Training in the Sand Village (Open to Companions only)

The clones gathered around Kojima, each of them watching the genin's actions for a few seconds before throwing a barrage of genjutsu kunai and shuriken towards him relentlessly.

*Kojima knew that these kunai and shuriken were fake. He knew that they wouldn't do any real damage. but he also knew that they still hurt. and he knew that despite his bold resolve last time, a part of him feared that pain. He also wasn't sure if the real Washi-sensei had even really thrown a shuriken this time, so there was no guarantee he would get out even if he did take the hits. Kojima used Shunshin, bursting his jump, and flickered straight up into the air, above the attacks. looking down on the group, he bit his lip harder. Attacking all of them to find the real one would be difficult anyway, but if he did attack them, he knew they would just turn into eagles and hunt him ruthlessly...He couldn't seem to find a way out, no matter how he figured it, unless he somehow forced his subconcious to realize what his conscious mind already knew. this was fake.*

The clones continued throwing them at Kojima as if they had an infinite amount of ammunition. One of them stepped forward from the group however and called out to Kojima loudly,

"Do you know what a Genjutsu is?"

*Kojima saw all the shuriken flying at him while he was in the air and used the replacement jutsu on the kunai below him to dodge those. from there the barrage seemed to increase, and he dodged them as best he could, occasionally wincing and crying out in pain as they struck him* Genjuts are illusions cr- AH!... created by manipulating the victim's ne- ARGH...nerves and s-.....Ittai...senses with their chakra fl..... *Kojima stopped then, still dodging a few and taking more hits to his limbs and torso. using their chakra flow, which wrapped around all their nerves and organs... Doing his best to dodge the fake shuriken and kunai he could, Kojima bit his lip and grinned, beginning to hold his breath.*

"So then, with your ability isn't it relatively simple to stop this B-ranked Genjutsu? Stop the flow of chakra in your own body and then apply even stronger chakra to overpower my chakra," explained the Clone, "The other option is outside influence but your alone here."

*Kojima chewed his inner lip listening to his sensei, although he was already a step ahead. Without oxygen coming in to replenish his chakra, the affects of the genjutsu should soon wear off. of course each and every shuriken that hit stung more than the last, and with his energy dropping it was harder to dodge any of them at all. Feeling a little dizzy from holding his breath, Kojima felt his balance faltering and a greater number of the kunai hitting him. However at the same time, a few of the clone images began to flicker and fade, and the shuriken began to cause less and less pain. trying to hold on a bit longer, even as the edges of his vision began to blur and fade, Kojima struggled to hold his breath a little longer*

Washi's clone mentally noted how Kojima repressed the effects of genjutsu before saying,

"It's impressive that you are managing to hinder this genjutsu with your ability but on the otherhand your chakra control will not have been developed greatly and a genjutsu of this rank will remain, too hard for you to break out of. KAI!"

The genjutsu broke to that command and the two clones moved in, throwing real shuriken and kunai towards Kojima.

*Kojima saw the genjutsu dispel and the shuriken thrown, chewing his inner lip again. He had stopped his chakra flow when he stopped his oxygen flow, but as he was holding his breath, he still had that bit of air, and bit of chakra, held steady, disabling the affects of the genjutsu to some extent, but not completely ridding him of chakra. With what little he had in his system he used the replacement technique with one of the shuriken, and for the brief moment he was parallel to the other shuriken, he reached out to grab it. one of the edges cut his thumb open near his palm, but he was able to grasp it and hurled it at one of the clones, taking a deep breath of air to get his chakra flowing again*

The replicas of Washi grinned, their robes swishing. One of them made a few quick handseals and gathered chakra before releasing it by using Kaze No Yaiba. The blade of wind sliced the shuriken in half and continued towards Kojima's fingers.

"I'll give you ten seconds to run to where Chieko and Matsutsu are or I'll cut off your little finger," said one of the clones calmly.

*Kojima frowned again, quickly using the replacement jutsu on one half of the shuriken, on the ground, already having suffered through the wind blade. landing on teh ground as he heard Washi-sensei's words, he grimaced at the thought, almost certain Washi-sensei would actually do it. Unsure why Washi-sensei wanted the three of them herded together, but not seeing any other c hoice, Kojima began to Shunshin his way towards the other two genin, taking steady breaths between each jump, going between 15 and 30 meters each time.*

Seeing that the three genin were finally together the real Washi dispelled his clones and with a grin and a swish of his robes, he bit his thumb and pulled out a scroll from inside his robes. He pressed his thumb into the centre of the scroll quickly and with his other hand he slammed it on to the ground saying,

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

A large toad appeared beneath Washi, lifting him high up, it held up a large shield and a club.

"Washi, why did you summon me to fight some flies," croaked Gamaken loudly,

"To teach them a lesson of course," said Washi calmly, "You two, Matsu and Kojima don't help Chieko, I want to see how she deals with genjutsu. Actually let me rephrase that, you won't have time to help her."

What is Washi thinking trying to kill us with a toad. Matsu did think the toad summoning was impressive but he made sure he was alert for any attack. *coughs up some blood*cough* Matsu was worried how strong this Gamaken he looked powerful but though about his. He had his own trick up his sleeve.

*Kojima bit his lip nervously watching as Washi-sensei performed a summon. He glanced uncertainly at Matsutsu, then back at the toad. How are you even supposed to fight a giant toad? It certainly wasn't going to be very affected by punches or kicks. That shield would make getting a kunai throw difficult. Kojima moved into a shallow stance, ready to jump out of the way of any attacks, figuring at least for the moment, evasion was the best tactic.*

Chieko's eyes were fogged out. Her real body was limply standing in her position and still continued to lose strength over it until she fell to her knees. In her mind, Chieko looked around in a panic around in the darkness.
'Where am I?' Her thoughts echoed out.
'Where is everyone? Was I caught in a Genjutsu?' She let out a sharp breath and felt a cold sweat down the side of her face. She could do nothing but stand having no defense against a Genjutsu. She took a deep breath and stood her ground waiting for what might come next.

-------------------
Suddenly many clones of Washi formed around Chieko, hundreds upon thousands and they slowly walked towards her. All of them were identical, they had the same face and the same white robes that swished in the wind but one of them stood out from the mass and approached her,

"Chieko Takai, you said you were awake, but were you awake truly? How do you know that when you wake up you are not dreaming and that when you are dreaming you are not waking up?" asked the clone.

"I don't!" She smirked lightly.
"I just keep living the dream until it ends!" She still stood strong and took deep breaths to calm her heart. After realizing it wasn't from panic, it was more from adrenaline pumping.
"I'm sorry, Sensei. I'm still just a child and I don't understand big things sometimes. The only road I take is the simplest one I can get, sometimes. It's no use sweating over everything, when I'm for sure that this answer is absolute."
She stared at the clone sternly waiting for his response.

"Wise answer Chieko Takai," replied Washi softly before he and all the clones got out a shuriken,
"Tell me, have you experienced genjutsu before? Are you frightened? These shuriken although fake will still hurt."

Having said what he needed to, he and the clones threw a mass of shuriken towards the genin relentlessly.

As her body tensed at the sight of shuriken, she began to move around as best she could to dodge what she can. She could still feel the sharp sting of the blades pierce her skin when most of them, did. Each sharp pain made her heart and mind pound remembering a certain person.
'Mom...'
"Come on Washi-sensei! I can take more!"
She couldn't take much of the pain anymore and began to yell.

Washi kept his calm face as Chieko began to yell. This training was neccessary. No pain no gain.

"If you have time to yell then you have time to dodge these shuriken. Run and keep calm. This is an illusion and you know it," he said softly before throwing more shuriken at her, "Genjutsu is not about will power or strength it's about concentration and keeping your emotions inside you and not letting them control your body."

Chieko nodded at his words and took out a couple of the shuriken piercing her skin and began to run. She took another deep breath and began to throw the shuriken to collide with up coming ones and ripped out more from her skin as they came. She panted lightly at the pain but kept reminding herself.
'It's only an illusion!' She could still feel it but she continued to convince her body to keep moving despite the pain. The clang from every shuriken that collided with Washi's made her more aware to keep moving faster. From another point of view, Chieko's movements looked like a dance within blood rain and flashing steel.

Washi was pleased that the girl had tried to keep her cool and had started running away. The key to dispelling genjutsu was to make sure the mind still had control of the body. He and the clones hurried after her, continuing to throw shuriken.

"Tell me, what is Genjutsu? If you know what you are facing then it will give you the tools to defeat it. Knowledge is a weapon for Shinobi," explained Washi passively.

"Genjutsu is!" She grunted lightly feeling a shuriken stab her knee and ripped it out throwing it back towards the upcoming projectiles.
"An advanced ninjutsu!" She panted between her words. "That takes control of the opponents chakra in their nervous system and utilizes it against them to manipulate the five senses!" Her time of speaking caused more shuriken to hit her more often than usual. Chieko's eyes snapped open lightly.
'If it targets just my chakra, what if I can... turn it off?' She thought to herself

"Correct. The theory to breaking a genjutsu is simple but in practice it is much harder. Stop the flow of chakra in your body and then release an even stronger wave of chakra to overpower my chakra. This is why you need to keep your cool in a Genjutsu, there is no time to cry or yell or be frightened. For every second you are in here your comrades could be dying," Washi said softly, "But there is another easier way. Outside interferance will quite easily wake you up from a Genjutsu."

As he finished speaking, he clasped his hands together and on that command the clones exploded into a huge multitude of eagles that circled around Chieko,

"To break out of a genjutsu of this level you need good chakra control. I will not expect you to break out of it but if you impress me enough I will withdraw the genjutsu."

Chieko nodded at Washi's words and became more relaxed when the shuriken stopped. She disregarded the sight of the eagles and closed her eyes softly forming her hands into a Tiger seal. Outside of her mind, to her real body, the limp Chieko with her head turned down, formed the same seal.
She breathed slowly as her chest rose and fell in even intervals.
'Relax...' Her voice faintly echoed. 'Relax...there's nothing there...' The sounds of Eagles squawking and flapping began to drain out from her ears. The scent of blood in her nostrils became faint and light. She relaxed more and more, feeling the power of her chakra recede further back into her body and condense. In her sense, it felt like a small ball just within her stomach. Her hand raised slowly up to become parallel with her face. Her real body on the outside repeated the process. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and her lips opened.
"HAAH!" In a short yell, she released her chakra in a giant flare of blue around her body. Even as she began to feel drained she began to push herself til she was sure the genjutsu was dispelled.

Washi looked at Chieko closely, one of his brows arching. She had definately impressed him with her chakra control, in fact she had done better than Kojima in that area. He grinned slightly knowing that this Genjutsu was still too strong for her to dispell but her display had definately shown that she had great chakra control for a genin.

"Alright, I've seen enough," he said elegantly before forming the tiger seal, "Kai!"

The genjutsu was immediately dispelled and they returned to the real world while Matsu and Kojima were still fighting Gamaken.