Head Water's Pain (Training)

They spent a good half hour working on chakra control while Yasha stood upon the water and observed them. As it turned out, Zeo was doing well with chakra control and building up chakra well in his body. While Kyle did well, his gaining was slower than most-- while Mari had a steady gain as well. Out of all of them, Mari probably had the most natural control of their chakra control.

Yasha smiled as he saw their progress. "Okay, everyone," he said and clapped his hands to rattle their concentration. "That's enough of chakra control for now. On to our next routine."

As they all came out of their focus, they stood in attention. "Next will be Taijutsu training."

"YES!" Kyle shouted, showing no hesitation to his joy.

Zeo let out a light groan and frowned deeper as he realized it was his worst topic. As a child he had a more frailer frame, and always been more intellectual than physical to begin with. Mari picked up on that easily and just gave a reassuring look to him.

"Kyle, Zeo, would you please step up," Yasha asked.

Zeo watched as Kyle eagerly hopped up and grinned almost wickedly at Zeo-- having wanted to knock him around for a while now. "Is there any chance I can step down from this?" Zeo asked neutrally.

"Aww... is someone afraid of getting a boo-boo>?" Kyle mocked, teasing him a bit. "Come on, Zeo. You need to build up some muscle anyway."

Yasha shook his head. "You need to learn some basics and its part of your rehabilitation to be able to build up some muscle. Besides, you may be forced into a situation when you need to engage an enemy close up." he explained.

Zeo groaned a little as Kyle quickly entered a fighting stance, fists up and hopping back and forth on his heels. "Come on, blue-boy," he whistled, mocking the blue color of his attire. "Show me what you got."

Reluctantly, Zeo took up an open-handed fighting stance, one prepared for defense. The first blow came and already he was on the defensive-- but he soon tried to hold his own as the blow came up for him--- and Zeo moved to the left, and attempted to deliver a strong blow to Kyle's jaw.

(Training rolls: ALl brawn + quick learner)

The member 'Enjin' has done the following action : Destiny Roll

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'Dice 10' : 10, 9, 4, 1, 1, 6, 3

Zeo worked with Kyle to build up his natural endurance and strength, but it was not easy as Kyle was far stronger and more nimble in martial arts than Zeo. He constantly was kept at a disadvantage, all he could do was dodge and endure the assaults. And Kyle smirked as he delivered blows against his new friend. "Come on! You can do better than that. Hit me already!" he urged.

Zeo tried to make a shove motion-- pushing his weight into it as he tried-- though the same blow soon met with Zeo, and both took damage.

Kyle shook it off easily with a smug look and sneered. "Haha-- got"

Poof.

Zeo's form vanished, the body he hit disappearing.

"Huh?" Kyle gasped and looked-- and found Zeo sitting upon the grass against the hill. "Hey! Clones are cheating, ya faker!"

"Technically, there was no rule about using clones," Mari corrected, only causing Kyle to grumble as he leered at Zeo.

Yasha shook his head, clever but avoiding the topic issue. "You won't always be able to swap places with a clone, Zeo, but I will give you points for originality." he commented.

KYle glared away. "Sorry, " Zeo said to Kyle, "I just am better at range stuff than hand-to-hand."

"Whatever..." he grumbled, but it only made Mari chuckle.

"Well, then" Yasha asked as he turned to Zeo with his mask. "What kind of training do YOU prefer?" he asked. "Perhaps if we take an interest to a topic you like more."

Training: 3 brawn, 4 End.

The member 'Enjin' has done the following action : Destiny Roll

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'Dice 10' : 2, 5, 3, 5, 5, 8, 7

Zeo slowly stood up and brushed off his jacket from the ground. While yasha looked completely indifferent, he could tell his attention was upon him. "I... was curious about a particular branch i read about. Genjutsu," Zeo brought up, "The art of illusions for shinobi. Could you explain it to me?"

"Ooh? Genjutsu?" Mari asked, interested herself. "That's something we never worked on."

Yasha hummed, but with his mask, no one could read his true expression. "It is an advance idea of ninjutsu training, but It is important to discuss." At that time, he stepped off the log and walked across the water to them. He stepped onto the grass as his students gathered. "Naturally, Genjutsu means the art of illusion. It is a form of ninjutsu that works by affecting the target's senses. The chakra is used to transmit signals to disrupt or interrupt the target's perception. These can be achived by 5 traditional means." One by one, he raised a finger in turn as he explained. "Sight, Sound, Touch, Taste, and Smell. These senses run our universal senses of reality. Using Genjutsu, not only do we influence those sensations, but they are means to access the enemy's nervous system as well."

Zeo and Mari were inattention to the lesson-- though Kyle seemed to fidgit a bit, not really getting it. He rubbed his head, loss over the discussion of senes.

"Normally, it is extremely difficult to detect when you are under a genjutsu. The idea is for you to not notice it when you are under it. It takes skill to be aware of the change, let alone escape it," he explained. "There is, however, a good way to resist it. Through strength of mind and will, one can build a natural resistance to these forms of genjutsu. Even the strongest genjutsu will not work if the user is of sufficient clarity of mind. "

Mari was the first to speak up, curious. "Do you use Genjutsu, Yasha Sensei?" she asked.

"Heh, not to the degree we are talking of," he explained. "However, strong resistance of mind is needed for both casting Genjutsu-- to create the technique itself and to defend against it. I do know a couple I can show you. You're task will be to work to undo the Genjutsu yourself. It should be easy enough for you all.

Yasha made a hand sign before them. "The Genjutsu I will be putting you under is small, but it will mess with your senses. Work to try and undo it yourself." he said, "Ready?"

THe three students stood ready and waited, a slip of nervousness showing along their bodies about the idea of putting them under a genjutsu.

All Yasha did was lift his head up-- looking at them through his mask. The look seemed to impliment something.

.... and Zeo couldn't hear anything. A chill ran up his spine. The rabble of the river, the wind and leaves, the sound of Kyle's complaining... it all disappeared. Worried, he tried to snap his fingers, and couldn't hear his own snap.

A bit of panic formed in his soul-- he had gone deaf. For someone who loved music as much as he did, he hated the idea of losing his sense of hearing, even when he had swimmer's ear from swimming. However, there was no sound what so ever. His entire world was on mute.

He looked to Kyle and Mari--- Mari seemed disoriented as she looked around in mild worry, as if she had trouble seeing. Kyle was odd. He seemed composed but his mouth was sealed tight. It didn't open at all.

He would have grown more worried-- but he stopped. In his head, he could still 'hear' his own thoughts as he took a deep breath and made a hand sign.

"Release" he said, his own voice mute to him too.

LIke a flood gate-- sound came back to his brain. He heard everything beside him. The river, the birds chirping in the distance, and the odd muffled sounds of Kyle.

The Release technique was simple use of Genjutsu to disrupt chakra to undo it. IT was one of the most basic forms of Ninjutsu to have. He felt his own heartbeat settle to know he didn't go critically deaf.

"I can't see..." Mari muttered, trying to navigate her seemingly genjutsu blindness.

At first, Zeo felt compelled to release her, and was about to till Yasha rose a hand at him. "No, Zeo," he said firmly, "We must let them do it at their own pace-- unless it takes them more than a few minutes. They need to adjust to being under a genjutsu."

Zeo stopped and lowered his hands. THough he looked to Kyle-- who now seemed increasingly angry. At first, he didn't have a clue what kind of Genjutsu the boy was under-- till he saw his sealed mouth. Somehow Yasha cast a Genjutsu that made him unable to talk either by disconnecting the mental signals to his voice or by making his lower face muscles numb.

Either way it was clear KYle did not like it.

(Training rolls for All Sanity + Quick Learner)

The member 'Enjin' has done the following action : Destiny Roll

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'Dice 10' : 10, 2, 3, 1, 1, 7, 9

It took Mari a few minutes till she got her head on straight-- and used Release as well. It was at that moment, the glimmer returned to her eyes and her pupils adjusted to the light. "Whoh..." That really throws off your balance like that." she breathed, feeling her own heart jump.

"Trust me" Yasha interrupted in a matter of fact. "You're enemies will use much crueler tricks on your mind if they resort to Genjutsu. It is also possible to use it to force information out of enemies, like interrogation techniques."

"MMMMRRRPH!" Kyle cried out, his mouth still sealed shut. It had been over five minutes and now it was clear he didn't know how to release the genjutsu on himself. Pity was starting to settle in Zeo and Mari as they saw their teammate struggle.

"Sensei, Can we just release him?" Mari asked, "As much as I find this situation ironic, its starting to feel cruel."

Yasha paused as he looked at Kyle glare daggers at him. Even Zeo couldn't help but chuckle as how the  young shinobi tried to pry his mouth open but couldn't. He started acting like a mime, trying to express himself.

"... Very well," he said as he sighed, "I suppose it cannot be helped. Not everyone adjusts to Genjutsu easily." He turned to Zeo "Zeo, would you be so kind to release him?"

"Sure," the blue haired boy said as he walked over to Kyle. He made a single hand sign with one hand. "Release..." he said, and touched Kyle with the same hand sign.

A gasp escaped KYle as the jutsu was undone, and he glared at Yasha Sensei crossly. "DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!" he gasped, and then huffed in and out as if he had almost been choked.

"You lived, Kyle. " Yasha said calmly, despite Kyle's bad behavior. "Though I suggest you learn from this to not take your voice for granted.

Zeo had to admit, it was funny, even though he didn't smile or show any humor in it. "Can I learn that genjutsu, sensei?" he said, a half-joke to use if Kyle mouthed off again.

"OH, don't you F-ing dare!!" KYle shouted at Zeo, eager to punch him in the face for real.

From where he stood, Yasha smiled despite his mask on. "Very good, all of you," he said. "Though you have much room to grow and improve, I am certain the three of you will become a good squad. I will look forward to when we can start resuming missions. " He said, and turned to Zeo. "Zeo, do your best on your Genin exam. I'm sure someone of your intellect, it will come easy for you. "

"Understood," he replied without missing a beat.

"Alright," Yasha said calmly. "You're all dismissed. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon."

The moment Yasha dismissed them-- he vanished in a small spray of water. The three were left alone, the wind blowing past them as they realized their training was done. THough the training was a good distraction, Zeo felt a small bit of emptiness as he realized the plans for today was done. "I think I'll just head home. Thanks guys..." he said, and turned to leave.

"Why thank us," Kyle replied, "We didn't do anything."

As Zeo was about to step away, he felt Mari's hand on his shoulder. "Hold on, Zeo. Kyle and I were going to head over to Ichiraku Ramen's for lunch," she said, causing him to turn around. "Don't you want to come with us?"

"I wouldn't want to bother you." he replied.

"No bother at all," she urged. "We should try to spend more time together, so we can get to know one another more as a team. Besides, I-- I think its good you hang out a bit more than just stay at home. you know?"

Hesitation was in her words, but her intention was clear. She didn't want Zeo to just go home and brood-- and Zeo knew it. He looked at her and Kyle, both of them awaiting an answer from him. Slowly, he gave a light smile. "Sure... I suppose so."

"Fine," Kyle said with a smile. "Finally some training I can actually enjoy."

They soon began to head for the center part of Konoha. "Yeah, with all those noodles, maybe it will muffle your voice again." Zeo joked.

Mari giggled-- and Kyle fumed, almost knocking Zeo in the face with a sudden punch.

The End.