Pushing The Limits

Taichi had finally agreed that the two of them should head to the blacksmith. ‘It must be the fact that it was starting to get late’, he thought. Hiroaki and Taichi had started their walk towards the blacksmith. Glancing at Taichi from time to time, the man had started to fidget. It first started with a few twitches in different spot of his body. The fellow missing ninja seemed to be getting restless. Looking at the man’s eyes, he could tell the man had some internal conflict that had been bothering him. He was all too familiar with emotional and mental trauma as he himself had suffered from it all his life. 

What it looked like was Taichi’s eye moving to the corner in remembrance and then a twinge of pain that spread across his face each time growing deeper. Hiroaki didn’t say anything as he expected everyone had these kinds of moments where they broke down from past horrors they had experienced. It was the type many people especially Shinobi had lived with. Lots of people never even had parents or any family for that fact growing up. It was usually a bunch of strangers who stuck to each other to build each other up unless you were some kind of hermit. 

Walking through the woods for a short time they had soon enough reached the main road that would lead to everything else. Taichi couldn’t handle whatever he was going through obvious enough to Hiroaki as the man had put his hand up. “You go on a head”, he would tell Hiroaki, informing him of the details of the blacksmith and what he should say to the man. Hiroaki nodded to the missing ninja. Whatever it was that haunted Taichi, Hiroaki couldn’t do anything to relieve that pain. He didn’t know of the man’s past or what he had suffered from and he doubts the man would share his trauma. 

Hiroaki nodded to Taichi and continued down the road by himself. He would pass many houses and businesses until he would land in front of the one he had intended to go to. The blacksmith’s place would of course be close to most of the townspeople. The idea of the placement was that it had to be placed far enough so that a fire couldn’t spread to other buildings if something went wrong, but close enough that people could buy their wares easily so that the blacksmith could make money to survive.

He entered the dual craftsman area/shop. A burly looking man with canon like arms greeted Hiroaki. “What can I do for you?”, he asked. Hiroaki didn’t say anything at first. Instead he ignored the man and went over all of the man’s wares that were placed out front. They were all tools just as Taichi had said to him. He picked up a hoe that was used for pulling up the dirt to plant seeds. He swung it around in the air. “Where is the real metal at?”, he asked to the blacksmith. The blacksmith had walked up from his counter to behind Hiroaki watching what he was doing in amusement. 

“The real metal, huh?”, he asked. The blacksmith noticed the swords along the side of Hiroaki’s hips. He knew what Hiroaki had meant. He beckoned for Hiroaki to follow him to the back of the shop. Hiroaki obliged more than happy to see what the burly man had in store for him. The back was packed with metal scraps, chests, and even more tools. On one of the walls he pulled out a sword and showed it to Hiroaki. Hiroaki held the blade and gave it a try. He swung it out, back, and then tucked it into his armpit in a practiced routine. “It’s light and a fine blade”, he said.

The blacksmith raised an eyebrow. “You know about weapon crafting?”, he asked. Hiroaki shook his head to the burly man. “Not a chance at it. I simply know a good sword when I am holding one. Too bad this sword doesn’t seem to do anything, but swing”, he said a bit disappointed. The blacksmith let out a sad sigh. He put the sword down on one of his work benches there. “Not many Shinobi around these parts to require me to really show what I can do with my weapon craft”, he said.

Hiroaki placed a hand on the shoulder of the blacksmith and came up close to the burly man, unafraid of the mass of him. “I don’t suppose you can show me how to do some weapon craft myself?”, he asked. The blacksmith shook Hiroaki’s hand off of his shoulder and moved back to the front of the store, making sure there wasn’t a customer waiting. “Why would I waste my time with a brat like you. Besides I got an apprentice helping me around already”, he spit. Hiroaki walked in front to the other side of the store counter the blacksmith was stationed at.

He slammed two of his hands on the counter, leaning in to the blacksmith. “I know. Taichi, right?”, said Hiroaki. The blacksmith raised his eyebrow again at the name of his apprentice. He finally understood what was happening. “Ah, he sent you here hasn’t he. Just because he says for you to come here doesn’t mean I got to help you”, he stated shaking his head. Hiroaki scratched his head and sighed. He started to walk to the door. “Suppose you will be making petty tools to help shovel shit for the rest of your days then”, he said in fake sadness.

The blacksmith slammed his fist in anger, looking down. He was internally contemplating his decisions that had lead him to what he thought was a pathetic position. “Alright, alright. Friend of Taichi. I’ll show you the ropes.”, he said. Hiroaki smiled which vanished before he turned around. He went back inside the store and followed the man to a weapon crafting station where the fire, oil, metal scraps, tools, and stone edges were all in place. They got to work in making a few basic daggers to start with. Soon Taichi would be back to see them busy at work.


(WC: 1037 | TWC: 3990)

Accidentally posted the same post twice.

Taichi finished his routine of whipping himself and he stood up from his crouched position. He stumbled out of the woods, thinking to himself that he may have taken things a little too far this time. He noticed that he had been going farther and farther every time he felt the flashbacks coming through his mind. Taichi quickly ran to the blacksmith shop. The old man did have quite a temper, but hopefully Hiroaki was able to handle himself. 

Taichi arrived at the old man's shop and he could hear the sound of sharpening blades and Taichi was surprised. He walked behind the counter and into the workshop. When he walked in, Hiroaki and the old man were sharpening his sword he had a few blanks inside the forge heating them up, getting them ready for the anvil no doubt. Taichi smiled and the old man snapped around and greeted Taichi with a loud greeting and handed him an ale. Taichi didn't usually like the swill, but when the old man handed it you, it was better to not deny it. 

Taichi greeted Hiroaki that was sitting at the grinding stone. Taichi went to the forge and began crafting his next blade. The blade he was working on was going to be ready to accept his chakra and allow Taichi to infuse his chakra into the blade. The group worked the forge and workshop through the night and when Taichi was beginning to fall asleep and leaning into the forge. On his way home, he stopped at the bar for a few more beers and as he walked into his new home, he drank them all and passed out on the floor. 

WC: 282
TWC:2671

+500 towards Water Release: Water Wall (Completed)(Previous Progress)
+341 towards Moving Earth Core (Completed)(Previous Progress)
+17 towards Earth Release:Rock Pillar Spears (Completed)(Previous Progress)
+375 towards Water Replacement (Completed) WC Disc.
+750 towards Hiding in Water (Completed) WC Disc.
+688 towards Water Release: Snake's Mouth (688/750) WC Disc.

Taichi had arrived back, entering the smithy. He joined Hiroaki and the blacksmith in the back where all the equipment was. Hiroaki noticed that Taichi’s shirt clung a little too closely to his body. He didn’t know whether it was from sweat or blood, but he assumed blood as the man had the smell of iron. He didn’t say anything about it to Taichi. Hiroaki wondered if the blacksmith knew what Taichi might have done on his detour. He also wondered if Taichi had these kinds of walks regularly. It wasn’t his place to talk about what other people did in their spare time. Hiroaki certainly was no angel.  

When the blacksmith offered Taichi the ale, he had swiped it out from Taichi’s hand. He didn’t seem to have wanted it anyway. Not that him wanting it would have stopped Hiroaki from snatching it and drinking up. He wouldn’t make any type of comment on his snatching to either of the two people there either. There wasn’t anything to say about it, the ale was now his and that was that.

The three of them had worked extensively hard. Sweat had made an appearance on Hiroaki’s head as the heat and hammering had gotten to him. His arms were beyond sore as for every other muscle and organ in his body. “Pass.”, he would say. The blacksmith would hand him the tool he needed to pick up the hot metal. Hiroaki had stopped working on daggers a long time ago, ever since Taichi had came back. 

Personally, Hiroaki liked daggers as much as he liked katanas. The only problem with daggers were that they were even more close range than a sword. They were easy to conceal and to use for assassinations, but in a real head on fight against pros they wouldn’t have much leeway in a battle. ‘Maybe I’ll make a dagger-esque type blade that goes along the side of my arms one day’, he thought. He wouldn’t make the attempt of making them now though. It was too big and complex of a task to handle and he didn’t care to ask the blacksmith and Taichi for help in making it. The two were helping enough as is, but if he tried something that the three of them haven’t really ever made, they would be hovering over him way more closer than he would have liked.

From time to time Hiroaki would head out of the smithy from the suffocating smoke. ‘I got my own cough to deal with killing me and now the smoke’, he thought He would take in the fresh air until that same cough he had thought about stopped him. ‘Can’t a man get a little air’, he thought. He entered back inside the smithy and would return to the work he had been doing. He wouldn’t go about abandoning his task now.

Well after it got dark out, Hiroaki would thank the smithy for his great teaching and letting him use his equipment. He wouldn’t take home any of the things they made, but would take the knowledge of making them. He would also thank Taichi for being his training partner and in part, instructor. Hiroaki and Taichi would part ways for the day, Hiroaki heading back to the Chunin where he could sleep soundly for the night.


(WC: 643 | TWC: 4633)

[exit]

Claiming:
4633/200 = 23 stats
One With The Water (2450/2 for being trained = 1225)
Suiton: Exploding Shockwave (1750/2 for being trained=875)
Suiton: Great Exploding Colliding Wave (2500)


(1225+875+2500)=4600
4633-4600=33

33 -> to the NRPG void. Math is sometimes fun.

@Taichi: You can only receive ap or the 25% wc reduction, not both
@Hiraoki: approved

Thank you for telling me! I did not know that one. I removed the AP

Approved!