Like any other day, Junichi spent time with his mentor in the forest, reading the ancient texts and taking in the wonders of nature. However, a special time was approaching...his inheritance ceremony.

"This is a special day," his mentor began. "You must learn the art of summoning, so that our guardians can continue to protect the land."

Junichi was nervous. He had only just begun to understand the straightforward texts laid out by his family. How could he possibly move to the arcane, where intention mattered?

"Teacher, what if I mess up? What if I don't read the scroll accurately? What if I don't understand the relationship between the letters, symbols, and sounds...and I summon something bad?"

His teacher laughed. "Junichi, you can decode as well as any other student...that is the first step." He unfurled a scroll in front of him. "All that is left now, is to read. Continue to read, over and over, and the repeated reading will allow you to easily recognize the words so you can focus more on meaning and desire."

With the scroll laid out, that is what Junichi did. He kept reading, and reading, as the sounds the day moved steadily forward. He kept reading until the summoning ritual had been engraved in his heart. He had developed greater comprehension through automatic recognition. The effortless identification of words means he had reached automaticity, and could move on to higher ordered tasks.

His teacher was impressed. "Yes, you understand. You can recognize the words of the text, and feel confident in exploring them. Now, you can focus on the expression of the speech...the prosody."

"The...prosody?" Junichi looked confused. It was one thing to understand the text, but what did his teacher mean by expression?

His teacher continued. "You worry about intention, yes? Prosody accounts for all of this. The emphasis you place on words, the pitch of your voice as you speak...this creates the rhythmic patterns of our language."

"Oh," Junichi exclaimed, "what else goes into this...prosody? I think I am understanding."

"Hmm." His teacher was lost in thought. "Like with rhythm, we worry about tempo - the rate at which you read the summoning influences which spirit will respond, much like the 'feeling' of the elements. Quick, powerful reading will influence the fire spirits, much like slow, structured reading will influence the water spirits. You must phrase the summoning in the appropriate way."

"So, it isn't just enough to be able to recognize the text, I also need to be able to put the appropriate rhythm and intention behind it?" Junichi seemed to be deep in thought, trying piece together the parts of the summoning ritual. 

"Yes, Junichi." His teacher nodded, glad that his pupil was understanding. "The key to a successful summon, and your inheritance, is through complete comprehension - the ability to understand the text for what it is, and understand the meaning and intention behind the words."

"I get it! I think I'm ready for the ceremony!" Junichi excitedly got up, ready to head back to the village.

"Yes, yes you are!" His teacher was thrilled. "I know that you will do well, just believe in yourself."

As the sun set and a soft glow enhanced the shadows within the already dim forest, the pair headed back, eagerly awaiting the inheritance ceremony of the evening.

As it became evening, the young ninjas who would be inheriting the will of the spirits gradually took their place in the center courtyard of the village, surrounded by their friends and family.

Junichi, the smallest of the trainees, felt anxious as he stood amongst the crowd. A quiet excitement whispered through the crowd, before they steadily became silent as the chieftan took his place in front of the trainees.

"Today," he began, "marks the beginning of your journey to adulthood. You will become masters of the elements, and learn to co-exist with our guardian spirits." As he said this, a tattered, dark book was removed from the inside pocket of his cloak.