[Honō Kojirou]

It was somewhere around here…

The events in Kuwana had come to an end. And with no other information, Kojirou assumed that he wasn’t graduating… not many people get to pass the Exams on their first try, it seemed. It was pretty tough, too. First the 24-hour long race, then the weird stone puzzle – all of that only to lose in a preliminary. So… what were his thoughts?

He wasn’t strong enough. Honestly, he wasn’t fast enough either – he wasn’t geared enough, he wasn’t experienced enough, and he wasn’t smart enough. He not only got blitzed, he was overwhelmed… the weight wasn’t this terrible at first. He even laughed it off, but… the more time passed, things began looking bleaker.

Maybe it was… maybe it was Atagi’s incident. It did something to the swordsman, and he wasn’t fully aware of it by now. However, there was one person who could make him aware of his predicament… and he was trying to find her again. But to no avail, he couldn’t locate her – the cavern was desolate, deserted, empty. No signs of her.

None of the smaller settlements near Kuwana contained her, so… in the end, he couldn’t sate his curiosity. He had to take this heavy lump in his heart all the way back home, to the Land of Fields.

…

He was sitting by the desk in one of those, uh, crossroads inns near Hohei-chō now. Azarea had taught him plenty about faraway traveling, and he had a pretty good memory of the different resting spots located both in his own country and abroad. The sight of sake being tossed around frightened him, though – he wasn’t ready to be married just yet… he remembered vividly the inexcusable actions he committed with Chichi over a year ago.

In the end, he couldn’t stand being inside - some were even talking about this year's Chūnin Exams - so he walked back out of the inn again, to the waving fields of grass with the large city of Hohei-chō glimmering down the valley. Further away, one could see inspiring bamboo forests, the tallest of the country’s grasses housing men and beasts alike. He took a seat upon the grassy floor and moved his left hand around...

Trying to form handseals with only that. Right now, he craved the power to bring back Atagi’s arms again more than anything else in this world. He desired to do good by his best pal... he wanted. He wanted. He wanted.

He’d never thought so selfishly before. Was his heart shadowing?

[Hachisuka Ahma]

[googlefont="Bitter"]
[googlefont="Butcherman"]

I wish you would die

It wasn't easy for the Nuke, she never felt she had enough rest being so tied to both her nightly and daily activities. Talking to locals, talking to depressed individuals, walking from village to village, town to town. At night, hunting down criminal of human trafficking, bringing the children to safety, either their homes or SinK's orphanage, or move through the country in the dead of night. When she could hide to rest, recharge, or even train, it was never more than a day. Walking East from Stone Country, Ahma had to practically book her way through Arashi no Kuni, out of an implicit fear they would want her more than anyone. At some point traversing the country, there were points where she thought she was being pursued, causing the woman to run day and night non-stop. It still took quite a few days to reach her destination.

She reached the border of Nohara no Kuni and took to hiding wherever she could in the natural terrain, hoping not to be found nor cause a ruckus. She continued on her way, she was rather hopeful the boy she was talking to did what she had told him. However, if she remembered right, Kojirō was rather stubborn and a tad driven. When she had met him, he was a blank canvas, perhaps easy to paint over, this didn't mean she was rather manipulative, well, she was a tad, mainly to protect the people from hurting or killing themselves. That said, it has been a really long time since she actually saw the boy, heading to his home village he so casually mentioned was clear for Ahma to pursue. After waiting a bit, she decided to check whether he was alive or dead. She wanted the boy to be alive, but, if he was still headstrong being a tool, she hoped that she can't be able to see him, ever.

She wasn't keen on directly visiting the village, there was a sense of worry that everywhere had their eyes on her, but she was pretty sure if she remained cautious. She continued, opting to travel when the sun was set, so darkness could be on her side. The woman continued traversing the country, and her being not in any vast hurry, it took more than a day to search high and low. Finding a bamboo forest as the sun was beginning to rise, the Hachisuka woman climbed up high in deeper, thicker trees just beyond the forest to rest for the day. Sleeping, Ahma traveled rather lightly in the same faded blue dress with the same faded grey skirt. She wasn't exactly dressed to look like a runaway fugitive nor a criminal which was part of why she opted for such clothing.

As dusk was settling in, Ahma herself rose and thought about her journey thus far, surmising that the boy had indeed perished, Ahma let out a single sole tear, "Guess... you can be at peace now." Ahma walked slowly back, but once she was in the bamboo forest. She could barely make out a figure who just sat down. Tense, the nuke crouched low and continued to walk forward, closer and closer just watching as she could make out his features before freezing. Ko-... Kojirō? The nuke thought as she slowly stood up. "Please tell me you are done."

Honō Kojirou

SPOILER: Click to show

SA(S) USED:
Onyx Nuke
Ahma is considered one of the generational lucky few who has access to the clan's most cherished ability. The Kekkai Tota, Shōton. Having access to crystal release sets up a wide array of possibilities of possible jutsu to learn and utilize. As with many advanced release abilities, having keys to the vault is only half the battle. Unlike the classic violet Amethyst of other Shōton users, Ahma's Crystals (unless specifically indicated by the jutsu) appear like Onyx in coloration.

天国の贈り物 | Tengoku no okurimono
Ahma learned her 'Heavenly Gift' from the clan's teachings. Her gift affects her Ninjutsu, allowing her to wield unique, powerful, neigh-impossible to replicate elemental enhancements to her elemental ninjutsu. Her Heavenly Gift also deviates from enhancing all her basic elements to focusing on two, Fūton and Doton. What this means is that inherently, Ahma's doton jutsus can act as a minuscule seismic sense when in active use. Her Fūton becomes harder to see, while it still has a translucent color when applicable, the jutsu overall comes out faster compared to other non-SA-enhanced ninjutsu specialists.

SPOILER: Click to show

Ahma's Seismic Sense is not a true dedicated sensing ability but instead, a passive effect/bonus of a Doton Jutsu, thus, each Doton Jutsu has this added benefit only when the Doton jutsu is in active use. Not being dedicated nor is it is it fully powerful, the ranges are extremely weak, only serving more as accuracy than true sensing.

Each range* is divided by rank of the Jutsu and behaves conversely than expected. This is due to the concentration of higher ranking jutsus require. This Seismic Sense reads vibrations on the ground and thus cannot sense those above ground or on water.

E-Rank Sensing Range: 90 Meters

D-Rank Sensing Range: 75 Meters

C-Rank Sensing Range: 60 Meters

B-Rank Sensing Range: 45 Meters

A-Rank Sensing Range: 30 Meters

S-Rank Sensing Range: 15 Meters

*These ranges are capped regardless of Shinobi rank due to relying on concentration and not natural ability.

Unique Seal Adaptation
Every Tenchi clan member is taught unique handseals and instead, prayer gestures and sutras for Jutsu, Ahma is no different to this. As such she is considered an advanced level sealist [re: Handseals] in the art. This does not grant her speed in the hand seals of common ninjutsu, rather she has an edge in the delivery of her clan's specialized jutsu.

Fine like Jade
Through extraneous training in chakra usage, Ahma has developed an unnatural level of chakra control. While it still isn't perfected, she has learned to efficiently mitigate excess exhaust from the jutsus she casts and how to give the proper input for the desired output, rather than pouring as much as she can and hoping for the best.

JUTSU(S) USED:
N/A
EQUIPMENT USED:
N/A

[Honō Kojirou]

… This one-handed thing didn’t work at all. What sort of handseals could he even perform without both hands at once? The boar seal? Horse seal? Maybe the dra- no, that wouldn’t work… or maybe, actually- yeah, it looked like it now! His left hand had bent its index, middle and ring finger into his palm, with his thumb and pinky stretching out – precisely like the half part of the dragon seal. However, he wasn’t able to spit out any rubber from his mouth, so the Jutsu ultimately didn’t cast…

Maybe he was using the wrong hand, but he was right-handed and needed said right hand to carry his katana. He had to be able to perform these strange, one-handed seals with his left hand if he wanted to make it useful to his swordsmanship.

"… H-Huh?”

To his grand surprise, after having given up on finding her back in the villages near Kuwana, the crystal-blooded raven named Ahma just appeared in front of him. As if she knew exactly where he’d be all this time… and she looked quite grievous. He could tell that she was… perhaps shocked to see him still alive. After all, she saw the life of a shinobi as living hell – if you didn’t turn into a monster, then according to her, it was better to escape the terror through the only door available… death.

But he was still alive, now… and his heart sank at the thought of it. She begged him to tell her that he was done. Done with his headband. Done with being a shinobi. Done with his duty.

How easy did she think this would be?

She was sort of right, y’know. Kojirou’s entire life was shaped to follow this path – from the first single-digit age of his, he held a sword and didn’t let go. He convinced himself that he was meant to wield a sword, that he had a duty to his clan, to his village and to the people who lived here… was that so wrong? Was it really that wrong? What he wanted… wasn’t for the best. At least, not for everyone. Not for his village, nor for this country, and likely not for the rest of the shinobi world.

So why did she insist, back then, that he think more about what he wanted?

"… You have any idea how weak I am?”

He couldn’t accomplish his goals at the Chūnin Exams. That alone spoke volumes about his self-doubt. Hell, even when he made it through Round 2, it was with the help of Iwagakure’s shinobi… so he had nothing to show there as well. And he couldn’t even win through the preliminary round afterwards, much less put up a fight. Goro’s comforting words had echoed away on his way back to the Land of Fields, and all that Kojirou remembered was the void he found himself in. Complete unconsciousness. He would’ve… no, he should’ve died then.

He, who prided himself as a gem of his clan… he, who had been blessed with a rare Kekkei Genkai… and that was all he could do? Had all those years of training been for naught? That was, initially, what drove him close to madness, but he kept it all in and didn’t want to cause a scene… but the more he thought about it…

Atagi…

"S-Stop, already… I can’t think straight…” His head was beating madly, and he lowered his face to hide surging tears from dropping down to his lap, "I don’t want to run away from anything… I don’t want to abandon anything… I just want to be stronger. So many of my problems could’ve been solved… had I just been stronger.”

[Hachisuka Ahma]

[googlefont="Bitter"]
[googlefont="Shadows Into Light"]

Stand up

They shared a mutual confusion in seeing each other, whereas she was certain Koji was in the vein of never seeing her again, Ahma was shocked she did and in fact, she was pissed off the find him here, wearing his headband. She simply inquired if he was done. How it could be interpreted as was free game, but what she explicitly want to hear was him done with being a shinobi; done with being a tool; done throwing his life for the sake of others. She didn't force it because she wanted him to say it. She slowly pulled away from where she stood and slowly got in Koji's center of view, before sitting on her knees and legs. He poised a question to her, a rather self-deprecating one. It was because she saw him as weak that he should just drop the headband, everyone will still view him as weak, but he can use that to his advantage. Leaving now and he'd be too low of a priority that people don't pursue him. She physically said nothing, she just watched him like he was speaking nonsense. She kept a fairly open body language to show she was actually listening. But, what Koji was saying was like she didn't even need to speak. Ahma felt bad the boy was being this hard on himself but truly didn't care as much as she'd say, he was living out what she warned against. The fact that his plea for her to stop, that he didn't want to run, to abandon anything, that all of his problems could be answered if he was only stronger. Ahma sighed as she placed a hand over her heart.

"If I was your leader, I'd tell you to forget your problems, not to protect you, but because you clearly can't handle them. You're a liability to that operation with skills better suited elsewhere, so stop crying, it isn't your problem anymore so forget it and do your job." The woman said without even missing a beat, just the same eerily, cold, and calculated tone she gave back in the cave. "I'm guessing something happened that really shook your world and that this is something important to you. Well, I just gave you what you're fighting for. Do you feel any better, like the problem was resolved?" She took extreme caution in her expressions, for if he wanted to be part of the systematic shinobi system, he needed a systematic response. "You don't get it... If you can't follow the system perfectly, you're useless. Failed to lead a team? Stripped of that position. Can't save a teammate? You'll be forced to work alone or not even take part in missions outside of your home. Heard something happened to a friend in another unit? Not your unit, not your problem; shed a tear and get kicked out; try to take a personnel vendetta, get dishonorably discharged for not obeying stand-down orders, and worse, may even be marked for death. Kojirō, do those sound like a thing you want to fight for, something a part of your dream?" Ahma questioned, only furrowing her brows as she tried to understand him. "How about this... if you still see no wrong being like this, you're a shinobi, I'm a wanted entity. By shinobi orders, you are to either kill me or turn me in, despite me only ever talking to you. Care about your honor, care about your strength? Think you have morals? Prove to me you do. Will you let the village brandish you a criminal for talking to one and not bringing her in or do you realize how imperfect the system you're fighting for is?" She stood back up and just bowed at him with outstretched arms. "We all want to be stronger to face our problems, never accepting that problems only exist because we are inadequate to act, they are never about strength, they are because we our selfish to see our inadequacies at face value." Ahma looked to the boy with cold eyes, not those of a blank stare, those of something truly angered.

"Do you want to be happy this is the right path for you? Man up, grab that sword and strike me down like the shinobi you claim to be, stop crying about being stronger and actually use your inner strength. A shinobi is a tool, a shinobi has no emotions, they are to do what's ordered and expected to make a village look good." Ahma closed her eyes and clenched her fists. Stomping a foot on the ground, the grass around her feet crystalized. "What's expected right now is no matter your strength, no matter how weak you think you are, you're to kill me right here, right now. If this is truly where your dream and strength lies, I expect you to show me no mercy. If you see how all of these expectations are wrong, if you feel any ounce of confliction, throw your sword to the ground. Who are you, Kojirō and what do you believe in?" The woman stated, holding back anger this kid was so dumb.

"I'm doing this, as I want you happy, I'm not doing this because I hate you, but true happiness comes from inside you. The entire world suffers because they don't look inward. I'm giving you that chance, I'll stop when you can look at me and smile, assure me you are happy with the choice you made. But, if you really love the company of misery, show me home much you love it, how far you will go to lie to yourself." She knew exactly what she was doing, and she knew this was the only way he could find himself, he has a goal, but right now, she's disgusted with his fragility to such a goal.

Honō Kojirou

SPOILER: Click to show

SA(S) USED:
Onyx Nuke
Ahma is considered one of the generational lucky few who has access to the clan's most cherished ability. The Kekkai Tota, Shōton. Having access to crystal release sets up a wide array of possibilities of possible jutsu to learn and utilize. As with many advanced release abilities, having keys to the vault is only half the battle. Unlike the classic violet Amethyst of other Shōton users, Ahma's Crystals (unless specifically indicated by the jutsu) appear like Onyx in coloration.

天国の贈り物 | Tengoku no okurimono
Ahma learned her 'Heavenly Gift' from the clan's teachings. Her gift affects her Ninjutsu, allowing her to wield unique, powerful, neigh-impossible to replicate elemental enhancements to her elemental ninjutsu. Her Heavenly Gift also deviates from enhancing all her basic elements to focusing on two, Fūton and Doton. What this means is that inherently, Ahma's doton jutsus can act as a minuscule seismic sense when in active use. Her Fūton becomes harder to see, while it still has a translucent color when applicable, the jutsu overall comes out faster compared to other non-SA-enhanced ninjutsu specialists.

SPOILER: Click to show

Ahma's Seismic Sense is not a true dedicated sensing ability but instead, a passive effect/bonus of a Doton Jutsu, thus, each Doton Jutsu has this added benefit only when the Doton jutsu is in active use. Not being dedicated nor is it is it fully powerful, the ranges are extremely weak, only serving more as accuracy than true sensing.

Each range* is divided by rank of the Jutsu and behaves conversely than expected. This is due to the concentration of higher ranking jutsus require. This Seismic Sense reads vibrations on the ground and thus cannot sense those above ground or on water.

E-Rank Sensing Range: 90 Meters

D-Rank Sensing Range: 75 Meters

C-Rank Sensing Range: 60 Meters

B-Rank Sensing Range: 45 Meters

A-Rank Sensing Range: 30 Meters

S-Rank Sensing Range: 15 Meters

*These ranges are capped regardless of Shinobi rank due to relying on concentration and not natural ability.

Unique Seal Adaptation
Every Tenchi clan member is taught unique handseals and instead, prayer gestures and sutras for Jutsu, Ahma is no different to this. As such she is considered an advanced level sealist [re: Handseals] in the art. This does not grant her speed in the hand seals of common ninjutsu, rather she has an edge in the delivery of her clan's specialized jutsu.

Fine like Jade
Through extraneous training in chakra usage, Ahma has developed an unnatural level of chakra control. While it still isn't perfected, she has learned to efficiently mitigate excess exhaust from the jutsus she casts and how to give the proper input for the desired output, rather than pouring as much as she can and hoping for the best.

JUTSU(S) USED:
N/A
EQUIPMENT USED:
01 | Masterwork Claws (Continuous)

[Honō Kojirou]

… A very mixed course of events took place. At first, Kojirou was getting furious, mistaking the Nuke-nin for almost mocking him for his detriment. A heart as soft as his didn’t appear to belong in the shoes of a shinobi, did it?

Almost as if something inside of his snapped, he noticed that he was tightly grabbing the collar of Ahma’s blouse with a vein crossing over his own face. "I WILL NOT KILL YOU.”

Almost loud enough to be heard by some inn-goers further behind them, spotted through sheets of grass. "I’m not good at talking my case, or express myself, and I may be a child compared to you - but you wanna hear what I want? What I want really badly?!” It sounded, at first, as if he was at his breaking point – based on his voice, the crack in his tone-

Wait… he could’ve sworn he heard this thought of his spoken by someone else before. Digging into his red psyche, an image of Shigure-senpai suddenly flashed in front of Kojirou’s eyes.

Despite the hardships of our life as shinobi, I'm proud to be one. I want to be the change I want to see in the world, help people break out of the cycle of hatred. But I'm not naive to think that the path ahead will be a peaceful one.

He abruptly let go of Ahma and kept his eyes closed with that thought fading back into the fog that was his mind. He got overheated, but… now, he was able to raise a brow. Then two. And what she said began to make sense. "Sorry… with everything you’ve been through, I-I shouldn’t have overstepped,” he apologized to her with a gentle bow.

His body language said it all – Ahma had become a very precious person to him, whether or not she desired such a connection. "You barely know anything about me, and yet… you only want me to be happy.” Then, as he raised his head back up again, he recollected his thoughts. "You’re right… as a shinobi… and as a dedicated one at that, crying won’t solve anything. I’m a shinobi. I want to be a shinobi. I always have… all I gotta do is…”

A silent click revealed that his thumb had loosened his katana from its sheath, ready to be drawn out fully. Then he sheathed it again, showing not an atom of ill intent towards her. "… You know, you made me realize something. I’m… not a really good shinobi, am I? I can’t bring myself to kill you. I’ve killed before, plenty… but I can’t see any damning reason why I should kill you. Your status, it just… means nothing to me. I don’t want to hurt you, just like you don’t try to hurt me either.” It sounded, at first, like he had finally given up – that this road was too much for him, and that he should consider a sort of career change, but what he came up with afterwards was sort of absurd.

"Will I regret that, one day? Maybe, maybe not. And yet, I… still want to be a shinobi. I don’t really mind being like this, y’know… if being friends with you makes me a terrible shinobi, then let me be the worst shinobi in the world for all I care. That is, if things stay the way they are now.” Taking a glance over Hohei-chō in the distance, Kojirou realized that the knot in his chest had disappeared.

"Huuuuuuuuh… that was way easier than last time. Sorry, I must sound insane or something, I know I know, b-but I’m being honest. I’m not good at expressing my stuff and all that…”

[Hachisuka Ahma]

[googlefont="Bitter"]
[googlefont="Shadows Into Light"]

Operation Betrayal

The woman could easily react with the boy, he wasn't that much of a threat in her eyes, so when he gripped her blouse and came in close, she was fully ready to show him how difficult being a shinobi would be... but instead of even moving his sword, he just yelled at her, saying he will not kill her. Rather, he was shouting that and it completely caught her off guard. Ahma just stared wide-eyed and the dark brown orbs of the boy, too confused to say anything for a short minute. He admitted that expressing himself wasn't his strong suit, but through what sounded like a crack in his composure, Ahma knew what the boy was trying to say. Or at least, felt like she knew. The woman remained quiet to allow him to speak but... he seemed lost in his thoughts.

His expression changed and her ruby eyes remained on him, watching as he raised his eyebrows slowly before releasing her. It was now Ahma's turn to raise an eyebrow as he seemingly apologized for overstepping. For everything she's been through. Ahma's expression softened. She heard the boy out as it grew evident to her that he was struggling with some internal battle, at least to her. He was right, she knew next to nothing about him. A Genin from Kusa, Honō Kojirō, a boy who can make his sword unfathomably hot. A stranger that stumbled onto her while she was training. But, it was true that she wanted the best for him, of course, she'd be ecstatic if he threw his headband and pursued something not so dangerous, but regardless she still wanted his happiness to be pure. That seemed to shock him. But he segwayed nicely to say if he was going to be a dedicated and driven shinobi, crying wasn't going to solve anything. She nodded along but still softly, ever so cautious as she saw him move to unclick his katana from its saya. Only further perplexed when he resheathed the weapon, but a message was still conveyed. This small inkling of feeling a threat was easily cleared away and Ahma just made a cant of her head.

He expressed that she made him realize he was not a good shinobi, quite blatantly disobeying orders; and while Ahma wanted to laugh, it was actually a breath of fresh air. He killed before but he just couldn't kill her. He's killed before but even with the actual bounty on her head, he just couldn't kill her. She was starting to doubt just how driven and serious he could be. The boy was clearly passionate, he had motivation, he had the foundation of being what he wanted to be... but, he just wasn't quite there yet. What threw even more of a wrench to her was him stating if befriending her made him a bad shinobi, then he's fine with being the worst shinobi in the world. The woman made an elongated hum as if she wanted to say something but chose against it.

He explained that this time was much more easier to explain things and apologized for sounding insane. Ahma just shook her head. One second, she was shaking, the next, she hugged him like a child. "No, you're not insane and I prefer your honesty above that." She simply hugged and held him, like he was just another orphanage to console. "Just, if this is the path you really want to do, I can't stop you. But, can you help me with my mission at least... My group wants to stop the shinobi system from making people shinobi until they are 13 and can make the decision for themselves... Will you help me try to make Kusagakure like this?"

Honō Kojirou

SPOILER: Click to show

SA(S) USED:
Onyx Nuke
Ahma is considered one of the generational lucky few who has access to the clan's most cherished ability. The Kekkai Tota, Shōton. Having access to crystal release sets up a wide array of possibilities of possible jutsu to learn and utilize. As with many advanced release abilities, having keys to the vault is only half the battle. Unlike the classic violet Amethyst of other Shōton users, Ahma's Crystals (unless specifically indicated by the jutsu) appear like Onyx in coloration.

天国の贈り物 | Tengoku no okurimono
Ahma learned her 'Heavenly Gift' from the clan's teachings. Her gift affects her Ninjutsu, allowing her to wield unique, powerful, neigh-impossible to replicate elemental enhancements to her elemental ninjutsu. Her Heavenly Gift also deviates from enhancing all her basic elements to focusing on two, Fūton and Doton. What this means is that inherently, Ahma's doton jutsus can act as a minuscule seismic sense when in active use. Her Fūton becomes harder to see, while it still has a translucent color when applicable, the jutsu overall comes out faster compared to other non-SA-enhanced ninjutsu specialists.

SPOILER: Click to show

Ahma's Seismic Sense is not a true dedicated sensing ability but instead, a passive effect/bonus of a Doton Jutsu, thus, each Doton Jutsu has this added benefit only when the Doton jutsu is in active use. Not being dedicated nor is it is it fully powerful, the ranges are extremely weak, only serving more as accuracy than true sensing.

Each range* is divided by rank of the Jutsu and behaves conversely than expected. This is due to the concentration of higher ranking jutsus require. This Seismic Sense reads vibrations on the ground and thus cannot sense those above ground or on water.

E-Rank Sensing Range: 90 Meters

D-Rank Sensing Range: 75 Meters

C-Rank Sensing Range: 60 Meters

B-Rank Sensing Range: 45 Meters

A-Rank Sensing Range: 30 Meters

S-Rank Sensing Range: 15 Meters

*These ranges are capped regardless of Shinobi rank due to relying on concentration and not natural ability.

Unique Seal Adaptation
Every Tenchi clan member is taught unique handseals and instead, prayer gestures and sutras for Jutsu, Ahma is no different to this. As such she is considered an advanced level sealist [re: Handseals] in the art. This does not grant her speed in the hand seals of common ninjutsu, rather she has an edge in the delivery of her clan's specialized jutsu.

Fine like Jade
Through extraneous training in chakra usage, Ahma has developed an unnatural level of chakra control. While it still isn't perfected, she has learned to efficiently mitigate excess exhaust from the jutsus she casts and how to give the proper input for the desired output, rather than pouring as much as she can and hoping for the best.

JUTSU(S) USED:
N/A
EQUIPMENT USED:
01 | Masterwork Claws (Continuous)

[Honō Kojirou]

… Oh, uhm… he didn’t expect her to embrace his decision this warmly. Maybe he had a point, after all… what she was talking about made a lot of sense. Shinobi… it wasn’t a dance on rose fields. Many heinous crimes in this world were caused by shinobi, and yet… deep within the young swordsman’s mind, there was a call.

The world needed better shinobi. So why not start here and now? Yeah, sure, let’s try and pick up on Shigure-senpai’s wish – might as well make it Kojirou’s wish, too. It’d fix both their issues in the long run – Kojirou would have a ‘selfless’ motivation behind his career, and people would have fewer reasons to spite shinobi.

At least, she believed in his words. Afterwards, he was given a plead – Ahma wanted to change the shinobi enrollment system, which had led children of technically any age enroll into the Academy as well as obtain the headband, had they just shown the necessary skills to do so. Instead, Ahma and her group wanted to install a rule that only led children become shinobi once they turned 13 and no less.

Now… he had to think. He met some real monsters back at the Chūnin Exams, kids who’d definitely not started their shinobi lives from the age of 13. Shinobi villages valued such people very highly, and Kusagakure was a relatively small shinobi village compared to, say, those located in the five biggest nations. Kusagakure… he didn’t want his precious village to be annihilated by wary enemies. He wanted Kusagakure to become stronger than ever, but… did it require such young ages to flourish? Obviously, this was all beyond his own understanding, for many factors came into play; talents, training, accessibility to techniques, mentalities and much more.

Therefore, he stopped thinking logically and just went with his heart. "Say no more, Ahma. I’ll help you… I just hope it’ll help Kusa too. I became a Genin when I was 12, and I’m not that poor of a shinob- okay, maybe in some way, I am, b-but forget that! Please, pretty please… wait, that gives me an idea!”

Okay, now the gears in his brain began to move again. He stepped back a few meters from Ahma and raised a single hand, trying to form one half of the Tiger seal. "Those weird handseals you showed me… I’ve been trying to make my own, recently. Didn’t work. BUT! One-handed seals are a thing… do you make one-handed seals, yourself? I know it’s possible to perform Jutsu like this, but it’s way harder than it looks…” In the meantime, his fingers were tying knots around each other as he tried to figure out how to use one hand to emulate parts of already known handseals… but it took not a genius to see how terrible he was at showing any brilliant results.

"I… I want to help Kusagakure become a stronger village, so I gotta become stronger myself. And if all of Kusa’s shinobi become stronger much faster, then that could be such a good argument to support your idea!”

[Hachisuka Ahma]

[googlefont="Bitter"]
[googlefont="Shadows Into Light"]

I wish you would die

Ahma's smile became that of a Duchenne smile, hearing his words aligning with her task. It was simply exhilarating to her. She had so many ideas about how she could have Kojirō help with her task. From using him as a bridge for peaceful negotiations to strict enforcement of his own hand. She'd rather have it peaceful though. Using brutish tactics is a desperate attempt with major collateral but little success. Ahma continued to look at possible factors that could not help her given his low rank and his self-evaluation. It mattered little though, all it takes is networking to bring about change. Politically sound but he'll sound like a religious nut if he just went door to door for each shinobi. He needed refined contacts. The question she was pondering was how he would acquire those said individuals.

He gave her the basis that he was recruited into shinobi life at twelve and gave his own insight how he was doing. He was having some difficulties, but these difficulties seemed more like a personal problem and not one that had any substance to it. Ahma tried to see how his words may benefit or condemn him and she just wasn't seeing it. His gears changed promptly after that though; he stated that he was trying to create his own set of peculiar seals. One-handed seals to be exact and even questioned if she made one-handed seals herself. Ever so slowly she shook her head side to side. She stomped on the ground harder than she ever done and tried to send a pulse of crystalized chakra. It created a small mirror under her and the woman took a few steps off of it. "No, I never used such a thing, I rarely find myself in a one-armed situation, that said, place your hand onto a mirror, use the reflection until you get the formation right... then try applying chakra when you can do it without a mirror." She stated ever so casually as she crouched next to her creation.

"Kusa will be stronger, as much as I dislike shinobi, raising the age cap allows the brain to mature and understand the needed concepts better as they are still young enough to easily grasp new concepts but more bolder to apply them in useful and creative ways where a child will not take things seriously. We live in a time of peace so economically, it is a waste to invest money in slower results, this wait can also weed out individuals who can't take it seriously. We are not at war, so there's no need for such indoctrination. My organization also oversees rescue and orphanage facilities for children who cannot be properly cared for or who are abandoned or lost. Weaponizing children strips them of vital nurturing and thus shinobi kids are seen as those without proper care, you can understand why there is contention." Ahma stated in a rather relaxed tone. She can tell the Genin about everything with open and honest communication.

Tilting her head to the side, she kept her eyes on the boy. "What are your thoughts? How can you help me in your own words? I don't want to fill your head with bias." The woman asked, awaiting for the boy to answer.

@ojirou

SPOILER: Click to show

SA(S) USED:
Onyx Nuke
Ahma is considered one of the generational lucky few who has access to the clan's most cherished ability. The Kekkai Tota, Shōton. Having access to crystal release sets up a wide array of possibilities of possible jutsu to learn and utilize. As with many advanced release abilities, having keys to the vault is only half the battle. Unlike the classic violet Amethyst of other Shōton users, Ahma's Crystals (unless specifically indicated by the jutsu) appear like Onyx in coloration.

天国の贈り物 | Tengoku no okurimono
Ahma learned her 'Heavenly Gift' from the clan's teachings. Her gift affects her Ninjutsu, allowing her to wield unique, powerful, neigh-impossible to replicate elemental enhancements to her elemental ninjutsu. Her Heavenly Gift also deviates from enhancing all her basic elements to focusing on two, Fūton and Doton. What this means is that inherently, Ahma's doton jutsus can act as a minuscule seismic sense when in active use. Her Fūton becomes harder to see, while it still has a translucent color when applicable, the jutsu overall comes out faster compared to other non-SA-enhanced ninjutsu specialists.

SPOILER: Click to show

Ahma's Seismic Sense is not a true dedicated sensing ability but instead, a passive effect/bonus of a Doton Jutsu, thus, each Doton Jutsu has this added benefit only when the Doton jutsu is in active use. Not being dedicated nor is it is it fully powerful, the ranges are extremely weak, only serving more as accuracy than true sensing.

Each range* is divided by rank of the Jutsu and behaves conversely than expected. This is due to the concentration of higher ranking jutsus require. This Seismic Sense reads vibrations on the ground and thus cannot sense those above ground or on water.

E-Rank Sensing Range: 90 Meters

D-Rank Sensing Range: 75 Meters

C-Rank Sensing Range: 60 Meters

B-Rank Sensing Range: 45 Meters

A-Rank Sensing Range: 30 Meters

S-Rank Sensing Range: 15 Meters

*These ranges are capped regardless of Shinobi rank due to relying on concentration and not natural ability.

Unique Seal Adaptation
Every Tenchi clan member is taught unique handseals and instead, prayer gestures and sutras for Jutsu, Ahma is no different to this. As such she is considered an advanced level sealist [re: Handseals] in the art. This does not grant her speed in the hand seals of common ninjutsu, rather she has an edge in the delivery of her clan's specialized jutsu.

Fine like Jade
Through extraneous training in chakra usage, Ahma has developed an unnatural level of chakra control. While it still isn't perfected, she has learned to efficiently mitigate excess exhaust from the jutsus she casts and how to give the proper input for the desired output, rather than pouring as much as she can and hoping for the best.

JUTSU(S) USED:
NAME: Shōton: Sesshokushō [Crystal Release: Crystal Touch]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Shōton
DESCRIPTION:
This technique doesn't require the use of hand seals, instead, the user places their hand outward or on any surface and focus their chakra to their hand. The user is capable of crystallizing any physical material into crystal. This extends to other physical natures, to which the user can use in combination with other crystal techniques, rendering earth, water, and wood useless against it. However much like all the other crystal techniques the user cannot crystallize raw energy or chakra, as they have no physical mass to crystallize.

EQUIPMENT USED:
01 | Masterwork Claws (Continuous)

[Honō Kojirou]

Huh… based on her shaking head, he could assume that she hadn’t any experience with one-handed seals herself. It didn’t stop him from knotting ties around his own fingers, for practice always made per-

"YIP!”

Her stomp caught him by surprise, betraying her rather harmlessly friendly nature… at least, the kind of nature that he now associated with Ahma. However, upon lowering his eyes towards the ground below her, he spotted her creation – a dark mirror made of solid crystal from where there used to be a platform of grass and dirt. The mirror looked so stainless, despite her having stepped on it moments prior, and despite its dark hue in the break of dusk, he could still see his own reflection. The damped buzz from visitors to the teahouse nearby gave the area such a somber, comfortable melody in conjunction with the night winds blowing across the hill.

Wait… she was a genius! Oh, she was a real genius!!! Why didn’t he think of that before?! Kojirou’s eyes quickly widened up with sparkling stars travelling across them at her words, clearly mesmerized by her genius idea. "T-That’s genius! I think that’ll work!” he jubilated before planting his left hand onto the mirror, watching the reflection mimic his right hand… yes, he could see it. The Tiger seal looked more complete like this, so if he could gather his chakra…

If brains worked like that, then she had a point. Wouldn’t it be better to wait until one’s brain was mature enough to start the shinobi life? Kojirou had first-hand experience in that field of work – he had blood on his hands, after all… and not everyone could deal with that. It also just sounded merciful, almost idyllic… but Kojirou felt that some would protest against Ahma’s vision due to tradition. Only visible results could convince old heads like those.

But some of her last words made him reflect on the participants in the last Chūnin Exams. Specifically, her comment on weaponizing children… and how it stripped them of vital nurturing… so that was why some ended up as monstrous as that? "So… some of those kids weren’t cared for…” he mumbled to himself, starting to reflect on what exactly gave birth to such monsters to begin with. Negligence? Conditioning? Tyranny?

The one who took Atagi’s arms… was he not cared for back at his home? What did he go through in order to think that such a disaster was called for? What made him think that it was to be expected? Did he… experience worse back home? On a daily basis? How long had he been a shinobi? How long…?

"Hmh… I don’t know that many high-ups. There’s the Councilor and Kanoh-sama, and Kizumi-sama too,” he explained with a hand cupping his chin. He had been channeling chakra into his hand for a while now, so when would lava protrude-

Life was full of surprises, after all. Upon that exact thought manifesting in his head, lava began to leak from between his fingers! "Hey, it’s working!” he claimed with a wide smile, "It’s… n-not forming into shuriken. B-But it’s a start!”

He’d switch from the Tiger seal to an attempt at forming the Horse seal. One index finger pointed up, space between the other crooked fingers, and then rest the crooked finger knuckles on the mirror… and he could see the formed Horse seal that the real hand and its reflection made. Also, wait, she oversaw orphanages? How many? "I was just thinking of going to Kanoh-sama and… hmh… maybe she’s looking for assistants! Yeah, that could work – I could become her assistant, and then I’d have an opportunity to talk with her! Or something… I hope she’s not busy all the time.”

[Hachisuka Ahma]

[googlefont="Bitter"]
[googlefont="Shadows Into Light"]

...

He was so shocked by the stomp, it probably scared him, Ahma passively thought as she continued to extrapolate and move from the mirror. Kojirō was definitely a unique case, he seemed like he was someone who Ahma trusted. Despite opposing sides, it wasn't that bad really. He was enamored with the mirror idea and it brought a smile to her. As he went on to practice, Ahma continued to express her ideas. Ahma began to notice some of her words beginning to effect the boy. They were truly resonating in him, the small confirmations he gave her, the paraphrasing and the nodding were all indicative that he was actively listening. Well as much as possible, she bore a small smile at his quick progress with the mirror.

When he began to give examples how he could help, they were not many choices or opportunities but his enthusiasm shows either how much they respect them or how much he admires them. One makes things easier than the other. It turns out that he was just thinking of visiting her, probably in relation to the assistant position. The proximity of such a relationship could bolster all the chances Koji needed to really make an impact, she just hoped it was enough. Ahma moved closer to Koji, gently grabbing his upper arm. "Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated, Kojirō. If you believe these people will listen and truly be swayed, either gain me a peaceful audience or work on changing the system inside out. Lobby friends, family, one voice can only change so much but a thousand can change a city, a million change a nation. Please, just help us out." Ahma stared into his eyes, almost as if she was speaking directly into his soul.

"You'll be a hero to us, to me. And you don't even have to fight to protect, this change will allow them to properly protect themselves without a child's hesitation." The woman stated as she gently pulled Koji into a hug. "Thank you so much for our future work together."

Honō Kojirou

SPOILER: Click to show

SA(S) USED:
Onyx Nuke
Ahma is considered one of the generational lucky few who has access to the clan's most cherished ability. The Kekkai Tota, Shōton. Having access to crystal release sets up a wide array of possibilities of possible jutsu to learn and utilize. As with many advanced release abilities, having keys to the vault is only half the battle. Unlike the classic violet Amethyst of other Shōton users, Ahma's Crystals (unless specifically indicated by the jutsu) appear like Onyx in coloration.

天国の贈り物 | Tengoku no okurimono
Ahma learned her 'Heavenly Gift' from the clan's teachings. Her gift affects her Ninjutsu, allowing her to wield unique, powerful, neigh-impossible to replicate elemental enhancements to her elemental ninjutsu. Her Heavenly Gift also deviates from enhancing all her basic elements to focusing on two, Fūton and Doton. What this means is that inherently, Ahma's doton jutsus can act as a minuscule seismic sense when in active use. Her Fūton becomes harder to see, while it still has a translucent color when applicable, the jutsu overall comes out faster compared to other non-SA-enhanced ninjutsu specialists.

SPOILER: Click to show

Ahma's Seismic Sense is not a true dedicated sensing ability but instead, a passive effect/bonus of a Doton Jutsu, thus, each Doton Jutsu has this added benefit only when the Doton jutsu is in active use. Not being dedicated nor is it is it fully powerful, the ranges are extremely weak, only serving more as accuracy than true sensing.

Each range* is divided by rank of the Jutsu and behaves conversely than expected. This is due to the concentration of higher ranking jutsus require. This Seismic Sense reads vibrations on the ground and thus cannot sense those above ground or on water.

E-Rank Sensing Range: 90 Meters

D-Rank Sensing Range: 75 Meters

C-Rank Sensing Range: 60 Meters

B-Rank Sensing Range: 45 Meters

A-Rank Sensing Range: 30 Meters

S-Rank Sensing Range: 15 Meters

*These ranges are capped regardless of Shinobi rank due to relying on concentration and not natural ability.

Unique Seal Adaptation
Every Tenchi clan member is taught unique handseals and instead, prayer gestures and sutras for Jutsu, Ahma is no different to this. As such she is considered an advanced level sealist [re: Handseals] in the art. This does not grant her speed in the hand seals of common ninjutsu, rather she has an edge in the delivery of her clan's specialized jutsu.

Fine like Jade
Through extraneous training in chakra usage, Ahma has developed an unnatural level of chakra control. While it still isn't perfected, she has learned to efficiently mitigate excess exhaust from the jutsus she casts and how to give the proper input for the desired output, rather than pouring as much as she can and hoping for the best.

JUTSU(S) USED:
N/A
EQUIPMENT USED:
01 | Masterwork Claws (Continuous)

[Honō Kojirou]

At first, Kojirou didn’t think of his options as helpful enough. Obviously, wanting to change an entire system took time, but he was inherently drawn towards easy solutions, while knowing that the world would always demand more and more from him. That was why he didn’t expect Ahma to be so grateful, and yet she was. She expressed so with her voice and her actions, encouraging him to seek aid from others. Whether they were close friends or simply familiar faces here and there…

She genuinely sought his help. His heart began to tremble, for any who were tasked with such important endeavors would feel a little beside themselves. Yet, in the midst of his overwhelmed reaction, she promised one more thing – his help wouldn’t be forgotten. His help would be… ideal. Ideal. Ideal. Such an impossible state as being ideal sounded so possible!

"A hero…” Unlike a war hero or a feared shinobi, being such a kind hero sounded perfect for the boy with a heart as pure as his. Her motherly, embracing hug solidified such a dream and goal within his chest, feeling a burning warmth envelop him… a desire to reach a goal that not many actively worked towards. "It’s… it’s not much, but you’re welcome…”

Back to the one-handed handseals… it did pop up a memory of an argument. "I thought that chakra ran through your fingers, from one hand to another, but… using one-handed seals like this refutes that. I got to reread my materials… wait, Ahma! Your special handseals work in a different way, right? How many do you have?”

[Hachisuka Ahma]

[googlefont="Bitter"]
[googlefont="Shadows Into Light"]

I'm Wide Awake

Ahma gave a warm smile hearing the boy's answer, releasing him to let him move on his own as Koji's mind moved from the conversation to one-handed seals. Ahma was happy but she couldn't shake it. If what she was doing would put him at risk, why was he so willing to help her? She pushed the thought aside as she looked at his wonder. Maybe, just maybe, a part of Kojirō believed in Ahma and her cause more than he realized. Or maybe she was just that good at playing her part in raising aid. He mumbled that his original theory of handseals were that they dictated by how chakra moved. She was rather more on the belief that they were merely conduits needed to move energy to the right frequency. When asked about her handseals, Ahma closed her eyes and raised her arm. "If you look at my hands, you will see something different." She swung her arms across her chest. "Give me power to hide from the world." The woman stated as she pushed her arms outward. The water droplets and some of the atoms in the air pushed out a crystalline debris cloud like ash and smoke. She should have told him be careful with his eyes but he'd figure that on his own. The crystal fog lingered in the air before settling and falling to the ground.

"My father called them prayer hands and our words, sutras. Some can be done without what you view as handseals, but rather, gestures and some don't require anything." Ahma stated as she placed a fist on the ground and black crystals formed on the ground, creating a second mirror. She lifted her fist and showed no indication of traditional or non-traditional hand seals. "We have learned that our gestures and our prayers are conduits, we are the medium. Because of this, we have figured out that ultimately in the end, it doesn't matter what we form, as long as we build up the energy, we can use our gifts. Energy transfers in set ways, and our energy and chakra act no different." Ahma moved closer to the Kusa shinobi, holding her right hand up. "Don't watch the hands." her left hand swirled its fingers in a circular motion before flying over her held-up hand. Back in view was her right hand, holding three very familiar crystal kunai. She dropped them and tilted her head to her right, flicking her hair back over her shoulder. "The hand seals do not direct where your chakra go, they tell your body to start making the chakra. For most shinobi, they tell you to shape and transform your chakra into that of your required jutsu." After Ahma was done explaining, she looked at the black mirrors. "That's why some eventually stop using them, they can control their energy to form a specific technique as long as they have the knowledge of how their energy acts."

The Kunoichi took out a kunai, she twirled it on her finger and quite slowly, the ring and handle started to crystalize. "Based on my analysis, you can say that by minimizing what you do, you fundamentally know how to use jutsus better than some, as you know what you need the chakra to act and form. Does that make sense?" Ahma asked as she gripped the kunai handle and the crystallization process was exponentially faster. She crushed the Kunai and the dust fell from her hand.

"It's a lot to think about but take your time, Koji-san." The woman stated in a warm tone, moving her hands behind her back.

Honō Kojirou

SPOILER: Click to show

SA(S) USED:
Onyx Nuke
Ahma is considered one of the generational lucky few who has access to the clan's most cherished ability. The Kekkai Tota, Shōton. Having access to crystal release sets up a wide array of possibilities of possible jutsu to learn and utilize. As with many advanced release abilities, having keys to the vault is only half the battle. Unlike the classic violet Amethyst of other Shōton users, Ahma's Crystals (unless specifically indicated by the jutsu) appear like Onyx in coloration.

天国の贈り物 | Tengoku no okurimono
Ahma learned her 'Heavenly Gift' from the clan's teachings. Her gift affects her Ninjutsu, allowing her to wield unique, powerful, neigh-impossible to replicate elemental enhancements to her elemental ninjutsu. Her Heavenly Gift also deviates from enhancing all her basic elements to focusing on two, Fūton and Doton. What this means is that inherently, Ahma's doton jutsus can act as a minuscule seismic sense when in active use. Her Fūton becomes harder to see, while it still has a translucent color when applicable, the jutsu overall comes out faster compared to other non-SA-enhanced ninjutsu specialists.

SPOILER: Click to show

Ahma's Seismic Sense is not a true dedicated sensing ability but instead, a passive effect/bonus of a Doton Jutsu, thus, each Doton Jutsu has this added benefit only when the Doton jutsu is in active use. Not being dedicated nor is it is it fully powerful, the ranges are extremely weak, only serving more as accuracy than true sensing.

Each range* is divided by rank of the Jutsu and behaves conversely than expected. This is due to the concentration of higher ranking jutsus require. This Seismic Sense reads vibrations on the ground and thus cannot sense those above ground or on water.

E-Rank Sensing Range: 90 Meters

D-Rank Sensing Range: 75 Meters

C-Rank Sensing Range: 60 Meters

B-Rank Sensing Range: 45 Meters

A-Rank Sensing Range: 30 Meters

S-Rank Sensing Range: 15 Meters

*These ranges are capped regardless of Shinobi rank due to relying on concentration and not natural ability.

Unique Seal Adaptation
Every Tenchi clan member is taught unique handseals and instead, prayer gestures and sutras for Jutsu, Ahma is no different to this. As such she is considered an advanced level sealist [re: Handseals] in the art. This does not grant her speed in the hand seals of common ninjutsu, rather she has an edge in the delivery of her clan's specialized jutsu.

Fine like Jade
Through extraneous training in chakra usage, Ahma has developed an unnatural level of chakra control. While it still isn't perfected, she has learned to efficiently mitigate excess exhaust from the jutsus she casts and how to give the proper input for the desired output, rather than pouring as much as she can and hoping for the best.

JUTSU(S) USED:
NAME: Ten: Kesshō no Hokori [Heaven: Crystal Fog]
RANK: D
CHAKRA USAGE: Low (Continuous)
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Shōton
PRAYER HANDS: Crossing arms in front of the chest using Tori-like hand seals prior to a wide sweeping push of both arms.
SUTRA: "Give me power to hide from the world"
REQUIREMENT: Shōton SA
DESCRIPTION:
By molding their unique chakra, a Muten Tenchi is able to create a dust cloud of crystal fragments. Due the unique chakra used in this advanced release, the fragments can hinder sight via chakra at best but does not mask the user well, being that the dust is literally made of fine crystalline dust, not only can it hide the figure as well as ash, the physical properties may cause respiratory and ocular irritation. The jutsu can be maintained as long as the user wishes but to uphold the masking properties and keep the dust airborne, chakra must be continuously fed to the jutsu. On top of this, due to the debris-like irritation, the furthest this crystalline dust can go is up the 6 radial meters in any direction, making it very much a close-quarter/immediate vicinity technique.

NAME: Shōton: Sesshokushō [Crystal Release: Crystal Touch]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Shōton
DESCRIPTION:
This technique doesn't require the use of hand seals, instead, the user places their hand outward or on any surface and focus their chakra to their hand. The user is capable of crystallizing any physical material into crystal. This extends to other physical natures, to which the user can use in combination with other crystal techniques, rendering earth, water, and wood useless against it. However much like all the other crystal techniques the user cannot crystallize raw energy or chakra, as they have no physical mass to crystallize.

NAME: Daiyamondo Kunai no Jutsu [Daimond Kunai]
RANK: D
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Shōton
DESCRIPTION:
The user sends molks eight Shōton kunai, which they may use at leisure. The kunai are slightly more solid than your regular ones.

EQUIPMENT USED:
01 | Kunai
01 | Masterwork Claws (Continuous)

[Honō Kojirou]

Kojirou’s eyes moved along Ahma’s arm at first, fully paying attention before suddenly closing in as his face moved back at the manifestation of ash and smoke… wait, how the hell-

Ohhhhhhh, crystals… small, crystal clouds. Got it. Crystal Release was very versatile if it could be manifested as a cloud too, but he didn’t know if Ahma was a full-fledged master of crystals or around his level compared to his Lava Release. He assumed that she was way more experienced… for one reason or another.

"Sutras…” Kojirou repeated Ahma’s word, referring to her strange handseals as sutras or prayer hands. At first, he was quite curious if she prayed for the dead too – it was a thought that passed his mind because of his own habits of making a small prayer after each mission, hoping that those whose lives he took in self-defense or in revenge would find peace. As antagonistic as bandits, marauders and rogue ninjas came to be over time… it just felt right.

Wait… some didn’t need sutras. That was what she said, right? What Ahma explained next was like a whole new world to Kojirou’s sparkling eyes – the possibility that handseals and prayers were more like conduits to build up the required energy to perform something, and that- wait, what did she mean by not watch the hands? "W-Woah, woah, what do you mean? Where do I look-"

Taken aback was his expression upon seeing three familiar kunai made of obsidian-like crystal. He remembered those from the first time they met, which was… a rather sad experience. But nonetheless one that he needed, which something told him deep inside. She explained that handseals merely told the body to start making chakra for a Jutsu… but wait… by that logic, were handseals always necessary?

"Like with Hien…” he pondered, knowing that such a Jutsu didn’t require handseals. Glaring down at his sword made him remember that – he never weaved a handseal before using Hien, but he thought it was because that the sword he carried acted as the medium, as the handseal. But to think that some stopped using handseals at one point…

Hmh… so getting more and more used to how chakra flowed when using a Jutsu would allow him to lower the demands for handseals. That would be so damn cool – imagine if he could release Lava Release Techniques without handseals at all! Imagine that! His entire body was lighting up, he was so happy to learn about this, and he couldn’t wait to try out a Jutsu that he thought he was really used to… with only one hand, he weaved three handseals in front of Ahma and reached for the crystal mirror below. "Let’s see…”

From the crystal surface, he appeared to grab something malleable and gooey, which he swiftly pulled up and formed into a pillar of molted rubber, which slowly took the form of… a malformed Kojirou. "… I thought I finally got it, though. This is my most used Jutsu now! C’moooooooon…”

[Hachisuka Ahma]

[googlefont="Bitter"]
[googlefont="Shadows Into Light"]

I wish you would die

The young woman watched Kojirou with her ruby eyes. Taking in all she could, watching him even if his sight may be fuzzy for a while. She didn't want him to mess up nor suffer because of what he was caught in. While she didn't sustain the jutsu, the woman was worried about the boy's eyesight. She kind of just did the jutsu with no warning. Ahma waited for her words to sink in, and the boy to understand her rather unique words. If casting jutsu was speaking a different language, it seems Ahma was foreign to the boy. It didn't seem to faze him however and he was slowly figuring it out. He connotated the jutsu, Hien, however, Ahma didn't know that. But if he knew it and could register it, then she fully believed in his ability. The Hachisuka woman watched as the boy tried to weave the seals in the way he was used to, using the mirror created to his advantage. Ahma backed up just one step as she remained focused on the boy, taking in the site of his first attempt. She watched him pull out what looked like goop. Eventually, it looked like the boy himself, just a bad version of him.

Ahma made a very weak smile, she was pretty sure it was supposed to be an exact replica but it looked extremely rough. One-hand seals looks very difficult for him. She recognized the difficulty posed by the one-handed seals and appreciated his efforts to adapt.

Her belief in Kojirou's potential shone through as she continued to watch, the subtle step backward she took reflecting her anticipation. Ahma acknowledged that mastering such intricate techniques required time and practice, and she remained a supportive presence, ready to guide and assist as the young shinobi navigated this unfamiliar landscape of jutsu. Seeing Kojirou's valiant attempts, Ahma approached him with a reassuring smile. Her voice, gentle and encouraging, carried a comforting tone as she spoke to ease any concerns he might have.

"Hey there, Kojirou. You're doing great, you know? Mastering one-handed seals is no small feat, and you're making progress. Remember, every shinobi starts somewhere, and it's the effort you're putting in that truly matters. You've got a unique way of approaching things, and that's your strength. Just take it one step at a time, and you'll get the hang of it."

She gestured toward the imperfect replica he had conjured, emphasizing the positive aspects of his attempt. "Look at that! You've already got the basics down. It might not be perfect yet, but perfection comes with practice. Your determination is what sets you apart. Trust me, I've seen many shinobi struggle with this at first."

Ahma's eyes reflected sincerity and warmth as she continued, "And hey, I'm here to help. If you have questions or need guidance, don't hesitate to ask. We're all on a journey of learning, and you're not alone in this. Keep going, Kojirou. You're on the right path, and I believe in your abilities."

Honō Kojirou

SPOILER: Click to show

SA(S) USED:
Onyx Nuke
Ahma is considered one of the generational lucky few who has access to the clan's most cherished ability. The Kekkai Tota, Shōton. Having access to crystal release sets up a wide array of possibilities of possible jutsu to learn and utilize. As with many advanced release abilities, having keys to the vault is only half the battle. Unlike the classic violet Amethyst of other Shōton users, Ahma's Crystals (unless specifically indicated by the jutsu) appear like Onyx in coloration.

天国の贈り物 | Tengoku no okurimono
Ahma learned her 'Heavenly Gift' from the clan's teachings. Her gift affects her Ninjutsu, allowing her to wield unique, powerful, neigh-impossible to replicate elemental enhancements to her elemental ninjutsu. Her Heavenly Gift also deviates from enhancing all her basic elements to focusing on two, Fūton and Doton. What this means is that inherently, Ahma's doton jutsus can act as a minuscule seismic sense when in active use. Her Fūton becomes harder to see, while it still has a translucent color when applicable, the jutsu overall comes out faster compared to other non-SA-enhanced ninjutsu specialists.

SPOILER: Click to show

Ahma's Seismic Sense is not a true dedicated sensing ability but instead, a passive effect/bonus of a Doton Jutsu, thus, each Doton Jutsu has this added benefit only when the Doton jutsu is in active use. Not being dedicated nor is it is it fully powerful, the ranges are extremely weak, only serving more as accuracy than true sensing.

Each range* is divided by rank of the Jutsu and behaves conversely than expected. This is due to the concentration of higher ranking jutsus require. This Seismic Sense reads vibrations on the ground and thus cannot sense those above ground or on water.

E-Rank Sensing Range: 90 Meters

D-Rank Sensing Range: 75 Meters

C-Rank Sensing Range: 60 Meters

B-Rank Sensing Range: 45 Meters

A-Rank Sensing Range: 30 Meters

S-Rank Sensing Range: 15 Meters

*These ranges are capped regardless of Shinobi rank due to relying on concentration and not natural ability.

Unique Seal Adaptation
Every Tenchi clan member is taught unique handseals and instead, prayer gestures and sutras for Jutsu, Ahma is no different to this. As such she is considered an advanced level sealist [re: Handseals] in the art. This does not grant her speed in the hand seals of common ninjutsu, rather she has an edge in the delivery of her clan's specialized jutsu.

Fine like Jade
Through extraneous training in chakra usage, Ahma has developed an unnatural level of chakra control. While it still isn't perfected, she has learned to efficiently mitigate excess exhaust from the jutsus she casts and how to give the proper input for the desired output, rather than pouring as much as she can and hoping for the best.

JUTSU(S) USED:
N/A
EQUIPMENT USED:
01 | Masterwork Claws (Continuous)

[Honō Kojirou]

He… didn’t expect such encouraging words right now. He expected words of approval after he’d mastered a new technique, but… now it made him feel bashful. He couldn’t help but hold the back of his head with a warm hand, deeply appreciative of Ahma’s words. "Hehe… sounds like I’m doing great, then. I’ll just continue, then! In no time, I’ll have this skill mastered to the T…”

His clone, while a gobble of tar, was still able to wave at the two. In spite of its form, it was still a sort of ‘clone’ of Kojirou, brought to life with only one hand performing seals. Ahma noticed that, praised that and his determination, and made the poor swordsman blush a bit. Even with such a minor achievement… she made it sound like he’d moved a mountain. It warmed him. It was really as if Ahma had always been family to him, in a way, and they hadn’t even known each other for that long.

"I can do this… I think I got the technique down now,” he spoke up after a second of reflection, pulling off the same one-handed seal… but without the crystal mirror’s assistance. And once more, lava began leaking out from between his fingers, shaping into small shuriken – this time, their sharp outlines were linear and even, almost as if solidified by accumulated experience. "There! These look much better than before! Not uneven or blob-like, they’re just like sharp shuriken now… you could try the same with your crystal kunai, Ahma. I think it’d be such a helpful skill to have!”