Ari's Training Tantrum [P, Ongoing]

Kurisu left Konoha in order to seek out Kagusa, leaving Ari to fend for herself until he got back. As the day continued she wondered what they were up to, filled with determination to become stronger still. Only a few hours after Ari saw Kurisu for the first time in more than a year, she launched off the couch. An audibly loud thud struck her wooden floorboards, reverberating throughout the room that stood several stories up, as part of an apartment complex. The neighbors would have complained if it weren't already late, 10 AM to be precise. Normally she wasn't at home around this time; however, since she had to wait for Kurisu, Ari decided to exercise starting with 100 push-ups.
 
Once the morning rituals she missed earlier were completed, Ari left her apartment and began making her way to the training grounds without issue. Arriving a few minutes later and finding a spot she would go unperturbed for the plans she had. Ari had organized for an A-Rank Scroll to be lent to her; the first she would learn on her way up the ranks. These Jutsu were typically extremely difficult to learn by anyone let alone a Genin. Accepting this challenge and moving forward was the only thing on Ari's mind. If she couldn't learn these techniques and catch up with her family, she wasn't sure what to do.
 
First as was customary for training she sipped some water, maintaining hydration was extremely important to prevent fainting. Instead of learning the Evening Elephant first Ari decided to learn something simpler. A slap, intended for punishment, but still powerful in its own right. She grabbed a wooden dummy, comprised of the finest hardwood Konoha could offer. It had a fair amount of dents already and would leave these grounds with a few more. Taking her right hand, Ari slapped the dummy. This was one of the simplest movements she could ever learn, the dummy didn't appear to appreciate it, making an audible creak upon impact.
 
Ari was surprised by the impact but didn't feel it was quite right. Taking her left hand and repeating the process once more, she began slapping the dummy, left to right. Soon after these actions became exhausting and she sat down, catching her breath with another sip of water. Ari leaned her neck to the right and cracked it, before repeating the process on her left side. After a few moments she stood up and began slapping the dummy again, forcing it to sway left and right, almost uprooting it from the ground where she planted it. While the form wasn't perfect, Ari was certainly getting closer to perfecting this simple technique.
 
Raising her right hand one last time, Ari positioned her legs in a shoulder wide stance; with all her strength and speed, she swayed her body from right to left while flicking her aforementioned hand to the left. Collision with the dummy caused the "neck" to develop a tiny crack directly beneath its head, finally signalling progress. Ari quickly moved on from this accomplishment with no celebration. She had a few more techniques to learn for the day, and less time to learn them during Kurisu's absence. She knew he might be able to offer some assistance, but didn't want to bother him when he got back with such trivial things.
 
Ari began by focusing her Chakra into the element of Earth, the primary element for her clan. It would take some time for Ari to focus, as she didn't bolster an incredible amount of control over her Chakra. She definitely intended to improve after perfecting her physical abilities. Ari wasn't sure whether or not she'd stick to these goals, since anything could happen and probably would. For the moment however, she had to focus everything she had into learning. Taking her left hand, Ari performed the required seal for this technique, known as the Rock Section Cane. She found it odd that only one hand was required, performing a single seal.
 
However this was normal, it was only an E-Rank technique after all. There was no reason to fuss over whether or not this technique would be useful in future, as every little bit of experience helped anyway, and most things could be used in the right circumstances. Ari already imagined if something like a summon were attempting to bite her, a cane like this would come in very handy to prop its mouth open. Reaching down with her Chakra focused, Ari grabbed a simple chunk of rock; molding her Chakra throughout it while envisioning a cane. The rock slowly changed its shape, stretching out to the sides in her hand. The sensation of her Chakra moving through it briefly caused Ari to lose focus, immediately breaking the technique.
 
Looking at her flawed work, she sighed in annoyance and sat down. Sipping her water once more, Ari went over the process in her head a few more times, before standing up again. Taking the same chunk of rock since it didn't really matter what she used, Ari repeated the process. She performed the handseal, focused her Chakra into the rock, envisioned a cane and maintained her focus on it. The rock grew in size before stretching again, growing from what seemed like a small rock into a long cane. Ari noted immediately that it felt slightly heavier, while the cane stood one inch taller than her.
 
To think something as long and strong as this came from a tiny rock chunk, she wasn't aware such things could happen. A test had to be performed, naturally, and she took the cane to the dummy. Performing some basic physical moves, swinging the cane like a Bo staff. Such things were usually used during basic Karate training, so she was familiar with the feeling. Ari jabbed at the dummy's chest, head and arms. Using pinpoint accuracy she targeted areas that would disable a normal human being, the inside of the elbows, the ribs and sternum, and lastly, the face. Speeding her movements up and pushing harder on them, the dummy's material was clearly becoming fatigued.
 
With a few more creaks, the cane suddenly snapped. Ari's strength was too much for the cane in its current state to keep up with, meaning she'd have to monitor how harder she struck with it in future. She sat down once more catching her breath with a sip of water. Next on the agenda she planned to learn the Rock Pillar Spears. A technique that would come in very handy against the right opponent; however, incredibly circumstantial. This technique would prove much more difficult to learn than the previous ones, probably twice the time as well. Focusing her Earth Chakra and meditating during her thoughts, Ari attempted to envision herself performing the handsign required.
 
Only one meant the focus of Chakra had to be perfectly on point, with no chance to balance everything out during the sequence. Ari was not used to performing the Bird handsign, as most other techniques didn't use it. She was surprised to learn this technique had anything to do with it. Due to these questioning thoughts, Ari lost focus immediately and her Chakra's flow became disturbed. With a sigh of utter annoyance, she began the process again, having already sat there in meditation for an hour. Realizing shortly after that a drink was in order. Ari's Chakra flowed in a similar fashion to a mud waterfall, sloppy and irregular.
 
The thought made her chuckle for some reason, but with her focus on the technique, only her subconscious knew why. Feeling her Earth element beginning to build, Ari performed the handsign again. She had to envision what she wanted to happen, the technique was fairly unclear on its appearance, so she started with imagining simple blunt earth barbs shooting out from the ground a few meters away. Before continuing she carefully maintained her focus and opened both eyes, checking nobody was nearby that might get hurt before closing her eyes once more. It was easier to focus on her Chakra with no disturbances; loud noises and visual stigma were both distracting for her.
 
Ari pictured the earth twisting nearby, turning soil into a solid matter with a metal consistency. It wasn't going to be possible for her to perfect this technique in one try, she could tell that from the offset. Allowing her Chakra to flow freely from both hands, Ari touched the soil beneath her. Not attempting the Jutsu yet, she merely attempted to get a feel for the consistency of the ground she sat on. She hadn't spent a lot of time on these activities, focusing on her body's physical ability before all else. As such she wasn't sure whether training this Jutsu was the best idea, but decided to push forward anyway.
 
Ari attempted to manipulate the Earth beside her into spirals by building it up with her hands. She imagined that by using Chakra with her hands and manually creating spirals she would get a better idea for the desired result of this technique. Molding a spiral took time, an hour to be exact. She wasn't great with Chakra and was attempting something she'd never done before with the Earth element, but the payoff was fair. After patting down the soil and building it up, similar to how one creates a sand castle, Ari spun her hands around it. She had to sharpen the earth into a spike, or a blade. That was after all the end result of this technique, making blunt spirals wouldn't be as useful during combat.
 
Ari's Chakra steadily flowed through her hands and into the soil as she molded it into a solid earth spike. Once she was pleased with her work she sat back, sipping more water and staring at it in detail. The motivation to control her Chakra was greater than the desire to perform this single technique, so she took her time. Admiring the way she'd turned the soil into a solid spike, Ari was finally impressed by herself. It wasn't difficult to work on things like this for most people, perhaps because they'd focused on it from the beginning. She wasn't a Ninjutsu specialist by any means, she in fact had barely any experience with techniques that weren't related to Taijutsu.
 
Ari chuckled about her efforts momentarily before going back into a meditative state to focus her Earth Chakra. Feeling the element coursing through her body, she had to succeed at this technique to move on. Feeling physically and mentally exhausted by this point, she knew it would take longer than originally anticipated. The only thing she didn't know was whether it would take all day and night, or if she'd make a sudden breakthrough. Picturing the earth moving was one thing, but pulling it off was an entirely different ballgame. On that note, Ari wasn't a fan of sports and preferred competitive martial arts.
 
At that moment she came to a realization. Earth was like an extension of her body, it could be manipulated with her Chakra, it just had to be treated like a weapon. Resetting her thought process, Ari pictured the soil as a weapon, an extension of her arm to be precise. Manipulating her Chakra to move through it in order to make the spike she'd recently made move, it was a small step forward. Ari attempted to focus her Chakra through the spike from ten meters away, hardening it and changing its shape. She carefully manipulated the spike's composition until it formed a blade. Afterwards, Ari manipulated the edges of the earthen blade until they were razor sharp.
 
This was the form she desired to achieve with several spikes at a time, up to twenty meters away. Ari imagined this feat was on a similar scale to defeating Kurisu's clone, something she could only hope to achieve with every ounce of focus on the task at hand. To this end, she decided to have a break and opened her lunchbox. Inside was a sandwich filled with only the healthiest options, including lettuce, beetroot, olives, onion and salami. Relying on this sandwich to get her through the rest of her training, Ari enjoyed its consumption for every moment it lasted. Almost too soon, the last bite came and she had to continue.
 
Focusing all of her Chakra into the ground, she pictured spikes appearing five meters away and attempted to execute what she envisioned. Performing the Bird handseal, naturally one handed as the technique demanded. Ari's Chakra was somewhat on point, causing several footlong spikes to shoot out from the ground, but this length was unacceptable. She moved her focused to a new location and repeated the process, running Chakra through her legs and into the ground, moving to another location five meters away to create several spikes. Shooting out with more precision to the location, but still too short, Ari collapsed on her backside.
 
She hadn't realized how much Chakra was being used every time a failed execution occurred; more than a successful one would use at any rate. Without the ability to focus her Chakra as precisely as it needed to be Ari decided to sit and meditate until she was physically capable of continuing. To this end, three hours passed. Her body wasn't used to this activity and needed a lot of time to recuperate, which she assumed was more than most people required. Standing suddenly, a rush of blood went to Ari's head that almost forced her back down. She became briefly dizzy and punched herself in the head for doing something stupid.
 
Immediately after punishing herself, Ari focused on a new spot five meters away. Performing the designated handsign and sending Chakra to it; the soil twisted in several places and shot out in the form of three feet long spikes. A notable improvement over her first semi-successful attempt that resulted in one foot long spikes. Time was going to run out sooner or later however, then Kurisu would return and she'd be around the same strength as when he left. This was the most undesirable outcome for Ari, who wanted nothing more but to catch up to her family at the moment.
 
Attempting to realize this goal, which may as well have been called her ambition at the time, was everything. Striving toward this, Ari didn't stop for a breather and sent her Chakra into the same location. She decided that performing this technique on the same spot until all the spikes reached a desirable length was the best method for now. As expected, the spikes grew in length by another three feet. This length of six feet appeared a lot more useful than spikes that measured up to three feet. Approaching the spot, Ari touched one of the spikes and realized they weren't hard enough, crumbling to the touch.
 
She had to work on her ability to harden them at the same time and decided to put all effort towards this goal, sending Chakra to a new location and forming spikes in the usual routine, until eventually they reached the desired length in one shot. Ari spent several hours reaching this stage as she continued to take breaks to recuperate her Chakra. It wouldn't be long until she became used to performing this technique from here, gradually forming harder spikes at further lengths. Ari's ability to control the Earth improved every time she attempted the technique and she was once more impressed by herself.
 
However, she had not yet reached the stage she needed to be at. Only ranging at ten meters distance from the area they formed, she had to push this by another ten meters. Superior Chakra control would be required to pull this off, her ability to manipulate Chakra was only just on par with the performance of C-Rank techniques after all. This seemed to be improving, but far too slowly for her liking. Once more striking the handsign and focusing all her effort into sending Chakra to a location twenty meters away, it barely reached the point she wished it to and didn't result in any movement.
 
However, it had reached the desired location; she would work on this same spot until movement occurred. Sending Chakra through the same zone time and time again until the Earth twisted and spikes shot out from it, they wouldn't be long at first, but they would gradually build up over the course of eight more attempts. Ari had spent twelve hours at this point, merely attempting to succeed at using this technique. She feared what using higher ranked techniques would mean, but decided the effort was worth it as she felt herself growing more accustomed to using the Earth.
 
Maybe it was just the fact this was her first technique that manipulated earth at a range. Ari wished this to be the case and continued working hard at it without thinking about the concepts passing through her head, especially those involving time constraints. Being under pressure before Kurisu would return was the most challenging part of accomplishing a successful result with these techniques. Subconsciously this forced Ari to train harder and use everything she had in the pursuit of success, although she was unaware of such things due to the amount of exhaustion she felt. Sweating profusely, she pushed herself to the limit on one last try.
 
Ari's body fell over as she briefly fainted, although the technique succeeded, she was not capable of seeing it yet. Gasping for air and on her last dregs of energy, she peered over to the location of her last attempt. Seeing only blades protruding from the ground in exactly the way she envisioned, Ari smiled and dropped her head back onto the soil once more, resting for the challenges to come. She still had a lot of work to do, but not enough Chakra to get it done, and she was too exhausted to sit up. The soil beneath Ari felt more comforting now as she'd learned to control it, not perfectly, but better than before.
 
She wondered by using the technique to create a cane wasn't as difficult to pull off, but realized this was a stupid thought, since the cane was only an E-Rank technique compared to this C-Rank one. Ari finally realized the difference between ranks of Ninjutsu techniques and the strain they put on one's body.
 
Falling into unconsciousness provided Ari with the best rest she'd had in years, her body had been pushed beyond its abilities leading to an extremely deep sleep. Even though it felt amazing, she woke up only a few hours later. A giddy feeling of happiness was the result of her natural adrenaline as she cleared her head. Still foggy, Ari felt like waking up to practice a Taijutsu. Leaf Strong Wind, a well-known technique in Konoha, was next on her agenda. This technique required an excellent physical form, stressing her abilities to their absolute limit. She would require the dummy in order to practice it, but was unsure whether or not it could survive.
 
Judging by the marks on it, the dummy had already been through a lot; it could probably handle her for a few more hours Ari thought. Taking the stance she'd been taught learning Karate, it was very important to perform maneuvers as slowly as possible to practice balance. Ari would begin this simply enough, without leaping forwards in her movement which would fully realize the technique. Using her left foot as a pivoting point, she slowly raised her right leg into a retracted position with the utmost caution. Maintaining her balance by precisely moving her body to the exact requirements, Ari raised her retracted leg outwards to her right.
 
She'd almost lose her balance, taking the motion as slowly as she could which required one minute of intense concentration. This was currently impossible to do without slightly leaning to her left, something Ari would be required to rectify if she intended to properly use this technique. As such, she carefully and slowly returned to the starting position by reversing the steps she'd already taken. After placing the raised foot back down and touching solid earth once more, Ari spread both legs out to the sides and began shifting her weight from side to side. These motions were as slow as they could be, to improve the stretching process, similar to the way one stretches their back to loosen their spine.
 
It was going to take a long time using this method; however, she felt like trying to do things in a genuine fashion before cheating. Ari continued these exercises until she was doing the splits, a feat she was capable of but hadn't practiced enough to do right off the bat. In this position she could begin working on stretching the right muscles and tendons for the technique. Edging her feet slowly backwards, leading Ari's knees to begin bending. Performing the splits with retracted legs was the key to this technique, she figured. A lot of physical strength would also be required in order to pull it off. Having exhausted herself the day before, Ari's body was in a fair amount of pain from straining her muscles.
 
With this being the case she didn't feel one hundred percent, but the determination she felt earlier still lingered. Once an hour had passed slowly attempting to bend her knees she decided it was time to cheat. Using the bloodline she'd been blessed with, Ari manipulated her cells in just the right fashion to stretch her legs. This wasn't a permanent fix, but it would allow her to begin practicing the technique sooner and resolve the situation of not being dexterous enough later. Taking this opportunity, Ari ensured the rest of her body was also capable of moving throughout the technique. Turning at the waist and rotating the leg outwards 180 degrees from front to back were both accounted for.
 
At this point Ari stood up, taking a sip of water from the bottle that remained beside her. This was about to get difficult and she knew it, so she took one last opportunity to catch a breather. Kurisu should have been back sooner but she didn't question it, after all, he was a mysterious guy. Turning up out of the blue? What a strange thing to do, but also extremely fortunate. Ari was feeling down before Kurisu's arrival, unsure of where her future was headed. The cats at home still didn't know him and they wouldn't leave her alone after she got home. They claimed the new clothes she bought that day by clawing at Kurisu's scent.
 
Realizing she got caught away, Ari shook her head and attempted to remember what stage she was up to. Chuckling to herself, she raised her right leg once more; the intention was to spend five minutes in this position to ensure balance was perfect. After two minutes Ari realized she was losing her balance, immediately she slowly lowered her leg and fell forward. Landing on both hands she quickly pumped out one hundred push-ups. Ari would resolve herself to this punishment every time she lost balance, thus improving her strength for the trials yet to come. Approaching the end of her push-ups, she pressed off the ground on the hundredth hard enough erect her body.
 
Without waiting, Ari slowly moved her right leg back into position, retracting it fully. This process continued for thirty minutes before she perfected her balance and maintained the position for five minutes. Not the end, however, as Ari still had to work on the next step. Without stopping for a rest from her successful attempt to balance, she cautiously and slowly raised her right leg outwards. No longer leaning to the left due to her improved dexterity in the hip, Ari maintained her balance by raising her left hand outwards slightly. The current position also required five minutes of balance before moving on was a possibility.
 
Naturally, Ari broke once more after a few minutes this time since her balance had improved somewhat. Even though her balance wasn't completely overthrown, she slowly returned her leg to the soil by reversing the steps taken to reach her current position. From there she spread both feet to shoulder width, moving both hands behind her head. Ari would then challenge herself to complete one hundred squats, the new trial she had to overcome after every failure in order to improve her leg strength. This technique was once again not the major concern that caused this action to take place, but the technique she had in mind ahead.
 
Squatting was difficult after balancing on one leg for so long, so she decided to alternate between legs in order to perform the technique with either one. This thought should have occurred to Ari sooner, but she was so excited to reach the point where it could be practiced normally she overlooked the fact. Sweat dripped from almost every part of her body that was possible, quickly dehydrating her. Ari had to stop momentarily in order to sip her water; only to find out it was just about empty before she could. A minor issue really, she jogged to the water springs in order to fill it up.
 
During the job, some fatigue set in and her body's state finally caught up with her mind. Realizing she was feeling a bit restful Ari relaxed by the water springs, facing up at the sky while going over the Leaf Strong Wind technique in her head. It was easy to picture herself performing it and was entirely possible to rush the process, but this would only be detrimental to her in the future. The decision to take things slowly and fully realize this technique as slowly as possible, before executing it at the fastest possible outcome she could achieve; this was the only thing holding her back.
 
Clouds passed overhead, almost forming the shapes of the technique, in Ari's eyes. It was strange how clouds seemed to take on a shape similar to what you were thinking about at the time, a mystery really, but this helped her focus on the main goal. She had to move like a cloud, where balance and movement were effortless. Ari decided to perform one hundred sit-ups before rolling forwards onto her feet and jogging back to the training spot she'd been using. Upon arrival she realized the dummy was still where she left it, having forgotten to move it back into storage.
 
This wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, as it saved her some time running back and forth. Ari checked the time and realized she'd passed an hour lying down meaning there wasn't any more time to muck about. Immediately setting herself on the path forwards, standing on her left leg and raising the right for five minutes, then raising it outwards for another five; she effortlessly pulled this off with the determination she'd received watching clouds. A smile resulted from this achievement as she moved further along, the third move in this sequence required her to release the leg's retraction.
 
Ari stood perfectly balanced and carefully moved her foot outwards until her leg fully extended outward from her body. This was the most awkward position so far, only allowing her to last thirty seconds before wobbling a bit on her left leg. Instead of getting frustrated, Ari repeated the previous process of reversing the steps taken so far. After doing so she laid on her back and began a new set of exercises. This time it was bicycle crunches, with both hands behind her head and both legs retracted above her abdomen, Ari shifted her right elbow down towards the left knee as it retracted further.
 
Ari stood perfectly balanced and carefully moved her foot outwards until her leg fully extended outward from her body. This was the most awkward position so far, only allowing her to last thirty seconds before wobbling a bit on her left leg. Instead of getting frustrated, Ari repeated the previous process of reversing the steps taken so far. After doing so she laid on her back and began a new set of exercises. This time it was bicycle crunches, with both hands behind her head and both legs retracted above her abdomen, Ari shifted her right elbow down towards the left knee as it retracted further.
 
This action not only improved general strength, but it improved one's ability to stretch from left to right throughout the body. After only fifty reps she found herself becoming burned out, although she couldn't muster the courage to stop. Ari resolved to push herself even if she reached the point of injury. As such, she finished the one hundred bicycle crunches and stood up, this time with some effort due to fatigue. Forgetting where the steps had been left off momentarily, Ari stood still for a while attempting to recall. It was strange to forget things merely due to exhaustion, but it was something that happened to many people when they reached their limit.
 
Realizing one could not overcome certain obstacles and every challenge before them was important. Ari knew this, the clone had beaten her in the training with Kurisu even though she caught it. Had it wanted to kill her, she would be dead. Thankfully that training was with someone she trusted absolutely, so she wasn't required to hold anything back in catching it. In most circumstances this would not be the case, careful observation of one's opponent was extremely important. This thought somehow triggered Ari's memory and she began the process of balancing once more.
 
As this continued she became more adept at balancing on each leg, requiring less focus and attention in order to maintain the early stages as she went on. Ari didn't realize this until later when she would reflect on the training but she realized things were improving. Thinking about how her son would arrive in Konoha soon was even more encouraging, she still wondered just how strong he'd become since she saw him as a baby. These thoughts were the most important to Ari who valued family more than anything. They were her determination and all the encouragement she needed to keep moving forward.
 
Most people were incapable of finding someone else to place this reliance in, but she had. Even though she hadn't seen Kurisu for such a long time, he'd come back, he was bringing their son back. Only a matter of time stood between Ari and them, plus the life they could have. She realized at this point that five minutes of perfect balance with her right leg outstretched had passed. Moving on to the final step of the slow training, Ari cautiously moved her right leg back in a horizontal fashion and leaned her body forward slightly for balance. This lean was required and no amount of stretching could relieve her of it.
 
Gritting her teeth, Ari realized this technique was going to be extremely powerful once she could perform it. The act of putting one's muscle from their entire body into a backwards kick, it was a very similar concept to the horse's kick. These were devastating blows that could take down the strongest opponent. Built upon an already strong body and mind, they would be almost unstoppable. Even though she'd come a long way since beginning, Ari began wobbling at her pivoting foot once more. Reversing the process that brought her here had become the most simple part, meaning she could hold back from fully realizing this technique in future if she had to.
 
The final punishment set by Ari for herself was the previous three combined, starting with push-ups and working her way to bicycle crunches. This method had greatly improved her physical strength as she was able to complete all three together, but not without some fatigue. Stretching afterwards to catch her breath and relieve tension in the muscles before balancing, Ari prepared to nail this in one more go. The process of retracting her leg upwards, raising it outwards to the right, extending her leg and then moving it backwards in a rotating fashion. This position was required to be held for five minutes before she could finish.
 
Without a lot of things on her mind Ari felt tenser than ever before. She didn't want to muck up and repeat the three hundred exercise punishment, especially not while she was already feeling fatigued. Sweat dripped from her brow and every minor change such as hair being touched by the wind, or her clothes brushing against her skin. Ari felt it all and attempted to maintain her focus on balancing, eventually achieving the desired result and lasting five minutes. Without elegance she fell down, exhausted but aware that this process had to be repeated until both sides were capable of doing it.
 
While this nightmare lay ahead of her, Ari was far too excited to try the technique without holding back and nailed the other side's performance. Like a giddy child, she placed both feet on the ground and in one fluid motion, executed the technique. Ari continued to pivot on one foot, not graduating into an aerial assault yet. It still felt good to let go and she wondered how much damage it would do to the dummy. Deciding to test it out, she flung herself at the dummy and kicked it in the head. This alone was enough to rip it out from the ground and send it flying, slamming into the ground several times like a twig bouncing along grass. The weight of the dummy was at least fifty kilograms, Ari was finally impressed by her physical strength.
 
The technique was not fully learned yet however, she still had to perform it from an aerial position. Jumping was difficult to transition into attacks, this was simple knowledge anybody could possess. However, this technique used a forward moving aerial strike, not so much a jump as a tiny pivot off one leg. From that pivot they rotated their body and threw a powerful kick backwards in a spin. The thought was enough to make Ari dizzy, but she wanted nothing more at the moment than to execute it perfectly. Taking position and envisioning the results, she launched herself at the dummy. Pivoting off her left foot to start with and spinning, the first attempt resulted in a near miss, with her heel grazing its head.
 
Upon landing she didn't wait for a second, spinning around and attempting it again, this time pivoting off her right foot. Ari continued doing this, a few more times before landing a direct hit on the dummy's face. Upon doing so it slammed down into the ground, causing the head to pierce the earth beneath and stand upright with the base above it. Deciding this wasn't such a bad thing to occur, Ari didn't relent with her assault and kept making passes striking at the dummy. Whether it was the base or the head she kicked, the result was the same. This in itself was worth the effort she'd put in to make the technique effortless.
 
Ari felt like a cloud, passing effortlessly into the birds that inhabit their sky. She was incapable of failing it now, her form was perfect and she mastered the physics required to land it on point. A realization came over her that the technique wasn't exactly right. Masters described this technique as being incredibly fast, while Ari only felt she was executing an impressive amount of power. She continued sprinting and putting as much effort she could into the rotation to spin faster. With her leg flailing and slamming into the dummy with every attempt, no near misses or mistakes were going to be made from here on.
 
This felt exhausting, but it was so liberating she wasn't aware of what she was doing. Ari maintained her assault on the dummy, cracking its head in several places as wood chips dug into her feet. Unaware of the pain and small amount of blood that had begun to accumulate on her feet, she was relentless. After slamming the dummy's head with her feet fifty times, she sat down. An attempt to realizing the mistake she was making followed, which quickly resulted in an answer. Sprinting at the dummy and using both feet to pivot, before raising her right leg to slam into the dummy's head.
 
The solution was fairly simple in the end and she improved the speed of the technique drastically compared to before. The dummy's head also suffered more for it, leading to entire blocks of wood flying out of its face. Technically this wasn't breaking property, as the dummies were intended for harsh punishment. Still, Ari felt bad for breaking the head into blocks with her kicks. She decided to attempt fixing it and moved to a nearby tree, figuring any wood was as good as the hardwood dummy. Using the technique she recently learned inside and out, Ari kicked the tree in an attempt to weaken it. Instead, an entire side shattered into tiny wood slivers.
 
She then realized how bad an idea it was to take wood from a nearby tree, as the dummy's damage was less significant than a tree in this area. The headless dummy would have to do for her training from here on. With a sigh of annoyance she decided continuing immediately was a bad idea anyway. The dummy could have its head replaced and she could continue the next day, or she could attempt to move onto the hardest task right now. While Ari was determined to become a lot stronger, she wasn't quite sure in her abilities to perform A-Rank Taijutsu. This technique, the Leaf Strong Wind, was only a B-Rank technique.
 
As such, with the effort required to learn it, she decided to rest for a day. Sluggishly Ari made her way back to the apartment, where a handful of cats awaited their owner's return. She knelt down with the cats and lovingly attended to their needs, feeding and brushing them in succession. Even this felt like an exercise at this point, with her muscles aching at every move. Unsure of whether she could keep this up, Ari struggled through the niceties with her feline companions. A few minutes later she collapsed onto the couch and immediately fell asleep, unable to wake until the next morning where training would begin anew.

During her dreams Ari practiced the 1000 Years of Death technique, a funny thing that wasn't meant to be taken seriously. The idea of poking your finger's up someone's bum wasn't appealing, but hilarious. Ari envisioned herself with gloves on to perform the deed, even though it was done through the victim's clothing. She wondered if you could express your strength enough to force a person's pants entirely up there, but perhaps that question was better left unanswered. Instead, more pertinent questions existed. Questions such as, if you're terribly strong, will you kill the victim accidentally?

This thought perturbed Ari's sleep, causing her a restless time as she wondered about it. There wasn't really a need to perform this technique, it was entirely too simplistic to require putting forth the physical effort to use it. Not only that, but what would people think if they saw someone practicing it? Ari was far too shy for such a thing, she could never practice 1000 Years of Death in front of a crowd, even if they paid her. Then, how was it going to be useful against opponents? Another question she had to ask herself, but perhaps not the most pertinent one. Whether or not the technique was useful by any standards was not the real issue, as it was more of a joke.

What really bothered Ari was who invented it in the first place, whether or not their name was even on record? Was a specific shinobi associated with a technique that plugs both their fingers up someone else's bum? That seemed incredibly strange, even for Ari to behold who mimicked cats in both movement and form. Questions and thoughts of this technique bothered Ari to the point she woke up. Unable to put it to rest she walked to the kitchen and attempted to perform the technique on her fridge, aiming for the door straight on. Due to her strength however, Ari punctured the door with both fingers accidentally, cracking the plastic exterior to a minor extent.

Unable to muster enough energy to care, Ari simply moaned and fell over onto the kitchen floor. Brushing her shirt off afterwards as small trickles of blood crept down her index fingers. The sharp plastic and metal of the fridge had pictured each finger at the nail, causing even more discomfort while she attempted to sleep. However, thanks to this experience she finally understood why the technique was effective. A strong Taijutsu user performing such a deed could definitely rip a person in half, and it was such an unexpected thing too. Although it was very unlikely, Ari could picture herself using it against somebody she wished dead.

Even though this was the case, nobody came to mind, she could only picture the dummy in their place. It was an unsatisfactory imagination, splitting wood in half with her fingers. Then, she wondered if it would be satisfactory to imagine splitting someone in half by their bottom, surely that was less appealing. Questions for later she decided, as her mind finally blanked out once again. No more thoughts on the 1000 Years of Death to be suffered here, as she allowed herself to drift into a complete state of rest. The cats crept over to her on the floor, providing warmth throughout the night unlike regular cats.

Ari was very thankful for her feline companions and their compassion towards her, she required it to get through life on a daily basis. Subconsciously she wished to spend the rest of her life with cats somewhere nearby, although the family she'd built with Kurisu was more important in the long run. After a few twitches of discomfort the cats fell asleep alongside Ari.

A brand new day peered over the horizon, time for more work to be done. A beautiful sun rose, as with every morning in Konoha, illuminating the darkest corners of the village. Ari remained asleep even as the sun shined in on her. A burning sensation came over her pale skin, while light shafts bounced off her body and lit up the room. A thumping headache was installed for Ari, whom had fallen asleep without properly hydrating herself. After losing so much body liquid training the previous day, Ari wasn't prepared to wake up early, forcing herself to stay asleep. Dreams of getting on with training the Evening Elephant haunted her.
 
Whether these were a premonition, or just her subconscious telling her to get a move on, Ari wasn't sure. Half asleep it was too difficult to figure out what was even happening around her. Sunlight seemed like it was magical and taking over the room, while the cats surrounding her were purring softly. Unlike regular cats, Ari's cats were very well behaved and respected her. The difference between regular cats and hers was almost phenomenal, but not unexpected of somebody that studied and masqueraded as a cat. Truth be told even though she loved her cats, Ari wasn't a fan of their species in general.
 
Having decided to dedicate time to their study was the only reason she maintained such an affinity for them. Moving on from this, she had a lot of training to get done before even attempting the Evening Elephant. First on the agenda was waking up, second was standing and third was getting hydrated. Starting with the first and most difficult step, Ari attempted to open her eyes while the sunlight's presence burned them. The experience was extremely uncomfortable for her, while her muscles were previously strained to the point it hurt to move. At first Ari forgot the strain she was in the day before, slowly she came to the realization that all her leg muscles were strained.
 
Wearily moving her eyelids and struggling to keep them even half open, she scanned the room briefly for anything unexpected. The only thing she saw of note was a hole in the fridge, bringing a memory back to when she stabbed it with the 1000 Years of Death. A chuckle escaped Ari before she remembered how much it hurt to laugh. Feeling like millions of needles were stabbing her sides at once, the chuckle quickly turned into crying, even though she kept laughing. Ari became stuck in a state of laughing because it hurt, and hurting because she laughed. The cats quickly vacated her premises and left her to the insanity on the floor.
 
A few minutes passed as she attempted to calm herself down. Once Ari finally succeeded in ceasing her laughter, she rolled onto her right side. All she could think about was the Evening Elephant technique, something she wanted as a trump card before attempting the Chuunin promotion mission. This surely would come in handy, regardless of the opponents they faced. Growth in using techniques such as this was what gave Genin immense amounts of experience. Rarely did one get the chance to learn an A-Rank technique at such a stage in their life, but Ari was here being given that chance.
 
Unsure of the first steps to take, she ate breakfast. Consisting of a fairly healthy combination of fruits and vegetables formed into a salad. Ari had to consume a healthy breakfast if she was going to be training for hours on end once more, and she hadn't eaten the day prior. Focusing on the task at hand would involve training this technique with no breaks. Hours of meditation on it would be required in order to focus her Chakra, this was not merely an expression of physical force, but the manifestation of her strength through Chakra. Certainly this would be the most difficult Jutsu she'd ever learned thus far.
 
After finishing her breakfast Ari moved towards the center of her apartment and sat down, crossing her legs in a specific fashion to promote Chakra flow. For the moment she would meditate at home where nothing could disturb her. Neighbors were afraid of making noise because they were afraid of being evicted; the landlord was harsh on mistakes. Ari closed her eyes and focused on the flow of her Chakra, attempting to increase it throughout. She would have to send a vast amount out during the technique in order to create wind tunnels, during that time she also had to physically strike.
 
Pulling both of these off at the same time would be difficult for anyone to learn, let alone Ari and her subpar Chakra control. Thankfully the technique was more physically demanding opposed to Chakra. For Ari this opened the door to learning it, since she was confident in her ability to physically pull it off. If anything the strenuous amount of effort she put into Taijutsu was going to act beneficially during this event. Continuing meditation while experimenting with the flow of her Chakra, she tested out sending larger quantities to each hand and leg. Every limb was used during the technique in order to strike an opponent down.
 
Since a vast amount of focus was required while pulling off physical maneuvers, Ari had an idea. She attempted to continue meditating and moving her Chakra freely, while doing push-ups. This would test her ability to remain focused, control Chakra and physically exert herself. All of these at the same time should have been enough to push her forward somewhat, she hoped. Continuing these exercises for another ten minutes, physical exertion set in and began to disturb her thought process. As soon as this happened she stopped, stood up and had a drink of water.
 
Lasting ten minutes doing something like this was very unexpected, Ari had to note that her Chakra control improved significantly since yesterday. Understanding this now, she had more confidence toward the exercise and continued with it. Meditating and moving Chakra in vast amounts toward her arms and legs. It wasn't expending Chakra, as it merely flowed to the areas she'd have to use during the technique, before flowing back to its natural state and repeating the process. Ari was surprised that wind tunnels could be created with pure physical force for this technique; she wondered how that would work for her.
 
After all, she had never created a wind tunnel, perhaps she'd become vastly stronger than ever imagined by her before. Kurisu surely saw something in her, to take the time training her and bringing the family back to Konoha. Still wondering whether or not this would be how things stayed, Ari's focus broke at five minutes simply due to concern for her family. She stopped again and had a drink of water, realizing that manipulating Chakra and physical exertion at the same time were quite dehydrating. Sweat had been dripping from her, but not disturbed her focus on the method of training she'd chosen, at least this was a good sign.
 
Moving on to make it harder for herself, Ari switched to using one hand for the push-ups. It was awkward to do a push-up with one hand already, but doing so while moving Chakra throughout her body and attempting to meditate; this challenge would be difficult to overcome for an hour. She had confidence in her ability to pull off the other exercise fairly easily for an hour, choosing to move on to this method instead of waiting for the results. Ari often found a solid wall that was almost impossible to overcome was much more advantageous during training. She understood that most people had the same thoughts on such things, but stopped themselves from taking the dive.
 
After two minutes passed she struggled and broke the meditation, crashing over to the side accidentally as her balance shifted to the opposite side. With a few shakes of her head before standing up, Ari grabbed another drink of water and continued the exercise. This struggle would surely be sufficient for a while, but she had a feeling much more difficult exercises were going to be needed to create wind tunnels. Perhaps even visiting a very windy area would help her to observe how it all happened. Ari hadn't done a lot of study on the way wind was created and how it became more powerful.
 
Understanding only the very basics, she decided that relying on the scroll for more details was probably the best idea. How many of these scrolls did they have anyway? Ari had never thought about how they mass produced certain scrolls for anybody in the village to learn until now, the way that would affect their ability to train amidst each other and influence combat as the opponent could recognize their moves. This led to only one decision Ari could make, to master every technique she could, or at least observe every single one. After doing this she'd be able to tell what Jutsu were coming and plan ahead for her reaction.
 
Perhaps this was overboard as her ability to react to situations was already quite good compared to most people her age. However, caution was the name of the game as a shinobi. Taking your own life into your hands was necessary every time you took a mission. Merely understanding this helped Ari come to grips with her training, it was necessary to do this in order to become stronger. When she was able to pull this off she'd be able to create a wind tunnel; that was enough motivation, to manipulate wind by sheer physical force. As thirty minutes passed, Ari's subconscious noted that her focus hadn't broken yet.
 
An alarm was set to notify her when enough time passed, since waking up from meditation at the right time wasn't always certain. Of course, Ari could have continued even once she'd overcome the boundary, but she didn't have that much time. Instead she focused on getting this done as efficiently as possible before Kurisu would return that way she could impress him and Kasuga if they asked what she knew. Perhaps it would impress Kurisu more, as he knew what she was like before leaving the village. Growth was always more impressive and notable when you'd previously met somebody before their development.
 
Ari was worried about impressing them both, but not enough to break her focus on the task at hand. Instead, she continued it until the hour passed; an alarm rang signalling when it was appropriate to fall over. So she did, landing on her right side before resolving to repeat the process with her left hand. Unsure of the progress this was making towards training, Ari tested it out for a second. She felt like moving Chakra throughout her body had become slightly easier, at least towards her limbs with the method she'd been working on. This would definitely have to do for the first training she had to overcome.
 
Drinking more water to hydrate herself for another hour of constant training, Ari placed her left hand to the ground and worked on the exercise again. It wouldn't seem to take as long this time, since the right side had already proven she was capable of it. Although her arm wasn't quite as strong on the left as the right. Ari wasn't someone that worked only with one arm or one leg, she attempted to use both sides in unison to be an adept combatant. It was difficult to imagine people that mainly punched with one arm or kicked with one leg, since that would merely open them to attacks from opponents.
 
Thankful for the fact she'd had the foresight to take all of this into consideration, Ari continued the exercise with renewed confidence. Merely doing this didn't feel like enough, especially not enough to create wind tunnels with her physical strength alone. Perhaps sending Chakra out at the same time, when she reached that stage, would change her opinion. It was still difficult to imagine from her current stage. Quickly finishing up with the current exercise, Ari stood up straight and stretched her body. She had to promote a lot of blood flow before beginning the main event which would consist of much harder challenges.
 
She couldn't do it in the apartment however, as that would more than likely end with an eviction notice. Instead Ari opted to return to the training grounds where she could freely train without worrying about neighbors. Doing so would only require another short walk. Strolling out of her house and making her way, it felt surreal to be outside after training so hard at home. People passed by with no idea of the efforts she'd gone to in order to become stronger only minutes prior. Ari held her high for the effort she'd put in, confidence was secure as long as she kept working hard.
 
Approaching the five minute mark for her walk she arrived at the training grounds. Remembering what happened last time Ari wondered whether or not the training dummy had its head replaced yet. She quickly walked to the storage and pulled it out only to find it was still headless. Unsurprising since the hardwood wasn't easy to manipulate for these dummies. This case wasn't so bad either since she had to perform such a powerful technique on it, perhaps the dummy would shatter entirely when she finished and someone's efforts would have gone to waste. Speaking of which, Ari didn't know who created the dummies and was perplexed by them for a moment.
 
Quickly snapping herself out of it, she slammed the dummy's base into the ground to secure it firmly in preparation. With this done she could begin training once more, although she wasn't certain how to go about it. The technique described making a handseal and sending a vast amount of Chakra out to create a wind tunnel. How this counted as physical force, she wasn't sure. Perhaps Chakra drew on her physical strength to pull it off? Questions that weren't relevant until she could create her own techniques, anyway. So they could be put to rest until then.
 

Ari began with jabbing the dummy, throwing a few kicks here and there at its legs. She summed up her physical abilities and how they'd grown since yesterday, allowing her to judge any further precautions to take. Using the information gathered, Ari decided she was ready to start with the first stage, performing the hand seal and releasing a burst of Chakra to create a wind tunnel. This stage would be the most difficult to learn, as the following stages were more or less the same thing.
 
Focusing her Chakra, Ari prepared to perform the handseal. At this moment she realized the Jutsu didn't start with one, she'd gotten it mixed up with a different technique. However, after preparing for this one, she decided to re-read Evening Elephant's scroll to ensure everything would go smoothly. Realizing she mostly had it right except for the part about performing a handseal at the start; Ari chucked the scroll aside and prepared herself. Mentally and physically she had to be completely at peace with her Chakra, focused on the target of today's training. If she couldn't pull off this technique before the day's end it would only get harder.
 
Ari began throwing punches accompanied by a vast amount of Chakra; this would quickly become tiring even with her improved stamina from training hard. The force of Ari's punch accompanied by a strong punch was enough to create powerful waves of wind. However, these were not the windtunnels that she needed to pull off the technique. The punches and kicks would have to be a lot stronger; the Chakra burst would also require a vast improvement. She could only stew about the progress she'd made not being enough to pull it off, with her punches becoming less powerful due to fatigue.
 
Resting before a minute had passed from the exhaustion of throwing her Chakra away, Ari sat down; coming to the realization she forgot a water bottle. Setting a challenge for herself, every time she had to stop throwing punches she resolved to jog for ten minutes to the water supply. After that she would begin throwing punches again and continue this routine until some progress was made. Leaving the training grounds and the dummy she'd chosen, Ari ran back and forth, repeating the routine time and time again. Even after five hours had passed there was seemingly no change in the wind caused by her strike.
 
Frustrated, she threw a punch in a fairly careless, but circumstantially fortuitous fashion. The arc she put into her swing and the Chakra released was enough to create, albeit, a small wind tunnel that struck the dummy from ten meters away. Ari knew this because the dummy turned slightly from the strike. Recognizing that her form was off, Ari smacked herself in the head for not thinking things through. She had an idea now on how to throw the punch, but the kick still had to be figured out. Surely with this knowledge that wouldn't be too difficult when the time came anyway, she thought.
 

Cracking her neck to the left and right, Ari smirked and threw another punch, this time arcing it. The small wind tunnel grew slightly since she was aware of what she did, but it wasn't anywhere near enough to cause the desired effect. So much Chakra was involved in throwing a punch that could cause wind tunnels; she realized now why it didn't require the element or handseals. This was purely due to a release of Chakra with the punch of someone that was abnormally physically capable. Unsure of whether or not she met the standards, but focused on achieving them, Ari continued without delay.
 
The arc on each punch improved quickly, there wasn't need to stop and think about how she threw them, only the instinct driving her to do things and improve over the course of the training. Ari wasn't one for stopping to think anyway, preferring to do everything on the go with no cease of momentum. After all, she couldn't stop to think in combat, unlike the experience attempting to catch Kurisu's clone. She had to put at least one hundred and ten percent into the training. Focusing her eyes on the target and readying another punch, Ari felt it out more than usual. She sized up the dummy, the distance, judged the Chakra required to throw a devastating punch and then threw her fist forwards.
 
The sizable amount of focus and Chakra Ari put into this attempt ended with an agreeable result. The dummy suddenly appeared to rip itself out of the ground, while dust kicked up and almost made the wind tunnel visible. Otherwise it would seem nothing happened except a loud noise. Ari had once more impressed herself with progress being made in a short time frame. She was becoming more efficient with Chakra control and her own physical capabilities at a rapid rate. The Chuunin mission she had planned to take was just over the horizon, but so was Kurisu returning to Konoha.
 

Unsure of which would come first, Ari could only hope she was ready for both. The next challenge would be creating wind tunnels with her kicks, which as she approached it seemed to become a more daunting task for every passing second. Ari wasn't sure how kicking could create the same result as a punch with a certain arc, although she was willing to guess it was the same answer. Throwing a kick with a certain arc certainly could work, but how does one arc their leg during a kick? Pondering this, she attempted kicking and trying different arcs while figuring out the mystery.

After all, she thought that wasting time thinking without moving was detrimental. Training was for learning how to act in combat, doing things you'd otherwise not do in the presence of an enemy wasn't going to help you. Ari's training mentality summed up fairly quickly. However drinking and eating were still requirements, training went on longer than combat would, while one wouldn't try a new technique they hadn't learned in an actual fight. Chuckling briefly, Ari thought about people actually trying to use a Jutsu they hadn't learned against an opponent. Such a silly thought and one she'd never make the mistake of making.

Ari's kicks ranged from high to low, spinning or rotating forwards. Axe kicks didn't seem to work at all, whereas spinning kicks had some effect. She wasn't really in the mood for being forced to spin in order to make wind tunnels, so Ari kept working at it until she perfected just the right arc to create a wind tunnel without spinning. It wasn't the direction she kicked, but the way her leg moved during the kick that created the wind tunnel. As long as Ari kicked with the correct arc it would create a wind tunnel and she knew how to do it. Releasing Chakra from her leg during the kick, the dummy suddenly appeared to twist violently and rip itself out of the ground.

To spectators it would appear the dummy was possessed as it didn't move and remained floating just above ground. From there Ari launched herself forward and performed five attacks in a row, counting the one she started with. The dummy would be torn asunder from her hits, even though she didn't realize the damage being done until after. Wood chips flew off the dummy but remained floating beside it, appearing to cause less damage until the wind tunnel dispersed. Upon that moment, a broken and sad dummy fell to the ground in pieces. Ari's fists were covered in wood chips, while she bled at the knuckles from the impact of each hit.

Her ankles were also fairly uncomfortable and felt like they needed a week's rest to recover from muscle strain. To think the day started where she was barely able to move, now she'd come out here and exhausted herself in exactly the same fashion. Tomorrow wasn't going to be fun and she knew that even though most of the day remained. Since this was the case, Ari decided to grab another dummy and repeat the technique. It wasn't going to be effective if she only managed to use the Jutsu once, so she had to repeat it until every dummy she could lay her hands on was destroyed.

Only then Ari would know her progress wasn't some fluke, that she would be able to repeat this technique during a fight on any given day. Due to the fatigue from performing it time and time again, Ari continued. Blood spilled forth every time she landed a punch or kick. Bleeding at the knuckles and shins from the impact of striking wood that splintered with every hit. She'd have to become tougher by striking harder objects, dummies were very weak in the grand scheme of things. Funnily enough though, the dummy was the first thing that caused Ari to bleed. She hadn't been in an actual fight where external injuries had caused bleeding.

Breaking her finger in Asgard didn't cause the bone to break her skin after all. Ari would have congratulated the dummy if she were a little crazier, but she continued assaulting them instead. The motivation to perfect this technique so it could be used during the Chuunin promotion mission, or to defend herself, or even defend her family from attackers. Ari hadn't imagined she would use the technique against somebody that she wanted dead for no personal reasons, but maybe even that could happen. Then again, the technique wasn't certain death, somebody tough enough could take it on without dying.

Ari wondered what the technique would do to her, had anybody used it against her. Hoping to be strong enough that such a thing couldn't happen was all she could do. However, she knew the signs of this technique; it would be very unlikely to work against her any time in the future. Eventually Ari returned to the storage and no dummies were left, although she could have sworn ten remained. It appeared somebody wanted her to stop breaking them, moving them elsewhere so she'd leave. Sighing and shrugging both hands, Ari simply walked away and would return to her apartment.
 
Nothing more could be done and she'd already broken twenty by this point, other people did require them for training too. Somehow Ari didn't feel as fatigued as the day before, perhaps because she was getting her bearings with how to train more efficiently and control her body better. Certainly, Ari's control over her Chakra had greatly improved over the course of these few days. A swelling feeling crept into her to scream something about successful, she overcame the feeling so nobody would be disturbed, but also to avoid drawing attention to herself. Ari didn't appreciate prying eyes, nor did she think it was a good idea as a number of people were sleeping.
 

Only one course of action remained to be taken, although that would be left for the next day. A team had been organized by placing the mission she intended to do up publicly. Two other Genin and a Chuunin had signed their names to it, meaning things were about to get interesting. The only thing Ari could do at this point was smile, dreams of fulfilling her goals filled her thoughts that night.

Approved

To improve her versatility and ensure closing the distance was a possibility, Ari had to train a technique that could vastly increase her chances of catching a speedy foe. To do so she settled on learning Taijutsu Style: Shunshin. The technique was often reserved for higher ranks, but Ari decided to learn it sooner. Beginning the day with a healthy breakfast and setting off on her learning adventure, she arrived at the training grounds prepared.

Stretches were first on the agenda before push-ups and squats. All of her muscles had to be prepared for the physical exertion in learning this one. No dummies were required as the technique merely involved moving fast; to that end Ari began running circles around the village. She had to properly adjust her body to moving quickly and learn to mix Chakra in for a speed boost. Ari's muscles weren't used to speeds like the one she sought.

Running didn't tire her for hours on end, but focusing Chakra into her legs was somewhat fatiguing. Constantly doing this for ten hours would lead to a small drop of sweat falling from Ari's brow. Apart from that there was no obvious sign of exhaustion. She continued sprinting, no breaks being taken, until she'd run several hundred circles of the village perimeter. As a Taijutsu user she was very proud of her fitness, this kind of feat was not achievable by all shinobi after all.

Ari's speed hadn't changed since she started, but the Chakra focus in her legs was improving with time. The key was after all, performing a technique. In the end it didn't require any handseals, but it was nonetheless focused on using Chakra to perform it correctly. Ari hadn't experienced using techniques like this one before, simply increasing the rate at which one moved through Chakra. Usually she had some kind of benefit to strength, focused on striking someone.

In this case it should have been easier, but she wasn't sure how fast her movement would end up becoming. If it was too fast, how would she react? Or would that not be an issue? Ari knew she had to focus on a position she wanted to end up in, apart from that she wasn't sure of much else. Sending Chakra to her legs and leaning forward, Ari began several attempts at the technique. These resulted in failure of course as she wasn't properly executing the technique.

However, it didn't hurt to try and adjust to the form itself. Instead she focused on properly attempting the technique after these attempts, whereupon she found some success. Ari didn't move as far as she wanted to, but she did move a fair distance of fifty meters. It wasn't enough to impress her, nor anybody else, but the speed she moved at was significant. Ari felt like she'd moved at least twice as fast compared to her fastest running speed.

This was indeed a great technique and would benefit her, but she had to practice it much more before using it in a serious situation. Ari leaned forward and continued performing the technique, taking ten attempts before she had to rest. The act of sending Chakra into her legs and running at twice her normal speed was exhausting without knowing the technique inside and out. Sighing before drinking some water, Ari stood once more to continue.

She hadn't rested much and would require to sit again soon after, but she continued this routine with fewer moments of rest being taken. Eventually Ari realized she was moving faster than people could keep up with around her. Some spectators had appeared and were attempting to follow her movements, but she appeared to be creating a fuss as the crowd was shouting. A lot of noise was being made every time she performed the technique.

Had Ari moved faster than sound and created a sonic boom? That would surprise her but not take her off guard at this point, since she did feel like everything moved incredibly fast during the technique. Ari's legs were in overdrive and her body became hotter every time she performed it. On top of the speed she seemed to gain when chasing prey, Ari wasn't sure what would happen. Perhaps she'd have to find out soon, hopefully not however.

With a few more attempts before resting, Ari felt like she had the technique properly down pat. Her body wasn't anywhere near as exhausted as the day prior, especially since this was merely a D-Rank technique. Learning the Evening Elephant was surely the most exhausting process Ari had been through till now. Her body felt lighter than ever before moving at the speeds this technique allowed, but also unsafe.

If Ari could only move from point A to point B she'd have to ensure nothing would interrupt her movement. This was the main concern for her thinking about it. Ari moved further away from the most occupied area of Konoha where she could practice the technique a few more times. She tried her best to move elsewhere during the technique's movement, finding herself unable to. All Ari could do was go from where she stood to a point she'd decided upon.

If someone did attack her she'd have to take the hit or stop moving, but could she stop moving? Attempting this, she found she could not. Ari was very disturbed by the fact her forward momentum was incapable of stopping, but not surprised still. Her movement was extremely fast and she'd require the strength to stop herself, but her strength was being used to move even faster than normal, so that was impossible.

A few more head shakes and thoughts on how the technique was as vulnerable as it was useful, Ari decided to head home for a well-deserved rest. Perhaps she'd find herself back at the training grounds before long, but she still had to make her way to the Chuunin promotion mission meet up point. Would Ari find herself in a far more dangerous situation sooner than anticipated?

WC: 1006
Claiming Stats: 5
Claiming Technique: Taijutsu Style: Shunshin

Approved

Following the day Ari was reunited with Kasuga and Kurisu, she once more had to train. She hiked it to the training grounds until reaching the usual destination, but this time in her base appearance. It was unusual for Ari to go around looking like herself, at least until recent times. Starting the day with one thousand push-ups, she worked her muscles until they burned. Immediately moving on to one thousand squats when she finished the push-ups; one thousand of any exercise was merely one rep for Ari. Someone of her strength and stamina had to work much harder to become stronger; she was nearing her goal too.
 
Wrapping up the first exercises of the day, Ari repeated the push-ups and squats by the thousand another eight times. Moving on to work the rest of her body, she performed five hundred sit-ups and then five hundred bicycle crunches. Both of these exercises worked the core of the body so she chose to mix the two together. After these two exercises which combined to make one thousand, she started on pull-ups. Once she did one thousand of them, she returned to the sit-ups and bicycle crunches, repeating the same process as before until a total of nine reps completed her set.
 
After performing various other exercises in sets of nine thousand, Ari was ready to set out and begin training. She had to work on something known as the Intersection Method today. The technique was known for breaking the bones of those that encountered it, such effectiveness in Taijutsu was hard to come by. Ari had a far stronger technique known as the Evening Elephant already in her arsenal, but this technique was much more circumstantial. Should she have to defend herself, she'd much rather deal an extraordinary amount of damage to the opponent simultaneously.
 
Knowing this was a B-Rank technique beforehand, Ari was aware of the effort it took to properly understand them. Especially since this one involved locking an opponent's limb between the knee and elbow to break its bones. Ari had never attempted to move in the way this technique required, she wasn't used to striking at anything between two of her body parts. However, she could see the benefits to such an action. By locking an opponent between one's own limbs with the right movement, the amount of strength and speed one could execute the attack with was phenomenal.
 
Wishing to move on with the learning, Ari began memorizing the scroll and fully attempting to understand its scripture. The technique required an opponent to attack and to counter their movement; clearly this wasn't going to solve defending herself from every Taijutsu an opponent might use. Ari attempted the motion a couple of times, moving her knee up and lowering her elbow. The balance required to execute this technique would be fairly difficult to achieve, considering it required accuracy, speed and an incredible perception. Watching opponents for their movements and how to exploit their openings would be necessary to pull this off.
 
Another dummy was likely going to be necessary; however, the variant would be different this time. Ari needed something she could practice locking the limbs of between her knee and elbow. There were a lot of trees with branches that would make suitable practice dummies; she was worried about damaging the wrong ones though. Senju weren't happy when they were called upon to repair random trees someone damaged or destroyed. Gulping, Ari began pacing to the storage shed where she'd acquire a dummy with limbs. Usually they were spun in circles, intended to act as if an opponent striking.
 
Picking out the dummy with longer limbs on the middle before walking back to her spot, Ari slammed the sharpened base into the ground. Without firmly securing it she was likely to send it flying with even half her strength. Considering the dummy's base extended ten meters underground she figured it wouldn't move. Before starting the training Ari mimicked the required motions, elbowing down and raising her knee. This process would take a long time as she executed the movement in a painfully slow motion. A process she was a fan of, it worked on properly learning the balance and strength required to execute techniques flawlessly.
 
While the process wasn't the most helpful in a real fight, it did work on core ethics and understanding one's own movement. Ari's weight didn't change depending on whether she transformed her aesthetics or not, so she wasn't thrown off by using her base appearance today. Instead she felt a little bit more relieved, with an understanding of herself. Inside Ari felt this process was very tedious, having to execute motions and understand them to properly utilize them in combat. However, it was all about the benefit outside of her thoughts, the one that really mattered when put into effect.
 
Staring at her elbow as it descended upon her knee, Ari realized she could easily injure herself if this technique missed. Perhaps it wasn't the greatest thing to learn as a defensive method after all. Still, coming this far meant she wasn't about to turn around and forget her progress. Deciding to work on her dexterity before finishing with this technique, Ari lifted her right leg while keeping it straight until her foot reached above her head, with her leg vertically straight. If she wasn't wearing pants this would have been an awkward position to take in public. Luckily, Ari had never worn skirts or dresses; she wasn't a fan of her thighs rubbing together.
 
Lowering her right leg, she repeated this exercise using her left. Slowly doing this improved the flexibility of one's muscles, including their tendons. Ari hadn't realized just how strong her legs became in the past few days. The muscles she'd gained were very impressive to behold, even though they were her own.. She felt very vain after these thoughts. Two loud cracks of Ari's neck preceded her next set of exercises. Striking the dummy's center with a roundhouse kick, it began spinning with all of the arms becoming a flurry of spinning attacks. Observing what had now become an offensive object intending to strike anything getting to close, Ari threw a right jab between the arms.
 
While this wasn't going to help her execute the technique directly, working on her reflexes and ability to attack through the arms would greatly assist in catching an opponent's limb. Ari continued to throw punches at the dummy's torso while skillfully avoiding the arms and legs, allowing it to continue spinning unabated. With the dummy's arms attempting to strike her at every moment, Ari could only keep her focus on it and attempt to remain unscathed. Trying to do this while getting hits in was difficult since she span it with all the force she had in a kick. Even still, Ari dd her best to beat the dummy's wood within an inch of its life.
 
Wood chips flew off with every few hits, damage building up on the surface and piercing its core. Over time the dummy would begin to break, so she had to strike randomly hitting it and begin practicing the technique itself. Considering the dummy had begun to slow, she kicked it once more to create the spinning motion. After this, Ari began attempting to catch the dummy's leg between her right elbow and right knee. Whenever she was capable of this feet she would begin trying to break the leg instead of just catching it. The task wasn't easy and Ari spent a few hours just getting the timing down.
 
While the dummy's leg was caught, it was somewhat painful to be struck by. This training would no doubt have a beneficial effect on Ari's toughness. Using her muscles and bones to capture the blows with every catch, Ari attempted to stay focused on her task instead of the discomfort. Just doing this would normally have taken all her focus a few days prior. Ari flexed her right arm and leg before striking the dummy's leg once more, accidentally striking with all her strength and shattering the wood between them. Only one leg remained on the dummy after this, although it still had four arms.
 
Ari decided to kick things up a notch and struck the dummy with another blow to make it spin faster. Stepping back on her right foot, she launched herself past the dummy and punched it in the skull, before throwing her right leg backwards into a kick similar to that of a horse. The result caused a stop in spinning as the dummy's remaining leg collided with her shin. Instead of bothering to feel pain, Ari used her left leg to launch off the ground and landed on the dummy's head with a revolving axe kick to its skull with the same foot. Sliding off its head to land on her right foot, Ari spun around and punched it in the gut. Her knuckles caused a cracking sound as the dummy's wood chipped around them.
 
Flipping back once and striking forward with both hands, Ari grappled the dummy's top two arms and attempted to budge it forwards and backwards. Due to the depth it was pierced to, the dummy didn't move easily. Struggling against the odds of it moving, Ari stopped to knee it five hundred times in the chest. This wasn't instantaneous and required fifty seconds as she kneed it ten times for each second. Afterwards, Ari kicked off the ground and pointed both her knees down, landing on the dummy's shoulders with each of them while its head came between her legs just in front of her abdomen.
 
From this position Ari flicked her legs over the dummy's shoulders, wrapping them around its arms and throwing her body back to pull it toward her. A normal person would have been launched over Ari from this movement, but the dummy remained unmoved. Releasing her legs from the grip and kicking off the dummy's shoulders with her feet, she somersaulted backwards with one rotation. Ari then raised both arms and began throwing punches at the dummy, although they were feigns with none of them striking it directly. Immediately after performing ten of these she spun once, kicking it in the leg to make it spin faster than before.
 
Using the same jabbing motion to strike at its arms as it rotated, Ari attempted to get the timing down for hitting the dummy. If she could accurately strike its limbs as it spun she wouldn't find it difficult to catch them in the technique. Although she had already proven she could do it and break the limbs, it still had to be properly learned in order to execute the technique against a living and breathing person. Ari decided the best way to execute this technique would be to imagine the dummy as a human. She saw the limbs and pictured the arms, as true human arms. The leg that remained, as a true human leg. 
 
She had to break these limbs in order to move on with her training. Taking a deep breath, she approached the dummy and struck with her arm and leg at the same time at the dummy's top right arm. Missing was impossible at this point, resulting in the arm being snapped like a twig. Ari received a sliver of wood to her elbow from the manoeuvre, but continued regardless as it didn't cause a major injury. Pulling the wood out and tossing it aside, she moved on to the dummy's top left arm and soon after that was snapped in half too. Ari used her left elbow and knee for it though.
 
Understanding how to strike without injuring herself against the dummy, Ari had grown a proper understanding of how to hit it now. The effect would improve if Ari mixed Chakra into it, which was properly what they intended to be done at the start. However, with the base form down she did grow a respect for the technique. Even without using Chakra it was easy to break the dummy's arms and legs with this movement. Using it properly would result in a greatly improved technique that didn't require such effort. Ari had to properly go about this, so she focused her Chakra and carefully proceeded with striking its remaining arms.
 
Almost with a flash, she snapped both the remaining arms. Finishing with the dummy's leg which caused it to stop spinning. The limb broke with such ferocity that the dummy's movement stopped. Ari just had to try this technique out on its head to see if she could split the hardened wooden frame with it. Kicking off the ground and into a horizontal position, Ari slammed the dummy's head between her elbows and knees. This added effort of using both knees and elbows shattered the wood into tiny splinters. Not stopping there, when Ari landed she swept her right foot into the dummy's base and snapped it. 
 
The remains of the base stayed in the ground for the moment, so she kicked what remained of the dummy above ground into the air. Attempting to keep it afloat, Ari began throwing quick but powerful jabs at its frame. She didn't extend the period of which she touched it, merely punching it and moving on to the next strike. As she had to keep moving to ensure it stayed in the air, due to the punches making it move around the training grounds, others there had to move out of the way. Ari didn't realize she had the biggest grin she'd worn in a while, enjoying the training and freeing herself from the boundaries that normally kept her at bay. 
 
The dummy would soon be pulverized from all her hits. Not stopping there, Ari would continue punching the parts that broke off the dummy. Although they too would gradually be reduced into ashes from her strikes. She continued punching the dummy's parts and attempting to keep everything that broke away afloat. Nothing could be done to break her focus on making sure the dummy's remains would never be recognized. With nothing left over after her thorough pounding of the dummy she could only strike the air and imaginary opponents. Ari kicked and punched, switching from low to high strikes. 
 
Opponents came in all shapes and sizes, after all. There was no telling when you'd be fighting someone that was eight foot or four foot. Maybe even both at the same time, being capable of attacking at all angles and heights was important. Ari had even heard of people that could sprout extra limbs, an ability which she hoped to work on creating for the Hiyu. Whether or not that would work was up to fate and would be decided later. Ari hadn't grown strong enough to consider doing such things and could only hope she'd reach that level.
 
Relying on her family to help her continue growing and becoming accustomed to the strength she gained, these tasks kept Ari busier than she'd ever been in her life. Working for the village as a labourer was almost like a pleasant dream of a holiday long passed. Exhaustion began to creep in as Ari slowed down, she recognized the feeling that came over most people when they'd stopped exercising, it was like a curse. However, if you recognized it and sped up your activity it would remain at bay. Ari kept throwing kicks and punches while accelerating the rate at which they were performed, preventing herself from becoming tired.
 
The wind seemed to split with every strike, it was almost like she'd begun approaching the sound barrier for her strikes. If such a hit collided with a target Ari wasn't sure what would happen to them, or her. Knowing her body was more athletic than tough at the moment, she hoped such collisions wouldn't result in injury for herself. Proper form and knowledge of her body's limits would be required to prevent that. Ari knew this from the moment she started practicing Taijutsu but never realized how far she'd come in progress. Being able to break the sound barrier with punches and kicks was certainly an accomplishment worthy of praise. She wondered how many people had accomplished it though, as it wasn't uncommon for sonic booms to occur during fights. 
 
Was this an achievement typically expected of ninja at higher levels than Ari had imagined were capable? If so, her opponents would be a lot tougher than she thought. Luckily Ari was practiced in reacting and had excelled reflexes. She had confidence in her ability to defend herself, at least. To finish the day's training she decided to resume a ritual normally reserved for the mornings. Getting down on her hands, Ari began several sets of push-ups, varying in technique to work the different muscles of her arms and chest. There were many ways to position your body for various exercises that would result in different muscles receiving the workout. 
 
This was common knowledge to most people, but there were a few unaware of the benefits. Ari hoped she'd master Taijutsu and overcome her enemies, whenever she had any. It was inevitable for one to have enemies as they gained allies, as an ally normally shared their burdens. Ari would stand up for her family whenever they needed her to, she was confident in her resolution to protect Kurisu and Kasuga if she could. Though, if she couldn't, Ari wondered if she'd die. Could they protect her? These thoughts made the workout at least ten times harder as her focus was constantly broken by doubt. Unable to keep her muscles tense and regulate her breathing made it a far greater challenge than intended.
 
Shaking her body out after the various push-ups, Ari moved on to squats and performed ten thousand. Outdoing her regular amount in order to offset the doubts she was having. If the exercise was increased she would eventually have to focus on the physical exertion it was causing and give up on thinking entirely. She worked towards this goal in order to become stronger and put doubt behind her. Fear wasn't required to protect her family, it was necessary to discard it so it wouldn't inhibit her actions. However, fear was also required to encourage Ari into protecting them.
 
If she didn't have fear, she wouldn't fear losing family and this would be for naught. As such she had to have just enough fear of what could be lost, but overcome her own personal fears towards her own wellbeing. Looking at her fists, Ari could barely recognize them due to the strength she'd earned. Realizing this was something she'd earned and not something she'd been given, it was difficult to understand how much she'd grown. Most of it was due to her own perseverance and stubbornness to be with her family. A great deal of the strength Ari gained was simply due to raw talent however.
 

She didn't like to think of it as talent on the other hand, she preferred to believe it was entirely due to earning it. This simply wasn't and couldn't be the case though, as everybody had different talents and not everyone could work themselves to the bone for such physical strength. So many revelations passed through Ari's head that she forgot the time, snapping out of it and realizing she had to get home. Quickly she packed her things and had a drink of water, running home to Kurisu and Kasuga before it got much later.


WC: 3257
Claiming Stats: 16
Claiming Technique: Intersection Method

Approved.