Zen Tankou

Name: Zen Tankou

Clan: Tankou Clan

Age: 14

Gender: Male

Village: Kumo

Rank: Genin

Specialty: Taijutsu

Elements: Earth

Appearance:
Just around his waist is a small strap with iron chains, a close backup option for Zen to reach for in order to utilize a partial metallic power.  He usually struts around with a serious expression on his round white-skinned face with flat snow-colored cheeks. Black ninja leggings are worn with iron chains to them as well to further Zen's metal ability. His leggings generally possess two pocket holes that act as a replacement for small shinobi puches to carry a couple of scrolls or a small round of metallic bullets. Usually, a few pennies are stored in his pocket. Attached nearby his right hip is a single ninja pouch carrying his kunai and shuriken, reachable as Zen's right- handed.

Zen mostly carries his steel katana to his back or a ring on his leggings. The sword is sheathed and he can easily take it out to either attack, defend, or absorb it.  Zen is only 5"3 and is only on an average height compared to other boys his age. An alternative outfit for Zen would be a red-colored shirt with the the symbol of his clan on the sides. This would be followed up by a pair of lightly black pants that Zen sweats on when he walks around the village.

Personality: Zen is cool, calm, and collective. He has a serious personality but also has a concealed warm spot and gets wild when it comes to combat and training. He's very interested in learning new techniques and skills in order to increase his powers. He supports his clan and is constantly wanting to gain more power in order to protect his clanmates. Zen thinks that he is ready for the Shinobi World and graduating from the Academy is a giant step, but he is not aware of the hellness of war. He very much enjoys spars as "warm-ups" but very unusual for him to get competitive. He reveals immense respect for anyone superior to him. He possess a great sense of humor and produces a lovable laugh that is so persuading it can make others laugh with him as well.

Zen quickly rushes to the scene where might a comrade's life is endangered.  His expression remains neutral and sullen and is not short-tempered. The moment his killing instinct or anger arises, the grudge he holds quickly diminishes the next day and he forgets about it. Zen is able to think of quick plans when it comes to strategizing. Although it mostly can be inaccurate and bleak, he's still able to analyze enemy movement and abilities and discover advantages and disadvantages to it. He believes that all jutsus have limitations and loopholes in them.  His rule of combat is to take every opponent seriously- similiar to that of the Aburame's way. He has a childish voice and dosen't talk like he's the boss of everything.

History:
Early Childhood/Pre-Academy Arc:

Zen Tankou is the son of the reknown Shigen Tankou and the kind Namikio Tankou. Since the moment of his birth, Zen was expected to be special among the other Tankou children as his father was branded as a proud prodigy in the clan and graduated top of his class at a young age. However, Zen was poorly build and rather slow on learning. The clan elders feared that there won't be a suitable leader for their clan and they blamed it on his mother, Namikio Tankou who was given Zen too much freedom. But Shigen did not give up as he continue to nurture his son like a normal parent would, so there would be someone to guard the clan when he left this world and to succeed the current clan leader, Airon Tankou. He was very close to his mother but also distant from his father. He sometimes felt he didn't know him at all despite all of the care he has been giving him. The greatest motivation he has all lies on his father. On his own free time when he's not playing with his sister or cooking with his mom, Zen trains in the clan's local training grounds in hope of becoming great. At age 6, Zen had become one of the rare, few Tankou members to unlock this power at a young age. When Zen was practicing in the field, he fell and sat on a couple of metal coins. He picked them up and squeezed it tightly. He was training to learn how to manipulate chakra taught by his mother but just couldn't get it right. With a large force, he slammed his fist on the ground. Miracously, Zen's hand began to ache and he began to scream in pain. His hand darkened until it changed to to color of copper. It took his mother several minutes to disable the partial transformation and restore Zen back to his normal state. From then on, Zen became sullen but knew his own destiny as a shinobi. At age 8, he enrolled in the Kumogakure Ninja Academy to begin his life as a shinobi-in-training.

Academy Arc:

During his times at the Academy, Zen studied hard on the ninja basics and Shinobi Code of Conduct. He quickly memorized most of the text but then grew quite bored. His studies were too long and too hard that it seperated his social life. But that didn't bother Zen, he didn't even realize it. His grades exceeded the standards and his Taijutsu and Ninjutsu were above-average. His chakra control had amazed his teachers and they were described as "truly above the expectations." However, his Shurikenjutsu and skills with ninja tools were only between poor and normal. This is partially due to Zen's fear of metallic objects. But even so, he developed accurate aiming that has a high chance of hitting whatever he wants. At age 8, he was given a steel sword by the clan leader himself and destoryed his fear of metallic objects. He studied for nearly four years but failed the exams on his first try. Dissapointing his father, Zen decided to try again. At age 12, the exams came once again and Zen was prepared for it. He finally passed the test and would soon become part of the Ninja Universe. His reports had made them proud of Zen, which had sastified him.

Genin Arc:

Just two months after his graduation ceremony, Zen had developed his first elemental affinity- Doton. The chakra nature was the same as Shigen's as he also had the Doton element as his first. He was sometimes considered in the thoughts of the elders as the reincarnation of Koumanzen- the clan's great ancestor who had a hidden partial-metallic spine that rarely appears in the Tankou clan. He made use of his abiities and was good at using the clan's Metal Fist style. But a dreadful event fell on Zen that inflicted a lot of emotional impact on him. His father had fallen ill to a new virus formed from the combination of certain dieseases from his father's associates. Shigen was gravely in danger and with no medical assistance, death would be certain. That mentally had an effect on Zen and he had locked himself from the world and his family, spending most of his time in his room. Then, in a dream, an old man had spoken to him that somehow gave Zen some hope and shedded light in the shadowy world he has taken refuge in. As long as he worked hard like his father fighting to live, then he'll live. Miracously, the doctors had found a cure for the virus and successfuly brung Shigen back to his healthy state, which had brung Zen out of the darkness as well.
Eventually, his training at home ended as he was informed to be joining a Genin cell and begin his life as a shinobi, with a Jounin to lead the squad and to complete missions. Zen was a little nervous but excited to officially be a ninja. He remains calm and goes on as a Kumo Genin, clashing combat every day as shinobi.