though, he thinks logically. “When I learned the Ten Finger Drilling Bullets, I was not learning a bonafide (see what I did there) dance of the Kaguya clan. Those techniques must be harder than a simple projectile flurry. But it was a good place to start. Now, I can control my bones. All that’s left is to manipulate them in a way that allows the technique to be performed. In such a case, looking to the past is the best way to move forward. The techniques build off each other. In the Larch, multiple bones are grown from the body and the user spins rapidly to counter and perry attacks or to defend against fatal blows. In the Camellia, the user uses their upper arm bone as a sword to repeatedly stab at the opponent. The similarity is that both create sharp bone protrusions. If one can be done, the other can also be learned by further practicing and modifying the others to make the technique they are looking for. In this case, by creating my bone bullets, I am forming bone protrusions. If I can instead sprout them from the rest of my body, not my finger tips, and make them much sharper, the technique would be as good as learned.”

Outstretching his left arm, Taiyo focuses on its surface. Like his fingertips, he concentrates his feelings into the arm, grabbing a hold of the cells that regulate his bone structure and formation.

“I layered more bone onto the existing ones in the past. It was a little more inefficient than I thought it would be because it takes time. Though, with more training, I would be able to decrease the time it takes to prepare the technique.” His right hand rests on his left forearm, pressing down onto the long set of bones within so as to give himself a better feel of where he’s concentrating. “But this time, because I don’t need to round out the bones, no layers need to be set so as to round out the bone. The sharper they are, the better.”

Activating the osteoblasts and osteoclasts in the bone structure of the area, Taiyo first generates one or two points of interest. “It’s best if I start with only one or two protrusions. That way, I can make it easier on myself. After I can make one, I should be able to replicate the experience across the rest of my arms. My whole body will be quite challenging though. The bones have different shapes in different regions of the body, I can’t simulate one type of shape and expect it to work on a different body part. The ribs, for example, are not as thick as the femur.”

The first knife-like structure begins to sprout. Thinking about the rest of his body sprouting such bones could have driven his nervous system to perform the action.

Taiyo ponders the feeling of the one inch-tall protrusion. It has grown parallel to the side of his hand and, upon its exposure from the body, the skin became one with it. With his right hand, he reaches out to touch it. The surface is smooth and dense with no unnatural deformities. A clean blade though a short one, shorter than the size Taiyo requires for the jutsu to be performed effectively.

“Well…” He thinks, looking closer at the blade, careful to keep his other bone cells inactive so that he does not stab himself in the eye with a new bone blade. “It’s short but the sharpness is actually very fine. It would seem that one of the core aspects of this technique is to call upon multiple singular points and, as the bone protrusions grow, slowly widen the areas chosen. This way, the tip is sharp but the blade increases in width to give it strength. From top to bottom, it would get thicker and thicker.”

His right hand moves under his left arm to hold it in the air out straight. The arm with the blade bends at the elbow so that the forearm is right in front of Taiyo’s face.

“There’s still the problem of its size of course. I’m thinking that the reason this bone blade is so small is because I produced it subconsciously. Because of that, by the time I noticed something was growing, I stopped and so did the bone blade. If I can control the rate of growth, I can extend it to the necessary length, this one and all of the others.”

With his right hand, Taiyo flicks at the sharp white mini-blade so that he can feel the blade in greater detail. The flicks register one after another but he feels no pain at the sudden and sharp ones.

Taiyo’s eyes narrow. “Got it.” With the feel of the bone blade in his mind, he drives the osteoblasts and osteoclasts to degenerate the tiny bone blade. In that instance, it shrinks and reverts back into the arm. The skin reconnects as the last of the bone sinks under.

With a smile, he glides his fingers over the site where the bone had been. The skin was a smooth as before, no sign of any sort of protrusion or unnatural occurrence. Pushing down, the forearm bone feels the same as before the attempt at the technique. There is no difference in its smoothness or density. A perfect bone transformation without side effects had been achieved. And this time, without the use of supplementary bone material from Taiyo’s osteoblasts or osteoclasts like the Ten Finger Drilling Bullets required so as to round out.

“Step one is finished. I can manipulate the bones, they can grow and shrink on command without any problems. Just use this experience for the rest of my bones, the ribs, femurs, lower legs, upper arms, and forearms, and this technique will be mine.” Taiyo congratulates himself while making his way to the cooking thermos he had left under the tree. “After I finish my lunch, I’ll continue picking up where I left off. That is at increasing the bone length and adapting the growth to the rest of my body. And I must say, I’m quite on schedule.”

--------------------Twenty Minutes of Eating Later--------------------

The stones are removed one by one and the burnt foliage they encase within them spill out slightly. In place of the removed stones, an imprint is left on the grass.

“Not nearly as damaging as burnt grass.” He comments, sweeping up the dead twigs and leaves. Thy crackle in his fists before Taiyo drops them into the bushes behind the tree. Looking back over at the shadowed grass under the tree, he stands over is three carrying bags.

“I’ve got one thermos left. That and one third of this thermos.” Taiyo picks up the metal container to which he refers and slides it into the bag containing the other thermos and his medical kit. In a second bag, his tent is neatly packed. The third is looking empty, as empty as the day Taiyo had left on this trip. Lifting it up, he looks into it to examine its contents.

“Glad I haven’t lost it yet. It will be a symbol for my completing this trip once I’m done.” He smiles, closing the bag.

Singing birds can be heard again in the trees. Thinking that they must have come back because he had not used the fireball jutsu since morning.

“They must think that I’ve left.” He looks up into the sky through the leaves. Walking out from under them, he gets a clear view of the sky. “But I can’t have them distracting me from learning this jutsu. I hate to scare them away but…”

In one flicker, he dashes to the top of the boulder-sized rock formation, the same spot at which he learned to perform the Great Fireball technique. Forming first the horse seal and then the tiger seal, Taiyo inhales deeply through his nostrils. The chakra builds in his lungs as it is kneaded into warm chakra flames. The oxygen he takes in feeds them further until they reach the capacity at which he understands that the jutsu is ready. Violently, he spews the fireball, looking straight up into the sky. It flies with a roar as it breaks the silence of the forest. Birds rise from the surrounding trees and away from the area as the fireball dissipates.

“They’ll be back.” He thinks, sliding down from the rock. “And they will be able to stay that time around. By the time they deem it safe to return, I should be moving on. From the end of this forest back to the populated area of the village. And I’ll have the rest of this day along with tomorrow to make it back home. I should definitely be on schedule.”

He extends his right arm this time using his left hand to press into the flesh so that he can reach the bone and feel the pressure.

“Then again, who’s waiting for me? Last I checked, I didn’t have anyone living with me. I could stay out here as long as I want, training.” His osteoblasts and osteoclasts activate, this time in both of his arms. He raises an eyebrow in surprise, seeing that he is better at controlling his kekkei genkei than he had believed. “But I’m a genin of Hoshigakure and I have missions to perform. It’s my duty as a shinobi to do so. While it is all fine and good that I’m getting stronger, much stronger, I have to remember why I’m training. What good is strength if it isn’t used? And being a powerful shinobi means showing the fruits of your labor, the ability that I obtain from training such as this. So, I have to ask myself…”

Multiple sharp stubs sprout from his forearms. They are small bone blades just as before but in greater number.

“Will I be a powerful shinobi? Or a mediocre run-of-the-mill ninja who will die seconds after entering battle? That’s my choice to make.” Examining the short blades, Taiyo further activates his bone cells. “Just like how I choose the length of these blades. I shrank them before. Extending them is just a matter of reversing the effects and feeling of the retraction. But, just in case, I’ll test that theory.”

To prepare for finishing the technique, Taiyo makes his way to nearby trees, different from the tree with his supplies under its shade. Extending his arms outward at his sides, they each meet before a trunk so as to make sure that the blades are nice and sharp.

In one thought, the opposite of the thought used when shrinking the blades, the bone blades increase in size, shredding through the wood of the tree as they extend outward with force. For the next few moments, after pulling one of his arms free of the tree it had punctured, Taiyo looks closer at the connection between his skin, the bone blades, and the tree.

“That’s nearly perfect.” He grins, running a finger over the curved skin. “It merged with my bones well despite the fact that I extended the blades quickly. And they broke through the exterior of the tree nicely, proving their sharpness.”

The arm too is pulled from the trunk, leaving holes where the bones had been inserted. The bones, at Taiyo’s will, retract back into his arms as he walks towards a tree closer to his supplies. This one is thicker and larger than the other trees, perfect for target practice. Though, no target practice would be carried out.

“Alright, final step.” He whispers, stretching his arms and legs. “I’m just going to go over the areas of my body that need to generate bone blades for this technique. That would be the arms, both upper and lower, the shoulders, back, chest, abdomen, and legs, both upper and lower.”

While he lists off the areas, he takes special care to activate the bone cells there by pressing down into the flesh. Feeling the pressure on his skeletal structure, Taiyo now has a sense of nearly every bone in his body.

Assuming the stance drawn in his Shikotsumyaku handbook, Taiyo crosses his arms and arches forward, looking dead at the tree.

Just as quickly as moments ago, Taiyo sprouts the bone blades. First, they are stubs but only for a short time. The lengthen into full length lethal and sharp blades. His body is covered in them.

He chuckles.

“As if this weren’t enough, I have to add a spin. Without it, I won’t be able to counter attacks as easily. By spinning, I allow for multiple parry without needing to position my body to do so. The random blades give a counter attack from coming strikes. This makes me almost untouchable at close range if I can pull off the technique.”

Taiyo, on his toes, struggling to keep his balance, turns violently. His bones cut through the tree in multiple areas, shredding the side he faces into chips of wood.

Stopping, he grips both sides of his head and makes his way back to the supplies.

“Now, I have two things that I need to get used to.” He thinks, grabbing the three sacks and turning in the direction which he came after the beast attack. “The speed of the Body Flicker and trying not to get dizzy using that technique."

(3,593/14,132)
(3,550/3,550 towards Dance of the Larch)

[Claims so far: 70 stats, Tearing Earth Turning Palm, Rock Section Cane, Fist Rick Technique, Moving Earth Core, Body Flicker, Great Fireball, Dance of the Larch]

Sat Mar 26, 2016 9:15 pm

“Let’s see…” Taiyo thinks, giving himself another spoonful of white rice. It’s warmer than usual and that’s the way he likes it. Often, it’s hard to get it a such a good temperature without it getting too hot. “I’ve learned many jutsu in the past few days, haven’t I? Tearing Earth Turning Palm, Rock Section Cane, Fist Rock Technique, Moving Earth Core, Body Flicker, Great Fireball, and Dance of the Larch. That makes four earth style, one non-elemental, one fire style, and one bone technique. In total now, I have four earth style techniques, three fire style techniques, and two bone techniques. And it isn’t a bad line up either. I mean, fire stream is a little useless but that was an E-Rank. Not much work went into that. Still, any work for a useless jutsu is time wasted.”

He stands abruptly from the rock he is sitting on and closes the thermos after finishing his dinner.

“You know,” He begins speaking out loud. “That’s not a bad point. I should learn an E-Rank that isn’t as useless as the fire stream. It won’t be too much work and the technique would be of good use. Now that I think about it, I’ve been wanting to learn the first level of that basic medical jutsu.”

Taiyo shoves the empty thermos into the now lighter third sack holding his medical kit and final thermos. He is quite a while away from the boulder he had been training at and about halfway to the river. This track is a bit like the one he traveled at midnight during the attack of the beast.

“And now is as good a time to start as any. First though…” He reaches into his right ninja pouch with his right hand and removes a single kunai. “I need something to use this jutsu on. Because this is a healing jutsu, what better to perform it on than a cut?”

The blade of the kunai is brought up to Taiyo’s forearm, the under side of it. His wrist faces upward and the blade faces it, the point up to the skin. In one quick motion, he slices into his arm, though not too deep. The blade entered far enough to draw blood but not deep enough to tear too much tissue.

He kneels on one knee and places his hand over the long cut. It cannot cover its entire length.

“Alright, what did that medical ninjutsu handbook say? I only had it in my hands for a minute or two because the library was closing.” Knowing part of the procedure, Taiyo draws chakra to the palm above the cut. “Why didn’t I check it out? Oh, that’s right. I had already picked that book on Space-Time jutsu. But this isn’t getting me any closer to learning this technique. Just try remembering.”

Searching his mind for the answer to his problem, Taiyo finally comes across the memory.

“That’s it, I use the chakra to speed up blood clotting so that the wound covers itself faster. So, I just exert the chakra already in my hand and that should attract the blood cells.” He says, stopping the steady flow of chakra and beginning to flow it into the wound. “And in a few minutes, the cut should be healed.”

His hand runs over the length of the cut back and forth.

--------------------Two Minutes of Medical Ninjutsu-ing Later--------------------

Taiyo brings his forearm up to get a better look at it while his right hand picks up the kunai used to create the now healed cut. After dropping it back into his ninja pouch, he slings the three bags of his over his shoulder.

“That’s not bad. Actually, it’s healed very nicely.” Taiyo begins walking down the trail once more. “But it’s nearly night so I should probably start setting up camp now. No time to admire my work. A few more minutes and I’ll start sleeping for the night.”

(659/14791)
(500/500 towards Basic Medical Ninjutsu Level 1)

[Claims so far: 73 stats, Tearing Earth Turning Palm, Rock Section Cane, Fist Rock Technique, Moving Earth Core, Body Flicker, Great Fireball, Dance of the Larch, Basic Medical Ninjutsu Level 1]

(End of day 4/5)

Sat Mar 26, 2016 9:32 pm

Approved <3

Thu Mar 31, 2016 12:16 pm

(Back to day 3/5)

“It’s almost midnight…” Taiyo thinks, looking up into the sky. “But, despite my being sleep-deprived, I believe this is worth it. Getting back on schedule is all I really want right now. I spent too much time at that river after falling asleep.”

Taiyo’s steps are gentle as he feels his way through the tree-dense area. Though the moonlight is bright, very few of it reaches through the branches and leaves above. Only slivers shine through to the grass. In order to see where he is going, Taiyo needs a completely lit environment.

“Until I finally create a heat sensing technique, I will need to rely on sight as my primary sense.” Taiyo thinks, bumping into a tree and moving to the side to avoid it and continue on. “But that is in the distant future. Unless I become a chuunin any time soon. If I become able enough for such a rank, then such a technique will be obtainable.”

A loud crack is heard under his foot and it rises instantaneously, regretting immediately having taken a step on the now shattered twig below. He steps over it and is careful to make sure that he does not again land on it.

“I would not want to draw attention to myself, especially since it is very hard to see right now. An attack is not ideal at the moment.” He brings his hand forward to a thin beam of moonlight shining through the leaves. “With all of the trees blocking the light, this is an ideal spot for predators to sleep. Unlike I, they can see in the dark. I would not be able to put up much of a fight if one were to see me.”

Taiyo stops in his tracks, looking up into the spots of light above him and then back down to the ground. Other than the parts illuminated by the shining streaks, he cannot see his own hands in front of his face. Thinking back, back a few days before, he remembers his day at the Hoshigakure library.

“I read a medical ninjutsu handbook. It was only for a small amount of time, but I did learn something at least. Hopefully, if I can remember it, I will be able to use it to my advantage here.”

He falls to one knee and moves his hands to an area with no light so that he cannot see them at all.

“This way, I will be able to know if this technique can help me.” Taiyo thinks, drawing chakra from his core and moving it to his hands. They glow with a light blue aura that gradually increases in brightness as the amount of chakra within the hands increases. After some time, the flow stops.

Holding his hands up, Taiyo looks at them with marvel. “Excellent!” He whispers. “I may still have low visibility but at least I can see at all.”

Continuing in his way, he reaches a clearing, one significantly brighter than the rest of the area because there are less trees. The density of branches and leaves has decreased by a great amount. No tree has another within a ten meter radius of it making only patches of darkness.

“I’m not too sure how much longer I will have this luxury of a moonlit path… though for now,I believe it’s okay to shut off these chakra hands.” He whispers, looking about under the trees for sleeping predators. “But, having light with me, I can finally get to more training. I have to make progress in terms of distance between the the edge of the forest and my position but as long as I lessen that distance, I think that it would be fine if I worked some practice into the mix. Just keep walking.”

The aura of blue returns to Taiyo’s hands as he once again continues, the moonlight now guiding him.

“The Chakra Absorption Technique.” He thinks, remembering again the handbook. “I didn’t check the book out, I had already a book on space-time jutsu. But the medical handbook was in my hands long enough for me to learn something from it. Both the Basic Medical Ninjutsu and the Chakra Absorption Technique were the jutsu that I took a good look at. Instead of practicing both of them here and now, I would rather allow variety. First, the Chakra Absorption Technique. Afterward, I will get some more practice into the Daytime Tiger technique. So far, I have yet to show any real advancement other than making a ripple in a pond using the travelling power of the jutsu. But that will change.”

Taiyo keeps his eyes on his hands out in front of him. No longer does he need to look to the ground and keep from stepping on twigs. No threatening animals sleep here, not in the immediate area. With that assurance, Taiyo can train in peace, without needing to stop and look around.

Brightening the chakra aura around his palms, Taiyo toggles the amount of power he flows to his hands, working on better chakra control.

“In order to become proficient in medical ninjutsu, chakra control, good chakra control, is needed. Without it, the entire purpose of medical training would be dashed. I seem to have a slight hold of chakra control but it can be improved. As I learn more medical ninjutsu, I will get a better grip on controlling my chakra in a much more efficient manner.” He tells himself in whispers, concentrating now on his right hand. The left is at his side, no longer glowing with chakra. His right hand is up in front of him, still with a concentration of energy. “And because this specific jutsu involves absorbing another person’s chakra, I do believe that being able to precisely control my chakra will prove to be detrimental to this technique. At least, the way I plan to perform it.”

Taiyo flips his hand to see the the back of it and then flips it back to see the front again, examining the entire hand and studying the chakra aura.

“Osmosis is the process by which molecules in a solvent pass through a semipermeable membrane. This movement is from a less concentrated area to a more concentrated area. In the body, cells take in water through this method. For example, in a salt-water solution, a cell will lose water because of the salt in the solution. The higher the concentration of salt, the less water is in that solution. Twenty milliliters of a thirty percent salt-water has less water in it than twenty milliliters of pure water because thirty percent of that twenty milliliters is salt whereas all of the twenty in the pure water is water. To find an equilibrium, the cell loses water and takes in salt so that there is an equal amount of salt and water on both sides of the cell membrane. Using that logic, I plan to perform this chakra absorption technique. If I can create a loose aura of chakra around my hand and connect it with their own chakra system, I will be able to force the opponent’s chakra system to seek equilibrium and flow itself into my hand. From there, I can continue flowing it into my own chakra system so that the difference in chakra concentration between my hand and the opponent’s chakra system is constant. If that is consistent, so too will the chakra sapping be consistent.”

Bringing his right hand closer, Taiyo lessens the amount of chakra in it. The palm connects with his chest.

“First of all, I need to be able to penetrate through the body and reach the chakra system. The connection must be made where an open channel for the chakra to pass through from one end to the other is present.”

Slowly, he begins morphing his chakra into that tunnel and it sinks into his left pectoral muscle. There, Taiyo feels the flowing stream that is his chakra.

“There it is… and it flows well. If I can give it another direction to take and create the correct conditions, I will be able to get the chakra to flow out of the system and into my hand through the artificial chakra channel.” He thinks, still walking through the dim light. “I just latch on with my chakra.”

Successfully connecting the two chakra sources, his hand and the rest of his chakra system, together, Taiyo begins to condition the chakra aura.

“Before the exchange can begin,” He whispers, adjusting his hand over his chest. “I need to give the chakra a reason to move in the direction in which I want it to move. To do that, I need to disrupt the equilibrium.”

In his hand, the chakra loosens and spreads about. The concentration, then, is lighter. Some of his chakra even disperses into the air, leaving the hand. Now that there is less chakra in the hand than there is in the flowing chakra system, the equilibrium, the balance, has been lost.

“There. Now, in an effort to bring equilibrium back to the system, chakra will flow to the hand. I just need to make sure than I take any chakra that I gain and drop it into my own system so that the hand continues to have a lower concentration of chakra than the system that I am taking chakra from.”

The energy begins pouring in, chakra moving from the system to the hand. As it enters, Taiyo uses his wrist as a channel for the chakra to be pushed into. From there, it becomes a part of his own system and the hand is ready again to transport more chakra.

“I can’t help but wonder how the victim of this technique will feel, losing their chakra. I cannot really know myself because the chakra that I lose from my own hand comes right back to my system. It’s like I never lost chakra in the first place.” Taiyo thinks, removing the hand from his chest. His hands come together, his right and his left. “But I am assuming it is an exhausting feeling. To lose chakra must be like losing blood. Maybe dizziness occurs as well.”

Between his left hand and his right hand, Taiyo forms a new chakra channel. A tunnel like structure within the muscles composed of chakra bridges the two ends of his chakra system. The right hand, the one used prior for chakra absorption, now switches from having a lower concentration of chakra to having a higher concentration of chakra. More energy flows to it so that the aura brightens.

On his left hand, where there was no chakra aura, one glows into sight as more energy flows into it. The aura looks just as the aura on his right hand did before the switch from low to high concentration.

“Now,” He begins, loosening his shoulders and allowing them to fall and relax, “with both of my hands, I can simulate a dense or loose chakra system. In battle, not every opponent will have the same chakra system. This specific exercise will hone my ability to adapt to the chakra of my opponent quickly so that I can absorb it faster.”

As the chakra begins its travel from Taiyo’s right hand to his left hand, he starts the fluctuation of chakra concentration. His right hand, being the independent variable in this experiment, begins to change. Giving himself time to use his left hand to sense the change, Taiyo begins to morph the concentration of chakra in his left hand to continue the chakra sapping. In this case, the chakra in his right hand dropped slightly in density. Because of this, he changed the chakra in his left hand to drop in density as well. This way, the amount of chakra taken from the initial source is always the same as the technique is used.

His hand separate and the chakra auras die down. Still walking, shakes his arms out in an attempt to rid them of the prickling sensation that they are now left with.

“As I continue using the technique, that side-effect, hopefully, will disappear.”

For now, the moonlight continues to shine. The clearing continues on for a distance. In the past hour, a calm has set over Taiyo’s mind, having left the darkness of the shade and now bathing in the dim glow of the moon. The calm before the storm. But how long will it last?

(2,038/16,874)
(2,000/2,000 towards Chakra Absorption Technique)

[Claims so far: 84 stats, Tearing Earth Turning Palm, Rock Section Cane, Fist Rock Technique, Moving Earth Core, Body Flicker, Great Fireball, Dance of the Larch, Basic Medical Ninjutsu Level 1, Chakra Absorption Technique]

Thu Mar 31, 2016 12:25 pm

Approved <3

Tue Apr 12, 2016 3:35 pm

“There isn’t much out here.” Taiyo whispers, leaning up against a tree. He takes a sip of water from the container previously strapped onto his hip. His wrist weights are wrapped around his forearms. “Just grass and the occasional tree.”

Looking back, he notices the gradual progression from thick forest to loose trees. The trail which he has been fallowing has since faded away. He does not require it to continue, simply walking forward as usual. The trail did not lead him in any other direction. Because the fastest route from one point to another is a straight line, he would not follow any paved trail that were to make a turn. Taiyo reasons that if he were to make one turn, he may make multiple turns. And when a traveler makes multiple turns, continuously changing directions, he or she will get lost easily if they do not remember what direction they face and how long they have been walking in that direction. Not wanting to need to remember such things and focus on training, Taiyo keeps it simple and easy for himself, walking in the same direction for the duration of the night. This way, he knows where he’s going all of the time. There’s no need to retrace steps.

“Imagine if the clouds blocked out the moon tonight. Or if it were not in the position to shine.” He thinks, placing the container back against his hip, strapping it in. “Then I would definitely be behind schedule. There is no way that I’m going to walk through a pitch black night. I could use the fire stream to give me light so that I can see where I’m going but that may alert my presence to animals. This is perfect just the way it is.”

Continuing on, he stands, leaving the tree, and goes walking forward. Occasionally, a cloud’s shadow grazes over the grass as it passes in front of the moon, blocking the light in the area. The shadows are small and slow, creeping across the ground. Taiyo watches them as they glide, turning his head as they go by past him. What a trance they can put someone in.

“But, I have to admit, I am getting tired. After all of that training yesterday just to cross that river, I spent a lot of energy. I should have rested there but because I fell asleep before I could cross the water, I wasted a great deal of time.” The grass under his feet ruffles as the area he is entering begins to possess taller blades. They are not as tall as the grass blades which Taiyo knows to be at the end of the forest but the length increase is a sign that he is making it closer to his goal. “If I am going to make it to the edge of the forest and back home by the end of the week, then I need to continue without wasting any more time.”

The number of clouds increases, more and more of their shadows cover the ground. They are not so dense that light is scarce just as it was under the many trees. Rather, light continues to dominate in volume. The darkness only creates more shadows for Taiyo to follow with his eyes, more enticement to fall asleep against the nearest tree that he can find.

“Maybe I should…” He whispers, turning his head as one shadow passes by his feet. “It’s quite late. And there’s a tree right over there. Just a nap. No more than ten minutes. Twenty minutes. Thirty. I will continue when I wake up, it couldn’t hurt.”

Taiyo takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly and dragging his legs to the tree. He eyes the trunk, it is to his right not too far ahead of him. Reaching out, he lays his hand on it, supporting his weight as he leans against the bark. He closes his eyes slowly, his head falling to look at the ground.

--------------------(Fifteen Minutes Later)--------------------

Violently, Taiyo rises from the ground after his arm gives way and collapses. His head slammed into the bark and woke him up from his nap.

Blinking, he looks at the trunk of the tree, remembering the last few moments before he lost consciousness and gave in to the call of the night, the call to sleep. He shakes his head and turns away, focusing out at the grass.

“I… um… I turned right. This tree was on my right.” He rubs his eyes and gazes out at the clouds, paying close attention to the direction in which they drift. Following their shadows, he begins looking in the opposite direction to the way they move. “I remember that I was moving against the flow of the clouds. Not directly against it, more like at a forty-five degree angle of the direction. And I’ve turned about forty-five degrees when I went towards this tree, forty-five to my right. So…”

Taiyo turns and walks out until he is seeing the picture in front of him, a scene of few trees, medium length grass, and the right amount of moonlight, which he had seen before making his approach for the trunk to lean against it.

“I was standing right here. I’m sure.” He sighs in relief, looking down at the clouds again finding that they move correctly according to his memories. “I wouldn’t want to get lost. Who knows how far off track I might get if I make even one inaccurate assumption? And I would rather not find out either.”

Continuing onward, Taiyo thinks back on the few minutes which he spent napping at that tree. It irritates him that such a thing can happen at any time, that his will can be shaken so easily. “But it’s a natural need. Something that the body needs without question is not an easy thing to resist. Temptation by food is one thing many people fall to. Thirst is a powerful driving force on the mind. And sleep is even worse. When one is sleep deprived, they do not have their entire mental strength to resist with. Such a limiter definitely decreases your chances of breaking free from the want to let your eyelids fall. It would have happened to the best, do not let the incident haunt you. Continue on, Taiyo, you’re still strong.” All of these things, he uses to comfort himself. It has proved, in fact, to be a haunting ghost to him, that he might fall even farther behind schedule.

“To have made it this far afterward without stopping again at a tree to close your eyes means that you have resilience.” He reasons with himself, taking more steps as his shoulders begin to slump downward. His eyelids once again become heavy. The muscles in his legs ache and he yearns to stop.

Slowly, his wish is granted. Taiyo stops in his tracks after slowing his pace. This time though, he stands up straight and balls his hands into fists.

“Not this time.” He whispers, looking up at the full moon in the sky. “I was waiting to learn this jutsu for tomorrow. It was going to be a way to wake myself up so that I’m not too tired to get to work and train. But it seems as if I will need to practice now so that I can continue without dozing off again. The Dance of the Clematis: Vine.”

“This will be my third technique that utilizes my kekkei genkei. The first was the Ten Finger Drilling Bullets. The second was the Dance of the Larch. Now, the Dance of the Clematis, at least the fire portion. There are two of them, the Vine and the Flower. Both techniques go hand and hand when used. First, the user uses their spinal cord as a whip-like structure to entangle their opponent within it. In the case that the capture is successful, the flower would follow, a colossal drill-like structure encasing the forearm and hand of the free arm. This spiral of a flower comes to a point and is used to impale the immobilized victim.” In the moonlight, Taiyo grins as he goes on thinking about the ability which the techniques will allow him. “But I am getting ahead of myself. For now, I will acquire only the Clematis: Vine. The Flower will have to come later, not in this training expedition.”

Pushing his shoulders back, Taiyo stands straight, raising his arms so as to stretch them. They reach for the skies and fall back down slowly. Next, he twists his torso to the left and to the right repeatedly with his fists up to his chest and his elbows bent to the sides. The muscles of his back stretch back and forth as he twists in one direction and then the other. Finishing this stretching exercise, he then lowers to the grass below and sits with his legs stretched out to either side. His torso tilts toward the right foot and, without bending forward, only to the side and keeping his abdominals facing forward, he reaches for that right foot. The left arm must stretch over the head. This motion causes the quadratus lumborum, muscles attached to the spine at the lower back, to loosen. The action is repeated for the left foot, stretching the right quadratus lumborum.

Bringing his arms back and straightening his torso from tilting, both of his arms rest on the knee closest to them. Moving only his head, he looks downward at the grass and stretches his splenius capitis, spinalis capitis, spinalis cervicis, levator scapulae, semispinalis capitis, semispinalis cervicis, and longissimus cervicis. All of these muscles are close to the top of the spin, in his back neck area.

“The looser the muscles attached to my spine are, the easier it will be to remove the entire bone structure.” He reasons, lifting his head and standing up from sitting. With both of his hands, Taiyo brushes off the back of his shorts so as to remove any grass that may have risen with him. “I can detach the muscles myself by simply having the bone separate just before its connection to the flesh but that is not as efficient as the plan I have formulated to perform the technique.”

He separates his legs once more, standing now, and reaches down to touch the toes of his right foot with both of his hands. Next, he leans to his left foot and touches those toes. Both times, he holds the position for a few seconds.

Rising, Taiyo stands straight up and begins to recap on the steps which he will execute the jutsu.

“First of all,” He begins. “I am going to have to make sure that I can still support myself as I remove the spine. I am taking away the series of bones that supports my back. Without it, I won’t be able to fight. I already have a way to solve this problem. But before I can even begin to tackle that, I need to form the handle which I will need in order to get a good grip on the spine. This handle is also so that I will be able to utilize the spine as a whip. That is probably where I should start.”

Moving his hand to the back of his head, Taiyo presses down upon the area at the bottom of his neck. There, he feels the hard lump that is the beginning of his spinal column, the top of the first vertebrae, the cervical vertebrae. He rubs with pressure so that he can memorize the feeling in the area. This way, in the future, he can recreate the feeling with control over the bone handle so that it can extend without needing to prepare this way again.

“I’m going to use that. The protrusion right there is going to be the base of the handle.” He thinks, removing his hand and calming his breathing. All of this, he does while walking forward through the moonlit night. “This step is just like the Dance of the Larch will be. Extend the bone, make it grow. I’ve already activated the osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Now, I only need to tell them what to do.”

Finding that visualization often helps when performing a jutsu for the first time, Taiyo closes his eyes and stops walking so that he does not bump into something or trip and fall. He imagines his own body, turning it around and seeing the top of his back. From it, he creates a white tube-like structure, one that is long enough for the hand to wield but short enough that he does not use too much energy. Also, it is thick enough that the hand fits on it but not thick enough so that the hand has a hard time wrapping around it. The perfect size is formed in his mind.

Applying the same dimensions to his body, Taiyo concentrates his feeling to his back, specifically, the back of his neck.

“It’s almost like when I manipulate my bones, they are an extension of my own senses and movements. I move them no different from my arms or legs.” He reasons as he extends the bone handle out of the top of his spine. It grows in length but the thickness is correct from the beginning of its emergence. That dimension is taken care of within the body, before the bone is extended.

Taiyo’s right hand returns to the back of his neck and grips the newly formed bone handle, smooth and solid. “Good.” He thinks, opening his eyes and continuing to walk. “That step is over and done with. Next, the harder part…”

Stopping, Taiyo uses his left hand to trace down his back, following the line of his spine. The two fingers cease to advance at the part of the spine known as the tailbone, the rounded sharp end of his spine.

“This isn’t a bone that I can just rip out like the rest of my spine. It’s too important to be handled in such a way.” Taiyo reasons, lifting his left hand back up, tracing his spine. This repeats continuously. “My plan is that I use the final spine segment just above the tailbone, the bottom of the lumbar nerves right above the sacral nerves. That is where I will begin pulling the spine out. With it, I will recreate the tail bone so that the end of the whip is still complete without having to move anything below the sacral nerves. First, I will need to double the density of the bone without increasing its volume. This way, there exists two tailbones in the same exact space and I will only move one of them if I keep the first in its place.”

Diving back into visualization, Taiyo conceptualizes his lower back and, alongside his tailbone, creates a second one. The transformation begins to translate physically but he stops the mutation. That is not his intent when duplicating his tailbone, for it to be side by side with the original the way he is thinking about it. Instead, he fuses the two visualized bones, both the exact same shape, into each other and they become one. He takes into account the fact that two exist and now have combined their density. The new visualized tailbone is now heavier and harder than the original. This is what Taiyo allows to physically manifest into reality.

“At first it is going to feel heavy. But if I create the second tailbone at the same time that I form the bone handle, I will be able to pull it out as it is being created. This way, I’m not weighed down and I can lift the spine without it being too heavy.” The density sets in as each of the bone cells in Taiyo’s tailbone duplicate all at once. This way, the mass of the bone has doubled but the volume has stayed the same.

He brings his right hand up to the back of his neck and grips the bone handle. His hand fits perfectly into the length and thickness of the hilt. Afterall, it is his own, proportionate in every way. Slowly, Taiyo begins pulling upward with the handle. Loosening the density of his tailbone slightly, he selects half of the cells in the shape of that bone. This way, he removes a duplicate of the tailbone without having to move the original at all besides its conducting mitosis multiple times.

The newly formed bone slides out of the original smoothly. If one could see it, he or she may never believe originally that the bone growing of the first were truly ever a part of it. The bone cells move on their microscopic level individually to allow for the cells which they formed to move upward and out of the structure. The form they take as they leave that structure, the tailbone, is just the same. Both the original tailbone and the new one are still connected to each other. The cells of the first at the top hold onto the cells of the new one at the bottom. This way, there is still support just as a regular spine would have.

Taiyo stops short of the rest of the spine, the handle now elevated out of the top of his back.

“That’s step two finished. To recap, the first step was to bring the bone handle into existence. The second was to duplicate the tailbone and elevate it so that I could use the new one as an end for the spine vine without having to deal with moving a vital bone. Then again, my entire spine is a series of vital bones.” He grins slightly at the irony.

“Now is no time to slow down though. I’m almost finished here. This technique is in my grasp. I will just follow the steps that I had planned out. Everything should go smooth if I can get through this last step. After that, it’s only a matter of being able to use the bone whip.”

Taiyo again grips the bone handle from the top of his back and tugs slightly. In his mind, he visualizes for the last time, the execution of the technique.

“For this last step, I will repeat the step prior. That is replication. I am going to replace each of the spine segments with a copy of itself. Before, I made a clone of the structure and took that replica. But that was only because to move the original would be much more difficult.” Each of the spine segments increases in density in his thoughts, a second one appearing next to each and fusing into one with its partner. “In this case, I am making duplicates to remove the original. It’s nearly the other way around. Though the two processes are similar, it is very important that I use this method. As the spine rises, I will need to faze each of the spine segments through the original. Another method, a more tedious method, would be to pack all of the segments into the lowest one. That way, they could all leave though the tailbone quickly. But this would cause the lowest segment to have too great a density. It would be more efficient if the weight were spread through the spinal column. That is why this method is much more ideal.”

With each spinal segment having a duplicate within itself, Taiyo begins to pull upward and bring the flexible spine outward to his front. As it rises from his back, the replaced segments faze and are left behind in the place of the original spine. Now, with the entire spine removed, Taiyo has left himself with a working spine and a spine vine to use as a weapon, primarily to wrap opponents.

He takes a deep breath, looking down at the clean, white spine whip. It is long due to the stretched ligaments between the bone segments. This also allows it to be moved with ease and like a real whip.

Continuing to walk forward, he brings the whip up to his side and slings it forward to wrap around a tree in front of him so as to test the flexibility of the structure. It extends at the ligaments between the segments and wraps ever so sharply around the thick trunk. He makes his way towards the targeted tree and watches at the ligaments contract. In a sharp motion, he pulls back at the handle to test the strength of the whip. It holds tightly to the tree despite the force exerted upon it.

“It should hold in battle, it’s sturdy enough to withstand force and yet flexible enough to wrap well around a target.” The bone whip, at his will, dissolves as he attaches it to the bone of his own finger. Once existing bone cells disintegrate into nothingness and Taiyo’s hand is let down from holding the bone handle. He continues, passing the tree.

--------------------(10 Minutes Later)--------------------

“I should be making my way to a fine point to relax. After all of this, I believe that I deserve to take a rest. Maybe just a few minutes. A power nap, that’s all.” Taiyo thinks, looking down at the ground, watching as his sandals leave prints in the grass. Raising his head, Taiyo’s thoughts vanish from his mind. Before him, the trees become thicker than the area which he had left long ago this night. Within the dense forest, moonlight is nearly nonexistent, blocked by the leaves of the trees before ever reaching the ground. Visibility is low from the outside but, once in the density of trees, the eyes adjust to the low light. Not enough, though, that one might be able to see any more than five meters in front of them.

Entering the darkness, silence sets in. The calm did not last very long...

(3,662/20536)
(3,550/3,550 towards Dance of the Clematis: Vine)

[Claims so far: 102 stats, Tearing Earth Turning Palm, Rock Section Cane, Fist Rock Technique, Moving Earth Core, Body Flicker, Great Fireball, Dance of the Larch, Basic Medical Ninjutsu Level 1, Chakra Absorption Technique, Dance of the Clematis: Vine]

Tue Apr 12, 2016 3:37 pm

Approved <3

Wed Apr 13, 2016 8:36 pm

Taiyo's steps are slow and controlled as he gradually covers ground traversing the barely visible terrain. Every now and then, a few beams of light shine through the leaves above, spreading out across the ground. For the most part, though, the branches and leaves are too dense to allow for any more than one or two bits of moonlight to pass through.

"I knew what I was getting myself into when I left that home of mine. The dangers were easy to see and I acknowledged them. Yet I continued anyway. But I have reason. And those reasons are still relevant, still unable to be ignored." He thinks, not daring to make a sound as he takes careful steps dodging the scattered twigs. "I wouldn't have done this if I weren't prepared. This isn't something that skipped my mind while contemplating my schedule. The reason I'm out here is for the sake of advancement. That drive is worth nearly anything, any risk. And when the fruits that I can reap are this rich, there is very little that can derail me. This situation is far from holding enough peril."

He stops where he stands, keeping his sandal from finishing its step. To Taiyo's right, the bushes made a light rustle, too light for the average man or woman to detect. Being a shinobi, Taiyo not only hears the disturbance but immediately begins running scenarios through his mind. One in the case that this predator, if a predator lurks, is a large four-legged beast. A second in the case that an enemy ninja has infiltrated the village. Finally, a third in the case that the rustling stops and the next ten minutes remain silent. Even if the third scenario comes to manifest into reality, Taiyo's guard will never fall again until day break.

His left hand removes two shuriken from his ninja pouch. This way, if the enemy is indeed intelligent, he or she will not notice that a weapon is being pulled.

Taiyo takes a deep breath. In. Out. In. Hold.

(341/341)
(Total Word Count: 20,877)

Thu Apr 14, 2016 8:56 am

Of late, Shina had been hearing a lot about one Taiyo Kaguya. Not only had he been making headway on missions, attending classes at the academy but rumor had it, he was also training very hard on his own. At first when she'd heard stories of a genin training on his own, the jounin had dismissed it as ordinary. But as time went on and Taiyo continued his strict regime, the kunoichi had decided to secretly watch. What she'd observed had amazed her, the young man seeming to transform before her eyes through his hard work and endurance. Shina herself had never been such a hard worker, preferring to go at her own pace so she could respect someone pushing themselves to the limit.

And in her mind, there was no truer form of flattery than to challenge someone. Through her observations, she could see the boy might be able to handle anyone of his own level. But could he handle a chunin? A jounin perhaps...

"I guess we'll see," the raven haired kunoichi murmured to herself before performing the transformation jutsu which altered her features severely. Where once a dainty little kunochi stood now towered an eight foet tall, five hundred pound, monstrous beast with a hulking body and razor sharp claws extending him its four feet. Entirely black, the creature sported only a thin dark red scar across its face to give off the idea of it having been in and won previous battles before.

Using her chakra suppression and silent stalking, the kunoichi turned beast hid behind the bushes just long enough to catch the genin's attention from the rustling sound before leaping out in full pounce, sharps claws directed at the boy aiming to tear his body in half and sharply glinting fangs promising the same.

Shina/Beast stats:

http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t29211-shina-hoshigakure-npc?highlight=Shina

HE: 20
CH: 70
ST: 20 + 20 (rank)
SP: 55
ST: 15

Mon Apr 18, 2016 7:52 pm

His heart stops at the loud WHOOSH the beast made through the air. Taiyo listens for the entire duration of what seemed like many seconds as his legs dashed involuntarily to his right, his body moving at a speed of 20. Still contemplating and absorbing the fact that he is being attacked in the dead of night by a...

"What even is it?" He whispers in his head, eyes directed straight ahead. Taiyo dares not to turn and see his adversary for fear of the beast's image being too much for him to gaze upon. "Judging by the sound of the bush, I have to assume that it's big. Quite big, larger than I am." Taiyo can feel the fear already coursing through his veins in the form of adrenaline. His heart pounds uncontrollably as the ground below his sandals vibrates. Without needing to visually confirm, Taiyo realizes already that the shaking is caused, not by his own pulsing body, but by the weight of the opponent.

Quickly, his breaths increase in speed, remembering the two shuriken in his left hand. With his right hand, Taiyo removes two kunai from his right ninja pouch. Without thinking, he spins the weapon around by the ring at the ring at the end and grabs onto the handle. Taiyo's instincts have already taken over, his self prior, now dormant deep within his mind. Survival is all that truly matters now and, in order to accomplish that goal, fast thinking is required.

With his fear burying itself deep within his thoughts, Taiyo turns his head towards the black figure. His eyes do not flicker in the other direction, nor do his eye lids fall so as to hide the image. The fear-inspiring beast is within full view as its hind legs meet the grass, finishing its landing.

"It has to be at least eight feet tall, standing up right. Long claws four inches probably. That's longer than any I've seen up until now. Muscular, a powerful pounce. If that had made contact, it may have fractured a bone or two." Leaning forward, Taiyo prepares to begin dashing straight ahead so as to give the beast a moving target to make an attempt at attacking. "But you know what... my kunai is six inches long. That's two inches longer than your claws."

The shuriken are flung, one at a time, at the black figure with a speed of 80 and a sharpness of 50. The two have different lines of travel, differing by only a few degrees. This is because of Taiyo's traveling forward and circling the target as he throws the shuriken.

After both projectiles are let loose, he takes the kunai in his right hand with his left hand and uses the now free right hand to unstrap his fuma shuriken. The four blades open and Taiyo holds the large weapon out in front of him so that the four blades are parallel to his body and his arm is bent at a ninety degree angle. Of the four blades, the one pointing towards the leaves and branches above hides half of Taiyo's face behind it.

No longer feeling the pressure of the fight, having suppressed his uncertainty, Taiyo stands in preparation to react to the next action of his steadily watched adversary.

(550/891)
(Total Word Count: 21,427)