The smoldering flames of the next generation.

It was another beautiful day in Konoha. The slight statured Uchiha made his way down to the pond at the far end of the family compound. He was trying to get an early start and arrived just as the sun broke over the horizon. It was a windless day and slightly chilly, it was so quiet out here you could here a pin drop. Today Zainketsu was on a mission, Not a real mission from the village but one of his own personal agenda. He was determined to learn the great fireball jutsu! That was his clans signature jutsu. His own family would not accept him as a full fledged member until he could do it as easy as breathing rehardless that he made it to the rank of genin. First he would have to work on some prerequisites. The first thing he had to master was the fire stream jutsu. It shouldn't he that hard, it was only an E rank jutsu. Hopefully it would not give him too much trouble. Katon was his clans specialty after all so it shouldn't be THAT much of a challenge.

He walked down the small dock that rested on the bank of the pond. It was a well known spot amongst his people to practice fire jutsu. It was basically an iconic spot for his family. The abundance of water was nice to have in case any serious mistakes were made. Luckily this jutsu only had one hand sign so there was not a lot he needed to memorize to perform it.

Alright so it's just the tiger sign. I'll start by molding my chakra in my belly to the Katon nature and the rest will hopefully be a simple walk in the park!

The young Uchiha gave himself a pep talk as he prepared to get started. He formed the needed tiger seal and let the chakra build up in his belly. When it got to the point it felt like his stomache was going to explode he expelled all the Chakra outwards from his mouth. To his dismay only a lighter sized flame came out. It definitely was not the stream he was hoping it would be. He started all over, making sure to give it all his concentration. He focused a little more on the molding part. He expelled the katon chakra a second time. There was clear improvement as the flame doubled in size before quickly sputtering out. It still lacked the power and shape he was hoping for

Damn! This might take more practice then I thought! No worries, you can do this Zain. We are going to master this even if it takes a whole year

He spent the next hour trying the jutsu repetitively. With each attempt he got closer to perfection. The fire started growing in size and diameter with each attempt until it was nearly two meters in length. Towards the end of the hour he felt like he was finally getting it. He could now hold the stream for nearly a minute before it sputtered out. He always naturally had a lot of chakra, the problem was just maintaining a steady mold the entire time. His control needed to be sharper.

He kept going at it again and again, one directly after the other. Small burn marks were starting to form around his mouth and he already felt dehydrated. The jutsu was far from mastered but he felt like he had the basics down. With this easy E rank jutsu in the books he felt confident on taking on the task of learning the C rank fireball jutsu. This one was naturally going to be much tougher to learn. Hopefully he could get it and live up to the Uchiha legacy that generations before him and not tarnish the clans reputation. The young boy drank some water and looked around before he got started on his second jutsu of the day.

Wc 655

Tatsuo was developing at a decent pace at the academy, but he was beginning to get antsy. While he was mastering the basics, he had yet advance beyond that, and every now and then he got the strong urge to push himself further than he's ever gone before. Today was one of those days.

The Great Fireball technique was a cornerstone of the Uchiha legacy, and while he'd been able to grasp the fundamentals of Fire based techniques, he had yet to build up the power necessary to perform it. If he dedicated some serious effort into it... maybe he could actually succeed. He grinned as he imagined the look on his father's face when he'd be able to demonstrate his mastery of their chief technique, and walked a little faster down to the lakeside, eager to get started.

It seemed he wasn't alone though, as another boy of his clan was stood there, and it looked like he was in the middle of training his Fireball technique as well. He hummed quietly, considering the possibility of this boy being able to help him at all. Even if not, he supposed it might still be helpful to have someone to compete against, and so Tatsuo approached the other boy confidently, smiling. "Hey, I'm Tatsuo. You're training for Great Fireball, right? Me too... Well, I'm going to. Right now I can do a little, but it's just not big enough yet. How much can you do?"

He was eager to get a read on this other boy, so he had some basis of comparison between them. He felt it was easier to manage his expectations if he knew where he stood in the ranking, so to speak. Whether it be opponents or rivals, the more information you could glean from them, the better.
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WC: 302

Zainketsu was busy hydrating when he noticed footsteps behind him. They were very light and soft. He couldn't help but turn around in time to see another member of his clan coming towards him. He couldnt ever remember seeing him before but Zainketsu was not very social so that wasn't very much of a suprise. It looks like he wasn't the only one out trying to expand their jutsu arsenal. The other Uchiha seemed similar in age to himself. It was hard to tell exactly but Zain felt like he was slightly older though since he was so small in stature he was actually a couple inches shorter.

The boy seemed friendly enough. He jad a certain air of confidence about him, must be an Uchiha thing. Zainketsu was not the most social  but he tried his best to be charismatic and friendly. His left hand shot into his hair nervously as a big sheepish grin broke across his face.

Hey Tatsuo im Zainketsu. Nice to meet you. Funny story about that.... I havent actually tried it yet! I only just got the fire stream down a moment ago. I was about to give it a go right now. I have a fair amount of chakra but my issue has been control. Im having issues molding my chakra properly and maintaining it Maybe we could help each other out?Just don't judge me if I struggle ok! I believe the handsigns for the great fireball are snake, ram, and tiger!

Zainketsu began making the needed seals. He debated for a minute on wether doing them his normal way with only one hand but at the last moment decided to keep that little skill to himself. He once again molded a ton of chakra in his belly, he let the warmth well up within him until his lungs felt like they were going to explode. He forcefully exhaled a massive stream of fire. He tried his best to mold it into a fireball but he couldn't get it to hold its shape. He lacked the proper control to maintain a perfect sphere. After a moment the distorted ball couldn't hold its shape any longer and exploded. The blowback of the flames was hot but caused no physical damage. It wasn't bad for a first attempt but he definitely wasn't close to doing it right.

That's about where I'm at with it, you want to give it a go?

Wc 404

Tatsuo tilted his head while he listened to the boy's explanation. "Chakra control, huh...?" He knew a little about that. Controlling your chakra with precision was what allowed him to run up walls and things like that. He decided to watch Zainketsu to see what he could do.

By and large, the fire the older Uchiha produced was pretty impressive - bigger than anything Tatsuo had done so far. He stared awestruck for a moment, before shaking his head and clearing his throat. "I think I see what you mean with the control thing, trying to make it into a perfect ball? But what if, before you focus on shaping it into a ball, you built on top of the stream that you can already do, and try to keep it going with that much fire for as long as you can?"

Stepping up to the edge of the dock, Tatsuo took a moment to steady his breath carefully weaving the signs. Snake, Ram, Tiger. Already he could feel his chakra molding in a new and complex way, a way that demanded a heavy toll of chakra to activate. He took a deep breath in, feeling the fire chakra swirl and grow, then he released it in a large stream, spanning several meters in length and width. The force of it shocked him, and the flames quickly petered out in a matter of seconds, leaving him breathless. He had never performed such a big jutsu before - it felt terrifyingly powerful coming out of his small body. But it was a power he had to learn to control.

"Yeah," he said after a minute. "Like that. But for a lot longer."
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WC: 281 / TWC: 583

Zainketsu chuckled after taking his turn. His tounge felt like it was barbecuing inside his mouth from attempting such a giant fireball. He was frustrated with himself for not getting it right but tried not to let it show. He was such a perfectionist after all that nothing he did is ever quite good enough for the young Uchiha. He was excited to see what his new acquaintance was capable of. Zainketsu was uber competitive. He didn't like the thought of possibly being shown up. He was a big believer in friendly competition.

When Tatsuo made the seals, Zainketsu activated his sharingan. His dark black eyes turned a dazzling crimson, oe tomoe appeared around each eye. Hebwasnt trying to show off, he just wanted to be able to see Tatsuo's chakra. He figured if he watched Tatsuo mold it , then just maybe he could glean some insight into how to better perform the jutsu for himself. It would also make it easier to help out his new friend to better master it. To his surprise the young kid did fantastic. He was truly a natural. The only real advice he could give was to just keep practicing until Tatsuo's chakra reserves was large enough to perform the jutsu easier and with less strain on the body.

That was amazing, you are a genius! Your chakra control is on a whole other level. You just need the repetitions and a little more chakra and then you will be a master in no time.


Zainketsu was motivated for his turn. He tried implementing the advice of his new comrade and tried to mimick the flow of chakra that he just saw with his sharingan. Already it felt easier and more natural then the first time. He put all his focus into maintaining a steady stream of fire. Once he felt like he had a good flow he worked on the shape manipulation. The large fireball caused some of the water to evaporate and steam to form around the two Uchiha. He felt like he truly had it this time. When the fireball reached a good size he let it fly off into the distance before it slowly dissipated into nothingness. When he was done he fell back onto the dock exhausted with arms spread out to the side. A gigantic smile erupted across his now totally burn mouth.
That was awesome! Thanks for the advice. It really helped. I don't think I could have done it that fast without you. We should do this more often

Zain laid there for a moment. The drain of using so much chakra finally caught up with him. Before he realized it he unintentionally slipped into a mini nap. He began dreaming of giant fireballs as his body worked to restore his energy.

Exit

Wc 471
Twc  1530

CLAIMS:

250+250+1000= 1500 wc spent

Tatsuo couldn't help but blush slightly at the praise. It meant something coming from someone of his clan, and he rubbed the b ack of his head a bit. "Thanks, but I'm not there yet... I definitely need more practice." He stood back and watched as Zainketsu started again, his flames growing nice and big before they finally started forming into a sphere. Tatsuo's eyes widened as the sphere was completed, large and sizzling above the water, and maintained for a few moments before it was allowed to dissipate.

"Wow!" he said, his eyes lighting up excitedly. "That was awesome! You did it!" Grinning with happiness for his new friend, he was now even more determined to master the technique. Stepping up, he brought his focus inward, weaving the signs with determination as he started filling his lungs, feeling the fire chakra start to build and swell deep in his belly. When he felt himself reach capacity, he launched the flames from his mouth again, this time concentrating on maintaining the stream for as long as possible. The amount of chakra he was putting out was extraordinary, and after ten long seconds, he releases the flames, panting and wiping his scorched lips. "... Yeah... Yeah, I think I got a feel for it... I'll try and make it into a ball this time."

He was sort of wishing by this point that he'd brought a bottle of water with him, but now was no time to be weak. He could do this. Shaking his limbs out momentarily, he centered himself, bringing his hands up and weaving the seals with purpose. Snake. Ram. Tiger. He took a quick inhale, keeping firm control over the chakra as he spit it out in a massive stream, eyes sharpening as he exerted his control to command the flames into a dense, rotating ball about five meters in diameter, which quickly detached and started traveling in a straight line across the lake, evaporating the surface water into clouds of steam as it passed. When the sphere got about twenty meters away, it gradually dissipated, and Tatsuo looked to his friend with glee. "Yes!" he shouted, grabbing Zainketsu's shoulder and shaking it. "Did you see that?!" Tatsuo was pumped. He'd just learned his clan's signature technique! When Zainketsu suggested that they train together more often, Tatsuo nodded in agreement. He could use a rival to push him to get even stronger.

Zainketsu, it seemed had run out of steam though, and had collapsed on the dock, sleeping peacefully. Smirking with amusement, Tatsuo decided to leave him be, and immediately ran off to his parents house to deliver the good news.
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WC: 443 / TWC: 1,026
Claiming: Great Fireball (C-Rank); +10 Stats (5 Vigor, 5 Chakra)