Stop for a minute [Training]

Age : 25 Posts : 1767

Jutsu Trained:

Spoiler:

The rain incessantly pelted the ground, relentlessly descending upon the landscape. Caught in this torrential deluge, was Saitou Masaki, who had found refuge in a small cave, a gaping mouth of the alcove in the side of a hill; nearby, a small stream had begun to overflow. It was true that the genin did not dislike the rain, but he was a long way from home and had no intentions to arrive soaked to the bone. Instead, the youth had resolved to wait out the weather in the shelter he had discovered. Whilst this may have seemed like the most sensible course of action, he'd found himself sitting idle, listening to the rain for nearing on half an hour; although he didn't mind relaxing, the cold bite of the air was beginning to get to his exposed arms, and he decided being idle was not the best thing to do. He could either brave the downpour and make his way home, or find some way to warm himself up. Of course, he nearly immediately ruled the first option out of contention. With a sigh, the youth rose to his feet; the cave was not particularly large, going about 5 meters into the side of the hill before ending. However, the genin didn't have to bend down whilst inside if he stood in the very center, and so it would do.

Forsaking his usual ritual of limbering up, Saitou wandered what exactly he should do. It had been a while since he'd actually done any training, what with the recent events and the amount of missions he was running off on; now, his spare time was spent lazing about. The first thought that occurred to the youth was to make sure he could still use all the techniques he'd learnt, maybe take some time to perfect them. However, this idea bored him. He wanted to try something new, something he hadn't done before; perhaps now was a good time in which to develop some more of his own techniques. But the one problem was, he had no idea where to start with a new jutsu. Perhaps if he just experimented, mucked around a bit?

A few minutes later, and Saitou had found something to occupy himself with. He was attempting to exert his chakra into the ground, trying to form a line across the cave mouth. The idea was that whenever he walked over the line, he'd be alerted of this via a chakra signal, and the same would happen whenever another, friend or foe, crossed it. However, it wasn't going too well. Upon his first attempt, the purple haired youth had exerted far too much chakra, and had left a small scar running across the ground, a mark of his failure. The second try wasn't too great either. When he'd placed his fingertips on the floor, the amount of chakra he'd let forth was particularly feeble and had next to no effect; perhaps it was a jutsu similar to Kinobori no Waza, in the fact it required an exact amount of power and a high degree of control. If that was so, the one thing that could help the genin prevail was practice.

After about a quarter of an hour, Saitou was content with his result. Through trial and error, he had managed to achieve a correct amount of control nine times out of ten; with a sigh, he bent down once more, placing his cold fingers on the ground before rising once more. He took a step back, before moving forward, over the line and out into the cold. The only thing that kept him from becoming soaked was a mound of earth creating an overhang above the cave entrance that gave him shelter. As Saitou passed the line, he felt exactly what he'd been hoping for. One foot making its way over the line, he felt an odd, pricking sensation which slowly travelled up his left hand. He was happy that he'd succeeded, but not particularly overjoyed at how long it had taken him to achieve such a result; perhaps he was out of practice, and the best thing he could was to go on and train some more. The rain still hadn't let up. He had time.

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Age : 25 Posts : 1767

Jutsu Trained:

Spoiler:

The boy had realised just how little he had put into training recently, and he was worried that he might've become weaker as a result; now, he was not training simply to pass the time, but due to a desire to make sure his skills had not declined. A fire was now burning inside him. Anger and frustration at his laziness, as well as determination to improve. It had been too long since he'd devoted any time to his own development. Saitou had to start putting more effort into what he did, start taking responsibility for his own improvement; his abilities weren't greatly lacking, and he did indeed have more experience out in the field. But that was irrelevant; a variety of jutsu was required, as well as knowledge, to become stronger and progress as a Shinobi. If he continued to ignore his training, he'd fall behind his comrades and friends. Saitou thought of Kana-San, his friend and senior, whom was of a similar age yet already a Chūnin; the youth did not see himself as in a rivalry with the medic, nor much competition, but he did not want to be inferior. With a sigh, the youth looked out, toward the rain. It seemed to be falling with less ferocity, but it was still there. Not allowing himself to take much of a break, the genin got back to work.

He had decided not to waste time coming up with his own ideas for jutsu; it would be simpler and easier to learn jutsu that had already been used by others. After all, there would be less thinking needed. When creating his own jutsu, Saitou had to think of keeping his ideas within possibility, not to mention his skill range; if he trained techniques he knew were possible, the whole process would be faster and less complex. First, he decided to learn a jutsu he'd first witnessed being used my Kaguya, Matsunaka, a while ago. It seemed simple and not too difficult to use, yet effective; as he knew from experience, it was useful for binding opponents, as well as being used offensively. Quickly weaving a short string of handseals, Saitou quickly spurned his chakra into a long, rope like shape. The water that followed was oddly solid in his hands. However, before the genin could raise it upwards in order to bring it down in an inspection of the jutsus usage, he found the chakra controlling the liquid dispersed, thus releasing the technique. The whip had, at the time, been above his head, which meant he was showered in water. It seemed the ramifications of his mistake had been as bad as going outside and running in the rain. Sighing, the youth attempted the jutsu again.

After a few more unsuccessful attempts, which were similar to his initial endeavour, Saitou managed to get the result he'd been hoping for. The whip came up in his hand, before he brought it down fiercely, the long cord of liquid slapping the ground; once he'd achieved this, he tried the jutsu a few more times, just to make sure he had the feel of it. Thankfully, this technique had been easier to learn than the one he had trained previously, as he had predicted. The rain outside was beginning to let up slightly, but the genin was feeling confident and wanted to keep going.

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Age : 25 Posts : 1767

Jutsu Trained:

Spoiler:

The cold had now been pushed to the edges of Saitou's mind, as had the weather. He had yet to realise he could probably begin to make his way home now, what with the rain having subsided to a slightly drizzle; although admittedly, the clouds above seemed to suggest the downpour would return. His desire to train had not yet burnt out, and he was determined to make the most out of it. Clenching his palms, the youth made his way out of the cave mouth entirely, not caring about the mud enveloping his sandals, a result of the continuous rainfall which had softened the ground. In fact, the nearby body of water had overflowed to the point that a large portion of the surrounding floor was like a bog. The scene wasn't a particularly pleasant one, and Saitou was tempted to call it a day, not wanting to spend too long on such mundane, impractical territory. The conflicting argument in his mind about staying to strengthen himself and his abilities or leave now and continue another day was settled with a compromise; the genin would train one more jutsu, before making his way back home.

Saitou was quite determined now to finish as quickly as possible. However, he did not want to decline in his skills anymore, and thus told himself not to rush, to make sure he completed his training efficiently and fully. With a sigh, he stretched his hands, surveying the scene whilst finding a place to plant his feet without them becoming overly muddy. Yawning, the genin looked upward. The sky was becoming increasingly grey, and he decided to dawdle no longer and get a move on with his training.

With his brow furrowed into an uncharacteristic frown, Saitou weaved another pattern with his hands. He attempted to control his eagerness to hurry up and make sure he performed his jutsu perfectly, with efficiency born of patience, not a stroke of luck from over-enthusiasim. Inhaling, the youth brought his torso backwards. His spine was leaning backwards slightly, not as far as it could go but enough for his eyes to be gazing skyward, before he brought himself back into a straight position. As he straightened, Saitou opened his mouth, attempting to let forth a rush of chakra infused liquid. However what came from his mouth was a feeble amount of water, and a large amount of air as he broke into a coughing fit. The youth took a moment or so to regain his composure, before running a sleeved arm across his mouth and slowly trying once more; he wasn't sure what he had done wrong, but he decided to try and spend less effort on the physical movements, and concentrate more on making sure he amassed a large enough amount of chakra. With a sigh, he started again.

His next attempt showed no signs of improvement. The genin was beginning to feel frustrated, but he knew that he would have to maintain his focus if he was to execute the technique properly. On the third endeavour, Saitou found himself slightly more successful, although not much more so; he brought forth a large amount of liquid, larger than before, but as he tried to expel it from his gullet, he found a portion of it did not come. The result was another bout of coughing and spluttering, before he managed to stand straight once more. With a small frown of annoyance, the genin attempted the jutsu once more. As he felt the liquid rising in his oesophagus, he made sure not to let it stay stationary; in one fluid motion, the substance was propelled from his mouth and outward onto the boggy ground that stood before him. The amount of space the technique had covered surprised Saitou. However, he did not have time to linger; a small drop that fell on the boy's shoulder informed him the rain had returned, and with haste, the genin began to run home, not wanting to be caught in yet another downpour.

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