Shouta's Training [T/P]

[Draven]

+5tp

Know Ability 14-18

[The Creator]

Continuing Know Ability skill training...
5 TP // Novice (18)

After a bit of resting, after the moon had taken his guard and left, the sun had come out and it was time to get moving. I awoke without much effort and readied myself. I quickly moved through the village and into a restaurant where the chef's table was readily visible.

”What can I get you? he asked me in a pleasant voice.
”Nothing,” I replied, ”I am here on Sound Shinobi business.” Most of the time civilians simply shrugged and went on to their duties when I said such a thing, and it worked like a charm this time. Because most of the time, “shinobi business” was used by ninja as a polite way of saying “nothing, don't bother me.” As it was the case here. I was not there to eat but to observe, as I had recently begun my observation technique training and wanted to try it on the real deal.

I sat in silence, not having to use the Tasukeru and deal with the energy drain, watching the man chop carrots, stir pots, take orders, etc. I watched how his fingers would grasp something or handle a kitchen tool with dextrous skill or how he would bring his arm up and down again if the chopping was tough. The muscles he used were not well defined but his stomach was: it hinted that he was not a hard physical laborer but instead found delight in food and drink. I did not find this trait appealing or unappealing, because everyone lives their own life the way they want, and continued to watch. He never became upset with my tedious observation.

I continued, looking at callused fingers and powdery arms. At the way his eyes would scrutinize food or how he would gingerly bring a spoon to his lips to sample the stew. He stirred with quick, tight rotations and chopped with slow, high cutting arcs. After what he had begun to do seemed repetitive and altogether predictable to me I finally ordered something to eat and was off to find another worker to observe...

[Zetsumei]

+0

You are training Know Ability, what you are doing is Observation. There is a difference between the two skills.

[The Creator]

Continuing Know Ability skill training...
5 TP // Novice (18)

While moving on to my next target, I walked through the streets of the city while pondering the concept of the exact technique I was learning. What exactly was the reward for being such a good observer of humans and their abilities in a short period of time? Surely, there were such observations in a battle situation that would help in such cases where one could understand one's speed, strength, and mental will before the battle began but would it even be possible to gain such ability and be able to understand someone's technique by just a glance? Perhaps it is time that I began to form a rough outline of what to look for in a person so it is easier for me to look for their qualities in a shorter period of time.

The first thing that should be observed, and honestly already is firstly observed, is the clothing. Although clothing can be deceitful, and is not often the best indicator of character, it can be used to identify one's nation, culture, or loyalty. Such attributes would be extremely helpful in determining one's skills and possible strengths. Another would be the muscle definition: if it was defined it could tell of one's physical prowess or lack thereof. It would be a great benefit if knowing right off the back whether or not an enemy would be safe to approach in close quarter combat with. Another thing is the way they walked or their gait. A person's gait could give insight on injuries, confidence, or perhaps even such rare occurrences of what their body consisted of if it was not a hundred percent human.

Another might be their weapons. Although even masters of ninjutsu have the tendency to carry swords, if there was a man who carried a large amount of weapons, or weapons who were exotic and specific in nature, it can be assumed that he knows styles that are specific to that jutsu and attributes such as range of attack or strength could be determined right off the back. I continued walking, deep in thought, unaware of who I might choose to be my next target but altogether more confident of my next attempts.

[Draven]

+4

[The Creator]

Continuing Know Ability skill training...
4/5 TP

I continued my walk, the last thought process having taken only a couple of steps to have completely thought out, and continued my pondering over the idea of scouting people. There were several more difficult components that might be a little more difficult to read but nevertheless would be extremely profitable to understand from a person. For example, the speed at which they could move would be something that, if known, could be used to make strategies on what kind of ninjutsu to use. A combination of leg muscles, walking gait, and perhaps even specialty identification could aid in this read. Something else would be genjutsu resistance, and I supposed that Tasukeru could be priceless in determining such a trait, due to the chakra flow. I was unaware of how genjutsu resistance affected chakra flow but in the near future I planned on learning such an ability so it would not be long before I would be able to tell such traits.

Another thing, I realized, would be the number of releases or perceptions that a person could use. For example, if a person used the sand release, like I did, I could immediately tell that the user of sand knows earth and wind as well. That makes three releases that the enemy would have learned only from observing one technique. If he went on to use the Wood release that would add two more releases: water and wood. That would put him at five releases and would give insight to that he had specialty in ninjutsu. Whether he was a master or just a specialist would require more observation. I looked up from my thoughts and found a smithy on the edge of the street. I stepped inside, told him the usual “shinobi business” saying, and decided to see what I could ascertain from watching him closely..

[The Creator]

Shouta, or, rather, this incarnation of him, died rather suddenly.
Scrap Death

[The Creator]

-Enter

Disguise Training, E Rank
42/125 SP
Know Ability

5 TP

I knew my physical traits and knew them well. Enough to use them to use to them to my advantage when it came to disguising myself. I looked young, for example, and very womanly, some might say. So it was rather easy to attempt to make myself into a girl. I would be the same age, same height, same weight, and all that, except I would attempt to shroud my gender through disguise.

I was in old theatre, rummaging through what seemed to be costumes among costumes among costumes. I found a brazier used by male actors in case there were not enough females to play all the female roles. The thing was ancient, back when only men were really recruited to take acting roles, but it fit me rather nicely. It took some adjustments, and, actually, learning the adjustments completely before I was able to look in the mirror and be satisfied. I found a wig: blonde and long, that I fastened to a bald cap and then donned. There were a couple more components I was going to add and then I would try it out.

First of all was the make-up. Girls wore make up and with my fair face, it would become rather feminine quickly. It was not long before the make-up, which I had seen applied to a female face plenty of times, was done, though I have to admit haphazardly. Secondly would be contacts: these red eyes were enough to cause suspicion in even the most trusting of nice, old women so I found some in the back, where we had loads of the stuff, and applied them. They were brown but not strong enough to completely take the red away, giving them a maroon tint.

Finally was a dress. I found the most girly one I could find, a pink, frilly one, and put it on. I looked young enough to wear the bust wouldn't need to be too large so it was just perfect. As I looked in the mirror, I couldn't help but laugh. It was rather odd to look in the mirror and not know who looked back at you. But behind the disguise there were certain traits that make up couldn't cover up that I could discern that made me me.

In any case, it was my turn to try it on the townspeople! I only hoped it would hold up, what if they learned that it was me, Shouta, in this dress? The stakes couldn't be higher..

[Nira]

Would be a bit easier if the jutsu was quoted. Unfortunately I have not memorized how many dice rolls are needed for every skill.

Aw, how adorable.

For logical reasons, I envision a little brother trying his sister's clothing and make up.

Oh gosh that's too cute.

+5, Learned.

42-48sp

[The Creator]

Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Mi (Summoning Technique: Seeds)
Rank: C
Skill: Ninjutsu
Effect: Creates Ten Seeds.
Special: Handseals
Drawback: The things summoned are only seeds, not full-grown plants. Seeds do not grow herbs that have herbalistic effects.
Description: User Performs the handseals needed and creates the following seeds
•Tree (varieties include elm, oak, apple, cherry, birch, cedar, camellia, cypress, fir, lilac, magnolia, maple, plum, spruce, sycamore, willow)

•Vine (regular, thick, thorn)

•Flower (roses, daisies, lilacs, and sunflowers are the most common flowers created- there are plenty more that can be dependent on the situation, but it would take forever to list them all)

Limit: Must have the Wood Release

10 TP

I returned to the theatre, my endeavors a success. Instead, however, of joy I felt a miserable sadness take hold of me. I had not donned a costume and acted in what felt like years and it brought up memories of the troup to whom this home belonged. I returned and cried for a bit, but I won't go into further detail about that.

I, instead, thought of how Miriam, the director and perhaps one of my closest mother-like figures. She was an avid botanist and loved flowers. To my luck, there was a garden in the back that had died due to the lack of use but I had decided to attempt to recreate it in her honor.

Creating seeds is not the same thing as recreating using recycled materials. And so while creating seeds seemed too far out of my scope, recreating them did not. I knew little of the nature of seeds but enough to make them, I thought. A seed was like a blueprint of a house. It was from the seed that the plant took life but only if it received the correct materials. Much like a house, the beams that supported it could not be built with sand, even if the blueprint was flawless. Then again, even with the strongest wood, if the blueprint was not sound, the house would not stand. They needed each other, the seed and the genesis of the seed, each as important as the other.

The seed, however, was something that the entire flower would sprout from. To do so, one would need to have a sound understanding of what such a flower would grow to. I was unaware that, at the time, I was speaking of DNA, for only AnBu really delved into such forensic sciences, but the concept of it floated through my head. Petunias, although dead, were found in the garden and it was from that I retrieved the understanding of how to recreate them. I could not comprehend the entire code from which a petunia would be created but I simply used the chakra to seek out the seeds, which had broken to make way for the sprouting flower long ago, and copy that which it held. From that, which was just simple information, I crafted a small, seed-like construct using my Wood Release knowledge and infused the information into it.

But a seed was not just wood. Wood was the shell that held it, perhaps, but the seed would need further refining. I broke the seed apart to hollow it out, not having to dirty my hands with soil or seed alike, and instead infused it with a mixture of weed and leaf that scattered the garden. From this the flower would truly grow. It would not grow normally, like a natural flower, because Nature was a much more knowledgeable maker of flowers than I and created much more complex structures but with the help of chakra, I could make this into a flower. I resealed the seed, the knowledge still infused, with the living material compressed into a green ball held inside the seed. I compressed the seed to make it smaller.

The final part of creating a viable seed is planting it in good soil. Luckily my knowledge of the earth release would allow me to feel exactly what was "good soil" and what was not. However, Miriam had done a good job of retrieving solid and healthy soil for her garden and so finding patches that survived the years of misuse were not difficult. I used my Earth Release to create a small hole in the ground, which was not to deep where the water could not seep through the soil, but only just below the surface. On top of it was a small, loose mound of soil that would allow the seed to grow. The next step would be to force the flower to grow using chakra and a combination of other means.

[Draven]

Learned

[The Creator]

Ninpou: Souseiki no Jutsu (Genesis)
Rank: C, B
Skill: Ninjutsu
Effect: Causes seeds to grow.
Special: "Handseals"
Drawback: Can only effect one seed at a time. Does not recreate the effects of herbs.
Description: A blue light envelops a seed and the user forces it to grow at a rapid pace.
Flowers are C rank growth; they grow within seconds and require little chakra in order to grow. Can grow inside the hand, but will die within thirty minutes if not placed into the ground.
Vines are C rank growth; they grow about 10m/second. One seed is capable of growing 100m worth of vines. Must grow inside the ground. Trees are B rank growth; they grow within minutes, generally within one turn, but is dependant on the size you want the tree to be. Depending on how far you spur the growth process, it can require little chakra (to the growth of a sapling) or a large amount of chakra (growing into a fully-grown adult tree). If you grow it into an adult tree, it can produce fruit, etc., that are common with the type of tree you grow. Must grow inside of the ground.
Limit: Must have the Wood Release

10 TP

Once I was content that the seed was to my standards and was buried in the ground in a decent manner, I began to decipher exactly how I was to cause this seed to grow. Of course, this was no ordinary seed and thus could not be left to ordinary devices in order for it to grow as a regular flower did. This petunia, although a doppelganger of any normal petunia, was not a regular flower and would require a special kind of growth in order to reach its full potential.

I thought of how Mokuton was the combination of Doton and Suiton and how I would have to use both in order to make this flower grow. Then I cross-referenced that with the fundamentals of botany and agriculture. The seed, in order to grow, would need three things: sunlight, which I did not have to add to the mixture as it was already bathing in sunlight; water, which I could use through Suiton, the manipulation of water; and nutrients, which could be found readily in the soil and manipulated via my Doton knowledge. The necessary materials and fundamentals now floating in my cortex, it was time to decide a plan of action for this technique.

I could begin by manipulating the water around the flower that was hidden in the soft soil to begin the genesis of the seed. I would use these small streams of water travelling from the soil to the seed to carry the nutrients from the soil that would be needed. After that, I could force the generation of the plant at an extreme speed using chakra and, with the available materials necessary to build such a plant, it would not overextend its nutrients and die. In contrast, it would grow as it normally would just at a pace which compress an entire season into a few seconds. After it sprouted from the ground, I could simply guide the growing roots to the pockets of nutrients that I had pulled from using water and earth manipulation. The flower itself would absorb the sunlight on it's own and the generation of the flower would be completed rather quickly.

Forming the handseals, I attempted to carry this plan of attack out. Through careful concentration I found the nutrients rather easily and created the aforementioned streams without little effort. The seed suddenly sprouted tendrils that would grow to be roots along with a stem. It seemed to be working well as the stem burrowed its way into the sunlight while I carefully managed the growth of the roots to their predetermined positions. The stem grew evermore, stemming out bulbs that would become leaves in short moments, and eventually produced the large bulb that would be the flower. The roots comopleted, I moved on towards filling the bulb with water so that it would seep down through the stem and into the roots naturally. As I did so, a white glow surrounded the flower, seemingly ghostly and unexpected. I was slightly surprised at but was more surprised at how the bulb suddenly flowered into the petunias that Miriam had liked so much. The glow faded, and now it was time to inspect the flower to make sure it was good.

I cut off all chakra to the flower, hoping that it would not suddenly deteriorate without its assistance and to my good wishes, it did not. I did not pluck it from it's new home but rather bent over to smell it. Even the pheromones that it secreted were identical and I found myself overcome with a bittersweet joy that I had not known in some time.

[KoKoKo]

+10

[The Creator]

Hanabi no Shinka: Mi Kyoudo (Fire Flower of Evolution, Seed Intensity)
Rank: “D” Rank
Skill: Ninjutsu, Supplementary
Effect: Doubles the size of an orb that has yet to be released. May also be used with all other Hanabi no Shinka forms.
Special: Almost closing (but not fully) the right hand, channeling chakra into the orb, and then rapidly opening the hand again.
Drawback: Can only be used on a singular orb once. To try to do so again will cause the orb to explode, potentially damaging the shinobi.
Description: This ability simply doubles the size of an orb created by the Hanabi no Shinka: Mi ability, which in turn doubles the effects of other Hanabi no Shinka abilities that utilize that orb. The danger with this technique, then, becomes learning not to over or underestimate the effects of the orb technique after this point.
Limit: Must know Hanabi no Shinka: Mi

10 TP

I was inspired with the confidence that filled me after the completion of training these two techniques to use the private garden to begin to train some more techniques before I set off with the Otokage to the Land of Grass to begin negotiations. This is not to say that I was worried that things might turn violent but I was unsure of who the Grass Kage was and what his intentions were. It was best to be on the safe side.

As with all fire training, clothes should be removed. This is for two reasons. First, training all Katon release techniques tend to get extremely hot and wearing black robes over your skin made for one intense training session followed by sweating for thirty hours on end. Second, if you messed up and your clothes caught fire, you were looking at a painful suit of burns for the next couple of months. It was for that reason why I was in my private garden when I decided to train these techniques. Don't worry, as everything but a single petunia was dead and gone so there was no real harm to be done to the surrounding plant life.

I was familiar with a technique whereupon one could create a flower of fire over his head and then transmute one petal to one orb which could be used for myriad purposes. There was, however, a potential to increase the size and devastation caused by these orbs and thus was an improvement to the entire system of techniques. This was an attractive concept for many reasons that I need not list here.

In any case, the training seemed straight forward. I performed the technique that created the flower of fire that burned over my head and transmuted subsequently one petal into one orb that floated a couple inches from my hand. The heat that radiated off of it was intense and it seemed I was only to make it more intense. The idea behind the technique would be to focus more energy into the ball. As fire was really empowered by breath, it would be like taking an existing bubble, as if from bubble gum, and make it larger without it erupting upon itself. The technique would allow the orb to grow twice in size and thus twice in strength. I had only a slight grasp of the concept of Katon Release techniques and so I was not sure if I would be able to tell when these orbs would be close to reaching their limits and the skepticism forced my hesitation.

I nevertheless began the training by closing my eyes and focusing my chakra into my hand. There were no handseals involved, as the creator of the technique probably realized that he would have to find an alternative to handseals given that one hand was preoccupied and it was safe to assume not every ninja knew the difficulty of performing one-handed handseals like I did. And so it was spurred upon by closing the hand slightly and reopening it with some force to expand the technique. The closing of the hands would manifest the focusing of the chakra into the hand and the releasing it would be the release of that chakra into the ball which sat only inches above it.

I would breathe in deeply, through my nose, as I closed my hand. I did it slowly and steadily, focusing the breath chakra that would manifest itself as fire outside of me in my hand, ready to transport it to the orb when I opened my hand. The tenketsu in my hand was used to release the chakra when I opened my hand. It was slow work because it was my first time performing the technique and, as already mentioned, I was worried I would overinflate the ball and cause some serious burns to myself. So I did it slowly and steadily, patiently and cautiously, of which I was the very soul of, as the orb began to slowly grow.

I stopped the technique at what I believed to be perhaps just a little less than half-way. I was paranoid of the technique being overperformed and did not even perform it up to what it was supposed to stop at. Being overly cautious, I stopped it just before so that I could be sure there would be no resulting injury. I opened my eyes, looking at my work. Tasukeru was not activated and need not be for the quick inspection of this technique. Indeed, the heat and size of the thing had doubled and I was holding a static ball of fire in my hand. It was quite intimidating to me, who was the caster, and an idea that it would be even moreso to one who might see himself on the receiving end of this technique. Tired of the heat that was scorching my skin, I ended the technique.

[Kyogi]

Learned

[The Creator]

Hanabi no Shinka: Mi Hoshi (Fire Flower of Evolution, Seed Star)
Rank: “D” Rank
Skill: Ninjutsu, Offensive
Effect: Utilizing an orb created from the Hanabi no Shinka’s Kyuutai ability, Kyuutai Hoshi creates a small burst of flame that erupts from the orb.
Special: Throwing the fire orb outwards then forming the half Ram seal.
Drawback: The user can be caught within the blast if it is exploded too quickly.
Description: The user first creates a fire orb utilizing Hanabi no Shinka: Kyuutai. Then by progressing the attack, the shinobi releases the orb, aiming it towards their target. At any distance from that point, the shinobi may perform the Half-Ram seal (the seal that Deidara uses to explode his clay things), which will cause the orb to explode in a small radius, perhaps a foot in diameter.
Limit: Must know Hanabi no Shinka: Mi

10 TP

After I had mastered the art of doubling the sphere from which I could perform multiple fire techniques, I decided to go ahead and begin to learn some of the many extensions of the technique that could be used in an offensive manner. The one that I had intended to learn first was one of the more basic techniques involving these petals and spheres and thus would be the easiest to learn. It would cause a simple eruption of the sphere that would cause a minor explosion. It would not do extensive damage but I believed that it would be a good stepping stool to learn other techniques.

Mulling over the technique in my head, I used my knowledge of previous fire techniques to figure the pitfalls associated with this technique. One of the ones that popped into my mind immediately was having the sphere explode instead of collapse. For it was easy for fire to collapse when it was controlled by chakra or for it to grow naturally but for it to expand violently in a controlled explosion was something else entirely. I thought briefly of how explosions happened naturally: a violent release of energy that, under the natural confines of some predetermined conditions, blows past the confining barriers in order to release the built up energy into the surroundings. With that in mind it was not difficult to create the plan for this technique.

With this in mind I had decided to test the technique on the large version of the orb which would allow me to grasp a greater understanding of the explosion which was much harder to create when the effects were larger. The plan did not change but only would require more concentration and chakra. I had decided that the orb would be infused with a vicious energy that would be controlled by the boundaries of the orb. It would be this that would cause the eruption of energy and the resulting explosion.

I performed the flowering technique, transmuted one of the petals into an orb in my hand, and then enlarged it. With those steps taken care of I closed my eyes and poured energy in the form of chakra into the ball. I immediately realized, however, that I had forgotten to surround it with a trapping chakra that would keep the energy from being released in the form of heat. I was used to creating such chakra "nets", which is not the word for it but perhaps the closest I knew, that were made for containing chakra within the bounds of the dimensions I had predetermined. I formed a chakra "net" around this ball of fire and followed up by pouring energy into the ball.  It did not increase in size due to the net I had placed around it.

When I felt content I noticed that in order for the explosion to go off the chakra net would have to be dispelled all at once.  I did not know how to dispel such things but knew how to manipulate such things up to a remote distance.  I imagined it would be something like pulling a table cover off of a table all at once.  With this in mind I lofted the ball into the air perhaps a meter away from me and two meters higher than my head and made the correct handseal.  The handseal was to rip off the chakra net which went off with a bang.  The fireball suddenly erupted in a fiery explosion that consumed the fireball and the energy which it contained.  With a content nod, I felt confident in my understanding of the technique.

[Nira]

Orb go boom.

Haha, that's unfortunately how it tends to boil down to. Not too much to do with such a thing.

Interesting visualization of shape manipulation with the chakra net. Makes be think physics, for various reasons.

+10, Learned.

[The Creator]

Hanabi no Shinka: Mi Shiruken (Fire Flower of Evolution, Seed Projectiles)
Rank: “D” Rank
Skill: Ninjutsu, Offensive
Effect: Shoots between four and six darts of flame from a Kyuutai orb.
Special: -----
Drawback: The projectiles shot forth are small, no larger than a senbon needle. Because of that, they do not do much damage and are easily counter able.
Description: The user performs the Kyuutai, creating an orb within their hand. The hand itself is then crunched in slightly, almost like closing a grip on the fire orb. The orb itself will split into between four and six needles, at the user’s choice, which then fire themselves towards the user’s directed location.
Limit: Must know Hanabi no Shinka: Mi

After a couple of successful techniques using the Hanabi no Shinka I decided that my learning would not stop there. I was on a roll and felt like pursuing the understanding of further techniques that called for the manipulation of these Mi petals. The one that I wished to focus on for the time being was one in which I would take one of the orbs and transform them into needle-like flames that could then be thrown or launched. This was a little more difficult than the previous techniques because it called for a manipulation in the shape of fire. It was not one but several which I would need to control and morph.

Chakra nets would not be necessary for this technique. The flames created by Hanabi no Shinka were unique in the fact that were not hungry to grow like natural fires and seemed to retain their heat and energy without much dissipation into the surroundings. It was only when I added my own chakra to the technique where it grew unstable and needed a net but it would not be necessary here. Instead, I could simply form the needles from the flames, carving them much like an artisan or blacksmith might carve tools from iron, and I assumed that they would retain the new shape I gave them without reverting into different forms or fizzling out. As for the nature of the technique when it reached it target it would only fizzle out given the distance from the initial flower from which these techniques took their power. They would keep their form, much like a thrown senbon which the technique imitated, and thus I did not have to worry about creating instability that would result in an explosion or a splash of fire.

So all that would be required to learn the technique would be the formation of the needles. There was of course the nature of the propelling which could be spurred on by a little push with chakra. Due to the speed I would not have to worry about their dipping towards the earth and becoming inaccurate over large distances. So, my mind turned towards the formation of the needles.

For some reason my mind turned to the nature of glass. When shattered, it would often take the form of large needles given the tendency of the fractures to go lengthwise and not spider out. I did not know the specific physics behind this phenomena but did not need to to use it to my advantage. The orb's nature was brittle and I found that this parallel would work splendidly. I could shatter the orb whose stress fractures would give me the exact size and shape I wanted. With all of the plans laid out I moved on the the performing of the technique.

I made the necessary rituals and prerequisites. The flower still glowed over my head and thus I did not need to create another one but only pull another orb from the petals. I needed not expend chakra to shatter the orb but it would be needed to propel them forth. I resultingly shattered the orb, splitting it into the needles which I had predicted would form. Not all of the orb was dedicated to the needles and the excess drifted away like dust. I supposed that I could, If I wanted, make more than just the four which I now held by increasing the intensity of the crushing to create more force in making the needles. They would be smaller but more numerous which might be handy against a larger opponent.

All it took to propel the needles was a flick of the hand and some neutral chakra. They flew into the fence some 7 meters away with several thunks! before fizzling out. I was content with my understanding of the technique and took a moment to reflect on what I had learned.

[Draven]

+10

[The Creator]

Fire Style: Fire Bolt Technique
Rank: D
Skill: Ninjutsu
Effect: Shoots a very small ball of fire, no larger than a foot in diameter, towards a target.
Special: Rat, Ram, Tiger, extension of one hand
Drawback: When the seals are over, the user extends their hands, shooting the ball of fire from their fingertips, which after repeated use (3 or more times), causes singeing which can slow down the speed of which a user can perform handseals or other finger movements.
Description: The user performs the handseals, converting chakra within the hands into heat energy. The hands are then pointed towards a target and a small bolt of fire, no larger than a foot in diameter, leaves the hand and flies rapidly towards the opponent.
Limit: Fire Release

10 TP

I had exhausted the Hanabi no Shinku techniques that I had known off the top of my head but decided that I still was lacking in Katon. There was a very simple technique that would allow me to shoot a ball of flame, which was much different than the orbs I had experimented with earlier, that would behave much more like a flame than the orbs. But because of this particular fact, the flames would be unstable. The nature of the projectile was unlike that of the earlier ones that I had made as well: this one was much slower but still maintained the same course without giving way to the force of gravity. All of this would have to be figured out before I could learn the technique.

It was not difficult to conjure flames to my hands but it was difficult to control and morph it to what I wanted it to be. This fireball, I imagined, would be somewhat contained but still flaring a tail that would resemble the tendency of fire to flicker in the presence of air disturbance. The fireball, however, would have to be mostly contained with heat only pouring out of that one exit. That could definitely help with the propulsion of the technique but these were only beginning ruminations on the nature of the technique and I was not that far into my meditations.

Chakra would have to be expended to keep the flame in shape. A chakra net would suffice, so I thought, and I could have it simply shatter upon impact. This particular technique was not meant to be detonated mid-flight but splash onto the target which it fell upon. I could simply make the net brittle enough to crumble upon contact which would cause the fire to create an area of effect ending to it's flight. The chakra net itself would cover most of the fireball except for the bottom which, when I launched it, would be pointing towards me and opposite to the way the fireball was flying. The fire would attempt to escape through that hole but the propulsion with which I used to force it towards the target would be enough force to keep the contents of the fireball within.

Then it was onto planning the flight of the projectile. I had already decided upon the propulsion but it was to stay in flight without falling to the ground which would require a little more cleverness to figure out. There would have to be some force either pushing up on the fireball or pushing down from the fireball to keep it in the air. They were the same thing, to the physicist, because they were the equal and opposite reactions of each other. But I believed them to be two different things and thus decided that I could create holes in the bottom of the net meant for gas only to keep the thing afloat. It would take some tweaking to get it to match the force of gravity upon the ball exactly but I was patient enough for such trials.

The handseals and resulting fireball was not difficult. I was adept with chakra nets and it took only seconds to figure out how to put it on well. Then came the hard part. It took me several attempts to find the right combination with most of those attempts being extremely fine tuned tests towards the end. I eventually found the perfect equilibrium at 402 tiny holes at the bottom of the net which were large enough for heated gas to escape and push the fireball up but too small for the fire to drip through.

After I was content with my understanding of the technique, I ruminated slightly on all that I had learned.