Two Canaries in One Cage [I/O]

Spoiler:

Kouma was ecstatic today, as it was only a little over four days since he had worked in the forge, and it had given him quite a few new inspirations in regarding to his own puppets and mechanisms inside of them, so he was glad that the mission to do this again popped up so soon on the mission board, and so he grabbed that immediately. This time it seemed that he was going to do the mission with someone else, and Kouma was not told who, just that this person was given information about him and what he looked like, so that this person could find Kouma when they both showed up in the mining district of the village to go mine their own ore and work the forges to make it into the high grade steel that they were going to take some of. He wondered who this person was, because most of the other genin would have been posted on the mission itself, so there would have been more information for Kouma to gather about whoever this person was that was going to join him today, but there was none. Not bothering with uncovering this secret since he would soon meet this person face to face when they showed up to the mission in about half an hour, Kouma made his way along the long dirt road that led from the main part of the village to the outskirts of the mining district, and took this time to think about what he was going to do today. He did not mind the actual mining of the stone that contained the ore within it, nor did he mind actually smelting it, but the stress of adding the precise amount of powdered coal to the liquid iron and now messing up the entire bath of steel was still fresh in Kouma’s mind, and he did not want to mess up.

He did not mess up last time, and he even wondered if he was going to do it, so he secretly hoped that the person that he was going to be doing the mission with would be the one to do this step, as it was pretty nerve wracking. Kouma had finally made it to the actual mining site, and as per usual there were people hustling and bustling around the area, carrying things, taking up tools, and putting stuff away for those that were about to go on break, but it was pretty organized, and Koujma liked the bustling activity, as it made him excited for the task to come. He was early, as always, and simply took a seat near the foreman of the operation, who was busy barking orders at people, but Kouma had made sure that the foreman had seen him and was aware of his presence, before simply waiting in a small seating area that they had set up outside of the camp. It was honestly just a couple of chairs for the shinobi that came to help would use, but it was better than standing around. 

WC: 513/1000

Taichi had spent a few hours enjoying the sheer beauty of the village, but now it was time for him to actually make good on the promise that the gate guard had told to him, that there was money to be made within the walls of the village. He searched around for a little while, trying to find himself a place in which missions were given out to those who would accept them. He remembered that this is exactly how things were done in Suna before its collapse, and it was how Kazan ran things, so he was pretty sure that this village would have a similar structure. He asked around a few things, and after getting a fair share of dirty looks due to his asking for mission boards without having a headband of any sort, he finally came across a man that explained where the mission boards were located. He thanked the man and he went in the direction that he was given. 

When he finally located the mission boards, he was immediately accosted by a guard of the village. The man seemed to be a Chuunin of the village, perhaps a Jounin due to the pompous attitude that he seemed to carry on his self. "Hey! This place is for shinobi only, not for regular civilians like yourself!" Taichi stopped for a moment, fighting off his original thought to bury his kunai knife deep into the arrogant bastard's neck. He finally responded by showing his guest pass and explaining the situation. He told the arrogant bastard that he was told by the gate guard, not being able to remember his name, but describing him as the gentleman with the long sword hanging off of his back, that he was able to come here for some work within or around the village.

The ninja then looked down for a moment, obviously trying to fight back his plan to rip into Taichi even more, and he finally pointed at the desk that was located a short distance to his side. "Fine. Accept a mission and get out of here. Make sure that you don't start any trouble in my village. We don't generally have too many outsiders taking missions within our village." Taichi nodded his head, mocking the man slightly with his tone in his response, "Well I do thank you for your consideration and permission." Giving a slight bow to the bastard before walking by him, heading towards the missions boards.

After walking up to the desk beside the mission boards, he talked to another shinobi that was doling out the missions. The two spoke for a moment when Taichi told the shinobi that he was interested in the mission down in the mines. The shinobi nodded his head in understanding and handed him a slip with a name on it. "This is a ninja that has also accepted this mission. You will meet him at the mining site and then speak with the foreman. Once the foreman has given you the go ahead, you can begin the mining process. Here you are." Taichi grabbed the slip from the shinobi and thanked him, leaving the area and headed for the gate of the village so he could get to the mine. He passed by the bastard once more and gave him a wave, meaning to be as passive aggressive as possible. 

He left the corridor with the mission boards and he headed for the mine. Feeling the sun beat down on him enough to have him take off of his blue coat and tie it around his waist with some fibers he made with his wood chakra. He ran his hands through his platinum hair, getting it out of his face as he began walking towards the mine. When he left the gate and took a turn, he immediately saw the gates to the mine that stood before him not too far from the gates themselves. 


"My, my, this place has everything, doesn't it." the platinum haired north man thought to himself as he got closer to the mine a small walk away from the village. The sounds of clashing metal to stone was always one that intrigued the man of the north. He could smell the Earth being ripped from below, the clinging of the picks to the ground, pulling the raw ore from the ground. Taichi reached the mining site and he saw what one would expect, plenty of people walking around the site, lugging tools around and pushing carts along the tracks. He rubbed his eyes and he looked into the sky, noticing that there wasn't a cloud in the sky. "Damn, it wasn't even this hot on Fang island." Taichi complained as he wiped the sweat that was already building up on his brow. 

He saw a man standing on the edge of the project by the entrance barking out orders to the other men on the job. "That's probably the guy I need to speak with." Taichi walked up to the foreman, and tapped him on the shoulder. The feisty foreman whipped around and he rose his voice to Taichi, "What the hell do you want?!" Taichi furrowed his brows and he got within a few inches of the man's face, bending down due to their height difference, and spoke in a quiet tone. "You ever speak to me like that again, and I will rip your fucking lungs out through your spine, understand me?" The foreman's eyes widened and he took a step backwards, nodding his head slightly. Taichi understood the man's change in demeanor as the foreman's response to Taichi's threat, so he changed his own demeanor to change the heaviness of the situation. "Well great! Two questions for you sir. First, where is it that I am supposed to be going to start the mining of some good ole steel? Second, where exactly am I supposed to be meeting a certain Yama-," Taichi grabbed the small sheet of paper he was given when he accepted the mission, "Yamaguchi Kouma." Taichi completed the name after reading it from the small sheet of paper. 

WC: 1022

Kouma was sitting there day dreaming a bit, thinking about the task at hand, and when he could make a glorious puppet using his clan’s secretive and powerful set of jutsu, when suddenly he was started out of his stupor by the foreman yelling, and then again by some else yelling back at him in a threatening tone. Kouma was a bit startled, so all he had heard from the man’s loud yelling was the back end of his sentence and or threat, “I will rip your fucking lungs out through your spine, undertsand me?” Kouma was shocked, just as much as the foreman was shocked he was sure, but Kouma shook his head as he looked at the man who threatened the foreman, wondering who this person was and why he was yelling at the leader of the site. It was a strange site, because normally people would blow the foreman off, but they would not outright threaten to murder him in broad daylight, and Kouam was standing on edge a bit, getting ready to form hand seals if need be, but all of that tenseness was also shattered by the man suddenly changing his tone of voice and his demeanor altogether. The man stated that he was here to mine steel, and that gave all the indication that Kouma needed to understand that he was in for a bit of an interesting day to say the least. He wondered where this person came from, and how they had gotten permission to do a mission with this sort of mind set, but Kouma would not judge, and simply give him ample respect as one of his seniors.

Kouma figured that the man was going to say his name when he was reading the bit of paper, but when he said it, Kouma still paused a bit before heading over to where he was pretty quickly. Kouma was a stalwart young man, and immediately bowed to the person that just showed up there and threatened the foreman, and although this person was weird and potentially dangerous, Kouma would not show any weakness in his stance or his voice, as that was partially a sign of disrespect in his clan, as one should be able to show composure to one’s seniors. After bowing slightly to the older gentleman, Kouma quickly stated his name and started talking to him. “Hello, I am Yamaguchi Kouma, pleased to meet you. I look forward to working with you today at the mine.” He said, making sure to enunciate the words clearly so that no he would not have to repeat himself. “May I know your name senior?” Kouma asked flatly as he was walking towards the equipment rack getting ready to put on his equipment. He knew it was about time to start and knew the routine on how to do everything, so he did not need the foreman much, which seemed to be a good thing, because the foreman seemed to be a bit shell shocked and not wanting to talk to or explain anything to the newcomer.

“Have you ever done any smelting or smithing, senior?” Kouma would say as he put on the hard hat, gloves, and grabbed a pickaxe off of the small rack that was there for specifically guests such as themselves. Kouma decided to talk to this person, since he did not seem to fly off the handle for no reason, or at least he seemed to be fine now, he probably just did not like being disrespected, which is why he yelled at the foreman, Kouma thought. Kouma was more than willing to give his senior shinobi here a few pointers and show them how to do things if they did not know how, and Kouma was actually fairly happy he could work with someone that seemed to have a lot more worldly experience than he did, if by virtue of nothing else but his age compared to Kouma’s

WC: 661
WC Thus Far: 1172/1000

Almost immediately after he had called for the ninja's name he was greeted by a spry young shinobi with a respectful bow. Taichi had been on the road so long he had forgotten all of the rules of etiquette that he was once taught when he was young. "Hello young friend. I assure you you need not bow to such a bastard of the lands such as me." Taichi reached out his hand as if to shake his hand. Should the child reciprocate such a gesture, he would grab his forearm and shake it, as a sign of respect from him. The young shinobi asked for the north man's name, to which Taichi responded honestly. "My name is Taichi of the North. I am here to spectate the Chuunin Exams and make me a little bit of money while I'm here. Good to meet you my young friend."


As the group began to leave for the equipment, Taichi thought he could craft something a little stronger. He pressed his hands together and focused his chakra into the palms of his hands. As he removed his hands from each other, a wooden handle protruded from his hands, and at the end, a pick axe's head. "Ahhh now this will do nicely." He gripped the handle and he decided that he was going to make another one. Using his Sage transformation he created two more arms underneath the ones he already had and did the same thing. With two pick axes in his four arms, he was ready to get himself some high grade steel. 

They walked into the mining site and the child began asking the North man questions of his experience in smithing or in smelting. Taichi leaned back a bit and looked into the clear sky above them. "Ohh boy do I. I used to live in a place called Fang Island. There was a smith there that a friend and myself used to visit there all of the time. We would make swords, shields, armor, axes, you name it we made it kind of a deal." Though he could not keep the thought of Hiroaki out of his mind, the blaze Taichi had set, catching his own friends on fire. Oh how stupid he was, how ignorant. His head dropped slightly at the thought of his own friend dying in the blaze set by Taichi himself. 

The ninjas got to the mining spot and began to pick at the resources before them. Taichi would use his wood picks and his four arms and enhanced strength due to his chakra potency to dig deeper and deeper with every single swing. Sparks and rocks would fly out of his hole, with each swing he would have more and more of the ore directly before him. He thought of the child that was beside him, thinking of what he was like at the same age. "Say child. What exactly is your purpose in life? Have you given it any thought yet?" Taichi thought of himself for a moment, how he was lacking in any purpose in life, being nothing more than a wandering criminal without anything to truly show for his troubles, except for dead friends and a broken heart. "I ask because it is so important to have something to live for, a reason to die if anything. Just make sure you do better than I did. Always keep your head on straight, keep trying to do the next right thing. Lest you turn into a criminal, or worse, a wandering bastard with no purpose." 

Taichi was unsure just why it was that he was telling the child all of this. Maybe it was the heat and the work causing him to feel like reminiscing of the times in Fang island. Or maybe there was something with his own heart weighing him down far worse than he could ever imagine. He wanted to feel like he could do something for this world other than steal from people and threaten to take their lives. He just wanted something more, a purpose in life. Maybe this was how he was going to get that purpose, was to finally be honest about the misery and tangled mess that was his life. He would wait for the child's response, but he would continue to strike the ground, extracting more and more of the resource under their feet.

WC:733

Kouma was a bit confused when the man said that he did not need to bow to a bastard like him, but this was simply not going to happen with Kouma, as he was definitely too stuck in his respectful ways that were taught to him by his mother. So, even though it might seem a bit rude, one should not really comment on someone’s self deprecation, especially one with more worldly experience than he had. It seemed a bit nonsensical for a young man like Kouma to try and lecture someone like this whoi had obviously seen the world, so he simply held his tongue and continued the bow. Then when he asked the older gentleman’s name, it was revealed to him that is was Taichi of the North, which Kouma found a bit strange that this man had some sort of title, especially because he did not know if there were any honorifics that he had to use for this particular title, but it seemed like this Taichi person was pretty relaxed… well most of the time.

He also said that he was here to spectate the Chuunin Exams, and with that, Kouma perked up quite a bit and started talking about his interest in it. “Oh, the Chuunin Exams! I’ve been training really hard so I can try and get a spot in the exams. I think it’ll be great fun to compete with other ninja around the world, plus I’d like to learn about their culture. Plus, my puppetry skill has gotten a bit better recently, so I also want to test my combat skills against other genin.” Kouma said fairly quickly, as if he only had one breath to get all of the information out like it would disappear if he did not say the whole thing at once. He realized how over excited he got about it, and got a little embarrassed, looking down a little bit with an awkward smile on his face.

They had walked over and grabbed the equipment they needed at this point, but something fairly strange happened, which was Taichi growing a separate pair of arms, and using wood style, which were both very new to Kouma. Unlike most people who might be startled, Kouma was more filled with the child-like curiosity that people usually lost in favor of the pessimistic or realist view of the world. He wanted to ask a bunch of questions, but it seemed a bit coarse to suddenly barrage the man with questions, so he was just going to ask one, which was about the wood jutsu, as he learned from his studying that Senju wood was one of the best materials for puppets in the entire world, and he would love to get his hands on some eventually, so he was actually more curious about the wood than the second pair of arms.

Kouma had seen humanoid sharks and other things of strange nature growing up, so there was no reason to fret so much about the second pair of arms, at least that was what Kouma had thought. “Senior, are you from the Senju clan?” Kouma asked with great curiosity, as it would be great to see a person from a huge clan like this and ask him questions, especially because he said that he had a great amount of experience in smithing and making weapons. His insight might help him create powerful weapons to attach to his puppets in the future, so this was great. After he responded to that, the two were finally in the mines proper, and started swinging the pickaxes at the wall. Kouma was slightly slower than usual, as he kept glancing at the older man’s technique, swings, and how the senju wood pickaxe that was created seemed to rip through the cave wall better than the iron ones they had in their hands.

This just made Kouma all the more fascinated with the Senju clan and their special wood that they could produce. How amazing it would be if he was able to craft his puppets from Senju Wood from now on, however that seemed like it would be exorbitantly expensive, which brought his thoughts back to the mission at hand, as he needed the money. That was when the man suddenly asked a very profound question, which was asking if Kouma knew his purpose in life yet, and said that it was really important, and not become some wanderer without a purpose. The man seemed to be speaking of himself when he said that last part, but the first part resonated with Kouma. His hand suddenly moved up to his face, where he placed his fingers on top of his fairly large scar, almost touching his discolored eye, as he was lost in thought for a brief moment. “I want to protect everyone!” Kouma said, holding the pickaxe with both arms now above his head, in a slightly triumphant pose, before deflating slightly and putting his arms down to his sides, and continuing.

“I wish I could say it was something that grand, but all I want to do is get stronger to protect my mother. She taught me everything, and took care of me even after she was crippled by…” Kouma had to cut himself off, realizing that he was about to speak about his dark past and his father, which was a secret between him and most likely the Kage, since a couple of secrets of a clan that was in his village were stolen in the incident. “Eh, the point is my mother is the driving force behind me becoming strong enough to stand up on my own in the ninja world. I also want to become a powerful clan member to honor my clan’s ancestors and our pact with the Ancients.” Kouma said, almost without thinking as this was the mantra which was drilled into his head from an early age. Kouma adjusted himself, and started swinging the pickaxe some more at the wall, getting more ore as well. Thinking about it for a moment, he wanted to respond to Taichi about what he had said earlier.

“You know, having no purpose doesn’t seem that bad. That means you can get a new purpose, and it could be anything! The possibilities make it a bit exciting, right?”

WC: 1056
WC Thus Far: 2228

"Ahh the purity of innocence. Or at least the appearance of such." Taichi thought to himself when he heard the young lad talk about the Chuunin exams. To hear such excitement about anything was refreshing to the disgruntled shinobi of the north. "Well I am glad to hear such excitement, and a puppeteer no less! Well I am sure that you will do just fine in the Chuunin exams, I have absolutely no doubt that you will do well. You seem to have the right head on your shoulders, a head that still has a mind to learn and an excitement to match. That is usually one thing you lose when having a life such as ours, as shinobi." The child then asked a question that Taichi had forgotten to expect when he used his wood chakra for it wasn't a typical sight for people. 

The child asked whether or not Taichi was from the Senju clan, the famous clan that made the wood style chakra famous with its versatility and all around power. The answer of course was no, for he had only obtained the ability to use such a powerful chakra due to his implant that he had received from the Kazekage so long ago, or at least it seemed like it was so long ago. He thought on how he was going to answer the young child's question. Would he be honest and run the risk of having to explain the treacherous world of DNA transplants and the violent business that is connected with it? Or would he lie to the child and begin his time within the village already living a lie to some of the members of the village? After thinking on the question for a few swings of the pick axe he finally decided to answer the child's honest question.

"No. I am not a member of the Senju clan. I am a member of the Uchiha clan, but I gained this ability to use that clan's chakra through an implant of an organ from a member of that clan. It's a nasty business, but a business that can grant people exponential power should they choose to take it." Hoping that the answer would not open up a can of worms that would lead to him having to explain the criminal nature behind DNA hunting, he figured honesty would be the best decision for him to make in his new life's path.

After a few more swings, the child then explained just what his goal was, "protect everyone, eh?" Taichi thought before the child revealed that he was only joking. He thought on his own goals in life, how he wished to protect just those that he loved, and he failed at that. He tried to set the bar so low, that there was no way he would not achieve it. Then once the child changed his response to wanting to protect just his mother. He thought of his own mother, the beatings that she would endure at the hand of his father. The bastard thief that murdered her as she was on guard duty. The love that he had for his mother when he was younger and she was alive. He would stop swinging the picks for a just a moment, being distracted in the thoughts that he had rushing through his mind of his mother, and of this young child. The young child that would be hiding something from him due to his slip of the tongue, before catching himself. 

Wanting to not make the child uncomfortable, he decided to dodge the mentioning of his mother becoming crippled, but the words did not elude him. It was something that he was curious of, something that maybe one day he would be told. He decided instead to respond to the child's changed words. "It is a good purpose, to protect those that you love. Always ensure that you never lose sight of who you love, though. That is another vice that is far too easy for many, myself included. Those who love themselves and fight for themselves, shall do nothing but waste away in the vast emptiness that is vanity. A lonely life, indeed." 


The child spoke more on the wanting to be able to stand on his own in the ninja world, something that was very right want when you are young, something that was very hard to do and took a lot of time and hard work. Taichi looked down upon the child and grinned. "Yes. I see that you are looking for your own place in this world. I will tell you that to do that, you will need to work hard for a long time, which I'm sure you know. I have met many a ninja that have done the exact thing you are looking to do, and they all have worked on their craft for decades. But don't worry, the straighter you keep your head, the stronger you'll get."

The child seemed to have an insatiable amount of optimism, which was good. Very much in the opposite of Taichi. He once was that optimistic child, but life had beaten it all out of him, leaving him to be nothing more than just the empty husk that he was in the present. "It's good to keep your optimism, friend. It allows you to see the world in a much better light than the rest of us pessimistic assholes that many of us grow to be. That will be the hardest thing you will do in your world, keeping that mentality, but it is quintessential that you do it. It will be that light, that you will be able to rise above the rest of us. Keep that light my friend." 

Taichi noticed that the sky was beginning to darken, they had been digging a lot longer than he had anticipated. He was basically in a hole of sorts on the wall of the cave, the enhanced strength and the extra limbs sure did him a huge favor. He leaped out of the hole and he had the picks return to the Earth below them. The child said another piece of optimistic wisdom that still took Taichi by surprise. "Exciting, you think? Truly my friend. Don't lose that light in you. Keep it with all that you've got." Taichi then pushed his four hands together and focused his wood chakra within his palms. As they pulled apart, he created a walking stick unlike anything the child had probably seen up to that point in his life. 

It was twisted and had ornamental carvings along the side, with runes cut in the old language that he had seen in his visions of the gods. The top of the stick had a small cradle that was carved into the shape of a hammer amulet, a symbol of the might god Thor. He handed the stick to the child and said, "Here you are, may this stick serve you well in your travels, and let it remind you to always keep that spark within you." Taichi would await the child's response with a smile on his face and he would have his two extra limbs retract back into his body and he would see what the child's response would be.

WC: 1217

Kouma was quite enjoying his conversation with this fairly strange man, but it was quite interesting to say the least, and Kouma was learning a lot, not just about the swinging of the pickaxe, but also about life in general. He had not met many powerful people in his life yet, and even less people that actually had the chance to tour the world, so the wealth of experience was refreshing to Kouma. As they continued to chat and work the cave wall for it’s ore, Taichi was patiently responding to all of Kouma’s questions and inquiries fairly quickly, which only made Kouma want to ask more. He talked about how he thought Kouma would do great in the exams, and that he should stick with having a mind that could get excited over things, as this was one of the first things you would lose as a shinobi. Kouma thought about that line for a bit, as this was pretty profound for him, and wondered if there was going to be a day when he would no longer be excited about certain things, and if that was him just losing his excitement or if the excitement would be transferred to something else, which would indicate that he was simply growing as a person.

The conversation got to the part where Kouma asked about the Senju clan, and then got a fairly good conversation on transplants. Kouma appreciated his take on it as a means of only garnering more power, but Kouma and his clan were a bit more spiritual when it came to things like transplants, as they venerated the dead as another person might venerate their god’s messengers. This meant that taking a part of them and incorporating their abilities and uniqueness into yourself was a form of remembrance and respect in a way, much like if you kept a dead friend’s favorite sword as a memorial, and used it to cut down your own enemies. Kouma did not feel like explaining this to the man, considering they were not close enough for him to explain the details of his clan, especially because they had been feared and hated some time ago on the battlefields.

Kouma was nodding along and taking mental notes having this conversation with Taichi, and he had a lot to think about when he went home later. He wanted to make sure that he loved the right people, and that he should not be conceited and fight only for himself. This was something that never really popped up in conversation or in Kouma’s head, because he was always fighting for something else. Maybe this was what the man meant when he said he did not really have a purpose anymore, and Kouma felt a bit of his melancholy. As they were conversing, it was almost time to pack it in and start on smelting the materials that they had gotten, but before that, it seemed that Taichi had something else to give Kouma, some sort of walking stick made of wood. Kouma was unsure if this walking stick was the Senju Wood that he was thinking of, that he wanted for forging puppets, but even if it was not that, he would still accept the gesture.

“Oh! Thanks a bunch, this is awesome.” Kouma said, slight stars in his eyes when he held the strange looking stick, that was more of a staff for Kouma, considering his height. He lifted it and moved it around a bit before taking a look at the runes engraved on it. “Do these have any significant meaning?” Kouma asked, as they seemed to be complex characters of some sort of alphabet, but Kouma did not know what these symbols actually were. After asking, they both would head to the furnace area to drop off their ores to get processed. This was the interesting part to Kouma, as he wanted to see how the older gentleman forged things. It was just a simple process of adding the powdered coal to make the steel, but the ratios had to be correct, and they needed to fold it was some hammer and anvil techniques, which Kouma was only a little experienced at.

After that, it seemed like their time in the mission was coming to an end, but Kouma was really happy that they had such meaningful conversations together, as he had learned a lot. As they would be walking out of the compound and going their separate ways, Kouma would turn to Taichi. “Well, thank you very much senior, for your insight and wisdom. I hope we can talk together again soon.” Kouma would say while giving him another bow, hopefully he would accept it this time. Kouma then waved while walking back to his house with his new walking stick and some more high grade steel. He had some stuff in mind for a puppet design.

EXIT
WC: 817
Total WC: 3045
Claiming 4100 ryo from mission and genin
Claiming 20 ap from mission
Claiming 60 ap from wc
Claiming high grade steel
Using 3045 words for Shogunate 3045/4900

The child took the walking stick from Taichi with a gleam in his eye, only to then ask about the runes that were carved into the side. The child asked if they had any significance to them, and the answer to that was an obvious yes to him, and he realized that these were runes that were quite the new sight to anyone else. "Yes in fact, these runes here are symbols given to us by the gods. They are a means of calling upon their power to bring unto us through the tools that we have here in Midgard." Taichi pointed towards one in particular, the symbol of Thor's hammer. Once he pointed towards it he would explain it's significance. "This one here represents the god Thor and his hammer. It is said that when the storms come and the lightning begins to strike across our skies, it is the god Thor that is causing these sparks by working on his anvil. The mighty hammer Mjolnir working the very steel that crafts the armor and weapons of the warriors in Asgard, the realm of the gods." 


Taichi would be visibly more active and animated when talking about the gods and their workings in the sky. "All of these runes that are carved into the side of the stick are to bring you luck, strength, and guidance. All to help you in your travels of becoming a truly great and powerful shinobi, but more importantly, to keep that spark within you active and alive." Taichi knew that it was about time they wrapped things up and went into the smelting area to turn the ore into a more usable ingot, so that is exactly what Taichi would do. He concluded with saying, "If you ever want to hear more about the gods, come find me. I will tell you everything that they have shown me and everything else that I have learned through a lot of meditation and prayer." The North man left the child's immediate presence and went towards the smelter. 

Remembering all those times in Fang Island, he remembered smelting the ore that he would gather from the mountains. He would haul hundreds of pounds of raw ore every day to the smith to ensure there was enough material to make the suit of armor he once used to wear. He put the ore into the hopper, and he readied himself for the smelting process to come. As the heat began to rise, he would add the components needed to create the purest form of steel that he could, seeing the solids melt and separating the impurities from the beautiful substance that he was after. The molten metal would pour from the smelter into its form, creating a solid ingot that he would be able to work with on the forge. 

When the ingot cooled enough to begin the work, he grabbed it with a pair of tongs that he grew out of his arm with his Wood Release: Cutting technique. The tongs would protrude from his arm and grasp the piece of metal, creating a sort of bond between him and the metal before him, now he was ready for the anvil. He prayed to Thor for a moment, praying for guidance as he worked his own piece of metal on the anvil. He place the metal down and he began shaping it to his liking. When he was done folding and shaping the metal, he would quench the metal and allow it to cool all of the way down, allowing him to take it with him and decide just what it was that he was going to do with this ingot of high grade steel that he now had.

He bid farewell to the child and to the foreman once again, then he would leave the mine and head back into the village walls. 

EXIT
WC:678
TWC: 3650

Claims: 

+1328 towards Black Receivers (completed) [Max stat discount applied]
+1875 towards V7 Six Paths of Pain (Completed) [Max stat discount applied]
+447 towards Lightning as fourth basic element (447/6000) [Max stat discount applied]

The child took the walking stick from Taichi with a gleam in his eye, only to then ask about the runes that were carved into the side. The child asked if they had any significance to them, and the answer to that was an obvious yes to him, and he realized that these were runes that were quite the new sight to anyone else. "Yes in fact, these runes here are symbols given to us by the gods. They are a means of calling upon their power to bring unto us through the tools that we have here in Midgard." Taichi pointed towards one in particular, the symbol of Thor's hammer. Once he pointed towards it he would explain it's significance. "This one here represents the god Thor and his hammer. It is said that when the storms come and the lightning begins to strike across our skies, it is the god Thor that is causing these sparks by working on his anvil. The mighty hammer Mjolnir working the very steel that crafts the armor and weapons of the warriors in Asgard, the realm of the gods." 


Taichi would be visibly more active and animated when talking about the gods and their workings in the sky. "All of these runes that are carved into the side of the stick are to bring you luck, strength, and guidance. All to help you in your travels of becoming a truly great and powerful shinobi, but more importantly, to keep that spark within you active and alive." Taichi knew that it was about time they wrapped things up and went into the smelting area to turn the ore into a more usable ingot, so that is exactly what Taichi would do. He concluded with saying, "If you ever want to hear more about the gods, come find me. I will tell you everything that they have shown me and everything else that I have learned through a lot of meditation and prayer." The North man left the child's immediate presence and went towards the smelter. 

Remembering all those times in Fang Island, he remembered smelting the ore that he would gather from the mountains. He would haul hundreds of pounds of raw ore every day to the smith to ensure there was enough material to make the suit of armor he once used to wear. He put the ore into the hopper, and he readied himself for the smelting process to come. As the heat began to rise, he would add the components needed to create the purest form of steel that he could, seeing the solids melt and separating the impurities from the beautiful substance that he was after. The molten metal would pour from the smelter into its form, creating a solid ingot that he would be able to work with on the forge. 

When the ingot cooled enough to begin the work, he grabbed it with a pair of tongs that he grew out of his arm with his Wood Release: Cutting technique. The tongs would protrude from his arm and grasp the piece of metal, creating a sort of bond between him and the metal before him, now he was ready for the anvil. He prayed to Thor for a moment, praying for guidance as he worked his own piece of metal on the anvil. He place the metal down and he began shaping it to his liking. When he was done folding and shaping the metal, he would quench the metal and allow it to cool all of the way down, allowing him to take it with him and decide just what it was that he was going to do with this ingot of high grade steel that he now had.

He bid farewell to the child and to the foreman once again, then he would leave the mine and head back into the village walls. 

EXIT
WC:678
TWC: 3650

Claims: 

+1328 towards Black Receivers (completed) [Max stat discount applied]previous progress
+1875 towards V7 Six Paths of Pain (Completed) [Max stat discount applied]
+447 towards Lightning as fourth basic element (447/6000) [Max stat discount applied]

Both approved