The Life Aquatic №2 [Tutor]

[Okada Kaji]

Continued from The Life Aquatic

And so the story goes that an exact week would pass until Kaji and Hirateuchi would convene again in the ancient forest. They planned to meet back at that same location, at the same time where they met before. However, this time around Kaji was a bit busier than he was a week before. Knowing just what their meeting called for, Kaji was a bit more prepared than the week before and returned with an ally from his oasis lizard pact who came along to help him set up for the day.

“We should work together more, Wana,” Kaji said with a bit of physical strain worked into his voice. He was carrying a large, perfectly trimmed log over one shoulder, and traveled in front of a very large iguana, much greater in size than the ones you might find in captivity in a pet shop aquarium. Wana trailed behind Kaji with two more tall stumps resting at an angle over her backside. Her body was long and lean with long legs that carried her with a wide gait in her stride. She was a vibrant green color, more lively and saturated than all the leaves in the ancient forest combined. Her tail was curled around the logs to pin them in place over her back. “Oof, maybe… just maybe Kaji.” Wana wasn’t having the easiest time keeping up with Kaji as he merrily marched ahead on the trail— this kind of labor wasn’t her forte. She added, “Teichou told me about the last time you brought him to this strange place… to, umm, Kumo-ga-ku-re,” she struggled with the name, possibly mentioning this borough for the first time. “It’s a bit too cold here for my tastes, but I’ve always wanted to join some of your tales. Even little Denrei got to visit this strange land first. Finally, it's my turn, huh?” The sleek-framed creature formed a smile on her wide green visage, along with a look of relief when Kaji halted their march. Among all of the war-trained reptiles of the Hidden Oasis Lizard Clan, Wana was seen as a young prodigy who arose in renown quickly among her clan’s ranks. Following in the footsteps of Kaji’s usual partner if battle, Teichou, Wana often aspired to team up with whoever her hero valued as a comrade.

Wana was happy to be in this place with the human known as Kaji, but she was a bit confused as she watched Kaji stand up his log in the grass. There was a red bull’s eye painted on the log, but Wana’s kind never bothered practicing on inanimate objects. “So, humans train their whelps with blocks of wood?” Wana used her long and strong tail to deliver the two extra targets besides the one Kaji prepared. “Sometimes,” Kaji answered with a grin matching his jovial tone, “today I’m training a student who’s a bit too inexperienced to risk him aiming at either of us with his attacks. His name is Hirateuchi, and he should be here any moment now.”

// wc528
// Kaji has entered the thread
// Requesting Hirateuchi

 

[Hirateuchi]

Hira was once again up and bustling much earlier than he would have been in weeks past. Donning a light blue kimono with a white trim and putting on some sandals, he thought back to last weeks training with Kaji, only serving to excite him more. He was glad to have finally found a unique and fun type of jutsu that he could work on separate from his other class mates. It could be the case where that's all he needed to gain some more motivation for the learning process. Hira looked over to his father's practice sword, deciding if he wanted to carry it at least for the sake of getting used to the weight, but decided against it. Stepping out of the house, Hira looked up at the sun with a blissful sigh, a mixture of joy that he had found solace in practicing with his teachers and annoyance that it meant the beginning of the end for his lazy days. It was still early for his meeting with Kaji that day, so Hira walked methodically, taking his time and making a detour along the way to a field near his house where he used to sleep.

He was excited to show Kaji how much he had been practicing the entire week so that they could work on something new. I should try one more time for good measure. Focusing chakra into the palms of his hands, Hira slowly created a sphere of water, holding it steady before steadily increasing its size until it filled the space between his hands almost entirely. Smiling, he dropped his focus and let the water fall to the ground before walking off in the direction of the stream where he was to meet his mentor.

Coming up on the location, Hira first noticed a strange iguana carrying a log. The sight left him confused but also curious enough to continue approaching. Upon coming into open view of the area, he saw Kaji also preparing something. I don't know of anyone that has a pet lizard, let alone one that large that helps them work. Is that... a summoning contract? Hira had only heard about it briefly in class but as always he was a perceptive young man. He had also began studying the wildlife of the area after his last class outing with the same teacher and did not recall anything matching this sight. Walking up to the pair he announced his presence with more of a complaint then a greeting. "Oy, Kaji-sensei, what's up with the target on the log? I thought we were going to be practicing more with the water style jutsu, not throwing kunai. We do enough of that at the academy you know." Putting his hands behind his head, he closed his eyes and tilted his head back letting out a loud sigh. resigning himself to whatever fate his teacher had planned for him. Continuing, the boy asked, "So is your summon gonna help us train today then?"

[Thread Entered]
[WC 501]

 

[Okada Kaji]

As if on cue, Hirateuchi arrived at the grassy patch, and was instantly drawn towards his elder Kaji’s reptilian ally, Wana. She sat back on her tail by balancing her weight on it and her two hind legs, and slouched forward with her elbows resting on her knees. Wana looked between the boy and Kaji with shifty eyes as Hirateuchi absent-mindedly referred to her vaguely as a summon. To the many pact animals who forged loyalties with humans like Kaji, it cheapened their bonds to refer to them as one would a beast of burden called to service. Among her kind, Wana was not the haughtiest of the lizard clan— that was Teichou, but Wana couldn’t help but take offense.

“Good to see you kept to our plan, Hira-san,” Kaji said, making a relieved greeting of sorts. “This is my friend Wana of the Hidden Oasis Lizard Clan… ‘She’s mostly here to bear witness to our training session, though I’m sure she’ll provide you some feedback if she has any.” The wily veteran then took a few paces away from the side of Wana to approach Hirateuchi more directly. Side-eyed glances from the iguana revealed the high-intelligence in her, even though she had clammed up in the presence of the boy; someone off-put by a poor first impression of him.

“So, Hira-san. I hope you’ve been putting in a lot of time practicing your water conjuring; those targets are for the next phase of your training. Last week we practiced molding the chakra nature and the basics of shape transformation. Today we’re you’re going to discuss how to pack a punch with them, and teach you how to aim where they go instead of blowing up in your face.”

wc303

 

[Hirateuchi]

Responding to Kaji's intentions for their meeting that day, Hira instantly began amassing chakra to create the sphere of water he had been working on the entire week. It took him only a few moments before a circular ball of liquid was floating effortlessly between his palms, his face showing his clear sense of pride. "It wasn't too hard to figure it out once I practiced it. I just remembered how my old mentor, Raku-sensei, used to teach me swordsmanship. It's got the same basic principle. You have to focus on what you're doing with your own weapon while still being able to focus on what is surrounding you."

The boy continued explaining, not as if his teacher needed help understanding the method that he taught the child only a week ago, but more so to walk himself through his own process. Hira found putting it into words usually helped a lot more than just pretending to know what was going on. "So all I had to do was practice it while my mom was nagging me to do my chores and I picked it up in no time!"

As if to show what more progress he had made, he suddenly lunged forward, tossing the water at the log mark as if throwing a snowball. "I don't really know how to use it effectively in combat yet, but I can keep the chakra consistent even when it leaves my hands. I'd say that's a fair start, wouldn't you, Wana?" He looked at the lizard expectantly, with a large grin on his face.

[WC 262]

 

[Okada Kaji]

Another side-eyed glance from Wana insisted that she didn’t overcome her feelings about Hirateuchi’s unintended insult. Rather than rightly answering the boy, Wana delivered a stiff “Hmph” and folded her arms, pretending to be unimpressed with Hira’s water sphere. Sensing her tension, Kaji tried to wedge himself between his student and his lizard ally’s sudden shift in attitude. “That was pretty good to start, Hira-san,” Kaji said with an awkward grin, but Wana felt the need to cut him off suddenly— “his chakra maintained its shape but the sphere is still a far cry from making an effective jutsu.” While her assessment was correct, Wana was seeming just a bit discouraging. Kaji wouldn’t let her mood swings get the best of their training session though.

“Wana is right— it shows promise that your sphere didn’t dematerialize into a big splash by the time it reached the target. ‘So that’s what we’re going to work on today, developing your water nature chakra molding to the next level, into more advanced shapes.” Kaji then performed the same four hand seal combination he taught Hirateuchi last week but created a new, single-handed fifth seal: a flat palm with the exception of his index finger pinned beneath his thumb. Kaji made the single handed seal with both hands though, and the combination resulted in the ability to adjust the shape of his water sphere freely. “Follow my lead. Perform the water sphere creation as practiced, and add the double water control seal, and you will feel the shape of your sphere become free flowing in your grasp.”

The sensei then widened the space between his hands and transformed the sphere into an oblong shape which became thinner as he went. He turned the angles of his hands, creating a corkscrew shape in the levitating water, and continued to move his hands rhythmically, causing the water to react predictably. “The water whip is an essential technique of controlling the water style. If you can put force behind your actions, that same force will be exerted by your jutsu.” And then, in order to show Hira an example of his teachings, Kaji went into motion with fluid motions like a martial artist and took a forward stance that sent his water whip lunging outward in a long streak which tagged the center target block. The attack was dead on and left a deep gash in the wood. “Now you try.”

wc415

 

[Hirateuchi]

Hira continued to glance awkwardly between Wana and Kaji as the teacher began showing him a new technique to control the form of the water they created. Had he done something to get on the lizard's bad side? They had just hardly met. At any rate, he focused in on what his teacher was saying, taking careful note of the way he moved not only his hands but the way he molded his chakra as he formed the water whip. It had impressive speed as well as power, showing in the deep gash made in the log, No wonder he said it was an essential technique. Hira also began seeing many uses for it as a utility outside of battle as well. Imagine grabbing things from the top shelf without having to climb up! This was his chance to bring back his life of a sloth.

Focusing carefully after his teacher's instruction, Hira mimicked the series of hand signs, creating his normal ball of water, though noticing as Kaji had said that it was much more controlled. Hira wasn't usually quick to pick up on many skills when it came to chakra control, but somehow this felt natural, like he was born to do it. With a flick of his wrists, he elongated the ball into a well-formed whip. "Well that was easy. Why didn't we just learn this last time?" With a cocky grin the boy prepared to strike with his newly made weapon, hoping to show up his teacher after the confidence of so feasibly grasping the new move. The boy jerked his hand back and flicked it forward, sending the whip reeling towards its target with surprising accuracy; however, when it hit the target Hira's hopes were quickly crushed. With nothing more than a splat, a few drops fell off the end of the whip to moisten the log but there was no visible physical change.

"What the..." Irritated, the boy tried again, not succeeding in getting any further results. He looked over to Wana again awkwardly, figuring the lizard would probably lecture him again, before returning his gaze to his teacher with a puzzled look. "How am I supposed to put that much power into it? The first part felt almost too natural, but the rest seems much harder than what we did before."

[WC 388]

 

[Okada Kaji]

For his first attempt at molding the water sphere into a whip, Hirateuchi had done well enough. Even Wana had to nod with approval at the boy’s creation. When it came to finding one’s innate power, the Hidden Oasis Lizards knew methods to draw from it in spades. “Power is instinctual— it comes from the core, and is drawn with sheer will.” Finally, the sleek iguana was stirred from her passive witnessing and returned her palms to the ground so that she could come forth. “It is the desire to strike harder. Focusing on your target and deciding that it is either it or you… power is the first divider between the hunter and prey.” Wana curled her long form around Kaji and Hirateuchi, almost encircling them as she shared her clan’s philosophy. Her form was like a wall of verdant scales and muscle, illustrating resting power honed over countless years of evolution. For the lizard, it came naturally, but for the human, he had to pull it out from within.

Philosophies aside, Kaji was more of a pragmatist and know a practical explanation would serve Hirateuchi well. “The shortest path to adding a bit more force to your strikes is to apply more chakra— but without more practice the end result is more damage in exchange for less control, and greater physical exertion, which can cost you greatly if you bet everything on the actions you take, and come up short.” Kaji was a pragmatist indeed. “Some shinobi prefer to hit you with everything they have up front, full of reckless abandon— ultimately this plays into their opponent’s hands if their strategy is off by even a hair. That is the way of fools.”

Prepared to show an example of his lesson, Kaji formed another sphere of water in one hand, this time creating a slightly larger orb before putting his full body weight into another slinging gesture as if he were throwing shuriken. The end result was a cleaving, splashing blow which took the top off of the left target and left it shredded by the force. “Using too much power results in excess.”

Then, Kaji formed yet another sphere and repeated a sling strike, this time two of them delivered accurately, with a purpose. The sensei placed specified blows on the furthest right target, once on its left side, and again on its right, and then its top slid right off as if one clean cut had been made. “Always take precision over raw power; that is the mark of a well-trained shinobi. Also, it leaves slightly less evidence… uh, less water behind. So, let's try focusing your chakra and trying again. Pull more chakra out using whatever you can think of to find your focus.”

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[Hirateuchi]

"All I have to do is focus more chakra into it, huh?" Hira thought back to his swordsmanship lessons with another mentor, Raku. That man also seemed hesitant to let Hira go all out, warning him of the dangers of not paying equal attention to one's defense. Guess it can't be helped, if both of them say it I better be careful about it. Not wanting to outright ignore Kaji's warning about focusing too much on raw power, Hira concentrated, slowly forming the water whip yet again. He wasn't quite sure if he was ready for a throwing jutsu, but using a weapon was something he could relate to.

Grasping the finished water whip in his hand, the boy took a deep breath and slowly started to whirl it around himself, building up some momentum. Remember sparring with swords. Hira continued to build some amount of momentum before taking his first lash at the log. Don't throw all of your weight into your attack or you will leave an opening. Use the weight of the weapon to guide it. The first lash struck at the log close to the center, leaving a small incision as proof of the deed, but nothing entirely noteworthy. Attack from different angles; always keep the opponent guessing what your next move is. Strikes began to strike from all sides of the log, creating a thick hazy combination of wood chips and moisture in the air. The weapon is an extension of myself, and I control where it goes. With a quick flick of his wrist, Hira curved the whip, wrapping it around the log.

With a strained look on his face, Hira shouted before pulling with all his might, only to see a spectacle of dust and chips fly from the log form his efforts, with a large splash of water coming right behind it. "Dang, I think I spread my chakra out too much, I couldn't quite cut through it evenly..." Although he had just done more than most his age probably could of with this water jutsu, he looked disappointed. If this was what he was born to use, shouldn't he be better with it? "I can still... do better. Just let me.... try again..." Hira tried to say between gasping breaths. The strain he had put his body through, while similar to sword fighting, required much more energy, and it was beginning to take its toll.

[WC 404]

 

[Okada Kaji]

Like a true student of the game, Hirateuchi combined everything he had learned so far into this latest practice. He considered everything from his form to the exactness of every movement, digging deep, and exuding maximum effort as he conjured more water whips. And while his strikes may not have been perfect, they were a notable improvement over his first splashing toss, which was more like a water balloon than a legitimate jutsu. Even though the mere student did not have much control over his power yet, Hirateuchi was proving to be very talented with shaping the water into advanced forms. Kaji’s intrigue led him paces forward to have a closer look at the shredding damage created by Hira’s water whip. It might not have looked as impressive as Hira hoped, but Kaji knew that this kind of grip on the head of an enemy could have very well snapped their neck with such a twist.

A bead of sweat raced down Kaji’s brow as he considered the frightening potential, and he looked to Wana for a second opinion. “Aye, that’s not so bad for a runty whelp,” Wana said, suddenly taking more of a liking to Hira after his studious gain. Perhaps she thought her encouragement was to blame, and she now felt invested in the boy. Kaji merely laughed at the thought. Wana’s long tail the arrived opposite the rest of her, and pat Hirateuchi on the back with approval. “You remind me a lot of when I was fresh out of my egg— sharp as a claw from day one. Ya’ did good, Hiratoochee!” Funny accent and slithering tongue aside, Wana had nothing but encouragement and smiles for the sudden honor student.

“You sure are easy to win over,” Kaji said to the cheerful lizard with a grin. Then they shared a brief fit of laughter before the sensei turned his attention back to his student. “Sure, let's keep at the water whips for a while, but don’t over-exert yourself. But I want these logs to give out before you do. Maybe a bit more practice and we’ll get you back home.” While it did not seem like their training session had last too long, the sun had already crossed a reasonable distance over the horizon, and the time to abandon the forest was coming near. “I think you’ll be safe to continue your practice on the training fields now during the week; and if you like, I think we can progress to drawing power from natural resources next weekend.”

And so, another good training session was in the books with a little more knowledge passing from a veteran shinobi to a budding apprentice. While Kaji was now far from his homeland in the Land of Earth, and even from the Land of Fire where he was taught about their Fiery Will, Kaji continued to live up to their traditions of tutelage and sharing the wealth of knowledge.

// wc501
Tutor Complete, Good Job.
Kaji has left the thread unless stopped. //

 

[Hirateuchi]

Hira smirked with a cocky demeanor, trying but not succeeding at hiding his exhaustion as the lizard patted him on the back. He knew he would have to work even more than he had the week prior to figure out these new techniques, but the same drive that had him seek out Kaji in the first place was beginning to shine even brighter.

As the hour grew late and the pair finished their training, Hira started running off towards his home, looking back one more time at his teacher and mood-swinging lizard. "Bye Kaji-sensei! Bye Wana!" The boy shouted out as he ran off, waving his hand with a big grin. Things were starting to look up for him, and he was excited to show his father all the progress he had made with the water whip, hoping it would make him happy with how closely it resembled the sword-fighting styles he always bragged about.

[WC 155; Total WC 1710]
[Topic Finished/Left]