Toudou Style

The **Toudou Style** (刀藤流, *Tōdōryū*?) is the official swordsmanship school of the Toudou Family, the imperial line of the Empire of Japan.

## Overview

The Toudou Style is one of the oldest schools of swordsmanship in Japan. The concept of the Toudou Style can be traced all the way back to the conceptual founder of the style, Senjou no Fujihana, in the year 847 of the Entrant Era of the Imperial World Calendar, which locally, would be exactly on Jōmon 11,147. In this early time, the style consisted of only hand-to-hand combat until sometime into the Yayoi period, which spans the Heroic and Hellenistic Era of the Imperial World Calendar. It was only around halfway through the Heian period (Recumbent Era of the Imperial World Calendar) that the style began to seriously forge its way into its modern counterpart.

The essence of the Toudou Style is being greatly fleet-footed although, during its early development as a style that incorporates the blade, heavy armor was worn which heavily impaired a user's agility. As such, the style incorporates both posture shifts (therefore, shifting one's center of gravity) and fooling an opponent by way of eye movements, breathing patterns, and slight bodily movements.

**More Information Soon**

## Users

* Reika Akizuki
* Shiori Akizuki
* Yoake Kumakura
* Amamiya Shirogane
* Ayane Toudou
* Sayaka Toudou

## Techniques

### Sword

#### Intermediate Level

* **Yatagarasu** (八咫烏, *alt. *Eight-Span Crow**?): The technique begins with the user taking a deep controlled breath which allows them to relax and concentrate, envisioning a sphere of influence around their person where they have absolute control. If anything foreign enters this absolute territory, the user will strike to remove it, making this technique a perfect defense.
	+ **Short Yatagarasu** (短い八咫烏, *Mijikai Yatagarasu*?, alt. *Short Eight-Span Crow*): A variant invented for the short sword, it works much the same way as its parent technique although the protected territory is far smaller than the parent's range due to the shorter length of the sword.

#### Advanced Level

* **Break Raindrop** (劈雨粒, *Heki Amatsubu*?): a guided thrust, the user first pulls back and rotates their waist before putting their left hand close to the back of their sword and thrusting forward. The supportive left hand is there to prevent the blade from being shaken from its trajectory.
* **Conjoined Cranes** (連鶴, *Renzuru*?, alt. *Linked Cranes*): a branch of techniques of the Toudou Style that began appearing sometime in the late Muromachi period and refined over a period of one hundred or so years. The basic principle behind the Conjoined Cranes is *perfectly link sword techniques with each other to corner an opponent like folding a paper crane*. Listed below are the forty-nine techniques of the Conjoined Cranes.

1. **Laying Bait** (拾餌, *Ehiroi*?).
2. **Fisherman's Boat** (釣船, *Tsurifune*?).
3. **Revelation** (妙妙, *Myōmyō*?).
4. **Lovers** (妹背山, *Imoseyama*?).
5. **Yatsuhashi** (八橋, *****Yatsuhashi*****?).
6. **Great Romantic** (昔男, *Mukashiotoko*?).
7. **Ocean Wavelets** (楽々波, *Sazanami*?).
8. **Kalvinka** (迦陵頻, *Karyōbin*?).
9. **Sacred Lotus** (芙蓉, *Fuyō*?).
10. **Warrior Kumagae** (熊谷, *Kumagae*?).
11. **Pinwheel** (風車, *Kazaguruma*?).
12. **Gathering Clouds** (村雲, *Murakumo*?).
13. **Black Bamboo** (呉竹, *Kuretake*?).
14. **Path of Dreams** (夢の佳通ひ路, *Yume no Kayohiji*?).
15. **Ninety Thousand Leagues** (久万里, *Kumanri*?).
16. **Bleached Cloth** (布晒, *Nunosarashi*?).
17. **Fourth Wings** (四ツの袖, *Yotsunosode*?).
18. **Sandalwood Lance** (衝羽根, *Tsukubane*?).
19. **Blue Ocean Wave** (青海波, *Seigaiha*?).
20. **Three Leaf Arrowhead** (澤瀉, *Omodaka*?).
21. **Wings Abreast** (比翼, *Hiyoku*?).
22. **Calabash** (瓢箪町, *Hyōtanmachi*?).
23. **Water Wagtail** (鶺鴒, *Sekirei*?).
24. **Mitsudomoe** (三巴, *****Mitsudomoe*****?).
25. **Game of Hina Dolls** (雛遊び, *Hināsobi*?).
26. **Tripod Cauldron** (鼎, *Kanae*?).
27. **Parquet** (寄木, *Yadorigi*?).
28. **Citrus Blossom** (花橘, *Hanatachibana*?).
29. **Mount Hourai** (蓬莱, *Hōrai*?).
30. **Circlet of Flowers** (花見車, *Hanamiguruma*?).
31. **Clapper** (鳴子, *Naruko*?).
32. **Blossom Crest** (花菱, *Hanabishi*?).
33. **Hundred Cranes** (百鶴, *Hyakkaku*?).
34. **Young Maiden** (早乙女, *Saotome*?).
35. **One-of-Three** (三が一, *Mitsugaichi*?).
36. **Rose of Sharon** (蕣, *Asagao*?).
37. **Bank of Clouds** (横雲, *Yokugumo*?).
38. **Zhangzi** (荘子, *Sōji*?).
39. **Nested Chick** (巣籠, *Sugomori*?).
40. **Kkindred Twins** (相生, *Aioi*?).
41. **Wind Orchid** (風蘭, *Fūran*?).
42. **Sparrow of the Weeds** (葭原雀, *Yoshiwarasuzume*?).
43. **Spring Dawn** (春の曙, *Haru no Akebono*?).
44. **Gentian Wheel** (龍膽車, *Rindōguruma*?).
45. **Anthill** (蟻の塔, *Ari no Tō*?).
46. **Desolated Field** (野干平, *Yakanbei*?).
47. **Rabbit-Ear Iris** (杜若, *Kakitsubata*?).
48. **Gourd Vine** (瓜の蔓, *Uri no Tsuru*?).
49. **Firebolt** (稲妻, *Inazuma*?).

#### Master Level

* **Hellmoon** (修羅月, *Shurazuki*?): a technique that capitalizes on an uninterrupted forward movement, it unleashes a half-moon arc of a slash.
* **Reverse Moon** (裏月, *Urazuki*?): relying on one's mental state of *shiki*, this technique unleashes a deathly accurate pinpointed stab behind the user before turning the wrist and to slash straight down following the initial stab.
* **Time-Splitting Blade** (時斬剣, *Jizanken*?): a technique aptly named for its ability to seemingly split space-time with its single powerful right-left horizontal slash; it is considered to be a variant of Hellmoon.

### Short Sword

#### Beginner Level

* **Flower Reading** (花読み, *Hanayomi*?): like an opening petal, this technique delivers an accurate horizontal slash from left to right.

#### Intermediate Level

* **Crystal Bullet** (水晶弾, *Suishōdan*?): a simple yet deathly accurate stab aimed for the solar plexus although this can be adjusted.
* **Sword of the Falling Star** (流星の刀, *Ryūsei no Tō*?): contrary to its name, this technique unleashes five slashes whose trajectory traces a pentagram.

### Two Short Sword

A branch of the Toudou Style invented by Shiori Akizuki, it is a branch dedicated to the combination of the Toudou Style's two sword branch and short sword branch of techniques to become its own branch of techniques.

#### Master Level

* **Edict of Yasukuni Shrine** (靖国神社の公示, *Yasukunijinja no Kōji*?): the first of Shiori's master-level techniques, it is a technique that occurs at extremely high speed and attacks seven times in the span of half a second: bottom-up X-shaped slash with both blades, a top-bottom slash with the right, an upward diagonal slash ending on the left followed by a top-down slash with the left, an upward diagonal slash ending on the right followed by a top-down slash with the right, and repeating the first attack for the final strike.

### Sword-Drawing

* **Folded Wing** (折り羽, *Oriha*?): a high-level sword-drawing technique that fools an opponent into thinking the user has drawn their sword when they never did. The opening left behind by the opponent can now be exploited by the user in any way.
	+ **Folded Wing Modified** (折り羽・改, *Oriha Kai*?): Invented by Shiori Akizuki, it works the same as its parent but modified so that it works with her twin tantō-shaped Resonant Spiritual Armaments.

### Other

**Vijñāna** (識, *Shiki*?, lit. consciousness): a state of mental concentration where the user expands their perception to the logical limit and gathers information on their opponents and surroundings using various sources such as movements, Prana flow, sounds, and airflow. In this state, the user is able to sense invisible objects as well as predict when and where attacks will land.