Kuu remained behind after the sumo event, having agreed to meet up with one of the Dragon to demonstrate and explain kiho. While everyone had cleared out, Kuu had taken the time to try and center his mind. He sat in a position that could not be distinguished as either comfortable or uncomfortable.

----

D4 LE, Void Recovery, Meditation/Void, TN 20: 6d10o10k3 26 +2 Void Points regained

Satsuki arrived, dressed in a plain gi suitable for the dojo.

Seeing Kuu at rest, meditating, she silently joined him in meditation sitting opposite of him with her legs crossed in a lotus position. However, her mind was troubed with other matters, and she found no inner peace now.


------

D4 LE Meditation/Void to recover Void. TN 20: 6d10o10k3 19

Eventually he nods and rises to his feet. "Good evening Togashi-sama. How has your day been?"

"Good evenin, Kuu-san. It's been... oof, hectic? Yesterday seemed quiet, today people are asking me to come everywhere. It's strange how the days move in peaks and valleys like that, huh?" She seemed more amused by it than disappointed or frustrated.

"And you? Have has your day been?"

"Relatively full, but not hectic. I'm mostly just drifting through the many gatherings people are organizing throughout the days here. Anyone calling on you for anything interesting, or is it all business and favor currying?"

"Hmmm... I'm not really sure. I just do what I feel like anyway," Satsuki shrugged clearly not too bothered about it. "Must be nice being a monk though, without having to be too concerned about the politics between the clans. I can see why my father doesn't like it very much either."

"Well, I am more concerned with such things than most of my Order. I'm one of the few that has actually been taught how to interact at court, rather than just respectfully defer and offer theological advice. I often am asked to interact on behalf of the order. In this particular situation, it's more to try and warm some to the idea of welcoming the order to temples in clan lands in more robust numbers," he admits.

"But the relationship between the Order and the Dragon is already quite good, so for you I am more interested in sharing some of the ideas and techniques you may be interested in."

"Yes!" she brightened noticeably at a change to more interesting topics. "You said you had learned the mastery of chi to harness your inner power. I believe I've heard it called kiho?"

"It is. It can have a number of pretty fantastic effects," he says with a nod. He lifts one of his sleeves, and firmly presses a finger against his forearm. "If you press here like so you will be able to feel as the skin hardens and begins pressing back when I activate this one."

He allows her to place a finger on his forearm if she wishes, before focusing intently on shifting his chi. When he does so the skin becomes as hard as stone.

----

D4 LE, Embrace the Stone, Meditation, TN 15: 6d10o10k3 42

Reduction 6 for 3 rounds

Satsuki wasn't shy about touching, and gave Kuu's arm some very solid pokes. "Huh! Imagine that. I've seen some similar effects among my father's students, but not like this... and anyone can potentially learn this too. At least those with a good enough understanding of working with one's chi. The tattoos of my father's disciples, some of them can do stuff like that, but it is a different kind of training, a different kind of energy."

And not everyone could earn that kind of power.

"How long did you train to learn this?"

"My entire life, but I am not a good measuring stick for that, since I have been training with followers of Shinsei since before there was an Order. For someone that doesn't know anything, that chose to become a monk it might take a year or two to prepare the body and spirit, then it's just a question of how capable they are with chi control for how long they might take to learn individual kiho. I learned my first one after a few weeks of intensive study, but the rest came more quickly. I would likely be able to learn a new kiho in a matter of days at this point with instruction. Figuring them out for yourself? That is much harder."

"You are quite knowledgeable about the elements I suspect? You have a shugenja's cut marks, so I imagine you have sensed the elemental kami and their energies numerous times in your life. You understand the push and pull and the way they flow apart and together. For kiho, it's simply a matter of being aware of such things in your own body."

"Yes. I was taught the ways of the shugenja, but I also have trained alongside my father's disciples... it is why I have these tattoos," she said, lifting her arm to show the dragon tattoo coiled around her forearm, its maw opening up over the back of her hand. And then she gestured to the crane with its wings spread over her collarbone.

"Through my father's teachings, we learn to awaken powers within ourselves. Similar to these kiho, they also require great discipline and training to unlock and master. Not everyone can do it." Satsuki lowered her arm again. "I've always felt the presence of the kami. Hmmm... yes while shugenja mostly commune with the kami outside of themselves, we are still made up of the same elements, requiring us to also hone our internal energies to be more in tune with the kami."

"So this will be like a continuation of that, while also keeping a balanced center, yes?"

"Yes. When you hone your focus and apply it to certain internal senses, you become able to route chi through your body in different ways. You can mix it, change the prominence of certain elements and apply those elements into your body. You also become capable of releasing that energy from yourself and into another to modify their chi," he says with a nod. "I am capable of using air to improve my reflexes, earth to make myself tougher or reduce sensations of pain, fire to make my skin as hot as flame, water to heal someone else, and I can influence all of the simultaneously to restore spiritual energy or alter perceptions of time in small but tactically useful ways."

"So it can be used different ways too, I see. Not just internally, as defense, but also to harm or heal." She nodded thoughtfully. "I will be hosting a forum on matters regarding the elements and theological discussion in a couple of days. I'd be honored if you and Nozomi-san would attend to share some of your wisdom and understanding with those who choose to participate."

"With so many different people here, with different backgrounds, I think we all can expand our knowledge and understanding for the better. But for now, will you teach me how I too can learn kiho?"

"I'll be glad to attend, though my understanding is all in practical application rather than theoretical discussion," he says with a nod. "As for Nozomi-sama, I cannot speak to her attendance. If you have invited her already there is nothing I can really do beyond that."

"Yes. So, you're going to want to start with breathing exercises. It's the easiest base to start from, since it is an unconscious process that we can willingly alter. It gives the strongest base for learning to control you air chi, gain the sensation of what manipulating your chi feels like. Some in the order manipulate it in such a way that they can inhale and exhale simultaneously during meditation. Take a comfortable position and meditate on your breath. Rather than emptying your mind, you'll fill it with a sensation of wind and air."

Inhaling and exhaling at the same time sounded quite complicated. Wasn't there supposed to be a simplicity in focusing on in and out...?

Regardless, when she was in student-mode, it was one of the rare time Satsuki actually would shut up her sassiness and listen. And so she did as bid, seating herself down again into the lotus position which she was accustomed to.

"Wind and air... got it..." she said calmly. With more focus now than before, she found her center easier this time, showing the practice of one who was used to this kind of training. But that was probably expected from Togashi's child.


-----

D4 LE Meditation/Void for fluff to practice Kiho: 6d10o10k3 20

He walked around behind her while he observed. "The body has many points where the chi pools following paths where it flows. Most of these are in line with pressure points, but there are many more. All of the energies co-mingle most of the time, but one can learn to draw them out into ascendance. The pools are not usually associated with any particular element. Kiho will require drawing on a single element and when you do so, the pools and paths feed a little bit off of the others to fuel the ascendancy of that element. They all interact. But that is why you use either one of the four elements or perfectly balance all four of those into the fifth."

"When activating a kiho you need to do two things simultaneously. First, you need to bring an element into ascendancy in your chi. Second, you need to alter the flow to enlarge key pools of chi. Neither has any real effect by itself, and neither is achievable without understanding your body and refining your spirit. As you have been learning with the Ise Zumi both effects should be achievable, though likely a little less refined than how the order does it since you likely focus more flowing energy into the tattoos you have during your training."

Her breathing was calm and controlled, focusing on the elements of air... air was an easier element to focus on, similarly to the manifestation of the crane. A creature of air, similarly to how the ryu would glide through the air too...

She nodded slowly in response to his words, finding this to be a guided meditation of sorts. Focus on the voice, focus on the air. Be like breeze, evermoving, be like the leaf on the breeze, carried by the wind in the moment. "So we will focus on each point in turn then, to unlock the element of void within our body?" Satsuki asked in a calm voice, her breathing still keeping with the meditation even as she spoke.

Another deep breath and she placed a hand over her heart, feeling the elemental energy point for air there.

"We do not seek them, you seek them. When one strikes another's points for transfer of energy, they do so at the pressure points. The internal points are not mapped precisely between individuals because we are all different. You will locate them, you will forget them, you will rediscover them. It will take a bit of time to get to the point where you will sense them naturally. Not so much as someone that hasn't had training in energy control, but a little bit. It is a mental exploration of your spiritual centers in your physical body. Focus on the flow, which you are undoubtedly aware of, while focusing on the sensation of air. Push that sensation into the flow to try and fill those points," he instructs.

"There are no overt outward effects of bringing an element into ascendancy, but there are barely noticeable ones. With air, you may feel a bit of a chill to your skin and your breathing will come a little easier. When you get to fire you will get a light flush and perhaps feel slight agitation or minor twitches. Water will give a similar chill, but also bring a slight swell that is basically unnoticeable to anyone other than yourself. Earth is the most difficult to recognize, but may come with something of a dry mouth."

"Yes, sensei," she responded to being correct, focusing herself still.

She felt certain that air was located, feeling the rise in her chest, and how the sensation spread out through her body, making it feel like she was breathing with all of her form and not just the lungs and stomach.

"So fire is next, after air?"