Dawn [TT][DE]

[The Heron]

Travel - Shunshin Training

So this was it... the start of something new. It was the dawn of a new age; the genesis of a new era, and he alone stood at the pulpit of change as the catalyst to the coming dusk. His darkness would reign until the sky fell and the earth swallowed reality as Sir Kingshit the Eternal Emperor of All.

Of course, all legends had their beginnings in the dirt and sweat and turmoil of the dredges of existence. Hiromasa was no different - the vessel he rode was of premium shitty quality, despite its great speed as it knifed through the waves towards Tsuki no Kuni. He found himself with naught to do on the travel save gaze upon the sky above and ponder the trials ahead. He wondered if he would need exert any effort - his shinobi career so far had been very prolific, and his skill was renowned throughout his village. Did the other shinobi countries have anything similar to offer? He didn't think so.

The wind breezed passed his head and the sound of the waves lapping against the boat washed over his ears. Birds croaked high overhead, loosing primal screeches as the wound through the heavens, riding the air currents to freedom. He envied them their freedom - perhaps he would cultivate his own in the coming months?

With time to waste, Hiromasa played a game of 'blink', flickering to and fro across the brief expanse of deck as swiftly as possible, turning slightly here and there to alter his trajectory. Each instance of supersonic travel was inspired by a masterful manipulation of chakra with expert efficiency. A single step was highlighted by a fluctuation of chi that powered his being beyond the capability of a normal man. His speed was already great; his stature demanded it, but even that paled in comparison to the velocity with which he moved across the boat. His speed was doubled by the strategic application of chakra, granting him speed equal to Mudhalara, without the drawbacks.

Chakra surged throughout him in a rush, emitting and invisible golden glow like heaven on a watch, casting a halo of photonic energy over his form. Aura beaming and movements lax, the youth zipped across the boat flickering like a mirage, dissappearing and reappearing only to dissappear once more with naught but a brief moment of stillness. Blessedly, he required very minimal effort to bring about the intense moments of lightning like speed, enabling a leisurely day of training to pass by in minutes.

From Mizu no Kuni to Tsuki no Kuni was quite the long trip; day would inevitably turn to night by the time he'd reached the faraway forgotten island. To that end, he merely rested his eyes, head lulling back to rest against the rail at his back...

Move to Tsuki no Kuni

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[» Comatose]

[ Moved, and +10.]

[The Heron]

Doton: Iwa no Yori (Earth Element: Stone Armor)
Rank: B
Skill: Ninjutsu
Effect: A technique that hardens the user's body for defensive and offensive purposes.
Special: Serpent
Drawback: Sufficient force can break the armor; Because this jutsu works by constantly absorbed earth properties, it requires no extra chakra after initiating it, yet still needs a sufficient amount of stone to be performed
Description: This technique makes earth-chakra flow through the body, absorbing the properties of stone around the user to form a skin-deep armor that is transparent yet reflects light with a metallic-like gleam. Despite encasing the user’s body, the armor has no apparent affect on the user’s speed or agility. The armor is shown to be able to defend from all forms of blunt-force trauma. At the same time, it enhances the user's strength for more powerful physical strikes and break free or through restraints and walls.
Limit: Earth Release, 500 TP in Earth Release.

0/50

The day was old, nearing it’s death only to be born once more with the rise of a new sun. The color of the sky had gradually darkened and muddied until it resembled the rich brown of the earth beneath his sandaled feet - rich, wholesome, and all-encompassing. The brown didn’t last for long, but it stretched for eternity, and it filled him with the drive and emotion to enact what he needed to enact, and do what he needed to do.

The fortitude of Gaia sustained him, even existing as a mere color against the vast backdrop of the sky and the unknown realms behind it. Alas, the brown canvas was dotted here and there with the light, fading misty hue of clouds, his own supple skin teased by drifting wind as it wound through the air like a playful cyclone, twisting and turning about as if locked in dance.

Hiromasa had brought a great deal of scrolls with him. There were many techniques to learn and very little time to learn them. Yes, his skill was already great enough without further assistance, and his confidence could get no higher, but he was always striving to better himself, even if he was already the best. With his ego and talent to drive him, there was naught that he couldn’t accomplish.

His aciculate hands dropped languidly into a pouch centered at his waist, retreating into the material only to withdraw an innocuous scroll of modern papyrus leaf. It was held close by a wax stamp - it was marked with the symbol of his home village, Kirigakure, through the stamp itself matched the brown hue of the sky ahead and the terra firma below. With deft ministrations, he unraveled the document, his eyes scanning across the scroll even as its contents were revealed. He wasted no time and little effort, scanning through the information provided to get the ‘gist’ of the situation before attempting to actually follow through the motions of learning the jutsu.

Iwa no Yori. Stone Armor. Oh, what a find! The jutsu had both offensive and defensive applications, and was easily the greatest Armor jutsu he’d ever encountered. Through manipulation of his chakra, he would be able to absorb the earth into his form to fortify his being, strengthening not only his defense against blunt force trauma, but also his offense in terms of delivering blunt force chakra.

The shield absorbed earth from the ground beneath the user, using it to sustain the defensive coating for as long as necessary. Better than all, however, was the fact that the armor didn’t hinder his speed, allowing for maximum efficiency whilst fighting. So too was the armor hard to recognize, save for a faint metallic gleam in certain lighting conditions. Considering the ease of execution and the advantage it provided, Hiromasa was willing and ready to git er dun.

[The Heron]

??/50

He further reviewed the scroll, memorizing the single handseal required and the process with which the earthen armor would swarm his form and fit to his skin. It was highly fascinating, and certainly important as his knowledge of the jutsu would directly effect its effectiveness. Without the proper information, he’d simply be wasting time and chakra, and those were two things he couldn’t afford to squander. He allotted several moments of internal reflection on the task at hand, wondering why the bitches in charge expected him to waste so much time just to learn a simple jutsu. It was crazy, but… he’d do what he had to do, muse or no. He was his only enemy, and today… he was in a friendly mood.

His first endeavor - clear his mind of any outward and inward distractions so that his training would go as smooth as possible. His eyes closed in tandem with the gentle press of the wind against his face, breath leaving as the earth sighed and pressed on passed him. Slowly but surely, the world itself faded away, leaving him gradually as if wading through a thickening haze of fog and fright. The sights of the land - the sky above and the ground below - disappeared, fading first as the easiest of sensations to deny. He needed only close his eyes for his view to turn black. Next came the sounds. The wind as it pushed through the trees, the birds as they sung overhead, even the ground critters as the scurried through the underground. They all faded to nothing, his ears following his eyes into the decent into darkness. Mind centered and extremely focused, his thoughts moved to the jutsu, and the correct manner of executing it. Now… it was time to visualize.

The jutsu had no great range of destruction, or even a small range of destruction. Save for close combat situations, the jutsu was entirely defensive. In his minds eye, he conjured a scene of himself executing the jutsu, his hands clasped expertly in the serpent seal as more and more transparent earth swallowed his body only to settled over him in a fashion reminiscent of skin, fitting tightly to his body with little indication of his presence. Save for the metallic gleam he emitted in certain light. He felt no weight, nor could he feel the dense rock against his skin. It was almost as if he’d done nothing at all. To test the tide as it grew in size and velocity, he wandered about the ‘clearing’, still firmly entrenched in his imagination, letting his fists fly at intervals to test the speed and strength of his punches. He sprinted back and forth to test his speed, and, of course, weakened the armor only to practice re-sustaining it from the earth below.

With his trial run successful, it was time to return to reality and actually execute the jutsu in realtime. He held on to that focus he sustained while lost in the throes of introspection, using it to drive his resulting actions as fict became fact.

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[The Heron]

??/50

The time had come for approbation. His goal had been lain before his eyes, the scene itself conjured by the twirling cogs of his imagination, painting a picture so beautiful he would give his all to see it a reality, his intense focus driven by the need for strength. Nothing would stop him; not even the Kami in the sky, Fujin, sending violent waves of ripping wind to tear him asunder. His current focus was to be realized with maximum haste in a display of prodigious skill, the Art of Doton finding sustenance in the physical plane as a might armor to protect his person from bodily harm of vicious strength.

Even before his hands began to clasp in their seemingly standard archaic dance - in this instance, merely a step, for only the Serpent seal was required - his focus shifted internally to manage the movement of his chakra, conducting the flow of the energy as it coursed through his being. It was as if the chakra were his symphony, and he but a man with a stick waving it wildly to lead the many pronged monster through a montage of sound and emotion to wow the world. And, as if in love with his soothing touch, the chakra responded readily, sliding and swooping through the appropriate channels, empowering his soul to seep into the terra firm beneath his sandaled feet. Gaia would sustain him when everything was said and done - when the orchestra stopped and he was laid to rest.

But alas, there need be another component included in the process. It was the handseal, and even being but a single entity alone in world of chaos and darkness, the sign of the serpent was strong enough in solitude to effect enough of mystical channel to manipulate reality in his perpetual godly manner. A single meeting of his hands was all that was needed to spark the armors birth. His hands clasped like lost brethren, closing together in an intricate symbolization of the zodiac, wily-cunning tendencies personified in a mere finger sign. It gave the summoned chakra the edge needed to slip into the abyss and let loose a blinding light of change.

As the process echoed through the far reaches of reality, the earth beneath his feet began to stir, leaping forth from its restraints only to slither languidly up his leg in an almost loving manner, clearly feminine as it fondled him and settled over his form, cupping his nether region and completely coating his entire body. He felt no weight - felt no discomfort at all, and yet when he glanced down at his skin, he gave a gleam reminiscent of a kunai, and he felt a macabre satisfaction settle over him.

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[The Heron]

??/50

Iwa no Yori. It settled over him like a second skin, contouring to his form perfectly. To have not seen him perform the technique one would find themselves ignorant of the armor at all. The light-induced metallic gleam hardly shone unless in the perfect light, and even then it simply made him appear his true majestic self, as his very aura shone with sparkling luminescence to shower the earth with his massive skill. He couldn’t even feel the rock around his digits, so perfect was the fit. For the level of defense it provided, the technique was truly a godsend.

He felt as if he could conquer the world with no issue. His strength and resilience was fortified beyond measure, and yet his speed suffered no hindrance. Head held high and chest bared proudly, he gave a might smile of egotistical satisfaction before he flexed, body spasming in a brief flicker as if he’d wavered out of focus. There were none mightier than he at this moment, and it showed in the swagger imbued in his loping stride as he circled a perimeter, mapping out the area with his mind. He was still amazed that his speed remained the same, and gave a mighty punch to the earth to signify his realization of his greatly increased strength.

The punch sunk into the earth like a knife through butter, crushing the ground and leaving a fist shaped foot-deep crater. Hiromasa eyed the whole with apparent disdain, though in truth it was simply his ego tainting his surprise. Almost immediately, his fingers closed together and blazed through a swift set of seals to invoke his supposed past time - deido Bunshin. The jutsu was executed with swift efficiency, and despite his immense ability with the technique, he only called three Bunshin into existence, refraining from maximum the throng drawn out from Gaia’s womb.

The three clones were birthed five meters to the front of him. He regarded them all with a steely stare, even as one hand slipped to his waist to palm Suijin. The Bunshin responded in a similar fashion, each mud warrior drawing their own earthen swords from congruous sheaths. There was a brief pause of preparation, and then they closed in on each other in a rush, swords flashing in a clash of twanging blades. Empowered by the thick coating that sustained him, Hiromasa was able to match swords with fists and elbows, easing the effort exerted to combat the Bunshin. This was the ultimate test. Could the shield last in the face of such and intense exchange? Only time would tell.

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[Captain M]

40

[The Heron]

40/50

Bodies moved in a rhythm masked by bodily thumps and the twang of ringing steel. The sky overhead was lulled into a stupor by the rhythm, drooping faithfully to paint the sky a blazing purple with hints of fading orange. The fours warriors danced against the backdrop of eternal natural beauty, utilizing the shadow’s provided easily and readily attack one another, darting to and fro under the veil of darkness. They were like nightingales in flight, knifing through the air with relative ease, swooping here and there with the soft sway of the breeze as it wafted through the heavens. The flow from step to punch to kick to slash was as smooth as water cascading down weathered limestone to trickle into a pool of purity.

One Bunshin stepped near to deliver a leftward falling diagonally slash to his abdomen. Still maintaining the full breadth of his prodigious speed, he was able to slide backward away from the attack, even as another Bunshin kicked at his ankles to hinder his balance. The kick was met with a kick of his own to quickly halt the offending appendage before it could do him harm or hamper his evasion. Suijin flashed upward in his stead to catch the incoming sword and divert its path. The process was greatly aided by Hiromasa’s fortified strength. He nearly knocked the blade out his adversary’s hand, and the follow through carried to the Bunshin approaching from his westward flank, hindering his attack as well.

His stance was reset in the next instance, sword attaining an offensive station before him, angled to impale whomever stepped into his chest. It twirled before him, directing by his heavenly hands, birthing a veritable cyclone of steel to skewer his opponents as they ambled nearer. His strength was applied to a mighty step to break the earth and loosen the footing of the nearing Bunshin, allowed for a complete frontward lunging cut to slice the offending beings in half.

He followed through with a spin and kick to send the next Bunshin flying into a faraway tree, the velocity of his flight insuring a rapid death once contact was made with the rough bark. He merely dueled the remaining Bunshin in a swift tango of swords that left him the victor, as his strength and skill trumped the Bunshin’s own ability. Lax, and yet oh so confident, Hiromasa vacated the premises to enter into the capital.

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[roko]

+10

Harsh. .-.

[The Heron]

[ Exit ]