Shoto Trains (Day 2)

Shoto woke up thanks to the sound of rain pouring down from the outside as he sat up inside his bed and stretched his tired limbs out while looking at the window and opening the blinds to see the deluge of rain coming down from the heavens just behind his glass. He sighed, watching the rain fall, having wanted to accomplish a bit of training today this put a damper in his mind as he was feeling as though going out in this weather would wind him up with an illness. He stretched again as he sighed and looped his legs out from beneath the covers as his feet hit the floor and he could feel his weight fully hit his knees as they buckled to hold him. He looked to the washer that was in the closet next to his bedroom as he went over and got his clothes out to transfer them to the dryer. He would give them a good amount of time to dry before he would use them for his day's training. While it wasn't ideal weather he was comfortable with it was still weather he could take advantage of to learn a few water style jutsus and that made him cheer up a bit.

He turned the dryer on, allowing his clothes to tumble within the dryer for a while, before he went into his bathroom and turned the shower on to prepare for yet another day and another jutsu to learn. He stepped into the shower while making certain the water was at a perfect temperature before applying soap to his body. He had had a pretty good day the day previously so he hoped that today would be able to yield essentially the same if not better results. If the latter were to happen then he'd end up being very very happy. But what water style jutsu was he going to go and learn today, he wondered? Well, since it was raining, he had heard of a jutsu that one could use to be able to turn the rain into a weapon which immediately caught his attention. It was also a jutsu one could use from a water source to create rain and cause the rain to act like itty bitty sharks that chomped at one's skin. He nodded to himself upon thinking about this jutsu as he had decided that it would indeed be the jutsu he learned along with any other jutsus he felt were worth learning.

He finished up his shower as he stepped out and dried himself off as he felt refreshed and ready to get down to business. He had the feeling that it'd be fun to stop by the arena he made yesterday in order to get his training sorted and to also be against another clone once more so that he'd get the most out of his time and effort and also because it was fun to do. He liked training by way of sparring with another and, even though it was just another variant of himself that he'd be fighting, he wouldn't have to worry about unfairness or being too weak in the fight due to the clone practically having his same strengths. He walked to the kitchen as he went to his refrigerator as he got a bowl and some milk as he poured himself a bowl of cereal as he felt that it would be the perfect amount of blandness to start his bland day. He ate while allowing his dryer more time to fully get his clothes nice, dry, and warm so that once he went outside he'd at least have some warmth and protection against the rain.

He ate his bowl of cereal quickly as he was feeling pretty hungry this morning and he was in need of food in order to get his strength up for the training session. He wasn't feeling too tired or sore from yesterday's session neither even though he was certain he was kicked and beaten through physical objects multiple times. He chalked it up for the Senju cells within him and the possible healing effects that they brought upon him as he cracked an annoying crick in his neck right after he had finished his bowl of cereal. He took his bowl to the sink, washing the milk away into the drain, as he put it into his drain and stretched his body once again as he felt that his dryer still wasn't quite yet finished with his clothes yet as he decided he'd give his body a head start in a warm up by way of calisthenics and exercise as he then got down to his hands and began to do a few push ups. He wasn't going to completely get into trying to gain strength from his push ups, that could wait until he got to the arena, but he was essentially looking to get everything good and ready for training through the process of warming up.

He proceeded to crank out his warm up push ups, his arms gaining a little bit more warmth in their muscles, as he cranked out as many as his arms were able before he felt satisfied. He pushed his body to the rhythms of his dryer as he pushed his body up and down in cadence to the clothes as they tumbled and dried for him to wear. The rain was also following it's own cadence outside, falling on his window and giving him something else to listen to, as he took in deep breaths after feeling his strength growing a little bit from his push ups. He felt more awake as he hopped back up to his feet and stretched his body out in order to work out the remaining kinks within him as he looked at the dryer and saw that his clothes had five more minutes to dry. More than enough time for Shoto to think about what he'd eat this morning. He had wanted to go out to a restaurant in order to get his food in since he didn't much feel like cooking during a rainy day but he didn't exactly know where he'd go. Perhaps a dumpling shop would have a breakfast for him.

His dryer beeped to let him know his clothes were done as he walked over and took them out in order to give them a feel. They felt nice, clean, and warm as he smiled and pulled on his shirt and pants while experiencing the fuzzy and warm feeling he got when putting on freshly dried clothes. After doing that he decided he would indeed go to a coffee shop that morning in order to get everything straightened out with his stomach and the dormant hunger within it. He thus walked to his door while grabbing his keys from the nearby counter and exited his house while locking the door behind him. Today was going to be a very rough day of training for the Senju and he was going to make certain he'd make the most of it. He looked at the falling rain, the rain drops falling from the rook hanging overhead, as he took a moment to take in the serenity of it all. Afterwards he looked down the road to see people under umbrellas walking along the streets and doing early bird shopping as he decided to hop down and follow a couple into a local breakfast restaurant.

He walked into the place and ordered himself a considerably large breakfast to start the day with. He had the plan that whatever he didn't end up eating he'd save for lunch later while on the field. He thus went about filling himself up for the morning as he felt his energy rise from the delicious and well made food. He ate while having a good view of what was going on outside as he could see drop after drop of rain fall upon the ground and he smiled as he felt calm while watching the rain as he ate. He finished up his main courses and felt full afterwards so he ordered a take out box as he shifted the remainder of his large meal into the provided box. He left a tip as his table after going up to the counter and paying the necessary ryo needed to fully pay off for the meal. He thanked them and left the store as he put the box into a protective bag and walked along the road to the village gates.

He walked past the large imposing wood doors of the village as he made his way into the middle of the woods, retracing his steps to where he had left the arena that he had made for his training, before stumbling along the large walls of his handmade arena as he couldn't help but feel in awe at his own custom creation. He had grown stronger than he originally thought but still felt that there was a lot left to learn. He placed a palm along a portion of his wall as he focused his chakra into his palm and the chakra spread to force a doorway into the arena for him to walk through. He walked into the arena to still see his custom made trees zigzagging all over the field thanks to him and his clone. He noticed that leaves had slowly grown along the many branches and they were shielding the field somewhat from the pouring rain. He nodded to this as he felt he wouldn't get as wet nor as sick as he thought that he would. He went over to one of his trees and laid his lunch down at the base as he began to stretch his legs to ready himself for the impending training.

He focused his chakra throughout his body and into the trees surrounding him as he brought his hands up and clapped them together in order to regulate the flow of chakra better. He began forming the seals of Tiger, Dog, and Snake as he watched as the wood of a nearby tree morphed it's way out towards the ground forming in the shape of a body as the wood once more began to replace it's bark with cloth and flesh. Before long he was looking at a perfect copy of himself once more and he nodded to his clone as the clone nodded back before looking around and up at the rain. Shoto shrugged, knowing the clone thought of the rain as a hindrance same as he did, as they both took deep breaths and slowly brought their hands up to clap their hands together and gather their chakras up. Shoto closed his eyes as he felt the slow rain drops falling upon him from the leaves while thinking up the seals necessary in order to use the jutsu that he had in mind. Now that he thought about it these were the perfect conditions for such a jutsu as he began to form the seals.

As fast as he could he formed the Ram and Clone seals before his clone followed suit with just the Ram seal and charged at Shoto full speed. He had to hurry before he was hit with whatever the clone had in store for him as he formed Dog, Ram, Rat, Ram, Clone, Dog, Ram, Rat, and Ram in quick succession. He focused his chakra into the surrounding rain before smirking at himself just as the clone was coming up on him, wood branches beginning to form out of it's arm as Shoto didn't recognize the technique as one of his own, before closing his eyes to concentrate. "Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Rain Jutsu!" He felt the jutsu work as he opened his eyes back up once more and jumped to the side just as the clone swung a very sharp looking branch at his face. He looked up to see the rain transforming as his heightened senses could see tiny sharks made of water falling upon the two as he smiled wide at his accomplishment. Things were going to get fun as his hair and tattoo changed colors and his clone looked upon him ready to go.

Shoto brought up his hands and formed the ram seal before focusing his chakra into specific points of his right arm before sharp wooden branches began to sprout out of his arm and covered along his limb in a protective manner. The clone watched this with his kunai out as the two once more charged forth towards each other and clashed, blade to wood, before bringing a foot around and kicking his clone in the stomach and causing him to fly into one of the nearby large tree trunks of his wood jutsu. After he aimed his arm and fired a branch out after his clone and the clone flipped over the branch as the branch hit the trunk uselessly. The clone looked up to feel the sharks coming down upon him as it fell backwards and his feet caught the underside of the trunk and glued themselves to the wood to keep him from falling. Shoto watched as his shark rain drops hit the wood and dispersed harmlessly while the clone watched him with his kunai at the ready and waited for the rain to turn to normal once more.

Shoto cursed to himself as he got to his feet and prepared for a continuation of his battle with his clone as he reached over to one of the branches that was extending itself out of his arm before snapping it off and hold it in hand as though it was a sword. He got into a stance as he waved to his clone to come and get him as his clone chuckled and hopped from the underside of the trunk after him. Shoto caught the kunai that the clone still held with his branch sword as the sharpness proved to be level with it before he kicked his clone away from him and charged after him with sword held high and ready to draw blood. His clone caught the ground with it's feet before hopping back to meet his original and hopped over him as Shoto passed from underneath the hop. This surprised him as he felt the clone kick his back and drive him into the mud as Shoto coughed and tried to roll out of the way of the clone's foot descending on his face. He managed to get away a bit from his clone before hopping back to his feet and glaring at him with sword at the ready.

He sighed a heavy sigh as he panted from the tiredness he had been suffering through due to their fight with each other. He kept his grip upon his wooden sword in hand as he got up to his feet and charged at the clone once more before the two's swords clashed together and sparks flew. For the next few minutes the two went at each other's throats with their swords, each trying to gain the upper hand against one another without any luck, as their swords collided over and over and over again. Shoto couldn't believe how strong his clone was as he continued to keep himself from becoming too tired in the face of his training. He wanted to make certain that he and his clone were going to be able to keep things up all night long. He thought this with a smirk as the two's swords clashed once more and they wound up glaring into one another's eyes. They would stand in the middle of Shoto's makeshift field, trees surrounding the two, as he would look for whatever he could use in order to gain the advantage.

Shoto jumped back from the clash, his sword raised and ready, before the clone decided to jump away from Shoto up into the air as the clone placed the wooden sword into the nook of his pants before forming a snake seal and landing on top of a tree trunk. With the seal established the trunks suddenly began to move once more as they began to grow and snake their way toward Shoto before Shoto jumped into the air himself and thought about what next to do with conditions as bad as they were. He landed on top of one of the snaking tree trunks as he began to move his feet as quickly as he was able and he ran along the long wooden trunk towards his clone. The clone smiled and was ready for what was to come as he kept the snake seal formed so that he could have more trunks snake their way around the field. One such trunk snaked it's way in between him and Shoto just as the original had his sword raised high to strike when he instead his a forming tree.

Upon hitting the tree Shoto was forced back from his trajectory as she tried to slide underneath the tree with his sword in order to keep his path with the clone. The clone saw this as another trunk snaked around and was able to catch Shoto from the side as Shoto winced and was thrown by the branch off his beaten path. He found himself falling as he righted his body and was able to land on a trunk as he looked up to the clone while rubbing the side of his body that had been hit. He was smiling, though, as he was still having a great time with his training as he looked at his makeshift sword and he placed it in the loop of his belt lining on his jeans. He thought about what to do next as he wanted to try hand to hand combat now as he cracked his knuckles and got low on his trunk in order to prepare himself for a jump. Once he had set the proper next course of action he thus hopped off of his corresponding branch with his aim going toward the clone.

The clone saw him coming, this time without a sword in hand, as he took that to mean Shoto wanted to fight hand to hand this time. The clone was more than happy to accommodate as the clone dropped it's hands and fell off his branch in order to meet Shoto halfway. The two clashed by using their forearms as they each hit with enough force to cause a small shockwave to surround them as Shoto launched himself from the clone back down to the ground as the clone followed and landed beside him. The two then engaged in close quarter combat as the two landed punches and kicks on each other in quick succession, always either ducking out of the way or blocking at the last minute each other's blows, as each of them tried to gain the upper hand against each other without success. Shoto landed some good punches along his clone's body in some areas but was seemingly thwarted at every turn when he tried to get in a good face hit. It wasn't long before his clone took advantage of that as he directed a smart kick to Shoto's sternum and caused him to tumble back, tumbling and rolling along the ground, as he had to flip back onto his feet.

Immediately his clone was upon him, ready to land yet another blow to his face, as Shoto was prepared and caught the punch in the nick of time. He smirked as he caught it and delivered an uppercut upon the clone to cause him to fly back away from him. He then took in a deep breath and drew his sword once again as the clone caught himself and drew his as well. The two met in the center of the field, their swords clashing, as the two began to seemingly dance around each other and trying to catch each other off guard from behind or from the side. Shoto's mind was entirely on the fight the entire time, his reflexes seemingly growing sharper and stronger as he was able to keep up with the clone at every turn and catch his sword with his own. He thus would often retaliate with a kick to the clone's gut and cause him to fall back away from him as Shoto then came up with the idea himself as he hopped back and hid behind one of his home made trees.

Shoto then took in a deep breath as he cracked his knuckles and thought of what next to do as he then got an idea. Using his Hiding Like a Mole technique his body soon sank into the ground just as the clone was coming around to look and see if he was still there. Shoto would hide there, allowing himself a chance to catch his breath, as he watched the clone from above. He was lucky he didn't know chakra sensory just yet as his clone looked around and tried to find his opponent without success. Shoto remained before ground as he used his chakra to move away beneath the rock and dirt as he made his way along the earth to a place beneath ground. He would watch the clone from a distance while keeping himself from using too much of his remaining chakra as he thought about what all plans he made inside his head that would work and what wouldn't work. He was drawing blanks due to the fact that he was facing something that knew everything that he did and he didn't quite know how he could go about getting around his clone's moves.

He smirked as he watched his clone search around the arena for him in confusion as he continued to rest below ground in order to give his stamina a bit more of a rest. He looked up and saw the rain still pouring down over the field as the water seeped it's way into the ground where he waited for his stamina to return to him. He smirked as he felt his strength slowly returning into his body while he felt it was almost time for him to make yet another move against his clone. He took a deep breath as he started to utilize his chakra in a way that forced himself even faster throughout the ground he stayed in. He wound up reappearing right behind another tree as he could see his clone from afar still looking for him. He thus kept his back to the tree as he controlled his breathing before looking around the corner of the tree in order to have another look at the clone and struck his hands together in order to form the snake seal.

Shoto thus gathered his chakra and made the trees around him begin to move as he made all the trees sink back into the ground from where he and the clone had made them as the entire field began to clear itself of all traces of wood. The clone looked around upon seeing this and was unsure of where Shoto was in order to be doing this as the clone began to run around the field in search of Shoto. Seeing this Shoto continued to keep his hands together and his chakra focused for as long as he was able as he looked to see the clone closing in on his position. He chuckled as he was able to get every last piece of wood down as the field was now bare for him to maneuver around as he hopped out of the way of a punch his clone was about to deliver to his wide open face and he looked down to his clone with fearless determination. He took out his wood sword once more, getting into a stance as soon as he landed a few meters away from his clone, and stared his clone down just as the clone got it's wooden sword as well.

The two would run in circles around the arena, their swords having dings and cracks within them and ready for more abuse, as Shoto then ran towards his clone as the clone caught on and thus turned to run towards Shoto as well. The rain was getting inside Shoto's eyes as he tried to blink the water out of his irises as he caught the clone square in the gut with his fist before twirling around and tossing the clone through the air in order to get him away and in a predicament that he couldn't avoid. Shoto then jumped after him as he twirled his sword around and caught the clone's own sword with his own as he thus used the momentum in order to get himself some leverage. He twirled his body around in order to appear behind his clone as he twirled his foot around and caught the center of the clone's back. With his strength he was able to force the clone to suddenly fly back towards the ground at such a speed the clone would have a hard time in catching himself from hurting too much. The clone sheathed his blade quickly as he brought his hands down and caught himself just in the nick of time as Shoto could see his arms shake.

Shoto thus smirked as he then directed his body into a line straight down towards the clone as he brought his sword around ready to deal a killing blow. The clone was dazed as he looked up just in time to see what was coming as he slammed his hand into the ground and forced himself away from the strike. Shoto looked to see his clone tumbling away along the ground as he was impressed by the fortitude the clone was showing as he quickly got his sword out of the ground and started chasing him. The clone flipped over onto it's feet as it then unsheathed it's sword and caught Shoto's sword once more. Shoto and his clone was then surprised to see their swords finally shatter, the pieces flying everywhere, as Shoto hopped back and tossed the remains of his sword aside. He didn't know what he was going to go for now. He had tried everything but he knew there was really only one way to settle things: Hand to hand slugfest.

The two charged forth and caught each other's attacks as they began to quickly hit each other in different areas in order to gain the advantage. The clone apparently hadn't given up on his sword as he used it as a kunai with what was left of it as Shoto had to duck, bob, and weave in order to keep out of the way of it. He thus caught the clone's arm, grabbing it by the wrist, as he then twisted his way behind the clone and forced his arm behind his back. He then slammed his clone down to the ground as he wrenched the remains of the sword out of the clone's hand, twirled it in his own until the blade was pointed at the clone, and drove the knife down to the clone's face. The clone had just enough space to move his head out of the way before bringing it's free arm up to elbow Shoto in the side a few times before gathering the strength to push him off and flip over onto it's feet. Shoto hopped back and kept his distance from the clone as the clone decided to give up on the knife that was it's sword and would indeed face Shoto with only it's fists.

Shoto and his clone then went after each other again, this time with only fists raised, as the two began to punch at each other with all their strength packed in each blow. Shoto didn't stand there waiting to be hit, though, as he would often duck in order to try and punch his clone right afterwards or kick him when his guard was down. The clone responded by following his same motions and ideas by ducking and jumping out of the way only to have Shoto follow him with fists clenched and strength up. The two of them would lay it all down on that field in the next few crucial minutes as the two battled it out in the rain with everything that they had. Shoto could feel new strength flowing within him thanks to his training as the two were continuously trying to gain the upper hand over each other as Shoto wasn't having it and would constantly punch the clone everywhere he could reach. The clone was starting to take a toll thanks to this as his movements slowed and his breathing weakened as he couldn't throw as many punches anymore.

Shoto would take this as a sign to throw one last final blow that could beat his clone finally so that he may go home. He threw his hands together and formed the Ram seal as he punch the clone away from the gut as he began to focus his chakra into his right arm. While the clone was disoriented he ran up to the clone and delivered one last punch to the gut and held his fist close to the clone's stomach. The next moment he allowed the chakra he put into his clone to explode as sharp branches suddenly formed over his arm once more and stabbed the clone straight through it's stomach, heart, and lungs. The blow was a fatal one as the clone looked stunned though smiled as it's entire body returned to a more wooden look once more and Shoto knew that he had finally come out the victor of this battle. He quickly pulled back his arm, branches snapping off of him in order to remain stuck in what was once the clone, as he laid out on the ground in order to take in some much deserved breaths as he had spent all of his stamina just to do that.

Shoto laid splayed on the ground, rain constantly pouring on top of him, as he slowly tried to get himself up off the ground out of the mud that had formed due to the heavy downpour of rain. He got on his feet shakily as he could feel the ground seemingly shake beneath his soles as he fell onto his knees due to how dizzy he was. He didn't understand why he was suddenly so dizzy when not a moment ago he was battle ready on the verge of only needing a knee for support. He did not expect to need a crutch in order to get out of there. He thus tried his best in order to form three seals as he used the remainder of his chakra in order to form a clone from the remains of his wooden sword. Out of the woodwork of said sword a trunk began to form from it that increased in size and formed itself into the form of himself as the wooden bark was turned into skin and he watched as the clone he had made took form and moved to him to offer a helping hand. Shoto took it as the clone got him up to his feet and placed Shoto's arm around his shoulder as he guided him off the field of the arena.

The two walked into the forest as they slowly made their way through the multiple trees of the forest along the road in order to reach the gate of the village as soon as he could in order to make it to his home and into a nice shower and finally his bed. The rain continued to pour relentlessly on the two of them as Shoto took in deep breaths and only continued to take step after step after step as he couldn't believe how tired he was beginning to feel. He looked up ahead of him as he saw the gates of the village and took in deep breaths in order to keep himself from falling in his clones arms as he looked up and wished that the rain would stop for once. The two finally made it to the gates as his clone guided him down the streets of the village as the two of them continued their way down to his home on the darker side of the village. He was absolutely elated to see his house finally as his clone guided him to the door and he got out his key.

The clone decided to unlock it for him as he reached into his own pocket, being a clone his items such as keys were also cloned perfectly, as he pulled out the key and put it into the lock. He opened the door and helped Shoto inside as Shoto used his door in order to keep himself up as he leaned on the wall in order to give himself a little breathing room before waving to his clone in thanks and the clone left him in order to turn back into wood somewhere else. In the meantime Shoto made his way to the bathroom as he immediately turned the shower on and tried to get some heat in so that he'd have less of a chance in becoming sick when he woke up in the morning. He used his hand to test the water as the water slowly turned from cold to hot as he took off his sopping wet clothes and shakily stepped into the shower as he began to wash himself and scrub everything in order to get himself back in at least a better state.

He instantly began to feel better as soap was scrubbed around his body as he could feel the mud slowly washing off of him and the sweat that had formed in his hair also began to clean thanks to the shampoo he used within. He washed up as thoughts about how sore he was going to be when he woke up in the morning flooded into his brain as he wasn't looking forward to opening his eyes once he got as much rest as he needed in. He thought about what he could do in order to get stuff done even though he'll be sore as he could already feel his muscles beginning to lock up and make his movements more slow. He kept his hands moving, though, as he felt the suds of his soap coming from the rag he used wash all along his body before he felt that he was clean enough as he shut the water off and quickly began to dry as much of his body as he could as he stepped out and felt he needed to get in the bed quickly before he passed out.

He dried the rest of his body off quickly as he rubbed his feet and legs with the towel before walking into his bedroom to his wardrobe and putting on his nightwear as he drew the covers back and collapsed into the bed as he drew the covers over his body slowly before laying still under his covers and staring up to the ceiling in order to let sleep come to him. He took in deep breaths as he tried to keep his mind on positive things as he was feeling more and more of his body locking up as he took in more and more deep breaths in order to accommodate as he could finally feel himself slowly losing consciousness as he closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall asleep. His brain began to focus on thoughts on what to do tomorrow if he was indeed in a position to be unable to train. He would think of something, of course, and hopefully whatever dreams he had during the night would be just the right amount of inspiration.

{Exit}

(WC 6,006)

(Claims: 30 stats, Wood Release Cutting, and mastery of Wood Release Cutting to where I can perform it without the need of forming any seals)

Approved