Chapter 1: The Jungle

[Garzett]

Kireiki [Vapour Aura] Post #7

Yuichi, flying straight into the sky, loaded his bracers with explosive bolts and readied the trigger. It was time to test this out one final time. Shooting several into the sky as the sun broke the horizon, Yuichi flew directly at the explosive projectile, using his vapour aura as his only means of defense. Life and death… a gamble this Lune was willing to take on a whim. An explosion occurred, and with it transferred enough force to rival a modern hand grenade…

…And yet, the Lune was still alive. The smoke cleared from the air as he looked at his body, examining it for any signs of injury. None. There was not a scratch on him. Not a mark, not even enough of an impact to internally rattle him. His aura had absorbed it all. It was even more of a success than he realized. The Lune at least expected it to transfer force, but for nothing? How much punishment could it take?

Pulling out two explosive tags, the Lune clapped and popped them in front of his face, each being set to impact. He was not hurting, but definitely felt the force. With three more, he clapped. A bit more force, but still managable, even if his insides were a bit shaken. He wasn’t wounded, and could probably handle more, but he didn’t want to risk injury until his curiosity was sated. It was his very rapid refreshment of the aura that made it so effective, he realized, even if the costs were much higher than normal. This meant that barrage-style attacks and explosives were more-so ineffective against this manner of defense.

Kireiki, he would call it. Vapour Aura. Landing, the Lune would embark once more unto the land of dreams. Sleep would take him for just a little longer, and this time? A shroud of vapour wrapped about his body like a blanket, blocking out all fears (save for a lingering weakness to Raiton, but that would be for another day). If nothing more, he would sleep comfortably this night until morning, where he left once more.

[Garzett]

Kihane [Vapour Feathers] Post #1

The jungle chirped with the sounds of nocturnal birds and crickets, a monochrome chorus of noise interrupted only by the occasional rustle of bushes and parting of grass. It was dark, quiet, and in a sense, peaceful. Long had it been since he returned here, much to the delight of the jungle’s inhabitants. The Chuunin was a predator and ruled over this area as if it were his own territory – even the animals knew by now not to dare hunt or bother him, and could only hope he didn’t set his gaze on them for dinner. Lucky for them, Yuichi was something of a light eater.

Still. Being at the top of the foodchain had its benefits, Yuichi mused, at least in terms of having peace in a harsh environment. He commanded respect over the animals in this kingdom, and they left him alone for it. He had long since been seated on a branch, hidden amongst the locale sprouts of vines and leaves, meditating in peace. Yuichi was doing what only a few were privleged to do – speaking with a deity. Though his body was present, its mind was absent – gone from this plain and into the confines of the next.

“Nicanor,” Yuichi began, his golden eyes tinging ever-brighter. “It’s a pleasure.” The beast with whom he spoke was none other than the King of Crows known as the Mantle of Hellfire. This mythical creature was the Yatagarasu, the Eight-span Crow, that Yuichi contained within his very being. “I see you’ve finally learned how to contact me,” He spoke, his voice echoing throughout. The creature was just as massive as before, though held a somewhat indifferent expression as he spoke with Yuichi.

“That I have, and I’ve come to learn.” Yuichi firmly stated. Wings ripped from his back and tore into the open as he engaged his Beast form, approaching the massive figure cloaked in shade. Yuichi wanted an answer, and so the Great Bird gave one. “Naïve. Why should I teach you?”

[Garzett]

Kihane [Vapour Feathers] Post #2

“You would promote the chance of your host dying?” Yuichi asked, a sly grin across his lips. The three-legged crow chuckled, an oddity for the creature, its feathers ruffling in amusement. “If my host dies so easily, he was not worthy to begin with. But so be it. I will teach you a simple technique. I would teach you how I perform it, but you are not yet ready for my skill-level. So, I will give you a variation. It is much less devastating than the true ability, but you will find that it is tailored to suit your… talents.”

“Kihane – Vapour Feathers,” Its voice boomed. Yuichi was curious. Vapour was always his thing, so a technique called Vapour Feathers. He pondered the possibilities. “What does it do? Makes it easier to fly, faster movements, more agile, or does it coat my feathers with vapour for amplified power? Or does it-” “-Be silent.” The Crow commanded, though his voice was more firm than annoyed. “Channel your chakra into your feathers. Find it for yourself. I only told you the name, but you already know what it must do.”

Yuichi silently frowned. “Don’t give me that look, Hatchling. Figure it out for yourself.” How anti-climactic. Forming a few handseals, Yuichi focused his chakra, preparing himself to attempt the technique… which he had no information on, other than a name. Luckily for him, this alternate reality was separate from the real world. It merely contained the same rules and laws of his own universe. Utsuho was truly a fascinating item.

[Garzett]

Kihane [Vapour Feathers] Post #3

The chakra made its way to Yuichi’s feathers, but it was more difficult than he could have imagined. Each feather had its own curvature, its own shape and path. Focusing vapour amongst them was incredibly difficult. Attempting a different approach, Yuichi slowly and gently coated his entire wings… but likewise, he found that it was sloppy. He needed to try a different approach, as per usual.

Utilizing his control over chakra, Yuichi concentrated in a sort of meditation. The light blue hues of chakra bounded off his wings as the Chuunin felt it both molding around the feathers, and coating the entire wing. Such a thing was difficult, but not impossible, as he proved. Each grove of each feather eventually blended in perfectly. But… then, what good was it? What did he have to do now? What did this “Vapour Feathers” technique even do? “Pathetic,” Muttered the Eight-span Crow.

He grunted in annoyance. If Nicanor wouldn’t tell him, which is the entire point he came here, Yuichi would simply create it for himself. The chakra over his feathers and wings would near instantly be converted into vapour, in a manner similar to one of his prior techniques: Kireiki – Vapour Aura. Utilizing similar principals, Yuichi attempted to meld the two techniques together to form his own unique one.

[Garzett]

Kihane [Vapour Feathers] Post #4

Vapour spilled high into the air as Nicanor watched, his crimson eyes never wavering nor blinking. The giant crow was like a statue poised on the ground, an infernal sun blaring behind it, along with what he could only assume to be the Lake of Fire – Hell. He sighed. This scenery was rather depressing to train an unknown jutsu to, but he shrugged off the thought. Yuichi manipulated Vapour into the roots of his feathers. At first, it was painful, but Yuichi could block it out.

Then, Yuichi gathered the Vapour at a single point. Building pressure, and even applying heat to convert it into steam, Yuichi aimed and fired – in a sting of pain followed by a few droplets of blood, the Hell Raven realized this was a bad idea. Rubbing his wings with a pained, if not pitiful pouting face, Yuichi winced. The Great Crow could only shake its head in disappointment. “I put all of this stock in humans, and this is what I get in return?” He sighed. As did Yuichi.

“Screw your technique,” He objected, forming several handseals instinctively. “I came here to learn, not be lectured or mocked. Tell me what I’m supposed to be learning, and maybe I’d have an easier time doing it.” The vapour at his wings suddenly vanished, internally building within Yuichi’s feathers. “Very well, then,” Frustration flushed across his face, and with it peaked the temperature of the steam-turned vapour. “I don’t need your help! If you’re so insistent on not talking, I’ll figure it out myself!” He stated, swiping his arm in seething anger as he let his emotions flood. At that moment, his wings shot a salvo of feathers made entirely of steaming hot vapour, a massive barrage striking against the Yatagarasu’s body.

[Garzett]

Kihane [Vapour Feathers] Post #5

The feathery knives stuck into the mighty crows own wing, dispersing into puffs of mist as their hold wavered. The hide of the Yatagarasu was more than enough to take such a tiny attack, and in comparison to his titanic proportions, such minor attacks did not bother him. “How did I…” Yuichi began, blinking before he realized what happened. “Well done, Hatchling. Now next time, perhaps you’ll be able to even replicate it,” He berated. Yuichi didn’t much care, though. He was more excited at the prospect of what it could do. He grinned evilly at Nicanor, a plan unfolding then and there.

Forming the handseals once more, Yuichi felt chakra roll throughout his body. Vapour was quickly formed, directly around Yuichi’s feathers, much like before when he first attempted. He knew what he had to do. Controlling his chakra, the vapour split downwards and away from the roots, or the skin. Yuichi had tried to launch his feathers like a rocket, which was met with pain. Much pain. It was not wise. Therefore, Yuichi needed to create his own feathers from pure Vapour.

Boiling it with heat, he felt the fiery temperatures eating away at his feathers. He needed to contain it in a special manner. This was one of the very first steam techniques he had which was designed as an offense. The steam was not defensive, like Vapour Aura was, so this was a bit difficult. Granted, he could have probably used Vapour Aura to eliminate the threat of being burnt, but that would’ve been lazy.

[Garzett]

Kihane [Vapour Feathers] Post #6

And so Yuichi condensed the heated steam, protecting himself in a way which prevented the burns from occurring. It was difficult, but thankfully he could control his own technique. The burns weren’t a problem if you condensed the heat into tiny dots – rather, more accurate, pockets of steam.

Attempting it once more, Yuichi shot out several feathers, but they were not as focused as the last batch and broke apart near instantly. Nicanor remained silent. Yuichi attempted it once more, only to achieve the same result. He sighed. Why couldn’t creating jutsu be a simple matter? Why did it require so much thought? It would’ve been so much more simple to just whip this baby out with a few tries and be done with it. But now? He had to be tactical, to think about what the problem was.

In the midst of his internal rambles and complaints, Yuichi decided to switch tactics. He decided to amplify the chakra output and increase it, thus producing more vapour. However, that wasn’t the end of it. The vapour needed to be super-condensed into a tiny spot on his wing… no, inbetween his feathers. And not just one tiny spot, but several. He needed to create pockets of vapour. But he soon realized he needed not only vapour, but raw heat.

[Garzett]

Kihane [Vapour Feathers] Post #7

Taking a deep breath, Yuichi focused once more. Performing several handseals, the Chuunin leapt into the air and flew, the pockets of heat burning hot inbetween his feathers. They visibly ruffled as he prepared to attempt it, and so he flew, ready to fire until… well, he realized he’d fall. This was a problem. Thus, Yuichi decided to try it differently than he was doing before: He would merely scatter the pockets as he moved, predetermining their paths as the pockets of heat produced several feathers of steam.

Diving from a great height, Yuichi shot at the ground with his feathers, a great salvo of bladed steam stabbing deep into the earth. Even as he moved, more of the searing hot blades were produced behind him, eliminating the problem of continuously flapping the wings and ruining mobility. Yuichi grinned, having a new idea. By dispersing the pockets, Yuichi was capable of manipulating the pathways; thus, the Hell Raven scattered them in a massive and widespread volley of blades.

“Good, you’ve finally learned it. Though, I must say, your version isn’t as refined as my own. Now, attack me with it. Let’s see what you’re made of,” The great bird spoke. Attack his tormentor? Yuichi didn’t hesitate. Producing as many pockets as possible, Yuichi decided that a widespread attack would do little against the thick feather plating of the Yatagarasu. So Yuichi focused it as tightly as he could, forming a super focused stream of scalding hot vapour feathers.

Nicanor did not move, despite knowing full-well what would happen. The volley of shots were deflected at first, but slowly and surely began stabbing into its feathers. It continued digging and tearing and ripping for a 1 meter hole, before shooting straight through the massive creature and out the other end. The hole was at its midsection, sticking outwards directly across.

“Well done, but you made a fatal mistake. You missed my vitals.” The great creature lifted its massive leg, slamming it down on Yuichi and swatting him like a fly. In that moment, Nicanor curb-stomped Yuichi until death took him. And death in this world was essentially a declaration of “Gtfo”.

Yuichi snapped his eyes open, time having passed for several hours – perhaps even days. Still… he had trained his technique, even if the blasted crow was so pushy. Next time, he would remember to make a death-shot.

[Garzett]

Thermometer Post #1

His eyes had changed. He could see ten times better, see times and a half as far, and even see regardless of the lighting condition. However, most impressively, he possessed his own unique thermal vision and could even cancel out his own bodies heat emissions. He called it the “Masquerade”, but through instinct more than anything else, a fitting name for the abilities his eyes possessed. However, Yuichi felt a strange gathering of power within his eyes… or rather, outside of it.

His thermal senses were particularly powerful, he realized, as the Masquerade lay active. Deep shades of prismatic red seemed to double over where his golden outlook once was. He instinctively knew how his eyes worked; the colors denoted the temperature, and each source had its own unique frequency. However, as he stay staring at himself and over the balcony of his apartment, he realized that there was something odd about his senses.

“What is it?” He pondered, staring at the people walking by to and fro. “Why are some people like that, when others are like this…” Two individuals. One had massive amounts of heat, while another possessed only a tiny amount. “Do you not know your own body, Nicanor?” A voice whispered, only audible by its host. “Since you’ve come around, I can’t say I have,” Yuichi answered. He had a point.

[Garzett]

Thermometer Post #2

“Your eyes are thickened with the Lifeline, hatchling,” The bird spoke, his tone filled with patience. “You possess traits unknown to others of your... talents.” Yuichi meditated and focused his mind to the words, as in an instant Yuichi had transformed into a crow. The bird flew, knowing what he must do – he needed to get a closer look at these heat signatures. Once close enough, the raven landed on a cable line, staring over the people.

His eyes scanned his own body, and the bodies of many as they passed. Each was different. Each was distinguishable. It was difficult to explain without having experienced it for yourself – as vast as the colors were, and its combinations thereof, there each person possessed a different pattern… but, as Yuichi soon realized, this was not part of the normal thermal signatures he could see. This was related, yes, but this was separate.

“My eyes can detect the heat,” Yuichi thought to himself, trying to figure out what was going on. “If this is separate than normal emissions, it has to be something physical I am detecting. Different than the body itself. Is it chakra I’m sensing?” He blindly asked, attempting to scope out the possibilities. Nicanor stayed silent. He always was when Yuichi needed help the most. The Chuunin cursed softly and flew down, landing atop a chain-link fence. He channeled chakra into it. He would soon find out his theory, one way or another.

[Garzett]

Thermometer Post #3

The chain-link fence was cold as steel, as Yuichi could feel more warmth from the sun than from itself, or perhaps it was his own inexperience. Still, as he squinted his eyes, Yuichi saw it! If birds could grin, Yuichi’d have the mouth of a Cheshire crow right about now. This meant that he could see chakra! So he possessed the ability to see both heat and chakra? But it was still different… and, why did it not feel like he could really -see- chakra? It still felt like heat. He needed to--- “Fool,” The voice finally spoke, tired of the mental dribble. “Look closer, look carefully. Analyze the details you covet so much.”

Yuichi’s Cheshire grin faded just as quickly as it came. The energy he was staring at was very minute, and he had been channeling a rather decent amount of chakra into the fence through Chain Manipulation. This meant he wasn’t seeing chakra. If he was, it would be a much larger amount. What, then, was he seeing? Staring at his own body, he saw the frequency of heat once more. Then, he stared over the people of the Village. His own eyes seemed to be adjusting to the change… he was seeing clearer and better.

The Chuunin slowly realized what he was missing. “So you’ve figured it out already,” The Yatagarasu spoke. “I suppose I have.” The Shinobi answered.

[Garzett]

Thermometer Post #4

Chakra was made out of two things. Spiritual Energy and Physical Energy combined. This was the basics taught at every academy, but something most people ignored, believing it didn’t have any day-to-day applications. They were wrong, as he just now discovered. Yuichi theorized that what he was sensing was the latent physical energy of an object, nothing more and nothing less. He could not see chakra, but only faint outlines and depictions of its physical energy – its heat. This physical energy was what most humans referred to as “Stamina”.

This explained why he could only see it when focusing on living creatures. When he stared at inanimate objects, he could not detect any traces of physical energy. But that didn’t explain why they were different. “If I can see the thermal emissions off physical energy – of stamina – it makes little sense that they should vary this greatly,” The crow stated, answered by its other. “They do not vary greatly. Focus and you shall see. The difference is easy to spot.” To which, Yuichi abruptly answered. “You seem to know much about this. Why don’t you just tell it to me straight instead of beating around the bush?”

The Yatagarasu was silent. Yuichi was silent.

Though it wasn’t said, both parties already knew why.

[Garzett]

Thermometer Post #5

His knowledge was limited to Yuichi’s own. He could not be aided too much, only with slight nudges until he found the answer for himself. So be it, then. Flying into the air, the young crow attempted to put his theory to the test. He found the unhealthiest guy around – a fat bastard, if you will. Yuichi scanned him and found such a minute amount of detectable energy that he had to put his theory to the test. Using Vapour Feathers, Yuichi sent simple and nonlethal feathers at the gigantic target, hitting him like a rock.

His response was expected. The guy ran in circles from the “killer” bird, shouting such joyous phrases as ‘Goddammit, I didn’t even hit the cuckoo’s more than once, I swear! Leave me alone!’ and ‘I swear I’ll never eat a chicken again, just don’t kill me!’. As he did so, the others next to him started to run from the rampaging avian. Yuichi observed all of them with his bloodline, eyes shining with a burning glare as he did – he saw it all. The fat bastard had the least of this physical energy, while another, skinnier man had more, and a more-so athletic looking individual had the most. Much more, in fact.

His thoughts were cut short as a knife flew towards him, forcing Yuichi to swerve. This man was trained, but only seemed to be about student or genin at most. Still, not wanting to stick around for higher ranks to come, the Hell Raven flew away and dispersed before anymore trouble was caused. But this told him something amazing – by measuring the heat of physical energy, he could detect its latent heat. More latent heat meant a source was capable of producing larger amounts of energy. Therefore, a person or creature with a massive amount of energy indicated a much more powerful target.

[Garzett]

Thermometer Post #6

However, there was a flaw. A massive one. The Eight-span Crow didn’t even need to nudge its host about it, for Yuichi already knew the moment he realized this abilities potential. This only detected physical energy – stamina. If a target had small amounts, and conversely, gigantic amounts of chakra, they may appear to be much weaker than normal. A devoted Genjutsu or Ninjutsu Specialist did not need the slightest amount of shinobi-level stamina in order to function. Even he appeared to be roughly what he could assume mid Genin-level, rather than Chuunin-level.

Thus, this technique was extremely useful for gauging or measuring, but user discretion and judgement was a must to avoid foolish decisions. Still, he wondered if this technique had other purposes. Other uses. What more could he extend this to? Flying high into the sky, his eyes scanned the ground. He overlooked everybody – all of the people. Luckily for him, the Lune eyes allowed him to focus on everything within his line of sight simultaneously. Several possessed much latent heat compared to others, meaning he was looking at some of the Shinobi of the Village.

That’s when he realized it. This energy bounded off the heat trails his eyes could detect. One of the biggest problems with sensing out heat trails was that there was no discrimination. You could literally see each and every trail, and sorting them out was a bit difficult. However, with this ability, one could easily sort through the others and single out a specific heat trail by analyzing this latent heat – combined with the targets heat signature, shaking Yuichi just got a hellovalot more difficult.

[Garzett]

Thermometer Post #7

Finally coming down from the sky, Yuichi needed to test his theory. He found a group of crows, 5 of them, and acquired the memory of one of the group. Then, he rolled up 100 Ryou bill and grabbed a piece of wire with which to hold it down. With his speed, much faster than the average animal could react to, Yuichi tagged it onto the creatures back. This creature in particular ate well and was rather big, fit, and tough; in essence, you could call it the boss of the murder of crows. As it flew off, Yuichi stepped aside and walked off for a nice and hot shower.

Once the off-screen relaxation was done, he was on the urbanized hunt. Roughly 3 hours had passed. It was time to put his theory to the test. There were literally dozens upon dozens upon hundreds of heat signatures, heat trails, and unique heat frequencies and emissions throughout the area, but his eyes knew better than that. He had only one goal in mind: The bird, and his 100 Ryou bill.

He had decided during his bath what to call this adaptation of the bloodline: Thermometer. With it active, the Chuunin soared the the skies, literally scanning every which way until he found its mark. Along with 5 others, which eventually blended into 10’s, 20’s, and even 30’s. There were a lot of birds in the area, it seemed. This was a field test, mimicking what he would expect a tracked individual to do: Create clones of themselves and scatter, thus reducing the chance of the tracker finding the true culprit. Yuichi was better than that.

With Thermometer, however, he immediately singled out the trail. He merely needed to follow the biggest trail. Soaring through the skies, his eyes singled it out and allowed him to chase down his mark. The bloodline was truly powerful, especially in conjunction with his talents and knack for tracking. The poor crow would just be minding his own business on a tree, relaxing in peace, before Yuichi came and blindsided the chump. In that exchange, Yuichi had the 100 Ryou bill crumpled inbetween his talons, and the other crow was left in a daze… before worshiping Yuichi’s avian power.

Yuichi was shortly thereafter proclaimed the Head Crow of Satogakure’s Downtown District.

Nicanor was pleased.