Training in the sunshine

Higuto walked along the road to the training field as he thought about what to do for the day. He'd been feeling a little lackluster in knowing jutsu he felt were necessary for all ninja to know if ever in a tight jam. He had learned that there were ways a ninja could escape easily if tied down with rope and also ways of escaping an enemy's genjutsu which he felt was a necessary thing to learn. For starters he felt it best to learn the rope escape technique first before going for the genjutsu release. He had brought with him a sturdy rope that would work perfectly for the situation.

"Alright. I think my insects will work perfectly for this." Higuto walked over to a bench and sat down as he tied his hands behind his back. He then allowed his insects to crawl out of his skin as they took hold of the rope and began to tie it around his wrists. He kept still as they worked while remembering what he had to do in order to untie himself. From what he'd learned he could direct strands of his chakra to grab onto the rope and direct it however he pleased like a puppet on strings. His insects finished as he struggled with the rope and found it was nice and tight. As his insects crawled back inside he closed his eyes as he directed his chakra into the tips of his fingers. Surely he'd be able to do this in no time with his excellent chakra control. He found himself wrong almost instantly.

While he could control insects easily controlling his chakra like puppet strings was very difficult. With nearly every twitch of his fingers he made the rope tighter or would cause it to go in different directions entirely. He guided the rope in many different ways while trying to think of the right way to go. He used his brain as he built up his concentration. Every time he felt the rope get tighter he'd guide it the opposite direction until he felt the rope loosen. He was learning from his mistakes and that caused him to adapt and cause the rope to loosen more. It wasn't long before he felt the rope fall off his wrists as he could move his arms around once more as he was free again from his ropey prison.

"Well that was tougher than I expected. But I believe I now know how to get out of a jam if I'm ever caught in this way." He stood up and put the rope on the bench as he inhaled deeply before exhaling as he knew he was about to run into a true test of his control. Genjutsu was never his strong suit but he knew there were those who knew how to utilize Genjutsu and he needed a way to be able to combat such uses. He shook his hands as he cracked his knuckles and thought of the best way to practice. He had read that the best way to release yourself from a Genjutsu trance was to halt ones chakra flow as the Genjutsu got it's strength from the chakra of the victim.
He sighed heavily once again as he brought his hands up to form the tiger seal as he concentrated his chakra. He slowly put control over his stream of chakra as it slowed itself inside him. He kept his concentration while keeping his chakra from growing or spreading as he felt himself grow calmer from the fact that the chakra within him wasn't running and raging as it usually was. He smiled as he felt the flow completely halt itself as he opened his eyes. "Release." He felt his chakra suddenly fluff out from within him as he felt the jutsu work even though he wasn't in any Genjutsu. He could tell that if he was caught in a Genjutsu he'd have been able to escape.

The thing was when it came to Genjutsu he'd need to first know he was in a Genjutsu. Genjutsu was indeed a weapon that was convincing after all and was known to create really convincing illusions. He nodded as he knew he had learned a new jutsu along with the rope escape technique and stretched as he felt a little winded from the concentration of his chakra. Now he felt it was time to learn a third jutsu. One that would be used to his advantage as a weapon if ever he was in a place nearby water. "It's time to learn my first water style technique. From what I hear it's a really good one."

He took off his jacket as he laid it down on the bench and prepared his body for the long training ahead. He knew it would be a very difficult jutsu to pull off and that he may be there all day in order to learn it. He walked out to the running river that flowed through the field as he looked at his reflection. He knelt beside it as he cupped a bit of water into his hand and splashed it into his face to get cooled down. He hopped back up as he hopped in place and stretched his legs while warming his muscles and body up. He got down and did a few pushups as he heard the wind rustling and the birds chirping to the beautiful sunny day. After feeling he was warmed up to the fullest he got back to his feet as he took in a deep breath and let it out one last time before bringing his hands up to form the tiger seal once more.
He directed his chakra to flow down into his feet as he stepped out into the river and walked along the surface out into the middle. He looked around as he felt he was in the perfect spot of the river to practice as he chuckled at the fact that he was walking on water. It was kind of cool to be honest that he could do something like this easily. After reveling in his skill he focused on the task at hand while closing his eyes. Once more he slowly brought his hands together as he formed the tiger seal once again. He allowed his chakra to flow and surge inside him as the water of the river began to flow up and encircle him slowly as he brought one of his hands up and held it in the air in a half tiger seal while keeping his other hand down to his chest. "Ok... Time to see what I got." The water forming around him began to slowly steam up as the water from the river began to form a soft mist which slowly circled around him and thickened until he could barely be seen.

"Ninja art... Hidden Mist Jutsu." The mist around him started to slowly widen out away from him as the river began to slowly form a mist as well. The mist branched out and gathered range as Higuto remained in the middle and kept control of his chakra flow in order to keep the mist from evaporating too quickly. The mist began to increase in density as it fogged up and kept decreasing visibility for even Higuto. Soon a large portion of the river and the air around it was covered in a dense fog as Higuto maintained control and opened his eyes. The mist he had summoned from the river was denser than he'd imagined it'd be as he took steps forward. He kept one of his hands up in a half tiger seal as he continued to maintain the fog and concentrated on making it even bigger and spread wider out. He brought his other hand to complete the tiger seal as he focused and his chakra branched out even further and caused the mist to therefore extend it's reach further. He had heard that the jutsu could fool even those with Sharingan as the mist was linked to the users chakra and expanded and shrank to their command. Therefore since the Uchiha saw chakra in colors than the mist could be seen as colors and keep him hidden.

He smiled as he felt invisible and knew he could be able to get the drop on unsuspecting enemies if he ever needed to. The annoying thing was that he'd need to be near bodies of water in order to be able to use it unless he wanted to try and master it. If he did then he'd be able to form the mist from just the moisture in the air! He'd have access to the mist technique anytime he liked but felt that, for now, the best thing to do was to just learn the technique. He felt his control waver a bit as he was lost in thought and refocused his efforts in order to keep the mist forming and expanding. Soon he had the whole field covered in the mist as he hopped out of the river and was back on land once more. "Water style is really useful. I need to get to know more jutsu one day. Hopefully I can learn the water dragon soon but that jutsu I hear is really difficult to pull off with it's many hand seals. Oh well... one thing at a time, Higuto."

He kept the fog expanding and growing as it extended it's reach beyond the trees of the field until he finally was covering over 50 meters of his area. He felt he couldn't expand the mist any further as he sighed and brought his hand down as he kept the half tiger seal up to keep a grip at his chakra flow and therefore the mist. Before long he felt he had good control over the mist before dropping his hand and began to traverse through the thick fog. He allowed his chakra to keep flowing as he walked and looked around to see if he could see anything before he ran into it. He kept his senses sharp and his breathing steady before he nodded satisfied and allowing his chakra to relax as the mist slowly began to dissipate. "Well, all in all, I think I've made good progress. Hopefully this jutsu doesn't curse me since even I couldn't see through it. Maybe with more control I don't have to make it so dense." He relaxed and waited for the mist to clear as he looked up and could see the sky through it all.

He felt the mist clear up just enough for him to walk once more safely as he went to the bench and sat down next to his jacket. He stretched his arms as he chuckled and rested on the bench for a few minutes. He watched as the mist fully dissipated allowing the sun to fully hit the field once more as the heat began to rise once more. He watched the river as it flowed freely through the field and wondered if the village would ever once more be at peace with the world like the river. He knew it'd take a lot of effort to one day bring that life back into the village and that he would be one of the ones who would help breathe that life.

With his will of fire and constant training he'd one day take his place amongst even the strongest ninja and be able to defend the village as well as the world. He smiled and jumped back up to his feet as he picked his jacket up and walked towards the exit once more as he took a look back to the river as it glistened from the sunlight. Satisfied at the progress he made for the day and the new jutsu he held under his belt he exited off the field and walked back towards the village as he pondered more into what kind of future he was in store for.

(WC 2,012)

(Objective: Claiming 10 stat points as well as the Rope Escape Technique, Genjutsu Release, and the Hidden Mist Technique)

*hits you with an Approved-stamp*