Standing up from the last of his stretches, Akito prepared to start his training. He had consulted several Doton scrolls in the Hyuuga library, and a simple but useful technique caught his eye: forming ninja tools from the earth.
The scroll described kunai, shuriken, and senbon specifically. Senbon seem like the easiest to start with. The others require careful balance, while senbon are basically sharp sticks.
Akito swiftly made a series of seals, and focused his chakra, trying to form it into a set of ten senbon. The result was less than stellar. It was ten senbon all right, but not distinct ones. They were all fused into each other like some kind of sculpture. Not just that, the material was far from right. They were not at all metallic – more like some sort of hardened clay. Akito tapped the tip of one of the protruding spines and it immediately crumbled. Sighing, Akito closed his fist on the creation, letting the fragments fall to his feet.
When I was learning the Trigram Palms, I didn’t start with 128. I didn’t even start with 32. I started with 2, and made those two strikes until they were perfect. That’s what I need to do here.
Akito sighed. It was hard to be a beginner after so long. He started again. This time, he focused all of that chakra into one senbon. The result: a single, metal senbon. It was a bit bent, sure. Akito held it between the fingertips of his two hands and bent it in half easily. It wasn’t perfect, but it was progress. One more set of seals.
I need to keep my focus here. Draw the chakra out, and focus it down until it solidifies, first into clay, then stone, then soft metal, then hard. And keep the shape straight.
Akito found himself holding a senbon better than the last one. He tried to bend it and felt resistance. Feeling the tip, it was a bit dull, but workable. Akito took aim at a log he had set up and let the senbon fly. It didn’t sink deep into the wood, but it stuck. Soon it was followed by another, which sunk in deeper, then another, then two.
By the time the day was done, the log had been thoroughly killed. It had been slashed by shuriken and bombarded by kunai, and around each wound from those were dozens of perfect little senbon.
Word Count: 488/400
Jutsu Learned:Doton • Earthen Ninja Tools
D-Rank Ninjutsu
After performing the correct hand seals the user will form a set of up to 10 basic projectiles, such as kunai, shuriken, or senbon, in their hand. These tools have [Control] strength.
This is a big step: my first C-ranked Doton. It’s funny, a grown man, a jonin, getting this excited about a C-rank. Still, it could come in handy, especially in a siege. I tend towards close combat almost exclusively, so the idea of becoming a walking ballista almost seems out of place for me, but it stands to give me a powerful tactical advantage.
Akito sat in the Hyuuga library, studying a jutsu scroll. Written across its case was “Doton: Spike Shot.” Currently, he was working to memorize the hand seals needed to deploy this jutsu: running through them with his hands while chanting their names under his breath. When he could make the seals smoothly without looking at the scroll, he knew he was ready to try it out. Akito placed the scroll back in its case and left the library.
As it turned out, practicing a “destructive technique” like Spike Shot within the training grounds on the Hyuuga estate was forbidden. Decades ago, Akito’s twice-great uncle had pulverized an elder statue while practicing his Katon, and ever since there were far stricter rules about which jutsus could be practiced on the grounds. With that in mind, Akito headed out into the wild areas just outside of town.
This is a good next step. The creation of the physical object – the spike – is much like the Ninja Tools jutsu; in fact, very much like making a kunai. The launching will be more difficult, but probably not unlike certain ninpou techniques. It’s linking the first step of manifesting a physical object from chakra with the second of launching that object with pure chakra alone that will be tough. Still, I should see how I do.
Akito’s hunch was correct. He could approximate very well the shape of the Spike Shot by channeling his Doton to make a massive kunai. However, he quickly encountered a problem. A small metal kunai was easy enough to make. A kunai over a meter long? That much metal would take far too much chakra. The result therefore was a metal core with a crumbling, dirt-like exterior.
I’m making this harder than it needs to be. I don’t need a metal shot, I just need a stone shot. I need to take a step back, and only take the hardening process as far as stone.
Refocusing his efforts, Akito channeled his energy into building a kunai, but stopped the hardening process at stone. He held in his hand a small, stone kunai.
Bigger…
He quickly ran through a set of hand seals, and focused his chakra the same way he did for the stone kunai. That change of framing was what he needed. The stone spike appeared, and floated ponderously. One ‘push’ with his chakra and it shot off. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite stable, and quickly began to pitch through the air, tip over base.
It needs to roll, to counteract that.
That did the trick. The next one flew through the air, glancing off a large tree.
Much better. That’s the basics down. First, more accuracy, then more power…
Word Count: 517/400
Jutsu Learned:Doton • Spike Shot
C-Rank Ninjutsu
After performing the correct hand seals the user will form a stone spike directly in front of them roughly 1.5 meter long and 1/2 meter in diameter at it's thickest point before launching the spike forward up to 25 meters away at [Control] strength and speed.