Old Character Name: Sunahoshi Katsuo
Old Village/Missing: Sand
OCR Type: Free OCR
Last Known Where-abouts: Sunagakure IV Zones
Old IC Rank: Jounin
New Character Name: Sunahoshi Suzaku
Preferred Username: Sunahoshi Suzaku
New Village/Missing: Sand
New BL/CA: Hyuuga [Discipline of the Bold Step]
Custom Class:
Main Branch/ANBU/Med-Nin: Main Branch
IC Rank: My preference is below Jounin someplace but I will let the council decide where he should be placed. Suzaku is skilled for his age but he lacks for any form of military experience or training outside of his martial arts and mystical educations.
Character Age: 12
Gender: Male
Sex: Male
Character's Physical Description:
Ryusei is unusually muscular for a young man his age even if he is a little shorter than average due to the constant training under the watchful eye of Mikaboshi. From an age which would generally be considered early even among shinobi clans, Ryusei has been training to take on the world and live up to the legend of his father that he has been raised on by his mother Naganisa. He green hair shaggy not unlike his father and the bright green of his eyes make it pretty easy to see the resemblence between him and his father. He is a cheerful boy with an optimistic, if naive view on the world and can usually be found with a grin or at least a determined look on his face when the midst of a difficult task. Though it is difficult to tell when he is wearing plainclothes, Suzaku possesses numerous scars over his body from studying the martial art of Ryuseiken. The controlled breathing of Ryuseiken generates spiritual force at a prodigious rate that is often difficult for the human body to be able to sustain and as a result Suzaku bears a litany of reminders of the danger that faces his body whenever he engages in Ryuseiken's breathing technique.
Character's Mental Description:
Much as his father was raised on stories of heroism from the Old World and the ways of the rangers of old, Suzaku was raised on stories of his father's strength of character and power. He desperately wants to live up to the example set by those stories even if they are more than a little exaggerated from the perspective Naganisa-- a woman who fell in love with both the man and his legend --and Zangetsu who always viewed Katsuo as his rival to beat. He is optimistic and kind like his father but lacks the experience and confidence that Katsuo had when he was Suzaku's age simply from the fact that Suzaku has mostly learned everything he knows in the shadows of the company of his mother, Zangetsu and of course the Deep Lord Mikaboshi. Even though Mikaboshi is his teacher and he respects Mikaboshi's wisdom and strength, Suzaku has always rejected Mikaboshi's lessons about might making right even if both his mother and Zangetsu both bought into them. Between the teachings of the First Law that Mikaboshi has taught him and the lessons left behind for him by the example set by his father, Suzaku is looking to find his own answers to the questions of life.
Multiple Personality Application: #nope
Clan Request:
Sunahoshi Clan -- direct relation through Sunahoshi Katsuo
Masashi Clan -- direct relation through Sunahoshi Katsuo (my clan)
Honorary member of the Deep Court (Suzaku is not a hybrid)
Character History:
Kinjutsu Application: Ryuseiken - Fist of the Falling Star
Death/Retirement Thread: N/A
Old Profile: LINK
Old Training: LINK
Old Dojo: LINK
Special Usergroups: Sand Council
Old Stats: Nothing.
Old OOC Rank: S-Rank
Stat Cut: Nothing.
New Stats: New stats same as the old stats.
Jutsu Mastery Swaps: Nothing. Keeping my jutsu. As they are.
Old Village/Missing: Sand
OCR Type: Free OCR
Last Known Where-abouts: Sunagakure IV Zones
Old IC Rank: Jounin
New Character Name: Sunahoshi Suzaku
Preferred Username: Sunahoshi Suzaku
New Village/Missing: Sand
New BL/CA: Hyuuga [Discipline of the Bold Step]
The Masashi Clan which Suzaku shares his blood with through Katsuo's mother Masashi Inara is well known for their mastery of a specialty doujutsu technique which allows them to track and predict the movements of their opponents among other things. Katsuo's incorporation of the Spark of Primus and the awakening of his heritage as a Sunahoshi changed that power in him and subsequently the power which he's passed on to his son Suzaku. Suzaku lacks the Spark of Primus which is still held by Katsuo and so does not possess the same power over the weather and the storm but he has inherited a mutated version of the Masashi doujutsu which grants him the ability to directly perceive the flow of spiritual energy around him and through rigorous training with his teaching Mikaboshi he has turned that ability into a deadly weapon allowing him to attack the spirit force of his opponents directly with his strikes by practicing the martial art that a person who was very special to Mikaboshi once practiced known as Ryuseiken. Centrally known as a controlled-breathing method, Ryuseiken aligns the breathing pattern of it's practitioner with precise strikes and chakra alignment in order to create bursts of intense force centered in singular strikes giving rise to the name "Fist of the Falling Star". Suzaku is far from a master in Ryuseiken and has been consistently cautioned against allowing his reach to exceed his grasp for the spiritual force which is conjured through the core technique of Ryuseiken can tear apart a practitioner's body if improperly used.
Custom Class:
Code:
[u]Fist of the Falling Star[/u]
[b]HP:[/b] (55+lvl) x stamina
[b]CP:[/b] (40+lvl) x chakra control
Class Bonus: Kinjutsu Option [Kensei], +1 Accuracy
[i]High:[/i] Melee Accuracy
[i]Average:[/i] Ninjutsu Accuracy, Evasion, Genjutsu Save
[i]Low:[/i] Genjutsu DC, Ranged AccuracyMain Branch/ANBU/Med-Nin: Main Branch
IC Rank: My preference is below Jounin someplace but I will let the council decide where he should be placed. Suzaku is skilled for his age but he lacks for any form of military experience or training outside of his martial arts and mystical educations.
Character Age: 12
Gender: Male
Sex: Male
Character's Physical Description:
Ryusei is unusually muscular for a young man his age even if he is a little shorter than average due to the constant training under the watchful eye of Mikaboshi. From an age which would generally be considered early even among shinobi clans, Ryusei has been training to take on the world and live up to the legend of his father that he has been raised on by his mother Naganisa. He green hair shaggy not unlike his father and the bright green of his eyes make it pretty easy to see the resemblence between him and his father. He is a cheerful boy with an optimistic, if naive view on the world and can usually be found with a grin or at least a determined look on his face when the midst of a difficult task. Though it is difficult to tell when he is wearing plainclothes, Suzaku possesses numerous scars over his body from studying the martial art of Ryuseiken. The controlled breathing of Ryuseiken generates spiritual force at a prodigious rate that is often difficult for the human body to be able to sustain and as a result Suzaku bears a litany of reminders of the danger that faces his body whenever he engages in Ryuseiken's breathing technique.
Character's Mental Description:
Much as his father was raised on stories of heroism from the Old World and the ways of the rangers of old, Suzaku was raised on stories of his father's strength of character and power. He desperately wants to live up to the example set by those stories even if they are more than a little exaggerated from the perspective Naganisa-- a woman who fell in love with both the man and his legend --and Zangetsu who always viewed Katsuo as his rival to beat. He is optimistic and kind like his father but lacks the experience and confidence that Katsuo had when he was Suzaku's age simply from the fact that Suzaku has mostly learned everything he knows in the shadows of the company of his mother, Zangetsu and of course the Deep Lord Mikaboshi. Even though Mikaboshi is his teacher and he respects Mikaboshi's wisdom and strength, Suzaku has always rejected Mikaboshi's lessons about might making right even if both his mother and Zangetsu both bought into them. Between the teachings of the First Law that Mikaboshi has taught him and the lessons left behind for him by the example set by his father, Suzaku is looking to find his own answers to the questions of life.
Multiple Personality Application: #nope
Clan Request:
Sunahoshi Clan -- direct relation through Sunahoshi Katsuo
Masashi Clan -- direct relation through Sunahoshi Katsuo (my clan)
Honorary member of the Deep Court (Suzaku is not a hybrid)
Character History:
Suzaku's story begins in a cosmically symmetical way where Katsuo's story ended. After the Tenth Kazekage went missing, his paramour Naganisa was left without a pillar in Sunagakure and with a growing pregnancy that they had chosen for private reasons to keep quiet. The memory of Sunagakure's people was long and many still had not resolved to forgive her for her part in the Cabal disaster and many more had not forgotten even if they were willing to put the past behind them. Feeling alone and desperate, she left Sunagakure with the last-ditch intent of trying to find the man that had saved her from her darkest moments but found herself drawn to the lair of the Deep Court in her search. While it had been Katsuo's hand which had saved her from death by the blade of a former comrade, it had been the power and essence of Mikaboshi that Katsuo had used to forge her a new life and that power had created between them an inexorable link. Discovering that Katsuo's brother Reiko had also long since sought out the master of the Deep Court for his own reasons, it was within the recesses of Shadow's Heart that Naganisa found something resembling a family to grieve for her loss with. For his part, Mikaboshi was not saddened by the passing of the human king but was willing to take in this creature which had been sired from his essence, keeping his reasons for doing so private. She eventually brought her and Katsuo's son into the world in perhaps the most unlikely of places and among even less likely company, naming him Suzaku-- a name that she and Katsuo had decided on if their child were a boy.
Raised in the secluded gloom of Shadow's Heart and the fringes of the frontier desert, Suzaku learned how to survive from his family members-- his mother Naganisa, his uncle Reiko-- having taken the name Zangetsu before he was born --and his teacher Mikaboshi. Initially concerned that the Deep Lord would cast him out or worse Naganisa was surprised in the interest that Mikaboshi showed in the young Suzaku, taking it upon himself to educate the young man on many subjects pertaining to the natural world and curiously the human world as well. When he wasn't studying or training with Mikaboshi, he was dreaming about stories told to him of his father by Naganisa and Zangetsu. They painted him as a legendary hero that stood up for the weak and banished the wicked in service of fighting for a better world. He hung on every word of every story and in the dead of night he dreamed about the man that he believed his father to be and what it would be like to meet him. To fight alongside him. He is fascinated by the ideals set forth by his father and wants nothing more than to live up to the footsteps set forth before him.
When they thought he couldn't hear them, Suzaku knew that Mikaboshi and Naganisa debated the subject of sending him to Sunagakure. Naganisa feared for his safety-- the son of the Tenth Kazekage and... her. She couldn't return to Sunagakure to protect him and she knew that neither Mikaboshi or Zangetsu would or could do so. Zangetsu was too focused on his search for Katsuo, determined to find the man despite all evidence pointing towards his death and they all knew Mikaboshi's long history with Sunagakure and the people there. He would be alone there and even though he was strong for his age, he lacked experience and discipline. But the fact of the matter was that the wilds were growing more dangerous by the day and the three of them would struggle to protect Suzaku if the swarm fell upon Shadow's Heart. Facing that reality, Naganisa resolved to allow the last part of Katsuo that she still had in Suzaku be sent away to Sunagakure.
For his part, Suzaku is excited to see the place that his father valued so highly but is apprehensive about leaving his family behind to live in a place he's never been to. Still, with hope and optimism in his heart and mind he is ready to tackle whatever Sunagakure has in store for him.
Raised in the secluded gloom of Shadow's Heart and the fringes of the frontier desert, Suzaku learned how to survive from his family members-- his mother Naganisa, his uncle Reiko-- having taken the name Zangetsu before he was born --and his teacher Mikaboshi. Initially concerned that the Deep Lord would cast him out or worse Naganisa was surprised in the interest that Mikaboshi showed in the young Suzaku, taking it upon himself to educate the young man on many subjects pertaining to the natural world and curiously the human world as well. When he wasn't studying or training with Mikaboshi, he was dreaming about stories told to him of his father by Naganisa and Zangetsu. They painted him as a legendary hero that stood up for the weak and banished the wicked in service of fighting for a better world. He hung on every word of every story and in the dead of night he dreamed about the man that he believed his father to be and what it would be like to meet him. To fight alongside him. He is fascinated by the ideals set forth by his father and wants nothing more than to live up to the footsteps set forth before him.
When they thought he couldn't hear them, Suzaku knew that Mikaboshi and Naganisa debated the subject of sending him to Sunagakure. Naganisa feared for his safety-- the son of the Tenth Kazekage and... her. She couldn't return to Sunagakure to protect him and she knew that neither Mikaboshi or Zangetsu would or could do so. Zangetsu was too focused on his search for Katsuo, determined to find the man despite all evidence pointing towards his death and they all knew Mikaboshi's long history with Sunagakure and the people there. He would be alone there and even though he was strong for his age, he lacked experience and discipline. But the fact of the matter was that the wilds were growing more dangerous by the day and the three of them would struggle to protect Suzaku if the swarm fell upon Shadow's Heart. Facing that reality, Naganisa resolved to allow the last part of Katsuo that she still had in Suzaku be sent away to Sunagakure.
For his part, Suzaku is excited to see the place that his father valued so highly but is apprehensive about leaving his family behind to live in a place he's never been to. Still, with hope and optimism in his heart and mind he is ready to tackle whatever Sunagakure has in store for him.
Kinjutsu Application: Ryuseiken - Fist of the Falling Star
"Do you know what went wrong?"
Suzaku could barely hear the words of his master over the screaming agony that was the destroyed remains of his right arm. The bone was fragmented and jutted in several places from the mangled skin and pulped muscle of his arm. Moving hurt. Thinking about moving hurt. Every moment was agony as the shadows began to writhe and knit back together the collection of meat and bone which was once his arm.
"Student."
Mikaboshi's statement managed to pull Suzaku's concentration away from his severe injury and the young boy looked up at the inscrutable face of his teacher through a haze of tears that burned his eyes as they ran freely down his cheeks. It was clear that Suzuaku was doing his best to pay attention to his teacher but couldn't focus past the pain of his injury and with a resigned sigh the Ancient Lord drifted close to where he lay on the ground clutching his pulped arm and drifted his hand close enough to press his extended index and middle fingers against Suzaku's forehead. The touch of the Night's King was frigid, like a piece of ice being thrust against his skin but as soon as Suzaku felt Mikaboshi's touch the torture of his destroyed limb was silenced which forced him to look down in disbelief at his arm just to confirm that it was still there. Still the shadows moved like insects crawling over his arm, shoving bits of flesh and muscle back into where they were supposed to be before mending them together with threads of coalesced gloom. Blinking away the still gathered tears at his eyes, Suzaku looked up at his teacher who waited expectantly for an answer to his question.
"I... lost concentration?" He managed, his breathing still coming erratically as his heart thumped in his chest.
"An oversimplification. You are distracted and failed to concentrate on your breathing which forfeited your control over the energy that the technique collected." Mikaboshi explained in a tone of voice that was both condescending and patient at the same time. Suzaku never quite understood how his master could manage to come across as both invested in his success but also wildly disinterested in his well-being. "Ryuseiken is a fist art that demands nothing short of perfection from its wielder. Understand that power yields nothing without a demand and if you lack the conviction to see your demand through then it will ultimately destroy you."
Mikaboshi was always like this. He was different from Mom or Zangetsu who he often spent time with learning stories. Where Zangetsu was always direct and used as few words as possible to say what he wanted, Mikaboshi preferred dramatic turns of phrase and metaphor and Suzaku knew that Mom often found herself frustrated with talking with him for that reason. Still, Suzaku had studied enough under the Old Shadow to know that even though he tended to be long-winded it was always wise to listen when Mikaboshi chose to offer his words on a subject.
"What is it that pulls your thoughts away from your training?"
That question was almost more surprising than the sudden recoil of his failed technique that had destroyed his arm. Mikaboshi had never asked... about how he felt before. Not even once. Not ever.
"I'm not... I just..."
"Do not think you can lie to me with any degree of success, boy." Mikaboshi swiftly cut him off and scolded Suzaku for his attempt at deception, making it clear that he had no intention of allowing Suzaku to deflect the matter.
"I... was thinking of Dad." Admitted Suzaku at last after a moment of silence between them and then added after another heartbeat, "...and Sunagakure."
Mikaboshi didn't respond verbally but made almost a grunting noise of acknowledgement. It was generally impossible to know what he was thinking at any given time but in this moment it was clear that he'd known this was coming and probably for some time. Suzaku had overheard the debates between Mikaboshi and Mom about him going to Sunagakure a couple of times before and knew that Mikaboshi was in favor of sending the boy away. At first Suzaku had been hurt by the sentiment. It was an odd feeling but the discovery that Mikaboshi wanted to send him away to city that he'd never visited to live away from his family stung deeply. Mikaboshi was not a creature of affection or warmth but the young man admired the old creature greatly and sincerely for the things he'd taught him over the years. Mikaboshi was a teacher and in many ways a mentor to him even if the Lord often kept Suzaku at arm's length.
"How foolish."
Not for the first time in their training, Suzaku bristled at the harsh admonishment of his teacher. Despite his long-winded nature, Mikaboshi was never charitable in his criticisms. His critique of Suzaku's form or performance was never tempered by how Suzaku would feel about what he was being told or how he might react to his teacher's words. That didn't mean that Suzaku's blood didn't run hot when Mikaboshi managed to say something that got the best of him but it was hardly a break from the norm in their relationship. It was part of why Mikaboshi was an effective teacher. Infuriating and insulting, certainly. But effective.
"Spare me your misplaced indignation. You misunderstand the intent in my words." Reflected Mikaboshi with long-winded sigh as he stalked closer to where Suzaku lay on the ground, his hands clasped behind his back in his customary way.
"The stories that Mom and Zangetsu tell me... they make him sound like some kind of I don't know. Super hero. Like nothing could ever have stopped him from doing what was right." His words came in between quick puffs of breath both from the exhaustion caused by his injury and by the rush of emotion he felt by being angry with Mikaboshi's words and then embarassment at being called out on it.
"And this... distracts you?" Mikaboshi's head rolled to the side slightly as he asked, pacing around the back of Suzaku forcing the young man to turn his head to keep his teacher in eyesight.
It did. Maybe it shouldn't but it did. Mom always said that Dad was unstoppable. That he was able to make miracles happen when things looked bleak. But that didn't always happen, did it? If it did then he'd still be there.
"Your father was a man of singular focus. When he gave his word, he stood by it. When he said he would do something, he did it. To the very end that is who he was."
"But..."
"But nothing. Your father fell protecting what he thought was important to protect. In that, he was the victor no matter what the outcome was so long as those that he fell to protect are willing to take up his fight." Walking fully back into Suzaku's field of view, it became clear that Mikaboshi had been staring down at him the entire time expectantly. Watching him as he paced around the young man. "And you cannot do that if you are distracted."
And there it was, circling back around to the lesson at hand. Suzaku fought the urge to groan as Mikaboshi brought things back to the lesson but even in the process of scolding him for his foolishness, Mikaboshi was right that his dad was still alive so long as he and his family were around to remember him. And even then there was a lesson that Mikaboshi was teaching him amidst the rebuke. He was making a point that the source of Dad's strength wasn't just because he was powerful-- it was his commitment to protecting others. His conviction in following through on what he thought he needed to do. Looking up at Mikaboshi throughout the revelation of his master's latest lesson, Suzaku realized that Mikaboshi's expression had shifted to one of impatient expectation to the point where he was gesturing with his hands as if to say "Well?" and at once he remembered that his teacher had been mending a wound that he'd completely forgotten about thanks to the pain-numbing effect that Mikaboshi had cast upon him. Looking down at his arm, Suzaku realized belatedly that feeling had returned to him and even though the formerly destroyed arm was sore to say the least it was hardly the suffering-inducing wreck that it had been before Mikaboshi had put a stop to the pain.
"Again, Suzaku. Rise and try it again. And this time do not become distracted." Commanded Mikaboshi and at once Suzaku followed that command, rising to his feet with a roll and ending in a stance with his feet set wide apart and his elbows tucked tightly against the sides of his torso. "Say the words."
"Purpose." The first word, Suzaku whispered with a soft exhale to clear his lungs for the coming trial and to focus his mind on the task at hand. He pictured his father pursuing his own justice; endlessly fighting for what he believed in.
"Conviction." He said the second word mentally as he sharply sucked in a breath and felt his limbs flood with energy.
"Willpower." With a sharp exhale Suzaku began the rhythmic breathing technique that sat at the core of Ryuseiken and he moved into the first form of the technique, the image of his father foremost in his mind's eye.
Moving with fluid rapidity, Suzaku brought his hands up and took a step forward while snapping his right hand up and expelling a burst of crackling green energy that singed the air in the shape of his empty palm. The essence of Ryuseiken was in sharp, precise movements and violent exhalations of gathered energy. In that way the wielder of the technique used their breathing technique to swiftly generate spiritual force to massively magnify the destructive power of their physical strikes or to greatly empower their ability to move quickly. Masters of Ryuseiken were able to flow seemlessly between the two in rapid succession creating a dance of destruction and mayham but the trick was managing to keep one's concentration on the breathing technique while moving and fighting and keeping track of one's opponent... and then also managing to aim one's own attacks. The mantra of "purpose, conviction and willpower" was one that Mikaboshi had created to focus Suzaku's thoughts and help him concentrate on controlling the power that could otherwise tear his body apart if he failed to control it but now Mikaboshi had given him another tool to focus his thoughts.
It was his responsibility to take up his dad's fight. To keep the flame alive. Failing to give it everything he had wasn't just letting him down, it was like letting him die.
Breathing in again, he felt the familiar rush of energy and sprang forward as he ducked low with his shoulders and arms shimmering with condensed lightning chakra.
"Ryuseiken!" Bellowed Suzaku, his voice reverberating with power as he intoned the name of the technique. "Transcendant Spear!"
With a thrust of his fist, there was a crack of thunder and the air around his fist exploded with a crackling force. The Transcendant Spear technique was one that could be used in close quarters or at range-- a fact that had caught many opponents of Ryuseiken practitioners by surprise in the past when they thought they were out of reach of their deadly foe. Then finally with another exhale, Suzaku brought his action to a close and promptly sat down on the ground with sweat dripping down his face and upper body. It was a few moments and a few choice movements but maintaining Ryuseiken for longer than that was still... something outside of his ability. Mikaboshi said nothing but as Suzaku stole a glance at his teacher for just a moment he thought he caught a moment of genuine approval cross the Old Shadow's features before Mikaboshi turned away from him.
"We are finished for today. Return tomorrow and we will continue."
And with that, Mikaboshi was gone-- his form dissolving into the tenebrous shadows around them leaving Suzaku alone. Laying backwards on the cool stone, Suzaku rested his arm over his eyes and just breathed normally with a grin on his face inspite of the exertion and the suffering he'd undergone only minutes earlier. Today was some real progress, at last. He could finally start to make his dad proud.[/B]
Suzaku could barely hear the words of his master over the screaming agony that was the destroyed remains of his right arm. The bone was fragmented and jutted in several places from the mangled skin and pulped muscle of his arm. Moving hurt. Thinking about moving hurt. Every moment was agony as the shadows began to writhe and knit back together the collection of meat and bone which was once his arm.
"Student."
Mikaboshi's statement managed to pull Suzaku's concentration away from his severe injury and the young boy looked up at the inscrutable face of his teacher through a haze of tears that burned his eyes as they ran freely down his cheeks. It was clear that Suzuaku was doing his best to pay attention to his teacher but couldn't focus past the pain of his injury and with a resigned sigh the Ancient Lord drifted close to where he lay on the ground clutching his pulped arm and drifted his hand close enough to press his extended index and middle fingers against Suzaku's forehead. The touch of the Night's King was frigid, like a piece of ice being thrust against his skin but as soon as Suzaku felt Mikaboshi's touch the torture of his destroyed limb was silenced which forced him to look down in disbelief at his arm just to confirm that it was still there. Still the shadows moved like insects crawling over his arm, shoving bits of flesh and muscle back into where they were supposed to be before mending them together with threads of coalesced gloom. Blinking away the still gathered tears at his eyes, Suzaku looked up at his teacher who waited expectantly for an answer to his question.
"I... lost concentration?" He managed, his breathing still coming erratically as his heart thumped in his chest.
"An oversimplification. You are distracted and failed to concentrate on your breathing which forfeited your control over the energy that the technique collected." Mikaboshi explained in a tone of voice that was both condescending and patient at the same time. Suzaku never quite understood how his master could manage to come across as both invested in his success but also wildly disinterested in his well-being. "Ryuseiken is a fist art that demands nothing short of perfection from its wielder. Understand that power yields nothing without a demand and if you lack the conviction to see your demand through then it will ultimately destroy you."
Mikaboshi was always like this. He was different from Mom or Zangetsu who he often spent time with learning stories. Where Zangetsu was always direct and used as few words as possible to say what he wanted, Mikaboshi preferred dramatic turns of phrase and metaphor and Suzaku knew that Mom often found herself frustrated with talking with him for that reason. Still, Suzaku had studied enough under the Old Shadow to know that even though he tended to be long-winded it was always wise to listen when Mikaboshi chose to offer his words on a subject.
"What is it that pulls your thoughts away from your training?"
That question was almost more surprising than the sudden recoil of his failed technique that had destroyed his arm. Mikaboshi had never asked... about how he felt before. Not even once. Not ever.
"I'm not... I just..."
"Do not think you can lie to me with any degree of success, boy." Mikaboshi swiftly cut him off and scolded Suzaku for his attempt at deception, making it clear that he had no intention of allowing Suzaku to deflect the matter.
"I... was thinking of Dad." Admitted Suzaku at last after a moment of silence between them and then added after another heartbeat, "...and Sunagakure."
Mikaboshi didn't respond verbally but made almost a grunting noise of acknowledgement. It was generally impossible to know what he was thinking at any given time but in this moment it was clear that he'd known this was coming and probably for some time. Suzaku had overheard the debates between Mikaboshi and Mom about him going to Sunagakure a couple of times before and knew that Mikaboshi was in favor of sending the boy away. At first Suzaku had been hurt by the sentiment. It was an odd feeling but the discovery that Mikaboshi wanted to send him away to city that he'd never visited to live away from his family stung deeply. Mikaboshi was not a creature of affection or warmth but the young man admired the old creature greatly and sincerely for the things he'd taught him over the years. Mikaboshi was a teacher and in many ways a mentor to him even if the Lord often kept Suzaku at arm's length.
"How foolish."
Not for the first time in their training, Suzaku bristled at the harsh admonishment of his teacher. Despite his long-winded nature, Mikaboshi was never charitable in his criticisms. His critique of Suzaku's form or performance was never tempered by how Suzaku would feel about what he was being told or how he might react to his teacher's words. That didn't mean that Suzaku's blood didn't run hot when Mikaboshi managed to say something that got the best of him but it was hardly a break from the norm in their relationship. It was part of why Mikaboshi was an effective teacher. Infuriating and insulting, certainly. But effective.
"Spare me your misplaced indignation. You misunderstand the intent in my words." Reflected Mikaboshi with long-winded sigh as he stalked closer to where Suzaku lay on the ground, his hands clasped behind his back in his customary way.
"The stories that Mom and Zangetsu tell me... they make him sound like some kind of I don't know. Super hero. Like nothing could ever have stopped him from doing what was right." His words came in between quick puffs of breath both from the exhaustion caused by his injury and by the rush of emotion he felt by being angry with Mikaboshi's words and then embarassment at being called out on it.
"And this... distracts you?" Mikaboshi's head rolled to the side slightly as he asked, pacing around the back of Suzaku forcing the young man to turn his head to keep his teacher in eyesight.
It did. Maybe it shouldn't but it did. Mom always said that Dad was unstoppable. That he was able to make miracles happen when things looked bleak. But that didn't always happen, did it? If it did then he'd still be there.
"Your father was a man of singular focus. When he gave his word, he stood by it. When he said he would do something, he did it. To the very end that is who he was."
"But..."
"But nothing. Your father fell protecting what he thought was important to protect. In that, he was the victor no matter what the outcome was so long as those that he fell to protect are willing to take up his fight." Walking fully back into Suzaku's field of view, it became clear that Mikaboshi had been staring down at him the entire time expectantly. Watching him as he paced around the young man. "And you cannot do that if you are distracted."
And there it was, circling back around to the lesson at hand. Suzaku fought the urge to groan as Mikaboshi brought things back to the lesson but even in the process of scolding him for his foolishness, Mikaboshi was right that his dad was still alive so long as he and his family were around to remember him. And even then there was a lesson that Mikaboshi was teaching him amidst the rebuke. He was making a point that the source of Dad's strength wasn't just because he was powerful-- it was his commitment to protecting others. His conviction in following through on what he thought he needed to do. Looking up at Mikaboshi throughout the revelation of his master's latest lesson, Suzaku realized that Mikaboshi's expression had shifted to one of impatient expectation to the point where he was gesturing with his hands as if to say "Well?" and at once he remembered that his teacher had been mending a wound that he'd completely forgotten about thanks to the pain-numbing effect that Mikaboshi had cast upon him. Looking down at his arm, Suzaku realized belatedly that feeling had returned to him and even though the formerly destroyed arm was sore to say the least it was hardly the suffering-inducing wreck that it had been before Mikaboshi had put a stop to the pain.
"Again, Suzaku. Rise and try it again. And this time do not become distracted." Commanded Mikaboshi and at once Suzaku followed that command, rising to his feet with a roll and ending in a stance with his feet set wide apart and his elbows tucked tightly against the sides of his torso. "Say the words."
"Purpose." The first word, Suzaku whispered with a soft exhale to clear his lungs for the coming trial and to focus his mind on the task at hand. He pictured his father pursuing his own justice; endlessly fighting for what he believed in.
"Conviction." He said the second word mentally as he sharply sucked in a breath and felt his limbs flood with energy.
"Willpower." With a sharp exhale Suzaku began the rhythmic breathing technique that sat at the core of Ryuseiken and he moved into the first form of the technique, the image of his father foremost in his mind's eye.
Moving with fluid rapidity, Suzaku brought his hands up and took a step forward while snapping his right hand up and expelling a burst of crackling green energy that singed the air in the shape of his empty palm. The essence of Ryuseiken was in sharp, precise movements and violent exhalations of gathered energy. In that way the wielder of the technique used their breathing technique to swiftly generate spiritual force to massively magnify the destructive power of their physical strikes or to greatly empower their ability to move quickly. Masters of Ryuseiken were able to flow seemlessly between the two in rapid succession creating a dance of destruction and mayham but the trick was managing to keep one's concentration on the breathing technique while moving and fighting and keeping track of one's opponent... and then also managing to aim one's own attacks. The mantra of "purpose, conviction and willpower" was one that Mikaboshi had created to focus Suzaku's thoughts and help him concentrate on controlling the power that could otherwise tear his body apart if he failed to control it but now Mikaboshi had given him another tool to focus his thoughts.
It was his responsibility to take up his dad's fight. To keep the flame alive. Failing to give it everything he had wasn't just letting him down, it was like letting him die.
Breathing in again, he felt the familiar rush of energy and sprang forward as he ducked low with his shoulders and arms shimmering with condensed lightning chakra.
"Ryuseiken!" Bellowed Suzaku, his voice reverberating with power as he intoned the name of the technique. "Transcendant Spear!"
With a thrust of his fist, there was a crack of thunder and the air around his fist exploded with a crackling force. The Transcendant Spear technique was one that could be used in close quarters or at range-- a fact that had caught many opponents of Ryuseiken practitioners by surprise in the past when they thought they were out of reach of their deadly foe. Then finally with another exhale, Suzaku brought his action to a close and promptly sat down on the ground with sweat dripping down his face and upper body. It was a few moments and a few choice movements but maintaining Ryuseiken for longer than that was still... something outside of his ability. Mikaboshi said nothing but as Suzaku stole a glance at his teacher for just a moment he thought he caught a moment of genuine approval cross the Old Shadow's features before Mikaboshi turned away from him.
"We are finished for today. Return tomorrow and we will continue."
And with that, Mikaboshi was gone-- his form dissolving into the tenebrous shadows around them leaving Suzaku alone. Laying backwards on the cool stone, Suzaku rested his arm over his eyes and just breathed normally with a grin on his face inspite of the exertion and the suffering he'd undergone only minutes earlier. Today was some real progress, at last. He could finally start to make his dad proud.[/B]
Death/Retirement Thread: N/A
Old Profile: LINK
Old Training: LINK
Old Dojo: LINK
Special Usergroups: Sand Council
Old Stats: Nothing.
Old OOC Rank: S-Rank
Stat Cut: Nothing.
New Stats: New stats same as the old stats.
Jutsu Mastery Swaps: Nothing. Keeping my jutsu. As they are.
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