Flow

**Flow**, or **Flow State** (流れ状, Nagarejō), is a psychological state of mind that enables the user to focus on a singular task with absolutely no interruptions. In this state, action and awareness become one. Reflective self-consciousness becomes nonexistent as the mind focuses on the task at hand. The user gains a sense of personal control or agency over the situation or activity. The feeling of a distortion of time and space is common, and the user often feels like everything around them is slowed down to a near halt, allowing them to take stock of everything around them that pertains to the task at hand. In combat, the user gains such a focused state of mind that everything around them becomes irrelevant, and special care is taken to take those situations out of the equation. Attacks become immediately predictable, even attacks that are meant to be as illusive as possible. The body moves like it's on autopilot, evading and blocking attacks with the mind hyper focused on the enemy. Their moves are spread open like a roadmap for the user to exploit, and the autopilot reacts by moving the body independently without the need to think of the next move. The body fills in the gaps that the mind misses, allowing the two to function as one. Such a powerful psychological state requires a mind free of distractions, a mind that's focused only on the task at hand, allowing everything else to become a non-factor in the task of combat. Flow was said to be apart of the Sharingan, though, it is not. Flow is stronger and on another level than the Sharingan's **"Eye of Insight"**. When mastered, the technique itself is referred as **Mastered Flow State**. Flow's forms can essentially be compared to the Eight Gates, like: **Subconscious Flow** would be gates 1-3, **Conscious Flow** would be gates 4-7 and **Mastered Flow** would be the final and 8th gate.

## **History**

   Achieving a state of mind that rests entirely on a singular task has been a difficult undertaking for everyone. Even some of the greatest minds find themselves unable to focus on one thing. No one in history has mastered or have gotten close to mastering Flow, let alone become an expert. The only person who came close to unlocking Flow was Madara Uchiha, though, it is probably because of his Sharingan and the fact that he was basically invunerable. Hirachi is the only person to actually be able to use Flow. He created a mindset, one that allowed his body to instinctively react to. He managed to understand and master the control of his spiritual energy. On stealth missions, Hirachi was moving quietly like his body was on autopilot, and felt himself being jerked back if he stepped out of a proper hiding zone. He realized his mind and body were fighting one another, with the mind wanting to stay put while the body wanted to move, so he created an alternative; Stick to the shadows and constantly move with them. Eventually, his body and mind became attuned to one another, and he could move freely in and out of the shadows, still on autopilot while he focused on the tasks ahead. He achieved the state known as Flow, and it became a vital asset in completing some of his most dangerous missions. In combat, its usefulness blossomed by dilating time and space around him to the point where he could see every flaw in his opponent's attack and instinctively counter it. A lazy jab gives way to an exposed shoulder being struck against. A kick too high led to an exposed knee getting kicked. The sate of Flow allowed him to exploit these weaknesses automatically, his mind filling in most of the information, with the body filling in the gaps. He didn't have to think on anything, it was already there, and his mind and body did the rest with virtually no hesitation from either. Initially, Flow can be taught to a being, thought the amount of years and hardwork is unknown as stated before, no one has really mastered, let alone been capable of using Flow.

## **Effects**

When under the state of Flow, surroundings become layered. Everything that is irrelevant to the situation the mind is focused on is cleared away, leaving behind only the important assets. This is the mind's way of filtering out information that is not necessary, but not taking away too much where the mind has to refilter everything. In this state, the brain begins altering the body's physical capabilities, mimicking the effect of an adrenaline boost. Nonessential bodily functions are temporarily shut down, leaving behind only the vitals, such as brain activity, heart rate, lung function, and full muscle control. This is where the nervous system takes over. The nervous system begins forcing muscles to move independently of one another based on information given from the brain, and it acts accordingly depending on the situation. Muscle activity will become almost instantaneous, freeing the delay caused by tensing muscles to move. To protect the user, the brain dilates their perceptions of time and space, protecting them by providing an ultraperceptive, tactical awareness of the situation at hand. The mind and body become in sync, and freedom of movement allows for the perfect assessment to any situation, be it combat or even noncombat measures. Flow also allows the user to create photographic images on weak-minded opponent's to see how, when, and where they'll attack similar to the Sharingan. Users of Flow can be viewed as very unpredictable and phenomenal. In **Mastered Flow**, the user's abilities are enhanced just like Eight Gates Released Formation.

However, this is a difficult state to attain. The mind must remain attuned to the situation at all times to prevent information overflow from interrupting the focus. If anything is done to interrupt this focus, the brain starts going into survival mode, and organ function kicks into overdrive. This is not a pleasant experience. The body will feel like it's undergoing surgery without anesthesia as organ function begins going into a hyperfunction state, trying to restore normal operation to keep the body from going into shock. This puts the body out of commission, and extra care is to be taken to keep the user safe until bodily functions return to a normal state.

* Sub-Relativistic movement
* *Very unpredictable*
* *Hard to hit, Harder to evade.*
* *Unpredictable as always*
* *Basic Flow being used concurrently.*
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## **Triva**

* This technique was somewhat based off of Ultra Instinct from DragonBall Z.
* Shinrai Chōten and Mushin are derivations of **Flow**.
* Examples of Flow