Rise

With Shin still gone attending the Summit, Mitsu had more time to think about how she was going to deal with Chen. She had not forgotten the command and the threat that Chen had issued in that conference room.

"You haven't seen me angry yet Mitsukira. I will take everything that you love and turn it into ash. Don't you ever disobey a direct order from me. For Masaru's sake, I'll give you a chance to reconsider. If Shin isn't off your squad before the Summit ends....there will be consequences"

She hadn’t replied to him then or since. The answer was still a firm ‘no’, but she hadn’t had the guts to tell him yet. She knew what would happen when she said it and she wasn’t yet ready. If she was very, very lucky. . . Chen might let her live. Although considering what he had promised her in the throne room, letting her live was probably a curse. If she didn’t die by his hand then she would most certainly suffer under it. She didn’t know entirely what the angry man was capable of - but she’d seen and felt enough to believe him about there being consequences.

During that same meeting Mitsukira had also offered herself up as a place for Chen to channel his rage, just so that he would leave the people of Iwagakure alone. She still held true to her offer, even though she was terrified of what it meant. She already had one scar from tangling with the Dark One, she didn’t relish the idea of gaining more. She did understand that if it was part of the Grand Design, then it was meant to be. That thought gave her a small amount of comfort in the face of her fear. She did believe wholeheartedly in her ‘nindo’ as Chen called it, but that didn’t stop her from feeling a reasonable amount of fear in the face of potential torment. She still had not figured out what he meant by ‘making her a mindless puppet’, or what the weapon was that he had stabbed her with. She had meant to do some research on it, but she didn’t have a lot to go on. She could hardly go to the library and ask for books about purple eyes, angry men and black rods. It seemed silly to even think about it, let alone say it out loud.

Before Shin had left for the Summit she had visited him and they had had a long talk. While most of her talking had been crying, he had been nothing but supportive and patient with her. She had described him as kind at the time, but he had insisted that he was no kinder than anyone else, that what he was doing was what any decent human would. She still disagreed with him in spirit, but she had let the matter rest at the time. To her, Shin was her rock and during that conversation had inspired her. It had been a very long time since anyone had believed in her capabilities, and Shin did. And so while she didn’t know what new hell to expect from the coming confrontation with Chen, she did think she should prepare herself as best as she knew how.

She had waited until after dark before heading out to the Stone Yard. Partly because she didn’t want an audience or to run into anyone, but mostly because her true strength came with darkness. Born with albinism Mitsukira had always been less physically competent during the day. Her eyes let in too much light and affected her vision, which in turn affected everything else. Her balance, her dexterity and even her speed were hampered as a result of the overstimulation of her optic nerves. It had made training at the Academy in Sunagakure during the day very difficult and had led to her less than stellar marks. She was competent enough, but had never been considered a strong fighter. Also none of her teachers had ever trained or tested her specifically at night. It was how she moved so nimbly through the Great Chang Mountains after dark, or how she could navigate any building or terrain with ease even in pitch black. Her eyes let in all available light, which was a horrifying concept on a sunny day, but at midnight in the Stone Yard? It was perfect. Unfortunately they also shone as they reflected light for her, an unfortunate side effect of her blessing in disguise, similar to how a cat's eyes shine in darkness. While on missions she was able to use her advanced eyesight to great effect, and paired with her lifetime of dancing she was remarkably stealthy.

So it was a simple matter for Mitsukira to make her way to the back of the Stone Yard undetected, just to ensure that she was correct she activated her Sensory and saw no one within it’s 500 meter range as she moved, and before she began she moved and ensured there was no one around within at least two kilometers. ‘Perfect. The last thing I need is an uninvited guest.’ Mitsu already had the techniques she was about to practice memorized, a simple task for someone with her intelligence. Mitsu was often underestimated and it came as a surprise to most that someone as intelligent as her was so. . . simple. But she had learned that it was better to allow people to continue to underestimate her, it gave her a very slight advantage should she need to fight anyone. It was how she had almost won her fight with Chen, he simply hadn’t expected her to fight back at all, or if he had expected it then he was a better actor than she gave him credit for.

She could see perfectly well in the moonless dark and began her training. The first set of techniques were Raiton based, a gift from the Kazekage for her successful diplomatic mission to Iwagakure. A mission that was still ongoing, as it seemed that alliances were much like friendships and required constant upkeep and attention to ensure they lived on. This set she decided not to actually perform, rather going through the motions over and over again, visualizing the attacks in her mind’s eye. While she was well hidden, she wouldn’t be for long if she lit up the black sky with various lightning techniques. The first one, Chidori, was the parent to the others in the set and she had to master that first before she could move on to the others. While usually it would require five hand seals; Monkey, Dragon, Rat, Bird and Ox - in her case she was able to perform lightning based techniques without the use of hand seals. By simply willing lightning chakra to coalesce around her hand she would be able to empower her hand to become a lethal weapon. She knew that this technique was also incredibly loud, like the sound of thousands of birds or so it was named. She knew she would have to use it some time when she wasn’t worried about being interrupted in order to hear it. She wondered if maybe it could be used in a song.

The rest in the set; Chidori Senbon, Chidori Current and Chidori Sharp Spear were all offshoots of the first technique she trained. They all relied on having the parent technique, Chidori, active first. From there she would be able to manipulate the lightning in multiple ways. The first transformation was that of a Senbon, which unsurprisingly was exactly what it sounded like. The ball of lightning would transform into countless sharp senbon that she could aim and fire at enemies. The second was more of an area of effect attack, she could channel the Chidori energy through her entire body instead of just her hand and from there release it in a wide radius or over a long distance as long as there was a connected surface from her to her target. The third transformation turned the Chidori chakra into a long spear made of lightning which she could then use as a typical spear. Mitsukira was well trained in various weapon styles and although she favoured her fans, she was confident that she could adapt a spear to her fighting style.

After she was finished perfecting how those four techniques would work, she moved on to things that she could more easily practice under cover of darkness. Multi-Shadow Clone Technique was the next on her mental list and probably the one she was most excited about. While she could see how it would be very useful in combat, it was not for a fight that she desperately wanted to learn the technique. Mitsu was primarily a dancer at heart and while dancing solo was fun and all, she had always imagined how much fun it would be to have a large troupe of dancers with her. Having already mastered Shadow Clone Jutsu, it was fairly intuitive to leap to this new technique. She wanted to create hundreds, and she probably could have, but she needed to keep things quiet for now so she started with ten clones. Each clone would only have .1 chakra so they wouldn’t be able to do much, but it was a start to what would eventually become her Travelling Dance Troupe Extraordinaire. Forming the Tiger hand seal she had ten identical copies of herself poof into existence beside her, she walked around them all as they all smiled and their eyes shone slightly. ’Oh yes, this will be incredibly fun.’ She would have loved to keep them all but eleven sets of shining eyes was not subtle. Unless you were in the desert, and then it probably meant that you should run since you were about to be attacked by a pack of hyenas.

She spent a good amount of time dancing with her new clones, and of course since they were all actually her, they danced in perfect synchronicity. She discovered that her vocal range was larger than she thought and between the eleven of them they were able to harmonize a quiet tune to go along with the dancing. After a while she decided to move on to different techniques, as much fun as it was to have so many copies of herself she had come out here for a purpose other than practicing dance moves. She still needed the clones however, so she didn’t dismiss them just yet, she had them all have a seat on the ground and relax while she worked on the next part of her training. A lightning technique known as Raikiri, an enhanced form of Chidori and one that she knew she needed before she moved on to further techniques. Forming three hand seals; Ox then Rabbit and then Monkey, a ball of lightning would form in Mitsu’s hand. She knew that this version of the fabled Chidori was incredibly deadly as with a mere touch it could paralyze even the most hardy of opponents. And this was where the clones came in.

One of the Mitsu clones would stand and perform the same three hand seals; Ox, Rabbit and Monkey, and then between the two of them the lightning would chain together. It created an elemental weapon that Mitsu understood to be powerful enough to cut clean through a tailed beasts’ chakra arms without too much trouble. There were no tailed beasts around to attempt this on, not that Mitsu would even if there were any present. Just as much as she had her place in the Grand Design, so did Bijuu and who was she to attempt to disrupt it? Lightning Transmission was a powerful technique, but it did require a fair amount of concentration and focus and no small amount of coordination. She could see it being useful, but it hardly seemed like the type of technique that she would pull out on a regular basis. This seemed like a technique specifically created to combat large creatures that there was no other way of stopping. Like a Bijuu. Of course.

Once she was satisfied with the technique and felt like she now understood its practical applications as well as the more subtle requirements, Mitsu would dismiss her clones with a cheerful wave of her hand and return to focusing on her continuing training. The next technique she wanted to train was one from her homeland of the Land of Wind. Appropriately named after the land it hailed from, next on the list was Blade of Wind. It, like many of the techniques she had trained so far, was quite literal in its naming. Requiring no hand seals, she simply channeled her fuuton chakra into her fingertips which created a nearly invisible blade made of wind chakra. She knew that with a single movement it could easily cut down those who stood in her way, she also knew that it would do more than just a clean slice. The technique left the opponent mutilated, not merely injured. As she stood marveling at the blade she began to understand something about humans and power.

It seemed that it wasn’t enough to just stop someone. Utter destruction seemed the main point of these powerful techniques. As though the people that created them thought that there was no other option than complete annihilation. She didn’t see that in the natural world very often. Occasionally you could argue that nature was cruel and merciless - but even at those times Mitsu didn’t think so. When a tsunami came to destroy a coastal town it seemed as though the Universe was cold and uncaring, and perhaps even malicious. But she knew of towns where that had occurred, where families had been torn apart, townspeople killed in the storms and whole communities destroyed overnight. It had been terrible and heart wrenching, and of course she had cried for those that were lost. But over the years you could see evidence of the Grand Design amidst the loss and destruction. Survivors would need to band together to carry on, other towns would come in and assist. New friendships, new alliances and even new families would come from that. Yes the initial tragedy was horrible, but from it came such beauty that it was impossible not to see the Weave of the Universe in every smile and embrace.

In these techniques though, she saw none of that. She saw no greater purpose, no Grand Design. Because of course it wasn’t there, these techniques were created by humans and not by the Universe. She, just like all before and all after, was merely human and could not fathom the mysteries of the Weave and the Universe. All she could hope for was to honour the Grand Design by playing her part in it. She was a cog, a puzzle piece, a single thread in the never ending Weave of the Grand Design and she was comfortable with that. What she was not comfortable with was the attempt to alter the fabric of the Universe. She did not hold it against the original creators of these techniques, but it was easy to understand why they were no longer around. Having made some techniques herself, she knew that eventually even she would traverse beyond into the arrogant, and she would fall. If she wasn’t careful. With a heavy sigh Mitsu would dismiss the Blade of Wind technique, lean back on one of the large stones in the Stone Yard and look up at the dark sky. There was almost nothing to look at, the moon was hidden in shadow and the stars seemed far away, but still she looked up and spoke in her mind. ‘I will find my place yet. I know there’s a plan for me and that as long as I endure I will find it. You’ve never led me astray yet, and I don’t expect you ever will. But I still worry. I do believe, but I worry that I’m not strong enough, that somehow I’ll stumble off the path. I try to do what I think is right but it always leads to more violence. And I don’t know how to stop it.’ Mitsu would bring her hands to her face and rest her forehead in her palms. It felt as though the weight of the world held her down, like she was drowning in a sea of turmoil and had used up the last of her air. ‘It always feels like I’m failing. Is this my lot? Am I to always be the prey? I can accept that as long as I know that is what I’m supposed to be doing. At some point, you know when you have time, I need a sign. I need something to show me that I’m walking the right path.’ She knew that the Universe was not a person, but it was the only way she could understand to communicate with it. ‘Well, I’m not going to get a sign just sitting around doing nothing. So come on feet, let’s get moving.’

Lifting her head up to the sky once more, Mitsu pushed herself back to standing and shook her arms and legs vigorously for a moment, readying herself for more training. She laughed quietly to herself as she realized that the next one was more thematically appropriate at that moment than she had counted on. Sennō Sōsa no Jutsu, or as it was more likely to be referred to as; Memory-Concealing Manipulative Sand Technique. The technique's sole purpose was to seal away memories. It’s main applications were in the realm of spycraft, but as a healer Mitsu could see the value of the technique in other areas other than infiltrating an enemy camp through subterfuge. She had known some people, very recently because of the war, that had memories that were so painful they no longer had the will to carry on. She had met one such man while trying to evacuate the civilians with Chen during the battle for Karifornia Island. It was memories of times spent inside his family home that nearly got him killed that day. First by an unusual suggestion by Chen, and then inevitably the man would have died in the aftermath of the falling air ships. If she had had this technique then, it might have been useful in that she could have let him decide to repress those for a time, long enough to get him to safety. As it was, it had been unnecessary as he had changed his mind in the end and chosen life, but it was still something to ponder. A more useful application of the technique would be to use the needle to seal away the horrific memories of veterans of the war. She knew that there were those that still woke up screaming, reliving the war over and over again in their nightmares. It didn’t occur to Mitsu that she was one of the afflicted. That it was her that awoke screaming in the night, that it was her that avoided people, that cried at loud noises. . . that all of that had started with the war. And that if anyone could truly benefit from sealing away those horrors, it would be her. But she didn’t think about that, she never thought about what she truly needed, or thought about what would make her life easier or happier. She thought of others always, and that was both her greatest strength and her most damning weakness.

She moved on to the next techniques, seeking to be done before she had to explain away a missed day at the Administration building due to being asleep. Although with the next technique that might be an easy task, with a single hand seal - Tiger - she would be able to completely mask her presence. Her scent, shadow and even her chakra signature would be erased. She spent time meditating and experimenting with how the technique worked, using her Sensory and understanding of how that worked to extrapolate how one might find her while using the Hiding with Camouflage Technique. Hide and seek was always one of her favourite games as a child, she had always been particularly adept at given that her physical ailment had her favour the darkness, which is where most people hid. Spending many longs hours and sometimes days in the Land of Wind playing the game with her cousins Jethro and Stefan. They were decent enough at it, they both were musicians so their hearing was finely tuned and she had to learn how to move without making any noise. After that, the game became easy for her. She learned what were shadows and what weren’t, because to her all shadows looked like light. Eventually they started making the game harder on her by insisting that she wear bells, which she adored of course and did so happily, and even then she was able to outmaneuver her cousins. The only time that she had run into trouble was when it was daylight. When the three of them were very young, they of course were not very considerate of that fact, always insisting that they play the game during the day. Most likely because even as small children they understood that Mitsu had the advantage at night. But eventually as they grew older they switched to playing the game at night when they finally understood how much it hurt her. She would always play without complaint during the day, just as she did everything now, but she did quietly appreciate the consideration. What she didn’t have then was this technique, and it would have helped spectacularly. She could imagine how useful something like this would be on a battlefield or out on a mission. The mission she had been on previously - where she had needed to deal with an entire encampment of the Kaifeng Family - this technique would have been invaluable. She had been afraid for her safety then, with her mission partner suddenly falling ill and being unable to assist her. Not only did she have the remaining Kaifeng Family to deal with, but she had also needed to ensure that no harm came to her mission partner. ‘Imagine if I would have had this then, it would have been no trouble at all. All that worrying would have been for nothing.’ Mitsu was definitely stretching the imagination when it came to what these techniques could be used for. But she was desperately searching for an answer other than destruction.

Mitsu wasn’t an idiot, far from it in fact - she was well aware that a technique like Hiding with Camouflage wasn’t meant for the peaceful de-escalation of crime families. Something like this, paired with some of the other techniques she had trained that night, was definitely meant for infiltration and then most likely bloody violence. She found it saddened her to understand that a thing's true purpose was nothing more than that. As an artist Mitsu revelled in creation, not destruction and it pained her to take in more knowledge of the latter.

And such were the next four techniques that she needed to train. Ultra Added Weight Rock Technique was able to be used to either increase the strength of herself or an ally, or to paralyze and potentially crush an opponent. The first use seemed more like something she would employ, as the second seemed horrifying. She thought briefly about how differently the fight with Chen would have gone had she been able to simply stop his movements by encasing him in rock, but she shuddered at the thought of actually crushing him. She didn’t much like the idea of being trapped inside a rock so she imagined no one else would either, and despite everything she didn’t wish that on Chen. This was an improved version of the Added Weight Rock Technique, and subsequently there was an improvement on even this one. Ultra Added Light Weight Rock Technique had a similar effect in that it would allow her to manipulate gravity and density either in herself, an ally or an enemy to varying degrees. The most advanced version of the technique would allow her to fly, something she had experienced before when she had first arrived in the Great Chang Mountains. It would make her physically weaker while she flew, but she could still dance on air if she so chose. And also fight in the air she supposed, but that was of lesser importance to her than the dancing.

Doton had other applications beyond just weight, density and flight however, and the Golem Technique proved just how malleable earth truly was. By using the Seal of Confrontation she would be able to create a massive golem made of earth that would do as she willed so long as she was conscious and able to will it. She was fascinated by the technique and after performing the necessary hand seal she would watch as the large boulder she had been leaning on earlier transformed into a large humanoid creature made of stone. Without thinking she rushed up to the golem and hugged it. It was a silly thing to do, but she was immensely pleased to see that even the earth itself had a face and a body. She knew in her heart that this was the manifestation of the will of the earth and that even without her, it would carry on existing. The golem would reach down and scoop her up as she silently requested it to, and the two just stood and stared up at the sky. They only stayed that way for a few moments as she had the golem set her down and with a wave of her hand the golem returned to its former state; a large stone boulder in the training grounds.

Sandwich Technique, which she thought was only moderately appropriately named, was not one that she would perform outside of her mind. She understood what it was capable of, and there was nowhere that she thought it would be acceptable to have two large slabs of rock utterly obliterate anything that was in their way. It was a bit more involved than some of the Iwagakure Exclusives; three hand seals - Tiger, Ram, and then Rat and then finally she would need to slam her hand on the ground to release the Doton chakra to create the destruction. Powerful certainly, but unnecessary for anything that she could foresee. Still, she would commit it to memory so that should the need arise she had it at the ready. The last of the more destructive techniques was formed from raiton, a child of Raikiri and with an added bit of flair. Most lightning techniques were yellow or blue in colour, naturally occurring and common colours of lightning. But this one, Purple Electricity, was far more fun and inventive. By channeling raiton chakra into her hand she could attack outwards at various ranges, either as part of a melee attack or she could fire the Raikiri as a projectile. It also had a curious side effect of being able to summon rain clouds, which she thought would be incredibly useful in the desert. She had no use for rain clouds beyond the obvious, but she knew that all it would take was to fire the Purple Electricity into the sky and they would appear. Satisfied that she had learned all the other techniques, she would center herself and move on.

The last technique that she intended on training was the one that caused her the greatest amount of anxiety; Fission. Unlike the other clone techniques that she knew, this one did not make a clone. . . it made an entire person. Quite literally the Fission technique would split her in two so there would be two Mitsukira’s. Whole, living and breathing, may as well be twins. It was a terrifying concept, she had enough trouble with just one of herself, actually having two for real would be beyond anything she could imagine. Taking a deep breath, Mitsu would channel her chakra into the technique and allow her being to split in two. The process was not painful, but it was odd. Mitsu no longer existed, and yet she did, twice. The two Mitsu’s stood staring at one another for a long while, both fully independent and yet of the same mind. Sort of. Their thoughts weren’t identical, at least as far as either could tell since neither was telepathic in any way. But there were very subtle differences between them. Where one was momentarily distracted by the flutter of a leaf in the night breeze, the other focused on the smell of earth. Tiny things, but differences all the same. Just to look at them it would be impossible to tell one from the other, and after a few minutes even Mitsu got confused as to who was who. The answer was - both were Mitsu. But to the separated twins it was no longer that simple. After a time, they both decided that merging back together was for the best, it had been a long night and the lack of sleep was only adding to the confusion that came with suddenly being separated like this. Stepping forward towards each other, the two Mitsu’s would merge and once again form a truly whole Mitsukira.

‘Well, that was unsettling. I’m not sure if I like that or not, I can see it being fun at least, for pranks or such. Much more interesting than a clone anyway.’ With her training completed, Mitsu would take one last look at the dark night sky, sending her wishes out into the vast blackness of endless space, the thing she equated with the ephemeral Universe. “Please send me a sign. Let me know that what I’m doing is right and that I’m not failing you.” With her prayer spoken aloud, albeit quietly, she would make her way back into the village and to Shin’s home. She had all but completely moved into the Muramatsu district during Shin’s absence, and she knew he would be returning soon so she needed to prepare for his arrival. She had much to ponder, and clean, before she could greet him properly. The mysteries of the Universe, the destructive nature of humankind and the strangeness of having more than one self. It was all quite a lot for her to take in during a single night of training, and she would most definitely not be going in to the Administration office in the morning. She imagined that most wouldn’t even miss her presence and that the only one truly worried about it at all would be her. On the off chance that Chen went looking for her, she knew that she would partially be doing him a favour. If she wasn’t there where she was supposed to be, then that would mean she was doing something wrong, and if she was doing something wrong then he would get to yell at her for it - which would definitely make him happy.

It took her a while to walk back to the Muramatsu Clan district, but once she was there she was happy to see the garden she had created still growing nicely. Turning the tiny silver key in the lock of the front door, she stepped inside to blessed peace and solitude in a familiar and comfortable space. In typical Mitsu fashion, she dropped her clothing on the floor and plopped herself into Shin’s bed, staring up at the painting she had made of the two of them as she allowed herself to drift off to sleep. Before she finally drifted away to the land of dreams one final thought escaped her lips.

“We have this one life to appreciate the Grand Design of the Universe and for that, I am extremely grateful.”

[Exit Thread - Training Techniques: 11 A-Rank and 5 S-Rank = 5390/5250 WC (1000 extra WC for fully training Hiding with Camouflage Technique to completely erase her chakra signature.)]

Techniques Trained: