Such potential

Kido class was next for Minato. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it though, as his last class was less than spectacular. He had nearly gotten killed because of his big mouth, and his crazy instructor. He was wondering how crazy this one would be. He didn’t know what kind of Kido there were, but because of the massive amount of creativity around there, he was sure there was a lot. He was positive he didn’t want to be hit by any of them. He arrived at the Kido Training area, and looked at around. There were several dummies set up, each one looked worse than the last. All of them were limb limbed, but one of them had arms that were being held behind it’s back. He walked up to it and looked at the arms hoping to see rope of some kind. Nothing was there though. It was just a dummy, and the arms were behind it’s back. He felt the dummy, and it was just straw. Something was holding it, something Minato didn’t want to be on the receiving end of. Of course as he thought this, his arms were forced behind his back, and as he struggled the force held on tighter. He grunted as he tried to fight it and gave up. He fell to his knees and tried to look around, which was a challenge in and of itself with his battle wounds.

He heard footsteps come up behind him. “A simple Kido: Bakudo number one: Sai.” The instructor’s voice was deep, but not Berry White deep. It was just on that line that one could consider romantic in the right time and place. This was neither. He came around and kneeled in front of Minato with a smile. “Name’s Derrick, and nice to meet you.” He smiled. Minato tried to smile but the pain in his arms and his chest made it overly hard to do so. Derrick snapped and he was released. Minato collapsed on the floor wincing from the pain. “Some Kido can be defended against. Others are not able to be blocked. All kido follow the same rules though. Rule number one: No reiatsu, no kido.” He helped Nikitio up and smiled. ”So what’s your name?” Nikitio rubbed his arms and smiled. This instructor wasn’t crazy, good. ”Nikitio Uril.” He said with a respectful nod. The man known as Derrick nodded. ”Very well. Let’s get started, mh’kay?” He pointed to a small pond with a large rock by it. ”Sit there and focus on all the sounds you hear.”

Minato looked at Derrick with obvious question. ”To unlock your potential with kido we have to tap into your energy. You have to be open to all that is around you. Open your senses. You won’t be able to cast kido if you cannot sense others. To sense others you must open your senses. Everything is connected. Now sit your ass on that rock and focus.” Derrick sat where he was. Minato sighed and obeyed. He sat down on he rock and listened. He heard the moving of water, the fish in the pond, and the wind. That was it. All he could hear was those things. He sat there like that for a few more minuets. He adjusted himself to a kneeling position, and then switched back to crossed-legs, and then moved to sitting with his legs slanted in front of him, and finally sat there with his legs drawn up. Not once did he close his eyes. He was truly afraid that that crazy instructor would slice his head off. He was not trying to get cut. He finally heard a new noise. The movement of Derrick as he came closer, was pleasing to ,Minato. He thought he had left him there to suffer in a sea of near silence.

”What do you near Minato?” He asked. It was obvious he wasn’t going to be happy with anything Minato answered. There was something specific he was looking for, and they both knew Minato didn’t know it. He looked over at Derrick. Derrick’s brown hair fell neatly in his eyes, and his blue eyes were dead to the world. ”I heard the water, the fish, and the air, Sir.” Minato at least had enough sense to add “sir” at the end. Derrick’s lips turned into a frown, and he pointed at Minato. ”Sho…” Minato was forced into the pond and sat there as the fish swam away quickly. ”There is so much to hear. You are hearing, but you are not listening. You must pay attention to EVERYTHING that is around you. You cannot ignore anything. Every little noise, and every single sound. All of it is important. All of it is needed to tap into your inner power. Do not shy away from it. Do not think that any one sound is less important than the other. To truly understand kido, you must understand the world around you. You must understand yourself, and you must understand your friends and allies.

“Now stand up, Minato, get on the rock, and meditate. Focus on the world. Focus on yourself. Focus on me. Focus on everything you think you hear, and everything you don’t hear.” Derrick walked away and returned to his seat. Minato got up and sat down on the rock, crossed-legged, and closed his eyes. He sat there for a moment and tried to listen. He heard the same sounds from before, but this time he also heard his breathing. It was different though. It sounded like he was breathing in his own ear. He was proud of himself for this. He wanted to please Derrick, he was a nice instructor and he’d rather not see a Kido instructor’s bad side. It was not on his top one hundred things to do. For the next hour he sat there and listened. Within five minuets he heard the fish, the water, and the wind. In ten he heard himself breathing. In thirty minuets he heard the soft words of students who went by. In forty-five minuets he heard his own heart beat. That was the last thing he had a chance to hear before Derrick came to him again.

”What did you hear Minato?” He still sounded like he wasn’t going to be please. Minato looked up at him. He relayed the information to Derrick, and the male still looked unhappy. His eyes told a different story though. They shining with pride at the things Minato heard. He was on the right path finally, but would it be enough to please Derrick? The look faded and he was all business again. ”Don’t get cocky. There is still much to learn, and much to hear. You will learn in time though.” He looked up at the sky and then down at Minato. ”Go. You will be late for your next class. He walked away then, leaving Minato on the rock. The young Shinigami-to-be got up slowly. His legs were asleep and he tried to ignore the pain. ”Damnit…” He mumbled as he realized that the crazy lady instructor was better than he gave her credit for. He slowly walked out and headed to his next lesson. Something he thought he would be good at. Hoho, according to his studies, was speed and agility. He was always a good runner, so hopefully in death it would still be the same.

Minato grumbled softly as he walked through the halls of the Academy. Students sometimes gave him a look, but he just shrugged it off. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with them. He just wanted to get to Kido Class and learn something. He wondered if he should have practiced his listening skills last night. Maybe he could have impressed Derrick with something. Oh well, he could always practice tonight. He went to the Kido Grounds to find Derrick casting something that released a yellow chain like thing that wrapped around the dummy. He missed the name of it, but he was caught just staring at it. Derrick spoke up without having to look back. ”Going to come here? Or are you going to just stand there and star like a scared little child?” If it was Claudia he would have decked here then and there. But it was Derrick, and his voice was playful.

Derrick turned around and smiled at Minato. He raised a hand to beckon him to come. Mina obeyed and stood a few feet in front of Derrick. ”Yesterday we worked on listening. I now want you to work on your focus. A vital part of Kido is focusing. If you cannot focus your energy then you risk harming yourself. If you cannot focus on your target then you risk hitting someone or something else. You must focus. Much like you would have to focus in Hakuda or Zanjutsu. So, to help you with focusing we are going to test your memory. This will force you to remember, to focus, on everything you can. Then I will ask you a question. Finally you will answer that question, and of course the questions will get harder and harder.” He pointed to several dummies that were not there yesterday. They were cluttered with clothing to the point that Minato doubted anyone, alive or dead, would wear it. Or even consider wearing it.

There were three dummies. One of them had black sunglasses at the top of a blond wing. On the face was a giant red sticky looking glob, and around it’s neck was a thing black choker. It’s jacket was a black leather biker’s jacket, and under it was pink pineapple decorated shirt. There was blue underwear outside green shorts. Under that was a pair of black pants, and finally there were boots. As far as accessories go, there were snake bites where the lips would be. Three watches on it’s left wrist. Three rings on each finger, and a gold belt. The second one had a green haired wig, and silver boots. It was shirtless, but had on a furry coat. It wore a pair of green cargo jeans, and had a blue pair of underwear around it’s ankles. The final one was dressed exactly like the first.

Minato was allowed to look at them for about two minuets before Derrick blinded him. He then spun him around a few times. After the spinning was done, he made Minato listen to his lecture about Kido. ”Kido isn’t something one can truly understand. It is like trying to explain color to a blind man. Kido is something that you can see the effects of, but never truly see. It has no shape, no form. It has nothing tangible about it other than what it produces. Kido is the energy inside of you, me, the Captain Commander. It is something that we can manipulate to our will, but that nobody is truly the master of. Kido, like most things, requires a sacrifice of course. That sacrifice is our energy. We can only use Kido for so long. Some longer than others, but nobody can do it forever. Trust me, I’ve tried. If you continue to use kido, even after you are worn out, then you are risking your life.

“Kido is nothing to take lightly either, as it is only limited by one’s creativity. There are many many kido to learn and I promise you I will show you all I can. Kido is split into two very very different groups. These groups are known as Hado and Bakudo. Hado is used for destruction. The most basic of all Hado is, Sho. Bakudo is classified as binding but a more appropriate term would be defensive Kido. This is because not all Bakudo is used for restraining your target. Some Bakudo Kido is used to protect yourself. You have already seen the first Bakudo. Yesterday, and you also experienced it. Along with these previously mentioned types there are some healing Kido. The Fourth Division is the one that uses them more than any of us though, so you don’t have to worry about that. I suppose if you want to see how it is done you could always swing by their barracks and look, but I don’t know. Anyway, Hado is not something you want to be on the receiving end of. Sho is a rather gentle Hado, but in master’s hands it could blast holes in you.

“This is not just with Sho. All Kido have the potential to be far greater in the hands of a master. That is something you should always keep in mind. No matter how strong you are, in the hands of a master, Kido can be just as deadly. I’ve seen some brave and courageous men fall to their knees with one Kido shot. I have seen people weak with a blade make up for it with their more than impressive kido. Even those people though, have their limits. Most kido have an incantation. Some kido don’t. All kido that have an incantation are stronger if you say them. So if a kido master ever utters the incantation, run. I have also heard rumor about some masters of Kido even being able to cast kido without the name of the spell. I don’t know if they truly exist, but if they do and they say the incantation and name, then just stay there. You’ll only die tired. Now then, that is the basic knowledge of Kido. Tell me left to right the color of the hair of the dolls.”

Minato had to think. He truly had lost track of what color they were. He colored remember, but was searching his memory frantically. He searched and searched for it, but couldn’t find it. ”Left one is blond, middle one was something unusual. What was it? Blue? Yeah, it had to be blue. The last one was blond too.” Derrick sighed and stepped closer to Minato. He heard the feet on the grass as Derrick came closer to stand next to Mina. ”Close. It was blond green blond. What color underwear is the middle doll wearing?” Nikitio knew this one because he thought it was odd that the underwear was around his ankles. [color=indigo=”Blue. It was a pair of blue underwear around it’s ankles.”[/color] Derrick chuckled nodded. ”Correct. Before I continue I want to explain this. This may seem like more of a memory exercise and it is. But you must also focus on that memory while listening and remember what I am telling you. In battle you must call forth the memory of kido and what each one does, as well as their incantation. At the same time you must focus on your enemy as they try to kill you. This practice not only enhances your recall ability, but helps you to focus on details. Now then tell me this. Which doll is wearing a jacket with a rip?”

Minato was about to answer but froze. He didn’t know. He didn’t see a rip, so how could he answer that? ”I am not sure, Sir. I don’t know which one. I didn’t see any rips.” Derrick chuckled and pat Minato on the back and took off his blindfold. ”Good, because none of them have a rip. Now get to your neck class. Work on your listening exercise and try this exercise in your dorm as well.” Derrick smiled and shunpo’d away.

Mina appeared in the Kido training area. His naturally high endurance aided him in his Shunpo skills, but he wasn’t very fast in comparison to others. He needed quite a few steps to get there. Such things can be fixed effortlessly though. He looked around for Derrick who was also missing. This was starting to irritate him. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing as he listened, and again felt that pulse. He focused on the pulse this time. He gripped it with his mind and followed it. Above him on the roof was where it was originating from. He opened his eyes and turned around looking up. Sure enough Derrick was up there smiling and he began clapping as well.

”Good job, Minato. I didn’t expect you to be able to find me so soon or so quickly. I guess that will teach me to underestimate you, huh?” He laughed and jumped down. Derrick stood a few feet away from Minato and smiled. ”Today we are going to learn Kido. I have faith that you have been practicing your listening skills. It shows by you being able to sense me. So as a reward I will teach you a kido or two. If you do well, I might teach you more than that today. So tell me. Which division are you going to be apart of?” The question didn’t make sense to Nikki, but he didn’t question it. ”I want to be the 2nd Division Captain. I want to lead the Onmitsukido as well.”

Derrick nodded his head slowly. ”Very well. Bakudo would be best to start off with then. I showed you the first Bakudo Kido on the first day of class. I don’t know if you remember, but for a refresher I’ll explain what it does. It, more or less, locks the targets arms behind their back. This makes it difficult, and near impossible to run as their balance is thrown off. Those with horrible balance would not be able to even stand. Or some people would just be to weak to stand with their arms behind them.” Derrick pointed at the strawless dummies. ”We will use them for practice until you feel you got it. Then you will try it on me. If you can hold me for five seconds then you passed! Focus on the arms of the dummy. Focus on them and say the word Sai.”

Minato nodded and looked at the dummy. He took a breath and then let it out. He pointed a finger at the dummy and concentrated on the arms. He looked at them and tried to picture them being behind his back. He wanted this to work the first time around. ”Sai.” He mumbled softly. At first nothing happened. Then the doll’s arms twitched, but went back to being still. Minato silently cursed and shook his head. ”What might help for now is picturing what you want. Imagine the arms how you want them. Direct the spell to do what it is naturally supposed to do. Kido isn’t like a sword. It has it’s own mind. It knows what it’s made to do. Between incantations and the name, it will do it’s nature. You as the caster must know that nature though.”

Minato nodded at Derrick and looked at the dummy again. He pictured the dummy with it’s arms behind it’s back. He wanted it. He saw it. He cast it. ”Sai.” Instantly this time, the arms went behind it’s back. By the tension on the arms, it was clear that it was a rather strong hold. ”Good! Good Minato! Do it a few more times on the other dummies, and when you think you have it try to do it on me. Just a note, though. Don’t use so much power. Kido feeds off your energy. As such, doing it too often with too much power could end you before the fight even begins!” Minato nodded and smiled for the warning. He was happy that Derrick was so nice. He wanted a nice teacher, and it seems someone heard his prayers. Minato turned and did a Sai on all of the dummies. Some of the Sai were too lose and the arms fell back to the side. Some were too tight and the arms were ripped off. Minato had to go back through the dummies until the pressure was just right which took about three tries.

He felt good that he had finally done this. It was something he was very proud of. He had learned Shunpo, and now Kido. He would be out of here in no time! He turned to Derrick smiling happily. Minato couldn’t believe that he had done this. The power he felt rush through him at this knowledge. The sense of achievement couldn’t have been any better. He couldn’t have been higher. What else would Derrick show him? What else could he have known? What else indeed.

Derrick smiled at Minato. ”Time for your next lesson in kido. Hit me with Sai.” Minato nodded and pointed at Derrick. He looked at his arms. He thought about how he would look with them behind his back. He imagined him on his knees, helpless to free his arms. ”Sai.” Minato said softly, but with power in it. Derricks arms tensed and struggled to stay by his side, but they were slowly moving to his back. Derrick’s eyes were closed and his breathing seemed fine. He was doing something. He was fighting off the Kido. When Derrick’s arms were behind his back he began to count. ”One…” No sooner had he said one, than did his arms come free. He smiled at Minato. ”Good job. When it comes to kido it’s a battle of energy. Not of physical strength. That is not to say you cannot break a Kido with sheer force, but it is more likely that it will be done with reiatsu. Do it again.”

Minato understood why he had him use less power. Not only was it to prevent him from burning out, but also to teach him some control. If he couldn’t lower the power, how could he raise it? Since he could lower the power though, he could also raise it. He just had to will it. He looked at Derrick, and the smile on his face only made him want to do this more. ”Sai! Derrick’s arms went behind his back without a problem. He show no signs of struggle, and he seemed to be having a hard time getting out of this one. ”One, two, three, four.” He paused before saying five as his arms began to shake, and his face turned red, but he broke free. He let out a sigh and laughed. ”That is it! Hold onto that feeling. Use it. I will teach you another Bakudo spell. Hainawa is similar to Sai, but it is also very different. Hold onto that feeling.”

Derrick turned to a doll. ”Hainawa!” Upon speaking the words a yellow rope shot out of his finger and zig zagged from his finger to the doll. It wrapped around his arms and body. Derrik looked at Minato and nodded for him to try it. Minato turned around to face the dummy. ”Hainawa.” There was nothing but a spark. Derrick didn’t offer any advice this time. Minato shook his head. ”Hainawa.” Again nothing but a spark happened and it pissed Minato off.

Mina looked at the dummy. He looked at Derrick’s dummy and how it had the yellow rope around it. Upon seeing this, Derrick dismissed the rope, and Minato kept his temper under control. He did some breathing and tried again. ”Hainawa.” This time the rope manifested and shot out at the dummy. It stopped though just before it hit the dummy. Minato sighed and tried one more time. He focused on the path he wanted it to follow. He saw the body. He saw the rope. He imagined it all with his Mind Eye. He drew in a deep breath and commanded it to work. ”Hainawa!” Like lightning, the rope shot out and moved in an awkward direction, but it hit the dummy and wrapped around him.

Minato smiled and turned to face Derrick. ”Good! I’m impressed! You seem to have a knack for this! Now then, use it on me.” Minato looked at Derrick’s body. He tried to envision it with the rope. He breathed calmly and pointed at Derrick. His eyes calm and his hand steady. He was beginning to feel the effects of casting so many kido though. ”Hainawa.” The cord came out and upon contact it broke. Minato frowned and tried again. If he didn’t get it then he would certainly collapse. ”Hainawa.” The rope came out and Minato closed his eyes. When he opened them, Derrick was standing there with the rope clinging to him.

He smiled and then fell over. Derrick broke free and laughed pleasantly. ”One day you might be able to do more. Depends on you really, and how often you practice. I am proud of you though. Do you wish to continue? Minato looked at him and nodded. He felt too tired to speak. Derrick walked over to a small leather pack by the boulder and took out a sandwich. ”Here. This will make you feel better. He tossed it to him and Mina barely caught it.

After eating the sandwich he did start to feel better. He was happy that Derrick offered it to him, because it truly was getting to be a heavy toll on his body to have to keep casting the Kido spells. After a while of eating in silence he sat up. ”So what is next?” He asked eager to learn more. He loved this. He had a fascination with casting spells and whatnot. He wasn’t going to go as far as to do anything related to playing World of War craft. One because he was pretty sure that he couldn’t do that here. Two, because he was living it so why the hell should he play it? Derrick thought for a moment and then nodded. ”The next spell is also a Bakudo one. This one is Bakudo number eight. It is called Seki. This one will certainly come in handy for one such as yourself. Hit me as hard as you can.”

Minato didn’t hesitate. He used shunpo and stopped above Derrick. He threw his leg up at one hundred eighty degrees, and brought it down. Derrick raised his hand and mumbled the name of the Bakudo. A small blue light appeared and when Nikki’s heel connected he was flung back wards up in the air. He couldn’t move his body for a few seconds. Just before he was about to hit the ground upon coming down, he could move again. He recovered and landed on all fours. ”Interested? Minato jumped back up and nodded quickly. [color:cc35=indigo=]”Hell yes!” Derrick grinned and nodded. ”That’s what I like to hear! I’ll give you a little information about Seki that will certainly come in handy. For starters as you saw, it repels and causes temporary paralysis. The paralysis duration really depends on the person it hit. It repels attacks that are physical based. The attacks you can repel depend on your strength and the strength of the attack of course.” Minato nodded happily as he listened soaking this all up.

Derrik looked behind Minato and there was standing. He saw the slight shift in his eyes, and turned around. He smiled at the woman standing there. Yuki apparently was in on this and was going to help him out a bit. ”Hello Minato. It seems that you’ll get in some practice with me today. Derrick told me you might be interested in learning Seki last night, so I offered to help. Since Derrick was never very good with hand-to-hand…despite my teaching.” She winked at Derrick and Derrick mumbled something incoherent. Minato giggled and when he looked at Yuki she was launching a kick at him.

He was hit on his shoulder and flew to the side. When he landed he rolled, and sprung back up. Yuki was already on the move again. She was really fast. She was far faster than minato could have expected. He used shunpo to move away behind her, and she effortlessly stopped and gave Mina a roundhouse kick to the face. Minato felt the kick, and instantly his jaw went numb and he spun threw the air. He landed and scrambled to get back up. Yuki cracked her knuckles. ”Oh come on, Minato. I saw how you handled those boys. You can do better than this! Tell you what. If you can land a hit on me, you can skip today’s lesson. Well…fighting anyway. We need to work on something else, but that’s for another time.”

Minato shook his head and looked at Yuki. He ran at her and she rolled to the side. When she stopped, her arm swung out and nailed Mina in the stomach. Minadoubled over and instinctively grabbed his stomach. In the process he grabbed her arm and when she yanked it back, he went with it. When he came to a stop he planted his feet in the ground and threw her letting go of her arm before she could grab on. She flew up and Minato pointed at her. He imagined her with arms behind her back. ”Sai!” Her arms locked behind her back, and she fell on the ground hard. Minatot charged and went in for a sliding kick at her face. Using her incredible speed and rolled over onto her back and did a backwards summersault. She ended up on her knees and then Mina slid by she slammed her head down onto his stomach. Using the momentum of the attack, she continued going and got her feet on the ground, and through sheer muscle lifted herself up.

She smiled down at the curled up Minato. She broke the Bakudo and rolled her neck. ”Nice try but wrong Bakudo.” She said and kicked Minato into the tree. Minato looked up at her and grumbled as he struggled to rise. Oh how foolish he was. He thought that this day would be easy. She charged and him and Minato looked at her. He sent a silent prayer to whatever god ruled this world. He wanted this to work. If it didn’t he had no doubts she would end his life. ”Seki…” She shunpo’d away and appeared in front of him, bringing her leg down. The blue sphere sparked away and Minato was hit on the wrist. He felt something crack and Yuki jumped up high.

She came down with her leg extended Minato rolled over and stood. Yuki landed unharmed and ran at Minato. She threw a punch and his arm came up in an X shape. He closed his eyes and out of desperation he spoke. ”Seki! The blue sphere came up, and the punch connected. The sphere turned into a black shield and forced Yuki away. She was stunned as she flew back. Minato used shunpo to get to her and return the roundhouse kick she gave him earlier. She hit the tree with enough force to be lodged in it.

Derrick gave Minato a pat on the shoulder. ”Personally. I would thrown her into the wall. But the tree is unique. Good job.” Yuki managed to get out of the tree and shook her head, rubbing her neck slowly. ”Pull that shit in class, and I’ll kill you. But you did good kid. I’ll catch you later.” Yuki vanished and let the boys alone. Minato looked at Derrick and he jerked his head in her direction. ”I don’t wanna be you right now. Haha! I’d get moving if I were you.” Minato agreed and bowed to him. ”Thank you for the help, Derrick. I’ll see you around!” Minato vanished after Derrick waved goodbye.