Ari's Training Tantrum [P, Ongoing]

Approved

Following the day she learned to sucker punch, Ari required to learn the medical arts. She decided upon this the night before, seeing the injury she provided the thief. Ari didn't want to kill people and in the event she accidentally injured someone fatally there was no recourse to fix it. Therefore, she would spend the entirety of today mastering her knowledge of medicine. Heading out to the local surgeon's office, she would speak with him about obtaining more information on the matter. The man organized to spend an hour discussing his profession and the art of medical ninjutsu, but he was always busy as the patients held great respect for him. Ari intended to waste none of his time and simply get the facts before doing some self-teaching.
 
When she arrived at the surgeons there were no patients, apparently today was one in a million. Asking of the man at the counter, Ari was directed to his office where he could explain the application of medical ninjutsu. Many involved the use of water, but as she only possessed earth Ari's style of medical ninjutsu would probably become more offensive. He also showed her how to inflict harm using a few medical techniques, including the Chakra scalpel. The technique looked very powerful, but it wasn't exactly what she sought. Still intending to focus mostly on taijutsu, Ari only wanted to know how to fix fatal wounds encase she went too far. The man obliged and showed her a few techniques that could mend bone, heal internal organs, or even remove poison.
 
All of them were thoroughly interesting and possessed traits that anybody could find useful given the situation. Taking in the knowledge he gave her, Ari shook his hand and left the surgeon's office. To properly train in medical aspects she would have to learn techniques, but for the moment she could only comprehend its use. Applying one's Chakra to another with the intent of healing, the concept was admittedly a little alien to Ari. There were other reasons to learn medical ninjutsu, however. One of the ultimate Hiyu techniques relied on medical prowess, a technique she had taken interest in ever since her path as a ninja began. It was a colourful and unique technique, one that she eagerly pushed onward to learn.
 
Taking a seat in the surgeon's lobby, Ari read through a large book that contained information about various human body parts. She hadn't fully studied the human body before now, seeing it all laid out on paper in front of her was quite interesting. While an understanding of areas to hit that could injure someone was required for taijutsu, she didn't know things such as the location of the femoral artery. Methods of how to secure and stop bleeding if it were cut also received extensive explanation in the book. Ari read through methods to alleviate pressure on the lungs, or restore a collapsed lung to normal. CPR and other techniques for reviving someone after their heart stopped beating were also recorded, but methods such as those were far more likely to fail beside the option of jutsu.
 
Ari also studied genetics, the science behind hair colour, skin colour, and all sorts of interesting titbits. However, this information wasn't what she sought. Evolution seemed interesting and yet, it still wasn't the kind of information Ari needed to succeed as a medical ninjutsu user. Nutrition was particularly interesting since it gave Ari a few ideas for food she should be preparing for maintaining her figure, not to mention her family's. Relaxing for too long could cause Kurisu, Kasuga, Kyoto or even Ari to get weaker if they weren't eating foods with the right nutrients. Deciding she wasn't getting too far studying a book, Ari left for the nearest herbalist to talk about various mixtures and their purposes. Many herbs were mixed with various reasons in mind on a daily basis; some were as simple as tea, while others could be used as poison.
 
Ari had to fully comprehend and understand the types of mixtures, their ingredients and purposes before she could continue. A warm welcome was provided by the herbalist, providing some tea and a place to sit while they talked. Listening to everything she had to say, Ari memorized everything she was told about the plants, their properties, the basic herbal mixtures intended to alleviate or cause harm. It was fascinating in comparison to the study of books on the human body, although not quite as pertinent to the healing of someone that was fatally wounded. This knowledge would still undoubtedly prove useful to her eventually.
 
Attempting the mixture of her own medicine, Ari ground the herbal mixture using a mortar and pestle. By combining various ingredients beside her herbal selection it created a paste. The paste was a fairly commonly used medicine, capable of stopping bleeding if it were inserted to a wound as it naturally reacted to liquid and expanded, applying pressure inside. She didn't get to keep the medicine as it was still property of the herbalist, so she left the paste after watching it react to some liquid. Ari would have to keep moving to understand medical ninjutsu, since none of the practitioners of medical skills had shown her anything significant using it thus far. Luckily, she had the perfect place in mind to go next.
 
Making her way casually to what would probably be the last place to visit, Ari turned up on the doorstep of a medical ninjutsu assassin. The man was fairly well known by those in position to know him; since Ari was connected to Kurisu she held a few more connections than your average Chuunin. The man lazily made his way to the door, opening it for her to enter before directing Ari to his workshop. In it he had many tools, from herbs to weaponry. What caught her eye was a dusty book that clearly hadn't been used for a few years; she opened it to the front page at his request and observed the techniques within. The jutsu were all forms of medical assassination techniques, very interesting content for any aspiring medical ninjutsu practitioner.

It wasn't exactly what Ari needed, but the techniques inside definitely gave her a few ideas. To further her knowledge she decided to ask questions about his experience saving lives with medical techniques. The man didn't have a lot of experiences to recount in that regard, since he was an assassin. However, he was accompanied by fellow ninja in his earlier years, times when he had to look out for the well-being of someone other than himself. There were dozens of medical techniques that came to mind for him, but he only told Ari of a few key lifesaving situations where they were effectively implemented. It seemed even the art of medical ninjutsu wasn't perfect for saving lives. He also recounted the use of a technique that resurrected a target they were escorting, something of a last resort where the cost was the practitioner's life.
 
Luckily for the man, he'd never been in a situation where he had to use that technique; it was also lucky for Ari as he continued to expand her knowledge. She had to ask him why he bore scars as a practitioner of medical ninjutsu, to which he replied by explaining the different applications medical ninjutsu have. Not all of them can seal wounds perfectly, many were simply used to ward off attacks and temporarily seal wounds rather than completely erasing a wound. Equipped with the knowledge she'd gained for the day, there were only a few things left to take care of. Ari headed towards the training grounds where she could practice Chakra control and attempt to form the correct healing aura.
 
Focusing her Chakra in this aspect was very difficult as Ari had previously only known how to inflict wounds. She was also a novice to everything outside of physical arts, meaning this was probably going to take a while. Ari sat patiently focusing her Chakra, attempting to create the aura in her palms. Powerful gusts of wind slammed into her but failed to deter the focus she'd garnered. Ari's tenketsu points worked much harder than ever before as she attempted to perform the most basic medical technique; quite aptly named the Basic Medical Ninjutsu. Learning it would undoubtedly take a while, so Ari decided she'd stick to learning the E-Rank level of it for the moment.
 
By performing the required handseals, Boar, Rat and Snake; Ari focused Chakra into her hands. She then scratched her right knee using her fingernails. Placing both hands on the scratches, Ari attempted to stop the small amount of bleeding they were causing. Finding she was unable to do so as her knowledge wasn't quite on par yet to perform a medical technique, she stood up and returned to the surgeons. Searching the first book she'd read on the matter, Ari attempted to understand the Chakra flow that occurred during medical ninjutsu. Everything used a different flow of Chakra, understanding it was required to get the full merit of any technique.
 
According to the book she'd been focusing her Chakra incorrectly, leading to unsatisfactory results. Having learned this, Ari attempted once more. Boar, Rat, Snake; then she held both hands over her knee. The wound had already begun to close as walking back to the surgeon took a while, so she wasn't sure how much work the technique was doing compared to her own body's healing capabilities. Ari forcefully ended the technique before scratching her right knee again, considerably deeper this time. She repeated the technique; Boar, Rat, Snake and focusing her Chakra into the wound using both hands.
 
Ari watched as her bleeding began to slow immediately, even though the wound was practically superficial. She could hardly see a use for this technique at only the initial novice's understanding; it was reported to be capable of mending bones at higher understandings, the only point where she'd consider it useful. In the end, Ari mostly required this technique in order to begin her understanding of medical ninjutsu. Without something simple to start with, she was unsure how to progress. Ari kept performing the technique after creating superficial scratches on her knees, repeatedly healing the injuries inflicted by her own nails. It wasn't natural to hurt oneself in the way she was, but medical ninjutsu made something possible that previously was outlandish in concept to the woman.
 
Reading a book at the same time, Ari learned more of human anatomy, bone structure and the way muscles operated. These studies were not only important for medical ninjutsu; application of this knowledge could easily be given to taijutsu in most circumstances. The surgeon walked over and handed a few more books for her to study, leaving them next to her without saying a word. Patients were beginning to show up and he could see potential for someone that might help him in future. Ari would have worked with the surgeon regularly if she were in a different position; being the Hokage's partner and mother of two, Ari's duties were already keeping her flat out.
 
Suddenly she remembered that it was her turn to prepare dinner for the night. Ari apologized to the surgeon for taking his time and returned the books to their shelves, immediately heading home. Along the way she accidentally bumped into a young girl, knocking her to the ground and scraping her knee. Given the situation, it was almost too convenient. Following only her instinct to learn, Ari knelt down beside the girl and performed the three handsigns once more, Boar, Rat and Snake. Her hands glowed and she placed both onto the scraped knee. "Sorry little one, stay still and I'll take care of this for you." Ari requested, comforting the girl.
 
It was strange, she didn't actually feel empathetic for the girl, but she certainly appreciated the chance to put this technique into practice. Normally she would have been concerned for the girl's feelings and her injury, but learning a technique that could heal the wounds inflicted put her at ease. Perhaps learning a technique that could heal fatal wounds would just make Ari insensitive about her victims, under the belief that whatever she did could be fixed and there'd be no problems. Coming to understand herself a little bit more, she didn't feel comfortable with the effect this knowledge had on her personality, but it was too late to go back on everything she'd learned.
 
After healing the girl's scraped knee Ari helped her up, giving the girl a pat on the head before tapping her on the upper back. "Go on home, it's getting late and it's not safe out." She stated with a serious expression and tone, the girl immediately recognized Ari's authority in this situation and ran home. Perhaps medical knowledge would change the person Ari was, and perhaps she wouldn't be comfortable with it along the way. There was no reason to avoid the pursuit of this knowledge apart from her selfish desire to avoid change. If Kurisu, Kasuga or Kyoto were injured, she would certainly regret not possessing the knowledge to aid them.
 
Ari internally reconfirmed her desire to understand medical ninjutsu, continuing to walk home afterwards. She still wanted to understand the technique of Basic Medical Ninjutsu further; so with one fluid motion, Ari stabbed her left hand with a pocket knife. Performing the handsigns immediately after, Ari attempted to heal the wound, but found she was unable. Even though the Chakra was working away at the wound and she attempted to focus all of her efforts into it, the wound refused to close. Grunting, Ari applied pressure with her right hand's thumb on her palm and closed her left fist. On the outside of her left fist she pressed down on the wound with her right hand's fingers. By applying enough pressure to the wound over the course of thirty minutes it would certainly close and begin healing naturally.
 
Where medical ninjutsu failed, simple application of pressure could take its place, this was a very valid observation to be made. Seeing some of the blood dry up on her hands, Ari released the pressure briefly to assess what progress was made after three minutes. The wound required pressure to be applied for another twenty-seven minutes at least before it would stop bleeding. Knowing this, Ari repeated the earlier process and kept squeezing both sides of the wound with her left hand clenched into a fist. As much pressure as she could exert was necessary; the more that was possible, the better the outcome. Ari read that some wounds didn't even develop scars when pressure was immediately applied, and done so for long enough.
 
Waiting for thirty minutes before removing the pressure this time, Ari observed that the wound had completely closed. Dry blood was clotting the wound, allowing her to move the hand without blood spraying everywhere. Wondering whether or not she could punch with it, Ari was almost tempted to try. However, she ultimately decided against it before walking home. Unsure of whether her hand would go noticed, she also decided to stop along the way so as to wash off the blood accumulated on both hands. After scrubbing the dried blood from them, Ari could finally think about walking through her front door. A lot of progress had been made; she came to an understanding with medical ninjutsu and felt confident enough to tackle the Perfect Cell Transformation tomorrow.

Ari nodded purely for her own assurance, walking into the house to prepare dinner.



WC: 2607
Claiming: Medical Specialty, Level 1/E-Rank Basic Medical Ninjutsu, 13 Stats

Approved and such.

Ari sat in the Hokage's office, carefully focusing Chakra throughout her body. She was attempting to understand an ability she'd been working on for the past few weeks, leading up to the Jounin exams she intended to take part in. The ability involved communication with her cells, the relay of information about her body for safety's sake. She wished to add more to it but first had to come to an understanding with her body's cells. Attempting to modify her entire body this way required immense amounts of Chakra focus, using the bloodline to manipulate and transform each and every cell. To do this she attempted to communicate with her cells, scratching her leg and waiting for a response to tell her whether or not it was bleeding before checking. Ari sent Chakra towards her leg, transforming the cells slightly and providing them with some semblance of independence.
 
This however was not exactly what happened, as the cells were just being given new working orders that would completely separate Ari from a normal human being. She wasn't entirely sure what it would look like on an atomic level, as there was no way for her to watch the change. However, using her bloodline she could feel the changes taking effect. It didn't take long for Ari to realize she wasn't required to injure herself when determining if the cells were given the correct transformation. Fully realizing the change in her left leg, she moved on to her right. The process was exhausting and would take the entire day at this rate, but that was fine since it was a permanent full body transformation. To do this for anybody not within her clan was probably impossible.
 
Feeling the cells change, their orders and workings ever so slightly being manipulated. It almost tickled, but it was also causing a dull sense of pain. Ari's understanding of medicine and the body wasn't perfect, thanks to her bloodline she didn't have to worry much about what was happening when she used a technique; this was however, different. The cells being transformed had to be left almost identical to their original state, changing them too much could just as easily left her disabled in one or more limbs. The dangerous part would be her torso and head, as the cells within them were quite critical to bodily functions. Ari ran her hands on opposite sides of her right leg, finishing another transformation before standing up and getting a feel for the difference.
 
Immediately she was notified of the pressure on her legs, the weight her bones and muscle were taking and what they'd be capable of taking on before failing. Ari suddenly realized how strong she was, realizing she could lift somewhere around thirteen thousand kilograms of weight. The information was fairly vague considering her legs didn't really perform many tasks apart from standing, but it was a good indicator that she could continue. Doing her torso would be next, since if the transformation on her arms failed that might even have proved more miserable than dying because her heart stopped. Ari placed both her hands onto her abdomen, sending the same Chakra into it with the orders for her cells to transform appropriately.
 
Gradually, over the course of an hour, she began to understand what was happening in her intestines. The food she'd eaten, the way it was moving and its position within her. Her abdominal muscles, their potential to absorb impact and the weight they could support lifting. Ari also understood how much power she could gain from punching by twisting, using her core. She transformed the area between her legs and abdomen after this, but that requires no explanation. Moving on, Ari could detect the state of her womb and "birth canal" after suffering the birth of two children. She didn't think it would be possible to have many more with the damage already done, but perhaps a medical ninjutsu could fix that. Ari desired to have at least one or two more kids, crazy things happened in this world that parents had to prepare for.
 
Touching her sides, Ari transformed her kidneys' cells next. They were in perfect health, along with everything else except for the aforementioned organs. Next she transformed the cells in her lungs, she'd never had a single problem breathing but doing this was a necessity, especially in the event if she inhaled poison. Ari coughed a few times as the cellular transformation tickled her lungs. She felt quite uncomfortable during the entire process up until its completion. Naturally, Ari could tell her lungs were perfect. There was no asthma or any other difficulties in the family she was aware of, everybody seemed to have perfect physical health; maybe accompanied by a few mental issues. Still, nothing could be done about psychological issues with the use of this ability.
 
Shaking herself off, Ari decided she'd move on to transform the liver next. It was a critical organ, but so were her lungs. Placing a hand on her back and one on her front, she sent the Chakra through her body and transformed the liver's cells. Not being a strong drinker herself, Ari had to know if she were exceeding her limit after all. Perhaps using a Hiyu technique in future could give her the edge she needed to drink Kurisu under the table, but the likelihood of that was a million to one. Finishing with her liver, Ari attempted to sense if there were any problems with it. It practically told her that she was a lightweight, incapable of taking more than a few drinks from a bottle before she'd be knocked out. However, apart from her lacking ability to absorb alcohol, there were no issues worth mentioning.
 
With the hang of it now, Ari performed the transformation throughout the rest of her torso fairly easily, excluding her heart. With her utmost focus and Chakra precision, she started transforming the cells of her heart. Little by little to avoid any mistakes and keep her blood flowing naturally, Ari couldn't afford to mess up. If Kurisu upstairs were aware of her current predicament, she wasn't sure whether he'd be allowing her to take this risk. However, she felt this entire process was a necessary step to further her evolution. The tickling of her heart made Ari want to cough, but she resisted. Coughing now would be akin to coughing while performing open heart surgery on a patient, while the scalpel was positioned against their heart. It could have killed her.
 
Thankfully after two hours of painstaking effort, the heart's transformation was completed. She immediately became aware of her heart rate, the amount of blood passing through every second and various other information; practically everything she needed to know about her heart. Patting her chest with a job well done, Ari's next target was her own arms. She couldn't use both hands so instead, Ari would do them at the same time. Placing her hands onto their opposing arms, first she started with her shoulders. The cells within were fairly easy to transform, but she couldn't become lax and screw up her arms. Taking it as slowly as any other part of her body, Ari carefully ensured the transformation was complete and perfect.
 
Next were her upper arms. She slid her hands down from the shoulders, carefully transforming her biceps and triceps one after the other. Muscle was fairly easy to transform and took a lot less time than her bones or internal organs. Still, it was worth taking her time to make sure it went smoothly. Ari received feedback on her arm strength immediately, but she wasn't completed and the information remained fuzzy. Next she transformed her elbows and shortly after that, her forearms. Strangely enough, Ari hadn't thought about what would happen when she needed to transform her hands. Placing both together, she transformed their cells at the same time with Chakra flowing from one into the other. This required an entire hour before completion; Ari assumed it was because of the Chakra from each source getting in the other's way.
 
When she finished there was a lot of information she didn't expect. Her arm strength was off the charts, crazy stuff. Ari didn't realize just how hard she could punch something and tried throwing a few hits at the air. She could tell how much force was in her hits; it seemed like too much. All this transformation seemed to cause was concern, as Ari previously didn't understand her own strength and learning that information just made her wonder how she ever held back. How does an arm that's capable of lifting more than ten tons stop itself from killing anything its fist punches? Ari also wondered whether or not her arm would shatter upon impact with muscles like hers, but too realized the toughness of her body. Never realizing it before, she felt like her body was made of steel.
 
Last but not least, she had to transform the cells of her head. Ari started easily enough with her neck, even though a mistake could have just as easily killed her hear as the transformation on her heart. For some reason, it felt easier; perhaps even easier than the transformation of her hands. Sliding her neck from side to side, she caught her breath and prepared for the most dangerous part. Transforming cells incorrectly could lead to memory loss if they were damaged, Ari knew and continued with her plan anyway. She carefully lay back flat on the ground and began transforming cells, starting with both of her eyes. Ari placed one hand onto each and managed to finish before half an hour even passed. Opening her eyes, she suddenly gained a better concept of the reality surrounding her.
 
Constantly she was now aware of the blind spot in each of her eyes, compensating for its existence. Ari would have liked to completely remove the blind spot but there was not a solid method of doing so yet. Instead, she had an idea for how to solve that issue. For the moment, that had to wait as Ari planned to transform the cells of her skull and then her brain. The bone was an easy change, nothing majorly vital would have been utterly destroyed if she messed up a little. Instead, Ari worried about the hard part to come. Placing a hand over her right and left ears, she sent Chakra through her skull and into her brain. The ticklish feeling was gone during this, only causing excruciating pain. However, it had to be done. Ari wouldn't stop after coming this far, she maintained her focus and ensured it worked out in her favour.
 
Upon finishing she was so relieved to have successfully completed the transformation on all her vital organs that she nearly fell asleep. Afraid to forget her idea of fixing the blind spot, Ari sat up and immediately started experimenting. She multiplied these cells that were so useful for detection and attempted sending them out through her mouth. The method was inefficient, but it worked. Next she tried a more advanced approach, sending the cells through her pores and attempting to keep them all connected by her Chakra. It worked, but she had to stretch the range out further than five meters. Ari focused and continued trying to multiply and expel more cells, sending them further and maintaining a connection across millions of them. Eventually she'd have to stop, reaching outwards to twenty meters before the stress was too much.
 

Ari had never felt so exhausted before now, even though a few things were yet to be fully transformed. She hadn't even done her ears or nose yet, deciding to get them done immediately. Signals all throughout her body were firing off, notifying her of every little thing. There were too many to worry about and Ari decided to simplify it. Focusing on her Chakra, she sent out a signal for all the transformed cells to only notify her of abnormalities, rather than every little detail all the time. If something changed within her that was considered wrong, then and only then would she have to worry about it. Ari picked herself up off the ground and headed to bed immediately upon completion.


WC: 2050
Claiming: Bodily Monitor Transformation Skill, 10 Stats.

Approved

Looks alright to me, trial approved if you will be my muse <3

"An imperfect shield... But not a terrible one..." Ari mumbled to herself, reading through Hiyu techniques she could learn. As one of the only members in Konoha that was capable of manipulating her cells, she amassed a collection of Jutsu scrolls. At the moment, Ari was studying the method behind creating the Semi-Ultimate Shield. This technique was entirely based on protecting the user with no offensive capabilities in and of itself. Ari understood the utility behind it immediately upon discovering its existence and decided to pursue learning it. Today would be entirely dedicated to the technique, although one day wasn't a lot of time to learn any technique let alone an A-Rank one. Ari had previously done this on a number of occasions ever since she took on more duties around the village, lessening the time she could spend on techniques.

Her methods involved studying the techniques in any spare time available before finally dedicating a free day to them, allowing her to comprehend the technique's activation, effects, intentions and etc. before finally attempting to use the technique herself. There weren't many flaws with this training method for the busy practitioner and Ari adapted to it quickly thanks to her potential. Before she could actually start performing the handsigns and weaving her Chakra to attempt this technique, she had to gather her thoughts. Every Hiyu technique involved risk when learning them, to manipulate one's own cells could have dire consequences if performed inadequately. For this reason Ari had adapted to always perceive the danger involved with techniques before learning them. The multitude of ways in which this technique could fail with fatal consequences was in the hundreds at least.

However, she had prepared for this by studying the technique, understanding the cells she had to multiply and manipulate. Ari was in perfect control of her body by this point when regarding Hiyu techniques. All she required was a proper understanding of the technique in order to start learning, and that was something she'd been working on for a while with regards to this one. Performing simulations in her head, Ari pretended she was performing the technique while imagining her cells creating a barrier around her body. Even though personal injury was a major concern, failing to learn it was also something she couldn't afford. "Just another step up the ladder I guess, I'm coming, Kurisu." Ari thought, reaffirming her determination. Relaxing her body into a natural stance while taking deep breaths, she would now begin the process of understanding the technique.

Ari ran Chakra throughout her cells, attempting to gain an understanding over them before proceeding with the technique. She had to individually communicate with each and every cell on the surface before even attempting it. The process of communication was merely sending Chakra into the cells to gain feedback from them; thus, it wasn't so much time that was the primary concern as this was fairly quick and easy. What worried Ari was the next step which she'd come to shortly; multiplying the cells. Without fully understanding this technique by way that she could perform it, the multiplied cells would have nowhere to go if she took it in steps. Therefore Ari would have to perform two steps at once which included multiplying her cells and manipulating them. This was the only way to ensure the technique could be learned properly as any other methods would surely end with failure.

Ari predicted the position of her multiplied cells and began forming the Ram handseal while focusing her Chakra. Focusing on possibly the hardest part of this technique's learning process, Ari attempted to multiply her cells while manipulating them to stay in place. This wasn't as simple as creating external cells at all as they had to remain a part of her to stay malleable. Without the multiplied cells responding to her movements she would be immobile once they were hardened. Beginning with her left arm, Ari multiplied the cells on her biceps and triceps, manipulating them at the same time to stay one layer above her skin. Eventually she'd have to pull this off for her entire body which would be no easy feat. Knowing this all too well after learning various Hiyu techniques, Ari paid close attention to the transformation that took place on her arm. Replicating the effects required her to fully understand what happened and how to maintain the cells properly. After all there was another step after that, hardening the cells for the defensive purposes this technique allowed.

After various attempts to multiply and maintain the cells on her biceps and triceps, Ari eventually figured it out over the course of two hours. To have wasted so much time on two steps annoyed her; still, nothing was to be done about it except learn the Jutsu. Whether it took a day or a week, Ari would learn it. Understanding the process behind simply multiplying and maintaining her cells, she attempted the process on her entire torso. At first the process was exhausting, causing her to realize the effect this was having on her. It cost a lot of focus and Chakra just to keep the cells active, it would require more to keep them hardened and malleable at the same time. Ari decided to stop for a short break as she grabbed a glass of water, downing its contents before having another three immediately after. Sweat poured from her body as she attempted to recuperate from exhaustion.

Judging by the way she felt, Ari figured she was nearing her absolute limit; luckily she was at home and couldn't be taken advantage of in this state by any would-be foes. Enemies in Konoha were unlikely but never impossible, not in her position. The very thought of being killed was more annoying than scary, as she wondered what would happen to the family and the village should that occur.; could Kurisu maintain a leadership role if she died? That was the scariest thing about death for Ari, but learning this technique would hopefully dissuade death from visiting her anytime soon. Ari decided it was best to continue working on it and reformed the Ram handseal while focusing her Chakra, multiplying her entire body's cells and manipulating them to stay in place. While not perfect with some cells missing throughout her body, she could use this as a starting platform to work on the next step.

Hardening the cells and keeping them malleable so she could move, this would likely be the last difficult step preventing her from using the technique. Ari focused on the cell's composition and shifted it slightly, changing the molecular build of the multiplied portion to incorporate more iron. This wasn't the primary focus of the technique, but it was always useful to experiment. The actual technique merely used Chakra to harden the cells without changing their composition. Ari quickly got bored of this experiment and continued on with the proper method, concentrating Chakra into each individual cell to harden them. While there were a few patches missing on her body, the process still felt gruelling. Surely this would get easier as she understood the technique. Slowly, she could feel the surface layer of cells hardening like a weightless suit of armour.

At first she was unable to move until flowing Chakra into the cells, keeping them alive and responsive to her. This link was very important or else they’d die and the technique would fail. Ari didn’t feel like going through the whole process again and tried her best to avoid such an outcome. Although her skills weren’t perfect when it came to cell manipulation, she was certainly getting closer towards that goal. Sooner or later Ari would try taking on an S-Rank Hiyu technique. Even though she wasn’t confident enough to even consider trying that yet, perhaps after training this technique she’d find the necessary courage. If there were one of particular interest it would have to be the Perfect Cell Transformation. Ari felt that technique had the most utility of any she'd read thus far, but also the most difficult aspects to learn.

Therefore she could only work on techniques that had enough simplicity and utility to be useful, at least until she was skilled enough to learn better ones. Taijutsu were never this complicated and posed no issues for her to learn. Ari wished the Hiyu techniques came as naturally to her as that did, but it was a pipe dream as manipulating Chakra would always be more difficult than moving her own body. Having trailed off in her thoughts for long enough, she focused on the task at hand once more. However, the fact she could forget about the technique for a while and not have it fail for lack of concentration did show progress. Slowly but surely Ari's ability for manipulating her cells was getting better, she could brag about that later to Kurisu, Kasuga and Kyoto. Also thanks to her cell manipulation, she'd never had problems maintaining her figure even after birthing two children.

Seeing other mothers going to lengths to lose the weight accompanying pregnancy made Ari a bit jealous in fact, perhaps with the next two she would do things naturally. Why did she think there would be two kids? A funny feeling, perhaps she was becoming a psychic and looked into her own future. Ari wanted to have twins for a while in fact, so she kept reinforcing the idea that she would at the next given opportunity. She'd looked into the assortment of Hiyu techniques for any that could grant her twins manually, but to no avail. Alas, if there was anything Ari would be forced to do naturally, it was giving birth to a random gender and amount of babies. A sigh of pure frustration left her as she continued focusing Chakra throughout the hardened cells, maintaining their malleable form. From this point on she would attempt to put that effect on autopilot; similar to how one naturally breaths or their heart naturally beats, with cellular manipulation some things required no thought after being activated.

The body itself could maintain them and leave Ari to focus on whatever task she was occupied with. Luckily the cell manipulation wasn't an element or it wouldn't be tied so closely to the members' natural bodily functions. Instead, everything involving their cells was part of their body, literally an extension of themselves that felt as natural as throwing a punch... Ari realized this all of a sudden during her training, on this day. There was no need for her to apply so much effort to learning any given Hiyu technique, simply letting it come naturally like breathing was the best option. She sat down momentarily, focused on these thoughts and attempting to put the idea into practice. Forming the tiger handseal to undo all the effects she'd managed so far, Ari then formed the Ram handseal once more and attempted to use the technique with zero effort. The principle of this technique was merely creating an extension of her body.

Her cells multiplied and spread out across her body, naturally as if she'd been doing it her entire life. Ari had after all been using the cellular manipulation for some time now; she'd gained some efficiency with it even before figuring out the basic principles that made it so easy. All she had to do was focus on the technique and what she wanted her cells to accomplish for her body to take care of the rest. Forming a fist with the newly created shield around it, she felt far more durable than ever before. This layer of shielding was like a bodysuit that couldn't be removed, but also couldn't be equipped. It was an extension of her body, not a separate entity or something that required putting on. It formed from her cells after all and couldn't be considered anything less than a part of her. While the cells were alive, they didn't have any veins running through them and were merely kept alive with Chakra, while hardening them through the same power.

Feeling as if she could no longer be injured wearing this technique, Ari decided it was best to test a few things with it on. A: Whether she could be injured by someone of equal strength. B: If the technique could be broken outright by any means. C: Was the effect of this technique obvious to outsiders? All three of these questions would provide her with valuable Intel on whether or not the technique was useful under certain circumstances. If someone of equal strength could injure her the technique would be useless against taijutsu practitioners of equal strength. If it could be broken outright, certain techniques would need to be avoided or else it'd be like walking into a blizzard without any clothes on. Last but not least, if the technique was obvious in its effects, putting it on would just cause her opponents to act differently. Whether or not the shift on attitude would or could be beneficial remained a mystery, as everyone had a different reaction to certain stimulus.

Probably, more than likely using this technique would encourage people to distance themselves and hit Ari with stronger techniques. Understanding that it was a shield could end up putting her in more danger, but that's why the cells of this technique remained a part of their user. If she could mask it using the Advanced Transformation Technique to change the cells' appearance to match her normal body, perhaps the opponent wouldn't notice she'd even equipped it. That would be the best case scenario, where the armour went unnoticed and could be used to absorb attacks when her opponent didn't realize it existed. After all, it was created using her cells, only someone that could see Chakra would realize it existed if she could manipulate the appearance. Ari would now set out to have her questions answered, starting with A. She made headway for the local Dojo where she could request the practitioners to hit her with a variety of strikes.

Figuring out any weak points along with how much damage the shield could take was important. Arriving on their doorstep in short time, Ari removed both her shoes and bowed respectfully before stepping inside. After requesting for a certain condition to be set for today's training with the master, she stood in place of the regular boxing bags. Once more Ari activated the Semi-Ultimate Shield, coating her body in the hardened cellular armour. This time the transformation happened faster since she'd had the opportunity to understand and comprehend it. Ari braced both of her hands on the back of her head, taking a low stance with her knees bent inwards and feet at shoulder width. Her left foot slightly bent inwards while her right faced straight ahead. This stance was primarily used for taking hits, although the idea of getting hit wasn't preferable this stance could at least mitigate the opportunities an opponent had for attacking.

A kick approaching their external genitalia would be stopped by the crooked in knees, often damaging anyone silly enough to kick them due to the hard bone acting like a wall. Normally both arms would also be incorporated in this stance, but Ari had to take hits to her torso and decided raising her arms was best. The students were then briefed on their exercises for the day, this involved knocking her to the ground or breaking her defence. Either accomplishment would earn them the chance to spar their teacher in a one-on-one session, an honour they all seemed interested in partaking. Ari had been to this Dojo before when she learned the sucker punch and the master of it was well aware of her position. She was physically tougher than most, but at least one person in the Dojo had a fair chance of breaking her guard. The man was packed with muscle and gigantic, more similar to a tank than a human being.

During the sucker punch training he took several hits without falling and even provided useful tips for it. Naturally, he was going to be the last one to get an opportunity at striking Ari. First they would pit every one of weaker and smaller statures against her. A slender man approached that Ari gauged to have about a quarter of her strength, still enough to sting a little if he kicked a sensitive spot. However, as the man threw his right foot in a roundhouse kick at her left breast, his leg crumpled. Having put no effort into defending his leg during the kick it was as if he'd kicked a solid wall barefoot, his bones snapped on impact. Ari didn't move let alone feel it. The cellular shield was so far doing its job in protecting her and this discouraged weaker practitioners from even participating. Not even the master of the Dojo wanted them to participate, as too many injured practitioners would look bad on the records.


Instead they would only send those with strength roughly three times that of the first man. Ari could tell the next person was a lot stronger, both physically and mentally. He positioned himself carefully before throwing a punch with no wasted movement at her abdomen. The man's strength was still about three quarters compared hers, but he didn't break anything on impact unlike the first that attempted a kick. Certainly there were more defensive capabilities with a punch than a kick, whether it was avoiding unnecessary movement to deliver a strike or simply avoiding opening one's defensive stance to their opponent. Raising either leg put one's balance onto a central point that could easily be compromised after all. After throwing five more punches the man retired; his knuckles ended up getting scraped against her abdomen that was practically shredding his skin with every hit.

Ari remained unfazed from any of the hits she'd received, standing perfectly still during each one. Another man of equal strength to the last stepped up before using push kicks on her. Presumably he intended to knock her balance off and send her flying to win, instead of attempting to physically injure her in any way. However, Ari stood firm and placed more of her balance forwards, countering the pressure he used. Still feeling nothing as his kicks struck her, she was beginning to understand the full application of this technique. Primarily it could be used against those with taijutsu even though it could be applied to other situations one might not survive wearing naught but their skin. Ari kept countering the strikes being used against her by applying pressure against them with her body, eventually using a little too much and knocking the man off balance. At this point he too retired, allowing the next person in queue to try. A woman this time that was equally strong to Ari. It was nice to see female practitioners finally coming to the Dojo; while it primarily found itself populated by males, since Ari began visiting it from time to time there was an influx of interested women.

Prepared to take the hits from someone matching her own strength, Ari became tense. The woman took a similar stance to her own before throwing an uppercut into Ari's jaw. Thankfully the technique she wore mitigated some of the damage, but with sufficient strength pressing upwards it sent her body upwards into the roof. Ari smashed headfirst into the ceiling shortly followed by the rest of her body; gravity pulled her back down the second she'd collided against the roof. Landing in stance still, she regained her composure and prepared for the assault that would likely now take place. Indeed, the woman rushed forwards and began throwing punches from all angles, along with kicks in an attempt to disturb Ari's balance. Remaining firm in place and using the wall walking technique to stick her feet down, she could but take the hits while the shield protected her.

Luckily it was enough to mitigate the physical damage being done, Ari watched as the woman exhausted herself in vein. However, this technique was also starting to take its toll on her stamina. Ari found she was struggling to maintain the hardness of the cells and required a break soon. Before then she would take on the last practitioner, the giant of a man she'd previously considered a tank. He gained a little more muscle since then surprisingly. Taking no stance, he appeared to have more strength than Ari, roughly a quarter more. With a fist that was roughly half the size of her torso, she prepared for the pain it might inflict. With his first punch to her torso, he sent her flying backwards through the Dojo's wall and the cliff next to it, shredding the Semi-Perfect Shield as she was buried in the cliff. Thankfully it mitigated the damage done along the way, but she did find herself disappointed that it was broken. Still, it was only around half the power she wanted it to achieve later down the line.

Perhaps whatever the Perfect Shield was could accommodate her desires in a defensive technique. At least the stronger man's punch answered both questions A and B. It could be broken by someone of superior strength, which also meant techniques of superior power rather than equal power. However, someone of equal strength to the shield's defensive capabilities wasn't going to break it anytime soon. Also, the technique only deactivated upon being destroyed, rather than simply taking damage in a particular spot. Very useful information for Ari to work with, she could plan ahead for opponents that would likely destroy it with ease or use it as a distraction perhaps. Just because they could see the shield didn't mean they'd be able to figure out how powerful it was, especially since it was made with Ari's cells and didn't have any glaring visual signs of strength. A metal shield for example was either small or large, often the defensive capability relied on how thick it was.

This wasn't the case with the Semi-Ultimate Shield that could be powerful or weak depending on the user's Chakra control. Ari's wasn't very good at the moment and she understood that, which was why she'd been working on techniques that relied on controlling it. Through pure effort she would work out the kinks with her control until it became perfect, or at least met her standards. Ari had long ago decided she wanted her control to be slightly superior compared to Kurisu's, although she didn't want to exceed his too much. She still had a lot of physical aspects to work on and maintain after all. Relying on her Chakra simply wasn't an option, but using it in a more efficient manner certainly was. There were other techniques that required superior Chakra control after all, and there were always techniques that might attempt to weaken her control slightly. Not having a little more than she required could result in failing to use techniques which normally led to defeat.

Wishing to succeed rather than die early, Ari planned ahead and intended to fully master her body and Chakra control in this fashion. Although she heard of people that were so proficient in controlling their Chakra that they defied normal limits. Ari was more of an all-rounder, a Jack of all trades if you will. She didn't want to be the best at anything, merely working to be sufficiently skilled in all aspects instead of one. Many throughout the shinobi world were weak against those who didn't plan for a single avenue, while some were incapable of being defeated by those who didn't focus solely on one aspect. It was a coin flip that Ari hoped would pay off in the long haul. Kurisu seemingly went for the same idea, mastering only the aspect of speed that she too had mastered. Every ninja had to be in top form when it came to reflexes and dexterity, at least as far as Ari believed. She'd yet to find out about those who were not concerned with their dexterity and relied on even stranger abilities.

However, as it was no concern for the moment she decided to continue with answering the last question. The first man that attacked her didn't hold anything back and injured himself. The rest of the practitioners then seemed to use attacks that wouldn't injure themselves on a hard surface, or were too tough to worry about such a thing happening. Whether this was because they observed what happened to the first man or because they'd already deduced it from her appearance changing, due to the shield mostly appearing as a gray layer, she wasn't certain. Ari heard the last man's voice calling, echoing through the hole her body created in the cliff. She answered immediately, "I'm fine; don't worry about me, just thinking... Did you find the appearance I had strange at all?" The man answered positively, that he felt it was necessary to be on guard while she appeared to be covered in a substance of some kind.

Of course he did, was she stupid or something? Ari remained in the hole for another minute before gathering enough Chakra to re-equip the shield, while also transforming the appearance of it to match her natural body. It blended in perfectly, being a skin tight armour made of her cells, as long as it matched her natural skin colour and showed her body's muscle tone. Ari stepped outside and quickly request for the man to punch her once more, as he did without holding anything back. Using all of his strength and without being as tense due to her appearance, she received his punch with a lack of grace. However, it didn't destroy the shield as she didn't go flying back into the cliff again; instead absorbing the blow with her entire body's strength against his fist. The man suddenly realized he was in pain and pulled his fist away. She was wearing the armour which he simply couldn't see, so it could take some people off guard at least.

This also answered question C, the appearance could be changed as the shield was created from her cells. Ari had accomplished quite a bit, but there was one more thing she needed to do. Stepping inside the Dojo, she assessed the master's strength before deciding asking him to hit her was a bad idea. Instead, she requested a quick spar with him while wearing the shield. The man accepted and they took stances on opposite sides of the mat, Ari was clearly lacking strength in comparison to him, but she was a little faster due to her youth. He must have been in his late seventies, but she couldn't hold back against a master. Rushing forward, Ari attempted to throw her fastest and strongest punch at his chest. However, he nimbly moved to the side, receiving her arm and throwing her into the air before slamming her into the ground. Landing on her back, Ari immediately had the wind knocked out of her. She believed he would move slower due to age but was entirely mistaken.

Feeling as if she'd be made fun of, Ari didn't realize the crater-like hole her body created on impact. The students were shocked she could still move, let alone the fact she was breathing. Upon the realization of how much strength the man put into his attack, Ari cowered a bit before bowing and excusing herself from the Dojo. She'd have to be careful what she asked that man for in future.

WC: 4616
Claiming: Semi-Ultimate Shield, 23 Stats