Open Lethality In All Its Forms

[Uchima Shoma]

The human body is in reality a very fragile thing. The Shinobi must understand and learn to apply a wide variety of killing techniques in order to be maximally effective, particularly on missions that require subterfuge. One of the most quintessential methods of assassination comes not in the form of a blade or needle but may be delivered in something as simple as a cup of tea. The savvy reader has already guessed the subject of this chapter: poisons.

Shoma was curled up at the base of a bookshelf deep in the stacks of the Konoha Academy Library. It was a free-study period and he had gone towards the back shelves, partially out of a desire for quiet, a short respite from his younger classmates, and partially because every next title was more and more intriguing. He hadn't settled on a book until he was well into the stacks.

"Lethality in All Its Forms" was the name of the book. The author seemed to be a shinobi professor of some sort from years ago. Shoma was sure it wouldn't matter that the book was old, considering the relatively unchanging nature of the murderous arts. It still bothered Shoma a little bit that he was studying how to kill. He supposed it shouldn't have come as a shock, but still, the reality of attending an academy meant to teach children to kill hadn't quite sunk in until he'd been to a few classes and had time to dwell on the material. At any rate, this was what he'd signed up for, and he would do his best to live up to the opportunity that had been afforded him.

As he came to the end of the introduction, he visibly perked up a bit.

Poison could be interesting. More interesting than decapitation last chapter, anyway.

He read on, taking notes in a small notepad on the ground beside him. There was a section on identifying poisonous plants, another on the extraction of different types of poisons. Some were secreted by the stem of the plants, while some had to be boiled out of the leaves. He took particular note of that type of poison, his mind going back to his years helping his father at the tea shop. Some poisons could even be inhaled, he learned, though the production of those poisons seemed much more advanced than that of liquid poison. Within the hour, he had four full pages of notes covering identification, extraction, administration, and even treatment of poisons. He admittedly didn't understand all of it, but the book and his notes would give him a great point from which to expand his research. He even added a small section of notes related to the chapter's footnotes on some of the advances in poisoncraft made by the Yamanaka clan over the years.

Having finished the chapter on poisons and returned "Lethality In all Its Forms" to its proper place on the shelves, Shoma continued poking through the stacks, hoping to find an entire book dedicated to the subject. It seemed he'd discovered a topic to whet his appetite more than any other had so far.

[WC: 519]

 

[Sugihara Aki]

Hikaru stepped carefully into the library, forming a handseal to quietly refresh the jutsu that alerted her to solid objects in the nearby air. A voice came from her left- the young cataloger, probably at her desk, reminding her that ninjutsu weren’t allowed in the library. She nodded in her direction and shrunk the radius of the sensory technique without any outward indication. Unfortunately, she needed it to get around… and she was still anxious about explaining to people that their Medical Chief was keeping her position despite having been blinded.

She walked through a group of tables and made her way to the rows of shelves. Still not entirely sure how she’d be able to read titles without eyesight, Hikaru found the historical section by memory and selected a book at random. The kunoichi was looking for information on a specific period, one that the Hashigaki clan was at its peak during, and one that hopefully saw mention of the rising Amari clan as well.

She closed her eyes, using a tiny portion of Ukabu’s chakra to call on a Ghost Dancer. The small spirit denizens of the Hashigaki appeared as nothing more than a pale blue glow the size of a hand, according to Teru- they had been researching the old clan’s Hiden techniques. They apparently had many roles, but the one Hikaru had found most useful so far was augmenting her perception of sound to get closer to the Hashigakis’ traditional ‘Blindsight’. The tiny Dancer observed the open book in her hands, listening carefully to the sound of its turning pages when she prompted it. As far as it could tell, sadly, she was holding a stack of paper bound together with some kind of leather- she’d have to accept that books were impossible to get information out of alone.

Keeping the glowing spirit on her shoulder, the Medical Chief took in the familiar sounds of the library for a moment. Noisier students were convened near the front, it seemed, and a few others had moved towards the back for deeper reading. She wandered in that direction, taking in the soft tap of her footsteps and the light creak of the aged bookshelves, when suddenly someone crossed her jutsu’s short sensory range. Hikaru barely stopped herself before she bumped into them, whispering, “Oh, sorry!”

The Ghost Dancer shared its view with the kunoichi once again, and she looked through the black and white image of sound (they seemed to perceive space and location, but nothing visual like color or detail) at the someone she had almost collided with. They were shorter than she was; probably a student! She began, “So what are you looking for here? We should be around the combat section by now… I wouldn’t mind teaching you a few things, if you need.” She was head of the Combat Medicine division, after all, she could say it was her job. Besides, it had been a while since she had talked with a student, and teaching was the best part of having a title.

[Topic entered!]

 

[Uchima Shoma]

Beginner Swordplay
Kunai Ballistics
Creative Application Of Ninja Wire
Combat Psychology

The titles all sounded fascinating, but Shoma thought he should probably focus on one or two topics at a time. For now, he'd settled on poison and he didn't intend to return home until he'd found a complete volume on the subject. He was just nearing the end of the current stack, preparing to round the corner and continue his search, when he nearly collided with a tall girl with dark hair, wrapped in green robes. She was obviously a bit older than he was, probably by three or four years as far as he could tell.

"Oh, sorry!", he barely heard her whisper.

No, no, it's my fault, he replied. I wasn't watching where I was going.

He looked her up and down briefly, his attention caught by two curious details.

First, there was a blue glow on her shoulder. Featureless though it was, something about the way it flickered seemed vaguely intelligent. He set that thought aside for the time being. He was slowly getting used to seeing strange things like that anyplace that shinobi frequented.

Second, she didn't appear to be looking at him... or anything, really. With a start, he realized she must be blind, then as his mind raced for something polite to say, it occurred to him that a library was a strange place indeed to find a blind girl.

“So what are you looking for here? We should be around the combat section by now… I wouldn’t mind teaching you a few things if you need.”

What does a blind girl know about combat?

The thought had entered his mind before he'd had a chance to realize how incredibly rude it was. He was glad he hadn't blurted it out. For the first time, he thanked whatever was responsible for his tendency toward introversion. Instead, he chose what he hoped would count as a more tactful response; completely ignoring her blindness unless she brought it up.

Well, I'm looking for books on poison. I was reading a chapter in "Lethality In All Its Forms" a few stacks back, and it sounded really interesting. Would you happen to know anything about poison or where I could find out more about it? I'm especially interested in poison Ninjutsu. There was a small section in the chapter on it, but not much detail.

I'm Uchima Shoma, by the way. Maybe I can help you too, I could read that book to you if you want.

So much for not bringing it up.

The words came out more quickly than he'd expected. He realized with a blush that he'd extended his hand for a handshake, and quickly withdrew it. She wouldn't be able to see it, after all. Shoma realized that this strange blind girl made him profoundly nervous. He wasn't sure if it was a side effect of her blindness or what, but those eyes of hers were nothing short of captivating. He thought for a moment that it might be a good thing she couldn't see him, given the rising temperature in his cheeks, and that thought in turn deepened his embarrassment.

Shoma was sure that this meeting would end in disaster if he didn't keep a tight lid on his own thoughts. The situation seemed riddled with social landmines that his subconscious was intent on triggering.

[WC=549]
[MFT]

 

[Sugihara Aki]

The boy’s response confirmed him as a student, more or less. Hikaru was still new to meeting people without the visual aid of seeing them face to face, but she’d picked up that guessing certain details was usually adequate. She ‘watched’ his head move, studying him as carefully as the Ghost Dancer’s echolocation would allow.

Researching poison was interesting- she had met several specialists in the Medical branch, interesting characters who knew as much about inflicting toxins as they did about healing them. “Of course! Poison is a tool to weaken or harm its victims, and a favorite of assassins, weapon users, and long-range specialists. I’ve mastered a handful of Poison-release ninjutsu, which follows the same principle, and I wouldn’t mind explaining some of it to you. On the condition that you listen to me explain how to heal poisons, too, since that’s my job,” the kunoichi grinned. She conferred with the glowing Dancer, then continued, “There should be a table over there, on the other side of this shelf.” She indicated the bookshelf on her right.

His next comment caught her off-guard a bit, but Hikaru laughed, “Very perceptive! Thank you, but I wouldn’t want to keep you here for hours- I was looking for very boring stuff, I assure you.” She didn’t normally feel comfortable refusing people’s help outright when they realized, but she didn’t feel the usual social stress in this situation; she could tell he meant well, and maybe it had something to do with her own instinct to help people. “Miyazaki Hikaru, Medical Chief of the Combat Division. Nice to meet you, Shoma.” She held up the book in her hand, showing its title (which she didn’t know). “Actually, I could use some help picking out books to take home, but we can get to that later. For now, grab anything else on Poison you want to talk about and meet me at that table!”

 

[Uchima Shoma]

Alright, I'll be back in a moment. I just need to find the right section. Thanks for this, I really appreciate it!

Thankful for a break from embarrassing himself, Shoma rushed around the corner he'd originally been turning and skimmed quickly through the titles. He browsed as quickly as he could, but it still took a good 10 minutes before he'd found what felt like enough material to bring back to Hikaru. Shoma's thoughts wandered as he walked.

She's the Medical Chief. That means she must know an awful lot.
I wonder how she heals people without seeing them.
Maybe she can see with chakra or something.
Maybe she doesn't need to see and she can just hear everything.
Maybe she's part bat!

That last one seemed a little unlikely, but Shoma was quickly learning that wonders never cease in Konohagakure. Gratefully, he found he wasn't quite as nervous when he arrived back at the table. He set the three books on the table, reading their titles aloud to Hikaru.

Alright, I found three books that look relevant. There's "Identifying and Harvesting Poisonous Plants" written by someone named Yamanaka Sentetsu, "Poisonous Weapons and Ninjutsu: How a Single Drop Can Turn the Tide" written by... sorry, I can't read the author's name. The cover is pretty worn. The last one is called "Identifying and Treating Poison in Hospital and Battlefield Settings", and it was written by "Hirohoshi Ichiro".

I chose that last one because you said I should learn to treat poisons too. I actually hadn't thought of that, but it would be pretty silly to learn to use something I can't defend against, huh?

Shoma chuckled good-naturedly. He truly hadn't thought about healing, or even treating poisons until Hikaru had brought it up.

I read about med-nin, but I guess I'd never thought too much about them. It makes sense that there would be doctors to heal injured shinobi, but the way she's talking about combat it sounds like she's a fighter too. I've never heard of a Combat Division. I could learn a lot from this girl.

Shoma sat across from Hikaru, picking up the first book.

Do you think it makes sense to start with Identifying and Harvesting? If I'm healing then I should be able to identify the plant a poison came from, and if I'm using the poison myself, I'll need to know about harvesting.