Sato Hibiki - No Strings Attached

Hibiki waited at the entrance of a cave a short distance from the village, it was tricky to get to without the ability to walk on cliff faces  and would have been almost impossible to find without the map provided by old man Amaya, it was sheltered and camouflaged perfectly by the natural surroundings of the crags that you had to approach it from the correct angle before it was visible. Hibiki wondered how Amaya had discovered it but more intriguing was how Amaya had gotten there before him when Hibiki was certain he left first. There was clearly more to the elderly entertainer and puppet maker than Hibiki had been led to believe. Hibiki had certainly had suspicions about Amaya in recent years, the more he learned of ninjutsu and other techniques the more clear it was Amaya was not simply the entertainer and merchant he claimed to be or at least he was not always.

Amaya waved at Hibiki to enter the cave and so the young genin followed, uncertain of what exactly Amaya was going to teach him. He was equal measures excited and cautious. Clearly Amaya was only willing to teach Hibiki these new techniques in the utmost secrecy and he had been made to swear on his headband that he would reveal nothing of their lessons or Amaya’s knowledge to anyone in the village. Hibiki was conflicted about making such a promise but in the end relented. If Amaya turned out to be dangerous to the village then at worst he could always reveal that Amaya was dangerous even without specifying why or how he knew it to be true. Hibiki trusted the old entertainer however and did not believe it likely that the worst case would occur.

Hibiki entered the cave and allowed a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the darkness and using his hands to guide him along the walls which were unnaturally smooth and evenly spaced, evidencing that the cave had clearly been made though it was unclear to Hibiki how. After ten winding turns he spotted light in the distance and squinted as he approached the large cavern like space as his eyes lost their night vision and his pupils adjusted. The cavern held a small lake about 100 meters across at its widest point and it was crystal clear. Hibiki could even see the bottom due to a large amount of luminescent algae that coated the bottom of the lake as well as the walls and ceiling of the cavern, creating a dull cyan glow within the cave. The top of the cavern was high enough that you could almost mistake the gentle lights of the algae as stars.

Hibiki spotted Amaya cheerfully humming to himself and the old man had not only beaten Hibiki to the cave but also appeared to have had time to create a small fire and had a pot of tea boiling over it with two ornate and throne like chairs and with a similarly ornate table in between nearby. Looking past the odd arrangement Hibiki also spotted a section of the cavern wall that was free of algae and formed several work stations carved into an alcove smoothly from the stone walls that looked as out of place in the majestic cavern as the wooden table and chairs. Hibiki was awed by the cavern and his mind raced from one interesting aspect to the other before he was snapped out of his reverie. “Well don’t stand their gawping all day boy, you will have plenty of time to admire the décor and natural splendour in your own time. I can only stay in the village for a few months at best and if you are to learn what I have to teach we will likely need all of it. Take a seat and we can begin.” Amaya gestured to the chair across from him and began pouring two cups of tea as Hibiki took his seat and felt dwarfed by the large chair that seemed to surround him with its size. Amaya took a seat before looking Hibiki up and down with an appraising look, Hibiki had seen the old man use the same look when examining wares for trading and it made him feel uncomfortable, but he chose to lock eyes so as to not appear weak.

Amaya grunted in what appeared to be satisfaction.“Well you have some spirit that a good start and you made  it to Genin which means you at least have some brains and aptitude with chakra control. Show me your hands.” Hibiki complied and Amaya gripped them firmly studying his palms and finger tips especially which earned another grunt. “You have been practicing with the tools I gave, and fairly regularly it appears. I was fairly impressed when I found them and wondered if perhaps you had simply bought them or paid for them to be created.” As he spoke he pulled out a box from under the table, upturning it as Hibiki’s own creations tumbled out onto the table. “Hey! How did you get those, they were hidden!” Hibiki was shocked to see his prized possessions produced so casually and could not hide his shock or the small amount of outrage he felt.

“Hah! Stashing things under a loose floorboard covered with a rug is not what I would call “hiding” it boy. May as well have stashed it under the bed or tried to hide them under your pillow. Any thief, ninja or worldly person such as myself would have no trouble finding anything stashed there. Had you parents any training in such matter I dare say they would have found them long ago!” Hibiki looked down at the table in embarrassment, it had taken him ages to think the hiding place and had been secretly very proud of his success. Amaya noticed the change in mood and chuckled good naturedly. “Now now boy, I didn’t bring you here for your skills in hiding things, I have brought you here to this place to teach you the true art of puppetry and not some street show or artisans theatre puppetry either. If you are dedicated enough and have the required aptitude, I will bestow all of my knowledge and perhaps in time all my secrets to ninja puppetry otherwise known as Kugutsu. These techniques are not for simple childish games however and be utilised to aide you in your journey a ninja. They can be used for subterfuge, assassination, detection, sealing or simple combat. Kugutsu in its truest form is the freedom to create endless possibilities limited only by your creativity, imagination, and skills to make them reality.”

Hibiki sat in silence, hanging on to Amaya’s every word as his mind whirled with questions and possibilities as well as strange images of him trying to imagine using his little puppets to battle enemies. He furrowed his brow in confusion but was enraptured by the idea of using puppets as a ninja. “But how can I use these to fight?” He gestured at his marionettes as well as one of Amaya’s vastly superior examples that sat perched next to the fire nearby. “Even if I could throw them the strings would have to be very long and once I threw it the puppet would be gone.” Amaya smiled wryly. “That is precisely what I shall teach you. Your first lesson mirrors one of the fundamental aspects of the shinobi way. Deception is king and looks can be deceiving. Observe.” Amaya flicked and twisted his right index finger whilst still holding his cup of tea and Hibiki yelled in panic as he felt the chair beneath him shift and transform with a series of loud clicks and gears as a moment later he found himself restrained by two sets of arms binding him to what now appeared like a kneeling humanoid figure that was larger than Hibiki himself. “That is the merest fraction of what you can do with puppetry boy. Of course many puppets have more than one simple ability or mechanism as we like to call them. For instance, if you were my enemy then…” Amaya twitched his finger again in a series of quick patterns and two further arm like appendage appeared above the chair, portions of the wood sliding back to release two wickedly curved blades the length of swords pointing toward Hibiki’s chest like some giant vipers fangs. Another twitch of the finger and the blades descended as Hibiki reflexively used the transformation technique to shrink his size and slip free of the chair. He paused as he spotted the blades had stopped several inches above where he would have been sat and realised Amaay was laughing.

“Well played boy. Well played. You need have no fear of me though, I wouldn’t have gone to the effort of bringing you here if I wanted to simply kill you now would I? This is simply a demonstration of the smallest potential Kugutsu has. Now do you have any questions?” Hibiki screwed up his eyes as he tried to separate the plethora of questions rushing through his brain btu his mind snapped back to the demonstration Amayas had shown him before the last time he left. “How are you controlling it? I cannot see any strings and it should be impossible with one finger, the wires would tangle themselves with half the motions you made! You are using the same trick that you showed me before you left last time aren’t you?” Amaya smiled and nodded his head in approval. “Correct, instead of wires or string I am using something much more malleable and flexible.”

Amaya did not seem to move or otherwise perform any action yet suddenly a blue wire was visible from his index finger and reaching towards the chair puppet before splitting into multiple small threads and reaching into the puppet itself. The colour and appearance clearly identified the threads as being made of chakra and Hibiki’s mouth opened in amazement. “You move them with wires made of chakra! I can’t believe I never thought of that but it looks more difficult than surface walking.” Amaya shrugged and gestured with his finger again and the puppet’s blades and arms transformed themselves back into a large chair moments before the chakra thread simply winked out of existence.

“If you work hard then soon enough you should be able to do it and this will be your first task. I will let you practice with this puppet.” He gestured with his ring finger and the puppet by the fire lifted eerily into the air before drifting over and coming to rest on the table. “I created this one with the same principles as my Kugutsu puppets and as you are aware it can also be used with conventional wires. You will notice however I have removed them for the purposes of you practice. I am satisfied that you have an aptitude for the movements and controlling of basic puppetry and now you just have to learn to do it with chakra. Now I am going to unpack a few things and get the workshop in order whilst you practice. Best thing to do is to focus on your chakra and begin gently moulding it much like using your jutsu or surface walking then slowly try to shape it into a thread. One finger at a time is advisable and you will likely need 5 threads before you can correctly control it. Try having you hand touching the puppet if it’s a little too tricky then imagine the strings stretching. We can take a look in while and see how you get on.”

Hibiki nodded and began to focus on the chakra threads as instructed creating the first contact point for the thread was not too difficult and it wasn’t long before he could maintain a short thread with one of his fingers. The difficulty came when he tried to create multiple chakra threads at once. Hibiki was determined however and tried to keep a calm mind, much like when carving the puppets in order to try and get a feel for the chakra threads and their formation. Time seemed to pass without any accurate way to record it in the never changing cavern however Hibiki felt like several hours had passed before he had been able to connect 5 shaking chakra threads that he could slowly move back around a meter away from the puppet before they began to collapse. Amaya had finished his unpacking some time earlier and chosen to sit in his chair silently watching and drinking his tea. Occasionally moving to rebrew another pot of tea or add more fuel bricks to the small fire. Hibiki expected the old man to comment or at least criticize his efforts and was surprised at how quiet he remained. It was apparent that the old man was content to let Hibiki succeed or fail at his own pace.

Once the threads were attached he began testing the movements and realised quickly that once the threads were established it was actually easier to manoeuvre the puppet than normal wires when he realised none of the strings were being tangled and simply slipped through one another. The realisation was staggering to him, it meant that he could easily switch between any manoeuvres or movements he could think of, limited only by the dexterity of the puppet and the speed of his movements. Hibiki started with small movements, walking, waving and basic puppet motions but he soon began testing more complex patterns, making the puppet dance and sway in time with imagined music. Finally he practiced raising it off the table by the strings. It was a shaky start but the puppet was able to hover though not for too long before Hibiki had to reestablish his focus.

A short time later Amaya clapped his hands loudly, causing an echo to reverberate around the cavern. “ I think that is good enough for today, it is beginning to get late and will be dark in an hour or so I think its best we get you home. Tomorrow I will let you practice with Oza here and see how you get on.” He patted the large transforming chair as he spoke. Head home now, I will tidy up and be along shortly." “Thank you Amaya san, this was definitely worth the wait! How long do you think it will be before I can make my own battle puppets to fight with?” Amaya smiled yet it did not quite reach his eyes. “Do not be too hasty to seek out battle boy, certainly not before you have the ability to defend yourself properly. Former the chakra threads is only the first of many lessons and skills you will learn if you intend to become a master of Kugutsu. The life of a shinobi is a hard one and not to be taken lightly. But you have done well today, perhaps teaching you will not be a waste of my time after all. Hurry off now. I have things to prepare for tomorrows lesson.”

Hibiki nodded and left the cavern and returned home quickly. Amaya had been correct and it was almost dark. How the old man was able to accurately record the time in the cavern was a mystery to Hibiki but it was just one of many he would look forward to learning. He had a teacher and was excited to learn everything he could about Kugutsu and perhaps this would give him the edge he needed  in order to succeed on his ninja path.

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TWC: 2,613


Claiming 2,613 WC towards creation of Kaiden Series: Jorogumo - 2613/4900