Professor Wolf

The cool autumn breeze seemed to cascade through the village streets, the academy was in search of a shinobi to do some basic training for the next generation. With a little debate between Tōga and his companion Okami they decided to make their way to the academy, Okami was not necessarily thrilled to be teaching but he wouldn’t leave this up to Tōga alone. As they approached the steps that lead to the massive learning academy, Okami linked minds with Tōga “Well, let’s get this over with.” Tōga shot a disapproving look to his companion as he spoke, “Cheer up, there’s nothing wrong with assisting the youth. It will help to prolong their lives.” The answer was not what Okami wanted to hear, he physically snorted as he shook his snout to demonstrate his frustration. Together they ascended the steps meeting a shinobi instructor at the door, he ushered them in and within a few minutes had them standing in a room full of young shinobi prospects.

After walking to the desk in the middle, Tōga reached down on top of the desk and lifted the lesson plan. The top of the paper was titled, ‘Ninja Specialties - How to Find Yours’ a simple title that explained exactly what was the subject today. He turned to look out at the class as Okami made his way to the far left corner in front of the class, “Good Morning Class, I am Tōga Inuzuka. I see here…” He held the lesson plan up to the students as he continued to speak, “You are beginning to learn about the different specialties each shinobi may inherit or embody, So let’s start with an explanation of the various classes there are in the Shinobi World.” Tōga laid the lesson plan back on the desk and lifted the textbook, thoroughly flipping through the pages until he could read off the brief descriptions of each specialty. Over the course of another hour and a half Tōga continued to describe; Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, Bukijutsu, Kugukutsu, Fuinjutsu, Iryojutsu, Jikujutsu, and Kanjutsu. He took a moment to listen to the children as they talked about the different techniques they’ve seen growing up. One kid asked if people really used puppets in combat, Tōga chuckled at the kids and answered all their questions to the best of his abilities. He then proceeded to ask the various children if any had discovered their inner abilities yet, almost the entire class had not yet found their calling but had dreams of what it would be. However, one kid in the back of the class explained he knew he had an affinity for Ninjutsu. Tōga smiled and congratulated the kid on having determined at such a young age, but reassured the rest of the class that it was okay to not know at such a young age. He then began to explain that all jutsu are rooted in these specialities, he then explained the specific jutsu of their learnings; Transformation & Clone Techniques and their relation to Ninjutsu.

The first bell rang and the students began taking out their lunches, Tōga looked at the clock above the board behind him noting they had a half hour of lunch. He linked his mind to Okami, “Watch the kids, I’m gonna step out for a smoke.” Okami answered with a simple nod, turning his attention to the children as some prayed, some talked, but all ate with gusto. Tōga made his way up the stairwell and out onto the rooftop where he met with a few other instructors who were also hiding to smoke, he reached inside his robes upper pocket and removed the soft pack of cigarettes tapping one loose and placing it into his lips. He began to talk with the others as they smoked together, they questioned who was watching his class but when he gave his answer they all chuckled at the thought.

Whilst Tōga was away the children of the class began to get a little rowdy, Okami stood from his seated position and looked sternly out at the youngsters. A few saw the expression and returned to their seats to finish eating, however there were a few who simply ignored the ‘dog’ in the corner assuming he was simply a pet. Okami stomped his right front paw with great force, the floorboard beneath his paw cracked as he let out a small but deep growl. The children became silent as they slipped back into their chairs, beginning to eat quietly and every so often flickering their eyes over to see if Okami had settled down.

The bell rang yet again as Tōga walked through the classroom door, the smell of his cigarette still on his breath as he smiled at the children. “I hope you all had a good lunch, we can continue the lesson with a look at the core specialties.” Tōga flipped to the section of the textbook and began explaining Ninjutsu first as it was the most common art of the shinobi world. After thirty minutes of talking he stopped and signed the Ram seal and created a clone of himself directly to his left, “This is a good example of Ninjutsu that you will all have mastered in time.” He carried on to explain the art of controlling both mental and physical chakra in order to execute the jutsu, explaining the balance allows the formation of ninjutsu in a physical aspect using the guidance of his mental chakra. He then had each student come to the front of the class one at a time, walking them through the motions and helping to understand every aspect of the jutsu and in time each student was capable of performing the jutsu. The excitement of the class was so intoxicating as they had all learned yet another step towards becoming full fledged shinobi, Tōga smiled at the students and he moved on to the next specialty of Genjutsu. Though this time he wasn’t able to demonstrate exactly how Genjutsu manipulates one’s mind, he just walked through the collection of their mental chakra. The kids all practiced controlling their mental chakra until they all felt proficient, allowing Tōga to move forward with the manipulation of their physical chakras. He ushered the children outside to their academy training yard, he explained that both he and Okami used techniques that relied on their physical chakra more than their mental chakra. He began explaining the final core specialty of Taijutsu, telling them about how with taijutsu the children can enhance their physical strength enabling them to access strength beyond any normal man or woman. Tōga gestured to Okami as he stated his friend was a ninja himself and excelled in Taijutsu, Okami stood as he began molding his inner physical chakra. He walked over to a large boulder using his right back leg to kick backwards slamming into the stone, it shattered into pieces and became just another pile of dirt on the ground. The students who were causing a ruckus earlier, looked at the wolf as their eyes widened and they felt a small pinch of terror. Tōga took note of the reaction and assumed Okami must have been a little strict with them while he was enjoying his break, but nevertheless the students were unharmed so it would be fine.

Each child took their turns attempting to mold their physical chakras and perform various taijutsu techniques, Tōga watched carefully and gave pointers to the students where he could. He wished at times like these Okami could just talk like a human, he knew how to use taijutsu better than Tōga and would make a much better instructor in this aspect. As they spent some time training this physical aspect of jutsu, one student asked “If you don’t use Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, or Taijutsu as your true technique. What do you use?” Tōga’s eyes showed a little surprise as he didn’t expect the question. He reached down with his right hand and grasped the handle of his katana, drawing it and holding it up to show it off. “I am a Bukijutsu user primarily” as he said that his blade began to glow blue as he enhanced his blade with his chakra, the visible aspect of his ability. “You see I put my chakra into my weapons, to flourish their potential in battle.” He watched as a few of the students' eyes seemed a little start struck at the display, the subtle statements of ‘cool’, ‘wicked’, and things of that sort making a smile come across his face as he released his chakra from the blade. He re-sheathed his blade and returned to teaching, “I can also perform certain taijutsu as well, here you may like this.” Tōga took a moment, closing his eyes as he crouched down, getting nice and close to the ground as he began twisting his chakra and flowing it into his muscles. He extended his arms outward slightly though still holding them at a slight angle towards the ground, suddenly his eyes opened as he leaped upward at an angle twisting his body violently becoming a physical vortex tearing through the sky around the students. He began using his sense of smell granted to him by his Inuzuka bloodline in order to dodge the cluster of children as he, the vortex, began bouncing across the ground making a loop around the students until he landed back in the location he started in. Assuming the crouched position he started in, only to stand up and take a more composed demeanor than what he had just displayed. “That is a jutsu of the Inuzuka Clan, it is known as Raging Fang. It relies on my sense of smell in order to move around the battlefield without hurting the innocent or your comrades.” He smirked as the students continued to look at him with starry eyes, a few commented on him as being awesome and cool.

Okami at this point had decided to lay down and ignore the ‘showboating’ that he considered was happening, he huffed to show his disapproval of the job they took today as he had little interest in the mission of the day. They ushered the kids back into the classroom and as they all took their seats Tōga prepared to finish his teachings for the day by expanding on the other specialties tied to the core Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu. The class proceeded for another few hours as they touched on the various specialities and where they could be used in combat and even their life as a shinobi, the kids began talking about their various dreams and what each of them wanted to use as they grew older and flourished in the shinobi world around them. Tōga relaxed as he listened to the final bell that rang out to dismiss the school day, Okami’s ears perked up at the thought of leaving and being done for the day with the menial task that they had partaken in. Tōga’s eyes flickered over to his companion as their mental link began to meld together, “I know you’re ready to go, but I have to fill out a few forms and give a small report to show I covered the appropriate topic. So unfortunately we’re gonna be here for a few more hours, but I promise as soon as it gets submitted and signed off on we will go to the forest for some training.” Okami heard the words and followed suit with a huff as he had been doing all day. Tōga smirked as he sat at the desk and began writing on the parchment to explain the course he taught today, even more he made notes about the one student who knew their speciality. He continued on in his report as he made notes of each child's proficiency with the transformation technique, he followed the current notes with an explanation of the techniques he displayed and began labeling certain children under what specialty he assumed would be their individual technique.

A few hours passed and the main administrator had signed off and paid the two, who were now headed off to do some training together.

(WC 2,028)