So I hear [Private][Training]

[Promeleon]

Kusokesuni (Hells Drownout)
Rank: "C" Rank
Skill: NinJutsu (Somewhat)
Effect: With the use of one's ears and when a person needs to use their sense of hearing to see, the Kusokensuni is a specialized technique in which the user of the Shitakuma clan is capable of drowning out certain sounds waves up to certain frequencies. Example: If a Shitakuma member is in a large battle where their is a fairly amount of yelling and fighting going around, the person is capable of drowning out all sounds to a certain frequency for example like lets say the sound waves that is being pushed from the ground giving more stability. The technique must be learned ten times. Each time learned a user is capable of drowning out up to a certain amount. When first learned the user is capable of drowning out frequencies up to ten thousand hertz. After mastered the user is capable of drowning out up to one hundred thousand hertz of frequency. Remember a normal human is capable of hearing up to twenty thousand, this is way beyond then that of a regular body.
Special: When first learned the user needs to use the hand signs of Boar, Dragon, Tiger, and Horse. After the first time, hand signs is not needed.
Drawback: Drawback is that the user must train in this type of technique more then once in order to drown up higher frequencies. Another drawback is the fact that they are only capable of listening to one frequency at a time, so in a sense if they wished to listen to their own comrades, it be slightly more difficult that creates a massive confusion in which case may go against each other for a moment or two until the sounds is justified to where they understand.
Description: The way this feels is that the user is capable of drowning out certain frequencies in which they can hear certain sounds to accurately pin point where they need to go. What is interesting was the way this works, basically it is like a strong sensory. Within the mind of the user all sounds are muffled to an extent as the sound they concentrate on comes forth with more of accurate sense. The sensory and the sounds still work, in which they are capable to see. Example if there were a strong amount of yelling, the sound waves that hit the ears still react in which they can still use as a radar to help them move about (Acts like they can see figures) but of course does not damage the user's sense of balance and hearing.
Limit: Only those of the Shitakuma clan is capable of performing.

[00/30]

Archimedes was in another of his moods, brooding over the tempestuous thoughts in his mind. The blind shinobi had chosen to forgo any sort of missions because of the slow moving organization of the village. There would be time to take them later, he was in no rush, and was more than happy to remain here, in the wooded areas of the park so that he may listen and see everything that was happening. His hands slipped through the seals of activating his powerful hearing, more out of habit than practicality. He would have to stop that, there was simply no point in repeating the hand seals every time, firstly because of his clumsy seal creation, and secondly because it did nothing, since he was not even concentrating any chakra. Behind his dark sunglasses, his eyelids remained closed, since there was never a point to opening them.

Children were playing off in the distance, he could hear their yells, their movements, their heartbeats, and it all spoke to him, the vibrations of the sounds created by their very existence echoing everywhere through the park, allowing him complete sight in his dome of vision. While it may have paled in comparison to the vision of the Hyuuga he knew existed in the village, he at least knew that his version of sight was absolute, there was simply no way of tricking it. There was little comfort in this though, as he knew he was able to see only a small distance, and while he had the advantage of being able to see everything in that dome, people without his bloodline were capable of seeing further distances, which was their advantage. Being a man who believed in balance, Archimedes certainly disliked that someone would enter a fight with the ability to escape his 'sight'.

There were, perhaps, obvious discrepancies in his worries, such as an opponent not knowing or understanding the lengths of his kekkai genkai, but making your weakest point your strongest point, was a very basic tactic. His physical skill was not refined, he could wield a blade, but so could any child with basic training, but he relied on his heightened senses and quick reflexes and thinking in order to control the flow of battle. This was why his ability to know each movement and understand the bodily functions was so important, so he would be able to hear and feel what was going to happen before anything could possibly surprise him. Silliness, naturally, but to be able to hear on such a microscopic level would surely grant some sort of pre-emptive cognitive abilities. So to speak.

His ears remained open to the sounds of both the forest, and of the children, whose voices called out so loudly that his echolocation abilities allowed Archimedes to read even the veins of the leaves, seeing every microscopic detail carved out into the flesh of the bark. This was not unusual to him, as he had seen the lives of many trees in his training. What did interest him, was the movement of the grass that he could visualize as the vibrations of wind and sound moved through them, like fields of water, flowing without direction, so calm, so soothing. His breathing eased as he leaned his back against one of the trees, still allowing the sounds to wash over him. Surely this was the sort of feeling all Shitakuma felt when utilizing their abilities to their full extent.

The exorbitant amount of energy he felt displaced was enough to prove that the technique was working. Although perhaps he was not training the technique, any time that he was doing anything, he was technically training it, as the Shitakuma would only grow stronger thanks to their ability to hear the world, which was an every day need. By living one day after another, he would grow stronger simply because this technique was so essential to survival. A remarkable evolutionary tactic for a shinobi to say the least, taking one of the greatest weapons that could be given to them, and allowing it to grow more powerful, to infinitum. Potentially, one would be able to view for miles under the right circumstances. A pipe dream perhaps, but the potential made his skin shiver.

[Promeleon]

[--/30]

The mechanical efficiency of his movements were not noticed as his fingers caressed the flat of his lengthy nodachi. Takame was not a strong blade, at least not an elite weapon, but her construct was as beautiful as a sword could be. From her thin hilt, with the notched curve, allowing smooth usage, to the sharpened tip that could easily slip through stone, she was truly a beautiful sight. Of course, Archimedes was unable to see her, which is how she had gained her name. Takame, a romanized name for kanji that meant Hawk Eye. While he would be able to sense where his targets were, she was the true huntress, finding her goal with perfect aim, as though the blade itself had eyes. Silly superstition perhaps, as the male knew it was all his skill controlling it, but would it not be nice? Her steel had been flecked with nicks that his calloused fingers easily felt, the slightest imperfections on her surface. All of these imperfections were merely more reasons why she was an excellent sword.

The blade was across his lap, resting as he listened to the world, hearing the thudding steps of the children as they ran through the grass, seeing it all happen in his mind. As a Shitakuma, Archimedes was used to being able to see things with incredible detail, but he had never seen colour, which was an incredibly foreign concept to him. Some people had once tried to describe it to him a long time ago, but he understood it to be something one would have to experience in order to understand. This saddened him slightly, as he had a feeling that the very earth he loved possessed colours of such frightening beauty that he was truly missing out on the extravagance, and was merely only seeing the surface of the true beauty of it all. Even his sword, which, in his mind had been memorized completely, was still at least partly mysterious to him, as he had never witnessed the blade in action, only felt and heard the ringing hiss of metal cutting air.

A loud call rang out from the children, as their excitement grew to an apparent fever pitch, the adrenaline coursing through their veins as they continued their game of tag. As much as he disliked children and their various useless ways, he found himself appreciating their demeanour at this time. Thanks to the power of their voices, he was given a complete visual of the world around him in this dome of his. Every sound was appreciated, as the vibrations of their movements filtered to him eventually. He adjusted his sunglasses and wiped his forehead. It was getting a little humid out here now, and the air smelled different. This was not anything special, as a well learned man, he understand that all humans had their sense of sell heightened when in moist areas, but as his was already heightened, he could smell the rain coming from miles away. This was what he had been hoping for. Rain was his favourite, as it allowed him to use his echolocation perfectly, granting him damn near perfect visuals for as far as his ears could pick up noise.

The winds picked up, and the rustling of the leaves in the trees gave him even more visibility, allowing him to see even the smallest of branches on the ground as he studied the sphere of vibrations. Currently, his ears were sensitive enough to pick up sounds from nearly one hundred meters away, which was exceptional to say the least, considering that in a forest, one hundred meters may as well be miles if a target was well hidden. Nothing could hide from his senses, no matter how well hidden something was, he would seek it out with his ears. A slight shudder ran down his spine as he realized that the children were no longer being loud and cheerful. In fact, the area he was able to 'see' had shrunk dramatically, leaving him essentially blind once more. That was not completely alien to him, being left completely sight deprived, but he had been enjoying the moment so, and being left with nothing but the wind to guide his steps, well, that was unfortunate.

Pushing off of the tree, he ascended to his feet, the tip of Takame sinking into the soft woody terrain beneath his feet. He took a couple of steps forward, shifting the blade upwards so that he could sheathe it. It slid in tenderly, making a secure hiss as metal scraped against the hardened leather of the sheathe. It provided a little comfort as he moved, his own heart beat providing enough noise to allow him to see the earth and any obstructions that would more than likely get in his way. Stepping over some fallen branches, he revealed himself to the field where the children had been playing. The wind carried through it loudly, having no trees to obstruct it. The wind carried with it, new sight, and that sight was nothing more than an empty field with a couple walking a dog near the end. Nothing exciting, but then, this was a hidden village, excitement would mean danger, and given his rank and skill, he would be more of a hindrance than help.

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

+20

[Promeleon]

[--/30]

Archimedes felt a little jittery, the rain was coming soon, the smell was getting more intense, and his ears picked up the droplets of water. Mostly secluded, tiny drops that would merely be ignored if they landed. They would bring on the rain drops, and this time of year, it would be a heavy fall, as the autumn fronts were acclimated to. This meant good news for him, he would have a couple of hours that would allow him to see everything around him, which was usually the perfect time to train with his sword, as he would not have to focus on picking up sounds and ensuring he would damage nothing as he practiced with the heavy blade. Not that he was concerned about damaging anything out here, since there was nothing around, but usually, with a lengthy blade, a blind taijutsu master, and reckless practice, something went wrong no matter how hard he tried to keep everything organized and neat with his practice and fighting style. All variables could not be predicted though.

He continued pacing through the park, hearing the oncoming storm. If he could see the sky, he would have known the clouds were thick and grey, but he had seen neither clouds nor colour before, so both concepts were alien. Still, he could feel the change in the air, it was coming, and fast. In fact, a large drop fell onto his hand cooling his skin and making him shiver slightly. More drops fell, hitting his head and face, until finally it began. The torrent washed down from the heavens, covering the landscape within seconds, lashing down, soaking into the soil until it was so saturated that puddles began to pool around the sunken spots in the ground. His footfalls quickened, and he headed through the park. Although he enjoyed the rain, he was in no particular mood to get sick from exposure. The world that he could visualize in his mind lit up, everything was very clear, vivid down to the last minute detail on the smallest water-loaded flower, the stalk bent double as the small petals struggled to hold the weight of a few droplets of water.

He reached the road, and could hear the water quickly building up and spilling down the paths, shallow rivers flowing and snaking to wherever they could reach. He splashed the water up as he ran through them, already soaked all the way through to the bone. People were sheltering themselves in wherever they could find, under awnings, in stores and cafes. He would have been able to comfortably do so too, and hopefully wait the storm out, but he did not feel the urge to be in proximity with any of the plebeians at the moment. A bolt of lightning must have struck, not that he knew, he could not see the light, but he most certainly heard the thunder, which struck with such phenomenal ferocity that he flinched for a moment as the powerful sound made his echolocation fail for a moment, just that single instant where the explosion occurred, creating a blank in his mind. This had happened before, so it was not a complete surprise, but he had no warnings when it came to thunder, especially if the lightning was not close.

Every time it was so overbearing to his ears that he would be left both blind and deaf for a few moments during and after, having no preparation for it. Swallowing, he stepped forward again, picking up the pace. He hated that weakness, however minor. With training, he could no doubt use the lightning to feed his echolocation if need be, in those few situations where it would arise. Archimedes was not a fool, and he did not enjoy planning for chances, but his ears would adapt eventually, his training was far from complete, and natural forces such as lightning were a long way down the line, for now he could be satisfied with just trying to see things. Speaking of which, he stepped over a fallen sign that he most certainly would not have noticed if it had not been for the rain. Ignoring it, he carried on, heading to the small cafe where his home sat over. It was not great, but it was a roof over his head.

[Zetsumei]

+10, Learned

[Promeleon]

Kusokesuni (Hells Drownout)
Rank: "C" Rank
Skill: NinJutsu (Somewhat)
Effect: With the use of one's ears and when a person needs to use their sense of hearing to see, the Kusokensuni is a specialized technique in which the user of the Shitakuma clan is capable of drowning out certain sounds waves up to certain frequencies. Example: If a Shitakuma member is in a large battle where their is a fairly amount of yelling and fighting going around, the person is capable of drowning out all sounds to a certain frequency for example like lets say the sound waves that is being pushed from the ground giving more stability. The technique must be learned ten times. Each time learned a user is capable of drowning out up to a certain amount. When first learned the user is capable of drowning out frequencies up to ten thousand hertz. After mastered the user is capable of drowning out up to one hundred thousand hertz of frequency. Remember a normal human is capable of hearing up to twenty thousand, this is way beyond then that of a regular body.
Special: When first learned the user needs to use the hand signs of Boar, Dragon, Tiger, and Horse. After the first time, hand signs is not needed.
Drawback: Drawback is that the user must train in this type of technique more then once in order to drown up higher frequencies. Another drawback is the fact that they are only capable of listening to one frequency at a time, so in a sense if they wished to listen to their own comrades, it be slightly more difficult that creates a massive confusion in which case may go against each other for a moment or two until the sounds is justified to where they understand.
Description: The way this feels is that the user is capable of drowning out certain frequencies in which they can hear certain sounds to accurately pin point where they need to go. What is interesting was the way this works, basically it is like a strong sensory. Within the mind of the user all sounds are muffled to an extent as the sound they concentrate on comes forth with more of accurate sense. The sensory and the sounds still work, in which they are capable to see. Example if there were a strong amount of yelling, the sound waves that hit the ears still react in which they can still use as a radar to help them move about (Acts like they can see figures) but of course does not damage the user's sense of balance and hearing.
Limit: Only those of the Shitakuma clan is capable of performing.

[00]

Archimedes approached the small, almost dilapidated cafe, following the usual scent, not even requiring the rain to find it anymore. Part of the reason he had chosen to live in such a location was thanks to the provocative aura that exuded from the tiny building. Anywhere within one hundred meters he could pinpoint the smell of chicken broth that was made here. Of course, he would never tell the woman who owned the place that, as she seemed infatuated enough with him already, and that made him awkward. Human interaction was not the most comfortable action for him to take, and that was when it was direct, not involving the flirty, almost inappropriate comments from the proprietor and often her customers too. Often times, he had scarcely managed to get through the catcalls of the regulars and into his own home without his face bleeding red from embarrassment. An enemy such as this was certainly difficult to overcome.

He did have one idea though, and that was to simply block them out using his advanced hearing. Maybe if he ignored them for long enough, they would quit it when they saw that his face no longer glowed bright red under their rather shocking words. This was of course, no simple task, as the biology that made up the ear was incredibly complex. Archimedes was nothing if he was not determined to ignore their sexual cat calls though. He felt a bit incensed that he was defending himself against such intrusion, but could it be helped? She allowed him to live there, in a rather comfortable place, and provided him with food an utilities for free, the least he could do was allow them their fun. This was not normally in his nature, but even he would not bite the hand that literally fed him. As the door to the cafe was opened by his steady hand, he prepared himself for the worst.

The first voice pierced his iron guard.

"Ohh, lookie who's here ladies"

He almost shuddered at the pheromones he could smell leaking from them, as though they were animals in heat. The idea of it made the voice even worse, and even here, Archimedes, the man who usually held such stoic composure, could not help but feel the shiver run down his spine as the women began their daily prowl. He could not even reciprocate, as the other women began their calls, as he swiftly moved to the other side of the room and up the stairs, pushing the curtain to the side. Even as he made his way up the stairs, he could hear their chatter, he could always hear their chatter. It was irritating, but to his credit, he was able to keep the fact that he was blind to himself, as he usually moved around a room with calm, practiced ease, using his heartbeat as a guide to see around him. The only reason he was able to exit the room so easily, which was shaming to admit, was because of their calls brightening the room to his ears, showing him everything he needed to avoid in order to get out of there as soon as possible.

As he pushed the door open to his apartment, he tried to close out the voices by stuffing towels in the cracks, but he knew it would be no help, it never was. The room was organized and clean, it always was, his fickle attention to detail and need for cleanliness drove him to the brink of insanity in the cafe downstairs, so upstairs, in his own private area, he made up for it with being clean. Closing his eyes, he dropped the sword onto the rack next to his bed and sat at the edge. His hands slowly going over hand seals of Shitakuma techniques that he sort of knew, but did not have any actual skill in. Archimedes understood that there were techniques specific to blocking and allowing in certain frequencies, and he knew that there were frequencies that the Shitakuma clan could hear that were beyond even the most advanced technologies, which was both practical and impressive. The seals released chakra in organized flows around his ears, which would fluctuate according to the frequency he would try and lock onto.

The world went silent.

[Promeleon]

[00]

Sound slowly returned in the form of a low buzzing, but there were no echoes in his mind, as he had apparently shut his mind down to one frequency, and those frequencies in that space were so low that there were so few things that made that sort of noise. Although Archimedes had not intentionally gimped his mind, he did note, with pleasant surprise, that the voices had stopped seeping through the walls, and he was no longer hearing the inane chatter of the women down stairs. As the buzzing noise escalated into something much akin to a high pitched beeping, similar to that of Tinitis, he tried to let the chakra go, and get his regular hearing back. It took a couple of seconds, but the voices downstairs returned, muffled momentarily, but returned fully. His placid face turned into a slight frown. Irritated by how little control he had over his chakra, even when it was something simple. He fell backwards onto his bed, his head was throbbing now, probably from abuse to his ears with his failure of a technique.

The women had quieted down now, and yet he could still hear their hushed tones drifting through the building. Proximity was not a problem for Shitakuma, and even a chakra depleted physical fighter like Archimedes had no problem when it came to actually using the chakra to enhance his hearing, at least once the technique was burned into the back of his mind. Unfortunately though, he was not great when it came to learning these chakra based things, as the practical usage of chakra was certainly not his forte. Still though, it was a rather basic technique as far as Shitakuma techniques were concerned, as it was a milestone of survival, since battles could get confusing, and voices were lost amongst the madness, this would allow him to at least keep basic tabs on targets and differentiate between one moving body and another. That was just a combat aspect of it, and was not even considering the reconnaissance aspect of the ability to easily bypass other sounds to hear voices.

Considering that it was a very basic technique and it would lead to further, more powerful and able techniques, it was something he had to learn and further himself with anyway, even if the training did not really increase his ability to see. Archimedes was practical though, and refining what he could 'see' was truly an aspect of practicality he could get in line with. If only there was an easier way to become accustomed to this sort of training, then he would have a much better time grasping the concepts. Of course, he would fly through his training with ease if it required him to be in the midst of battle, as that was how a man such as he learned, through forceful practice, and being subjected to pressure until he was able to overcome the boundary that had been holding him back. Unfortunately, leaf was not too busy at the moment, and any battles would be unavailable, or quite possibly get him arrested if he tried to start any trouble.

Although, there were certain places he could go and get into a bit of trouble, and have it not be his fault. Loud, rather raucous places that no one would ever think to question his appearance at. Bars and various other dives would be easy prey for him to advance his skills, especially if they were crowded and full of music, as that would really let him work on his technique. He would be at a huge disadvantage, with all the sounds and movements, Archimedes would barely be able to tell one person from another without being able to hear their certain tones of voice and specifying one from another. Even then, he would have to be very careful not to strike an innocent bystander when he was confused by all the sounds and bodies. This plan was hardly the most complex or even efficient, but at least he would not be sitting around practising careful chakra control in order to bypass certain limiters placed in his own body. He would have to leave his sword here of course, this was training, and there was no reason to leave a trail.

[Promeleon]

[00]

Archimedes had been forced to endure another good thirty seconds of their flirtatious banter before he managed to escape swiftly into the street, falling in line and becoming a shadow amongst the swathe of people that flooded the street now that the rain had calmed to barely a drizzle. His lean figure easily moved in and out of the crowd, wending through them, aiming to hit up the seediest bar that he knew of. While he was not the sort of person to frequent these bars, he had come across enough people, especially those of his old tribe, who had lost themselves to the alcoholism that was so tempting. Thus, he had been exposed to the dirty underside of these places when forced to put a stop to certain peoples poor choices. Most of the time it had not ended well, and he was certain that tonight would not end well either, but this time it was not because he was trying to avoid a fight, he was trying to provoke one. Although not much of a speaker, he was fairly confident that drunks would be easy to enrage.

The buildings in this area were as worse for wear as the people who inhabited them, showing the poverty line very clearly. The particular bar he was after was not so large, and the amount of people that would be inside was clearly a fire hazard. Archimedes did not like fire too much, a lot of heat, not a lot of mass, was a little hard to detect in certain circumstances, and trapped in a tiny bar with hundred of people was not the kind of circumstance that would be good for him. That was a little bit irrational though, if fire broke out, surely people would be screaming about it, and it would be his cue to leave. He nudged the door open to the bar and stepped inside. The smell was rather overwhelming, and he could not tell where one person ended and another begin, even with his echolocation. This was going to be far tougher than he had imagined, but far more effective for his training than simply trying to sift out the words of some old women.

He made his way into the bar, using his hands to feel where there were gaps in the crowd. Thanks to how busy it was, there was really no one wondering why he was touching them, since it kind of came with the territory. His ears were straining to pick up the most gruff, tough and gnarliest voice he could hear. Some guy who would have no hesitation to try and destroy him or maybe even hurt others. Archimedes tried to push past one particularly large man who he might have mistaken for a bear if it were not for the fact his echolocation was really failing him here. However, he was pretty sure that the large meaty hand that had connected with his face and forced him into another crowd of people ensured that this man was in fact, just a man. Already the echolocation was failing him, since he had lost the giant man in the crowd of people. Another fist slammed into his stomach, smashing him into the ground, dispersing another group of people. The entire bar exploded into havoc, with Archimedes in the center.

Desperately, he tried to block out the outside noise to hear the rumbling growl of his attackers voice again, but everything had become far too chaotic, and he could barely hear it. But at least there was something there. Amongst the bodies, he could see where it was coming from, and that it was coming right at him with vicious intent. Archimedes rolled backwards, getting to his feet, dodging the blow that came for him, and stumbled into another fight, only to have a chair broken over his back. Falling forward, he felt another fist collide with his face. The erratic fighting was overcoming him, and he was unable to determine what was going on using the echolocation, which was so fragmented and distorted that he was blinded because of the chaos. Trying again, he summoned the chakra to his ears to try and deafen the crowd, only hearing the low bass of the music. For a moment, his mind was blank, then the thumping bass sounded, the only noise he could see, but because of the singular sound, everything became clear.

The bass sounded so quickly and so on time that he was able to see the movements perfectly, and although Archimedes was already quite battered, he pushed forward and tackled the man around the waist, using his superior strength to lift him into the air on his shoulder, and turn the man into a living battering ram, smashing his broad back into the fighting crowds and into the bar, where it splintered in a wooden explosion. Even though his ears were blocking most of the sounds, he heard some angered shouts breaking through his chakra barrier, but that was quickly quashed by anger as he lifted his head up and began to batter the bearded mans face with his furious fist. Blow after blow hit flesh, but so dense was his head that the Shitakuma was sure that his fists were being damaged more than his beefy face. Six hits landed on their target before he was thrown off on to the ground again by a kick to the head, sending him reeling.

[Mist]

+ 30 - learned

[Promeleon]

Kusokensuni (Hells Drownout) Advanced
Rank: "B B" Rank
Skill: NinJutsu (Somewhat)
Effect: Just like the regular Kusokensuni but it does not concentrate on frequencies, what this jutsu does is that it helps by increasing the amount of frequencies that can be listened to at a time. When first learned the amount increases by one, and each time learned the amount increases by one as well. This so then if they wish to pin point certain people, they care capable of doing so.
Special: ---
Drawback: The more frequencies the user is capable of drowning out, the more of a chance the user has in which can be distorting towards the victim. Another Drawback is the fact that the user must train into this jutsu more times in order to be capable of listening to more then on sound frequency at a time when doing a drownout.
Description: The way this feels is that the user is capable of drowning out certain frequencies in which they can hear certain sounds to accurately pin point where they need to go. What is interesting was the way this works, basically it is like a strong sensory. Within the mind of the user all sounds are muffled to an extent as the sound they concentrate on comes forth with more of accurate sense. The sensory and the sounds still work, in which they are capable to see. Example if there were a strong amount of yelling, the sound waves that hit the ears still react in which they can still use as a radar to help them move about (Acts like they can see figures) but of course does not damage the user's sense of balance and hearing. With this version they are capable of hearing more then one frequency, what is interesting is that since this is more advanced they are capable of listening to individual breathing patterns in which they are capable of understanding those around if they have comrades.
Limit: Must know the basics of Kusokesuni (Hells Drownout) at least three times. Must be part of the Shitakuma bloodlimit.

[00]

Archimedes hit the ground hard. There was a slight ringing in his ears that disoriented him, but he gritted his teeth and once more focused the chakra in his inner ears in order to soothe the noises that were keeping him from being able to find his main opponent. This would have been easier if it were not for the fact that the entire bar had erupted into some sort of apocalyptic nightmare of fighting and screaming, but the Shitakuma had to make do. He was laying on his front, his hands pressed against the untreated wood of the floor, which was splintered and rough from years of neglect. If his hands had been softer, they would surely have been full of splinters, but the blind fighter had made coarse his hands through years of rough work and fighting. Pushing himself up to return to his fight, he felt a foot smash down on his back, sending him crash back into the wood flooring, cracking it even more.

The boot was large and heavy, and judging by the massive amount of pressure that was being applied to his back, Archimedes judged the man to be at least seven feet tall, and probably a good four hundred pounds of anger and alcoholic rage. The floor cracked loudly again, breaking his concentration and allowing the rush of sound to gain access to his head, making him flinch and releasing his resistance against the boot, fully pressing him into the ground and snapping the planks of wood, sending much of the bar cascading downwards into the basement of the bar. He did not even have time to yell out in surprise as he fell, hitting the floor with a loud thud that was covered by the other surprised, screaming voices. The large man crashed down on top of him, smothering him, preventing the swear words he wished to use from escaping. The torrents of voices and destruction threw him off, but he was able to once more bring chakra to his ears.

The chaotic noise was dimmed and he was able to focus on what was important. Maintaining his composure, and beating his assailant with all the vigour he could muster. First though, he was very aware of the immense weight of the man, and had to use all of his strength to buck the dead weight off of his back. His body strained against the weight, and he snarled as he pressed against the concrete floor, lifting his body and the multitudes of bodies on top of him up. This was just another day of training, only this time his targets were larger and drunker, and he was having a little more fun with it than he usually would have thanks to the extra work involved. Let nobody say Archimedes Von Ronsenburg is not a work horse. The pile of bodies rose into the air as the blind male hoisted them onto his shoulders, carrying the mass of people.

Their groans and complaints were not lost to him, as he had been able to block out the louder and more voracious and damaging noises, but not the voices, just so he could tell who was where. Hands uselessly pawed at him, and he took a struggling step forward before dropping the pile of people behind him. There were more groans and yells as the group of angry drunks tried to untangle themselves from the pile, and he was willing to wait for his main antagonist to get up. He was not disappointed either, as the large man shoved a group of people off of him, nearly throttling a man to death as he stood up. The black haired male cracked his fingers as he made a fist, daring the man to attack him. Of course, even in the dim light of the basement, it was easy to tell he was completely drunk, and very thirsty for blood.

[Promeleon]

[00]

The scent of blood was almost overwhelming in the basement, and if it were not for the incredible senses that the Shitakuma possessed, he would surely have lost himself in the heady scent of battle. Mixed with the iron like scent of the crimson fluid, the spilled beer that was surely coating almost every surface because of the fight was also a strong scent. There was only one scent and one sound that Archimedes was interested in however, and that was the odorous scent of the mans body odour, and the sound of his rattled breathing through what appeared to be a throat that had been abused by years of smoking. Even though the sounds of the war in the bar gave him a false sense of sight, differing between the shapes and sizes and facial structures of each and every angered patron of the bar was damn near impossible. At least in a battle sense it was too difficult for his still imperfect hearing abilities. One advantage he could use was that he knew the breathing patterns, and even the slight palpitation of his heart beat from either a medical problem, or intense anger.

The giant man gripped a broken chair near him, and the sensitive ears of the genin heard the cracking of the wood as his large beefy hands gripped it as hard as he could, cracking the finished wood. Swinging it like a bat, he struck a man who had come at him with a broken bottle, and the wood struck the mans head so hard that the black haired fighter was fairly certain that he had been killed by the blow. Archimedes ducked under an attack from behind and felt the air pass over his head, ruffling his hair. Throwing an elbow back he caught the offender in between the ribs, right in the solar plexus, forcing the breath from the mans lungs. Reaching over his right shoulder, the genin grasped the man around the head, the heels of his hand catching behind the mans ears and under his jaw. Wrenching the man forward, he turned his attacker into a projectile at his other attackers, easily throwing the man forward into the larger foe, who merely smashed him down onto the floor, eliciting a pained scream and cracking floorboards as the body broke through the wood.

As he was admiring his handy work; another foe jumped at him from the side, knocking him off balance and ruining his concentration on his hearing. For a moment, all the sounds of the bar rushed back at him, and he lost track of who he really needed to be worried about. Rotating his body and slamming his current foe into the wall of the bar, breaking shelves and bottles with the mans body, Archimedes concentrated on bringing his chakra back to his ears and tried to hear the sound of the guttural breathing of the large man. Once he had taken control of his senses once more, he realized that the breathing was on him, directly overhead. Even though it would do nothing to aid him, he looked up, directly at the face of the giant offender, whose hands were interlocked into a powerful overhead strike. For the first time since he had entered the bar, words spilled from the genins mouth. It was a futile attempt to try and at least assuage some of the pain that was about to come.

"Shit..."

The overhead smash came down upon him with the force of a god; smashing Archimedes onto his back and into the wooden floor, breaking him through the planks of wood and into the sub basement of the building, collapsing the entire floor of the bar that had taken so much damage. He knew his nose was broken, and blood was pouring from his broken appendage, and he could taste the coppery substance. His fall was short, and his back hit the dirty concrete floor of the sub basement, and he lay there dazed, letting the roars of terror and anger wash over him as countless other bodies descended from above. Covering his face and bringing his knees to his chest, he tried to make himself as small a target as possible, so that the falling ruffians would not land on him. Unfortunately, he was not as small as he wished he could be, and a rather robust man fell heavily onto him, knocking the breath from his lungs and forcing him to spit up blood. Trying to draw in a deep breath, the dank and dusty air was brought in, bringing him to a coughing fit. Shoving the man who had fallen on top of him off, he rolled onto his side and hacked up blood and dust, and other undesirable objects that had taken their home in his lungs.

[|Ayame Unbound|]

+20, please be sure to include how many TP you need to learn the skill in each post.

[Promeleon]

[20/70]

Spitting the remnants of the blood from his mouth, the Shitakuma male felt a little disoriented from the blow to the head from such a powerful man. He had never been struck with a blow filled with so much rage before, and it was not a pleasant feeling. Bringing his right hand to his nose, he felt the break tenderly; knowing full well that the stinging was not going to go away any time soon. Shaking his head, he tried to reorient himself. There were enough sounds down here to give him a perfect map in his head of the room, and where the bodies of all the fallen rioters were. Down here in the darkness of the basement, they truly stood no chance of defending themselves against his sound based sight. Chakra flowed through his body to his ears and he felt the satisfaction of clearing up the air of all the noise. There was still one distinct sound he wanted to hear, and he was not going to let it catch him by surprise again. The breathing was obviously going to be faster and labored; but it would still hold the telltale rattling of smoke damaged lungs.

With some effort of his aching body, Archimedes was able to pull himself up to his full height, feeling the groans of his muscles and joints that had gone through quite a bit of punishment in this small fight. As far as he was concerned, all the bodies of the idiots around him were moving and trying to nurse their own wounds, and were no longer a threat. The large man however, appeared to be struggling to his feet now too, having fallen safely atop of some rather unfortunate fellows. In the grime and dark of the basement, the massive man struggled to stand, but ultimately made it to his feet before the Shitakuma had strode over to him, ready to beat his senses from his head. In the dark, as his hand reached forward, his long fingers wrapping themselves around the meaty throat of his attacker, it would have seemed to the large man that the skeletal hand came from nowhere. Easily mistaken for the hand of death; had Archimedes been the kind of man who would kill over something so pointless.

No. The Shitakuma male was not one kill even under the correct circumstance. It was far more noble and useful to leave an enemy alive and captured. Tightening his grip around the mans throat, his gurgled pleading reached the chakra enhanced ears of Archimedes and exposed his fear filled face. His mouth was open in an exercise of futility and his eyes seemed to bug from his head. His large hands gripped the wrist of the smaller man and squeezed, trying to crush the bones, and it was damn near working. Wincing and sucking in air rapidly, the Taijutsu master released his hold and pulled back, disappearing once more into the darkness, watching the man as he rolled over and yelled nonsense. Thanks to the Kusokensuni technique, he did not hear the scream of the man whose hand he had just stood on and broke, nor did he hear the bar owner screaming down at him and everyone else from the floor above. There were no distractions here for him, just the panicked heartbeat of the man who had assaulted him, and the labored breathing he was doing in sheer fear of his opponents skills.

Arcimedes prowled the darkness, softly and deftly stepping between unconscious bodies and broken wood and glass so as not to make a noise. A shitakuma was only as good as his ability to not be noticed in the dark. After all, his enhanced hearing gave him a near infinite bonus in the dark in comparison to the frail auditory system of normal humans. In the dark, and while hiding, they were truly fierce predators, knowing when and where their opponents would step next, and knowing that they would strike like an unseen and unprepared force of nature. The man was now standing at his full height and he looked enraged. He was screaming something unintelligible in what the younger and smaller man assumed was another language, but all it did was light up the room for his predator, enabling him to see even more of the fear that was very obvious in his body language and even on his face. So loud was he; that Archimedes was able to see the spittle from his open mouth, and the visible shaking in fear of his opponent.

[Promeleon]

[--/70]

Coming around to the mans back, watching as he swung his head left and right to try and find any race of the Shitakuma, Archimedes watched patiently and quietly. The time to strike was nearly upon them, and he had to make sure he struck well, because this hard headed man was becoming a very big thorn in his side. The large man stepped forward, and so did the smaller; choosing his time to strike as the men stepped out. Pouncing forward, the blind genin used all of his strength to smash his right elbow into the left side of the mans neck, and using his shoulder to send him flying forward. A smaller man would have been broken by that one strike, the elbow connecting with the neck might have even killed or paralyzed them; but this man possessed so much flesh on his body and around his neck that the sheer mass of his muscles had prevented anything more than a very painful bruise. His weight had only been enough to send the man a couple of feet stumbling forward before he hit his knees, but that was good enough.

As Archimedes his the ground from his flying strike, he quickly spun on the balls of his right foot and smashed his left heel into the back of the kneeling man, just behind the right shoulder. The scream that it elicited was enough to inform the smaller man that he had dislocated the shoulder he had struck. He did not even need sight to confirm it. Following through with his strike, he wrapped his right arm around the neck of the man, the connection of the upper arm and forearm pressing against the soft flesh of his throat as he squeezed tightly. A dislocated shoulder, a nearly broken neck and a strong choke hold were apparently not even enough to slow this beast though, and the man rose from his knees, hoisting up the blind man too, a good few feet from the ground. Archimedes held on tight; gripping his right forearm with his left hand to ensure the choke hold would not only choke, but keep him firmly attached to the mans back.

The man seemed possessed, shaking and twisting his body in every direction, attempting to buck his attacker from his back; but the Shitakuma held on desperately. It was then that Archimedes realized they had gone airborne, and he suddenly became aware of the situation that he was not longer on top, and that the man was falling backwards to the ground, with his body intending to be the cushion. His grip slackened with this realization and he brought his knees up and curled them between him and the man. If he was going to get crushed under this fat man, he sure as hell was not going to be the only one who got hurt. Luckily the spot that he landed on was not covered with any sharp wood or glass that would tear his back up, but that was the only silver lining in this dark cloud. Once more he lost his attention on his ears and was no longer listening to only the sound of the mans breathing and heartbeat, he could hear the swearwords and calls of the other men too, telling the large man to 'crush that asshole'.

Archimedes hit the ground and he gritted his teeth, preparing for the worst as the entire hundreds of pounds of this man crushed him against the hard concrete earth. His knees drove themselves into his back, and his lack of training showed as he screamed in pain as his back bent awkwardly around the protrusions. Even the Shitakuma could not hold it all in and a rough groan escaped his gullet due to the strain of lifting this mans weight with his knees, and having been crushed into the earth like a bug. His head reeled with the effort that his body put forth, and using the ground and his lower back as a fulcrum, he forced the fat man up with his knees and using the last of his potential falling momentum to throw his head and shoulders into the ground, not fully crushing the Shitakuma. Unfortunately for Archimedes, he was unable to rid himself of the entire weight of the man, and was now trapped under an immense behind, feeling like he wanted to kill himself.

[Promeleon]

[--/70]

At this point in his life, Archimedes was beginning to regret the path he had taken in his life to end up here, sandwiched between a monumentally gargantuan behind, and a very filthy, cold floor. He was sure that even the most advanced Shitakuma hearing would have been dampened by the amount of flesh that was blocking him from the world outside at this point, as everything had gone silent, and he could not hear anything but his own thoughts. With a great amount of effort, he brought his hands to his chest and placed them palm up on the buttocks, and scowled at himself and what he was about to do. Using all of his strength, he lifted the man and rolled him to the side, allowing himself to stand up and dust himself off. He was sore now and starting to get quite emotional about the whole situation, which was quite unlike him. Taking in a deep breath, he attempted to calm himself down and allow his chakra to flow through his body and especially to his ears one more time. Unfortunately, someone took this time to throw a brick at him while he was trying to concentrate, and just before he was able to reaffirm a map of the area in his head, it struck him right in the base of the skull where the spine meets the skull.


A darkness engulfed him unlike the darkness of being blind. This darkness felt floaty, as he could no longer feel the pain of his body or the weight of anything, he was just a consciousness trapped in a darkness. For a few moments it was relaxing. Then a sharp pain brought him back to as the large man kicked him very painfully in the ribs. Right away he felt two of them break and he coughed up more blood. Another stinging strike hit him in the back. Apparently they had all forgone their anger at each other and had decided that everything was his fault. They were kind of right, but he feared that although he was not willing to take any of their lives, they were probably rather eager to take his. The strikes all hit and hurt badly, but he could not filter through the sounds to make a proper image in his mind unless he distributed his chakra evenly. Through the pain he did so, bringing his arms over his head to protect himself from any more blows to the head that would knock him unconscious and probably end everything.

Through the cacophony of taunts and noise, and the sounds of weapons hitting his flesh, he heard it, the gruff, heavy breathing of the large man. The sounds echoed and allowed him to fill his mind with a picture of the room. The large man was picking up a massive piece of fallen roof, and was going to drop it on him. Finding that he could see who was doing what, it was now or never when it came to unleashing his counter attack. Reaching out with his right hand, he grasped the ankle of one of his attackers, taking him by surprise. Wrenching it sideways, he removed him from his feet and brought him to the ground, using him and a hold to pull himself away from some of the attacks. A piece of wood caught him in his left ankle just before he could escape the surrounding circle of attackers, and he was fairly certain that it might have cracked. Clenching his jaw, he pushed past the pain and drove a knee into the solar plexus of the first fallen man, and ripping the pipe from his hands, turning and deflecting some of the attacks. Seeing that he was actually still able to fight threw some of them off and they halted their advance, but a couple brave souls continued.

Archimedes did not even need super sensitive hearing to hear that the large man was enraged by the fact he could still move, but it sure as hell helped when it came to locating him and finding out how close he was with his massive piece of debris. It appeared that he was angered enough to simply throw it, and the huge piece of wood and stone found itself turning through the air as it fell towards the unlucky blind ninja. Rolling sideways out of the way of the trajectory, he was unable to free himself from the explosion of debris from the breaking piece, but at least he had not been killed by it. Cuts bled painfully as he moved, but he could not stop now. Grasping the pipe tightly in his hand, he struck out hard against the kneecap of the closest man, bringing him screaming to the ground, which for a moment lit up the entire room, and he saw each and every person in here distinctively. There was one goal though, and he was the large man now foaming at the mouth with pure rage. The pipe felt heavier than it should, but that just meant it would hit harder.

[Promeleon]

[--/70]

The man with the busted kneecap went down quickly, and he was silenced as Archimedes stepped on his face and moved over him. His ankle stung viciously, but he could not allow it to prevent him from finding his target. Blocking another strike from one more of the low-lifes, he ducked low and jabbed him in the throat with a quick left hook, which sent the man choking to the ground, spluttering for breath as he went. He had not even hit the ground before Archimedes used him as a stepping stone to leap into the air at his goal. The large man had his fists clenched and he was breathing like a bull, his teeth gritting so hard that it was a surprise they were not cracking from the effort. In the air, the Shitakuma made sure to narrow his field of vision to just that one man, as all else was behind him. In this entire room, it looked only as if it was him and the large man, who stood before him, looking up at the soaring figure that was Archimedes. The bar raised high, the Shitakuma descended upon the man, swinging the piece of steel with such vehemence it felt as though it could split the earth.

The man raised his right arm to block the strike, and sent a left hook out to find Archimedes stomach. Both blows connected at once. The pipe struck the flesh of his forearm with a sickening cracking noise as it split the muscle and snapped the bone in a very unclean manner, making the man scream out in pain. The fist that met Archimedes stomach was about the size of his abdomen thanks to the mans large, beefy hands, and it drew the breath from his body as he spat up blood onto the face of the large man. Both of them hit the ground hard. The Shitakuma able to roll away from it and push past the pain, but the fat assailant was screaming in pain, so loudly that it physically hurt to listen to. Archimedes shut out the noise using the Kusokensuni technique, which made it look as though the man was not actually making any noise, as his mouth just opened and his tongue pressed hard against his bottom jaw as his silent scream washed over the room, making everything very bright and easy to see for the blind genin. Gripping the pipe, he could see that he had struck the man with such force that the metal had bent.

No wonder he was screaming so loud.

Everyone in the room had stopped, and Archimedes felt as though he was going to pass out from the pain in his body. Blood slowly formed rivulets down his arms and legs from the wounds from the beating he had sustained on the ground. His back was all torn up from the fall through the ground, and his fists were ripped to shreds from the beatings he had been giving out. His entire body looked ragged, and he was as exhausted as he looked. His ears were burning, and he was beginning to lose his ability to separate sounds, and slowly, voices came back to him that he had been holding off with chakra. The large man was no longer screaming, but sobs and pleas for help were now filling the air. The other men down here, the ones that were awake and not beaten into unconsciousness at least, were all muttering among themselves. Wondering if they should try and attack Archimedes now that he had managed to fell the largest of them with what looked to be relative ease. To them at least. He had managed to shake off most of their attacks and had continued to knock each and every one of them down with every try.

Of course, from his own perspective, Archimedes was wondering if these guys had the balls to try and take him, because after that abuse, he was not overly certain that he would be able to stave off their attacks. Before all of this, he would have had the energy to leap up to the top floor and leave the bar in a cool manner. Right now he was checking about to find the stairs. The creaking of the building and the mutterings of the men in the basement were just enough for him to maintain a proper mental sight of the room to scan. The stairs were apparently just behind a rickety old door. Slowly, he raised the bent pipe, which made the group of men flinch back as he backed towards the door, trying to gain control of his chakra in his ears once more to see if there was anything heading down the stairs towards him. With any luck he could get back to the top floor and leave here without being recognized as a ninja, or getting jumped by any more hooligans. For once in his life, Archimedes wished he had a little more chakra to play around with, or at least better control.

[Promeleon]

[--/70]

Kicking the door open, he limped out of the room and climbed the fetid stairs. It smelled like years of mildew and stale beer and that made Archimedes more uncomfortable than anything else. He tripped up one of the stairs and caught himself on the top stair. Pausing where he was, he looked around and saw that the owner was looking more infuriated than the man who he had just felled. In his hands he held a rather mean looking knife, it did not like a weapon of any sort, but more of a food preparation knife. At least from his echo vision, the edge did not look that sharp. Archimedes pulled himself to his full height and stared down the owner who did not seem to be phased by the stare from the blind genin. That was annoying, he was pretty badly injured and did not really think he could stand another fight, especially if the owner of the dingy bar possessed any modicum of talent when it came to fighting. Cracking his knuckles, the Shitakuma prepared himself for the old man, who was, oddly enough, not making a noise, making it quite difficult to pinpoint his exact movements.

Luckily for him that the people in the pit beneath them was still filled with rambunctious hooligans who were stirring up a hell of a noise down there, allowing the genin to view the room. Given the old mans stance and his apparent ability to suppress the noise he was making, it looked as though he was no amateur like the idiots down below. Archimedes stepped forward and the man moved rapidly towards him. His tremor sense allowed him to easily step to the side of the first attack, where the blade met the floor and exploded it in a massive shower of shrapnel that bit into the already torn up flesh of the Shitakuma male. Obviously this old man had strength that belied his size. Moving behind his back; the younger male took advantage of the massive amount of effort it appeared to swing tht heavy blade and threw a straight kick against the mans side, but he deftly twisted his body and swung the blade backwards as he did so, narrowly missing the younger mans leg as the kick was aborted. The owner kicked off the wall and lunged towards the youth who had destroyed his tavern, swinging the blade in an overhead arc that would have cleaved anything in the way in twain.

Luckily Archimedes moved from his spot and watched as a table was turned into wood chips by the dull blade. In the heat of the battle, he had forgotten about the fact that most of the floor had been removed, and he had not been allowing his chakra correct flow in his ears, which had severely limited his ability to map the room and to properly determine where and how the attacks were coming. His foot brushed the edge of a chair and he stumbled slightly, his left foot stepping to where there was no floor and his balance was ruined. The collective gasp from all of the people below was enough for his ears to catch a good view of the room and he witnessed the man soaring through the air aiming to cut him in half. With his one leg on the floor, he pushed with all of his might and kicked backwards over the hole and at the wall on the opposite side of the room, catching it with his hand and both feet, using his chakra to stick to the wall. Taking in a breath, he could taste the fear and the anger in the room, but most importantly, he could taste that the smelly owner of the bar was streaking at him once more. Allowing a calm to come over him, Archimedes let him come.

The man was directly in front of him, the blade arcing sideways, aiming to cut the genin in half at the waist, but now that he had calmed himself, Archimedes pushed up with his legs, pivoting using his hand that was attached to the wall so that he was looking down at the man whose blade had caught nothing but air. Using his one free had, he seized the man by the long mane of greasy, unkempt hair, and smashed his face into the wall then released himself from the wall, flipping down as if to land on his feet on the ground that was not there. Dropping through the hole in the floor, still holding the screaming man by his hair, the Shitakuma landed and swung the man into the floor with a loud and painful thud as a handful of hair was torn from his greasy head. Silence became the prevalent noise, and the racing heartbeats were the only signs that there were others than himself in this hole in the ground. It had appeared he had finally dealt with the problem that he had not known he had had. Where were all the voices cajoling him now? Or had he gotten too good at ignoring them with the extrasensory chakra? He shrugged and once more headed to the grimy staircase.

[Draven]

+50 - learned

[Promeleon]

Shunshin no Jutsu - Oshi (Body Flicker Technique - Push)
Rank: "C"
Skill: NinJutsu/TaiJutsu
Effect: A Jutsu that allows a user to rush forward in almost instantaneous speed. Used to draw the user close to the opponent.
Special: ---
Drawback: May use 3 times a day. May perform 1 more each time learned. Passing amount renders the user's legs immobile due to severe pain. Unable to perform again unless gained medical treatment. Must move through an opening. Unable to maneuver around obstructing objects. Can't attack while performing any Shunshin or Variation.
Description: User is able to move forward in a straight line along the ground in almost instantaneous untraceable speed while temporarily masking the user's movements within 10 meters. A puff of smoke is occasionally used to disguise the user's movements. It is accomplished by focusing the user's chi along the ankles and foot. User mostly moves just with their ankles and feet. Jutsu takes up no movements. User may only use this Jutsu half of the movements may allow in a single round while rounding down. Example: User has 5 movements, user is able to perform Jutsu 2 times per round.
Limit: Universal NinJutsu or Universal TaiJutsu.

[--/20]

The fresh air felt amazing against his skin and breathing in actual oxygen was a godsend. There was no after taste of beer and fetid atmosphere, and blood for the last little bit of time he had spent in there. Archimedes fell against the wall of a building, leaning hard against it, trying to calm his racing heart and relax his aching body. That had been an excursion and a half that he had not quite meant to go on. Still though, some good had come of it, as he had been able to further train his skills when it came to techniques of the Shitakuma bloodline. It was probably a good idea to move on to something a little less strenuous now that his body felt all beat up. He could probably keep practicing his bloodline techniques, but his ears were ringing and it felt as though he had been boxed in the sided of the head for hours on end. Probably from all the straining to listen.

Judging by the temperature of the air around him; and estimating the length of time he had spent in that brawl, the Shitakuma was willingto bet that it was around eight at night and people were starting to head home from the things they had entertained themselves with all day. He did not want to be part of the flow, as he always felt awkward in large groups of people. Archimedes decided to take to the roof tops and head over to the training fields where he would practice his body flicker technique knowledge, as that was something he was lacking skills in. Considering the fact that he focused primarily on Taijutsu, not being able to move swiftly around the field of battle was a flagrant oversight on his part. It was around this time last year when he had first come across the technique; but he had not really cared to learn it at the time, as he still was learning the basics of his ear techniques.

With a little flush in his cheeks in embarrassment, he recalled the single time that he had attempted the technique. Thankfully no one had seen it, but he still did not like recalling his failure. There was not much to the body flicker technique; it was a rather simple, but extensively useful technique that allowed the user to move short distances almost instantaneously. Remarkable for a Taijutsu user such as himself. Unfortunately, he had heard that it was simple and had not really put much effort into it, focusing on just trying to move rapidly forward. Whereupon he had tripped and sprained his wrist like an idiot. Even more of an idiotic move was the fact he restrained himself from going to the hospital to get it fixed, and used his basic field knowledge of healing sprains and breaks to fix it himself. The sprain had not been that bad and had healed quickly, and correctly, which he was thankful for.

Now Archimedes felt he was in a good place to learn the technique. He had learned a little more about his body when it came to chakra and physicality, and he had learned not to treat a technique like it was a simple everyday task. Pushing off the wall, he bent his knees and tensed his body before leaping up onto the roof. Briefly it crossed his mind to maybe attempt the technique right here and right now, but he was fairly certain that if he performed it incorrectly; with his luck; he would fall off the roof and injure himself far greater than he had done last time he had attempted the technique. Biting down his pride, he move rapidly over the rooftops, the noise of the village itself lighting his way forward to the training grounds. In his earnest haste to go and train, he had mostly forgotten about his injuries, none of which were grievous, but merely bothersome.

[Promeleon]

[--/20]

Archimedes leapt from the final building and soared through the air and over the fence of his preferred training grounds. There were small and secluded, and quite worn down. It did not appear that they were cared for by anyone in the village, and probably did not actually exist as far as training grounds were concerned. Merely left as a playground for kids. The Shitakuma did not mind. The less people that were around, the better it was for him to do his training, and he trained harder by himself. The ground rushed to meet him and he rolled his landing, skidding as he got to his feet from the roll and coming to a full stop almost in the center of the grounds. He cursed under his breath; having missed again. Cracking his neck as he rolled it to loosen his muscles, he pondered how he was going to train this technique. The easiest way would be to simply try it, but given that this was a quick movement technique, he would rather race something. His foot nudged a small rock on the ground, and he knelt to pick it up.

This would be perfect.

Tossing the rock in the air a couple of times, the wind whistling past it made it come into view in his mind. It was not a special rock by any means; it had been worn down by years of erosion and had rounded edges for the most part, and was made smooth by water and wind. It felt nice to touch. Tossing it high in the air one more time, he visualized the distance he was going to cover, and saw the spot he was going to land in his mind. Letting the rock land back into the palm of his right hand, he flicked his wrist and tossed it lightly, in an arc overhead where it would sail beautifully. As it moved through the air; Archimedes tightened all the muscles in his body and slid his right foot backwards, bending his knees to launch himself forward. Thrusting his right arm forward as one would do when breaking out of the starting gate in a race, he launched himself forward as fast as he could; his feet pounding on the ground.

The last second, he rotated and threw his left heel back to skid around and catch the rock in his left hand moments before it touched the ground. A breath of air escaped that he had not realized he had been holding. A breath of disappointment knowing that he had incorrectly performed the technique. He had indeed caught the rock; but realistically he had not moved any faster than he had known he already could. That had simply been a wind sprint. He clenched the rock for a moment then tossed it once more into the air, focussing with all of his might to reach where it was going with the body flicker technique. He had seen it used multiple times; after all, most of the instructors and chuunin in the academy used it in order to leave rooms half of the time as annoying as it was. The rock moved slowly through the air, his mind keeping track of the vision in front of him.

Archimedes felt his legs tighten and the muscles in his calves coil like springs as he focussed his entire body into this technique. Thrusting his body forward with as much strength as he could endure; he moved across the ground at such a rapid pace that he could not judge the landing correctly. Spinning on his heel in order to try and catch the rock as it neared the ground, he tipped backwards from the momentum, and fell clumsily into the foliage a few meters behind as he tumbled. That had not hurt. What had hurt was knowing that he looked a fool once more, bringing his injured pride to the surface again. He sighed as he heard the rock hit the ground and roll to a stop. At least he had beaten it this time, even if he did need to work on it a lot more. Pressing his hands onto the ground to push himself up, he realized how tight his legs felt; as though he had just run a marathon. The technique was a little more strenuous than he had given it credit for. He would certainly have to work on it to increase his tolerance.