Artist Awakening

[Kanae]

The Land of Earth. It had been quite some time since Kanae had visited the land where she was born. This was Gracie’s first time here, and she sniffed excitedly at her surroundings. Kanae had traveled here after getting permission from Evangeline to come and unlock her handmouths. For that, Kanae needed a village elder. Kanae decided to stop by her home first to visit and get instruction for where she should go next.

The sound of laughter and talking greeted Kanae as her house came into sight. It seemed like her rather large extended family were all gathered here for some sort of occasion. It wasn’t a holiday, and Kanae hadn’t told anyone that she was coming, so she wasn’t quite sure what was going on. As she got closer she noticed someone she hadn’t seen for a while. “Naomi!” she called, running up to her older sister and hugging her. Naomi was the reason Kanae had decided to become a shinobi in the first place. Naomi was a ninja from the Land of Stone and she only rarely had a chance to visit which explained the large gathering. It was amazing that Kanae and Naomi were able to visit at the same time.

Everyone was overjoyed to see both sisters together. She spent so much time with her family talking and catching up that Kanae wasn’t able to ask about unlocking her handmouths until the next day. When she explained what she wanted, her family asked for a demonstration of her abilities. Everyone knew that you had to possess a certain level of skill before you could attain handmouths. Her family was suitably impressed by her demonstration and gave her directions to a house where she could find village elders. Her grandmother was especially proud of her and wrote a letter of introduction for her to give to the elders. It basically said that Kanae had the Toujitakumi bloodline and was skilled enough to unlock both handmouths. Kanae thanked her family and headed out with Gracie to find the house. The house was in a secluded area, but she had been given good instructions and had no difficulty finding it. Kanae walked onto the front porch, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

[N A T S U M I]

Upon arriving at the building you and Gracie would be greeted by a young male in glasses as he opened the door with a somewhat curious expression on his face. Seeing you there his gaze softened and a warm smile replaced the curious look before he acknowledged you both in a kind, soft spoken tone. “Why hello beautiful one, how may I help you on this fine afternoon?” His kind voice seemed musical, although he did not make any kind of gesture of allowing you or your canine into the house.

You would, however, be able to hear movement from deeper inside the building as soft thudding noises neared the door. A warm feeling oozed from the house and the soft crackling noises echoed through the halls as an evident fire had been lit inside the premises. A low grumble of thunder rocked the skies as a sign of an upcoming storm, but no single drop of rain could be heard or seen. The soft cries of children came from inside the building as well, some louder than most but the amount of people actually inside the building would remain unknown.

[Kanae]

Kanae was a little surprised to be greeted by someone who was much too young to be an elder. Maybe he was an assistant or something. He seemed polite enough, but it was obvious that he wouldn’t be letting her in until he knew what she wanted. “Hello,” she greeted him with a smile. “My name is Kanae Sankuchi and this is my animal companion, Gracie.” Gracie thumped her tail at the sound of her name, but otherwise remained silent.

Kanae retrieved the letter her grandmother had written from her bag before continuing. “I’m here because I want an elder to help me unlock both of my handmouths. My family gave me directions to this house and wrote a letter of introduction for me. Do you need to see it or should I give it to someone else?”

While Kanae waited for the man’s response, she observed her surroundings. The weather was quickly starting to turn stormy, but no rain had fallen yet. The house seemed to be warm and to have other people inside. The noises were muffled, so Kanae couldn’t tell how many people were inside. She knew Gracie was listening too and would alert her if anyone came too close.

[N A T S U M I]

As you explain your reasons for being there, the young man would nod thoughtfully and await for the note to be handed over. The assistant also have you both a knowing look as if he had suspected that the reason would be for the hand mouths. After a quick skim of your note, the door would be opened wider as the assistant stepped aside. “Please come inside my dear. I shall introduce you to the elder regarding your matter.” His voice remained soft and gentle as he stepped aside to allow you and Gracie to cross the threshold.

You both would then be lead down a long, narrow hallway which was brightly lit by a single ceiling light. The light shone off the perfectly polished wooden floorboards which glowed a caramel color due to the varnish which appeared to have been recently applied. No photographs were visible within the hall, but the warmth would hit you like a gust of wind once the front door was closed. The assistant quietly lead the way down the hall, moving on swift feet that made little to no sound at all.

Turning to the left you would be introduced into a large sitting room which was where the source of the noise was coming from. Four children, each under the age of ten were running around the room, tugging on an elderly woman's dress as she calmly played with them beside an open, roaring fire. However, one of the children glanced toward the entry to the room right where you were standing and noticed Gracie before bellowing out the word: “Doggie!” Soon all the attention would be bestowed upon Gracie as all four children suddenly ran toward her.

“Hey Lady, can we play with your dog please?” The same child would ask you, tugging on your shirt gently. Meanwhile the assistant would weave around the children and reach the elderly woman and hand her your note. An audible sigh escaped through the woman's lips as she turned to smile in your direction. “Come my child, do take a seat. Would you like a cup of tea and some biscuits?” Her voice was somewhat scratchy, yet the tone the woman used was pleasant and warm.

The woman's gaze dropped down to the note again as she read it thoroughly. “Ah, I know this family. I have not long helped a member get their hand mouths too,” the woman said softly, raising her gaze to give you a once over. “You look terribly young to have progressed this far in your training, may I ask what village you have traveled from?” The woman said, narrowing her eyes at you, searching for a headband; assuming you were a Ninja.

[Kanae]

The man took the note she offered, and after quickly scanning it he invited her inside. As she followed the man through the house, Kanae noticed that it was very well kept. Everything was clean and looked like it had been recently polished. They eventually arrived in a sitting room where Kanae noticed four small children playing with an elderly woman. But that all changed once one of the children spotted Gracie. They immediately rushed over to the wolf and asked Kanae if they could play with Gracie. “Sure, Gracie loves children,” Kanae replied with a smile.

While Gracie was occupied, the elderly woman offered Kanae a seat as well as some tea and biscuits. Kanae graciously accepted them and took a seat while the woman read through the letter. It seemed like the woman knew Kanae’s family and had recently helped a member acquire their handmouths. After reading the letter, the woman looked Kanae over carefully. “You look terribly young to have progressed this far in your training, may I ask what village you have traveled from?” Kanae was wearing her ninja headband on her upper right arm, and she turned her arm so the woman could see the symbol on it as she answered. “I am a Takigakure shinobi, and even though I’m young, I enjoy learning new things.”

[N A T S U M I]

The elder leaned back in her chair at the sight of your headband. It seemed as if it had been a while since she had seen a Takigakure Shinobi requesting to awaken hand mouths. “Ah. I see. Well let's see how good you are at listening and paying attention.” The elder said softly, standing as she did so. You were then lead toward the back of the house, by both the elder and assistant, exiting into a large yard to where another building was located. But as you near it, the signs of it being a Dojo would surface.

“I would strongly recommend that you remove your shoes, beautiful one. The elder does not like people entering her Dojo with shoes on. It is highly disrespectful.” The assistant warned, yet his tone was warm and gentle. The elder entered the building without waiting for anyone yet the assistant stood beside the door and held it open for you to pass through before closing it quietly. The elder had continued to walk forth until she was in the center of the Dojo before stopping and turning around to begin speaking.

“Now, I am pretty sure you know the in's and out's of the clan so I won't go into detail there. What you need to do is concentrate on your hands during the process once you receive the knowledge of the handseals. What I told your relative was something that she did not manage to properly understand, so I am wondering if you would understand this before moving on to the next stage.”

The elder seemed somewhat stern with the way she spoke. Her tone was the type that would except total silence during the time she spoke. Interruptions were not tolerated otherwise she might turn around and send you on your way. Despite the elder had folded her arms passively, her smile did not disappear. “Explosive chakra is something that is embedded into your jeans. It is also known as Yin and Yang; positive and negative chakra. All explosives hand made of via clay possess a positive charge and a negative one. The same applies to grenades.”

The assistant approached the elder and handed her a scroll and a bottle of water. Accepting both, the woman drank heavily and handed the bottle back. The scroll was then opened and given the once over before it was handed directly to you. “Concentrate on both your Yin and Yang chakra as you read over these handseals and description of the unlocking process. I am here if you need any help, but during this process, I want you to perform it in front of me before I give any further instructions, should you need them.” The elder said firmly, pressing the scroll into your hands before walking toward one of the walls of the Dojo to give you space.

[Kanae]

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SPOILER: Click to show

"Kuchi Botsu" (Mouth Awakening)
Rank: C-ranked
Skill: Passive, Supplementary
Effect: Allows the Sankuchi to awaken and use a single hand mouth for the purpose of molding clay bombs
Special: Must hunt down a Sankuchi elder and complete a given task as apart of training. After such, a series of hand seals, kept secret by the elders will be performed, allowing the user to awaken there sleeping mouth.
Drawback: If one does not get this ability at birth, they cannot acquire it until they have 200 TP in clan jutsu.
Description: The lucky few in the bloodline are born with a hand mouth awake and ready to create. Those who are less fortunate however, will to train much harder to perfect the art their clan so cherishes before the mouths in their palm begin to recognize this power and awaken. Once the user feels as if they are strong and skilled enough within their clans art and techniques, the Sankuchi goes to the elders of their clan, and can be given a task to complete. This task can be a variety of things or mission which will prove that the young sankuchi has grown (Mod controlled task and Npc). If they have proven themselves worthy to further their skills in the clans artwork, a series seals will be preformed by the Clan elder (Handseals that cannot be performed by any other), which will awaken their hand mouth. The recipient is free to release the use their newly awoken mouth.
(Please note that the task given will be graded as any other training post. Tp rewarded and the user can obtain the said mouth)
Limit: Sankuchi Bloodline. Only Staff may Give the user the Task to complete as well as the Tp upon completion.

Kanae took the assistant’s advice and removed her shoes before entering the dojo. After the elder finished talking, Kanae took the scroll the woman handed her and carefully read through it before doing anything else. It contained information about the process of unlocking handmouths, but didn’t really give her any specific instructions about Yin and Yang. The woman had also said that she wanted Kanae to perform something for her. She had also talked about grenades and the conflicting forces found in explosive chakra. It sounded like Kanae needed to draw on what she had already learned in order to be able to successfully awaken her handmouths.

Kanae was a hands-on learner, and she decided the best way to learn about Yin and Yang chakra was by creating a clay bomb. Kanae set the scroll down and rummaged around in her pouch until she found some clay that she hadn’t used since she first started learning Toujitakumi techniques. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to use actual explosives inside of a dojo, so Kanae had decided to use training clay. It was exactly the same as using explosive clay, except the clay wouldn’t explode.

There were three components of successfully creating a clay creature: Clay Life, Clay Infusion, and whichever jutsu you were trying to perform. Since all of Kanae’s creations could have explosive properties, Kanae didn’t think that the specific jutsu mattered when it came to Yin and Yang. Clay Life was the technique that let her clay creations move around, but it didn’t have anything to do with explosions. That only left Clay Infusion. Kanae wondered how many times she had unconsciously drawn on positive and negative chakra without even realizing it.

Making clay bombs came so naturally to her that the only things she focused on were the clay creature she was molding and the jutsu she was trying to perform. Now she would have to shift her focus to the Clay Infusion step. Kanae decided to perform the Grenade jutsu. It was a simple, low-level technique that Kanae had performed dozens of times. Because of this, Kanae wouldn’t need to divert much of her attention to successfully performing the jutsu.

Also, the elder had specifically mentioned grenades, so her choice seemed fitting. Kanae carefully removed about one slot of training clay from her small clay pouch. She zipped the pouch back up so the rest of her clay wouldn’t dry out before returning her attention to the task at hand. Kanae placed the piece of clay she had separated into her mouth. The familiar taste of clay flooded her taste buds; Kanae didn’t have any flavored training clay.

Kanae closed her eyes and slowly began chewing. Normally it would only take her 6 seconds to infuse the clay with her chakra, but Kanae wasn’t trying to rush. As she chewed, Kanae felt her chakra being to permeate the clay. She usually only focused on the amount of chakra, but now she tried to determine the type of chakra she was creating. At first, Kanae was only aware of the normal sensation she felt every time she created a bomb.

This didn’t discourage Kanae though. She knew the negatively charged chakra was there. The ability was in her genes and evidenced every time one of her clay bombs exploded. As Kanae continued chewing, she started to notice subtle differences in her chakra. It wasn’t enough for her to determine what chakra was positive and what chakra was negative, but the inconsistencies were definitely there.

By that time, the piece of clay Kanae was chewing was supersaturated with both her chakra and saliva. Kanae removed the lump of clay from her mouth and held it in her right palm. Using just the fingers of her right hand, Kanae deftly formed a miniature robin about two inches in length. She performed the Katsu handseal with her left hand, and the robin grew to a size of six inches and began to move around. Kanae performed the Katsu handseal once again and the robin exploded with a harmless pop.

Kanae caught the pieces of the robin in her hands and kneaded them back together. She had effectively gotten rid of all of the chakra in the clay and was ready to repeat the jutsu again. This time she had a better idea of what she was looking for, so she should have more success. Kanae decided to continue using both the training clay and the Grenade jutsu. Her goal was to learn more about Yin and Yang, so there was no need to switch things up.

[The Roar of the Falls]

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