Naoto's Working Ventures

[Etherious Virgil]

This MIT thread is devoted to posting and tracking all of Naoto Takabiru's training and crafting missions and achievements. Below will be a running total of all the crafting mission titles earned for each branch.

• Worker Career

Master Craftsman

• Armorsmithing

Grandmaster

• Weaponsmithing

Grandmaster

 

[Etherious Virgil]

As a Shinobi, Naoto’s job now, in his mind, was to set up a shop that would arm the Amegakure forces with armor, weapons, and more in order to bolster their military power. In order to get the business off of the ground, Naoto knew he would need to fulfill some jobs first. A few commissions had come in overnight, and until he was able to initiate a stable flow of income for the trade to pay for workers, he would need to forge them himself. The armor requests that had come in were simple. There were several pieces to work on today, and prior to heating the furnaces the Rain Village Scorpion set about arranging the materials and tools he would need. The first things he would craft were the simpler requests. A set of pauldrons, a shield, a few other various pieces. His work was cut out for him. All of these pieces were simple enough, and the bigger jobs would wait until after.

The shield was the easiest to complete. After heating the metal, Naoto set to hammering away at it, thinning the melted iron out before folding it back on itself, hammering away again. This process would prove to strengthen the form. He continued thinning and folding the metal until he was sure that the craftsmanship would hold against a sword. After he was satisfied, the next step was to shape the shield. The simplest way to do this was to cool the metal down to where it is just barely still malleable. A very quick dip in the ice bath did the trick, and Naoto set out lightly bending the sheet of iron. He used what was called a “breaker bar” and a set of vices to hold the metal while he bent away. The various angles he had to move the shield in left it with a nice set of crossing marks on the front, adding to the design.

A grindstone was the next step. Naoto used the porous rock to shred away bits of metal to shape the edges, then an even finer stone to smooth them with a bit of oil. Another piece of metal was melded to the back to act as a handle for the protective tool. The last couple of steps were to engrave the shield and polish it. The requested engraving was a clan symbol etched into the front of the shield along with the Amegakure crest. The owner must be begging for some sort of recognition. After the work was done, Naoto did one final inspection, then polished the shield.

With that piece out of the way, the next was the pauldrons. The process was mostly the same, just smaller, and a lot more bending and molding. The only reason he chose the shield first was due to the pauldrons being a pair, meaning the process must be done twice. Heated metal was met with a hammer, then folded over. The process was repeated, then, as the metal naturally cooled, Naoto readied a post with a rounded top. The instrument was meant to simulate shoulder blades. He draped the less-than-molten metal over the post, letting it form itself into a similarly rounded shape. After the shape was satisfactory, he removed the metal and dipped it into an ice bath, instantly cooling the metal and preserving its shape. If he really wanted, he could have simply made the steel himself, then manipulated the shape, but that would be too good for the patron who made the order. An Earth sector civilian with dreams of grandeur.

The second pauldron would be prepared now. The metal was fired until it was nearly white with heat. Then, again, he folded the steel and beat away at it. The process was tiring. Perhaps after this set was done he would take a break, perhaps not. He draped the metal over the rounded post, and once it was in a similar shape to its twin, it was dropped into the ice bath. Naoto produced a pencil from among his wares and used it to mark out measurements and the shapes of the pauldrons, ensuring that they would be perfect mirror images. After the measurements were set, he used the grindstones to meet the set margins. For these pieces, there was no request for intricate work. Just the shape and functionality. However, Naoto did take pride in his creations, and he would ensure that they were made with exact specifications.

The pauldrons were simple, rounded shoulders, slightly flared edges. He heated a few scrap pieces of metal, shaping them ever so slightly and attaching them to the underside of the armor pieces. After those were done, he looped leather straps through, making a harness to hold the iron set. He applied a bit of oil to the metal, rubbing over it with a cloth. The shine he saw in his creation was enough to see his own reflection in. He beamed with pride for a moment, then remembered who they were for and set them aside near the shield with a slight look of disgust.

The final thing that Naoto needed to make as far as armor went was a set of replacement sabatons. The exact purpose of those particular pieces, Naoto would never know. However, the amount requested was quite numerous, which meant they must be important to whoever they were for. For these, there was a tool buried in the back of the shop that they were to be made with. It resembled a foot, but differed from the shape just enough that it allowed for customization. Naoto set up his post, then proceeded to heat the metal. He started with the first, folding it then draping it over the stand to shape it correctly. After completing this process several times over, he was left with a series of sabatons measured and sculpted to the owner’s specifications. Approximately thirteen, if he counted the sets correctly.

60 Sentences at 4 Sentences each = 15 Paragraphs = 15 Crafted Items
1 Shield
1 Pauldron Set
13 Sabaton Sets

Armorsmithing Title increase to Grandmaster

Worker Career Earned
Title: Expert

Missions completed at E Rank Body
Ryo Earned: 50x15 = 750

Now that the armor requests had been completed, the next item of business on Naoto’s list was to begin forging weapons for the Amegakure forces. He had yet to actually manufacture a weapon, but it couldn’t be too hard. With the experience he had, it should be a piece of cake. Step one, as with all metallurgy, was to prepare the ores that you would be smelting with. While he didn’t quite have the materials already refined in order to perform the weaponsmithing he was going to be taking on, getting to that point was child’s play. He set to work, focusing diligently on the task in front of him, until he had refined enough metal for the various crafts. Before he could do that, it was best for him to organize his wares. He set the metals into groups. Size, amount, purity, and type were all things he considered during this process. After all, using a lot of really pure material to make a small, flimsy weapon would be a waste.

After that he needed to clean his tools. He had nearly broken his old hammer while he was forging those armor pieces, so he would need a new one. A bit of steel heating and folding, some elbow grease, and a lot of patience and he had forged himself a new tool. The metal for it was crude and slightly uneven, but the blunt end and heavy stature was the main focus. Without a good hammer, thinning out the molten metals would be much more difficult. With a new hammer in hand, he took the opportunity to do a bit more organizing. He arranged his tools in the order he would be grabbing them. His hammer, of course, was not the first tool in this order. First he would need the tongs in order for him to grab the crucible. At last, he was prepared to start working.

20 Sentences = 5 Paragraphs
Titles Gained: Weaponsmithing Apprentice
Missions Completed: 5
E Rank Mission Rewards
Ryo: 50 x 5 = [250 + 75% [187]] = 437
XP: 5 x 5 = 25

Now that his tools and ores were prepared, it was time for the hard part. Naoto melted some iron in a pot, mixing in bits of other metals to improve the durability of what was lazing about in his crucible. He let it get white hot. After it was ready, he grabbed it with the tongs and poured it into a cast. It filled the shape to the brim with white hot liquid metal. Naoto set about folding it and hammering it to his specifications. He didn’t want to do it too much, else he would lose time for the other crafts, but he wanted to do it just enough that he could be satisfied with his craftsmanship. Once the form was set and the metal cooled, he brought it to the grindstone. He ripped away pieces of the blade until it was in the correct shape he wanted, but he chose not to smooth it out with the finer grained stone.

Instead, he used a whetstone and took to sharpening the edges. The blade cried in defiance. The piercing screech almost made Naoto give up on his project. He realized he had missed a key piece of the puzzle. When using a whetstone, it needed to actually be wet. That mental note aside, he found his supply of oils and applied it to the whetstone and to the blade itself for good measure. The scraping that followed was much more tame. The darker tone of the metal shaved away, revealing a shiny silver edge. He let the metal cool a bit more before slipping it into the hilt. Two bamboo pegs were pushed into the holes to hold it in place, then he used thin leather to wrap it to form a grippable surface. He laced the leather carefully, then attached the pommel to make it stay. One down, several to go.

The next several swords went by without a hitch. After the first one that he made, the process became a rhythm. Melt the metal, pour it into its cast. Fold and hammer, then cool. Grind it to shape, then sharpen. Hilt, pegs, leather, then round it off with the pommel. The blades he was making might not be master level craftsmanship yet, but he was quickly catching on to the tricks. It took several hours. By this point, he was well into the night, but he was on a manic streak now. He would either go until the job was done, or until he collapsed from exhaustion. Whichever happened first, no one would know.

With several swords now made, he prepared a cast that had multiple cuts made into it. The shapes were for standard shuriken. They would be sold as sets, and there were several to be made at once to fill those sets. He melted the material, then carefully poured it into the cast. Any spilled drops could lead to a loss in quality, and that was unacceptable. He let the molds sit, cooling as he prepared the next set of material. After they had cooled, he removed each individual shuriken. Next, he poured the now molten material into the newly emptied spaces. As those cooled, he would prepare more material. The third step of the process was not in effect, with cooling molds, melting material, and one batch ready to be sharpened. Individually, he removed the dullness from the edges of the tiny weapons. By the time the first set was done, the second had cooled, and the third batch was ready to be poured. He repeated this process until several sets had been completed. All of which were then inspected and refined until he was satisfied with each individual piece.

With the swords and shuriken out of the way, it was time to move on to the kunai. It was, after all, the go to choice for many shinobi. KASA had their umbrellas, TORO had lanterns, but the kunai was a staple in every ninja’s arsenal. The cast had several slots, similar to the shuriken, but these would not be sold as sets. Instead, they would be purchased individually, at a lower price than the shuriken sets. The reason for their multiple openings in the cast was a matter of size. Again, he melted the ingots he would be using, then poured them carefully into the molds. Simple enough design, the hilt and pommel were built into the mold. All he would need to do was sharpen them, wrap them, and do his final checks. Naoto thought of making his own, unique Kunai, but decided that he could revisit that later. This was business first. After wrapping the hilts of all the kunai he had made, and sharpening them, he was almost finished for the day. One last thing he decided to do was a quick recap inspection of all of his wares that were made. Once that was done, he closed up shop for the day, ready to sell them all tomorrow.

60 Sentences at 4 Sentences each = 15 Paragraphs = 15 Crafted Items
5 Sets of Shuriken
5 Swords
5 Kunai

Weaponsmithing Title increase to Grandmaster
Worker Career Title increase to Master

Missions completed at E Rank Body
Ryo Earned: 50 x 15 = [750 + 75% [562]] = 1312
XP Earned: 5 x 15 = 75

 

[Etherious Virgil]

Now that Naoto was enrolled in the academy, his primary focus would be to learn the shinobi way. This included, of course, manipulating chakra and forming jutsu. Before he could learn anything too complicated, however, there were a few basic techniques that he had been given basic instructions for that he needed to learn first. These base jutsu would prove to be a good foundation to build off of when it came time to learn and master more complicated techniques. First and foremost, he needed to learn how to accurately distribute and control the chakra in his body. In order to make this process easier, he started by gathering chakra in the bottoms of his feet. At first, it was a weird feeling. Warm, but tingly, and making him feel sturdier at the same time. He walked to the edge of the small pond he would be training by and set one foot on its surface.

Naoto paused for a minute. He knew that the likelihood of this working first try would be next to zero. After putting his weight into the foot, it sank beneath the water. He continued trying, getting to the point where his foot would not sink beneath the water any longer, then progressing even further until he could walk along its surface with ease. The shifting waves lead to him needing to shift the focused mass of chakra around to even it out. He continued walking, getting used to the feeling of manipulating the energy.

After a while, he began running towards the shore, straight towards the nearest tree. Water Walking was meant to be harder than climbing a tree. As soon as his feet met solid ground, he made sure to even out the chakra distribution to maintain a solid footing. Naoto closed the distance, his feet treating the bark of the tree as just another surface. He rose into the air, getting as high as he could off the ground. When he was near the top, he grabbed onto a nearby branch and swung himself onto it. The chakra in his feet let him cling to the branch, and when he let go, his body swung around the branch until he was standing upside down.

Naoto let out a childlike laugh, enjoying the feeling he was getting from what was supposed to be a training session. He decided to move on to something more intensive, but still a fairly simple technique in the larger scheme. One of his bloodlines was Steel release, and he knew that a basic tenet of that kekkei genkai was to create and bend steel. He produced a single kunai from a pouch on his waist. He focused his chakra, concentrating on the flat end of the kunai, then held a single hand seal. After a moment, the kunai shivered in his hand, then slowly bent upwards. A good start, but he wanted to keep the momentum. With the same hand seal, and a slight shift in focus, he watched as the back of his hand turned grey and metallic. After a moment, the area warped outwardly, then a copy of the kunai he was holding began to form.

While this had been a successful attempt at accessing the basic principles of one of his Bloodlines, he switched his focus back to the simpler things. That had taken a lot more focus than he realized, and Naoto made a mental note to practice with it more later. He let the metal on the back of his hand revert back to normal skin before gathering more of his chakra. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. In his mind, he was visualizing his own body. After forming a hand seal and executing the technique, a puff of smoke appeared a short distance away. When it vanished, a perfect copy of Naoto was standing in front of him, grinning satisfactorily.

Naoto released the clone and turned to face a tree. He spent the next few minutes practicing his basic shuriken throwing, not paying particular attention beyond his breathing. He used this time as a bit of a break, building up his chakra supply before continuing. After a few moments he stopped throwing shuriken, and instead made a few hand seals, converting his raw chakra into an electrical current. At first, it left a tingling feeling in his hand, but then it began to shock and burn him. He continued trying to form the current, each time the tingling sensation was longer, and the shocking sensation became more bearable. After a few minutes of doing this, he was used to the feeling and was no longer being shocked. Next, he made another string of hand seals, carefully molding the chakra he needed and infusing it with Raiton. Naoto watched as a few sprigs of light appeared around him. They formed slowly, almost begrudgingly. Keeping track of the elemental change in nature was more difficult than he had imagined, more difficult than using his Kouton techniques before. After the balls of light were finished forming, he directed them towards the tree littered with shuriken. They formed individual senbon needles as they travelled, piercing the part before dissipating.

Before he retrieved the shuriken, Naoto thought for a moment. He knew the basic concept of the Kai technique and, given that he intended to use the next few moments to try a couple of other technique’s, this was probably going to be the best time in order to practice it. He gathered some chakra, then formed a hand seal. His chakra network stalled for a moment, then a burst of energy flooded through his system. Since there was no foreign chakra in his system currently, there was no noticeable change from the Kai, however, he was satisfied with the results nonetheless. He was curious, however, what the Kai technique would feel like if it was used to dispel a genjutsu.

The next phase of his planned training involved quickly cleaning up his shuriken mess. He took a stance, then let a surge of chakra flood his system. As he made the action to move forward, his speed was bolstered significantly. Behind him, a cloud of dust had been kicked up. He didn’t consciously register where he was for a moment, the speed of his action being a new occurrence for him. Now standing in front of the tree, a mess of shuriken in front of him, he set to pick them up. When all of them had been placed back in his pouch, it was time for the last technique he wanted to try. He made a hand seal, and the skin of his hand became metallic again, then formed into a spare shuriken. He took a deep breath and tossed it into the air. The shuriken flew straight up, then fell straight down, aiming for Naoto. As he watched it fall, he prepared his chakra, and focused on a location a bit further away where an object similarly sized to the bulk of his body was laying. When the shuriken was close to piercing him, he used the chakra he had gathered to swap places with the object. The shuriken sunk into the wood as it clattered to the ground. A satisfied grin spread across his exhausted face. Naoto left the location, leaving the wood and shuriken as a testament to his success.

72 Sentences = 18 Training Missions Completed
E Rank Missions = 90 XP, 900 Ryo

Technique's Learned:
• Kai | Rank X | Default
• Henge no Jutsu | Rank E | Default
• Bunshin no Jutsu | Rank E | Default
• Substitution Technique | Rank E | Default
• Art of Walking on Water | Rank D | Default
• Art of Walking on Walls | Rank D | Default
• Body Flicker Technique [ Shunshin no Jutsu ] | Rank D | Default
• Steel Manipulation [ Hagane no Sōsa ] | Rank X | Spiritual
• Metal Weapon Creation [ Hagane no Buki no Sakusei ] | Rank E-C | Spiritual
• Electrical Resistance Training [ Teikou no Kuntou ] | Rank E | Passive
• Lightning Release: Electric Shock Needles [ Raiton: Kanden Haribari ] | Rank E