Punches instead of pew-pews?

The trees surrounding the Konohagakure training ground strained against strong winds that came in from the south. Sera made it a habit to always keep an eye on the wind since it had such a direct impact on her archery. With a storm potentially coming in soon, she would avoid training her kyujutsu today, but instead focus on other skills. When she arrived in the center of the training grounds she made her way to a wooden target dummy; clearly worn and battered from dozens of students who trained against it.

Sera prided herself as being a skilled hunter and her specialties were all at a range. Although she would like all fights to remain there, she thought it would be wise to train in some hand-to-hand combat if possible.

The blonde kunoichi would extend her right leg and slowly trace a path from the ground to the side of the target dummy. She would repeat this action a couple more times, increasing her leg’s movement speed each time until her leg made contact like a quick whip.

Not bad, but that kind of hurt my shin…

-----------------

Technique Used/Learned:
Rising Side Kick: D Rank Taijutsu (187/100 word count)

Spoiler:

The member 'MindPretzel' has done the following action : Dice roll

---

'Bunny Arrival' :

One taijutsu technique down and a couple more to go! Sera gave her leg a little shake as the impact from hitting the dummy wore off. She gave her surroundings a quick glance to see if there was anyone nearby before proceeding.  It wasn’t that she was opposed to training with other people nearby, but it was a bit embarrassing to be seen struggling with baseline techniques. Sera took a moment to stretch her arms out and do a quick 1-2 combo into the air. She would aim for a blitz of speed and rushing strikes rather than precision this time.

Sera let fly a couple of jabs to the training dummy’s “torso” before ducking her body down and unleashing a flurry of punches at its “legs”. Without missing a beat, Sera would let a kick swing out to sweep the dummy’s “legs” before transitioning into a mini-uppercut. Without actual body parts, the attacks didn’t follow through in quite the right way, but the impact made the training feel a bit more real. Before moving on to the next technique she would unleash the same combo again in the air away from the dummy, allowing herself to experience the same moves but with the intended follow through.

---------------

Technique Used/Learned:
Spring Chant: D Rank Taijutsu (207/100 word count)

Spoiler:

After moving her body and attacking the training dummy for a while, Sera took a brief break to assess the state of her body. She wasn’t the most muscular shinobi in the world and her limbs were a bit sore from hitting the wooden target dummy. Without doing direct muscle training, was there a way that she could take less damage? As she tried to think back on training manuals that she read in school, one of the techniques came to mind. If she braced herself and hardened her body before an attack struck her, it should reduce the damage done. Since there was no one else around, she would need to strike herself to test it out.

Was that even possible? She would look incredibly foolish for sure, but it was better to train and learn now than take a harder hit in the future because she was too embarrassed. Sera flexed her abs and tried to harden the rest of the torso as she drove her fist into her own gut.

“Gah!” the wind forcibly exhaled as she took the self-delivered blow.

I think that was reduced in strength? It's hard to tell without hitting myself normally… But maybe that’s fine. Yeah, let’s just assume it worked for now.

----------------------

Technique Used/Learned:
Body of the Bear: D Rank Taijutsu (211/100 word count)

Spoiler:

Having literally knocked the wind out of herself prior, Sera sat down and gave herself a few minutes of recuperation before she continued training. The wind had begun to pick up in speed and her hair was beginning to get in her eyes.  Using a hairband from her pocket, she pulled her blonde locks into a ponytail and stood back up. She had set out to learn some hand-to-hand combat and semi-successfully did so. Instead of continuing to throw half-assed punches and kicks out, maybe it was time to try out some melee base ninjutsu instead.

Gathering chakra within herself, Sera began to channel it down into her hands and even further into her individual fingers.  She imagined herself becoming more like a hunter as her nails began to grow with chakra enhanced power and became claws. She ran over to the target dummy that had been taunting her all day and slashed down diagonally with her newly created blades.  Fresh grooves dug into the wood as she slashed into the dummy’s torso. Mimicking the flurry of attacks she had performed earlier, Sera unleashed a barrage of slashes with her sharpened nails onto the wooden figure.

Now that’s more like it! Why punch someone when I can claw their eyes out instead? Ooh.. maybe a bit too dark?

-------------------------

Techniques Used/Learned:
Claw Creation Technique: C Rank Ninjutsu (218/150 word count)

Spoiler:

Having felt the satisfaction and rush of unleashing her claw attack on the dummy, Sera deactivated the technique with a smile. If someone were to rush her and attack while she was unarmed, that would be her go-to technique. She looked up to the rustling trees and then down into the expanding forest that surrounded the training grounds.  Gaining her own claws made her crave the feeling of hunting, and although she had come here without the intention of training her archery, the ache was still present.  Maybe there was some in between that she could manage? She could still train a skill related to hunting without pulling out her bow and doing any actual archery.

Sera made her way calmly and naturally to the edge of the training ground and walked into the shade of a large tree.  She slowed her breathing and did her best to make it match with the pace of the swaying foliage around her. With a quick hand seal, Sera began channeling her chakra with the intent on becoming one with the tree’s shadow. The feeling in her body shifted and suddenly she wasn’t just hiding in the shadow, but was a part of it herself! Her body was able to glide throughout the shadow’s surface and when she finally emerged, her instinct was to shoot something with her bow!  Another great technique!  Sera thought back to all of those instances where she was hunting a deer for dinner and wished that she had access to this technique. The deer were in trouble now!

With a satisfied grin, Sera would stretch her aching body and leave to go home for the day. Training success!

[exit thread]

—---------------

Techniques Learned/Used:
Hiding in Shadows Technique: C rank Ninjutsu (260/150 Word Count)

Spoiler: