The Emerald Guardian: Anryoku's Training

[Azure Wrath]

The Emerald Guardian
Anryoku's Training


Index


Chapter I: The First Steps

Day 1
Part 1 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=359366&postcount=4) - Tree/Cliff Walking exercise, Chakra Control Training
Part 2 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=359623&postcount=5) - Tree/Cliff Walking exercise, Chakra Control Training



Day 2
Part 3 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=361057&postcount=7)



Chapter II: Tales of the Crystal Forest

Day 3
Part 1 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=435317&postcount=8)
Part 2 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=435451&postcount=9) - Agility, Endurance and Physical Strength training
Part 3 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=435555&postcount=10) - Agility, Endurance and Physical Strength training
Part 4 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=436444&postcount=11)
Part 5 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=436562&postcount=12) - Wakizashi training, Physical training
Part 6 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=436819&postcount=13) - Water Walking, Chakra Control Training, Endurance training
Part 7 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=437819&postcount=14)
Part 8 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=438758&postcount=15)
Part 9 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=441261&postcount=17) - Hatsugoori Dangan Training

Day 4
Part 10 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=441314&postcount=18) - Hatsugoori Dangan Learnt, Seal Knowledge increased
Part 11 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=441569&postcount=19) - Hatsugoori Dangan Training, Evasion and Agility increased
Part 12 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=442682&postcount=20) - Projectile Training, Physical Strength increased
Part 13 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=442694&postcount=21) - Hatsugoori Toku Training
Part 14 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=442991&postcount=22) - Hatsugoori Toku Training, Hatsugoori Toku Learnt
Part 15 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=443380&postcount=24) - Hatsugoori Toku Training, Chakra control increased, Endurance increased

Day 5
Part 16 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=443512&postcount=26) - Mizuke Saishuu Training, endurance training
Part 17 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=443584&postcount=27) - Mizuke Saishuu Training, Mizuke Saishuu learnt, chakra pool and control increased, agility and endurance increased



Interlude: Family and Ice

Day 6
Part 1 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=467735&postcount=29)
Part 2 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=468531&postcount=30) - Chakra Control training
Part 3 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=468537&postcount=31) - Chakra Control training, Fuyu Miseshime Training
Part 4 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=468601&postcount=32) - Fuyu Miseshime Learnt
Part 5 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=468625&postcount=33) - Kenjutsu Training
Part 6 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=468642&postcount=34) - Kenjutsu Training, Strenght, Agility and Endurance Training



Chapter III: An Explosion of Determination and Treachery

Day 7
Part 1 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=485388&postcount=36)
Part 2 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=485411&postcount=37)
Part 3 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=486784&postcount=38)
Part 4 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=486795&postcount=39)
Part 5 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=488359&postcount=40) - Shimo Buki training, with and without Mizuke Saishuu, Shimo Buki Learnt
Part 6 (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=489006&postcount=41) - Weapon training: Kunai-whip

[Azure Wrath]

Jutsus

Jutsus:
- Bunshin no jutsu
- Henge no jutsu
- Kawarimi no jutsu

Clan Jutsus:
- Hatsugoori Dangan no jutsu
- Hatsugoori Toku no jutsu
- Mizuke Saishuu (passive jutsu)
- Fuyu Miseshime (Bloodline Ability)
- Shimo Buki


Missions


D Rank
~none~

C Rank
Capricoso (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showthread.php?t=12391) (Scaled from D rank)
[url=http://forum.narutochaos.com/showthread.php?t=13079]Sagitarii and The Gatekeepers

B Rank
~none~

A Rank
~none~

S Rank
~none~



Mission Points History

0 (starting amount)
+9 (Capricoso, 9/10)
+9 (Sagitarii and The Gatekeepers, 9/10)

[Azure Wrath]

Financial History

500$ (Starting amount)
+50 (SOTW voting)
+50 (BOTM voting)
- 380 (Shopping (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=435327&postcount=98))
+200 (fighting in prelims for the Tournament of the Sun)
+200 (fighting in first round for the Tournament of the Sun)
- 120 (Shopping (http://forum.narutochaos.com/showpost.php?p=472593&postcount=155))
+200 (fighting in second round for the Tournament of the Sun)
+200 (fighting in semi finals for the Tournament of the Sun)
+500 (recruitment bonus)
+200 (Tournament of the Sun bonus)
+195 (Sagitarii and The Gatekeepers)

Inventory

Weapons:
- 1 Ancient Scythe (Onryou)
- Kagirinai Wakizashi


Projectiles:
- 25x Hari
- 8x Kunai

Miscellaneous:
- 5x Smoke bombs
- 13x Exploding Tag
- 1x Pouch
- 1x Kunai Holder
- 80ft of Wire
- 1 set of 15lb training weights
- 1 set of 10lb training weights


Character Timeline

- Passed Academy, became genin
- Day 1 training
- Went to hospital after severe training (Day 2 of training)
- Mission: Capricoso
- Chapter 2 in training: The Crystal Forest
- Battled Kaishi in the Tournament of the Sun Preliminary Rounds, in Arena 10 (lost)
- Battled Tetsu in the Tournament of the Sun First Round, in Arena 12 (won)
- Interlude in training: Family and Ice
- Battled Shutsuga in the Tournament of the Sun Quarter Finals, in Arena 2 (won)
- Chapter 3 in training: An Explosion of Determination and Treachery
- Battles Tenks in the Tournament of the Sun Semi Finals, in Arena 5 (won)
- Battled Kaishi in the Tournament of the Sun, Finals. (lost)
- Mission: Sagitarii and The Gatekeepers

[Azure Wrath]

Chapter I
The First Steps
Part I
Day 1


It had been a long day, but it was far from over. It was still early in the morning, as the sun had not yet met its apex in the sky. A young genin, one Kagirinai Anryoku, stepped out of the academy and observed the world with new eyes. Upon her head was a shining forehead protector, with the Hidden Cloud’s symbol on it. She was finally a genin. Her career as a shinobi was about to begin. Her heart was filled with excitement. Her eyes were filled with determination. Her blood was filled with eagerness. Her stomach was filled with… nothing! And this proved an immediate challenge for the young genin.


Anryoku: “Today, I will train! One day, I will surpass Jin-sama! I need power! I need to train!”


Halfway through her clichéd speech, her stomach chips in with a low rumble that rattles her bones and all rational thought.


Anryoku: “I need to eat too, it seems…”


So a hard day’s training starts off with the young genin walking into the local ramen store. Not the particular fan of ramen, though. Instead, Anryoku requested a bowl of sweet and sour pork. It came quickly enough, but it was devoured much faster then it came. Greed took over. She got a second helping. Then she had to pay, which was the lowlight of the meal. Reaching into her pocket, she handed over some money and smiled at the man behind the counter.


Anryoku: “Ok… now, it is time to start my training.”


Anryoke bolted away from the ramen store, in search of the ideal place to train. She needed a place that will be challenging and has a wide variety of terrain, so she could use it to her advantage. Walking through woods and along many paths within her village, she finds several spots… but most of them have already been taken by other shinobi, some new, some old. Veteran shinobi were training some advanced jutsus, destroying half the terrain as they did… but then other mokuton users recreated the forests that were destroyed, keeping the balance and training everyone. Anryoku needed something like this. She had a teammate, but he was on the other end of the world, all the way at the Hidden Sand. So she had to work alone for now.


After a long search, she finds a desolate spot in the woods. Trees tower through the sky and silence roams the opening. A large cliff wall is on her right, while trees create a semi-spherical wall around the cliff, creating a ‘wall’ around a large clearing where she can train. From the cliff face, a small stream is falling, too small to be called a waterfall, but too large to be ignored. The cliff face was huge, stretching easily 80 meters into the clouded sky. Lush grass grew in the clearing, all the colour of this genin’s eyes. And this clearing did indeed appeal to those eyes. She slowly walked through the lush grass as the blades rubbed at her ankles…


Anryoku: “This place… it’s beautiful… why could nobody have discovered it yet?


She stepped into the center of the clearing and the beauty of the tranquility embraced her, like a blanket in the cold. Her heart warmed as she could see mother nature at her finest. It was a stunning scene that motivated her even further to become truly great. If mother nature could be so perfect, then surely she could too!


Anryoku: “Ok… first step of my training… I need to grasp the basics of chakra control. Controlling the flow of chakra in a jutsu is vital to the jutsu’s success… so many ninja’s train by walking up trees… but… this cliff… Hmmmm….”


Anryoku looks up to the top of the cliff… The rock climbs into the sky at nearly a 90-degree angle, which is perfect for the tree walking (or cliff walking) exercise. Patches of mold and lichen riddle the way up and the occasional branch sprouts out of the rock wall, adding variety to the ascent. The path up would be hard… but he path down was the one that concerned her. Luckily, her chakra control wasn’t atrocious… so she figured she could get considerably far…


Anryoku: “Hell yeah!! Let’s do this!! Ok… first step… I need to mold chakra at my feet… ok….”


Her eyes gently slide shut… she slowly raises her hands to the front of her face, forming a seal, more in concentration then anything else… then, she started to seep chakra to her feet… it felt as if she was moving her very existence to the soles of her feet. Soon, a light blue aura enveloped her feet… a gentle breeze was created near her feet, due to the circulating chakra. Soon, she felt she was ready.


Anryoku: “Ok, let’s do this!”


And the genin took a step forward! As she did… her foot landed on the ground and all the chakra that was accumulated in her feet dissipated! It’s a shame she didn’t realize that, as she still ran forward! With her relentless sprint to the wall, she stomped all the chakra out of her feet, concentrating far too much on ‘what to do when I am on the wall’… her first step on the cliff stuck, merely because of the weight still being on her other foot… but as she lifted her other foot of the ground, gravity sprung into action, grabbed her around her waist and brought her down to the earth, smashing her waist into dirt!


Anryoku: “AH! My bum!! Arg, that hurt!!”


Slowly, she stood back up again… her back was aching… And her face showed scorn… If looks could kill, she would have just toppled the whole cliff. But determination ran deep within her soul, it would take more then just a fall to change that. Her bum would take many more blows through the day (OOC, no comment, please! :p) but she was prepared!


Anryoku: “AGAIN!”


With the spunk and stubbornness that is the trademark of all girls, Anryoku places her hands together again and focuses chakra back to her feet. This time, however, she concentrates on something else as well… keeping it there. This proved a bit harder, but she kept at it… slowly, she took her first steps to the cliff, focusing on nothing but keeping the flow of chakra at her feet. She soon stood in front of the cliff wall; the tower of stone and mold. She then lifter her left leg and rested her foot against the wall… While it was rested there, she tested her chakra forming capabilities… she applied more and less, to see how it affected her foot on the wall… soon, she realized how much was needed to firmly stick her foot to the wall… once she had that mastered, she forced chakra to her other foot, then sent that foot flying up as well, planting it to the stone wall. As it hit, she had to adjust the chakra concentration in both feet, to stick to the wall. At first, she struggled, nearly falling again… but she remained glued to the wall. In this position, she played around further with chakra concentrations. Soon, she was comfortable with keeping herself in one position… So she decided to take a few steps forward...


1221 words

[Azure Wrath]

Part II
Day 1


Kagirinai Anryoku was relentlessly busy trying to climb a vertical cliff wall. Her efforts were hard and painful, but progress was clear. Her first attempt ended up in a pain in the ass, her second attempt even more so, as the fall was greater then the first fall… and every fall coming was longer and harder, making for a rather painful day. But it had worked wonders on both her chakra control and her physical strength. She was continuously pulling her body’s weight up with her legs, which strained her quads and thus exercising them too. She also tried standing horizontally on the cliff wall several times. Doing this and remaining completely horizontal was indeed a physical workout, as she had to tense her stomach muscles to their limit, in order to stay perpindicular to the wall. It was indeed exhausting. She could feel the effects, she could feel her body screaming at her, she could feel gravity pulling her down, but her feet dragged her up, rebelling against gravity’s hand that tried to suck her back down to the earth, now an easy 20 meters down. Several falls taught Anry the lesson in catching objects on the way down… this idea came to mind when she nearly broke her coccyx when falling at least 8 meters down from the cliff. After that incident, she realized that all the scions of trees from the cliff were to serve a purpose. So with every fall, she had to catch one of these branches and then continue from thereon forward. It was painful, it was brutal and it was draining. But it taught her many lessons and she grew stronger with each step up. Sweat dripped down her face and had to endure the fall she took many times over and over. Her face was flushed crimson, revealing her plight to the sky.


After a long time of relentlessly traveling up the wall, Anry eventually found herself at a point that seemed to look like a halfway mark. She looked up and she looked down. The later made her gulp at the height, so she quickly diverted her attention from the painful fall that lay behind her. But… as she looked back up, the clouds cracked into several pieces, dropping from the cracks… a torrent of rain! She saw the lightning that clove the clouds into pieces… then in a sudden wave, the rain hit down on her, in her face! It came down hard and cold and gave her a sudden shock, as the cliff wall went slippery! Her body arched back, but her feet remained stationary... but not by much. It cost her immense concentration to remain on the wall. Her mind focused… Her brain went silent to all of the world and only spoke of walking up the cliff. Chakra control was all that was on her mind. Her muscles pounded in refusal, but her mind pounded right back at them, squeezing energy and movement from them.


Anryoku: “There’s no point in quitting now! I’ve come halfway! I’m finding out what is at the top of this cliff!!”


And once again, the eternal stubbornness of the female race shines through, as she plunders forth. By now, she had a breathtaking view of the Hidden Cloud, as most of the trees had ended by now, though the hardiest of trees still loomed up. All the clearings where people were training, all the potential spots she checked earlier (that seemed days ago) were now empty. She was one of few people still training. Some hid from the storm… but she walked towards it, straight to its core, the very birthplace of this terrible rain! Her heart was set, her mind was clear, her feet were glued to a slippery stone wall and her eyes were wide open, staring at the brutal onslaught of rain that showered down upon her. It was impossible to tell the time of day, as the cloud cover had obscured even the remnants of the sun. It was dark, it was gray, it was miserable, it was pouring with rain and distant thunder plagued the sky. It was indeed, a first day of training Anryoku could brag about. If she survived it.


After a few more hours, Anryoku had moved upwards quite a distance… but she also fell several times. Luckily, she could catch trees, branches or protrusions from the cliff face on her way down. If she was really lucky, she didn’t lose much ground. But still, every meter she climbed was painful, every step she took was laborious and each movement caused her muscles to rebel. Regardless, she carried forth. By now, her feet had grown accustomed to climbing up the wall, even with the rain running down the side of the rocks. It was slippery, but she did not give up. Her steps focused on the gathering and maintaining of her chakra at her feet, sucking her to the rock, through the water, forcing it away.


With time, the rain subdued. With even more time, the clouds scattered, dissipating into more tuffs of gray in the sky, a sky that was now deep purple, drenched in evening. Stars jingled in the sky and a phantom moon tried to rear its face through some wisps of cloud. The rain had stopped and so had the storm… but now the cold came in to play. The cold and a light breeze made for a deadly combination, especially when her clothes were soaked from the rain. Her clothes also carried the weight of water absorbed, amkign the climb even more deviant. But still, like a woman possessed, she plundered forth, step by step. The soft squish sounds could be heard as she pounded her feet to the wall. With those steps, water was relocated from her shoes to between her toes, chilling her feet. This meant for an enhanced chakra circulation to keep her sticking to the wall. It made the climb take even longer, as the elements seemed to conspire against her.


But…


All her hard work paid off… For soon, she could not see the end of the cliff. Soon, she saw an edge: the end of her climb! The peak of the cliff face, the goal she was running at! This sight enriched Anryoku with so much excitement, that she burst forward, sprinting the last stretch. Her feet had now become good friends with the wall, having stuck there for a very long time now. And then she took her last horizontal step… till she realized that it was going to be a painful maneuver to go from her horizontal position to standing vertically again on the cliff’s edge. To walk up like in her current state would require immense contortion of her body, which she did not think was possible. The only other way she could see…


Anryoku: “This may be… painful.”


…Was to release her grip and swing forward and then grab the edge with her hands. Bad timing would end in a plunge that she would not survive. Or her head hitting the wall, knocking her unconscious, which would at least mean that she would miss the fall. But… it seemed like the only way to the stubborn genin. She readied herself and sent chakra to her feet… she sent more and more, accumulating at her feet… then… she released it!


Anryoku: “…please…”


She shot away from the cliff as she burst the chakra… Then, she ordered all of the muscles in her body to swing her face and upper body towards the edge. She swung forward like the devil’s messenger! Her arms reached out, while her body fell down, as gravity finally got its hold on her again! Her arms flayed upwards…. And her legs plummeted down…. And a lone hand catches the edge of the cliff! The rest of her body smashes into the wall. A decent helping of pain pulses through her body as she strikes the rock… but the grand dose of pain comes from the right arm that keeps her in the air. The muscles are at wits end, not knowing what the hell their master is up to!


Anryoku: “Damnit!! Need…. To….”


She swings her body, so her left hand could get to the edge as well. No avail.


Anryoku: “…Get…. To…”


She swings again… her left hand lands on the edge! Fingers wrap around the rock, securing her to the edge!


Anryoku: “… The…. TOP!!”


And with that final scream of determination, she yanks herself up to the edge! Her knees are now on the same level as the edge of the cliff! As it reaches this level, Anryoku uses the last bit of her strength to throw her body down to the ground, allowing her to stay on the edge. She then uses her arms to pull her completely onto the cliff.


She has reached the top.


From the top, the most beautiful view awaits all those who make it up the cliff. On the edge, there is a small pond and a few trees strong enough to withstand the torrential weather that this cliff is exposed to. There was another cliff behind the pond, but this one did not tower nearly as high as the one Anryoku had just conquered. The view of the Hidden Cloud was indeed splendid, as an orchestra of beauty sang up to this cozy little spot. The entire village could be seen in all its splendor, with faint fireflies of houses lighting up the area. The Raikage’s office glimmered with light upon the foot of a grand mountain.. and above the mountain shimmered the Aurora Borealis in true majesty, the Hidden Cloud’s version of a rainbow, displaying the colour spectrum to all of the world. Trees and woods riddled the land between the cliff and the village and also ran up the sides of the mountain. A few spare clouds drifted aimlessly in the air under a violet sky dotted with countless stars. It was true beauty.


But Anryoku missed it all. She was passed out on the cliff edge, gone into a distant land of slumber…


Day 1 Complete
Strength and Chakra Control Trained
Tree (or cliff) walking exercise complete



1704 words
Total for Day 1: 2925 words

[Bartimaeus]

Approved !

[Azure Wrath]

Part III
Day 2


Through dense clouds did a sun arise this morning. This sun was not directly seen, but it painted the clouds that lay between it and the Hidden Cloud. Streaks of crimson and gold ran through the clouds canvas of the skies. For once, it was a calm morning in the Hidden Cloud. There was no rain, nor was there no wind, nor was there any sign of thunderstorms. It was a normal morning, with the heavens painted in an orchestra of clouds, twirling into the horizon. From the top of a cliff, one could see all of the village and the immaculate view of the horizon. All was beautiful. All was light, in a vivid, surreal picture, which seemed to have been ripped from another world. The gold and crimson clouds soon merged with a light purple, adding even more variety to the canvas in the skies.

From the cliff that Anryoku conquered, the previous night, one could see it all… it was a beautiful sight.

But Anryoku was not on the cliff’s edge, where she passed out the night before. She lay somewhere far away from this cliff’s edge… She lay fast asleep in pure whiteness. Her dreams swirled around her, into her mind and out of her body. Her eyes rushed through her skull, staring at the dreams that haunted her. She tried to look away from the dreams, but she could not avoid the scarlet, she could not divert her ears from the crying, she could not run away fast enough. She shook as her dreams rattled her. Her forehead contorted as her mind races with despair, for the dream grips her stronger then ever, raping her sanity and warping her humanity. In her dreams, her eyes bleed, her tongue disintegrates, her feet sink, as she watches it all again. Like she sees it so frequently, but each time it destroyed her, ravaged her, and annihilated her being. Sweat forms on her face. It runs down the sides of her cheek onto white linen. Her body jerks. Her heart races faster, her breathing patterns fluctuate greatly from her norm. A hand touches her on her shoulder, but she cannot discriminate from reality and dream. She jerks to the side to see who it was.



A brother with a bludgeoned face smiles at her with a toothless smile, half a skull revealed to her eyes.



Anryoku: “AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”


…She is now sitting up, having screamed herself out of her dream. Sweat was pouring down her face, mingling with tears that seeped endlessly from her eyes. This was not the first time that she had awakened screaming… on the contrary, it was quite the usual thing for Anrykou. Her life had been twisted, which may be the reason for her split personalities. The events did indeed change her life and probably not for the better… But it did send her into the career of a shinobi, which was something she had always had a passion for.

Anryoku: “… where am I?”


The question was simple enough, but the answer was very obvious. She wasn’t where she thought she was. Even clearer was the fact that she was in a hospital.

Kagirinai Anryoku lay in a white hospital bed, wit ha drip plugged to her right arm. It was bleeding through the plaster where the needle penetrated her skin, due to her jerking during her sleep. The room had a sterile scent and was pure white, bar the curtains, which were a faint blue. To her right, she could see slightly out of the window, while to her left was another hospital bed, though this one was vacant. To the left of that, was a small door, leading to a bathroom. To the right of this door, was a door that was pulled halfway shut. Anryoku could see that it lead to the passage in the hospital. In front of her, on the opposite wall, was a portrait of the Hidden Cloud. Next to it, in the right hand corner of the room, was a pot plant, with plastic leaves.


Anryoku: “A hospital? What happened?”


???: “Well… in a few words… you passed out.”


A nurse walks into the ward and comes to stand next to Anryoku. The nurse is dressed in a skimpy nurse outfit that would give most men driftwood to brag about. But Anryoku was not really into girls, though she did think this nurse was very pretty.


Nurse: “Chakra exhaustion, physical exhaustion… some minor bruises on your body… What did you do to yourself? Over training is not a good thing, believe me. You can be lucky the daily scouts found you!”


Anryoku: “Ha ha… I was training to become a great shinobi… like Jin-sama…”


Nurse: “Kagirinai Jin? Oooh… you have big shoes to fill then…. Such a nice guy…”


The nurse looks out of the window…slowly, a little smile runs through her face, telling tales to the world that Anryoku ignored. Then the nurse snapped out of her daydream and looked back at the miniature Kagirinai ninja in front of her.


Nurse: “Not only that, but from messing around in the cold and the rain, you have also picked up a cold! A rather bad one!”


Anryoku: “Great…. So what can I do now?”


878 words

[Azure Wrath]

Chapter II
The Tales of the Crystal Forest
Part I
Day 3


Waking up is usually not an easy thing. With warm blankets surrounding you while you drift in a world lost in the deepest forests of your mind, waking is a pretty hard procedure. Especially if it’s cold outside. If it’s raining and the clouds loom low to earth, when the wind pounds at the walls and the windows. And if you dream then it usually even harder to accept waking up. Dreams of what you want, dreams of who you want to be, dreams of who you want to be with. These dreams make you wish you could sleep for years.

But what if your dreams twisted the sinews of your sanity; burning the ones you love over and over in front of your eyes?


‘Wake up’

What if the dreams led you to screaming at the top of your lungs? And what if you could not wake up from these dreams?

‘Wake up!’

If you lay in bed, tormented by the flames, the screams, the sinister smiles of those who lay fire to your love…

“WAKE UP!!”


With a sudden tug, the vision of flame was stolen from Anryoku’s mind. The flames died, the faces faded… and he was gone again. She was sweating, panting. Her throat was sore. Another night of screaming, it seemed. In front of her, stood Hitame and Awashi. They looked at her with genuine concern in their eyes.

“Finally…” Awashi muttered, as Anryoku’s eyes began to focus on reality.
Hitame looked at her and smiled a bit. “You were screaming and rolling around like a person possessed. Not such a great sight, Anry. So.. he he… we had to wake you. My way!”

It was then that Anryoku noticed she was shoved out of her bed. She lay on the floor and now she felt that her back was kind of sore… She looked up at the two boys… slowly, her dreams fled her mind.

“More nightmares…. Thank you for waking me… but.. why did you come here? It’s…” While speaking, Anryoku looks out of the window. It was still dark outside, with only a hint of the sun on the horizon; a little red glow behind the mountains. The glow was faint, telling tales of 5am to Anryoku. She continued talking in surprise now. “…It’s so early! Why did you come here?”

“Oh boy, Awashi, I think we upset the little Sleeping Beauty.” Hitame’s humour was radiating. He seemed to be rather chirpy this morning.

It suddenly hit Anryoku. Something was going to happen. Hitame and Awashi both had huge bags tied to their backs. They were readying themselves for a trip. Before Anryoku could say anything, Awashi answered the questions that were about to come. “We have some things to do. The Raikage has told us it would be good exercise for us and it would benefit the Hidden Cloud. We are going to look for the lost treasure of Crystal Forest.”

“Crystal Forest? I thought that place is dangerous…” Anryoku’s eyes reflected her concern, but at the moment she was still bewildered after a rough awakening.

“It is. That’s why we’re going. To learn how to survive. Hitame and myself have packed lots of jutsu scrolls and several weapons, so we can train while we search for the treasure. And we feel that you should come along as well.” Awashi spoke softly, to not awake anyone in the Kagirinai Manor, but his voice was still powerful.

Sitting in her pajamas, with sleep in her eyes and remnant of flame flickering through her mind, Anryoku found it hard to think. Her mind was unstable at the moment, with tormented memories of Capricoso that still made her shiver and cry.

Hitame felt it was his time to chip in, with his usual subtlety. “Anry, you look like shit.”

Awashi was slightly shocked at Hitame’s quick one-line ‘pick her up’-er, but Hitame continued. “I know that you are pissed off at what happened at Capricoso, I mean, it really wasn’t too cool. I can’t blame you, I mean after what happened… But you are deteriorating! Just sitting here, crying, worrying, despairing! You’ve become anti-social! You’ve forgotten your friends! Your hair has lost its glimmer! Your eyes are dull! You’re actually getting FAT!! Anry, you’re getting FAT!? I mean, c’mon! Where’s that bubble of energy we always knew?”

Little drops of tears formed in Anryoku’s eyes. Hitame was right. She was falling. Normally, Hitame would have taken a severe blow to his head for calling Anryoku ‘fat’… but not today. She thought about it for a while. Then she thought some more.

“Screw this. You ARE coming with us. You don’t have a say in it. I’m packing your bags.” Hitame lunged forward, with half a smile on his face… but something on Anry’s face made him smile even more. The little glimmer that was floating in the deepest green of her eyes.


“It’s fine, Hitame… I will pack it myself. There’s no way I’m letting you guys go there on your own. You can’t cook. Neither can Awashi. You’d die without me.”

Her smile that slowly propagated across her face cheered both the boys up. They walked out of her room, so she could get dressed and packed for another adventure.

“But… I need to go to the shop first.” She said this while getting dressed. She had plans. She needed to get stronger. It would be a few days where she could get her mind off of him… and make herself stronger.

And maybe chase away those dreams that hammered at her sanity.

[Azure Wrath]

Part II
Day 3


A quick stop at the shop was in order. Anryoku and the two boys left the Kagirinai Manor early that morning and went to the local shinobi store… which was open 24 hours a day. Anryoku walked in first and the two boys followed. She had Hitame and Awashi forcing products upon her. Hitame suggested that she should use kunai. Awashi suggested Hari. At the end of the day, she decided to try both. Wire was essential. She had learnt from Raikou Azure, a good friend of Kagirinai Jin, that wire is very useful in fights. She also bought training weights and a holster for her kunai as well as a separate pouch for further shinobi equipment. Her attire was different today; she wore her hair up, instead of letting it hang loose. She wore faded green pants and a black shirt. Despite the plainness of her outfit, she still looked pretty. But her eyes still didn’t have their glimmer back.

Soon, they were done in the store. Having paid 380$, she felt a hole in her budget… but sooner or later, she would fix that. As they stood outside, the three decided it was time to walk. While walking, Anryoku checked all she had in her backpack and her pouches. In her backpack, she had lots of food, several of the Kagirinai Clan’s jutsu scrolls, a sleeping bag and some bottles of water. She also equipped her pouch and kunai holster and filled them up. 80 feet of wire was a lot of wire, but she had cut it into several rolls, which could be used for a wide variety of things.

Hitame suddenly stopped and spoke. “Anry… Those weights you bought… I think it’s time you put them on.” He looked at her with a bit of a smile. He had suggested her to buy these weights and now it seemed that he was eager to see how she would cope when wearing them.

Anryoku sighed… then took the 15lb weights and strapped them to her ankles… and then, she took the 10lb weights and strapped them to her wrists. This last step came as a surprise to the two boys. Awashi smiled a bit, then laughed as he spoke. “Wow, I thought you just bought the second pair in case the other pair was too heavy.” The young, silver-haired girl smiled at Awashi. “I need to get stronger.”

Slowly, after attaching the weights, Anryoku moved her limbs a bit. It felt as if she was submerged, as movement suddenly became rather difficult. Soon, she straightened her body out and stood proudly. He hand rested on the hilt of her Clan Weapon; a green wakizashi that was hung from her shoulder. It was sheathed in a black scabbard, that had several metal decorations on it. Resting her hand on the soft green material of the hilt assured her of who she was. A member of the Kagirinai Clan. One of the elite members. Kagirinai Jin’s prodigy. She had to make him proud.

“Ok guys… let’s go.” Her voice was strong and commanding. Admirable as well.
“You sound like a dominatrix.” Hitame’s voice was sardonic and filled with his usual sense of humour. Awashi punched him in his side and laughed. All three did, as they started walking.


As the scenery disappeared, the three ventured further away from the Hidden Cloud. It was not a long walk before they found themselves in a forest path. A path that was used very often, by the looks of things. This came as no surprise, as these routes are used often. While walking, the sweat already began to run down Anry’s face. Walking was strenuous. Her body weighed 50lb more then it usually did and it was a bit of an adjustment for her. The first few steps were easy… then it became progressively harder.

“Guys… these weights… they are quite… umm… effective?” Her words were trying to sound optimistic, but the two boys picked up that she was struggling a bit. Especially with the two boys walking at their merry pace.

“Well… I guess we could… what do you think, Hitame?” Awashi looked at Hitame with a wicked smile. Hitame smiled back. “Sure… Ok, Anry. Let’s even the playing field a bit.”

Suddenly, the two boys pulled out their own sets of weights. Awashi’s weights looked similar to the ones Anryoku had on… but Hitame’s weights were much bigger, probably weighing twice as much! The two boys quickly strapped the weights to their legs. When they were done, they smiled at the green-eyed girl.

“Better? Now, we all have weights. But don’t think that this means we will be traveling slower. Or at the same speed, for that matter. You see, this is one of the best ways to get some serious leg muscles. Speed training, as well as endurance training.” Hitame paused for a few seconds and looked up to the sky as he did. “We are going to race. Yup. The three of us are gonna run to the entrance of the forest!”

Anryoku was shocked, but it seemed that Awashi was informed of this, so he remained calm. Anryoku began to protest. “What?! Are you trying to kill us!? Running? With these weights? It can’t be done!”

Before her sentence was done, Hitame dashed away, into the depths of the path that lay ahead of them. Soon, Awashi followed him, nearly catching up to Hitame. Anry sighed briefly. “Oh boy… This is going to be a rough trip…”

[Azure Wrath]

Part III
Day 3



Could muscles bleed? Could you exercise so much that the very fibers in your muscles rip into scarlet streaks that flooded your entire body? Anryoku was pretty convinced that they could.


A race with training weights had proved to Anryoku that there is no limit to pain. Every step she took caused her muscles to shudder in pain and each step made them shudder harder then they did before hand. Her breathing was erratic and her heartbeat had gone up to an insane beat, that sounded more like a hum, but felt like a hammer at her sternum.


Having chased the two boys for at least 5 kilometers, Anryoku was ready to die. Her vision became blurry and her steps became uncoordinated. The boys slowed down for her, but it wasn’t enough. She wanted to bath in a pool of sapphire water, that would take the dirt from her, that would cleanse her pores, that would drown her sweat, like it has drowned her.


Initially, she had swung her arms rhythmically as she ran. It gave her arms an intense work out. In the beginning, she had relished the feeling of her body doing some work… At the time, it felt like a good work out.


But having chased for nearly an hour without stop, she was beyond exhausted.



‘I am about to collapse’



She said it out loud… but it came out as a whisper, a mutter under an exhausted breath. The two did not hear her and kept beaming forward. Hitame almost felt bad for making her work like this… but he knew… “She would appreciate it later. Or pretty soon, seeing that the Tournament of the Sun was is on the horizon.” He chuckled at his little unexpected pun.


“…guys…” Her voice was puny and weak… she was about to collapse… she felt her knees buckle…. But then, she saw that they had stopped.


“We’re here.” Awashi spoke without a drop of exhaustion in his words.


Anryoku looked up slowly… Awashi was right. The entrance to the forest stood in front of them. By now, the sun had risen high enough to peek above the trees that lay at the entrance of the Crystal Forest…And it was a sight that stole the exhaustion from Anryoku’s body.

[Azure Wrath]

Part IV
Day 3


The three genin stood in front of the entrance of the Crystal Forest. One of them (the one with a set of boobs) was out of breath. But the sight before them could be blamed for stealing their breath. The Crystal Forest was not given the name just because it sounds pretty… the forest was actually crystallized. The trees stood firmly into the sunrisen sky, seemingly frozen with leaves of crystal. Normally, the leaves would shimmer with a cold hatred… but with the sun rising above the treetops, it painted the forest in a golden orange with flickers of red. The light hit the crystalline leaves of the trees and was refracted, each leaf working like a prism, painting a cacophony of colours onto the surroundings. The world glistened in a multitude of hues and shades, drawing beauty onto the retinas of the young genin. There was a small pathway into the forest, but it had a wooden barrier in front of it. This bar seemed out of place, as everything was vibrant and vivid, except for this dull piece of wood (which also had traces of the prismatic light strewn on it).


For once, Hitame was speechless. The view knocked all words away from him. Awashi also stood, staring at the beauty that lay in front of him. The sun, which had caused these phenomena of light, was quickly busy rising over the trees and thus slowly the light was dissipating into the air.


“I can’t believe this… it’s so beautiful”. Anryoku spoke softly as she forgot about the exhaustion and pain that lay in her. Her eyes scanned the area, soaking up the beauty that filled every corner of her sight. Soon, she spotted something else…


“Guys… look there!”


She quickly pointed with her right arm. As she did, she got reminded that she was wearing a weight on her arm.

The two boys looked at what it was that she was pointing at. It was a pool of water, next to the entrance of the forest. But this pool seemed to be filled with something else then water, because Anryoku had never seen water this blue. It’s vibrancy stung her eyes and drew her closer. The surface sparkled lightly and remained motionless. There was something mystical about the water and it drew all three of the genin.


“It’s… pretty.” Hitame’s voice was dull with mysticism when he looked at the pool. The three walked closer to the pool, like a curious rabbit would hop to a sleeping lion. They eyed it out, until they were right next to it. Anry went down to her haunches and observed it… then, suddenly, reality hit her again.

“Guys… it’s just a pool of water. I’m going to drink some. I am tired and need it.”

Slowly, she cupped her hands and lowered it into the water. As she did, she was surprised at how cold the water was. It felt as if millions of needles assaulted her hands… but it was startlingly refreshing. The dirt and sweat quickly drained from her hands and seemed to vanish into the water. The cold was a comfortable cold that made her want to jump into the pool.


“Anry… you sure it’s safe?” There was some concern in Hitame’s voice, but he concealed it well with his usually macho attitude.



“Yeah… I mean… it’s just water.”

[Azure Wrath]

Part V
Day 3



With her hands gently cupped in the pool, Anryoku bends down slightly to sip from the liquid she held in her hands. The two boys looked upon her, worried slightly. Was the fluid dangerous? They did not know, but Anryoku didn’t seem to care.

Slowly, she sips the water.

As it touches her tongue, it feels like diamonds are sprinkled upon her tongue. Thousands of stinging sensations fill her mouth, all pleasant. She swallows the water and as it runs down her throat it seems to heal all it touches, revitalizing her body as it runs down to her stomach. Despite the cold of the liquid, it warms her body and sharpens her mind. Soon, she feels the feeling of renewal spreading through her body, cleansing her muscles from all pain and clearing her from worry and pain.

“Guys… this is amazing! Drink some! I feel rejuvenated!” Her voice had energy and the two believed her. They went down to their knees and slowly drank the water. As they did, they too could feel their bodies eagerly accepting the water, restoring their stamina and refreshing their minds.

After drinking some more of the water, the three stood up, feeling ready to tackle to the journey ahead.

“Well, now I feel ready! And… Damn! It’s still early! The sun is still low in the sky… I’d guess it about 9am. Missed breakfast! Damn!” Hitame was back in full swing, with energy coursing his body. He motioned the three to enter the Crystal Forest. They all stood in front of the entrance… Awashi moved the wooden obstruction… and then they entered the forest.


Slowly, the walked into the forest. Steadily, the normal forest behind them vanished, as they ventured deeper into the Crystal Forest. Soon, they were plunged into a pathway surrounded by hundreds of crystalline trees, each riddled with leaves that resembled shards of blue glass. The entire forest shone like a sapphire with twinkles of white making random appearances in one’s peripheral vision. No wind as to be found, but a stinging cold lingered in the air. The air was clear, with no mist, making the forest seem to be taken straight from an artist’s canvas. The cold touched Awashi and Hitame, soon forcing them to pull out an extra jacket… But Anryoku, being one from the Kagirinai Clan, was resistant to the cold. They walked on, in silence, observing the beauty of the forest, afraid that their words may shatter the beautiful crystal around them. Walking on, they passed frozen flowers, which still retained their former colour, caught deep within ice that give it a blue haze. Everything was blue, with other shades trapped in it. But one object caught Awashi’s attention.

“Hm?… What is this?” Awashi spoke while he stepped closer to a mound that rested against a tree… it had a strange yellow colour, nearly grey. Anryoku and Hitame followed him as he walked to the side of the tree. This tree towered high in the sky and covered a large portion of the forest. Its first leaves hung high in the air, a good few meters above them. It seemed like one of the biggest trees here, but if they had looked into the horizon, they would see many more of these trees.

“It looks like…” Awashi cut his words short as his breath quickly leapt back down his throat. As he touched the crystal, he realized what it was. The round piece with two holes in it... the long part that spawned from this round bit… the appendages that clumped out from the long bit… it was …

“A skeleton. Guys… I think…”

But Awashi did not finish his sentence. As he touched the skeleton, it fell over and knocked the side of the tree. Slowly, the tree began to resonate; a soft vibration that was heard running up the tree. The three stood in a sick kind of awe, watching the massive tree shudder….. then, the sky seemed to twinkle as all the branches began to shudder…. But Awashi quickly noted what had happened…

“Shit! The leaves are falling! Watch out! They are sharp as glass!”

Awashi’s warning grabbed Hitame as an opportunity to work out!

“Screw the hiding! Watch this!”

With an arrogant call, Hitame plucks a kunai from his holster… and then another one. Now holding two kunai (one per hand), he stands, awaiting the barrage of shards. Awashi soon noticed that there was no space to hide… and that the tree covered a truly vast area, so running was futile. So he yanked two tanto’s from his sides and stood ready. Anryoku could see what the two were planning on doing…. And she followed in their example! In a flash, she ripped her wakizashi from its scabbard! Its emerald blade glowed slightly as it met the light of the outside world. Pulling the blade out so quickly was felt by her arms, as the weights on her arms still tugged down to earth.

The three stood ready, awaiting the onslaught of shards to rain down upon them… and soon it met them! With quick wrist movements, the three began to swipe in all direction, deflecting and cutting through bits and pieces of crystal that rained upon them. Many shards of ice were shattered as it met cold steel, leaving diamond dust to lie on the forest floor. Some shards passed their defense, cutting through shoulders as it fell down to earth. Droplets of blood began to riddle the forest floor, along with all the shattered pieces of crystallized leaves. The three endured the onslaught, being rather effective with the deflection and eradication of the leaves. With each passing minute, the three learnt more about the blade control, learning more about the weapons they held. Anryoku was rather good with a sword, but this training proved she had a lot to still learn. Every swing was wasteful, causing her arms to throb. She could not dodge all of the shards, thus gaining some scratch marks on her soft skin… but she kept her vital spots safe with her quick movements.

This exercise continued for a rather long time. 10 minutes after the rain of crystal had begun, the three finally slashed the last bits of crystal down. They stood for a few seconds, awaiting any more… and silence wrapped around them.


“…. I think that was the last, guys.” Anryoku said, as she scanned the tree to see if there was any more glistening daytime starlight coming down from the heavens. She could see none, so she slowly lowered her wakizashi to her side. Her arm was numb, having moved swiftly, non-stop for the past 10 minutes. Though it sounds short, Anryoku knew that this constant motion was indeed a pain, especially with 10lb extra on each arm.

“Thanks for that, Awashi. We’ve been walking here for less then an hour and we already nearly bit the bullet!” Hitame laughed as he spoke and lunged forward with a kidding punch at Awashi’s gut.

“Well, I’m sorry. A real ninja has to see underneath the underneath.” Awashi spoke with humbleness in his voice.

“Well, I’m sorry. A real ninja must kick your ass!” Hitame spoke with cockiness in his voice, as he aimed another mock punch at Awashi’s ribs. The two laughed and soon enough Anry joined in, reflecting the three’s laughter in a forest that listened to them intently…

[Azure Wrath]

Part VI
Day 3



Continuing their travels through the Crystal Forest, Anryoku, Hitame and Awashi steadily jog through the forest pathways. They are traveling deeper and deeper into the forest and as they do, the treetops float higher into the sky, creating a crystal canopy above the three. The sunlight is eventually cut off from the forest, though the crystal treetops shatter whatever light comes in, leaving the whole spectrum strewn across the forest floor. The cold intensifies slowly as they jog deeper into the forest. Bushes and trees become thicker and the crystalline edges become sharper and more threatening. Despite this, the three are still in awe at the sight of the forest, but they now jog steadily past it all. Their bodies heat up, only to be cooled by the icy air. They sweat, only to have it slowly turn to more ice to add to the never-ending supply of it in the forest.

Their travels bring them to a small stream, which is, surprisingly enough, not frozen. Seeming to be the same fluid as earlier, Anryoku kneels down again, to drink from the stream… and the liquid does indeed refresh her, easing away all of the pain her body felt. The sun was probably looming high in the air now, as they have been jogging for a very long time (more then 2 hours, Anryoku figured). It was probably midday, but they could not tell.

The three decided it would be a good idea to drink some of the mystery water, so they could be ready for whatever else the day throws at them. They wait and rest a while at the stream… and then Awashi realizes something.

“Hey guys… the path stops at this stream….” His voice was questioning and seemed mildly alarmed. The other two traced their side of the stream’s bank… and realized that Awashi was right. There was no path.

Anryoku sighed softly…“This is a problem…”

But Hitame soon brought his usually chirp into the story. “Nah, it just means we need to swim! Did you bring your bathing suit, Anry? I’m sure a swim in the water will be pretty nice! We can just swim around! I brought my rubberduckie!”

Awashi suddenly spotted something and yelled out “Hitame! You’re right! Look!”

Instantly, Awashi pointed out a desolate path on the other end of the stream. It seems that the path was merely flooded by the stream. However, the stream seemed to get rather deep towards the opposite end…

“Ha ha! Seems I AM a genius! Guess mom was wrong! Ok, let’s go!” Hitame grunted and leapt onto the water! With quick movements, he jogged right across the waters surface and was soon on the other end. Anryoku looked nervously as Awashi was about to step onto the water.

“Anry… what’s wrong?” His face softened for her and it made her feel less embarrassed.

“Well… I can’t walk on water yet… I’ve walked up a cliff before, but… that was long ago. It was wet, so I think I will be ok… but…” Her voice trailed as she looked at the stream and Hitame that was on the other end of the stream.

“Anry… there’s nothing to worry about. Here, I’ll teach you and guide you to the other end. Now… what you do is basically the same as with the tree walking exercise. You just need to channel chakra to your feet… then mold it, so it keeps you above the water. The tough part lies with balancing yourself upon the water, but you get used to it very quickly. It’s like riding a bike, really. Now, do it with me… mold chakra at your feet.” Awashi did hand motions along with his speech, so Anryoku would understand better, but he didn’t have to. Anry had already started channeling chakra to her feet and displayed a soft glow from her soles.

“Ah, that looks great… now, let’s take this one step at a time. Grab onto me if you think you’re going to fall.” He smiled at her softly… until Hitame shouted from the other end “Hold onto me?! BOW CHICKA BOW WOW!!”. Hitame’s voice nearly broke Anry’s concentration, but she maintained her chakra flow… and so did Awashi.

Awashi took the first step and his foot rested firmly above the water. Anry followed, gently placing her foot on the water… for a while, she applied no pressure to the water… but then she steadily applied more and more, testing to see how much chakra she required to keep herself up. Soon, she had most of her body weight resting on her foot that was placed on the water… then she lifted her other foot. Suddenly, she felt she had to adjust her balance again. She controlled the chakra and forced it to counter her weight… and she stayed above the water! Smiling, she looked at Awashi. “See… not that bad!”

Awashi nodded at her… Then he took another step… and so did she. Her steps were slow, but she concentrated hard on each one. Awashi kept walking at her pace, taking his time to perfect his control as well. Meanwhile, Hitame had gone to take a piss, trying to melt the ice that had covered nearly all of the forest. He got it right to urinate the letters

“Hita”

in the forest floor before he was empty. Boredom struck him, as watching those two walking at two meters per hour was not his top form of excitement.


But, for Anry it did indeed become a source of excitement! With each slow step she became more confident with her abilities and each step required less concentration. She took baby steps at first, keeping her hand near Awashi, in case she would falter... but there was no need, as she made it by herself. Soon, she was giggling with delight. It was a sight that returned immense warmth to Awashi and Hitame’s hearts, as it has been a long time since they have seen Anry this way. Her sweet giggle sent goose bumps up their necks and made them feel like laughing as well. Her face was lighting up with joy as she skipped around on the stream, no longer intent on getting to the other side. Instead, she hopped from place to place on the water, trying to jump and trying to do other strange maneuvers. She finally plucked up the courage to try doing a cartwheel. She concentrated chakra to her hands and then began to run! She leapt and flipped her body over! The momentum gathered faster then expected, due to the added weight! Soon, she had to extend her arms to the water… as her palms touched he water, she could feel there was too little chakra, so she sent more! Sending too much though, propelled her into the air, launching her from the water! In the air and in shock, she flipped herself back to her feet, acting purely on instinct. As she landed, her feet hit solid ground. She stood still for a second, gathering her surroundings and her wit. Then she looked up at the two boys, who had watched the insane stunt. There was silence…


…then they all burst out laughing.

[Azure Wrath]

Part VII
Day 3


After crossing the river (and learning something new, in Anry’s case), the three continued their jog into the further depths of the forest. As always, the forest gleamed with rays of twisted blue, purple and green, glimmering like fallen stars on an artists palette. Their jog ran smoothly, with few cramps in the muscles. The three stopped occasionally for breather and to exchange random comments. Their trip was filled with small conversations and shallow chit-chat, keeping the silence in the forest at bay. Sweat was trickling down all three’s foreheads, as the constant pace they were running at was rather taxing.

Regardless of the exhaustion that set in slowly but surely, they kept jogging, kept pressing forward. There was only one path to follow, so they had little qualms of getting lost. The air was silent except for their talking and besides their own movements, nothing seemed to stir in the forest. Crystal glimmered occasionally, leading their eyes to believe in a foreign motion.

Eventually, the three found themselves at the end of the path… but there was nothing there, except for a small blue pedestal. Walking up to it, the saw some form of an inscription and an inlet for a hand.

“What? This can’t be the end of the trip… can it?” Awashi was slightly confused and his voice did little to hide it. Hitame looked around the area and could see nothing else. Trees were surrounding this circular opening in the forest. Anry looked around the pedestal to see if there wasn’t anything hidden behind it, but her efforts were in vain.

“What the hell… we don’t have much of as choice, do we folks? Let’s just do this thing!” Hitame commandeered! He walked up to he pedestal, paused for a second… and then thrust his palm into the hand-shaped recess.

The other two were shocked at how quickly Hitame had come up with this plan on his own... but they were more shocked at what actually happened….

[Azure Wrath]

Part VIII
Day 3


As Hitame inserted his hand into the recess on the pedestal, his two teammates gasped deeply at both his foolishness and the reaction that this had caused. As his hand entered the slot, it glowed briefly… then, an image appeared above the pedestal, hovering in the air. Several kanji symbols floated in the air, listed underneath each other. One read “The Wizard”, another read “Reflections”. The third read “The Truth” and the fourth and final read “The Crystal”. Hitame read them all and before the other two had a say in it, he raised his other hand to touch the kanji that read “The Crystal”. As he touched it, the floor began to rumble.

“Oh shit… Hitame!!” Awashi was enraged by Hitame’s sudden action. The floor trembled deeply… and suddenly, spikes of crystal shot from the forest floor, around the perimeter of the open area in the forest, creating a circular barricade around the three. More and more spikes shot up, slowly forming a dome of crystal around them. It was dark before the crystal surrounded them, but soon, as the dome trapped them, it was even darker, with only the faint glow of the kanji at the pedestal lighting up the dome. The three were shocked at what had happened!

“We’re trapped!! HITAME!!” Anryoku’s voice was shrill and furious! She was about to shout further, but suddenly a faint, yet clear voice appeared in the dome, resonating from the pedestal.


“The crystal…. Constantly reborn…. Strong as diamond…. Only diamond can cut the diamond… forest of frost, the Crystal Forest of Desulra…”


The voice resonated clearly in the dome and the three listened to what it had to say. Pressing the kanji that hovered in the air obviously meant you would hear what the voice had to say about those four things… So the three listened, maybe there was a clue to their escape…


“Forged long ago from only the purest… the crystal does not die, for it is life. It is the way Desulra wanted. The fluid of the forest…. It is life in liquid form… life… the crystal...”


With those words, the kanji for “The Crystal” disappeared and the voice stopped, leaving silence resounding in the dome.

“Who the hell is Desulra?” Hitame seemed to be rather excited about their predicament and even more keen to find out more about the place. Without hesitation, he pressed his hand on the first kanji, that read “The Wizard”. Nothing happened to the walls at first… but soon, images appeared within the crystal, accompanied by the same voice.

“Hundreds of years ago… a grizzly battle took place, between Kumogakure and a cult. This cult was lead by Desulra, a wizard with immense magical powers. Able to harnass his chakra at levels no other has ever achieved, he created a cult that specialized in research of forbidden jutsus… thus, the Hidden Cloud decided to defeat this wizard. Their efforts were in vain though. Most of the shinobi that battled this wizard and his followers were killed…”

All the time, images were displayed on the crystal wall, illustrating the story for the three. Pictures of gruesome jutsus deforming shinobi were flashed on the crystal screen, followed by scenes of war and death.

“…until the Raikage came. Unable to kill the wizard, due to a plethora of revival jutsus at his disposal, the Raikage decided to seal the wizard into the earth. It took the Raikage a lot of effort, but it was the ideal way to get rid of the wizard. Eventually, he got it right and thus sealed the wizard into the very forest that they battled in. The Raikage left, assuming that Desulra was gone….”

“10 bucks says the old fart is still alive!” Hitame obviously had to interrupt the story. Images still ran across the screen of crystal, showing the wizard dissipate into a normal green forest.


“…however, Desulra was far from defeated. His immense power persevered in his bound state… thus, he created the crystal… and wreathed the forest with it… he claimed the forest as his own, as a being of is own… and the crystal, his masterpiece.”

Again, the voice faded and with it, the kanji displaying “The Wizard”. The three stood in silence for a while… then Anry walked up behind Hitame. “Hitame… press another one… The Truth… I want to hear it.” Her voice was quiet and calm, yet spellbound by the tale. Hitame nodded and placed his hand over the kanji that read “The Truth”. The images began to move again, showing the corpses of hundreds that lay in the forest floor.


“The crystal… life… with bitter vengeance burning within the spirit of Desalru, he used his magic to create the crystal, the crystal that has turned this forest. Formed not from ice….”

The images on the wall glimmered, showing the blood of hundreds flowing…

“…but from the blood of those who died here. Constantly reborn is the crystal, for Desalru has the blood of those who died at that day, stored in crystal form. Some still flows, in the purest form of life, rejuvenating those who touch it and drink it. But the crystal is strong, forged by the willpower of man, impervious to any form of heat or steel. Only diamond can crush diamond. The blood strengthens the forest… and all who die here strengthen the forest even further. The crystal grows, expands, taking more of the forests with each death in the forest… soon….soon it will be everywhere…The blood strengthens the forest. The blood of those who die. This is the truth that few know.”


And with that, the voice died… and the pedestal shattered, leaving the three trapped, alone in a crystal dome, a dome formed from the blood of the ancient dead.

[Bartimaeus]

A lot happen in that girl's life since she has met JP Dolbec...

APPROVED



Got it! Awashi is closet homosexual! He so wants Hitame! lololololololol

Good job, very cool. Approved as always!

EDIT: FUCK YOU BART!




Merged. Double Approval. Sweet!



FUCK YOU PAUL! :p

[Azure Wrath]

Part IX
Day 3


Trapped within a dome of crystal blood, tainted blue by some forgotten power, the three stood in the epicenter of impending death. With no way out, they began to tremble with fear. Ice cold radiated from the blue walls, turning hands and lips purple. Breathe soon turned visible as the three shivered in the dome. Even Anry began to feel the cold…


“Shit! We got to get out of here!!!” Hitame screamed, as he ran to the dome wall! With a sudden punch, his hand shot at the wall! A stomach-curling crunch sound emanates from the point of contact…. Soon, blood trickles down his fist…. And it soon melts into the wall. “DAMN!!” His scream resounded in the dome. There was not even a crack on the wall…


“Hitame, calm down… there must be a way out of this dome…” Awashi spoke gently, but pondered deeply on how to get out of this place. He slowly stepped up to the wall and removed a knife from his pocket. Slowly, he chiseled at the wall…. But he could not even chip the wall, no matter how hard he pounded the knife. “Hmmmm…. It’s as hard as diamond.”


Anryoku stood silently at the center of the dome. Her thoughts were racing terribly. Many things ran through her mind, but she was sure that the voice from earlier held a clue out of this dome.


“Heat! Let’s melt this ice!!” Hitame proclaimed with a sort of confidence! He suddenly did some seals, then he screamed! “Katon! Gokakyu no jutsu!” And with great heat, a blast of flame erupts from his mouth! The flame screeches against the wall….. as it does, a section of the wall melts, allowing a large torrent to sweep to the ground…. The three now stand in a puddle of ankle-deep water…. The wall was weakened…. But, in an instant, the wall regenerated, growing back a layer of crystal, making it just as thick as before!!


“SHIT!!” Hitame was losing his cool. Awashi also seemed a bit frustrated…


“Guys…. The voice said that… the crystal is diamond, right?” Anry’s voice was light and soft. “Yeah… it did.” Awashi nodded lowly while speaking…. Then Anry remained quiet for a while…. She slowly pulled a scroll from her back-pack.



Hatsugoori Dangan (Ice Shot):
Seals: Two handed seals (single handed at high chuunin and up), short seal length
Chakra usage: Depends on intensity of jutsu
A basic offensive jutsu of this clan, where the user aims his/her hand(s) at a target and then fires an ice crystal from his/her hand(s). Water is not required for this jutsu. The more chakra the user uses for this jutsu, the larger the crystal will be. An experienced user can form the shape of the fired object by concentrating on how the chakra forms the crystal.


She read the scroll slowly… then it made sense to her. “Guys… I need to destroy this wall… with my own crystal. Only diamond can cut diamond… that means that my crystal can destroy this wall…”


Hitame and Awashi stayed in silence for a few seconds… then Awashi smiled. “That does make sense… Now… go for it Anry! Get us outta here!”


Anryoku lulled her head down a bit, looking at the floor. “I…. Can’t…. I haven’t learnt this jutsu yet….


Hitame suddenly laughed. “Ha ha! That’s awesome! Now, we can train it here! Come, Anry! We came here to train! So, let’s practice it!! You know how to do this, right?”
Before Hitame could continue, Awashi pushed him aside. “Hitame… I’ll teach her… you know who’s the better jutsu user between the two of us…”


Hitame did not protest, he knew that Awashi was a god at jutsus. His knowledge with jutsus always surprised Hitame. So, Hitame accepted it.


“Now, Anry… let me see that scroll… Hmm…. Ok…I see…. Ok, this is no problem. A very basic jutsu, with very few important things to remember. Now, let me show you what to do, step by step. I can’t mold ice chakra, but I can mold lightning chakra, so you try and follow with me.” As he spoke, he motioned with his hands. He extended his hand… and so did Anry.


“Ok… what you want to do first, is to concentrate chakra into your palm. Like with the tree walking exercise, except you need to ‘form’ the item you want to fire. It will be easier if you dip your hand in the liquid, as it will be easier to form the ice then… but for now, let’s practice in air. Now, let’s focus the chakra.”


Immediately, Anryoku concentrated deeply. Her eyes shut a bit, as she imagined a stream of chakra, running from her body… it all flowed towards her hand, circling in her palm.. she could feel the intensity rising… and soon, she felt the pressure that built up in her hand… she opened her eyes to see a green glow in her hand….. and a yellow glow in Awashi’s hand.


“Ok, it looks good… now, keep it there…. And compress it! Solidify the chakra! As if you’re clenching it all into one condensed ball… like this…” And with those last words, Awashi’s face suddenly flickered with golden yellow, as a ball of lightning formed in his hands, crackling between his fingers. Anry looked in amazement… Then she tried too!


She focused again, concentrating deeply on creating her piece of crystal. This was one of many jutsus that did not need a source of water, though using it would make life easier… It would also help her with many more jutsus, so she knew mastering this jutsu was vital. With a sudden flash of determination, she condensed the chakra…. And in her hand, she felt something… She opened her eyes, to see…. A crystal, glowing emerald green, flickering with shades of yellow that came from Awashi’s palm. It was the size of a carrot and lay heavily in her hand. She smiled and bean to giggle with delight.


“Great job Anry! Now... we need to work on launching the thing….”


At this time, they did not know, but it was passed midnight… it signed the end of their first day in the forest… but no moonlight tainted the progress that was happening in the dome…



Day 3 Complete
Physical Strength, Endurance, Agility increased
Wakizashi skills improved
First part of the Hatsugoori Dangan Jutsu learnt
Water Walking Achieved, Chakra Control increased
Day 3 word count: 7581

[Azure Wrath]

Part X
Day 4


It was dark outside, with a ghastly wind hovering high in the sky, under the moonlight. The moon flickered its light upon the crystal forest and the forest returned the light, though, it came back shattered, making a miniature aura of light above the forest… However, none of the three genin in the forest could see it, as they were trapped in a large dome of crystal.


Anryoku had been training through the night, to acquire her new jutsu. They could not see the outside conditions, and thus just worked hard at training. Hitame was following along with the two, so he could improve his skills as well. By now, Awashi had gotten Anryoku to form a proper sized crystal. The largest was as big as a 1-liter bottle, shaped sharp at the end. It took her a long whole to master the forming of the crystal, but eventually, she got it right. Many times, she plunged her hand into the water at her feet, to gain substance from there… it greatly eased the jutsu for her… Soon, however, she gained the ability to draw the water up her body, to her hands, so she no longer needed to bend down and get the water… this was caused by the chakra ‘pulling’ the water towards the where the crystal was to be formed. Apparently, this was how most of the clan jutsus worked and it puzzled her.


“Ok, now… we need to launch this crystal. Launching it requires multitasking skills. You need to form the crystal in your hand and while you are doing that, you need to mold chakra around the crystal as well…. Especially within your hand. Then, when you condense the chakra to form the crystal, you need to detonate the chakra that you gathered around the crystal. This will launch it. It is important that you detonate the chakra as soon as you condense the crystal. If you do it too late, the crystal will fall from your hand, if your palm is vertical. So, you need to concentrate on this.” Awashi’s instructions were deeply descriptive and illustrated the procedure within Anryoku’s mind… With a small amount of chakra already in her hand, she took the crystal that was still there… and exploded the chakra… it lobbed the crystal a few inches into the sky.


“Wow…. That didn’t do too much…” Her voice trembled slightly.


So, they began with the next step of the training. Anryoku could get it right to form the crystal in her hand… it was also very sturdy, which was necessary, otherwise it would just disintegrate upon contact. She formed the crystal and while she did, she cupped it in chakra… she concentrated deeply, putting her all into the chakra sleeve around her crystal… then she launched it, by detonating the chakra! As she did, the crystal fired about 2 meters ahead, before it plopped into the liquid that lay on the floor.


“Shit… it needs even more!” She was utterly surprised at how much chakra it required to launch the crystal. But before she lost hope, Awashi added some useful information. “Remember, when doing the seals for this jutsu, it makes it much easier… but at the moment, we’re practicing the basics.” This encouraged Anryoku a lot. So, she continued her hard work.


Hours passed as she stood in the dome, forming crystals and launching them. Some traveled far, some didn’t. Some were big, some weren’t…. but she kept her chakra levels lower then her maximum, so she had enough to blast the wall down later. Meanwhile, Hitame had taken a bottle out of his bag…. It was a square green bottle and Awashi looked at it, slightly confused. “Hitame…. What is that?”


Hitame laughed with a mischievous smile. “It’s foreign liquor. I got it when we were at Capricoso. It’s called Jagermeister.” He opened the bottle and took a long sip. “Ah…. Damn, that’s good! Want some Awashi?” Awashi sighed… then he walked up and took a sip. After he did, he coughed slightly. “God… that’s strong.” Hitame laughed again. “Ha ha, you sissy! I tasted this other stuff when we are Capricoso… it was called Stroh Rum… Man…. That…. It killed me!”


The two boys talked a bit further, while Anryoku kept practicing. The two boys realized that they all were very tired. They were active for a long time and it only hit them when they relaxed a bit. So, they drank some of the Jagermeister, so they could awaken slightly. They offered Anry, but she was too busy.


After a while Anryoku finally got the hang of the jutsu. She walked up to Awashi and announced her idea. “Awashi…I think I’m ready!”


Awashi smiled briefly… his cheeks were a bit red and his breath carried a strange odor… “Sure Anry… Let’s check it out!” Hitame giggled a bit and then burped. “Hell yeah, boobie girl! You go and show that wall!! Fuck ‘em UP!!!” He giggled a bit again. Anry could see he was drunk. It disappointed her a bit, but she ignored it. They had other things to do. She walked away from the two, and faced the dome wall, with about 5 meters between her and the wall… She pulled out the scroll and observed the seals needed… then she practiced them over and over. They were simple and they were fast, making life easier… After a few minutes, she had the seals committed to memory… and then, she put the scroll back in her bag. It was time.


She breathed slowly… then, she began! She pounded the seals, striking them perfectly with her hands… As she did, she already focused chakra to her hands… it felt strange, it seemed to flow easier with each seal, as if she opened the floodgates of her chakra as she performed the seals… then, they were done! As she finished the seals, she aimed her right hand forward! She sprawled threads of chakra from her hands, that soon weaved a crystal, that soon glowed a bright green. The trait of her ice was that it was far sharper then any ice that other clan members created… and when she looked at the crystal in her hand, she could see why…. It gleamed with several cutting edges that seemed rather fatal… As it formed, she focused her chakra around it…. And then, she solidified the crystal… at the same time, she screamed the name of the jutsu, for the first time.


“HATSUGOORI DANGAN NO JUTSU!!!”


And with her scream, she detonated the chakra that had wrapped up the crystal in her hands! As she did, she blasted the crystal forward with force that she had not used before! It fired like a bullet from her hands, heading straight towards the dome wall! It gleamed with the emerald of the greenest forests and the purest gem, leaving a green trail as it blasted through the air… the recoil shot her arms back slightly, but she was too happy when she launched it, to even notice the pain in her arms!


The ice blast shot forward towards the dome wall…. Would it destroy the wall? She was certain it would…..

[Azure Wrath]

Part XI
Day 4



Anryoku was overwhelmed at the power of her jutsu! It had launched from her hands with destructive power! It was a strange feeling, that she had just launched something that could easily kill someone. And this deadly force was traveling towards the crystal dome that had trapped them! She waited in silence for those split seconds before it hit…And then it struck!


But as the crystal struck, the dome seemed to retaliate! Multiple shards of crystal broke off from the wall and fired towards Anryoku!! They came at the same speed that her crystal did, but it caught her unaware! Due only to reflexes, her legs shot her out of the way! A slight throb, as the muscles in her leg wage war with the weights, is sent through her legs! As she rolls, the crystal needles splashed into the liquid where she stood… one clipped her ankle, drawing blood that slowly seeped into the puddle that she crouched in.

“What the hell was that?!” Hitame cried in his state. It seemed that seeing that had sobered him up a tad. “Look! There’s a crack in the wall! It worked! But… those needles….”

Awashi nodded. “Yes… it seems the wall is counter-attacking to Anry’s crystal… that must mean that it is threatened by the attack… we need to keep attacking it… but Anry, you need to dodge those retaliation crystals as well!”

Anryoku sighed slightly…. But kept her head high. This was turning into a monumental training trip. “Ok guys…. But be aware… those crystals… they are sharp… I felt one cut my ankle… it wasn’t pleasant…”

Anry then took her stance, readying herself for more wall-destroying mayhem. She did those few seals again and readied herself! With a sudden “Hatsugoori Dangan no jutsu!” another green bolt flew to the dome wall! Upon touching it, more crystal shards were shot at her! This time, she ducked quickly and rolled out of the way in time to save herself from any blood loss. As se rolled away, she saw the crack in the dome was slightly bigger. She smiled, but knew that this would take a while. The two boys stood around, knowing there was little that they could do to help her…


A long time passed, when Anry fired multiple blasts of ice towards the dome. The hours passed and soon, they could see light at the crack. Anry was tired from firing these bolts nearly non-stop… but seeing the gradual improvement of her jutsu, combined with the growing crack in the dome, made her push on.

Soon, the crack split into a small hole… and upon firing one more, the hole shattered… and along with it, the entire dome! As the dome exploded, shards rained down upon the three! In an instant, Awashi pulled the three together, did some seals and screamed!

“Raikou Shouheki no jutsu!”

Instantly, they were wrapped in a bubble of lightning, which deflected all of the shards. Anryoku was amazed at this power… only to realize, that she too held a scroll that could teach her the ice-equivalent of this jutsu.

“You guys ok?” Awashi looked at the two that he had tugged closer to protect. “Hell yeah man… but you can get your hand off my ass.” Hitame threw his humour into play again and immediately, Awashi let go of him…. And punched him in the chest. They all laughed and stepped out of the remains of the dome. However, this time, the forest seemed different. Last time, there was only one path leading to the clearing they were in… this time, there was another path…. Obviously the path forward.

“Guys… it’s time to move on… we have a path.” Anryoku’s voice sounded full of determination, but was dulled. Awashi slowly walked to her and then put his hand on her shoulder. “First… we rest and eat…. It’s been a long day, so I think we need to wait here for a while and eat something…. Maybe take a nap.” There was some tranquility…


“And have some sex!!”


… and the tranquility was broken by Hitame.


The three rested for a few hours, taking turns to take quick naps and to eat… but there was no sex.

[Azure Wrath]

Part XII
Day 4


After a few hours of sex-less rest, the three genin decided it was high time to continue their journey through the forest. They had eaten some food and also got a few hours sleep… but the dome that had entrapped them and the tales of Desulra had rattled their confidence, leaving little ambition to sleep. So, the three continued to walk down the path… the forest had lost its appeal to the three genin, now staring at them with a blue haze that no longer seemed to shimmer with the pure intention it had earlier.


As they walked through the forest, they finally came upon a weird gate, which was (once again) created from the goddamn crystal. There seemed to be a recess for a key… but the three had no idea what to do, for they had no such key.


Anryoku stepped back and soon, they guys made room for her… they knew what was coming…. And the scream ‘Hatsugoori Dangan no jutsu’ clarified those thoughts! With a green blaze, the crystal shot towards the gate…. And it struck. As it did, the crystal bolt she had fired shattered, leaving a tiny crack…. But then, the entire gate shuddered…….. and fired hundreds upon hundreds of tiny crystals at all three!! They knew that a retaliation was coming, but they did not see an attack of this magnitude coming! With an array of ducks, rolls, leaps, dives and other evasive maneuvers, the genin escaped with little damage… But looking at the crack suddenly get repaired, they knew there must be another way.


“This is quite the cock-up, isn’t it fellows?” Hitame was not enjoying this trip too much and his last comment dripped with satire. It was probably past lunch time, possibly even late afternoon, but the three had no awareness of the time. As they looked around, Awashi spotted something. “Guys…. That glimmering thing in the sky… what is it?”


They all looked up, to see a glistening blue object…. Flying. It was a small… creature, it seemed. They all looked at it, until Hitame threw a stone at it! The stone nearly hit the creature… but as it came close, the creature zoomed close to the three. It was a crystalline bat… with something resembling a key attached to its lower abdomen!


“Guys! The creature has the key!!” Anryoku shouted as she leapt forward… but the bat lunged out of the way, back into the sky. “Christ! It got away! We needs to kill it! Anry… do you have kunai here?” Awashi quickly instructed as he yanked some projectiles from his pocket.


Anryoku nodded with a smile. Projectiles were one of her strong points at the academy. She quickly yanked kunai and hari from her pockets. She liked both… but upon second thought, she realized that hari would do little damage, so she would stick with the kunai. The projectile training had begun!


The three stood in line, all with kunai ready… and they started throwing kunai at the crystal bat! With the first volley of kunai, they all missed the bat! The kunai then soon fell back to the earth, but before it had hit the ground, the bat moved to another destination! The three immediately threw another volley with more speed. It took Anryoku a while to get used to the trajectory of the kunai, but soon she got it. She was pretty smart when it came to physics and thus she quickly grasped the idea of gravity’s wonderful effect on kunai being thrown.


With time, the three threw more accurately, nearly clipping the bat’s crystal wings. Though, every few volleys, they had to run around and pick up their kunai again. The constant throwing made life hard on Anry’s arms, as the body weights still dragged her down… but she could feel that it was getting easier to move. She moved at nearly her original speed… and she was eager to find out what would happen if she took them off.


A few hours passed, in which the genin stood on the forest floor, launching kunai at a crystal bat. The more they threw, the more the bat swarmed around, making the exercise grow harder with each passing throw. But, the genin adjusted their arms and their eyes to catch the bat. No matter how much it moved, they were close. Awashi, being the brightest of the three, soon started throwing two kunai, one which would deflect the other one, so the bat would not expect a hit until the last second… though, this required an expertise that Anryoku did not have…. Yet. She tried it once or twice, but nearly lost a kunai the first few times… She continued to practice deflecting kunai off each other, while Hitame just threw his kunai normally.


The light had begun to fade outside of the crystal forest… visibility was getting low and it was much harder to see the bat now… but the accuracy the genin had gained was invaluable… It was Anry who first realized that you could use chakra to enhance the velocity of the kunai. By molding small amounts of chakra in her hand, Anry then exploded it (similar to her previously learnt jutsu) to launch the kunai at a greater velocity! When she incorporated this, the bat stood little chance. Finally, her one kunai struck the bat in its wing!! IT flapped around, trying to escape… but Anry threw another one, which shot through the bat’s other wing! It gave up after there and fell to the ground!


“Yay!!!” Anry giggled and ran up to the bat! On the way, she picked up all of her kunai, which were pegged into the ground. As she got to the bat, she saw the glimmering key that hung from the bat. She yanked her two kunai out of the bat, took the key…. And stomped on the bat.


“Guys! I got it!” Anry giggled further as she brought the key back to the boys. They all looked at it… then, Awashi took it and inserted it into the gate…. Slowly, the gate shuddered and pulled back… revealing a long open path, drenched in a dark blue, with thousands of trees on its sides… the path seemed to go on for miles and it was dead straight…. But, ahead of them, something was coming!


It took them a few seconds to see it… but it was a huge volley of crystal shards flying towards them, a solid wall of frozen needles that threatened death in their faces!

[Azure Wrath]

Part XIII
Day 4



It was when the gate opened that the hordes and hordes of crystals shot towards the three genin. They did not expect it and when they saw it, they were shocked. In front of them was another small river of the forests liquid… The two boys reacted immediately and created their own shield jutsus… But Anry….


In her mind, she knew that grave danger was on its way. With pure instinct alone, she summoned chakra to her hands, hoping that chakra alone would fend off the shards that came speeding towards her. Panic and survival instincts took over! As the shards came closer, she shut her eyes in horror as the crystals were about to hit.



But there was no hit… slowly, she opened her eyes…. She couldn’t see in front of her… there was just a strange green in front of her… what was it? Upon closer inspection, she realized what it was…. In front of her, she held a green shield of ice…


“How on earth…?” Her voice was filled with mystery and awe… She looked over the shield, to see hundreds of tiny crystal needles sticking in the shield…. She could feel her chakra being drained… then, reality kicked back into her mind… and the shield shattered.


“Guys…” Her voice trembled slightly. The two boys looked at her. Both were unharmed. Awashi walked up to her. He had seen it all. “Anry… how did you do that? I saw it… the water from that river… it pulled towards your hands and formed that shield… You didn’t mean to do that?”


Anry shook her head. “I think… I think it happened by itself. I felt something take over… someone else…And then, when I opened my eyes, it was there…. This is one of my clan jutsus… but I have never learnt it… nor have I even tried to learn it…”


Awashi looked at her puzzled…. Could it be what the doctors had spoken about? He wondered if it could be so strong? For a few seconds, he was lost in thought…


“Awashi? You look funny?” Anry’s cute voice cut through his thoughts. He shook his head and returned to mother earth. “Oh, sorry Anry, I was just think of…”


Hitame had to interrupt. “You were just thinking of grabbing those titties!!”


With an instant, both Awashi and Anry learnt a lesson in ‘How to Punch an Asshole’. Hitame learnt how much being punched in the crotch hurt.


The three laughed a while, relaxing for a few minutes… until they heard a drone… They looked in the direction where the drone came from… it was in the path ahead of them…. Thousands, upon thousands of tiny objects began to buzz in the path… they flew all over the path, making it impossible to move through the area… one of them flew out, towards the three… but Hitame grabbed it. It cut Hitame, but he wanted to see what it was… it was a small swallow, made of crystal… its beak and wings were horrendously sharp… Hitame then dropped it and stomped on it. “Goodbye, fucker…. Only a few million left… We need to get through there… we will need to barricade ourselves… Anry… any chance everyone’s favorite female can churn out another one of those shields?”


Anryoku thought for a while… But then she realized that she didn’t have the faintest idea on how to pull of that jutsu. She shook her head a bit. “Nope, I don’t think I can Hitame… I need to train it first…” Hitame cut off her sentence “Then train it now! Now’s the ideal time!”


There was no objections. They needed to form a barrier if they wanted to cross this path… and two shields would not be enough. So, Anry pulled out the scroll that gave all the directions for this jutsu…


Hatsugoori Toku (Ice Shield):
Seals: Two handed (single handed at high chuunin and up), single seal
Chakra usage: Low to Medium (Depends on size of shield)
The user creates a shield of pure, concentrated ice. This shield can be large or small, depending on how much chakra is poured into it. However, the user needs to maintain contact with the shield, otherwise it will lose most of its durability. Requires a source of water, unless user knows the Mizuke Saishuu jutsu.


She read the scroll carefully… It seemed to be very similar to the Hatsugoori Dangan jutsu, except she needed to concentrate more in maintaining a hard shape, instead of a sharp shape. Also, she didn’t need to concentrate on launching it; instead she had to maintain it… Also, she read that it requires a water source… unless she learnt the Mizuke Saishuu. But that would have to wait. Tonight, she would train the Hatsugoori Toku… It was nearly 14 hours ago that she learnt the Hatsugoori Toku jutsu, now it was time for another jutsu… She sighed slightly, then began training….

[Azure Wrath]

Part XIV
Day 4



The night grew deep into the Crystal Forest with darkness seeping into all the crevices of the forest. Light was fading and the luminescence of the crystal in the forest was disappearing… but the drone continued, from the pathway that lay ahead of the three genin. Meanwhile, Anryoku was training long and hard on her jutsu.


She had the basics ready. She needed to form chakra in her hands and create the basic shape she wanted with chakra… then, she needed to draw the water into the shape and then finally, she had to solidify it. Though, this was easier in theory.


Having spent an hour or so to merely get the shape right, all three of the genin were stupefied at how she had instinctively performed the jutsu earlier. Regardless of this, Anry was working hard at getting the jutsu right, so they could travel through the path that lay ahead. Molding chakra into a disk shape was not too hard, she realized… She also felt the potential to learn the Mizuke Saishuu jutsu pretty easily, due to this training and her training with the Hatsugoori Dangan Jutsu. But she found it difficult to draw the water towards her.


That is why, eventually, she decided she should submerge her hands while trying to form the shield. This way, she needed to concentrate more on the shape of the chakra and less on the drawing of the water… though, condensing the water took some practice as well…


“Man, this is taking long…” Hitame was quickly becoming very bored with life. He had taken a seat on a nearby rock, to rest a bit, while Awashi was overlooking Anry’s progress. He was still concerned about what had happened earlier, but he did his best to shunt that thought to the corners of his mind. At the moment, it was irrelevant, so it was best not to worry about it too much… or so he figured, at least. So, instead, he offered advice to Anry, regarding the condensation of her chakra. His advice helped a bit, but she still learnt more through trial and error.


With each time she pulled her hands out of the water, she held a slightly larger disk of ice. The thickness also grew steadily… but one problem she had was maintaining it. It required a great deal of chakra to keep the shield steady and to keep it from shattering. Her mind was focused and her determination did not waver. She did not yet do the jutsu with the seals and the jutsu call, because she wanted to perfect the foundations of the jutsu before she tried the whole jutsu as an entity. It taxed her to continuously work at the jutsu, with little rest, but it was showing results. And she enjoyed the results.


Hitame peered to the path that they were to cross… those swallows of ice seemed hungry for blood… But Hitame wondered why they had suddenly come out the second the gate was opened… was it Desulra who wanted them dead? Was the opening of the gate a trigger? Who knew? But he was concerned, though he did not let it show… not one bit. He looked towards Anryoku, who was working hard… he smiled gently.


Hours had passed now and the three had little idea of what time it was… but it was getting late. They knew that much. Probably close to midnight. Anry was improving though. Her efforts were not in vain as with each time she attempted to bring forth a frozen shield, she produced a larger, stronger ice disk. It was eventually enough for her… she decided that now was the time to test the jutsu. Having repeated the same steps over and over, she felt confident with her abilities.


Slowly, she stood up and read from the scroll. She read through the seals needed and started practicing them a bit. She punched out the seals, doing it faster with each sequence. She took care to do them as perfectly as possible. After a few minutes of concentration, she had committed these seals to memory. It was time to pull of her jutsu!


Anry stood close to the river that lay in front of her…. She began her jutsu. Quickly blasting the seals needed, one after the other, the jutsu had begun. She focused on all she had learnt this day. With each seal she produced, she could feel chakra welling at her hands…. While she performed the latter seals, she leaked chakra from her hands, forming a disk roughly the size of her body… Once her last seal was done, she also had formed the chakra blueprint for her shield… then…


“Hatsugoori Toku no jutsu!!”


With her sudden cry, water from the stream shot and filled up the shape she had planned… it started at the center of the disk… and as it got there, she concentrated on turning the water to ice… the disk suddenly grew in size as the water manifested in the form of a shield. In a matter of seconds, she held a green shield of ice in front of her. Holding it with one hand and with the other hand supporting its weight, she laughed slightly. She was very impressed!


“Guys! Look! I did it!” But she did not have to call them, as they were already smiling at her, having accomplished what she had set out to do. She was ecstatic… she slowly swung the shield around… Hitame took a punch at it, but the shield did not shatter. Anry could feel the chakra she was feeding the shield and felt that she had to feed more when Hitame had hit the shield. The jutsu was a success!


With the three genin now each capable of performing a shield jutsu, they stood on the verge of the pathway. Anry had released her previous shield jutsu to regain some strength… but now, the three stood ready to walk the pathway… They would all create a shield and create a defensive circle and then walk to the other end of the pathway… it was a long walk… but it would be a good exercise in both chakra control and their jutsus…

[Bartimaeus]

I love you!! You Love me!! We are happy shi-no-bi!

APPROVED!

[Azure Wrath]

Part XV
Day 4



With the three genin ready to cross the pathway towards the unknown, they stare ahead into the horror they need to walk through. Thousands of crystal swallows that swarm the air, each riddled with sharp edges that threaten with pain and possibly death. The genin looked forwards with a darkening sense of gloom… Things were going to get tough..


“Ok guys… are you ready?” Anry’s voice trembled a bit, but remained strong and confident. She was ready for this and was eager to get to the other side and see what lay ahead of them.

So, the three stepped forwards… then, they all shouted the calls for their jutsus! Anry called hers with the most pride and thus the loudest!


“Hatsugoori Toku no jutsu!!”


After she called the jutsu, she soon had a large shield in her hand, that covered her entire body... the other two had their own shields, Awashi’s one was made from lightning and Hitame’s one from flame. The three then huddled closer, to form a circle that could not be penetrated by anything… And then…

“Ready guys?” Awashi asked, as he looked inside the circle they had made. Two nods answered him. With the two nods they began to move, slowly… their heads were buried in the circle, away from the outside world. Then, they began to step into the pathway…. Anryoku was in the front, leading them forwards… they were crouched slightly, which made life much harder on their legs (especially with the weights on them)… but the real work-out came from the front. When they moved, all of the crystal swallows collided with the barriers, pushing them back as hundreds of crystal creatures shattered against the shields. They were being pushed back and had to push forward to get somewhere… and they had to push HARD! With all their power, the three forced themselves forward… each step was strenuous and each hit at their shields demanded more chakra to be poured into their defense.


It was an utterly slow progress, which pained the three. Their muscles ached and their chakra grew thin. The path was long and the crystal birds did not stop. The pounding resumed like a terrible storm of hail on glass. It was hard to see where they were heading, but every now and again, one of them would peek out to see if they were still on track. Even then, they had little sight of what lay ahead, as long as the path was going on for a long while, they knew they were on track.


The journey did not seem to end and it exhausted the three genin. Constantly fighting the torrent of birds and maintaining their jutsus was arduous, to say the least. Looking down at the ground, they could see hundreds of splinters of the birds they have crushed so far… It was insane… the amount had shocked them all… Where did it all come from?


Eventually, after nearly two hours of trudging through the storm of birds, there was silence…. They kept moving for a while… they could hear the droning sound die…Awashi peeked out to see what was going on… His face was full of sweat and his arms trembled.

“Guys… we made it… We’re on… the other side….” He laughed lightly as he spoke…. A few seconds later, everyone’s barriers dissipated… And then, they all passed out, from chakra exhaustion, falling face first into the forest floor, sleeping deeply…


Day 4 Complete
Hatsugoori Dangan Learnt and trained
Chakra control increased
Seal knowledge increased
Projectile skills, physical skills and endurance increased
Hatsugoori Toku Learnt and trained

Day 4 Word Count: 5432 words

[Bartimaeus]

I love you!! You Love me!! We are happy shi-no-bi!

APPROVED!

didn't want to repeat

[Azure Wrath]

Part XVI
Day 5


The sun twinkled slightly in the sky as it began to rise over the Crystal Forest… it was the beginning of the third day the three genin had spent in the forest. They had passed out the previous night, due to utter exhaustion after intense training and a long passage through a hard route. However, now the forest was silent… the path behind them was clear… it held no remnants of the swallows from the day before… which was rather strange…


The three genin woke up this morning at basically the same time. They slowly got up and ate quickly… then they began to plan what they would do for the day… how they would travel… until

“Guys… what day is it?” Anry’s voice drifted from the previous conversation. Awashi and Hitame both did some calculations in their head…. Then Awashi replied. “It’s Friday today…why?”

There was silence for a while… then…


“FUUUUUUUUUUCCK!!! THE TOURNAMENT IS TOMORROW!!! SHIT!!!!”

Arnyoku’s voice trembled through the forest, deep enough to scare whatever resided in this god-forsaken forest. The two boys leapt back in fear when she screamed… she scared them quite a bit. But she was indeed panicking. Her fight was soon and she needed to rest! And to get her gear ready! And shower! And get her hair done! And…

“Anry! Calm down!! We still have 24 hours! We can still do some training and get home in time… we really haven’t covered that much ground… we’ve just had a lot of obstructions, which we shouldn’t have on the way back…” Awashi spoke quietly so he could calm Anryoku down… but she was still panicking and he could see that.


Eventually, she relaxed… then an idea hit her.

“Guys… instead of rushing back later… can we walk back now? I want to train something while we walk... one more jutsu. It should be easy… this way, we can be home on time and then we wont have to rush…” Her voice was tiny now, just concerned over her fight…

The two boys thought for a while… then Hitame walked forwards and hugged Anryoku. Neither Anry, nor Awashi saw this one coming… But Hitame held her closely and asked her, in her ear “Are you scared for tomorrow, Anry?”


She thought about it for a while… she felt safe for some reason…


“I don’t think so… just anxious… I don’t know what to expect, really.” Her voicewas stronger now. Hitame let her go and looked her in the eyes. “Now… let’s get going. What jutsu is it that you want to train?”


Anry slowly reached into her backpack and pulled out another scroll… She rolled it open in front of her and observed it. This would be invaluable to her fight to come…



Mizuke Saishuu (Vapor Gathering):
Seals: None (passive ability)
Chakra Usage: (Passive)
This ability allows the user to use the vapor in the air to create ice, for several jutsus. This jutsu is not necessary, but makes it much easier to use ice jutsus that require a source of water. At this level, the jutsu cannot supply enough water for the more intense jutsus of the clan. Using this passive ability will make the chakra usage of a jutsu that requires this, slightly higher.


This jutsu, as the description stated, meant that Anry could use her Hatsugoori Toku jutsu without a source of water. This would make life much easier for her, hence her determination to learn how to do it… but training it seemed like a rather tedious job… and it would be.

“That will be purely practice. You know the basics, after training the Hatsugoori Dangan jutsu, but now you need to create a far greater amount… what you need to remember is that there is water in the air, so use it to your advantage… bind the water together. While we walk back, try and focus all your chakra to bind the water in the air to the object you want to create… it may sound difficult at first, but I’m sure you will get it right!” Awashi smile slightly at her…


And then they started their trip back. Having decided that they will come back to the forest on a later date, the three headed back on the long path. They all still had their weights, but it had changed them, for now they were walking normally, as if the weights weren’t there. Every now and again, they could feel their muscles scream, but it was quickly subdued by their drive forward…


But Anry was focused elsewhere. As the walked, she concentrated on the Mizuke Saishuu technique. It was hard work. While walking, she concentrated deeply, drawing tendrils of chakra into the air, dragging the vapor towards the center of her palm, where she then tried to harden it with her chakra. Initially, her fight was in vain, as she walked for at least 30 minutes with no results. She focused hard on absorbing all the vapor to her hands… and it seemed to work pretty well, but keeping it there was hard work. If she tried to concentrate on condensing the vapor and freezing it, the vapor she had gathered would diffuse into the air again… thus, she had to find a way to keep it there. Her mind wandered as she thought of ways to make it happen, while they walked through the forest.


The appeal of the forest was long lost to the three. They did not care for the glimmer or the beautiful crystal, for this whole place was forsaken with the blood of those who have died here. The water they had drank was the blood of the dead and it churned their stomachs to even think of that. But they were on their way out… which was always good news... though, Anry was losing her cool with the technique she was busy learning.


“Damnit! I can’t keep the vapor at the places where I want it to!” She was slightly irritated. Then Hitame stopped a few seconds, so he could walk next to her.


“You know… I have an idea… you know how a balloon works? The air inside is at a higher pressure and the air outside is a lower pressure.. the only reason the air doesn’t defuse to the lower pressure area is due to the membrane… thank of that one a bit… it may just help you…”


It was odd hearing such calm, yet wise, words coming from Hitame. Anryoku stood and thought about it for a few seconds… she imagined the analogy in her head… and then it hit her.


For once, Hitame was right.

[Azure Wrath]

Part XVII
Day 5



The idea hit Anryoku and she knew that from here on out, it would be much easier. To create a membrane of chakra around the item she wanted to create… a membrane that would allow water vapor in, but not out. It made perfect sense… then, freezing the vapor would be much easier… She smiled again, as she got ready to practice it now… and all this, while steadily walking towards the exit of the forest.


Concentrating, Anry created a small bubble (she decided to start small for now) of chakra… then, once it was stable, she started sucking water vapor into the bubble, with her chakra. Soon, she could feel the pressure welling up inside of the bubble she had created…. Then, she condensed it and froze it! As she did…. The bubble of chakra ripped… and she was left with a small marble of ice in her hands. She looked at it and smiled.


The plan had worked. Now, it was just a matter of training it, as if there was no tomorrow. However, there would be a tomorrow… a rather important tomorrow, as a matter of fact. Anry was getting more and more excited for her fight… she had little idea of who she was going to meet in battle, but she did know that she was fighting in an arena that was made to look like the academy… This meant a lot of strategizing… and it made her eager for combat!


But at this moment, she was focused on her jutsu she was trying to master. Steadily, she was increasing the size of her chakra bubble… but the larger she made it, the harder it became to maintain it. So, it was a rather slow progress… but she could feel the improvement. She created several small balls of ice… but soon, she tried to form it in the same form as her ice shield… After walking for several hours, she had created an ice disk the size of a CD. It was strong, it was sturdy and it was the way Anry wanted it.


While walking through the forest, the three passed many familiar places, one in particular being the large circular clearing where they were trapped in a dome just the other day. They walked past it now and felt something strange loom in the air; a kind of darkness, an invisible storm cloud…. The ignored it however... they would investigate when they came back. Right now, their concern was getting back home, so they all could get rested for the tournament. Hitame and Awashi were not participating, but would definitely cheer for Anryoku. Anryoku did not know that they planned to come watch though. The two boys were actually planning on getting their seats, but Anry did not listen, for she was busy making disks of ice while walking and was far too captivated in the process.


So far, the training was paying off. With time, the size of her disks grew larger, now nearing the size of a wheel of a bicycle. It was still very sturdy and very durable.. but as soon as she created them, she dissipated them and created a new one. It was a painfully long process, one that stretched her chakra control capabilities and also increased her chakra pool… but it helped a lot. She could feel that this trip had undoubtedly made her stronger. Her chakra control was better, her projectiles were stronger and more accurate, her skills with her wakizashi have improved, her physical strength had shot up as well as her endurance and her agility, she knew new jutsus… all in all, she trained basically everything she could. And now she was adding another jutsu to her collection!


The hours passed dully as the three kept walking. Soon, it was passed lunchtime… and then more ours passed, in which Anry did not stop once to rest… she only worked at her jutsu. Her mind was set on the jutsu and… the fight.


Finally, the three reached something that seemed foreign… In the distance, they could see green… green trees! They were near the exit of the forest!! They all rejoiced… but still walked slowly… Soon, they stood at the exit of the forest… the sun bathed down on them again and for the first time in a few days, heat came back to them; a privilege that they had missed out on the past three days. When they stood outside, Anry announced proudly! “Ok guys!! I think I’m ready! Check this out!”


Anryoku stood proudly and then she waited till the two boys looked at her.. then, when she had their attention, she started…. She did the seals she needed for the Hatsugoori Toku jutsu… as each one was performed, she leaked more and more chakra to form her mould for the jutsu… the outer lining of the mould was brimming with chakra that was invisible… she drew in the water vapor as she performed the seals… with the seals accompanying the jutsu, it felt easier to draw the water in though… soon, she was ready and with her last seal… she called the name of the jutsu!


“Hatsugoori Toku no jutsu!!”


Her scream echoed through the forest… and then, she concentrated with all of her mind to take the vapor that was locked in her bubble… and freeze it! She seeped chakra through the mould of her shield and then tensed the tendrils of chakra, drawing all the water into one solid mass!!


In an instant, after the cry of her jutsu, Anryoku stood with a shield of ice in her hands, gleaming deep green in the afternoon sky. It was a large round disk, enough to cover her from a variety of attacks… and she had made it without any form of water! It was wonderful. The two looked at it with amazement… and their amazement made Anry even happier!


With a leap of joy, Anry dropped the shield… and then leapt again! Her energy fed the two boys… and all of a sudden, they all dashed back home, with newly found vivacity and strength. They ran from the Crystal Forest and never found the treasure that was hidden there, but they would return soon enough to explore again… But for now, they all ran home (weights still on, but taking much less of a toll on them) and would soon shower and eat and rest! For tomorrow, a big day would come!


Day 5 Complete
Mizuke Saishuu jutsu trained and learnt
Hatsugoori Toku jutsu trained
Chakra control, chakra pool, endurance and agility increased


Chapter II: Tales of the Crystal Forest Complete

[Nova]

Shut up fagzor.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a130/tnova15/3rdhokagesealcopy-1.png

Should I put what I learn at the end of my training? Or are you the only who does this?

[Azure Wrath]

Interlude
Family and Ice
Part I
Day 6

“I WON!!!”


The deafening call of a young girl pounded through the halls of the Kagirinai Manor. The Manor was rather quiet this day, up until Anryoku burst through the doors. Her silver hair flickered behind her as she ran down the long hallway. Her steps on the oak floor echoed through the hallway and grew louder as she approached Jin’s training room. As she burst through the door, she saw both Jin and Raikou Azure.


“Jin-sama! Azure-sama!! I WON!!!”


The young girl ran up to Azure and Jin and leapt into Jin’s arms, hugging him tightly. She then hugged Azure as well. Both of the men smiled at her excitement… she really was adorable when she got excited. Azure nodded at her enormous smile.

“Very good, Anry. Jin and I are very proud of you.”
“Oh yes… your first victory, Anry… And not to worry, I heard the fight you lost was the talk of the town! Azure and I heard many people talking about it…and I even got complimented on my wonderful student!”

Suddenly, Anryoku blushed at the recognition she had gotten. It has been a long time since an adult had given her any (non-perverted) form of attention. After moving to the Kagirinai Manor, Anry learnt to love Jin… though, he was sparing with his compliments. As for Azure… he was a close friend of Jin, but compliments from his side were very rare. Anry had received small tokens of appreciation from these two men, but never quite enough to satisfy the unquenchable need for attention that most youngsters have.

Ever since the days at her parents, Anryoku had wanted her parents to love her and hg her and sing to her and play with her. She received very little of it. Instead, she heard her parents fighting and screaming. She heard her father ravage girls that were half his age, while she would see her mother bringing home new men whenever her father was not around. Talk between her parents was scarce, unless it went coupled with violence and verbal abuse. When they did talk, it was about money. Anryoku’s parents my have had wealth… but it meant little to her.

Living with her parents had somehow taught her to stand on her own feet from a young age. She learnt how to cook for herself, how to receive her own income, how to wash her clothes and how to take care of herself. In that time, all she could think of was to help the world. Her parents were only helping themselves… her parents who she wanted to hate, but couldn’t. Despite it all, she was attached to them, loving them in a fashion that earned her only hurt. She needed something to break her away from them, something that would push her away from loving them and hoping for attention… It was one day, a few years ago, that she received her reasons to go…


“Anry.”


Jin’s voice suddenly cracked her train of thought. It seemed that Anryoku had suddenly drifted into her own flashbacks. She shook herself quickly, coming back to reality. Azure and Jin both looked at her kindly.


“I’m sorry… my mind wandered…”


Azure smiled softly. He had a soft spot for this girl. Ever since she first came to Kumogakure as a young girl, he had seen her as a daughter. Having only a son, who hated his father, Azure didn’t feel like he had any kids. It was rather ironic about his son and her…


“What were you thinking about, Anry?” Jin looked at her with concern, because he saw that ‘other’ shade in her eyes.

“Eh… I was….” Was there any point in lying? She didn’t think so… “I was… thinking about… my family.”


Sudden silence hung in the room… but as soon as Jin picked it up, he casually converted it.


“Well… you can think about it all you want, but you can’t change it. However… I have opened up my schedule today, so you and I can do something today, Anry. Azure may be helping out as well.”


Anry’s eyes slowly came back to life as Jin spoke. His voice had a tone that calmed her very much. Jin was a very soft guy, one who could lover easily, one who cared for all. Yet, he was very strict. Rumors were flying around about the tests he was run