Pinocchio Story

Kozan Lonely Thread

User avatar
Ace Trainer
Posts: 16242
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:00 pm

Pinocchio Story

Post by Ace Trainer » Wed Jul 06, 2022 3:34 pm

The large boy sat on the stool dutifully, his blank eyes staring forward without any waivering or motion. Despite their vivid yellow color, anyone looking into them would likely be surprised at how dull and devoid of any feeling they seemed to be. Sitting in his master's workshop, there wasn't much for him to do beyond just sitting there. Behind him, his master stood with a large fuuinjutsu written into the air, seemingly linked with Kozan's internal system. Despite having received a number of lectures on the matter, Kozan didn't fully understand how his body operated. Oftentimes, his master would speak out loud as he worked, and Kozan would have one realization or another about his inner working. The samsara he had within him was extracted from his predecessor - Kozaki - and it seemed to generate itself independently now. Inside his body there were a number of fuuinjutsu, ones that stimulated some subtle physiological process that he gave him his fear sense. They also allowed for him to interpret chakra differently than other people, which is how the fuuinjutsu worked on his body. It meant he could unconsciously manipulate the samsara in is body as an extension of himself, among other things.

"Your mid-combat vitals have improved. You're shifting back down to standard levels within combat quicker. Which means your body is regulating your autonomous systems more efficiently."

Kozan didn't respond, letting what he was saying marinate for a moment. Did this mean he was getting better at fighting?

"Not an indication of your skill.", his master said, seemingly reading the boy's mind. "Your design is meant to merge instinctual survival ability with a semi-conscious understanding of that instinct. You make decisions in combat, but your decisions are actively between what method is the most efficient for predation.", a pretty straightforward explanation.

Thats right. He would have nodded if he nervous system wasn't turned off. He was essentially an animal, he knew this, but it was a little hard to really wrap your head around in some moments. He effectively just an animal with higher executive functioning and conscious thought when he wasn't engaging in his purpose. Thats what Kiri wanted him for, at least. Apparently, they had taken everything they'd learned from Kozaki and used that to establish how they'd want him to function. Samsara was useful as a conduit for chakra, but the drain it had on the body made him unsuitable for direct combat, which was in undoing. They went in the other direction with Kozan, giving him high physical durability in order to compensate for carrying the samsara, but in turn weakening the bond. It needed to be folded into his physiology, rather than a separate entity, which limited how much he could do with it. From what he had been shown, Kozaki could generate seemingly limitless quantities of it and manipulate it freely.

It was all about creating the most efficient weapon though. Thats what he was. An animal with consciousness. A weapon to be directed in the name of the village. Thats really what it came down to, being the best servant for this village he could be. He had failed in obtaining Anger, having failed his first major task not only for the village, but as a dagger of the Seven Swordsmen Mist. When he had returned, he'd been given time to recover and now this is where he was. Getting modified, updated, 'fixed' as it were, to ensure an error like this wouldn't happen again. A part of him recognized that it was an enormous advantage that he didn't need to train. His body could be modified and updated freely by his master, he'd gradually get stronger, faster, more efficient regardless of how much he actually trained. He knew it had to be gradual, that had been explained to him before. He couldn't just be made as strong as the Mizukage, he had to gradually improve so hie body could actually keep up with the new outputs it was capable of. When he eventually stepped off the stool, he'd be 2 inches taller, but his brain wouldn't fully understand the difference. He could feel the samsara inside his body squirming and adjusting as his master put in the directions on how to improve.

This was just his life. Kozan of course didn't realize how empty he was. This state of being devoid of any care about it, the obsession of the mission he had, the total lack of independent drive he had beyond what he was programmed to care about. That wasn't normal, and it was a guarantee that he continued to serve his purpose. What a life that was...or wasn't maybe.
Mistaki ShioShiimu KozanGekko IndraShoshiki HeiyaHizashi Ikinari
Kirigakure No Sato
Kemurigakure no Sato

Taishou of Iron Country
Kirigakure No Sato
Genin
Experiment 81 v2
Sunagakure No Sato
Genin
The Soul Host
Iwagakure No Sato
Special Jounin
The Tungsten Princess
Sunagakure No Sato
Jounin
The Revolutionary
Past CharactersShow
[Kenketi Tenteki :: Kumogakure No Sato – Special Jounin]
[Setsuya Inka :: Sunagakure No Sato – The Soul Host – Special Jounin]
[Kaikyo Kohon :: Kirigakure No Sato – Jounin]
[Shinwa Basuta no Suihouheki Yasahii :: Kirigakure No Sato – Mizukage :: Spirit of Capricorn, Topenga]
[Futokutei Hitoare :: Konohagakure No Sato – Pestilence (Four Horsemen) – Jounin]
[Aisu Koiji :: Kirigakure No Sato – Jounin]
[Shitagane Sakki :: Kumogakure No Sato – Genin]
[Batsu Betsuni :: Iwagakure No SatoJounin A Rank Missing Ninja]
[Futokutei Yasunari :: Konohagakure No Sato – Genin]
ChatangoShow
HonchkrOnu
ArticOnu
RichardUnknown
RichardGreen
RichardRed
RichardBlack
RichardGold
AlienHostRichardGold
ValidusWrecks
ValidusWreckingBall
NotOnu
ReallyisOnu
NotCdf
SunaOOCOnu
HolyCowMrSmith
GlobalModOnu
AdminOnu
CboxModOnu
SlaptasitcOnu

User avatar
Ace Trainer
Posts: 16242
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:00 pm

Pinocchio Story

Post by Ace Trainer » Mon Jul 11, 2022 1:07 pm

Quote:
[Spotlight]
D-rank Charge Fuuinjutsu
The user does a series of hand seals then place their hand on a surface, causing this hand sized fuuinjutsu to form on the surface. When the user performs kai, the fuuinjutsu will activate, causing it to release a bright, blinding light from it's surface that remains active until the user target's it with kai again, or the seal is destroyed. The light is bright enough to fully illuminate a 15m x 15m area, causing long shadows to be cast from anything in the area, and is impossible to look directly at without some form of eye protection.
The fuuinjutsu array floating behind Kozan's head seemed to glow or blink at random intervals, something Kozan would be able to see through his peripherals. He had an intuitive understanding of fuuinjutsu, thanks to his temporal chakra point that had been modified, so he had a natural curiousity about it. If he could touch the fuuinjutsu that his master used to manipulate his body, he was sure he'd have a far more in depth understanding of his own body. Unfortunately, his master made she not to allow that. Perhaps in order to guard Kozan's secrets, or perhaps in order to keep him a dutiful soldier. He was curious, but not willing to break command.

After a final hm and hum, his master would perform a single seal, and the array behind Kozan's head would seemingly vanish, and Kozan could feel his neurons firing as his control of his body returned. Pushing himself to his feet, he'd turn and look at his master blankly, who would motion for him, "I've programmed some new jutsu into you, try them out.", he instructed.

Kozan would nod, and take a few steps into the training space before them, a slightly de-elevated area in the lab that was clearly used for Kozan to test out various new abilities embedded into him. Channeling chakra into his hands, he began focusing on the new knowledge in his brain. Oh, a light jutsu. He could tell right away what this technique could be used for, his brain going through the various battle properties a technique like this would have. It would be good for creating spaces for him to disappear and hide into, but also serve as a good distraction to his opponent. He could blind people by utilizing it, distort the battle field. He nodded his head, yes, this would be helpful.

He would continue to channel, then place his hand down on the floor in front of him. A seal would imprint itself on the surface, spreading out from his palm. He'd look at it curiously and then shake his head, "No good.", is all he would say.

Standing upright he would begin channeling again, focusing on the seal. He'd done it wrong the first time, something hadn't quite clicked it with it. Focusing on his hand, he would once more lean forward and plce his hand on the ground, the seal spreading from his palm. This one was right, he could tell. Forming the kai symbol, he'd look away and release the seal. Immediately, bright light would spew from it, illuminating the entire lab and causing Kozan to take a step back in slight surprise. It had worked. Well done. He could definitely use this one.
Mistaki ShioShiimu KozanGekko IndraShoshiki HeiyaHizashi Ikinari
Kirigakure No Sato
Kemurigakure no Sato

Taishou of Iron Country
Kirigakure No Sato
Genin
Experiment 81 v2
Sunagakure No Sato
Genin
The Soul Host
Iwagakure No Sato
Special Jounin
The Tungsten Princess
Sunagakure No Sato
Jounin
The Revolutionary
Past CharactersShow
[Kenketi Tenteki :: Kumogakure No Sato – Special Jounin]
[Setsuya Inka :: Sunagakure No Sato – The Soul Host – Special Jounin]
[Kaikyo Kohon :: Kirigakure No Sato – Jounin]
[Shinwa Basuta no Suihouheki Yasahii :: Kirigakure No Sato – Mizukage :: Spirit of Capricorn, Topenga]
[Futokutei Hitoare :: Konohagakure No Sato – Pestilence (Four Horsemen) – Jounin]
[Aisu Koiji :: Kirigakure No Sato – Jounin]
[Shitagane Sakki :: Kumogakure No Sato – Genin]
[Batsu Betsuni :: Iwagakure No SatoJounin A Rank Missing Ninja]
[Futokutei Yasunari :: Konohagakure No Sato – Genin]
ChatangoShow
HonchkrOnu
ArticOnu
RichardUnknown
RichardGreen
RichardRed
RichardBlack
RichardGold
AlienHostRichardGold
ValidusWrecks
ValidusWreckingBall
NotOnu
ReallyisOnu
NotCdf
SunaOOCOnu
HolyCowMrSmith
GlobalModOnu
AdminOnu
CboxModOnu
SlaptasitcOnu

User avatar
Ace Trainer
Posts: 16242
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:00 pm

Pinocchio Story

Post by Ace Trainer » Mon Jun 26, 2023 6:26 pm

Being in stasis in the tube was a hard sensation to explain, especially for someone like Kozan who already has a tentative grip on complex feelings. It wasn’t quite like being asleep, in fact the opposite in so far as he ‘felt’ conscious the entire time. But the passage of time, the perception of what was going on, did not feel quite right. Instead, the world and movement occurred to him like a blur, with flashes of understanding. He’d been in it for well over a decade before he had first came back, yet thinking back to it, it only felt like minutes. It likely did not help either that much of his knowledge was not learned from experience and observation, but rather implanted into his brain, which means that his consciousness and understanding of the world did not gradually come to him but instead flipped on like a light switch, with sudden understanding of the world despite the inability to act. Approaching the lab always brought these memories to the surface, for Kozan, though he did not fully understand why. Perhaps this is what nostalgia was like, or perhaps it was nervousness?

The interior of the lab was familiar, dark, with spot lights handing from the ceiling illuminating parts of desks, or specific cabinets. Easily redirected with a push or a tug, the shine of active fuuinjutsu being the only other source of light from the various tubes and containers keeping under lock a variety of spirits and experiments. The soft hum of chakra moving through the room, and, standing out in particular to Kozan was the air of fear that seemed to fill the lab from no particular source. The ‘scent’ as he described it, though it was a 6th sense, was thin yet palpable. If he likened it to vision it was a red hue over everything, and if like touch, it felt just as humid in the lab as it did outside in Kirigakure. Despite having spent so much of his life here, he could never tell just quite where it was coming from or who was so afraid.

His eyes fell to the body bag on the ground that he’d dragged Senna into the lab in. The dried splotches of blood from the body being dragged about visible even from where Kozan was at currently. The fight with Senna had been educational and illuminating, sure Kozan had heard of the Fushinkou and their ability before, but even a small taste of it had inspired Kozan to more thoroughly understand just what they were capable of. The ability to simply remove something from reality would serve great purpose for Kozan.



The whirring of the drill continued, and like when he was in the stasis, Kozan’s mind seemed distant from his body. The sounds and sensations present in the lab had this strange dichotomy of being at the fore of his mind, but also wrapped in a sensation like static, making it hard to place with exactness. So often things like this were endured and by two days later Kozan could hardly remember it had occurred, let alone something had been done. His brain was mostly artificial, after all, the knowledge in it implanted, the tactical understanding, history, and detail added in like a punch card. Kozan had never held a mace let alone been struck by one, yet as the felt the bit of drill against his skin he could liken it to the feeling of the spikes on a mace puncturing his flesh. And he had no doubt if the moment came, he could do the very same to someone else with ease. At some point someone had years and years of experience using a mace and the knowledge had been extracted from them like a strand of hair and inserted into Kozan’s brain like it had been his all along.

And now it was happening once more with the Fushinkou’s Kekkei Genkai.

The sweat on Kozan’s arms had begun to pool on the straps on his wrists, making them damp. The sensation of the wet cloth binding his hands seemed more present than the others. Had he ever sweat like that before? He couldn’t remember. The discomfort associated with it felt new. Not the straps, but the moistness of them. He redirected his focus as the spotlight moved from one position to another with a gentle push, now beaming directly on his face.

”Hold your breath.”, his master’s voice penetrated his ears and into his brain as if it had been a thought of his own. His breathing stopped before his brain had even finished processing the words, it hadn’t been a request, not even an order just…direction.

There was a sudden release of pressure in his lower back, the whirring of the drill stopped. His breath still held, Kozan wondered about his physiology, both as it existed and after he’d obtain the Naikai. One of the key areas of information his master did not input into his brain was about his own body. There seemed to be a strong resistance to Kozan truly understanding his innerworkings, and when the rare occasion where curiosity bubbled to the surface of Kozan’s mind and he asked questions, he was met with swift and abrupt ending of the conversation. He did not need to know how it worked, only that it did. That was all there was to it. And yet, Kozan did wonder in those moments. Would better understanding how he produced this samsara help make him a better fighter? Would knowing how thoroughly he’d been modified alter how he approached combat? The deeply ingrained tactical thinking that had been loaded into him in concert with the duty to excel made it difficult for these questions to be ignored when they arose. The gap in his knowledge made for weakness, as he saw it, and shortened him on opportunities to be greater.

But his master wasn’t to be questioned. A tap on his shoulder that could barely be recognized allowed him to release his breath, almost as if a button had been pressed rather than an actual desire to resume breathing. How long had he held his breath anyways? Some days when this was happening he’d go in at 5am and by time he’d been released the sun had already set and it felt like seconds – if his master had made him hold his breath it had surely only been a couple of seconds at most, right? The straps on his ankles and thighs were starting to feel tighter…maybe they had added more muscle mass to him in this one? Or perhaps he wasn’t only just realizing the sensation. How long ago had the drilling stopped? In place of it there was just the occasional click, the sound of metal tapping against itself that Kozan could only guess was scissors through all the static. Was he being cut?

He felt very sweaty. The strap over his stomach felt wet now too. The heat from the spotlight shining directly on him was starting to get a little intense, his eyes staring directly into it. The static and haze made it easy to look directly into the lights without feeling like he needed to look away. Not that he could anyways, his eyes could shift but his head was stuck in place and with the spotlight on he couldn’t see the room at all now. Though there wasn’t much to look at, once Senna’s body had been removed from the body bag, Kozan had been positioned in such a way that most of the lab was to his back, leaving him with an empty bag, and empty desk, and a plainly decorated wall to look at. Light or not, there was little in terms of views here.



His master’s gloved hand reached out from Kozan’s periphery and slightly adjusted his head, leaving something on his face in the process. At first he thought it was sweat, but as the scent moved into his nose he realized it was blood. Was he bleeding? He couldn’t really tell. The moist feeling on his ears become noticeable then too as he instinctually searched his body for injury as he would if he noticed blood in battle. The table he was attached to suddenly felt cold as the warm feeling on his wrists, stomach, and ankles stood out to his senses kicking into overdrive.

Then, after moments of searching, or maybe hours, Kozan would feel pressure against his sternum as the strap around his body released. He’d jolt, sitting up on the table as he felt chakra surge through his body, his chakra system restarting as it did whenever his master processed an update like this. He’d look around, realizing he was on the otherside of the room now, sitting on a chair. ”Ah, you’re up. We’re all done, you can go. Take Senna with you.”, was all his master would say from the desk he was sitting at.

Kozan would give a curt nod and walk over to the body bag sitting on the table – the table he definitely was just at. This is how it always ways though, coming out of that stasis state, time was never really clear. Lugging the straps over his shoulder, the body bag would fall to the ground as Kozan dragged it. Pushing against the door to leave the lab, he’d rub his tongue against his lips, tasting blood for just a moment before shaking his head and carrying on. Who knew what his master had done, but Kozan could feel the difference in his chakra.

He had Naikai now.
Mistaki ShioShiimu KozanGekko IndraShoshiki HeiyaHizashi Ikinari
Kirigakure No Sato
Kemurigakure no Sato

Taishou of Iron Country
Kirigakure No Sato
Genin
Experiment 81 v2
Sunagakure No Sato
Genin
The Soul Host
Iwagakure No Sato
Special Jounin
The Tungsten Princess
Sunagakure No Sato
Jounin
The Revolutionary
Past CharactersShow
[Kenketi Tenteki :: Kumogakure No Sato – Special Jounin]
[Setsuya Inka :: Sunagakure No Sato – The Soul Host – Special Jounin]
[Kaikyo Kohon :: Kirigakure No Sato – Jounin]
[Shinwa Basuta no Suihouheki Yasahii :: Kirigakure No Sato – Mizukage :: Spirit of Capricorn, Topenga]
[Futokutei Hitoare :: Konohagakure No Sato – Pestilence (Four Horsemen) – Jounin]
[Aisu Koiji :: Kirigakure No Sato – Jounin]
[Shitagane Sakki :: Kumogakure No Sato – Genin]
[Batsu Betsuni :: Iwagakure No SatoJounin A Rank Missing Ninja]
[Futokutei Yasunari :: Konohagakure No Sato – Genin]
ChatangoShow
HonchkrOnu
ArticOnu
RichardUnknown
RichardGreen
RichardRed
RichardBlack
RichardGold
AlienHostRichardGold
ValidusWrecks
ValidusWreckingBall
NotOnu
ReallyisOnu
NotCdf
SunaOOCOnu
HolyCowMrSmith
GlobalModOnu
AdminOnu
CboxModOnu
SlaptasitcOnu

User avatar
Ace Trainer
Posts: 16242
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:00 pm

Prime Directive

Post by Ace Trainer » Tue Jan 23, 2024 11:54 pm

The feeling of the strap tightening against Kozan’s chest was a familiar one as his master tightened him into position for another surgery. Another surgery. It was not unusual for Kozan to be assessed, he couldn’t remember a period of greater than 3 days since he’d been given awareness that he wasn’t put through a number of exams and assessments to make sure his body was still functioning at peak performance. The surgeries weren’t as frequent, though, they were often an indication that something needed to be changed. At first he had thought this to mean he had failed somehow, that something was wrong with him. It wasn’t until his master at one point said, ”You’re a vessel. Just do as you’re told.” that Kozan realized that the two things weren’t necessarily connected.

When you don’t have an agenda, it’s much easier to wait. Getting strapped to a chair, it didn’t matter if minutes had passed or hours, Kozan had nothing to do, no where to be. His master would turn off the parts of his autonomic nervous system that processed things like hunger or thirst. With no clock in sight, Kozan’s brain would sit absent of thought for however long it was until he was needed. A perfect little doll for his master to play with. So he would sit, up until he would hear the sound of footsteps behind him and an indication that he was to be paying attention, ”You’ve done well.”, was all the Shiimu scientist behind him would say. He would feel pressure, and then a sudden relief on the back of his head, then a sort of weight lifting off his neck. He suspected his skull was open now. ”I need to check some things. Start reciting the Ninja Code of Conduct.”, he instructed.

Kozan began talking almost instantly, ”A ninja is an extension of its village, and thus a tool. Without a village, a ninja is nothing.”, he recited. This was the central most tenant of the shinobi code of conduct, everything Kozan did, everything Kozan was ordered to do, everything Kozan was to become was for Kirigakure. It wasn’t just that there was no greater purpose than to exist for the village, it was that there was not other purpose. WIthout Kirigakure, without the Shiimu, Kozan would not be alive. He was nothing without Kirigakure. ”A ninja lives not for themselves or for anyone else, but for the village, they exist to maintain and further the strength of the village.”, his throat felt a little hoarse. Perhaps he was thirsty? He didn’t feel like it. Kozan had heard that this tenant was redundant, not that he understood how. The first was about the village, this one was about him. His purpose. The village gave it to him - that is what the first tenant said. The second informed him what it was - to maintain and further the strength of the village.

”There is no higher glory for a ninja than to die in service of the village.”, he voiced. Indeed, in Kirigakure there was glory in death. How better to record the truth in the first two tenants than to die for the village’s strength, to sacrifice your very life in order to move the strength of the village into a higher echelon. If your death brought strength, it was a death well earned. ”A ninja’s duty is to become the best as what the ninja does, willing to sacrifice anything to accomplish this goal.”, even their life. There was nothing a shinobi shouldn’t be willing to do for his village, there were no boundaries they wouldn’t cross, no task they would not complete, no mission they would refuse. If it was for the village, it was to be done.

”Enough.”, he was instructed.

”Tell me. What did you think when I ordered you to obtain Fushinkou, Senna’s body?”. If Kozan’s face wasn’t paralyzed, his brow would have come together in confusion. What did he think? He didn’t. He acted as he was instructed. He never questioned it, never even thought to question it. He was instructed to hunt a target to gain entrance into the Head Hunter’s Division, and the target was Fushinkou, Senna. That is all there was. ”Speak.”, his master commanded.

Reflexively, Kozan spoke, ”I began to formulate tactics on how to go about identifying where he would be.”, Kozan responded shortly. Was that what his master wanted to know? A quick strike at his clavicle would inform him it was not. He sat silently, not able to process an answer that he felt was sufficient for his master. Very rarely did he understand his master’s motives or intentions, perhaps from a lack of trying. It was not Kozan’s prerogative to question what his master was telling him to do - absent of guidance to the contrary his master’s instructions were the instructions of Kiri, and he have no reason to think what his master wanted him to do was not in the best interest of the village. The best interest of the village. as the thought crossed his mind it occurred to him he lacked clarity towards what exactly that was.

”Not what did you do. What did you think.”, he demanded.

”That what you wanted would be in service of the village.”,

”And how would you know?” He blinked. How did he know? Well, he didn’t. He had no reason to think otherwise. There was no evidence to the contrary. His mind tracked through the information he had, trying to think about some sort of logical explanation that would provide an answer to his master. How did he know, how did he know. Another strike against his clavicle, ”Answer.”

”I don’t. But, you are my master. You treat my body to ensure I continue to get stronger and become a more refined weapon for the village. I have no reason to doubt what you instruct me. Better put, I have been given no reason to think that your orders are not orders that would contribute to the continued strength of the village. Obtaining the body of Fushinkou, Senna was true to that. My assessment was that your decision to grant me Fushinkou, Senna’s Naikai allowed me to become stronger, to become a better weapon for the village.”, it was logical, a good and simple summary.

He could hear his master suck at his teeth behind him, ”A good assessment.”, Kozan felt fingers tapping against his clavicle, ”You obtained a great strength for yourself and for the Shiimu family.”, he asserted, ”Through the success of your mission, you obtained something that the village has otherwise be forbidden from obtaining due to it’s oath to the clans and the clan’s oath to the village. Tell me, what you think of that Version 2”

Kozan felt pressure against his head again, something else was happening, ”It tells me.”, he paused, processing it. ”I am a stronger weapon for the village.”, intuitively, Kozan knew this was not the correct answer, the strike against his clavicle that quickly came confirmed that. He said nothing else, continuing to process. His master was searching for an answer it seemed like, but what answer was he searching for? To be honest, he wondered if this was the most he’d ever conversed with his master. Rarely was Kozan given the opportunity to talk. Their interactions were often brief, orders being given to him to guide whatever he was to do next, instructions on what to look for in his next combat outing, or interrogations on how a series of events had happened in a fight. Sometimes, Kozan wouldn’t be afforded the opportunity to speak at all, and instead his master would talk without pause explaining key information for Kozan to know. Not even for Kozan to know, for Version 2 to know. The questions he was getting were the first of it’s kind, it left Kozan feeling…something. He feeling he didn’t know the word for, but a feeling none the less.

”Most would have said we betrayed the village. It is why I had to leverage Shinjiro in the conversation. Why you told me. Because if Naohiro knew we had given me the Naikai, he would not have been happy. Perhaps even he would have killed me.”, Kozan said this plainly, but in truth the realization was dawning on him as it hadn’t before. This wasn’t new information, but it was the first time he’d actually registered the gravity.

”Most would have said that. Why did you lie to Naohiro.”

Kozan’s mouth opened to say You told me to but before the words could escape his lips he realized that was not the correct answer, ”Because if Naohiro killed me for this my death would not be in service of Kirigakure.”, another realization, a synapse firing in his brain as he put the information together. ”What we did was not a betrayal of Kirigakure. I never considered it such. The acquisition of Senna, the merging of my physiology with the Naikai. The unlocking of Samsara in my genetic make up. All of that made me a greater weapon for Kirigakure. It made me stronger. More dangerous. More effective. A improved tool to maintain and further the strength of the village.”.

His master released the straps binding Kozan to the chair, indicating that whatever he’d done to Kozan, he was done. Kozan remained where he was, watching as his master circled around him and sat in the chair opposite of him. ”You are a testament to the Shiimu family’s desire to ensure Kirigakure is and remains the strongest village in the world. Your purpose is singular.”, he stopped, Kozan nodding knowingly in response to what his master was saying. Kozan had one purpose, one mission, one drive. To become the strongest shinobi possible. He had one underlying order that determined everything, and no other order could supersede it. It was a tenant he’d had - almost literally - inscribed into the grey mater in his brain: ‘A ninja’s duty is to become the best at what the ninja does, willing to sacrifice anything to accomplish this goal.’.

”Soon, you will be named a Bannin. I do not know when but know that it is the intent of the Shiimu family to see your name in that echelon.”, another knowing nod. The message coming from his master was layered but Kozan was able to read between the line of what was being said. Soon, Kozan would be among a chosen few, he would same rank as Shinjiro, he would outrank or stand aside Naohiro. Even if he formally reported to them in some capcity, the class of people who could instruct him was diminishing rapidly. The time would come where Shiv and Shinjiro would look at him as equals, and depending on the course of events, he could even outrank them in the hierarchy of this village. They only had to taste dirt from his foot once for him to be viewed as the greater. ”Be ready.”, his master looked him straight in the eyes, the black voids of his masters eyes locked onto Kozan’s yellow gaze. And then it broke, and his master stood, walking over to a desk, ”You’re dismissed.”, he said curtly.

Kozan stood, walking towards the door like an obedient dog before pausing and turning, ”I have a question.”

”Ask it.”

”Why are you telling me this?”

A soft sigh came from across the room. ”The Village Hidden in the Rocks has formally declared war on the Village Hidden in the Sand. In the coming weeks, war will break out once more, and the leadership of Kirigakure, even in tumultuous times, becomes rabid at the scent of blood. Seeing Sand fall would benefit us for many reasons, but it is unclear what will happen or if we were engage. But one thing is clear…there is great power to be had hidden within the walls of Sunagakure that will be unlikely to see the light of day if Iwagakure is to have it’s way.”, his master’s voice lingered off, and then he began moving something about on the desk, seemingly disengaging from the conversation entirely, indicating to Kozan it was time for him to go.

Kozan pushed through the door and was exposed to the fresh, dewy air of Kirigakure. It was perhaps six or seven in the morning. But the words his master had left him with lingered in his mind. Iwagakure was an ally. They would benefit from assistance from Kirigakure, but it also likely meant there would be little rewards to reap if they were just an attaché to support the war. No, his master was implying something else. That Kozan had a directive. It mattered no what anyone in Kirigakure told him to do, where they stood, what alliances they forged or rules they had written. Kozan had 7 rules he followed. Seven tenants that dictated every action he took, and while Kozan would follow orders, there was no order that reigned greater than the code.

A Ninja’s duty is to become the best at what the ninja does, willing to sacrifice anything to accomplish this goal.
Last edited by Ace Trainer on Wed Jan 24, 2024 12:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Mistaki ShioShiimu KozanGekko IndraShoshiki HeiyaHizashi Ikinari
Kirigakure No Sato
Kemurigakure no Sato

Taishou of Iron Country
Kirigakure No Sato
Genin
Experiment 81 v2
Sunagakure No Sato
Genin
The Soul Host
Iwagakure No Sato
Special Jounin
The Tungsten Princess
Sunagakure No Sato
Jounin
The Revolutionary
Past CharactersShow
[Kenketi Tenteki :: Kumogakure No Sato – Special Jounin]
[Setsuya Inka :: Sunagakure No Sato – The Soul Host – Special Jounin]
[Kaikyo Kohon :: Kirigakure No Sato – Jounin]
[Shinwa Basuta no Suihouheki Yasahii :: Kirigakure No Sato – Mizukage :: Spirit of Capricorn, Topenga]
[Futokutei Hitoare :: Konohagakure No Sato – Pestilence (Four Horsemen) – Jounin]
[Aisu Koiji :: Kirigakure No Sato – Jounin]
[Shitagane Sakki :: Kumogakure No Sato – Genin]
[Batsu Betsuni :: Iwagakure No SatoJounin A Rank Missing Ninja]
[Futokutei Yasunari :: Konohagakure No Sato – Genin]
ChatangoShow
HonchkrOnu
ArticOnu
RichardUnknown
RichardGreen
RichardRed
RichardBlack
RichardGold
AlienHostRichardGold
ValidusWrecks
ValidusWreckingBall
NotOnu
ReallyisOnu
NotCdf
SunaOOCOnu
HolyCowMrSmith
GlobalModOnu
AdminOnu
CboxModOnu
SlaptasitcOnu

User avatar
Ace Trainer
Posts: 16242
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:00 pm

Generic Training Post

Post by Ace Trainer » Sat Jan 27, 2024 4:00 pm

It wasn't often Kozan needed to train jutsu as his master would often simply upload new knowledge and information into him to expand his repertoire. However, the guidance he'd received in the days previous about getting stronger had left him a bit at odds with his own history, and the infantile jounin had found a desire to expand his skills independently. Sure, there had been times he'd trained previous but that had been because the Seven Swordsmen were doing training together, or he'd received some specific directive. This was the first time Kozan felt intentional about developing new jutsu and skills on his own. This bit of independence felt...odd, he didn't have a word to explain it.

Regardless, he had a new jutsu he wanted to learn and despite little experience in truly developing a new jutsu, he was going to learn it! Weaving hand seals, he would allow some samsara to form forth out of his hands and into a wide, shallow bowl in front of him. The Samsara would pour into the bowl like a liquid, the natural state of the mystical substance somewhat fluid. This was just the first step. Now with Samsara to focus on, he would begin channeling chakra, focusing on the samsara in the bowl in front of him. His goal was relatively simple, he wanted to prime the Samsara to take a different form, and to cause it to harden upon contact, allowing it to act defensive for him without him having to consciously convert it into a defensive state. This would be helpful as it would allow him to convert offensive and supplementary samsara techniques into defensive ones rapidly when needed.

Continuing to focus he would feel the chakra from his body pooling into the samsara in front of him, trying to inscribe the properties he was aiming for into the samsara. Finally, he'd feel confident, and he'd stop channeling, looking at the bowl of black fluid in front of him. Shaking the bowl for a second, he'd watch the Samsara sway back and forth somewhat unnatural in the bowl. Then, swiftly and suddenly he'd reach up and slap his hand downward as if swatting a fly. His hand would collide with the bowl of Samsara and....meet a hard surface. All around his hand he could see the Samsara still swaying from the impact, but the Samsara directly under his hand was hard. Yes, he'd done it! And just like that, Kozan had trained the first jutsu he'd thought of on his own.
SpoilerShow
Fluid State
B-rank Ninjutsu
Samsara naturally exists in a semi-permeable fluid state that can become harden and inert at command. By forming a series of hand seals and focusing on any active Samsara, for the next 5 posts the targeted Samsara will return to its fluid state, but immediately harden and become inert on impact at the point of impact. This effectively allows techniques to operate as defenses by absorbing the impact of techniques by hardening with [Strength]. This does not grant the Samsara the defensive bonus.
Mistaki ShioShiimu KozanGekko IndraShoshiki HeiyaHizashi Ikinari
Kirigakure No Sato
Kemurigakure no Sato

Taishou of Iron Country
Kirigakure No Sato
Genin
Experiment 81 v2
Sunagakure No Sato
Genin
The Soul Host
Iwagakure No Sato
Special Jounin
The Tungsten Princess
Sunagakure No Sato
Jounin
The Revolutionary
Past CharactersShow
[Kenketi Tenteki :: Kumogakure No Sato – Special Jounin]
[Setsuya Inka :: Sunagakure No Sato – The Soul Host – Special Jounin]
[Kaikyo Kohon :: Kirigakure No Sato – Jounin]
[Shinwa Basuta no Suihouheki Yasahii :: Kirigakure No Sato – Mizukage :: Spirit of Capricorn, Topenga]
[Futokutei Hitoare :: Konohagakure No Sato – Pestilence (Four Horsemen) – Jounin]
[Aisu Koiji :: Kirigakure No Sato – Jounin]
[Shitagane Sakki :: Kumogakure No Sato – Genin]
[Batsu Betsuni :: Iwagakure No SatoJounin A Rank Missing Ninja]
[Futokutei Yasunari :: Konohagakure No Sato – Genin]
ChatangoShow
HonchkrOnu
ArticOnu
RichardUnknown
RichardGreen
RichardRed
RichardBlack
RichardGold
AlienHostRichardGold
ValidusWrecks
ValidusWreckingBall
NotOnu
ReallyisOnu
NotCdf
SunaOOCOnu
HolyCowMrSmith
GlobalModOnu
AdminOnu
CboxModOnu
SlaptasitcOnu

User avatar
Ace Trainer
Posts: 16242
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:00 pm

Leave No Trace

Post by Ace Trainer » Fri Feb 02, 2024 3:23 pm

The blood dripped off the long, black tentacle, striking against the puddle on the ground with a grotesque sort of plop, the thickness leaving no lack of clarity on what it was. The poorly illuminated lab was filled with a metallic scent of blood, but Kozan’s bright yellow eyes pierced the darkness, staring at the tentacle as it hovered in front of him, an extension of his own body that felt quite foreign. The lab was silent, silent in a way Kozan had never quite noticed before. There was no spinning of machinery in some corner of the room, no sounds of vials being heated or beakers steaming from some chemical being cooked or catalyzed. Just the silent sound of the plop. plop. plop. of the blood slowly dripping off the tentacle.

”Your performance has continued to be excellent. Beyond expectations to an extent.", his master had said. The tone in his voice betraying some level of surprise, "Your endurance, strength, muscle tone, chakra synthesization, your conversion of nutrients, its all performing beyond what I would have expected from your last update.", he hadn't sounded impressed. More frustrated. It was a tone Kozan had heard in people before when they didn't get what they were expecting. He didn't really understand frustration like this and it was even more perplexing coming from his master who seemed to always know what to do and how to do it. "Nonetheless, you'll be prepared for Sunagakure.", he had mused out loud. When that had last spoken, his master had said it in quite the non-committal fashion, but this time the words seemed like Kozan was going whether he'd decided to or not.

"I do think this will make me stronger.", Kozan said. The tentacle continued to drip blood. Another tentacle would hover around it, this time floating over Kozan's hand, the end of the tentacle wrapped around a severed forearm. Kozan would reach for it, pulling a ring off the finger and inspecting it closely. It was likely a pretty valuable ring to have, it had a brilliant stone in it set on a golden ring. Inscriptions surrounding the ring were in the ritual language for the Shiimu clan, indicating that it was likely the hand of a Shiimu - very rarely did non-Shiimu were the ritualistic jewelry common for the family as it sent an odd message. But not even Shiimu were free from the grasps of Kozan’s hunt, when his prey drive activated anyone was fair play.

His master had tapped Indra on the clavicle, then walked around to his front having seemingly released the clone from a trance, "Your decision is for the sake of the village. You will hold many secrets, it is the nature of a Kirigakure shinobi. If you're going to do this, you must be silent. Unseen. You collect. You execute anyone in your way. You become stronger. But no one can know what you will done. This is for Kirigakure.", it had been quite unlike his master to coach him like this. But perhaps that was the gravity of the situation. His master seemed to have had become more invested in Kozan, possibly because of the success Kozan represented. Loss of Kozan at this point would be a much larger set back than it had been around the loss of Kozaki. "The final task. You need to push your limits. Produce two tentacles.". If Kozan was going to go on missions like this, it was clear his master had wanted him to be at his peak, but the commentary seemed to be suggesting this was not something he could control as easily anymore. Kozan had wondered if this was related to the training he had started doing on his own, the Jutsu he was learning on his own. He had wondered if his master knew he was doing it on his own? Was he upset about it? There had really been no way to tell, his master was…quite skilled at masking how he felt about these things.

The slowly dripping blood continued, Kozan's eyes tracing the two tentacles hovering over his shoulders. He leaned back, his body being carried now not by his feet, but by two more long black Samsara tentacles that pressed against the ground. He stared at the hand longer, his lips slightly separated as if he was about to speak. Hesitation and questioning himself was new to Kozan. Typically, he was just following orders, but knowing now that he would be expected to operate independently and make his own decisions had quickly awakened some subsection of his brain that was alive with electrical activity. "Everything I do, I do for Kirigakure. To become stronger. I have no limits to be tested.". It didn't seem like a refusal, but more an admonishment of the notion that his limits were being pressed. Indeed, Kozan was now prepared to take to any challenge and surpass it.

"Your very blood is one of the greatest assets for the Shiimu clan in these coming and trying times.", this had been the most, once more, Kozan had ever felt a dialouge existed between his master and himself. The amount of talking he had done on this day felt unusual, an indication that Kozan was becoming something…more. "But so is the Naikai. And if you obtain the secrets hidden within Sunagakure, those too will become enormous assets. No one can know you have them. You leave no trace. Produce two more.", it had been a command. Leave no trace. To what extent his master had meant that wasn’t clear. Was he truly not only allowing, but encouraging Kozan to kill Kirigakure shinobi if it came to it? There hadn’t appeared to be any other way to interpret it. Kozan was an asset and had a duty, an obligation, to become stronger. It was his sole purpose, it was why the Shiimu had invested in him. To prove power could be made this way, and it would serve beyond anything a normal shinobi was capable of. What other shinobi could they point to with a growth rate like Kozan’s?

The ring in Kozans hand with flip between his fingers for a moment before he'd toss it in the air as his body floated on the two tentacles supporting him. As it surged through the air, another tentacle would weave, becoming smaller to move through the ring and absorb it into itself. Another would hove over Kozan's head, Kozan's eyes locked onto its point. Six tentacles visible, he'd reach out to it as if it was foreign. Yes. He could leave no trace. No one could know of his Naikai. Of his secrets. Of how he was so strong. What he had could not be known. "You were right.", he said.

”Excellent, excellent.”, his master had reached out, placing his hand against the first tentacle that had emerged, inspecting it closely as six tentacles hovered around him, Kozan had still and unmoving his yellow eyes locked onto his master. ”A flawless performance, Version 2. Your limits increase never ending it seems.”, for the first time Kozan had seen his master smile. His gaze pleased, like a sculptor looking at a statue he’d finally finished. ”And you’ll continue to get better.”’, he had turned after saying this, his back to Kozan.

And then that was a surge. A momentary realization from Kozan followed by an immediate, unrestrained, unquestioned action. The tentacles would rip forward, all six grabbing at his master’s body. His master had let out an audible cry, not shock but a sort of angry growl that was muffled almost immediately the this limbs being torn from his body. One tentacle would penetrate through his torso, the other five created opposing forces of tension to dismember the Shiimu scientist without any opportunity to respond to fight back. There had be no warning no indication, simply death. Blood sprayed along the lab from the sudden release of pressure from the force of the tension, and Kozan was left standing, limbs falling to the floor as he looked dispassionately as what he had done. ”Leave no trace.”

He stared at the body, looking at the limbs on the ground for a moment before sending a tentacle out to reach for one of the limbs, pulling a forearm off the ground. ”A ninja’s duty is to become the best at what the ninja does, willing to sacrifice anything to accomplish this goal.”, he recited to the corpse. Yes, even the scientist that created him would need to be sacrificed if it meant the secrets of Kozan’s body would be retained. For a moment, Kozan stood there. The blood dripped off the long, black tentacle, striking against the puddle on the ground with a grotesque sort of plop, the thickness leaving no lack of clarity on what it was.
Last edited by Ace Trainer on Fri Feb 02, 2024 3:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mistaki ShioShiimu KozanGekko IndraShoshiki HeiyaHizashi Ikinari
Kirigakure No Sato
Kemurigakure no Sato

Taishou of Iron Country
Kirigakure No Sato
Genin
Experiment 81 v2
Sunagakure No Sato
Genin
The Soul Host
Iwagakure No Sato
Special Jounin
The Tungsten Princess
Sunagakure No Sato
Jounin
The Revolutionary
Past CharactersShow
[Kenketi Tenteki :: Kumogakure No Sato – Special Jounin]
[Setsuya Inka :: Sunagakure No Sato – The Soul Host – Special Jounin]
[Kaikyo Kohon :: Kirigakure No Sato – Jounin]
[Shinwa Basuta no Suihouheki Yasahii :: Kirigakure No Sato – Mizukage :: Spirit of Capricorn, Topenga]
[Futokutei Hitoare :: Konohagakure No Sato – Pestilence (Four Horsemen) – Jounin]
[Aisu Koiji :: Kirigakure No Sato – Jounin]
[Shitagane Sakki :: Kumogakure No Sato – Genin]
[Batsu Betsuni :: Iwagakure No SatoJounin A Rank Missing Ninja]
[Futokutei Yasunari :: Konohagakure No Sato – Genin]
ChatangoShow
HonchkrOnu
ArticOnu
RichardUnknown
RichardGreen
RichardRed
RichardBlack
RichardGold
AlienHostRichardGold
ValidusWrecks
ValidusWreckingBall
NotOnu
ReallyisOnu
NotCdf
SunaOOCOnu
HolyCowMrSmith
GlobalModOnu
AdminOnu
CboxModOnu
SlaptasitcOnu

User avatar
Ace Trainer
Posts: 16242
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:00 pm

It’s Not Brain Surgery

Post by Ace Trainer » Mon Feb 05, 2024 12:35 pm

This wasn’t quite patricide but it was hard not to draw the lines of comparison between patricide and what Kozan had just done. Kozan didn’t have a father or at least was so disconnected from his biological lineage that it wasn’t relevant who his real father was. His master had fulfilled the closest thing to a traditional father role that Kozan had had, not that that was in any way significant. In a way virtually everything Kozan knew he knew from his master, it was just that it hadn’t been taught to him in the traditional capacity. Sure, his master ‘taught’ him, but it was just embedding passive memories into his genes to teach him what he needed to know. There was no bonding, no relationship, nothing deeper than the connection between a man and the house project he was working on. Kozan wasn’t even a pet, and while his master had pride in him it was pride more reflective of the quality of work and not of Kozan himself.

So sure, technically his master was his father-figure, but it was hard to call the dead bleeding pieces of a corpse on the floor patricide. The head, disconnected now from the body, laid face down in a pool of blood rather unceremoniously. Kozan would extend a tentacle out to it, tapping at it with the tentacle causing the head to roll over. The face was blank, no emotion, the eyes open and staring lifelessly into the abyss. Kozan would look at it dispassionately, a soft breath escaping his nose and having the tentacle wrap around the thick tufts of hair. He would lift the lonesome skull into the air, suspending it in front of him to inspect it closer. The blood dripping from the severed neck had began to slow, the pallor setting in and the muscles on the face beginning to tighten with the rigor. If Kozan was a normal person this would likely be a somber moment, or perhaps a time for self reflection, but instead he just stared at the head clearly contemplating some sort of decision.

Still holding it in front of him, a second tentacle would reach out, taking the neck of his master and suspending the head sideways in front of him. Kozan would charge chakra to his hand, and reach to the head, a chakra scalpel forming and cutting into the forehead, a long lateral cut long the forehead and then continuously around the skull as the tentacle spun it for him to cut. As he fully encircled the head, the scalp would give way, little blood seeping from the wound he’d created as much of it had already been drained from the head. Rather unceremoniously, he would toss the scalp and top of the skull to the side, rotating the head to look at the now exposed brain. His eyes thinned, the chakra scalpel on his fingers remaining active as his unoccupied hand would reach towards it.

Slowly, Kozan would touch the exposed brain. It didn’t look like the brains he’d seen before, the normal bright pink color had faded to a more dull and less vibrant variation of itself. Likely a consequence from the exsanguination of Kozan’s violent attack on the body. The feeling of the brain under his finger was distinct, soft, pliable. The bright yellow eyes scanned the brain, inspecting every detail of it as he analyzed it and tried to take away any information he could. In truth, Kozan didn’t know what he was looking for or at, but he felt an intuitive drive to inspect it; as if whatever he was looking for would make itself apparent once he saw it. Then in a sudden motion he would reach into the skull, prying the brain away from the protective bone it was in and exposing the lower portions of the cerebellum to the open air. The brain would shrivel slightly at his touch as Kozan seemed to disrupt where it had settled into. Now his fingers dipped into the grey mater, breaking the brain apart from its constituent pieces until Kozan saw it.

The small inscriptions of a fuuinjutsu in the lower space of the longitudinal fissure, reaching into the corpus callosum. Kozan touched the fuuinjutsu without hesitation, the fuuinjutsu coming to life and the chakra stored within it shooting to Kozan’s brain as if he was reading it. ”Ah.” is all he would say. The discovery of the fuuinjutsu had confirmed to him his intuition, his master had modified his own body as well. Storing information in fuuinjutsu on his brain that could be unleashed when he needed to conduct specific tasks. This one was his notes and musing about splicing of genetic DNA into non-clan members. Good information to have.

Kozan would continue to inspect the brain, continuing to pick at parts of the brain, occasionally cutting a piece away with the chakra scalpel and letting the pieces of brain fall to the ground. Each time a fuuinjutsu was revealed from the layers of pink flesh, Kozan would touch it and seemingly absorb the knowledge from it as if he was opening a book the chakra in the fuuinjutsu practically merging with his brain as he absorbed it. As he continued he wondered to himself if the inside of his brain looked like this, lace with inscriptions of fuuinjutsu that embedded his body with the knowledge it needed. Was he anything more than a group of seals and symbols on a brain? It was quite the question.

Eventually, the head would fall away and nothing would be left in the tentacles grip except the brain, pieces of it missing from being carved away. As each piece fell it would plop to the ground like jello hitting the floor. Eventually, Kozan would be left with little more than a brain stem, a medulla, and bit of cerebellum attached to it. He would look at it closely and then simply release it, dropping it to the ground as the tentacles retreated into his body. All the information Kozan had learned circulating in his brain as it merged from his chakra. This would make him stronger, and in many ways remove his need for his master. Through this exercise he could feel new information in his brain, new skills he developed, and a new understanding of the work his master was doing. Kozan was confident he’d be able to manipulate his own body at this point. His master was…obsolete. In more ways than one.

Kozan had a plan now.
Last edited by Ace Trainer on Mon Feb 05, 2024 12:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mistaki ShioShiimu KozanGekko IndraShoshiki HeiyaHizashi Ikinari
Kirigakure No Sato
Kemurigakure no Sato

Taishou of Iron Country
Kirigakure No Sato
Genin
Experiment 81 v2
Sunagakure No Sato
Genin
The Soul Host
Iwagakure No Sato
Special Jounin
The Tungsten Princess
Sunagakure No Sato
Jounin
The Revolutionary
Past CharactersShow
[Kenketi Tenteki :: Kumogakure No Sato – Special Jounin]
[Setsuya Inka :: Sunagakure No Sato – The Soul Host – Special Jounin]
[Kaikyo Kohon :: Kirigakure No Sato – Jounin]
[Shinwa Basuta no Suihouheki Yasahii :: Kirigakure No Sato – Mizukage :: Spirit of Capricorn, Topenga]
[Futokutei Hitoare :: Konohagakure No Sato – Pestilence (Four Horsemen) – Jounin]
[Aisu Koiji :: Kirigakure No Sato – Jounin]
[Shitagane Sakki :: Kumogakure No Sato – Genin]
[Batsu Betsuni :: Iwagakure No SatoJounin A Rank Missing Ninja]
[Futokutei Yasunari :: Konohagakure No Sato – Genin]
ChatangoShow
HonchkrOnu
ArticOnu
RichardUnknown
RichardGreen
RichardRed
RichardBlack
RichardGold
AlienHostRichardGold
ValidusWrecks
ValidusWreckingBall
NotOnu
ReallyisOnu
NotCdf
SunaOOCOnu
HolyCowMrSmith
GlobalModOnu
AdminOnu
CboxModOnu
SlaptasitcOnu

User avatar
Ace Trainer
Posts: 16242
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:00 pm

Pubescent Rebellion

Post by Ace Trainer » Wed Mar 13, 2024 3:04 am

Absenteeism.

Thats almost what it seemed like.

Kozan had returned from his journey to what he could only describe as absenteeism. He was a jounin, a jounin as strong as some Kage, so his journey outside of the village didn’t really need clearance or approval. He’d left for the Crescent Coalition with little more than a message to the staff for the Seven Swordsmen, the Head Hunter Division, and the Mission Assignment Bureau to inform them of leave and then he had departed. It had been a brief journey his arrival at Libertalis had left him being rebuked by the enemy in such a way that he had - at least temporarily - closed that avenue. It had been daunting, and as much as Kozan was unfearful, he had quickly adapted his approach to be less willing to take risk. His turning on his master had taught him much about his master’s work. Specifically, his master’s plan for if Kozan had failed at any point and died. Experiment 82 was not over with Kozan, and he was not very fond of the notion of being replaced by a Version 3. It served as a nice reassurance that his mission to serve the village could persist, but also that he needed to be careful not to set himself back.

Upon returning he had wandered the halls of the Seven Swordsmen compound, only to learn from much of the staff that several members of the organization had departed for Iwagakure and Sunagakure. The Overseer himself had departed from Kirigakure to go defend a foreign nation; a foreign nation that had abdicated their obligations to the Shiimu in many ways and rendered Kozan’s family vulnerable. Regardless of his tenuous loyalty to the family his disposition towards Earth Country right now could have used some improvement. And yet, Shinjiro had elected that the safety of this village superseded the safety of its own. Kirigakure already in a vulnerable spot and devoid of leadership left with even fewer.

Even worse, alongside him (though Kozan presumed not literally) Nishiki the second sword had gone as well. The staff had reported instead to Sunagakure. Interesting, in seemed his master had not been the only one to think about the possibilities that lay within the desert village. In truth, this frustrated Kozan to a degree. Perhaps he should have gone when offered to embark on this. But now, seeing the state of the village he was only further reassured it was the right all not to go. After all, what if Kumogakure elected to do the same thing Konoha had and attack Kirigakure in retaliation? Kozan’s status within the Shiimu, and the power he’d asserted so far in the village had given him the freedom to be privvy to this information and to say the political state of the world was unpredictable right now would be an understatement.

He ran his finger along the glass in front of him, a sigh that could only be described as frustrated escaping his mouth. Frustration was a new emotion for Kozan but it had felt ever-present since his return to Kirigakure. The Seven Swordsmen being under the purview of Tsukino, Hitachi was frustrating, that was certainly the word for it. The pathetically weak ‘Third Sword’ practically pisses himself whenever Kozan’s killer intent is unleashed around him, and yet when it’s not present his attitude suggests how little he thinks of people around him. His desire for strength had nothing to do with fulfilling Kirigakure, it was selfish and small, something that generated the very frustration Kozan was feeling.

He had considered going to challenge the Third Sword right then, but first he sorted to check in with the Head Hunters division, he’d put in a request for information on any sightings of Kirigakure Missing Ninja with Kekkei Genkai prior to his leave and he been intentional about habitual check-in on the matter. This was in part out of duty to his role, clan members as rogue ninja were extremely risks to the continued security and secrecy of the village, but if Kozan was the one to hunt them it also meant the potential to integrate more Kekkei Genkai into his own biology should they be fitting. This too was in service of the village, but it was a more covert intention he’d not made known for obvious reason.

His arrival to the Head Hunter’s Division compound had left him informed that Naohiro too had departed to Iwagakure. Technically, there was no change in leadership as Karagata Shiv was the leader of the organization as it currently stood. But Kozan’s observation within the inner workings of the organization had made it quite clear to him Shiv was little more than a drunken old man riding the coattails of his previous success, a shadow of his former self that was being erected a leader for the needs of others. And while he was confident Naohiro doing so provided the Aisu with the coverage he needed to serve the village, it once more left Kozan frustrated with how little the leadership of the village seemed vested in it’s well-being.

Channeling chakra into his hand, it would surge into the tube, the fluid inside of it lowly blue from the chakra resonating as a fuuinjutsu activated. Inside of it, a body floated in suspension, a tube leading into the nose and mouth but otherwise completely surrounded by the glowing blue fluid. Kozan remembered his own days being in stasis like this, a period of time that simultaneously felt like eons and mere seconds at once. Stasis was a strange state to be in.

Service of the village.

Kozan’s mind returned to the risk of Kumogakure attacking Kiri in this time. He didn’t think it was feasible. Nothing in the reports he’d leveraged from the staff at the Seven Swordsmen and the Mission Bureau suggested it was going to happen. But even still, the notion that the village had been exposed to risk and both of the famed Jinchuuriki of the village and perhaps the strongest Aisu in the village had left them with a drunk, a coward, an empty seat for the Mizukage, and a council that had yet to be fully formed after egotistical in-fighting by the village leaders. It was all…frustrating.

”I considered freeing you.”, he said out loud to the body in the tube. True enough he had. He honestly didn't have any disdain or negative feelings about the experience of being in stasis or his origins in a pod like this. But he did feel a degree of guilt knowing that the body in this pod becoming free was contingent on his own failure. Perhaps guilt wasn't the right word, actually. Kozan was still ascertaining what different feelings really felt like and guilt was one he had a problem facing. He knew what he should be feeling was guilt, so maybe that's why he assigned that name to this feeling. But the reality was guilt had an implication that Kozan had done something wrong and he felt no personal responsibility to this nameless body nor that he'd failed his own responsibilities in any way. Even still, as Kozan got stronger the odds of the body in this body ever needing to be activated gradually decreased. That was why he'd considered it, just giving it a name and agency and freeing it from the conceptual prison that was stasis. But, the body had use. And what was next for Kozan was going to put him at risk. And above all else, above any personal goals Kozan had developed in pursuit of his mission, he still had his mission; and this body was a contingency to ensure his mission persisted.

Kozan turned his back to the pod and took several steps through the lab before approaching another desk, pulling out three notebooks and placing them on the desk. Kozan was juggling two separate streams of thought and even now was struggling to reconcile why they were occurring simultaneously and what they meant to him. Afterall, Kozan's consciousness was distinct from his knowledge and really even his beliefs. Everything he knew and believed in was really just pre-ordained concepts installed in him before he had developed an identity. The death of his master had meant that for the first time Kozan was not able to have someone else sort these concepts for him but instead required him to do this himself.

When he had killed his master, he had an instantaneous realization of what he would need to do in order to fulfill his duty to serving Kirigakure. There was really only one outcome. He flipped open one of the notebooks and began writing in it, his notes thorough and meticulous as he documented his thoughts as they were in his mind right now. Carefully, slowly, but surely, Kozan was working to tease apart what was in his mind was him, and what in his mind was merely what his master made of him. This wasn't a rejection of the beliefs, no, very much the contrary, it was a documentation of his guiding principles. Despite the necessary decision to sacrifice his master, there was no doubt to Kozan that he'd come to his own conclusion on this - what his master had wanted for him was what was best for Kirigakure. By separating his own identity from what was input in him, he could derive actual guidelines, rules, and principals on how he should act. Writing them down only helped to organize that.

And it was in that very moment Kozan understood why he was having these two streams of thought, and how they were connected even if they felt so distinct. Kozan resented the fact that a body in stasis was needed, and his own desire to free the body wasn't one of pity for it, it was a drive to weed out competition that caused him to want it free. Without his master, without Kozan, that body would never accomplish anything. But Kozan elected even still to keep the body in stasis because his principals, his belief system, his very core value to act in service of his village demanded that Kozan adequately prepare a contingency to carry forward his goal of service Kirigakure most effectively as possible. Just as similarly, the thought of Shinjiro, Naohiro, and Nishiki leaving Kirigakure in this time to act in service of another village filled Kozan with resentment. They weren't traitors, but they were not beholden to the service of the village in the same way Kozan felt. They clearly operated on their own code, one Kozan could not view in alignment with his.

And now as he looked down at the notes he'd documented Kozan realized he resented that. He resented the notion that Kirigakure shinobi existed that did not feel about the village the same way he did. He resented the notion that this village was filled with shinobi that would not be willing to go to the lengths he would be to protect the village. But perhaps most of all, he resented the notion that the village had failed to generate shinobi of a caliber that made his pursuit of service to the village a challenge. How was the village failing to this degree? No. Kozan had known what he would need to do. Turning his eyes to the pod across the room now, he felt it as surely as he had ever. It was time now, the decisions of the leaders around him had made it very clear to him.

Kozan had outgrown Kirigakure as it was.
Mistaki ShioShiimu KozanGekko IndraShoshiki HeiyaHizashi Ikinari
Kirigakure No Sato
Kemurigakure no Sato

Taishou of Iron Country
Kirigakure No Sato
Genin
Experiment 81 v2
Sunagakure No Sato
Genin
The Soul Host
Iwagakure No Sato
Special Jounin
The Tungsten Princess
Sunagakure No Sato
Jounin
The Revolutionary
Past CharactersShow
[Kenketi Tenteki :: Kumogakure No Sato – Special Jounin]
[Setsuya Inka :: Sunagakure No Sato – The Soul Host – Special Jounin]
[Kaikyo Kohon :: Kirigakure No Sato – Jounin]
[Shinwa Basuta no Suihouheki Yasahii :: Kirigakure No Sato – Mizukage :: Spirit of Capricorn, Topenga]
[Futokutei Hitoare :: Konohagakure No Sato – Pestilence (Four Horsemen) – Jounin]
[Aisu Koiji :: Kirigakure No Sato – Jounin]
[Shitagane Sakki :: Kumogakure No Sato – Genin]
[Batsu Betsuni :: Iwagakure No SatoJounin A Rank Missing Ninja]
[Futokutei Yasunari :: Konohagakure No Sato – Genin]
ChatangoShow
HonchkrOnu
ArticOnu
RichardUnknown
RichardGreen
RichardRed
RichardBlack
RichardGold
AlienHostRichardGold
ValidusWrecks
ValidusWreckingBall
NotOnu
ReallyisOnu
NotCdf
SunaOOCOnu
HolyCowMrSmith
GlobalModOnu
AdminOnu
CboxModOnu
SlaptasitcOnu

User avatar
Ace Trainer
Posts: 16242
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:00 pm

Pinocchio Story

Post by Ace Trainer » Thu Mar 14, 2024 4:29 pm

Before Kozan had been released from stasis, he could remember the moments of his master interacting with the tube he was contained in. They were often brief, mostly silent, but they were the only interactions Kozan had with the world while he was in stasis. The sensation of a hand on the tube was electric, though perhaps it was because Kozan had never experienced contact before those moments that it resonated so deeply with his psyche. Once he’d been freed, that electric feeling had never been felt again. With his master’s death, Kozan felt some semblance of responsibility for the clone in this tube. Despite his resentment, he recognized the need for it and it he would utilize it if he had to. That meant taking care of it.

His eyes fell to the tube for a moment before turning and charging chakra to his finger, a small flame of chakra forming for him to write fuuinjutsu with. This lab was in the Shiimu noble compound and no matter what Kozan did he was confident the Shiimu would have a vested interest in protecting his master’s lineage and lab until someone else could be identified to take over it. But Kozan would need to take cautionary measures nonetheless. He would walk, slightly bent over and running his finger along the ground until he approached a wall and ran the finger along the wall as well, inscribing small symbols and adjustments in the shape of the line as he did. Samsara would erupt from his back, two tentacles pushing against the ground and suspending his body into the air as he reached to the tall ceiling of the lab, running the finger along the ceiling and inscribing more symbols as he did. Kozan would repeat this process until a giant seal had been traced along the lab in each cardinal direction, easily one of the largest seals he’d ever made. It was likely excessive, but this was a new jutsu and Kozan would need to make sure he was doing it right.

Moving back to the center of the room, Kozan would take a deep breath in and then place his hands together, focusing his chakra into the seal he stood on and then finally releasing, Kai. The seal would surge to life, light expanding from Kozan and moving along the seal until the entire thing was illuminated. Chakra would then spread from it, producing a film of chakra along the walls of the room. Kozan would watch until the film fully covered the walls and then would reach down, allowing the chakra to be read through his temporal lobe and then giving an affirmative nod. The first jutsu had been successful.
SpoilerShow
[Containment: Fear]
B-rank Charge Fuuinjutsu
Prerequisite: [Iijutsu Concentration]
A somewhat simple fuuinjutsu, this technique requires that a fuuinjutsu be generated that fully outlines the dimensions of a room. Once activated, the fuuinjutsu produced a film of permeable chakra that wraps the room entirely. This film of chakra has no strength, however when passing through it the chakra triggers a response in the individuals amygdala, initiating their natural fear response. This response is acute, lasts for 3 posts, and can be counter-acted through techniques meant to calm, still, or give emotional control, or through the [Mystical Palm] technique. During the 3 posts, the target suffers a -3 debuff in Will Power. However, the additional benefit of this fuuinjutsu is that other fuuinjutsu that generate barriers can be affixed to this chakra film, and the film will adopt the effects of these fuuinjutsu.
Moving from his current position, Kozan would walk to the door into the lab and run his hand on it, seemingly feeling it out before deciding what he needed to do next. The lab needed to be kept secure, he would have ways of preventing people from being able to sense inside of it, but he also needed to ensure he was made aware if anyone did enter it. His master had waxed poetic about the use of Space/Time techniques at one point or another and Kozan now realized how much of a shame it was he hadn’t had that knowledge downloaded into him. Securing his lab would be much easier this way if anything. Instead, he would have to identify a way to know if the lab had been entered.

Forming hand seals, he would begin focusing his chakra both inwardly and outwardly, confident that this next jutsu would be relatively easy to do. He didn’t want to make the barrier impossible to pass through, no that would only make it easier to destroy the precautions he was making. Kozan knew there would be interest in his lab after what he was planning, and he simply wouldn’t have the ability to defend it once things were in motion. So he needed to create security other ways. This fuuinjutsu would at least let him know when the barrier had been passed through, and present to him an opportunity to respond. No matter where in the world he was.

Finally, he’d thrust his hand forward and a seal would spread from his hand across the chakra film over the door until it fully covered the door. Channeling slightly more, he would place his right hand onto his left, a small seal forming on his palm. Forming Kai, both seals would activate, and Kozan would inspect them closely, looking to see if he had been successful. At this point, creating new fuuinjutsu was practical second nature. It took such little effort the thought of questioning himself on it seemed almost silly. Even still, he would reach through, pushing the door open and a soft glow would resonate from his hand and the seal indicating they recognized each other. This technique would at least allow Kozan to know if his lab had been entered…and if it did he had a plan for that as well. Giving a confirmatory nod, he would Kai once more, the seal on his palm vanishing, but the one on the door remaining as it swung shut. Now it was time for the next jutsu.
SpoilerShow
[Permission]
C-rank Augment Fuuinjutsu
The user can place this fuuinjutsu on both people, and on any barrier. When an individual without the [Permission] seal passes through a barrier with the [Permission] seal on it, all existing [Permission] seals will glow, indicating to any wearers of the seal that a barrier has been passed through. If multiple [Permission] seals are placed on multiple barriers, the color the seal glows will vary based on which barrier has been passed through. The user may only have up to 5 barriers equipped with [Permission] at any place.
If Kozan had more emotional depth, it wouldn’t be unusual for him to feel a bit of reluctance in his current task. He was doing this for Kirigakure, but it was an undertaking vastly different from anything he’d been prepared to do. He was designed to take orders and acting solely on his own would be a wholly new experience. But the overtaking of the lab only further steeled his mind to the task, if the lab was safe, so would he be. Approaching the tube with his clone within it, Kozan would place his hand on it, a storage fuuinjutsu developing on the tube and wrapping around it. If the lab was breached, he needed to ensure the tube was secure. Fortunately, the stasis pod treated the body inside of it as a dead body for all intents, which would allow the tube and the body within it to be stored in a fuuinjutsu.

But he would need to be able to activate it from a remote position. Forming hand seals, a small amount of samsara would begin to bleed from his palm, forming into a ball. He would focus his chakra into it, designing the code within the samsara to fit the design he was hoping to accomplish. If this technique worked, he’d be able to storage the stasis tube from anywhere in the world. His back up plan would always be safe. As the samsara continued to form he would surge chakra into it until it finished, forming into a perfectly round ball. Picking it up with his other hand, he would affix the Samsara to the bottom of the table, on the very edge of the fuuinjutsu just barely attached to it.

Taking several steps back, he would eye the tube up and down again. The resentful feeling he was still getting used to bubbling back up in him again. He was having to do all this for this, an emergency plan he did not want. A symbol of failure, if anything else. The use of this tube was an indication that Kozan had failed, that was all it existed for, was security in the event he failed. Focusing on the small amount of Samsara, he would perform a single hand seal for [Kai] and allow the chakra to surge into the samsara. Suddenly, the fuuinjutsu on the tube would glow, activate, and the tube would vanish, leaving nothing but the outer containment meant to hold it in place. The tube now stored inside the seal. The storage fuuinjutsu was a linked storage, the other side of the link in a scroll in Kozan’s weaponry pouch. Should he need to do this, he could simply store it in the containment storage fuuinjutsu, and then immediately un-store it from the scroll storage fuuinjutsu, securing the tube and keeping his extra body secure.

Performing Kai once more the seal would glow again, and then with a poof the tube would return, exactly in place.
SpoilerShow
[Samsara Kai]
D-rank Ninjutsu
The user does a series of hand seals, produce a small amount of Samsara on their hand and placing it on a seal. The user can perform [Kai] through this Samsara, allowing them to perform it at a range without directly touching the seal.
With this, there was only one more thing Kozan needed to do to secure the lab. This storage trick was not worthwhile for everything else, in particular the years and years of notes his master had left, and his own notes he’d now stored here. Kozan had spent a fair amount of time going through the notes by his master and had found things that with his own knowledge could put together Kozan’s secret - that of the Fushinkou bloodline stored within Kozan’s body - but he wasn’t sure if a person not knowing what was being referenced would be able to put together the information. Even still, there was invaluable information about Kozan and the Shiimu that he did not want others knowing about but needed documented on his own right. For now, he would simply allow for them to be destroyed, which meant one more precaution needed to be installed.

The tentacles still on his back would press against the ground once more, raising Kozan’s body to the ceiling as he affixed himself to it with chakra. The lab was actually a fair distance underground, and had an entire building above it though the only access was the cellar door Kozan had just secured. Forming hand seals once more, Kozan would begin tracing out yet another fuuinjutsu, drawing out the large symbol onto the ceiling as it sprawled out. He was careful and intentional, ensuring every symbol and line was accurate for the purpose he was intended. Fuuinjutsu of this nature were easy to mess up, and the consequence of messing up could be…disastrous in every right.

Carefully, he pulled back, looking at the fuuinjutsu he’d inscribed on the chakra film. Hovering over the ground via the tentacles, he would look at it, his eyes tracing every feature he’d just created to ensure it was right. He would reach out to it, touching it to provide it the last bit of chakra the seal would need to make itself live and then he would inspect it once more. Placing his hand against it, the chakra would surge to his temporal lobe as he read it, confirming the seal was primed to do exactly as he intended. Yes, this would work. Producing another small ball of samsara, he would place it at the center of the seal, descending back down to the ground and looking around the room observing the handiwork he’d just done. As he looked around, his eyes would fall back to the tube.

”All this for you.”, the resentment in his voice palpable.
SpoilerShow
[Churn]
S-rank Force-Charge Fuuinjutsu
The user will do a series of hand seals then place their hands on a surface. The seal will spread out from the surface and generate a barrier 50m x 50m x 50m in size.The barrier has [Control] strength, and acts as a good technique to trap people within it. However, by performing [kai] a second time, the user activates the true effect of the seal. When Kai is performed, the barrier will release an explosion with [Control] strength, intending to destroy everything within it. The, the walls of the barrier will begin to rotate and shrink, condensing everything inside the barrier and churning it like a garbage disposal, causing everything within the barrier to be ground up together with [Control] strength.
Yes, with this, if it came down to it he would be able to destroy the lab in a moments notice, the secrets within it safe from ever seeing the world. He would generate a few more blobs of Samsara, placing them in specific places throughout the lab. If he needed to, he would be able to look within or hear within the lab at any given time through these blobs of Samsara. This was security.

”This is what it will take.”, he said out loud.

Just as much as frustration and resentment were new to him, self-soothing was as well. Kozan likely hadn’t even noticed he had done it, but the statement he had just said wasn’t intended for anyone but himself. It was an affirmation to himself that what he was doing was necessary to fulfill his prime directive, the edict he existed to serve.

A ninja is an extension of its village, and thus a tool. Without a village, a ninja is nothing.
A ninja lives not for themselves or for anyone else, but for the village, they exist to maintain and further the strength of the village.
There is no higher glory for a ninja then to die in service of the village.
A ninja's duty is to become the best at what the ninja does, willing to sacrifice anything to accomplish this goal.
A ninja must recognize and be aware of all forms of strength; the physical, the mental, and the spiritual.
A ninja must not ignore fear, but embrace it, as fear can be an ally.
A ninja recognizes no limitations.
Last edited by Ace Trainer on Thu Mar 14, 2024 4:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mistaki ShioShiimu KozanGekko IndraShoshiki HeiyaHizashi Ikinari
Kirigakure No Sato
Kemurigakure no Sato

Taishou of Iron Country
Kirigakure No Sato
Genin
Experiment 81 v2
Sunagakure No Sato
Genin
The Soul Host
Iwagakure No Sato
Special Jounin
The Tungsten Princess
Sunagakure No Sato
Jounin
The Revolutionary
Past CharactersShow
[Kenketi Tenteki :: Kumogakure No Sato – Special Jounin]
[Setsuya Inka :: Sunagakure No Sato – The Soul Host – Special Jounin]
[Kaikyo Kohon :: Kirigakure No Sato – Jounin]
[Shinwa Basuta no Suihouheki Yasahii :: Kirigakure No Sato – Mizukage :: Spirit of Capricorn, Topenga]
[Futokutei Hitoare :: Konohagakure No Sato – Pestilence (Four Horsemen) – Jounin]
[Aisu Koiji :: Kirigakure No Sato – Jounin]
[Shitagane Sakki :: Kumogakure No Sato – Genin]
[Batsu Betsuni :: Iwagakure No SatoJounin A Rank Missing Ninja]
[Futokutei Yasunari :: Konohagakure No Sato – Genin]
ChatangoShow
HonchkrOnu
ArticOnu
RichardUnknown
RichardGreen
RichardRed
RichardBlack
RichardGold
AlienHostRichardGold
ValidusWrecks
ValidusWreckingBall
NotOnu
ReallyisOnu
NotCdf
SunaOOCOnu
HolyCowMrSmith
GlobalModOnu
AdminOnu
CboxModOnu
SlaptasitcOnu

REPLY

Return to “Kirigakure no Sato”

×