Reunion [P]

Hitting the three-meter mark as she moved, Koutaku would shift his posture so his left foot was leading as he entered a slide. In the same instant, he’d flick his left wrist, sending a shuriken hurtling forward at 110 speed, heading for Takashi’s center of mass. With a second throw from the same hand, Koutaku sent a shuriken flying upwards at a 45-degree angle so it would go towards Takashi, but end up above her person. His slide would carry him another meter, at which point his right hand would grasp the grip of his blade, and draw it at 140 speed in a horizontal slash heading towards her throat once he was a mere meter away. He was ready to change tacts or maneuvers at any point in these actions, able to not only react to changes in his opponent’s own actions but also to alterations in his intent should he need to take different actions to put him in an advantageous position.

Spoiler:

Takashi considered what options, precisely, were available to her in a moment of time that seemed to last forever. If Koutaku had moved at her speed there would’ve been manoeuvres she could perform, strategies she could execute--but as it stood, he was simply too fast for her to be able to compete in any meaningful way. As he began executing his manoeuvre, Takashi had realised that there was only one way out of this that didn’t result in an injury, and she clapped together the Ram handseal in order to move at a speed remotely comparable to the onslaught she was facing using Shunshin no Jutsu. She moved three meters to the right exactly, holding her hands up (though they were still draped with fabric) and laughing out a few words:

“I surrender, I surrender! Point made!”

She took an additional moment to compose herself, letting herself actually feel the shock from earlier with eyes wide. It took her another few seconds of breaths to work out what to say, looking at her friend with equal parts jealous awe and admiration.

“I deserved that! But… woah, it’s… kind of crazy just how much stronger you’ve gotten! Imagine if Lady Chiyoko’d had a reasonable request, I might even be half as fast as you right now!” she smiled, her tone somehow equal parts respectful and overly chummy--like she were simultaneously talking to a sensei and a peer. She gradually began to pull the scarf back up towards herself, hands dexterously manipulating it into a series of complex folds that resulted in it hanging around her neck once more though in a distinctly different pattern to what it was before. While before it had simply looped many times around her neck, now she had twisted it into a strange plaited knot that flowed out onto her shoulders and back in, meeting in the middle and folded back under another layer of fabric. She gave Koutaku a sincere bow as she finished, letting the corner of her lip turn up into an ever-so-slight smirk (though one decidedly more friendly and genuine than her previous).

“That was pretty fantastic. You’ve excelled.”

Spoiler:

Aborting his attack the moment she called the match--if one could call it that--Koutaku withdrew his blade and expertly slid it into its sheath. In the same moment he returned the shuriken to his hand and then stowed all six of them back in their pouch. He exhaled, and the mask fell away and he gave her a lopsided grin in response, bowing his head slightly to show a degree of respect. Some small part of him lit up at the unabashed praise and his grin grew slightly as a result. Eyes sparkling, Koutaku replied with a chuckle, “I’ve been hard at work, and I didn’t do it entirely on my own if I’m being honest.”

Withdrawing a single kunai, Koutaku began to pass it between fingers, essentially fidgeting with the weapon without its blade ever piercing his skin. “That aside, we can get you up to standard in no time if we’re diligent. First things first though, techniques. I’ve got at least one I think you might find useful.”

Performing handseals, Koutaku went through the necessary motions of Boar, Bird, Hare, Dog, Dragon, and Serpent seals. As he did so he channeled his chakra through the kunai he’d been playfully juggling between fingers, letting it surge forth from his body and wreath the weapon. Meeting her gaze as he visualized the altered form of the implement, Koutaku spoke.

“Sokumen Henkou(Aspect Alteration).”

The kunai rapidly began to change, its blade doubling in length and gaining serrated edges all at once, even as the handle grew faintly thinner, and the circle at its pommel shrunk into nonexistence, leaving Koutaku with a twelve-inch serrated blade. Casually, he drew another kunai and then performed another series of handseals.


“For the sake of demonstrating the true difference between the altered kunai and the original,” Koutaku said as five spears of earth emerged 3 meters to their right, rising to a height of 10 meters as they did so, with each spear being 3 meters apart from the others with them all arranged in a line parallel to the two of them.

“...I’ll demonstrate on these.”

That said, Koutaku dashed towards them at his max speed, moving in a blur, before striking the first earth spear with the unaffected kunai. The blade cut it slightly but failed to do any significant damage. Then, dashing 3 meters to the next earthen construct, Koutaku swung the altered blade. As it struck the pillar of stone, the entire construct shattered the force of the blow not just slashing straight through the earth spear, but reducing it to crumbling rubble.

Swiping the lengthened kunai through the air to free it off debris, Koutaku let go of the technique and pocketed both weapons as he returned to Takashi. “Not only does the technique allow you to alter the distribution of mass in a given object--not to mention double said mass--but the chakra naturally increases the force of any blow. It might not prove particularly useful right now, but it’s something you’d be well served in knowing.” Coming to a stop as he was a meter away from her, Koutaku smirked, “So, what do you think?”

Spoiler:

Takashi watched with rapt attention as Koutaku began to perform the unknown technique, though as soon as he named it she vaguely recalled snippets of memories in which she’d come across it before in her time with the Iouchiryo. She didn’t remember enough to recall the precise details of what it did, instead choosing to let the thought go and focus on the details Koutaku was providing. As he summoned the earth spears she stepped back, wanting to give him a wide berth for whatever he was going to do, and continued to observe him as he demonstrated the efficacy of the technique. She appraised its usefulness in her mind immediately--silk creations were not especially taxing to make, per se, but their usefulness was often limited to what they could comfortably wield. However, she’d recently learned of a technique from Kinuko that would allow her to manipulate a silk weapon as flawlessly as if she were wielding it without needing to use her body to do so. If she took the time to learn that technique, what Koutaku was offering her would be quite useful indeed.

“How curious… it could have many applications with the types of weapons our clan likes to use. Long, flowing things--if they’re increased in length too much it might become too unwieldy, but there are some techniques we have to be able to manipulate things without our hands! I think it’d certainly be useful to learn, especially given the nature of our techniques mostly relying upon physical mediums. Show me how you mould the chakra again..?” Takashi asked, her hands moving out in front of her to be able to copy the handseals and get a feel for how she should knead the chakra internally with Koutaku’s direction. It was a difficult thing to verbalize, manipulating energy within oneself, but with the handseals and Koutaku’s unusually vivid descriptions she was quite certain she’d be able to learn it with a minimum of effort and time. His recent performance outclassing her so severely had inspired something in her, lit a fire within her that would not let her mind fully rest until she’d at least begun to notice improvements approaching the same level that he was operating on.

Spoiler:

Demonstrating the handseals once more, Koutaku described the process in detail, going over each step. “The handseals will do much of the effort in terms of moulding the chakra. However, the important thing with Sokumen Henkou is to visualize the changes you want to cause with the technique.”

Taking a deep breath, Koutaku let chakra flow up from his core and out into his hands, where he channeled it through the kunai he’d swiftly drawn. Having already performed the handseals, Koutaku let the energy fully suffuse the weapon, causing the faintest of glows to emanate from the blade. “Once the chakra has entirely suffused the item the technique will respond directly to your intent, altering its shape in response.”

To demonstrate Koutaku elongated the blade of the kunai by several inches, spinning it around a finger playfully after he’d done so. “As you saw before, the chakra in the blade--much like regular chakra flow--drastically enhances the force behind attacks, increasing the relative strength of a given weapon. Notably, though, it doesn’t enhance the item’s durability so you have to be particularly careful.”

Glancing over at Takashi, Koutaku smiled, “I’m sure you’ll get it within a few attempts. Once you get the visualization down it’s honestly not terribly difficult unless you’re trying to do something particularly...complex.” That said, Koutaku let the kunai return to its original state before putting it away as he watched her expectantly, inspecting her performance.

Spoiler:

“Visualisation, got it…” Takashi half-mumbled under her breath, closing her eyes in order to better access that pool of mental energy that those who manipulated chakra were required to have. Thanks to the training of two clans that heavily focused on mastery of the mind (and, by extension, the self) it was almost no effort for Takashi to accurately visualise precisely the changes she wished to impart on the chosen medium, her scarf. The handseals aided her in the manipulation of chakra, the ritualistic movements churning the energy within her and focusing it into a more unique and defined state. She drew that energy’s essence into her mind’s eye, allowing it to flow out through her body, and as she did so the normally iridescent sheen of the silk scarf slightly (but noticeably) deepened, beginning to reflect more blues and greens as its dimensions began to shift dramatically. It grew significantly longer, already almost to the point of unwieldy prior to the technique taking effect, and she smiled to herself as she ran her hands across the familiar fabric whose aspects had now been manipulated in line with her desires.

“Aha! Very useful, yes--thank you for the clear instructions.” Takashi’s voice rang out, her eyes shimmering and smile wide. Accomplishments like these were relatively minor, truth be told--learning new techniques was the lifeblood of any ninja… but there was something special about being taught something by a dear friend. A moment of connection, a bond deepened by mutual experience--it was something she hadn’t really gotten to experience with her father’s style of tutoring growing up and some part of her innately felt unworthy of it even now. Her smile dimmed as her thoughts drifted to her father, who’d died with the rest of the Yuganori of Amegakure after they’d left--but just as quickly, with a sharp intake of breath, she let the thought float away from her mind like a leaf on the wind. Her thoughts were not her masters. They had no capacity to rule her for as long as she remembered her training and remembered who she was.

“Fortunately, we find it quite easy to repair fabrics--I’m sure you remember me patching your cousins’ clothes up from time to time! They were always rambunctious, and not quite mindful enough of their surroundings…” Takashi said, musing mostly to herself in the beginning but hoping to evoke a fond memory between them at the end. Little links like that needed to be shared with comrades, and especially those that one would be entrusting one’s life with in times of battle. It had long been a tenet of the Yuganori, according to the Silken Scrolls, that people were at their best when thoughts and feelings were woven together into a single cohesive tapestry. The richness of experiences, the capacity to understand another instinctually before leaping to rash judgement… these were the things that completed people. These were the ideals to which all Yuganori--at least, the ones that remained--were taught to strive. Takashi couldn’t help but feel like she’d made a small but significant step towards that goal in that moment, and she wanted nothing more than to be able to share that sense of pride and accomplishment with her closest friend.

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Pleased with his friend’s success, Koutaku smiled and nodded to himself as he closed the distance and crouched took a slightly closer look at the scarf, activating his 6th sense as he did so. The chakra moved smoothly through the scarf, as it should, the technique eminently stable despite it being her first time using it. Glancing up at Takashi as she spoke, Koutaku noticed the subtle shift in her features as she spoke, eliciting the smallest of frowns to cross his own visage. He wasn’t at all sure what had caused that brief dip in her mood, but he deigned not to ask so as not to drag her further into whatever place that had briefly brought her to. Listening intently, the young Iouchiryo considered her words, images of his cousins easily being conjured as she spoke of them, drawing a fond look onto his face.

Memories of them running about, him chasing them, and the two frequently getting tears in their clothes from trees or bushes. Falling on the ground and getting hard to remove stains on their clothes, requiring that they commission new clothes from the Yuganori. Chuckling lightly, the far-off look in his eyes faded as he pulled himself back into the moment. There was a warmth in his chest and for the first time in a very long time, he felt...truly close to someone else. He’d missed Takashi.

“I’m glad you're back,” Koutaku said, the smile still on his lips. Had Takashi not known him as well as she did, it might seem as if he was making some kind of...deeper confession. However, it was less anything like that, and more an open admission that few people their age were comfortable making to anyone they weren’t romantically interested in. Koutaku though, perhaps totally unaware of the possible implication, just grinned at Takashi in his way, before turning away and moving onto the next thing.

“There are a slew of fairly basic techniques I’d suggest you learn as well,” he said as he gave her a bit of space and then turned to face her once more. “Mostly maneuvers to help you at close range. Fairly simple in practice for the most part, though there are a few that aren’t as utility-focused.”

Drawing his wakizashi, Koutaku glanced at the weapon and focused, channeling his chakra through it. As he did so he performed the necessary handseals for the first technique he had in mind.

“Flying Swallow,” he explained as the chakra wreathed the short sword, giving it a slightly ominous air.

“It increases the durability and power of the affected weapon. Aside from that, it can enhance a technique used after it, which can be quite useful in some situations. It’s fairly simple, but it serves as the basis for a variety of more useful techniques, so honestly, it’s kind of essential if only because of the principles that govern it.”

That said he gave the blade an experimental swing and then let his chakra fall away from the implement.

“You try, then we can move on. I don’t imagine this one will take you much effort.”

Spoiler:

Takashi turned her head towards Koutaku with a warm, open smile on her face as he mentioned that he was glad she’d returned. She didn’t reciprocate the gesture with words, exactly, but she gave his palm a light squeeze as he was about to move away and gave him an ever-so-slight nod of understanding. She was sure that somewhere along the way the original sentiment would get lost along the way, be it a matter of her not communicating something clearly or Koutaku simply missing something--but that it would be positively received by both of them no matter what.

As Koutaku suggested that there be a number of basic techniques she should add to her repertoire she perked up just a little, sensing that the time for relaxed openness would have to give way to the more structured and disciplined atmosphere of training. She watched Koutaku’s handseals carefully, imagining the flow of chakra within her mind’s eye, and as he completed the technique her hands already felt charged with the impulse and the shapes necessary to perform the technique. She picked her scarf up and manoeuvred it back into a wieldable position, then let the loose ache in her hands guide them into the right shapes: Tiger. Boar. Clap!

And the chakra flowed forth, wreathing it in a wall of suspended agitation and increased pressure. The air itself was tightened or caught in one’s chest--but only ever so lightly, just at the edge of perception. It was an interesting consequence of the vibrations and the formation of the energy, one that she was keenly interested in studying.

“Like this, right? I can see how one might manoeuvre this into other strikes…” Takashi half-mumbled, speaking mostly to herself but in that open way that if someone else heard you, you’d be able to jump right into the conversation. It was refreshing to have that attitude with someone again, as it was difficult to find any intuitive warmth within the Yuganori’s meditative practices--one needed to already know where warmth existed to connect to one another on that level.

Spoiler:

Watching closely as Takashi mimicked his actions via following his instructions, Koutaku nodded seriously. A small part of him was proud of her. He remembered when she’d first come to his family along with her elders. After whispered conversations in a room adjacent theirs--a room in which they’d quickly acquainted themselves with one another, swiftly becoming fast friends despite their many differences--Takashi had essentially been made to shadow him. At first, even with them getting along, it had been a bit frustrating, but as the days wore on and they grew used to one another things had smoothed out and grown comfortable. Still, she’d been...not sloppy exactly, but unrefined. Like a gem yet to be cleaned, polished, and shaped to a perfect finish. Looking back, he’d been much the same, but in very different ways. Watching her now, excelling after only a demonstration and brief explanation, brought forth a welling of pride in her achievements. Still, maintaining a professional demeanor, Koutaku suppressed his smile, only the faintest tinge of the expression touching his eyes as he responded to Takashi.

“As I thought, you nailed it on the first try, well done.” He let the compliment rest for a breath, then continued, intending to keep up a similar cadence in their session so as to maintain the momentum--so to speak.

“These next two are incredibly simple, but essential. First is a technique used to break fuinjutsu. It requires direct contact with the index and pointer fingers. No handseals are necessary, the key is the resonance of the chakra you focus into the two fingers.” Taking a deep breath, and then holding it for a moment, Koutaku’s eyes narrowed slightly and then he let his chakra coil within his body before releasing it along a specific set of pathways leading to the two upturned fingers of his left hand.

In a faint pulse, chakra spiraled through his chakra system and then around his two fingers, before focusing in a gentle glow at the tips of his fingers. “Aptly called Fuinjutsu Breaking, the technique is useful for removing a wide variety of seals. The key is using the right quantity of chakra as the seal that you’re attempting to break. Fail to do that and the jutsu will fail, succeed, and well, the seal is rendered inert.”

So simple was the principle of the technique--and the execution for that matter--that Koutaku immediately moved on, not bothering to dwell a moment longer on it.

“Second among these, is Genjutsu Release. Straightforward, but absolutely necessary. It does exactly what you’d think it does, the downside, however, is first you have to be aware of the technique placed on you. Further, you’re essentially matching the power of the placed genjutsu, meaning that whatever its potency is...that’s the amount of chakra you’re about to find used up in dispelling it.” He paused, meeting her gaze with a serious look as he let the silence hang for a moment.

“I suggest you master this one, if not now, then in your own time. It will allow you to use it even if paralyzed or otherwise unable to utilize handseals.” That said, Koutaku shook off a shiver before assessing her progress for a moment. When he was satisfied, he continued.

Glad to be done with talk of genjutsu, Koutaku drew his wakizashi and then performed the handseals for one of his most useful techniques.

Immediately two identical copies of Koutaku appeared to his left and right. One of them glanced at Takashi, before walking away to another part of the training room, while the other jumped back from Koutaku in a low-lying leap at max speed. That clone, Taku, would end up 15 meters from his creator’s location. Ignoring both, the young Iouchiryo addressed his friend and pupil.

“These next two techniques require a more exact demonstration, despite both being relatively simple. Hence,” he gestured at Taku, without even attempting to explain why he’d created two clones, rather than just one. Taku however was barely paying any attention to the exchange and instead had already performed the necessary handseals for the Transformation Technique. Swiftly, the change came over Koutaku’s duplicate, turning the individual into a totally different individual. Short cropped hair and brown eyes so dark they were almost black, the figure stood slightly taller than Takashi, and a significant bit lankier. Further, their auburn hair was striking against the greys, blacks, and blues of their outfit, which consisted of a mixture of tightly fitted clothing much like a body suit, baggier pants, and a cloak.

Not waiting, Taku lunged towards its creator, drawing a Demon Wind Shuriken from thin air as it did so. Koutaku didn’t bother to address the fact that his clone was very clearly on the attack, but instead explained the technique he’d just used. “That would be Storage Displacement, a space-time technique. It only lets you store a limited quantity of items, but it’s quite useful, especially if your chakra control is particularly good.” As he spoke, Taku closed the distance entirely too fast and spun the massive shuriken as he punched his hand forwards in a sweeping horizontal slash.

Koutaku took a single step back from the assault, raised his wakizashi with precise timing, and performed an expert block, his wakizashi slipping between two of the blades of the Fuma Shuriken before he flicked upwards with the full force of his blade, offsetting Taku’s strike.

Taku smirked and activated the mechanism in the shuriken, causing the blades to jettison from the handle in four directions, each of them attached to a wire. Acting before the action had even taken place, Koutaku finished the handseals for a technique.

Unseen, chakra spread over Koutaku’s body even as Taku twisted the handle of his Fuma Shuriken and manipulated each ejected blade at once, causing them to close in from either side, while the central one flew straight at him. Acting quickly, Koutaku’s eyes met Takashi’s and then he performed a maneuver.


In a rapid trajectory change, Koutaku’s wakizashi changed from entering a blocking position to a reverse grip going downwards in front of his abdomen. The ejected blade struck the wakizashi and then Koutaku used another technique, using wire to rapidly draw kunai up from his pouch with wire, flicking both wrists to fling each at the oncoming blades.The weapons collided and fell downwards as they deflected each other. Koutaku, in the meantime continued moving his wakizashi downwards, taking a step towards Taku, before slashing upwards in a diagonal sweep towards the clone’s body from hip to shoulder.

Taku drew a kunai and attempted a block, but Koutaku smirked as his strike stopped midway through in a Feint, then continued at its original speed.

The staggered attack made it such that Taku’s blocking weapon was out of position just as the attack arrived. The slash moved across the clone’s body and in an instant he was dispersed in a cloud of smoke. Taking a deep breath, Koutaku slowly straightened and then sheathed his wakizashi. The invisible aura of chakra dispersed from his body, it having only been a preventative measure.

He met Takashi’s gaze.

“Adjustment is a technique requiring mastery of your body. In essence, you force a small or drastic alteration in your movement, be it a maneuver of a weapon or a full-body motion. Good for offense and defense as well as evasive maneuvers.” He paused, letting her take that in, before explaining further. “Feint on the other hand allows you to simply abort an action, which serves a wide variety of purposes as I’m sure you can figure.” Finally he fell silent and then gave her a smile.

“Now, I’ll have Kou over there,” he gestured to his clone who was leaning against the wall picking at his nails with a bored expression on his features, “...be your test for these two particular actions. You don’t have to disperse him, further...the focus is just on accomplishing the maneuvers so he’ll match your speed.”

Taking a breath after his brief exertion Koutaku let a smile slip onto his face, “Any questions before you try? If not, well...go ahead.”

Spoiler:

Takashi was already academically familiar with the concept of fuinjutsu breaking by the time she heard Koutaku come around to explaining it, and she timed a simple and familiar motion to the cues of his. One of the key meditative exercises amongst the Yuganori’s daily regimen of training was a visualization wherein the unity between body and spirit was manifested as a string. Plucking at the string with different lengths, different positions, different compositions--all these things and more were taught for the mental benefits their practice could confer. In techniques like this, it was apparent why their combat meditations had taken the forms they’d inherited: they were meant to be built as familiar ramping off points for basic ninja techniques the clan had expected to be useful over time. It was almost nostalgic for Takashi to follow along with Koutaku’s movements in that moment, plucking at that string in her mind’s eye to generate the correct vibrations to produce a specific resonance… and she produced an identical effect to his only the briefest of moments later.

She didn’t look up at Koutaku for praise or affirmation after he’d finished the explanation and she’d demonstrated it--the flow of the moment had overtaken her, and as he went on to explain Genjutsu Release her mind was brought back to a similar nighttime ritual--as she performed the handseals for the technique she could feel the shadow of her child-self’s hands making similar beginning gestures and recounting a little chant beneath her breath after a nightmare. The amount of time it took for that clarifying burst of chakra to still whatever discordant malaise might be placed upon her was fast, but Koutaku was right--combat was like the individual little stitches that make up a seam. Missing even one can be terribly costly, and so she made a note to practice the specific motions again and again in her mind. Drawing on that childhood intuition made it extremely easy for Takashi to simply add a somatic component to help her learn how to mould the chakra, and then remove the somatic notion and simply allow the process of moulding the chakra bring to mind the familiar pattern of thought. Confident in her ability to do so, Takashi returned to focus to see him directing her attention towards a shadow clone off in the distance--a shadow clone that then transformed into a different non-descript target.

“Storage Displacement...” she mumbled to herself, making a mental note to get the exact formula from Koutaku later. The first technique he used, the one that had allowed him to rapidly shift his weapon’s position, as if manipulating its threads directly rather than through the cumbersome vectors of his body. With the right swelling and shifting of energy within both themselves and the weapon, it was possible to exert moments of fine and dexterous control over certain implements--but Takashi could feel within it only a limited amount of potential, something she would have to ask Koutaku about afterwards. As he executed the feint, she watched with less of the scrutiny she’d done so before with techniques that were about… the application of specific esoteric principles, specific configurations of chakra or similar. This was a technique that landed very firmly on the “art” end of the Art - Science scale, something mutable that merely acted as a physical expression of a very internal idea, something that one did not so much learn as simply come to experience more fully. It was not really so much a matter of learning it as it was unlocking the potential to allow one’s mind to hold a slightly greater sway over the power to align one’s internal desires with their outward expression--and that was a lesson that Takashi had already learned many times over. Then, again, the same application--albeit this time with a blade--a sudden stop in movement to subvert the timing of an opponent’s block. The process was similar here: it was not about discovering that one was capable of such movements, but in the understanding of the heightened capacities one’s body had as a ninja, able to use chakra. The union of body and mind to create power greater than the sum of their parts.

After his little demonstration had finished, Takashi turned to Koutaku and went through a couple of trial motions by herself. The ability to manoeuvre her body suddenly came quite naturally to her, and she went through a series of meditative stances known colloquially as the ‘dipping weave’, able to easily suddenly accelerate herself from one particular stance into another immediately thanks to their flowing motions.

“I think perhaps the weapons I’ll be using might be too long for Adjustment, it feels like the burst of energy is… limited? Or is that just a failing on my behalf?” Takashi asked, her arms drawing up her scarf to begin shortening the length of it being levied as a weapon. She kept a wary eye on the spare clone while speaking to Koutaku proper, idly gauging his habits with some small corner of her mind while she paid attention to the answer she was about to receive.

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