Kaze's SC Training

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

This post is the training post for:

Great Endurance:

"I work too much."

Those had been the first words out of the young man's mouth when he woke up this morning to the feeling of a hard rocky ground beneath his back just as the sun had been peeking over the horizon. And now, those words came back to haunt him as he felt his fingers beginning to slip against the feeble hand hold he had found on the cliff face he was climbing. How long had he been scaling this massive wall? He had lost track of the time, but his whole body ached and his arms and legs felt like jelly. His hands were numb, fingernails cracked and splintered, blood staining the ends of his digits as he clung for dear life with his left hand while the right dangled lazily at his side. He'd grunt lightly to himself as he tightened the grasp of his left hand in an attempt to to keep himself from slipping and falling down what looked to be close to a fifty foot drop.

Sweat stained the front of his shirt, serving as a testament to the effort he was exerting at the moment. His right arm shot up, searching for a place along the surprisingly featureless wall, looking for some sort of life line in order to take the stress off his left arm. His feet were planted firmly against the wall, doing their best to compensate for the sudden shift in weight but the wall was smooth. Even the portions of the wall that protruded from the near vertical plane were somehow smoothed down as though sanded down or eroded away through years of being subjugated to a harsh flow of running water. If Kaze hadn't been hanging there, steadily slipping in grip, he would have definitely taken the time to contemplate how this could be.

For now though his right hand slid along the wall, fingers groping against the solid surface until they finally managed to find what felt like a firm hold. Once again Kaze's weight shifted from his left arm to the right, putting the strain on his opposite limb, giving his left side a chance to rest for a second before his muscles in his legs began to tense, pushing his entire body upward while his core contracted in order to help stabilize his body. The fatigue made the act a difficult one, in fact, in Kaze's mind he had given up at least four times on this climb. The only thing that had kept him going was the fear of slipping and falling to his death, or at least falling and snapping his spine or something like that. He wasn't a fan of the idea of having his spine snapped. He was quite fond of being able to use his legs. He had no desire to be a paraplegic or worse.

He'd begin to scale again, moving upward along the wall, feeling the incline of the cliff face change. Of course the change in angle wasn't to his favor, the young man eventually reaching an outcropping of the wall that would make climbing very difficult. Already his hands were numb, blistered, and bleeding from all the climbing he had been doing for the last couple of days. This wasn't the first time he had climbed cliff faces like this. For the last couple of days Kaze had taken a leave of absence from the village and his duties, a self given vacation that he thought he had earned given how much he had been working lately. Predictably, a "vacation" really couldn't amount to much relaxation. Kaze, while always enjoying a good rest, hadn't had much time as of late to polish his skills. While he was in no way rusty, he couldn't help but feel as though he needed to take advantage of this time up to push himself in order to come back from this "vacation" just a bit stronger and a little more capable to serve in the field.

His left hand slid along the wall, fingers gliding over the stone face above him that served as a slanted ceiling from his current position. It would have been easy to use chakra here, to allow himself to scale the wall without worrying about hand holds and foot holds, but that would be counter productive to what he was trying to achieve at the moment. His fingers continued to search, eventually coming to a jutting piece of stone. Reflexively his hand wrapped around it, pulling on it lightly to test it. It seemed sturdy enough. His right hand now pushed down on its current hold while his legs did the same, pushing his body up and leaning backwards a bit due to the angle of approach. Immediately his right hand shot up, grabbing another hold that was a bit too smooth for Kaze's liking, but he didn't have the luxury of being able to spend time searching for another hold. He needed to be quick here or his exhausted body wouldn't be able to hold on much longer. His legs scrambled to keep up, feet digging into whatever hold they could find. More grunts came as his hands moved one over the other, reaching, grabbing, pulling, bleeding, smarting, and trembling. It was all one giant Hell, his body screaming silently in pain with each move he made. His fingernails were almost completely gone by this point, driven all the way back to the cuticle almost so that each sensation against them caused a stinging and tingling pain to run up his fingers and into his hand and wrist. That was more than unpleasant. He was glad he was wearing shoes this time. He couldn't imagine putting his feet through another climbing session like he had yesterday. They were still sore from that strenuous session.

Kaze's eyes moved upward, staring ahead of his position. He was close to the top. Once there he could eat the apple he was carrying in his pocket. Breakfast would taste good after a morning workout like this. He began to climb again, the thought of food pushing him forward. His right hand moved up, grabbing for another hold, finding something immediately and yanking down on it in order to bring his left side up so that he could potentially advance. As he did so, though, he heard the familiar sickening cracking noise that caused him to grimace as he braced his entire body for the immediate drop then stop as his left hand clutched for dear life. Once again he found himself hanging, this time without the benefit of his feet to support him as they lost their position along the cliff face due to the sudden shift in weight. He'd let out a small yell of pain as he felt his shoulder strain to keep the joint from slipping out of place. He'd quickly reach up with his right arm again, looking desperately for something to grab hold of.

"D-d-damn it.."

He'd croak as his right hand grasped at no particular hold but rather just seemed to create its own somehow by sinking his fingers against the rock, barely finding a small portion to help take some stress off off his left arm as he swung his legs back toward the wall. His right hand moved again once his feet found a good spot to dig themselves into. His right hand would find the hold it was looking for, pulling him further upward as his left arm relaxed a bit before reaching up for the next hold. Another fifteen minutes would pass as he made his way steadily up the cliff, eventually reaching the top. He'd pull himself up over the ledge and roll onto his back, staring up at the blue sky, breathing heavily and groaning. He was more than thankful for the break, but in the back of his mind lingered the thought that it wasn't even mid-morning left. There was still more to do.

Word Count: 1331/1200

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

This post is the training post for:

Quick Speed:

The feeling of the wind whipping through your hair as you sailed across vast distances in a matter of seconds. The feeling of being nearly weightless, allowing your body to move on its own volition, uninhibited and free. The feeling of being one with the wind, rushing forth at great speeds. These were only some of the sensations that Kaze felt when he allowed himself to run, to let himself truly run as fast as his legs could manage to carry him. Of course, these feelings were not what the boy was experiencing right now as he sprinted as fast as he could with the traditional, yet heavy, training weights that were often implemented by practitioners of taijutsu. Both arms and legs felt as heavy as lead, each step requiring a tremendous amount of effort from the young man as he ran up the long inclined road before him, running up a low lying mountain. This training, this strained running had been his mid-morning training for the last couple of days, done after his morning rock climb. With his body still exhausted Kaze would strap on the weights and run up this same road every day. Sweat poured from the chuunin's body, his shirt completely drenched. The sweat rolled from his forehead, down into his eyes, a small pool forming on his brow that he desperately wanted to wipe away, yet knowing that even a simple action such as that would require far too much effort on his part due to his arms feeling like lead blocks. It was all he could really do to keep his arms in a swinging motion as he ran, his muscles straining against the weight with each move. He was half way up the incline.

He had no timer, no real way to keep track of his time, which was something he lamented when he reached his camping spot a few days ago. It was something so basic yet he had forgot to bring something like a watch to help track the time. Still, he continued, undeterred by his inability to track his own progress. He just had to keep pushing himself. In the end he hoped it would be enough. His breathing now came in strained and heavy spurts, his voice accompanying each exhalation of air as he forced the air out of his own lungs all in order to take in the next gulp of oxygen as quickly as he could. What he'd do for some water at this point.

As he ran he could hear his own footsteps despite the pounding in his ears from his own heart racing. They were heavy, almost thunderous, much too loud for his own liking. It was a side effect of the weights, he knew that, but he still disliked how heavy each step felt, how his feet crashed down to the earth after the split second of air time. He made extra effort to raise his knees a bit higher than usual, to extend his stride as much as he could, knowing that the weight made him subconsciously skimp on these two details with each step. He needed to try and run as he would normally, it was the best way to gain results from training like this. His shoulders tensed as he swung his arms a bit more, resisting the urge to let them hand and trail behind him. Not only did not defeat the purpose of weights on his arms but also caused more stress on his shoulders. He needed the rotators cuff to hold and remain absolute in their strength. More sweat poured from his forehead, onto his brow, getting into his eyes, making them sting from the enzyme containing saline liquid. He was really exhausted at this point and he still had about one third of the way left to go.

Kaze tried to pick up the pace, unsure if he was really moving faster yet at the same time mentally feeling as though he were putting in more and more effort. If he had to be honest with himself, he was quite annoyed by now, the weights being the target of his disdain. He hated how they felt. He hated how he felt with them on. He hated how loud they made his steps and how they made even the simple task of wiping the sweat off one's own brow a monumental task. He honestly hated this method of training, but he had seen the fruit of the labor in the swiftness of other taijutsu users' movements. Almost all of them contributed their speed and strength to the use of weights like these at least at one point in their training. He pressed on, trying not to think too much about his own annoyance and frustration. He was almost there. Just one fourth the way to go.

The running was becoming monotonous now. No longer able to keep sprinting or even to push himself to a run, he felt he was jogging now, small intervals of sprinting thrown in when his stamina allowed. The sprint barely lasted ten seconds before he fell back to the half run half jog, trying to force himself to move faster yet finding no energy to do so. His body felt spent at this point. The pattern persisted and he felt that frustration welling up in his chest once more. Damn these weights. He was glad that this was the last day of his "vacation". He knew though, that even if it was that he'd probably need to keep coming back to this method of training every so often lest he lose his edge. The thought wasn't comforting in the least.

Kaze would exhale heavily as let his body drop, falling on his behind with a small grunt before moving his left arm onto his lap, unstrapping the weight from the left arm then his right. He'd move his arms a bit, uninhibited by the weight. They felt like jelly but weightless at the same time. He supposed that if there was any pleasure in this method of training, it was the feeling of taking the weights off and feeling that feather like lightness that came in the minutes after. He moved to undo the weights from his legs. He was glad it was over. Once he had removed the overbearing weight from his body he stood up, stretching. He really did feel a bit unsteady on his feet, but again, like his arms, his legs felt so light. He'd give a small grunt before turning toward the road he had just ran up. He supposed it couldn't hurt to test his speed now that he had completed his final day of his physical training regiment. He'd slide his right foot back as his left lead, leaning over slightly as though he were about to start a race, opting to not take the full sprinter's start position, settling for the half ready position. He'd mentally count down from three. As soon as he hit zero he was off, sprinting down the hill, his body moving in a blur of motion, hard to follow completely. The feeling of wind through your hair. The feeling of being free and uninhibited. The feeling of being one with the wind as one sailed across the earth as fast as they could, traversing vast distances in a matter of seconds. He felt these feelings now and it brought a smile to the young man's face. How wonderful he felt, being free from that weight that had clung so desperately to his body, slowing all his movements. The weights were gone and he was swift, just like the wind.

Word Count: 1279/1200

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

This post is the training post for:

Large Chakra Capacity:

Chakra, the term given to the essential energy required for almost any of the ninja arts that were taught to those who learned the way of the shinobi. It flows through all living things and is said to be composed of two parts, the spiritual energy that comes from experience and the strength of the spirit and physical energy produced by every living cell of the body. The two combine in even parts to create a potent energy that is said to fuel the shinobi's power, giving him the ability to perform rather miraculous feats that most were unable to pull off. At least that's what Kaze had been taught during his days in the academy.

In reality though, Kaze had no real clue what chakra was, never being an overly intelligent fellow when it came to more esoteric subject matters...like chakra! Still, the youth understood one thing. Chakra was fuel that provided him the means to fight. That was enough for him at this stage. Even as a chuunin, he still didn't see the need to delve further than that. It wasn't as if he had to teach a student about all this. All he needed to focus on was perfecting his own skills and fulfilling his duties.

Kaze sat there under the shadow of a large cliff face, the sun having already passed over its zenith, staring its long descent that would eventually end in nightfall. Today was Kaze's last day of 'vacation' and with the physical exertion of the morning completed he knew he needed to work on focusing his mind. This was his routine, physical exertion in the morning, mental in the afternoon and evening. For Kaze, who had always been more physically inclined, he knew he had to devote more time and energy to honing his mental prowess. That was the reason he spent seemingly twice as much time meditating and studying, even when out in the mountains. One had to train both aspects of mind and body to grow properly. It was basic philosophy of any warrior and also it was supported by medical studies. Those who exercised and studied tended to retain more from their mental work. The two seemed to go hand and hand in the youth's mind.

The boy did his best to keep his mind clear of all distractions as he focused on the task at hand, meditation, reaching in and drawing out his inner self, unlocking the energies within. It sounded cheesy, but even if that didn't work, the fact that it seemed to help clear the young man's overactive mind was more than a good enough reason to partake in the practice of meditation. It made him more clear headed, it calmed his nerves, and it helped settle him after a strenuous morning of intense and body breaking training. His body still ached, but he removed himself from the physical pain, focusing inward, drifting in and out of the physical consciousness of his own mind. At least that's what he wanted to do. He still felt the ache, though it was a lot less painful than it had been before he had started his meditation. He could feel his own energies inside of him. That wasn't an exageration either. The Serpent King was slithering within his body, trapped by the Shield of Suijin, somehow. In all honesty Kaze had never seen the Serpent King. Not in person anyway. He had seen the carvings in the temple, but the creature had yet to reveal himself to Kaze. The chuunin couldn't help but think about Kirima and how she had tried to get in touch with her inner demon. Kaze wondered if it was the same for him.

Not a chance. Such a simple trick won't work with me boy.

The voice echoed in his mind, breaking his concentration. His brow furrowed as he dove back into his mind, trying to reestablish connection.

Listen to me, you overgrown snake. You're trapped in my body. Like it or not you work for me.

I work for no one! I am the Serpent King! You are my vassal and nothing more!

Kaze laughed lightly, still trying to maintain concentration, but finding it increasingly difficult with the demon's voice resonating in his mind.

The great king who's trapped in the body of his vassal? That's intimidating alright.

You shut your mouth boy!

The voice hissed in anger and Kaze soon felt a throbbing in the back of his skull as though his mind were trying to rebel against him. It caused him to cringe and tense as the pain rushed through his mind.

I may be trapped. I may not have direct control of you. But I can still cause you pain. You are still under my influence. The only reason you live is because of me. You'd do well to forget that. I could have left you for dead in that temple and taken the body of another!

But you failed.

I said 'SHUT YOUR MOUTH'!

Kaze grunted as he lost his concentration, the traces of energy he felt slipping away. Before losing that connection he felt his own chakra and the chakra of the Serpent mixing and melding, wrestling against eachother. Obviously, even contained in Kaze's body, the demon's presence was intense. Kaze didn't argue anymore, instead he just let himself lie on the ground, staring up at the blue sky with an empty expression, emotionless eyes half closed as though he had slipped into a comatose state.

In time, when I feel you deserve it. I will let you see me. For now you will listen to my voice and know it to be the voice of the one who commands you.

Kaze reached out in his mind toward the energies that mingled and wrestled. They were starting to calm down, the two surprisingly starting to resonate slowly with one another as though one were accepting the other.

Now boy, I grow tired of your pitiful weakness. Continue your training so we both may get strong. I will have need of a strong body and you will serve that purpose. You are forever a servant of the Serpent King and lest you forget that fact.

Kaze's eyes began to widen. He could no longer see the sky above him but rather he saw the darkness of the temple from one year ago. He cried out in agony as he watched himself slaughtering his comrades.

NO! Make it stop! I don't want to!

Laughter echoed in Kaze's mind as he writhed on the ground.

Grow strong boy. The fun hasn't even started yet.

With that the voice faded and Kaze lay motionless under the shade of the mountain's shadow. He could feel the mingling energies again and he began to draw on them from within his own body, the experience leaving him mentally drained. He could feel the Serpent King using his own chakra to bring forth the hidden reserves from within Kaze's own body, using his influence to bring out Kaze's hidden potential. It was a gift with string attached. The Serpent King made sure Kaze grew strong, making Kaze work as though he were possessed; which he was. Kaze had definitely benefited from it, but at times like this he felt as though the cost were too much. He knew the demon's words were true. No matter what Kaze did, no matter how sealed or weakened Hebinoo was, he would always be the one pulling the strings when strings needed to be pulled. Kaze was forever changed that day, one year ago and though he fought to hold on to his old self, he felt, in the back of his mind, that it was all a futile effort.

Word Count: 1289/1200

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

This post is the training post for:

Experienced Medical Nin:

Kaze sighed lightly, a bored expression on his face as his eyes ran over the text that had been scrawled across the large scroll. The young man looked positively miserable, books and scrolls spread out all around him, all on various subjects under the overarching heading of medicine, more or less. It wasn't enough for a medic to just know about the human body, but also about herbs and bugs and various other things int he world, all that could either benefit or harm the human body. It was Kaze's job to know these things, and if he didn't then it was his job to learn these things. Another sigh escaped his lips, his eyes moving down the page. Kaze had been studying hard for the past year, preparing himself for the medical corp. In truth Kaze was no real genius and probably to many, he had no business even being in medicine, but it was something he had a knack for. It wasn't surprising really. His brother and father were both doctors within the village hospital. His brother had even mastered the ninja healing arts all on his own, without any sort of shinobi training. Kaze envied his brother and how easy it had all seemed to come to him. For Kaze, his days had been filled with performing missions, hanging out and helping in the hosptial only to come home and study. Of course, Kaze had something very few had within them, that being an evil bastard of a demon inside of him, pushing him, rarely letting the boy rest. Strength was the name of the game and though it might seem strange for a demon to push a human to learn medicine, Hebinoo was not an idiot. He recognized the boy's natural talent for medicine.

Kaze wasn't a genius by any means, but he did have the aptitude which was more than enough for Hebinoo to allow his vessel to pursue the goal, knowing the benefits that would come from having his vessel hone his mind to be sharp and knowledgeable. Medicine could be a deadly weapon when used properly. It was Hebinoo's constant pushing that forced Kaze to study and work as though he were possessed; which he was. He had even stopped visiting Kirima and her grandfather not long after his promotion to chuunin. It was something he missed but ultimately something that Hebinoo deemed as a waste of time. Though the Serpent King wasn't above dangling that prize in front of Kaze's face to motivate the young man. Kaze was determined enough, but that little incentive made him work all the harder. In this way both the Serpent King and Kaze worked together in order to help the young shinobi reach his full potential.

Kaze would move his left hand over to the small stack of books he had managed to bring with him from the village, grabbing one of the smaller texts and opening it up, double checking something the large scroll said. Despite his mental and physical fatigue, the day now ending after a strenuous day of training, Kaze still hungered for knowledge. He wanted to learn. This was a quality that the blonde haired youth hadn't had when he was younger but it was something that had been born inside of him the moment he and the Serpent King had become one. Kaze's eyes scanned over the pages of the book, hitting key points that served as buzz words for his tired mind, unlocking a backlog of knowledge that he had managed to stuff in his head over the past year or so.

Kaze's eyes continued to scan the pages of the book before setting it down. It was times like this when he wished he could simply recite something he had learned, but that wasn't how it worked, at least not for Kaze. He couldn't just go and spout off knowledge like that. It was all situational. He knew what to do in a given situation but if simply asked he always had a hard time digging up random yet intelligent sounding information. It was like going to a large library and not knowing which book to pull off the shelf. There was just far too much to specifically say what one learned in the time that they studied. His eyes moved back to the scroll, reading over the text that told him how to best use his chakra to heal injuries both simple and complex. This was less traditional medicine and more focused on the shinobi art of eijutsu. Both were important to know. Knowing Eijutsu without knowing at least basic pathology and anatomy wouldn't help much. Histology was also needed. In fact now that Kaze thought about it, biochemistry was important too! It all made his head spin. Maybe it was better to try to not think about just how much information he had tried to cram into his head over all this time. Doing so just made him feel as though he were forgetting everything. That wouldn't be good. He was planning on taking those exams soon. Forgetting everything after all his hard work wasn't really an acceptable outcome. Eventually he'd turn away from the large scroll, pulling out a medium sized scroll and unrolling it. It was time for something more practical now.

Kaze always felt better when performing more practical forms of study. It required less thinking, less personal stress, less pressure in his mind. He'd unravel the scroll and set it down. A simple seal was on the scroll, showing that something was stored within the scroll. Using the basic unsealing technique Kaze channeled a bit of his chakra into the seal causing a small chakra reaction over the scroll. The small plume of white smoke signaled that the unsealing had been successful. As the smoke cleared Kaze's eyes focused on the dead fish lying on the scroll. This method was a bit...archaic in Kaze's mind but it was also very difficult. Typically one could not bring something that was dead back to life, but for whatever reason, things that were simple like fish or bugs tended to respond well to medical jutsu. Kaze knew it had to do with the simplicity of the nervous system and the the blood flow mechanics of the body. It was like how a cockroach could live for about ten days with its head removed. Simpler organisms like fish and bugs could have their vitality restored, even if the brain had decayed.

Now, Kaze cleared his mind, focusing on the task at hand and pulling his interla energy out from within him. Chakra, Ki, whatever that energy was called, he could feel not only his own but the Serpent King's as well as he channeled the flow of his chakra to his hands, causing them to glow with a faint green light. He would hold his hands over the fish, beginning the task of restoring life to the creature. For what seemed like forever, Kaze sat there, pouring his own chakra into the fish's corpse, working to repair and restore the body, speeding up cell growth while simultaneously removing the dead and decayed tissue through accelerated cell motility and function. Eventually he'd feel a tremor coming from the fish. It's chakra system seeming to to flare to life, restoring function to several of the creature's organs. It was like restoring power to a house that had just had an outage. Everything started springing to life and the fish began to flop around, gasping for 'air'. It was cruel, but Kaze had no source of water around to deposit the fish. It would eventually re-experience death. Kaze sighed a bit, both a mixture of sadness and relief. This wasn't the first time he had done this, but it was always a bit taxing and very difficult. He needed to be able to do this faster and better though if he hoped to get into the medical corp. For now though, he was satisfied.

Word Count: 1334/1200