The Path to Self-discovery (training)

[Skulking Shinzu]

+10 TP. Learned!

[Nickerly]

Shunshin no Jutsu - Zanzō (Body Flicker Technique - Remaining Image)

Rank: "C"
Skill: NinJutsu/TaiJutsu
Effect: Affects the enemy's mind and will power by making after images.
Special: ---
Drawback: Takes away the number of usages Shunshin no Jutsu - Oshi (Body Flicker Technique - Push). Same distance applications apply. Same drawbacks apply when over using.
Description: A Jutsu to move so swiftly that an image of the technique's user is left behind while moving within 10 meters. Most often it is used to dodge an incoming attack and get behind the opponent to perform a counter-attack. When first learned user is able to perform 1 after image within 10 meters. Each time learned user is able to create an extra after image within 10 meters. May learn to perform up to 5 after images within a single Jutsu. Supplement of Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique - Push) while using same schematics. May be used with other Shunshin no Jutsu - Oshi (Body Flicker Technique).
Limit: Universal NinJutsu or Universal TaiJutsu, Must know Shunshin no Jutsu - Oshi, Ken'in, Ko, and Kaunta

Post 1: 0/30

"You're getting better with your Shunshin" His uncle said. "But your slow with your shunshin and at your current speed you'll never be able to use the Zanzō."

Hikaru nodded, he knew that compared to his Uncle's speed, his shunshin was painfully slow- he had seen how fast his Uncle was with his own shunshin and how he could produce multiple after images to confuse his opponents.

"So how do we go about improving my speed?" He asked.

"Drills" His uncle said bluntly. "First we need you to be less wasteful with your movements and more efficient with how much chakra you're putting into the jutsu. Then we need to improve how quickly you can activate the shunshin. Nothing glamorous but their fundamental to improving your speed"

He was right; nothing about it sounded glamorous but Hikaru knew that if he wanted to improve his shunshin and learn the Zanzō, so he listened to his uncle attentively as he outlined the first drill that he would be doing to help improve his shunshin; practising making sure he made the most efficient movements while using the shunshin. A lot of the drill was simple adjustments to every part of his movement while he used the shunshin; it turned out that the way he was performing the shunshin was fundamentally flawed.

He had applied basic running principals to how he used the shunshin, making short bounds in the shunshin, where he should have letting the shunshin carry him across the distance in a single movement, as if he was gliding. It was a minor adjustment to how he moved but it made a lot of difference to how fluid his shunshin was and into improved the speed of his shunshin, even if it was only slightly, and to reinforce the change, his uncle had him perform a single shunshin over an ever increasing distance. 

"Good" His uncle said when had he finished the first drill. "Now the second thing we need to work on is how the chakra you use for the shunshin is utilised. Your currently channelling chakra into your legs and feet, which is good, but you were and still are, expelling it when you slip into the shunshin. It works but your current speed would be as fast as you could get with a flawed method. What you need to do is to channel an excess of chakra into your legs and feet than expel it, while keeping the original amount of chakra in your leg and feet muscles; the chakra in your leg and feet strengthen your muscles, while the chakra that's pushed out acts as a springboard, boosting your speed. Of course, the faster you are naturally, the faster your shunshin will also be, but that's not important."

Nodding, Hikaru channelled chakra into his legs and feet, allowing it to flood and empower his muscles. Pausing, he channelled more chakra into his feet, making sure it was separate from the chakra already in his muscles. Pushing off, he expelled the extra chakra in a single burst as he slipped into his shunshin. As his uncle had explained, the different application of chakra dramatically improved the speed of his shunshin, and when he allowed himself to come to a stop, his uncle nodded approvingly. 

"That's better" He said. "Now we can start to get to work."

[Nickerly]

Post 2: ?/30

Given that improving his speed had been relatively easy, he expected that mastering the Zanzō wouldn't be too hard, however as he listened to his Uncle outline the actual process of the technique, he realised it wouldn't be that easy. The Zanzō required all of the speed of the shunshin to be utilised not over a distance like the other applications of the shunshin, but in a single burst so fast that it could trick an opponent by creating an after image of the user where they had been. It was hard and even though his Uncle only wanted to start off with producing a single after image, he wasn't having much success.

Standing in a circle that his Uncle had drawn around him, to keep him within an enclosed area so that he didn't try and shunshin over a further distance, Hikaru once again poured all his speed and energy into it as he slipped into his shunshin, covering a distance of several metres in under a second. Sending a look at his Uncle, who stood off to the side watching for the afterimage, he waited, then scowled as he received;a shake of the head. That was his tenth attempt and so far he was getting no closer to producing an after image.

Taking his position in the middle of the circle again, he channelled chakra into his legs and feet, letting it empower his muscles before channelling more chakra in his feet, keeping the second supply of chakra focused around his tenketsu so that it was separate from the other chakra. Raising his foot, he readied himself and brought it down, expelling the excess chakra out of his foot just before it hit the ground and pushed off as he fully slipped into his shunshin. Coming to a stop, he once again scowled as he received a shake of his Uncle's head. Pausing, he started to mull over what he had been doing? What part of it had been wrong?

"Has it got something to do with my timing?" He asked his uncle, who gave him a signal to explain further. "I'm currently expelling the excess chakra out of my foot with the shunshin only partly activated, then once I've expelled it, I'm then fully activating the shunshin. Should i be.."

"Activating the shunshin fully at the same time as you expel the excess chakra?" His Uncle finished, cutting him off. "Yes. The two need to be simultaneous, otherwise you'll be wasting energy and losing speed."

Having got his answer, Hikaru experimented with trying to get his timing perfect, making sure to use less chakra so that he didn't needlessly tire himself out. After a couple of minutes of experimenting, he felt that he was starting to get the hang of doing the two at the same time, though only actually doing it for real would show if he was starting to get it. Channelling chakra and readying himself, he brought his foot down and at the same time he expelled the chakra out of his foot, he fully slipped into his shunshin.

Letting the shunshin carry himself several metres, he came to a stop and looked at his Uncle expectantly, who nodded to his pleasure.

"There's not much, but you're starting to get it." His uncle said. "But still, nice work."

[Nickerly]

Post:?/30

He was getting closer, but still the final step to fully learning the Zanzō was taking time. His shunshin was still only producing part of an after image and there had been no progress for some time. It was frustrating; he had got the timing perfect, his shunshin was no longer as flawed or slow as it had been, yet nothing had helped develop the after image any further. Finally he turned to his uncle for help.

"Nothing, you're just not in the right situation to fully develop an after image for the first time." His uncle said when he asked him what he was doing wrong. "It's the sort of thing that once you've done it the first time and are faster enough, then it's easy; however, until then, many people get stuck where you are and there's nothing wrong with that."

"So what situation do I need to be in to fully develop it?" Hikaru asked.

His uncle didn't respond but instead pulled out a kunai before lunging towards him, slipping into a shunshin that turned him into little more than a blur. Realising that he wouldn't be able to dodge normally, Hikaru slipped into his own shunshin almost immediately as he lunged to the side. A painful sting to his cheek told him he hadn't been fully successful in dodging the blow and he hit the ground hard as the blow sent him tumbling to the ground. As he came to a stop, he sent a glare to his uncle, how looked at him in unapologetic manner.

"You gave me time to correct my path" His uncle said. "Thus you failed to dodge the blow. The Zanzō is meant to at the very last moment, where no correction of one's path can be made and where one assume's that they must have landed a hit and that is where the after image comes in; it is meant to distract an opponent by reinforcing the view that they landed a hit."

"So, I didn't form the complete after image" Hikaru said.

"No." His uncle shook his head. "But you managed to produce one more developed than previously. That is what I meant that you can only produce your first true after image in very specific circumstances; the situation of being attacked and having to dodge at the last moment is the perfect situation for producing a fully developed after image; you're forced to move at the absolute limits of your speed to dodge. Now, let's try again."

Once more, his uncle slipped into his shunshin, hurtling towards him but this time he waited, until what he thought was the last moment before activating his own shunshin and jerking to the side. Like last time, his uncle still managed to hit him and once he had come to a stop, he picked himself up and readied for himself for the next try. Several more times he tried to wait until the very last moment for slipping into his shunshin but each time, he was hit and forced to pick himself up after hitting the ground hard.

Taking his position once more, Hikaru nodded to his uncle, who almost immediately slipped into another shunshin and started bearing down on him. Waiting, he held off slipping into a shunshin of his own and let his uncle get closer and closer until there was only a half a dozen feet or so between them. Expelling the pent up chakra around the tenketsu of his feet as he slipped into his shunshin, Hikaru juked to the side, allowing his uncle to pass by harmlessly.

As they both came to a stop, his uncle sent him a nod.

"Good." His Uncle praised. "You waited until the last moment, and you managed to form a full after image."

Sagging in relief, Hikaru dropped to the ground. At least that was over

[Skulking Shinzu]

+30 TP. Learned!

[Nickerly]

Zeus's Bolt
Rank: C Rank
Skill: Nin
Effect: The user is able to make a three foot long lightning bolt in their hand which they can throw at that opponent.
Special: None
Drawback: None
Description: By focusing chakra in the center of the palm the use is able to send lightning from the center of the palm to make a three foot long lightning bolt in their hand which is able to be thrown like a javelin.
Limit: Lightning Release Skill (Raiton no Jutsu).

Post 1: 0/30

Having reflected upon his current arsenal, he had come to the conclusion that he needed to add something to supplement his offensive capabilities; currently his only remotely offensive technique was his single genjutsu, and so had turned to a scroll which had outlined a Lightning jutsu that had caught his interest. According to the scroll, the jutsu, Zeus's bolt, generated a bolt of lightning that could be thrown by the user. Unfortunately, there was little detail in the scroll that told him actually how to perform the jutsu - only a few basic instructions and a small diagram - so he was going to have to wing it and figure out the jutsu by himself.

The first step he figured, would be to channel chakra into the tenketsu in the palms of his hands and then convert it into lightning chakra. None of that was particularity hard and he kept the lightning chakra focused in the tenketsu of his hands as he figured out what to do next, making sure that none of it expelled randomly; when he had first learnt to channel his lightning chakra, he had given himself several minor shocks. Taking one hand, he purposefully expelled the lightning chakra from it, trying to keep it in a stable form. As the chakra left his hand it formed a loose cloud of lightning which sparked randomly for several before quickly losing its form and dissipating.

Frowning, Hikaru tried again, using his the chakra in his other hand but there was no change and the chakra lost its stability within a few seconds. That was not the result he was hoping for, and he wasn't sure how to go about progressing with the jutsu. More chakra might work, and he channelled double the chakra he had first used and converting it to lightning chakra, expelled it. Once more, the chakra formed into a loose cloud of blue and white, lightning chakra that dispelled after less than half a minute. It was longer than his first attempt but still, not what he was hoping for.

Still, it had given him time to think about what was going wrong with his attempt to form the lightning bolt. As far as he could tell, there were two major things going wrong with his attempts; first, the chakra was not being kept stable enough to be usable, and secondly, it wasn't naturally forming itself into the shape he desired, instead it just formed a cloud of lightning chakra. The second problem could wait for the moment; stability was by in far the more important problem to tackle.

But how to make the chakra more stable once it had been expelled from his tenketsu? More chakra had allowed the shape formed to keep itself together for longer than his original amount had, but it still had lost its shape in the end. So while he could keep pumping more chakra into it, the cloud would still eventually lose its shape and was not the answer he was looking for. Maybe the answer he was looking for was somewhere else; when he had first discovered his affinity for lightning, he had been taken to a storm to watch lightning strike the ground and to have the basic principles of lightning chakra explained to him. Natural lightning maintained its form due to the presence of 'leaders', which were channels of ionised air; negative leaders - as an electric current, lightning had both negatively and positively charged elements - generally headed towards the ground, while positively charged leaders went back up into the cloud.

Maybe he could intentionally create such a set of initial leaders that would allow the lightning to maintain its shape? If he could create such 'leaders', then in theory the chakra would then naturally create more sets, or 'hops, of leaders, allowing it to continue maintaining its stable form. Changing the charge of lightning chakra wasn't super hard, just fiddly and he could use both hands so that he didn't have to try and expel two separate streams of oppositely charged lightning chakra from the same hand. Deciding to give it a try, he channelled, then converted his chakra into lightning chakra, positively charging the chakra in his left hand and negatively charging the chakra in his right. Putting his hands together - right over left - he expelled the oppositely charged streams of chakra, before channelling two more streams of lightning chakra out of his hands and into the space between the 'leaders'. As he hoped, the presence of the 'leaders' meant that the cloud of lightning chakra maintained its form by itself as he held it in his hands.

With that solved, now he had to move onto shaping the cloud into an actual bolt of lightning.

[Nickerly]

Post 2: ?/30

So, how was he going to go about shaping the lightning chakra into an actual bolt? Shape manipulation wasn't something that you messed about with, but at the same time, the jutsu wasn't as complex as other ninjutsu and was a lightning jutsu, so he felt that he could get away with potentially bastardising the full shape manipulation required into something simpler. Theorising was only going to get him so far, so he needed to actual put his ideas into practice, then with trial and error he would be able to solve any problems that occurred. Deciding the best place to start was where he had gotten up to, he formed the stable cloud of lightning chakra between his hands and threw it up into the air. 

Annoyingly the cloud of lightning chakra didn't change its shape as it flew through the air; he had hoped that the lightning chakra would act more like natural lightning did, in that it took its jagged shape due to the fact that the leaders which kept it stable, formed independently and naturally branched off from each other. The properties of lightning chakra were different from normal lightning, he guessed in relation to the shape they took, and apparently any lightning jutsu retained its shape unless acted upon by the user of the jutsu. It wasn't actually a bad thing, it just meant he was going to have to do more active shape manipulation than he though he was originally going to have to do.

So with that in mind, he needed to figure out the exact shape he was looking to form the lightning chakra into. The scroll had depicted the typical drawn lightning bolt, but there was no way that that was going to be practical. Maybe a more cylinder like shape would be more practical, but how was he going to do that exactly. His instincts told him that he should use both hands to help form the shape and going through the first steps he had did to create a stable form for the lightning, he started to draw his hands apart from one-another. By extending the 'leaders' he hoped that the shape of the would be longer than the cloud that had formed when he first tried. 

He hadn't considered though, the width of the bolt, and when he completely formed the bolt, it was almost wider than it was long. Realising his mistake, he threw the bolt, and although it was fast it wasn't as fast as he hoped to get the bolt. He needed it to be narrower to make it faster, and this time he fashioned the leaders to be much closer together, cutting down on the width of the bolt. The loss of the the bolt's width meant that he could pour the extra chakra into increasing the length of the bolt, making it nearly three feet in length. Not only would it make the bolt faster, but having a longer and narrower bolt actually made sense as it would increase the penetrative power of the bolt, and to finish the shape, he shaped the chakra of both ends into tips.

Happy with the results, he shifted the bolt into his right hand, feeling the bolt of blue and white lightning chakra throb and hum with energy. Now he just had to get used to throwing it. 

[Nickerly]

Post 3: ?/30

Given that the final shape he had settled upon for the bolt resembled a javelin, Hikaru assumed that the best way to throw it would be like he was throwing a javelin, just without the run up and without throwing it high, since he didn't have to worry about gravity affecting the jutsu. Shifting his right hand up to the middle of the bolt he took a couple of seconds to get used to the weight of the bolt, or lack there off. Taking aim at a nearby tree, he shifted his position and bursting into action, let the bolt go.

His aim was a bit off and the bolt skimmed against the side of the tree, the heat from the lightning burning the bark that the bolt came into contact. Trying again, he managed to directly hit the tree, the bolt piercing through part of the tree and burning the insides. It was certainly impressive to look at, but he knew that it if that had struck someone fully capable of utilising chakra, then it wouldn't necessarily have such an impact. As far as he could tell the jutsu had three ways of inflicting damage: kinetically, with the actual bolt piercing the target: electrically with the lightning potentially inflicting damage on a living target's nervous system and other body parts: and finally, thermally, with the heat of the lightning chakra inflicting burns. 

Kinetic energy was the easy type of damage to increase; all he had to do as increase the force the throw and maybe reshape the bolt to increase its penetrative power. The other two forms of damage, however, would be a challenge in how he would go about increasing. Maybe by increasing the intensity of the lightning, the potential heat and electric damage would also increase. However, he wasn't sure how he was meant to achieve such a result.

The first idea that came to mind what to simply increase the chakra that was contained within the bolt, but that would potentially destabilise the jutsu, and that was not something he wanted to risk. A quick attempt confirmed what he thought; the extra chakra added power but it was less stable, even with the leaders providing stability to the bolt. With that idea scrapped, he returned to the drawing board. There was something he could try, but he wasn't sure if it was even possible. If he was right, it would seriously increase the power of his jutsu.

As far as he was concerned, his lightning chakra was emulating 'negative lightning'; the most common type of lightning, which originated from lower down in storm clouds. If he could somehow force the lightning chakra to emulate 'positive lightning' - which was rarer but far more hot than normal lightning and contained a greater amount of electricity - he would be assured of greatly increasing the power of his jutsu. Still, he didn't know how he could achieve such a conversion.

Maybe the answer lay in how positive lightning was naturally formed, that was in the positively charged tops of storm clouds. If he reordered how he formed the bolt to focus on forming the positive leader first, then the forming the lightning chakra 'core' of the bolt, second, and the negative leader last, that could work. Deciding to give his theory a try, he went through the process of forming a new bolt, making sure to stick to the new order he had come up with. The first thing he noticed was just how much brighter the bolt he formed was; it was so much more luminous than his previous bolts, and then there was the heat and the constant thrum of energy emitting from the bolt.

Deciding to give it a test, he sent the bolt hurtling towards the tree, the jutsu covering the distance even faster than the previous bolts. Unlike the previous bolt, when his new bolt hit the tree, it pierced the entire way through the tree and left severe burnt in and around the hole it left behind. That was more than satisfactory, Hikaru decided, and would definitely be a useful offensive jutsu.

[Skulking Shinzu]

Lots of great detail!

+30 TP. Learned.

[Nickerly]

Flying Shock
Rank: C
Skill: Ninjutsu
Effect: If the charged weapon touches the opponent's skin, they receive a potent electric shock in addition to any damage the weapon may make on it's own. When used, this jutsu gives one charge, and one charge only.
Special: Half-Ram.
Drawback: None.
Description: Gives any metal weapon an electric charge. The weapon must be held when the jutsu is activated. The required hand-seals only uses one hand, so the other hand holds the weapon. The weapon itself undergoes no visible change, the opponent would have no idea about it unless they witnessed the technique being used.
Limit: Lightning Release needed.

Post 1: 0/30

Despite having learnt a jutsu that went some way in fixing his lack of offensive capabilities, he had to continue to improve his abilities to inflict damage, and having just learnt a lightning jutsu, Hikaru felt another wouldn't be out of place. With that in mind, he had searched for a jutsu that would be best suited for him, and after a bit of searching, he had coming across something that would suit him and his style; Flying Shock. The jutsu involved giving a metallic weapon an electric charge so that when it came into contact with an opponent, it would give them a potent shock.

It seemed simple in theory but there were things that meant that learning and applying the jutsu wouldn't be as simple as it could be. First, the jutsu required a half-ram hand-sign to be correctly used, and secondly his katana had been forged in a shihozume style from carbon steel; a material which was nowhere as chakra conductive as actual chakra blades, which were made out of a special type of metal. To solve these problems, he had come up with a plan to divide his training into three parts; first he would practice with the hand-sign, getting used to forming it and using it to prepare the jutsu. Second, he would then practice transferring the lightning chakra into his blade, making sure that it was possible, before finally making sure that the jutsu could be executed correctly and in a manner that would hide the jutsu being used.

With his plan decided upon, he formed his right hand - given that he was left handed, and therefore would be wielding his katana in his left hand - into the half-ram hand sign. Unlike the full ram sign, which required the use of both hands, the half ram could be used with a single hand. Not going any further, he practised forming the half-ram sign in his right hand, making sure that he was used to how the hand sign felt and increasing the speed with which he could form it. He repeated the process of forming several dozen times, committing the movement to memory.

Once he was sure that he could the hand sign almost most instantaneously, he allowed his chakra to flow into the tenketsu of his right hand, getting used to the feel of it as the hand sign acted upon the chakra. It lacked the straining pressure on his tenketsu that he had been told that more powerful jutsu had, but instead it was more of a subtle feeling. There was pressure, but it felt like the chakra was just under the skin, waiting to be released. Once more, he methodically practised channelling his chakra into his hand, before progressing to converting the chakra into lightning chakra. There was an immediate and very noticeable difference in feeling; it now felt like a constant tingling feeling, and having experienced how his chakra acted with the hand sign, he began to practice speeding up the whole process.

He needed to cut down on the time it took him to complete the whole process if the jutsu was ever to be useful. Under three seconds, if not faster, and then it would be possible to use the jutsu without being detected. With such a time in mind, he began to slowly cut down on the time preparing the jutsu took. First, he sped up the speed with which he formed the hand sign, getting it as fast as possible. Once that was the speed it needed to be, he focused on the chakra channelling and converting it to lightning; trying to get to the point that the chakra was already converted to lightning chakra before the hand sign started to act upon it. Finally, he pulled the separate elements together and began to speed the whole process together.

Having focused on each of the elements before hand, the speed he managed to achieve initially was close to what he wanted, and after a bit of practice, he had managed to get it down to close to two seconds; a time that was more than respectable. Happy with that, he could now move onto the second step to learning the jutsu. 

[Nickerly]

Post 2: ?/30

Having gotten the first stage of his training plan down, Hikaru now planned to move onto the next stage of his training; getting the jutsu transferred into his blade, ready for use. His main worries were the fact that his blade was forged of carbon style would limit the chakra he could channel into it, and that the lightning chakra could ruin the temper of the blade; if the blade was ruined, he would have to resort to using kunai - which were still a viable option for the jutsu - and he would have to purchase a new blade, and considering it was a shihozume blade, would not be easy.

With that in mind, he would start with a kunai; something that was far more disposable. If he could get the chakra channelling right with a kunai, then he could apply the principles to his blade. Forming the half ram hand sign and channelling his lightning chakra into his hand, he pressed the kunai against his hand. As soon as the blade of the kunai pressed against the hand sign, he pushed the lightning chakra into the kunai. There was a bit of resistance, which continued to grow as he tried harder to force his chakra into the kunai. It was as if the more he pushed, the more it was pushed back.

Stopping, he took a moment to let the chakra fade from both his fingers and the kunai, using the time to figure out exactly what he was doing wrong. Maybe he wasn't meant to try and force the chakra into the blade, but use another method of pushing his chakra into the blade; if force didn't work, he wouldn't use force, but instead would try using less force, and instead just let the chakra flow into the kunai. Deciding to give this new method a try, he once more readied the jutsu and pressed the kunai to his hand. This time, instead of trying to force the chakra into the kunai, he used little to no force, as if he was encouraging it to slide into the kunai.

The change in method seemed to yield better results as the lightning chakra readily flowed from his hand and into the kunai, though after a while the flow suddenly seemed to block up and he couldn't seem to get any more chakra into the kunai. Unlike the previous problem, this one was easier to figure out; the kunai must have reached its capacity of the chakra it could hold. So, he had figured out the general strategy of how to get the chakra transferred into a blade, now all he had to do was work out the amount of chakra he blade could probably hold. That to, wasn't too difficult; taking the mass of the kunai and the amount of chakra he had pumped into it, he simply had to work out just how many times heavier his blade was than his kunai - which wasn't much, considering how expertly made his blade was, and than simply multiply the amount of chakra he would need.

With the maths out of the way, he put the kunai away and drew his blade. Pumping the estimated amount of lightning chakra he needed into his hand, and prepping the jutsu, he touched his hand to the side of his blade. Given that the blade was not forged with channelling chakra explicitly in mind, it was a bit more difficult to encourage his chakra to flow into it, but after several attempts, he managed to get all of the lightning chakra into the blade. The process wasn't as fast as he would have liked, but he could work on it when he moved onto the next stage of his training plan.

Still, he had made good progress and had managed to ready his blade and jutsu for use.

[Nickerly]

Post 3: ?/30

With most of his training done, all that was left to with the jutsu was practice, refine and troubleshoot any problems; a process that didn't seem to be too difficult. He had already ironed out several of the major issues that he had been confronted with, so he doubted there was any more problems to deal with.

The first thing he was going to refine, was just how much lightning chakra he could transfer into his blade, and getting it where he wanted it to be; namely, the edge and tip of the blade. Deciding to tackle the amount of chakra his blade could hold, he channelled the amount of chakra he had managed to get into it before, and over the course of half a dozen attempts, increased the amount of lightning chakra the jutsu was utilising; the whole purpose of the jutsu was to deliver a single powerful shock, after all, and he wouldn't his jutsu to be under-powered. It could cost him if it was. Eventually he found the exact level of chakra that he was going to have to pump into the sword to reach its capacity - a level around four and a bit times more than what he had been able to get into his kunai. It didn't seem like a huge increase, but considering his was almost permanently converting his chakra into positive lightning - he had spent sometime after he had learnt his previous jutsu getting his lightning nature chakra to be positive and not negative lightning - it would be more than enough to result in a potent shock.

The next small thing was getting the chakra to be primarily centred around the tip and edge of the blade, which would allow the jutsu to be utilised easier than if it was dispersed evenly throughout the blade; it would also decrease the risk of him accidentally shocking himself. He had given some thought to how he was to do this, and he had come to the conclusion the best method to ensure most of the jutsu's chakra was focused on the edge and tip of the blade, were to activate the just on those parts. Deciding to give it a try to see if it would work, he activated the jutsu and ran his finger down the length of his blade, ending at the tip just as the chakra he put into the jutsu ran out. There was no visible change in the blade to signify that chakra was actually focused where he wanted it to be, so to confirm he had down what he wanted, he pressed the tip of his blade against the grass and watched as it shrunk and blackened.

That was pretty much the confirmation he wanted, so he moved onto the next thing he needed to iron out; the time with which it took him to transfer the chakra into the blade after the jutsu was activated. He needed it to be fast enough that if someone saw him, and didn't recognise what he was doing, it could be passed off as a ritual. To that end, he spent several attempts increasing just how fast he could get the jutsu's transfer of his chakra. He had to keep in mind that if he tried too hard, then he risked the chakra not going into the blade; something that would be disastrous. 

After several attempts, he managed to get the process down to a reasonable speed; not too slow or too fast, and sheathing his sword, he decided to give the whole process a go. So, as he started to draw the blade he formed the half ram hand sign, and prepared the jutsu so that as soon as he pressed his fingers to the blade, the transfer of lightning chakra began. Continuingto run his fingers down the blade, he let the transfer of chakra by the jutsu continue at a reasonable, so that the chakra ran out as he reached the tip. There was no sign of any chakra in the blade, which was what he wanted, and as he stuck it into the grass, he watched as the lightning chakra was expelled instantaneously. 

That was exactly what he wanted, so he sheathed his katana in satisfaction. He now had another jutsu in his arsenal.

[Skulking Shinzu]

+30 TP. Learned!

[Nickerly]

-Exit-

(Planning to move to Kusa, will return when back in Bird Country)