The Apprentice

[Izanagi]

Ichiro and his companion Sumire had been in New Tea Country for two days now. They had yet to meet this Grand Shogun but they had certainly found a great deal of interest to keep them busy. This land was teeming with excitement and possibility, innovation and potential. It was everywhere and it filled the wanderer with newfound purpose. While he had recently managed to contact the Legendary rogue shinobi Hiraku Kenji, the two had parted ways soon after meeting. And Ichiro had vowed to be much stronger when he returned to his master. He would prove himself a worthy apprentice, and this land seemed the perfect place to train. There was something in the air that invigorated him.

Standing at the edge of a cliff, the healer turned pirate formed a set of handseals, flowing chakra into his hand before converting it into the lightning nature. His hand crackled with blue electricity before he aimed over the edge, an arc of lightning bursting forth from his fingertips and crackling in the air. He maintained the stream, forcing himself to refine it, flowing more chakra in without letting it arc too wide or lose precision and control. He needed to keep his flow of chakra refined, increase the range of his technique and hone his finer control. He knew logically he was more than capable of performing more advanced jutsu but without a mentor knowing advanced skills he had only developed techniques as far as C-rank.

But ever since he was a teenager when he first learned how to manipulate chakra from Saigo-Sensei he had shown a strong knack for chakra control. And when given further instruction by Zao-Sensei he had been able to learn two elemental manipulations. But he knew there was so much more he could do, and when he returned to Kenji he hoped to prove himself worthy of learning the greater depth of raw elemental techniques he had witnessed. Fuuinjutsu, more advanced Iijutsu, Sensory, and perhaps one day even the manipulation of Space and time. Those were the areas he felt his calling truly laid. His elemental jutsu he had learned several jutsu from his captain who shared the same affinities but ultimately the man was barely B-ranked and Ichiro had caught up to him and plateaued years ago.

So all he could do was continue to push himself further and master the limited skills he did have. Even a C-ranked jutsu could be deadly after all when one was powerful enough with their chakra manipulation. Sumire only watched him silently, her the hood of her tan cloak covering her head while Ichiro wore a blue cloak. “Your range is improving” he said after a few minutes, having to speak up over the constant crackling even though she stood only a few feet from him. “Yeah, a little bit” he agreed. “Perhaps if you had targets…” she suggested, deciding it would likely be easier if he could increase the number of targets he could strike as a more accurate means of determining his improvement. The flow of chakra around his hand seized as he nodded to the woman.

Forming various sequences of handseals water clones began to rise up around him. Four in total, and similarly the woman’s emanated a brief surge of chakra before stretching her hand out and spawning two large mushroom knights that rose up from the ground, each 3 meters tall, towering over each of them and armed with a mushroom club and shield. The clones would begin to run away while the mushroom knights advanced on Ichiro, pressuring him as they intended to bash him off the edge of the cliff, while Sumire moved away several meters, grinning mischievously as she watched her First-mate deal with her creations. In some ways she was just as strong as he was, and certainly had a more powerful grasp on the advanced level of her techniques, even if Ichiro was more naturally inclined towards the chakra arts. But unfortunately, her clan’s techniques were not something she could teach others and her understanding of her own talents were so vastly different from the way shinobi viewed chakra that they were simply not compatible methods of learning.

Another sequence of hand seals was formed and lightning surged from his hand once more, striking through the closest mushroom knight before leaping toward the other and then forking as it spread toward each of the clones, extending in range quickly and pursuing them with 30 speed, faster than they were able to run away, though at least one had managed enough of a headstart that it stood out of the range of the lightning. The other three clones instantly popped, returning to a large puddle of water as they were destroyed. Though the mushroom knights, even as the arcs of lightning focused on just the two of them, were much more resilient. They began to smoke and cook from the inside out, flashes of light emanating from their thick bodies as the smell of burning mushrooms filled the air. It was almost a pleasant smell if not for the marching on of the grotesque-looking creations that seemed intent on smashing Ichiro off the ledge and into the Sea.

Though at the very least the creations were slowed down, the paralyzing and diffusing effects of the ration seeming to at least have some effect. And when they were each no more than 5 meters from him, Ichiro suddenly drew his Wakizashi, channeling chakra into the blade as he ducked down, slicing through one of the mushroom creature’s legs and then stabbing through its head. The ration chakra around his weapon helped him cut through the thick, dense mushroom flesh with ease, helped only by the fact that they were weakened and partially cooked from his lightning surge. The last mushroom knight was dealt with similarly, dodging to the outside, slashing its arm with a shallow cut that caused it to drop its guard and then another quick slash to the back of the knee followed by a stab through the head as it slumped forward.

1016 Words Control Training (+3 Stats)