Breaking a Gate [P| T]

[奥田 (Okuda)]

SPOILER: Click to show

Speed of the Mind
Rank: "C", "B", "A"
Skill: Skill / Knowledge / Taijutsu
Effect: This type of knowledge and technique grants the user with the capability of withstanding the elements of the Hachimontonkou. They must learn this multiple times. Without this, the Celestial Gates become more destructive toward the mind. This allows the user to endure the intense increase of all the body's perception demanded from the gates.
Special: ---
Drawback: Must be learned each time before they go into a new gate.
- For Gates 1-3, they must learn the "C" Rank version.
- For Gates 4-6 they must learn the "B" Rank version.
- For Gates 7 and 8, they must learn the "A" Rank versions.
Description: ---
Limit: Must become a Chakra Gate User.

o.1o

---

Okuda had just left the Raikage’s home or rather the safe house they’d been using for some time now for the meetings regarding the council and the gale empire. Okuda knew it was time to start readying his body again for combat, making it stronger and the first thing that came to mind was training himself to further tap into the effects of the Chakra gates, though it was a risky proposition in and of itself. Okuda had known of a small area that was seemingly perfect for this and that was out of the way of most civilization in the village. It was a small cave with a small one room building within it, also in the cave was a small waterfall that would make a perfect spot for future training. Entering the small building Okuda would remove his blue and white Kimono as well as his straw sandals. He then placed his two swords on the floor near the door, leaning against the wall.

Okuda then lit the small fire pit in the center of the room and sat near it, his legs crossed under him, he rested his hands in his lap, palms open and facing the sky, his fingers gently resting upon each other. He then closed his eyes and began to focus his inner energies, focusing them towards his mind he began to force it to work harder than it was used to, even under the influences of the first and second gate. He was training his mind to register what his eyes see faster, which would be useful for when in the gates due to the increased speed of which his body would move. Okuda then stared at the fire, watching it move, seeing small sparks explode occasionally from wood cracking and popping off in the pit, he decided that for his training he would try to count each of the sparks, and knew that it would be difficult.

Okuda then continued to stare, waiting patiently all the while continuing to run his mind at the faster pace, his eyes moving rapidly almost as if he were in REM sleep; that was when the first small spark leapt up and into the air. “One” muttered the young samurai as he continued to watch the flames dancing in front of him, he was used to this kind of training, though some would call it boring or inefficient. He knew that this would be the best way for him to utilize his training as he had practically no ability when it came to utilizing chakra. Sure he had Chakra but he couldn’t use it for some reason for anything besides walking on water or up trees, he was truly a failure in that respect.

“two…three…four…” could be heard if any were to be listening as he counted more and more of the sparks in the pit. He continued this for over an hour, feeding the fire another log only once before he felt that he’d done enough for the time being, his eyes were beginning to dry out and feel very itchy, something that wasn’t very pleasant. He also knew that if he kept pushing that he’d only strain the muscles in his eyes and harm himself in a way that would just be unnecessary to his training and his goals…

[Aimi Kaguya]

Lernded.

[奥田 (Okuda)]

SPOILER: Click to show

Strength of the Body
Rank: "C", "B", "A"
Skill: Skill / Knowledge / Taijutsu
Effect: This type of knowledge and technique grants the user the capability to withstanding the elements of the Hachimontonkou. They must learn this multiple times. Without this, the Celestial Gates become more destructive toward the body. This allows the user to endure the striking force granted from the gates so that, when they hit an object, their bones do not instantly shatter.
Special: ---
Drawback: Must be learned each time before they go into a new gate.
- For Gates 1-3, they must learn the "C" Rank version.
- For Gates 4-6 they must learn the "B" Rank version.
- For Gates 7 and 8, they must learn the "A" Rank versions.
Description: ---
Limit: Must become a Chakra Gate User.

o.1o

---

Okuda looked at the flames as his mind slowly went back to its normal speed, he figured that a good way to train his body was right in front of him. He stood up and walked over to where a thin, metal fire poker was and grabbed it. He then put it in the fire and let it get warm to a certain degree, not hot enough to cause third degree burns, but enough that it would test his ability to withstand the pain and strengthen his body. Okuda then closed his eyes and lashed himself across the back with the burning poker, leaving a bright red mark on his back that stung and smelled slightly of burnt flesh. It hurt alright, but he had to power through the pain, to force his body to act in a way that he desired it to.

He grunted in pain but drew his arm back, or rather up, and swung back again, lashing a slightly different spot on his back that crossed the first one slightly. Grunting in pain, he stumbled forwards but kept himself on his feet. He knew this would hurt, it wouldn’t be easy, anything worth doing would likely cause pain in some fashion, and he knew he would need to withstand the pain if he wanted to grow stronger. Okuda grunted, by now he was starting to perspire, his body temperature having been raised not only by hitting himself on the back with the red hot piece of metal but also because of the fire in the room itself.

Okuda then put the fire poker back into the flame to let it regain the heat it had lost and to even make it hotter than it was before. Some would likely call Okuda stupid for going this far for one of the gates, but those who knew the boons that opening of the gates would bring knew that it would be well worth the pain, and that the pain he was bringing to himself would be nothing compared to the pain of overusing the gates or even using the gates without properly preparing his body. Standing up straight once more, Okuda closed his eyes once more, taking a few deep breaths as he slowly pulled the poker from the flames.

Okuda then drew his arm up again, arched over his shoulder and let the poker again slam into his back. However, this time he kept the heat there, a slight hiss could be heard and small wisps of smoke would raise from his back. “AAARGH!” would be the sound of pain leaving the man’s mouth as he nearly doubled over in pain, the scent horrendous but he’d smelled worse in the attack on the village by the Gale Empire, and nowhere near as bad as the smell in that dingy cell that the land of tea had kept him in for who knows how long.

He had lost so much time on that mission, a total of two years had passed since he had left for it, and only recently came back. Time was not his friend anymore and he was sorely mistaken in a great many things about the world, he didn’t even know what happened during most of those two years. All he had known was that he was wandering, where he’d been he didn’t know. Who he had met, a mystery as well. Okuda hated not knowing these things and doubt in himself was born anew, but the one thing that kept him from losing himself to that fear? The knowledge that he would do better and that he would kill the old man who led the land of tea one day for the suffering he was going through now.

[Aimi Kaguya]

*unfolds a tenner from his fat stack of TP and throws it your way*

Don't spend it all in one place kid, eh?

[奥田 (Okuda)]

SPOILER: Click to show

Power of the Soul
Rank: "C", "B", "A"
Skill: Skill / Knowledge / Taijutsu
Effect: This can be considered as "the battle within" and is a key element toward unlocking the Hachimontonkou. This is the driving force that finally pushes the user over their natural limits and, much like personalities, varies from person to person. Be it a maniac's uncontrollable lust for murder or a child's will to protect his loved ones, this strong surge of intent acts as the user's "nail in the coffin" and sets the gears necessary toward unlocking one's latent abilities in motion.
Special: ---
Drawback: Must be learned each time before they go into a new gate.
- For Gates 1-3, they must learn the "C" Rank version.
- For Gates 4-6 they must learn the "B" Rank version.
- For Gates 7 and 8, they must learn the "A" Rank versions.
Description: ---
Limit: Must become a Chakra Gate User.

o.1o

---

Okuda dropped the small metal poker he’d been using to bring pain to his body, it hurt. Not the pain of the burns, those would heal, the pain came from his mental torment. The pain that not only did he fail but he also had lost so much time, something he’d never done before. Okuda slowly stood back up from his hunched over, practically fallen over, state and walked out of the small one room building. He then slowly made his way towards the waterfall that was in the cave, walking through it rather than atop it with chakra, his white Hakama getting soaked near the ankles.

Okuda sat down directly in the waterfall atop a small stone that was as wide as a small sitting pillow and worn smooth by the waters. He then placed his hands in his lap, palms facing upwards, and closed his eyes, allowing the water to wash over him and completely make him one with his surroundings. It was a simplistic form of meditation that he preferred, he slowed his breathing down and allowed himself to enter a trance state where he could personally speak not only to his inner self but his inner demons as well.

Okuda then felt himself falling, though he knew his body stayed still, it was always a strange feeling the transition from observing the world to interacting inside his own mindscape as he called it. He never knew what he’d see in there, one of the last times he’d seen a version of him that wanted to kill him for whatever reason but Okuda was able to overpower him and break out the first gate. This time, this time would be different he felt, much different but yet very similar.

When his mind became unclouded and he could see the mindscape before him, it was a traditional style building that he had found himself inside of. Bamboo and straw and wood made up the buildings walls, floors and ceilings. The ceilings were high, very high. He slowly looked around, warily at first wondering what form his inner demons would take this time, it was then that he felt a tug on his Hakama and he noticed he was in his full attire, swords and all. Looking down he would notice a small red headed boy in a similar style of clothing, crying his eyes out.

“Do you know where my mommy and daddy are?” the young boy cried as he rubbed his eyes on his sleeve. “I can’t find them, I’m lost…will you help me?” This was a first, he’d never experienced this kind of inner battle…What was he meant to do? Slay the child… No, that couldn’t be right, it was a younger form of himself, but yet he never had this memory before. It was then that he realized perhaps this isn’t so much a single memory but a conglomeration of them. With a small smile, one barely noticeable Okuda crouched down onto his haunches and placed a hand on the young boy’s head. “I’ll help you find your mommy and daddy, do you know what they look like? Where they live?”

The young boy shook his head and said “they look like mom and dad, and I live at home with them…” he continued to sob, afraid that he’d never find his way home, and Okuda smiled warmly at him in an attempt to make the avatar of himself feel less afraid. Okuda then said “Ok then, lets head to the village, I’m sure someone will be able to help you!” Okuda then stood up to his full, if still diminutive height and held his hand out. He then waited for the young boy to grab hold of it, when he did the two would slowly walk out of the building. The world around them was cloudy as if it was covered in a dense fog, but it led them through a very specific pattern, one that lead to yet another large building, this one very modern looking and one that held a great many different men in it, standing over two bodies who were cut down by the men inside.

The young boy screamed, it was his parents, and Okuda pushed the young boy behind him as if to shield him as one of the men approached. “AH! Ya brought us the lil’un, thank ya kindly! If ya’d be a pal and hand ‘im over we can kill the lil brat and move on with our day!” Okuda gripped his Katana sheath in his left hand tightly and said “I guess you killed his parents then didn’t you?” This apparently elicited a laugh from the man who said “yup! Me an’ me boys did the two right in, we did we did. Now if ya’d just hand the lil tyke over we can finish the job we were paid for…You will hand ‘im over right?” By now the small gang was forming a circle around the two but only fanned out as much as a semi-circle.

Shifting his gaze from one to the next, Okuda knew that even if he wanted to hand the boy over the gang would still try to take his life since he had seen the bodies. Okuda suddenly drew his blade and cut the throat of the gang leader. The man tried to scream as his hands grabbed at the now spurting blood cut on his neck but could only gargle as he fell to the ground, blood seeping from his neck. Okuda quickly stabbed the next gang member right through his heart silencing him before he could even try to stab at him.

The fight was on now and Okuda had to defend the boy and kill the gang members as best he could. The group of men by then were all slashing at Okuda whom blocked, parried and dodged their weak strikes. Okuda was a Master of swordsmanship, well that’s what he was told but he still had much to learn about his swordstyle. But what he knew was more than enough to quickly and efficiently cut down the group of men whilst protecting the small child. As he slew the last of the men the young Samurai watched as the boy ran towards the corpses of his parents and began to sob, asking his mom and dad to wake up…

((NOTE: I do intend to continue this with my training the actual gate, so please...be kind in your grading! I wrote it this way on purpose.))

[Celaena Kamyuja]

Plus Seven.

[奥田 (Okuda)]

[o7.1o]

The pain the boy felt resonated within Okuda. This was something how he felt over his lost memories given form. Okuda slowly began to walk over to the boy when the pain his mental projection began to feel pain, not physical pain in such a way that his arms or legs began to hurt but rather his heart. Where many theorized the soul resided, and it caused him great pain. His soul was crying for the young boy, but this pain must have been the test, the test of his soul to strengthen itself and steel itself for the Gates training he was to undergo.

Okuda walked over to the young boy and crouched down softly, placing a hand on his back and gently rubbing it. “It’ll be ok, everything will be ok” the boy just continued to sob, occasionally shaking his dead mother asking her to wake up. Okuda fought back tears himself, he normally wasn’t one to cry but figured that part of his test was remaining strong without his usual emotional control now. It wasn’t, the less he cried the more the boy did. It made no sense to Okuda until a single tear broke through his emotional wall and opened the floodgate. Okuda wasn’t so much sobbing, but his eyes…well, eyes were the gateway to the soul and they were showing now how true that was. His soul was aching, this boy represented more than his memories, it was his soul.

The only way for the young boy to have stopped crying was if Okuda himself began to cry. As he felt the tears flowing from him he saw that the boy would slowly stop sobbing and asking for his mother to return, to wake up. The boy continued to cry but nowhere near as vehemently as he was doing before. Okuda wiped his eyes slowly and stood up “it’s going to be ok, I promise you that everything will be ok boy.” He knew that not to be the total truth, but he was talking about the pain of loss, eventually that pain would dull and he’d be capable of moving on with his life.

As he stood up, the tears still streaming from his eyes, Okuda could feel the pain in his soul slowly dissipating and eventually disappearing, almost as if his soul was stronger now for having allowed himself that cry, the cry of a small child who’d just lost his parents and was helpless to do anything about it. It was then that the small child looked at Okuda, a hatred in his eyes “you did this…you killed my parents…”

((NOTE: The conclusion is really meant to happen during the gate training proper, hell that part was meant originally for that duty, please keep that in mind))

[zarak729]

Learned!

[奥田 (Okuda)]

SPOILER: Click to show

Third Gate— Maṇipūra [Life]
Rank: "B" Rank
Skill: Kinjutsu/Taijutsu, Supplementary
Effect: The body can only go 20% of it's limits naturally, with all the gates on. With each gate, however, the body can go an extra 10% for each gate broken. The Life Gate enables the user to push forth to 50%. When a user takes the time to break this gate, they become capable of moving 1 times faster than normal. This means that a user who is capable of performing 4 movements would be capable of performing an amount of 8 movements in total. (4 base movements + 4 movements for the ×1)
Special: The user must concentrate within their inner body for one brief moment in order to bring forth the gate.
Drawback: Simply put, the Hachimontonkou work on a 100% scale. Unlocking the Life Gate expends 30% of the aforementioned one hundred each round it remains open. What this means is that if you were to perform under the Life Gate's influence for two rounds, you would have used 60% out of the allotted one hundred. BUT, the moment a user goes over this 100%, their entire musculature will begin tearing apart, resulting in short stints of temporary paralysis accompanied by shocking pains. Repairing this damage requires medical attention with a success rate of 50%.
Description: Located at the navel region, the Life Gate is the third celestial gate, and the first of the forbidden ones. The unnatural endurance granted by unlocking this gate causes the user to barely register pain, making the thought of surrender seem unfeasible, even when they are tremendously outmatched. The user even begins emitting an emerald aura composed entirely of chakra which serves as a testament to the power being unleashed. Constraints limiting the nervous system are uplifted as well, allowing information to travel to the brain at a much faster rate, and increased blood circulation provides the user with minor healing abilities. Evidence of this lies in the user's skin, which changes to a deep red tint as a result, and slight lacerations and mild bruises clear up at phenomenal rates (one turn).
The rank of any Taijutsu Attack is increased by Two Ranks.

• "D" Rank Taijutsu have "B" Rank strength.
• "C" Rank Taijutsu have "A" Rank strength.
• "B" Rank Taijutsu have "S" Rank strength.
• "A" Rank Taijutsu have "S" Rank strength while gaining an additional "D" rank's worth of power.
• "S" Rank Taijutsu gain an additional "C" rank's worth of power.

Takes 3 movements of preparing before able to unlock the gate. User is unable to perform any other techniques during this preparation time period.
Limit: Only accessible to Chakra Gate users. Must have at least 620TP in Taijutsu techniques. Must unlock the Heal Gate.

o.5o

---

“You did this…You killed my parents…” The young boy repeated as he slowly began to stand up. However standing wasn’t the only thing he was doing. As he got up onto his feet he slowly grew taller, more mature going from a young child to that of a matured human. This kind of thing only being possible due to it being Okuda’s mindscape however the boy then somehow, almost as if by magic, made a Katana appear on his hip drawing it from its scabbard. “You killed my parents and now I’m going to kill you!”



The boy then charged at Okuda who barely had time to draw his own Katana from his scabbard. The two blades clashed as the boy pushed against Okuda with all his might that the new body he’d gained gave him. Okuda then leapt back about a meter and looked at the boy his sword held in both hands in front of him. “I didn’t kill your parents! Those bandits did!” The boy acted as if he didn’t hear Okuda charging once more forwards using sword techniques he couldn’t possibly know, strikes that the small child that Okuda had met wouldn’t have had the opportunity to even see.



Okuda caught the flurry of strikes on his blade turning them away from him each strike and trying to keep his distance. This wasn’t normally how Okuda fought and he knew it but something was keeping him from going on the attack, from removing the threat that was before him and he didn’t know what that was. Okuda grunted as suddenly a hard kick from the man before him sent him flying into a stone wall. Groaning Okuda slowly regained his balance and looked at the man.



‘why? Why can’t I go on the attack against this boy…whats holding me back?’ thought the young Samurai. However he didn’t have much time to think as the boy suddenly went back on the attack. Okuda caught the incoming attack on his blade and struck out with his foot suddenly. Kicking the man in the gut hard and forcing him back. ‘I don’t have time to think, reacting is for those who wish to die in combat, I must be the attacker in this fight!’ Okuda knew what he had to do if he didn’t want to die here.



Suddenly charging forwards the young man with the mane of red hair ran towards the mental projection of the boy turned mature man. Swinging suddenly and rapidly Okuda would try to strike in paths that the boy couldn’t possibly predict, but something was holding him back still. He found himself unable to go for the kill even when presented quite bluntly and openly by the young boy, almost as if he was now taunting Okuda saying as if to say: “you can’t kill me even if you want to!” This was strange for Okuda, he’d never had such issues before in his life, the inability to kill but yet the strength? What was wrong, what was sapping his true strength from his blade?



Okuda didn’t know but for now knew that he had to continue pushing, fighting the young man in front of him with everything he had and then some. Okuda knew that if he let up on his attacks and defenses for even one second the boy would take and keep the upper hand in their fight, trying to break it would be nigh impossible. That much Okuda somehow knew this to be true, how he knew it was unclear but he just did.

[奥田 (Okuda)]

??.5o

---

Okuda slashed at the boy’s left shoulder but was met with a high guard from him. Okuda would then suddenly swing at the boy’s waist only to be met yet again, it was as if the boy was able to predict exactly what kinds of attacks were coming. But how? Okuda had never met an opponent like this, so evenly matched yet almost hell-bent on tormenting Okuda. This boy was strong, stronger than he appeared but he didn’t show his true strength.

Was this the righteous justice that aided the boy? His anger towards Okuda must have been justified or else why would Okuda be having so much trouble defeating him. Okuda was beginning to get concerned, perhaps this was the fight that he was meant to lose, to die in. It was Okuda’s fault, if he had been faster, stronger, better he might have been able to save the boy’s parents. He might have been able to find those bastard bandits before they’d slaughtered the husband and wife. Okuda began to doubt himself, wondering if he was the person he’d thought himself to be. It was then that the young boy’s foot suddenly collided with Okuda’s gut again.

“oof!” groaned Okuda as he was forced back about a meter and a half, sliding to a stop with one hand on his stomach. “Yes…you realize it now…this is your fault! YOU KILLED MY PARENTS! YOU KILLED MANY PEOPLES PARENTS! THEIR SONS! THEIR DAUGHTERS! THEIR HUSBANDS! THEIR WIVES! YOU’RE NOTHING BUT A MURDERER!” Okuda looked at the man before him and knew him to be right in this, Okuda was nothing but a murderer. He could try to pretty it up all he wanted by calling himself a Shinobi or only doing what was right or ordered to do but when you got down to the bare bones truth of the matter Okuda was simply a killer.

A killer who had no remorse, who had killed simply because the Raikage had said to do so but when the time came to kill someone truly evil, who had helped those who orchestrated an attack on the village he called home, Okuda was unable to draw the strength he needed to finish the job, to slaughter the feudal lord of the land of tea. Okuda knew himself to be just another pathetic killer, like those who had killed this boy’s parents. Dropping to one knee Okuda put the tip of the sword he held into the ground and one hand on its pommel.

“…You’re right…I am just a killer…One who couldn’t even kill the old man who helped the Gale Empire…I am just a pathetic murderer…” the boy smiled almost manically as he began to walk towards Okuda, gripping his sword tightly in his hand. “Yes, you understand now, you understand that in order to atone for the innocent lives you’ve taken you must die! YOU MUST DIE HERE AND NOW!” The young boy then switched to a two hand grip and raised the sword up high as he shifted himself to a sideways stance, as if to prepare to cut off Okuda’s head. He then swung his sword at the Samurai’s neck, aiming to sever it from his body.

[奥田 (Okuda)]

??.5o

---

‘No…no…I’m not a murderer!’ thought Okuda as suddenly without even trying his body Shunshin’d past the boy, just before the blade of his sword would have hit Okuda’s neck. Okuda then spun to look at the boy, a renewed sense of purpose in his eyes burning brightly. “I am not a murderer, those I slew with this blade were all evil people, and they were all people who needed to be ended for the peace of the world.” Okuda then charged forwards swinging from his sword from its downward right position up towards the right shoulder of the boy.

The blade moving fast went past the boy’s defenses and cut the shirt he was wearing across his abdomen, eliciting a small amount of blood from where the blade’s tip danced along his skin. “I am not the one who killed your parents, those bandits were. Do I regret not having been able to save them? Yes, yes I do, however there is nothing that I did wrong that caused their deaths! THEY DIED BECAUSE EVIL EXISTS IN THIS WORLD! EVIL THAT I SLAY!” Okuda then swung again, this time the boy was able to bring his sword up in defense however Okuda simply batted the blade away.

With a spin of his body Okuda was able to bring himself back into attack position before the boy could bring his sword back from its deflection. “AND RIGHT NOW YOU’VE TURNED INTO AN EVIL THAT MUST BE DESTROYED! YOU MUST BE DEFEATED SO THAT GOOD MAY CONTINUE TO FLOURISH IN THIS WORLD!” Okuda then swung his blade down onto the boy’s neck but found that the boy in his quickness was able to bring his hand up to catch Okuda’s blade somehow.

He was able to forcibly buy himself a small amount of time, Okuda drew the sword back cutting the boy’s hand in half. The boy screamed in pain and fell back, feebly bringing his sword up in a defensive posture. “You wouldn’t kill me, would you? I…I didn’t mean to say you killed my parents!” Okuda ignored his words and swung his blade at the boys, batting it not only aside but out of his grip. The boy now fell onto his behind and held the stump of his hand up as if to beg for Okuda’s mercy.

Okuda knew that this boy, was now something else as well as his memories. This boy was Okuda’s guilt, the guilt that had built up after so many lives taken. He knew that destroying him would alleviate that guilt for a time, and so he raised his sword up high, gripping it with both his hands. All the while the boy would continue to beg for his life, screaming about how Okuda shouldn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t kill him. It was then that the young Samurai suddenly brought his sword down on the boy’s head, slashing him straight down the middle.

Okuda’s real eyes opened. He was still under the waterfall at this point. Still not only soaking wet but still being pelted by the water. Okuda had defeated one of his inner demons, the one that caused him to hold back, to let up at inopportune times. The part of him that would hold him back from opening the third chakra gate. Yes, he had done much but at what cost? Would this choice eventually cost him his humanity? Had it done so already? There were many questions that Okuda could ask, that he in some fashion was asking, but he also knew that it would be pointless to do so now.

[奥田 (Okuda)]

??.5o

---

Now that what small amount of hesitation was gone from his soul thanks to the training, Okuda could feel something…different, something bubbled inside him. Something that he could feel near his naval area, at first it felt like he was simply hungry but as he thought he realized that it was more than that. Remembering the rumored chart of the eight chakra gates, the third would be located in that area. Closing his eyes once more he began to focus himself, focus his spiritual energies and what little chakra that he had in his body on that point.

As he focused he felt something cracking, like a brick wall that was impossibly high and thick yet had a small hole in it that was in and of itself impossibly small as well. Okuda focused all of his energies onto that small hole, slowly turning it from a hole into a crack, the crack would then begin to grow. The cracks weakened the wall on the whole for obvious reasons. As Okuda felt the wall cracking he could feel its energy begin to flow out of it.

As the energy began to wash over him, Okuda felt his fatigue slowly wash away, the small burns on his back disappearing slowly. Okuda then imagined himself looking at said wall, in a different kind of mindscape that for some reason came easier to him than before. He imagined in his hand a large sledgehammer and looked at the wall. An emerald fog coming from the crack that he had made in the wall. He knew that if he could break this wall he would be able to feel that energy more fully, to be blessed by its strength and healing.

Okuda then readied the sledgehammer by holding it towards his back right side. He then slammed it into the wall as hard and fast as he could. The cracks grew and grew, some chunks beginning to fall off of the wall as more of the emerald fog emerged from the wall. Okuda repeated the readying movement before again hitting the wall with the hammer, he watched as now a large jagged hole appeared in the wall allowing more of the fog to filter through but nowhere near enough.

Okuda knew that his goal was to knock this wall down enough for a sort of door to appear in its place. Okuda then continued slamming the sledgehammer against the wall, shattering more and more of its face until finally a large hole appeared where there was once a fully built brick wall. Its thickness was more along the lines of a denseness as the wall was only one layer deep, rather thin if one was to think about it hard enough. The energies wrapping themselves around Okuda forcing him out of his mindscape and back into the real world.

Okuda felt the sudden surge of energy coming from his naval area, his skin turned a deep red color. This was due to his blood circulations increased speed, his respiratory system was taking in more oxygen and his heart was pumping out more blood than it was before. He looked strange compared to his normal self, even more evident of this strangeness was the green aura around him, the same color that had been spilling out as a fog from the wall.

[奥田 (Okuda)]

??.5o

---

Okuda felt stronger, faster, better. He felt that he was now able to do more. He decided to test his new speed and found himself moving almost as fast as he did when he used a Shunshin, moving from the waterfall to the small building in almost no time at all. Okuda looked at his hands as he felt himself allowing the energy to dissipate from his being. He smirked, he’d broken through the third gate, he had set out to do something and now he’d done it.

He sat down near the fire, to dry off and to allow himself a moment to reenter the mindscape. Before he did so though he added a log to the dying fire and stoked it again. He then closed his eyes and reentered his mindscape, appearing near the now broken wall. It still had much of the debris in its general area, and he knew that he had to clean it up before he could put the mental door on it, this was a power that needed containment when not in use. Okuda then swept or otherwise removed all the debris, slowly.

Once the debris was gone, Okuda was free to now build himself a door for the wall, to allow him to enter the gate and exit it at will. Okuda knew he could be a conventional builder and just use a steel door, but since this was a mindscape it would have the strength needed anyways and instead went down a bit of an unorthodox route with his choice.

The choice Okuda made for the mental projection of the door was a traditional style one, made of rice paper and wood. Instead of opening as a normal door would as well it slid open and shut allowing for a nicer and smoother opening when the time came to open the gate though he hoped he’d never need to use the gate in combat. Okuda smiled as he stepped back from the gate and looked at it in his mindscape. Okuda then allowed himself to let himself leave the mindscape and stood up once again.

It was time to test this new gate, a proper test unlike before. He then focused his energies on the naval of his body, imagining the door opening slowly and letting its energy out. Suddenly the dust around him made a small circle of movement around him and he felt the energy flow out from his naval. His heart rate quickened, his breathing increased its speed as well and his skin became a deep red tint. All around him a green aura could be seen visibly by anyone who would look upon him. He felt the strength inside him well and overflow into his body, the normal ebb and flow of his strength all but gone as he allowed himself to slowly exit the state.

He smiled softly, almost imperceptible compared to his normal facial expression. Okuda then placed inner white and outer blue kimono back on himself and placed his Katana back into his belt as he knew that he was more or less done with the training for now. Though he felt something keeping him there, as if to say re-evaluate what you’re doing and make sure you’ve finished its training so that nothing could happen in a fight when he needed to call on its strength. So Okuda waited a moment at the threshold of the small building…

[Celaena Kamyuja]

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