Literally Just Vibing

Ah, the open road... or rather, the open island? Daiko wasn't entirely sure how he had ended up here, all he really knew is that he was in a place where he wasn't about to face the harsh judgment and cruelty of those around him. At least he had hoped. He only really recognized from where he stood a large collaboration of islands with bridges and such that formed one large area. This didn't seem like some small-time village that would've been wiped off the map at anyone's whim-- no, it seemed like it was actually quite formidable. 'Nice...' Daiko was thinking to himself. It wasn't every day that he had stumbled upon something that was any more than people scraping together what they had to create something for themselves. This may be the first step in his journey not only as a person but as a ninja. Getting his bearings, he looked down at his feet and around him. The first thing that had caught his attention was the grand ocean that spanned before him. It seemed quite restless, the waves crashing against the earth and crunching what rock was not sturdy enough to hold on tightly to the grand pieces of the islands that were settled by something, someone. He was somewhat in awe by the beauty of the waves, both bringing destruction, and also the assumption that there was life beneath the surface that thrived on what creatures were dragged in by the tide. Daiko sat for a moment, taking time to reflect on where he was from where he began. 

Daiko wasn't entirely sure how he had ended up on this island, in all reality the last thing that he had remembered since was when he was driven out of his old home, and old village because of his own actions. He thought back to what he had done, and the harm that it had caused others. He wasn't entirely sorry for the beaten asses of the children who had thrown him into the dirt and kicked him like he was discarded trash, though he was sorry that he had to deal with the consequences that had followed. Throughout his life, he had never thought of himself as a violent person, though he didn't feel much sorrow or remorse for the kids whom's ass he had thoroughly thrashed. They had got what was coming to them. Perhaps there were many a people in the world who would eventually get what was coming to them, but he hadn't had the chance to be wronged by them yet. For now, he looked out to the waves, wondering if they had any thought behind their crashes. The crumbling of earth, the very thing that seemed so massive and impervious, crumbled beneath the water that, when closely touched or inspected, only felt as though it were soft, and brought life. Maybe it was the combination of both the salt, from the earth, and the water. A more brackish medium to tear and rip away what had been around for so long. 

*Daiko wasn't dressed too much to impress. He wasn't dressed in anything ragged, but his outfit still was quite simple. He had on a sweatshirt that had a hood and drawstrings that were black, and the drawstrings trailed down his body unevenly as if he didn't really care about what he looked like to others. His pants were simply sweatpants that he had on the night when he had first left the place that he resided, though surprisingly enough he wasn't dirty or tarnished by being down in the dirt. His hair was his usual jet black color, along with it being quite scruffy as he hadn't showered in quite a bit of time. Though on that note he didn't have quite as bad of a smell as most would expect, considering the salty air and waves did more than enough to "clean" him off in light of everything. Daiko looked down at his hand, his skin the same pale complexion that it had been since he remembered. He focused only a slight bit and saw an unnatural wriggling beneath his skin. Ah, yes. The curse that had haunted him his entire life. In his mind, he was entirely normal, comparable to every person he had met; Daiko had a profound rage in his heart, a rage that was targeted at those who had treated him so poorly in pursuit of themselves seeming strong. A rage that was only quelled by the silence of his own mind. He too had scrambled to get what he could when his life was going tough. There were times when he had thought back to what it was like to begin life on one's own. It wasn't easy, but it was surely easier than depending on what others thought of him with each action that he took.

Standing up from his spot, Daiko stretched his arms out and cracked his back. It was time to do some exploring. Venturing closer to what seemed to him to be civilization, he took note of the different features that the islands had to offer. It seemed that most were connected with a series of bridges. It seemed on closer (though he was still quite far away) inspection that there was a series of around 'One... twoo.... three... five...' 10 islands that seemed to have the most infrastructure built to them. That would likely be the first place he went to see what he could scavenge. In his mind, there were likely a few options that he would be able to have in order to get his next meal. Perhaps with the beach and tropical climate he could possibly scrounge some sea life to roast or, if he could find habitable water, potentially boil. That would likely be the most realistic option for him. Secondly, he could potentially find some work to do that may be able to line his pockets with the funds necessary to be treated to a night on the town. Either way, his stomach was grumbling at the very thought of having nothing on his person but a few metal objects to throw. This didn't exactly give him the sense of security that he needed. The first thing he had to do was get to where other people were. 

Roaming around the island, Daiko is searching for something to do or someone who might be able to help him get his bearings. He shifted his weight around on his feet and was thinking of things that he may be able to do with his free time. Looking down at the dirt, he thinks about what things he knows about his own ninjutsu. He knew for a fact that he specialized in Doton, though he wasn't entirely sure as to what to do with that. From the chakra nature divining that his old teacher did, he recognized that his specialty would be in earth. Daiko however, recalled also learning from his teacher that he wouldn't be able to learn other elements the way that most people did. He wasn't entirely sure what that would look like, and he was hoping in this place he could find someone that had the ability to teach him. In a moment of pure genius, Daiko decided that he would focus on feeling his chakra inside of his body. To be completely honest, it felt like the writhing of snakes inside of his very core. Not the best feeling, but it wasn't like it hurt. 

*Any onlookers that would see Daiko would see him sitting down with his legs crossed, staring longingly at the ocean. His appearance hadn't changed much for the past few years, so it would look as if he was a young ninja around the age of 19. He was sitting peacefully, thinking about his past actions and where he wanted to go in the future. He was in a state of mind where he wasn't really expecting anyone to come around, though he still had his wits about him. It would be likely that anyone that would happen upon him would probably startle him, and leave him somewhat embarrassed. That aside, he continued to focus on what Doton chakra might actually look like. In his mind, it was jagged and rough around the edges like the broad side of a cliff, but also potentially smooth like stones that had been battered by waves for many generations. A deep breath in, Daiko let himself relax. He didn't expect anyone to find him where he was, though he wasn't too far away from the walls and gates of the village that he would soon be visiting. In complete honesty, Daiko was hoping more than anything that he would be seen as a visitor, and not an abomination as he was used to being treated. Perhaps he would do his best to hide the fact that he was unnatural... But then again, maybe he wouldn't be treated unfairly for it. Soon enough, he would likely find out.

[1508]
{1508}

Learned -- 
[250/250] Genjutsu Release
[250/250] Fuuinjutsu Breaking E
[500/500] Black Threads D
[500/500] Storage Displacement

As daiko went about his day, traveling the island, watching the sea, and just generally doing anything and everything he could to keep himself occupied a small black dot would appear over the horizon. Sliding through the choppy water at high speed the captain of the SS Glitterbomb, Captain Sayatria AHEMlastnamenotaddedforherownsafety-- glanced ahead at one of the islands. In her hand she held a beautifully ornate spy glass of bronze inlaid with silver. Unfurling the looking aparatus she glanced about. 

"I.... Have no clue how these things work but everything seems quite small So we must have traveled very far!!!" Shaking her head her sister Ai took the tool from the puppetmaster and turned it around. 

"Ah! Now things look bigger. This makes alot more sense." She searched across the islands until she spotted movement. There was a person there, and he seemed to be walking about doing whatever he was doing. She considered for a moment the two sets of pirates that she'd dealt with with her team mate travin. She would need to be careful. 

"HOISE THE JOLLY ROGER!!!! sOMETHING ABOUT SAILS MAKE IT GO REAL FAST!!!" In time with her orders everyone on the ship rushed off to get to work--mostly because the ship was manned exclusively by her puppets. There were four of them in total, counting herself. It wasn't exactly the easiest job, but they had managed solely based on their ability to work as one due to them being extensions of Saya. The sails unfurled, the wind caught them, and they were pushing ever faster towards the island where Daiko had been exploring. As he gazed out it would be clear that something was coming his way at first, with the shape of her ship becoming clearer the closer they came. Finally Pinochio pulled on a set of ropes and atop the mast a lavender skull and cross bones was raised to fly in the wind beneath a second flag that was just a picture of her face set on a black background. She hadn't quite gotten the concept of what flags mean yet. 

They approached quickly. She waited until the last possible moment to pull the  sails, slowing the ship before dropping the mast to stop it just outside the point where the water would be too shallow. 

Uh tri--" Pinochio was interupted as usual. 

"Captian Tria to you bilge rat!" She flashed a sharpened stick about like a cutless. her actual cutless hadn't actually come in yet. It was on back order. 

"Right... Captain tria. How exactly are we supposed to cross the rest of this distance? We're like.... Fifty meters from land and you decided to leave the life boat because it didn't look cool enough. " His tone at no point suggested that he intended to actually reffer to her as captain. It was more of a mocking tone that turned slightly to worry as he continued the question. We know he'd just issued her a challenge. The rest of the puppets knew he'd issued her a challenge, and He himself knew he'd just issued her a challenge but unfortunately words cannot be taken back once spoken. 

"I tought you'd never ask...." She was grinning like a cheshire cat as she glanced at the distance. Then she looked to her sister. There was an audible gasp accompanied by the body language of all three puppets giving a heave of surprise. 

"Ai. It's time for the Lavender secret technique:screaming Step ladder surprise." Dear listeners. I'd heard her planning this particular technique, but let me tell you I never thought for a second she'd find a situation where it would actually be put to use. As always our dear protagonist has surprised everyone. As has been the custom for her lavender techniques, Ai grasped the small girl and chucked her like a frisbee as far as she could. When I say she chucked this girl i mean... She FLEW out into the water, soaring over twenty meters before she began to descend to the ground below. Forming three hand seals the girl prepared, and the ground simply rose up from beneath the sea to catch her in a block ten meters in all directions. THe unfortunate side effect of the puppet master being thrown at high speed away from her puppets was realized only moments after she left the boat. Ai, Pinochio, and Coach Glanced back for a moment before they were drug into the air after her the moment the chakra threads pulled taunt, sending the whole team flying to the newly made earth from moving earth core. 

From here Saya simply swam the short distance... Or more correctly she rode on Coach's back as he swam leaning forward and pointing out towards the beach as she screamed "Land ho!" 

(799)

Daiko continued to stare out into the ocean, his back to the mainland. In his concentration, he considered the possibility of someone approaching him from behind. Turning his head slightly, he looked around at the landscape behind him. Quite a simple island, only really notable because of the fact that Daiko had first ended up here when he came to. There didn't seem to be any creatures or ninja skirting about around him, and he was happy for that fact. Though he did greatly want to meet someone, he wasn't exactly sure that someone approaching him to lay out their jurisdiction with all seriousness would really appeal to him right now. He wasn't entirely sure what he was looking for here in the first place, all he was really worried about was learning a couple of new things and coming one step closer to figuring out what he wanted to do with his life. Everything that he had experienced so far felt so far away, so outside of who he really was. Of course, there was plenty of time for that ahead. For the moment he would be focused on what was in front of him. Though they were rough, the waves looked somewhat gentle in comparison to the trials that would someday be ahead of him. He thought to himself what it may be like for the creatures that were swept beneath those waves. Daiko was sure that there were many creatures down there of their own choosing, however, he figured that throughout the countless years that the ocean has been here, there had been more than one sailor that has had their life taken by the cruel undertow of the deep. He thought to himself for a moment, thinking of an ample solution to this problem. Considering that he was well versed in being able to use techniques with his body, he thought briefly about what it would take to be able to breathe underwater. Daiko knew for a fact that he wouldn't be able to suddenly sprout gills out of his head like some kind of shark person. He thought back to his own talents and the things he was proficient at already. He knew that he had better control over his body than most people likely did, considering every writhing cord that he felt inside of him he had under his control. Building that up, Daiko thought to himself, would be key to survival. On top of that, something to make it so that his lungs could pull in the air among the writhing wouldn't be too bad either. Considering to himself what that would look like, Daiko puts his hand to his throat.

Daiko remembers his old teacher showing him many different types of ninjutsu. There were some who could make a fireball out of thin air-- control water to become a great force that could cut or blow people away. Daiko also recalls reading a story of someone who had been trapped under a lake for many minutes before forcefully bringing themselves to the surface by a means of pure will. Daiko had been thinking about this for quite a bit of time before the flash of an idea finally caught his attention. He was thinking to himself about one of the final lessons that his master had taught him (prior to the lesson he had learned after his death....) and thought that this might be the perfect situation to use that particular type of technique. Daiko recalled learning about how some ninja had used scrolls covered with or containing a single symbol in order to seal a certain type of object or element into a form that could later be released, or used. This would be the foundation for his idea. What Daiko did, or rather thought he was going to do, was to be able to make some sort of seal on his body that would allow him to filter the air. Almost like a fish. This idea, like most Daiko would likely have, was a bust. Filtering air out of the water was something that creatures developed entire organs for the sole purpose of and he wasn't sure that he would be able to do that over just some thought. Even better, Daiko considered, was something that would not only allow him to filter air and breathe underwater but also allow him to breathe in environments that were hostile to human lungs. If this were the case, he considered that he may have to find some way to turn the carbon dioxide in his lungs into breathable, fresh oxygen that he could consume. It wouldn't be easy, but he gently touched his throat in consideration. The way he had seen his master create seals was to touch the surface that he wanted to seal and draw the seal onto it. This was usually preceded by a couple of random hand-seals that formed the chakra in his master's body to be able to accurately create what he was going for, and not something that would have hurt the user. Daiko thought to himself, looking down at his hands. He noticed that the cords where his knuckles would've been wriggled in anticipation. Slowly, Daiko formed the hand-seals at first. Hare... Perfectly formed on the first try. Secondly, Ox. He felt his confidence grow somewhat in the way of learning techniques, and full-heartedly went on to form the next. Dragon. After forming the proper hand-seals, Daiko gently placed his hand on his throat and felt what was almost like a seal forming on his neck. Concentrating on his chakra, he decided to breathe deeply in. 'Hhhhhhhhhuuuuuuuuuuu' Though he was breathing in, he couldn't feel any air getting to his head. Coughing and sputtering, the seal around his neck quickly dispelled. Perhaps through some more practice, he would get it down as well as he wanted to. Daiko knew for a fact that this would likely come in handy for him, someday. He corrected his posture and sat back looking down at the waves that had inspired him for such a technique.

*Looking out on the waves, Daiko spotted what looked like a piece of driftwood coming towards the shore. From this distance, it had looked to him like nothing more than a dingey at this distance. As it got closer, he was actually quite impressed by the craftsmanship of the boat. It didn't look to be simply flung together on a whim, it had seemed that whoever had put together this ship had intent in what they were doing, and not simply trying to show off. The masts began to come into view, and he noticed an admirable lavender skull on the large mast. "Niceeeee......." he trailed off, seeing that there was also a flag that had some girl's face on it. From what he had gathered by keeping company with the rapscallions of his 'home life', he was under the assumption that the man who had created this vessel was, as he remembered boys calling guys, 'Down Bad'.

*Daiko squinted his eyes to see where the ship had appeared to begin to dock and noticed the silhouettes of a couple of different people. It was at this moment that he realized that likely the person whom's face was on the flag was actually the leader of this troupe of pirates. Crazy. Before he could spend more time re-evaluating his actual knowledge of pirates, he noticed that one of the sailors had picked the lady up and flung her like a rock. "What the fuuuu..." Daiko muttered to himself, seeing her fly through the air like a skipped pebble. Just as he had begun to think that she would go crashing beneath the waves like a beached mollusk missing its home, he saw her create a structure of earth beneath her that caught her, before all the other sailors were flung in her direction. Now he was really confused.

*Scratching his head a bit, Daiko looked at the girl swimming toward the shore. Expecting nothing less from what he had seen so far, he noticed that she had been riding on the back of one of the crewmates, even carrying it so far as to ride on their back as she came ashore. Not entirely sure what to do, Daiko blinked a few times and slowly began trailing down in the direction that the girl was coming out of the water from. Coming somewhat closer to her presence, he stared with indifference on his face, but an immense curiosity in his heart. Walking up to be within speaking distance of the group, he looked at the girl and prepared to speak to her. Not having any idea as to what to say to this person, he simply decided that he would say the first thing that came to his mind given this unique situation. Not giving any allusion to his name, he simply looked over the group. "Yoo..... That's a pretty cool-looking flag. You from around here? You seem like you know how to make an entrance."

[1509]
{3017}

Learned--
[500/500] Body Flicker Technique
[1000/1000] Breath Seal
---
[250/250] Genjutsu Release
[250/250] Fuuinjutsu Breaking E
[500/500] Black Threads D
[500/500] Storage Displacement

It was a boy. Neat. As they finally came ashore Saya would shift her stance, allowing the coach puppet to rise up from the water as her footing shifted her from his back to standing tall on his shoulders. At this height she'd stand at least 10 feet tall... which was a huge change from the barelly five feet she cleared normally. It felt nice to be able to tower over people for once. She glanced downward as the group finally got into range, and she offered the ninja a peace sign in response. 

"From here!?!?! OF COURSE im from here! I'm Sayatria--"

"no." The small puppet with the long nose cut her off well before she could even get the first sylables of her last name out. He was getting faster. She rebounded from the interuption only to be cut off a second time. 

"Also no. Gonna stop you before you get started there little sister. She's Sayatria and she hopes one day to become the cosplay queen of the village hidden in the rain." The girl who spoke stood beside the coach puppet, and heres where things get wierd. Now listeners; you and I are used to the setup our dear protagonist has, but understand that I must take a moment to explain to any newcomers in our ranks the unique situation the tiny terror held. The girl who stood beside Coach, well, looked exactly like the girl who stood on his shoulders. In every concievable way. Sure she was a puppet, we all know that, but with her realistic sylicone skin and the intricate woodworking that allowed her eyes and facial features to shift in a natural way it would be nearly impossible to tell that the two weren't twins if one overlooked the most minor of details... Like a set of blue strings going from Saya to Ai's body and allowing for her movement. Yanno. Little things. 

"YES! You may call me saya! And these are my family. My teacher Pinochio, My older sister Ai, and Coach. He's uh. Well he's a coach. " In emphasis the coach puppet crouched low, spilling saya off his back. His hands wrapped around the metal whistle on his neck and he brought it to his lips. She seemed to tumble for barelly a second before The same blue threads wrapped her arms. Tucking her head in she flipped in mid-air, and landed in a perfect three point super hero landing directly in front of the pack. 

"Wh. Why are you out here on the islands?! No one comes out here like ever except the pirates sometimes, and villagers looking for a vacation or general thieves making hideouts or fishermen..." Once again she was cut off by the smaller long nosed puppet pinochio. 

"Tria. That is quite a few people and doesn't exactly prove your point. You've also forgotten that things can be dangerous out here in the borders. Perhaps you should be a little more on guard until you know he's a friend?" In emphasis the pinochio puppet lifted his hands, flashing his sharpened nails defensively, but he was brushed off by AI. 

"Now now. Let's not make threats. If he's dangerous we'll deal with that later, but for now lets let little sister handle things hm?"

(1346)

Daiko is nowhere short of impressed, looking upwards at what he believed to be the captain towering over him, atop the man's shoulders.  Daiko blinks, nodding his head. "Sayatria, eh? That's what's up. My name is Daiko." After his quick introduction, he noticed that the 'people' that he had been looking at from afar looked a bit strange when he got closer. It hadn't taken him long to notice that the girl standing on the top of the creatures had blue strings coming out of her hands, seeming to connect her to the other members of the crew. That was pretty neat. 

"Nice to meet you Coach, Pinochio, Ai." Daiko smacks his lips a little bit and gives a glance at the ground. "Saya it is then." By the time he looked up, he was startled seeing the girl come tumbling off of the one referred to as "Coach's" back. Stepping back in surprise, he was once again impressed at the finesse in which she had landed. Seeing the way that she was flung off, he would've assumed that she would've just fallen straight into the dirt. Maybe gymnastics like that were just that easy. Must have been something having to do with being on a moving ship all of the time. 

Daiko subtly scratched behind his head when asked what he was doing in this area. "To be honest with you... Your guess is as good as mine. The last place I was in, a couple of people just booted my ass out the door, something having to do with me being a piece of shit or something.." Looking down at the ground, he kicked at the dirt a couple of times and looked back up at the group. "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. All I really know is that I want to learn more about this Doton nature chakra that my old teacher was telling me about. I saw what you did with the earth when you were out there. Mind if I give it a shot?" Hoping that there wouldn't be any hangups to his request, he backed up a bit and rolled his neck around, and began to stretch. He assumed that this is how all ninjas got ready to do something badass.

Taking a quick stance, he decided to get flashy with the execution of his 'new technique', so he squatted down, and jumped in the air to do a backflip. Though he tucked his legs in, he hadn't made the full rotation, he ended up pre-maturely getting out of his form and faceplanting on the ground. Without taking another moment of hesitation, crouching he quickly formed random hand-signs that came to his mind, though meant absolutely nothing. Putting his hand down on the ground, he felt the earth shifting beneath his body. He felt an overwhelming sense of power when he did this, almost as if the earth would shift at his very will. He then felt the earth drop a meter under his feet, much to his surprise. It wasn't in a perfect square as he had seen with his new friend Saya, it just dropped him into the earth low enough to smash his head into the dirt and go back to how it was to begin with. All he had left to do was to roll over, looking up at Saya. "Yeah, pretty much exactly on the mark right?" 

Standing up, Daiko brushed the dirt off of himself and rolls his shoulders again, looking blankly at Saya. "That was just a joke, to ease the tension." He didn't like to lie to people, but he had learned that in certain moments, it was a ninja's only option.

[617]
{3634}

Learned --
[1000/1000] Breath Seal
[500/500] Body Flicker Technique
[500/500] Black Threads D
[500/500] Storage Displacement
[250/250] Genjutsu Release
[250/250] Fuuinjutsu Breaking E

HECK! Saya watched as the ground lowered beneath him, and her hand shot forward. WIth the power of her chakra threads she lashed out. Unless stopped, she'd wrap five threads around the young doton student, and with a heave of her hand pull him from the hole as it formed. For flair, she'd cause his body to spin incredibly quickly as it would look like he lept to safety, performing four backflips before an arm reached out to push off the edge of the earth. This propelled his body horizontally to slide just above the lip of the new open space, go completely vertical again upside down, and then slowly spin to right himself as he hit the ground. As she did this the four also shifted backwards. Saya caught her fingertips in between the slats of Coach's chest. She gripped him tightly as the same movement allowed the three puppets to easily backpedal out of the space where Daiko's technique was formed. At the end of everything, all five would be standing at the edge of the new opening, daiko facing towards the puppetmaster, and assuming he allowed her to take control, the threads would unwrap from his body to allow him free movement once more. 

"OK so. Um. " She cleared her throat. Then, in a tone that mimiced pinochio's she continued. "For the moving earth core technique, it's important that you focus on drawing a mass of doton chakra in your ground chakra point and will the mass to move the earth between you. This would be a mass over precision style technique." What came next was a roar of laughter as Ai dropped to the ground. She was beside herself rolling on the fresh sand at Saya's mimicry of her teacher. For several moments she continued to enjoy the situation before finally she was cut off. 

"....While I don't apreciate the mocking tone, especially considering my voice was directly created BY you so there is no question that you could replicate it if needed... That was actually good information. She's correct. There are various ways that you form chakra. For this technique you want to focus on large scale molding instead of precision movement. That will allow you to move a greater area of the earth and even increase the speed at which you can do so. There is also a technique that can help you do the jutsu, or any jutsu much more effectively. That's what i've been TRYING to get Saya to sit down and learn all day, but no one listens to  pinochio. Instead she wanted to go off in her new pirate ship." To say he was less then thrilled by the situation was an understatement, but technically they were training right now, and that should have appeased him. It did not. 

"To be fair Pinoch, Judging by her comment to this boy, she does listen to your lectures. You just need to realize she's a teen. Sometimes she's got to blow off some steam...."

(1551)

Daiko was so confused. He had seen himself almost about to harm himself, but instead, he was picked up and proceeded to do things that looked like they would be out of an action movie. Strangely enough, it felt as though he were a puppet, jauntily being carried along to do this young girl's whims. It was a strange feeling, not exactly one that he would hope to experience again. As he spins to the ground, he lands on his feet and can feel the movement in his body coming back to him once more. Daiko looks up at Saya. "Yo... what did you just do to me...? I felt like I was a puppet or summn..." He trails off for a second and looks at the blue strings that were going from her hands into the group that he had seen her with. 'Ohhh, shit...' he thought to himself. He felt someone dull that he had only now realized that the group was ALL puppets, save from the girl he was speaking to. 

Listening to her explanation, he puts his mind to work. The technique wasn't so much about focusing so much on a single point to push, but more so the mass of the earth to either push it or pull it in a given direction. Rubbing his hands together, Daiko focuses on the task at hand. He takes a deep breath in, and slowly closes his eyes, focusing on the earth chakra inside of his body. Given that this was his first technique, he hoped that whatever he had learned next would come a bit easier to him. He could feel the distinct feeling in his body that he had an innate nature to be able to do earth techniques, so there was no reason he should've struggled with this. He was able to create a seal that he didn't even have the proficiency for. Focusing his mind on MASS, he pressed his hands to the ground. 

When he did, he felt the ground rising up underneath him, about 10 meters high. Standing up, he stumbled slightly, as the area was only around 2 meters around him on any side. Looking down from where he was, he waved his arms happily, and what may have not resembled an uninterested glance appeared on his face. "Yooo!!!! That was some good ass advice!!! I got it down!" Focusing chakra on his feet, he begins to walk down the side of the rock that he had made, walking at a decent pace down the side. As he finally got off of it, he smiled and touched the side of it. The earth then went back down to its regular size and looked as if nothing had touched it to begin with. 

Pleased with himself, Daiko was pretty excited to see what more this girl-- er, group could teach him. Looking over at the one whom the girls had been mocking, he asks calmly. "Ay, Pinochio." He grins, giving (the man????) a thumbs up. "You really know what you're talking about! Is there anything else you could teach me?" Though not seeming unusual to those around him, Daiko realized that this had been the first time that he's actually smiled. He had expected it to feel different.

[547]
{4181}

Learned-- 
(50% Training Discount
1000 / 2 == [500/500] Moving Earth Core
--
[1000/1000] Breath Seal
[500/500] Body Flicker Technique
[500/500] Black Threads D
[500/500] Storage Displacement
[250/250] Genjutsu Release
[250/250] Fuuinjutsu Breaking E

"Skillful artistry with a human body. It allows her to control a person in the same way she controls her puppets. " Ai responded simply to the first question, shrugging as she explained what seemed so simple to a puppet master. Of course if Saya could control a wooden facsimile of a person it would stand to reason that she could control a person also. Thinking about it, she wondered if those skills could also be put to use in the control and use of weapons. That was a thought for another time. At this point Pinochio would speak up. 

"Yes. There is one that I've been meaning to finish having Saya learn. We did some training with the earth element fairly early in her jutsu lessons. The rock pillar spears jutsu. Quite an interesting technique actually. It allows for the user to create spears of earth in the ground and send them towards an opponent. Saya, Do you remember the seals?" Unfortunately the tiny terror wasn't exactly paying attention. Well, she was paying attention, but not to the current convorsation. She had focused on beaming in pride at the moves she'd made Daiko use in order to get him out of the pit, and doubly so considering his response to her actions. Being able to control things with her chakra threads was something that always seemed to interest and excite her. The smallest puppet snapped his wooden fingers several times, and finally she came back to the present. 

"uh. What? OH. Uh. Yea. It's like you focus on the heart chakra and something about heating up and then you can do it?" This was not a proud moment for our dear heroine. As so often seemed to happen, she had focused on something else, lost track of what was going on, and instead of taking a second to let her mind catch up with her, she'd spurted out the first thing that came to her mind. Of course she knew Pinocio was asking for an explanation of something, so she naturally assumed he wanted information on the formation of the fire element. That was uh. Not so much the case. 

"That would be exactly right... were I asking about elemental training with Katon. While i'm so very glad that you're focusing on the lessons i've been having you work on... I really do need you to pay a bit more attention to what is actually going on. We're talking about the Rock pillar spears jutsu? What are it's hand seals." 

"Oh right. Its like five or something? Dragon monkey boar ram. I think theres less if you want to use it at a lower rank but like. I couldn't see a reason to use it at a lower rank so I just trained it at max power. Dragon monkey boar ram and then you do a hand stand. " Pinochio's head cocked to the side for barelly a moment when she finished her explanation. He instinctually moved to correct the end of her statement before he felt Ai nudge him. This was a bit of a trick Saya had decided to play on the boy. Of course it would work. The end of the technique simply required for the user to touch their hand to the ground and doing a hand stand absolutely would fulfil that requirement, but it was excessive. 

"...Right. Yes. That's absolutely how you do it. "

(2119)

Daiko listened to the group of them talk amongst themselves, talking about how katon chakra was used. Daiko knew that he wouldn't be able to use it himself, though it was still interesting to hear. He still wasn't entirely sure how he would go about learning different elements, but from what he could tell it was likely that this girl could do more than just earth. Finding this pretty cool in itself, he thought on it for a bit. It seemed that this young lady was quite proficient in what she was able to do, even if she hadn't entirely let on what her abilities were. She was able to manipulate Daiko's body seamlessly as if he was one of her puppets, and he was truly concerned as to what that might entail if he HADN'T gotten off to such a good start with her. He wasn't entirely sure why, but not having seen any other people roaming about as carefree as this girl in front of him put him on edge a bit. She obviously was more than capable of protecting herself, seeing as she was followed by a group of 3 puppets, all controlled by her. Taking a moment to process the situation, Daiko decided to himself that he would be somewhat more cautious in his coming day.

Rock pillar spears, eh? That was a technique that sounded pretty badass to Daiko. Having the utility of his new earth core technique, he thought that it was only right that he was able to get some offense at his disposal too. From what he gathered about this technique, it seemed that the way that it was handled was that the proper hand seals were formed, and the pillars came up out of the ground. Daiko had assumed that once he picked a direction for these spears to go, whether it be straight up, in front of him, or around him in some way, the direction couldn't be changed. He also imagined that it may be possible for him to put a couple of him in a formation to form some sort of wall. Concentrating on the task at hand, he listens closely to the instructions he would be given. Thinking back to some lessons that his master had taught him, he assumed that the fifth one that he didn't know would've been bird... or something lame like that. Bird... Dragon.. Monkey.. Boar.. Ram. He quickly does the required seals, and the last part of the girl's explanation seemed somewhat inaccurate, but he hadn't been misled by her before.

After forming the required seals, Daiko focused on the chakra in his body and closed his eyes. Feeling the earth in his hand, he leans his weight forward, bringing himself towards the ground and catching himself with his hand. Pushing himself up, he holds this position perfectly, as 15 blunt stone spears shot out of the ground around him. They began towering above him, but they stopped somewhat abruptly around the 5-meter mark. Looking above him from his current position, he noticed that he didn't have much room from his current position, as the spears were all basically formed around him. Concentrating for another moment, he launches himself forward from the handstand, allowing the pillars to crumble as he walked through the debris.

Daiko gives Saya two thumbs up. "I think I got it done pretty well. Do I have to do that handstand every time?" After saying this, he winks, bowing slightly in appreciation. "That's a really sweet technique! I'm sure I'll put it to good use some time. I'll be thinkin' about ya if I get someone with it." Daiko stretches his back out and looks towards where it seemed civilization was on the array of islands. "So, what's the deal with that village? You're from here, yes? How do I get in there?"

[642]
{4823}

Learned--
[1000/1000] Breath Seal
[500/500] Body Flicker Technique
[500/500] Black Threads D
[500/500] Storage Displacement
[250/250] Genjutsu Release
[250/250] Fuuinjutsu Breaking E

1000 / 2 == [500/500] Moving Earth Core

"Uh. Yep. You have to do the hand stand every single time. If you practice it enough to master it then um. Then it upgrades to a front flip hand stand but otherwise its totally a  hand stand every single time. " Her slip up with Katon was intentional... at least partly. She knew her next few tasks fairly well. She'd been working on her senju blood, and needed to fully master her ninjutsu specialization and learn her final element. For that, she needed  to actually focus on her own training while she and the others helped Daiko. Time almost seemed to slow down for the konoichi as she focused. She'd been able to split her focus naturally in order to personify her puppets, but as she did it she found that it had additional benefits. That led her to actually understanding the way in which her mind seemed to fracture to allow for intricate focus on multiple things at the same time. At current her mind scape was a ping pong ball that shifted to and fro between the three. As she intensified her focus she felt a sensation like a shattering of glass. The bouncing ceased. Instead she could feel all three pieces of her subconscious working in unison. Then information came flooding back. 

"Huh. She's figured out that she does this and is focusing it into something productive..." Pinochio turned to stare at the girl. Her eyes were closed and her ears twitched as her senses shifted into overdrive. Ai also turned for a moment as she felt her portion of Saya's consciousness solidifying. 

"It seems she has. How many times has she actually done this Pinoch?" Saya seemed more intrigued then worried. While she generally had full access to their mind--being a bit of wood and other materials who was controled and personified by Saya, at current she felt a shift between their shared consciousness into a state where she seemed to have her own thoughts and understandings that wasn't linked with Saya's. That was new. 

"Sorry Daiko. Um. Saya is doing something I expected would take her quite a bit longer. She was messing with you about the hand stand though. You actually just need to touch your hands to the ground to activate the technique. It was how they say uh.. A funny?" WIthin Saya's mind the cogs turned. Everything she'd learned was accessable, and somehow the pieces came into place to make more sense then ever before. She remembered elemental training. She rememebered how the teacher had faultered for weeks before they finally tested her with suiton. Had they known more then the base of Senju's master of elements, it would have been quicker, but they'd tried everything else first and come up short. She could hear the old wrinkled man talking about the devistation of fire style, and the intense power it would require. That had interested her. 

(2604)