Training in the Dunes

[Ace Trainer]

They had arranged to meet here for the purpose of training. With everything coming to fruition, Shio was going to make prime use of this time to expand his kit a little. He would need to be prepared for his next big battle, which seemed to becoming more and more frequent these days. His time in Wind Country had reminded him of an old 'friend' as it were, and they had reconnected. Training now was a good use of their time, given the seclusion they were in. They would both be able to let loose and really train if they were in isolation with each other, something that wasn't always an option.

Making eye contact with his companion for only a moment, Shio would give a tight nod as if to agree that they were starting. He would going to revise many of the jutsu he already knew to be more fluid, allowing him to better use them in a variety of situations. The truth was with genjutsu it wasn't always easy to capture an opponent in a jutsu, if they knew what to expect they could block off their senses. Shio was prepared to face against this, but he would have to work around it. Having a variety of his existing jutsu was key to accomplishing that. But first, he wanted to add a few jutsu that - for some reason - he had never bothered to add. Sensory control.

start

Beginning to channel chakra, Shio's chakra would give rise as it took shape. He would focus on something simple first, controlling the sense of smell. He'd do it through sound first, focusing on his mouth for a moment. The chakra would have to move into his mouth so that he could shape it into his voice, using his voice to initiate the technique. But he also needed to focus on the illusion he was creating. The manipulation of smell was an abstract concept, he couldn't focus on ust one smell, lest he risk the genjutsu being that smell. Instead, he would send into his chakra the various smells that first came to mind, focusing on the moment they were turn into a different smell. The smell of rain, the smell of blood, of dirt, of metal, of tea. Each of these flashed through his mind and in that flash a feeling that he would send into his chakra. Focusing on this ability to change scents. If the genjutsu was done right, this would be too easy.

Finally he would release the chakra, and speak, "Ready?", he'd ask, the chakra surging from his voice into his comrade. Immediately he could feel it activate, and would take control of their sense of smell. Smiling softly, he would first cease any sense of smell, which would be subtle. Maybe they wouldn't even notice it was going. Deciding not to be too malicious, he would then shift to the smell of hot potato soup, letting it slowly increase in power until it was surely overwhelming as if it was directly in front of them. Then, he'd slowly lower it and replace it with the scent of a black tea, following the same practice to taper it stronger and stronger.

"I take it that worked?", he'd ask. One done, who knew how many to go.


312/300

GenjutsuShow

Scent Control
A-rank Illusion Genjutsu
Prerequisite: 30 Will Power
The user will do a series of hand seals, focusing on, and then making a sound out loud while looking at their target. Should their target hear this, the user will take control of their sense of smell for the next 5 posts. The user can create any scent, make things not able to be smelled, or anything in between.

[Sia]

Truly, it had been quite some time since she'd even interacted with anyone else. Having spent quite a bit of time in solitude as of late, Lii found herself growing quite bored and dullard of the winds of wind country. When was the last time she had visited the village? She couldn't even remember, had it really been so long ago? Still, the surprise visit from a young friend was most certainly welcome in her neck of the sands. She gazed at shio admiringly, for the young man had come such a long way. She wished then, truly, that others might be as open minded as he. As it were, Shio had approached her for training of all things. His elder, she had happily agreed to mentor him, blissfully unaware of how far and beyond he had surpassed her now. Was she ready? "Of course, my dear." She spoke immediately, then brandished her polearm, taking the far end of it by the top and leveling it downwards.

Truth be told, Lii took absolutely no notice to the fact she'd been robbed of her sense of smell. The smell of soup was warm to the heart, for food was something which Lii longed for often. The potatoes faded away and were replaced with black tea, a nice aromatic scent to stimulate the mind. The sensation passed after a moment and Lii responded in Kind. "Potato Soup and Tea? Sounds lovely right about now." She admitted with a grin. She performed the chakra kai, breaking Shio's influence over her. After a moment of consideration, she realized she wasn't particularly sure what exactly she wanted to do. Her options were vast, but she was rusty and out of practice. She began to summon forth her chakra, willing it in equal parts from her left and right cores into fruition. She blended it then, purified it, and cut it down. She began to add traces of fuuton, and then condensed that down further too. Refining it further, she added Kuuton. The chakra began to take form, each of the parts of chakra manifesting in between her palms and growing steadily and quickly into her hands.

"Don't let this touch you." She said, and she really meant it. She thrust her palm forwards, leaving her polearm to stab itself into the sand beside her as a great force of wind kicked up all around her, encircling her from every direction, drawn into the jutsu she was forming. She unleashed it then her hellish orb of Kuuton, sand, and acid. It fired off, rounding towards Shio at incredible speed before flying past him into the distance. Suddenly, the orb erupted, causing an immeasurable amount of arrows to fly outwards from it, pointing at itself. These arrows were pink and black in color, and appeared somewhat grainy in appearance.


474/450 I think lmao


Lii's Forbidden Jutsu: Gravity Acid Sand Well
B-Ranked Ninjutsu
After forming the necessary hand seals or channeling, the user will fire off a condensed orb made of arrows of Kuuton, Sand, and Acid chakra up to 60 meters away at [control] strength and speed, travelling for as long as they hold the last seal. At the end of its range, or when the seal is let go, the orb will expand outwards to its full size, opening up and causing arrows made of Kuuton, Sand, and Acid (appearing to be made of black and pink sand) pointing into the center to expand outwards in every direction (in a 30 meter radius) at a speed of [control]. Anything touched by these arrows will be moved at [control] speed to the center, being dragged through sand and acid the entire duration. The orb can remain for up to 3 posts before being detonated and the resulting arrows will linger for 6 posts.

[Ace Trainer]

Lii took to the genjutsu well, and Shio gave an astute nod to her comment that it sounded nice. He had enjoyed the food in Suna, but he was surprised at how much he'd come to enjoy the cooking in Iron which used a number of local spices that weren't found in many other places. As Lii charged up the jutsu, Shio would allow her to fire it off. Surprised by the speed, he'd jump out of the way, narrowly avoiding the orb and turning to watch it explode behind him. It was an impressive technique, and he could recognize relatively quickly that if he had gotten touched by it, he would not be in a great place right now, "I'm more durable than I look.", he offered in response, a gentle laugh.

His relationship with Lii was casual at best, but he'd come to be somewhat fond of her, or at least felt that he could relax around her relatively easily. The normal game that had to be played with most didn't feel appropriate with her, "How have things been out here, how long have you been in the country?", Shio would ask as his chakra began to well up. The next jutsu he was training was for the chakra sense control. Given Shio's fighting style, having a genjutsu like this would be exceptionally useful, as he could activate sensory in someone and then immediately mask the sense from them, allowing him to activate genjutsu in them without them even realizing that they were sensing him.

It was definitely a sneaky tactic. He focused on the aspect of his own chakra sense, which was often managed through genjutsu. With only an adjacent understanding of what sensory felt like, it was a bit harder for him to shape into the genjutsu. But he was a talented shinobi and would continue to shape his chakra until finally he felt like it was right. He'd release the chakra into his throat and speak, "How about this?", and he'd began letting his control of her sense make his own chakra signature become increasingly large, until Lii would have sense that there was an enormous chakra presence in front of her. He'd chuckle, tapering it down slowly again and then trying to make her sense as if 100 signatures were approaching. Yes, this had worked easy enough. Another genjuts done.

399/300

GenjutsuShow

Sensory Control
A-Ranked Illusion Genjutsu
Prerequisite: 34 Will Power
The user will do a series of hand seals, focusing on, and then making a sound out loud while looking at their target. Should their target hear this, the user will take control of their chakra sense for the next 5 posts. The user can create, mask, or disfigure any chakra sense picked up by the target.

[Sia]

Lii chuckled. In this world of ninja, noone was surely as they appeared. Durable enough herself for someone that looked as she did, she supposed, she understood perhaps what he meant. She smiled. It was nice to hear Shio's voice. She remembered a time that he didn't speak. How long had it been? Oh lords did she even know? She traced the steps backwards, recounted the grains. She sands of time shifted in her two cores and functioned much the same. In a deep breath, she brought her arms upwards, embracing her polearm. "I've a house out here I bought I'd say sixty years ago now, Shio." She spoke finally, shifting in the sand. She began to channel chakra and made eye contact, then her body began to dissolve. Fluttering away into the sand, she recomposed and gathered several paces away. Pieces of Lii began to take visual form again, swirls of sands meeting together in a variety of shades, but mostly pink.

"Every time I think we are making progress in this country, it unravels before my very eyes immediately. It's getting old. It's getting real old." She said as she reformed, sucking her teeth. She channeled the flow of chakra throughout her body once again, not content with the speed of her technique. She shook her head, and performed the chakra kai. "Try it again. I've been trying to learn something with that one." Lii said excitedly. "What about you? I've heard a lot of...nothing." As she looked at him, she admitted it was hard for her to judge his age. "I don't know what the problem is, honestly. Perhaps the Daimyo are just too set in their ways." She spoke, performing the jutsu again.

A flurry of sand shot out, her body dispersing and dropping onto the sand below, parts of it mingling in and parts of it drifting around, flying through the air and scattering about in tiny grains that reached far and wide, lightly pelting the area in a blanket. From this, she felt signatures. Sources of life in the sand. Where there was life, there was prey. However, prey was everywhere. That couldn't possibly be right. Their would have been tracks. She performed the chakra kai. "I bet that one can cause a real headache." Lii channeled her chakra, bursting outwards into a cloud of sand once again. The grains flew about, darting across the horizon in a wide spread. She pulled her body back together, pulling on grains of acid and sand. The technique still wasn't right. She channeled, willing her chakra forwards and surging it into her body. Her body ripped open, splitting in half from the belly button upwards and turning into a flurry of sand. Like paper, her body tore all the way upwards through its head and sand pelted outwards in a cloud around her. She sensed things then, and recognized them for what they were. The sand flew back towards her, reforming her head and torso back together as she stepped through the sands.


506/300

Empathy Sands: My Body as Missing
C-Ranked Nintaijutsu Maneuver
Channeling chakra, the user will cause their torso, neck, and head to split in half beginning at their belly button and traveling upwards at a speed of [control]. The split area of the body will immediately begin to release sand into a 30 meter by 30 meter by 30 meter area around the users body, filling the space with tiny floating granulates of sand at a speed of [control]. These sand grains carry no strength and cause anything that moves in the area to send pressure signals to the user, alerting them of the movement and approximate size and shape of the disturbance within the area. The users body will piece back together at the end of the post, though they must maintain the technique in order to continue to receive sensory information for up to 6 posts.

[Ace Trainer]

Lii broke free of his genjutsu relatively easily and he gave a soft nod towards her as she spoke, preparing her own jutsu. He would begin to channel his chakra again, thinking about his next technique. This one wouldn't be much different, just seizing control by way of a different initiator, she said she wanted to try it again after all. Her commentary piqued Shio's interest though, and he'd give a restrained smile, trying to be calculating about this. He'd met Lii in brief interactions in the past, and she'd always been a bit flighty, or at least hard to get a read on. But what she said appealed to him and his current interests, and he was unsure of how to proceed. Shio would let the chakra inside of him well up, focusing on the same feeling he had before.

"Progress everywhere seems to have been halted or even reversed by this war. I was fortunate to come to the position of Taishou, but even Iron Country was brought backwards by the war, my predecessor driven by greed.", he let out a heavy sight. Beginning to think about the sensory feeling he had done previously and trying to embed it in his chakra. That feeling of sensory that he was so unfamiliar with, but yet so understanding of. "Set in their ways is almost certainly the issue. They lack the ability to be accepting of change.", he mused out loud.

He would release a small pulse of chakra, activating the sage mode into the air around them so that Lii would gain sensory. As that happened, he would release the well of chakra inside of him, the genjutsu being released. He would immediately feel his control of Lii's sensory come to be, and Shio would mask his own, then do as he had done before, tapering it upward to make a surge of energy for Lii to sense, then quickly masking his own again. "Works?", he asked.

Not waiting for an answer, he would pose another question, "Do you ever think about doing something about it? Do you feel it's your responsibility?", it was a simple question, and one that could easily be masked as innocent if Lii gave an answer inconsistent with what Shio hoped for.

SpoilerShow

Sensory Control
A-Ranked Illusion Genjutsu
Prerequisite: 34 Will Power
The user will do a series of hand seals, activating this genjutsu. Should the target sense his chakra in the turn its activated, the user will take control of their chakra sense for the next 5 posts. The user can create, mask, or disfigure any chakra sense picked up by the target.

[Sia]

Lii listened intently as Shio mentioned becoming Taishou. Quite the remarkable feat indeed, she admitted to herself. Stirring her chakra, she began to flow its funneled figure outwards from her hands, whisking particulates of wet sand together in a flurry of motion. The swirls built up, began to encircle her whole body now, and unleashed in a violent blast which rocketed forwards into the great distance, causing a flurry of sand to kick up in its wake. It struck a dune and sand began to rain down from the sky, though this phenomenon quickly ceased. It wasn't quite how she had wanted it, and so Lii began to surge her chakra again, continuing to listen as Shio's calm voice spoke into the dunes.

"Change..." Her voice trailed off for a moment before her demeanor changed ever so slightly. Her eyes narrowed, only slightly, but enough for someone as astute as Shio to surely pick up on. "For as long as the current leaders remain, I will never be truly welcome in my own village..." She had placed such emphasis on the word truly. "How is it my fault that I am the way that I am? I didn't ask for this body." For a moment, she grew silent again. Shio controlled her sensory receivings, and she noted how he played with her a bit. An interesting illusion to say the least. "Yeah I felt it." Was all she said, quite tursely. It was clear she had upset herself with the current conversation.

"I have spent my entire life hunting people down for the better of the village... So of course, I have seen all sides of corruption within the village and this country as a whole...." She looked now at Shio directly into his eyes and simultaneously appeared quite angry and also as though she were about to cry. "Of course I've thought about it, but I'm only one person." Her jutsu fired off, sand and acid flying every which a way from her person in a tight radius around her body as she spun on her heel, kicking the other one around in a perfect three hundred and sixty degree sweep.


362/300

Acid Sand Rotation
C-Ranked Nintaijutsu Maneuver
Channeling chakra and pivoting, the user will begin to expel acid sand outwards from their entire body in every direction up to 30 meters away at a speed and strength of control for so long as they maintain the jutsu and continue spinning, up to [1/3] chakra pool posts.

[Ace Trainer]

As Lii released herself from the genjutsu, Shio would immediately begin thinking about the next technique he would do, shaping his chakra in his throat. This one would be hearing control, and it wouldn't be too difficult, though certainly harder than those he had just done. Hearing was a more primary sense, and the brain dedicated more power to it so taking over it was a little bit harder. He listened to what Lii was saying, formulating the jutsu effect and trying to embed it into the chakra. It would be rather straightforward, thinking about all the constant sounds he'd heard all his life and thinking about the constantly changing nature of 'noise'. Embedding that in chakra was only natural.

Lii made an interesting comment, though, and Shio would smirk, thinking about what she was saying. He took a step back, avoiding her flurry of acid and thinking about her words. It seemed Lii was just as amenable to change as Shio was, that was good news. He's make a soft "hm", sound, loud enough for Lii to hear as he released the chakra. This should have been enough to activate the genjutsu, assuming it worked. Instead of speaking, he would then mainpulate her sense of hearing to speak for him.

"Its a shame, to be ostracized by your own village. But there are people who suffer like that all over the world. Abandoned by their own for having power. Ostracized, even punished, for being powerful.", this was why Shio had started the orphanage after all. "I sometimes doubt that a true end to the corruption will ever come. At times, I think its a fruitless effort, and time would be better spent ensuring that your people are just positioned to be in the best place they can be. That is part of why I've come to Wind Country, to see if the current leadership will be supportive of what I need for my people". He'd cut the sound, no longer manipulating the genjutsu. It seemed it had worked, good enough for him. One more down.


349/300

SpoilerShow

Sound Control
S-Ranked Illusion Genjutsu
Prerequisite: 38 Will Power
The user will do a series of hand seals, focusing on, and then creating some noise. Should their target hear this noise the user will take control of their sense of hearing for the next 5 posts. The user can create any sound, make things not able to be heard, or anything in between.

[Sia]

Ending her rotation, Lii paused and regathered her composure, looking towards Shio for a moment. She almost giggled at the thought, truly. "It would take an act of vengeance to get support here." She spoke softly, listening to his false voice. "If all of the kings had their queens on the throne it would be easier, wouldn't it?" She shrugged, and attempted to kai out of the jutsu and found that she could not. "Hah!" She exclaimed with a light chuckle. Channeling chakra, she suddenly launched forwards, soaring across the sand in a great leap as acidic sand began to flesh outwards from her flesh. Arms up guarding her face, she began to pivot through the air and chambered her leg before sending it. Sand flew upwards from beneath her, scattering towards Shio with mighty force, a mixture of acid sand blended into the mix. She pivoted and chambered her leg again, slamming her heel into the ground as she stepped forward and causing another cone of acidic sand and the sand below to kick upwards in a large area this time.

She did not relent, again turning her heel towards Shio and spinning, slapping at his hands as she did so and avoiding eye contact. She instead glanced at his shoulders and checked for feigned movements in his counterstrikes. Her heel dropped and she kicked up another flurry of acidic sand as she somersaulted, her hand planting into the ground and immediately kicking up another flurry of sand mixed in with acid sand. By now the pink wretched sand which Lii had produced had begun to dot the area quite nicely, creating patches every so often along the ground that would prove quite hazardous rather quickly. Her other hand planted and her legs were sent in after the other towards Shio's head before she twisted her pelvis and brought her arms back up sharply, landing in a patch of cleaner sand. A trail of pink sand now lay behind her.

The extra sand that had coated her arms and legs began to slide off, drizzling onto the sand below her in small piles. She began to channel chakra, and pointed a finger at Shio's heart, then her finger escaped her body with a violent blast, soaring through the air at tremendous speed and turning into pink sand mid-flight.

389/350

Acid Sandersault
S-Ranked Nintaijutsu Maneuver
Prerequisite: 50 Control
Channeling chakra or performing hand seals, Lii will cause the acid sand in her body to become flush and jag out in the shape of a spikes up to [160] meters in length of her knees, elbows, palms, shoulders, face, abdomen, and shoulder blades. These spikes will jut out at [control] strength and speed whilst the user performs a somersault, leaping and pivoting through the air at their speed and strength repeatedly at their discression over the next 8 posts as acid sand and fuuton chakra launches them about.

[Ace Trainer]

Shio watched thoughtfully as Lii gave her response and began her next technique. They were getting quite a bit done, it was nice. Her commentary on the kings and queens gave him a light laugh as he began to channel his next technique, releasing her from the current one. She did a few flips and Shio would watch as she summoned more acid sand, carefully stepping out of the way of the assault, holding his gloved hand up to guide one of the spikes from him as it came near. He continued to channel his own chakra, thinking about the technique he was making. Scent, sensory, sound, next was sight. This one would be easier to seize control of, even if it was used even more. The eyes were fickle and easy to deceive, and the brain was overly trusting of what it saw.

"I'd like to see your daimyo replaced by someone more....similar to your disposition towards myself.", he said with a sly smirk. While he'd discussed with Zao various families in Wind Country that might be interested in seizing control of the country, he was humored at the thought of it just being Lii who took the title. What a chaotic outcome that would be. He continued to channel chakra, thinking through the ever changing colors of the sky as his inspiration for the technique. Fading through the days of blue and orange and purple and black nights.

Finally, he would release a surge of chakra and speak, "Someone who could bring fruition security to my people.", the world would fade away around Lii, and instead she'd see them in the center of the Daimyo's village, standing a top of building as the city around them burned. Large fires from buildings, the daimyo on his knees in front of them begging for his life. The dark desert night sky looming over them. And a shadowy figure standing behind him, lifting the hat off his bloodied head, "I'd like to make this happen.", Shio said flatly. He wanted Wind Country under his thumb.

SpoilerShow

[Genjutsu • Sight Control]
S-Ranked Illusion Genjutsu
Prerequisite: 40 Will Power
The user will do a series of hand seals, focusing on, and then creating some noise. Should their target hear this noise the user will take control of their sense of sight for the next 5 posts. The user can create any sight, make things not able to be seen, or anything in between.