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Hotarubi's many days were spent at the academy as he learned about the various facets of Shinobi-ism. He had long since learned about advanced chakra theory and sparring - Hotarubi had learned of his Doton nature from extremely early on so that hadn't taken him long to grasp at all the finer elements of it. It also didn't apply to him since he could not learn any of the other elements. Not that he would let the other students know that. History was boring, and he skimped it every chance he could, but that eventually led to mandated cram sessions for any exams and tests. Hotarubi's general education had been completed as he transitioned to a civilian life and on weekends spent them at noodle shops and so already had that level. It grew in mathematics, but otherwise nothing else was new. After he graduated Takigakure's general education he took up full time in the shop he remained until he rejoined the academy years later. So - he was learning the finer elements as he wanted to come to an end of the programme sooner rather than later and be given tuition by proper shinobi - learning as he went and did missions. He wanted out there and into the world. Not here with the kiddies. And yet, he could not control his chakra properly to do the transformation technique. What was "evening out his chakra circulatory system" properly when he had all of the chakra and none of the ability to move it? His reserves were large and moving it was like budging a boulder as opposed to sweeping some pebbles. He sniffed, standing in the same courtyard point in the academy that he'd used for the Kawarimi technique and other students continued working on their own separate things. He would get this. He needed to get this.

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He pressed at the scar between his eyes - scratching at it. His earthen body didn't really resound much but he could feel it, perhaps not in the same way that a normal human did. It was the only inkling of stress etched onto his stony face. He had tried this a few times already, but even inspecting his own body without the use of a mirror or somebody else. If he really wanted to shift - why not just do it literally with his body? His use of doton would be unparalleled... When he learned how to use it. Another unfortunate by product of his lack of education in most years, was that he had not yet learned how to utilise his boon properly. He would. Just... needed to get and become a Genin first - for that specialised tutoring of course! And he wouldn't be a very good shinobi if he could not use any of the techniques learned for children properly. He would perform the handsign necessary, holding it, only because he needed to feel the flow of his chakra more beyond that of just movement - and letting it envelop him. He did this all the time! And it failed. A mess of a human, the person he was trying to embody was a relative of his, higher in stature and menacing - but the face was severely off. One eye was higher than the other, not that he could feel it: what he could see was that the arms were wrong, it was like slotting a woman's hands onto a very lean and menacing man. He had been thinking of his aunty (probably by relation of some kind?) and the two got mixed up. Even though he was concentrating, it wasn't that easy.

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So he tried again, holding the seal, letting the chakra envelop him. Until he was satisfied that he had the image in mind and that it wasn't some distant relative mixed in, would allow it to 'pop' a second time - and it felt better, but it only held for a few seconds. A few seconds - much lower than what could be accomplished with the transformation technique. This was like touching a woman - handling and caressing it gently. Except, he had never touched a woman and yet again, could not accomplish much with a handseal alone and an image in his mind. He grunted in frustration. Internally was a crushing disappointment in himself that had been cast in him by the Yamakira pride. Pride in winning - on surviving and taking out the opponent. Even if his opponent was himself, he was not doing anything. His jaw (if you could call it that) ground against the inside of his mouth. He would get this. But - chakra was finite and he had a class to go to. With his shoulders drooping slightly his face remained monotonous as he made his way back in to the academy for his next set of lessons. This would resume later. It had been some weeks since he had accomplished the Kawarimi, so the next logical step was to complete the Transformation technique.

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His lesson would only take him so far in an unrelated subject. He had teamfight tactics (art of war class) and common strategies, followed by Bukijutsu. Bukijutsu was more tolerable for him - he wasn't perfect and other students were better at throwing Kunai and the other equipment but he wasn't bad. One in every few hit the bulls eye- but majority of his hits were more or less inside the circle. Barely passing. Which - that was good enough. And then it was the end of the day! And another day that Hotarubi had not seen or heard from Nageku; usually the boy relied on the fun the brother brought him, they would usually competition one another into working harder and as a result both grew from it. Not that he consciously understood it, but iut was the drive to be better than his brother while also maintaining a brotherly love that allowed them to thrive so well together. As best as a brotherly love could be had as a Yamakira. That being said, Hotarubi found himself at home this time rather than the academy and in his room. He had skipped out on dinner for today for him to be able to focus on some of the more intensive elements of being a Shinobi: repetition. Everybody did it in some form or another, and his focus was going to be on his Yamakira hijutsu. He just knew it. One day would come, but for now it was the Henge: and he studied himself, trying to visualise how his relative would look in the mirror. Would he stand taller? How would the hair look in the light? His way of dealing with it was to go in excruciating detail as he held the seal ready to perform the technique.

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It failed. Again - Hotarubi had followed through with his excruciating detail and though he could now see the intricate details being bore, he could hold it for a few seconds but it lacked a crucial liveliness to the figure and in a way that Hotarubi could not describe other than that it was a "flat" copy - not realistic. It was a painting of the figure, except he couldn't just go grab the individual themselves. Perhaps he could go watch them? What if they weren't around? He pressed against his scar again. This would not do. There was something missing from his training that he could not seek externally and would need to brute force his way through this. His chakra reserves were already less than half at the begining but each little push he knew and felt familiarity grow with the use of actually using chakra. There was an innate familiarity in that you didn't need to be told how to breathe - in the same vein of his hijutsu working for him. But to get it to do things was much harder, and he sat down on his ass staring at the mirror. What was the best way to go about this? He sat for a while trying to recall the teachings of his teacher at the time.

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It was just as easy as thinking about his body composition. It was earth - sculpt the earth. Because he hadn't the appropriate person to bounce off this was going to be the second best. Second things second, Hotarubi cleared his mind and thought of another person. Someone easier. Nageku - they were brothers. Hotarubi knew Nageku inside out, from his red orbs to his tattoos- they were incredibly similar in stture and appearance save for a few changes. But, if anybody were to tell those differences it would be Nageku's brother himself. He thought about it - how would it look if the dirt around his body changed? The outcrop of point there, he thought to himself. And for the first time when the technique completed - he was sitting in front of the mirror as his brother. It was perfect. So working with a better subject was better to get familiar with it. He was able to hold it for around ten seconds before it dissapated. Hotarubi was too tired to continue, and he wouldn't have been able to hold it for longer anyway. To that end, he would finish for the day and continue tomorrow - rather than the form, he needed to figure out regulation using another method. The teenager yawned, he would join his family downstairs for the evening.

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"See - Hotarubi-kun, you need to focus on your chakra system and not the technique it self, understand?-ne" Hotarubi held his arms crossed as he stood in front of his academy instructor with his feet shoulder width apart. "I get that. I'm trying to do that and keep failing after like ten seconds. What's next?" Hotarubi was trying to understand what it meant to keep the form over him, so that it wasn't just a useless technique. "You'll build up a tolerance, no? You could only do it for a few seconds to begin with-ne" The instructor responded cheerfully. "Tell you what, if you get this within the week I'll support you missing a class of history, deal?-ne?" Hotarubi's eyes lit up a little bit. That was in his interests, greatly. "Hai." This instructor knew best how to coax out Hotarubi's better behaviors and that was through negotiation and promises of fun. Anything that wasn't history was fun. They spoke for a bit longer before Hotarubi took off with the renewed vigor, nodding to a passing Yamakira clansperson - not that he wanted them to know he was there, it meant all the more closer to being near a group of Yamakira that he wanted to keep away from. Not to be near, so he quickly scarpered away.

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If building a tolerance was what had been suggested then Hotarubi would be learning how to farmers-walk his chakra through the routine of performing the transformation technique. Without it, he wouldn't be learning how to do the same for any of the Yamakira techniques out of his reach. So, if anything - this was in his interest to learn this way. That, and it was already nearing the close of the week and missing out on a history lesson was in his interest. He was daydreaming through the next lesson, picking his nose (not that there were any boogers- he was made of earth) but it had been a somewhat poor habit of his as a former delinquent. But, his notebook found itself written in all the same where he jotted down notes similar to the content of the class. Other notes were written in the book as well, just about the method and how he was going to accomplish it. The way he had ended up thinking about it was (predictably) about rock. It was about holding on to his control before his fingers could slip. And he would spend the days after his lessons and breaks in the same place as always holding on. As far as he was concerned - ten seconds became twenty seconds, fourty seconds, into the minutes. It was working.

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"It was the end of the week last week-ne." His intructor tilted his head. Hotarubi was trying to make his case, in the form of the instructor himself. "Is this not obvious? You weren't even in the academy at the time." He had tried to find the instructor but found himself trapped, there was nobody to show it to. "I don't mean to argue semantics Hotarubi-kun, but how am I supposed to know if you got it before the week's end?" Hotarubi stared at him. "I'll kill you." Hotarubi spoke monotonously at the man. "Nice try Hotarubi-kun, lovely impersonation of me but I must dash. try again-ne." He patted his own spitting image on the head, dodged by the lowly academy student. "You're now my least favorite teacher!" Hotarubi called out into the hall, causing a few looks between all of the other students and the disappearing teacher. Jokes on them, they were all his least favorite teacher and a means to an end. But, the Transformation technique was learned and all Hotarubi could do was use it as a skipping stone to the next point. A bell rung, which meant the start of a new lesson in a few minutes time. Hotarubi transformed into his brother, Nageku, and went to go cause some practical jokes before moving to his own classroom. Learning and fun at the same time! [end]