Chương 31: Chapter 19

Sunagakure Ryoma, Jonin Central North was one of the twenty-four primary training grounds Sunagakure maintained for ninja use. They were laid out in a sort of circular grid that radiated out from the village in sets of three for all eight directions of a compass. Far, Central, Near and North, South, East, West, and North-West, North-East, South-West, and South-East. Eight directions, three points, twenty four total training regions.

They were more or less free to be used by any ninja who wanted to use them, a small team of elemental practitioners occasionally coming around to practice their elemental jutsu in putting them back in order after each destructive incident. Not that there was much of anything to fix- each of the training regions could be generously described as 'diverse desert environments'.

Central North was the region that was wettest and most temperate, bearing a set of big rocks that provided shade to a slightly damp riverbed flowing between them, and an abundant array of desert scrubs and exceptionally dry looking trees. In the rainiest season- spring- the riverbed would transform from slightly damp clay into very muddy puddles. Barely enough moisture to water the array of tiny life that made the region their home.

The abundant sun-cover and seasonal wetness provided just enough insulation and water to keep this area 'bearable' instead of 'exhausting open sand and rock'. Ryoma had been here three times before, all times as an academy student on a 'field exercise' to each of the training grounds. He was pretty sure that was just to familiarize them with the training grounds as things that existed.

The standard curriculum was meant to last around three years, and he had stayed in for eight, so a lot of it was just him repeating old content- the teachers waving him off and allowing a great deal of freedom to someone who had already run through their lessons a few times. Of course- this time was different, because this time he was accompanied by a strange woman who had vague reasons for helping him. He raised his hand as he approached, waving casually to Nagare.

She was slightly more covered now, with a sort of baggy tan top and headscarf to keep the sun off her skin. Despite the loose outer fabric, her bust could easily be seen straining through. He did his best to focus on her hand as she casually waved back.

"I wasn't late, was I?" He called out, dropping his hand as he got within earshot.

"I suggested a vague time." She acknowledged with a dip of her head.

"I should have been more specific."

"Ah, sorry about that then."

"Like I said- the blame lies with me." She shook her head, before turning to to rocky wedges that overshadowed the riverbed.

"I took the time to prepare a shallow to practice upon- are you ready?"

"No time like the present." He replied, walking in that direction. Nagare hefted her immense jugs, making them bounce slightly, and calmly pulled up into a steady walk next to him. Both sets of jugs. He was really glad that he trained his peripherals- otherwise he'd be making a complete ass of himself. As they approached, he could see that the dry riverbed was currently a long muddle puddle, water either added or pulled up by the specialist next to him.

Normally this would be a waste- the heat and sun drying out anything in a hundred miles- but the riverbed was well-shrouded in the cool shade of the rocks and it's far more likely that the water would settle down underground again before drying out. All in all, a fairly optimal place to train water-walking so close to the village. The only other options were things like public wells and private property, which he couldn't use for obvious reasons.

"I assume you are already familiar with wall and sand walking?" Nagare asked as she steadily bounced next to him.

"I am." He confirmed, not looking at her.

"Good. As you know, each technique is ultimately a basic elemental exercise." Nagare began with an affirmative nod. At once he pinned her as a member of the Ninjutsu Corps, because no one else would say that wall walking was an elemental exercise.

"Wall Walking is a practice in maintaining a steady flow of chakra to the soles of the feet- the most difficult region for the mind to concentrate chakra within. All that is required of the ninja is a constant flow of chakra in stable amounts, breaking the flow only to move in time with their footsteps." She tilted her head a little bit.

"Sand Walking builds upon this- now requiring the ninja to not only maintain a constant flow of chakra, but to make that chakra perform an action. The chakra must spread out, take hold of the loose sands, and stabilize them as the ninja steps off. In this way, the practice trains the most basic skills required of all Sand jutsu, and furthers their affinity for Earth." That made intuitive sense but he had literally never heard that before, so Ryoma was doubting it was entirely true.

"I suppose Water Walking therefore teaches a skill critical for Water jutsu, and furthers the ninja's affinity for Water?" He asked, slightly dry but not impolitely.

"Correct. There are two techniques required to perform Water release- push and pull." She raised her hand and raised two fingers at that, coming to a stop next to the muddy water.

"You must spread your chakra out and use it to hold the water together. Simultaneously, you must push the water away from yourself. Pull the water together. Push it in a direction. Neither technique is completely sufficient alone." She turned to him as she set her jugs down with heavy thuds.

"These are the two fundamentals of Water jutsu- Push and Pull. Water Walking will teach both." He nodded, mulling over the idea with a finger on his chin.

"I suppose that makes sense, I was struggling to maintain a consistent platform in my home."

"Indeed. Take off your pants." He stopped, and sent a side-eye over towards her.

"... Pardon?"

"The water here is muddy, you will fall multiple times during the course of our training together." She declared confidently, before pointing at his lower half.

"Your pants are white- they will get stained by the water. Take them off." He glanced down at his baggy white pants- loose and good for temperature regulation.

"You know- I think I'm fine if they get stained." He deadpanned, turning his gaze from the pants and back to her.

"It's just mud, I'll live." She stared at him with a slightly befuddled expression for a few moments, before nodding in acceptance.

"Very well- when you are ready to begin, step out into the water. Pull the water together, Push yourself away from it." Push and Pull huh? It was probably very different from puppeting the Dragoon through his feet, but he still had quite a bit of practice in gathering chakra around his feet and making things do things through it. He put a sole on the water, spread chakra around, then gradually worked on pulling things together.

It was hard to describe puppeteering through his feet, because it was kinda hard to describe puppeteering through his fingers. His teachers in the academy had taught that you had to care deeply for your puppets to operate them most effectively, but that didn't seem all that accurate in his experience. Something resembling a platform began to form under his foot- only to immediately sink inwards as he applied pressure on it.

He frowned and stepped forwards regardless, letting the water get up to his ankles as he tried another platform. Pushing- he needed to push too. Bolters were made to be disposable, after all, it was hard to care about any particular unit. So the idea that he had to care deeply about his puppets to operate them was probably a training-wheel for kids. A placebo to get them into a particularly focused mindset. His next foot sank just the same- foot slipping through the water and spraying his legs.

Too much push or not enough pull? His brows furrowed as he took another slow step forwards and tried again. In his experience- it started a lot like using a video game controller. Or driving a car. Or operating any other machine, really. The strings connected to the various joints and mechanisms of the puppet, and through tugging them in a particular way he could make that puppet perform certain actions.

After enough practice it became almost second nature to get a puppet moving in reasonable order, humans were good at using tools after all. Another crash through the muddy water, now up to his knees. He made small sounds of disgruntled focus and took another slow step. No point in going back or anything- this was the deepest section of the muddy river. He'd just make laps back and forth while practicing this. He knew that's not what high level puppetry was like- however.

High level puppetry let you connect a single string and operate an entire, multi-hundred pound puppet. They could fly around all willy-nilly with ten other puppets, each operated by a single string, which meant the 'controller' method wasn't really how you were supposed to do it either. It took him a good few years to figure out how to get multiple functions in a single string. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Another splash.

He huffed, taking another step forwards. The trick was one of those mindset things- where the line between the puppet and the puppeteer ceased to exist. Where the line of tool and tool user no longer existed. You no longer think 'I will use this hammer to drive this nail', you instead think 'I will drive this nail' with the hammer ceasing to be meaningfully different from yourself. The same way a person thought about their hands- things that didn't really exist except to make things happen around you.

Doing chakra strings at range was a matter of letting out slack on your 'hands'. As if your hand itself was unwinding at the wrist and extending out, and the moment you thought it was strange or unfamiliar the hand would snap back to your wrist and the string would snap. Something like that. He took another muddy splash. Operating through the feet was different- he was still very bad at it, but the same mindset wasn't as applicable for whatever reason.

Hands were evolved to facilitate that blurring of self and tool, and feet weren't. Puppetry through the feet felt a lot less like operating a controller and a lot more like riding a horse. You couldn't 'press buttons' the same way, and a lot of the gesture was generalized and basic. Deliberate prods and pressure to get some thing to move in the way you wanted it to, and even if it moved in kinda the right direction, there were always these little movements and flourishes that you weren't anticipating.

You had to account for and work with those little deviations as they came up. He frowned as his foot went through the water again- a new record for him at two point six seconds.

"Mari did not exaggerate your talent." Nagare called out from the other side of the bank. Her face and tone was just as calm as before, so it was difficult to tell what she was thinking. It was perhaps the flattest compliment he had ever received. He glanced up at her, then back to his mud-soaked pants, then back up to her.

"Well don't praise me yet- I haven't actually accomplished anything. Praise me too soon and my head will swell with pride- and then I'll lose my balance." He joked dryly, taking another slow step in the muddy water.

"Indeed." Nagare agreed with faint dryness of her own.

"Forgive me for asking, what is your relationship with Mari?" Another muddy splash.

"... Well we went on a mission to Tea Country together." Ryoma began, slowly trying another step.

"And she made fun of me for not having friends, before saying 'we're friends now!'." He shrugged.

"So I guess we're friends now." Splash.

"... And her arm?" Nagare asked with a slightly sharper tone. He could understand why a friend would be worried about something like that- if she had felt the wood through the Transformation Mari had on it. Ryoma shook his head at once.

"Above my clearance. You'll have to ask Lord Kazekage about it." Nagare made a tiny frustrated huff, crossing her arms over her immense chest and leaning back against her massive jugs.

"... I understand." A few more minutes of silence passed, as she observed his mud-splashing form quietly. After a few moments, she called out again.

"Mari called you friendless. Was she exaggerating?" Ryoma glanced her way, raising a hand and giving a kinda-sorta gesture.

"Eh… I'm on friendly terms with a few people, but I don't ever speak with them outside of business, so I can't really call them 'friends'. A guy at intel, my superior in the puppet corps, the lady at the ration distribution center, and so on. Don't ask me their names- because the only one I remember is my Captain."

"... What of your Genin Team?" She asked quietly.

"Died in the war." He shrugged.

"One was taken out three months in- the other eight. My sensei nominated me for the Chunin Exams, pulled me out after the first trial, and a Chunin Vest was slapped in my hands. He died on the next mission." He took another muddy splash.

"I made sure to attend their funerals, proper social protocol and all that, but I can't honestly say that I knew them well enough to get torn up about it."

"They were just my teammates, teammates for less than a year at that." His eyebrows quirked as his foot stabilized- five seconds now- then fell through the water with another splash.

"... I see. That is sad." Nagare stated plainly.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"Heh- I appreciate the thought and all, but the sympathy is better spent on their families." Ryoma chuckled, waving it off as he took another step.

"Like I said- I didn't know them well enough to call them 'friends', I'm the last person who needs the consolation." Another few minutes passed in silence, as he made steady and gradual progress on the art of walking on water.

"... Mari and I were on the same Genin team, alongside a woman named Karura." Nagare began to suddenly explain.

"Eventually, we graduated as Chunin and began to drift apart. To keep in touch, Karura proposed that we have a meal together every time all three of us are in Suna." Ryoma, paying close attention, was already starting to suspect where this story was going. He had a good hint from Mari's words to him yesterday.

"Karura died recently. I don't know if Mari told you that or not. Mari has a habit of forgetting important information." Nagare tilted her head forwards, somewhat apologetically.

"For example- She did not tell me that you were to be joining us yesterday."

"Ugh." Ryoma let out an uncomfortable groan, raising a hand and rubbing the back of his neck.

"So when you see a stranger show up immediately after a friend passes away- I can imagine that being incredibly awkward. Sorry about that. I should have told her I was busy instead, I suppose."

"No." Nagare shook her head.

"You aren't to blame- Mari isn't either, really. I simply wanted to confess my intentions towards you tonight." Ryoma nodded.

"You wanted to get a read on me without Mari hovering around, I'm guessing."

"That is correct."

"Well, no worries. We're ninja, it would be strange if we weren't constantly sizing each other up." He shrugged, before taking another slow and steady step in the water.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He finished, just as politely as she had been previously.

"Thank you." She returned simply.

"... Karura would have liked you." She declared with a sort of quiet melancholy.

"... Thank you?" Ryoma began unsurely, before shaking his head and taking another step.

"I apologize, I'm not really sure what the proper response to that is."

"It's fine." Nagare shook her head.

"Your progress is remarkable, you may have an affinity for Water." She suggested with a little curious tilt of her head. Ryoma waved it off.

"Ah- no. I already had it tested. My only natural affinity is for Earth. I just have a great deal of practice channeling chakra through my feet."

"I see."

"That advice was good- by the way." He continued with a glance over towards her.

"Push and Pull- I was only pushing off the water before. I didn't know about the other half of it."

"Good." She pushed off from where she had been leaning and walked over to him in the middle of the shaded river, standing steadily atop the water. He focused sharply on her feet, trying to see if there was any trick he was missing that could be discerned from her tread. So far, he wasn't finding anything.

"Here- Shake." She said, reaching her hands out with palms up. Ryoma almost took it, before pausing and tilting his head back. He had to crane his neck slightly to look past both the brim of his new straw hat and her jugs.

"... D-did you just say 'shake'?" He questioned with furrowed brows and an incredulous tone. A long moment of silence.

"... No." She denied with a blank expression, palms still up and offered to him.

"I think you did." He continued, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Do you think I'm a dog?"

"I didn't say 'shake', you imagined that." She replied flatly, somewhat insistently shaking her hands to indicate that he should take hold of them.

"Take my hands."

"I imagined it." Ryoma repeated blankly.

"Yes. You are wasting time. Take my hands." She insisted again, immediately after he had finished speaking. Ryoma made a note to tell Mari about this later- just to make sure Nagare here would never be able to live it down. He reached up and took hold of her hands.

"Your current issue is movement. The water is constantly flowing under your feet, and you lack the experience to account for that and stepping at the same time. I will act as a support. We will start walking when you can maintain a standing position." She began authoritatively, using her hands to gently pull him up out of the water. Like learning how to swim, he supposed, the first time was always a little bit embarrassing. After about seven seconds, his feet fell through the water again.

Thankfully- she didn't comment on his face planting straight into her bust as he fell. Very professional, this water specialist was. He was glad he was wearing pants.