Honshitsu Kirikae

The Honshitsu Kirikae (ホンシツキリカエ; literally meaning "Essence Conversion") is a Kekkai Genkai that appears in all members of the Kawari Clan baring very few exceptions. It was once known as Demonic Soul Manipulation in a time long before the hidden villages. In the current era it is know as the Gift of Choice, but its true history is all but forgotten and far from a gift.

Background
This Kekkai Genkai's history can be dated back to the time of the Sage of Six Paths. Although it is in no way connected to the abilities that descended from him. In the secret history of the Kawari Clan it is said that this ability originated when the founder of their clan gave his soul to a powerful demon to gain its abilities. The ability to manipulate souls; namely their own. Due to its evil nature the details of this bloodline have been kept secret form all but those who prove their worth.

Overview
This Kekkai Genkai allows the user to convert their essence to and from the purest forms of the ninja arts. There are nine known "forms" that are used openly and freely, they are: Fire Honshitsu, Water Honshitsu, Earth Honshitsu, Wind Honshitsu, Lightning Honshitsu, Genjutsu Honshitsu, Taijutsu Honshitsu, Healing Honshitsu, and Sealing Honshitsu. There is also a secret and forbidden tenth "form" called the Demonic Honshitsu.

Every member of the Kawari Clan has dark grey eyes when they are born. Their eyes remain gray until they activate the Honshitsu Kirikae. Once this is done their eyes will reflect the current "form" they are using in color that seems to glow form their eyes.

To activate this bloodline is a difficult task and a right of passage within the clan. It can only be activated through training and deliberate attempts to activate it. At a young age children of the Kawari Clan are asked which Honshitsu they want to work on as their first activation. They are given the choices of earth, wind, fire, water, or lightning. Once they chose they are taught the Essence Conversion Jutsu for that Honshitsu. Once it is activated it cannot be deactivated and the individual must learn to live with the ability as it effects every aspect of their life.

Each of these Honshitsu, or essence, are pure forms of body, mind, and soul. Each will have their own abilities, correspondences, effects, and drawbacks. To change between each of the Honshitsu is a time consuming and taxing process. The average clansmen takes five minutes to complete a conversion while also spending a tenth of their chakra. Due to the inefficacy of conversion most clansmen choose to specialize in one or two "forms" rather than to utilize all of them.

Abilities
Each "form" has as set of abilities that will all be addressed individually. Each "form" has an eye color, sense, emotion group, special ability, physical effect, and chakra color. Each of the Honshitsu has an effect on the user's mind, soul, and body and will influence the choices and paths of the user.

Only jutsu that utilizes any kind of chakra can be used in any "form". Other than these "standard" jutsu all other jutsu not specifically listed cannot be used. For example, while a clansmen is in the Fire Honshitsu he can only use fire typed jutsu and non-elemental jutsu while all other jutsu, including genjutsu and fuinjutsu, cannot be used.

The primary sense of each Honshitsu gains a minor boost in ability. For example, a clansmen using the Lightning Honshitsu would have increased levels of vision above that of normal. This may occur in the form of a higher frame rate, 20/15 vision, or both. The effects very form user to user and are influenced by that clansman's ability or skill in that "form".

For members of the clan that specialize in one or two "forms" there is a condition, that all members are susceptible too, called Essence Scaring. A member who has essence scaring has stayed in one "form" for so long that the physical, emotional, and mental traits that are caused by that form become ingrained in their core. They tend to carry on to other "forms" except for those in direct opposition to the scaring "form". The issue is remedied by changing Honshitsu until those traits can be dissolved from the core. On the other hand their are members of the clan that have chose to live with these scars and think them a part of their life.

Kekkai Genkai Mixes
This Kekkai Genkai has a unique trait that is not well known outside the clan, but is well documented from within. The Honshitsu Kirikae has various effects when coupled with other Kekkai Genkai. Whether from at birth or received later in life. The following is a list from that the Kawari clan has sealed away that describes the known combinations as well as those that can be safely assumed.

Honshitsu Kirikae & Elemental Kekkai Genkai: Some time before the creation of the hidden villages when the Kiwari where wondering mercenaries the leader of the clan took a young women from the Yuki clan to be his wife. Later in that year she bore him a son. The boy was watched carefully until he succeed his first essence conversion to see if the Honshitsu remained untainted and it was. He was watch through out his life and never showed any signs of the ice release bloodline. It is assumed that the Kawari clan bloodline nullified all other elemental bloodlines as it deals with the conversion of ones own essence, which is the source of chakra.

Honshitsu Kirikae & Mokuton: After the founding of the hidden leaf village there where a few documented cases of Kiwari and Senju couples. Few children where born of these relations, but out of the ones that where a strange pattern occurred. What ever the bloodline of the mother was the bloodline of the child. The clan came to the understanding that it must be the body of mother that influences the bloodline of the child. Those who inherited the body of the sage purified the demonic essence out of the child's soul, and those who where "blessed" by the demonic essence corroded the sage's presences form the child's body.

Honshitsu Kirikae & Sharingan (Born): As the Kiwari had with the Senju so had they with the Uchiha. Out of the few pairings between the few clans a pattern was noticed in the young. The males where born with the black eyes of the Uchiha and could activate the Sharingan and not the Honshitsu, while the females where born with the grey eyes of the Honshitsu and could not activate the Sharingan.

Honshitsu Kirikae & Sharingan (Transplant): The Honshitsu cannot be transplanted due to it being a kekkai genkai that is part of the whole body. However, the Sharingan can and has been transplanted into a Kiwari. This was only done once and was later undone by the person that choose to receive the eye. He reported that although he did gain the powers of the Sharingan he could not deactivate it and it took a considerable amount of chakra for him to use it; even draining him while he was not to a lesser degree. The side effect to the Honshitsu was much worse and was the reason behind his abandoning of the famed eye. He had lost his abilities that the Honshitsu had once provided as well as his enhanced sense being dulled. The last thing he mentioned before removing the eye was the dull pain of his whole being trying to reject it.

There are many other recordings in the archives of the Kiwari that explain the findings required over years of experimenting. Other findings may become available for those willing to seek them.

Fire Honshitsu
The Fire Honshitsu is one of the first five to be offered to any Kawari clan member to learn. This “form” is the most common first “form” for most clansmen next to the Lightning Honshitsu. A good number of clansmen continue on to specialize in this Honshitsu because of the effectively destructive force fire jutsu holds. Others love the confidence and inner fire that this “form” builds in their souls that not only gives them the will to, but drives them to follow their dreams.

The Fire Honshitsu turns the user's chakra affinity to fire and allows strictly the use of fire based jutsu with only general use ninja skills as an exception. Those that can sense chakra feel a heat that accompanies the strength of the chakra. Those that can see chakra can see that it acts as a flame not only in nature, but also in color. The physical changes that anyone could notice are the change in eye color to a glowing red and a easily perceived increase in natural body temperature that if measured would pose a danger to someone without a strong affinity towards fire.

On a mental level those that are in this state see a shift toward assertiveness bordering on aggression. They also have an increased passion to follow their hearts, thoughts, and feelings with little to no fear of failure. This also extends into an increased temper as they can easily be angers and are quick to get to the point of acting on that anger.

Temperature Sense: This is the unique ability that is achieved in this “form”. At the lowest of levels it allows the user of this Honshitsu to feel temperatures around them in a span from 3 to 5 feet with minimal to moderate accuracy. The more the “form” is used the larger the radius becomes and the greater the accuracy becomes. This ability is effective when it comes to locating people and being aware of everyone around the user as the temperature of a person would be in contrast with that of the air around them.

Water Honshitsu
The Water Honshitsu is one of the first five to be offered for any Kawari clansmen to learn. Although this “form” is not a common one for clansmen to learn as their first many turn to it later as they mature as this Honshitsu has many practical uses. This “form” calls out to those who seek peace and calmness as any clansmen seen donning this Honshitsu has a serene aura about them. Almost anything that happens to a Kawari in this “form” can be equated to mere ripples in the water. This Honshitsu is common amongst the women of the Kawari clan.

The Water Honshitsu converts the user's chakra affinity to water to the exclusion of all other jutsu aside from the general shinobi skills. Those who can sense chakra would feel a calm pool of chakra that is like still water. Others who can see chakra would see a deep blue source that flows easily through the Kawari’s chakra system. On the surface the user's eyes glow a deep blue while inside their body the amount of water increases and flow easily. While in this form a side effect is that if the user's body looses too much water it uses chakra to replace the water making it much harder to suffer from dehydration than a normal person.

Mentally any Kawari clansmen in this Honshitsu are calm and serene maintaining a cool head in most situations. They also tend to lean toward the path of least resistance rather than fight against the flow of the current. Clansmen in this “form” are prone to sadness from many sources, but most commonly it is some kind of deep sorrow that they suffer with rather than confront it; however if caught off guard with bad news any clansmen can breakdown.

Emotion Sense: This ability is a powerful one when it comes to gathering information, but the only way for the clansmen to use the ability is through direct skin contact. This ability allows the user to know the emotion of any person they touch. This ability is weak in the beginning only revealing core emotions like happiness, sadness, anger, ect but as the user grows in age and experience in combination with training and amount of time spent in this “form” the ability grows. Some powerful Kawari Water Honshitsu users can determine complex emotions and even tell when someone is hiding something or lying. A master of this Honshitsu can know your deepest emotions with a single touch.

Earth Honshitsu
The Earth Honshitsu is one of the first five to be offered for any Kawari clansmen to learn. Earth is known for its steady nature and is no different in its placement in the Kawari clan. It holds a constant middle ground in the amount of members who choose it to be their first conversion and an even number in those who choose to specialize in it later in their life. It is also the element that holds an almost even number of men and women specialists. Those who use this “form” are either stubborn or confident in nature while others lean toward a trust in physical objects over other forces. One thing is for sure once an Earth Honshitsu specialist sets his or her mind on something they are not likely to be stopped.

The Earth Honshitsu user's primary affinity becomes earth to the exclusion of all other jutsu aside from the general use shinobi skills. Those that can sense chakra will feel as strong and steady source of chakra and slow pulse to it almost like a beat. Those who can see chakra will see a brown well held together source of chakra that appears to hold the shinobi up in place of bones. Physically the Kawari’s eyes glow a brown color and their body toughens up. Their bones become just a little bit harder and their muscles just a little bit more dense.

The personality shift of this Honshitsu is a tendency to become stuck on a course of action. While a user of this “form” is more stable and confident they also stick to their words and decisions no matter what. Material wealth holds a higher importance to this Kawari than most others, but not always in the sense of money. Some users of this “form” simply have a collector type of view. If ever a user of this form finds themselves battling internally for one reason or another they will seek to drown the problems out, if only temporarily, by indulging in the physical world or burying themselves in possessions or money.

Increased Sense of Smell: This Honshitsu is not like the others in the area of enhanced senses. Instead of a minor increase to the sense of smell the Earth Honshitsu increases it at least 100 fold. While it is still not as strong as a dog's nose it is vastly superior to that of an average person. A Kawari clansman in this “form” can remember scents the same way as sights. Although unless this skill in increased it still does not have the ability to distinguish between different people, but even at its lowest it can pick apart individual smells as long as one is not overpowering the other.

Air Honshitsu
The Air Honshitsu is one of the first five to be offered for any Kawari clansmen to learn. This “form” is the least common of the first five that are offered. The most probable cause would be that you can't see air the same way you can the other four elements so in the eyes of the youthful it is not as valuable. Later in life a good number of Kawari that try out this “form” learn to respect and love it; the joy of being as free as the wind and the excitement of using an unseen tool. Kawari that specialize in this Honshitsu are given the nickname “Unseen Hand”.

The Wind Honshitsu user's chakra affinity becomes wind to the exclusion of all other jutsu with the exception of the basic shinobi skills. Anyone who can sense chakra will find this clansman's chakra to be light and evasive, wiping to and fro freely. Those who can see chakra would be a witness to a similar image; a white chakra that appears to be a visible form of wind. At the physical level the only real difference other than the user's eyes becoming a glowing white would be the softening of the user's hair and skin.

Happiness and joy are very strong and well founded in the user of this “form”. Once in this form clansmen feel a powerful sense of freedom and in turn that in itself makes them fill with happiness. However there is a downside to this “form”. If the user has any doubt in themselves or feels like their freedom is being restricted they become overcome with a sense of hopelessness. They end up like a caged bird wanting to burst free, but lacking in the will to do so. Luckily just as it is hard to capture the wind it is hard to steal away the freedom of a Air Honshitsu specialist.

Floating Body: This ability is a useful and fun one. The user’s natural and powerful affinity for wind makes it where whenever they move the wind seems to move with them. Whenever a Wind Honshitsu user jumps he is taken just a bit higher with the wind. Whenever they fall the wind eases their fall. The wind helps them maintain balance and float through the air with the grace of a bird. This ability is minor at first, but with practice it can reach powerful and practical levels.

Lightning Honshitsu
The Lightning Honshitsu is one of the first five to be offered for any Kawari clansmen to learn. Next to the Fire Honshitsu this is the most common first form for most of the Kawari clan. However unlike the Fire Honshitsu this form is difficult to harness and learn let alone master. On a physical level it can be taxing to have reactions that force any clansman's limiters and excite an adrenaline rush. Mentally it is hard for most people to get used to an energetic and sporadic need to move, do, excite, and surprise then the next minute want to keep distance and too themselves. This form is the rarest in the clan as it is hard to learn and get used to due to its abundance of radical energy.

The Lightning Honshitsu user’s chakra affinity turns to Lightning to the exclusion of all other jutsu with the exception to the basic shinobi skills. To people who can sense chakra it is sporadic and dangerous without proper control. To people who can see chakra it is bright yellow and acts like lightning in nature arcing from place to place. Aside from glowing yellow eyes the only physical difference is that the user’s chakra causes them to generate static electricity constantly. It is common to see Lightning Honshitsu specialist keep metal objects on their person for frequent discharges.

Excitement and danger are keywords for users of this “form”. They love to get adrenalin going by doing dangerous things. There are almost no risks they are not willing to take. On the other hand just like lightning that sparks and surprises it just as quickly goes away. User’s of this “form” also have a habit of hiding themselves away acting distant and aloof, but just like lighting they could strike back at any moment.

High Reaction Time: The ability of this “form” causes the user to have extreme reaction time. There body tends to react almost instantaneously and with no conscious effort either. If you where to throw something at Kawari in this Honshitsu they would probably catch it before they knew it was coming at them.

Taijutsu Honshitsu
After a Kawari succeeds in performing their first conversion this is one of the two new “forms” that open up for them to learn along with the Genjutsu Honshitsu. This “form” is prohibited from being the first one a Kawari learns because almost no clansmen performing their first conversion can handle the physical change that is essential to this Honshitsu. The strain is hard enough for a first time user without the added stress of being the first time period. Not very many clansmen choose this “form” to specialize in due to the way your body uses chakra to empower itself constantly. There are those who do enjoy the feeling that one gets and prefer to stay in this form because of it.

The user of this form has no chakra affinity what so ever and as such cannot utilize very many jutsu at all. To those who can feel chakra it appears as though it is being drained because of how the body is converting it into other benefits for the body. To those who can see chakra they see it pouring into the various parts of the body such as the muscles or bones, but the chakra they do see is a deep red. In this “form” the eyes do not glow any color, but rather turn a deep black. There are a lot of noticeable physical changes in this form. The muscles bulge, tense, and grow all over the body and it is easy to notice.

There are two things that define this Honshitsu in terms of mentality. One is that the user feels the need to push his limits. He needs to go do more and more until he cannot do anymore. The other thing is he tends to ignore his limits or just plain out can’t feel them. This can result in self injury if the user is not constantly monitoring themselves.

Second Wind: This ability allows for the user to restore a large amount of his stamina and to some extent a decent level of physical damage. The damage that is restored can only be the direct result of pushing oneself to hard. This ability has saved the lives of many Kawari and won the clan plenty of honor and respect. This ability can only be used once a day as long as the user has not converted their essence more than three times in that day.

Genjutsu Honshitsu
User converts internal essence to genjutsu. This takes away any affinities the user would have and instead allows them the ability to utilize genjutsu. In this form the user also gains special genjutsu abilities.

Healing Honshitsu
User converts internal essence to healing. This form removes any and all harmful abilities that the user would be able to use via their chakra. Instead their chakra is only capable of healing.

Sealing Honshitsu
User converts internal essence to sealing. This allows the user to use fuinjutsu and gives them special abilities in this area.

Demonic Honshitsu
User converts their internal essence into its demonic form. The abilities, side effects, and powers gained in this form vary from person to person.