growing power(P/io)

Everyone's favorite duo was preparing for a new challenge. In her last session she'd learned so much about herself and her heritage, and unlocked Mokuton release, A combination of earth and water releases that required her to create a new chakra point to hold this advanced element. Now it was on to the next step. She'd also managed, with the help of her new doll making friend, to create a body worthy of her teacher. He was at least ten size the size as his previous, with a bit of technology that would allow him to actually protect himself and his student. More importantly This new body was hinged and built especially so that she could control his form with her chakra threads meaning that he could finally move about. He was taking good advantage of this. Pinoch paced left and right in front of the wooden cofee table, preparing for his next lecture.

"Now. You've learned how to harness the power of Mokuton. that's an excelent first step, however it doesn't actually do much for you. In order to wield it's power you must take that wood style chakra and turn it into a powerful weapon to protect us. " He stood in front of her, bowing slightly as he began his explanation. His posture was perfect--for a puppet.

"Right. I suppose it was too much to assume that I could just learn the element and that be it. So I suppose you now have some new technique that uses wood release to create dangerous jutsu that I can use in missions?" She desperately dreamed of a day off, but at least the suggestion that her mokuton release would be a new creative outlet had spurned her on. Sitting back in her seat she awaited the inevitable long winded explaination that was incoming.

"Yes. Of course. Actually I have several. There are a fair number of jutsu which utelize the mokuton release in order to attack or defend, but this technique I believe will be the bread and butter jutsu you use when you aren't sure what to do."

".....If i'm not sure what to do I'd just use you...." Pinochio let out a sigh. Teaching her was a dificult task to take on, but he was well practiced in dealing with her particular brand of insubordination.

"Yes yes. Of course you can lean on your puppets but Ideally you can take care of problems at a much longer range then I could be utelized. If you have to use your puppets then we'll take damage and that means having to spend more time repairing our bodies. Jutsu however are created and released through chakra and do not require upkeep management. Now What We'll be learning today is called Foo dog heads jutsu. It creates constructs made of wood style with heads shaped like dogs. They can be used to intercept weapons or sent at your foe in order to bite them, stealing precious volumes of their chakra. " He opened the notebook on the table, flipping through twenty odd pages of various doodles to get to the portion that had information on jutsu.

(523)

"Oooooo. So we're gonna work on that jutsu. Ok I kind of really like the idea of this jutsu. Dogs are super cute and I love the idea of fighting people with puppes--i'm going to call it foo puppy jutsu fron here on." She glanced over the information she had on the jutsu. In the time before she'd been sent to the village, her mother had pushed her to learn as much as she could about her bloodline abilities. With her inteligence being significantly higher then most it was assumed she would grow up to be one of those geniuses you hear about that masters advanced skills at a young age, but as brilliant as saya was her own need to express herself fought against this. Years of her failing to understand the concepts left her a failure, both socially and intelectually, who needed to be cast away. If she wasn't an asset then her creation was a stain on the family. That left her here in an empty house with her homegrown friends and a notebook of information they tried to teach her years before. It was the one thing she'd been thankful for.

"Yes. It was rediculous that they tried to teach you all of this so many years ago. They hadn't even ensured that you understood the basics of molding chakra before pushing you to try and figure out advanced element jutsu. As hard as I push you to better yourself... Understand that I will never be like those people. "

"Yea. I know. They probably just wanted the best for me. Either way, at least now I have the tools to learn what I need to! " She glanced over the notes again. It seemed about as dificult as everything else she'd learned. How hard could it be? It only had... seven seals..... SEVEN?! What kind of crazy person decided that they needed seven different seals just to use this jutsu?! Well. That was unfun. snake, boar, dog, tiger, rat hare snake.snake, boar, dog, tiger, rat, hare, snake. Ends how it begins. Bunch of crap in the center. She ran through the list over and over. There had to be a better way.

"No. You were a weakness they wanted to turn into a strength, but here your skills will be respected. " He was motioning a bit too much with his hands as he spoke. He really enjoyed being able to move around. It was freeing. For once he wasn't stuck in a pouch. He could do a backflip if he really wanted to. He did a backflip.

"I don't think that's helpful to our training Pinoch. This is gonna be alot to remember. But i really want the puppy heads." Her hands had started slowly going through the seals one by one. In her head she imagined holding a small pug in her arms, petting its small wooden head, taking it for walks, and finally having something to adore and dote on. In her head the information on the page didn't matter. She was able to make it look exactly how she'd want it to, and she loved the idea of such freedom.

(1049)

"Yes. I know that. Honestly I just kind of find it neat. I'm not used to being able to move around and basically do anything. And check it out, I have eyes! I can actually look at you while you're talking. " Pinoch new that she worked best when the world around her was in chaos. Silence gave her too much space to lose focus. She filled the quiet with whatever she found best made it not exist. Though he'd never admit it because she'd find it strange, and it would break his tough teacher who doesn't show emotion facade, he would do anything required to ensure she succeeded.

"Right. Well This is alot of seals. I dunno if I could really perform so many in the middle of combat. Plus how can i take all of this time away if I'm controling you?" She slowly formed seal after seal. snake. boar. dog. tiger. rat. hare. snake. Snake dog... Crap. Now she had to start again.

"You'll find the more powerful the jutsu is the more seals you'll require. It'll be up to you to find a middle point between fighting with your puppets and forming seals for jutsu. I'm sure as you get better at fighting you'll find optimizations to allow you to do both more efficiently, but it won't be until you've figured out how to do the jutsu that you can really understand what it takes, and what can be cut. If you practice enough you might be able to reduce the ammount of seals you need.

"That would be nice honestly. I also need to think about what other puppets I want to make. I had an idea... Well I had a few. Considered just making another order of wood but I didn't know what size and type I'd need. " She could feel her earth and water cores pulsing with power. In the centerpoint between them sat her mokuton core. It was an odd feeling having the fluidity of water style with the hardened earth chakra together.

"We'll have plenty of time for that. I expect over the coming years of training you'll create right many different puppets, with unique mechanisms and abilities that fill all sorts of roles. I wouldn't be surprised if one day you sit me out because you have a set that works much better for what you're doing." Through their natural link of being the same person, with one personified into a combat puppet using a jutsu to feign speech, he could feel the slow shift of her two chakra natures to the center point. She was close to ready to actually mold the mokuton, but that might take some more practice.

"Right. I need to make a trip back to Ita's to bounce some ideas off of her. I think with her help we can figure out a way of making more solid joints that act closer to human anatomy then what you have. Maybe my legacy isn't in performance, but in craft. Wouldn't that be a change?"

(1556)

"You aren't getting out of your duties. I bet, however, that if you work hard you'll get the chance to meet the Mizukage. We were kind of thrust into this situation but you've been making the best of it. We're gonna get so strong you'll look back on this and be like "remember when seven was alot of hand seals? Now I can do it in my sleep" Her handspeed was getting faster. Everything was set for her to be able to actually activate the jutsu--assuming she had a handle on how to actually mold mokuton release.

"Right right. I doubt that. I'm so small and weak. It's hard to belive one day I'm gonna become a powerful ninja, but we gotta try right?" Focusing on her earth release she allowed the two chakra to mix. Unlike learning her first two elements this felt easier... Almost natural? She figured it must be her blood willing her to understand the history her family hid for so many years.
"I... I think I can do it. The jutsu I mean. This feels more simple then it should be. Like I was meant to be doing this my whole life."

"Good! Then form the seals and lets get it started. Oh, wait. Actually we should probably head outsi--" He was too late. She formed the seals as quickly as possible, merging the two chakras she activated the jutsu and things went about as well as you'd assume. The floorboards rumbled as the earth beneath them split to raise up six wooden pillars. Beneath them the hard wood cracked, and six pairs of pointed ears appeared in holes made by their entry.
"....side. because if we don't then the wood style summoning will rip of the house further. This one is on me. I should have spoken quicker. I just didn't think you'd make the choice to damage our home just so you can see the effects of your jutsu." She wasn't listening. The Foo puppy heads jutsu stood at about two feet from the base of the floor, and kneeling beside them the small ninja giggled and doted over their cute little faces.

"LOOK AT THEM! THEY'RE SO CUTE. IT CANNOT EVEN HANDLE THIS! I DON'T EVEN WANT TO FIGHT WITH THEM I JUST WANNA PET THEIR LITTLE HEADS AND TAKE THEM FOR WALKS" There it was. Our dear protagonist had the attention span of a knat. When she was on task she was incredible, but those points were often a leaf in the wind. She'd completed the technique, but instead of figuring out the inner workings of their movement, or how best to utelize them in a fight and protect them from their own weaknesses she sat petting them in a circle.

"yes. Very adorable. Now getting swiftly back to the task at hand.... We need to actually figure out how to use them now. stop petting them and look at me. Tria. Fine you have five minutes and then it's back to work. "It actually took about six minutes and twenty three seconds.
"Alright. Now heres what I want you to do. Any time you're manipulating the dogs you'll have to hold the snake seal. In the kitchen I have a set of targets out in the kitchen. I want you to send the dog heads after them one by one and have them bite down on the targets.
(2124 foo dog heads learned, 62 starting mastery)

"Oh. Right. Justus are tools not pets or whatever. But what If I mess up their little faces?" She held the snake symbol as she moved towards the kitchen. THen she had a thought. Instead of walking she held out her arms and as the dog heads surged forward, she wrapped them around one each, allowing them to carry her into the next room.

"You... Are not going to use powerful jutsu every time you need to go somewhere. That is not happening. It's not practical. Remember you only have a finite amount of chakra. " Instead of dealing with the idea that she couldn't constantly use her chakra as a means of making life easier for herself, she decided to pour herself into the next part of the training. She sent the first dog head towards the statue, but missed by a mile. It bit deeply into the wood of the wall just beside her stove. Pulling it back formed a fist sized hole in the first layer of the wall. Learning techniques was expensive.... She still hadn't fixed the water damage done to her home. Considering for a moment she thought maybe there was a chance she could just figure out how to use her new mokuton release to make herself a new house. Then, if she destroyed that one she could create another. Yes, this would be a good plan.

"Can't talk Pinoch! Gotta hit these stupid targets. Couldn't you have made them a bit bigger? They're really hard to hit." She tried again. It was closer this time, to be fair... But not by much. Thankfully the steel of her stove allowed the second dog head to simply bounce off harmlessly.

"Convenient that you can only talk when its about something you're willing to listen to. The targets are the size that is needed. You just need to focus. Think of it like a puppet, but you control it with your chakra instead of your fingers. That should make the concept work alot better." It did. once again she hadn't actually considered that this was exactly like how she'd controled pinochio all day. That felt effortless. Refocusing she imagined that her chakra core released threads the same way her fingers did. Attaching one to each of the dog heads she focused on controling them the way she would a puppet.

"Dunno what you're talking about, making chakra strings to control my puppets byyyeeeee" Where did she even think she was going?! She said bye like there was some way the two of them could be separated but neither actually moved. Instead, she sent the third dog head towards the target she'd been trying desperately to get a hit on. The top left hand corner chipped off as the sharpened teeth struck it before glancing off. This time, however, it simply bounced it's head off the wall.
"Omg. little buddy I'm so sorry. I bet that hurt so much. It's okay. You'll be okay."

"You dont need to appologize to chakra constructs Tria. Please keep focus. I swear..."

(2124 +572)

"I'm focused. Gosh. This makes more sense. Like. The idea of moving something outside my body through a core inside of my body is a really weird concept. With this though It feels so much more natural! I bet I could master control of this jutsu in seconds! Watch this..." In emphasis to her point she sent the fourth dog head creation at the slightly damaged target. This one hit just a bit off center and the cracking of clay filled the room as pieces fell, shattering a second time against the floor. It wasn't perfect, but she had at least succeeded in the task.

"well you did it. That's good. Now we need to get you closer to the center of the target. Precision will come with time. repetitive action breeds comprehension and what not. " He sat on the kitchen table. It was important that he watch from a safe distance as Saya was volitile when not wielding powerful jutsu. In her current situation she was more likely to cause mass destruction and that was not exactly healthy for a currently immovable puppet. Still she hadn't destroyed anything yet. That was a plus.

"Right. I need to get better at it. If this were a puppet I'd be able to move digits individually. I could pick blades of grass one by one. Something about this feels so much different but it shouldn't. " Of course it did. My dear listeners let me explain: While she was practiced in both ninjutsu and puppet manipulation she'd put her primary focus on skills with puppetry. Sure at this point she had more jutsu under her belt that used nin then puppetry, but she was a specialized puppetmaster and her ninjutsu ability was a gift of her family. There... Theres like a whole system but I worry that explaining it to you would break this imaginary thing called the fourth wall and your heads would explode. I checked some sources, and Can confirm without a shadow of a doubt that head exploding is in fact fatal.

"It just takes practice. You just learned this jutsu today to be fair. Maybe you should take a moment and take a breather? We could discuss things about Mokuton that will be important in the future. I have to assume that the cost of this particular manipulation is especially taxing on your body." She actually considered for a moment before shaking her head.

"No no. I mean I suppose we could talk about the wood release stuff if you really want but like. I know I can only hold these for so long and I kinda want to get the most out of them. Otherwise what did I spent all this chakra on yanno? " Punctuating her statement she sent the fifth dog at the second of the targets. It's mouth snapped open as it approached, decidedly unwet nose pointng directly at the bullseye. It snapped down as soon as the wooden lips met the edge of the clay. There was another crashing of glass, and a wooden beam could be seen sticking directly out of the back of a chair that teetered back and forth from the force. It eventually fell over. And the back broke off.

"Well. That is true I suppose. It's important to make use of the time you have in controling a jutsu to squeak out as much practice as you can but uh. Maybe you should be a little more gentle? I mean at this point I suppose the repair cost can't get much higher but still. we need a roof still yanno?" That seemed a fair point.

(2124+1172)

"If you really wanted to protect the house from any danger then why did you put the third target diretly on the support beam? This seems counter intuitive Pinoch. You know how much I like to make things flashy, that should have been a dead giveaway that I was going to be doing some damage with these things. " She had a point. He'd tried his best to just space them out so she couldn't just swipe by and take them all out with one attack, and had considered structural stability in his placement but instead of placing them where they'd do the least damage, he had opted to put them in places he hoped would be able to take the damage more effectively. In trying to plan around her tendencies he'd made a great error. She sent the fourth Fuu Puppy head sprawling dead center of the clay target. Instead of cracking it to drop pieces to shatter onto the floor she had made direct contact. The closed mouth of the dog hit with enough force to turn the target to dust. Then it continued on to hit the support beam and the roof shook a bit. Didn't fall though. That was a plus.

"Yanno. I hadn't thought that far to be honest. I thought you'd have enough common sense to hold back a bit if it were on a support structure, and that placing it there was better then a wall you could just go through..... There are bugs outside. A varied assortment that may or may not enjoy the taste of a nice wooden puppet. I would advice keeping them oustide." She was feeling more confident with every strike. The shifting momentum of mokuton felt natural. She could see the points she wanted to strike, and the method to get there was quickly becoming reflexive.

"Yea. Even after all this time I find new and inventive ways to mess with your understanding and change things up. So I think I have a solid handle on how this jutsu works... At least enough so that I could use it in combat with confidence. Should we move onto the next or should I run out the duration?" This was the first time the pair had actually considered going past just learning the jutsu. Pinoch intended to bring this particular technique up to the point of mastery. He knew that she'd struggled with the amount of hand seals used to craft the jutsu. Through repetitious practice she could work to lower the amount of hand seals needed to craft it. If he could hold her attention long enough she'd have finished the required repetition to make the jutsu require no hand seals at all. This had to positive attributes. First, It meant that she wouldn't need to fumble over seals and take the time mid combat to perform meticulous maneuvers. Second, and probably most important, it would allow her the use of her fingers as she casts the jutsu. This would ensure his aid in the fight in that opening. They would just need to master every single jutsu they learned, or find some way to open up a free hand.


(2124+1702)

"Yes. You seem to be quite good at that. But do stay on task. I want you to try and hit the last two targets at exactly the same moment. See if you can crush them the same way as the last, but you need to stop just before you hit the wood beneath. Remember if you go too far then we get a hole, holes make bugs, and then you'll have to do extra repairs of me. That's less time for the fun things you actually want to do so focus." She was focused. Whether she was feeling high on the power of her own jutsu manipulation or just deep enough into the training that she wanted to actually burn out the finishing touches wasn't clear, but she her eyes honed in on the targets the moment he finished speaking, her hands holding the seal tightly in preparation.

"Right. Same time, bugs, dust. Same bugs dust. Summon bugs to turn Pinoch to dust." The Foo puppy head jutsu shot forward the last two heads, aimed a bit low at first, but as they quickly closed the distance their momentum shifted to line up.

"NO NO BUGS DECIDEDLY NO BUGS. LACK OF--" He was cut off by the sound of shattering clay. Her aim rang true and the two targets were crushed into dust. In the wall separating the kitchen and livingroom there were two small circular divots where the top of the dogs heads had impacted, but none of the wood was cracked or breaking. That was major progress.

"How's that! I feel like I really got it down that time. Didn't even make a single hole! " They crossed the kitchen in a few steps to take a look at the final effects of her attack. Tiny fingers ran across the divot to test for sharp edges, but instead of splinters her skin found a smooth indentation. As an after affect she was thankful for that. Had it been otherwise, she'd have needed to take training time away to pull the splinters form her hands. Splinters really hurt.

"Good. You can release the dogs now but--" He didn't even need to say it. With confirmation she'd released her seal, and before he could get to his andenum the six heads had shrank backwards into the floor boards where they'd been summoned, and took a bit more of the wood with them. Baby steps.

"Alright. I definitely know how to use this now. What are we doing next? Is there a mokuton release kitty cat jutsu I can learn?! Oh Oh OH. Maybe ferrets. I'd love a wood style ferret jutsu. They'd be so cute and small."

"No. Next we keep working on the same technique. So something I haven't brought up before because it hasn't been needed is you can, through intense practice of the same thing over and over, make it much easier to cast or more powerful. Now that you know exactly how to use the jutsu, It's time that you work on your hand motions to figure out where you can cut corners. Find the power of the seals. Feel how their invocation activates the jutsu, and then combine those invocations into one to remove a seal from the equation. "

(2124+2124+122)

"WH. But. I mean. So after all the cool training in using a jutsu I now have to spend a bunch of time just practicing seals?! How do you manage to go from super awesome training fun time immediately to boring repetitive snooze fest?! I wanna get into something or like. fight someone. Could we fight instead? I feel like that would be way more fun. " Despite directly saying that she didn't want to partake in this new training, She was already forming the seals quickly with her hands. There was an obvious cut point at the begining she knew. If she couldn't empower one snake seal to do the work of two she would never figure out how to remove a second seal. Testing her theory she cut out the first snake seal, pulsing her chakra without actually using the jutsu. It didn't work.

"You can't just say screw it and seal harder Tria. You've got to be meticulous in how you form the seals you're keeping and decide what exactly is needed. Come now. Alow your chakra to tell you how to dodge a seal, and when you can feel it's pulse without moving your hands perform the jutsu without it. " That made some sense, in a round about sort of way. She didn't need to combine seals together as much as to find the way the chakra moved in response to the seal and then will the power to make that same change without the focusing point.

"Right. I.. I think I get what we're doing now. OK. So I need to memorize the way my chakra reacts to the seals. Crap. This sounds really hard. Ok. How do I even go about doing that?" She formed the seals more slowy this time. There were spikes in the mass in her back as each contact point was made. This shifted the shape of the chakra in a uniform way based on the seal she was using. That was good to know.

"Well. You may not of noticed, but you already have. You've cut seals out every time you've formed it. Did you not notice you've been only forming three seals this whole time?! Part of the intense focus swinging your dog heads around funorama was getting to know the jutsu at a level so intimate that you don't need to use as many seals. That was the first stage in mastery. " This jerk. He'd gotten her so focused on the cuteness of her jutsu she hadn't noticed the point when she actually understood the technique well enough to use it. Instead she'd pushed past that and began mastering it without conscious effort. He'd thrown her at a brick wall and she'd climbed it as expected.

"Whot. How did I even... You tricked me. " She closed the distance quickly--well. quick was a relative term. Considering the speed at which she moved compared to before she began her training was day and night, but when you compared that to the speed at which Pinochio moved well..... Her threads were significantly faster then her feet.

((2124+2124+637)

"......Tria... We huh. We aren't doing this. You don't actually... You do. Okay. Your chakra thread control is significantly better then your calisthenics Tria. There is actually no way that you could catch me at our current speed differential. Gonna try anyway though I see? We're gonna destroy the house..." His statements were punctuated with quick maneuvers to dodge Saya's attacks. He'd been keeping just barely in her punching range as he spoke, shifting to and fro. She fired a fist at his face that he literally turned to watch whiz past.

"I'm gonna pummel you into oblivion!!!!" She sent another series of attacks. A jab followed her statement, with her hips shifting to a spinning back kick.

"Yanno. I bet a jutsu could do it though. If only you could use Foo dog heads jutsu while also controling me. Then you'd be on even footing probably. Kinda a shame if you thin about it...." He made his dodges less and less pronounced. The blade of her foot almost skimmed his side. Fingertips brushed the edge of his cheek just close enough to fail to harm his wooden body. He was antagonizing her. It was a two pronged strategy. He knew that her resolve, when questioned, was unwavering. If he wanted her to figure this out quickly this was the way to do it. It also may have helped a little that he knew if he managed to fully tire her out then she would be easier to deal with later. What Saya lacked in strategy, Pinoch made up for in spades.

"I'll show you. Gonna figure this out so quickly and then i'mma pummel you into sawdust!!! You hear me pinoch?! It'll be days before I can get new wood to be able to repair you DAYS!!" They circled one another in the kitchen. He was careful not to get too close to a corner she could push him into. Manipulating distance he'd open or close the battle terrain as they closed on points in the room. He slid under the table as she jumped up to try another kick. That gave her the opportunity. She formed the jutsu with two signs. The chakra in her lower back shifted and contorted as she willed another sign to be removed from the seal. No go this time. She still needed the final snake seal.

"Yep. Sawdust. Totally. If you can ever get to me I have no doubt that you're by far strong enough to be able to rip me to shreds with your bare hands. " With her hands free again, the threads kept up his movement. He was brought to his feet and into the air as she hopped over the table. Wooden clogs braced against the wall as he also went airborn. Her fist attempted futally to crack the wall where he'd once braced. He was already far gone. He found the tabletop this time, sliding a second time to put distance between them a second time.

"UUUUGHHH. You just wait until I figure this out. One down, two to go Pinoch. Two more seals until you're puppy chow! And i'm not talking the really nice puppy chow made from all natural grains and meats. We're talking the wierd brown bits of whatever the heck they think they can feed to dogs but I wouldn't get caught dead giving to the dog we had if you'd every just let me have a pet."

((2124+2124+1212)