Ongoing Effort (Solo Training)

Yanoda woke up to the sun in his eyes. He lay sprawled out in the grass, the setting sun sending shooting pain into his eyes as they snapped open. Reflexively, he threw an arm up over his eyes to shield them. "Buh?" he mumbled in response. Yanoda never really had gotten the hang of waking up. Sleeping he was an old pro at, but waking up was a skill all of its own, and tough to master. Once he had mustered the courage to look again, Yanoda sleepily peered around. The gears in his head slowly began turning, and he realized where he was. "Oh! The training field! Right." Yanoda staggered to his feet and stretched while he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Must've dozed off, the sun's almost down. he thought to himself, considering his next move. Well, I better finish training then, or I'm gonna be late. Again. He proceeded to brush the grass from his clothes, and looked over to the log he had used for target practice earlier in the day. "Well, I've already done physical training. Time for chakra training. He had been taught the basics of chakra molding, and knew the hand-signs for some basic jutsu, but he hadn't yet been successful in producing any real results. Yanoda was convinced that the way to proceed was to practice constantly until he figured it out.

[WC:232] [To Be Cont'd]

Yanoda formed a half-sign with one hand and closed his eyes, picturing his body as a vessel filled with still water. Concentrating, he visualized the water beginning to swirl and mix. It formed a rapid whirlpool that jostled and rocked the vessel, threatening to spill over. Intensifying his focus, Yanoda fought to contain the wild, spinning rapids and concentrate them into something useful. Slowly, he wrestled the swirling mass of chakra within him into submission, until... Now! he thought, leaping into action with a series of hand-signs. Ram, snake, tiger, then a puff of smoke... and nothing else. Yanoda stood alone, hands on his knees and breathing hard. "Dammit! All that work and not even a clone to show for it. What am I doing wrong?" He kicked his target-practice log in frustration, then sat down on it, thinking.

It couldn't have been my hand signs, I've been practicing them all month... could it be my chakra control? I thought I had the hang of it, but maybe I'm not doing it right. Augh, this would be so much easier if a teacher was around... but I've got to figure this out by myself if I'm ever going to be strong enough to protect my family. Let's try something different... Yanoda stood up and assumed his half-sign pose once again, closing his eyes and turning inward. He visualized the whirlpool again, swirling and frothing, and considered what to do. Keeping it from spilling over isn't good enough. I'm not wasting any chakra, but I'm not getting enough power. Maybe if I... Yanoda's internal debate was derailed by an epiphany, and he began to focus on his chakra in a new way. He imagined the whirlpool shrinking, turning into a spinning pillar of water. He concentrated his chakra into a single point, fighting to keep it contained. Then, when he felt like he had concentrated enough power, his eyes snapped open and he swiftly repeated his hand signs. A puff of smoke issued forth, and there stood a completed clone! Well, sort of. Yanoda looked closely at the clone he had created, and realized it wasn't quite up to regulation standards. It was pale, almost so pale as to be colorless. And when he looked a little closer, he could even sort of see the trees on the other side of the clone. It was transparent!

"Well... it's progress, at least."

[WC:400] [To Be Cont'd]

Yanoda sat in the grass and pondered the results of his training so far. His physical conditioning was fine. He had been making great progress in his taijutsu training lately, as well. Weapon practice was nearly second nature by now. But he just couldn't get good results with his ninjutsu training, no matter how much he practiced. Maybe he just wasn't cut out for it?

No, being a pessimist isn't going to help me here. But, he was clearly doing something wrong. He had spent hours and hours memorizing hand-signs and molding chakra. He had even made some progress in that department today, but... "It's too damn slow! I'm gonna be a thousand years old by the time I graduate at this rate!" He just couldn't figure out what he was doing wrong. Everybody else seemed to be making good progress, too. What were they doing that he wasn't? Yanoda was certain he had spent more hours out here training than anyone. Wait...

It was so obvious, in hindsight. He trained all the time, but he hadn't taken a single damn minute to sit down in the library and study. His old nemesis reared its ugly head once again. Of course he didn't have the method down right, molding chakra is a complicated business. "And I've been trying to figure it out by trial and error! Like an idiot! Arrgh..." Yanoda lay down in the grass and stared up at the darkened sky with a look of pure irritation on his face. Having to actually go down to the academy library and pore over scrolls to figure out what he was doing wrong was the worst possible outcome, but... well, desperate times call for desperate measures. It was time to go read.

... Tomorrow, though.

[WC: 294] [Thread WC: 926] [Thread Gains: Clone Jutsu, 4 Stats] [Finished]

Heyo Yanoda. You can go ahead and claim 4 stats along with the Clone Jutsu, as WC used for Jutsu can still be used to claim stats. Just reply when you've edited the claim and I'll approve ^_^

Ah cool, wasn't aware of that. Edited.

Approved