Village training grounds

[Cadoc]

00/40 +1 tp from the training ground

Yoko had an edge that the other alchemists did not however, she had gathered information from all over the known world, carried out numerous self-experiments, read virtually every research paper under the sun on the subject and as a reward for her diligence had managed to craft her own version of the Philosopher's stone. With the assistance of the legendary stone reforging one's own body was a still a rather difficult affair.

She had managed however to accomplish this task forging her new perfected body, through which she had diluted her original sin as much as possible, and unlocked the power of the Sharingan. Yoko looked around the area attempting to focus her eyes as best she could. For while she might have possessed the Sharingan she still had quite a way to go before she fully mastered its power.

The first step in this mastery was to force her eyes to evolve, to take on the form of two tomoes per an eye. In doing so Yoko could gain a greater insight into a wide array of skills and techniques, the real question was how, how did she make her eyes change? Apparently, the Uchiha's Sharingan transformed in response to emotional stress, perhaps if she could replicate this effect she could obtain the higher level of power?

[Cadoc]

00/40 +1 tp from the training ground

Yoko focused her attention on augmenting her already impressive skills, the power of the second tomoe allowed her to anticipate the actions of others with greater efficiency. There was a difference however between the acquisition of knowledge and the power that she was currently feeling, it was as if the eyes themselves helped to improve her abilities they could tell when something was wrong boosting her ability to detect feint attacks for example.

Yoko continued to practise and noted the rapid increase in her observational abilities, from a distance she was able to read the lips of people with greater clarity, even her investigational powers saw a boost, better able to pick up small details. The changes did not end here, however, instead, she quickly noticed that she was able to better dodge incoming attacks and that the power of her eye based techniques had increased.

[Deleted]

+40

[Cadoc]

Detect Lie
Rank: "C"
Skill: NinJutsu
Effect: User develops the ability to gauge whether another character is telling the truth or lie.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: A user develops the ability to gauge whether another character is telling the truth by reading facial expressions and interpreting body language. The Uchiha must be able to see and hear (but not necessarily understand) the individual under scrutiny. With a successful Sense Motive check opposed by the subject's Acting check result, the user can tell whether the subject is deliberately and knowingly speaking a lie. This ability does not reveal the truth, uncover unintentional inaccuracies, or necessarily reveal omissions in information.
Limit: Must be an Uchiha. Must know Sharingan (2nd Tomoe).

00/10 +1 tp from the training ground

This, of course, was not the only way in which the Sharingan could be used, for while the youth's stare might have been able to impact on her opponent's ability, to tell the truth from fiction it only augmented her own. Allowing her to perceive the reality of a situation with a far higher degree of certainty that merely gaining a hunch on whether someone was lying or not—even if that hunch was normally extremely accurate.

Yes, the user of the Sharingan could even tell whether someone was lying, an ability that was highly prized as a detective or investigator. Being able to instantly read an opponent's movements and determine whether they were lying could make a great deal of difference in a case. Thus, Yoko resolved herself to acquiring this new technique, she started by reading over the notes in her textbook.

However, the textbook couldn't tell you everything about what was essentially a physical application of the Sharingan, as such she had to apply it to the real world at some stage. To aid in this task Yoko instructed some of the ninjas who were resting to quiz her, mixing truths in with lies to see whether she could be deceived or whether her uncanny eyes could perceive the truth of the matter at hand.

[Deleted]

+10

[Cadoc]

Warding
Rank: "B"
Skill: NinJutsu
Effect: The Venator is surrounded by a protective aura, granting sacred bonus to their Saves to all adjacent allies.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: The Venator is surrounded by a protective aura, granting a +1 sacred bonus to Saves to all Allies within 10 meters of the user. This bonus increases by +1 per Class Level. (+3 Maximum)
Limit: Must be a Venator. Must know Judgment.

00/40 +1 tp from the training ground

Finished with her Uchiha teachings for the time being the young Mizukage instead turned her attention towards the study of the Venator ways. To be a Venator meant being an expert in several areas, with many of her brothers and sisters holding a specialised path towards a particular way of doing things. Yoko also held one path for the time being but was told that through reflection on her own works she would eventually be able to master a second and even a third.

Unlocking such an ability however first required study, a great deal of study and application of the teachings of the Venator way. And while she was already a master of the style she still had much that she could learn, amongst which was the way in which judgements were used. Yoko currently possessed only one judgement, all be it with a supreme mastery over that judgement. She did, however, possess the ability to use two judgements at once.

Thus, it seemed wise to invest some time into augmenting the power of her judgements so that she actually had two that she could use at the same time together. The selection that one could pick from however was near endless, with there seemingly being a judgement for everything a Venator could think of. Thus, the first step in understanding the technique that she wanted to acquire was to first read the list over and see what was available.

[Cadoc]

00/40 +1 tp from the training ground

The first thing that she noticed in studying the available listing was the difficulty with which one could learn the techniques, outside of accuracy there didn't seem to be that many easy techniques. With almost all of the C-ranks having a special note beside them, thus the young realised that she might have been just as well learning the B-ranked version of the technique as such a feat would only take marginally longer.

In terms of criteria, Yoko was keen to acquire a judgement that she felt would impart a meaningful advantage to her person and those around her, thus as she read through several of the judgements she struck them off of her list, their benefits being too circumstantial and narrow to be of any real advantage. An example of this was alliance, she felt that the benefit was far to narrow for what it provided which was essentially a minor buff.

She quickly moved on and as she did so she gained a deeper understanding of what exactly she was after she wanted to acquire a technique that would provide aid with her defensive abilities. Fortunately there was an array of these techniques listed, however, the milage that she would gain from them seemed to differ, with some providing actual resistance to damage while others enabled dodging and the like.

[Cadoc]

00/40 +1 tp from the training ground

As previously mentioned Yoko did not intend to take much damage, and thus, placed much less value on techniques like dauntless that resisted against damage. Furthermore, she found the effect of only working against non-lethal damage far to narrow for what she wanted. Instead, Yoko suspected that she would instead need something that would augment her mental resistance.

After quite a considerable amount of time searching she eventually happened upon a technique that could be suitable purity, it provided a sacred bonus against all saves by honing the Venator's mind they were able to shrug off debilitating effects that could render a normal ninja helpless. However, she was quick to note that this technique contained a difficulty note, meaning that it was rather hard for a C-rank to learn, and instead just and so fell short of what would be expected from a B-rank.

Thus, the youth resolved to continue reading onwards instead of looking for the area version of purity, a technique that would aid not just herself but her allies as well. It didn't take all that long to come to the technique labelled warding, which was essentially what she was looking for. And while the methods used to accomplish such an effect differed from purity the fact that she could provide buffs to her allies made the technique all the more useful.

[Cadoc]

00/40 +1 tp from the training ground

Yoko quickly started to read through the details of the technique noting the protective aura that the Venator generated to aid their allies. Such a task seemed rather difficult, but it seemed rather fitting that a saint was able to generate a sacred aura of protection. Thus, the more she read the more Yoko was convinced that this was a judgement that she wanted to add to her arsenal.

Yoko stood to her feet and started to put her knowledge into action in an effort to generate a small holy aura. Her initial attempts seemed unsuccessful, she was able to extend the aura around herself but not expand it beyond a few metres. However, through hard work and diligence, she was eventually able to expand the aura to the ten metres as discussed in the handbook. She could feel the power of her aura, and hopefully, her allies could too.

[Deleted]

+40

[Cadoc]

Underworld Lore
Rank: "C"
Skill: Supplementary
Effect: A user who becomes involved with the teachings of the underworld workings.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: The Venator adds 5 per Class Level on Local History when making Local History checks to identify legends, personalities, organizations, factions, houses of ill repute, inhabitants, laws, customs, traditions, and the abilities and weaknesses of humanoids.
Limit: Must be a Venator.

00/10 +1 tp from the training ground

Simply learning judgements would not be enough, however, if she wanted to unlock a new path for herself. And while Yoko was a master of monster lore her knowledge of the underworld in the Venator sense was somewhat lacking. Thus, she elected to use the vast network of knowledge obtained by the Venator community to better her understanding, in doing so she hoped to be able to obtain information about people of note.

The idea is that whenever she entered a city, country, or even town that she would be able to recall the fractions and key players at work. Of course, this was a very difficult task, not least because of the amount of information to process and the number of potential places she could visit. However, she had confidence that she could obtain such a lofty goal, after all, many children of noble birth were expected to learn all of the houses in the kingdoms they inhabitants.

If they could do that then why could she not learn all about the underworld in much the same way? Thus, the youth continued to read the information, using memory techniques to help to retain the information, which as far as she was concerned was the whole battle. Simply reading it with her books was one thing but retaining and recalling the information at a moments notice was a different matter altogether.

[Deleted]

+10

[Cadoc]

Create Something from Nothing
Rank: "C"
Skill: Supplementary
Effect: Through disguise comes higher damage.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Whenever the user or an ally attacks a creature while they or an ally is invisible or in disguise and have not been identified as opponents the user gains a circumstance bonus to their weapon damage equal to Impeccable Will.
Limit: Must be a Venator. Must know Solo Tactics.

00/10 +1 tp from the training ground

With the mundane teachings out of the way, Yoko elected to advance on to her understanding of the thirty-six stratagems, an area that she lacked experience with. Thus, she wanted to sure up this weak point and instead transform it into one of her strengths. The first technique that she selected in this endeavour was called “Create Something from Nothing” it seemed that if nothing else the names of these techniques were a bit more adventurous to what she was used to.

Intrigued, Yoko read on seeking to understand what the stratagem for confrontation said, the idea of the technique seemed to be based around ambushing an opponent, either through stealth, invisibility, or disguise. A tactic that Yoko already used through the way of her sneak attacks. The interesting part of the technique, however, was that this applied when an ally was the source of the sneak attack.

Namely, if Yoko's companion managed to surprise attack an opponent Yoko's damage was augmented as a result. A useful ability, given her line of work. Thus, Yoko was keen to add it to her arsenal, she repeated it time and time again in the training grounds in an effort to understand the inner-workings of the technique until finally something clicked and she seemed to be able to produce the effect with great consistency.

[Deleted]

+10

[Cadoc]

Fool the Emperor to Cross the Sea
Rank: "C"
Skill: Supplementary
Effect: Through the hidden the Venator can act one more time.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: If an opponent fails to perceive the user or fails to recognizes the user as an opponent (Stealth, Disguise, Invisibility, etc.) and the user has performed all of their movements within that round, the user is granted 1 additional movement for that round.
Limit: Must be a Venator. Must know Solo Tactics. Must know Acting (45 points).

00/10 +1 tp from the training ground

The next technique on her list was called “Fool the Emperor to Cross the Sea”, Yoko opened up her book to the stratagems when in a superior position chapter and began to read. It seemed that this technique went against what she normally did, rather than skulk about in the shadows it instead suggested that the Venator operate in broad daylight. In doing so they avoided the suspicion of highly skilled guards.

There was a specific way in which this technique was used however, one had to go about normally mundane tasks to convince their opponents. The results, however, were rather useful, it allowed a Venator to take further action, assuming they were successful with their deception. Thereby allowing them to do more than what would normally be possible. For obvious reasons, this played into Yoko's stealth style of combat.

Thus, she committed the stratagem to memory and began to perform it while making her way across the training grounds. She felt no noticeable difference as she progressed but perhaps that was simply the nature of the technique? She continued like this for a good while until she was satisfied that she had fully understood the technique and would be able to reliably perform it in combat situations.

[Deleted]

+10

[Cadoc]

Kill With a Borrowed Knife
Rank: "C"
Skill: Supplementary
Effect: With an assisted attack the user can make an opponent believe their attack was brought by someone else.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Whenever an ally inflicts the confused, cowering, dazed, dazzled, disabled, exhausted, fascinated, fatigued, frightened, nauseated, panicked, shaken, sickened, staggered, or stunned condition, the user may make a melee or ranged attack as a free movement (this counts against the user’s opportunity attack for the round but it can be a ranged attack) and the user’s opponent will believe it is not the user who attacked them but any of their non-allies within the user’s weapon’s range. An ally of the user’s opponent can convince them that this third party did not commit the attack once the condition or 1 round after the successful feint if they makes a successful sense motive check opposed by the user’s Acting check.
Limit: Must be a Venator. Must know Solo Tactics. Must know Acting (30 Points).

00/10 +1 tp from the training ground

The next stratagem that she moved onto was also in the superior position chapter of her book, “Kill with a borrowed knife”. It appeared that the stratagem was designed around the idea of being without a weapon, or more specifically when you had no means by which you could launch your own attack. An interesting idea but how exactly did one apply it to the real world, no doubt some sage-like entity had come up with the idea after all.

Hmm, when Yoko turned to the actual page of the technique it seemed that there was more to it than the initial description had implied. Namely, a conditional effect had to be applied by an ally making the technique limited in solo play? Yoko wondered how this worked with solo tactics so that perhaps she could be the one who caused the condition as well. But either way for the time being she read on.

It seemed that a free attack could be made if you imparted such a condition upon an opponent, the really important part, however, was that the opponent did not know it was Yoko who had attacked, but rather could be convinced that it was a third-party. Thus, it allowed for some rather blatant attacks with no course of reprisal from her opponents. She did wonder what the limit of such a technique was however but still.

[Deleted]

+10

[Cadoc]

Observe the Fire on the Opposite Shore
Rank: "C"
Skill: Supplementary
Effect: The Venator can gain benefits for holding back an attack while staying hidden.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: If the user Delay’s their movements user gains one of the following benefits (each chosen individually).
Gain Temporary Armour Points up to 5 per Class Level. These temporary Armour Points last until the end of the combat encounter.
Gain morale bonus to weapon size damage equal to +1 plus an additional +1 per Class Level.
Gain a +1 morale bonus to Saves.
Gain a 2nd save to shake off an unwanted affliction, condition, or Jutsu inflicted during this combat encounter (User must take the results of the 2nd save even if it is worse).

Limit: Must be a Venator. Must know Solo Tactics.

00/10 +1 tp from the training ground

The next stratagem came from the confrontation chapter, a chapter that Yoko had recently reviewed, Observe the Fire on the Opposite Shore. The description in the introduction to the chapter was rather short and much like the others seemed to relay rather common sense information, namely, to avoid entering combat until an opponent had already worn themselves out. Yoko suspected that like the last technique she had learned there would be more to it than this.

If it wasn't the case then why did one have to be a Venator to apply such a technique? Sure enough, further reading revealed a different nature for the technique, namely, by delaying their actions they could actually buff their abilities. Given that Yoko liked to operate from a stealthed
position she lost relatively little by delaying her actions a few moments as she was generally the one making the engagement.

Thus, she had little cost but stood to gain a boon of sorts. She quickly eyed each of the benefits of contemplating their effectiveness and whether she would favour one over another. They all seemed to have rather limited applications but perhaps the morale bonus could have been of use? Either way, the youth continued her diligent study with hopes of being able to reproduce this technique in the future from memory.

[Deleted]

+10