Promises to the Dead (Open)

::Geretsu stood atop the mountain that had been established as a monument for the leaders of the Hidden Leaf village. It had not been difficult for him to get in, as he had timed his arrival with the monthly trade caravans, posing as a trader. He had come back here because of a promise made more than ten years ago now. He would always keep his promises.

For the better part of a day he had been recalling with perfect accuracy a secret technique of the Hidden Leaf village, and teaching himself how to perform it. He would do this no place else, as he had sworn once to protect the secrets of Konohagakure. The technique was not particularly difficult, but if his assumptions were right, it would be rather taxing to make a large number of the shadow clones that he was now learning to conjure.

Geretsu remembered the technique specific handseal and the exact chakra molding for the technique that he had seen performed on two separate occaisions. Even his sharingan had been unable to distinguish a Kage Bunshin from the original Shinobi, and he had been able to tell but for the extremely detailed motion detection of the Sharingan where the original user had moved. This technique would be rather useful.

Standing, Geretsu performed three handseals before performing the handseal for the shadow clone jutsu. These served to streamline his chakra, so that his control would be flawless and no chakra would be wasted as it would be if he simply performed the one seal. Some shinobi prefered to say the name of the technique that they were performing to focus themselves, but Geretsu preferred not to. He released his chakra with the fourth and final handseal.

Almost instantly a replica of himself appeared, wearing the exact same clothing as he was. He had left his sword, Sadaka Keiro, in a hotel room down in the village. He had known that the top of the monument was almost always deserted, but did not want to risk anyone recognizing the sword. Most people who would recognize Geretsu himself were long dead or too old to make it to the top of the mountain, but his younger brother may have used the sword, or his father may have shown it off. Geretsu was a cautious man.

Turning towards the replica, Geretsu squared his shoulders. The Replica did the same. He knew that the jutsu that this spare could use were limited by the amount of chakra that he had placed into it, but he also knew that it could perform physical attacks on a target. Geretsu nodded towards the Kage Bunshin::

"Show me something that I would do...defeat me."

::His sharingan eye caught every subtle motion as the muscles of the clone's throat relaxed for a moment and then tensed. With two fingers, Geretsu caught the flying senbon needle before it struck his face.::

"That's good. You can use some of my shiruken techniques...I imagine the other ones would not work though."

::Geretsu's deep voice was intrigued. He watched as the clone reached up its sleeve and the hand came out empty handed. His voice came out of the clone, perfectly mimicked.::

"It's as you thought. I cannot do it."

::Geretsu nodded and performed the handseals again, creating yet another clone. He wanted to see how far away from him these clones could opperate.::

"Run a mile in that direction and report back here when you have finished."

::The clone complied. It returned a few minutes later, showing Geretsu that it could act autonomously.::

"Any problems?"::Geretsu asked.::

"None."::The clone replied and then burst into a puff of smoke as Geretsu released the technique.::

"I'm going to strike you."::He said to the first clone.::

::The clone held its arms wide and Geretsu threw a powerful kick into the center of its chest. He felt the impact, and the clone fell backwards a bit before dispersing. A solid blow would destroy the clones. Geretsu now knew how to apply the technique in a tactical situation.::

(680 words technique learned:
Name: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)
Rank: B
Type: Ninjutsu
Element: None
Description: The user creates one or more exact copies of himself. These copies have a limited capacity to perform jutsu and can deliver physical attacks as they actually have substance.)

::Now Geretsu's true purpose could take flight. He had intended to make his signature shuriken jutsu much more deadly. Once, he had seen an ANBU shinobi throw a single shuriken before using the Shadow Clone Shuriken jutsu to fill the air between him and his target with countless whirling stars of steel. Geretsu had come to this place to learn just that technique. He sat down once again and thought back on it.

The handseals had been more complicated, but due to the impeccable recall granted to him by the sharingan he was able to remember them perfectly, even though they had been performed at high speed. The eight seals needed to be performed in succession, and before the projectile had travelled too far on its way to the target. First, however, Geretsu would need a shuriken. He reached his left hand into his right sleeve, retrieving one.

Geretsu visualized the way that the man's chakra had moved. He had later identified the man by such movement. While quite individualized, it was proper for the execution of the technique, and would serve to get the job done until Geretsu had become more familiar with the technique and was able to streamline it. Standing, Geretsu held the shuriken primed in his hand and chose a target from the many trees at the forest line atop the cliff. He visualized the technique one more time and got to work.

He let flung the shuriken out at the tree, not sacrificing the speed that he would normally use for the functionality of the technique. He refused to slow the attack down for any reason. He would not compromise. As soon as the metal star was released his hands went to work, molding the chakra that would bring the technique to fruition. His fingers twisted into the seals: Ox, Dog, Dragon, Rat, Dog, Boar, Snake, Tiger. The seals were but a blur, but they whipped his chakra around, forming it into the needed shape.

As he locked the last seal into place the technique took to life before him. Almost immediately, near a hundred copies of the original shuriken materialized out of thin air, hurtling towards the target with the same velocity as the first. The throwing stars converged upon the tree, each and every one finding its place on the trunk of the green giant or close by. With the sheer number of projectiles it was not imperative that every single one hit. This technique was a good one. Aside from a large object of pronounced durability to interrupt it, the Shuriken Kage Bunshin no jutsu would be extremely difficult if not impossible to survive. Geretsu released the technique, and the shuriken disappeared in tiny puffs of smoke, leaving only the original, embedded in the exact spot that he had aimed for.

Geretsu retrieved it and practiced the technique two more times. Due to the slightly different purpose and nature, this technique was not as taxing as the full body Shadow Clone jutsu. However, it provided an overwhelming and immediate offensive force, which would serve any shinobi well in battle.::

(520 Words: A-ranked technique learned.
Name: Shuriken Kage Bunshin No Jutsu (Shuriken shadow clone technique)
Rank: A
Type: Ninjutsu
Element: -
Description: After throwing a projectile and performing the needed handseals, a shinobi creates multiple copies of the projectile that converge on their opponent or target.)