The next few hours passed in a blur while Kotetsu pondered the question posed by his dream. In that timeframe, he had inspected and made use of the rest of the tray's contents. Looking into the water, he found his own reflection rather disgusting. So, after taking a hearty sip from the bowl, he used the towel and remaining water to wipe himself down as best as he could, leaving him with a dirty towel and equally dirty bowl of water. Afterwards, he crossed his legs and carefully picked at the bowl of rice, doing his best to swallow the plain mush without much chewing.
After finishing the bowl of rice, Kotetsu became aware of just how full he suddenly felt. This was strange considering the lack of food he'd had access to these last few days, and made even stranger from the bowl of rice not being all that large. One thing that wasn't strange was the familiar feeling he experienced seconds later. Crawling to the back of the cage behind his little hidey hole, he prepared to finally answer nature's call.
Before doing his business however, he remembered something just in time, and reached back around the wall to retrieve the dirty towel. A few minutes later, he felt rather proud of himself for his expert resourcefulness as he pushed the now used and abused towel out of the chute left for him by the crazy old lady. He idly wondered if someone was supposed to take care of his mess eventually.
Putting these thoughts aside, Kotetsu sat cross legged and truly considered his earlier question.
"...What the hell is Chakra?"
He had lots of answers at first. And as he toiled away, time slowly crawled along, night passing swiftly without much notice. One thing became apparent as he reviewed each answer. They all failed to hold up to the words of the mystery voice from his dream.
"It's not an arsenal… or my Ninjutsu…"
Kotetsu was now officially lost. He thought his grasp on Chakra was fairly decent, considering his control over fire release was on par to someone like Atsuo, as per his own words. He didn't understand how the wooden manacles were able to so efficiently restrict his own Chakra. If his understanding of Chakra was this low, then what did that say about his Chakra control?
He remembered the early years of his education with the Hyuuga clan leader, but the explanation of Chakra he received then was all that he had known. Even if he refused to acknowledge the clan leader, he still doubted the Hyuuga clan would be so lacking in their understanding of Chakra as well. Kotetsu felt numb as he thought of how much he might not know. Instead of reflecting on that time however, he absently recalled the memories of Solomon trying to teach him the basics of Chakra control.
—
"Your Chakra control is your ability to control… your Chakra."
"uh…"
Kotetsu sat on a rock as Solomon attempted to explain the importance of Chakra control. The two had spent most of their day here, prompted by an earlier conversation involving Chakra natures. Kotetsu felt like he was trying to decode one of those complex math equations as Solomon once again fell into a long winding explanation.
"Look… the thing about Chakra control, is that once you feel it, you just kind of know how it works from there. So you just have to start by-"
Solomon's lengthy tirade went on for a solid ten minutes. By that point, Kotetsu's brain felt like it had been deep fried. Glancing at Kotetsu, Solomon gave a weary sigh.
"Look… just, watch!" Solomon ordered, shaking his hands in Kotetsu's face. He proceeded to perform a series of handsigns too fast for Kotetsu to see, and a stream of water arced up from a nearby puddle.
"Using the handsigns from my Ninjutsu as a basis, I push and control the Chakra to do what I want it to do." Solomon explained, looking off at his display for a few seconds before the water fell back into the puddle.
Turning back, he met Kotetsu's face, who was still looking off at where the water had jumped up. He snapped his fingers in the younger boy's face.
"Hey, come on! Did you hear me?"
Kotetsu had been listening for the most part, but he failed to understand again. Looking up at Solomon, he asked the question brewing in his mind since their first conversation earlier that day.
"How am I supposed to know how to control water if I don't even know how to control Chakra?"
Solomon stared down at his dim brother.
After a moment, he looked off to the side, considering the question.
"Remember what we talked about earlier, and how I would imagine a stream of water?"
Kotetsu bobbed his head back and forth.
"So just try to imagine a stream of water, too. As hard as you can. Then, imagine sticking your hand or foot into it, or something." Solomon ventured, clearly not sure about his own explanation.
Kotetsu glanced up with a skeptical look at Solomon. The older boy refused to back down.
"Hey, you haven't even really tried anything! You'll never know if it works unless you just go for it. Come on, what's the worst that could happen? And, this is basically how I was taught to control my Chakra, so you clearly just need to do the same thing." Solomon nodded enthusiastically as he convinced himself more and more.
Kotetsu, feeling like he had no other choice, decided to just follow along. And that was how they spent the rest of that day. Solomon had even activated his Byakugan, trying to tell Kotetsu if his efforts were working. Failure after failure, Kotetsu poured all of his focus on the singular task of imagining the stream of water. The mental image felt foreign to him, but he attempted to embrace it every time. Night began to fall on the two boys as they worked to achieve the impossible.
Their setup for testing whether or not Solomon's imaging technique would work was quite simple. Kotetsu held a tiny rock in his hand. If he could crush it, then the test was complete. However, after hours of testing, the tiny invincible rock had firmly embedded itself into Kotetsu's palm, proving to be his worst enemy yet. Kotetsu refused to back down as he pushed to make the mental image work again and again.
"Come on. One more try, I know you can do it." Solomon half-heartedly cheered on. He now sat on the boulder while Kotetsu stood, arm jutted out, trying to crush the rock.
Kotetsu was at the end of his rope. He had basically perfected the mental image, being able to see every aspect of the stream pouring from a cliff somewhere above, gently guided by outcroppings and grooves as it fell down into a pond below. Kotetsu stood in the middle of this pond, sticking his imaginary hand into the imaginary waterfall. He could feel the freezing water as it slapped against his closed fist. Kotetsu was now capable of keeping the mental image in his head for several minutes.
Resigning himself to this final try, Kotetsu had to forcefully focus on every little detail of the image. The water running down his hand and arm, the wet spray hitting his face, the sogginess from having his feet in a pond for too long, the sound of the waterfall as it hit everything on its way down. However, one feeling always effortlessly stood out, never fading or losing strength. The frigid cold never left. So, Kotetsu naturally ignored everything else for his final try, and only sought out the absence of heat.
Without warning, a crack sounded out from his fist. Kotetsu was badly startled by the noise and reflexively released the rock, opening his eyes to find two jagged rocks tumbling to the ground. A feeling of excitement unlike anything he had ever experienced before rushed through his body, and in a fit of ecstatic happiness, he leapt.
"YEAH!"
"You did it, you di- oh crap!"
Disrupting Solomon, Kotetsu managed to leap almost ten feet straight into the air. The sudden joyous outburst resulted in a sprained ankle.
After a long awkward walk back to the camp and a scolding from their parents, Solomon helped Kotetsu into his tent.
"Don't mess with the bandage. You just need to keep your foot still for a bit. See you in the morning…" Solomon stood under the tent flap, making sure Kotetsu wouldn't do something stupid again. Before he could leave, Kotetsu spoke.
"Hey… Solomon?"
"Yeah?" Solomon turned in the darkness to look at his little brother.
"Thanks for, uh, helping me out with this today."
Solomon frowned.
"What, trying to butter me up for something?"
"Huh? No! I just-"
Solomon's face broke into a grin.
"Hey, I'm being told to help you anyways. Maybe next time, you can show me some awesome Ninjutsu as thanks, alright?"
Kotetsu's face lit up, and he nodded.
"Yeah."
Waving goodbye, Solomon let the flap fall back into place.
—
Kotetsu smiled as he replayed that day. His reminiscence was cut short as somewhere outside of his cage, the sound of footsteps crunched into the forest floor. He silently crawled to the front of his cage trying to get a peek outside. Suddenly, a thin slender form walked into view, dragging something behind as they walked toward another cage nearby.
Kotetsu watched with hesitation as he vaguely recognised the outline of Taisei after a moment. The thing he dragged along appeared to be a ball of tightly wrapped vines. The ball wriggled and bounced along, seeming to hold something alive within. Stopping in front of the nearby cage, Taisei brought both hands up in a simple hand sign before reaching out and tapped the roof of the box, causing the wooden bars to retract into the ground. Then, he unceremoniously tossed the ball of vines past the open cage bars. The cage bars moved back up as Taisei stood completely still. Kotetsu didn't dare break the silence. He was startled when Taisei spoke up first.
"Why does it smell like shit over here?" The Senju blatantly asked aloud.
Kotetsu shrunk back slightly in embarrassment, having gotten over the smell already himself. He watched Taisei look around for a second until he spotted Kotetsu peeking out from within his cage. The two made eye contact in the early morning night, and the older boy seemed to recoil for a moment. Taisei's expression shifted to a frown as he inspected Kotetsu's face.
"What's wrong with your face? And, please tell me that you really didn't do what I think you did." Taisei questioned.
Confused, Kotetsu spoke without thinking.
"Didn't what? And what about my face?" Kotetsu reached up to touch the aforementioned body part. His fingers brushed his upper lip, recoiling as needled pain spiked his nose. He hadn't paid much attention to his wounds from earlier that day as they had dulled fairly quickly.
Taisei watched Kotetsu for a few more seconds.
"Did you take a dump in the cage? I have to clean that up, you know." Taisei complained.
"Oh, no." Kotetsu confirmed. Taisei looked relieved for a second, until Kotetsu continued.
"I pooped outside of the cage. Obviously. I'm not a savage, you know."
Taisei looked on with a horrified expression. Walking toward the cage, he circled it with half-panicked steps. Kotetsu listened as his walking stopped on the side where the poop chute was located. The older Senju let out a heavy sigh, before reappearing in front of the cage, slouched over.
Kotetsu felt even more embarrassed as the boy gave him a weary glance. His rebellious side refused to back down, however.
"What was I supposed to do, eat i-"
"No, no. It's… fine. At least you sort of left it in a manageable state. I'll get you a bucket or something for next time." Taisei held both hands out in a calming gesture. He didn't question the modifications made to Kotetsu's cage.
The two stared at each other for an awkward moment. Before Taisei could walk away, Kotetsu had a brilliant idea.
"Hey. I have a question."
standing in place for a second, Taisei looked down at Kotetsu with suspicion. Without a word, he turned and began marching off.
"Wait, I just want to know what Chakra is..!" Kotetsu pleaded.
Taisei froze.
Turning to look over his shoulder, the Senju glared at Kotetsu with confusion.
"Huh?"
Kotetsu vigorously nodded.
"That's all you want to know?"
Kotetsu continued to nod.
Taisei considered the question. He moved to fully face Kotetsu.
"How do you not know what Chakra is?" The Senju pondered.
"I just want to know what you know about Chakra…" Kotetsu carefully asked.
To Kotetsu's surprise, Taisei walked over and sat down cross legged in front of his cage. When he spoke, Kotetsu got the immediate impression that Taisei was… extremely interested in the topic.
"Are you looking for the shortened explanation, or the long explanation?" Taisei rushed.
Kotetsu squinted his eyes at the Senju.
"Short explanation."
Taisei, not batting an eye, gave a concise answer.
"Chakra is the energy used by shinobi to perform jutsu and enhance themselves."
Kotetsu frowned.
"I know…"
Not missing a beat, Taisei replied.
"Alright, long explanation it is then."
"Hey, wai-"
However, before Kotetsu could complain further, Taisei went on to flex his superior knowledge.
"I need to know first. What are you looking for? A purely technical explanation, or are you more interested in the abstract behind Chakra?" Taisei eagerly asked.
Kotetsu was taken aback for several seconds. Resigning himself to his fate, he answered.
"Uh… give me the technical explanation… thing." Kotetsu awkwardly requested.
Taisei's face lit up with enthusiasm.
"Well, there's a lot to know about Chakra. The most obvious place to start is the origin, or how we create Chakra. The simplest explanation is that it is tied to the natural processes of the body. The Chakra network takes energy directly from the body to create more Chakra. When we eat, some of the energy that would have gone to our body also goes to creating Chakra. However, our bodies are constantly producing Chakra, as long as we experience the metabolic process…"
"In other terms, as long as we have physical energy available, we can produce Chakra. This does mean that technically the amount of Chakra we can use at any time is not always available to us, but I'm not going to get into that. So then, how do we get from simple physical energy, to actual Chakra?"
The question left Kotetsu confused. After several seconds of silence, he realised that Taisei actually wanted him to answer. He ventured with his basic knowledge.
"Uh… well, we have to infuse the Chakra… right?"
Taisei snapped his fingers. Kotetsu found the gesture amusing.
"Yes. Well, we have to infuse physical energy. But with what?"
"Huh?"
Taisei's smile did not fade as he looked at Kotetsu's confused face.
"What do we have to infuse with our physical energy in order to make it usable?"
Kotetsu felt like he was supposed to know the answer, but he genuinely had no clue. He felt like the answer was on the tip of his tongue. At the same time, a creeping feeling crawled up his spine. The reaction left him perplexed.
"The answer is mental energy, of course!" Taisei replied after several seconds of awkward silence.
For some reason, Kotetsu felt like that wasn't the word he was trying to remember. In fact, Kotetsu almost felt as if the explanation was slightly off, but he didn't know why or how. Taisei continued on with his explanation.
"By combining our physical energy, which was created from our own bodily processes, with our mental energy, drawn from our mind through exercise and study, we are able to shape and mould the Chakra to be whatever we want. This step usually requires assistance in order to achieve the desired outcome, such as hand signs or seal work."
Kotetsu reacted at the last sentence, and Taisei of course noticed.
"Do you know what seals are?" He asked.
Being careful about his words, Kotetsu spoke.
"Yeah, of course I know, haha… but uh, you're on a roll, so I won't stop you from talking about the basics." Kotetsu expertly led the conversation.
"Well, seals are just another way to use Chakra, just like hand signs. They are an easier way to perform certain types of techniques. The most recognised usage of seals are in techniques called Fuinjutsu, which are made specifically to seal something or someone."
As Taisei spoke, Kotetsu felt an itching sensation in the back of his head. Before the Senju could reveal anything else, Kotetsu posed a spontaneous question.
"How do you make a seal?"
Taking the question in stride, Taisei responded.
"Creating a seal is no easy process. As I'm sure you are aware, a seal has to be formed using physical mediums that most accurately represent the end result you are attempting to achieve. For instance, the vines you were caught in yesterday."
Taisei continued his speech without interruption, Kotetsu avidly listening as he tried to pinpoint the source of his strange feeling.
"The seals present on those vines were simplistic in nature. All they did was replicate my Ninjutsu, in effect storing a technique meant to wrap the vines around something. Sadly, I can't have more than 7 or 8 of these traps out at any time, caused by sealing strain."
Even though Taisei's words sounded glum, his face said otherwise as Kotetsu was fairly certain he was bragging. Kotetsu had no clue how many seals someone of his level should actually have, but he had kind of been expecting a higher number. This unfounded expectation appeared to come from the strange feeling he couldn't identify.
"Sealing strain?" Kotetsu questioned.
Taisei waved one hand off in a dismissive gesture.
"Yes, I know, it's subjective for each person. No one is really sure how or why we can only produce so many seals at any one time. The prevailing theory is that it has something to do with mental energy, but I find that notion hard to believe personally."
After brushing off the subject that Kotetsu definitely seemed more interested in, Taisei continued with examples.
"As for the seals present on your shackles, I am sure that you must have at least guessed at their function."
Kotetsu felt like he was back in the Hyuuga clan being forced to take a test on something he barely remembered learning. Fumblingly, he answered.
"Uh… sure, it's… trying to stop me from controlling my Chakra, right?" He floundered at the end.
For the first time in the conversation, Taisei's smile dropped. He looked genuinely upset.
"What? No, of course not. Stopping someone from controlling all of their Chakra would take something much more complex than that. They are only hindering the natural flow-"
Taisei faltered in his long winded speech, his face frozen mid sentence. Kotetsu felt his eyebrows raise as the talkative Senju had just suddenly stopped. He watched the older boy slowly tilt his head up until he was firmly looking at something on top of his cage. Kotetsu felt a chill as he realised what he might be seeing, and the itching feeling in the back of his head suddenly made sense.
"What are you doing?"
The familiar crisp voice of the demon lady spoke from just atop his cage. He had not heard her step onto it, and clearly Taisei didn't notice her presence until just then either. Taisei quickly stood to his feet, his head snapping down as his back bent in a bow.
"Lady Aina. I did not know you were nearby." Taisei spoke quickly as respectfully as he could. Kotetsu understood his nervousness, as he was sure that the demon lady, who he now knew was named Aina, would not hesitate to punish him.
"You're not supposed to reveal too much to the prisoner, Taisei. How about you go get some rest, and I'll deal with the prisoner now. Alright?" Aina's tone was surprisingly calm. Even more surprising was the interaction, as Kotetsu's prediction was proven false and Taisei was left to walk away with stiff shoulders.
Two legs swung off the top of the cage as Aina dropped to the ground. Her outfit was mostly the same as yesterday, with some slightly different colours. His sword was present again, slung over her shoulder, like he expected. She peered down into the open cage at the kneeling Kotetsu with her yellow eyes. Kotetsu was afraid to ask what she was there for, but he knew.
"Get up. It's time."
Her words marked the second worst day of Kotetsu's life.
—
Pain. Suffering. And a lot of blood.
That was all Kotetsu knew as the day passed by, his mind occupied by the sole process of trying to survive. The previous man from yesterday, Rata, had stood off to the very back of the training grounds, minding his own business. He paid Kotetsu no mind as he worked toward his own goals, pounding other poor Senju into the dirt. Kotetsu, on the other hand, was unable to even vaguely match the weakest Senju present, each young Shinobi able to put him down in less than a few seconds.
For the entire day, Kotetsu tried to work through his mental block regarding Chakra. He had walked himself through every step as time and time again, he failed to muster even an ounce of Chakra-imbued energy against his opponents. His frustration morphed through the day between anger, despair, and outright wrath as he was left bloodied from every encounter. They were so one sided, he couldn't even call them spars.
To top it all off, the horrible thoughts had come forward the strongest he had ever experienced them. He had been graced with a reprieve the previous night and into the morning, but now they refused to back down. Each time he lost focus, which was often, they would pour into his consciousness, ripping him apart mentally.
"Terrible."
"I faltered."
"So weak."
The mental barrage remained until Kotetsu felt like he could no longer go on. However, something even worse managed to happen. After taking a pitiful beating and being left to lie on the ground, Kotetsu heard footsteps as someone else approached. He tilted his head up with defiance to see who had come to torture him now.
The person approaching was tanned, with brown eyes and brown hair. Every Senju on the training field wore the same clothes, light grey short robed pants and a tunic.
"Hey, it can't even stand anymore! All of you should have gone easier up until now…"
Kotetsu attempted to stand, but stumbled after climbing to his hands and knees. Suddenly, he was bodily lifted as his arms were wrenched upward. He was left dangling a few inches off the ground staring straight at the older boy who now held him. His attention was mostly on trying to get his breathing under control as the Senju spoke.
"Look at you. Barely able to breathe, let alone stand. I bet you just want to crawl in a hole and die, isn't that right?"
Kotetsu felt his eyes widen as the boy taunted him. Looking up, he did his best to glare at the boy. The Senju smiled maliciously in return.
"Ah, the light of defiance still glows in its eyes. That's good. There's never any fun in squishing something already beaten."
Before Kotetsu could comprehend what the boy had said, his arms were let go and he began to fall. The boy spun and, with his momentum, sent a kick out that lanced into Kotetsu's gut, causing him to bend like a hinge. Blood and spittle flew from Kotetsu's mouth as the kick blasted him backward.
Kotetsu impacted the ground with a crunch. At this point, he so desperately wanted to give up, but some tiny part of him refused. Pushing against the ground, he went to get up once again. Voices from across the field muttered as this was the first time so far anyone had tried to hit Kotetsu with as much strength as Rata had the previous day.
"Jumaru, you're going to get in trouble…"
"This is getting boring, is the assignment finished yet?"
"How much more can he take?..."
At the same time, Kotetsu dealt with the horrible thoughts. He attempted to calm his mind and focus on surviving. But focusing could only get him so far. Suddenly, he heard quick footsteps as someone rapidly approached him. Looking up, he found the grinning face of Jumaru.
"Up again so quickly! It's so nice to have a walking sandbag!"
Jumping while still several meters away, Jumaru put one foot out intending to kick Kotetsu in the face. His desired outcome was not reached as Kotetsu reflexively dove to the side, barely avoiding the dropkick. However, the dive broke his balance, causing him to fall to the ground while Jumaru landed after executing a breakfall.
"Hey… I don't want a diving sandbag. I said I wanted a walking sandbag."
Kotetsu struggled to get up after pushing himself to dodge the kick. He heard Jumaru walk over to him, then he felt hands as the boy attempted to grab him once again. This time, Kotetsu was ready. Grabbing a shoulder, Jumaru pulled and spun Kotetsu to face upward, which was when a fist blurred out intended for Jumaru's face. Kotetsu heard and felt a crack as his fist hit something solid, and saw his punch stopped short by a palm.
"Well, at least it's still willing to fight."
The palm closed over Kotetsu's fist before he could retract it. Sudden intense pain spread out from his hand, as he felt his fingers collapse in an unnatural way. His wrist began to hurt as the Senju maliciously began twisting it. He attempted to pull the hand back, but found it locked in a vice grip. A gasp wrenched itself from his throat as he felt his wrist reach the breaking point. But just before the deed could be finished, a form stood over the two of them. The pain lessened slightly as Jumaru stared up in defiance for only a moment. Then, the pressure vanished as quickly as it came.
"How may I serve you, lady Aina?" Kotetsu heard the vague words as he fell back to the ground, inhaling air faster than he could absorb it.
"The objective is not to break him completely. It is simply to weaken him." The harsh words of Aina sounded out.
Kotetsu attempted to regain his bearings while the two spoke.
"Oh… I see. I suppose I simply misinterpreted when you had said to beat the prisoner until they were unable to stand, then. My apologies, lady Aina."
Even to Kotetsu's addled ears, he could hear the slight venom in Jumaru's words. Suddenly, he was once again brought to his feet by a pair of hands. Expecting the worst, he attempted to mentally prepare himself for another beatdown that never came.
"We will see if you get another chance tomorrow. For now, the task is suspended." Aina said as she yanked Kotetsu to his feet, forcing him to stand.
Without any more words, Kotetsu was pulled out of the training yard and led back to the cages. He was barely able to keep steady as Aina marched on in front, tugging Kotetsu along. He vaguely noticed that she didn't force him to move too fast, keeping slight pace with his stumbling, which he was grateful for.
The two walked silently for several minutes until the cages came into sight. Kotetsu saw the old matriarch lady waiting for him, and knew he was in for another questioning session. He felt dread boil up as the situation seemed like it wouldn't be getting any better. Letting out a bone-weary sigh, he resigned himself to whatever fate had in store for him.