[nashida]

Nashida takes a moment to look down at the steel she's just created from her chakra, but she feels that her steel isn't quite where it should be. She forms a pair of handseals quickly, then grabs hold of the metal, flooding it with her chakra and then using her clan's Koton chakra to tear apart the steel she'd just made, a feat that many ninja would normally be totally incapable of doing. And here was this seven foot giant of a woman tearing it with no more difficulty than an average person tearing apart paper. At her height and relative size, such a show of strength might be expected, but in reality, Nashida isn't all that physically strong, especially when compared to other members of the Tantetsu clan. Nashida was gifted with Tantetsu genes that made her physically intimidating, but she wasn't really too terribly focused on physical combat as much as she was on the use of Ninjutsu from range. She tosses the torn metal away behind her, as it's not really made with the type of quality that would make it useful for making armor.

As it is, she considers some other form that armor could take, and she remembers how much her tutor from Iwagakure had both disliked her work at making gold string, but also been impressed that she was able to do so. Jewelry was an exceedingly rare thing for Tantetsu clan members to care about, as it rarely has any combat uses, if ever. But now she's wondering if she could make steel in the same form as gold spun to be as thin as string. Where gold was delicate and dense, steel was strong and hard. Perhaps she-

But the blonde woman feels that someone else is watching her in the middle of this training field, pulling carbon and iron up through the permafrost layer to try her hand at making good-quality steel. Nashida stops her work, thinking it might be her tutor coming to tell her that she's wasting her time, and worse, possibly letting slip some of the secrets of the Tantetsu clan in a foreign, though allied, ninja village. She sighs and turns around to face... not her tutor, but a stranger. She narrows her blue eyes, her pink lips frowning a bit in surprise. Nashida's clothing is somewhat simple, but also appears similar to a military uniform, smartly pressed dark blue trousers and a high-collared top, with white gloves on her hands and thick and shined black leather boots on her feet. The black cloak draped over her shoulders bears the mark of Yukigakure across the back, as well as on the left lapel, and as if that wasn't enough to show her village allegiance, she also wears the headband across her forehead, with fur lining the inside of her cloak to keep her toasty, even in a snowstorm.

Nashida lifts one hand out of the middle of her cloak, opening herself up to the constant chill of Yukigakure, and raises one arm above her shoulder in a wave to the stranger, who she only just now recognizes.

"Ah! Raimaa! What are you doing out here?"

[raimaa futago]

Out for a morning workout before beginning her day, Raimaa would be graced with the side of Nashida. Not that she was capable of really hiding, being a giant of a thing with relative width for such height. Raimaa was dressed modestly for the cold, because her internals kept her warm enough in the village to not need a lot.

"Good morning Nashida" Raimaa would reply, giving her a nod. "I saw you from about four miles away, and thought I'd come over" she'd tease, a coy grin on her face as she came up to the woman, picking the discarded steel off the ground.

"And to tell you not to litter. It's not good"

[nashida]

Nashida can't help but to wince as Raimaa picks up the steel, brittle as it was from the coldness of the earth, and instructs the taller woman not to litter. The tease about her height is at least taken much more generously, though. The Tantetsu sheepishly accepts the steel from Raimaa's hands, layering the steel plates atop one another so that they would take up less room.

"I didn't really plan on just leaving them on the ground, you know."

Of course, Raimaa isn't a mind-reader, so it wasn't really Nashida's place to suggest that she did know. But Nashida was rather close to a perfectionist, so one might assume she would have picked up the steel she'd tossed away in a fit of disappointment after she'd cooled down a little. Not that cooling down was particularly difficult in a place as cold as Yukigakure. Being so close to the upper edge of the world meant that Yukigakure in winter received almost no sunlight, and in the summer, the sun's rays would be constant, but the low angle the sun's rays take to reach the ninja village result in very little energy actually reaching them, since most of it gets absorbed in the atmosphere.

Nashida focuses chakra into the steel, and then uses an extremely basic jutsu of the Tantetsu clan to warp the steel into a form more easily carry-able, with the center tightened into a cylinder that allows her to carry the steel sheets easily. Such a feat wasn't possible without Koton; although the steel was poor quality and brittle, it was still a hard metal, and so normal people, even people of Nashida's height and physicality, wouldn't find it so easy to replicate. She'd at least been able to learn this technique on her own without a tutor, but it was the lowest of skills for the Tantetsu clan, and she still needed to learn to make armor before she would be considered an actual adult for the clan members back in Iwagakure.

"It'll get better. I just have to melt it down and try again later."

[raimaa futago]

Raimaa would look at Nashida and shake her head, stepping up to the giant woman.

"Ten thousand times will not improve it a single step. Steel comes from the heart, and it is the heart that must be strong, if steel is to be strong. You are the steel, and the steel is you. Two sides of the same sword. Better yourself, and all things you made shall be bettered"

She would then give a grin, and head over to an empty patch.

"Though what do I know? I am just a mad woman with a wooden sword" she exclaimed, pulling Seeds out and flourishing it a little to meld her mind into it. And then, begin the dance.

[nashida]

Nashida is somewhat surprised by how wise Raimaa sounds, but she supposes she really shouldn't. After all, the woman was a little older than she was, and had seen a lot more in her life than the Tantetsu had. That said, as wise as the statements were, she had a bit of a hard time comprehending what exactly those statements meant and how exactly she could use them to improve the steel she was dredging up from the earth through the permafrost. That steel didn't exactly come from her heart, really, and she's not literally made of steel. But she doesn't let the confusion show on her face, for fear of making herself look even more stupid than she probably looks currently. She can at least get behind the suggestion that she should better herself, and she takes it to heart.

As it is, she turns to watch as Raimaa moves over to a clear patch of snow, one that wasn't too icy and slippery, and she tilts her head as the other woman draws a wooden blade, one that she wouldn't have thought of as being very menacing under most circumstances. Still, as she watches the highly skilled shinobi in her dance-like combat with the wooden sword, she can't help but to remain transfixed at the show of deadly skill. If she had a steel sword, Nashida might have found it even more impressive, but then she had little knowledge of the actual capabilities of Raimaa's wooden sword, only that it was known to be extremely hard for something that included no metal in its construction. Indeed, even if Nashida was any good with weaponry herself, she probably could never create a steel weapon that would stand up to the durability of the mad woman's wooden sword.

"Truly mad people don't live long enough to retire..."

This is said more to herself than to others, although she does still say it aloud. Perhaps it was something of a reminder for herself that Raimaa might be considered a little eccentric, but she was still powerful in her own way, especially in combat.

[raimaa futago]

"I'm a cockroach" Raimaa would state. The cool morning air was quiet, and Bukijutsu Specialists tended to have well honed senses over their lifetimes. And then, Raimaa would on the spot and behead one of the training dummies in a swing of her sword. The cut was so clean one would assume it to be a supremely well honed blade with an edge worthy of song. But nope, just a wooden sword.

"I did not die when Raisetsu and Zaizen tried. I did not die when I tried, and I did not die when the pirates I hunt tried. Some people are just too dam stubborn to die"

She'd look to Nashida, and give her a smile.

"So, why do you think you aren't getting your steel right?"

[nashida]

Nashida blinks a few times when Raimaa calls herself a cockroach. It definitely wasn't something she'd call the woman as she dances with the blade, then shows just how deadly her dance and her sword is by decapitating a nearby wooden training dummy, which the Tantetsu hadn't thought would be possible with a mostly blunt wooden bokken, even if it had been a legendary sword. This retired ninja was clearly full of surprises. And combat experience, to boot. She then listens intently to Raimaa explaining how she'd survived what sounds like multiple attempts on her life, even her own attempt to take her life. While the words are quite harrowing and somewhat sad, Nashida doesn't really have any further response to such serious statements, and she just looks down at the head that Raimaa had removed from the training dummy.

She looks back up immediately when she sees Raimaa's head turn towards her to see her smiling at the blonde Genin, and she gives back a smile that she doesn't really feel. But she figures that Raimaa is alive now, so perhaps she's recovered from these feelings, but she somehow doubts it. The question throws her off-guard momentarily, but she looks down at the steel in her hand, with the iron and carbon not quite mixing well enough to form truly crystalline steel.

"I think it might simply be because I'm not finding the right iron and carbon content. Maybe it's the component pieces I need to improve on to make an even stronger bond."

[raimaa futago]

"The Samurai in the Land Of Iron make this spectacular glimmering steel out of scrap found on a beach" Raimaa would reply. "It's not really any better than any other steel you find, but the fact they make it equal to any other steel is impressive, considering the origin"

Raimaa would shift her weight so she seemed to lean back against a pole that was not there, and put her sword away.

"Consider that it is not what you are using that is the issue, but how you are looking at it. You can't rush into perfection, and every time you get disgruntled at your failure, you ensure the next time will fail just as badly. You need to relax, let go of your wants and desires, and simply do. Until it is done, Do not wish to succeed, do not hope to succeed, do not want to succeed. The only real path is simply; succeeding"

[nashida]

Nashida is surprised to hear that the samurai in the Land of Iron are capable of forming such high quality steel from plain scrap that washes up on their shores, and she reconsiders her earlier statement that the iron and the carbon were not good enough quality, recognizing it as merely an excuse for lack of practice in her skills. If Raimaa could make a wooden sword cut like a powerful steel blade, she had to learn to do something similar with the steel she's getting. In order to get what she needs, she has to remove her own ego from the process and simply succeed in her attempts. The Genin certainly feels that she better understands the lesson that the Jounin is trying to impart on her, but as for how well she can internalize this wisdom remains to be seen. As it is, she focuses chakra into the steel in her hands again, slowly shifting its form until she has folded it and remolded it into a tiny square piece, squeezing out more and more of the impurities until all that remains is firm, dense steel, crystallizing within itself as she feels the iron and carbon shifting within her own hands. She could feel that she wasn't really capable of changing it directly, but rather through indirect molding of the metal, she would be able to purify the steel even further.

With the steel compressed so much, she slips the piece of metal into her pocket, deciding that it would be a symbol of this wisdom she's learned from a legendary shinobi. It was likely going to be even more influential to her improvement than anything old Kazeo-sensei taught her, as he was a dusty old fart who could barely even see clearly anymore, unless he was touching onto steel for impurities. Although she still has a frown on her otherwise pretty face, it's a frown of concentration, not of disappointment and self-disgust.

"I'll try to remember this lesson, Raimaa. Thank you for the wisdom you've imparted on me..."

With that, Nashida moves down, squatting closer to the ground so she can brace both hands onto the snow, focusing deep down into a deeper chunk of iron that she can feel, along with plenty of carbon nearby to help her form the steel that she's sure she can refine into far something even greater. She begins pulling it up towards her, mixing with the carbon as she drags on it, forming it as she concentrates with her bright blue eyes closed to focus as intently as she can.

[raimaa futago]

"Mmm. Try to step twice in the same moment, and you shall fall. Haste ruins all things, so allow everything to happen in it's own time. Embrace the every day, and let it surprise you with the progress you make when you no longer pay attention to it"

Raimaa would stick her sword in the ground, and then perch herself on the handle. Why she did this, was unclear. How she managed to balance herself on such a thin foothold, was also unclear.

"Have you ever considered a career in mining? Pulling it out of the ground with your brain would make extracting hard-to-reach minerals so much easier. Be able to make some really cool stuff as well"

[nashida]

Nashida allows Raimaa's words to break through her concentration, but it doesn't seem to hurt her attempt to pull that steel through the ground as she makes it take form. She's done this several times before, and it was much easier with gold. After all, gold was a pure metal, it didn't require any mixing and it could be much easier to extract because it was so malleable. Steel was completely different. As she lifts it upwards, she's careful to avoid pulling out too much and pulling too quickly, as it could potentially shift the earth underneath them. With that in mind, she slides the steel up from the earth, with the steel forming into an odd structure from being torn from the ground and remolded into a proper type of steel, but this one was far cleaner than the previous sheets she'd managed to slide up from under the earth.

Once she's done, she pulls her hands off the ground, and lets out a slow sigh as she has to take a moment for resting. She'd pulled some steel from the earth already that day, and she rarely needed so much of it at any one time. The Genin is a bit surprised at the suggestion at a career in mining, and she rapidly rubs the headband over her forehead, more to wipe away any sweat before it can freeze than to point out the Yukigakure symbol right there on her forehead. While mining was probably good pay, it wasn't the Tantetsu way, and it certainly would never be her way, even if she had the muscle and the skillset to bring ores and metallic minerals to the surface.

"No. I'm already a kunoichi, and a kunoichi I will remain. Just as much as I am a Tantetsu. I might be able to make armor and weapons, but I'm not much for wielding them myself, unfortunately. I don't think I could ever hold a blade like you can."

[raimaa futago]

"Well of course not. I started at five years old and beat my predecessor Clan Head at fourteen. I am constantly stimulated by adrenaline, can sense the composition of weaponry just by swinging it and have enough reflexes to kill a person in my sleep. I'm not the person you want to be aspiring to"

Raimaa would not speak particularly meanly, more so just stopping stupid comparisons to avoid self-depreciation.

"You know, I had a short conversation with another Tantetsu before. Tantetsu Toshu, Interim Tsuchikage. Lovely guy. Nice and friendly, even though he had all right not to be because Kusagakure still has the Bijuu they stole from Iwagakure in the second Shinobi War, despite being their allies at the time. Reminds me of better times"

[nashida]

Nashida feels a bit of relief when Raimaa states that she shouldn't compare herself to present company, because she's not sure she could reach even a close approximation of that ability. In any case, she looks down at the steel she had managed to actually pull from the ground, and with a bit of chakra flooding from her hands and into the metal, she absentmindedly shapes it around, changing the crystalline structure in small ways so that the conglomeration of iron and carbon wouldn't tear apart, but fold more like paper. It was something she'd learned from a few years of careful study with a tutor to help her learn how to do so.

She's somewhat interested in the conversation about Tantetsu Toshu, a member of her own family that had been named Tsuchikage. Her family didn't really talk much about Iwagakure himself, or its history. They seemed to mostly want to forget about the village, likely because they'd met on a battlefield and she had likely been conceived partly because of that great battle during which the bijuu in question had likely been stolen by Kusagakure. But this was entirely conjecture, and not really pertinent to what was being said.

"That certainly does sound very underhanded. I can't imagine that either village likes the other, then... But then that's also far removed from here, just as I'm far removed from Iwagakure itself."

With this, she holds up the crane she'd made from the steel she had managed to dredge up from the earth through her own power of Ninjutsu, folded just like a paper crane would be, but very much an immovable piece of steel as it hardens fully into this form, a now unchanging bird that symbolizes good luck, even all the way at the poles in Yukigakure. She offers it up to Raimaa, as a gift. Nashida often wasn't the type for speaking, but she wanted to show her gratitude to the older woman that had helped her with these wise words to help her learn more about how to improve her Steel Release.

[raimaa futago]

"Right? And yet Kusa still plays the innocent victim, like Iwa's aggressions are totally unjustified and it's just a Major Village bullying a Minor because they can. But yes, the two are not friends. So much so that I got ousted from my seat for the attempt at patching up relationships with them"

Raimaa would shake her head, and then, look up at the cute bird she was being offered. That was a nice little ornament. She would take it and look it over for a few moments, before smiling.

"Thank you. Though I am not much for tree climbing" Raimaa's sultry voice, the soft velvety purr, and the way her half-lidded glowing eyes were looking at Nashida, made it very clear what she was implying..

[nashida]

Nashida finally understands where the conversation is going when Raimaa explains that she was ousted from her position because she attempted to fix the relationship between Iwagakure and Kusagakure, and she wonders for a moment if her parents had left for a similar reason. Then she decides that, no, they hadn't made any such reasoning for going to Yukigakure instead. The Tantetsu clan didn't think her mother was capable of passing on the Kekkei Tota and her father had lived in Yukigakure all his life, and so they had simply been allowed to live in Yukigakure to raise their new daughter... her.

Although this revelation was a bit of a sad moment for the Genin, she's quite happy that Raimaa seems to like the metal crane she'd just made, although the statement about tree-climbing strikes Nashida as a bit odd. Then she realizes the kind of voice Raimaa had used and the facial expression she was giving the taller blonde woman was almost certainly making her feel that she was missing something rather... sensual. Thankfully, in this cold weather, the reddening of her cheeks can be blamed on the chilling cold of the usual Yukigakure climate, and she can appear at least somewhat smooth in her response.

"One need not climb very high when the mighty oak is made horizontal... But this gift is only a show of gratitude for the enlightening conversation. A token of my appreciation only."

With that said, Nashida has to turn her head a bit to look out across the cold landscape that made up most of the nation that Yukigakure stood tall and powerfully over, like a crown jewel resting in a position of honor on the forehead of a fair-skinned queen. Despite her clan's resistance to colder temperatures, the Genin still finds herself closing her large cloak more tightly around herself.