(no subject)

[cloudpotter]

[Apropos of nothing, towards the end of the return mingle...]

I'm in need of someone who wants to learn to become a ninja.

[This will surely end well.]

Comments

private

[runs]

What exactly can ninjas do where you're from?

not private whatsoever

[cloudpotter]

A properly skilled ninja is capable of many things. From combat to subtle social interactions, a ninja uses all means at their disposal to gain and keep the upper hand. They can be considered to be spies, assassins, thieves, or protectors; a ninja's duties encompasses them all.

[runs]

[...That's pretty much her area and skill set, too. Sounds like she could add from it.]

And which parts of that would you teach?

[cloudpotter]

It would depend on how far you advance through training. All ninjas develop the basic skills - [just have a short memory slideshow demonstration. The viewpoint is distinctly shorter, and there are two other children either side of Yakumo. Not one of the three of them is older than six or seven. To his right, a boy in a black gi outlined in red; to his left, a girl in the same gi, outlined in pink. Yakumo's own is the same again, only blue. Before them is their teacher, an elderly man in the same black-and-red style as the boy on Yakumo's right. Together, the three of them practice throwing shuriken and other blades; they learn to disappear in puffs of smoke, to scale trees in a few short seconds, to hold their breath and hide under water for minutes on end; they play 'ninja hide-or-seek', 'ninja tag', 'ninja cops and robbers' - all the same games normal children play, except with the added difficulty curves of practicing ninja skills. More dully, they learn ciphers; practice ambidexterity; cheat on their ninja tests; and learn the basics of strategies, plants, poisons, weapons---the books and topics and practical demonstrations are almost endless. And the fighting. He doesn't dedicate much time to it, but the fighting is endless; either he or his cousins initiating a surprise attack, trying to get one up in the competition, or the three of them dutifully practicing in the family dojo under supervision.] - which takes years of training. If a person wants to advance beyond that, they must commit themselves to a single clan.

Neither Kinji nor I have the authority to distribute the Igasaki-style's secrets. [That dubious honor lies with Yakumo's older cousin, the actual heir of the ninja clan.] But everything up until that point is considered general enough that we won't face any repercussions for teaching it.