Starring:
Date: January 7, 2014
Summary:
Continuing work on his Shadow Clone technique, Atsuro has discovers he's forgotten some of the very basics. Keichi's there to help, (un)fortunately.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Boning Up on Cloning Up III: Tiger Woes and Borrowed Clothes"
Konoha Training Area
Atsuro seems to have found himself a rather curious form of training today. He's been practicing the Shadow Clone technique for a while now. And he's got most of the kinks out. But he still needs to make a few tweaks, then really drill the technique into his mind before he can say that he's mastered it. So he's actually found himself a reasonably boring area of the jounin grounds. It's mostly just a flat, grassy field, dotted by a few trees.
Atsuro himself is sitting down in the grass, and… well, there's another Atsuro standing in front of him, bending down and flicking him with his fingers. Taizen sits nearby, watching. It's an odd scene, for sure. But then the standing Atsuro ups the ante slightly, and starts slapping the sitting one. Maybe they're practicing some kind of performance art? Atsuro slowly starts slapping harder and harder, until he gives himself a good, solid thunk, and the other Atsuro disappears in a puff of smoke. "Pretty sure it's still too fragile," Atsuro tells Taizen. "What's the scroll say, again?" Taizen looks down at a scroll spread out in front of him in the grass. "It's either caused by not using enough chakra, or sloppy hand seals." says the dog. "Hrm," says Atsuro, "I've been using plenty of chakra." So by process of elimination… He kneels down in front of Taizen and makes the seal. "How's this look?" he asks.
"Absolutely horrible." A familiar voice says from behind a tree. Keichi took a while to finally get permission to be here, and he's only allowed to be here when Atsuro is here. But fair enough, he got here which was the most important part of the whole odreal he was handling at Hokage mountain. For the most part! Keichi was just teasing ofcourse. He probably would be a little better at seals than Atsuro might be. At least, at first though, to Keichi that made sense, since he saw Atsuro do physical stuff most of the time… No wait, all the time!
"What are you practicing anyways?" He asks curiously while sitting down in a lotus position next to Taizen! Today he's gone for something more unique. And by unique I mean dared. Keichi decided to wear a Kimono he found in Atsuro's closet. He was pretty sure it was a morning gown but he tied it with one of his own belt which made it look just right, albeit slightly odd. He wore bandages over his stomach for the appeal, not the function, and obviously had some of his 'out there' jewelry on. "This is interesting." He tells Taizen while looking up at a tree. "No worries, I brought Mandoreku." He smiles as the dragon pokes his wooden head out through the thick of the cannopy. "Anyways, it is since I haven't seen him do any ninjutsu before!" He smiles and whispers something to taizen: "What element is he attuned to?"
"Well," says Atsuro, "Yes, probably." Keichi's sudden appearance didn't really take him by surprise. He knows that scent! It wouldn't be surprising if Keichi was better at seals than Atsuro. All the time is a bit of an exaggeration, but he doesn't use ninjutsu too often. Lately, he's been learning, just to round his skillset out. And because he needs Shadow Clone for some Inuzuka techniques. "But I'm trying!"
"Shadow Clone," he answers, "For a few months now." He frowns a little as he realizes what Keichi is wearing. "Geez, you invite someone into your home one time, and the next thing you know, he's wearing your stuff. When did you even get a chance to stea— I mean, find that?" He grins a little at Keichi's overall outfit — he knows by now that Keichi is super into fashion, and he's not really into morning gowns or kimonos, so Keichi can have it, whatever it is. And he did offer to lend Keichi some clothes, even if this isn't quite what he had in mind. Atsuro shows Keichi the seal again. "So what am I doing wrong?" he asks, "By the way, I'm right here." Whispering to Taizen like that, hmph!
"He only does it sometimes," says Taizen, "But some Inuzuka techniques are ninjutsu. He uses fire."
"It's not stealing if it looks better on me.." Keichi grins and looks at Taizen. "THey are huh? I never knew." He hmms and rubs his chin for a moment. "Fire huh?" He chuckles and considers that for a moment. Nope, can't picture it!" In truth in can, it's the first element that popped up when he considered Atsuro. "Shadow clones huh?" Keichi was curious indeed. "Aren't those forbidden?" He was curious how Atsuro got his hands on that. He knew better than to ask for a peek at the technique. "Here, tiger needs more conviction. Ever seen a tiger hesitate? Reconsider his stance?"
Snorting a little, Atsuro teases, "Is that what you tell the security guard at the clothing store?" His hands are hurting by now from holding the seal, so he lets it go. Hopefully Keichi had enough time to get a good look at it. "Well, it isn't taijutsu when we turn into a giant, two-headed wolf," he points out, "Now who's the ninjutsu expert? Well, it's you. But still." He shakes his head. "No… actually, more like yes. They're 'forbidden,' but they're not /forbidden/. Nobody's going to come arrest me for learning it. But it can be a dangerous technique if you use it improperly. You divide your chakra between yourself and however many clones, so even using just one means you've halved your chakra."
He watches Keichi demonstrate the tiger seal, then tries the same thing. With more conviction! "I've only met one tiger," he says, "I wrestled it to the groud, then it ran away. So yes." He gets up. "But let's give this a try." He makes the seal again and… pop! Two Atsuros. The original starts poking the clone.
"Seriously, you should invite me over to play poke the clone.." Keichi says while glancing at the shadow clones. They're rather impressive. "Just ehnm, aren't they supposed to be stubborn and not let you do that?" Keichi scratches his chin. "You know, more like - you - …." Right, more like Atsuro! Oh stripe, more Atsuro's running around… Keichi rolls his eyes and looks down at Taizen. "I should discuss strategies with this tiger soon then." Keichi grins for a moment. "But seriously, tough talk, and nothing to show for it!" He winks at Atsuro and then looks down at Taizen again. "Why are you learning all this anyways?"
"That sounds like a… mildly entertaining time," says Atsuro drily. He rubs his chin. "They can be stubborn when they want to be," he says, thoughtfully. "But any good Atsuro knows the importance of working towards a common goal," the clone finishes. Atsuro returns to poking the clone, then starts flicking again, "See? They think just like me… well, mostly. I won't say they don't have their quirks, but they're usually cooperative." The clone speaks up again, "I'm /right here/." Atsuro pinches his cheek, "We just used that joke like a minute ago," he reminds the clone.
"Both of those statements suggest you want me to track the tiger down and make it sign an affadavit swearing I beat it, or something," says Atsuro, "What, you don't think I could take a tiger?" Taizen answers the question. "If he can make a Shadow Clone, we can make a three-headed wolf." That's 150% of the two-headed wolf!
"Well at least your math is okay." Keichi says drily in turn. Smirking. "And no, I'm sure you'll find another way to prove you can wrestle down a tiger." Keichi looks at Taizen and then Atsuro, considering for a long moment. "A three headed wolf would scare the roar out of me. But not anymore than a two headed wolf. What, tripple the teeth?" He grins and is obviously teasing. "So why are you poking them anyways?" He can't hold back his chuckle. "I mean, other than entertainment value.." He moves up to an Atsuro-clone… At least in his mind and pokes his ribs real hard!
Oops, yep that's the real one…
Atsuro blinks. "I didn't even say that out loud," says Atsuro, "You can tell by the look on my face whether or not my math is good?" Suspicious. "And now you want me to track down a tiger and wrestle him for you? Geez, you're pushy this morning." He smirks a bit. "You've never seen the two-headed wolf? We oughta show you sometime. But not now, sorry. I need to hold on to as much chakra as I can." He moves to slapping the clone. "A good Shadow Clone should be able to take a little more abuse than other clones. So I'm abusing my clone. As yo— owww." He frowns at Keichi. "Mean."
"I was talking to Taizen." Keichi smirks and looks at Atsuro. "But funny to know you guys think the same thing." He chuckles… "You know, three people, there headed wolf.." That did leave a small… issue though. "Wait, wouldn't two heads be at half strength?" Keichi rubs his chin for a long moment. When Atsuro reacts to the poke he looks at the clone and goes… "Oh shoot the REAL one is talking!" He grins at Atsuro, which shows he knew all along. "Serves you right though, now you know how your clones feel!" Always the buddha of the village mister Keichi!
"Ah," says Atsuro, "That just brings up more questions. You're not insanely good at reading human expressions, you're insanely good at reading dog expressions. Actually, this is getting a little scary." That's an interesting point. "Well, I can't tell you how the technique actually works. But the three-headed dog is stronger than the two-headed dog." He pauses, "Man, it's really confusing to talk about those techniques."
He slaps the clone about as hard as he did to 'kill' the last one, but it sticks around. "Actually, when the clone disappears, its— er, his — experiences are transferred to me. So I know exactly how they feel. This method of practice is nowhere near as easy as it looks."
"Oh they do…" Keichi can't help but grin as he gets a thought, but he quickly shoves it away for later. Instead he just takes a step back and enjoys watching Atsuro.. Ehr… Slap himself… "This is getting weirder by the second.." He whispers to Taizen again before sitting himself right back down in Lotus. "I don't think that three headed dog will be any stronger using this technique. The math doesn't add up…."
Taizen doesn't seem to mind the weirdness. Hey, that's just how Atsuro's practicing. Maybe this is why he sticks to taijutsu? "You know I can hear you," says Atsuro, now lightly punching the clone, "First of all, I know it's weird. Second, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." He points to Mandoreku, "It doesn't add up that a bunch of wood and springs should be a dragon, but look right there!" He punches the clone a little harder, and it pops out of existence. "Should still be able to take a little more than that. Can you show me the seal again?"
Keichi makes the tiger seal with another 'duh' face… Before turning to Taizen. "Ignore him for a moment and hear me out.." Yep, he is (or it seems like he is) ignoring Atsuro's explenation here and resorting to a dogs intellect. Keichi stop doing drugs! But in all seriousness he goes: "No but listen, if two heads are at half strength, if they're restricted to a single body, there's no point. Might as well be one head at full strength." He pauses, looking at Atsuro. "Two shadow clones hitting someone is the same as the original packing that chakra into a single strong punch." He nods. "So, the shadow clone's usefulness comes from the fact it's multi-angular and sometimes hosts different attacks at the same time." He crosses his arms. "Therefore, I don't think a three headed wolf would do you much good.." He sagenods. "How about two, two headed wolfs?" He grins. "That means you can make like a giant Gatsuga. Instead of a single Tsuga which you're restricted to if you two combine…! Or three…!"
"Mean," says Atsuro, copying the seal again. Taizen listens to Keichi's logic, nodding a little as the man explains. "But," says Taizen, "I think it is a mistake to just consider it as a math problem. Combining two halves just makes one whole most of the time. But you can combine the two halves in a novel way to make something greater." Atsuro focuses and creates another clone, then points out, "Kinda the whole point of our clan. How did you get to be such an expert on tsuga, though?"
Keichi blushes. He didn't tell Atsuro he was working on making his own version inspired by Tsuga and Gatsuga using the dragons. "I'm not, just guesswork." He bluffs. He didn't even know if Atsuro would be mad. It's sort of jutsu-spying! "I get the combining things. It just doesn't make sense to me how combining three parts, where two have half strength is better than two where both are full strength. It sounds like you get the exact same result.." Keichi looks at the two and shrugs. "And your explenation didn't cover what exactly you gain by doing this… Except for 'novel way' part which I do understand. I can combine the dragon triplets into a large dragon. But making a different dragon by adding another dragon with only part strength wouldn't make my sum stronger… I think…"
"That is some weirdly specific guessing…" Atsuro notes. Not that he's actually genuinely suspicious of Keichi. Even if he knew about his plans, it's not like he's actually stealing the clan jutsu… hopefully. "Well," says Atsuro, "Maybe once I've perfected my technique, we demonstrate for you." He pauses and considers his phrasing for a moment. "Not a threat," he clarifies, making the seal again, then focusing. Another clone pops into existence. Atsuro begins once again with the poking, slowly ramping up the abuse.
"How could you possibly.." He says with a mischivous grin of his own. "Maybe I'll show you my take on those Tsuga's you guys do soon too…" He winks. "Not a threat either." He then looks at Taizen and Atsuro. "Poor clone… And Poor Atsuro." Keichi says while watching Atsuro, once again, abuse himself… This was one masochistic hobby!
Atsuro smirks. "Playing your cards close to your chest one minute, tipping your hand the next. We need to play poker sometime." He's up to slapping now. "Not like I enjoy it either," he says, "Or did I give the impression I'm doing this for fun? Some of my training for this technique has been pretty fun, but this one's uncomfortable. The worst thing is that the better I get, the harder I have to hit him, and by extension, myself. Take pity on me, Keichi." He continues to escalate the attacks on the clone, and this one is holding pretty well. Finally, he draws his fist way back, and pounds the clone in the face, causing it to disappear. "Yes!" says Atsuro triumphantly. This is immediately followed by, "Ow!"
"Ah, got a boo-boo?" Keichi smiles. "Need a kiss on there to make the pain go away?" Keichi rolls over onto his back and slaps the grass in uncontrollable laughter! Yes, sometimes even Keichi can be a jerk. He sits up and then draws a completely serious face in an attempt to be funny. "No seriously though I mean it…!"
"You're mean today," Atsuro notes, for like the third time. "Anyway, I'd better stop before all my chakra's gone. And, it's about lunchtime. So you can come home and eat with us… if you promise not to steal any of my other stuff." Obviously, including the bedroom in the grand tour was a mistake. "Plus, if we keep going like this, my feelings will hurt too… not just my face." He rubs his cheek. "C'mon, Tai," he says, then gestures to Keichi, "You too, boy. Here, Keichi!"
