Always Looking Forward

It was midafternoon at the Grand Konoha Training Facility and as usual Akari could be found within the building putting her body through the ringer. Every since her coma she had taken her training to an entirely different pace. Forcing her body to higher levels and it had paid out in dividends. She was faster, nimbler, and stronger than she had ever been before. To add even more to pile she had also gone on a pilgrimage to the Shikkotsu Forest in order to take a trial by the Slug, Katsuyu. She passed the great slugs trials and was allowed to sign the summoning contract for her. As of now the girl could only summon small portions of Katsuyu. However the consciousness of the great slug seemed to inhabit all slugs of the Shikkotsu Forest and one only summoned larger pieces of the slug itself. She was truly an amazing creature and once Akari had passed the trials set before her she taught the girl how to gather mold nature energy. Akari had taken to it like a fish to water and it hadn't taken long for her to begin taking in that energy and molding it, balancing it out within her body perfectly.

When she utilized the nature chakra to enter into sage mode her capabilities were massively increased. Although she wasn't using it now. Instead she was focusing on gathering nature chakra. As she trained physically, moving through stances and practice swings with her wooden bokken five shadow clones would be nearby slowly gathering nature energy stacks. The clones purpose was to gather the nature energy for her before dispersing. She had made them when she had first arrived and had set them upon their task. Her Sharingan was active, the black tomoe upon the sea of red visible within her normally sapphire blue eyes. With them gathering chakra it shouldn't be too terribly long before she would be at the maximum amount of nature energy she could hold. That would allow her to utilize it to work on other techniques, like seeing the various ways the chakra interacted with other jutsu.

Rather than her normal attire of a red blouse with black skirt and black thigh high socks she instead wore a deep red shirt with black pants. Her combat boots were still upon her feet and nearby her sheathed katana sat. It was never far from her but here at these grounds it wasn't necessary to use it. She had long since gotten used to it's weight and her wooden bokken was much better suited to this sort of thing and would ensure she didn't accidentally cut someone's arm off as she practiced. it was simply safer overall.

Stuff:

Despite the protests of her doctors, Ari agreed to basically be put on standby as she recovered her strength. Being burnt to a crisp as her body was sundered by light was not a fun experience. Especially with the scars that had been left all over her body. Even so Ari refused to be confined within the hospital grounds as her desire to gain power drove her to train her body even as she recovered. It had always been difficult to train, but if anything Ari took the training regiment with small steps. From controlling the flow of chakra through her body to even waltz on the water's surface.

Ari had lost all of her gear back in the Meijing City operation, and frankly the only thing Ari could get back without paying anything was her headband. She came to the Grand Konoha Training Facility mostly out of memory, and partially out of increasing her sense of touch to detect vibrations with each step. It was still a new ability that Ari was getting used to, but it was effective to get around nonetheless. Ari was garbed in a simple white tank top with a pair of black shorts. Both of her arms and shins were wrapped in cloth to add compression in regards to blocking or even striking in some cases. The Konoha headband was wrapped around her forehead with the steel plate facing forward. Most people actually didn't recognize Ari for they are used to the same silver haired girl with fiery stormy grey eyes.

Yet from their whispers she could sense their doubt and even pity on her. Honestly, Ari didn't know what was worse. Being defeated so quickly in combat or being viewed as weak. Even so Ari pressed forward to find a roughly isolated spot. There she began the process of kneading large amounts of chakra and then controlling it into a single point. A single burst of energy so to speak. If anything, since the time of her awakening, Ari had lost the usage of Suiton yet retained the knowledge of the techniques. Even so Ari made a point to study new skills, and even picked up the Sensing Technique. Another of the skills was the Ijutsu and frankly Ari used refined control over her chakra to basically treat her chakra network like a muscle. Continuously practicing the control over her chakra and then using the Ijutsu techniques to apply simple healing whether it was with burns or small scrapes and bruises. Ari wouldn't lie if she used the same techniques to apply relief to her sore body.

Either way, Ari continued to build up immense amount of chakra as she stressed her network by diverting the pent up energy to a single limb. Her scarred right hand curled into a tight fist as the kneaded chakra flowed into it. As Ari raised her right hand, Ari swung her mighty fist to slam against the lone dummy log. An audible shockwave erupted from the impact as the log shattered into splinters before the fragments were blown away for a good ten meters. Granted Ari couldn't see the destruction she had caused, but she definitely felt the dummy had been broken and scattered into the wind.

As much as Ari tried to not think about it, instead she kept count of the number of fights she has lost. For Ari didn't just lose to one fight, nor two fights. But three fights she had lost that were almost back to back. The last two were powerful Raiton user's which was Earth's primary weakness. The last fight, the Meijing City, Ari couldn't even put up a defense against the light for it happened so fast that she couldn't react to it. The thought of an image from her charred husk angered Ari. As a fighter, she always took pride in fights. Losing was always a learning process, but to lose so quickly without putting up a fight drove her mad. Not so much at the opponent who had done the damage, but to herself for being weak. As some had put it, most people in her situation would've retired for another profession. But Ari doesn't quit. Quitting wasn't an option for her as she kneaded the immense amount of chakra once more into her left hand. Out of her own rage as she bared her teeth while restraining a low growl. Ari pivoted her body to a crouching position as she drove her left fist into the ground below her. Just like that the earth itself gave way as it bowled under the pressure before it shattered into many fragments. Scattering into the air around Ari like cherry blossoms as a crater spreads out for a total of twenty meters.

Learning Chakra Enhanced Strength Level 1 - B Rank (200/200)
Learning Cherry Blossom Impact - C Rank (150/150)

As she moved through kata's swinging her own bokken in the forms she herself, or Kagura had created, she would hear a loud and thunderous crack in the distance. Like a log being obliterated via sheer force. The noise from such an impact would be quite loud and anyone would be able to hear it if they were within a few hundred meters of the source. Stopping and tilting her head in curiosity, Akari weighed the idea of going to look and see who was on the floor with her. When she had started she had been the only one on it. Now that didn't mean she wanted the floor alone, it just meant she hadn't expect to hear someone else up here after she had begun. At least not for a while. Deciding to lean her bokken on her shoulder and go find out who was here. One never knew who you might find in such situations after all. Lord have mercy, look at how her and Kagura had met, Akari would turn toward the clones who were still gathering nature energy. "Continue your tasks until the designated amount." She would order. The clones wouldn't move or make a sound of acknowledgement. Akari however knew they had heard her. However the gathering of nature energy required stillness, which was something they couldn't do while talking.

With that done the once Rokudaime would move toward the sound of the crash. Moving through the tree line that was specifically designed to allow for such privacy, Akari would lean against a tree as the individual training came into view. One Ari Dokuma it would seem. The girl seemed to be doing alright with her training regime although at the moment she was standing there, seemingly lost in thought for a moment. Perhaps she was remembering the Battle of Meijing, perhaps she was quietly beating herself up over what had happened. Suddenly, the girl would move, and rear back, chakra gathering within her tightly held fist before she smashed said fist into the ground with devastating effect. The ground cratered for twenty meters with shards of earth reminiscent of cherry blossoms scattered around her. The effect was quite impressive. Akari eyed the girl slowly, noting the blindfold, the lightning shaped scars that covered what bronze toned skin she could see and seemingly led beneath her apparel although whether or not they were truly all over her Akari wasn't aware.

Her head had not a strand of hair on it after what had occurred to her but it would grow back in time. That was temporary, her injuries were all temporary. The physical ones anyway. The ones to her pride, to her confidence might never heal. Although that was what ones comrades were for. Akari had always been for the village, before the clan. It made her a bit of a pariah within the clan itself but she didn't really care. The clan wasn't the village, it was a part of it. In her eyes it was their duty within the clan to see to the wellbeing of the village first, the needs of the village first. The clan's needs, the clan's wellbeing were secondary to everyone else. Or at least, that was how a Hokage should act in her eyes. Akihiro was doing a fine job as Clan Leader, as his job was to put the clan first. He had to, Nyguyen however seemed to care more about the clan, or even how he might go down in history once his reign was over, than the reign itself. Still, Akari couldn't fault the man. He was doing the best he knew how to do. She just wondered if his best would be good enough.

Deciding to make her presence known if it wasn't already the blue eyed girl would begin a slow clap. She wouldn't leave from her spot against the tree although Ari wouldn't be able to see her regardless. Was she a sensor? That would do quite a bit to move past her latest affliction. As she clapped she spoke, calmly and politely. "Very good Miss Dokuma, I know it wasn't the intent but know that I'm impressed. To not only recover so quickly to the point where you can do such exertion but to perform so fluidly too." She would say as she clapped before stopping the motion. Her words weren't laced with condescension or belittlement. They were simply an observation of fact without a hint of malice within it. "Tell me, if you were to gauge yourself now, how close to your original strength, that's before the Battle of Meijing, are you?" She would ask curiously as she finally stood straight off her tree and moved slightly into the clearing. Back in the training field her clones would still be gathering nature energy. They could transfer it to her from a distance so long as they were within viewing distance. All they would have to do is cease gathering the energy and come to her before dispersing in that regard. Which they would do when they were ready.

Spoiler:

The unfortunate part of Ari not being able to see was the fact that she could no longer visually grasp the scope of the destruction she had caused. However from the vibrations that ensued from the raging earth beneath her feet before it started to quell. The size of the crater was pretty intense, almost as if it was to size up the result of her wrath. No sooner had the dust settled so to speak, there was an applause, or rather clapping to be pretty precise. Ari narrowed down from her keen hearing the general direction of Akari’s position as she commended Ari’s progress. Truthfully it wasn’t Ari’s attempt to impress anyone as she simply vented her frustration out.

The small girl might be blind with a white cloth wrapped around her eyes, but if Ari did have her eyes then she’d be looking over at Akari. The mention of how close to her original self she was sparked the inner will of fire that continued to blaze bright even as she suffered near death wounds that would’ve forced any average person to retire.

”If I am perfectly honest, I am still a bit behind. But it makes no difference since I don’t need to meet how I originally was. I need to surpass what I was so that I won’t lose again.” Granted Ari had indeed won small skirmishes amongst the other genin in Konohagakure, but frankly she doesn’t count them. They weren’t actually fights in her honest opinion. With the way things were going ever since Ari had been asleep, it was like Iwagakure pulled a powerful force that was only held back by one person. And the whole time Ari was a charred husk who hadn’t contributed anything to the operation. In a big way, Ari felt her presence there made no difference at all.

The earth churned and vibrated in small magnitudes before three large dragons of earth and stone emerged around Ari. Each thicker than the trees as their long bodies coiled in what seemed to be a haphazard ward around Ari, but in reality their bodies were positioned to where it made a straight sprint to Ari was difficult. The dragon heads were poised in their position similar to the three points of a triangle in case they need to be launched. Ari raised her hand to gesture to the dragons.

”Back then, this was my strongest technique. Even they made no difference before the Battle of Meijing. But now it’s like I’m stuck. Some of the most powerful maneuvers of Strong Fist can’t be performed without unlocking the Gates first, and frankly the only thing I can train that’s stronger than these dragons was the Chakra Enhanced Strength.” Granted Ari had knowledge of some of the stronger forms of Doton techniques, even the Rock Spears technique. Those she wished to learn at some point, but at any rate Ari dropped her concentration over her dragons as they crumbled into rubble that nearly filled the crater. What seemed like she buried herself, Ari emerged from the ground a short distance away from Akari. Almost like she was getting out of a swimming pool.

Akari would smirk at the blind girls words. there was no point in nodding, she couldn't see it anyway. Her tone when she spoke would make it clear that did in fact have the smirk on her features. "Well said Miss Dokuma." She would say in usually polite and respectful manner. The general mind set of people who had been so severely injured was one of hopelessness and loss. They tended to quit and stagnate. However it didn't seem at all to be the case here. Ari was training viciously just out of the hospital. As a matter of fact she wasn't even quite officially discharged yet if she was remembering correctly. She simply had the doctors permission. Which they had acquiesced to when they realized they wouldn't be able to stop her anyway. That kind of willpower was something that would server Konoha better at one hundred percent. Not crippled because of a war.

Contemplating her thoughts for a moment as Ari spoke, listening to each word carefully to ensure she didn't miss anything she would focus her thoughts on the potential solutions. As she listened and thought her blue eyes would study the three dragons swirling around the girl protectively like a shiver of sharks only instead of swirling around food they were protecting a precious individual. The dark haired girl would absently reach up and twirl some of her dark locks around a finger as she thought. Without warning she would tilt her head, as if a curious thought came to her. It was obvious what had to happen. Akari had to focus her efforts on the medical paths and work to heal this girl. Not just for the sake of Ari of course, it fit too many things neatly. The village itself needed more medics, it always did. That alone was enough of a reason for Akari given that her loyalties had always been the village first. However her own comatose state a year ago had proven that her own physical capabilities were on the frailer side. Learning how to heal herself would give her a slew of benefits personally and allow her to help others more, including but not limited to, potentially healing the girl before her.

'I should dye my hair blonde..' She thought absently as she looked at the dark locks wrapped around a finger before letting it go and moving her eyes back to Ari. "Well then, if the Earth and Stone Dragon technique is your strongest jutsu, than we'll just have to help you learn some stronger ones now won't we? Tell you what, impress me again with your learning abilities, and I'll teach you something good." She would say with a grin. "I'll be your training partner, practice your jutsu against me and I'll help you get used to fighting an actual opponent who hit's back." She would say, Sharingan activating instinctively and her crystalline blue eyes becoming black tomoe upon a sea of red.

Not too far away, Akari's clones would finish generating the nature energy they needed and proceed to stand and begin to move over to the girl. They didn't rush, there was no need to do so, there was no danger here. When they reached the point where they could see Akari that dispelled and the nature chakra and the original chakra that she put into them returned to her, immediately refilling her reserves to the maximum and maxing out her potential nature energy reserves as well. The strength she felt that she had access to there was incredible and she flexed a hand once or twice to see how she liked it and nodded as she felt the difference. One of the clone would have brought her sheathed Katana and leaned it against a nearby tree, easily within viewing distance of the field should they move more into it.

Her eyes would return to Ari at that moment and await for the girls response, the clones having moved over and dispelled as she was speaking of the idea to train with the girl. It suddenly occurred to Akari however that she had never introduced herself to the girl, and she couldn't have been relying on sight to identify her. Deciding silently to let the girl figure out who she was on her own she would wait, one hand on the hilt of her wooden bokken and the other on a hip as she internally ramped herself up for the first spar she'd have in a long time. She knew she had personally progressed physically, her speed, coordination, and strength were head and shoulder above what they were before. However she had yet to see just how far she had come. Ari might only be a genin but she had worked hard for what she could do and Akari doubted she was much behind her in the physical capabilities department even now.

Spoiler:

While Ari can't see anything, Ari made sure to view the surrounding area through her mind's eye. The process of detecting signatures, all similar as the source that was talking. The voice was feminine as she was a bit taller than Ari was from what she could gather. There certainly were quite a number of them, and frankly Ari began to think that they were all wishing to join into this session. Fortunately that wasn't the case as one by one they disappeared. Perks of being a sensory shinobi as well was that she could detect people even if they don't move. Plus information regarding chakra nature was pretty important and frankly Ari hoped that information would allow her to be more on guard from Raiton user's. Out of every basic element, Raiton was the bane of her existence. Her body was proof of that fact as the scars might look cool to some people, but at the same time it brings pity from others. The latter is what Ari despised the most.

"Impress you huh?" Frankly Ari had no clue as to whom this lady was, but either way she wove a trio of handseals before pushing onto her pressure points of her torso. Ari proceeded to repeat the process two more times as she knew her body needed to be fortified. Too much stress might cause the immense amount of chakra to rupture her body, so this process was a safety net from self harm. The next step, Ari figured to apply the same process except with more chakra and have it dispersed throughout her entire body. It was certainly an intense process as she had never amassed such an immense amount of chakra before. At least not all at once. Yet her fiery will, her Will of Fire, continued to blaze deep in her heart that refused to yield to the pressure of her chakra. As the remains of the earth dragons was within arm's reach from her. As Ari reached over to a small boulder with her left hand, Ari continued to knead the massive chakra in a refined and controlled manner.

"Just about everyone I've met so far has some sort of gift or talent in Konoha. I have neither, so that means I must work harder than anyone to surpass them." Lots of people called it a pipe dream that she could even contest against the Uchiha, the Hyuuga, or even the lesser clans. Ari however was determined to prove them wrong. With an explosion of energy from her chakra network, Ari's fingers dug into the boulder like she was digging through loose dirt. With great effort, veins visible from her left arm, Ari proceeded to lift the boulder with one hand. Then with a mighty throw, Ari threw the boulder at high velocity at Akari's position.

Dust trailer behind the boulder as it sailed through the air. The way it was thrown, the arc would stop at Akari's position with a possible skip as the great velocity buries the chunk of rock into the earth with the assumption that it misses. Of course Ari had done the boulder throw as an initial attack and to prompt Akari to move. Ari chose to remain alert to Akari's position, and became ready to move if necessary.

Spoiler:

The girls now red and black eyes would take in everything. Ari weaving seals to push pressure points upon her body, and as her earth dragons came within arms reach of her the girl would reach out to a small boulder and begin to kneed chakra. Akari watched, calmly, as the girl spoke speaking of others in Konoha having some sort of gift or power, and her needing to work harder to surpass them. Once she had spoken the girl expended a large amount of physical effort if the veins visible in her arm were any indication before lifting the boulder out of the earth and heaving it at her with a mighty throw. As the boulder left the girls hand the previous Hokage would simply side step once, twice, and then lean a bit to let the boulder pass harmlessly by here. The wind from it's travel blowing her hair back as she calmly watched the girl. She had her wooden bokken in her hand, so attacking with her kenjutsu techniques was certainly safe and that was what she did as Akari darted forward, closing the ten meters between the two of them.

This was her personal style, the Art of The Blade Mistress and it would confer useful advantages to her movements and make it more difficult for her opponent to perceive the strikes. At lease that was how it worked normally. Akari was actually uncertain of how well it would work against someone who utilized the sensory technique to see. The dark haired woman would close the distance in a near instant, bokken flashing toward a location that would confound any who had seen it. This was the Blade Mistresses Waltz and it further reduced the perceptive capabilities of those she was striking making the technique a vicious thing to deal with in close quarters combat. Combined with her Sharingan's capability to perceive where the opponent was going to be and dodging the strike would be all but impossible.

The strikes true intended location would be the upper right arm, the intent was to lay a strike upon the girl that would 'smart' and be noticed as a 'tag'. It was in no way designed to be strong enough to hinder or debilitate now but if was a real blade and it landed the girl would be armless as well as eyeless. Of course Akari would keep her eyes and ears open for potential surprises as she moved with her usual speed and grace. Generally with her real sword the power would be inherent in the swing so grand that the craftsmanship was however with the bokken it wasn't quite so. Which made it a perfect sparring tool. Should the strike land Akari would immediately disengage, utilizing a seal-less body flicker to the left of their position for twenty meters would aim to 'reset' Akari and should that prove successful she would watch and wait carefully for her opponents next move.

Stuff:

Frankly Ari was already confident that if this stranger had any reflexes, dodging it would be tactically wise as she did throw the chunk of rock pretty hard. In fact, she had hoped that the woman would move, gauge how fast Ari should achieve and such through the use of Sensing Technique. One thing was clear, Akari naturally moved faster than Ari could naturally reach. Akari crossed the distance near instantly, but Ari quickly picked up the pace as well by tapping into a particular stance that focused entirely on speed. The Blitz Parade, and while Ari had trouble tracking exactly which path that weapon of hers would take. She noted which side the bokken was, what stance Akari took, Akari’s position, and simply chose instead of attempting to track the sword. Predict and force Akari’s hand to strike where Ari wants to.

As Akari dashed forward, so did Ari like a speeding bullet as gusts of wind erupted behind her wake. The ground itself cracked under the pressure of her feet before they left into a dash. It was in hopes that Ari could surprise Akari by matching if not surpassing that speed of hers. Moving in as the opponent moved so that they could potentially misjudge the distance of safety so to speak. From what Ari had witnessed in the past, weapons were like safety nets to keep the opponents at a distance while also hurting them. Using the driving force behind her own momentum and explosion of strength. Ari attempts to throw a strong left punch into the center of Akari’s diaphragm in hopes that it’ll send Akari flying back. Simultaneously her right arm was brought up to protect her face, and near instantly that right arm of hers turned dark as doton chakra before it proceeded to coat the rest of her body as it instantly fortified her body’s defense. The same process was similar as countering someone trying to throw a left hook of how she chose to counter.

Ari proceeded to coat her hands in a normally invisible vacuum as the additional result should her punch land and it'll absorb a small portion of Akari’s chakra into Ari’s body. A way of snacking on the former Kage’s chakra so to speak. Should the maneuver be successful, Ari does try to grab with a vicious grip onto the bokken, but Akari’s uncanny speed and reflexes caused the bokken to slip out before Ari could catch it. With her right hand now curled into a fist, Ari brought down a mighty fist into the ground with much more control than before. The surrounding surface cracked as dust had risen from the impact. A fissure began to form as a wave of physical energy rushed forward towards Akari at alarming speed. The wave would travel up to 30 meters with the intent to knock Akari back should it connect.

Spoiler:

There was nothing that could surprise the eyes of a Sharingan when it was on the target. At least not anything when they were in the hands of an experienced used of the Eye of Insight. Ari's speed was foreseen just before the girl moved, the eyes telling Akari where she would be within a few moments and the simple capability of seeing how fast she was was merely a matter of seeing that she would arrive in the center position between the two of them slightly before Akari would. The red eyed girl reacted immediately however and instead of following through with the swing she had intended to do would pivot on her left foot, her extremely dexterous form allowing her to stop her momentum on a dime while Ari would have nothing to physically stop hers like the impact with Akari as the Uchiha would move around the heavy punch and avoid the attempted blow altogether. The Uchiha girl would use the pivot to reposition her body to the right of Ari and still body flicker away at her best possible speed, moving fifty meters while she performed the tiger seal and pointed a hand toward the heavily scarred girl.

A single black and red bolt of fire chakra fired out from her hand heading straight for the girl at it's best possible speed. Although the damaging capabilities of the technique would be severely reduced. Gandr was one of Akari's personal techniques and was the first and foremost of a long long of them. Some of which might be very interesting to utilize and see how Ari dealt with them. For now though the dark haired girl would merely be ready to body flicker again to regain distance if necessary. There was also her capability to utilize the nature chakra she had just absorbed although she wouldn't utilize that needlessly. "You're willing to run in headlong, which says you have no fear. Tell me though, what would say if I used a lightning jutsu?" She would ask idly once the bolt had been fired. The bolt would have no bearing on whether or not she would speak and in fact should Ari close the distance to twenty meters or less she would body flicker away and continue to keep the gap open that distance being a good distance for her techniques.

Akari was now trying to gauge the girls mental state, trying to see how girl functioned against the thread of a potential lightning user. If she had trouble with it then she would approach someone about giving the girl a sparring partner to help get her over any hesitation or fear that might have settled in unconsciously. It was her duty to see to the shinobi in the village and she would be damned if she wouldn't do her duty.

Stuff:

If anything, this opponent was quick in her speed and reflexes to dodge out of Ari's would-be destructive path. Ari wasn't quite sure how much of an impact her fist would've made, but if the surrounding terrain were any indication then it probably would've been devastating. Either way, Ari could feel how much chakra this technique was taxing onto her body. Which meant that Ari would have to drop the use for now. If anything, this was a test as to how long Ari could keep up with the monstrous strength.

Before that however, when Ari slammed her fist into the ground which generated a powerful wave of physical energy at Akari's direction. While Ari wasn't as fast as Akari in terms of coordinating her strikes, Ari only needed to slam her fist into the ground while Akari formed her handseals and then pointed at her. Not to mention the built up in chakra was a clear indication of an attack, so the wave originally used as an attack served to be her shield against the chakra blast. The red and black bolt slammed into the wave in lapses, but the power was equivalent to the wave's own as they cancelled each other out. The sheer destructive power would be evident as the two opposing energies collided.

”Well obviously going head to head against one is reckless, but the earth is my sword and shield. The earth has many uses, even allowing me to burrow underground to avoid an attack if I can help it.” Ari’s mind dug up the brief flash of light before everything had eternally turned dark. She wasn't sure exactly what it was, but she's fairly certain it was a Raiton technique. As the chakra that gave her monstrous strength retreated into a calm flow, Ari straightened herself as she resumed a proper fighting stance with her left arm in front while the right was at the lower front. Effectively a frontal guard as much as a quicker execution to throw a punch or three if need be.

"But Raiton user or not. That doesn't mean I'm just gonna roll over and take it. Use the terrain to your advantage, or change it into your own." Ari followed up with the last sentence as a 75 meter square of earth in front of Ari with Akari more or less in the middle suddenly burst skyward for a good 50 meters. In an attempt to use the intense force behind the ascension to cause Akari to stagger, or at least that was the plan. Then with a second application of the technique, the thick slab of earth rapidly descended as it practically dropped Akari if successful to ground level. Granted this was perhaps the second time that Ari was able to perform a Doton Jutsu that normally would require handseals. Yet Ari gave little warning of what exactly she planned to do.

Either way, Ari won't pursue the opportunity as it was more or less like a wake up call. Whether it was Taijutsu or mid-range, Ari took pride in her ability to change the terrain and use it against her opponent's.

"I could ask how you would handle against an opponent like that, but I already know that you'd rather have me tire myself out so that I become easier to knock out." To Ari, that was a simple yet strangely effective strategy. Smarter people tend to just keep their distance and have their enemies waste all of their energy if not most of it.

Learning Great Moving Earth Core - A rank (628/250)
Used Great Moving Earth Core x2

Akari smirked at the girls words, Akari hadn't stated it was reckless, she hadn't even implied it. She simply stated the girl had no fear which could indicate bravery and courage. However Ari was still defensive about her own power level on a much deeper level it would seem. Perhaps Akari should take a fall and let the girl win the spar? Help give her back some confidence? No, that would only do more harm in this case than good. If she took a fall here the girl was bright enough to be suspicious, even if she never learned who Akari was. No, there would be no giving the girl the win here. She would have to earn it. Which wasn't impossible, Akari was not and would probably never be, the most impressive fighter within the village. She could hold her own to a surprising degree, but she would never stand upon the same pedestals as those like Akihiro, or Kimiko Uchiha, and she was fine with that. So long as what she could do could benefit the village in some way, shape, or form.

When the girl spoke next, answering Akari's question about the Raiton technique, the dark haired girl would raise an eyebrow in anticipation. What happened next would surprise Akari although it wouldn't do anything to knock her off balance. A large column of Earth, with her standing on it, would rise up into the air as if it were an elevator before stopping. Akari would keep her balance fine, she moved as quickly as it moved and so the speed and motion weren't jarring to her. When Ari brought the pillar back down, Akari would simply nod her head in approval. "Very nicely done, However I certainly hope you don't think we're done yet." She would say with a small smirk on her features as she performed a single seal and fired a thin beam of black and red from her fiinger tip at Ari. The small ray of chakra would of course have it's lethality held back but such a technique wasn't lethal unless it hit something vital anyway. The beam, if it hit, would strike Ari's right shoulder and hit with impressive force and heat, but otherwise wouldn't pierce through the girl. It might be strong enough to force her back a bit though. Akari however couldn't be sure on that front.

That however would occur before Akari answered the girls last comments and provided some additional space had been made the ex-hokage would shrug. "My style of combat becomes what I need it to be. I can run people out if necessary. I can also do the frontline fighter approach. It tends to change up based on the need. For an opponent like you though, the idea of keeping my distance and letting you run out of chakra is appealing." She would say as she flipped through three more seals with a single hand. Once they were done she would breathe out a volley of small black and red bullets. Fifty were fired from the girl and they covered a large cone area before her. The barrage was made to be painful, but nothing that would reduce ones capabilities. All the while her eyes of black on red would remain on the girl, watch her every movement as well as the movement of the bullets she herself fired.

Spoiler:

With the inability to see, Ari didn’t notice the nod since Ari was in the middle of bringing the pillar back down to surface level. What Ari did pick up was the built up chakra that Akari was summoning up. With the verbal indicator, Ari made use of her Blitz Parade once more to try to dodge whatever it was that Akari had planned. However Ari’s initial running speed wasn’t enough to dodge the beam of chakra that slammed her shoulder. Ari gasped as the beam burned into her shoulder with a jolt.

To make matters worse, Akari charged up more kneaded chakra, and while the chakra wasn’t as immense as the beam. Ari knew that she couldn’t take a hit like that, and so the girl grit her teeth before she slammed her palm into the ground. Normally she would use both hands, but the beam for some reason made her wounded arm go numb. Perhaps it was adrenaline or the shock from it. Perhaps it was both, but Ari didn’t waste time to improvise.

”Not yet!” The small girl spoke with the fire blazing within her soul as the doton chakra caused thirty large slabs of 20 meter square to erupt starting from in front of Ari up to Akari’s position. Essentially putting up as many barriers as possible with maximum efficiency to soak up the damage from the jutsu that Akari launched. As the fiery bullets peppered the walls, one after another the towering walls would crumble as clouds of dust formed in the midst of crumbling earth. Ari formed the tiger seal by forcing her numb hand to form the single handseal before she conjured a shadow clone next to her. In sync, behind the cover of the dust and remnants of her walls both Ari and her shadow clone dashed to either side as gusts of wind forced the dust to move with them.

Swift as the wind itself, both Ari and her clone proceeded to track Akari via sensory technique as they moved to cut off Akari’s escape. The cloud of dust followed behind them as each step generated gusts of wind like a funnel. Once they reach within Akari’s vicinity, they rapidly circle around Akari in sync with each other. Their combined speed creating a cyclone filled with dust as pieces of rubble from the destroyed walls were being pulled into the cyclone. One by one both Ari and the shadow clone would take turns to rush towards Akari with the intention of striking, yet at the very last second before they entered within Akari’s sword distance they’d always swing their palm or kick prematurely with the sole intent of kicking up dirt at Akari’s face and generating more dust within the air. Then they’d sped back to the cyclone’s radius while the other moved in to repeat.

The process was physically draining of course as Ari’s body was being pushed to the limit in how fast she can move. With the dirt, dust, and the wind pressure Ari attempts to use her own environment to blind Akari and cut off Akari’s escape. A mixture of the sensory technique to detect the spikes, what direction Akari would take, and given that both Ari and her shadow clone were roughly 5 to 6 meters around Akari. They plan to intercept Akari’s escape if need be, and ultimately after a few times of kicking up dirt and dust at Akari. Ari would actually stop using feints as the two small girls would finish it up by the shadow clone dashing from behind Akari while Ari dashed in front of Akari. Ari attempts to tackle Akari to the ground by diving for the tall girl and the shadow clone would attempt to sweep Akari’s feet from underneath her in assistance to Ari’s tackle. The carried momentum would cause the shadow clone to slide past both Ari and Akari for a good 10 meters as Ari hoped to tackle Akari to the ground. In doing so the cyclone would disperse as the debris would collapse to the ground.

Upkeep Blitz Parade
Upkeep Sensing Technique
Used Shadow Clone (x1)
[Shadow Clone uses the same techniques as Ari]
Learning Earth Style: Multiple Earth-Style Walls - A rank (747/250)

Strength: C
Constitution: C
Stamina: C+
Speed: B > A++ (Blitz Parade)
Coordination: B
Intelligence: B
Perception: B

As the bullets of chakra fired from her mouth the normally blue eyed Uchiha would feel her eyebrows nearly reach her hairline as her opponent spawned thirty earth walls to defend against the attack. All together they would even out against Gandr but the dirt and dust that the collision created caused the technique she had used to not only defend her from Akari’s technique. It also provided her a perfect cover against her Sharingan, since it couldn’t actually see her any longer to give her the ability to see what was coming next. She could in fact see the disturbances the girls movements through the dust caused and so it was quite obvious to the dark haired Akari that a secondary form was now moving through it. A clone obviously, but without sight of it she couldn’t tell the difference between the clone and the original.

Deciding that getting away from that situation was best she would body flicker away with seals before the two girls closed the distance to her, moving away from them at the exact same speed they were. As she did she would speak. “That’s quite enough.” She would say, only stopping when Ari registered her words and did so. She would ensure that when she stopped she was only standing a few feet from the girl though. Once she was she would give a few moments for any dust to settle before speaking. “Well done, you showed me multiple instances of on the fly tactical thinking. Your chakra wasn’t wasted at any point with the exception of using Great Moving Earth Core to show off. Which was essentially what I asked you to do in telling you to ‘impress me’. Everything you did beyond that worked both offensively and defensively. Consider me impressed Miss Ari.” She would say as she deactivated her Sharingan and settled her bokken onto her shoulder. “I told you I would teach you something good if you did so now didn’t I? Keep your sensory on me while I demonstrate this and explain another.” She would say before raising a hand and forming a Rasengan without forming a seal. “The first choice is Rasengan. It’s a technique that creates a swirling orb of chakra within your hand that when it is used to strike a target it can cause massive damage and blast the target back to the incredibly dense chakra spinning within. If one is coordinated enough they can form it with one hand. Otherwise, you’d need a clone to help you. It’s arguably the highest form of shape manipulation in the world.” She would say, letting the girl sense how densely packed the chakra was and how it spun and swirled within the palm of Akari’s hand.

Once she had given the girl a moment to analyze the technique via Sensory she would turn toward a convenient tree that was standing next to her because the author of this post needed a target. Said tree was large and had deeply ingrained roots. But no matter, because landscaper Akari was there and with a small bit of zeal would slam the Rasengan into said tree. The Rasengan would grind into the tree for a moment before uprooting the tree harshly, tearing it from the ground and flinging it a ways, the tree spinning like a propeller as it flew and landed with a resounding crash. “As you can sense it is quite effective.” She would say, pointedly ignoring saying the phrase ‘As you can see’ that the previously mentioned author of this post original wrote because ‘holy fuck how rude?’. “The next option is the Mass Shadow Clone Technique..” She would say before forming a one handed seal and creating a thousand clones. Yes, a thousand. Each only had the barest amount of chakra to function but she needed an example that allowed her to show the girl just how potent the technique was. “Essentially, it simply allows you to more finely control how much chakra each clone of the shadow clone technique gets. Down to the absolute minimum needed to give the clone form in the first place. Now this amount cost me about as much chakra as five A rank techniques, assuming I wasn’t particularly proficient with the element said technique was using.” She would explain, giving the girl a run down of just how chakra intensive, or efficient the technique was. “The trick is, you don’t get the chakra back when these dispel.” She would say, informing her of the added drawback. “So, which one would you like to learn?” She would ask, giving the girl the choice of techniques.

Akari was on the move, that much both Ari and her shadow clone could detect even as Akari built up chakra. At the very least Ari detected that the yet to be identified person held Katon chakra, Ari even felt that chakra. Even so Ari fought through the pain as they chased after Akari in a pincer maneuver. As they were indeed trying the maneuver to crowd around Akari to limit her mobility, and overall would be trying to overpower the stranger. Yet despite all of that, when Akari called the fight both Ari and her shadow clone came to a skidding halt. A bit too close for comfort in the scenario, but Ari stopped all the same. The strange part was that Ari had no way of knowing that Akari was using the Sharingan, but a common strategy to hurt the opponent is to take away their senses. If only Ari had a chili pepper bomb at hand, well she used to have them until the Meijing City sent those things goodbye.

Frankly Ari felt herself drained, and usually Ari was careful in how much chakra she was spending. To be fair, Ari was considered to have gone full tilt to overpower her opponent, and perhaps in a close quarters combat she probably would’ve won on that front. However, that fire technique of Akari’s certainly threw off Ari. Speaking of which, Ari still felt the burning sensations on her left shoulder and it was still hard to get her left arm to respond. Ari’s right hand began to glow in a lime green color before she placed it over the wound while Akari was explaining how the techniques worked. The shadow clone of Ari’s dispersed in smoke as Akari demonstrated how the Rasengan worked, and while Ari did not know exactly how it worked until Akari showed her. Ari still recognized the name.

Then Akari turned to perform a technique that bewildered Ari in sheer numbers. There were so many of them, and yet Ari couldn’t help but to become suspicious as to who she was. Either way, both of those techniques were certainly powerful, and each had their different usages. Rasengan had so much chakra condensed into a small ball, and while it was strong Ari had the power of earth that could reach further and do more. Perhaps she could make her own version of it, but she was only given a choice to pick one or the other. Mass Shadow Clone however, despite Akari’s demonstration it certainly held it’s charm. Both as an intimidation factor and for tactical uses. Ari’s mind ran the numbers down based on the rank that Akari revealed, and deduced that the amount of chakra that would cost a standard Clone Jutsu Ari could make 10 shadow clones of herself. Granted they wouldn’t be able to do much, but that could come in handy later on. Perhaps she could make a derivative of that one? With Doton mixed in, Ari probably could increase the durability of the shadow clones, but she hasn’t done that with a single Shadow Clone yet. But perhaps it would be better to look into it later?

”Rasengan and Mass Shadow Clone? You’re clearly at least jounin rank or higher, and I’m not saying that just because of those two techniques.” Ari spoke after she had a moment to weigh and consider her options. Granted Ari could simply just say what technique she’d like to learn, but she has a personality too. By this point the wound had closed up and Ari rolled her left shoulder to test it. Her body still ached, but it was fine

”My name is Ari Dokuma, Genin of Konohagakure. The Mass Shadow Clone would be fine with me miss…” Ari trailed off in queue for Akari to introduce herself as the small girl slightly tilted head. Either way, Ari would extend her hand in a friendly greeting albeit it was perhaps late, and little did Ari realize this would be the last time she’d interact with Akari.

After introductions are done, Ari fought through her fatigue and drained state to concentrate on the technique. Granted aside from the pressure points, Ari had never woven a single handseal when it came to Doton techniques. This time however, Ari had to form the clone seal during the entire process of training. The training consisted of multiple attempts to refine the chakra so fine that it was more difficult than it was for training the Sensing Technique. Granted Ari learned the Sensing Technique out of necessity, but even so Ari’s ability to control immense amounts of chakra came through. Ari eventually produced exactly ten shadow clones of herself that surrounded her like multiple meat shields.

She dismissed them almost as quick as they appeared before Ari felt her sense of balance tilting sideways. Ari stumbled back a bit to regain her balance as the adrenaline was beginning to wear off.

”Now would be the perfect time to have those ration pills… Note to self, buy another batch.” Ari jokingly spoke to herself, but it was a bland one. Frankly it would help a ton to fight off the fatigue that she was feeling, but Ari refused to drop to the ground because she still needed to walk back to the hospital.

”Thank you for teaching me this technique.” A formal gratitude was necessary since technically Akari didn’t have to do all of this.

[Learning Mass Shadow Clone 940/200]

Akari would watch as Ari healed herself as she demonstrated the techniques. So she was working to become a medical nin herself then was she? Perhaps Akari wouldn’t do so herself then. If her desire to stemmed from helping this girl to see then it might be best to let the girl use her own situation to push her to even greater heights than before. The kind of motivation she would have to progress in the arts of the healing would be unfathomable and if she succeeded then she might have the capability to become one of, if not the greatest medically gifted individuals in the village. It was a gamble, if she failed then the girls spirit might be broken. Konoha might lose an asset in that regard that it might sorely need in the future. Already she was learning to cope with the loss of her eyes on the battlefield.

If she succeeded, she would become so much more for the village. The question was, was Akari willing to let that gamble pan out? She herself could become a powerful medical shinobi, she had the chakra control, the raw intellect, and the drive. However the question of if Ari could do the same was still up in the air. As Akari demonstrated both techniques she would keep such thoughts in mind. Working to decide if she should or should not. Being a leader of any kind was a gamble in the end. You ran the odds of the people coming back safe and sound. You had to think in ‘acceptable loss ratios’ and had to weigh the pros and cons of if the gamble paid off or not. In this case, were the potential gains that could be obtained from Ari becoming a potentially prodigal medical shinobi worth the possible loss of a ninjutsu specialist that could utilize Earth Release without seals?

At Ari’s statement of Akari not being a Jounin the dark haired girl would chuckle. “Not exactly.” She would say simply. Technically the word ‘Jounin’ was in her title, but as ‘Jounin Commander’ it was a bit more than simply a ‘Jounin’. She was second in command within the village, for now. Although she was having distinct issues with standing by the decisions made by her successor. At times now she found herself sitting at home, staring into a fireplace as the flames danced. Contemplating the direction the village seemed to be going. At the end of it all, she found it difficult to accept. She had wanted the village to have peace, all of her decisions were based on that simple goal. Yet it had all been thrown into the fire and allowed to become kindling for the flames of war. When Ari introduced herself and trailed off with a space for Akari to introduce herself the girl would smile.

“I know who you are and you’re rank Ari. I have to know the shinobi I commanded in the not too distant past. Akari Uchiha, and it's a pleasure to meet you in person.” She would say, introducing herself as she took the girls hand to shake before continuing on. “Mass Shadow Clone it is then.” She would say before giving the girl the time to practice and when she had successfully performed the technique she would nod, more to herself than to Ari. “Good work, now, call it a day for the training and get back to the hospital. Do you need assistance?” She would ask, Ari seemed to be rather confident and prideful. So she wouldn’t force help on the girl if she didn’t want it. If she said yes however then one of Akari’s still active clones would step over to let her place an arm around the doppelganger's shoulder, guiding the arm up to help her. Akari wasn’t the strongest shinobi physically, she was fast and quick of mind. So while she wouldn’t be able to straight up carry the young girl she could at least help her to the hospital this way.

“You don’t have to thank me for this, just use it to better the village.” she would say, regardless of if the clone was assisting Ari to the hospital or not the sapphire eyed woman would speak again. “I must be going now Miss Dokuma, please rest and recover well. Good luck in your future endeavors.” She would say as a farewell before heading back to the nearby tree to retrieve her sheathed katana. As she moved she would disperse her clones, leaving on the one that was assisting Ari if the girl had acquiesced to her help offer. Then she would leave, heading home to think about things. As she left she considered previous thoughts again before finally coming to a conclusion. ‘Time to roll the dice.’ She would think as she traveled home, ensuring she did so slowly so she didn’t outrange the shadow clone before it could get Ari to the nearby hospital before it got her there and settled.

Potential Exit