Final Preparations [Nobuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu]

The rule of two:

The sun had begun to rise over the mountainous regions of the Kumo border, but Ryu still slept. It was around half four in the morning and Taco had decided it was time for Ryu to wake up. Ryu's eyes slowly opened as he felt a cold wet feeling on his hand, Taco was licking his hand that was hanging off the edge of the bed. "No boy, it's not time to get up yet" Ryu had spent the previous two days awake, running two different missions (one which had some serious repercussions to it), as well as a night of training. He rolled over and attempted to get back to sleep, but Taco launched himself onto the bed and nuzzled at Ryu, attempting to make him move, "Fine, let's get to it" Ryu said as he removed the covers and exited his happy place. Ryu removed his sleeping clothes and headed into the shower, he stood there contemplating getting back into bed, but after a few minutes continued to wash. Ryu exited the shower after 10 minutes and wrapped himself in a towel, he then began to brush his teeth in the mirror.

Ryu exited the bathroom with his towel and was allowing the air to dry him as he began to get dressed. Ryu moved over to his chest of draws that sat at the bottom of his bed, he opened the top draw and picked out 4 rolls of compression bandages and a pair of hand wraps. Ryu moved over to the bed and sat on one edge, Ryu then began to wrap his hands and arms. Firstly he unspoiled a compression bandage in its entirety. Ryu wrapped a bandage around his hand and up to his arm until it was connected together and held in place halfway up his bicep. Next Ryu wrapped his feet in a similar fashion. First, he wound the wraps around each of his toes and up his foot, covering every inch of skin. He wound the bandage around his ankles and up his calf and over the knee. As the bandage ran out of spoil he clasped it together with the velcro parts halfway up his thigh. Ryu then completed this exactly the same again on his other leg. Ryu then flexed each leg, foot, and toe until he was happy with the wrap.

Ryu then selected a pair of black shorts from his chest of draws at the bottom of his bed and pulled them up over his legs and secured the button around his waist. The shorts had a green camo pattern on them and covered from his waist to just below the knees, they had a pocket on each side as well as two on the back. Around the waist, there were loopholes for a belt. Ryu then selected a belt that hung in his wardrobe that had a loophole hanging off of it for his family katana. He wound the belt through each of the loopholes on his shorts and connected it together at the front, tight enough to keep his shorts from moving in any situation, but not so tight that he could feel it as he moved.

Ryu then selected a plain, dark grey t-shirt from the wardrobe and pulled it over his head until it settled just below his waistline. Now that his clothes were on Ryu moved to wrap his hands in actual hand wraps. Firstly Ryu held his hand out with his thumb and fingers spread out, he looped the thumb hold over his extended thumb and then began to wind the bandage across the front of his palm and then around the bottom of his hand and over his knuckles, he then wrapped his knuckles twice more. Ryu then continued to wrap his hand by moving the bandage to his wrist and continued the wrapping motion until his wrist had been wrapped three times. Next Ryu layered the bandage up slightly moving closer to his knuckles each rotation until he wrapped his knuckles another three times, his entire hand now covered by the bandage, with very little skin exposed except above the upper knuckles of the fingers, to complete the wrap Ryu wound the bandage around his wrist until it was at the end of its spoil, he then secured the velcro fastening together to hold it in place, Ryu then continued to wrap his other hand and arm the same. Ryu pounded his fists together several times to test the wrap, it appeared to be sufficiently compressed. Ryu then moved over to a standing punchbag he had in the corner of his room and began to warm up on it, he started with a few reps each of a jab, straight, uppercuts and hooks. Then moving on to the combination of the previous strikes. Once he was happy with the hand wraps he moved back over to his bedside table and picked up his plain, silver neck chain that held his ring with his clan symbol emblazoned on it. Finally, Ryu selected his village headband and wrapped it around his forehead, and secured it tightly at the back.

Ryu then moved through his house until he found himself in the dojo, where his weapons were secured in a trunk. Ryu entered the three-digit combination into the padlock and unclicked it, removing it from the latch and putting it on the ground beside him. Ryu opened the top and allowed it to rest on its hinges. Ryu selected his weapon pouch from one of the sections of the trunk and opened it up. He then selected half of his kunai and shuriken and checked each blade and edge carefully before securing them in one of the weapon pouch sections. Next, he unspoiled his ninja wire and checked the tensile strength it and then spoil it back up and placed it inside the weapon pouch. He then selected his paper bombs, ration pills, and makibishi spikes and checked them before placing them in their usual place within the weapon pouch. Ryu then selected the rest of his kunai and shuriken, once again checking their condition, one he had checked them all he put the other half into a weapon holster and he stood up and secured this around his left leg, at the thigh. Ryu then secured the weapon pouch to the back of his hip on the right, so that if needed he could select any of the tools within at ease. Finally, Ryu selected his leather cross harness that allowed his tanto to be securely placed in secret on his back. He looped them over each arm and then picked the blades up from the trunk, once again checking their condition and then sheathing them on his back holsters. Ryu would normally wear a jacket over the top of them so they remained hidden and he could draw them at ease, but today it was very hot and he was heading into the security of the village to train, so he felt that it was not as necessary as when he was no missions.

Ryu made his way over to the weapon stand that was at the back of the dojo, it held a picture of his master and a small shrine dedicated to him, next to that there was a weapon stand that held his family katana. Ryu picked up the scabbard and slowly drew the blade from within, once it was out he held it in front of his face and closed his eyes. Picturing his master form as he swung the blade Ryu smiled, the few memories he had of the man in action inspired him daily. Ryu snapped his eyes opened and sheathed the blade, he then secured the tie around the scabbard to the loophole on his belt. Once again Ryu probably would not need this blade for protection today, but he did want to further his training with it, the exams were coming up fast now, there would not be many more days of training before their group would have to leave. Ryu moved over to the front porch of the house and secured his footwear, he petted Taco for a final time that morning and then made his way off to the village "Maximum Effort" he said out loud to the dog as they parted ways.

After a short travel, which Ryu used to warm up on the way he arrived at the village gates and chatted for a few minutes with the chuunin who were on guard duty. The feeling of unease he had the previous few times in the village due to the protests and the events that transpired afterward had passed. The village was bustling and the business was open again. Ryu stopped at a hole-in-the-wall breakfast bar on the way and picked up a protein pot and a sports drink. After he finished the light breakfast Ryu made his way to the training ground and began to warm up. 

Ryu sat on the ground and began working his various muscles group, stretching each one and warming up ready for the coming training session. "I need to work on some Earth jutsu today, maybe I should have stopped by the Thunderpeak Campus on the way and done some research" Ryu said to himself as he finished stretching and jumped back to his feet, continuing the warm-up motions.

WC: 1567

Work. Work never changes.

No sooner than he took up the mantle of the Raikage, the redhead found himself swamped by the workload. Not only that, he had to catch up on the literature of the world, lest he show up at the World Chunnin Exam without a lick of understanding of what the recent history of the countries was. That meant he was working almost around the clock, not by himself, but sidelined by two clones, at all times. The past week had, to no one’s surprise, felt like a month. Always a clone active, even when he himself needed some shut eye. He could feel the strain on his chakra network; in spite of his impressive chakra pool, his chakra control was nothing to brag about, and he felt it. Not just that he felt his chakra network, he felt it in an unpleasant manner, as if someone out of shape might feel their muscles after strenuous workouts. It was a drag.

At the very least, he was still able to smuggle in the odd cache of Fang Country cigars, and even some Honey Country sake, blessings in their own rights. The Raikage was now walking the village, taking a break from the massive workload and overwhelming memory allocation of the clone technique that drowned out his restful hours by filling in blanks that should remain blank. A good stretch was just the thing, and he was hoping to find someone by the training grounds that would permit him to release some steam. He had half a mind to request Kiseragi to spar with him, or perhaps Kutari would be willing to show to Noboru just how much of a man he was, and not a god, but alas, Kiseragi was working on revamping Kumogakure’s espionage circle, and Kutari was locked away inside Thunderpeaks as far as he understood.

No matter. By the time he was arriving at the training grounds, clad in the white robe of the Raikage over his Darkened Skies armor, a nice contrast, while the hat masked his vibrant red hair, still allowing for most of his face to be seen; well, at least what wasn’t underneath the vast eyepatch that covered nearly all of the right side of his face, going from temple to cheek, and around the ear. He had decided if he didn’t want anyone finding out about the Byakugan, he shouldn’t allow for the veins to be seen. But, even as he walked into the grounds, he could see Ryuzaki Nara training on the floor, stretching himself. “Good”, he thought to himself. He was just in ear range when he heard Ryuzaki talk about what he needed to train. “Good”, he repeated, this time audibly so the Nara would hear it. “I might just be able to teach you those techniques.” If Ryuzaki turned, he would simply nod at him as a greeting. “But, you’ll have to earn it. Come now. Attack me.” As he said this, he disrobed the Kage white robes, revealing the black armor. “And kid”, he started as he threw the hat to the side, out of danger’s way, “make it worth my time.”

Ryu was preparing to train when his attention was taken away by an oppressive aura, just before he looked up he heard the word good. Standing in front of him was the 11th Raikage, but more importantly, a man Ryu had found instant admiration for. At the first offer of teaching Ryu smiled, but what followed made him smile wider. Ryu had been seeking a new teacher since the passing of his father, he thought he might have found it in the 9th Raikage Kutari, but the man had shown him one thing and then disappeared, Ryu did not take this personally as he knew the man had pressing matters. Perhaps this sentiment was even more apparent now that the man in front of him had been appointed Raikage.

As Noburu finished disrobing Ryu realized for the first time that he had striking red hair, their first meeting had been a shocking event for him and it had felt like time was passing at a million miles per hour, but now he had time to take in the form of the man in front of him he knew that there was physical strength. Not that a weak man would ever be appointed to the title of Raikage, since this was a military village. Make it worth my time, Ryu nodded at this statement "Maximum effort, sir" he replied calling back to his promise to his leader in their previous meeting. Ryu clapped his hands together, pushing chakra throughout his body's network until it reached his second chakra point on his spine. Ryu imaged a swinging door, and the pain of his master's passing, this allowed chakra to burst through the door. "Gate of Pain: Open" he screamed in his mind, the thought of Kutari explaining how to open the gate flooded to his mind as pain surged throughout his body. Instantly he could feel the tension on his bones and his body began to transform. His skin turned red with the sheer heat of his body and the air around him began to be forced outward, his forehead veins bulged, his hair stood up on end and his pupils disappeared.

Ryu's eyes snapped open and with his newfound speed, he bounded forward at top speed. Closing the gap quickly Ryu brought his right hand backward and cocked it ready to throw a punch, as he neared his new leader he feigned a punch. His arm moved forward and began to corkscrew, it was at speed and with feeling, but the intent was only to draw attention, he was never going to follow through with the hit. At this point, the distance between the two was 2m, if Ryu had gotten to this point uninterrupted. At the halfway point of extension in his fake punch, Ryu switched gears and shifted his weight from his right foot to his left, and dropped his body down, cocking his left hand to throw a punch this time. However, the punch was aimed at the ground and not at his senior. Ryu smashed his fist into the ground and it responded to his punch in kind. A shockwave rippled out from the point of impact in a circle with a diameter of 10m, with Ryu as the center point. However, a more focused cone of force ripped from the point of impact and out towards Noburu. If the man was caught in the cone he would feel his strength falter. 

WC: 575
TWC: 2142

Ap, tings' & math:

Ryu's eyes had stayed, as much as possible looking up at his now opponent. He was unaffected by his attack, he actually thought he had not moved an inch, could that be possible? Ryu had no time to speak, all he could manage was a fresh gulp of air as the man in front of him grinned and spoke. Ryu instantly felt danger, the only thought that crossed his mind was death. The sheer menacing intent of the man revealed his actions. Ryu regained his stance and brought his hands up in time for the incoming blow, he likewise took a stance. Legs a shoulder-width apart, knees bent, arms crossed in front of his face, the only part of his body not covered by his lightweight bodysuit. The single finger hit his arm guard like a spear. knocking his guard away and moving his body backward a full meter. A fresh hole was poked in the armor where his opponent had made contact. Ryu grimaced at the sheer force of the blow but had made it out mostly unscathed.

"Counterattack", the thought shot through Ryu's mind like a bullet. Then the variables of the situation started to hit him, he has gates too, that armor looks pretty thick, tai user? Ryu decided that he would continue on with a CQC attack as he was within distance and after all, he was here to learn, not to shy away. Ryu recovered his stance and his right arm shot out, he clenched his fist and his muscles up to his shoulder followed suit. Ryu shot forward, his speed being boosted by the gates and the current technique and he aimed his inner forearm to connect with his new kages neck. Ryu took in every movement of the man in front of him, not that he would be able to react to any of them at this point, but he was here to learn, and he could think of no one better at this exact moment than the red-haired bolt of lightning in front of him.

WC: 344
TWC: 2484

Ap, tings' & math:

Ryuzaki impacted with the redhead, his inner forearm clashing with the forearm of his leader. Ryus force was insufficient and the man was immovable once again. Ryu's legs carried on under him and his top half was forced backwards, the man half flipped and ended up on his back. The pain from the gates now a searing pain, his bones began to crack, luckily his new mentor had decided that this was sufficient of a duel to test his vessel. Ryu dropped his gates in response to Noburu doing the same. He pushed himself up to one knee and took a few deep breathes, in through the mouth out through the nose. Pain radiated throughout his whole body, but he had begun to get to use it, and it did not disable him as much as in previous uses.

"The shadows do my bidding, but in the instant, I had to decide a strategy I deemed them to slow, especially after the gates are opened, too much strength for me currently". Ryu said in between breaths. When Ryu heard the 11th Raikage mention training he shot to his feet, he was going to get the chance to train with two Raikages in the space of as many months. He bent down and bowed deeply, the pain shot through his abdomen as he did so, but he resisted it. "I believe my best strategies will work with Earth-style wall, Multiple Earth Style wall, rock shelter, earth tearing palm and swamp of the underworld" Ryu then raised back to his full height, his breathing still ragged "I have read about these in a book, but have not been able to replicate the procedure, I have only just awakened by Earth nature, I currently have no jutsu to use with it". Ryu straightened himself out and reached into his weapon pouch and produced a water bottle, he took a few gulps from it and then offered it to his new mentor.

Ryu continued to study the man in front fo him, he noticed a red-eye, the Sharingan. He had read about it in a study of KKG. But it was very sparse on the subject. Ryu had recently received a doujutsu of his own but he had not awakened the power within, he would have to make strides in the coming days to do so. When they arrived in Hoshi for the exams he would want to be at full strength.

WC: 408
TWC: 2892

Ryu listened intently to the Raikage's words, his head unconsciously nodding along with the advice. "I believe my chakra strength and stamina is high, due to strenuous training, however, my control is lacking. I have been able to perform jutsu with one hand, but only at a lower strength of jutsu" Ryu squinted and inspected the eye with more precise intent "I have read about the Sharingan but it was not very detailed, this is helpful" Ryu then put his water bottle back into his pouch and clapped his hands together "Let's do this".

Ryu pulled chakra from his core, its liquid-like consistency washed over the invisible boundaries of his core. AS the chakra followed towards his hands he imagined it hardening, its consistency change to that of a hardened moving river of dirt. Ryu thought hard on the words, resilient, sturdy, defiant. At the same time as he imagined the chakra changing consistency, he brought his hands together in the tiger handseal. Both hands were at an equal height with the thumbs straight up and together, the next two fingers likewise held straight up and together at the same height, the remaining two fingers on each hand folded over and fell in the gaps between the opposing fingers on the other hand. Chakra resonated in his hands at the time this handseal was complete, then his hands quickly separated and came back together again, this time in the handseal of the Boar. Ryu's hands were held pointed directly down to the floor, all of his fingers and thumbs crinkled inwards, and not overlapping with that of the other hand. Then Ryu moved to perform the handseal of the snake, both hands joined together and the fingers and thumbed interlaced with the gaps on the opposing hand. As the handsels were completed and the correct amount of chakra was formed Ryu imagined a dome of earth, immediately afterward the earth to his left began to shift and move, it formed the dome from the ground up eventually meeting at the top and joining so there were no spaces to see within. Smiling he turned back to the Raikage "Rock Shelter" he said with a nod.

Ryu then began to skirt backward, creating space between the pair. Ryu moved chakra through his system again, once again imaging what the Raikage had told him to. When Ryu was sufficiently far away he began to form handseals again.  Ryu moved his hands together again, once again performing the handseal of the boar. Ryu's hands were held pointed directly down to the floor, all of his fingers and thumbs crinkled inwards, and not overlapping with that of the other hand. Then Ryu moved on to the handseal of the Ox. Ryu brought his hands back together as fast as he could his left hand had all the fingers held straight outward and was laid flat in front of him in the air, while the right hands pinky and index finger were held straight up and the other two fingers connected with the other hand and joined through the holes in the opposing hand's fingers. Then Ryu moved on to the seal of the snake, both hands joined together, and the fingers and thumbed interlaced with the gaps on the opposing hand. Ryu moved on to the tiger handseal. Both hands were at an equal height with the thumbs straight up and together, the next two fingers likewise held straight up and together at the same height, the remaining two fingers on each hand folded over and fell in the gaps between the opposing fingers on the other hand. Next Ryu moved his hands to the seal of the dog, one hand was gripped into a fist and the other hand was extending out and laid flat on top of the clasped hand. Chakra began to swell in his system as he moved on to the final handseal, the seal of the monkey. Ryu matched both his hands outstretched and then folded one over and on top of the other, the thumbs interlacing between the pinky and the ring finger of the other. Once all of the handseal was complete he slammed his hand down on the floor and the earth in front of him began to bulge and move upwards. As the wall began to form from the earth below, dust and dirt fell from the top of it. The wall was 20m wide and 3m thick, it continued to grow towards the sky until it was 10m tall.

Ryu pushed chakra down to his feet and activated the surface walking technique, he climbed his own wall and descended down the other side. Ryu began handseals again, Ryu moved to perform the handseal of the snake, both hands joined together, and the fingers and thumbed interlaced with the gaps on the opposing hand. Ryu moved on to the tiger handseal. Both hands were at an equal height with the thumbs straight up and together, the next two fingers likewise held straight up and together at the same height, the remaining two fingers on each hand folded over and fell in the gaps between the opposing fingers on the other hand. Next, Ryu moved on to form the seal of the Horse, he folded his pinky, ring, and middle finger on each hand, but extended his index fingers, folding his thumb slightly in towards his palm, the hands then joined together, paralleling each other. Next, the seal of the monkey. Ryu matched both his hands outstretched and then folded one over and on top of the other, the thumbs interlacing between the pinky and the ring finger of the other. Finally, Ryu formed the seal of the dragon, he brought his hands together and folded all of his fingers over each other apart from the pinkies, which he extended straight down. The thumbs folded over each other and chakra began to swell as he completed all of the seals for the Multi-Earth Style Wall. Ryu finished by slamming his hand down to the floor. This time three separate walls began to form, they were all connected together to create a cove out of nothing, each wall was 5m wide 10m tall, and 3m thick.

Ryu continued this process a further two times to create the techniques of the swamp of the underworld and the tearing earth palm. Once he had sufficiently created all of the techniques he wanted he returned to his village leader, the area of the training ground change momentarily with earthen constructs. "Thank You, Sir" It appears your advice has allowed me to push through this barrier". Ryu dusted himself off as he had made himself a mess over this training session "I have a few more final preparations to make, but I will be ready to leave soon Goodday sir", Ryu awkwardly bowed after he finished talking, and allowed some time for anything his leader would say back to him and then left the village and returned home, he stopped by a shop on the way back and bought some supplies for the coming days, and the journey. He also took in a fine meal from his favorite burger joint. When Ryu returned home he spent some time with Taco, playing and just resting looking out over the mountain range. Then he went to bed and tried to fall asleep, but he would lay there for hours, thinking about the situations he might come up against in the exams ahead.

WC: 1249
TWC: 4141
EXIT

Claiming 750 for Tearing Earth palm B, 500 for Rock Shelter C, 750 for Multiple Earth Style Wall B, 750 for Earth Style Wall B, 1375 for Swamp of the underworld, all using the 50% teaching discount.

Approved