Secret Technique: Tofu

Daiko stretches out, sitting on the bench that he usually found himself at when he didn't have anything better to do. Well, today, he had other stuff that he should be doing, but he was kinda avoiding it because it seemed like a lot of work to him. Stretching out on the chair, Daiko stares up at the sky. He sees a bunch of different types of clouds in different shapes, and one looks like it is in the shape of a tree. Hmm. That's strange. Who does he know that has something to do with trees... Oh, right.

Daiko had completely forgotten that he had completely left Saya hanging. She had shown him a bunch of cool Jutsu, and he basically just ran off without really saying anything to her. That was a shame. Sitting up in his chair, Daiko looks around to see something that might be able to show him the time. Seeing a random clock that was posted up in the town square of Kiri, Daiko notices that it was late afternoon. Man, how long had he been awake? Or maybe he slept. Daiko didn't really remember, though he did know that recently he'd been up to a lot of antics, and he actually had killed a bunch of dudes by accident and learned some new abilities. Maybe Saya would have some advice for him after he showed her his ultimate technique.

Yeah. There was a nice ring to that. Ultimate technique. Standing up from the bench, Daiko made his way over to where Saya's house was, noting all the different shops on the way. Kirigakure was definitely in good condition, and it had seemed that they were in a prosperous time. Everything was going as it should, and there were plenty of.. Alive tourists all rushing around and spending money on the various things that Kiri had to offer. It was a nice sight. After walking a couple of blocks, Daiko finally made it to the place that he knew was Saya's underground bunker-- I mean her house. Yes. Daiko walked in after a short knock on the door and quickly pressed the button to go down in the elevator.

As he went down, he noticed that there was some elevator music. It could've just been his imagination, but it sounded like the voice in one of the songs was someone he recognized. Daiko had wondered where exactly the elevator music was put in at, but... No matter. Stretching out, Daiko listens to the beeps that signify that he had gone down a floor, before finally making it to the one where he had assumed that he would find Saya. If the doors would open and lead to her standing right in front of him, or somewhere in the room, he would make his presence known, waving towards Saya and glancing at anyone else that found themselves in the room. "Yooooo. What's up. How's it going." That was all that Daiko would say, waiting to see what they were up to before doing more.

[510]

Saya had actually had a pretty busy day. She and Ai had been focus for weeks in preparation for the tournament, and having finished their celebration of her first round win, it was was time to prepare for the next round. Unfortunately it was the other senju girl who Ai would be facing. That meant they would need extra prep. In a mad rush our dear protagonist had put together a set of seals that would work against the senju, placing them on her sister and checking their equipment. This morning specifically Saya had taken several hours just testing her sister's techniques against wood style, and FINALLY it was her favorite time of the day. Mappo tofu time.

The bell to the elevator rung. She still had to get used to the new fuin seals that actually pointed out when the elevator was opening in the room they were in. It did make it easier to know someone was coming though. She glanced up, a large piece of red tinted tofu still hanging from her mouth to see her first teammate walking through the door.

"Dammmoooooo" Taking a large bite, she'd chew exactly twice before swallowing the delicious food down so that she wasn't talking with her mouth full. It was rude her mother always said. Honestly, she had taken a liking to doing the opposite of what she'd said though.

She was dressed simply: The red tinted leather chest armor she'd made with a flowing grey tinted dress underneath. Across her wrists the bangles displaying her clan symbol ratled and rang as they shifted across the surface of the table with each bite. Her hair was pulled back and set in loose braids that combined in the back. Every couple of inches bits of animal bone hung, some fangs or femurs of creatures she'd communed with via her summons, and some carved into small beads with Nordic runes across the front. THe more she learned and trained with the otterbrook clan, the more she seemed to shift to a style that heavily resembled the Freyja puppet. She kind of liked it, even if it was a bit casual.

"Hey daiko! I haven't heard from you in like. Forever! Did you hear?! There was a genin tournament and my big sister won her first round! I think she's off training for her next fight, So i've been hanging with PupAIt and frey. I think she's fighting against Dana in the next round. Kinda scary to be honest, But like. I have every bit of faith that she'll do well." As she motioned for him to enter, she slid a plastic container filled with steaming mappo tofu across the table to the open spot that almost seemed to be saved for him. It's almost as if she expected him to show up. She didn't of course. With Ai out and about she'd bought two orders of tofu with full intention of eating them both even if it was going to give her a tummy ache, but honestly this was a better plan.

(TWC 511)

Daiko smiled slightly by Saya's response, as she had been in the middle of eating and still taking the time to say hello, even if it was somewhat muffled by the mass amounts of tofu. Goddamn, how can someone consume that much tofu? Insane. Daiko was wearing the same casual outfit that he usually did, though it was important to note that it was *not* in fact stained with any red juices, from mappo tofu or... You know. Otherwise. It had seemed to him that Saya had begin to adopt a more casual style, which was refreshing considering Daiko seldom wore anything other than simple sweatpants and hoodies. 

Daiko's ears perked up a bit when he heard that there was some sort of tournament going on. He had known this, of course, considering that his one student had actually signed up for it. That was pretty cool. Maybe he would get to see his student and Saya's sister face off. Though Daiko had a lot of faith in the abilities of his student, he wasn't entirely sure how it would go down. "Oh, yeah! I saw that there was a tournament going on. Pretty exciting. Actually, there was one kid in one of the preliminary rounds, I think it was the one that was the shortest..." Daiko scratched his chin. "That Niko kid. He's a puppet user. I haven't really been training him, moreso just harrassing him, but he's definitely got the spirit of a winner." Daiko would nod his head slightly, flashing a slightly devilish grin with his next line of dialogue. "Hey, who knows. Maybe your big sis is gonna face off against him." 

Slowly reaching and grabbing the tofu that was laid out for him, Daiko sets it on a small table in front of a seat and sits down, leaning back slowly and closing his eyes slightly, once again getting the slight smirk on his face. "And I mean... I watched him take out his competition in only a few minutes with just his threads. Though I've never seen him really be competent with his puppets..." Daiko sits up, his face going back to a straight face and he scratched his chin. "Thank you for the food though!" Daiko then took this time to begin scarfing down the tofu, the subtle flavors and the intense spice making the whole experience much more enjoyable. After swallowing the first few bites, Daiko would continue talking, after whatever response that he would give to Saya. "Oh, yeah. I also learned some new fancy techniques. Not gonna lie, they're pretty badass. I actually came over here to show you some of them. If you'd care to see?" Daiko would turn his head up slightly, continuing to eat while waiting for whatever Saya had to say. 

The truth was, he did learn some badass techniques. He had actually planned on using them to get here, though he didn't want to startle Saya by accidentally teleporting right in her face as she was about to sit down. 

[505]
{1015}

"Huh. I remember Niko. I broke his hand like two months ago in a spar." The response to her statement was almost immediate. There was a soft tsk from the Ai puppet, lovingly named PupAIt.

"I broke his hand actually. He was sparring me and used some weird invisibility something or the other, but like. He didn't have chakra supression so his threads were just there... I sent a kick to his hand that I thought was pretty slow, and you know i'm not very strong, but like. Instant broken hand somehow. It was probably the weirdest spar we'd ever been in" And so they would enter into what was their signature move. For whatever reason the twins had a horible habit of playing off one another. One would speak, and the other, knowing exactly when her sister would stop, started her next statement the moment the last was done.

"Ai is totally gonna destroy niko if he gets that far. You shoulda seen him against coldtaco or whatever his name was. She was all like wait for it. wait for it.....BOOM Big ole explody jutsu but then he was like whoooosshhhh windy stuff and then she was like wait again, cuz like he couldn't get close without being in trouble cuz of the threads right, so she was like wait. wait. wait...... Boom. Skillful artistry with a human body. Then she immediately threatened to decaptitate him with his own earth style jutsu that he like. Put all around her and her team instead of trying to use it to actually attack? That part was wierd. But yea. Then Lady mizukage Called the fight and Tada! Win for team puppet. " For all her failures in actually giving a detailed description of the fight, you would think you were watching it again with her movements. she dropped low in her stance as she emphasized the waiting, and really jumped around, waving her arms to express explosions.

"It really wasn't that impressive of a match. Saya would probably have used a bunch of Wood style and really made a show of it. I just exploited a weakness in his defense." And that was the difference between the two girls. Even PupAIt was generally very calm and humble. Saya was sort of humble, but it was less like. Not thinking highly of herself and more not actually realizing that she was as far along as she was. "Oh. Also. My little sister redid the mizukage's building and was promoted to chuunin."

"YES YES YES YES SHOW ME Wait. Is this a safe to do while several floors underground kind of thing? I do have the reinforced training room if needed...... But like. Don't destroy my house please. I'm not allowed to destroy things cuz apparently we're far enough underground that it might actually be dangerous. Also we aren't very sure if we're even allowed to have an underground mansion so like. Can't go caving in a city lock and revealing my cool secret house yanno?" She was far too excited to see what daiko had been working on. Last she remembered, Saya was showing him sage mode.

(TWC 1035)

Daiko laughs, hearing that Saya had actually had an encounter with his student herself. Well, that probably meant he wouldn't be able to talk him up too much. Considering that Daiko, while he was much weaker than he is now, made Niko jump at just the sight of him... Wasn't too promising. Daiko himself had seen Niko's little trick where he turns invisible, and it had led him to yell and curse at that edgy dude. Something about broken puppets and whatnot, Daiko was not really feeling it. Listening to Saya continue, Daiko couldn't help but burst out into some slight laughter. "Co..Coldtaco??? THAT'S HIS NAME?" Daiko continued to snicker while Saya talked, and then he resumed his more serious demeanor. He listened and continued, and then heard that Saya was actually just recently promoted to chuunin. That was pretty impressive. Nodding his head, Daiko looked at her. "Damn. That's pretty sweet, not going to lie. So, what do you do now as a chew-ning? Or wait... Chuunin. Yeah, what do you do? Anything crazy? Or is it just the same kinda stuff that we used to do when we went on missions together?" Scratching the back of his head, Daiko continues to slurp on some more food.

Man, this food was really good. There wasn't much around like it, and it really hit the spot. Daiko wondered how long Saya's diet had consisted of this stuff, and if it was even healthy. It was probably due to the fact that they were always running around, but Daiko felt like he always had a fuck ton of energy in stores. That could possibly be because between every mission that he ends up doing, he takes overly long waits and drags his feet whenever it is actually time to do something. Though this was probably true, Daiko would just pretend like he had other pressing matters to attend to so that Saya wouldn't yell at him. Stretching out, Daiko continues to stare off into space, wondering what would happen if entered some kind of tournament. He knew that he had work that had to be done sooner than later, so he didn't really want to stop and smell the roses with fights that didn't end with him swimming through the visceral showers of his enemies but like. Maybe it would be fun to just try to battle someone sometime. Oh well.

Daiko blinks. "Oh! That's right. I have a new Jutsu to show you. Check this shit out." Standing up, Daiko cracks his knuckles, even though he doesn't have any bones, and moves over to where Saya is. "Alright so like. Hold on and shit. Otherwise, you'll go flying and explode." Daiko didn't think that she would actually explode, but he didn't want to take the chance. Maybe they could, maybe they couldn't. It was no matter. "Okay, okay so. Check this out. Name a place you want to go." Daiko would brace for just a moment, and then he would unleash his new secret technique!!!

[505]
{1520}

Why was daiko laughing? She wracked her brain, trying to go through everyone she'd ever met in kiri. had she messed up the kids name? Realstically she probably had. It wasn't unusual for Saya to miss peoples names, half because she didn't remember anything she didn't deem especially important, and half because she wasn't sure if there was anyone at the village she hadn't met at this point. It was an interesting centerpoint having the understanding and capacity for knowlege that Saya had, but being absolutely unable to use most of it because of her own disinterest in things. She could vaguely remember faces and details, but if it didn't directly interact with her interests it wasn't work holding and either got shifted to one of the puppets or was lost entirely, just moments after it was learned.

"I.. I think so? I mean probably. Listen. I've met so many people. Pinochio kicked his butt good and proper in a spar when he was still a puppet, but I was a bit busy fighting toe to toe with Freyja while they fought so I didn't exactly retain any of what happened. That was when I'd first learned how to use vines so I was trying to get my mastery up so that I could use them eficiently. Freyja is quite a dificult fight to have." She considered the next question for several minutes, even deciding to stop eating her lunch while she tried to figure out a solid answer. The real answer was nothing. Technically there were no differences that she was aware of. She was supposed to have more responsibility probably. She wasn't supposed to destroy entire blocks of the village. That was new. But Murata hadn't really told her much other than those two things.

"Well. I uh. Honestly I got nothing. I think i'm supposed to be more responsible. Murata said that I was supposed to not cause so much trouble but like. I didn't exactly get a manual on what to do. also....." In an instant, the pensive considerations of the tiny terror shifted to unbridled joy. Her body vibrated with excitement

"DID YOU KNOW THE NEW MIZUKAGE IS A GIRL?! Like this is so cool. A female kage! Thats just like me!!!!! I didn't even know that could happen--though my understanding of kages has been stories of the tyrant guy and like. the mysterious figure who was over us before. " She bounced about in her seat as she spoke. Clearly this was one of the tgreatest things she'd ever heard. Saya watched as her friend gets up, and somehow cracks non existant bones? As he spoke she simply nodded, trying her best to hold still.

"Uh..... The forrest I accidentally made on the northern outskirts of the village but didn't cut down cuz I thought it looked really cool so i just go there if I need to get some quiet and think. Or like. I would if I ever wanted quite, but that hasn't happened yet. "

(TWC 1537)

Daiko nods his head, and then raises his eyebrow, first in surprise, and then in concern. "W..Wait. There's a new kage????? What happened to little Ram?" Though Daiko acted concerned, he didn't really care. He just wanted to go along with Saya's current dialogue, and not look like an ass in front of his old friend. Truth be told, the last time he had met the previous Mizukage, he basically almost died. Of course, that was primarily because he wasn't exactly sure of what social ques mean when you're in front of the leader of the village, but that was no matter. The fact was that there was now a new leader in there, and Daiko wanted very much to meet them. Daiko wondered if there would be anything that he has done recently that would lead to him having to meet her (heh) or if it would just come about by chance. Only time would tell, and Daiko was somewhat excited to see that. For him, this would be like a fresh start. Maybe he wouldn't have to live in Saya's basement, and would actually be able to purchase and create a house. Either way, Daiko would continue listening to what Saya had to say. 

Daiko gives a thumbs up. "Alright. The forest of dead taijutsu ladies, here we..." Before Daiko could finish the sentence, a small circle that was a few cm in diameter began to spread from his center, enveloping him. It moved quickly, and wouldn't really be visible to Saya or anyone else looking unless they had some sort of special chakra vision. Once this speck enveloped him, he and Saya would instantly be transported to the forest that she had been talking about, in mere moments. "...are." Daiko nodded his head, taking a few steps back and letting Saya bask in his awesome glory. Daiko was such a cool guy and the fact that he hadn't been able to show her this early was... Somewhat alarming. Thinking about it, he hadn't really seen her since he rushed out of the village and decided to rip some random kid's eye out. He was pretty glad he did that though... That's a surprise tool that would help him out later. Stretching out, Daiko looks around at the forest. "Pretty cool, right?" Daiko nodded, soaking in the awe. "Anyways, what we were talking about earlier..." 

Daiko nods his head. "Yeah. They definitely don't give manuals for... Anything around here. I've been doing my best to start to figure things out, and actually. I got something pretty sweet jutsu the other day." Daiko rubs his hands together, ready to reveal the awesome power he had just recently obtained. "Okay, so check this shit out. So. So. SO. I found out the secret to this... Like... Wood thing. Alright. So. Here's what you do... You mix the water and the earth and you..." Pushing his hands forward, Daiko then looks disappointed. "I.. I-uhh. I don't think it's that easy but like. I... I know I can do it. Any pointers?" 

[510]
{2030}

"Ram? Like... The armadillo you see in kiri merch all over the city? I think that was like. The old mizukage's pet or something. I'm not really sure. If i'm being honest I didn't even mean to meat the new mizukage but Yanno how i'm kind of a legend around the village who is totally well known and absolutely respected? The Mizukage hired me to redo the leader's bulding, fix the feng sui or something, and I met with her secretary who was giving me info on what was expected to be done, and what was wanted and when I finished.... Boom. It was actually the new Mizukage AND she was a girl!!!! Apparently I'm more than strong enough to be considered for jounin but she doesn't think i'm responsible enough for the task so she wanted to meet with me to talk about what i'd need to get further." She shrugged. To most this would be the most exciting news of a ninja's life, but for saya it was just news. She didn't really care about being promoted. Had it not been for Murata directly deciding to promote her she would have been fairly happy staying at genin and continuing to grow her skills.

"I guess it means I can do harder missions and stuff, and It'll probably be easier to get out and go traveling if I ever end up able, but I dunno. I don't feel any different as a chuunin and I don't think i woud have felt any different as a jounin. " As she finished her explanation, Daiko would do... something? Using her brilliant analytical brain, she was able to determine the nuance of his actions. This brought her to the clear conclusion that it was probably a jutsu. SHe could feel the chakra pouring across his form, linking betwen their connection to flow through her own body... And then they were at the forrest.

"whot." She'd seen alot of cool ninjutsu, but nothing came close to this. Had he used some powerful technique to actually change her house to look exactly like the forrest?! No. That was a silly thought. Was it genjutsu? Chakra pulsed thorugh her body, making it clear that it was not in fact genjutsu. How had h....

"DId.... Did you just like. Teleport us?! Is that a thing that ninja can do! I wanna learn to teleport. Is it ninjutsu? I'm really good at ninjutsu. " She would zip around the forrest as she spoke, making sure that everything was exactly as it was in the real world. They were definitely there. THen Daiko started talking about wood style.

"Wh. Uh. You do know that I directly use mokuton right? Like that's my clan's element. I know you've seen me use it like so many times. For instance. " She would form the seals quickly, focusing her chakra on the secondary chakra point she'd created to house her wood style techniques. From her chest a powerful stream of wood chakra flowed across her form, wrapping itself around her chest, down her legs, and across each arm. The end result would be absolutely crazy. It looked like she was completely inside of a wierd wooden doll with hands in a circle across it's back, only her eyes actually being seeable.

(TWC 2084)

Daiko teleports the two of them to where they were going and then nods his head. Afterward, he notices that Saya is running around in all directions, excitedly talking about stuff. "No, sorry. It's not ninjutsu. It's a special Daiko jutsu that like. Is just so intense and awesome that it can't be taught to anyone. It requires insane chakra control, as well as being able to do super cool stuff. I dunno. Just like it takes a lot, and I don't think I could be able to teach it. To be honest, I forget what I did to learn it, it's just second nature to me at this point." Nodding his head, Daiko stretches out and looks at Saya. She was very excited, and it seemed like she was overall pretty impressed with everything that had gone down. This made Daiko pretty happy, to be honest, and he decided it would be best to let her run around and enjoy this moment before they got down to training. Turning his head slightly, Daiko listens to what Saya has to say and sees everything that she's doing and whatnot. He might be able to learn the element here and now! 

Daiko nods his head. "Yes, I'm well aware that you can use mokuton naturally. I am trying to learn it... So... I was just wondering like. How... How do you do that? I'm pretty sure I have it down, for the most part, it's just.. Y'know..." Daiko would scratch the back of his head and then look at Saya's awesome demonstration. Oh shit. Yeah, what she did was pretty awesome. She essentially wrapped herself in some kind of wood armor, and it had formed to be like some kind of doll. Walking up somewhat close, Daiko goes to poke it, squinting slightly. It looked pretty damn powerful, and to be honest, Daiko wasn't sure how exactly it was done. It was cool looking, but Daiko wanted to start with something a bit more simple. "But yeah. Do you have any tips? I mainly just want to find some way to be able to like. Create trees like I've seen you do, and stuff like that. It's all pretty impressive and likes. The cool little dog heads that you made when we were at that one bar? That stuff was cool as well. I just wanna learn." 

Nodding his head, Daiko would just sit there for a moment and listen to what Saya had to add. He was genuinely curious what the secret was to learning this new release, and he fully planned on getting *someone* to tell him, even if it wasn't Saya. Daiko knew that if pinoch was here, he wouldn't be holding back that info. Pinoch was just a real homie like that. Tilting his head the other way, Daiko listens to whatever Saya has to say to him, and is genuinely interested in whatever kinds of techniques that she can teach him, as well as the methods that come with those techniques. It was actually pretty sweet.

[510]
{2540}

"Hm. But I have great chakra control! Have you seen the sheer volume of mokuton i can create?! " As she spoke, the wooden kanzeon statue that protected her motioned to all around them with all eight of its arms. It was a wild thing to see, but pretty standard for Saya. "If it's not ninjutsu I probably couldn't learn it though. Unless it's fuinjutsu. Oh. I picked up fuin also. I was able to put a whole bunch of cool seals on Ai for her tournament fight. Shame her opponent didn't put up enough of a fight for her to use them. It woulda been so hecking cool." She would finally settle down, allowing the wooden construct to wither and break away from her form so she could focus on the task at hand. How did Pinochio explain it so long ago? Manipulating chakra felt like second nature. She didn't even really notice that she was doing it nowadays.

"Ok. So the way it was explained to me. There are seven natural chakra points in your body. Each of these controls a different element. Your root is used to manipulate doton and your solar is used to manipulate suiton. " As she spoke she would stomp the ground to emphasize the root chakra, which forcused on the feet and an aura beneath the user's body. For solar she would point at the dead center of her chest, right where the breast bone sat.

"So what I had to do was I needed to make a secondary chakra point that was between these two. You can focus on creating new chakra points to do specialized things that your seven main points dont. I focused my doton and suiton energy on my 3rd vertibrae and consolodated it into one singular point that could hold specifically mokuton. If you know how to focus on your main chakra points effectively it's much easier to actually craft the new one because you can focus on the two points you're using to make the new element and just kind of use them as a template. With that done, you mold Doton and suiton chakra, and store it in this new chakra point. Next I guess you just kinda... Mash em together. YOu need to keep your concentration to make sure that you're putting the right ratio of one to the other based on your elemental strength. For me I need to use just a smidge more of my doton chakra in order to activate mokuton because my suiton is so strong. It's like my main element or something? If you get the hang of that, then you know how to manipulate mokuton and it's just combinging it with the correct hand seals in order to cast your jutsu!"

She wasn't really sure if anything she said made sense, and unfortunately the puppet were left back at home due to the teleportation jutsu used to get them there. That was fine. She could probably figure this one out.

(TWC 2584)