Lessons within lessons (Training)

Togi slowly made his way in to the small sandstone building that housed the ninja academy classroom. Despite having been out training for a long time the night before Togi was still among the earliest to arrive at the academy building. Silently making his way inside the young Hyuuga shuffled down the back row and took a seat in the middle. Being blind Togi had no real need to be close to the board at the front so he chose to sit at the back so that others who could see what was being written could actually see it.

Seeing that he was early Togi decided to be productive and slipped a piece of parchment and some ink out of his desk. The young Hyuuga had been considering for some time what was the best way to take notes as punching out brail was a time consuming task and he currently was not quick enough to punch it out while listening to what was being said. Togi had actually come up with a rather novel solution.  Since he could sense chakra if he could just put chakra in to his writing then he would be able to sense what he had written. As an added advantage if he then later learnt to write with just chakra and no ink he would be the only one able to read what he had written.

Charging ink with chakra or making a mark with chakra alone was perhaps one of the simplest and easiest of tasks achievable with Fuuinjutsu but sealing wasn't a rare art without reason. It took asking a lot of questions to find out the basics but eventually Togi had done just that. Unlike Ninjutsu there were no hand seals involved in order for this to work Togi would have to directly manipulate his chakra.

With a look of upmost concentration Togi placed both hands upon the piece of rolled out parchment and directed chakra to his hands. Togi could not help but chuckle for a Hyuuga channeling chakra to his hands should have been second nature but it was a lot harder than expected. At first Togi did not succeed but he kept his hands on the the parchment and tried again and again.

So engrossed with his training as he was the young Hyuuga hardly noticed as other students began to file in and take their seats every so often casting curious looks in his direction. The lesson started and Togi hardly seemed to notice, fortunately the look of concentration upon the young Hyuuga's face and the fact he had his hands in a piece of parchment made the academy instructor believe that Togi was listening as he usually was.

By now the chakra was coming to Togi's hands easily enough when summoned but he was having trouble doing anything but poke small holes in the paper when doing so. Togi began to experiment with the amount of chakra and the speed at which he pushed it out until after a good ten minutes he finally created a small perfectly formed dot in the center of the page that seemed to glow to his chakra senses.

"Yazzah!" Togi suddenly cried in triumph of his success drawing every eye in the small classroom on to him. 

"Togirama Hyuuga?" the academy instructor at the front of the class began slowly, which was always a sign of danger. "Your actually excited about doing a 10,000 word essay on the political relationships between the hidden villages..." the instructor declared causing the young Hyuuga's mouth to fall open. He really should have been listening to what was being said... Well atleast the essay would give him plenty of opportunities to try this sealing method in writing...

(WC:627 claiming Mark seal jutsu (500 words))

Fortunately the aforementioned essay did not need to be completed straight away but now that Togi was paying attention to the lesson the young Hyuuga noted that the chakra signatures close by seemed to be lacking in energy and after a while of the instructor talking Togi was pretty sure that he could infact hear the sound of snoring close at hand. Togi had to admit the subject matter wasn't exactly thrilling and if it wasn't for the fact that the challenge of making notes while forming seals that matched the strokes of his pen as he was writing was incredibly challenging he might have been joined his sleeping peers. The lecture went on for for what felt like an age but was in actual fact was likely around an hour. At the end of the lecture Togi tucked his notes in to his desk as the instructor dismissed the class for a break.

As the other students rushed out of the class Togi remained in his seat and pulled out another piece of parchment. In his effort to create a way to create notes he had learnt of some other useful things that could be achieved with fuuinjutsu one of which was sealing items away in to scrolls. Togi had even convinced one of the academy instructors to show him the seal that was used to seal away items. Now that Togi had successfully performed his first seal he felt bolstered in confidence enough to attempt another simple one. Taking out an ink pen Togi channeled chakra in to the ink before sketching out a simple seal. Once that was done Togi pushed the parchment back and evaluated the seal with his chakra senses. Deciding that his execution of the seal was not quite good enough Togi folded up the parchment and placed it to one side. Togi then got out another piece of chakra and attempted to draw out the seal once again. Togi kept repeating this process each time folding up the parchment when he was not happy with it.

By the time the class and the instructor returned Togi already had a pile of folded up paper stacked up to the side of him. Intrigued the instructor walked up behind Togi picked up a single sheet and unfolded it. "Togirama what are you doing?" the instructor questioned slightly towering over the academy student. "I'm practising my sealwork sensei... Abri-sensei showed me a seal for sealing away my equipment and I was just trying to perfect it." Togi replied without turning round. "I see..." The academy instructor replied calmly. "Show me." he then instructed.

Taking a deep breath Togi placed yet another piece of parchment out in front of himself before dipping his pen in ink an channeling chakra in to the medium.Very carefully Togi then began to sketch out the seal that he had been shown. "Not bad but you need to use swift fluid strokes, if you can not draw a line in a single stroke then you should not draw it at all..." The instructor commented before leaning over the boys shoulder. "Here you should do it like this..." he added as he plucked the ink pen from Togi's hand and swiftly drew out the correct seal.

Togi furrowed his brow as he concentrated not only on the form of the seal itself but the movements his instructor made when he drew it out and what his chakra was doing. Taking his time Togi repeated the motion over again in his head before slowly reaching out and picking up the ink pen once again. "I think I understand sensei..." Togi exclaimed "Hows this..." Togi added before drawing out the seal once again in the most fluid motions that he could manage.

"Hmmm not bad... now place something on the seal and try channeling your chakra in to the seal... if you have made the seal correctly you will store the item in the parchment if you have not well you could end up blowing us all up and I will have to send the bill to your family..." the instructor declared with a slight teasing smirk.

Not seeing the smirk Togi grimaced in apprehension, he did however reason that if his instructor thought there was a chance of Togi blowing them all up then he surely wouldn't have let him attempt this... well that was what he hoped. "Ok sensei..." Togi declared hesitantly as he placed the inkpen in the centre of the parchment on top of the seal. Togi then placed his hands on top and channeled his chakra there was a small puff of chakra smoke and then the inkpen vanished.

"very good Togirama though now If you don't mind I have a lesson to get on with..." the instructor declared in his disciplinary tone as he strode back to the front of the classroom though if anyone looked closely they would have noticed a small proud smile on the instructors lips.

(WC: 829 claiming Generic sealing technique (500 words)

Fortunately the lessons after the break were not on political history any more but something that Togi considered much more useful chakra control and hand seal usage. The instructor began by discussing some chakra control theory much of which was revision for the young Hyuuga. How to access and mould your chakra was something that Togi had been able to do for years and channeling chakra to the palm of your hands and sticking small objects to them was nothing new either. The one technique that was mentioned that Togi found interesting was the surface walking technique where you channeled chakra to the soles of your feet and used it to stick yourself to vertical surfaces such as walls or trees. The exercise was apparently great not only for increasing your chakra control but building up the level of your chakra and your stamina. Togi quickly decided that it was definitely something he would have to try out soon.

Next came hand seal revision, the students had to quickly perform hand seals (without chakra ofcourse, a classroom full of students all performing jutsu at once could be disastrous after all) while the academy instructor called out the names of those hand seals at ever increasing speeds. While doing this the instructor would walk between the students and take note of how they were doing.

In order to save on chakra Togi by now had deactivated his chakra senses and was performing the hand seals while completely blind. Since learning them Togi had spent a great deal of time practicing his hand seals so he did really need to see what he was doing anyway in order to perform them, it was also good practice so that Togi knew for certain if he ever needed to perform hand seals while truly blind that he could infact  do it.

The instructor had seemed fairly pleased with the class' performance and at one point Togi had even got a "Very good Togi" From the instructor. 

Once the practice was over notes were passed out with the hand seals required to perform some of the commonest E rank jutsu's along with notes that gave tips on how to perform them. Fortunately Togi's set of notes had been specially prepared and we're infact in Braille a fact that made the young Hyuuga smile.

It was then time for lunch, Togi opted to stay inside away from the mid day desert heat and keep to the relative cool of the classroom while he tucked in to some simple rice balls that he had prepared the night before.

After lunch it was time for weapons training and the class suddenly got a lot more noisy and animated as it always did whenever taijutsu, weapons or the practical use of jutsu was involved. Togi could already hear the banter going back and fourth between rivals as they declared that they would do better than the other. Togi made no such claim and instead calmly got to his feet and got ready to follow after the class.

The group of academy students were led out of the classroom and across a clearing to where a target range had been set up. There was a long stretch of barren ground with a number of targets set up at the far end. Some of these targets were archery style targets with a bulls eye in the middle while other were simple logs and a few were even human shaped mannequins. At the near side of the target range a rope had been laid out where the students were supposed to stand in order to throw their weapons and even further back was a wooden table under supervision if a Chuunin that was filled with small metal weapons including shuriken, kunai and senbon.

The table was quickly swarmed by the students as they fought to get their preferred choice of weapons. The shuriken and Kunai were quickly snatched up and by the time that Togi had calmly waited for his turn to select a weapon all that was left was senbon. This actually suited Togi just fine, even if he had had choice of all three weapons he would have likely still chosen the senbon. They were an under appreciated weapon, tricky to use but when used by a skilled user they could be incredibly precise and capable of targeting vital spots and taking an opponent down wi though killing them... In that way the senbon were much like the gentle fist.

Now that Togi had the senbon he found that the entire class had already lined up infront of the targets and he would have to join the back of the queue and wait until it was his turn.

Deciding to be productive while he waited for his turn the young Hyuuga decided to attempt a technique that he had heard of that could be used with weapons. Togi had always seemed to have a natural affinity for chakra control so he hoped that he would be able to do it. The technique involved channelling your chakra in to a weapon so that you strengthened it increasing its sharpness on penetrative power.

Drawing a single senbon from the pouch that he had collected Togi held the small metal needle between his thumb and two fingers and began to gather his chakra. Togi then attempted to channel this chakra in to the senbon. While he was able to channel the chakra in to his finger tips easily enough the chakra did not seem to want to leave his body and enter the weapon.

Togi was still busily concentrating on this technique when he found himself at the front of the line. "You may throw three weapons at any target you wish then collect then and head to the back of the line" the Chuunin instructed causing Togi to stop what he was doing.

"But Sensei Togi can't even see what he's doing why waste out time by giving him a go..." one of the boy's from the class who had rejoined the queue behind him called out. "Now Daisho..." the academy instructor admonished but any further telling of was interrupted by the thunk of metal against wood.   Togi's senbon had struck the target and buried itself in the wood. While it was not a bull's eye it was not a bad shot either. Without a word Togi drew a second senbon and with a flick of the wrist launched it towards the target where it buried itself in the wood close to the first. Togi then repeated this process with the third though it was a little further away from the center. At this point the complaining boy fell silent other than producing a slight grumble... apparently each one of Togi's throws had been better than his own.

Calmly making his way to the target Togi allowed a small smile now that his back was turned to the boy. His precise throws had had exactly the desired effect on the usually rather vocal boy. Carefully plucking the senbon from from the target Togi slipped all three back in to their pouch before gently touching the centre of the target with the tip of his index and middle finger as he channeled a little chakra. A tiny seal briefly appeared on the bullseye before vanishing from sight... Well unless ofcourse you sense chakra like Togi could. For Togi he now had a shining beacon for which to target. 

Smiling to himself Togi then made his way to the back of the queue before pulling out a single senbon once again. Holding it between his thump and index and middle fingers Togi concentrated with all his might. The chakra positively raced from his core to his finger tips and this time the chakra incredibly slowly began to creep up the outside of the senbon. It took all of Togi's willpower and focus to achieve this and by the time he had got the front of the queue once again it had only just covered the entire surface of the tiny metal needle.

Sweating slightly from the effort of maintaining the coat of chakra around the projectile Togi flicked his wrist without even raising his head up to face the direction of the target. Instantly the chakra dissipated. "Gah..." Togi exclaimed just before the senbon struck the outer bull. The academy instructor meanwhile raised an eyebrow surprised by the sound of disappointment when Togi had made such a good shot. 

Eager to get back to trying to channel his chakra in to his senbon Togi drew two at once and with a flick of the wrist launched both simultaneously towards the target. One senbon struck the target just left of the bulls eye while the other struck the target a short distance to the right. Some of Togi's classmates gasped in surprise at this and once the blind Hyuuga had retrieved his senbon and headed to the back of the queue a number of his peers began to attempt to throw multiple projectiles at once aswell.

Back in the queue Togi tried once again, the whole process felt like it was getting easier now and Togi thought that the chakra was entering the senbon with less effort in his part. A number of the other students by now had started what Togi was doing mostly due to the fact that the senbon that he was holding was starting to glow a light blue visible even to those to normal vision.

When Togi reached the front of the line the academy instructor cocked an eyebrow once again at the sight of the glowing senbon but made one comment.  Stepping forwards Togi launched the senbon with a flick of the wrist. The chakra did not immediately dissipate this time and the senbon remained glowing blue... well until it reached about halfway to the target and then it did indeed fade away. This however was progress and Togi smiled happily as he quickly plucked the following two senbon from his pouch and launched them towards the target in rapid succession.

Dashing forwards to retrieve the senbon Togi quickly plucked them free from the target and hurried to the back of the queue. He was starting to feel confident that he would soon be able to perform this technique correctly perhaps it would be with this next throw. Once again Togi was able to charge the senbon with chakra a lot quicker than he had done the time before.  So much so that the young Hyuuga actually had some time to hold the chakra coated senbon for some time before he got to the front of the queue. Deciding now was the time to pay proper attention to the throw itself Togi lined up the shot focussing in on the mark seal that he had left exactly on top of the bulls eye and with a rapid snap of the wrist he hurled the senbon forwards. Time seemed to slow down as Togi focussed in on the senbon's flight. It seemed to be being drawn towards the target like a magnet and the chakra showed little sign of fading away. The senbon struck the target in the dead centre of the board, the senbon was still glowing with chakra and the flimsy combination of wood and cork did little to stop it's progress. The needle pierced straight through emerging out of the other side before burying itself in the sand leaving a perfectly circular hole in the board.

Togi was so shocked by this that he forgot to take his next two shot and immediately dashed forwards to retrieve his senbon. He hardly noticed the chuckle coming from the academy instructor nor did he notice the gasp of surprise from his class mates.

With needle in hand Togi then hurried back carefully examining the weapon with his finger tips. The needle felt no worse for ware for being charged with chakra or for having travelled through a target board. Deciding to try something different this time Togi drew all three needles at once and held them between his fingers. The young ninja hopeful then began to channel his chakra once again. The act of channeling chakra in to three senbon at once was a lot more difficult than just one but Togi slowly managed it.

Once Togi reached the front of the queue this time there were a number of eyes on him including the instructor's. Instead of facing the large circular target with the bull's eye that he had been practicing on so far Togi instead stood infront of a life sized wooden mannequin. Taking a deep breath Togi made sure that the chakra in the needles was under control before with a flick of the wrist he launched all three needles at once. All three needles flew through the air with a faint blue glow and their chakra did not fade. The senbon struck the mannequin in the neck and buried themselves in to the wood. If it had been a real person that would have likely been a disabling blow, ofcourse a real person would have been able to dodge which the mannequin certainly wasn't capable of. 

Grinning now Togi dashed up to the mannequin and struggled to release the senbon that was wedged in to it's neck. After a little effort and much wiggling Togi eventually got them free. Togi then just managed to rejoin the queue before the instructors called the activity to an end much to Togi's disappointment. 

As Togi lined up to return the weapons to the Chuunin. He channelled chakra in to the senbon before abruptly stopping and then channelling once again to see how quickly it could be done. Once Togi reached the table he was almost reluctant to return the weapons to the Chuunin though he did so none the less.

The students were then led back in to the classroom as they continued to jabber about how well they had done and how much better they would do next time. Togi meanwhile remained silent, quietly satisfied with the progress he had made.

Retaking his seat at the back of the classroom Togi settled in for the rest of the day's lessons. At one point the academy instructor had to raise his voice in order to get the class to calm down after the excitement of weapons training but once he had done so things returned to normal. 

The final lesson of the day was on survival skills and what non combat and non jutsu related skills could be of use to a ninja this briefly touched on hunting and tracking and how to recognise what was poisonous or not. There was also mention of first aid though the academy instructor had declared that that would be covered in much more detail the following week.

By the end of the day Togi was feeling rather drained  both physically and mentally and he wasn't too sure if he would have the time to do his own private training later. Still it had been a productive day and Togi was satisfied perhaps after a meal and a bit of telaxation he would still have some time that evening to hit one of the villages training grounds or do a bit of reading up on chakra theory or medicine.

"Evening Sensei... I'll see you tommorrow" Togi declared once the class was dismissed and he was the last student left. The young Hyuuga then headed home in desperate need of a snack.


(WC:2595 claiming Chakra infusion skill (2000 words))
(Exiting)
(TWC: 4051 claiming 20 stat points)