Lab Work (IO)

It was a new day in Hoshigakure; Masashi was enjoying just relaxing in bed watching the sun come up; the sunrise from his bedroom was one of the reasons why he enjoyed living in the manor in the first place. It always gave a quiet sense of serenity that the Uzumaki Jounin found very helpful to starting his day. He had a lot on his mind lately; his meeting with Ayato, checking in with his parents, needing to reconnect with Tsubaki, proctoring the Chuunin Exams, working on his genetic research down in the lab, and gathering more plants and herbs for his greenhouse.

The meeting with Ayato hadn’t gone as he’d expected but that made sense; he hadn’t seen the Hyuuga in quite some time, so it was natural that things would be different. He’d taken a leap of faith by telling the new Kage about his lab under the estate, but if he wanted to get more research material it only made sense to do it legit, for the most part. Naturally if he could get others on the side he would because it meant more research data that he could pass on.

His second thought would be to reach out to his parents, who didn’t live in the village, preferring to stay in their castle to the north of Hoshi. He would send a messenger with a letter explaining his absence and apologise to his family for his poor conduct. It was inexcusable as the son of the Countess to behave the way he had for as long as he did too. That would need to be rectified and he would likely need to go there and speak with them personally. However, he would try to keep assumptions out of the way until he sent the letter and heard back from his parents.

The next task on his thought list was to determine who he’d need to do about Tsubaki. He hadn’t really said anything to her since their date; literally no communication had been directed her way. To be fair though, no communication had left the estate from him during that period of time, so while it wasn’t just her, the Uzumaki Jounin did feel bad about it. He would need to make it up to her, provided that she wasn’t seeing someone else already. And even if she weren’t, she would likely be mad or upset that he had not spoken to her and may not want to spend more time with him. Masashi would completely understand; his behaviour was unacceptable after all. Still, he would need to reach out an olive branch, on the off chance that she was mad at him. He resolved to write her a letter to her as well, invite her to his home so that he could apologise properly, and attempt to pick up where they left off. ‘Perhaps I should send a token along as a sign of my apology.’ He thought to himself as he moved on to the next part of his list.

Proctoring the Chuunin Exams were the next thing on his agenda. He didn’t have to go proctor the exam today, but he would need to come up with the challenge for the pair of Genin to do. Of course, he could have them perform the bell test, which was the most generic test of skill for up and coming shinobi, but he felt that he would need to do something different. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was he was going to have them do, but he didn’t have a lot of time left to sort it out, he would need to figure it out soon.

The last two subjects on his list were related to his passions: Genetic research and herbalism. He had some genetic samples to work with thanks to Stein. He would now get to run some experiments to see how the different organs interacted with each other. Once he had done a basic battery of tests on the organs and the combinations he determined he could test, he could start testing them with ingredients from his greenhouse. Essentially, he would take herbs and plants from his greenhouse, combine them to make an alchemical substance and then apply it to samples from each genetic combination to see what kind of effect could be had. It would be quite a time-consuming set of experiments, and would likely take him a significant portion of time, but he had no doubt that the results would be most worthwhile.

Now that he had his plan figured out, it was time to get out of bed and get these plans in motion.

WC: 776

Mid topic claim:

329 WC towards Sage Mode (2000/2000, 50% discount coupon)
Progress from : here


447 WC unclaimed

approved

That being said, his bed was so comfy, and he really didn’t feel like getting out of it. Unfortunately, time didn’t wait for anyone and he’d wasted enough time lately, so with a sigh, the Uzumaki Jounin rolled out of bed and started getting ready for his day. He was not planning on leaving his home today, so he wouldn’t bother with wearing his manipulated fabric. First thing to do would be to get cleaned up, so he grabbed a shower, enjoying the hot water longer than necessary. Once he had completed his shower, Masashi got dressed in a pair of dark, loose-fitting pants, a fitted tunic of black trimmed with white, and flowing robes that were white trimmed in black.

His next step was getting something to eat. His butler, knowing that he was awake and getting ready for his day, got the kitchens preparing breakfast for him. Nothing particularly fancy today; Masashi was going to be doing a lot of work, and a large breakfast would lower his focus. His meal that morning consisted of eggs, bacon, some toasted bread with butter, and a glass of orange juice. While he sat down and ate, his butler provided him with any letters and news that had been delivered. Nothing really important came in today, which was even better for the Uzumaki Jounin because it meant no reason to leave the grounds. A couple after mission reports, intelligence news from other countries, updates to the Bingo Book, and news from around the village. He took his time going through the mail; he wasn’t in a rush today as it was his day to catch up on some things, and he would do so however he wished.

With breakfast over, it was time to get some letters written. He had two letters to write; one to his parents, and the other to Tsubaki Senju, who was another Jounin in the village. He’d start with his parents as it was likely going to be easier to write that one. He moved from the dining room to the library to get these letters started. The Library was where he had placed his writing desk so it made sense that would be where he wrote the two letters. He sat down at his desk, grabbed a stack of papers and a pen and got to writing:

Mother and Father, I hope this letter finds you well.

I wanted to start off by apologising to you; no doubt you are aware that I have been reclusive of late, and this is a completely unacceptable stance for me to take. I understand completely any disappointment you may have towards my behaviour and accept any reprimand you have for me. I have come to my senses and will be working from this point forward to make amends for my clear lack of action over the last six months. I hope that you can forgive me.

I also wanted to update you on everything else that has been going on in the capital in case you were not already in the loop. Tensions have risen; the church has started becoming more aggressive in its behaviour. There has been no outward violence from the clergy themselves yet but it feels more and more likely that something will happen. They may try something as early as the third round of the Chuunin Exams or they may wait until after the other villages have left. All we can do for now is remain vigilant and hope that nothing actually happens. I know you and the other nobles do not want civil war to break out. I will keep you apprised as I learn more.

I love you always,
Masashi

The Uzumaki Jounin looked at what he’d wrote, fairly happy with the contents of it. He realised though that he should advise his parents of his run of good fortune, at least briefly, so he added a post script to the letter.

P.S. I have run into a little good luck with acquiring material for the research I was talking to you about. When I have some time, I will come home and apprise you in person. I’d rather not share too much in case this gets intercepted for some reason.

With one letter down, he’d wrap it up and pass it to his butler to have it delivered before getting started on the next letter. This one would be different; it was for a woman that he’d learned a little about, and was interested in getting to know her better. They’d been on one date, and if memory served correctly, the date had gone rather well. That being said, it was six months ago and the Senju Chuunin…no, Jounin like him, may not regard kindly to being ignored for half a year. He would be remiss however if he did not at least make an attempt to make things right. So with a fresh sheet of paper, he began to write:

Tsubaki, I hope this letter finds you happy and healthy.

I have a few things I would like to say, and I completely understand if you have no interest in listening. I greatly enjoyed taking you to dinner and getting to know who you are as an individual. You are a smart, strong, and talented woman, not to mention stunningly beautiful. Under normal circumstances I would hope that within this time we would have gone to several more dinners. I won’t make excuses; my behaviour over the last six months has been unacceptable and you deserved better. For that, you have my most sincere apologies, and my assurances that it will not happen again.

I would like to pick up where we left off six months ago, assuming you are willing and don’t hate me for effectively ignoring you (in addition to the rest of the world). I would like to spend the day doing whatever it is you are interested in doing with me. It will be the date and time of your choosing; nothing is off limits and money will be no issue. If you are interested, you are welcome to either send a response back to this letter or you can come to my manor and we can discuss this in more detail in person. Regardless of your decision, I wish you the best.

Sincerely,
Masashi

With the second letter completed, Masashi would then have it passed off to his butler to have it delivered to Tsubaki’s home, along with a small bouquet of flowers. Yes, it’s likely very corny, but he liked her and wanted to try and increase his chances of her agreeing to a second date.

Now that his personal matters were completed, it was time to work out what type of test he would give to the Genin that he would be testing.

WC: 1140
TWC: 1916 (329 WC claimed)

Masashi was sitting down at the dining room table, idly toying with a plate of food that his butler had left for him while he muddled through his latest quandary, figuring out an appropriate exam for the second round of the Chuunin exams. Of course, he didn’t have to come up with an idea for the entire second round, he’d simply been put in charge of administering the test to two of the shinobi that were participating. He’d also been given a cop out by simply allowing them to take the traditional Bell Test, where they would have to recover a pair of bells that would be on his person. Masashi wanted to give them something a little more than just a straight fight like that. Luckily, he’d been given information about both of the Genin he would be examining today so he could try and come up with something that would truly test both of them, how they worked individually and as a team.

The first Genin is Yuuma Fujiwara, a local from his own village of Hoshigakure. It was not a name he was familiar with but being out of the loop for as long as he had been could definitely do that. From the reports he’d received, the boy possessed the talents of the Nara clan, as well as being skilled in medical techniques like himself. Naturally, that meant he knew how to deal with that side of things. The other Genin was from Kumogakure, Gin Akimichi. As his family name suggested, he would likely be skilled at Taijutsu, so it would be in the Uzumaki Jounin’s best interests to not get close. He wanted to test the skills of both shinobi so doing something that would highlight both of their sets of talents would be the best way to do it. Masashi was also a strategic thinker, and felt that in order to be a Chuunin, you had to also have at least some competency for strategy. With that in mind, he started by examining the area he’d been assigned for the examination. It would be taking place in the Training Grounds as it was the largest area that would support all of the second round examinations. He was given a square of space one hundred meters by one hundred meters and provided a map so that he would know in advance what the area looked like.

Unfortunately, the Uzumaki Jounin was having a hard time thinking up options for the exam that would do better than the Bell Test. It was simplistic, had a distinct goal, and tested teamwork and individual skills towards said common goal. It allowed Masashi to see who they were as individuals, and who they were as shinobi. On top of that, it would require them to come up with a solid strategy if they wanted to take the bells from him. Especially because he had full intention of acquiring assistance from his Serpent allies. Perhaps it was best to just use the default testing method and see how things turned out.

All of this planning and preparation could be for naught though; the report he’d received had also mentioned that they both had been in the top group of Genin to pass the first round of the Chuunin Exams, which apparently meant they may not need to acquire a bell. He was hoping that they would at least try, but should they show up, and not care about the bells, he would at least want to do something to test them for himself. He definitely wanted Yuuma in particular to succeed since he was a member of his village, but he wouldn’t want to let him go scot-free. Almost as an afterthought, he grabbed a shogi board and the pieces to go along with it as a sort of backup, to test their strategic thinking at the very least. It would be given to his butler, to make sure that he would have it on hand for tomorrow when the second round actually took place.

All there was left to do today for Masashi was to go down to his lab and start working on some of his projects.

WC: 699
TWC: 2615 (329 WC claimed)

Mid topic claim (2600 WC):

26 AP:

2500 WC towards Rainbow Fort Seal (A-Rank, 2500/2500)
100 WC towards Dark River Breaking Seal (A-Rank, 2200/2750, proof of progress here

Approved