Round 3

Ten was feeling determined after his last mission. He barely managed to make it out alive, but he was able to defeat one of his old master's strongest henchmen. To be able to finally beat somebody who tormented him his whole life was a big deal for the young swordsman. He still barely made it out of that fight alive. If his opponent had been serious in trying to kill him then the result would be completely different! He only won because his opponent was arrogant. If he wanted to survive the next encounter with his master or one of his generals, he would need to greatly improve his skills with a quickness.

Today's training mission was a little different then the ones that he was used to. He wanted to learn how to use earth breathing. His master taught him all the different forms growing up. He knew the motions, it was just actually applying the earth breathing to the movements that he didn't understand how to do. He wasn’t entirely sure what would be the best way to go about this kind of training! He was kind of lost.

Ever since he learned Total Concentration Breathing, all his past teachings made more sense to him. He was able to improve rapidly because of it. Flame breathing had just come so natural to him. It was the breathing style his master used and the one that he is most familiar with. Earth breathing didn’t feel as natural to him. He wasn’t sure what earth chakra even felt like. It was hard to conjure something that was hidden from view.

Tenizen resorted back to his early teachings. He sat down on the training grounds with his legs crossed. He took in the early morning sunlight and listened for the environment around him. He tried to relax and enter a meditative state. The more he focused the more he felt like he could actually see and feel the chakra circulating in his body. His body naturally wanted to convert his chakra to flame chakra. He had to resist the urge over the hours he sat there. Eventually he took off his shoes so that he could be more intune with the earth itself.

While he was meditating he tried to imagine what it would be like to be made of earth. He pictured the rough and grainy texture, along with its dense and unbreakable nature. He wasn’t sure how but at some point he could just feel what had eluded him before. When he focused on this feeling he felt his chakra start to change to match how he was feeling. It was only a little at first, but Tenizen slowly felt the transition as his chakra was molded into that of earth chakra and combined with the air that he was breathing in. It was crude and lacked refinement, but it was working!

Holy Shit! I am doing it!

Tenizen was thrilled at just being able to get a feel for earth breathing. Now that he knew what it felt like, he could train to perfect it. He spent a couple more hours just meditating trying to memorize how it felt. He wanted to be able to access it with just muscle memory. He needed to get it to the point where he doesn't have to think to access earth style chakra. If he wanted to apply it to his sword techniques he had to be able to use it as easily as flame breathing.

He ate a small bowl of rice and drank some tea to round out the last hour of his meditating. Now that he was full and happy it was time to apply what he learned to the actual sword forms. He stood up and stretched out until he was feeling fresh and limber. He spun slowly, withdrew all seven swords he was carrying and spun them around various parts of his body with ease. He reached into his memory banks to try and remember his previous teachings about Stone Breathing while he did. He remembered the times studying with Kiba, one of his master's four generals. He was a true master of Stone Breathing and the only one of the four generals to not wield a sword, he carried a warhammer instead. Out of all four of his masters generals, Kiba was the only one that had always treated him with a level of respect and dignity. He enjoyed training with him the most and looked up to him as a father figure.

Kiba taught him the basics of stone breathing through numerous lessons over the years. He had not mastered Total Concentration Breathing yet so to him they were just basic sword attacks and techniques that didnt really make sense. He didn't really understand how to use the true powers of the moves and just had theory so he never included them in his repitore. He had always been so weak that he had always been more focused on staying alive then perfecting the actual fighting style when they would spar and he got to see the techniques in action. He vividly remembered Kiba was particularly hard to hit because the very earth would come around him to defend himself. He was never able to push Kiba hard enough to see what Stone Breathing was capable of offensively or defensively.

His master would never let his henchman go too easy on Tenizen. Each fight was almost a death match for the assassin in training. They were training him to become a certified killing machine, there was no room for kids gloves or half assed training. He wished he had paid more attention when he was younger. He tried to remember how Kiba moved and reacted so that he could attempt to mimic it and copy some of his forms.

Tenizen spent the next couple hours going through the first couple forms of Stone Breathing that he remembered. He was getting irritated by the lack of progress he was making. It was almost dark and he still couldn’t get the feel for it like he did with Flame Breathing. This roadblock was the first real one he had in his training since joining up with Kirigakure. All the techniques he learned since arriving just felt so natural and easy. It took him almost no time to figure them out. He was progressing dozens of times faster than he ever thought would be possible. Stone Breathing was the complete opposite of his chakras natural nature and so he was struggling.! It just felt off and his lack of comfort was doing a number on his confidence.

After screwing up the timing on one of the Stone Breathing forms Tenizen decided to call it quits for the time being. He needed to chill out. All this aggression building up within him needed to find an exit. That was when he had a brilliant idea to try something. He was still perfecting this jutsu so it would help him train it up also. Ten made a couple hand seals and produced a Shadow Clone. He stood in awe staring at the replica of himself.

He still couldn’t believe he was able to use this jutsu or any jutsu for that matter. As a kid growing up he only knew the way of the sword and the assassin. It was amazing that just a couple weeks ago he couldn’t even use chakra at all! This jutsu would have come in handy so many different times in his life. Better late than never. He could put it to good use now.

Tenizen and his clone began having a high speed duel. Each swordsman wielded all seven of theirs blades at each other with all the pent up aggression they had been acquiring. Spurts of flame burst from different blades and clung to the ground around where they battled. It felt good to be pushed and challenged in a real fight. Since he was fighting himself the fight was perfectly even. He got the bonus of trying to track and counter seven blades at once.

As the fight wore on, Tenizen's anger began to fade away. He became more and more relaxed as he did what he loved most. His body harmonized with the battle and his stamina felt like it could carry him for days. When the anger was all gone the fight transitioned back to instructive rather than violent. The calm in his fighting spirit helped him reach into the feeling that is Earth Chakra. Its strong and sturdy essence fortified his being.

Without word and in sync the two Tenizen’s switched from Flame Breathing to Stone Breathing in their fighting styles. It was far from perfect and the duel turned very clunks between the two fighters. Multiple times they would drop one of their seven swords or land awkwardly from mis-gauging the strength or timing of an attack. Tenizen had collected a few lumps and bruises from this encounter and he was forced to summon his clone multiple times after causing it to poof from hitting it.

Each time one of the clones would disappear all the knowledge and training it had acquired was transferred back to the real Tenizen. The extra experience greatly accelerated his training. The results were way better than he could have ever imagined. This was the best and only way to train from now on. What would have taken him days to master he got the feel of in only hours.

The chakra drain on his body was stupendous. He was still inexperienced using jutsu and he wasted more chakra than necessary. He found himself breathing hard and his legs and arms trembling from the exertion of wielding seven different swords. He had inadvertently done fantastic stamina training along with learning how to Stone Breathe. His body felt stronger and sturdier than before. The moment he would rest inbetween clashes he could feel energy literally pouring back into his body. It was like his small frame had achieved some Heavenly Body skill that he wasn't aware of. He had started developing this new skill last time he was training but his body was now fully transformed from this training session.

Eventually the sun started to set and Ten decided to call it a night. He was not going to pull another all nighter this time like he had done the previous times he trained at the advanced training facility. He felt like with the help of his clones he achieved enough progress to be temporarily satisfied. He could now use Earth Breathing and that was his main goal today. Now he just needed to polish up the forms and get it combat ready. He wanted to recover and be at the top of his game for his next mission. It was imperative that he did his best so that he could increase his reputation in the village as a formidable ninja. He had something to prove and he needed to be at his best. The other elements were going to be harder to learn and mentally he needed to prepare himself for all the hard work yet to come.

[Exit]

WC 1866
+18 chakra

Claims:

Ten wrote:
[Exit]

WC 1866
+18 chakra

Claims:

Approved!