Never to prepared

Relaxing subtly as Hafuma explained the reality of the situation, Koutaku decided he’d need to inquire with his mother regarding the man’s father. In that interest, he asked another question, even as he finished nodding along with the younger shinobi.

“Ah, I see. What was your father’s name, perchance?”

That asked, Koutaku listened to Hafuma’s reply, nodded once, and then moved on to more pressing matters.

“Alright,” he began, as he rolled up the scroll and lightly tossed it back to the younger genin, “Sokumen Henkou works on several foundational principles, the first of which is thus. To properly channel and control chakra, you need to first suffuse it with your awareness and then bind it to your will.” Taking a deep breath, Koutaku focused slightly and then exuded a small glowing mass of diffuse chakra over his hand.

“When performing ninjutsu, you are simply using the chakra bound to your will and forcing it to take on a specific form, movement pattern, or resonance.” As he spoke, the chakra shifted its shape, before moving in a particular set of repeating patterns, before it began to visibly vibrate. Koutaku met Hafuma’s gaze.

“Now, given that you’ve graduated from the Academy, I’m sure you can do this much more intuitively. Still, it’s worth briefly revisiting so that you can truly grasp how this technique functions.”

Then, clapping his hands together, Koutaku dismissed the chakra, and then flicked his wrist, a kunai seeming to appear out of nowhere in his palm. Grasping it, Koutaku took another long breath, and then wove handseals with both hands, deliberately demonstrating each for his student.

“With these handseals performed--each of them assisting in the process of moulding your chakra for the technique--you can then activate Sokumen Henkou by channeling said chakra into your implement of choice.”

The kunai gained a bluish sheen, shimmering faintly, “By doing so, the chakra enhances the power of the weapon by adding its own force to that of the item itself. Furthermore, it lets you manipulate the implement in some rather useful ways by changing the orientation of the chakra within the mass of the item.”

As he explained, the kunai warped in his hand, lengthening to double its normal dimensions, then becoming thinner to gain even more length. After a moment--and a faint surge of additional chakra--the weapon changed again, becoming thick and squat as the blade widened into a more shovel-like arrangement.

“You can effectively use the technique to double the mass of any affected object, and then you can manipulate the exact distribution of that mass more or less freely. The key is visualizing the form that you want it to take in your mind, and then using your will to guide the chakra within the item into that form.”

Finishing up, Koutaku flipped the kunai in the air and caught it as he dismissed the technique, causing it to return to its normal dimensions.

“Any questions? If not, feel free to give it a shot.”

Spoiler:

Seems as though Kita had interrupted the pair's conversation. Not his intended course of action, though he supposed that he was getting a bit worse at reading the mood after Hoshigakure. After all, one who'd been deprived of human conversation and contact for so long tends to forget the social norms and pauses that occur in normal conversation. Regardless, one of the two turned to the boy and explained that he and the other, Koutaku it seemed, were going to be exchanging some techniques before engaging in a spar. Kita's weary smile grew a tiny bit wider and a hand reached to scratch the back of his head.

"Sparring and a technique eh? Well, I hate to be a bother, but do you guys mind if I join you? I've got a technique or two I could spare if you'll have me."

Judging by the equipment the two had on them, Kita reckoned that these guys were likely weaponry users as well. After all, there were few people who weren't who had more than a couple kunai and shuriken on hand, at least from what he'd seen so far in the career. What he'd seen so far... that was a funny notion, wasn't it? Kita had only been a full fledged shinobi for about a year or so, and yet he still felt as though it'd been a lifetime. And the things he'd seen have already changed him for the better. For better or worse, he couldn't tell.

The boy he was speaking to turned to the one called Koutaku and asked to learn a specific technique. Sokumen Henkō he called it, a technique Kita didn't recognize, though the name sounded interesting. Though based off the momentary look of... suspicion? And with the intensity that he snatched the scroll, Kita had to reckon it was something that wasn't common knowledge. Maybe even something closely guarded? Though Kita couldn't imagine what sort of technique would warrant such a reaction. Unless... it was either a forbidden technique, or a clan technique. Both closely guarded, one of which Kita had no interest in learning.

Kita watched with a sort of passive indifference as the other one began to explain how he learned of the technique from his father, and the one called Koutaku began demonstrating the technique in question. It seemed a relatively simple one to Kita, and his initial weariness over seeing the technique vanished, and a slight expression of surprise crossed over his face. Kita blinked twice. That was the technique he was so weary about? It seemed little more than a parlor trick to the young shinobi, a technique he wouldn't blink twice at in a fight. Though... maybe there was more to it than meets the eye? Though Kita kept these thoughts locked as silent whispers within his mind. Maybe he was mistaken, having misinterpreted the gestures that the one called Koutaku had provided. After all, he willingly performed the technique and shared how to use it in Kita's presence, so it likely wasn't THAT secret. Though he was still curious...

"That's a neat one. Where'd you pick that one up?"

Word Count - 522

Total Word Count - 888