The First Art of War [Training]

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"If any of those medics find out I'm doing this... well, good thing they won't."

Mitsu was walking through Getsugakure, seemingly just out for regular and safe sightseeing, but if anyone could read minds, they would know instantly that Mitsu was up to something else. She kept as far away from the hospital as much as possible, just in case some nurses or doctors had little on their hands to do and as a result, sat at the windows and stared out at the rest of the village. Many of them would have frowned seeing her out and about. According to them, she was expected to sit indoors and wait for her arm to heal up, like she was made of brittle glass.

"I may be made of glass, but I think it's more like fibre-glass, if you don't mind," she had told them. In return for refusing to stay at the hospital, she had to promise frequent visits to the hospital, which she readily agreed to. That was because first, 'frequent' was very relative, depending on the user of the word; second, between the frequent visits was enough time to do what she wanted.

She walked like she was going to see the Tournament Temple, but once she got into the forest, her course changed direction. There were Getsugakure military personnel on patrol, to make the area safe. Mitsu wondered whether they were as powerful as Shinobi. Well, she wouldn't underestimate them; everyone was strong in his or her own right. She walked by a few of them as she passed through the forest, also catching occasional glimpses of some of the rare and exotic wildlife that could be found there. She walked through to the other end of the forest, where she found a few spots of cleared land, marked off by a wire fence.

Earlier on, she had learned form one of the villagers that there were training grounds in the village. The discussion popped up when she accused the village of not having everything, as that villager had informed her. After arguing it to and fro, she had asked about the training areas, to which he had promptly given her directions. She had to apologize to him after that, for demeaning his illustrious village. The price was little to pay for the benefits.

She chose one of the clearings and stood in it. A sturdy stump of wood would have to serve as her training dummy for today. Mitsu first tested a few punches and kicks on it to ensure its stability, then she proceeded to the training of the day, which was rather dangerous. First, she needed to train the speed of her attacks. She would time herself, and strike the log as many times as possible within the time limit. She discovered that striking the log about five times per second was the fastest she could do. Once she had established the most number of times she could hit the log, she took a short rest, then resumed for the next step.

Step two was very similar to step one, but with a little difference. You see, when you hit something as fast as possible, there is the tendency that you put less pressure on it than when you are hitting with all your might. Mitsu first determined how far the stump would slide away from her, if she was to hit it hard five times. Having done that, she located another log, and began striking it five times per second, but with the aim to move it the same distance as she had moved the other log.

Three hours later, an exhausted Mitsu sat against a tree to rest. She felt that she had managed to perform what she had set out to do, although that was not the end of the training. The more dangerous part came up next. When she had got her breath back and some of her stamina, she stood up and returned to the log.

The idea was simple. She would strike the log as she had done before, but while doing so, she intended to plant an explosive seal on the log. Going by the instantaneous explosion the seal was designed to cause, she knew she wouldn't get away in time without having to use a Kawarimi or something. She didn't intend to do that, though. What she would do was to plant the seal, and run away from the explosion. Impossible, huh? Not really. She had been working on two seals, that if used correctly, would allow her speed and endurance to dramatically increase, enabling her to get away from the explosion with minor injury.

But she only had three seconds.

"One second is enough to kill a person."

She bolted forward and assailed the log with the flurry of strikes, which she had named "Fubuki", after the frenzied nature of a snow storm. As she struck the fourth blow, she activated the Tetsu Fuuin, one of the two seals she had experimented on for a long time. With the fifth strike on the log, she planted the seal as she yelled: "Ekusupuro-Jon no Fūin!" As soon as the words left her mouth, she activated the Sen Fuuin, the second of the seals she had devoted so much time to master controlling (the first time she had tried using it, due to her being not used to the boost it gave, had smacked herself straight into a wall. Now, however, she had almost mastered its use), and bolted.

The explosion rocked the training grounds, sending up dust, leaves and smoke in all directions. Mitsu slid to a halt, hands raised in front of her face to protect it from the brilliance and heat of the conflagration. She lowered her hands slowly, noticing that although she was a little singed and smelled of smoke, she had managed to escape otherwise unharmed. The log was, of course, destroyed. It would appear that her training today was successful. Three seconds mattered.

As she straightened up, she noticed one of the Getsu soldiers watching. She didn't know for how long he had watched, but the expression on his face told her that he thought she had gone bonkers. She responded by grinning and giving him a thumbs-up sign. In response, he said something into a radio and walked away, resuming his patrol.

"Okay, that was friendly. Well, guess it's best to sneak back to my room and pretend I've been a good girl all along...", she thought, as she slowly made her exit.

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END

Word Count: 1093, or thereabouts

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