Foreshadowed [T]

[¤ SFS ¤]

The dust settled in the air as a black-haired young man came to a sliding stop in front of the house just big enough to be considered a 'manor'. Compared to some of the mansions Iwa had Sen's home was a modest one which he shared with his siblings as his parents intended.

Despite the mistakes the lot of them had made he doubted neither Koisuke nor Iishi would turn over in their graves at the sight of their children now. Koisuke in particular as Sen was sure he was still alive somewhere. He was only dead to the genin in spirit and title. You couldn't get credit of being a father if you weren't ready to do all the work.

With a bottle of water twisted open and it's contents poured down his throat and head he made his way to the front steps and took a seat practicing his handseals for his youton jutsu while letting his heart-rate slow. The whole day would spent towards improvement of his ninja skills in some fashion though he hadn't made a decision yet beyond standard weight resistance training and calisthenics. He continued to practice his sealing when he was a familiar figure approaching in the distance.

Once he was close enough for his face to be recognized Sen's interest became peaked. He couldn't possibly guess what that person would have come here for. In the back of mind however he could imagine what he wanted that person to be here for. He shook that thought out of his head though since it wasn't very likely the new Yondaime-Elect was here to give him something he actually coveted without him having to do some strange and unheard of feat for it. He spoke with a face covered in sweat, his grin a genuine one. "Yo... Sven Sjoerd Slade..."

He hoped the possible future-Yondaime didn't think less of him for not being formal and all 'Tsuchikage-sama' or 'Yondaime-dono' but while it was just the two of them and Slade was still unseated Sen couldn't address him with the stoic respect and reserved nature he kept when dealing with Kage. For now Slade would have to settle with being treated like a rival or a an equal, and maybe even a friend depending on how things unfolded between them before Sjoerd took his official place in history as Iwagakure no Sato's Yondaime Tsuchikage. "...something I can help you with?"

[Mad-Rock]

SLADE SJOERD SVEN

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Removing his hands from his pockets and almost sliding forward he'd reach out to give the Genin a fist bump before taking a step or two back. Taking in a calming breath, his body slightly jerked forward with excitement for what he had to offer Sen, albeit it might have been obvious due to the rather large scroll on his back. "So remember how I said I'd think of a proper reward for you?! Well...guess what I've got here for you!"[/color] Chuckling slightly and clapping his hands lightly he'd reach to the thin strap that ran across his body and pulled it away and over his head, holding the large scroll by it's strap with just a few fingers, dangling it in front of Sen.

"For your services to Iwagakure, I'm here to give you the chance at learning the village's secret techniques, including Kage Bunshin! And I'll be training them along with you, kukuku!...Well, not the latter technique, but yeah!"[/color]
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[¤ SFS ¤]

With little more than a few well coordinated sentences Slade was able to cause Sen's hand-sealing to fumble and crash. He'd almost gotten to one hundred seals without making a mistake but the psuedo-Yondaime's introduction took center stage in the genin's head. The large scroll that hung from his back was seemingly one from the Kage's vault and he even gave proper warning that Kage Bunshin was among the jutsu Sen might be able to learn on this day.

Inside however he found faults in Slade's words. It appeared he was being given the chance to learn these jutsu because of what he did to help the Sandaime, which in his opinion was little to nothing. He couldn't wash away the guilt he felt from being rewarded in such a way when she was still dead. Still, guilty or not he would accept the offer and jump at the chance to add these rare techniques to his auxiliary repertoire.

"I... I'm shocked and a little flattered but I won't waste time trying to deal with either of those feelings."

"I imagine it best if these scrolls were returned to their safe place as soon as possible so I'll happily cosign on your decision to allow me to obtain this jutsu." It was true he had long since desired to get his hands on Kage Bunshin but now that he actually had a real opportunity to learn in front of him he wondered if he truly deserved it. Shaking off those thoughts as well he decided that if he didn't deserve it just yet he would learn and now and continue to work hard so as to come to a point where he deserved it later.

His hands came to together with a loud clap and he began to rub them against one another vertically. "Let's get started then." Once the scroll of Kage Bunshin was unrolled and staring up at him the charts and instructions seemed to be like that of another language. He'd never had to learn advanced jutsu like this one. Obviously he didn't include his own youton jutsu in that scenario because of how easily those lava creations came to him. It was as if someone else controlled his body when he learned to manipulate lava. This one would be different and require deep study and observation to pull off, let alone a modest chakra pool and superb chakra control.

Studying from a scroll was also different that watching someone do a jutsu and having them coach you until you got it right. He would have to do his best for now and hope as he proceeded through learning the jutsu things sort of clicked and made sense. The only thing he could clearly understand at first glance of the scroll was the handseals. The count was at seven seals and the specific seals needed weren't in a pattern he noted as familiar to any other jutsu he knew which was normally the case when learning the first jutsu in a new 'category' or 'jutsu tree'.

[Mad-Rock]

SLADE SJOERD SVEN

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[/b][/color] His eyes closing and his breath becoming focused he'd begin to reach out to the earth around them, not attempting to manipulate it, but just connect with it, become one with the earth itself! He wouldn't become a master of it, but he'd get as close as he could!
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SPOILER: Click to show

Earth Dominion "D-Rank"

[¤ SFS ¤]

With no further hesitation he began to form the headseals of Kage Bunshin getting his hands used to the motions and routine of the specific seals and the orders of those seals he needed in order to successfully activate the jutsu. In the back of mind he knew the clock had begun to countdown to the moment where he finally learned this technique he'd coveted for so long.

...ram, ox, monkey, boar, dog, rat, ox... In his head the genin went over the handseals required for the jutsu he was working on. It was true some seals were used more in different elements such as how the tiger seal was commonly associated with Katon jutsu. It was true he'd used the ox seal twice so far but he would need to see the the seals for other jutsu in this category before he jumped to any conclusions. For now it didn't much matter anyway.

Watching Slade go through the motions of training a new jutsu, one that he himself was familiar with, he offered pointers where he could. "You won't get far training Doton jutsu unless you can tame the earth. Everyone has this feeling the the ground we stand on is harder to control than something that man has always had to create like... fire."

[/b] He mused on his words, careful not to say anything that would trip Slade up. "Let your chakra just flow into the earth for now. Don't try to move anything just get a good feel for the ground under your feet the same way you get a 'feel' from the water when you're walking on it using chakra."[/b]

He quieted down and watched, hoping his words could make sense to Slade. He assumed because the man was here training his competency with earth release that he was a ninjutsu user first and foremost but it was possible that ninjutsu was only his secondary means of combat. Hell with the basic level of doton dominion he was working on it was possible ninjutsu was just tertiary type. He after all wasn't going to Kage Bunshin which meant one of two things. He either one couldn't learn Kage Bunshin, or two already knew Kage Bunshin. Whichever one it was he wasn't going to ask, one way or another the answer would expose itself.

With his hand resting on the large scroll of Kage Bunshin he watched Slade carefully, waiting for a moment in which he could offer something up that would be of help to the Yondaime-Elect.

He had the seals in his head and repeating them as he went about performing them would slowly carve the moment into his mind and he would effectively remember from that point on what seals were required to get the jutsu done. Each time he finished he just restarted again. From the outside it probably seemed tedious and wasteful to spend so much time hellbent on mastering the headseals alone but the seals were the foundation of jutsu casting and without being able to make them properly and in a timely manner his Kage Bunshin would never see the light of day. ...ram, ox, monkey, boar, dog, rat, ox... [/justify][/blockquote]

[Mad-Rock]

SLADE SJOERD SVEN

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[/b][/color] A short flood of laughing followed his words before he refocused onto his harnessing the earth's power.
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SPOILER: Click to show

Earth Dominion "D-Rank"

[¤ SFS ¤]

On the inside he allowed his chakra to begin to flow and sway about his body. Once the handseals were down it would be time to move on to the part of the jutsu casting that went hand-in-hand with the headseals and that was the dispensing of his chakra to give the jutsu energy it needed to 'live' and execute it's functions. With a glance over to Slade Sen took note that he was going about learning the basics of claiming dominion over earth and doton jutsu. He was relieved that the could make some personal use of this time together and possibly in the near future they could both wield Iwagakure's mightiest of Doton jutsu.

Chakra control alone could go a long a way to making a ninja elite. For someone like Sen, born lucky enough to process a rare and powerful release as well as the basic releases that make it up he didn't need good chakra control to make a name for himself as a ninja. Being such a hard worker as he was his skills and talents never became rusty from lack of use. In time he would become elite just with the gifts he was born with and his natural determination. Someone with no 'special' releases or skill sets could become elite as well superb chakra control.

Watching his leader carefully the genin noted how quickly he was getting into the swing of claiming and utilizing his dominion of Doton. He mused that his brief input had something to do "Doton jutsu is exceeds all other elemental releases in it's defensive capabilities. Also, because nearly all humans live on some form of hard terrain, Doton jutsu is a bit more practical in most battles that some other releases. Depending on the other skills you possess learning to wield the earth under your feet could help balance your skill set out greatly."

He'd become so engrossed in the progression of Slade's training that he'd forgotten that he was supposed to be dealing with his own. He'd been making solid progress training Kage Bunshin but then he had a thought and that thought generated a question he would bring to Slade.

"It's been on my list to learn Kage Bunshin for years now and now that the opportunity is here the moment feels a little surreal." His tone and face were serious, just as his motivation to learn the jutsu housed in the scroll he held was serious. "If it's all the same to you I'd like to learn the secret village jutsu with you now and go about the training on Kage Bunshin on my own time. I will personally bring the scroll back to you I'm finished and I won't hold onto it for more than twenty-four hours."

He knew his request was bold but he wasn't sure how bold. Was this the only copy of Iwa's Kage Bunshin scroll? Was Slade himself going to learn it today? Was this moment the only window he had to learn the advanced clone jutsu?

[Mad-Rock]

SLADE SJOERD SVEN

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[/b][/color] Shrugging his shoulders and sighing a bit he'd return to his focus, what Sen said about the Earth Release almost made him want to dedicate his life now to harnessing and mastering it rather than his physical attributes as he had been for his entire life now. The ground around him trembled if only a bit, far from a Master's reach, but truly that of an aspiring student. "Got it! Or, I think...hahaha, haven't really trained anything, but in Taijutsu, this is new to me. At least since leaving the Academy."[/color] Rubbing his chin he made sure his focus lead to him securing his control over the small area around himself and Sen. He didn't have time to waste on learning techniques, especially their domain techniques. Being the Tsuchikage was quite time consuming, more so than first thought, but once he was secured in his position, he'd have fun with it sure enough.

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[¤ SFS ¤]

Taking in Slade's words with a grain of salt the genin was forced to let out a deep sigh that showed his disappointment. On his end of things Slade was in no danger of being reprimanded seeing as how Sen would die before he let the scroll fall into the wrong hands while he was responsible for it. He couldn't blame him for not wanting to take the risk though. But with Slade unwilling to let him leave with the scroll it was apparent and clearer and before that this was his window and it was closing fast. "Fair enough, I can't ask you to jeopardize your standing with the elders as a favor to me. I won't be much longer with the scroll then."

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"...ram, ox, monkey, boar, dog, rat, ox..." Without him much noticing his mental repetition of the headseals had become audible as inwards thoughts took on a different path. That path was the one where he went about finding the right amount of chakra to fuel the jutsu and the right moment to release that chakra so that the jutsu was fueled efficiently and without waste.

Taking a moment to get a breather and let his mind wrap around the situation he was in the genin's head slumped toward the ground for a moment. Onlookers might have guessed he looked worn out or fatigued but he was actually far from it. His shoulders rose and fell as he let out a great sigh of relief, forcing away a lot of building anxiety. Although, with the stakes this high he knew that anxious and stressing feeling wouldn't stay gone for too long.

As the wind blew south Sen could feel the breeze on his forehead. The wind felt cooler blowing on his head than anywhere else on his body which told him he was starting to break a sweat. The black-haired young man wiped away at his forehead with the back on his right wrist. The shiny patch said wiping made on the back of his skin confirmed it; he was crossing the threshold from the fundemental and elementary stuff that had to be mastered for each jutsu into the tougher parts of the training that was unique for each jutsu.

Really sweating was a conditioned reaction in anticipation to this stage of jutsu training rather than physical exhaustion or any of the other things that went hand and hand with sweating. His body had become accustomed to being made to sweat shortly after this part of jutsu training so now his body did it without even having a reason to once that part of the training came near. After learning the headseals, reading all materials on the jutsu he had available at the time and working on getting a proper 'feel' for how much chakra a jutsu would need to be executed, the genin's next step in learning that jutsu would be to actually begin attempting to cast it.

[Mad-Rock]

SLADE SJOERD SVEN

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[/b][/color] Grinning like a young child Slade gave the open scroll before him a once over before rolling it up, attempting to add some sort of disconnection between his thoughts and control over the earth. It could make or break it, but he had to prove to himself if he was any good with the release in question or not. And he obviously was for his concentration split, but did not break. Setting the rolled up scroll off to the side Slade would roll his shoulders as he turned his attention, back towards the still training Sen. No doubt his technique was far beyond difficult when compared to a domain technique. Sure one let the user obtain countless other techniques, but the other was one of fabled use and even had it's own variations. "S'what ya say?!"[/color]

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[¤ SFS ¤]

There was still details of the scroll he had yet to look over, as he was a tad bit worried Slade would change his mind and take the scroll away. If he did Sen would still know enough of the essentials to keep training the jutsu on his own, or so he told himself to make himself feel better. It wasn't as if he gave the Yondaime-hopeful a reason to revoke his gift but in Sen's mind he didn't give Slade a real reason to show that he should learn the jutsu in the first place.

Easy come easy go and as easy as it had been for him to get his hands on the famed scroll of Kage Bunshin he half expected something to go wrong and keep him from learning it. Paranoia crept into his mind and he wondered on how likely it would be that someone attacked the two of them in that moment and repeated what happened with the Sandaime, thus bringing his training to an annoying halt. Of course if that did happened he might give his all to the fight just to ensure he got to finish training Kage Bunshin at the end of said attack.

Not liking where his manic runaway mind was heading the young man bit down on his cheek to calm himself down and get back to focusing on the training. He even gave himself a mental pep-talk ignoring the pain in his mouth and the taste of iron on his tongue. Relax Tokomaru... there's time to do this right. Just focus and get this done.

As if he'd been in world of his own he snapped back to reality in time to hear Slade challenge him to spar. Though 'challenge' implied an aggressiveness the Tsuchikage hadn't used, the more accurate word was 'offer'. He's offered to take Sen on in a spar. Though he would have much rather moved onto more training of jutsu, he couldn't deny the growth a spar would offer. "I know you're gunning to become Yondaime and personally I think you have what it takes to make the cut, but you should know that until you're seated I will see you as an equal despite your ascended rank." He continued without lingering, not wanting to give Sjoerd the wrong idea.

"I say that to say this, training is important and if a genin can dig deep enough to keep working you'll be expected to do fat more than that. Take advantage of the opportunity we have today to learn and grow. But I suppose being selected to become the Fourth... you already know these things."

"I'll tell you what Slade, if you can learn a village jutsu by the time I'm done with Kage Bunshin, I take you up on your sparring offer. I want to see what the doton jutsu of Iwagakure is capable of first hand."

[¤ SFS ¤]

"...ram, ox, monkey, boar, dog, rat, ox..." He began to disperse chakra every time he finished the motions of handseals for the jutsu. The energy of his body that fueled his techniques circulated his physical form like race cars on a track.

There was an optimum moment when the headseals called forth that energy and in that moment a jutsu could be born. But the moment was a fleeting one and any jutsu cast too soon or too late would bear it's own faults which were usually instantly noticeable. The problem was the stronger Sen became the faster the 'cars' became during their 'race' and each jutsu learned and known had a different 'track' as it were.

It wasn't hard

[/b] to lock down that proper moment to create the technique but it would take some effort for one's first time learning.

With his face as rock hard as the streets and homes of the village from which he hailed his hands flew through the seals at battle appropriate-speeds, no longer going making the handseals slow and deliberate for his own memorization. Memorization which was apparent had stuck at this point. Saying he knew[/b] the handseals for Kage Bunshin beyond a shadow of a doubt was a small step forward in the right direction.

It was no victory in and of itself but it proved he was on the right track. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Even Sen himself was surprised at the vigor in his baritone as he called out the name of the jutsu hoping he'd done it right as if yelling out it's name made it stronger somehow. The thing he created though didn't much look like him and blew into a puff of smoke the moment the wind hit it. It looked like a deformed version of him and it was unable to retain it's form from the slightest of kinetic energy acting upon it.

He'd seen worse though and it wasn't enough to slow him down. After a water break and some stretching he would be back at it and within this day the Shadow Clone jutsu would be his.[/blockquote][/justify]

[¤ SFS ¤]

The results of his first attempt at making a shadow clone wasn't at all perfect. But what it was was something to go off of and with the flaws of the attempt fresh in his mind he went back to reading over the scroll and patiently taking in all it's details. Still speaking aloud those same seven words escaped his lips in a repeating rhythm with his hands making a corresponding set of seals to match.

"...ram, ox, monkey, boar, dog, rat, ox..." Slowly but surely he was becoming synchronized once more with his own inner rhythm. Each time the headseals finished one set for the jutsu he could feel his chakra dispensing itself in small amounts. He could feel it bubbling over inside of him as he finished that last 'ox' seal again and again. It was like his body was trying to tell him something but had no voice to speak with.

Luckily for him, his mind knew how to move forward with the training without the vital insight his body seemed to be trying to give off. He would need to latch onto that moment when his chakra dispensed itself if he wanted the jutsu to form and function properly. What the hell am I doing wrong? Training a technique from a scroll was nothing if not redundant and repetitive and as much many a ninja hated learning jutsu that way no could argue with the results.

There was a missing connection between what his mind knew and what his body felt. They would have to be as one in order to get a properly functioning Shadow Clone which was much easier said than done. Still, his own history of training told him despite early failures success was bound to happen. It was only a matter of time. It wasn't an impossible task and he'd done it before while learning almost every jutsu he knew.

But, no matter how much experience you had with fumbling around in the dark, at the end of the day you were still doing just that, fumbling around in the dark. "...ram, ox, monkey, boar, dog, rat, ox..." Once more the genin formed the seven seals as if his life depended on it with all the focus and intent that he had for casting jutsu while in battle. Mentally he shot through everything he knew about the jutsu and when the moment came he released it.

[/justify]

[¤ SFS ¤]

Sen had forced as much chakra into the cast as he could very curious on the results it would yield. Jutsu took a very specific amount of chakra when released into the world and that amount could increase of decreasing with each ninja depending on the kind of training and understand they had with both the individual jutsu as well as release or catagory to which the jutsu belonged.

Much of training a jutsu was learning how much chakra or stamina it needed to function fully so as to keep from draining one's chakra and stamina in a wasteful manner. As time rolled on and skills progressed with said jutsu they could always look back and be able to use those jutsu to their lesser extents for only a fraction of the chakra and in time no matter how souped up their jutsu was the chakra cost behind every single one became second nature to them.

Optimization was key.

When the smoke cleared on the second casting of Kage Bunshin Sen successfully fought off a grin and plastered a frown in it's place. It seemed with all training of new jutsu, in it's mid and early stages, it yielded mixed results, and this one was no different. While clearly he'd taken a step in the right direction compared to his first attempt which barely looked like him and was horribly deformed, this new one had it's own flaw that needed correcting and Sen took notice of right from the jump.

What stood before the genin was more or less a perfect copy. There were no visible features or distinguished marks that showed the clone's imperfections and from it's appearance it had none. On the outside it seemed like a victory but Sen, as the caster, knew better. The clone that emerged proved to be far more stable than the last one Sen had created. The wind blew on its back yet it stood its ground and didn't disperse.

The frown became more like a glare as glare eyed the clones that grinned back at him. It was actually pretty creepy the way the clone looked at him. What made this one so different was the fact that Sen couldn't tell what it was thinking. The telepathic link he shared with his elemental clones of youton was not present here. Taking a moment to look over the scroll once more he searched for an answer to his problem. Anything he could find that would make sense of this failure.

[¤ SFS ¤]

With a deep breath the genin sat over looking the scroll for something he'd missed or simply read and didn't take into consideration. It wasn't a good look to have such a important document and read but then forget some integral facts. Had this been a mission and he were only allowed one look at the scroll in order to retain it's information he would have failed. He cursed himself a bit and made it a point to make sure nothing slipped his eyes this time.

He wasn't sure how Slade's own training was coming along as he'd more or less shut the man out. He wasn't ignoring him he'd just become to preoccupied with his own training to pay attention to the man. Taking his time with the scroll and scanning it over and over again he felt sure something would click in his mind and he would find the mission piece of the shadow clone puzzle. He had the had seals right and he had the timing right so something else was off.

Suddenly, his eyes widened and his brows furrowed as he found the missing piece of information that was messing him up the whole time. It seemed so unrealistic that he had to read it once and then twice again to ensure he wasn't misunderstanding it.

From what it said on the scroll he was quickly able to take note that his problem had been the he was treating like a normal jutsu in that the only chakra utilized was the amount spent to make the clone. When now, he was clearly reading the he would have to in a sense, cut the whole of his chakra into pieces or parts that were equal to one more than the number of shadow clone he was creating.

"However, Kage Bunshin distributes the ninja's chakra evenly among the clones."

With that small oversight of words he'd been going about his training all wrong but now that he knew his errors he could quickly rectify them. Instead of simply 'spending' or using the chakra that was required to make the clone he would also 'spend' or use half of all his total chakra. Initially one would think that such a costly jutsu was impractical and in that, useless on or off

[/b] the battlefield no matter how cool it was or the applications it potentially possessed.

"When the clone finally disperses, any new knowledge it has gained as well as the remaining chakra within their bodies is passed back to the original ninja and any additional clones."

The answer was there. Upon a clones defeat or voluntary dispersal it's remaining chakra would be divided evenly among the original and any remaining clones. That was how the jutsu kept from being totally impractical although that temporary lack in chakra you got from letting a clone run around with it could be fatal in battle if one didn't know how to fight with their heads.[/blockquote][/justify]