Trouble Breathing

Her training the other day was extremely helpful. She believed that she was finally ready to make her new blade, the one that would befit her new fighting style. If she knew what exactly it was she would need to do for it. She got dressed and ate some breakfast, in preparation of searching for the answers to her questions. Her parents were still away on a mission, and the other Akari weapon masters were nowhere to be found. Perhaps some more self-reflection at the Dojo yard would help her make sense of the dream she had the other night. Rather than bring her sword and shield, she brought one of the katanas she made yesterday. It would not suffice as a weapon for any significant period of time as it was made of low-quality training materials, but it was the style of weapon for the style of combat she was seeking to learn more about.

She made good time getting to the Dojo Yard today; it was early enough where the yard had only one or two people already in various stages of training. She would set up off to one side, in a clearing where she could watch the comings and goings of those entering and leaving the Dojo Yard. People would also see her, but she was not front and center. She was familiar with basic combat forms with a katana, so she would start there. Going through the motions, she was not used to the movements compared to her sword and shield combination, so her movements didn’t have the crispness to them, the precision and confidence that usually had, and anyone that saw her would clearly see she’s out of her depth. ‘Hmmm… this is going to be harder than I thought…’ she thought to herself as she struggled to find her center.

WC: 307

Having rested well the previous night, Zraix awoke bright and early in the morning to go for a run before the sun rose completely. He had been taking it a bit easy after his long streak of missions and training he had committed to and was spending the majority of his time in the village. After dawning his ronin garbs and attaching his katana and wakizashi to his back he would make his way outside and begin to jog through the village at an even pace. Along the way he saw all of the regular early birds tending to their gardens, going for their early morning walks and even setting out towards the village gates for travel- the Hoshimura was comforted by this fact and enjoyed the company even though he wasnt too acquainted with some of them.

The sun had come up and the day had fully began as the Hoshimura ended his run near the training dojo of Hoshigakure- he would normally travel to the outskirts of the village to train but having happened upon the dojo he decided to practice a few of his stances. Upon entering he would see a few lower level swordsman at the entrance gathered around a woman of considerable skill- she seemed to be showing them some basic stances and was correcting each of them as they attempted to copy her. There were only a couple more people throughout the dojo yard and they seemed to be nearing the end of their training so there was more than enough room for the ronin to begin his workout. He would be slightly caught off guard as he came across someone that he recognized, "Is that Anastasia?" He thought to himself as he approached the woman in question, each step serving to conclude that it was indeed the young swordsman of golden blonde hair.

She would no doubt notice him as he approached and he would be able to see her working through some of the basic katana forms but it seemed almost.. unnatural- though her swings and thrusts had ample power and speed behind them, they seemed to be missing an edge. The ronin would come to a stop 2 meters from her before speaking, "Fancy meeting you here. I guess you had the same idea as me. Although.. I wont lie I didnt really peg katanas as your style for battle?" He said as he scratched his head with his right hand while giving a light hearted smile. Coming back to a neutral standing position he would continue, "I was just planning to do some standard training today. Maybe you could join me?" He said this as a way to get to know the young swordsman a bit better, perhaps she would be able to show him something he had never seen- he also thought he might be able to help her work out whatever edge it was that she was missing with her katana work.

WC= 494

In between katas, Ana saw a familiar face enter the Dojo Yard. Zraix had also noticed her and had started moving in her direction. They had worked together recently, he was a skilled shinobi with a blade, perhaps he could help her where she was struggling. As he approrached he made a comment about her choice of weapon for the day. It’s true, the last time he saw her, she had her Starfall Blade and Starfall Defender, a sword and shield combo that she could turn into Light’s Retribution, a massive greataxe that she has used to great effect until now. She would reply with a small smirk on her face. “As unbelievable as it may sound, I am familiar with using other weapons to fight. You’d think it would make more sense for me to be using a weapon like this as opposed to my Light’s Retribution, but here we are.” Her voice had an amused tone to it, highlighting the fact that she was responding to the banter with some of her own.

His offer of training together was very tempting, especially since fighting with this style of weapon was more or less what he excelled at from what she could tell. While she had a firm grasp on the basics, she would most certainly need assistance from somewhere, and why not from him. “To be honest, I’ve noticed that while I enjoy fighting with my current armament, something is missing.” Her eyes looked down, feeling slightly embarrassed. It almost caused her pain to make that admission. She was not one to enjoy sharing insecurities, but if she was going to accept his help, she would need to be open with her concerns and expectations. “My current fighting style is as much a part of me as the blood that flows within me, but I can just feel that I can be better than I am.” She would pause a moment to collect her thoughts to try and word this without sounding like a crazy person. “I have a vision in my mind of a weapon that would surpass my comfortability with Light’s Retribution, but before I make it, because it would almost certainly need to be made by my hands, I was hoping to figure out the fighting style that would suit this new weapon.” She would look back at him, with resolve, and say “All this to say, I would gladly accept your offer. The better I can be, the sooner I can be sure of my path.”

WC: 422
TWC: 729

Hardly able to contain his excitement the Hoshimura would punch his left fist into the palm of his right hand in front of him as he smiled, "Excellent! I was hoping you would say that." He would motion for her to follow him over to an area of the the training dojo that was a bit more secluded so that they could avoid getting anyone else involved in their training- his mind had immediately jumped to the fighting style that would suit this 'weapon' that Ana spoke of. He could only assume that her use of a katana meant that the weapon in question would also be a katana- a fine weapon of choice to be sure and the weapon that Zraix had chosen to use in battle his entire life.

The secluded area in question was an open space that was about 30 meters in diameter with a few training dummies scattered throughout it. "I think this area will do just fine.. Now, about the fighting style you were talking about. I think I have just the thing for you but itll take a bit of practice and explanation." He said as he drew his jet black refined katana from the sheath on his back- he pondered whether or not it would be better to verbally explain the fighting style to her or if a demonstration might better serve her.

"So from what I can gather you want to create a blade that focuses more on precise and speedy streamlined combat, kind of like the one I have but maybe with your own flare? Well, there's quite an few fighting styles that would suit you but your best bet would be the use of breathing styles." The Hoshimura would close his eyes briefly while making the confrontation seal with his free hand before opening them and revealing his Kenseigan. He would focus his vision on Ana and immediately  he'd see a red and yellow aura highlighting her- her chakra flow could almost be described as vibrant and warm, which served as no surprise given her demeanor. "Well well, this is even better than I thought. You have Fire and Lightning as your chakra natures which fortunately makes me the perfect person to show you the ropes of this fighting style." It was clear to him now that Ana had the aptitude to learn the art of Total Breathing Concentration along with two elemental breathing styles to accompany them. Now the only question was if she would adapt to the technique quickly and how it would manifest for her.

"So to start the name of the technique is called Total Concentration Breathing. To put it simply, its a way for you to augment your mental and physical abilities by maximizing your oxygen intake. Youll need complete control over your breathing effort and youll have to strengthen your diaphragm to the point that you can inhale your bodies maximum tidal volume. But being that youre already an exceptional weapon specialist, im guessing your body should be in shape to do so." Widening his stance Zraix would grip the hilt of his katana with both hands, turning his focus 90 degrees to the left. With great force he would inhale, holding in the breath only for a moment before exhaling- as the breath left his body the veins in his neck, arms and forehead would enlarge and his chakra flow would intensify as he became surrounded by small sparks of electricity spawning 10 cm off of his body. "What you're seeing now is the physical manifestation of the technique and whats occurring on the inside is very similar." The ronin would focus on a practice dummy that was 4 meters in front of him for moment before dashing forward at a speed of 220 and delivering a slash at that same speed to its torso, stopping a quarter of the way through purposely as to not cut it in half.

Pulling the blade of his katana from the practice dummy he would leap back over to Anastasia's side at a speed of 220, landing 2 meters from her. His breathing pattern would remain identical to the way it was upon activation of the technique even when he was executing a complex movement and he hoped that she would pick up on this as she watched him. "Traditionally you would learn the stances to a technique like this before learning the actual move itself but its virtually impossible to master this without the proper movement in the first place because if your movements are off, your breathing will be too." He would stab his katana into the ground in front of him before continuing. "Now, I want you to work on your breathing and take your time. Its not a race. The key is to have your body get to a point where the breathing method is second nature. Let the oxygen invigorate your body, then when you feel the power building up, release it and let it surge through you."

He would wait for her to grasp the technique before he went into the details on the secondary technique that he had activated in conjunction with it. The TCB Cloak which would be an entirely different explanation along with the application of the elements to fortify the breathing technique to new heights.

WC=890

Techniques Utilized:

Ana couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow slightly at the immediate change in Zraix’s behaviour upon her accepting his offer to train with her. It had almost seemed like he had come here specifically for this purpose. It was a little strange as she did not remember any discussions of them ever arranging to train together, but it worked out in this particular instance. Zraix motioned for her to follow him; it looked like he was heading over to one of the side areas, most likely so that they wouldn’t run into a situation where other people would wish to join in. Anastasia didn’t mind if anyone else joined, but if it was just the two of them, it could potentially speed up the learning process since there wasn’t going to be anyone else asking questions or taking up time trying to learn the same things. She would collect her things and follow her fellow shinobi, as she expected, to one of the side training yards. This particular yard was about 30 meters in diameter and had training dummies interspersed throughout. The dummies would make excellent targets for sword strikes, as that’s what she assumed they would be working on.

It would seem that he had a couple of ideas already figured out. That was a welcome bit of news for the Akari Genin. She had a feeling that Zraix would be able to at least provide some pointers for her form or something along those lines, but it sounded like he had other ideas in mind which suited her just fine. “I figured that practice would be expected in order to get better, so no surprise there,” she said teasingly to him. She watched as he drew his blade and gave a brief summary of his thoughts on her current situation as far as her goals were concerned. It was a simplistic opinion on the situation, but in his defense, she hadn’t given him the whole truth about the origins of the concept for her. The answer to his question though, was her intention to create a weapon of a similar style to his katana, would be yes as the end result would indeed be a katana as far as form and function were concerned. She would nod in agreement as he continued to explain a combat method that he referred to as breathing styles. Immediately she thought back to her dream where she remembered very specifically breathing differently. Perhaps this was what the dream was referring to. She watched intently as Zraix proceeded to activate his doujutsu and stare at her for a few moments. Turns out he was using his doujutsu to determine what her chakra affinities were. The Akari Genin couldn’t help but laugh softly when he commented on her ability to use lightning and fire release and how it complemented his own natures. “I can only assume that you haven’t spent much time around any of the Akari of this village,” she said, commenting on one of the more populous shinobi clans that lived here, “otherwise you wouldn’t need to use your doujutsu to figure out that the basis of our Light Release requires mastery of Fire and Lightning natures. It makes it rather common for Akari clan members to possess both.”

With the witty repartee over for now, Zraix immediately went into an explanation of what he thought would be Ana’s best bet at improving her martial abilities with a katana. The basis of this was something he referred to as Total Concentration Breathing. Using breath control to increase oxygen flow, which would improve circulation and thus give the body an added boost when it was in use. It was an interesting concept, and sounded like it would be right in line with the dream she had. She listened with rapt attention as he explained the fundamentals. When questioning her physical fitness, she smirked at him again. “You would be correct with that guess, Zraix,” she said to him. She needed excellent control of her body in order to properly wield Light’s Retribution, and that included at least her ability to control her breathing.

He would then widen his stance, grip his katana tighter, and turn slightly to Ana’s right, towards one of the training dummies. He would then Inhale, using an exaggerated effort to do so, held the breath for a moment longer than normal breathing, and then exhaled that breath just as forcefully. As that happened, she noticed that the veins on his exposed skin expanded, to accommodate the influx of blood flowing through them. Curiously, an aura of what appeared to be electricity surrounded him at the same time. As he explained the normal process was as it happened, Zraix turned his attention fully on the practice dummy he had turned towards. Anastasia would watch him dash towards the dummy and slash it with his sword, digging a significant way through it, without actually breaking it.

After he pulled the blade out of the dummy and head back over to her, he explained how this process was different than some of the other bukijutsu techniques out there because the forms themselves were linked and thus harmony would be required in order for it to work. It made sense from the way he was describing it. He then asked her to try it herself. The Akari Genin would start by simply taking slow, deep breaths. This was to adapt her body to the change in breathing so that it would understand that this was a controlled exercise rather than a reactive nature. With each breath, Anastasia would focus on her lungs and heart, and how they transmit oxygen and blood around her body, directing them to increase blood flow, imbuing a little chakra into the mix to allow the organs to keep up the pace without it causing any additional strain.

It took her a little time, around fifteen minutes of working on her breathing that she felt something click in her mind and with an exhale, she felt her body sync up. It felt different, and she could immediately tell the difference. She crouched slightly, testing her balance before dashing forward towards the same dummy that Zraix had slashed. She was definitely faster than before, that much she could tell immediately. That was a good thing, it meant that she at least learned something out of this, and that she was heading in the right direction. She grinned to herself as she circled around the dummy and headed back towards where Zraix was standing, slowing down until she was standing a couple meters away from him.

Now that she had what she assumed the basics, another question popped into her mind. She would ask him, “the sparks that I saw there when you prepared to attack, is that part of Total Concentration Breathing itself or is that something else?” she didn’t feel like any kind of elemental nature was required to power this improved movement, but she wanted to make sure. Not that it really mattered; if it required her to use lightning release, she would be fine with that since lightning was her affinity. She would continue to breathe while waiting for Zraix to answer her question.

WC: 1207
TWC: 1936

Mid Topic Claim:
1000 WC towards Total Concentration Breathing (1000/1000, 75% ATF discount, Enhancer activation on Speed and Vigor)

Unspent WC in topic: 936

[quote="Anastasia Akari"

WC: 1207
TWC: 1936

Mid Topic Claim:
1000 WC towards Total Concentration Breathing (1000/1000, 75% ATF discount, Enhancer activation on Speed and Vigor)

Unspent WC in topic: 936[/quote]

Approved!

Note: Once per thread mid-claim made, 936 WC remaining for claims at the end of the thread.

Zraix couldnt help but chuckle at the teasing from Anastasia as she wasnt incorrect- the Hoshimura hadnt had the pleasure of meeting too many shinobi from her clan and never took the time to learn more about them and their abilities. He would take this opportunity to correct this by studying her during their training and taking note of what she could do especially regarding the use of 'light' chakra nature change.

The ronin looked on as Anastasia focused her breathing for a period of 15 minutes before she was able to implement the technique to a some level, using her new found speed to move around the training field swiftly before returning to where she once stood. "That was almost comically fast.. one thing is for sure she doesnt like to take her time. Her activation was a bit sloppy but to grasp the concept this quickly is impressive to say the least." He thought to himself just before Ana asked him about the lightning chakra that surrounded his body. "Woah woah. One thing at a time" he said with a chuckle, "We'll get into that but first let me finish walking you through the way this technique works. Youve done well to activate the state of Total Concentration Breathing but you're only sitting at the base level of its power. There are three different tiers to the power of this technique and they each come with a significant benefit and drawback."

Facing her the ronin would sheath his blade and continue his explanation, "What you're seeing now is the base level.. but if I were to concentrate my chakra more and focus my breathing I can advance further.." closing his eyes Zraix would deepen his depth of breathing, sharpening his control on his chakra as he did so- the vasculature of his body would become even more pronounced as he did so and the aura of lightning would grow just slightly brighter. His muscles would tighten up and his chakra flowed violently through his body as he winced in pain from the strain of this new level of power.  "This is what you would call Refined Concentration Breathing.. its a step above Total and it grants you significantly more power. But, it puts much more of a strain on your body in the process. I wont tell you how to use your abilities but you shouldnt use this level recklessly and the same goes for the next level.."

Clapping his hands together with great force the ronin would inhale with all of his might and exhale with an equivalent level of force multiple times- as he did  this his skin tightened even further around his muscles making them more defined and revealing his vasculature to an even higher degree. He would grit his teeth as he dealt with the pain from this activation and the lightning from his aura could now be visible to the naked eye due to its brightness. He would bring his hands back to his side as he made eye contact with Anastasia, his lotus flower eyes revealing strained sclera from a forced activation. "This is known as Perfected Concentration Breathing. Its the highest level attainable and it grants you an increase of more than 25% of teh power that you gain from Total. This is the pinnacle of breathing abilities and it will allow you to fight with all of your might. I trust that you'll use it responsibly". He said with a smirk on his face.

He would continue to use his Perfected Concentration Breathing as he finished up his explanation, hoping that Anastasia had taken note of everything so far. "The Total Concentration Breathing Technique gives the user incredible power and speed, elevating your weaponry abilities to new heights. But it has a huge weakness in that youre still vulnerable to attacks while youre using it as it does nothing for your defenses." Pointing to the electricity crackling around his body with his thumb he would continue, "That led to the birth of its sister technique, the Cloak of Concentration. To put it plainly, it acts as a barrier so that you can get in close while protecting yourself from any attack weaker than it. It takes a considerable amount of chakra to keep both techniques going but its well worth the sacrifice. The last thing ill tell you about it is that you can apply any of the elemental breathing styles you know to the cloak which will give it the affinity of the element, just like you see with the lightning element around me." With arms folded he would wait for Anastasia to process what he had said and end by challenging her to give it a try. "So, how about it? Give everything a try and we can move on to teaching you some of the elemental breathing styles."

WC=811

It would seem that she was on to something there, as when she asked about the sparks, he mentioned that they would get into it later rather than explaining how it was incorporated. ‘Hmmm, so it seems that infusing your chakra’s natural affinity is not part of the base breathing that he’s showing me…’ she thought to herself. ‘I wonder…perhaps then you can infuse the element as a secondary or supplementary technique…’

Rather than move on to anything else, Zraix would finish talking about Total Concentration Breathing first and how there was multiple stages to it, each one being more taxing but providing more benefit when they are in use. He explained that the two other levels were Refined Concentration Breathing and Perfected Concentration Breathing. As he demonstrated both, Ana could see that there was clearly more exertion, and as per his explanation it sounded like it was worth the risk depending on the circumstances that would require Total Concentration Breathing to be activated in the first place.

He then mentioned that while it was incredibly useful in terms of improving one’s mobility and offensive capabilities, it did nothing to provide any defensive bonuses. ‘Well…’ she thought, ‘outside of being able to let you move faster so you can either avoid or deflect incoming attacks more effectively…’ Zraix though was explaining a technique that could be paired with Total Concentration Breathing called the Cloak of Concentration. According to him it provided an aura of sorts that could act as an extra layer against attacks coming towards the user. He also made a comment about being able to imbue different elemental breathing styles to the Cloak of Concentration, which cemented her thoughts earlier about what he’d been doing with the training dummy. “Ah,” she would say to him as he explained it, “I was right after all. It is something separate from Total Concentration Breathing itself. So, one could theoretically apply any elemental chakra release to form a breathing style, like how I have lightning and fire, both could apply. I wonder if I could use my Light Release to form a breathing style…” That line of thought would have to wait though. He asked her to try and activate the cloak of concentration herself. Ever ambitious, she would try to imbue her Lightning release chakra into the process as well, to see if she could replicate everything he did initially.

Ana took a step back and inhaled sharply, activating Total Concentration Breathing. At the same time, she would try to expel chakra out like armour around her, but she would also imbue the aura with her lightning chakra. It seemed like it had only partially worked; she could feel the aura around her, but the lightning wasn’t quite as prevalent. It would definitely take more practice to get it sorted, but it was another technique that she now had that she could work on to get her closer to her goals.

She would keep practicing this while Zraix went over elemental breathing styles as well, making sure to pay close attention so that she would be able to master them over time as well. She was positive that they would play a key part in her journey and they could serve as an excellent building block with which to move herself forward.

They’d spent a significant amount of time training, with the Akari Genin learning much from him. “Thank you very much for your lessons today,” she would say to Zraix. “I believe I know what it is that I must do now. I have some preparations to make now, so if you will excuse me, I’m going to go take care of that now.” She would bow respectfully to him, gather her things, and make her way out of the Dojo Yard.

[EXIT]

WC: 633
TWC: 2569

1569 WC to claim:
500 WC towards Thunder Breathing (500/500, 75% ATF discount)
688 WC towards First Form: Thunderclap and Flash (688/688, 75% ATF Discount)
381 WC towards Cloak of Concentration (S-Rank 381/1250, 75% ATF Discount, Slotless)

Approved on claims made and Exit