Let's get down to business!

The moment Akemi woke up he chucked off his bed sheet covers and immediately started getting dressed. The night before, Akemi had heard about an a-rank taijutsu technique that the library giving away the instructions for. So of course, he had taken the scroll. Today was the day were Akemi would grow stronger, he could feel it. He would do nothing but train and train and train. No breaks but for food. If he didn't do this then he wouldn't grow stronger, he wouldn't be able to defend himself or other people. He smiled to himself, yesterday he had decided that today was going to be the day he would learn an a-rank. It was going to be difficult, exceedingly so. But Akemi would not be dissuaded, he will learn it, no matter what.

After getting dressed Akemi grabbed his weapon pouches and bo staff before putting the weapon pouches on his thighs and his bo staff on his back, Akemi quickly checked he had everything and left his apartment swiftly, closing his door behind him. As he walked he enjoyed the nearly completely empty streets. He had made sure to wake up incredibly early today, so he could squeeze more hours of training in. Also so he wouldn't have to bump into anyone, which he was quite thankful about. Turning down a narrow alley way, Akemi had to appreciate the architecture and design that went into building Hoshi. The sprawling streets and alleyways were certainly hard to navigate, but it meant that any infiltrators would be extremely stuck and slowed down by it, unless they were cocky enough to use some kind of technique to allow them to get through, though that would reveal their position to everyone in Hoshi and ultimately, end in their demise.

Upon arriving at his training grounds he immediately started doing warm-up stretches. He had recently borrowed a book about stretching and he was currently practicing them. It was quite amazing, the benefits that stretching gave to a training session. It was also helping with calming him down in difficult situations, like when he started having a panic attack about being attacked. Akemi always felt bad when he had panic attacks about something so insignificant and obsolete because several people had probably been through worse and still didn't complain. Akemi wished this didn't happen, but the only way he could sense was the way to stop his panic attacks was to train. Train to become stronger so that nothing would scare him anymore. He also wished that no one else would have to share the same fate as him, so he didn't just train for himself, he trained for other people as well.

Finishing his stretches he took the scroll of his back and began reading the A-rank taijutsu technique. The technique didn't seem to be that much different from a normal taijutsu technique in terms of what it does. However, the premise behind the technique as quite interesting. It seemed to rely solely on strength, putting the his strength against someone else's. And considering the fact that most people didn't seem to want to train in strength that much. well, it seemed that this technique would be pretty powerful for him. Though, Akemi was an extremely slow learner, evident from the fact that when his parents had tried to train him in the Hiyu clan techniques he had failed, miserably. He hadn't even been able to achieve a simple effect, he had been just moving his hands without meaning.  

Having read the technique multiple times over he tossed the scroll to the side and settled into stance. Training this technique without a sparring partner would be difficult, maybe even impossible. It was times likes these when Akemi wished he had the social skills to try and ask someone to train with him, though Akemi was incredibly socially awkward, so he would have to make do with what he got. Still in stance, he pondered over how to practice the technique. Especially since the technique required him to jump over his opponent and use his opponent's body to maneuver through the air. He pondered this question for several more minutes before deciding to just practice some basic taijutsu moves and hope that he would come up with an answer while doing this.

Sliding out of stance he started punching and kicking the air at extreme speeds. A right uppercut, a left crescent kick. All in quick succession, imagining an opponent in front of him getting beaten up. He then started using one of the first techniques he had learnt called 'Chain Fist'. A volley of quick strikes that served to completely destroy the opponent’s defences and health. It was the epitome of "Less is more" as although it was a low ranked technique. It would also allow him to lower his opponents defences before hitting them with another stronger technique. Such as the one he was learning right now, the "Early Sacrifice Technique". Akemi could not, for the life of him, figure out why it had the word "Sacrifice" in the name. Perhaps it was something to do with the fact that it involved jumping. Something that he had been told several times not to do by the chameleons and as such, it had been drilled into his mind.

As he practiced the combo he had an epiphany, why not use a tree stump as an 'opponent'? Sure, it was sad and lonely. But Akemi needed to make do with what he had. So, stopping his training, he began to search around for a person sized tree stump. He found many different sized, varying from small rabbit size to huge dear size. But he had yet to find something with relatively the same height and width as a human. That's when he saw it, a log, about 1.5 meters in height, leaning against a tree. It almost seemed to perfect to be true. Though, Akemi was not the kind of person to turn down an opportunity when it presented itself. He walked up to the log and stopped in front of it, eyeing it up and down. It seemed to be relatively strong and thick, probably strong enough to survive a few goes at the technique, as long as he restrained his strength. He could punch through a tree easily so using a technique on a tree would be massive overkill.

He picked up the log and put it under his arm, between his torso and his elbow and carried it to where he had been training previously. Putting the log down so that it was facing him he stretched and cricked his neck. Right now, this log was his opponent, nothing else mattered. His attention zeroed in on the log, he probably looked incredibly dorky doing this but right now, he was in the center of the woods. Hopefully no one would find him. As he zeroed in everything around him seemed to stand still, using his Hiyu reaction time to the max. Pushing it to the limits.

In a huge dash of speed, Akemi ran at the log and jumped. While in the air he pushed his hand down on the logs surface. In the instructions it had gone into great detail about how this move could incapacitate the opponent and prevent them from moving should he be strong enough. This move was incredibly useful due to the fact that it could do multiple things at once. Dodge an attack, incapacitate and enemy and throw them over your shoulder, effectively stunning them and leaving them open for another attack. Though there was one downside to this attack. You had to jump. It could be argued that the downsides would heavily outweigh the positives but, Akemi believed that anything could be viable if you played your cards right.

Upon finishing his jump over the log he gripped onto it's corner and threw it over his shoulder, making sure to hold back his strength quite a bit so as not to shatter the log. Though it seemed his efforts to hold his strength back were in vain due to the fact that as soon as the log touched the ground it shattered into millions of tiny splinters. Showering the ground with thousands of tiny, brown speckles, like brown snow. Due to his increased reaction time from his Hiyu cells he had seen the log break off into the millions of pieces, and he had to say, it was definitely quite beautiful. He had seen all the individual cracks appear in the log after all. That was something that most people wouldn't get to see in their lifetime.

He sighed. He hadn't noticed any kind of speed or strength increase during the technique, in fact he seemed to be moving slower than normal. Was he tired or was he not performing the technique again. Well, he probably wouldn't find out for a while due to the fact that he had completely shattered the log. Maybe he had been doing something wrong, or did he just need to practice the technique? He walked up to the previously discarded training scroll on the muddy ground and picked it up, brushing off the dirt and leaves as he did this. He unfurled the scroll and started to read intently, hanging on to every word he read, making sure not to miss anything.

He continued to read the scroll for a few minutes, his eyes were fixated on it. Almost like it was a god. After reading it for several more minutes, he nodded affirmatively and rolled up the scroll, placing it back onto the ground where it had been previously, putting it in a small dip in the ground so that it wouldn't fly away. He still had to return the scroll to library after he was done after all, and he didn't want to have to pay out of his already dwindling RYO supplies. He was thankful that he had actually bought his apartment out of his own money, and that he didn't have to rent it or pay a loan for it. That would mean he would barely have enough money to buy anything, let alone have the nice things such as clothes and nice food.

Akemi realised that if he wanted to practice easier without worry of breaking any thing further he would have to use a technique that he had heard of from some old monks. It involved meditating and practicing whatever you wanted to learn in your mindscape. This would allow you to attempt to practice against 'Real' opponents but in actuality it was just a figment of the user's imagination. It was pretty similar to the way Akemi had learnt the inside to outside block. Just a heck of a lot more complicated and confusing. Still, if he learnt the way to 'Meditate Practice' now it would probably allow him to pave the way to learning greater techniques than this one. If there were any. This technique was an A-rank after all, there didn't seem to be any S-ranked taijutsu techniques. Maybe he could make some when he got stronger and more clever?

Akemi sat down on the floor in the lotus position and closed his eyes gently and calmly, placing his hands on his knees. This was the first time Akemi had ever really properly meditated, and he was finding it rather strange. He didn't know where to begin or what to do. Sure, he had seen many people meditating but he had yet to try it himself. As he sat with his eyes closed he fiddled around with his chakra. Circulating it around and around, twisting and turning it into a nexus of swirling, pulsing energy. He didn't know if that was what you were supposed to do when meditating but he found it fun anyway. He shook his head, No! He needed to concentrate fully on building up a mindscape and nothing else. He didn’t know if that was the correct thing to think, but he didn’t know what the wrong thing to think was so he just continued with what he was doing.

In his mind he imagined himself floating in the middle of a dark void with white speckles floating around him. He then imagined a floor under his feet, then walls surrounding him and he started to build a dojo around his 'Mind self'. He continued to do this for several minutes, adding more and more detail to his mind dojo. Wooden plank floor, paper walls, several different armors and swords along the walls. This is so cool! he thought in awe. He seemed to remember a clan he had heard about called "Yamanka" and apparently they specialised in mindscapes and mind-type jutsu. Which made him ask the question, if they were to try and take over my mind would they see this? That was quite an interesting question, which would probably never be answered due to the fact that the Yamanka clan seemed to have gone extinct over the years.

Before long, Akemi was fully immersed in his mindscape, he couldn't even feel his real body now. He could feel the wooden floor of the dojo, the paper walls. It was almost like it had become an actual reality. He smiled to himself and looked around, the dojo Felt real. It had the kind of 'Worn out' feel to it. It had an aura of being used and worn out. The old smell, the creaky florrboards. He began to walk up the the walls of the dojo and picked up a sword that was hanging on it. The sword was grey with a green line going through it. He concentrated slightly and it immediately moulded into a shape of his normal bo staff. He held it in both hands and started swinging it around, dancing around the dojo's floor as he did this.

Well, enough fooling around, it was time to actually do what he came here for, to practice the 'Early Sacrifice' taijutsu technique. He replaced the staff back onto the wall and willed an opponent to appear opposite him. In a flash of light an opponent appeared. The opponent was exactly the same as Akemi, just instead of wearing Akemi's clothes it wore a martial art gi. Akemi studied his 'Opponent' for a while before settling into stance, his opponent mirroring his actions. This should be fun he thought with a chuckle. He realised that here, he was god, he was the overlord. Somehow that settled any doubts he had about fighting himself in his mindscape. It was a shame that he couldn't somehow project the mindscape onto reality,  that would be incredibly cool.

In a burst of speed the two Akemi’s charged at each other. Akemi made his opponent form a fist and attempt to punch him in the face. This, giving Akemi a good chance to practice the a-rank technique he was learning. The moment his opponent's fist reached 1ft away from Akemi's face he initiated the technique. Jumping up and forcing with all his strength downwards, making his opponent unable to move due to the sheer strength of the technique. Then as he arced around his opponent he continued to press down, keeping his opponent paralyzed with his strength. Then, as he landed he gripped onto his opponent's shoulder and used the momentum from the jump to fling him across the room.

His opponent went easily flying through the walls, landing on the outside of the dojo in a messy heap. Akemi sighed, the technique hadn't been strong at all. Techniques were supposed to make the user stronger, not make himself weaker. He hadn't been able to draw out his entire reservoir of strength for some reason and it annoyed him. Sure, since he was in his mindscape he could will himself to use his entire strength but, he wouldn't learn properly, he would have to learn how to use it in reality if he wanted it to be useful. However, training in his mindscape could never been 100% useful due to the fact that he couldn't get one hundred percent accuracy with his bodies strength or realities physics.

As he thought about this his 'opponent' got up and started charging towards Akemi again, catching him off guard. He hadn't willed it to attack him, why was it happening? Akemi realised it was probably something to do with his complete lack of control, all he had done was ordered the opponents to attack him. He hadn't specified when or how. As his opponent reached 2 meters away from Akemi, he marvelled at how amazing the human brain was. His brain was working on autopilot, making things move without his command, it was something that he had always taken for granted.

His opponent went to punch Akemi in the face again, so Akemi used the inside to outside block and quickly reduced the speed of his opponent. While this was transpiring he jumped over his opponent. Putting his hand on their shoulder to completely immobilise them while simultaneously demobilising them. As Akemi reached half way through the arc he thought of an idea to make the throw more effective and easier to perform. As he did the technique he noticed that he still wasn't as fast or strong as he could possibly be, he needed to be stronger, faster if he wanted even a little hint of protecting himself or others against whatever danger they may face.

Upon landing on the other side of his opponent, Akemi kicked his leg backwards, utisling the minor speed and strength boost from the technique, into the opponent's popliteal, causing his opponent's legs to buckle under the shear strength of Akemi's kick and making Akemi's opponent fall down onto the wooden dojo floor in a crumpled heap. He let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding. Seriously! He needed to deal with his breathing. Currently, it was a mess and it could probably make him lose a fight someday. Perhaps it was the reason he was messing up the technique now?

He made his crippled opponent disappear and willed another, healthier one, to appear opposite him, already in stance. Akemi had an idea, he wasn’t always going to be stronger or the same level as an opponent, he would need to prepare for the worst, in the event where he would be fighting someone with much more experience and power than him. While he couldn’t gift his opponent experience, he could gift his opponent power.

Suddenly, his opponent came charging at Akemi. Much faster than before and giving Akemi a very small window to act. Akemi’s opponent jumped towards him and prepared to kick Akemi in the face. This all happening a lot faster than Akemi could move. His eyes could easily keep up, but his body couldn’t. Had he made his opponent to strong? Akemi shook his head, this would be a good opportunity to become a better fighter and more strong-willed. Unable to dodge his opponent’s upper cut, Akemi went flying backwards, crashing into the wall and sending splinters flying out in all directions, a few splinters landing in his arm, causing it to bleed.

Akemi marvelled at how he didn’t feel the pain. Though not as much as the wonders of the brain usually did. He was currently filled with adrenaline and could not think straight. He stood up and faced his vastly superior opponent. Akemi knew that if this was a real fight he would be incredibly scared right now, thank the heavens that it wasn’t. Being hopeless scared Akemi for obvious reasons, he was pretty sure no one wanted to be hopeless.

His opponent charged at Akemi again. But this time, Akemi was ready. He reaslied that if he wanted to actually hit his opponent he would have to do pre-emptive moves and hope that they would hit. As his opponent made his first step, Akemi was already moving his hands and arms to hopefully block whatever attack the opponent would make. He noticed his opponent close his right hand fist and tense his bicep. This meant that his opponent would probably be making a straight punch towards Akemi’s upper torso area.

As such, he was already jumping by the time his opponent was punching towards where Akemi’s head had been before he jumped. While in the air, Akemi leaned over and grappled onto his opponent’s shoulder. Akemi was already feeling a lot stronger than normal, it seemed his repeated practice of this technique was beginning to pay off. Akemi didn’t know if it was quite bringing out his full strength and speed during the technique though. Would this be enough to immobilise his opponent? Akemi didn’t know, but he hoped.

He acred around his opponent once again, grappling onto his opponent’s shoulder as he did this. Akemi’s strength was just enough to stop his opponent from moving around. Akemi smiled, he had used this technique to overcome the strength of someone much more powerful than him. That somehow made him feel a lot more confident in his abilities. Sure, this fight was nothing but a figment of his imagination, but it served to confide in him a sense of power and confidence in himself and his abilities. Once he landed he gripped onto his opponent’s shoulder tighter and chucked the opponent across the dojo floor by spinning his body around and making the opponent fly over his shoulder.

The opponent got up and ran at Akemi again, aiming to punch him in the face. This was followed by Akemi using ‘Early Sacrifice’ Again and again and again. He continued to practice the technique for hours, slowly improving each time, much to his delight. He was becoming stronger, after learning this technique fully he figured he should probably ask someone to spar. Preferably someone who was equal or stronger than him. He couldn’t grow any stronger if he just beat on people who didn’t have as much power as him, that and it was a mean thing to do.

He practiced the technique for a few more hours in his mindscape until he was sure that he could perform it easily and use it as second nature. He realised it was probably getting extremely late in reality and when he got back to his body he would probably be extremely stiff. He closed his eyes and immediately he felt the stiffness and coldness of his real body.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked around, he was still sitting in the lotus position and he hadn’t moved from where he had started meditating from. It was incredibly dark, probably about 10-11pm and he was absolutely, positively knackered. Akemi yawned and stretched his arms above his head, sitting in the same positions for about 5 hours really made him feel tired and locked up.

He stood up and looked around for a suitable sized log to practice the technique on, he needed to make sure he could perform the technique in the real world. It was all well and good being able to perform it in his mind scape but if he was unable to perform it in the real world all that mind training would have been for naught and he would be put back to square one and the day would have been wasted. That was the last thing he wanted to happen.

After looking for a few more seconds, Akemi spotted a log, roughly the same height and width as him, this will do perfectly. He picked it up and placed it on the opposite side of the clearing to him. He then ran at it, full speed, and jumped over it. Placing his hand on the top of it while forcing down with all his strength and more, effectively immobilising most opponents he would come across. Once he landed he tightened his grip on the face of the log and twisted his body around clockwise to throw the log against a tree, smashing the log into millions of pieces, once again.

Akemi smiled and stretched, today had been a good day.

(Word Count: 4026
Claims: 20 stats and Early Sacrifice
I apologise for how badly this is written :P)

Approved (because disney)