Dojo 7: Octopus Garden

* PRT HQ ENE *

Armsmaster saw a little attention flag on a report and didn't think much of it. Initially.

All that meant is that his automated filters found something that passed the series of checks to indicate his attention was required. Despite working this out for efficient use of his time, there were enough false flags to indicate he had to tweak it some more when time was available.

Oh. This was related to that training experiment of Zenko's. It was Form 1-DIOT-5, in fact. The "suspicious person(s) of unknown affiliation attempting to poke parahumans" form. Wrong one for what was actually there, but an understandable mistake.

Apparently the group that she was training were now being watched by members of some gang. Based on examination of the site, professionals that cleaned up after themselves. That let several groups out right away.

They apparently were at the office of the Head of Hiring over at the Dockworker's Union in the early morning, then found observation points to watch and tail some of those being trained. Military equipment and what looked like Tinkertech weapons?

A moment's consideration and Armsmaster nodded as her 'fox swarm' being able to relay information to her was a formidable ability when used intelligently. So that was a Master/Thinker rating of at least a 3, low because she wasn't an active threat to anyone Armsmaster particularly cared about.

If he could get her into the Wards it would synergize nicely with a number of abilities already present.

It would also make Image very happy as white fox plushies were thought of as something that would sell really well for some reason.

* Danny Hebert *

He hadn't been too clear on how this all worked, despite what Taylor had been telling him.

Suddenly being a child again had been a bit off-putting, but he had at least been warned about that from Taylor's experience.

The whole seconds-to-years thing had been a bit concerning but Taylor's sudden little changes in behavior made sense from that point of view.

Now he was going to do the same thing, but if it helped him keep his daughter safe (or at least safer) then he was prepared to do it. He'd spent too much time being a failure of a father, now he was determined to JUST DO IT.

"Well. How about that?" asked an individual who had been sitting on a tree stump reading a book. "You're the father of that girl that Tsunade and Jiraiya were training, aren't you?"

"You can tell that from a glance?" asked Danny, surprised as he figured he was now about six years of age and not really looking much like he had as an adult.

"Yes, and I must say. This is rich," said the man. "She wanted to concentrate on her ninja skills but she was supposed to defer after the Constellation roll, not before. Well, it also amuses me because this means I can train up a 'ninja hero' and the irony or karma involved is exquisite."

"Well, I'm Danny Hebert, and how do we get started?" asked Danny.

The man shut the book and laid it aside on the stump. "My name is Orochimaru, and I think we get started with physical conditioning."

* 10 weeks later *

"Chakra is in everything, but it is strongest in living things," said Orochimaru, lifting a rock in one hand and then casually changing its shape into a Mobius strip sculpture.

"Sounds like the Force," remarked Danny.

"There is no single 'the force'," said Orochimaru, rolling his eyes. "Existence is a confluence of a large number of forces interacting in an entropic gradient."

"No, it's from some movies, the Force is..." Danny shut his eyes and tried to remember Obi-Wan's words from the last time he'd seen the movie. "'It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, it penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together.' Or something like that."

"Well, that does sound a bit like chakra," admitted Orochimaru. "Fictional movie, I take it?"

"Yes, a series," acknowledged Danny.

"Well then," said Orochimaru. "What does this not-quite-chakra do in this series? It is quite possible I have those techniques."

* One year into the training *

Tsunade rubbed her right temple and managed to convey that even though she was dead, she had an incipient headache.

Which, if you asked her, was currently Orochimaru-sized.

"If you had any objections, you really should have voiced them earlier," chided Orochimaru.

"Everyone expected Taylor to wait until the Constellation roll was finished," complained Tsunade. "We had her flak vest and everything."

"There's how things are supposed to work, and then there's how things turn out," said Orochimaru with a one-shoulder shrug.

"You experimented on him," complained Tsunade.

"I did no such thing," protesed Orochimaru.

"Then why did you have him in one of those glass tubes, with auto-injectors and bubbling tubes and whatever those spark-things are supposed to be?" asked Tsunade.

"An experiment is where you don't know the outcome and are attempting to prove or disprove a theory," countered Orochimaru. "I knew the outcome every step of the way. I accounted for every variable."

Tsunade stared at Orochimaru for a moment. "What. Did. You. Do?"

"He had already begun mixing spiritual and physical energy into chakra, but if you just add a bit of this and a touch of that," said Orochimaru, making an off-hand gesture. "Strengthening the chakra pathways, increasing the reservoir, oh and giving him a bloodline. Those are handy."

Tsunade started cracking her knuckles.

"Though if you wanted a turn at his training, I have had a year," said Orochimaru. "I was getting bored anyway."

"What's with the sword?" asked Jiraiya from a fair distance away, watching the trainee moving around a training ground.

"It seemed fitting with the skills he's picked up," admitted Orochimaru. "From what I've seen in those memories, this world has a big thing about overall themes for their heroes and villains and such."

Jiraiya didn't look back at Tsunade or Orochimaru as he considered that for a few moments. "Don't like to admit it, but he has a point."

"Taylor already has a motif," grumped Tsunade. "Ninja."

"What bloodline did you give him?" asked Jiraiya. "Uzumaki?"

"A bit. Mostly Hyoton," said Orochimaru. He gave another little shrug. "It seemed appropriate."

"Why would it seem appropriate?" asked Tsunade, seeming slightly less ready to commit an act of violence.

"The nature of where we are and my own skills, when he was describing his home I could see bits of his life," said Orochimaru. "Ice is all about control. Of the battlefield of course, but also of oneself. Losing himself in his emotions by wrapping himself entirely within them has caused his problems to worsen, has it not?"

"Jiraiya?" asked Tsunade.

"Yeah, that does happen when we're teaching them. Especially with particularly emotive events," admitted Jiraiya. "Scenes play out. I was monitoring Umino's training a lot, but I have to admit he's better at teaching basic stuff. I saw a bit of her world and I have to say it's pretty messed up. Even by our standards. This Celestial Dojo thing is also messed up, but it gives them a better chance eventually. Especially if she does develop a Hidden City In The Docks."

"Ah, I thought that might be where you were going with that," said a pleased-sounding Orochimaru.

"So... Hyoton? How'd you even get samples of that?" asked Jiraiya.

"In this realm, halfway between the shores of the living and the dead, you can form constructs. And there are many Hyoton users who passed the lands of the living long ago," said Orochimaru dismissively. "So... who is going to take over the training now?"

"I will," said Hiruzen Sarutobi, appearing in a swirl of leaves. "It's been awhile since I've been a teacher. I used to enjoy the role."

"Good," said Orochimaru. "As it is, I've spotted a complication that needs taken care of. I think I'll have a bit of fun with it."

* Sixteen months into training *

"One problem you have is that you have less chakra than your daughter," said Hiruzen Sarutobi, effortlessly keeping up with Danny as they ran.

Which annoyed Danny somewhat as the Third Hokage was running backwards and backflipping over obstacles without looking.

"She received that due to an artificial widening of her chakra capacity and infusion of chakra from the Kyubi." Hiruzen shook his head. "You have the modifications that Orochimaru put in place, but much less chakra than her. Where you stand to be better at it is in the area of chakra control."

Danny grunted as they leapt over a large tree root.

"It is a pity though, as having a summoning contract is currently beyond both of your capabilities," said Hiruzen, ducking under a tree branch without apparently looking. "Orochimaru was even suggesting the snake contract because of the sheer usefulness in having venom experts on call. Personally, I think the apes would be a better fit considering what the winters in your land are like. Or maybe the lizards, though my understanding is that they tend to like pranking people."

"Lizards and New England winters would seem to be a poor fit," admitted Danny between deep breaths.

"One of the benefits of doing all this here, between realities, is that some of the 'lost' or otherwise unavailable contracts are possibilities," said Hiruzen. "Ah. Perfect. We'll stop here."

"I take it from the pond, I'm to practice water walking?" said Danny after he'd caught his breath.

"Yes, while meditating," said Hiruzen. "Sitting atop the water, of course. Oh, and mind the bees."

"'Bees?'" asked Danny, who then saw the swarm. "Oh hell."

* Victor *

They were training to be ninja. Which were elite stealth-based assassins.

So there was a plan, go in, drain the skills of the teacher and see what this 'Zenko' had available. Might have to kidnap the kid and drain her dry, since that would take time to permanently transfer the skills.

But first, what did she actually have?

Well, for one thing, she had some kind of danger sense because despite him being just another dockworker in appearance - she'd picked him out of the crowd and kept looking in his direction.

She didn't attack or anything though. And it was kind of cute how she thought just side-eye glances and such would conceal she knew where he was. He had skills permanently taken from people who were really good at this sort of thing though, so he knew he'd been made.

Huh. Her skills were slippery. She had some kind of interference on his power? Interesting. Not something he'd run across before except from power nullifiers. He could reach past all this quasi-mystic mumbo-jumbo she practiced and try grabbing...

"Well, well, what do we have here?"

Victor blinked. Why was he in a forest? Why was this Alabaster-level pale guy looking him over like he'd just found desserts on sale?

"A little thief coming to try and take things that were hard-earned without any effort of his own? How droll. How common. It's just the coin that is unusual," said really pale guy.

"This isn't real. Some kind of illusion projection?" asked Victor.

"You call yourself 'Victor' and you are a member of a local criminal gang that in many ways are similar to missing-nin organizations," said pale guy. "Oh. Ideologically driven. I see."

"Whatever are you supposed to be anyway? Some sort of clown?" asked Victor.

"Funny you should say that," said the pale guy, smiling a not very friendly smile. "I'm limited in what I can do in the Impure World but you letting yourself in like this, it opens up... possibilities."

"I don't think you could do anything to me, otherwise you already would have," said Victor.

"Oh, is that a challenge?" asked pale guy.

"Yeah, let's see it," said Victor. "Do your worst."

* Taylor *

She counted the seconds since her father had vanished. She'd expected two seconds. When she'd reached seven she'd begun to get a bit worried.

Then her father reappeared and... "Dad? Is that you?"

"Taylor? It's been seven years," said Danny Hebert, staring. "I..."

"You're... different," said Taylor. Her father had been thin but wiry. Now his arms and shoulders looked like corded layers of muscle. His chest was thicker too.

"This is going to be difficult to keep concealed," mused Danny aloud. "Henge!"

There was a scream nearby, as if someone were being forced to confront their own personal hell.

"What was that?" asked Danny.

"It's that guy who was pinging my 'hostile intent' sensor all evening," said Taylor. "Don't know why, but he just stopped registering as a threat."

[Due to practice, Sense Hostile Intent has been upgraded to Danger Sense (Basic)]