A Fukusha Morning

[hobnob]

Being located in the south-eastern part of the village, the Fukusha compound is one of the first areas to be lit up by the sun. Kurai, the young, calm, curious individual was up early making the most of the rising sun. Enjoying its beauty before having to tend to his own, family, and clan matters. He was perched on the roof of the compound dojo, it being one of the tallest buildings in the area provided him with the best view within the distance he was ready to walk in the early morning. It's located very close to his house, which is a rather big bungalow, and so does not offer any good vantage points to enjoy the litte bit of beauty the mornings have to offer. This is the only time when Kurai can enjoy himself before being baffled with the tasks he is given.

Steam was gently escaping the cup of herbal tea he was holding with both his hands, which were supported by his knees in front of him. Take a sip he made the most of the flavors as he paid close attention to his sensations. This was a form of meditation as well as enjoyment. His mentor had told him to train his mind to remain clear, so when the time came, he could do so in the midst of battle, and not be overwhelmed by it.

Enjoying the sunrise was not the only reason Kurai was up. The eleven year old was waiting for one of his cousins to show up. 'Tch... Where is that sloth...' The dark, calm eyes gazed out into the distance as he murmured under his nose, and took a long sip of his tea from the steaming cup.

[Gilak]

It seemed like the morning wasn't the only thing that was abnormal about this morning. The previous night he had a envelope in his drop box outside of his room. He assumed that it was just another tedious training assignment, one of which he was prepared for. To his surprise this wasn't a tutoring, it was a request to meet one of his cousins, one that he has not seen in quite some time due to his constant training. Putting on his usual outfit, he prepared for the cold morning, slinging his backpack on, it being slightly weighed as his custom sheath rested across his lower back. With the Envelope in one hand, and a bottle of ginger milk in the other he set off into the cold of the morning.

The Compound was unusually quiet, the usual sounds of sounds of city found its way towards the compound, the clashing of metal as blacksmiths get their early start. The sun was comforting for the early morning, its warmth wouldn't be on this area very long as the Wall would cast its usual shade onto our district. As he Exited the courtyard of his home, he took a sharp right and entered the Compound Quad, a place filled with trees, benches, ponds, and of course directly in the middle was a medium size sparring arena. The arena was a place Fudo knew quite well as he has sparred many of time against his bloodmates. Smirking under his scarf as he made his way across the Quad, spotting the boy he was to meet as he walked towards the clans Dojo. He focused some chakra into his feet before jumping from the ground and up onto the roof. "I thought i was a early riser.." The boy pulled his scarf down, opening his ginger milk, and taking a drink from it, the concentrated ginger sending his chakra path into a rush.. "You know if you drink tea in the morning, your muscles wont ever learn to be responsive to combat." he proclaimed as he caught the scent of Kurai's hot leaf juice.

The boy sat down on the edge of the dojo roof, letting his legs hang over the side. Viewing the Quad from this height was rather the fine sight, its multitude of colors just starting to peak as Amaterasu painted her brush across our livelihood once more.

[hobnob]

Fudo's words reached him before Kurai could see the boy. Instinctively he turned in the direction of this cousins voice to see him land a few feet away. Looking as presentable as ever, Fudo might have been late, but he was in a much better state than Kurai. 'You probably still are... It took me three minutes from getting out from bed, to leaving my house.' The tone of his voice was the same old flat monotone that Kurai always speaks in. No excitement or emotion whatsoever. His gaze moved from Fudo and back onto the view before him, making the most of it before the day really began. But, before he could enjoy the view once more, Fudos comment came about bad dietary choice that was his morning brew. A small sigh preceded and casual gulp of the steaming beverage which in turn preceded his response to Fudo's comment; 'Calm down. It's only herbs. Not real tea.' His tone remaind flat, there was no sign of annoyence or anything of the sort. Kurai took one final sip and then stood up and tipped whatever was left in the mug out onto the roof. His gaze shifting to meet Fudo's, 'Are you ready?' The youth questioned his cousin before jumping down into the outdoor dojo arena.

[Gilak]

"Well are we learning new jutsu or actually going at it?" His words came out after he finished pounding his ginger milk, flicking the bottle towards the trash effortlessly, it easily sinking into the trash bin. Similar to a bird of prey Fudo's eyes targeted his cousin, their clan's knack for rivalry starting to brew up into his mind. This is only the beginning, if i cant get stronger i have no hopes of surpassing Jinsai let alone the rest of my clan. taking a step off of the edge of the roof, the boy let gravity take its toll. As Fudo dropped he casually out stretched his hand, catching the edge of the roof, allowing the boy to swing inwards onto the deck of the dojo. Walking into the dojo Fudo set down his backpack into one of the cubbies, making sure his sheath wouldn't get damaged in the process. "I wont be needing these, i have to train my physical body before i can learn better kenjutsu techniques..."

As he walked out into the dojo's outside arena, Fudo would put his arms out in front of him, performing a handful of stretches to make his muscles more limber. A few squats and jumping jacks later the boy was finally warmed up. There were a few things Fudo would like to try, his current techniques were only to supplement his current fighting style, he needed to increase to the arsenal of which he could pull from. "Which would you prefer?"

[hobnob]

'A Bit of both.' Kurai said. As he followed his cousin into the dojo. The walls were embellished with different kind of weaponry that was used to practice, and so was mostly blunt to avoid any serious damage in the home of improvement. His eyes gazed around as he made up his mind about the approach to fighting that he would take. Always being interested in swords, Kurai admired the minimalist ninjato made of a simple wooden handle which was and only a little bit bigger that the blade itself; dark in color to go with the dark Fukusha metal that was a created from a metal found only in Iwagakure. However, he decided that he would not train in those arts this morning. Instead, his focus would land on more spectacular arts; Ninjutsu. With that decision made, Kurai awaited for his cousin to store his belonging in a safe place and then followed him out to the open plan arena which was much more suited for casting techniques which contained enough power to destroy this very building.

Kurai Performed his usual warm up routine composed of a short, but increasingly quick, run and stretches. It allowed his body to generate enough heat to be able to move with ease. Following that, Kurai looked over at his cousin; 'Let's see what happens. Ready when you are.' and then waited for his cousin to make the first move.

[Gilak]

As Ri entered the arena, Fudo was already starting to center himself. Taking in a deep breath and letting his chakra settle, the boy closed his eyes and concentrated on just his senses. Feeling the wind rake across his skin, the sounds of the leaves, the smell of the the pond's water, the taste of the frigid air, these four sense had to all be heightened along with his sight all at once. Letting out his breath, the boy tried to push his senses outward. His chakra started stirring in to his chakra paths, allowing chakra to fill into his bloodstream. As he stood there his body would shift ever so slightly as he took in his surroundings. His chakra started to mold as if routinely towards his head, arriving mostly into his face. Is this what the scroll was talking about... it seems.... to familiar.... Fudo thought as he started to naturally channel his chakra, forcing it to activate. His chakra started to fill his eyes as the once a solid black color, folded in on itself, creating the Shogozumi's purple hue.

Opening his eyes Fudo realized instantly what had happened, everything appeared to be moving slightly in slower motion than usual, his body feeling a little lighter as chakra enhanced his muscles. .... No, this isn't the Senses Open Technique. Is it supposed to be similar to our Ocular jutsu?... Fudo instantly cut off the chakra flow to his Doujutsu, forcing it to revert back to his normal eyes. "There has to be a connection, this will have to be for later though..."

Placing his hands in front of him, clasping them as he tried harder to focus onto everything that was going on around him. Focusing on the center of his body the body started to contract and release his muscle one by one. Attempting to make the censors in his body to bend to his will. My sense of touch comes first, before i can know what is happening around me i have to be able to know what is happening inside of me. Bending his knees the boy started to furl his eyebrow, the intensity on his face growing rather obvious as he stood in such a strange pose. Fudo's focus was not on his clanmate as he started to trace the senses of his own body, another rather odd change was that as fe started to focus onto the skin of his arms and torso goosebumps started to rise catching every slight movement that was made around his direct contact. "Good... now the next one."

As the feeling of his sense of touch has now heightened, the next step for Fudo was to work on his sense of hearing. Rustling of the trees came first into his ears, their sound simple. I need to push harder... The muscles in his ears started to twitch as the boy focused on what was beyond the trees. The slight tranquil sound of the pond started to come into his senses, pushing further he started to hear the sounds of a heartbeat, the flow of blood that was not his own. Realizing that this was Ri he tried to advance forward. his head cocking to the left as he heard the sound of a door sliding open and shut of the dojo. Smirking Fudo shifted his attention back forward as he focused onto his next sense.

Breathing in once again the boy started to vaguely taste what was in the air around him. Sweat, dust, coal, pollen.. bitter? the boy thought of the breakfast he drink he had and shivered slightly. Focusing on his sense of taste more than likely wouldn't help him but it had to be done. Fudo pushed past the aftertaste of his Ginger Milk, starting to detect the taste of Ri's lingering tea. This sense of taste started to meld into his sense of smell, the two senses obviously strongly connected to one another.

After exhaling the breath from his mouth, he started to breathe in only from his nose. Instantly the overwhelming smell of his own sweat filled his nose, his body was starting to sweat hard as the young boy concentrated harder than normal. Creeping past the odor he took in the aroma of his surroundings. Sap off of the trees, the natural salt from the floor, the scent of moss in the pond, then yet again the smell of the strange tea that seemed to be lingering off of his clanmate. What the heck did he drink that is giving off that distinct fragrance? as he narrowed in onto the scent his sense of smell seemed to rip open as it was overly filled with the sudden rush of nearly everything within a twenty foot radius of him. Fudo grimaced as he struggled to keep his composure. taking a step back he planted his left foot firmly into the ground, forcing him to stay put even if his body was telling him not to. Wrangling the sense back into submission Fudo had only one thing left to do..... Activate his sense of sight...

This seemed like it would be the easiest for the Fukusha to handle as they already have unparralled ocular vision. The only worry fudo had was that he would activated his Shogo-zumi once again. Calming his breathing the boy closed his eyes and started to focus on the parts of his eye. Starting at the stem of his eye he seemed to let his body naturally let his eyes contract his irises, the amount of red light coming from the back of his eyelids started to become slightly brighter. His pupils sharply tightened as a rush of chakra started to flow towards the boy's eyes. Fudo forced the chakra in his body to flow toward his legs, hoping to slow move his chakra elsewhere. After a solid half minute of retracting his chakra his eyes started to slightly shift back and forth. The focus of his eyes rubberbanding back and forth as he started to see nearly every vein in his eyelids pulsating and moving back and forth.

A sense of something starting to swell up inside of Fudo's body, his mental psyche started to waver as he felt that final barrier. Forcing all of his attention into that barrier the young Fukusha stood there, shifting weight back and forth between his legs. His center of gravity seemed to be in a fluid motion as it was almost like a metronome. Releasing his clasp, Fudo's fingers seemed to be twitching, shaking ever so slightly as he tried to shake the feeling away. His senses started to meld into one almost primal like state as they all started to send different emotions his way. Threat.. Danger... Calm... Threat... Forward... Side... Stalked... all these thought rushed from his subconscious into his conscious as his eyes snapped open, the view of the world infront of him seemed to be heightened greatly as the vibrant colors made themselves apparent as his focus seemed to never stay on one place for more than a second. This went against most of his previous training as he was taught to be cool, calm , and collected. Trying to focus on his chakra seemed to be significantly harder as he felt his muscles tightened. Shifting bouncing up and down his reflexes seemed to have sharpened as he felt his body being lighter than it normally was. ""This... seems... correct..." Fudo's had to concentrate on his words as he felt his brain start to fog up, not starting to recognize his usual thought pattern. As if fueled by his instincts, Fudo stepped into the all so familiar pose of his clan's signature fighting style. Bending his knees slight more than usual his attention focused as much as it could onto Ri. His eyes scanning back and forth as he lost the smug smirk on his face, it shifting into more of a slight snarl. He leaned forward, His senses fully seemed to have sharpened as if he was now more animalistic.

Fudo seemed to use his now forward stature to vault into a sprint, his speed faster than ever as he closed the gap between himself and Ri. As if part of one solid motion Fudo used the momentum of his speed lurch forward and attempt to reach out and strike Ri in his solar plexus with heel of his palm. If this strike would connect Fudo would attempt to bring his left knee up and deliver a strike directly into his inner thigh.

Jutsu TrainedShow

*[Skitter Step • Senses Open]
C-Ranked Taijutsu Stance
The main jutsu of the Skitter Step, the practitioner takes a moment to focus their bodies, then releases it. While in this stance, the practitioner's sensory input is increased, allowing them to receive more information quickly. This Stance grants a +2 in Strength and a +4 in Speed but a -3 in Willpower and -3 in Control. This Stance will remain in effect until deactivated by [Stop]. Practitioners of this technique will find themselves fidgeting and constantly moving, which can make it difficult for the practitioner to use this style in a stealthy manner.

Jutsu UsedShow

~Flames of Hate • Walking Stance
D-Rank Taijutsu Stance
The Fukusha will pair their feet in an L stance, and have a casual movement to them despite their mind being on edge. This stance is typically used to lull opponents into thinking the user is relaxed as their feet are paired shoulder width apart, and knees slightly bent for immediate leverage when needed. While moving the user will typically keep their body on edge as if to react out of instinct to dodge, parry, or block any incoming attacks. In this stance the users keep their torso up straight.

[hobnob]

With a watchful eye Kurai looked onto his cousin who appeared to be concentrating. Fudo's eyes, turned purple; 'Shogozumi!? Is he planning on going all out!?' Kurai thought as he took a step back in preparation. But just as quickly as his cousins eyes appeared purple they returned to their normal dark hue, and Kurai could not help bout let out a gentle sigh of relief. What caught his attention once again was that fact that his cousin remained in place after he deactivated his doujutsu. And Kurai did not know what to expect. In their previous bout their fight began rather quickly, and Kurai could help to wonder whether this was some sort of a new strategy devised by his cousin so that he would drop his guard and allow himself to be struck.

Kurai was not going to give in that easily. He bent his knees a fraction, lowering his stance a little and bringing his arms up and in front of him to be ready to counter whatever it was that Fudo was preparing. A devilish smile appeared on his face. He has been training himself for a while, and could not wait to show off his newly acquired bodily skills to his cousin. It seemed however that Fudo had some new skills of his own. His gaze was now fixed entirely on Kurai and his body appeared to be more animalistic in nature. Not knowing what to expect, Kurai stood patiently and waited. 'Remain calm Kurai... Remain calm.' he mumbled as his own eyes met his cousins who suddenly dashed forwards.

The speed at which his cousin moved overwhelmed him as his speed improved greatly since the last time they had fought. Luckily for Kurai, it was not enough to match his own yet. However it was not enough to allow him to relax, especially that Fudo had already awakened his Shogozumi, and could use it at any time.

Fudo's arm extended towards Kurai's solar plexus. In return, Kurai twisted on the balls of his feet so that one of his arms would be able to intercept Fudo striking arm and push it away from Kurai, while sending it towards Fudo's center. Kurai's other arm would move to his pouch and withdraw a tag that read 'Flashbang' on it. He would then proceed to slap the tag onto his cousins forehead as the interception happened. The arm with the tag crossed over his other as they moves simultaneously. Kurai would then jump backwards in a reverse somersault as he tried to protect his vision from the bright light of the tag as it activated right after Kurai's feet left the ground. Kurai moved smoothly as he tried to counter his cousins assault, if successful he would land on one of the horizontal beams that supported the viewing balcony, and look out over the arena to see how his cousin was doing.