Open Ninjutsu 101: Principles of Chakra [CLASS]

[Chikamatsu Shin]

Shin let out a sigh... Kanmuri, Peko, Kazuma, Taisen Hakuren, Tanatsu Neko, Amaterasu Hina of the Chikamatsu, Chikamatsu Ayame, Hayate Tadashi, Toraono Toji, his son Chikamatsu Suisen and his two daughters Chikamatsu Toyoko, Chikamatsu Sora...

He had taught so many students over the years. He covered topics from illusionary warfare to emergency medical treatments and from hand to hand combat to advanced elemental combinations. He taught so many lectures of such varied topics and over all this time he was still concerned if he was qualified to teach the next generation. He was a Medical Chief, the Overseer of the Chikamatsu, a Sennin, and even the Kazekage, yet through all of this time he never knew if he was doing enough for his students. He lost a few pupils over the years and those lost weighed heavy on his heart.

The classroom today was rearranged in a slightly different manner, where instead of a lecture hall like layout, it felt more like a labs room with open space in the center of the room and tables circumventing the space out by the walls. On each table there would be 5 different scrolls each with a different seal on them: Earth, Fire, Lightning, Water, and Wind. Shin had each of these scrolls on his hip as he stood beside a table that had multiple glasses filled with water on it. He would put on a smile and wait for his students to begin to arrive, and one by one he would hand each student a glass of water and tell them that this water was not meant for drinking and to make sure they did not spill it as their lesson today was going to be centered around these glasses.

WC: [289/1000]
Post: [1/5]

 

[Chikamatsu Kasai]

Kasai lingered at the doorway, molten eyes catching the light of the crystals as they traced across the room. Her father stood at the center, calm as a mountain, a smile stretched on his face that she knew was oftentimes for show. She could see the weight in the way his shoulders held, like stones piled atop one another. Her gaze fell to the glasses of water lined neatly upon the table, five scrolls waiting in their seals like a promise of exploration. To the others it was instruction, but too her, everything was a test. Every step she took into the room was not just another student arriving, but a daughter measuring herself against the history that already surrounded them. She wanted to surpass them all, not simply to learn what they had learned, but to do it better and faster.

She was the first to arrive and took a seat in front of a glass of water. Shin’s eyes met hers for only a heartbeat, but it was enough to make her chest tighten in unease. She was told the water was not for drinking, and so she would not spill it. She would hold it, and make sure a drop did not leave the glass. Kasai wrapped both hands around the cool surface, staring down at the liquid as though it might betray her. She imagined it boiling as the heat of her own will rose through it. Fear caught her as she imagined turning the water into something alive that would burst forth from the glass without warning.

To anyone else, this was just water. To her, it was the first step toward proving she was more than another name in his long list. She would not be forgotten, and she would burn brighter than all the rest.

[WC: 302/1,000]
[Post 1/5]

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

Shin adjusted his stance as he watched Kasai settle with the glass. She already held it like a weapon or perhaps a promise. He let his eyes rest on her for only a moment before he turned back to the room at large. More students would come soon, and each one would face the same trial.

He placed the five scrolls in a careful row upon the table, their seals glowing faintly. "Many of you have heard of chakra paper being used to identify a shinobi’s natural alignment," he began, voice steady and low. "can only tell part of the story. It reveals what you are, not what you might become. Today, you will learn a different method. "

He raised one of the glasses so that the light caught its surface. The water inside shimmered as he directed a small pulse of chakra into it. The surface began to stir, tiny ripples forming a spiraling current that circled the rim before settling once more. A faint whisper of air passed through the room, though no one had moved. Shin set the glass back down.

"will answer honestly if you give it your attention. If your affinity is fire, it will warm or even boil. If it is wind, it may move or swirl. Lightning will cause it to tremble. Earth will alter its taste or form, and water itself will call more water to the surface. You must not force the reaction. Pour chakra into the glass as though you are breathing life into it, and the truth of your nature will emerge. "

His gaze swept across the room, finally returning to Kasai. "This is not a contest of strength. It is a mirror. If you do not like what you see, then train until your reflection changes. "

He would not tell the students that the scrolls would assist them in this identification. The scrolls would amplify the latent chakra within the students, but only if they used the scroll that most aligned with their natural affinity.

[WC: 629/1000]
[2/5]

 

[Chikamatsu Kasai]

Kasai held the glass and it remained cool against her palms, the stillness of the water mocked her. Around her, the room hummed with her father’s steady words and the quiet chatter of the other children. She hardly heard the rest of his instruction as she was too busy staring down at the water, her eyes threatening to make it come to life. A mirror, he had called it. Her whole body bristled at the idea of sitting quietly, gently coaxing a truth from something so plain. That did not seem like the way forward to her, no, she wanted to command the truth. She wanted to see it leap, boil, and blaze.

She tipped the glass slightly, watching the way the light bent through its surface. It seemed ordinary enough, and she began to look over the scrolls before her, thoughts racing. What if it didn’t answer her call? What if the glass stayed still, flat and silent, like she was nothing at all?

No, she would not let it happen. She could feel something beneath her skin, a warmth whose restlessness resembled a caged beast, begging for release. Surely the water would see it, and it would know.

Kasai’s envy gnawed harder. She imagined the others who had come before, the pupils her father had named so easily, each with their element as proof of their passing. She hated the thought of them succeeding where she might yet still falter. She would surpass them, surpass even her siblings. She would make this water burn.

Others around her had already begun the experiment and she heard the exclamations of joy from another girl, this only made her fingers tighten around the glass harder. With white fingertips she closed her eyes, drew in a breath and aimed to complete this experiment without the aid of the paper as others were doing it.

She slowly exhaled as her hands surrounded the cup like something too precious to touch. A gentle push of chakra, as though breathing life into the water. She tried, but the gentle push did not feel right and nothing occurred. The water remained silent and her internal frustration grew.

She pressed her will into the palms of her hands harder, heavier, and sharper.

'Move! Bend! Boil!' She shouted within her mind, and still nothing happened. The surface stayed calm, almost smug, in its refusal.

Her chest tightened, a heat slowly building behind her ribs. Her lips curled back in frustration and then there was a flicker. The faintest quiver danced across the surface, ripples trembling outward. Warmth, not imaginary but real. The glass heated against her palms, the water stirring as though something deep inside had finally awoken. Kasai’s eyes snapped open, molten light flashing in their depths. Her pupils moved in cascades like lava flowing across ancient earth.

She would grin, triumphant and fierce. The water swirled now as faint wisps of steam curled from its surface. Kasai leaned forward, her voice a whisper meant only for herself and the water. “You see me. You know me.”

The envy in her veins quieted, if only for a breath. For once, she wasn’t chasing anyone else. She had made the water answer without the aid of the paper. Even if her father said it was not a contest, for her, it always would be, and when she lifted her gaze to meet his eyes, her grin lingered.

[WC:871/1,000]
[Post 2/5]