School Days [solo]

6 Fall 417AV

It was finally here. Kiryu glanced around at the other academy students as they murmured excitedly amongst themselves. After a year or so of learning the basics, today was the day they were supposed to officially learn how to control “chakra.” His very essence recoiled at the thought of the dark powers he was sure he would have to bargain with. Not for the first time, he felt as though perhaps it wasn’t worth it to join the Queensguard. In fact, the Queensguard wasn’t even much of a thing anymore, not since Princess Tehniyat had left the village.

“Alright everyone, quiet down.” The mumbling died down as the instructor entered the classroom. “Now then, today we will be going over the most basic fundamentals of chakra.” He began to sketch on the chalkboard in the front of the classroom.

Here it comes, Kiryu thought to himself, steeling his resolve not to allow any evil thoughts to enter his head.

The instructor moved aside and showed what he had drawn: a person with a yin-yang symbol inside of it. “Chakra is composed of two elements: physical and spiritual energy.” He pointed to the two halves of the yin and yang as he spoke. ”Physical energy is collected from every cell throughout your body. Spiritual energy comes from your consciousness and can be increased through meditation and experience. When these two elements are combined, it forms chakra, which can be focused into various jutsus through handseals.”

To make his point, the instructor formed a trio of signs with his hands. A puff of smoke appeared to his left and, when it cleared, there was an exact copy of the instructor standing there. The other students all let out exclamations of surprise and excitement. Kiryu was just as surprised, although his reaction was more tempered. His mind was still processing the first part of the lecture. From what the instructor said, this… this “chakra” was something that was innate to everyone. It even required a mixture of spiritual and physical strength. That certainly didn’t SOUND demonic or corrupting to him, although he wasn’t willing to completely drop his guard just yet.

”Now today we’re just going to practice mixing your energy to create chakra. Nothing fancy, just focus on balancing your physical and spiritual energy and allowing it to release and dissipate into the air.”

Immediately the students began to practice. Kiryu could feel the energy in the air as they let off chakra, although there wasn’t anything other than a feeling to indicate what was going on. With some measure of caution, he closed his eyes and focused inward. Finding a balance between physical and spiritual energy… Stars above, if this is what you desire of me than give me a sign.

It came even easier than he had expected. He could feel the energy inside of him grow and then release through his pores and his exhaled breaths into the air around him. It certainly didn’t feel like dark magic, it felt natural. He continued to practice this along with the rest of the class until they were dismissed for the day.

13 Fall 417AV

It had been a few days since they had learned about the fundamentals of chakra and today would be the first actual jutsu they would learn. ”Now,” began the instructor, ”for your first jutsu we are going to start with something extremely simple. It is a technique known as Chakra Cleansing.  This jutsu will allow you to remove the dirt, sweat, and other such grime from your bodies with ease. It’s a good practice for building up and releasing chakra.”

That’s so mundane, Kiryu thought to himself. Surely there wouldn’t be any harm in using chakra for that. It wasn’t as though that technique could be used for anything malicious, after all.

The instructor glanced over the assembled students before making one of the handseals they had been taught: Tiger. As Kiryu looked on in amazement, a faint bluish glow began to emanate from his entire body.  Dirt and sweat was caught in that glow and suspended in the air for a split second before falling to the ground and creating a tiny pile. ”Alright, now all of you try.”

Kiryu watched for a few moments once again as his fellow students began to practice. Some of them got it on the first go, while others appeared to struggle a bit more. Slowly, he closed his eyes and started to focus on gathering up chakra inside of himself as he had been doing the past week. Once he gathered up a decent amount, he brought his hands together into the tiger seal and focused on the mental image of what the instructor had done.

As he opened his eyes, he glanced down and saw that the same glow was surrounding him. The small dirt and sweat particles that he had accumulated on his body throughout the day were suspended in that glow, just like the instructor’s had been, before they fell to the ground. He felt completely clean, as though he had just bathed. There was no lingering sense of uncleanliness or corruption, which somewhat surprised him. Despite the previous week’s experience of mixing chakra inside of himself, he still had some apprehension about using an actual jutsu. This one, however, left him feeling cleansed. It was an almost holy feeling.

He felt a sort of high for the rest of the day, thinking about how he could now cleanse himself using chakra even in locations where he might not be able to bathe or wash up. He could better worship now than he could before, and surely the gods would approve of his doings so long as he remained faithful.

18 Fall 417AV

Once the class had proven that they were able to build up a sufficient amount of chakra and perform the chakra cleansing technique with more and more chakra, it was time to shift from power to control. ”The next jutsu you will all be learning is the Surface Walking technique. This is a slightly more advanced jutsu, but I’ve always felt that it is best to learn this technique early as it gives the perfect opportunity for increasing control of your chakra. Many shinobi cause harm to others on accident because they don’t have sufficient control of their chakra. Even if you don’t lose control like that, it’s very easy to use more chakra than necessary when performing jutsu and wasting it. In a battle of life or death, every bit of energy matters.”

The instructor made his way to the chalkboard and faced the class. ”To start, you must gather the chakra inside of yourself just like you did during the Chakra Cleanse technique. Once you’ve built up your chakra, you have to focus it in the soles of your feet. This is where the control comes into play. You must keep a steady amount of chakra flowing into your feet. Once this is done…” He turned around to face the whiteboard and placed his foot on it. The class, including Kiryu, stared in awe as he lifted his remaining foot up to the chalkboard and began to stand parallel to the floor. He calmly walked up the side of the wall and onto the ceiling, where he looked back down at the class.

”If you focus too much chakra in your feet, you will break the surface you’re attempting to stand on; too little and you won’t have enough energy to stick to the surface. It’s a complex balancing act, and one that will require constant practice to truly master.” He gestured toward the door. ”All  of you go ahead and go out to the practice yard and find a tree that you can practice on.”

The assembled students all rushed out to go practice, joined by a more cautious Kiryu. Once again, he found himself excited to try this out, yet wary that this was still some sort of trick to convince him to betray the gods in exchange for power. This technique… it is a test of moderation, he thought to himself. Temperance is a virtue, and through this exercise I shall come to an even greater understanding of it.

As he reached the practice yard, he found a relatively secluded spot for himself near a large oak tree. It was the perfect representation of his faith; strong and deep-rooted. ”Stars of heaven, bless me with the temperance needed to display your glory.” With a deep breath, he began to channel his chakra. The now-familiar feeling of chakra within him began to flow throughout his body, directed by his will into the soles of his feet. With a determination born of his desire to please the gods, he placed his right foot onto the trunk of the tree. The chakra in his feet stuck onto the trunk and he said a quick prayer as he lifted his left foot up to place on the tree as well.

It worked! A smile broke out on his face as he stood horizontally on the tree. His faith had been rewarded with success. He took a few hesitant steps further up the tree, his confidence increasing with each step. He was somewhat surprised that his control of chakra was so good considering he had never used it or even really knew of its existence before a few weeks ago. His temperance, a result of his dedication to the gods, had surely given him an advantage with this technique. Perhaps it truly is possible to serve the gods faithfully as a shinobi, he thought to himself. It was the first time he had really admitted to himself that being a shinobi might actually be a holy mission rather than a necessary evil.

1 Summer 419AV
 
Day in and day out for almost two years. Kiryu had grown much more proficient with the basic jutsu that he had been taught throughout his time in the academy, yet today was another milestone. The Academy Graduation Exam was coming up fast and today was the day they would learn the two jutsu that were required of every Academy Student before they could become a Genin: The transformation and clone jutsu.

”All right, all right, settle down.” The class quieted down in anticipation of the lesson. ”Today’s lesson consists of the graduation requirements for becoming a Genin. To start, I will instruct you on the transformation jutsu. This jutsu is used by many shinobi as a way to infiltrate other villages by impersonating another person or as a way to gain an element of surprise by transforming into a weapon such as a shuriken. Now, this technique is considered to be one of the most difficult techniques that you will learn here. It requires a constant stream of chakra, just like the surface walking technique, as well as constant focus in order to ensure details are captured correctly.”

As he finished speaking, he formed a trio of handseals. It was slow enough that the class could follow along: Dog-Boar-Ram. ”Transform!” A puff of smoke obscured the instructor for a few seconds. When it cleared, in his place there was a completely different man wearing a completely different outfit. After a few seconds, another puff of smoke appeared and the instructor was standing there again. ”The trick is to remember the details when you transform. Otherwise, it will be an imperfect transformation and you will be recognized as a fake. Now practice.”

Kiryu, thinking about his original desire to join the Queensguard and his new goal of simply being one of the protectors of the village, was anxious to learn the jutsu that would allow him to pass the graduation exam. Taking a deep breath, he moved his hands into the seals that the instructor had displayed. Dog. Boar. Ram. ”Transform!” His voice joined with his classmates as they all vanished in puffs of smoke. Kiryu had attempted to transform into the instructor, but there were multiple inconsistencies that appeared once the smoke cleared. He was slightly shorter than the instructor, his hair length and color were off, and so on. Many minor things that he hadn’t completely focused on when he had performed the jutsu.

This is a lot trickier than the other jutsu we’ve practiced,” he thought to himself as he reverted back to his own appearance.  Any discrepancy in my thoughts will show up in the transformation. Then it’s ineffective as a disguise, and a failed form of worship to the gods. With a newfound determination, he continued to practice throughout the entire rest of the class period. It was more of a mental exercise than anything else. It didn’t require too much energy to perform the transformation jutsu, but if he didn’t have the perfect image of the person he wanted to transform into in his mind… he only met with failure. Still, he managed to easily transform into people that he had made up himself. It was just the transformation into another actual living person that was tripping him up.

By the end of the class period, however, he had managed to accomplish even that. The next class period began with yet another instructional period; this time on the clone jutsu. ”Alright, I see some of you have managed to get the gist of the transformation jutsu. Others obviously still need some work. But at any rate, we’re moving on to the second of the two jutsu you need to be proficient with in order to become a Genin: the clone technique.”
The instructor flashed another series of handseals for the students: Ram, Snake, Tiger. Suddenly, there was a copy of the instructor standing right next to him. ”And that…” said the clone.


”Is the clone technique,” finished the original instructor before dismissing the clone in a puff of smoke. ”The clone technique is useful, but limited in its application. These clones, while they may appear to be true clones, do not have any substance behind them. They aren’t solid, and thus cannot affect the environment or your enemy physically. With that said, an intelligent shinobi can still use them for great effect.”

Kiryu’s mind was already spinning with possibilities. Clones, even immaterial ones, could be used as distractions. That was the most obvious answer, but there were other tricks that could be performed with a technique like this. The gods were truly wonderous in bestowing such power upon humanity.
This technique was much easier than the transformation technique for him to master. After only a couple of hours, he had already managed to sustain a clone with some measure of ease. He wasn’t foolish enough to think that he was already ready to take the exam without more practice, but by the time the Genin Exam came around, he would be more than ready. It was finally time for him to become a member of the gods chosen nation’s military force. He looked out the window to the village that sprawled around the academy. ”Stars shine upon me and bless my path.”

[Exit]

Total Word Count: 2,505 words

Claiming: 
-12 stats (+3 speed, +3 stamina, +1 strength, +5 health)
-Clone Technique: 250/250
-Transformation Technique]: 250/250
-Substitution Technique: 250/250
-Tree Climbing/Surface Walking: 250/250
-Chakra Cleanse: 250/250
-Genjutsu Release: 250/250
-Inside to Outside Block: 250/250
-Basic Medical Ninjutsu: 250/250
-Generic Sealing Technique: 250/250
-Rope Escape Technique: 250/250

Approved