Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Phoenix Fire)

“The Phoenix Fire Jutsu” Ryu stated reading another scroll he had obtained from the academy. “Looks awfully difficult. “But, I did just learn that other jutsu.” He made a rat hand seal looking at the symbol on the page. “Next is tiger.” He shifted his hands so that they matched the image. “Dog, ox, rabbit...” He arched his head looking at the next symbol. “Tiger? Again?” He started doing the seals all over again. “Rat, check. Tiger, check. Dog, check. Ox, check. Rabbit, check. And… finish with tiger. “Okay now that I still don’t have that part down let’s move onto the chakra trials.” Ryu planted his feet and began channeling energy. “Rat, Tiger, and thumbs up?” How the genin got to this hand gesture he was unaware. Ryu scratched his head in disappointment. “Back to the basics, I’m going to take this slow.” Ryu sat down and studied the scroll a bit more. “So the jutsu allows me to spit up to six fireballs.” He read even further ahead only stopping once he learned something new the technique could do. “I can turn the fireballs with my mind? I’m like a ninja. Oh, wait.” He sat there for a couple hours just staring at images of a ninja performing the hand seals and utilizing the technique. “Rat, tiger, dog, ox, rabbit, tiger. Again! Rat, tiger, dog, ox, rabbit, tiger. Again! Rat, tiger, dog, ox, rabbit, tiger. Last time! Rat, tiger, dog, ox, rabbit, tiger.” After standing and saying the words out loud for some time the day had already become night and with the purple sky came heavy eyes. Ryu placed his hand on a stone burned by his earlier attempts at a jutsu. “I’ll be back, don’t go anywhere.” With that the genin headed home.
 
Ryu woke up early the next day. He talked to his sensei the night before about his training and he said a good exercise might help him focus. He also said uttering the seals during might help me remember. I started my day with a light jog around the village, all the while muttering. “Rat, tiger, dog, ox, rabbit, tiger. After that, Ryu did some pushups while still muttering. “Rat, tiger, dog, ox, rabbit, tiger.” After finishing his workout he drank some water and returned to the training field. “Time to light some stuff on fire. No, wait that’s illegal.” Ryu made a rat seal and misplaced one of his fingers making the dog sign. “No.” He once again made the rat and this time he slowly made the shift to the dog and quickly went into the ox, next he tried the rabbit and once again misplaced a finger or two. “If only I could transfer my skill at hiding to finger dexterity. I bet the Kazekage rocks at this.” He pointed to the rock. “Coming for you buddy.” He made the rat seal once more and slowly shifted to the dog, then slowly into ox and even slower into rabbit, then finished with a very slow tiger. “All right now all at once and really fast!” He made the first the seals successfully and fumbled his hands on the fourth. He tried quickly once more. “You have to figure out you can’t run before you even think about crawling. As the saying goes.” Somebody passing by called out though as I finished. “I’m pretty sure that’s not the saying.” Ryu smacked his hand to his forehead. “Ugh!” Ryu then began to start making the hand seals again. “Rat, made. Tiger, made. Dog, slowly come on, made. Ox, made. Next, rabbit. Now finish with tiger.” He made the seals slowly for some time, but by now it was close to lunch and this young ninja was never one to skip out on food or a break. Ryu ran to his house and ate some food, not wasting any time he ate quickly not tasting any of his food and filled his water bottle. The purple shirted ninja sprinted out of the door and back to the training field after that. Getting back to his training area he stretched a little remembering what his sensei had said. “Exercise will help.” Ryu breathed deeply and began to feel his muscles tighten as he started doing more pushups. After a set of one hundred he hopped to his feet and began making the seals in order. Rat, tiger, dog, ox, rabbit, tiger. After finally making all of the seals in rapid succession Ryu had a quiet success party using his body. He jumped and made the oh yeah, hands the kind that when others see you doing it they look at you like your weird. Using the adrenaline from his success Ryu managed to mess up doing the seals quickly like before, which calmed him enough to do them quickly the next time. Followed by a failure to do it, because he got overly excited again. “Stop being happy, hands.” He once again successfully made hand seals until his hands could do so no more for the day. “Ahhh!” Ryu said shaking his hands out then drinking some water. “Warm bath for my hands and none for my body, because I hate baths.” He smelled his armpits and scoffed from his scent. “Never mind bath for me.” Ryu packed up everything he had brought with him, threw away his trash and enjoyed his walk home in the cool night breeze. “Yay, no sun!”

The third morning of training Ryu woke up, went for a run, took a shower, ate a small breakfast then headed out the door back to his training spot. He looked at the rock. “All right rock that I sometimes talk to, Day one I learned the seals required for the phoenix flower jutsu. On day two I learned how to perform the seals in rapid succession and now this, this being day three, I will char off your face! You’re a good listener." Ryu turned from the rock and began to quickly make the seals with little effort. “Okay, I think I have this part down I should move into building chakra while doing it.” Ryu began building chakra while making the seals it proved more difficult as he had to take his focus from accurately making seals to feeling the fire build in his chest. He messed up the seals quite a few times in the process, but he didn’t get discouraged and quickly began again. Once again he messed up. “Maybe if I say the seals out loud and concentrate on the chakra, I can manage.” Ryu began to concentrate on building fire nature chakra in his lungs. “Rat, tiger, dog, ox, rabbit, tiger.” After completing the last seal a ball of flame shot from the ninja’s mouth and landed close by. “There’s the fire, but that was just a wad of fire I need to keep practicing. He once again began to focus on his chakra once more saying the seals out loud. “Rat, tiger, dog, ox, rabbit, tiger.” This time two flaming orbs shot from Ryu and went considerably further. “Yes!” After a few successful and failed attempts later Ryu’s reserves of energy began to deplete, so he decided it was time for a break. Maybe he would go to the park and sit on the bunch, or find some shade and reflect on the past couple of days. After all his training was going well he could now produce four fireballs and he knew he would soon unlock the secrets of how to make six. The young genin found some shade and sitting beneath it began to meditate. He thought about no longer saying the seals and this time just letting muscle memory do the work, he thought of the other jutsu he had learned recently and the two missions he completed. After half an hour of self-reflection he went back to grinding. This time though Ryu was different, more confident in succeeding he made the hand seals and built his chakra all at once after finishing the second tiger seal Ryu opened his mouth and shot out six flaming spheres, with that he knew it was time to challenge the rock. He faced the rock once more this time ready to torch it. “You have taught me much stone, but I shouldn’t take you for granite. Hah, rock joke.”  Ryu focused after antagonizing the stone and began building chakra and weaving seals, he shot out another six orbs only some of which hit the rock with the others scattering in different directions. “We’ll work on aim later, I guess.” The young ninja continued blowing fireballs until the moon was out. Barely able to move his arms and legs anymore Ryu looked at his training rock, it and the surrounding sand were covered in black patches. The genin fell over and went to sleep, only to wake up a couple of hours later and head to his house.

Ryu slept in the next day he had completely ran out of energy training the night before. He knew the only thing left to complete the jutsu was change the direction the flaming spheres went. He ate a little and headed over to the training field. There were others there, but they always seemed to remain in one area never drifting into another. Ryu pushed the rock until it was some distance away. After which he made seals and built chakra, then opening his mouth shot out ignited orbs. He attempted to turn them with his head, but with no luck. “Maybe I should back up a bit.” Ryu moved back and did as he had done before shooting out the spheres all at once. This time when commanded the orbs turned slightly smacking into the boulder. “It really does turn. If I didn’t do it, I wouldn’t believe it.” Ryu tried once again and made the flames turn at a thirty degree angle. It was odd how the flames responded to his will. It was to him very much like how a puppet master controlled his puppet, minus the chakra strings of course. Ryu backed up even further and this time he forced the flames to turn further than they had for before a forty-five degree angle. He had the rock diagonally from him and though it was a rough estimate of the number the genin still felt accomplished. He took a success break and only thought of what he would do the next day with this jutsu nearing completion, maybe he would join a team, take a mission or learn another jutsu, he didn’t know yet, but he did know he could make the flames turn further and that was today goal a ninety degree turn. Ryu stood up dusted off his shirt and pants and went back to moving his rock and training. “Sixty degrees. About.” Making the seals and building chakra Ryu once again produced flame and with great focus made the flames turn and smack into the rock. Ryu kept the rock where it was for a few more attempts before moving it to seventy. Seventy was definitely harder than sixty it seemed it took more focus to turn the wider the angle, which made sense as the flames moved at the same speed, the only difference was the rate in which they changed direction which was controlled by the caster, Ryu. After hitting the mark on seventy Ryu moved to a position that was roughly an eighty degree angle then casted the ninjutsu once more it hit the sand in front of the rock, so Ryu tried once more this time managing to scorch the surface of the stone. As his chakra waned Ryu knew he would only have one chance at turning the fire balls ninety degrees, so he took his time building the chakra and making the seals. “The last couple days training and these are my results. Fire Release: Phoenix Fire Jutsu.” With that Ryu turned the flames a full ninety degrees forcing the flames to hit the boulder and adrenaline to pump through Ryu’s body, he was no longer tired, but still didn’t want to attempt the jutsu again, in case he would pass out like the day before. Ryu then headed home his training now complete.

Word Count: 2049
Claiming rewards: (Phoenix Fire Jutsu and 10 stat points)

Good work, trial approved.

Approved. If somethings wrong I blame Ris.