The Ballad of Inner Demons

Missions:

It was just another typical day for Daiki in the hidden sand village as he was in the midst of training his body once more trying to get the most out of his days while back in the village. He was in the training field this morning, making a dash around the field with his legs carrying as quickly as they could, his feet kicking up dust in the sandy yet grassy area with great haste. He was trying to work through his stamina reserves with as much proficiency as he could muster before the last of his breath gave out and he had to stop in order to take a break and get it back. It was a slow and arduous process given how very little in stamina he had but he could feel that it was paying off for him as he could pull off more and more laps as he trained per day. He panted there for a second, sweat rolling off of his body and falling upon the ground below him, as he took a seat upon the ground and laid down in the grass. He had taken off his shirt in order to allow the sun to wash across his body all as he watched the clouds above slowly roll across and shade him for a few seconds before continuing on in their trajectory.

He laid there for a few minutes, feeling his body slowly drying itself as the sweat that he had worked up was dripping down and mingling itself with the sand beneath him, as he thought about how far he had come since he had started this journey down his road to becoming a ninja. He wasn't anything special, that was for sure, and he wasn't going to claim otherwise to pump himself up. In comparison to other ninja of the village he was still a considerably weak shinobi and the only way that was going to change was if he invested a little time into some more missions. As it stood he had only completed three. Three pretty high ranking missions at that but still only three. Other ninja of his class in the village, he knew, had completed vastly more and more than likely that was the reason why a majority of them were potentially in consideration of promotions to more respectable ranks and positions. He needed to thus develop a habit of taking in more missions as this was turning into quite the joke... But he also wanted to make certain that he was strong enough to handle any mission that he was faced with.

But how much stronger could he truly become. Apart from his stamina he hadn't really been able to achieve any more strength than he already had. This was frustrating for sure as he got up into a sitting position and looked at the palm of his hand before flexing it then turning it around in order to look at his knuckles. He had been partaking in a lot of boxing training so his knuckles were red from all the times he had been punching a trunk of wood on the training field. He rubbed his knuckles a bit as he took in a breath and activated his Senju cells which went to work in healing his sore knuckles and the red bruises along them disappeared leaving him feeling a bit more refreshed. Taking a deep breath he got back up to his feet, wiping the dirt that had stuck to his back off, before taking the time to stretch his torso out a bit and work the kinks in his bones and muscles out. He brought his hands around and cracked his knuckles as he looked over to the boulders that were nearby and decided it might be time to start using something else as a punching bag.

For the next several minutes he would thus use boxing techniques in order to bob and weave around the boulders in question all as he would punch them with enough force that his fists caused the stone to crack and shift. His knuckles all the while were healing themselves as well as enforcing themselves with chakra in order to make his punches all the more stronger while they protected his skin and bones at the same time. He found that it was liberating that he was able to crack stone with his strength though it was clearly something that with prolonged use was going to tire him out before he could use it in practical combat. Thus he was out here training his stamina so that he would be able to deliver more of these blows for as long as he was able to. After a while he would ultimately stop punching the boulder due to his chakra being spent as he walked over to a nearby tree and took a seat in order to allow his strength and stamina to return.

He could feel his strength returning into his legs and arms as he took in slow and steady breaths in order to meditate and allow his chakra to regenerate inside him. As he sat there, however, a raven would approach him from above with a caw before landing upon his knee with a scroll attached to its leg. This scroll looked bigger than other scrolls he'd usually gotten and he could tell that it had to be related to missions which was slightly unsettling due to how big it was and how much had to be on it. He reached over and untied the scroll from the raven's leg before it flapped it's wings a few times and started flying up into the sky away to do something else. Daiki unrolled the scroll and read its contents quickly as the clouds in the sky continued to float slowly along and cover the sun a few times surrounding the field in shade. After a few minutes of reading Daiki sighed and got up from his seat upon the ground as he hopped up and down a few times, getting some strength renewed in his legs once more, before making his way over to another tree nearby so that he would pick up his shirt that he had come with.

He put his shirt back on and looked down at the scroll in his hand before lifting it back up and examining it's contents once more: "As part of the continued beautification of Suna, you have been enlisted to assist in putting up a public art project. This might be assisting with painting a mural, moving a statue, etc. Please do not damage the art or the artists' feelings." E Rank. "The Monkey's Uncle has its weekly shipment of goods (tea, fresh food, paper wares, etc.) necessary to keep the business running scheduled for today. Help shepherd the delivery carts to the restaurant and aid in unloading and putting away the goods in the stockroom." E Rank. "It's coarse, rough, and irritating. It gets everywhere. It's a problem that you need to solve. Frequent dust storms coat the roads and make it difficult to travel. Clean up a portion of the village and get rid of this pest." E Rank. There were other missions listed upon the scroll but these three were the ones that were in need of his attention the most as he rolled the scroll back up and placed it into one of his pockets.

He would make his way out of the training field, wiping the sweat out of his hair and off his forehead, as he was wearing a tank top which showed off his well-trained arms that were about to be put to work. He walked along the street out to the village's streets and made his way to the area that was the location where his first mission was to be accomplished. He walked over to a building which contained a broom closet and grabbed one of the many brooms within it in order to get to work with "dusting" the street of the sand along it... which was stupid but whatever. A mission was a mission. He would spend the next few minutes sweeping the street of it's dust, people walking along and watching him with a look of puzzlement and laughter, as he tried to push their stares out of his mind and continued about his work in taking care of them all.

Once he was done with his task, at least got to a point that he felt was a good place to stop, he went back over to the broom closet and walked inside in order to deposit the broom back into it's spot. He then locked it back up and walked through the streets heading to the location of his next objective as he took the time to stretch his arms and shoulders due to the sweeping having an effect on his muscles. He could tell that the strain had provided him with a pretty good workout so at least he had gotten something out of his confusing street sweep. He would make his way along the street and make his way to one of the village's renowned artists in order to help out with whatever they were in need of. Another hour or two later and Daiki was using his strength in order to move statues for the artist inside of his studio as he would set them down as gently as possible all as the artist would tell him to place the statues in certain locations that he felt had the best "symmetry". After all was said and done Daiki's job was finished finally and he left the artist behind in order to get back out onto the street once again. For his next mission he had some time to prepare as he made his way back in the direction of the training field for some further training.

Even though the missions had proven to be excellent little distractions that provided him with a bit of training it mainly all focused on his physical attributes rather than mental which he felt he was lacking in for the day. Thus he would go to his nice meditating spot that was inside the training field, a nice little tree that had a quiet shade underneath it, as he would sit down beneath the shade and take in a few deep breaths before closing his eyes and allowing his mind to wander. Having meditated multiple times it was second nature for him to find his way into the familiar dark recesses of his inner mind and it was also second nature for him to find himself in the same dark room that reminded him of the darker parts of his history. He opened his eyes and looked up from his seating position to see the usual silhouette of the man that he knew of as Hokuto. "Welcome back, young Daiki. Looking to lose to me once again?"

Daiki would stand up slowly as he took in a few more deep breaths all as he could feel a newfound confidence flowing through his body and mind causing him to calm himself even in this situation. "I've come to train... not lose." Hokuto gave a slight chuckle as he stepped forward and into the dim light showing off his face finally for the young ninja to see. He was an old fellow with crinkles that ran along his cheeks and forehead as his hair was gray and thinning yet his smile revealed a set of teeth that looked well taken care of as he had a menacing looking grin. "I see... Then let us dispense with the pleasantries and get right to it, shall we?" Hokuto would assume a stance just as Daiki would assume his, bringing his body low and slanted in order to make himself a smaller target, as he would bring his fist up level with his face while holding his other down low all so he could be able to protect his most vulnerable areas at once just in case of an oncoming attack.

Hokuto would make the first move, charging forth towards Daiki, as the Senju would quickly direct his chakra into one of his feet and kick out behind him into the wall. The result would be the wall blasting apart, the brick that made up for it shattering as though hit by a powerful paper bomb explosion, as Daiki would catch the charging Hokuto by his arms and toss him through the hole. He would watch Hokuto soar, his hands forming seals as he flew down to the cold waters below, as Daiki felt the ground below him shake and tremble as stones would break apart from the earth in order to fly towards Hokuto and catch him before he touched the water. Daiki watched as Hokuto stood upon a large stone that hovered over the water as more stones circled around him as though protecting and serving Hokuto in whatever he desired. This would be confirmed as Hokuto formed another hand seal and the stones would respond by flying forward at incredible speed directly towards Daiki as he was still standing at the edge of the blasted apart hole.

Daiki would respond by stepping out of the hole and allowing gravity to take him away just as the stones collided where he had been standing and debris started to rain down around him. He slid along the gravelly stones that served as the wall of the house's cliff all the way down to the lake, his feet taking on the usual blue hue as chakra focused around the soles of his feet and provided him with the means to land atop the watery surface and run out of the way of the next volley of incoming stones. With a formation of hand seals he would then focus his chakra into the waters below him as the waves would churn and circle around his feet before taking him for a ride and surging him forth at great speed in order to easily avoid the rest of the falling stones. His feet would surf along the water's surface, his hands hard at work in forming more hand seals, as he thought up strategies on how to get in close to Hokuto who was hovering at a safe distance above him. This was going to be a hard fought battle if he couldn't get in close.

With a deep breath Daiki would focus more of his chakra into his feet and into the water that surrounded them all so he could prepare himself to launch upwards towards Hokuto but it would seem the old man accounted for Daiki doing that as he tossed one of his stones towards a point in the water that Daiki was going to wind up at and caused Daiki to blow back and away from the rock. He would flip around in the air, all while forming hand seals once again, as the water would collect him like a pillow before coiling up and blasting him upwards into the sky like a rocket towards where Hokuto was floating and waiting. Chakra would form around Daiki's hands as he balled them up into fists and tried to go for a punch at Hokuto's face but the man simply hopped off the large stone he'd been standing upon and landed on another completely avoiding Daiki predictable attack. "As usual you're letting your fists do the thinking for you rather than your own mind. Maybe if you used that small amount of gray matter ticking around in that thick skull of yours you might have beat me many times over by now." Daiki landed upon the stone as he felt it soaring down towards the water below him but he had planned for this.

He formed a few more hand seals and the waters below would churn and shoot upwards towards him like a geyser as they caught the falling stone and brought it back up to Hokuto's level which actually seemed to impress him. He looked at Daiki who was focusing his chakra all across his body in order to perform this feat and chuckled. "Not bad but this is taking quite a bit of focus and chakra for you to do, isn't it, boy? What will you do now?" Taking in a deep breath Daiki would then form hand seals as Hokuto suddenly frowned recognizing the seals that Daiki was performing. "Wait... You're not ready to perform that jutsu, Daiki. You've yet to learn how to control stone much less wood. Trying to use one element without mastery of another is dangerous, you fool!" Hokuto would try to stop Daiki by sending a barrage of stones towards him but Daiki responded by forming the final seal of the jutsu he was intending to cast with a smirk upon his face.

From within the stone he was standing on and out of the geyser of water that was beneath it came a large and strong column of wood that would form in front of Daiki creating a shield that caught each of the stones before they could get close enough to do anything to Daiki. Hokuto stood there in shock looking at this, watching as vines of woods and leaves would surround the rock that Daiki was standing on, as Daiki dropped his hands and folded his arms almost in a mocking sort of way. "You've underestimated me for the last time, old man." He would then extend an arm out towards Hokuto and from out of the geyser would shoot out a column of wood that moved with the speed of a bullet as Hokuto had no choice but to jump in order to avoid it. What was waiting for him at the top of his jump was Daiki as he had moved the stone that he was standing upon in order to fly up in his way as chakra was surrounding his fist once again. "Turns out I HAVE been using this noggin of mine, Hokuto. Bad luck for you!"

With that exclamation, his excitement causing a smile to form on his face, he would put a point upon his sentence as his fist would connect with Hokuto's cheek as he was sent flying down into the waves of the lake. He would land upon the surface with a crash, tumbling atop the water's surface like a skipping stone thrown by a pro, before finally coming to a stop thanks to him forming hand seals in order to take control of another stone for him to fly around upon. Daiki watched him closely to see if the punch had done any damage to the old man. He actually felt a little bad for putting too much power behind it. There was always the chance that he might completely disorient or concuss the old man with his strength and then he'd have no choice but to stop the fight in order to provide medical attention. However he didn't take into account that this was all happening within his head and there was no way that this man was going to be severely damaged by a mere punch no matter how strong it was. This was proven as soon as the man started to float slowly upwards atop his rock giving Daiki the view of what he had actually punched.

As it turns out the man had formed bit of rock around his cheek area, the majority of Daiki's punch having been absorbed fully by them, as they crumbled and scattered like dust in the breeze that crossed the both of them. Hokuto laughed as he wiped his mouth of the small dribble of blood that had formed along his mouth, indicating that he was still injured by the sheer power of Daiki's punch, before he spoke while getting to his feet. "Not bad. Indeed I made the mistake of underestimating you... A mistake I will make certain I dare not repeat." He then brought his hands up to form a quick succession of hand seals as multiple large rocks started to shoot upwards from within the lake's waters up towards Daiki. With a quick formation of his own hand seals more wood would form from the rock he was floating upon, the geyser of water quickly shooting further upwards to meet it, as he would surround himself in strong and sturdy wood completely supported by his strong amount of chakra.

The wood served him well in protecting him as the rocks would bounce off of the wood all while he made the necessary hand seals in order to prepare to launch yet another jutsu. All this chakra training was serving him well in getting some better understanding of how it worked. After a while of formulating his next move he would stomp the rock he was standing upon, destroying it, as he would then fall through the hole he had made in order to sink into the waters of the geyser he had made. The rocks that were shooting upon where he was redirected towards him as the water did nothing to stop the incoming rocks but rather redirect them as they would go off course and fly into the nearby wall or back into the water where they had come from only to shoot back up again. Daiki had actually planned for this to happen as he would quickly sink down into the main lake's waters and use his chakra to swim through the water at a speed that rivaled that of a dolphin's. Chakra directed down into the soles of his feet would act like a booster for him causing him to shoot through the water at a speed fast enough to avoid all the incoming rocks from below.

'Hokuto is very strong with Earth style and has excellent chakra control.' he thought to himself as he continued to turn to the side or do a barrel roll in order to avoid the rocks. 'He can probably keep this up for several more minutes before he has to rest. I'll need to be quick with this.' With his hands still forming the final hand seal he needed to launch his next jutsu he would then direct himself upwards towards the lake's surface before splashing through and out of it at great speed and power. His body would get a good amount of airtime with this move as he focused his chakra all around him and the result was an explosion of tall trees coming from out of the lake below. The large trees would thicken and grow, leaves shrouding the branches that formed along the thickening trees, as Hokuto was thrown off his game and had to fly out of the way in order to keep his rock from being blasted apart. All the while Daiki used his chakra flowing feet in order to catch one of his tree's branches as he was taken for a ride upwards all while focusing more and more of his chakra into the jutsu.

After a while the trees finally stopped growing and Daiki dropped his hands in order to look at Hokuto who was actually looking quite impressed with the small oasis of trees Daiki had been able to create. "Not bad, little Daiki. You're looking more and more like a Senju as time goes on. Maybe these Chunin exams weren't a total waste of time after all." Even now he was still mocking Daiki but he didn't let it get to him as he rubbed the trunk of one of his trees he had just made and felt how strong and sturdy the tree was. He could feel his chakra flowing through it, giving it that extra sturdiness and strength, as he then would smile and take in a deep breath all while allowing his chakra to slowly regain itself throughout his body for yet another assault upon Hokuto. "Prepare yourself, my old master. You've yet to see the full extent of what I can do." He would assume a fighting stance from atop the branch he was standing on all as Hokuto smiled and formed yet another hand seal.

His stone would fly forward through the thick trees and branches, bobbing and weaving around everything with expert control, as Daiki would watch the man coming towards him with great speed and he concentrated his breathing so that he would prepare for whatever was coming. After forming a few more hand seals himself he would gather some chakra across his hands and feet before crouching down and jumping high in the air just as rocks crashed into the branch he was standing upon breaking it up immediately. He took out from within his weapon pouch two kunai and a long string of wire which he quickly wrapped around his fingers and grabbed a branch with it causing him to twirl around one of his trees as the wire's friction was causing smoke to erupt from the branch. He would use his chakra to tie the wire around the loops of his kunai as he slid around the tree in order to swing around to where Hokuto was waiting preparing for his own strike against Daiki's face.

Daiki would respond by bending his body, the punch whiffing as it passed by his face harmlessly, all as he tugged on the wire hard enough to snap it allowing him to twirl the now connected kunai within his fingers. He landed upon the trunk of one of his trees and tried to hit Hokuto with one of his twirling kunai but the old man saw it coming as he simply lowered the stone he was standing upon in order to dodge it. Hokuto would then get out his own kunai in order to face off in a kunai battle with Daiki but then he saw something flash above him as from up top one of the trees surrounding the two of them rained a barrage of bomb balls and smoke bombs! Daiki smirked as he would slice through one of the bomb balls with his twirling kunai, the steel of the kunai slicing apart the gunpowder within the bomb balls as the friction of the two colliding would ignite the gunpowder, as the bomb ball would explode causing a fiery explosion of smoke and fire to erupt around the two.

Hokuto had to bring his arms up in order to defend himself against the full brunt of the resulting explosion, his body flying before colliding into the trunk of one of the trees hard, as he looked up and saw Daiki jumping towards him with his kunai still spinning around as the bomb balls and smoke bombs continued to rain down upon them. The injuries that Daiki had sustained himself were healing themselves and disappearing, his Senju cells going to work, as he brought down his kunai causing Hokuto to bring up his own in order to defend against it. He had accounted for Daiki's absurd healing factor and it coming into play at some point during their battle but he didn't think he would do something so brazen and rather barbaric. Daiki would surprise him once again as he brought his other twirling kunai around, completely missing Hokuto as he ducked in order to avoid the slicing steel ringing in the air, as he looked to see it slice apart yet another bomb ball causing an explosion to erupt right beside the both of them. Hokuto and Daiki both was blasted away from the resulting explosion as Hokuto caught himself by raising a stone in order to land upon as Daiki raised a stone himself showcasing that he had the same level of control over stone as Hokuto had.

The numerous balls of danger continued to fall down upon them, Daiki's burns healing as his clothes were unable to withstand the blasts of both bombs, as he continued to twirl the two kunai around in his hands before slicing to his left catching a smoke bomb and shrouding himself in smoke. Hokuto prepared for whatever was about to come towards him next but he didn't account for this next move: he looked down as the waters of the lake quickly flowed up the trunk of the tree towards where Daiki's smoke cloud was before sinking into the smoke cloud in order to disappear from view. He thus would prepare for a water attack as he formed a few hand seals with one of his hands preparing one of the stones in order to either shield himself from a water blast or to shoot forth in order to attack. What came next was again unexpected as the branch that was next to him suddenly shot a twirling water blast that was carrying three kunai within it, twirling them around, as tied to them by wire was other kunai.

Hokuto tried to fly away but was too late as one of the twirling kunai sliced through a bomb ball and ignited it right next to Hokuto creating an explosion which caused him to be blasted away once again from atop his floating stone as, from out of his smokey hideout, Daiki gave chase with his twirling kunai once again. He would fly across the exploding bomb balls, his kunai striking and slicing through them, as Hokuto watched Daiki soaring through what could have been mistaken for a fireworks show. Hokuto surrounded his body with stone in order to defend whatever was coming towards him as Daiki took that chance to shift one handful of twirling kunai over to his other hand which freed his other one as he circulated chakra through his body into his now free fist. Power surrounded his fist as he directed all his inner strength into his arm, veins popping throughout his arm, as with a guttural roar he punched the wall of stone with all the force he could muster. The result was the stone wall being blasted apart as the shockwave of the punch blasted against Hokuto causing him to soar across the sky through several trees and into the water causing him to sink down into the murky depths.

Daiki allowed his chakra to dissipate from around his fist as he fell down the rest of the way, directing chakra now into the soles of his feet as he landed upon the surface of the water and walked along it as he watched the point where Hokuto had fallen closely in case something was going to happen. He shook his arm as he watched the space in question, his hand tingling from the punch he had landed as he had put more power than he was accustomed to putting into a punch, as he could feel his arm pulsing with pain as his medical Senju cells soothed it back down to a more manageable level of numbness. Stretching it out by rolling his shoulder around he watched as bubbles started to form in the spot where he had punched Hokuto as he could see a dark mass coming up from out of the depths of the water. He thus began to form some hand seals with his free hand all while once again twirling his stringed kunai with the other hand.

Hokuto rose out of the water atop yet another large stone, his hands together forming a hand seal popular to earth style users, as he smirked and Daiki felt the water below him part as a stone slab floated up and carried him up into the air with Hokuto. Other stones surrounded them, sticking to each other as they formed a large floating arena for the two to walk around, as Daiki's trees were used to provide cover around the stony arena as Daiki was actually in awe at what Hokuto was able to accomplish with his chakra control over Earth. He brought his hands down and shifted them to rest behind his back as Daiki noticed that a few of his bomb balls were lying upon the new arena ground they were on as he noticed that they had all gotten wet and were practically useless now. He looked over to Hokuto who brought his hands back around and started clapping slowly towards Daiki which caused his blood to boil once again. "That was certainly a neat little strategy you used against me, Daiki, but now what are you going to do, I wonder, when your range of movement is much less limited?"

Daiki wondered what he meant by that as Hokuto brought up two fingers and suddenly Daiki felt a shift upon the ground as stones started to shoot upwards while carrying him with them which caused him to jump away quickly to avoid the stones as they collided together in the air. If he had stayed he would have been squished as he landed upon the ground just as the ground shifted once again and he felt himself being launched into the air once again causing him to have to hop off as he tried to make his way towards Hokuto running atop whatever stones he could run. He directed his chakra into his legs in order to propel him forward a bit faster as the stones were proving to be too fast to avoid due to his normal speed. He could feel his body filling with strength thanks to his chakra as he punched stones that zoomed towards him to dust as they bounced off him harmlessly before sliding in order to dodge under a wall of rocks that were dangerously close to ramming into him. He then hopped up and directed his chakra into his arm once again as he wound up for another punch.

What happened instead of another bone shattering punch to the face was a stone shooting out like a rocket from next to Hokuto which caught Daiki in the stomach causing him to fly back and away all as a dull pain racked it's way through Daiki's body. He had nearly broken a couple of ribs there as he took the rock in his hands and smashed it so he could flip around and land on his feet on the clearly unstable stony arena. He rubbed the area where he had gotten hit, his medical expertise working it's way to the injury and healing it right away, as he stood back up straight upon his feet and started twirling his kunai again while forming hand seals with the other. As soon as he felt one of the stones beneath him once again coming loose in order to disorient him he would charge forward and out of the way all while twirling his kunai around in order to knock away any small stones that tried to hit him while punching or dodging out of the way any of the bigger stones.

With great speed Daiki was able to close the distance between the two once again, using his chakra enhanced legs in order to bob and weave all the way up to Hokuto, as the old man watched completely unworried that Daiki was closing the distance. This gave Daiki the clue that the old man had yet another trick up his sleeve but he would make certain that he had one himself as nearby on one of the trees another geyser of water from below would fly up the trunk in order to mix itself in with the floating stones and follow Daiki as he ran. Hokuto watched as the water would start to surge up and make waves that grew high and strong ready to wash into the two of them as Hokuto formed a hand seal and became cocooned in a sphere of stones. Daiki took that as his cue in order to punch the rocks away with his strength, his fist easily blasting the cocoon apart, as he would then hop up and away in order for the wave to crash into the cocoon's remains and affect the man that should've still been inside. He would flip around and land upon the ground as gracefully as possible as he looked towards the spot and was unsurprised to see that the cocoon was in fact empty.

He felt the ground beneath him shake and tremble once again as he hopped up and out of the way as the place he'd been standing upon practically exploded as Hokuto came up from underneath. Daiki would avoid the incoming stones that were controlled by Hokuto, shooting at him as though they were bullets, as he would use his strength to knock them away all while trying to keep an eye on Hokuto and gauge his location at all times. His chakra control was certainly getting better as the fight went on as he was able to shift chakra from his legs and feet back into his arms and hands back and forth in nicely executed succession. With such control he was able to move faster, strike stronger, all as Hokuto would use every trick in the book in order to hit Daiki with yet another stone. Daiki would bob and weave as he got closer and closer to Hokuto, his chakra forming all along the soles of his feet in order to make his jumps stronger, as he hopped up and away from the stones in order to fall towards Hokuto.

Hokuto prepared for the incoming Daiki by doing something new: He would channel his Earth chakra into his fist, tiny rocks flying forth and forming a large fist of stone upon his arm, as he focused his own chakra into the fist in order to reinforce it all as Daiki flew down towards him. Daiki took this time to bring his hands together and channel as much chakra into one of them as he could before pulling his fist back and channeling all of his power into his arm and fist. This punch was going to be one of the strongest punches he'd ever delivered upon something and, from the looks of Hokuto's rock fist, this was going to be a hard fought battle of strength vs durability. He knew that he was stronger than Hokuto in terms of raw power but Hokuto had always proven himself to be the better of the two in terms of chakra control. More than likely the rocks that were surrounding his hand were most likely harder than steel at this point as Daiki concentrated and roared as he thrust his fist forward!

The two fists would collide as a shockwave would erupt from their collision, some of the stones beneath them cracking as the waves below them churned from the power, as Daiki felt pain shoot up his arms from the feeling of having punched something that was made of the hardest material he'd ever struck. Hokuto looked to also be in pain as his rocky fist was clearly cracked by the power of Daiki's blow as the two hopped away from each other in order to observe their hurting limbs. Daiki felt fortunate that he was so in tune with the medical class of jutsu as he focused his chakra into his near broken hand and felt his bones mending himself all as Hokuto was gathering chakra into his other fist causing rocks to form around that one as well. Daiki followed suit by doing the same into his other hand as the two would hop forward and deliver yet another rock shattering collision of strength vs toughness. It was a clear case of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object as Daiki's fist once again hurt from the collision as the two were forced away from each other.

This time, however, Daiki was getting used to the pain and learned to fight through it as he rushed Hokuto with his glowing fists and prepared to deliver a volley of punches against the old man. Hokuto caught himself and brought his fists around to meet Daiki and the two would start trying to one up each other in speed as the old man would catch each of the Senju's devastating punches with his own fists. Shockwaves would erupt from the two like the grand finale of a fireworks show as their punches would come hard and often causing the ground they stood on to slowly deteriorate due to being unable to withstand the power of the blows. Daiki's own bones were proving themselves unable to withstand the blasts but his healing factor was mending them as fast as he was breaking them. It hurt like all hell, though, as Daiki was unaccustomed to dealing with this amount of relentless pain yet it was maddening to see that Hokuto wasn't having too bad of a time fighting through his own pain. Most likely because the rocks were protecting his own knuckles which only spurred Daiki on to try and hit even harder though that only led to more pain for himself.

This would cause Daiki to thus try and get an advantage by trying to get his fists around Hokuto's so that he could land clean shots along his body. Unfortunately Hokuto seemed to know exactly what Daiki was thinking as stones would randomly float up from the ground and catch each punch defending Hokuto from his painful and powerful punches. His fists would smash through some rocks but it would only give Hokuto the time he needed in order to move his hand down and finish defending himself all the while shifting more stones up in order to keep Daiki's fists away from his exposed body parts. Daiki was finding this to be of annoyance as he decided to go for a leg sweep which caused Hokuto to jump in order to avoid the incoming leg. He then wound up a punch with one of his rocky fists as Daiki brought up a hand in order to catch the punch with his palm, his arm pulsating with pain from the rather brazen maneuver, as he would then twist his body around and toss Hokuto away from him in order to get his bearings straight.

Hokuto soared through the air and twirled in order to land feet first upon a large stone that floated up to catch him as Daiki stood his ground watching him and trying to get his strength back into his tortured limbs from all the abuse they had just been put through. He could feel his healing properties going into hyperdrive to make his broken hands back in working order all as he took in deep breaths and thought about how he was going to battle with the old man this time. He knew that the both of them were nearing their limits as he thought of what best strategy to take in order to get the win. Thinking about it there wasn't much more Daiki could do that would possibly catch Hokuto off guard enough to really allow him to get in a battle ending attack. Hokuto was very skilled in terms of reflexes when it came to reacting to Daiki rather slow actions. He was also capable of making last minute plays in order to defend him body from whatever Daiki threw at him what with his stone control.

Ultimately he would come up to terms with a truth that he wasn't going to be able to beat Hokuto this way. He would need far greater speed and power if he was ever going to be able to close the clear gap that was between the two. Hokuto was too quick and he had access to a chakra nature that made Daiki's strength irrelevant due to how strong he could make his stones. With that in mind he closed his eyes and allowed his chakra to relax completely as he heard Hokuto chuckle. "Really? You're leaving? You were doing oh so well though." Daiki ignored the words that still found a way to hit deep as Hokuto did nothing to stop Daiki. "Very well then... I don't blame you for thinking that is the best action to take at this time. You're very close to making a breakthrough with your inner abilities and I certainly can't wait to see them. Good luck to you, Daiki. You're certainly going to need it." With that Daiki sank back down into the murky depths of his consciousness as he soon was opening his eyes once more to see that he was atop his bed again with any injuries he'd sustained in his mind nonexistent.

With his energy renewed he thus decided that he would take his frustrations of being made a fool of once again out on missions for the remainder of the day as he got up from the bed, got on his shoes, and hopped out of the window into the sand village. The sun was still pretty high in the sky thus there was a good amount of missions that he could get done for the village before he ultimately would turn in for the night. He would take care of the deliveries that were needed for the Monkey's Uncle, his strength playing a role in moving around everything that was needed for them to open up their business and comfortably help customers with their needs. Daiki would be one of them as he stepped inside and got himself a drink of tea and a small bite to eat in order to wind down and prepare for a long incoming night.

He then would go to Kazekage cave, resorting his talents to having to polish the many armors that laid within the caves hallowed and dark crevices. He used his chakra in order to make the sheen upon the armor last longer after polishing as the entire mission would take him a good hour as he zoomed around the room making certain he didn't apply too much strength in fear of damaging the armor. As he worked on all the armors inside the cave he could see the sun lowering as the light of the sun leaking into the cave was slowly disappearing as he finished polishing the last armor and jumped out in order to get back out onto the village streets and run along them heading towards his next mission: catching a donkey. The Grove wasn't too far from the Kazekage cave fortunately and Daiki was able to find the donkey quite smoothly as he had to use his chakra in order to be able to keep up with the animal as it seemingly dodged everything Daiki came at him with. After a while of chasing Daiki, without injuring the poor animal, would finally catch it by it's neck with a rope and guide it back to it's home by using his jutsu skills to control it and keep it calm as it walked.

After doing that mission successfully he would get a raven giving him another list of final missions for him to do for the night starting with one that was rather sad and silly at the same time. He would rush along the streets once more to a place that had been significantly vandalized as the streets were littered with glass that had been turned by the sand. It would seem a clan was experimenting with their chakra capabilities and some ne'er-do-wells decided that they didn't like what they were making thus causing them to destroy the palace they were making in question. Daiki would thus quickly use his enhanced speed to pick up every piece of glass off the road, making certain no one could step in it and get injured, as members of the clan helped in order to turn the glass back into sand all while cursing the individuals who were responsible for the damage. Daiki himself was angry that people could be so heartless as to do something like this but the mission didn't tell him that he needed to go after those responsible for this and it specifically told him to go to his next mission right after he was done with this one.

He would make his way quickly outside the boundaries of the village, his speed able to keep him steady, as he wound up in a village that wasn't too far away that had a shipment for him to deliver to the village. While he was out here he would take the opportunity to complete another mission along with this one as he found that he had more than enough strength to move around the shipment that needed to be delivered. He would thus go from home to home, giving a smile all along the way, trying to convince people to make plans to visit the village every so often and see that it wasn't a bad place for shopping and hanging out with friends and family. He would get plenty of rejections as he did this but also plenty of nods in agreement as well as offers to help him carry what he had on him but he kindly turned down their offers as this was a mission for him to complete without outside help. After making his way through everything and everyone in order to get back to the village he finally delivered what he was supposed to and was officially done with his missions... At least for that day.

He thus went home and prepared himself something to eat, his stomach growling due to all the calories he had burned due to all the activity he had just put himself through, before making his way into his bathroom in order to take himself a short and hot shower and wash all the sand, sweat, and grime that had developed along his body. Before going to bed, however, he would test out one last thing in order to see if he could do it in the real world rather than just inside his head as he went outside in order to find get himself a cupful of sand that he filled up a jar with before splashing some water into it. He would bring the jar of wet sand into his home before setting it along his windowsill that looked out into the dark and sleepy sand village as he would then bring his hands up and focus his chakra into his hands before bringing them forth to touch the jar. Recalling how he had done it within his dream state world his chakra would flow through the jar and into the wet sand as the two elements would mix together and from out of the top of the sand pile would sprout a small stalk of wood that would grow up in order to twist and form a tiny yet leafy looking tree. It was a nice little decoration for his room, to be sure, but it confirmed to Daiki that he now had control over the element of wood which would help him sleep soundly for the night as he hopped up onto the top of his bed and sank into a deep slumber.

WC 8,528

Claiming mission rewards (17,000 ryo and 85 AP), Earth element (4,000 WC) and Wood advanced element (2,000 WC), One Handed Seals (2,000 WC), Earth Style Wall (D rank; 500 WC), and 170 AP (Trained).

Approved