Ghost step Training ( Private )

Jutsu being trained:

Spoiler:

Sanji stood before the training ground and examined his surroundings, the loose dirt of the well-used space was indeed perfect for his purposes, but he had to do something about the footprints littering the area so he'd be able to tell what he was actually accomplishing with this technique he came up with. Sanji soon approached a large tree and picked an innocuous branch hanging low in the tree with enough leaves to act as a broom, then formed his hand into a knife-edge posture and brought it down powerfully, cleaving through the wood with ease and separating the branch cleanly from the tree. Once in hand he took the branch, dragging and waving it across the ground behind him as he walked the path, setting the dirt into a state where no markings were able to be seen that were there previously, including his own footsteps.

Once that was done he tossed the branch away and let out a sigh, pressing his large palms together in front of his broad chest as he began kneading chakra just to warm up a bit. At last when he was ready he would form seals - Rat, Serpent, Hare - his hands forming each one with pinpoint precision and grace to affect the way he kneaded his chakra just such that the intended result would come. When the technique activated he felt himself rise up only slightly, and to onlookers he would seem to be hovering just above the ground, but as he walked forward a step or two, it felt like he was just walking on the normal surface of the ground. The chakra imitated every feature of the ground below him to provide him with a place to tread without upsetting the actual surface just below his feet. Sanji only got about 5 steps deep before he lost control of the technique and landed on the ground. Stroking his chin, he figured his body just wasn't used to sustaining a technique like that yet. Sure it's primarily mental control but given the method of hand seals it basically indicates that it's not just what your mind directs your chakra to do, it's the muscle memory that your body has to attain so even if one is engaged in fierce combat while using the technique they will be able to sustain it without much thought on it, because their body is directing the chakra in such a way that it doesn't matter how the user of the technique moves, it will continue to work.

After taking up the branch and again clearing away his footprints, Sanji stood ready to try again. And again his hands formed the required seals as indicated by the technique he himself had come up with - Rat, Serpent, Hare - again his hands precisely and quickly cycled through seals while he kneaded his chakra just so that it would produce the same effect again. He felt himself rise up that slight amount and began to walk forward, focusing hard on controlling his chakra and trying to teach himself to use it intuitively for this particular technique. This time he went about 10 steps before he failed at the technique, better but still not what he wanted. The next couple of hours were a series of trial and error, leaves eventually began to wear off the branch he used to erase his own footprints after the technique would release on him at random. He felt a bit drained so he sat down to rest, drink some water, and recuperate a bit of his chakra while he thought about what he had learned. So far he was doing the technique more like water walking with a slight change, but that wasn't working. He needed something that would guarantee his feet a place to rest on each step, though this meant sacrificing some distance, he figured he could just reactivate the technique after so much range had been eaten up.

When he felt up to it again, he initiated the same seals - Rat, Serpent, Hare - and this time directed his chakra not directly under his feet with that being the only place where it would be concentrated, but to create for himself a proverbial carpet of chakra that would allow him to run silently and tracelessly for a prescribed distance. Sanji immediately noticed a difference as he began trotting over the range he had created for himself. This was like night and day, having jogged almost 20 feet before the technique released. It was an astronomical leap forward considering he was having trouble taking more than 5 steps before. Again Sanji grabbed the branch and erased his footprints before standing in a space that essentially broke down to having a lot of open area before him, and he went out on a limb as he again formed the seals, attempting to project his energy not 20 feet, but 20 meters. Focusing on sustaining the technique, Sanji again began to run over the space he created for himself, amazed at how save for his breathing he couldn't even hear himself. And not a single footprint marred the soil in his wake. Furthermore, his body was used to emitting chakra in such a way that it freed his mind for other things, that muscle memory coming into play. It was nice that he now had a solid technique he could use for a variety of missions, seeing as it is often preferred that a ninja shouldn't leave any trace of their infiltration or exfiltration of a compound they were meant to get into to complete their mission.

He looked at the pristine, footprint free soil in front of him, and smiled lightly. He felt like he accomplished something remarkable today, seeing as he was more of a guy who used brute force to achieve his missions, this was an entirely new level of finesse for him. With that, he simply strided toward the path that ran out to all the training grounds, and started back toward the village, planning a nice dinner for himself in celebration.

[ Jutsu training Word count: 1011/1000 ]

Approved