Regret is not part of Shizuka's way of life. Neither is carelessness, and Shizuka's provocation - while reckless - was calculated. She needed to know Kumori's motivation for training her. If it was a matter of controlling her, of putting her in her place, she would learn. Her bruises and injuries would be proof enough to show her mother they needed to leave the clan behind. They would not be safe from reprisal within the village, but in the end, they were both Kiri-nin. The Shouki clan could not easily kidnap them without facing repercussions from the Kage. Regardless, it was not in Shizuka's plans for Kumori to be a genuine teacher, much less an ally. When he released his peerless chakras, she was ready for the worst.
Kumori's power washed over Shizuka like a flood. The fog - even the darkness - gave way before its might. Shizuka was no better. Her feet, unbidden, fell back a step, her grip on her knife tightened. And Kumori's chakra hissed, the crackling of rain falling into fire - the death knell of the Heavenly Miasma. It took all of Shizuka's concentration not to rush forward - screaming desperate murder - every sense transfixed and focused on the force of nature before her.
"Death means nothing if the clan ceases to exist." Kumori intoned.
He produced a scroll, handing it to Shizuka, then continued. "Death erases strength. What power does a corpse have, Shizuka?" Then, finally, he sighed and calmed his killing intent. Shizuka found herself doing the same, unable to resist the now gentle tide of Kumori's spirit. She noticed the warmth and relief of dawn, bathing the hillside in light. For a moment, Kumori's display had parted the fog, allowing them a rare view of the land shrouded in mist during sunrise. Endless rivers of silver mist, crisscrossed by shadows, broken in places by a tall stubborn stone or proud tree. Then the moment passed, and the mist enclosed them again.
When Shizuka listened to the rest of Kumori's words, and read the scroll, she understood his true intentions. To perfect the Dokuyoke. To allow any child to survive the thousand trials of death. She was shocked. Kumori was an elder - and so much more. He was the unshakeable pillar of the clan. He was the evidence the Dokuyoke was already perfect. He was the master of fate, who judged matters of life and death. He was the source of the decay, the corpse whose smoke and ash would signal the end of everything. Yet, did he grieve for the things that were sacrificed? Did he dream of etching tallies into the crematorium? Shizuka was not sure. She felt mostly confusion, for now, though her question asked itself.
"Why me? Why not someone better, with more control, who knows the Dokuyoke...?"
It answered itself, too. Shizuka realized as the question passed her lips exactly the sort of clan member who would be able to assist Kumori. The ritual masters. But they were slavishly dedicated to death - he probably hadn't asked them for assistance at all. If he tried, they would have certainly refused. And as for everyone else... the rites of the Dokuyoke were the most closely guarded secrets of all. Learning them when you were neither an elder, nor a ritual master, was punished by death.
All of a sudden, Shizuka began to laugh, her understanding sharpening. Of all the members of the Shouki clan, she was the only one Kumori could turn to. Her potential to control chakra was far greater than Kumori's if she trained. Plus, she had already studied a great deal of Fuinjutsu, which was a central aspect of the Dokuyoke. She even apprenticed under a former ritual master, which meant on this front she may already have surpassed him. Medical knowledge was fundamental as well, and while Shizuka was lacking in this field, her Jounin sensei - Shimizu Asuka - was not. If anyone in the world had the ability to perfect the Dokuyoke, it was him. But he and Kumori would not be able to work together. Asuka had the ability to combat the clan's poisons, and was one of their greatest potential enemies. If an elder - even Kumori - was seen on friendly terms with such a figure, they would lose face, and be forced to resign. But Shizuka could work with Asuka, secretly. After all, he was her sensei now.
But these reasons, Shizuka felt, were not most important. The most important reason Kumori needed her was very simple. She had proven herself capable of it twice already. Her thoughts were filled with it, and for nearly two years it motivated her to grow as a shinobi. Rebellion - treason. The Dokuyoke was forbidden knowledge, and anyone who intended to assist Kumori would risk death by studying it. Of all the members of the clan, Shizuka alone had proven her disloyalty. Thus, she was indispensable to Kumori's ambitions. And she laughed at the thought.
Kumori was a pitiful creature. His grandest ambition, the tremendous culmination of his life's work - and it all depended on the whims of a rebellious teenage girl. When she had finished laughing, she stood and smiled with confidence and poise, one hand on her hips and the other pocketing Kumori's scroll. If he had complaints, she ignored them.
"I'll do it. I'll perfect the Dokuyoke." She grasped her headband, which hung from her neck like a scarf. "I swear on my pride as a kunoichi of Kirigakure. I swear upon my mother's soul, and my father's ashes. I will not allow even a single sacrifice to the Dokuyoke go unchallenged from this moment forward. Until I conquer death or death conquers me." There was a clarity in Shizuka's voice. Her fear and unease were nearly entirely dispelled.
"But I have a condition. No secrets, and no half measures. I need everything. Everything related to the Dokuyoke. In writing."