Flowing Petal,Striking Thorn [closed training]

[anon56]

SPOILER: Click to show

Raiton: Sakurai Uzu, 雷光: 丹色 木 雷光 渦, (Lightning Style: Cherry Blossom Lightning Swirl)
Rank: C
Skill: Ninjutsu
Effect: The user forms a shield out of lightning petals.
Special: “Hand Seals”
Drawback: Raiton: Sakurai must be active.
Description: The user forms the hand seals, focusing their chakra into the Sakurai petals around them. Releasing the lightning chakra, the user sends the petals spinning in tornado around their body, shielding them from sight and defending them by exuding equal and opposite force to the attack, negating it. The shield can withstand two C rank or lower strikes before being disrupted by further attack. Anyone coming into contact with the swirling Sakurai petals will find themselves suffering a mild shock akin to a severe first-degree burn. Tangible elements without strong electromagnetic fields (Doton and Mokuton) pass through this without difficulty.
Limit: Must have Raiton. Must know Raiton: Sakurai.

Shida sat comfortably in the grass, legs crossed and his hands resting on his knees. The sun was shining dimly over kusagakure that morning. The grass was still wet with dew, water droplets resting peacefully on the blades of grass which blanketed the meadow. The brisk morning air blew lightly through the young mans robe. It was chilly, refreshing and very much welcomed. The area was quiet and serene, reluctantly, Shida stood and stretched his body. As much as he would have loved to enjoy this peaceful morning, he knew he had work to do.

Today Shida had decided to expand on the lightning jutsu he had learned the week prior. It was a beautiful spectacle to behold, but held fairly little application on it's own. Fortunately enough, it did house a lot of potential to work in to different jutsu. Shida quickly began to form several hand seals, holding out the last one. Once this short series finished several streams of blue lightning crackled around him, forming four different rings that danced around his body. One of the rings was low, circling around his knees, two circled his torso and the final one circled around his shoulders. Just as quickly as they appeared, they all broke off in different segments.

What was left after this sudden flash was a young genin surrounded by countless shimmering blue flower petals. If it weren't for the distinct glow and the energetic crackle of electricity one would mistake these for ordinary flower petals, when in reality they were the manifestation of condensed lightning chakra. It was a beautiful display indeed, however performing a simple flashy trick wasn't what the young man came here to do. Shida planned to take full advantage of it's versatile capabilities.

[anon56]

Shida held the last hand seal, allowing the petals to settle in place. With his free hand, he began to rub his chin. "Alright, I've got more than enough offensive techniques..." he said to himself. Although his bones were naturally strong, Shida knew he couldn't rely on his bone armor forever. Especially when taking heavy damage causes the effects of the calcium poisoning to take place. The thought of being placed back into the tank made him shudder. The flowing petals shivered in response.

"Lets test your defensive capabilities" he said softly. It was at that moment Shida began to close his eyes, feeling his chakra flow through the air. He tried to sense it as a whole rather than focus on any one petal in particular. It was much like feeling the basic shroud of chakra only with numerous little focal points. Shida opened his eyes and collected the petal in front of him, trying to form a wall. The wall before him was no bigger than the average kite shield.

Upon further examination Shida realized that clustering the petals in such a way probably wouldn't work out as well as he initially thought. He was dealing with raiton, an energy based chakra nature. A form like this would need something thick, something solid to make an effective shield. Something like Doton, even perhaps Suiton to some extent. Shida shifted his chakra, breaking the cluster of petals and sending them back swirling around him. The petals moved quickly in response, surprisingly quickly in fact. "Ok...maybe something like this then?" he said. Feeling the flow of the petals move with such ease began to get the gears turning in his mind. 

[anon56]

"Yes...this should definitely do!" He thought to himself as he began to form an idea of how to best use the petals. Shida began to manipulate the glowing flower petals, pushing them to flow around him. As they increased in speed the flower petals began to crackle and pop more vigorously than they had in their resting state. Shida smiled as he watched the veil of petals dance around him in what was now a spiraling vortex of hyper charged electricity.

"This may not stop projectiles, but it will certainly stop anyone who comes too close. Now...lets see just exactly what i'm working with" he stated as he stopped the flow of petals. The only apparent downside to this technique was that this spiraling veil absolutely obstructed his view. Perhaps he could use this to his advantage at some point. Shida looked off towards a nearby tree, paying close attention to the ground. Once he was sure his path was clear he let the flower petals flow around him once more. Shida kept his movements slow, taking a concentrated effort to move the spiraling vortex along with him. The last thing he needed was to hurt himself with his own jutsu. Staying within the eye of the storm so to speak, Shida continued on.

A few tense moments later Shida found himself in front of the tree. "Alright, here goes nothing..." he walked forward again. The cascading lightning began to scrape against the tree bark, refusing their relentless spiral. Shida stopped the flow and dispelled the flower petals all together. Examining the tree he noticed that large sections of the tree were scraped away, scorch marks marking the perimeter of the freshly made grooves. "Now we're getting somewhere"

[Kinzoku]

+30 TP [LEARNED]

[anon56]

SPOILER: Click to show

Raiton: Sakurai Ken, 雷光: 丹色 木 雷光 刀, (Lighting Style: Cherry Blossom Lightning Sword)
Rank: C
Skill: Ninjutsu
Effect: The user forms weapons out of Sakurai petals.
Special: “Hand Seals”
Drawback: Raiton: Sakurai must be active.
Description: The user forms the hand seal, focusing their chakra into the Sakurai petals around them. They then mold the lightning chakra, gathering the Sakurai petals into the shape of a sword and containing them with chakra. Using this technique, the user may form one weapon of katana size of smaller, or five weapons of kunai size or smaller. These weapons are built of the lightning that the Sakurai are composed of, and are capable of giving out shocks akin to second-degree burns. They are incapable of blocking like normal weapons. The weapons last until the user chooses to dispel them, or a round after they lose contact with the user.
Limit: Must have Raiton. Must know Raiton: Sakurai.

The young kaguya smiled lightly, taking a few moments to indulge in what he had done. This feeling of accomplishment was slowly beginning to grow into something more. His smiled grew wider as he began to quickly weave the hand seals once again, arcs of lightning quickly forming around the young man. He began taking a few steps backwards to allow the stream of lightning space to flow freely.

The arcs of lightning continued to circle and arc around him, taking a different path each time it made a new revolution. Shida held the last hand seal of the jutsu, now letting the arc of lightning burst, several fragments of the stream breaking off into small orbs then those orbs bursting into smaller petals. Shida commanded the petals to begin swirling once more , only this time he had sent the flurry towards the tree itself. Like piranhas they circled furiously cutting and biting into the wood. 

Shida called the petals back and began to walk towards the tree, stopping a few feet away. All around the tree were rings of black scorch marks, but the damage had been little. Shida frowned , almost disappointed. It had seemed that when the petals were spread out to attack a wider range they were less effective as an offensive technique. Figuring if he wanted to do any real damage he would need to gather them into a stronger mass. And so he did. 

[anon56]

Shida , still holding the sign in his left hand, began to will the petals into a new shape. In response the flickering flower petals began to amass into a small ball that grew larger and larger with each addition. As more and more flower petals added to this glowing mass of energy the petals began to spark and crackle more violently than they had before. Their original, beautiful form was now transformed into a large mass of electrical energy, the size of which could be compared to that of a basket ball.

Shida held free hand out towards his side. Soon the large ball of electricity began to elongate. Almost as if an invisible force was pinching opposite ends of the ball and stretching it out. It was a slow but fairly easy process. The ball continued to pull itself on either direction until the shape changed to that of a long rod. Near the end of the rod a couple of petals began to break off of the newly formed mass and began spiraling around it, about a foot and a half up from the end. The longer end of the rod began to flatten and curve, now forming the crude shape of a katana blade.

Shida gazed in wonder at what he managed to create. The blade of lightning crackled every few seconds but the blades shape remained the same. Almost reluctantly Shida grabbed the shorter of the sword, what could be assumed was the handle. It was no surprise that he managed to grab with sword without harm. He chanced releasing the seal. As he did so the sword of lightning had remained unfazed. It seemed as long as he kept contact with it the sword maintainit's shape without much assistance. 

[anon56]

Shida brought the blade up before and swung it carefully side to side. Due to the fact that the sword was made out of pure lightning and chakra rather than metal it moved swiftly. It didn't have the same weight as a normal katana would have. Shida twirled it in his hand, the glowing blade sparking lightly as it was flourished. What it had in speed would lack in defensive capability, being a force of pure energy he highly doubted he could use it to block and defend himself. This wouldn't matter too much, in combat he had much preferred to evade and counter attack rather than even risk taking a hit. This sword would allow him to do just that.

Shida gripped the sword in his hand, not squeezing too tightly and not to loosely. His prior training in taijutsu had also included weapons training. Luckily for him, wielding a sword wasn't something foreign to him. Although, he wondered if he was capable of forming other weapons with the lightning petals. That would be an exercise for another day, for now he had a sword to test. The light of the blade casted long shadows around him, outshining the pale morning sun.

Shida dashed quickly towards the tree, attacking it with a flurry of slashes. Each time the blade made contact with it's target it would hiss and crackle, almost like a deadly snake, of course this was only the lightning at work. Once his assault climaxed and reached his conclusion he examined the tree once more. Just as he suspected, once the petals had amassed into a more condensed state they would certainly strike much harder. The tree was marked with deep gashes and more scorch marks. Shida squeezed the blade tighter and dispelled it. The grin never left his face. He had liked this feeling. The power of raiton literally at his fingertips. If this is what power had felt like he wanted more of it. His goal of becoming a powerful shinobi began to feel more like a craving...

[Kinzoku]

+30 TP [LEARNED]

[anon56]

SPOILER: Click to show

Raiton: Sakurai Bakudan, 雷光: 丹色 木 雷光 ボ, (Lightning Style: Cherry Blossom Lightning Bomb)
Rank: B
Skill: Ninjutsu
Effect: The user causes one petal to explode.
Special: “Hand Seals”
Drawback: Raiton: Sakurai must be active.
Description: The user forms the hand seals, focusing chakra into one Sakurai petal around them. They then compress the lightning chakra into it, before letting that chakra explode dramatically with the force of a single exploding tag.
Limit: Must have Raiton/ Must know Raiton: Sakurai Ran.

By now, the shrill winds began to blow more aggressively. The morning sun was now blocked by thick dark clouds. The light struggled to break through the blanket of clouds that rolled over head. In some areas light droplets of rain would fall gently for a few moments then disappear in the wind. It seemed to be the beginning of a storm, which wasn't too uncommon for a land so lush with greenery and wildlife.

Shida, still taken aback by what he could do, decided to take a short break. The wind blew through his robe, although his torso was covered in goosebumps he paid the chill no mind. He took shelter under the tree that had been used as target practice for the cherry blossom jutsu's. The bark scratched lightly at his back.

Shida propped one leg up and let the other stretch out among the grass. With his arm resting on his knee, he let his head hang back, cushioned by the soft grooves within the tree. His bright blue eyes stared skyward, watching the storm slowly gather. There was one particular area in the distance that seemed to accumulate an abundance of black clouds. Flashes of light could be seen faintly ever so often. 

[anon56]

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning cut through the sky. It registered first visually, a vein of blue energy touching down upon the earth. What followed was a terrible crash that echoed throughout the air. This immediately caught Shida's attention, jumping up at the noise. The bolt had been relatively close! Shida jumped up to the top of the tree and looked out towards the rest of the land. The sea of grass all blew wildly from the fierce winds. It was obvious where the bolt had struck. A small crater was left in the dirt, scorch marks outlining the blow. There might have been a fire had it not been for the rain, which had now been pouring by this time.

He marveled at it's power. It had been so focused and so contained. It was awe inspiring. Reinvigorated, Shida jumped back down from the tree and began running out further into the wilderness. He would no longer practice on trees. He began to desire something stronger, something more destructive. To achieve this he needed stirrer targets. The rain began pouring harder and harder. The lightning strikes becoming more frequent. While most people would be taking shelter with weather such as this, Shida was compelled to continue training. He wanted to match this intensity and one day...surpass it.

He continued to make his way through the wilderness until he finally made it to his new destination. Before him was a deep ravine that had long since dried up. Even with the heavy downpour of rain he knew he was in no real danger of flash flooding. Shida began running down the wall, jumping off when he was a few meters off the ground. Earth and stone lined the ravine. It looked like a large gash in the earth, almost as if the land itself had been struck with a knife. For the most part, the ground was fairly flat. Streams of moss grew on many of the boulders that lined the ravine. This would serve as the perfect place to test raitons true destructive power.

[anon56]

Before he could work on the next level of this jutsu, he needed to gain a better control of his chakra. More specifically, he needed to learn how to focus high amounts of power into a smaller form. Shida quickly began to weave hand seals. By now he had the hand seals for the sakurai down cold, he could weave them without having to think about it. In a quick flourish, hundreds of blue lightning petals danced around him.

As the rain fell upon the petals they crackled angrily. A slight sizzling sound could be heard as the cool water made contact with the energy intensive flower petals. Shida focused his mind and sent the flower petals a few feet in front of him. As they quickly made their way to their target location, they began to flow in a circular motion, now forming the shape of a ball. 

Shida focused on the chakra flowing in front of him. The dazzling petals continued to circle around a small area, outlining the shape of a ball. The next step was to force the petals into themselves. It had been the inverse concept of when he had first training the sakurai. He started with a mass of chakra, shaped it, charged it, and then broke it up. Now he used these pieces of broken up energy and attempted to force them together again. It sounded easy in theory, the problem now was that those individual pieces were much more energetic. 

[anon56]

Shida slid his legs shoulder width apart and clasped his hands together forming the universal jutsu sign. His focus was intense, his sharp blue eyes never leaving the mass of electricity that was now being forced together. The petals collapsed into themselves, now forming one glowing mass. Several sparks shot off randomly. The ball was extremely unstable and Shida fought to remain in control. 

The rain was heavy, each drop filling like a small bullet upon his head and back. The wind whipped around the area wildly, his hair subdued under the gales rage. Despite all this, the young genin remained determined. Mentally the extreme condition had no effect on him. His resolve was steadfast and as unyielding as the storm around him.

Shida fought tirelessly, seemingly to no avail. After much effort the glowing mass began to shrink in size. Smaller...smaller and smaller it shrunk, growing more in intensity as it did. So much power was being confined to such a small space! Shida noticed as the size of the mass reduced the number of times it would spark increased. It was growing increasingly unstable, like a water balloon with too much water...except the balloon would not be allowed to expand. For a moment, his focus wavered and in that split second the ball exploded. It had been far enough that Shida wouldn't receive any significant damage but it certainly pushed him backwards into the stone wall. He grunted angrily, his impatience swelling. 

[Kinzoku]

+48 TP

[anon56]

The boy grunted through grit teeth. Shida rubbed the back of his head and walked back into position. The other techniques hadn't given him this much trouble, was the difference in their power this great? The rain continued to pour relentlessly as the lightning above roared and cracked more often than not. The sky was now covered with black clouds, light would find it impossible to break through.

With all this the young man was still not deterred. Shida quickly weaved hand signs, the cascading petals finding life yet again. They danced frantically and were sent off in front of him to attempt finding stability within all this chaos of water and wind. Shida clenched his jaw as he continued to shape the petals into the glowing mass. "I'm not leaving until you're perfect!" his mind roared.

The great orb of lightning before him hissed and crackled under the heavier rain. Two entities, powerful in nature. One cold, silent and resolute. The other burning if explosive fury, the more pressure it was under the more it roared, aching to release it's tension. Shida began to shrink the orb before him. Finally he had gotten it to about the size of a tennis ball. It had been much smaller than before, and somehow remained somewhat stable. It was progress but he still had a long way to go before he could shrink it down to the size of a single petal.

[anon56]

It had seemed as though the genin stood there holding his stance doing nothing, but any shinobi would be able to tell that he was in the middle of combat. Shida fought to maintain control of the chakra mass in front of him. The raw energy being conformed to such a small state was quite the struggle, especially when he planned on doing so without sacrificing any of it's destructive force. It would be impossible to tell with all the rain, but the young man was sweating. His body shook with a combination of chill and exhaustion. 

"Smaller...smaller" . He was so focused his current state might have been unknown even to him. All that mattered right now was the damned ball of lightning in front of him. Finally, he had shrunken the mass into the size of a golf ball. It was the smallest he had managed to get it so far. The mass conformed to it's new size but in response it crackled furiously. Shida then took the next ten minutes to rein in the mass. He refused to let the energy burst prematurely. To have a jutsu backfire in such a way was a complete embarrassment upon any shinobi.

By now the young man's chest was heaving, his hot breath being released into the air as the freezing chill filled his lungs with every inhalation. The scene was an odd balance of power and conformity, burning rage that coupled with a cold resolve. With everything he could muster, the boy managed to condense every ounce of power into the form of a single petal. Despite this accomplishment, he remained focused knowing that this was still merely the first step. It was too early for celebration.

[anon56]

Now that he had gotten the shape down, all that was left was to unleash it's raw power. The question was, how well would he be able to maintain it's form while moving it towards a target? With a strained focused Shida attempted to move the petal forward to the nearest boulder. The blue petal move delicately at a snails pace. This was for one reasons one Shida knew he couldn't risk letting the bomb go off by letting his concentration slip. Although he had the will to do so, he didn't have the physical ability or chakra reserves to even attempt making another one.

It was pitiful how slowly the petal moved. Any enemy, shinobi or not would be able to avoid such a thing. Shida could not dwell on this fact, there was no time for such insecurities. What mattered was the here and now. He had one objective and that was to detonate this tiny SOB on it's nearest target. Finally the petal reached it's destination, finding itself right before a large boulder. The large rock stood head and shoulder above Shida, almost about 9 feet in height.

Shida released the petal from it's constraints and it detonated without hesitation. The petal gleamed brighter than ever before. The energy that had been stored within its minuscule form expanded outward in a violent burst. A boom broke through the sound of the roaring wind! Shards of earth and rock were sent flying up into the air! Shida looked at the destruction it had caused. A large crater was carved into the boulder, a few pieces of it cracking and crumbling further.

[anon56]

The destructive force was comparable to that of a paper bomb. Shida slunk on to his knees and planted a fist into the ground to steady himself. He heaved tired, desperate breaths. A vein in his head was visible from all the strain he had put himself. His wet hair fell over his headband and concealed his devilish grin. Slowly he began to rise to a standing position. The young man shook with excitement and exhaustion.

"What a terrible power..."  he thought as he continued to look over the destructive force of the petal bomb. That was the work of a single petal, he could only imagine what he could do had he been able to create even more! A terrible power indeed. Shida collected himself and began to scale the wall and be off on his way. He ran through the trees, then through the great open plains of kusa no kuni

As he ran through the grass he had a much clearer view of the storm. Streams of energy flashing out in the distance were followed by large booms that sounded as though they were right next to the boy. He wouldn't stop running until he made it back to his village. He wouldn't stop training until he mastered this destructive force. He wouldn't quit until he could bend the element to his will with absolute authority. 

[Deleted]

learned