Return to the old Stomping Ground

Kudo wanted to see how long she could stretch out the meditation session, but she was quietly surprised at Kaito's taking to it. He was surely more receptive than she herself had been when forcing herself to practice and as she had been instructed by her parents when little. Perhaps that is why she loathed it so, it was a reminder to the soar relationship she still had with her parents. Shaking her head, Kudo called out to end the meditative break. “Alright, it’s time to get back to it. This time I have something new in mind.” Forming the clone seal a duplicate of her appeared before the academy student.

Reminded of the clone onslaught from earlier, Kaito looked in dismay. “Oh no, not another clone brawl…” Kudo raised her finger in correction, relying on the differences to be found in this bout. “No, no. We’re still going to be doing Doton training. But this time you’ll be dealing with them used against you. I can only hope your new perspective of rocks thrown at and not away from you can help you grasp the idea. That is, before a boulder catches you first.” Offering a wink at the last bit Kudo stepped back and crossed her arms ready to watch. “It’s only a clone, so there won’t be as much in the tank in terms of chakra reserves. But I think it’ll be enough.”

Kaito dodged a string of stone bullets fired from the clone's mouth, the opening move a simple but effective one. As Kaito landed he moved again with a jump backwards, flinging several kunai as he did so. The clone grinned and slammed their palms to the ground after several swift hand seals, bringing a defensive wall that deflected the projectiles. Sinking below the ground the clone snuck over to Kaito’s position and grabbed at his ankles, pulling him down and trapping him in the earth.

Arms folded, Kudo walked over to Kaito as he struggled in his trapped position. This was usually about the time that he would start yelling and calling her names, but this time he steadied his breathing and closed his eyes. There was a strange determination and Kudo wondered if it was finally clicking, though the truth was even more spectacular. Yellow sparks began to slowly accumulate around Kaito before an explosion of earth followed by the clap of thunder.

The boy had accessed an element, though it was Raiton that he apparently had a natural affinity with. Freeing himself from the cracked earth around him, Kaito looked to Kudo with a new light in his eyes. “Let’s go another round!”

Grinning nervously she nodded, forming the snake sign and coating herself in a potent layer of chakra. Even though he’d just awoken his ability she didn’t want to play around, she was confident he wouldn’t be able to pull a technique powerful enough to get through her armor even with its weakness to his new element. Yelling out Kaito ran at Kudo and formed a hand seal before bringing down a bolt of lightning on her position. Slipping down into the ground she narrowly avoided the attack, needing to rethink her strategy having never actually fought against someone with this element before.

Resurfacing just her head Kudo fired a series of stone bullets that caught him off guard, pelting him in the stomach and knocking the wind out of him. Hurriedly she moved out of the ground to check on him, just before she reached him he stood up grinning. “I finally did it! And now I have something to bring to the table that most don’t, I don’t care if it wasn’t earth release. This suits me better.” Kudo was glad that he seemed to have grasped the situation he was in the whole time and glad that he was one resilient enough to brush off those that might smirk at his lack of earth affinity.

After such an explosive and exciting end to their training Kudo decided it was worthy of a celebration, heading straight to her favorite okonomiyaki food stall with Kaito as a reward. It was no small thing to unlock access to an element, especially while still in the academy. The next day Kudo decided to just go and run some laps at the training ground, she wanted to keep things light for a while after such demanding sessions. That day there weren’t many shinobi practicing, apparently there was some big mission that a lot of the higher ups were out on that she wasn’t privy to.

With the big dogs gone a plethora of kids, not even from the academy, had taken over the grounds that day. An exacerbated teacher sat on the edge of the grounds, doubled over as they caught their breath before the gaggle of kids ran off in some other direction. The teacher sluggishly ran after them, Kudo couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle at the whole situation. She wondered what kids learned at such a young age outside of the shinobi academy, it had never really occurred to her as she hadn’t been friends with anyone outside of her own school.

It was a good while before Kudo saw Kaito at the training grounds, she figured with his new development that there would be some extracurriculars to do at the academy to safely train the dangerous element. When they did meet it was usually just a quick session as he had homework with exams coming up soon. She was glad that the boy had an affinity for lightning, it would serve him and his hotheadedness well as he would likely butt heads with many a comrade and now he could at least back it up.

It was another day of weight training for Kudo today though, it had gone so well last time that she figured it might be a nice semi-regular thing to bring out until she saw some real practice. And even after that I’ll have to keep it up to stay fit. The repetitiveness of the workouts were perfect for Kudo, they kept her mind from straying too far when less focused. Lunged across the yard were the first for the day, by the end of the second lap her thighs began to beg for a break that they were denied as she pushed herself to go on. After that was a series of jumping jacks and burpees that all about slayed her as she slowly crawled to a bench to rest on after completing her sets.

Kudo arrived at the training grounds for one of her and Kaito’s usual training sessions, excited to be trying out something she’d been severely lacking in putting attention to. It was kind of embarrassing but she still hadn’t gone out to the ninja tool shop and bought everything she needed, thankfully Kaito still has his supply from the academy so she borrowed a kunai of his for practice that day. What she would be attempting was to access the Futon element, something she hadn’t thought about since her academy days.

It was the awakening of Kaito’s own elemental affinity that brought this to mind, as she realized he had never seen her use this elemental counter to Raiton. She felt kind of bad for him, but figured it would be a good lesson in always expecting the unexpected. Holding the kunai up, Kudo focused on this unfamiliar element before releasing the technique, levitating the kunai from  her hands and zipping it around the field. Kaito looked on in amazement, it seems the lad didn’t put together that this was the Futon element. “Woah, how are you doing that?” Kudo would simply wink to him and give him a vague answer, knowing that it would become far more apparent as they sparred shortly after. “You’ll find out soon enough. Next, let’s see how far you’ve come along with your Raiton training.”

Trained: Wind Release: Verdant Mountain Gale (D-Rank)
231 / 100 WC

A smirk dashed across Kaito’s face before his hands began clumsily forming seals, something he desperately needed to practice on. Chuckling to herself silently Kudo prepared herself to react to whatever was thrown her way, it looked to be some simple Raiton technique that would prove a useful target to practice her Futon on. Not wanting to literally steal his thunder before it ever began she would wait until his technique was released and try to undo it as it neared close to her for practice, only then would she begin molding chakra to unleash her counter. A manifestation of Raiton energy collected in Kaito’s hand before he hurled the projectile at her. Whipping her arms into action she slashed in front of her multiple times with her hands as she built a collection of Futon chakra before releasing. The arc of compressed wind blasted through the lightning arrow and continued towards Kaito. Frantically diving the boy barely avoided contact with the potent attack, looking with confusion at Kudo. “Since when can you use Futon?!” Smiling slyly, Kudo tried her best to look innocent and just as confused, “I don’t know what you mean, I’ve always been able to? I must have not used it around you I guess.”

With that she would begin slashing her arms in front of herself just as she had before when using the wind jutsu and Kaito frantically began moving to try and avoid it. When nothing came out Kudo added a piece of advice before extending her hand and beckoning Kaito to make the next move as the boy realized there was no impending blast of wind. “Always expect the unexpected.”

Trained: Wind Release: Slash (C-Rank)
278 / 150 WC

This time Kaito centered himself as opposed to charging in with the fake out, he really had learned to control his temper better over the past few months. Unable to rely on goading him to make a mistake Kudo would have to step things up, it was fun having a sparring partner with the growth a talented youth brought. Grinning herself Kudo unleashed a sudden gust of wind from her mouth, kicking up dust from the earthen field before rushing in and throwing a flurry of punches and kicks. Taking well to the advice given Kaito adapted and focused on his hand to hand movements, taking only glancing blows and deflecting others. After landing a hit of his own with his leg he pushed off to put some distance between them both, forming hand seals in the air and unleashing a multitude of electrical arcs from growing Raiton spheres forming around his hands.

Recognizing the chakra required for such a technique Kudo formed an earthen wall, the arcs of chakra colliding with the wall as the two jutsu canceled each other out. From amongst the rubble of her ruined wall Kudo emerged, the two shinobi eyeing each other down after the standstill.

Trained: Wind Release: Passing Typhoon (D-Rank)
200 / 100 WC

After a few moments of heavy breathing Kaito broke the standstill, weaving seals and invoking the same jutsu as before with its many arcs and area of effect. With a single seal Kudo countered it with the summoning of far more powerful vortexes of wind, slicing through and dispersing the streaks of lightning before endangering Kaito with their approach. Jumping back he threw a strange looking kunai that Kudo only got a good look at right before exploding, hardly noticing the explosive tag attached as her own technique was countered by the ninja tool. It was some quick witted thinking and a tool she herself hadn’t expected the boy to even have access to. How the turn tables indeed. “That’s some quick thinking you did there. What say you to one more bout before calling it a day, eh?” Nodding in agreement the two prepared for their final go at each other in what had become a battle of wits.

Trained: Wind Release: Divine Wind (C-Rank)
160 / 150 WC

Before any jutsu were launched the two engaged in a scuffle of punches and kicks, the sparring session having gone on for as long as it had; they both made clumsy mistakes and received strikes that only furthered the exhaustion on both sides. Breaking away seals were woven and lightning summoned, the same lightning arrow as before. It hadn’t been terribly long since his awakening so it made sense that his arsenal was limited. Still, there was some fairly advanced form manipulation taking place with these techniques and she was proud of the progress he’d made. Releasing a pent up orb of chakra, a dense bullet of wind burst through the arrow and knocked into Kaito. Landing on the ground he shakily got up before giving a thumbs up. The two celebrated with a weak battle cry with their arms crossed before calling it a day, battered up but glad that her friend had made such progress.

Trained: Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet (C-Rank)
157 / 150 WC

After a successful trial with the intense spar Kudo had with Kaito, she decided to relax for a couple of weeks to recover and come up with some new training ideas with this new element she needed to practice with. There was a lot she needed to catch up on, but from her brief training session using techniques she barely looked it up she was a big fan of how many jutsu seemed to lack hand seals, almost all Doton jutsu seemed to be chock-full of them. When next hitting the training grounds Kudo once again found herself alone in the fields, though sadly the first jutsu she had planned required hand seals like a good old fashioned Doton technique. First forming a clone to assist her she formed the necessary four seals before clapping her hands together, feeling very at home as a primary Doton user. The gale of wind from the aptly named jutsu propelled the clone to great heights, from which they prepared to launch an assault of stone bullets for Kudo to train against.

Trained: Wind Release: Gale Palm (C-Rank)
178 / 150 WC

As the clone released the rock-blacking jutsu, Kudo began forming her hand seals, cursing herself for not starting them as soon as the clone was propelled into the air. The now five seals needed were barely formed in time to repel the rock with a torrential gust of wind that also blasted the clone and poofed it back into a cloud of smoke after cartwheeling around in the air several times. Had Kaito tried to make such a close call he would have failed, that was something she planned to drill into him from now on so that wouldn’t happen outside of training. Hand seals were a troublesome thing she was starting to learn with her becoming better acquainted with Futon, such as freeing an easy to pull out element. While she still fancied herself a Doton user for life she was starting to appreciate the difference in perspective this elemental change had brought to her, that alongside the encounter with Raiton in her duel with Kaito recently had her thinking of elements in a whole new light.

Trained: Wind Release: Great Breakthrough (C-Rank)
178 / 150 WC

Having borrowed a couple of kunai and shuriken from Kaito she promised to replace the exploding tag he had used in their spar to which he’d agreed, she was still curious how he was able to get one. Today’s jutsu worked in tandem with the shuriken Kudo had pulled out, quite excited to see it in action. First she formed a single series of earth walls to weave the shuriken around, hoping that it wouldn’t be too difficult as she’d been imagining it to be. After lining herself up with the series of stone walls Kudo closed her eyes as she molded the still unfamiliar element before channeling it through the ninja tool. Opening her eyes she threw it, still connected to the tool through the input chakra and was indeed able to arc it around the walls. It lost connection after ten meters and lodged itself into one of the walls, but she still saw it as a huge success!

Trained: Wind Release: Rotating Shuriken (C-Rank)
161 / 150 WC

This next one was another that required no hand seals, only a swipe of the user's arm to summon forth a dangerous arc of wind that apparently had some maneuverability to them that she was excited to test out. Using the same walls as before she was worried that they might be placed too close together for her needs, though in the worst case she would cleave through a few of the walls to try and bend around the others. Swiping her hand in front of her an arc of wind burst forth, the control felt a bit disorienting as she wrestled with it to turn before crashing through the first wall. She was able to get a handle on it right before crashing into the first wall, clipping it slightly as she swerved it out of the way to only crash straight through the second wall. Thankfully there were quite a few walls to practice with, which were whittled down to smaller and smaller numbers until the jutsu ran out and only a few were left standing. She wanted to ensure that there was anything left to play with as she wasn’t done quite yet for the day and wanted some target practice remaining.

Trained: Wind Release: Beast Tearing Palm (B-Rank)
205 / 200 WC

The last one she had planned for the day was something else, one that she was very glad to have the entire training field to herself to practice with. These futon jutsu were no joke, many of them were incredibly lethal. This was quite different from her varied experience with Doton, so many of its techniques were defensive or just plain supplementary rather than overtly offensive. Forming the three necessary seals Kudo launched a vortex of wind that blasted across the training grounds, striking a tree and leaving it badly cut up with bits of barks flinging off it all over the place. Trying again she managed to slightly alter the vortex’s path, not seeing just how versatile many of the futon jutsu could be. Doton is often unyielding and stubborn, which is just what you wanted with a more defensive oriented element. While Futon was more freeform and struck you like a bag of bricks when just right. Being able to pull jutsu like this with just three simple seals was incredibly useful, a trait amongst Futon jutsu Kudo had begun to fully appreciate if they required seals at all. The techniques that required zero hand signs confounded her, curious how this could be developed with other elements and the limits they might impose.

Trained: Wind Release: Divine Mountain Wind (B-Rank)
215 / 200 WC

The wind element training continued after a visit to the shinobi library, needing to brush up once more for her training. There were a wide array of Futon techniques, the first of today’s session was another with no hand signs required. It was becoming apparent the great use this element would provide while out on missions, not having to do much more than mould her chakra and release . Though this first technique did require some charging up, there were still things to think of when pressed on time. Gathering chakra around her throat she was glad it wasn’t the gross tasting earth she’d be spewing from her lips today. Releasing the chakra it continued to build into a potent swirling body before releasing, blasting across the training yard and into an earthen wall left from earlier in the day. It crashed through the defensive wall with surprising ease, it might require some set up but this jutsu was a handy one when dealing with such formidable defenses such that Doton afforded. It was peculiar how varying the written texts she’d found were on these various techniques, unsure where else to look for better resources outside other shinobi who happen to have the same elemental affinity.

Trained: Wind Release: Spiraling Wind Ball (B-Rank)
205 / 200 WC

Borrowing once more from Kaito she brandished the kunai straight from the academy to test this next one. Looking down it even had a tag with his name on it, clearly the belonging of a child that she wouldn’t want someone seeing her use. Hoping that the training grounds would continue to remain empty she channeled Futon chakra through the sharp tool, a manifestation forming an extension of the blade to a satisfactory amount. Forming the clone seal clumsily while holding the kunai and maintaining the chakra flow her duplicate formed holding the same kunai as it channeled the same technique before engaging in some light sparring. The extra reach the technique provided was quite interesting and something she would have to get used to, both she and the clone were able to land glancing strikes mostly on accident as they got used to the changed weapon. Finally Kudo landed a strike that poofed the clone away as it stared down at its pierced chest. After the finishing move Kudo continued with her momentum and flung the charged blade at a nearby stone wall left over from someone else’s practice, piercing through the molded rock with ease and continuing until it stabbed into the ground at a low angle.

Trained: Wind Release: Vacuum Blade (B-Rank)
209 / 200 WC

Now thrown back into the terrible land of hand signs Kudo lamented after being spoiled with the mountains of techniques Futon provided without requiring the archaic method. Forming the four seals required Kudo launched the technique at some remains of Doton training left over in the field, thankfully she had plenty to play with as it looks to have been quite the active day here earlier. The pockets of compressed air launched, quickly colliding with the bits of earth with eruptions of dust and stoney shrapnel pinging against the surviving stone structures. The destructive capabilities of this one made the necessity for hand seals almost an afterthought after seeing its use, quite glad to have picked this own off of the list gathered from the library. There was enough in the books to keep her occupied for a few days, but after that the gears in her mind had already begun to move in ways to make her own modifications to not just these Futon techniques but also her familiar Doton element. It also dawned on her the potential for augmenting her own speed, these techniques were plenty fast as they were potent. Her own speed could be used for improvements and Futon might help bridge that gap until her physical training started to see some results.

Trained: Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere (B-Rank)
217 / 200 WC

Having destroyed the most usable of the remaining Doton structures left from others on the training field Kudo decided to create her own target, forming the seals required to summon forth the large earthen dragon. As her target of choice lumbered in its awakening, Kudo prepared to launch a particularly powerful wind technique at it. Having it move a little further away she worried about the range of this explosion, the texts weren’t exactly specific but urged caution with the potency this technique held. Simply building up the Futon chakra in her chest she released the ball of dense energy at the stone dragon, whose tail moved in front of it defensively. The ball of wind collided with the tail and crumbled it to dust, expanding out to encompass the dragon entirely before blowing it to bits. Rubble landed all around the training grounds, providing even more material to play with in this last exercise. The destructive capability of the technique was a bit baffling, especially considering how little it drew on her reserves. After seeing what the low and intermediate Futon techniques had to offer she wondered with awe what some of the more complicated ones were capable of.

Trained: Wind Release: Pressure Damage (B-Rank)
200 / 200 WC

The last one on the docket was a scattershot of wind bullets that very much intrigued Kudo, most of her wind techniques were large areas of effect or single target. This way her arsenal would be all the more expanded, eagerly gathering the chakra needed before blasting away at the bits of remains from her dragon. A torrent of Futon bullets assailed the messy training grounds, rocks exploding with a small dust cloud forming with bits of rock occasionally pinging off one another or Kudo herself. As the dust settled she marveled at her work, glad to have left the yard looking just as used as it had looked earlier. The handful of remaining techniques would have to wait until the next day, while her body didn’t feel much stronger she knew her slowly building arsenal had made her a force to be reckoned with. It was due time for a little celebratory food stall excursion, heading straight to her favorite okonomiyaki stand before calling it a night. She decided to get some extra crispy pork belly added on top, it was time to live it up after such a grueling week of training. She deserved it gosh dilly dang darn it!

Trained: Wind Release: Air Bullets (B-Rank)
202 / 200 WC

With a little more pep in her step than usual Kudo hummed with excitement for the starting of today’s session, it was such an interesting sounding technique she couldn’t wait to get started unraveling. The texts for a good amount of these jutsu weren’t terribly well preserved or had the best of authors, not like the pristine Doton technique collection. It wasn’t a surprise, but with her recent surge in interest regarding the windy element Kudo had become frustrated at little roadblocks like these. Coating her fists in Futon chakra she formed a clone to spar with quickly thereafter, immediately going for a sucker punch to the face before it could get a good collection of its surroundings. Catching herself fully off guard the punch landed, sending the technique out in a spiraling whirlwind as the clocked clone spun through the air before hitting the ground hard and dissipating. Grinning with success she imagined using this in conjunction with Taijutsu and became quite interested in following up with that line. Once she learned to really grasp the more advanced applications of Taijutsu it would be something special indeed in combination with the defensive capability that Doton afforded. She just needed a bit more speed to make better use of these qualities.

Trained: Nadeshiko-Style Hardliner Gale Fist (B-Rank)
211 / 200 WC

This next one focused on more piercing offensive potential, as she formed the clone seal again she allowed the kage bunshin to arm itself with a defensive coating of chakra before engaging. Coating her own leg in Futon chakra she jumped into the air with a spinning motion with the aim to collide the built up energy with a gravity-assisted kick down at the clone with the added force of the technique. Leaping into the air the clone formed an earthen wall angled at forty-five degrees to defend against the attack. Continuing with the spinning motion Kudo brought the slashing might of her kick down upon the wall, cutting clean through it and delivering a kick to the clone. The clone brought up their arms against the strike and weathered it well, jumping back to keep their distance after the destructive display. Glad that her clone had survived she nodded to it in preparation for the next set. The clone grunted, while having survived the attack they were still pretty battered and for a clone holding on quite well. This doton coating made her clone far more resilient, she’d have to remember that when trying to come up with some custom maneuvers she’d been mulling over in her head.

Trained: Nadeshiko-Style Hardliner Revolving Cut (B-Rank)
209 / 200 WC

Weaving her arms around Kudo summoned forth a swirling gale of Futon chakra that moved towards her clone, seeking to envelope them and cut them down with its destructive blades of wind. Running further away the clone was able to evade the cyclone as it continued its pursuit. Forming an earthen wall of her own the original owned to cut off the clone, before they were able to create an escape they were swallowed up by the gale that began its relentless assault. Round and round it spun with its slicing edge, cutting away at the doton armor until it couldn’t hold up any longer as the clone was slashed into smokey oblivion. Releasing the technique she once again stood in awe at the destructive capability that Futon harnessed, glad to have it as an asset on her side. Having seen first hand how well the Rain element countered her familiar element of Doton she was glad to have this reliable backup to preserve her earthen creations and true focus. These wind attacks could be as maneuverable as they could be potent, an aspect she wanted to play with more being more use to the rigid constraints that Doton often brought with it.

Trained: Sickle Weasel Technique (B-Rank)
203 / 200 WC

Glad to finally have a technique that wasn’t purely offensive focused, the next one was a very interesting technique that she imagined would pair nicely with her Doton oriented style. Releasing the technique the layer of dust and sand on the training field’s ground became infused with Kudo’s chakra, filtering through the air and then with an almost adhesive element began to clump to whatever surface the sandy dust particles came into contact with. The trees and surrounding earthen structure left behind in the training field were coated in this chakra infused sand that was supposedly made slippery. Cautious walking about, she noticed how the ground almost seemed to slip beneath her feet with each new step, trying to jump up to an earthen wall proved an embarrassing attempt as she fell down. The grip on the wall slipped and she crashed down, laughing to herself as she released the technique. This is going to be a fun one. Releasing the technique the various particles lost their connection and a slight settling on the field could be felt, it was quite a strange sight to see. It could be of some great use after creating the perfect battlefield with her Doton techniques.

Trained: Dust Wind Technique (B-Rank)
202 / 200 WC

Having trained all she had access to in the library Kudo hit the training grounds with all the accumulation of knowledge she had with the intent to practice and try to come up with something of her own. Not that day, but the early preparation for the journey it would take to accomplish something like that. Getting there early, Kudo was surprised to see a couple of other shinobi there at the training grounds, mostly practicing Taijutsu and not taking up too much room. Altering her plan Kudo too went for a more physical workout, forming a clone and practicing some hand to hand moves with them. She didn’t want to tear up the field with big Futon techs and wanted to be conscious of the shared space. Seeing what Kudo was doing the other members decided to join in and also formed clones, continuing their exercises but doubled up. After a little while one of the clones approached her and asked if she wanted to join them, having the clones duke it out while we watched and learned. Agreeing she had her clone move towards theres, planning to stick to mostly Taijutsu but throwing in some sneaky Futon techniques that she had trained earlier that complimented the style well.

The clones began, one of them focusing on Doton jutsu while the other continued its Taijutsu focus. Engaging with the physical oriented one they dodged rocks and jumped across newly erected walls as the battlefield evolved. After the Taijutsu target lost their footing on a crumbling stone wall Kudo’s clone moved in with a divisive kick fueled with Futon chakra. Slashing through the clone and wall in one move Kudo urged her clone to speed towards the Doton clone with some low level Taijutsu. Blitzing to the ninjutsu focused on Kudo’s clone delivered a series of jabs and kicks that put them out of commission. Happy with her success she talked with the others on their different strategies and agreed to meet back up the next week for some more training.