The best kind of exams

Kotetsu makes his way through the Hoshigakure academy, looking around at all the classrooms and signs until they brought him to the area he sought. The examination rooms. His parents told him a letter arrived to let him know that as long as he proved he was qualified to become a Genin, he would be tested to put his ryo where his mouth is, so to speak. 'This is what I've been training for...' he thinks to himself as he arrives at the almost ominous looking hallway. The letter said his examination would take place in Exam room 3, and that his proctor would know he is there when he enters the room. Kotetsu makes his way to exam room 3, opens the door, steps inside, and closes the door. After which he finds a seat and waits for the proctor to arrive.

(requesting a proctor, please and thank you. )
WC: 143

‘Well, I guess while I’m waiting, I could always try to work on some more jutsu.’ Kotetsu thinks to himself as he pulls a pair of scrolls from his backpack. His mother has a background in medical ninjutsu, and always felt that every member of a four-man squad should have the ability to take care of basic first aid. Not everyone can do that, but Kotetsu felt he would try to learn at least a little anyways. The scroll his mother gave him was for working on basic medical ninjutsu. Nothing major, more so healing cuts and scrapes, but every little bit helps, and learning medical ninjutsu will help him work on his chakra control even more. The scroll goes over everything necessary in terms of how to perform the jutsu. Kotetsu hopes that with the progress he’s made so far, learning this jutsu should not be as hard as it would have been before he had started his training. Simple hand signs, Boar, Rat, Snake. And directing chakra into his hands should have them start to emit a glow which will allow him to start healing surface wounds. ‘”Well, I guess there’s no reason to waste time, may as well get started.” Kotetsu says to no one in particular as he gets up, walks around to the other side of the desk. Kotetsu starts off by building up his chakra, he then makes the required hand signs. “Boar. Rat. Snake.” And he then releases his chakra, to which his hands take on a slight glow briefly before disappearing. Kotetsu mutters under his breath. He almost had it. He just needs some more fine tuning and some extra chakra. Since he doesn’t have any wounds that require healing, he can’t really check to see that it will do anything, but at least he can get used to using this jutsu for when the time comes. The more times he uses the technique, the longer he can keep it going. The upside with his training regimen though is that he is able to improve on this technique much faster, only needing minutes or hours as opposed to days and weeks. “Good, I’m getting closer to getting the hang of this technique.” He says quietly. He can keep the jutsu going for a minute now. Not very long, but still progress. It took a little time longer, but with the amount of chakra he has access to, thanks to his most recent training regimen, he could continuously use the medical ninjutsu for several minutes at least. The only problem now though is that Kotetsu has no idea as to whether or not the jutsu itself will be effective in regards to healing anything. Considering he hadn’t made any mistakes that he could tell, Kotetsu should be able to heal as per what the scroll says he can fix. “Don’t think I can learn any more about this particular technique.” He says to himself. “Guess I can start working on the other scroll I have.”

Pulling out the other scroll, he chuckled as he thought about grabbing it. He happened to see it in the library of the Academy as he was leaving for his examination. It just happened to catch his eye, almost like it wanted him to pick it up. It’s for a style that he will never likely master, but the premise of the skill seemed to have a use in almost any situation. “Puppet art: Ventriloquism…” Kotetsu says as he opens the scroll. The technique itself is fairly simple, no hand signs to master. The technique itself is all about using chakra to alter the sound of the user’s voice and can either come from the user’s mouth, or from anywhere in a small radius. “Interesting…” Kotetsu muses to himself. “From what it says here in the scroll I don’t even need to impersonate someone’s voice, I can just use my chakra to change my voice and speech patterns to make myself like anyone I want. It’s just a matter of using my chakra to make the sounds I want.” It’s not going to be a difficult technique to master in terms of the requirements to make the jutsu work. It’s more finding out how to manipulate his chakra in order to produce the different tones and pitches that make up vocal patterns and timbres. It was going to take a little time to do all the testing. At least Kotetsu could be methodical about working on this. Of course the technique would require not just varying the amount of chakra he used, but he would also need to try to change the voice pitch and timbre in addition to the chakra use in order to make the technique as effective as possible. Kotetsu spends most of the time with this jutsu simply modulating the amount of chakra he uses with different tones of voice to see how it would affect his voice with each stage. With each minor change, he would note it down on a scroll. Slowly but surely he paints a picture of the different possible combinations he can make with this technique. The next step is to throw the voice to different parts of the designated range. Again, there’s no hand signs for this step either, it would seem, that he has to picture his voice being somewhere else. To be specific, he has to picture where he wants the voice to come from. It’s not overly difficult, just tricky in a sense. It’s not something he’s used to doing, Over the next 15-20 minutes Kotetsu manages to figure out exactly how he can throw the jutsu in all directions, along with how to modify his voice in multiple different ways. “That’s as much as I’m going to be able to do in terms of this jutsu as well.” Kotetsu says, with a near perfect imitation of his father’s voice. “No matter, it seems I’ve learned all I can with it. This will be very useful going forward.” As he takes his seat again to await the arrival of his exam proctor.

WC: 1017

(Decided to have some fun with this, feel free to really wrack up the word count here if you want. You can claim stats from it and you should have PLENTY to respond to. You just need to hit the REQUIRED 800 words in this post.) 


Valen was having a rough few days. He had been given a mission he personally really didn’t want to do. But that didn’t seem to matter in this case. He’d have to start packing soon to make sure he had everything and he’d need to make sure he had a handle on his swords sentience before it became a problem. Of course there was also the issue with mastering his curse mark before not having it at full power became more of a hindrance than anything. Then unlock the hidden potential in an old long bow he had picked up over in an armory. It had been forgotten but fairly well cared for. He decided to take it as his own and try infusing his light element into it. It had certainly worked well for him in the past so he decided to try it again and see what the results might be. Said bow was white and black, two meters tall and weighed about ten pounds. He didn’t pick up any arrows for the weapon, knowing that it would probably look fairly odd to the random bystander who happened to see it. But that was neither here nor there. His main focus for the time being was furthering the power of his curse mark. Which he was constantly working on. At this moment he was moving toward an examination room to administer a genin exam that he currently late in proctoring. He had honestly forgotten he had been scheduled to do it this morning and was mortified that he kept someone waiting. A thing which he hated dearly as he hated being kept waiting himself.


Arriving at room three the crimson cloaked teen would silently open the door and step in. He would of course see the only boy in the room training and raise an eyebrow at that. ‘Guess he got tired of waiting and decided to get a bit of training done.’ He thought to himself, the boy had yet to notice him, and soon the examinee had decided he had trained enough and sat down to await the arrival of his examiner. Who happened to be leaning against the door frame. “Using your time well I see…” He would say simply before moving into the room. The bow hung across his shoulders and his sword hanging in it’s sheathe on his waist. ‘Good, using his time wisely to get a bit of training while waiting..’ He thought to himself before stopping at the front of the room. He’d turn and look at the boy, holding eye contact. While doing so he’d reach back and grab the clipboard that he already knew was sitting on the desk and glance down at it. “Kotetsu Shinogami..You’re from Konoha I see..Relocated during the attack of the Mizukage? I wasn’t aware there was an attack on the Leaf Village..” He mentioned offhandedly, wondering if the attack had been successful. He pushed that thought out of his mind for now, Konoha had no treaty with Hoshi, no business with Hoshi, and nothing to do with Hoshi. They were also on the other side of the continent from them and if this genin hopeful joined them because of that assault than the information must be around the higher ups. Meaning they’ll be making defensive plans just in case.


As it stood though he had a genin exam to dish out so without further ado he set the clipboard down and eyed the boy up and down for a moment, trying to get a gauge on his ability at a glance. “Welcome to the Hoshigakure Orientation Exam. Also known as The ‘H.O.E.’ here, the ‘H.O.E.’ is designed to welcome you into the world of shinobi. Should you pass the ‘H.O.E.’ you will immediately be granted the rank of genin. I will, of course, be the Chunin proctoring this ‘H.O.E.’. The requirements for passing this prestigious exam are quite simple, it merely requires you to perform two basic shinobi techniques. More specifically, the Clone, and the Transformation. These two techniques require a finite amount of chakra, and if you can successfully perform them it will be determined that you have the necessary control to continue on to the next step of your shinobi career.” He would say, having memorized the sheet with the speech long ago. “Should you fail the ‘H.O.E’ please, do not fret, as it simply means you’ll need to train a bit more to reach the point required. You will simply need to attend few more classes here at the Academy to prepare for your next shot at the ‘H.O.E.’. You may now proceed to perform the two required techniques. In addition, if you would like extra credit, you may explain each technique’s usefulness in combat, and espionage."


Valen would sigh as the last bit came up. “Furthermore, if you would like to earn more extra credit, you may further demonstrate any further techniques you might have.” He would finish as he raised an eyebrow, feeling like he was forgetting something important ‘Oh, right..’ he would think before making eye contact with Kotetsu again “I wish you good luck with your ‘H.O.E.’” He would say before nodding his head at the boy to begin when ready.




WC: 874

He hadn't even fully sat down when he noticed that he wasn't alone anymore. Kotetsu doesn't startle easily, but the sudden appearance of the individual in the doorway of the exam room definitely put him on edge. 'It would make sense for him to be able to get in here without my knowing it. I know my proctor is supposed to be at least a Chuunin.' With that in mind, he examines the  shinobi, taking in everything that he can about him. The person in front of him has long black hair, piercing red eyes and a red scarf. He wears leather gloves, black combat boots, and is rather pale. He looks to be about 182 cm tall and weighs 90 kg. Then he speaks, and Kotetsu takes note of his speech pattern so as to try to impress the proctor right off the bat. After the person's offhand comment about his home, Kotetsu nods and mentally prepares to hopefully impress the proctor. 'Puppet Art: Ventriloquism.' Suddenly, a voice that almost sounds like the proctor's own voice comes from the doorway that the proctor just moved away from. "Indeed. I've never been one to sit idly for too long, unless sitting idly is what's required of me..." the voice would say, almost in the same tone of voice that the proctor uses for regular speech. As Kotetsu slowly releases the jutsu, he has the voice change, slowly returning to Kotetsu's normal voice. He also moves the voice around the room back to where he is sitting, so that by the time he finishes talking, it is with his own mouth and tone of voice. "And you are correct, sensei. I am from Konohagakure. My parents fled with my siblings and I just as the village was coming under attack. I am not familiar with the situation in general, but I can't imagine the village is living up to its name, especially since I heard that the Mizukage was leading the attack. Everyone has heard of how savage he can be. I don't know what he plans to do after Konoha, if he defeats the village of course, but I want to get stronger in order to help prevent his rampage from spreading further..."

With that Kotetsu waits patiently as the other shinobi goes over his exam speech. 'Makes sense that he's a Chuunin....' Kotetsu thinks to himself. 'I'm sure I can definitely impress him with what I've learned so far. He definitely knows I've learned a few techniques, but I doubt he knows the full level of my talents. If only I had some D-rank jutsu to show him, but that's a little out of my depth for now.' With that he stands up, makes his way around the desk and bows to his proctor. "Thank you, I hope you'll be impressed with what I can do. I plan to start with the Clone Jutsu." With that being said, he starts to build up the chakra he would need to form 2 clones, because overachieving never hurts. "Ram. Snake. Tiger. Clone Jutsu!" and with a small puff of smoke Kotetsu creates two clones of himself. "The Clone Jutsu is primarily used in combat as a means to distract your enemy, as the clone itself does not relay information or can attack in any way. It is intangible though, so it doesn't get destroyed upon contact with something, which allows it to be reused in the proper circumstances." With that, Kotetsu releases the jutsu. "The Transformation Jutsu however..." He says as he makes the hand signs to transform his appearance. "Dog. Boar. Ram. Transformation Jutsu!" and he changes his likeness into a mirror image of his proctor. "...Has uses in both combat in espionage. The primary use of the Transformation Jutsu would be to make yourself appear like a shinobi or member of the location you're trying to infiltrate, so that you can attempt to pass undetected. In combat, you can try to appear as a comrade you have already taken out to try to lull your enemy into a false sense of security. Or to cause doubt if your opponent sees two versions of his comrade without him seeing the transformation in the first place." Kotetsu holds the jutsu a short while longer before releasing it, to show that he can maintain the jutsu rather than just a quick use of it.

"I believe that would cover the basic requirements to graduate as you mentioned, along with some extra credit. But who ever settled for the bare minimum?" He says with a chuckle. "I do have some other techniques I've been working on." He pulls out a blank scroll and holds it up so that the proctor can see the start of it. Kotetsu unfurls it slightly, gathers up some chakra, and presses his finger to the spot, when he removes his finger, the proctor should be able to see a small mark on the scroll that vanishes within a couple seconds. "The Mark Seal jutsu is one of two basic Fuinjutsu I've learned." He says as he rolls the scroll back up. He then builds up more chakra, at which point his index finger starts to glow. With that he touches his finger on the scroll and releases the jutsu, creating a Fuinjutsu Lock on the scroll, which he then tosses at the proctor for him to examine.  "The other being the Fuinjutsu Lock." Kotetsu moves right into the next technique he knows, making a set of hand signs. "Ram. Horse. Ox. Wind Style: Quiet Footsteps Jutsu!" Once he releases the chakra, Kotetsu's feet start to glow with a light aura, and when he starts to move, his feet make no noise on the ground. "Since I wanted to learn how to move silently, I figured this would be a step in the right direction. It doesn't prevent me from making any other noise, just muffles my footsteps." After releasing the jutsu, he takes up the stance for the inside to outside block and demonstrates his form with that technique. "I felt having some additional taijutsu defenses would be worthwhile, since I plan on being more of a close to mid-range fighter." He explains after performing the open hand and closed fist blocks to the stance, with a mock grab on the open hand strike. "The last jutsu I learned I cannot tell for certain if I have it fully worked out, since it is a basic medical ninjutsu, but I have no injuries with which to test its efficacy." Kotetsu makes the hand signs anyways. "Boar. Rat. Snake." And a slight green glow appears around Kotetsu's hands as he releases his chakra. He holds them up slightly for the proctor to see. "As you can see here, it looks like what the scroll here says it should look like, so I can only imagine that if I had a cut or scrape, it would heal it, but I'm not one to injure myself on purpose for the sake of finding out." With that he releases the jutsu and moves to stand in front of the desk he was sitting at, to await the proctor's assessment of his skills.

WC: 1200
TWC: 2360

Kotetsu heard the ‘THUNK’ in the wall behind him before he felt the cut that the weapon left on his arm. ‘Just below the shoulder, doesn’t seem to be bleeding that badly, didn’t hit anything major then.’ He thinks to himself as he blinked once. He turned around to look at the wall to see what the proctor threw. It was a shuriken, which made sense since his eyes didn’t even register that he had seen it. He looks back at the proctor and chuckles. “I certainly asked for that didn’t I, Sensei.” He says to him. “I guess you want to find out if I learned the technique properly as much as I do.” And with that he proceeds to make the handsigns again for the basic medical ninjutsu technique. “Boar. Rat. Snake.” Kotetsu only focuses chakra into one hand this time, since only one hand can reach the scratch on his arm. As the aura passes over the wound, the blood dries up and starts to scab over, just as the scroll said it would. After a couple minutes, Kotetsu’s arm was like he’d never gotten hurt in the first place. He releases the jutsu and lowers his hand. “It would seem I was concerned for nothing. Looks like the jutsu works pretty effectively for a beginner’s technique.” He shrugs before looking back at his proctor. “That’s all the skills I have acquired at this time. How do you think I did?” He asks quietly. ‘I hope I impressed him. I’d like to start moving forward with my training.’

WC: 261
TWC: 2621

((Bump))

(Will reply in the morning, at work, for the record I'm central and it's 9 PM)

(alright. No worries. I'm EST, so I'm an hour ahead of you. I just work evenings.)

The boy had done well. He didn’t even flinch when the shuriken nicked him in the arm, and he healed it quickly and efficiently. He had every single hallmark of a talented shinobi. This meant that he could pass him without issue. So with that in mind he got off the edge of the desk where he had been leaning and spoke clearly. “I’m pleased to inform you that your performance has been more than satisfactory. The requirements for the H.O.E. have been more than met. You pass, and with that passing I bestow upon you the rank of Genin for the village of Hoshigakure. This will give you minor clearance to a few areas of the village. But for the most part you’re expected to use your time as genin to gain strength as quickly and efficiently as possible. Allowing yourself to move through the ranks to gain more clearance and responsibility within the village.” He would say as he reached into the desk and pulled out a Hoshigakure headband. The gleaming metal reflecting the light as he tossed to the boy at a much...much slower speed. “This is your headband, you must have it with you at all times but due to the animosity most civilians shows  shinobi you are not required to wear it visually, but in the event we are attacked you must put it where it will be visible to ally shinobi.” He would rattle off, still memorizing the sheet they had given him.



To be honest that speech annoyed the hell out of him. After all it made them seem like nothing but mindless drones with absolutely no originality whatsoever. It was truly maddening, but twas the way of things after all. The system become more and more ‘cookie cutter’ every year and Valen was frankly getting sick of it. He simply didn’t feel like he was growing here in the village anymore. He needed some fresh air for a while. Maybe applying to become a wandering shinobi would be good for him? He was certainly powerful enough to hold his own should anyone engage him in combat outside of the village. And if he was facing someone he just couldn’t fight he could always blind them and escape. He’d have to look into applying for it later. It would give him a bit more worldly experience. From the eyes of a shinobi, rather than a hungry kid in a band of traveling merchants.



“You’re able to head on out now if you want. But I’d like to extend an offer to you if you wish. I’m actually fairly impressed with your talent thus far. I’d like to help you out personally for a sparring session if you’d like. I won’t make it easy on you, by that I mean I’d run you directly into the ground, pick you back up and smash you back down again until you pass out and don’t get back up. You’ll feel like a glorified punching bag before it’s over, and maybe after as well. But it’ll harden you up and It’ll make for good training for you and help you get better for facing off against stronger opponents. It'll also force your body to become stronger, in an attempt to match what's happening to you. I will cause you to question your decision to become a shinobi. I will not kill you, but I will come extremely close to it, you might even wish I would. But you'll become all the more powerful for it and it'll teach you a damn valuable lesson.  I intended to invite one more as well. Would you be interested?” He’d offer the newly instated genin. If the boy said yes to his offer he’d give him directions to his own personal training ground. The same one where Kenshin Uzumaki took him down a peg or five so many months ago. The very same one where he learned the same lesson Kenshin taught him that day. There were monsters in this world. Frighteningly powerful shinobi. Valen couldn’t be considered one of them yet. But he was well on his way to getting there in his eyes. The lesson he would mainly be trying to pound into Kotetsu’s head is that there is always someone stronger. That he would need to never step learning, lest he become prey to someone who followed the lesson the heart. After giving him the directions he would tell the boy to meet him there at sundown. The cool night air was easier to train in than the heat of the desert sun. He wasn’t a cruel human being after all. The day training would happen later if the boy decided to come back for more.  If the boy declined his offer he’d simply bow his head in acknowledgement and give him a small wave “Fair enough then, maybe next time.” He’d say with a small grin.



Either way afterwards he would check the time and note that he needed to get to another exam room to help another student. “I need to go do my next exam though. You have a good day young Kotetsu and good luck on your career.” He’d say before moving toward the door, glancing at his clipboard as he moved. “All these H.O.E.’s though..” He’d mutter under his breath as he left the room.





[EXIT]

WC: 892
TWC: 2168

Claiming the second level of Curse Seal of Heaven which combined with This (when it gets approved) and This puts me at 3776/3750 using my 25% discount. Please and thank you <3

Granting Kotetsu the rank of Genin and all clout that is included. Which is to say, none. You DO however get 15 stat points (in addition to the ones you trained here) a free specialty, and a much higher cap on jutsu. As well as a couple of jutsu for free, including Substitution, surface walker, etc. Make sure you claim everything you learn here in your next post for the attending mod to approve