High Water Pass

A week passed, and it was noon since the day Masuyo wrapped up her mission with Kameko. She had requested Kameko to meet her at the stone yard at noon for a training session. Although Masuyo preferred missions due to their income there were some things not socially acceptable during one, such as training. Masuyo wanted to focus on showing Kameko unarmed techniques due to her rather lack of proficiency in self-defense measures. Masuyo's Taijutsu style was build for weaker, non-Taijutsu focused opponents to deal with their counterpart. In addition, she had other technique to show her as well as a general spar. Although Masuyo knew it would be a total landslide she would at least be satisfied in knowing Kameko would get some physical conditioning out of it.

Masuyo wore the standard gear most Shinobi in Iwagakure wear. Her footwear consisted of standard black sandals fitted for comfort and security. With the toes and heel left exposed they provided additional balance, while the rest of the foot up to the ankle was protected by the thick material of the sandal. The soles of the sandals are reinforced with hardened material to resist heavy impacts and wear. Fishnet tights draw from her feet all the way up the entire length of her legs designed to fit snugly and providing minimal warmth while still remaining breathable in hotter conditions. A pair of tight black shorts reach down nearly five inches above her knees. White bandage wrap is wrapped around her right thigh which has a navy blue holster strapped over. Around her waist she wears the basic utility belt which carries two green holsters on her right side along with a tool pouch around her back side and a canteen to the far left. She wears a red lapel on her left side extending down to her knee not interfering with her access to her tools.

A red top is worn with loose sleeves reaching down just a little past her elbows. This is reinforced with a brown leather flak jacket provided by Iwagakure's armory which serves as issued the issued armor. This is accompanied by an additional tool pouch which is wrapped around the abdomen facing the front instead of being on the rear. On both hands Masuyo wears a set of fingerless black gloves backed with small steel plates providing comfort and protection. Around her neck Masuyo wears her forehead protector as a collar. The black cloth is tied in a knot around the back side of her neck with the steel plate facing the front for identification. The steel plate has Iwagakure's emblem engraved on the front. Masuyo has straight black hair which extends down to her mid back. Two strands of hair drop down touching her chest which leads into her bangs which are cut shorter and swept to her right side. She stands at 5'9 weighing approximately 145 lbs. Her fair skin is complimented with her voluptuous form which is completed with a pair of hazel eyes.

Specific directions were mailed to Kameko's residence the day before, which suggested she left her house by ten in the morning to reach the training grounds by noon. Directions were simple. Head North upon entry to the Stone Yard for two hours. You can't miss it!" Of course this meant scaling the terrain and hiking through a rough environment. It was a ten kilometer hike. Assuming Kameko kept a good pace she would arrive on time. The Stone Yard was a large claim of land owned by Iwagakure. Despite being such a large claim it was dotted with outposts and skilled scouts to ensure enemies are not ambushing training groups within. If Kameko followed her directions accordingly she would see quite an appearance change in the landscape. It was still very much mountainous, though water and greenery was a lot more abundant. Being at a lower altitude the air was a bit warmer than usual. Normally around this season in Iwagakure the air was rather chilly in the day and cold at night. Being at a lower altitude it was a somewhat warm change.

A large reservoir of water was filled by several small waterfalls with one large one cascading down the higher mountains. The reservoir led to a small one through a small waterfall which began a river further down. This was one of the side rivers which ran into a much more major stream feeding water into the Land of Waterfalls. Masuyo enjoyed the sunlight as she humbly sat on the dirt several meters away from the major pool of water. There were lake trout, aquatic plants, pike, fine stones, and with a sharp enough eye and familiarity with the location or marine life in general, freshwater mussels. It was quite a habitat, though outside of the water was equally alive. Butterfly and dragonfly were a common sight as they were naturally attracted to the vitality of the land. It was very obvious this particular ground was highly underdeveloped by human civilization. Masuyo leaned up against a small, slate gray boulder. It was just large enough to be used as a back fresh. Before her she had three family-sized bags of potato chips. Teriyaki and mayo, seaweed, and sweet potato and onion. Those, along with a navy blue backpack which had other essential supply sat beside her. Between her thighs she held the first bag of potato chips upright and open allowing her ease of access. She had a separate canteen with her, one filled with fresh water from the falls. It was larger than the one she commonly carried used to hold large amounts of water for long treks.

Masuyo hummed to herself joyfully as she snacked on the potato chips enjoying the clean, wholesome environment. It was a nice time of day to unwind after her hike here. She would wait for Kameko to arrive.

Kameko was dressed a lot better today than she had been on her first impromptu mission in the marketplace of Iwagakure with Masuyo Kaede. She had on skintight black leggings that wrapped around the arch of her foot, leaving the toes and heel exposed. Her regular shinobi sandals were her choice of footwear for the day. For her torso, she had a compression wrap around her breasts with a long sleeved fishnet shirt over that. A somewhat low cut v-neck with a wide collar that was royal blue in color was on top of this. It fit loosely on Kameko, allowing some room for breathing. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail to keep it out of the way, just as she did when she was at the forge. She had on no weaponry pouches of any kind, but she was carrying a leather pack on her back that contained the assortment of weapons she had made in the week since that mission.

The genin followed the instructions that had been delivered to her, not minding the hike out to the directed area. She had gone to bed early and woke up early so that she could get there without hustling and tiring herself out, something she was glad to have done. A canteen of water bounced at her hip, half empty by the time she was getting to the almost picturesque training area Masuyo had picked out for them. Kameko stopped and took a few moments to appreciate the scenery, a smile coming to her lips. After a few seconds of gazing, she took a deep breath and began to look around for Masuyo.

She found her near the major pool of water around the same level of altitude that Kameko had come in from. That was good for her, because climbing down stuff wasn't exactly her favorite thing to do. A few carefully placed steps down a small but nasty hill brought her to Masuyo's level and within walking distance. Kameko began to approach her sensei, holding her hand up and waving while keeping her pace to a walk. When she got to Masuyo, she'd stop and loop her thumbs in the straps of her pack's straps. "Well, I made it. What'd we come all the way out here for?"

It was to her own surprise that Kameko arrived on time. Masuyo always saw her as a low-motivation kind of girl given her first impression. She was dressed appropriate for the occasion, dressing light for the hike and training session. As Masuyo saw Kameko come over the hill she began rolling up the bag of potato chips, now half empty, and setting it aside. Wetting her hands with her water she washed up a bit before standing upright as Kameko greeted herself. "For training, of course!" Masuyo exclaimed with energy in her tone. "I have a few things I want to teach you here before we get to the combat portion. I chose this environment in particular because I want to get you used to a variety of different places you may find yourself fighting on. A gymnasium or paved, level landscape does little to prepare you for the real world. But the location aside, I will begin this by teaching you a very essential technique. It's a Taijutsu technique. Given your skill focus and frail frame I do not expect you to be a heavily invested fighter, however that does not mean you will always be out of harm's way."

Masuyo began to pace towards Kameko casually where she began circling her like a shark. She would stroll while gazing off into the scenery before her. "A person who dedicates themselves to Taijutsu or Kenjutsu will invest a lot of their training into speed. This allows them to pursue their opponent and fight in their favorable field. Most long distance fighters who are unprepared fail to have a remedy for this. I devised a simple Taijutsu style which is easily learned by anybody. It involved using the aggression of the attacker to your advantage. Your goal is to shift their attacking momentum into a throw or body slam. It requires great coordination and understanding where to grab to maximize the impact of the throw." Masuyo dug into her back hip pouch and revealed a small scroll. It was a manual for the style she intended to teach Kameko. The seal on the face of the scroll read "Judo."

Masuyo extended her hand offering the scroll to Kameko. "I want you to be on the offense for this training. You won't learn anything if I slam you into the earth all day, and you won't be learning anything for a while if I did. Read over the manual, learn some of the basic throwing technique, and then let me know when you're ready. When you're ready, I will simulate an oncoming attack. I'll hold back my speed just a bit so you get familiar with an aggressive attacker." Stopping her pacing as she stood in front of Kameko she backed up back against the boulder leaning against it slightly as she crossed her arms allowing Kameko to read the manual in peace.

Kameko took the scroll and opened it, turning it different directions to try and get a better grasp on some of the things outlined in it. She wasn't really that good at taijutsu and had a difficult time learning the Arhat Fist during her time at the academy. It had taken her years to advance past the novice stage, so Masuyo wanting her to learn this one so quickly wasn't exactly something that could be done. She instructed Kameko to take a stance so that she could try one of the throws listed on the scroll, but Kameko wasn't entirely sure that she'd be able to come remotely close to pulling that off without being shown the basics by Masuyo.

"Um... Actually, could we hold off on the training for a bit? I wanted to get your opinion on a few things that I made the last week and I'm afraid I'll forget to ask if I don't now," she explained as she rolled up the scroll and set it on the ground gingerly. Kameko slipped her pack off of her back, not waiting to see if Masuyo said yes to her question or not. Showing her her first decent weapons that Kameko had crafted by herself and weren't a copy of somebody else's work had taken priority in her mind. Such a stubborn girl, she was.

First, Kameko would produce her largest item made; her bronze hatchet. The handle was bound in simple cloth, and it was top-heavy as any non-throwing ax should be. "I made this as a test to see how I'd have to make an actual ax so I can cut my own wood instead of having to buy it at the store all the time." As she was saying this, she produced her second item; the bronze thin bladed knives with similarly bound hilts that she had come up with. Kameko produced one of these and handed it to Masuyo, holding it by the blade. Kameko thought it was pretty obvious what it was for, as having such a thin blade was bad for direct combat. Even she knew that.

"And then I made a few of these, too," she said while pulling out a couple of her final items. They were bronze shuriken that had eight points instead of the normal four, but retained the same weight as a shuriken did by being slightly thinner. They were slightly more aerodynamic that way too, making them good for longer throws that need that extra couple meters to hit their mark. Kameko handed these over to Masuyo, waiting to hear what she had to say. The weapons weren't the best quality, but they were only her first real forays into crafting by herself. She was positive her next set of creations would be better than these.

Masuyo waited patiently as Kameko studied the material. She was willing to give her a lot of time to practice. It was a bold fighting style for those not proficient in Taijutsu to pick up. Usually Shinobi who avoid close quarters combat still have a tendency to flinch. By enforcing them to learn a Taijutsu style that involved clashing directly with an experienced user would be a difficult feat to encourage. After a bit of silence, as Masuyo was gazing off into the sky with her head turned to the side, Kameko spoke. Immediately grabbing her attention she turned to face the girl, however her words were not what she wanted to hear. She asked if she could review a few items she made during their week break. With that header alone Masuyo assumed they were of shabby quality. She was curious as to why Kameko decided to carry those experimental tools all the way out here in the first place. Had she planned to show her the first thing? Were these tools really of much importance to her? She did not know. Masuyo, however, was an expert in Taijutsu and Bukijutsu. She was highly proficient in how tools are incorporated in close quarters combat, how tools are used most effectively, and general weakness in armor. Whatever Kameko had, she was prepared.

The first item out of the bag was a small hatchet. Masuyo's first reaction was a smirk. No so much for the quality, but more-so the tool design itself. "A hatchet? Well...you'll want something more suited for the job, like a felling ax. A hatchet would do poor work against anything larger than a sapling. And against a mature hardwood tree you'll have a bad time. Especially with bronze." Masuyo was generally not a fan of axes. They were unwieldy to use. She would much rather prefer a large club or cleaver. The next set of items were thin blades, again, made of bronze. Actually being offered one she took it and examined it closely. The edge was...alright. It could certainly shave as she felt by grazing her thumb over the bladed end. They were tapered to a fine point which was useful for thrusting, though Masuyo would be much more comfortable using it as a carving knife. The thin blade made it perform easier at tasks that involved cutting light material. It would make for a decent field knife, where a kunai would be better suited for combat, this could be used to prepare caught fish, caught delicate material, and the like. Still, the bronze did bother her.

Masuyo was offered one final product, Masuyo switching her knife into a reverse grip allowing her to pinch the shuriken between her fingers. The reddish orange color was beginning to bother her as all of these tools were made out of bronze. "Eight points? Seems a bit excessive. The wound size is determined by the diameter of the shuriken. The more points distributes the energy of the shuriken when it makes contact with the target between all points making the impact more shallow, or more easily to be caught in armor. If you can throw a shuriken correctly, four points is all you need. It allows maximum accurate and penetration. Now I have a question: Why did you choose bronze?
Sure you don't have to worry about rust, but it's an awful material to use in this age. With iron and steel making being mainstream, bronze has fallen off the list.
There's a reason why it's so cheap,despite iron being so much more abundant. It's a discontinued metal. I suggest you don't use it if you want anybody to take your wares seriously."

Masuyo set the shuriken and thin blade aside on top of the boulder. She would intertwine her fingers and extend her arms in a classic knuckle crack as the Jounin prepared her body for combat. Subtle changes in her stance began to take place as her feet worked to get spacing, arms changing position, and body becoming more vigorous. "Well, that aside, I hope you remembered what you looked over!" Masuyo would say before eagerly springing out at Kameko. She forgot to hold back, but in a way it could act as punishment for her behavior. If she failed to react, she would suffer a solid set of knuckles to her sinus. It was a direct punch with her body thrown into it. She practically handed Kameko the victory if she acted right under pressure.

Kameko nodded, paying attention to Masuyo's comments on her weapons. She appeared to like the knife better than any of the rest of what she had made, though she kept commenting on them being bronze and eventually asked why she had chosen to use it instead of iron. Kameko would answer this honestly, as there was really only one reason. "I used bronze because I hadn't forged anything on my own yet and didn't want to ruin perfectly good iron." Kameko grinned at this. "I've knocked the rust off though, so I think I'll start on making some iron weapons tomorrow. Any special orders," she asked, hoping that she might get the cost of materials out of Masuyo as well as her first official job as a blacksmith.

Assuming Masuyo replied before continuing with the spar as planned, Kameko would take whatever answer she gave but would react positively if her sensei actually placed an order. Either way, once Masuyo announced that it was time for the spar to begin, Kameko would quickly move all her items out of the way before coming up to guard against Masuyo. The scroll hadn't detailed many striking techniques, and the ones that were there sounded like they were for show. Everything was directed at manipulating an opponent to use their body weight against them and then throw them. An enemy on the ground was easy to kill, especially when you've got control of some part of their body already.

Kameko placed her fight foot ahead of her left, just enough to put her stance off-center from Masuyo. She kept on the balls of her feet, recognizing that aspect from basic shinobi hand to hand combat taught in the academy. Her feet were kept shoulder-width apart, and her arms came up in front of her at an almost vertical angle with her palms open and facing in. She bent her knees a bit, doing her best to mimic the first stance she had read about on that scroll and the only one she really remembered very well. Basic would have to do for today.

"Special orders? From me? Well...I can assure you I do wish for some armor and a wide variety of weapons in the future. Although I'm a fan of disposable tools I would love some reliable weapons of war in my arsenal. Unfortunately, I need these to be rather great in quality. I'll tell you what, though.
You do well in this training session and I'll give you a little bonus for some material you can practice with. Once you improve your ability, I will buy some of your wares." Alas, Masuyo had little time for stalling the training session much longer. She held her initial charge since she did ask a question, and it was not taken as a rhetoric. But now it was time, as the two wasted what felt to be ten minutes of discussing shabby tools. She charged the girl just as she initially planned, with a very linear, dedicated swing to the girl's face. As mentioned before, one would have to be a fool to fall for such a basic attack.

Masuyo covered the distance between the two no problem. With her arm cocked back she forwarded a straight punch along the Genin's face. Her knuckles, to what Kameko could feel were very masculine and hardened, buried deep in the facial bone just before the side of her nasal cavity. Masuyo had no intentions of holding back her strength as much as she did her speed. The knock on the face would send the girl collapsing over onto her back. It would leave an obvious and painful bruise to grow the next day. Masuyo stood upright as Kameko's feet with both arms on her waist."What was that? You didn't even try to move. Even I know you're better than that. Get up and try again." Masuyo turned the other way and paced back to towards the boulder. This time she sprung herself up and sat up top. "For that basic type of approach you are better off using an over shoulder toss. Grab my wrist and start directing my momentum down. As I get close enough push from under my elbow. The pressure to the joint will force my body to be under your influence. From there you just direct my body into the ground. It should feel like nothing."

Masuyo slid off the boulder as she was back on both feet again. Patting her butt off she did a quick stretch before resuming the same position she did in the first place. "I'll be doing the same thing, so be ready this time." Being set she charged at Kameko once again following the same exact methods as last time. She even aimed at the same place, meaning if Kameko failed to deflect this blow it would be twice as painful as it was the first, and perhaps even break her skin.

Kameko got rekt.


Stunned from the punch she had forgotten to block, Kameko didn't initially feel the pain. Then the throbbing started a couple seconds after she hit the ground spread eagle. Masuyo said something but she wasn't paying much attention.Ow. Her mind was blank except for that one thought. Her hand moved to her face and touched the tender flesh gingerly which only served to send a fresh flare of pain through her face. It was already swelling, and she was pretty sure she tasted blood. Her head was pounding from hitting the ground too. This was already turning into something she wished she had chosen to forget about to continue on in the forge. That was where she was most comfortable, or when she was making candy and other concoctions with other members of her clan.

"... the ground. It should feel like nothing." Kameko blinked repeatedly to clear her vision which had become a little blurred from her head smacking the ground, the throbbing dying down a little bit. She wasn't exactly good at taking punches it seemed. She'd never really been big on fighting, actually. Truly, there was no reason for her to even be a shinobi, but here she was. Kameko rolled over onto her hands and knees and pushed herself into a standing position before turning to face Masuyo. Her sensei said she was going to do the same thing again as Kameko readied herself much the same way as before. She was a bit wobbly on her feet, but shit happens when you get punched in the face. "Hm? Yeah, okay, sure," she mumbled in response to Masuyo saying she was going to do that again.

Masuyo charged and Katsumi would do the toss she vaguely remembered Masuyo saying something about while she was dazed on the ground. Katsumi grabbed her wrist and pulled it towards her shoulder as she pivoted to bring her other hand up underneath Masuyo's elbow. She continued with this pivot, pulling her sensei's arm over her own body and driving her shoulder into Masuyo's chest to provide additional strength and leverage to accomplish the toss. If it went off okay, Masuyo would wind up on her back with Kameko in control of one of her arms via holding onto her wrist. When she got it done though, Kameko would fall on her ass as her head spun. She had done a bit too much too fast after taking a hard knock to the noggin like that. Kameko let go of Masuyo's hand as she fell, holding the sides of her head instead to try and calm the feeling of vertigo mixed with the world spinning. "Whoa, head rush. That wasn't fun."

To Masuyo's surprise, Kameko executed the technique rather flawlessly. Her performance was on part with the Chuunin she trained doing her class lessons. Having her body being guided by Kameko she was tossed over her shoulder and driven into the solid earth. With a preemptive exhale and slight padding added from her jacket she was quite alright. "Omph..." She all the escaped the Jounin's mouth as she was slammed into the ground. It was easy to recover from, but still an unpleasant experience. However, that was what Masuyo wanted. She wanted to conditional Kameko in this defensive style so she could lay some hurt of Shinobi her level and above. Masuyo did not know how much Kameko was going to grow, but this technique would stay with her and continue to be of service. "I have to say, that kinda hurt. You're a lot stronger than you look when you use that technique." Though following that, Kameko fell on her behind. She was still light headed from before, and exerting herself did not quite help it.

Masuyo sat upright in front of Kameko who was still recovering from her symptoms. "You seem somewhat proficient with the fighting style already, so I will just leave you with the manual to go with. No need to make sure you know every single one. That's enough of Taijutsu for now. I have another technique I want to show you. Here, get on your feet." Masuyo said, standing up herself. "I feel like it's time for you to learn some defensive Ninjutsu. This is a hair-related Ninjutsu, which means it's something you will always have on you. Since it doesn't require any particular hand seals it's best used in a pinch. And don't worry, your hair regenerates with the technique's use." Masuyo turned the other way to face a lone tree in the valley. It was a mere five meters away, which made it an excellent target. "Observe: You can either fire individual strands..." Masuyo said as her black hair became animated.

The ends of it faced the tree as strands began firing out rapidly in a hail of fury. Within moments, the tree's trunk was pin-cushioned in black hair. "...or let them REALLY have it!" She exclaimed as thicker, longer strands of hair began firing out like solid spikes as they bombarded the tree. Letting her chakra at ease her hair receded back to normal length. "Now you try."


(For the record: Taught Kameko "Gentle Way" and currently teaching Hair Needle Senbon.)

"Yeah... proficient, sure," Kameko muttered when Masuyo expressed her opinion being of that nature. Her sensei went on to say that she intended to teach Kameko some defensive ninjutsu and stood up, apparently not shaken in any way from Kameko's throw. As Masuyo was describing what the ninjutsu was, Kameko would stagger back to her feet and face the tree that her sensei was facing. It was going to be the target for this exercise it seemed. Without even a handseal, Masuyo's hair began to bristle and obey the command of the Iwagakure jonin. Small strands fired out at first, peppering the tree's surface with tiny quills that really didn't look like they could hurt that much individually.

However, when Masuyo got serious the quills increased greatly in size and became more akin to actual spikes than strands of hair. These spikes buried themselves halfway into the tree, showcasing their sharpness and power. Kameko had to admit, she was somewhat impressed. From the looks of it, this was a somewhat low level ninjutsu though not quite as weak as some of the stuff genin usually learn right out of the academy. This one was actually capable of hurting somebody, and perhaps even lightly armored targets. Once her sensei had finished and told Kameko to try, the genin's brow would furrow slightly in concentration as she analyzed and thought about what had just happened in front of her and how to best replicate its effects.

"Hmmmm, do I just flow chakra into my hair and will it to fire or is there some kind of special trick I need to do in order to learn this," Kameko inquired, not wanting to waste chakra failing miserably at the jutsu if she could help it. She was a smart girl but still needed to work on her perceptive capabilities, as brains could only get you so far if you weren't capable of perceiving how exactly something functioned. Once her question was answered, Kameko would attempt the jutsu as instructed and with the additional information should any present itself.

Kameko clasped her hands in front of her chest with her forearms parallel with the ground to aid her in focusing her chakra. She wasn't a ninjutsu expert by any means and wasn't quite skilled enough to focus her chakra for ninjutsu without needing some kind of hand action to help focus her chakra. Even if the technique didn't need a seal, making some kind of seal would help her in her first attempts. Kameko sent chakra into her hair, causing it to bristle and break out of the ponytail she had put it in. Too much, I guess, she thought as the sound of the band holding her hair up snapping caused her to flinch and lose focus. She cocked her head to the left to pop her neck before redoubling her efforts and focusing harder on the technique. Again, her beautiful blonde hair bristled like Masuyo's had. Kameko willed the hair to fire at the tree, and much to nobody's surprise... she failed miserably.

The first strands fired but lost their momentum when they reached around the halfway point of the five meters and the strands were floating to the ground by the time they got to the general vicinity of the tree. Kameko snorted in disgust and folded her arms across her chest as she meditated on what she had to do in order to get this to work. After a couple seconds she would speak. "Well, that sucked. Any idea what I did wrong?" This was directed at Masuyo, of course.

Masuyo nodded in response to Kameko's initial concern. "That is correct. This is a hair-based Ninjutsu. You want to draw your chakra not to your head, but your scalp. Doing your head would simple be a waste of energy. Your hair follicles are embedded in your scalp and only go skin-deep. This is your target for the technique." Masuyo had hoped she laid out the basics of the technique for Kameko to give it a go. She was uncertain on her proficiency with Ninjutsu, only knowing so much as she was capable of crafting shabby bronze tools, and could chew up adolescent boys quite well when enraged. She certainly had potential to end up being quite handy. Masuyo remembered the message one of the Tsuchikage's assistants gave to her assigning Kameko as her Genin. She was curious as to why he explicitly mentioned any sort of rebellious behavior, and to detain her if such problems arise. Whatever his concerns were, they were hers as well. She had no desire to question them directly, more-so ponder them herself in her spare time. Masuyo was a servant of the Tsuchikage first, a unit for Iwagakure second, and a friend third. As long as things were going swell, she could warm up to Kameko.

Just as that moment flashed she snapped out of her daydreaming of a ramen dinner to the sight of Kameko's hair rising. Goosebumps covered her body as she was about to hopefully witness the Genin unleash fury on the tree. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Her failure was followed by a question as to what she did wrong. Masuyo stayed silent, eyes peering into the tree and over Kameko as she stroked her chin. "You should take it slowly. Animating your hair should be the first step, which you seemed to have covered. Get your ends to face the tree. Since you're relatively new with the whole chakra thingy, try firing your hair out in bursts. Take the time to muster your chakra and 'shock' your scalp with it. You should be able to fire small volleys of hair needles. Don't try a continuous rapid fire until you're comfortable with the technique like I am." Masuyo had remembered her chips from earlier. She still had two more family sized bags to devour. She would dishonor herself if she had to bring them back to Iwagakure.

Kameko nodded at Masuyo's instruction, noting what she'd have to do mentally as it was explained to her. Her mind worked quickly with the information given to her, and she was pretty sure that she could figure out what she needed to do in order to learn this ninjutsu. When Masuyo was done she would give a final nod before replying. "Alright, I think I can do that." She wasn't exactly confident in her tone, but she didn't sound unsure of herself either. Again she would clasp her hands together to help her focus her chakra. This time, she focused on getting her hair scalp completely under control first before trying to rush the firing of the technique.

Her hair bristled more sharply than before, and after a second she managed to divert her hair into facing the tree with the razor sharp needles. She focused on big ones for now, figuring that firing clumps of chakra was easier than firing numerous smaller pins of hair like Masuyo had done at first. With that mentality, Kameko would do as her sensei had instructed and fired a burst of her hair rather than attempting a continuous stream. The large needles of hair fired forward, thudding into the tree with less impact than Masuyo's had behind them. Still though, they had gotten to the tree and stuck into it. Kameko blinked, adjusting the balance of chakra she was flowing into her scalp after witnessing what her current amount had done.

That done, the young Amandi fired another burst, and then two more immediately after that. All of them connected with the tree with around equal force to her first successful volley. Alright, alright, I think I got this down, she thought confidently. With that self assurance, Kameko finally attempted her second try at a continuous assault. This time, her sharp hair managed to keep up with her demand and she unleashed a three second assault on the tree before stopping the flow of chakra and shedding the excess hair caused by the technique. She also noticed how much stamina it took her to accomplish that feat, and was almost appalled at how tired she now was compared to before. "Well," she said while putting her hands on her hips and looking at Masuyo, "did I do good?"




Techs learned so far: Gentle Way, Hair Needle Senbon

Masuyo watched Kameko, studiously as she used her brain to execute the technique, rather than brawn using trial and error. Masuyo wanted to shape the girl into being a productive Kunoichi on Iwagakure. After her presentation of the bronze tools she concluded that she was rather set on being a craftsman. Although she would support this, Kameko had to be a functional fighter before she could advance. For now, though, it looked like Kameko was well off knowing her defensive Taijutsu and now the hair technique. Masuyo smiled as she clapped her hands together cheerfully. "The Hair Needle Senbon technique can be used without gesture, meaning if you find yourself in a tight situation where your hands and arms are unavailable, you can always stick something with a volley of needles or skewer them with your spikes." Reaching into her back pocket she retrieved a thick bundle of ryo. It was a solid 20,000 ryo in bills held together in a single, dingy red rubber band. She handed the wad of cash over to the blonde, who stood proudly before her.

"Here's twenty-thousand ryo. I'm going to be busy for the next month or so. Because of that, I won't be able to train with you or take you on any missions. Use this as an allowance to hone your crafting skills. I have a list of items I need crafting, however I will not accept them under any grade other than exceptional. When I believe you're a worthy craftsman I will give you my order. Until then, I'll see you around. Be safe and stay working hard!" In a small puff of smoke Masuyo vanished from the training ground. She had a long ways to hike back. It would be the evening until she actually got within village limits.

[Exit]

Kameko just looked at the wad of cash that Masuyo handed her. This was enough to buy... a lot of material. With what she already had... she could learn a lot in that time. "Alright, uh, yeah, I can definitely get to work on improving my crafting abilities. Don't have to tell me twice there," she said, still a bit surprised at the down payment for future work. Little did Masuyo know, this early kickstart would likely save the jonin a lot of money in the future, whether from just the items themselves or with the enchantments Kameko planned on being able to utilize once she was more than an apprentice at her crafts. Kameko would follow her sensei out, brimming with ideas to try out.



[exit]