Appeasement training

[C.J,]

Hoten stood in the middle of the night in his grandfather's quarters. The old man had received word from iwa via a falcon message. The fastest method available to the two who were hundreds of miles away from iwagakure at the moment. Hoten listened to Getsuyan intently. Once the old man was finished Hoten simply took a deep breath and walked away.

More like stormed away. He left charging through the stone halls of Shiretsu mountain monestary. He stalked all the way to the courtyard weaving handseals as he walked. The other monks watching him as he passed by whispered amongst themselves. It was obvious that his own spirit was far from 'at peace'. When he reached the gates which lead to the path down the mountain his jutsu was complete. Molten glass sprung up from the ground like a fountain. Hoten need only run his fingers along the viscous material. The glass solidified under his touch, creating form and molding into a life size replica of a horse. Its transparent body shimmered in the moonlight as it moved and acknowledged its creator. Hoten didn't have a saddle but mounted the dynamic glass.

"Where do you think your going?" Hoten's grandfather's stern voice called out from inside the temple.

"Iwa. If I use a dynamic glass-creation the horse won't need rest and I can ride through the day and night. It will take less than a week." Hoten replied, already trying to get the glass horse to turn

"You will never make a ride like that. You will exhaust your chakra. You can't go alone either. It isn't safe, and your old grandfather could never make the trip to protect you at this hour. We are leaving once your training is finished."

"SHATTER! I don't care about the training! You said Aimi's parents are dead! She has no one right now! I can't sit here and do what!? Meditate all day!? I have been in this monestary for eight months! I haven't learned a thing! I am no closer to helping Aimi here so I'm doing it at her side." Hoten shot back at his uncle then his horse reared before kicking off. He always thought the creature had pretty good speed. His grandfather showed the difference between a chunin and a banin. Handsignless his grandfather created a glass bear which reared up at Hoten's horse outmatching it in size. Hoten was blocked by the massive creature as the path down the mountain was too narrow.

"Grandfather!"

"You will go nowhere boy! I have told you that you will turn around and continue with your training. Your mere presence with Aimi will do no good anymore. You wanted a way to help her, well learn these jutsu! Maybe you might be some use!" Hoten was about to scream his rebuttal until one monk walked up to them.

Hoten knew him. He was the Souhei who invited him and his grandfather to learn in this temple. Hoten didn't have any sense of fondness for him though. He had promised to teach the Shoshiki boy some jutsu that could be used to counteract and control Aimi's genma. However everytime Hoten approached the man all he was offered was meditation practice. Hoten was tired of sitting around searching for enlightenment. He was out of patience. He was making a physical effort not to outright disrespect this monk.

The monk looked up at Hoten. His eyes were piercing and there was a certain aura about him that made Hoten naturally cautious. It was how Hoten always felt when he was up against an oponent he couldn't beat. Intimidated.

His silver eyes stared down unyielding. He had set his unbreakable willpower to this already. He didn't want to here for this monk. "You are rash, it will be your undoing." The monk prophesied. Hoten's cheeks flushed with exasperation. "However your heart is overwhelming noble and pure. Your intent is pure and admireable. I have watched you young Shoshiki. I see who you are, and I have come to the conclusion that the power that you seek is not a weapon. I want you to begin full training."

Hoten nearly dropped his jaw at the words spoken to him. However the fact still remained that he needed to go. He didn't have the time. "Thanks, but my girlfriend is in trouble. She will be in pain and I'm afraid that her pain will tip her over. I need to get back to the village before she hurts someone or herself!"

"Your grandfather informed me of your relations. A Jinchuriki for one of Iwagakure's genma. I will not stand in your way. However your grandfather advises that you remain here. I will commence your full training if you do. If you are strong enough you will be able to make it through this training without losing too great a time."

Hoten was forced to stare as he realised the two strongest and influencial men around him were banding together. Hoten didn't know what the monk was capable of beyond his status of Souhei. Still it would be nothing but problematic if he tried to escape. He was presented with an option. However he couldn't put his faith in a man who had ignored him for months. Hoten was even suspicious of his grandfather. After a while of debate Hoten finally took a breath and dismounted. "I need this training immediately." Hoten resigned however putting intent in his voice.

The monk was obviously not intimidated as he bowed and turned. Hoten followed him. The monk lead Hoten into the monestary and into a vast room. The room was more than vast. Behind a stone double door, it was a square space equipped with nothing but an altar where hundreds of incense were lit. The fragrance assaulted the boy, making him instantly lightheaded. Hoten swallowed hard as he looked to the four corners of the room. Standing there were four terracotta warrior statues all with menacing faces. Hoten held back the urge to fidget as the monk turned and addressed him.

"You have spent months meditating. The jutsu you will be learning is one of the oldest set of spiritualism techniques passed down from the first Nishi masters. These jutsu have been used to ward off and appease malicious spirits for centuries, the only jutsu capable of dealing with genma. The masters have kept this secret within ourselves and the demon masters of the tenma clan. Do you understand the weight of this knowedge I am to hand to you? Even if I teach it to you, there is a high chance you will simply be incapable." Hoten swallowed and nodded.

The souhei nodded back and put his hands together and began to seal. At first Hoten hadn't understood, until a terracotta warrior shattered in the corner. The Shoshiki blinked twice. From the shards something seemed to be forming. Like a cloud or smoke the thing seemed airy yet thick and turbulent. It swirled in the air in a black vortex of undefineable substance before Hoten felt a sudden chill. This thing had killing intent! Instinctively he put his hands together, sealing and casting his [glass make]. He molded a sword which he held up but the creature charged after him. It passed though the blade and his entire body. It was as if Hoten was whipped by the wind itself. The air left his longs. His heartbeat decreased. His mucles weakened. He was dying. Hoten wobbled before the creature passed through him again. Dispair overwhelmed his heart. He would die. His fears surfaced. He fell to his knees. "Shatter." He muttered shakingly. Finally he saw a soft red light envelope the monster. Soon chains formed around it, holding its movements. Hoten looked up at the Souhei.

"Chains of Authority. It allows me to bind what has no form - chakra. This is the only jutsu capable of suppressing the movements of a spirit. It works on any spirit." Hoten nodded before getting back up. "This is your first jutsu. If you can bind this spirit you are on your way to even binding your jinchuriki."

The monk spoke then lowered his hand were the chain came from. The red chains disappeared. The spirit freed and swirled around Hoten. Panicked he raised his blade again before realising it was useless. The souhei shouted the seals and hoten inacted them. He held out his hand but nothing came out.

"The chains are the manifestation of your own spiritual energy. Of your will and drive. What drives you!?"

"To protect Aimi." Hoten blurted without thinking. He foxused on that. His hand tingled. He needed these jutsu to protect Aimi. He needed to help her, be her strength to rely on. If he could master these jutsu he would be able to handle and surpress her genma. He would give her a normal life again. He wanted to do that for her. He held his hand up, the spirit phased through him again. It was like drowning in shadows. Cold, lonely, soul crushing. He didn't focus on that. He focused on Aimi. Warm. Tender. He loved her. He wanted to marry her. He was going to ptotect her! Suddenly his chakra flaired.

It was strange. Like his chakra suddenly took on a new property, shifting and altering itself. He didn't feel stronger. It was akin to feeling lighter, more free. It was a feeling that made his skin warm. Hoten's hand glowed with a faint red. "I have to protect Aimi. I have to give her a life where I can support her properly. I have to keep her safe and my village safe. I have to protect them all." He chanted in a breathy whisper. With each word the red light grew brighter and brighter until the emotions overwhelmed the jutsu and chains bursts forward. They wrapped around the spirit holding it there.

Hoten smiled for a second before his chains wanned and broke. He fainted, dropping to the ground.

[Learned chain of authority]
[1668/850]

[C.J,]

Hoten awoke the next day to a sudden clattering noise. Then an explosion. Screams and panic filled his ears as he quickly tried to get to his feet. His scrambled around lamely as he tried to get his bearings. His grandfather’s face in the same dark room was the only thing he saw. The room was empty.

“Oh good you’re awake.”

“What happened, grandfather?”

“After your training failed and you fainted that spirit tried attack you. The souhei got in the way and tried to stop it but he was attacked instead. I’m not sure what entirely happened myself but now the Souhei is rampaging around the temple. I had to expel him from the room and bar it until you woke up. I wasn’t going to carry you.”

Hoten somehow followed that. The souhei was possessed and it was his fault. Regret overwhelmed him for a moment but he decided that he wasn’t going to waste his time.

“If he is possessed by that spirit then I should be able to stop him. He taught me the spirit chain jutsu.”

“And then what?” Getsuyan asked the boy, his pale blue eyes glowering at his grandson. Hoten was stumped. That still didn’t change the fact that the possessed Souhei needed to be stopped. Hoten resolved to this before narrowing his eyes at his grandfather.

“I’ll figure it out.” Hoten declared with more sureness than he thought he had. He would need to think on his toes. His grandfather sealed the doors with glass but broke it for Hoten to pass through. The boy ran down the halls following the shouts. In the courtyard he saw the bald monk. His eyes were an inky black, like the dusty form of the creature he saw yesterday. Hoten’s first instinct was to use his bow but he didn’t have that. His grandfather couldn’t manage to put him down, that meant that anything Hoten knew wouldn’t work. He started the handseals for [Chains of Authority] but as though the monk knew his body leapt at Hoten with frightening speed. The boy tumbled out of the way, narrowly missing a punch. The spirit controlled the souhei like an inexperienced puppeteer. However it was still the body of a legendary monk of the earth temple. Hoten didn’t stand a chance in battle. He ran.

The possessed monk kept chase as Hoten tried to think. How was he supposed to save this monk!? How!? How!? Then the monk pounced on him. The man’s possessed hands wrapped around the Shoshiki’s neck as he attempted to chock Hoten. Hoten had to stop him. But how!? How!?

“Initial Do-“

Hoten took a desperate breathe, he felt shell shocked. He know where that voice came from. No he did. It was none other than the monk’s voice. He remembered, but he didn’t see the man’s mouth move. That didn’t make any sense. He didn’t talk. He couldn’t have talked. Unless he did somehow speak to Hoten telepathically. Was the monk capable of that? No it didn’t seem foreign. Was it Hoten?

The monk’s possess body laid out on the floor. A glass stag stood over him with broken antlers. Hoten saw his grandfather’s hobbling body walking towards him flanked by monks. Three monks seemed to active the [Chain of Dominion] binding the monk. Hoten watched as the man struggled against the chains, obviously unsubdued. He also saw the stress displayed by the monks. This wasn’t going to stop him.

“HOLD HIM!”

Hoten shouted without thinking. He stood to his feet and made a dash for the monk. He could hear his grandfather shouting at him. He could also hear the monks all protesting. However Hoten needed to know how to stop him, and the monk was the only one who seemed to know the answer. Hoten hesitated for only a brief moment before laying his hands on the side of the monk’s head. Nothing happened. Nothings happening! Panicked Hoten tried to recall how it happened the first time. He was trying to find answers. He had to find the answer!

“How do I stop you?” He asked out loud at first. Then he thought it, really hard. “How do I stop you?”

“Initial Dominion. It is a fuuinjutsu you will find in the in the library on the second bookshelf, there is a scroll sealed with a triange. Inscribe that onto something and you will be able to seal away the spirit which has inhabited my body. Once it has been fought back I will be able to regain conscious control over my body. Remember the scroll sealed with a triangle insignia.”

“H-how am I talking to you now?”

“You have shown so much aptitude in the spirit appeasement arts that your chakra as adapted to the jutsu. You are experiencing a jutsu called [Connection of Shizumeru]. In fear and desperation your subconscious must have learned this jutsu so that you would be able to establish a telepathic link with me and ask me how to save the people of this temple. It is proven that a very small number are capable of even learning these jutsu. You might just be talented enough to master them. Now quick, run. The other monks will hold me as long as possible. RUN HOTEN!

The link was severed and Hoten let go. He felt drained in the gut but he fought through it and turned. His grandfather and the other monks had to hold on.

[Connection of Shizumeru]
[911/850]

[C.J,]

Hoten now had a mission he had to do. Unless he was able to find the seal of initial dominion and use it then the entire earth temple would be terrorized by the spirit inhabiting Souhei’s body. He bolted from the scene unfolding as half a dozon monks and Hoten’s grandfather squared off against the lone monk. Hoten had to believe that they would be able to hold him off until he found the correct seal.

The boy bolted from the courtyard back into the monastery’s cold stone halls. His rushed footsteps echoed as he ran. He needed to get to the library. The library. After half a year living in this temple he had learned almost every common area however the adrenaline was making his memory rather unreliable. After a few too many wrong turns he burst into the dusty room. The earth temple library was nothing special, however it was still comparable with the common libraries of Iwa. He used the same system used in Iwa, that was the only way he could rationalize it. The monk told him the scroll with a triangle crest. He immediately ran to the bookshelf and began ripping scrolls from their resting place. Dust spewed into his face. He finally found it. With shaking hands he looked down at the three intersecting red lines which made a triange. The words inscribed around it read something like yang. To make matters stranger it was the exact same triangle that Hoten had inscribed on the back of his hand. His skin itched as he tore open the scroll and began absorbing the fuuinjutsu formula.

Fuuinjutsu wasn’t as simple as learning how to wright a character and using a few handsigns. It required a complex formula with a chakra sequence to learn and use. He had learned there was more than a single method but had never bothered to learn anything else. He unfurled the scroll and as he expected it was encrypted. He took a deep breath as he brought the scroll to the table. The black lines that ran across the page were illegible and intelligible. Anyone who hadn’t had experience with fuuin would be stomped. Frankly this was a lot more complex than anything he had dealt with before.

Hidden within the thick black lines would be the jutsu formula and the necessary sequence. In theory he would be able to crack the code and assemble the fuuin into the right shape. He heard a crash outside. He would need to get to work. He observed the scroll, tracing his hands along the black lines. Using his finger point he cut through lines and connected others. Within time it became a virtual labyrinth of black lines. He was trying his best but it was becoming more and more difficult to understand. He was getting nowhere, he was failing everyone outside. He was failing Aimi. Shatter!

Hoten’s fustrations had finally reached a boiling point as he was having a hard time even concentrating on the lines in front of him. He just wanted to throw the scroll in the corner and leave this temple. In his anger and dismay he didn’t realize that the chaos in the courtyard had quieted down. Suddenly he heard the doors burst open. He didn’t have time to see who it was, he knew. He grabbed the scroll and ducked behind a bookshelf.


“Where are you boy?” The possessed monk hissed. It was the monk’s voice but the tone was completely off. Hoten could feel the malice boring into his chest. “You know I felt it. Your weak little soul. I felt how sad and angry you are. What a pitiful little boy you are. All you want is love right? How sweet. You know what, I’ll give it to you. I will allow you to leave and see your woman.”

Hoten heard the demon’s promises but he remained still and silent. He had been in the monk’s mind. That meant the spirit had been in his. It would want to stop Hoten by any means. It knew that Hoten was onto something. He must have been.

He unfurled the scroll. Reading the complex network and continuing with the cyphering. The array was off. He had to fix it. He continue to trace lines. His fingers forming complex shapes but they were all wrong. He had tried severl dozens of times. In desperation he was more focusing on the luck of his draw than that of the actual formula. Shatter!

Sudden the bookshelf behind him exploded and a pair of hands grabbed and bulled him through. The scroll went flying, Hoten was being hoisted up by the monk’s unholy strength. Its dark eyes bore into Hoten. He could feel his spirit waning, being snuffed out by the darkness. The malice aura made his limbs run cold and his will waver. He wouldn’t be able to stand it. His spirit would break. Spirit! He looked passed the monk to the unfurled scroll. If he applied the characters for spirit onto the pattern he could complete the formula.

“Sorry, but I don’t intend on dying today, someone is waiting for me.” In confusion the demon’s expression contorted uncomfortably as Hoten rose his hand to the monk’s bald forhead. His palmed pressed against the monk’s flesh, burning the spirit within. Hoten had inscribed the seal of initial dominion onto his palm and released kai. The monk screams and wailed but Hoten could tell it was the spirit receding into the depth of the monk’s soul. He continued to hold until the screaming stopped and the malicious aura was extinguished. When the monk’s eyes were open again Hoten could see it was the normal Souhei staring at him.

[Initial Dominion]
[956/850]