Genjutsu conditioning

[Shougou]

Laying on his back in the grass, Shougou stared aimlessly up at the sky, the pile of papers he needed to leave with Jin, all signed and prepared were lying next to him fluttering in the slight breeze that brushed across the clearing. Propping himself up on his arms Shougou looked about wondering himself where Jin was as he listened to sound of the leaves rustling above and around him. Flicking his hand out at lighting speed Shougou quickly snatched up one of the papers as they started to fly away. Placing it back atop the stack Shougou grasped a handful of dirt before condensing it down to about the size of a marble. Placing the now incredibly heavy piece of dirt on top of the stack to ensure any more didn't fly away Shougou leapt to his feet and stood there surveying the forest around him for any signs of Jin.

[Atomsk]

Wolf, that was his nickname amongst his siblings. He was the wolf-child. Loyal, smart, but strong and quick, and deadly silent. Bear was his brother, strong and proud. His sister.... she was another league altogether. But with stealth came the wile to use it, and so Jin slid silently into the clearing right in front of Shougou, no attempt at hiding. "Heh, took me a second to find this place, but at least noone'll come around and valiantly try and save you!" It was meant as a joke, but it was only afterwards that he realized just how off-color that comment was. Henoticed the paper; Jin'd been up for a long while finishing his end and more, but there was the rest of it, glorious and finished. "Well, in that case, let's get started. Sit here, on this stump. Would you rather start light, or no?" He could just use his terror genjutsu, but maybe the harmless embrace was better.

[Shougou]

Raising an eyebrow at Jin's rather morbid and possibly dangerous sense of humor Shougou walked over towards the stump Jin had gestured to and sat down. "Well, you are the genjutsu expert between us so just go with whatever you think is best to start out with." Crossing his legs beneath him in a meditative stance Shougou began to slow his breathe and focus his mind so as to try and prepare himself for the upcoming mental onslaught. "The papers are all signed and ready for you when we're done here," he said, gesturing to the stack on the ground. He knew Jin had probably already seen them but he felt inclined to mention it anyway. "Any quick pointers before we begin or am I just to stick with the basics for now?"

[Atomsk]

"Pointers? Hrm... Just, try and listen to my voice. That will, for this first experiment, be your best indication; my voice will try and lead you to the source. Just, pay intense attention to your surroundings, in all it's detailed forms..." Smiling slightly, for it was an honor of sorts for him to do this, Jin stood in front of Shougou, and began carefully and slowly making his hand seals. He'd start off with the embrace, work his way up; this would be excellent control training and of course his genjutsu skills, and depending on how long it took Shougou, or how good he was, it would strain his chakra capacity as well. In both cases, this sort of training was a boon, and one that Jin did not usually become allowed to operate in. So he'd start with the embrace. This was a fun time; he'd actually get to enter his foes genjutsu this time! Or, partially. He still wasn't telepathic, though that would be an awesome boost for his powers. Finishing his seal, he put his hand to Shougou's head, and focused on the Magen: Honaibu [Demonic Illusion: Final Caress] jutsu...

As usual, a vision of Shougou's most loved person ever (and Jin did wonder if it would be someone related, like his mother, or someone close to his heart from experience, like a teammate or a teacher) was now, as far as Jin could be sure (and he was), floating through Shougou's sight, towards him, and judging from the bodies reaction, it was both unexpected and perfectly affecting him. It occurred to Jin that Shougou had avoided this jutsu in the dark of the dome. This was good; a fresh jutsu. The terror-based would be harder anyways. For now, Jin just pressured his voice into the genjutsu, closing his eyes and focusing on the palm-forehead connection he had with Shougou...

[Shougou]

Jin's words faded in and out of existence as Shougou tried to empty his mind of anything not related to the input of his senses. He felt the earth beneath him tremble as somewhere off in the forest a tree fell, sending vibrations, subtle but still noticeable to Shougou in his heightened state of awareness, up through the stump upon which he sat. He felt the wind gently caress his skin before fading away. He heard the crunch of grass and dirt as Jin took a step closer. But most of all, he felt Jin place his hand upon his forehead for only a slight second. Feeling his touch Shougou's eyes flew open making contact with Jins.

Then, all of it vanished. In a second Shougou had gone from completely aware of every aspect of his surroundings to floating in a blank ocean of bliss. Looking about he saw himself standing on the steps of his old home. Not the shoddy apartment he lived in now but the grand estate that would have been his inheritance. A faceless body walked slowly up the long path way from the main gate to the front door a few feet behind him. The body held no perfect shape of its own, but rather it shifted seamlessly between shapes. Images of people he had long ago put out of his mind came flying before him. His mother, his father, his old master, some of the younger kids he had helped instruct at the dojo. This being that now walked toward him seemed to encompass all of them into one entity. It was no single one but neither was a mesh of them all combined. It was many people but only one at a time yet it never held a single shape. A fresh wave of happiness flooded over Shougou each time a new face fell before him until, it vanished. The seal sent a wave of pain throughout his body the likes of which he had never felt before. In an instant and only for an instant the vision of bliss that had lain before him vanished in a burst of flame to be replaced by a picture of his dojo burned and destroyed, bodies of all the people he had seen only moments before walking towards him charred and blackened. But most prominently, he saw Akira standing in front of him before darting away. The image was before him for only a moment when it was replaced once again by the being who was many-and-yet-one once again walking up the driveway of his clan home toward him. Once again aware of his senses Shougou realized that although the pain had hit him with immense effect, his body seemed to have had no reaction at all. The pain was only in his mind. And so is this genjutsu! he thought. Remembering how he had last seen Jin standing over him Shougou locked his eyes to the spot where he knew Jin's to be and slowly the image faded away. Once again aware of his surroundings and back in the realm of reality Shougou said, "You can take your hand off me now."

[Atomsk]

Jin smiled; something had gone desperately wrong for a moment, and it was once again a time wherein he wished he was a master, could look into his foe's mind. He was almost there; but today was not his turn to practice. Obligingly, he took his hand off of Shougou's forehead. "That's just the first part of the training. Moving along now...." Jin didn't need the contact to emphasize; actually, it would make it just a bit more difficult than otherwise to defeat. Jin's direct connection was like a signature string of chakra; consciously or no, it could be tracked. Jin would be operating without such a connection, or at least not as strong.

Again, it'd best be something simple, before he got into the invoked genjutsu. Classes of genjutsu were easy to teach; if Shougou was physically exhausted by the end of the day (and assuming Jin got to use ALL his genjutsu, Shougou would be), Jin would just inform him about those different classes and some inherent weaknesses. The only one he was worried about was his newest angel, if only because he couldn't yet control it enough to turn it off, due to it's brand new nature and high level of difficulty in controlling. For now, he'd do one Shougou had seen before. Or rather, hadn't seen.

"...Kokuangyou no Jutsu..."

[Shougou]

"Wha-hey!" Shougou said in surprise and leaping to his feet as he was enveloped by darkness. He had anticipated Jin to make more of an announcement befoer casting the genjutsu. Ah, well I suppose it's better this way. More realistic. Taking care to seat himself back on the stump without falling over Shougou once again began to clear his mind. It's not real, it's not real, he continued this mantra in his head for another few seconds until he was determined he believed it in every fiber of his being. Fling his eyes open, over flowing with disbelief in the genjutsu, Shougou...still couldn't see anything. Well, that didn't work. he thought dryly. Thinking of the last time he was in a genjutsu Shougou began to concentrate on where he remembered seeing Jin before the genjutsu was cast. Focusing his senses and placing his bare feet on the ground so he feel any vibrations Shougou stared at the area of black where he thought Jin was standing. There! A few feet in front of him Shougou managed to see a faint outline of what he thought was Jin. Leaping to his feet once again Shougou nearly fell back down as a wave of vibrations overtook him. Stamping his foot onto the ground again Shougou watched as the objects affected by the vibrations seemed to shimmer from the vibrations, growing fainter as the force did. Struck by inspiration Shougou pumped his ears and feet with chakra as he once again stomped, gasping as the clearing around him lit up as if on fire, nearly blinding him after the spell induced darkness. Walking up to Jin he stared him in what he assumed was at least his face and said, "Well, I still can't see you. But I do know where you are at least." Saying this he went back and once again sat down on the stump, thinking of how stupid he must have looked stomping on the ground for now apparent reason. By combining my meditative techniques, my ability to sense vibrations in the earth and a little extra chakra boost and can still "see", even in the darkest of places. If only I could do this with air or something so i could use it to sense oncoming projectiles or things in places without earth to stand and stomp on...

[Atomsk]

The darkness seemed to fade lightly; at the very least, Jin came back into view. Or, it looked like he had, then the figure distorted horrifically. His fangs were out and long. Jin was changing; right in front of Shougou's eyes he was deforming, his muscles swelling to bulk, then shrinking down denser and tougher, the bones similarly growing and then squeezing itself down into a denser form. He was mutating, horrifically growing to a huge size, part by part, then shrinking into a stronger, leaner, and more terrifying version of himself. From his mouth, which now oozed blood, his tongue came lashing out, longer than it should be. The overall transformation looked like a storybook Oni shedding it's deceptive skin and showing it's true, brutal, animalesque self. Even after he'd shrunk down, he was a twisted, sickening, and horridly terrible version of himself. A monster.

The mouth opened again, and a trickle of words followed the steady stream of blood.

---

From the outside, Jin's hand was coming down from the handseal focus he had used for the Shikumi no Jutsu. A basic terror technique, the outcome was pretty predictable; the user was terrified, having seen a version of their own death. As if a mind on drugs, the view was that of one watching his own body be ripped to pieces, not usually as if the point of view was attacked. Still, the disorientated mind could not differentiate, so it remained a usefully intoxicating technique. From over his shoulder, the angel Iruel looked down on Shougou, noted the chakra signature of the genjutsu, and smiled. So what if none but Jin could see or hear the angels; they had blessed him, with strength, with special techniques that no others knew. He knew they existed; he wasn't going crazy or anything. But regardless, the angel whispered something in his ear, a reminder, and Jin thanked him quickly. He thought Shougou knew, but maybe not. Or maybe just review.

---

Thge words from the beasts mouth, before Shougou's horrific death was laid out in front of him, was an echo of Jin from the outside. "This jutsu is different; it's not a matter of disbelief, and truly it will rarely be a matter of such simplicity. Your mind is intoxicated, your chakra poisoned. To overcome it, you must disrupt the poison with your own chakra. That's what the kai technique is for. But it's not so simple as casting it; look for the source, the head of the jutsu, and decast it. FOCUS! This technique can hurt, or in the worst situations, kill you. So you must work fast. As soon as you see your death start, your body will start dying..." Not that Jin would let it get too bad, but he knew that, to learn, the jutsu might have to rip you open, literally, to teach you how to defend yourself.

[Shougou]

Shougou faltered back a step as Jin began to morph into a grotesque, demonic versions of himself. When the beast (for it could no longer be considered human) began to speak Shougou felt an eerie sense of familiarity towards the monster. As if it wasn't too far from the truth. Well, that's interesting. But I suppose we all have our demons. The moment of philosophical reverence was smashed to pieces as Jin mentioned the Kai technique. Making a mental note to smack himself in the head once this was over he scolded himself mentally for forgetting such basics. *sigh* I really am out of practice..... Stomping his foot on the ground once more Shougou felt the "watched" as the shock waves flew up around Jin's body. Outlining his true shape rather than the horrible image he now saw. Shougou was just beginning to focus his chakra to perform Kai when the beast grasped his arm, its claws cutting deep through the muscle. Well, this may be fake, but that sure feels real. Shit! He grunted as the beast held him tighter. Pulling his arms up towards his chest, causing still more gashes, Shougou focused his chakra around his mind and the focal point of Jin's true position. Bringing his hands together he managed to keep them close for just the fraction of a second needed to dis-spell the genjutsu, Kai!

Collapsing onto his knees Shougou stared at the ground while his eyes adjusted to the brighter light. Running his hands along arms where the claws had cut he smiled to himself. He knew it wasn't real, but the pain had still seemed so. They may not have been on the friendliest terms during the tournament, but Jin was definitely the right choice for his genjutsu training. Picking himself up Shougou readied his mind for the next oncoming attack. Whatever it was.

[Atomsk]

Shougou looked to prepare himself. For a second, Jin smiled impressed; he could have killed people with that onslaught of genjutsu. In fact, in the past he HAD done. But now, he knew, it would either be the terror angel... and even Jin was having a hard time coming up with a way to explain how to defend against it, since it didn't work like a lot of other genjutsu. Though the alternative was Samael... and that Angel WOULD kill him, no doubt about it. There was no way to defend against it, that he knew of. So, it was looking like good 'ol Iruel. So, somewhat reluctantly, Jin pushed his hands together, knowing he needn't even do that, and plucked Shougou from the realm of the conscious, thrusting him with the accuracy of a surgeon's scalpel into the realm of insanity. "This will be the last lesson I can teach you, Shougou, and it is possibly the most infuriating and difficult to understand..." The angel took over from here; like the Shikumi no Jutsu, it was based on the fear of the target, but this was the masterwork edition. It tapped not into your chakra, but directly into your brainwaves, making the kai useless as a technique, as there was no disruption of chakra affecting the body, but rather a direct insurgence of chakra. The brain being directly affected, even extrasensory abilities like Shougou had used with the darkness would be useless. This was a lesson in genjutsu reality; one he'd give Shougou a while to realize.

There are some genjutsu you just cannot break out of, that your bodily capacity cannot do, that no technique can provide a mathematical or logical end to. Some, you simply have to be such a master at, you resist. And if you can't...

Jin knew this lesson would be most brutal, had saved it for last. Now, he simply let the Angel take over, and pleaded for it not to end him...

Back into darkness, back against that monster, as soon as Shougou's eyes had opened. But then there was the problem; he was right back. From the outside, Jin calculated the similarities in the Honaibu's specific brain-induced imagery, and the Angel's direct brain connection. Maybe that was why the Angel was the perfect terror jutsu, knowing his worst fear would be watching that beast go running off, cackling, sputtering blood as it did. Following it, unwillingly, to a burning dojo all to familiar, as burning figures emerged, young and old, and were immediately set upon by the beast. On the outside, Jin watched carefully, waiting to pull him out, waiting for the scream.

They all screamed...

[Shougou]

OOC: Writers block, will finish later....

---

Shougou managed to actually see Jin for only a fraction of a second before darkness enveloped him once again. Ah fuck.... Standing before him once again was the horrid Jin-beast-thing that had only moments ago been intent on ripping him limb from limb. Placing his hands together as the beast rushed towards him Shougou sent a slight shock wave through his chakra, just enough to disrupt the normal flow, Kai!

Staring straight ahead, eyes wide with terror Shougou tried thrice more before letting his hands fall to his sides uselessly. The world was still dark. What the.... He had done everything that had worked before, focused on Jin, everything, except.... Quickly lifting his foot Shougou stomped down on the ground and nearly fell over. He had expected to see Jin and the surrounding area light up with vibration like before, but this time, only the beast lit up. But if it lit up then that means...Oh Shit! Bending his knees to leap out of the path of the oncoming monster Shougou tried to move nad only awkwardly fell forward as his feet refused to leave the ground. Collapsed to his knees, Shougou looked up to see the beast's snarling face, blood flowing form its mouth like a water fall, only inches from his own. Letting a out a roar forceful enough to blow Shougou's hair back the beast leapt clear over him and continued on it's way towards... What is that? Off in the distance what was probably a mile or so away from them was a great light, glowing orange and red in the distance.

All of a sudden Shougou found him self being dragged along, floating in the sir behind the beast as it tore its way up a large mountain, bashing away trees like cobwebs in his path. This seems familiar...Oh god.... His already wide eyes widening to the point where he thought his eyes would coming bursting out of their sockets Shougou realized he knew exactly where they were going. His clan's dojo.

[Atomsk]

The beast came to an abrupt halt, and threw Shougou to the ground. It looked furious, and simply stared at the sky where a pair of glowing crimson, gaping wounds had opened up in the inky night. They seemed to narrow, almost as if closing, then burst wider, as the Jin-creature started to bleed... it's skin was running off in the rain of blood coming from the sky. It would have taken a while, as the rest of the scene washed away like an oil painting melting in a dark oven, before anyone unused to such genjutsu could have realized that the wounds were too akin to eyes, and that they seemed to stare straight down at Shougou, never moving. It became more apparent, until the rounds could be seen, the face slowly emerged around it from the dripping night sky, and finally Jin came into focus as static ran off around the edges of Shougou's vision. Jin had his hand gripping tensely Shougou's forehead, and his eyes wide, with pupils dilated and vibrating, and seemed in a trance. A second after vision returned to total normal, did Jin's eyes spasm sharply into normality, and he gripped his own head a bit as blood ran from a wound, maybe opened from stress. It was a minor trickle of blood in comparison to Shougou's body, which was lightly lacerated enough that an insignificant portion of blood coated his body like dew, giving this impression of a brutal beating. Finally, through some gasps for air - for Jin had been holding his head and his breath - did Shougou's assistant speak. "I told you, these could actually damage the body like you thought you were being damaged; the Angels specifically trick the body and the brain, instead of just the senses. They're my personal creation, so don't worry too intensely, but there are jutsu of similar power out there. And, like my Angel, you WILL scream. Now you live in Konoha, all I can say is that you should get a master to help you master meditation and chakra control. One will help you overcome genjutsu; the other will assure that you need it as little as possible."

Finally, Jin let up, and laughed lightly before falling backwards and laying sprawled on the grass; the bleeding had just stopped. "So, class dismissed. Any questions?"

This post has been edited by Atomsk on Dec 8 2008, 08:36 PM

[Shougou]

OOC: Heh, that works.

---

Shougou stood up slowly , his legs shaking violently and threatening to give way beneath him. Shuddering he rubbed the place on his forehead Jin had been gripping as the sensation started to fade and the blood started to rush back into his face. "No, no questions." As he said this he began to walk away, the images from the last genjutsu still fresh in his mind. Giving his head a quick shake he tried to clear his mind and focus, pulling him self both consciously and subconsciously away from the images and back to the real world. "I take it you didn't come back to Konoha just to visit so I'll be waiting back at my apartment, just drop by when you're ready to leave." he called over his soldier. I wonder where I can find Hotoke.... I haven't seen him since the tournament and we didn't speak too much.

[Atomsk]

OOC: Heh, whatever does, I go with!

---

"Sure thing partner, I'll come by tomorrow morning. WHEW!" Jin held his head for a bit; yeah, looked to be a stress re-opening. Probably brought on by such stupidity as combating one's own Angel so soon after a tournament. Jin raced off; he'd seen Shougou, so mission accomplished, now just one more part concerned the rock-ninja. For now, Jin needed to find Hotoke, and convince himself that eating was probably on the priorities list as well. It was upon thinking of food that Jin realized that the wide blood-scent on Shougou's body hadn't pushed his mind at all. Laughing at the realization of how it would have helped, Jin just kept moving on, towards a ramen shop he could smell nearby.

---

OOC: So, how is training handled now? EXP points or stats points?

[Geddy]

You get effort points into certain stats. Since this is for genjutsu, you'd get a certain amount in mentality and genjutsu or something like that. Bear in mind, 4 effort points amounts to 1 stat point upon leveling up.

Of course, you also receive exp.