Not much progress today, but I will employ the WIP as suggested. Also, is it weird that all these countries at war so often use the same currency? I was wondering if it's minted in Tetsu no Kuni, or something, given their neutrality. [hider] [b][u]General Info[/u][/b] [b]Name:[/b] Shikawa, Masakazu 知川正和 [b]Nickname/Alias:[/b] [b]Gender:[/b] Male [b]Age:[/b] 15 [b]Age Appearance:[/b] [b]Sexuality:[/b] Hetero -====- [b][u]Loyalty[/u][/b] [b]Village:[/b] Gobigakure no Sato - Village Hidden by the End; “Gobi no Kuni” [b]Birthplace:[/b] Kumogakure no Sato - Village Hidden by Cloud; Kaminari no Kuni - Lightning Country [b]Organization:[/b] Gobishi Whole (smallish, international trading company; mostly shipping) -====- [b][u]Ninja Information[/u][/b] [b]Clan/Bloodline:[/b] N/A (neither he nor I know; no plans for anything grandiose) [b]Rank:[/b] Chuunin [b]Chakra Nature:[/b] Fire -====- [b][u]Appearance[/u][/b] [b]Body Type and Shape:[/b] Pretty average build, though more muscled than other academic teens. Skin color somewhere between the two extremes present in Kaminari no Kuni [b]Height:[/b] 5’5" / 165 cm [b]Weight:[/b] 120 lb / 54 kg [b]Hair Color:[/b] Red [b]Hair Style:[/b] [b]Eye Color:[/b] Dark Brown [b]Clothing:[/b] -====- [b][u]Biography[/u][/b] [b]Background:[/b] Masakazu was born in Kumogakure, to a female member of a prominent mercantile family. His father was a ninja his mother had met while conducting a trade mission to the relatively new Otogakure. All Masakazu knows about the man is that he was from Uzushiogakure - sourcing Masakazu’s hair color - and that his name was Kazumasa - sourcing Masakazu’s name - and that he’d promised to provide for his son, which did not source anything in particular. Years before Masakazu was old enough to understand any of this, it was suggested to his mother by the family that she should try to reestablish the Shikawa family’s trade connections to trashed Gobigakure. ‘The End’ was deemed a sufficient distance between the redheaded bastard and the family’s reputation, but trade with Kumo was meager and eventually died, as the two had similar resources, and neither Kumo nor the Shikawa family eager. It was naval trade with farther countries where Masa’s mother hit her stride, and while he can still remember a few years when they had very little, most of his life was well provided for. Growing up, Masakazu had an active desire to understand the father he never knew, and the place he came from. Sadly, Uzushiogakure had been more or less razed by various other nations not too long after his birth. So Masakazu never learned any more about the presumably irresponsible ninja who’d sired him. Regardless, he’d been set on an intellectual path early on, and much of his childhood was spent learning. He always had questions for any important adults he ran across, with no particular attention to whether he was meant to ask them such things. As a result he gleaned insight into many trades and modes of thought. He also was often redirected to Gobi’s library often. Early on, this was a meager place, but it seemed to grow alongside Masakazu, and he was able to study subjects vaguely related to his interests. When not educating himself with books, Masakazu was wandering town, pursuing some sort of autodidactism via questioning or observing random people. Many did not appreciate this scrutiny from the odd, dark-skinned, red-haired boy, but he did make friends. With those of his age, he found both fun and edification in exploring the landscape of Gobi. Swimming, climbing, stalking, and generally making themselves a nuisance to local wildlife. Deciding the best way to learn more about his absentee father and his origins was to become a ninja, Masakazu had been in school for such. The time he spent with his few friends became devoted to taijutsu, because his ninjutsu and genjutsu skills were steadily proving meager, and his other field of study was both uninteresting and largely incomprehensible to the people he knew. Quietly, but without making any particular effort to hide it, Shikawa Masakazu was studying the most famous art of his father’s homeland, which said place was presumably destroyed for: fuuinjutsu. Despite the Gobi library’s continual expansion, it was sadly understocked with manuals on the subject, but with much tangential research, Masakazu has learned some of the theory, and deconstructed various scrolls he purchased after passing his genin exams and acquiring the small income of that rank. By the time chuunin exams were held in his 14th year, Masakazu had learned to seal metal items in scrolls. He had also put a good deal of effort into learning ninjutsu to manipulate paper in very basic ways. Combined with his moderate taijutsu skill, he was able to wrap his enemy in scrolls, which when triggered released quite-strong chains. The other battle he had to win involved very small, explosive tags, and threatening the opponent. It took some convincing for the other party to believe this was not against the rules, and ultimately surrender. [b]Today:[/b] Since becoming a chuunin, Masakazu’s life has mostly been study and work for Gobigakure. His intellectual work is fuuinjutsu, mathematics, and cryptography. Gobigakure has employed him mostly to create bomb scrolls, after he learned to do so. He gathers this is partly an effort to keep him from selling them on the streets of Gobi, which would not otherwise have occurred to him. Masakazu is rarely used for things like breaking up fights, given there are competent jutsu users who can nonviolently do so. In one instance though, Masakazu had been used to guard civilians traveling out of Gobi. This trip reaffirmed to Masakazu that he can learn more of the things he wants to by leaving Gobi. Since then, he has made it known to his senior Gobi-nin that work outside the village would be ideal. [b]Personality:[/b] Masakazu is devoted to learning, with not many social graces. He generally speaks bluntly and tersely, only occasionally mustering or recognizing a witticism. He doesn’t take most people seriously, and while rarely having ill intent, is careless and honest with his words. Despite not generally knowing what to do with them, Masakazu likes people well enough - assuming they don’t prove too interruptive of his mental processes. He gains and loses acquaintances easily, indeed forgetting names regularly. He doesn’t make assumptions about anyone until much time and evidence about them has been accrued. This allows him to be only mildly concerned to learn someone he’s known for several years was secretly a serial killer, for example. Despite this, he is capable of forming friendships, and holds these in high importance. Masakazu can also get quite wrapped up in his thoughts with only a moment’s notice. Even in the midst of a conversation, he can become distracted, glaze his eyes over, and forget he’s meant to be interacting with some external stimuli. He becomes restless if unable to study, and eventually irritable. Less consciously known to him is that he also gets this way about exercise and companionship. -====- [b][u]Special Traits[/u][/b] Fuuinjutsu specialist; moderately skilled Basic knowledge of cryptography Basic knowledge of trade and economics -====- [b][u]Equipment[/u][/b] Half a dozen small, explosive tags (these are triggered by a particular chakra frequency within fifty or so meters; effective radius of 1/5th that; lethal radius less) Two scrolls each sealing two kunai, in the cuffs of his One scroll sealing ten meters or so of coiled rope Two open kunai A satchel with two books on theory: chakra dynamics, and cryptography A notebook with unlined pages; 16x16cm Red and black ink, plus multiple brushes A bottle of a favorite adhesive -====- [b][u]Jutsu:[/u][/b] [b]Ninjutsu:[/b] Pretty much all techniques that do not go into the other categories. [b]Taijutsu:[/b] Hand-to-hand combat techniques. [b]Genjutsu:[/b] Illusionary techniques. [b]Fuuinjutsu[/b] Sealing techniques. [hider=Jutsu Sheet] (Copy-paste to perfection) [u]Name:[/u] Name of the jutsu. Preferably in both English and Japanese. [u]Classification[/u] Hiden, medical, doujutsu, kinjutsu, etc. [u]Rank:[/u] E-S Rank. [u]Effect:[/u] What is the effect of the jutsu? [u]Drawback:[/u] What, if anything, is the drawback of the jutsu? [/hider] [/hider]