Growth: Chapter 1

Now that he was finally accepted among the ranks of Konohagakure no Sato's shinobi as a fully fledged Genin, Jason knew that he had a lot of work ahead of him. No longer would he just be taking lessons at the academy and learning simple techniques such as transformation and clone. Now he could finally move on to more advanced jutsu, expanding his, at the moment, very limited arsenal. He still hadn't quite mastered the use of earth or wood style elements just yet, so instead he planned on focusing on adapting his water element nature chakra into something he could use. To this end, Jason had scoured the local library for information on water element techniques that he might be able to learn at his current level. There was one that seemed useful and wasn't much higher in rank than the E ranked techniques he had under his belt. This jutsu was the D ranked Hidden Mist technique. It molded the user's chakra into a mist that is then spewed from the user's mouth. The mist can be controlled to be as thick or thin as desired by the one that cast the jutsu. In addition to that, since it is completely infused or comprised of the jutsu caster's chakra, it makes it nearly impossible to use chakra sensory techniques to determine the jutsu caster's location. It can also be made by using any pre-existing water in the area. There could be many, many uses for this specific technique.

Of course, it would be be much easier to utilize a pre-existing water source in order to practice this technique. Converting your own chakra into a pure form of it's corresponding elemental nature is something much more difficult than Jason thought he could handle at his current level. Sure, he was considered a prodigy at the academy, but this was different. He was no longer taking silly paper tests or creating intangible clones that were restricted to mirroring his own actions. No, this jutsu was on another level. Considering he had only just recently graduated from the academy, he knew he needed to be more aware of his own limitations while continuing to expand them to even greater heights. That was precisely why he chose this corner of the forest surrounding the village. It was close to a small stream that ran through the woods, gracefully winding it's way through the trees and entering into the village through a medium sized floodgate built into the walls. It was one of the ways Konoha received its water supply. It also made the perfect setting to practice water release type ninjutsu. 

And so that brings us to Jason, standing on top of the flowing water attempting to learn this single D rank technique. He was already precisely controlling the output of his chakra just to maintain his balance on the ever moving liquid beneath his feet. From there, attempting to turn the water into mist shouldn't be too difficult. According to the information he gathered from the local library, he would have to infuse the water he was standing on with the chakra within his body, and then alter it on a molecular level to turn it from a liquid state into a gaseous one. He was intimately aware of the flow of chakra within his body, of the different types that dwelled within. It would be relatively simple for Jason to separate the water nature chakra from the yin and yang nature chakra that were all meshed together inside his body. That was exactly what he did. First, he centered himself, taking a deep breath and preparing to control his chakra in a way that he had only ever done once or twice before now. Then, he went through and mentally separated the different chakra types within his body. He divided off the yin nature first, and then the yang, leaving only the water nature chakra to use. Once that was finished, he would begin.

Extending his chakra outward using his feet as a catalyst, Jason soon infused the stream with what he thought was the necessary type and amount of chakra. His hands came together slowly, his fingers interlocking to form the Tiger hand seal. It was the seal listed as the one necessary to use the Hidden Mist technique. When that was done, a thin mist began to rise slowly from the water beneath his feet. It rose a foot or two above Jason's head, expanding outward only a few meters in every direction. The mist was so thin that it was barely even visible, yet it was still obvious that it was there. Neither the range or density of the mist was what he had intended on accomplishing. Maybe he hadn't used enough chakra? He tried to infuse more into the mist, using his entire body as a conduit now that it already existed. It began to get a little thicker, only slightly hindering his vision and extending outward another meter or two. Still, it wasn't enough. He needed to do more than this if he wanted to fully control the mist. So, he pumped even more chakra into the surrounding area, infusing the now semi-thick mist with the water element. The mist burst forth this time, flooding the entire forest in its wake with a thick, cloudy-white substance. It extended much further than Jason could see normally, though it was quickly becoming so thick that he soon wouldn't even be able to see his own hand in front of his face. This is what he wanted, this is what he was aiming for. Sure, it took a couple of tries, but perhaps he was more adept at this ninjutsu thing than he had first thought. Even though this was a low level, D rank technique, it still only took the young Senju boy an hour or so to get it under control. 

Feeling satisfied with himself, Jason released the technique and the mist slowly faded away back into nothingness. The air was soon clear again, not a trace of the jutsu left behind. He was making good progress so far, and he would only continue to grow stronger in the coming days.

[exit]
TWC: 1,033
claiming 5 stats and Hidden Mist

Approved